The Boston Bruins advanced to the second round of the NHL
playoffs for the first time since 1994 by beating the Carolina
Hurricanes four games to two.
But the festive glee of Boston fans was quieted by the sad and
horrible news that one of the Carolina Hurricanes best players,
defenseman Steve Chiasson, was killed in an automobile accident
only hours after returning to Carolina. Chiasson, who did
yeoman's work all series, played Bourque-like minutes, set up a
game-winner, and scored a big goal himself, died at the age of
32, leaving behind a wife and three children. This heartbreaking
loss to the Carolina team, the NHL, and all of Steve Chiasson's
many friends, reminds all of us, but hockey fans in particular,
how fragile we all are, regardless of the money and the fame
and the cheers. How boorish and immature and heartless the
seemingly innocent fan chants of "Primeau sucks!" and
"ERRRRRRRBAY" sound, when we realize that either of these players
could have been in Steve Chiasson's place.
The teams and players have to get on with hockey now, but it is
very unlikely that they will forget about Steve Chiasson any time
soon. Certainly Bruin Tim Taylor, who was Chiasson's teammate in
Detroit, won't forget. Taylor even said, with sadness, that if
the Bruins had lost game six, Steve would have gone straight home
instead of to a player's house after the flight, and he might
still be alive today.
The Bruins, led by the steady performance of goaltender Byron
Dafoe, fought back from a two-games-to-one deficit to win the
series. Boston was shocked on their home ice in game three by the
'Canes, and dropped their second 3-2 decision in a row. Things
looked bleak at that point, because the Bruins record in home
playoff games at the FleetCenter was abysmal: they were 0-3 last
year against Washington, and were now 0-1 against the ex-Whalers.
That was the low point, but what followed was glorious for Bruins
fans. The B's won three straight, including a double-overtime
thrilla' in Carolina (OK, so it rhymed better with "Manilla")
that took a lot of wind out of the Hurricanes. Then, returning to
the FleetCenter, the Bruins triumphed in a game six that brought
back memories of the old Boston Garden days. The Fleet was sold
out, and the fans were rocking way before the opening whistle.
All the Bruins, from the brass to the bench, commented about the
effect that the crowd had on both teams. Boston was lifted, and
the Hurricanes looked like lambs resigned to becoming lamb chops.
Of course, the game wasn't like that at all. Carolina played fast
and tough. They were beaten because the Bruins connected on goals
that no goalie could stop, and the 'Canes were unable to connect
on three times as many similar chances. Hurricanes missed open
nets, dinged the crossbar, roofed the puck into the stands, and
generally were mesmerized by a 6x4 rectangle. Carolina coach
Paul Maurice stated that for the first practice next season, the
goalies will stay in the locker room and the rest of the team
will practice shooting at an empty net. That's brutal, but an
accurate reflection of how frustrated the 'Canes must have been.
While Ray Sheppard was the offense for Carolina with five goals,
the Bruins divided 16 goals among 11 players, and scoring leader
Jason Allison did not score one goal. Allison had six assists,
however, and was a major factor throughout the series. He was the
only player to register a point in every game in the series,
setting up other Bruins with strong puck control and alert
passing. Dimitri Khristich, seemingly left for dead on the end
of the bench farthest from Pat Burns, revived his play in the
last half of the series, and assisted on Joe Thornton's
first playoff goal, which was also the game six series-winning
goal. Not a bad start for a 19-year-old.
But the two stories of the playoff series, from a Bruins
perspective, have to be the 53-minute performance of Captain Ray
Bourque in the Bruins' double overtime win, and the amazing
comeback of Tim Taylor from a devastating Gary Roberts hit from
behind in game five, to play a major role in keeping Carolina off
the scoreboard in game six.
Ray Bourque played the kind of series that both showed his age
and showed his immense value as an experienced veteran. Even
though the hands aren't quite as quick at miraculously keeping
the puck in the zone on the power play, and even though the
wheels can't quite chase down and hog-tie a bent for leather
young stud like Keith Primeau the way they used to, Ray hasn't
lost one bit of stamina. This is a guy who still has enough jump
left in overtime to rush the puck into the face-off circle
on offense and get back on defense. Ray's 53 minutes in game five
were 13 minutes more than any other player. With a guy like that
setting an example, how can the young guys give any less? His
performance, night in and night out, is an inspiration to a young
bunch of kids who are still not jaded enough to be
impressionable. Remember, when Ray Bourque started his NHL
career, his teammate Joe Thornton was three months old.
Boston management and fans were calling for Gary Roberts' head
after the hit on Taylor, and in all probability the hit did more
to fire up the Bruins than intimidate them. Roberts was a marked
man for the rest of the series, though fortunately that meant
hard-nosed play rather than a bunch of cheapshots.
Taylor's appearance on the Fleet ice in game six, brought to you
by industrial strength painkillers, was a major factor in
firing up the crowd, or at least it was one of the excuses they
used to hoot and holler. Taylor managed to convince the usually
reluctant Pat Burns that he could play, in part by telling Pat
that he had gone through the same thing while with Detroit, and
with the proper medication, he would be fine. While that may not
have worked for many of us back in our college days, it seems to
have worked for Tim, because he played a solid game. Carolina,
however desperate they were, showed a great deal of class by not
painting a target on Taylor's back: They hit him, but nobody went
gunning for his mildly separated should or cracked ribs.
The bummer of the series was that even though Landon Wilson
scored the winning goal in game four, the game that put the
Bruins back on the winning track, Wilson had to watch the end of
that game and the rest of the series from the bench with a
separated shoulder, and not one of the Tim Taylor ice-him-down,
shoot-hit-up variety. Wilson was just starting to be a presence
on the ice in this playoff when he was injured. Wilson, acquired
from Colorado for a first round pick, had been widely criticized
as a bad trade, but his play near the end of the season had
stepped up considerably, and he was definitely pulling his weight
in the playoffs.
Not enough can be said about the play of Byron Dafoe. Byron had a
rough moment or two, like the fluky goal off a behind the net
shot from Robert Kron. But overall, Dafoe was stingy and tough.
He leads all playoff goalies with two shutouts, and his goals-
against average is 1.46, tied with Curtis Joseph and only a few
hundredths behind Hasek.
There is no question that Dafoe kept Boston in the series,
especially when the Bruins suffered many defensive breakdowns
down low and behind the net. However good a Burns defense is in
front of the goal and in the box formation on penalty kills, it
seems to fare worst on players controlling behind the net and
curling out to the slot for a shot. Time and time again in the
regular season, the Bruins gave up scoring chances and goals by
botching this coverage. The Bs were also victimized by it in the
playoffs, but the Canes did not beat both the defense and Dafoe
often enough to turn the series in their favor.
All in all, the Carolina Hurricanes were a worthy opponent, and
they fought the Bruins every inch of the way. They played a tough
hitting game that was on the razor's edge of legal, and stormed
the net, but never resorted to pure thuggery in the pursuit of
wins. Their players showed heart and class.
In many ways, the Hurricanes were the perfect opponent for the
Bruins babes, few of whom had ever won a playoff series. In a
first round series, the Bruins might have been frustrated by a
Buffalo and Dominik Hasek (the way a young Ottawa club was), or
intimidated by the size of the Flyers, or the swift goal scoring
of Toronto, or the depth of New Jersey. Going into the later
rounds, the Bruins will be better prepared for any of these teams
by virtue of having played Carolina, which had a decent bit of
all of these qualities, but not enough of any one of them to win
the series. But they were tough enough to season the young Bruins
so that a Hasek won't seem so intimidating, or a Toronto offense
won't seem so unstoppable.
