Gah. Special teams have been the Oilers' undoing. Production from their PP has been depressing, while Carolina's man-advantage has been successful enough to make a difference. Not to mention the Oilers giving up too many PPs to a dangerous Canes team. Here's hoping Oilers can at least force a Game 6.
Early on this season, I was frustrated by the lack of flow to the game because of soooo many penalties. It was a learning experience for players who needed to make major adjustments in their game to avoid infractions. Well, by now the players who were talented enough to make adjustments should know better and those that couldn't adjust their game should be playing golf. Still, in the heat of the game many players would rather take a stupid penalty then give up an easy play. The important thing is consistency, and the refs have been pretty consistent thus far.
Players can and still do make big hits. Pronger never has been known to make the big hits, but rather he is just punishing to play against. Nevermind his 747 wingspan, he can take the body as well as anyone and will make you pay in the corners. I've always been a big fan of "Chopper". He is prototypical "old-skool", even staying with a wooden stick. One of my all-time faves was Ray Bourque: tough as hell, never backed down from the physical battles, could man the point on the PP, and was never dirty. He was a class act.
And yeah, look up "Captain" in the hockey dictionary and you will see two pictures, Steve Yzerman and Mark Messier.
