Maybe in the 5th game of the series but certainly by next week another Penguins vs Capitals series will be part of history.
With that in mind, below is a factual mistake readers can find on Yahoo Sports, Pittsburgh Penguins Playoffs History.
1991 — defeated New Jersey, 4-3, Patrick Division semifinals
defeated N.Y. Rangers, 4-1, Patrick Division finals
defeated Boston, 4-2, Wales Conference finals
defeated Minnesota, 4-2, Stanley Cup Finals
The Penguins did win it all in 1991 but their Patrick Division finals victory was vs the Washington Capitals, NOT the New York Rangers.
Click below for the link and note the mistake regarding the 1991 playoffs.
Pittsburgh Penguins playoff history – NHL – Yahoo Sports
Forty years ago, the Cleveland Cavaliers in their first playoff series, won a melodramatic 7 game quarterfinal series vs the Washington Bullets.
I can still hear their great broadcaster, Joe Tait calling Bobby “Bingo” Smith’s winning shot in game 2 of that epic series.
One thing did not change and that is the Cavaliers will win a quarterfinal series forty years later, but this series vs the Atlanta Hawks will not be epic.
In my opinion, no basketball announcer, not even Marv Albert or Chick Hearn were better play by play radio people than Tait, so replacing him, as with Hearn or Albert is darn near impossible.
Yet it must be noted that the replacement has little in the way of radio basketball play by play skills. This is so often a problem with this generation of radio sports play by play announcers as they did not listen to the radio.
Jim Cleamons Game Winner. 1976 NBA Playoffs Cleveland Cavaliers vs Washington Bullets Game 5
Click above to view and hear Joe Tait’s call of The end of game 5 of that epic Cavaliers/Bullets series forty years ago.
Compounding the ESPN decision to have the Yankees vs the Red Sox as their Sunday night game two weeks in a row is the fact it could have been the Washington Nationals vs the Chicago Cubs.
The combined record of the Cubs and Nationals going into the game Sunday night will be 25 games over.500.
Meanwhile the combined record of the Yankees and Red Sox will be at best .500. if both teams win today.
The Cubs and Nationals enter their 4 game series in Wrigley Field in Chicago with the two best records in the still very early baseball season.
Yet two weeks in a row, all powerful, stubborn and probably lazy ESPN gives us Yankees/Red Sox. Why?!!
Before their current quarterfinal series, the Pittsburgh Penguins enjoyed a (7-1) advantage vs the Washington Capitals in 8 previous playoff series, as with the current one, none later than the quarterfinal round.
Now after Patric Hornqvist’s overtime goal last night in game 4 in Pittsburgh, the Pens have a commanding 3 games to 1 series lead over the top ranked Washington Capitals.
The only time the Caps defeated the Penguins in a playoff series was in 1994 as they served as “the construction company” paving the way for the New York Rangers’ only Stanley Cup title in the last 75 seasons as “Wash” ousted Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and company.
The Capitals whose first season evokes a “75,” namely 1975 now must rally from a (3-1) series deficit as the Penguins have twice done vs them (1992, 1996) to avoid a 16th consecutive season without a semi-final appearance, this in a season in which they had the top record in the NHL.
It gets really hot and then eventually there is lightning.
Last night both the Miami Heat and Tampa Bay Lightning were at the opposite ends of incredible late in regulation time game tying situations.
However, the common thread between the teams is that each won and now has home advantage if not a big advantage in their quarterfinal series.
The Heat had to be crushed when the Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry hit a game tying, half court, three point shot to force overtime in game 1 last night in Toronto. Yet the Heat prevailed in overtime and are now series favorites with the home advantage.
Meanwhile the Lightning thrice rallied from a one goal deficits vs the New York Islanders, most notably on Nikita Kucherov’s tying goal in the last minute of regulation.
Then in overtime, Brian Boyle scored to give the Lightning a (2-1) series edge and again the home advantage.
A great goal scorer, Nikita Kucherov, pictured above.
