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Chat Reel: SI’s Pierre McGuire
Wings and Devils, finalists for the same reasons
Posted: Thursday April 20, 2000 05:58 PM
CNNSI.com Host: Welcome to our special NHL playoffs chat with Pierre McGuire. Thanks for joining us, Pierre. Let's get started with the questions.
Pierre McGuire: My pleasure ... good to be with you.
From Guest: Pierre, I would love to know what you think of the Devils in the Eastern Conference. Can they win their first Cup since 1995?
Pierre McGuire: I think the Devils are proving that they are a very well balanced and capable team. I expect the Devils to finish the Panthers off quickly and get some rest before their second-round matchup. And they have an excellent chance of getting to the Cup finals this year. I’d pick the Wings over the Devils in the finals.
From Guest: Even though Curtis Joseph didn't intend to knock down referee Mick McGeough, don't you think he should have been suspended for the mere fact that he showed up the officials?
Pierre McGuire: Yes. Abuse of an official, especially physically, cannot be tolerated. Throughout his career, Joseph has been a solid citizen -- both on and off the ice -- but with this incident, Joseph was wrong.
From Guest: Do you think the fact the Red Wings were outscored five-on-five should be a concern as they advance to play better teams?
Pierre McGuire: It shouldn't be a concern because as the playoffs go along, the Wings will constantly improve their team defense and to limit the quality scoring chances against Chris Osgood. One thing the Wings have at their disposal is an array of offensive talent that can allow them to overcome goals against that a lot of teams couldn’t overcome.
From Guest: I guess the biggest surprise of the playoffs has got to be the Sharks. Do you agree?
Pierre McGuire: San Jose deserves credit for getting the 3-1 series lead. They've done an excellent job of making Chris Pronger and Al MacInnis pay a significant physical toll. The other surprise team would have to be the Pittsburgh Penguins, who also hold a 3-1 lead in their series against the Capitals.
From Guest: Why does Ron Wilson shoot off his mouth? It just seems to provide the Penguins with bulletin board material.
Pierre McGuire: Ron Wilson is a brash, yet very intelligent coach. He enjoys speaking with the media and he also has confidence in his team. When you put those two qualities together, you usually end up saying something you may regret. I think coach Wilson would like a Mulligan.
From Guest: Who do you see coming out of the Toronto-Ottawa series, and does the beat-up survivor of that series have a chance in the second round?
Pierre McGuire: That's a great question. I have been at those games and the hitting, especially in Games 3 and 4, has been overwhelming. In Game 4, the Maple Leafs players looked like they were feeling the effects of the hitting from Game 3 -- especially Steve Thomas and Mats Sundin. You have to remember, too, that Toronto is missing two centericemen in Nik Antropov and Yanic Perreault, both injured in this series.
Whoever does win the series will have a chance in the next round and a major reason will be the quality goaltending -- Tom Barrasso for Ottawa or Joseph. At this point, Ottawa has momentum on its side. The Senators just need their power play to work more efficiently.
From Guest: Were you surprised that Harry Sinden decided to keep Pat Burns for the final year of his contract?
Pierre McGuire: I think most people who follow the NHL closely would tell you they were very surprised by Sinden's decision. However, that said, Burns deserves a chance to work with a healthy roster next season. Pat and his staff are very respected by the players in the Bruins organization and that helped make Harry Sinden's decision a bit more easy. It should also be noted that Burns is owed one more year on his contract at almost $1 million U.S.
From Guest: Do you think Philly has the series wrapped up against Buffalo or did Game 4 breathe life into the Sabres?
Pierre McGuire: Game 5 will be huge for the Flyers. Right now they've got a tiger by the tail and they had better not let go. It will be interesting to see how the Sabres overcome the loss of Alexei Zhitnik. For Buffalo to win in Philadelphia, Dominik Hasek will have to be spectacular and Buffalo will have to get the first goal. Getting behind can't happen for the Sabres against a defensive team like the Flyers.
From Guest: Talent withstanding, why do the Oilers always seem to struggle against the Stars in the playoffs?
Pierre McGuire: First of all it should be noted that Dallas is a veteran team with tremendous defense and an overall team concept that limits the offensive chances of the slick Oilers. It also needs to be said that the Oilers aren't blessed with a lot of pure scorers. If you look at the Stars' roster, they have much better offensive balance and a bit of an edge in the goaltending position. But one thing the Oilers do is make the Stars work for everything they can get.
From Guest: Is there a better complete young line than Petr Sykora-Jason Arnott-Patrik Elias in the league right now?
