Chip Alexander is a reporter who covers the Carolina Hurricanes for the (Raleigh) News & Observer. He’s definitely good at his job, and he even has a nifty Twitter handle (@ice_chip).
All that being said, I’m not sure he watched the NHL playoffs.
Had he watched the playoffs, he would’ve known that the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in spite of their epic power-play struggles, and they won despite a nearly complete lack of contribution from defenseman Tomas Kaberle. Instead, the writer described a much different reality in his story on Wednesday.
“At 33, Kaberle isn’t old, by any means,” Alexander wrote. “He’s still productive, still one of the best in the NHL at quarterbacking a power play.”
Really? Among the best? Then how can you explain Boston’s embarrassingly low 11.4 percent success rate with the man advantage in the playoffs? How can you explain the fact that Kaberle had just five power-play assists in 25 playoff games, despite getting an average of 3:46 time on ice during power plays? That’s nearly two full power plays to be a great “quarterback,” yet he averaged just 0.2 power-play points per game. In 94:34 of ice time on the power play, he barely did anything. Yet, he’s “still one of the best.”
“But there were questions in Boston at times about his competitiveness, his fight in the one-on-one battles, his reluctance to shoot the puck,” Alexander also wrote. “He played well in the Stanley Cup finals against the Vancouver Canucks, though.”
Yes, Kaberle was playing so well in the Stanley Cup final that Bruins head coach Claude Julien felt compelled to cut his ice time to just 9:14 in the crucial Game 7. So well that his ice time went from roughly 19 minutes per game in the first round, to 15:28 in the second round, to 14:44 in the third round and 14:45 in the final. There was also this little mistake that probably won’t make the B’s championship DVD. He also seemed to be getting absolutely bundled every other shift against Vancouver, though there are no stats available for “getting crushed” … yet.
This isn’t to serve as some sort of rip job on Kaberle (who’s an awfully nice fellow, by the way), nor is it to say the folks in Carolina are wrong to believe they’re getting a high-quality player (for three years and $12.75 million). It is simply a statement of fact. It is, more importantly, a warning from Boston. When Kaberle was acquired (at a rather high price) by the Bruins, we were told the same things. Great on the power play, “still got it” in his early 30s, was a good player on a bad team and so on and so forth. What the Bruins actually got was one goal, eight assists and just 31 total shots on net in 24 regular-season games. From a stay-at-home defenseman, that’s fine, but from a guy with defensive shortcomings who’s supposed to be an offensive D-man, that’s not good at all.
He was planted on the blue line as the Bruins became the first NHL team to ever win a playoff series without scoring a power-play goal, and he was the “quarterback” of the Bruins’ biggest weakness. The people of Carolina need to know this, so as not to be utterly disappointed next fall.
Alexander’s story wasn’t entirely misleading, though.
“He does not seek the spotlight,” Canes head coach Paul Maurice said in the story. “That’s not something he’s comfortable with. That’s not him.”
Well then, going from the hockey-crazed Toronto market to the hockey-crazed Boston market and now to the much different atmosphere down in Raleigh, it seems like he’s found the right home, now doesn’t it?
Photo of the day
The Hurricanes’ power play finished 24th in the NHL last year. Are they going up or down with Kaberle on the blue line? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Quote of the day
“In 2009-10, the NBA repeatedly offered projections that league revenues would decline as much as 5 percent, or $180 million, while also projecting losses of $370 million. Revenues were actually up in ’09-10 and the revenue projections were off by as much as $200 million. Yet, the loss figures were only adjusted by $30 million. So yes, we feel there is more than adequate basis for questioning their projections and financials.”
–NBAPA spokesman Dan Wasserman, on the league misrepresenting its losses
Tweet of the day
It’s not. But we’re working on it.
Video of the Day
Is this real, or just some giant hoax to get obsessive people (such as myself) to watch it over and over again?