I criticize their back and forth media and fans, too critical of the team when they lose and far too cocky when they win.
The over confidence was epitomized by The (Yankees) Yes Network’s Michael Kay, who in 1988 as a beat writer guaranteed a division title for the Yankees but was wrong.
In 2003, with the Yankees up 2 games to 1 in the World Series vs the Florida Marlins, he said the Marlins did not belong on the same field with the Yankees. Maybe it was the opposite but I, unlike Kay and so many in the media will not go to extremes, but the Marlins did win the last three games of the World Series and the title.
“Rinse and repeat,” in 2010 when Kay, after the Yankees won the ALCS opener at Texas vs the Rangers, again guaranteed a Yankees’ victory and was wrong. Texas won their first American League Pennant in 6 games.
It is still very early in the baseball season and no team in the American League East is running away, but let’s say this is the year the currently (8-16) New York Yankees truly falter, I say hold the criticism as they had a great run and many before.
True they have won but one World Series, since winning 4 in 5 seasons under manager Joe Torre from (1996-2000) but once made the playoffs 13 straight seasons (1995-2007), including all 12 under Torre from (1996-2007).
They followed a “miss the playoffs” season in 2008 with their 27th title (that alone excuses them from much criticism) in 2009.
They followed that with two ALCS appearances in 3 straight playoffs seasons, before missing the post season in both 2013 and 2014 and losing the American League wild card game last season. Joe Girardi is in his 9th season as Yankees’ manager.
I criticize their back and forth media and fans, too critical of the team when they lose and far too cocky when they win. More on that in my next post.
As the years go forward, the excellence of the New York Yankees under manager Joe Torre, pictured above, is to be appreciated as one of baseball’s best team periods.
Three NHL quarterfinal series continue with a trio of game 3’s tonight.
In one series, the San Jose Sharks a fine team, gaining from playing within the Pacific Division against a wild card team from the NHL Central, take a (2-0) series lead into Nashville vs the Predators for a 9 p.m. Eastern time tilt.
The teams with the top two records in the NHL West, the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues are tied at one game apiece with game 3 beginning at nine thirty Eastern time tonight in St. Louis.
By virtue of a tiebreaker, the Stars got the top seed and hence home advantage vs the Blues in this series. Now St. Louis has it and though I think they will lose one of the next two at home, I am sticking with my Blues to win the series prediction.
Also tonight, beginning at 7 Eastern time, the Tampa Bay Lightning visit the New York Islanders with that series knotted at one game apiece. I predict it will also be knotted at two games apiece after the next two games at the Islanders’ first year, Brooklyn home.
Something made me think about former basketball player, Ira Harge.
In doing research on Harge, a fine player at the University of New Mexico (5 time NBA champion, Michael Cooper’s college), I saw that Ira Harge played on the first two ABA championship teams.
More noteworthy is that they were different teams and I doubt but wonder if that has ever happened at any other time.
Harge played on the first ABA champions, the 1967-1968 Pittsburgh Pipers, a team led by Connie Hawkins. That season after playing in all 82 regular season games, Harge did not play in the playoffs
The next year Harge was with the Oakland Oaks, the team that won the second ABA crown in 1968-1969.
That team was led by Rick Barry and coached by Alex Hannum.
Ira Harge pictured above.
It took only to the first game of the second round/quarterfinals of the NHL playoffs for every playoff team to have lost a home game. 15 of the 16 teams lost at home in the first round.
Upsets are less likely in basketball but do not look now after Oklahoma City’s one point win at San Antonio last night (the Spurs won by 32 points, the Thunder by one but now “OKC” has home court advantage), only four of the 16 NBA playoff teams have not lost at home.
One of those teams, the Cleveland Cavaliers won and covered the Atlanta Hawks in their quarterfinal series opener last night.
The Hawks and the opponents in a Western Conference “semi”/NBA “quarter,” the Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers are the other teams that have not yet lost a home game in the playoffs.
Andy B Sports 