Pierre McGuire: Chances are, as I'm thinking about it, based on age this is the best young offensive line in the league. If Colorodo were to play Chris Drury-Alex Tanguay-Milan Hejduk as a line, the Avalanche would be able to rival the Devils threesome you mention. One of the things that makes the New Jersey line so lethal is their ability to gain the offensive zone with puck possession, rather than dumping it in and forechecking. This trait allows the line to create offensive chances off the rush and off the cycle.
From Guest: Say the Blues lose their series and Colorado wins theirs. That would mean the Avalanche and Red Wings would play each other in the next round. Wouldn't you think the NHL at the very least would want a marquee matchup like this in the conference finals?
Pierre McGuire: The NHL is in a very tough position as far as this question goes. Upsets occur in the playoffs, it's one of the pleasures of hockey. Having a marquee matchup would be grand, but they sometimes occur one round earlier.
From Guest: Will Eric Lindros ever wear a Flyers jersey again? If and when Lindros returns, do you think it will disrupt what the Flyers have going?
Pierre McGuire: I would be very surprised if Eric Lindros played another regular season game with the Flyers. As of now, it looks like the concussion problem could even keep him out past the next round. But if he did returen, I don't think he'd disrupt what's happened so far because at the end of the day players really just care about the Cup. So everybody pulls the rope in the same direction. But I think the concussion problem is pretty significant and they may not see his return.
From Guest: Do you think the NHL replay rule should be changed to allow for a better resolution of the Buffalo-Philly "phantom goal" situation? Especially in the playoffs when goals are so important?
Pierre McGuire: Clearly the NHL should have available to it the same camera angles as the viewers at home have. The league has to solve this problem. What happened in Philadelphia was unfortunate and obviously incorrect. It would not have been wrong had the league decided -- once they knew it was wrong -- to go back to the instant on the clock and replay the game from there. It's a matter of doing the right thing.
From Guest: What do you think of Ottawa's line that includes Marian Hossa and Radek Bonk. They are snake-bitten in the scoring department. Will they get untracked?
Pierre McGuire: While they may not be scoring ... Bonk, Hossa and Magnus Arvedson have been reliable against the Mats Sundin-Steve Thomas-Jonas Hoglund. Hossa has had many scoring opportunities and I expect he'll break out at some point. You have to feel for Arvedson, who is clearly not 100 percent playing with an injury that still hasn't healed. These three players will need to score, though, if the Senators are to go any farther in the playoffs. They're too important to that team.
From Guest: There were questions about Tom Barrasso when he was traded. Is he still good enough to take a team like the Sens deep into the playoffs, if not to the finals?
Pierre McGuire: Tom Barrasson is DEFINITELY good enough to make a team better and can help a team get through a series. He loves the big stage and is a motivated person. He waived his no-trade clause to go to Ottawa and his contract runs out at the end of the season. So he knows he has to have a good run. He may be a different player with the media, but winning playoff games isn't a press conference. It's an athletic endeavor and Tommy is still a good athlete who can stop the puck.
From Guest: If you had one series for the Cup, which goalie still playing would you take (besides Hasek)?
Pierre McGuire: Wow, that's a great question ... I would choose Martin Brodeur. Why? His ability to handle the puck, the fact that he's playing behind a solid team that can score goals, and the team's ability to roll four lines. He also seems to have the ability to come up with a big save when he has to.
From Guest: Are the Penguins for real? Can they go deep into playoffs?
Pierre McGuire: The Penguins have to get through this series first but because of explosive players like Jaromir Jagr and Alexei Kovalev and because of Craig Patrick's shrewd trades at the deadline, the Penguins have a better chance of going far than maybe people give them credit for. I'm not sure they get much further if they beat Washington but they should be commended on the way they've shut down Peter Bondra, Adam Oates and to some extent Chris Simon. None of them has had great offensive chances.
From Guest: With the way the playoffs have gone thus far, who would you say are the favorites to make the finals, or is it still too premature to think that far ahead?
Pierre McGuire: In the Western Conference ... if St. Louis is upset, you're losing a very important team from the equation. I still like Detroit to get to the finals because of their balance, veteran presence, effective power play and the fact that Steve Yzerman is getting healthy. Sergei Fedorov is also playing vintage Sergei Fedorov hockey.
In the Eastern Conference ... I like New Jersey. The Devils are a lot like Detroit in that they can roll four lines, can shut down star players (just ask Pavel Bure), and can score power play goals. The other thing that makes them dangerous is John Madden. He’s a wizard killing penalties and killing penalties is so important this time of year.
Two things separate these teams: their foot soldiers. They have tremendous foot speed, they can be a physical presence, they understand their roles and they have enough skill to chip in offensively.
CNNSI.com Host: That's all we have time for today. Thanks for chatting with us, Pierre.
Pierre McGuire: It's been my pleasure to be with you all.
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