(vol.
14W, no. 4; newsletter by b.n.)
The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim can thank Harris for the fact that they lost
the Stanley Cup. For those of you that were paying attention, just before
our last Championship game with the Jags, Harris sent out an email that
was
intended to encourage the team. It read simply “We are the Ducks!”
At that point in the playoffs, the Ducks had already clinched their berth
in the Stanley Cup and were just waiting to see who would prevail in the
Ottawa-Devils series. The Ducks had beat the No.1 and No.2-seeded teams
in the West, Dallas and Detroit (which was the first time that was ever
done), and then they shut out the Minnesota Wild in three straight games
before wrapping it up in the fourth. Given all they had accomplished in
the first three rounds, who could blame Harris for wanting to be like the
Ducks?
Of course the parallels for the Pirates and Ducks are somewhat chilling:
In the Pirates game it was the Pirates who fell in to the 1-0 hole in the
Championship game, while the Ducks fell behind in the series 2-0. The Pirates
were able to score a goal and go in to the final period of the Championship
game tied at 1-1. The Ducks, on the same hand, were able to win a couple
games and go in to the final game of the series tied at 3-3. Of course we
all know what happened with the Pirates — and the Ducks went down the
same way. The interesting question is: When Harris said that “We are
the Ducks,” did that lock the Pirates into the fate of the Ducks (or
vice-versa)? The other interesting thing to note: After the series, Harris
was voted as the Conn Smythe winner — oddly enough, after the Ducks
final game, the losing goalie of that series was also named as the Conn
Smythe winner. And the final similarity: After losing the Stanley Cup, Jean
Sebastian Jiguere was crying like ... you guessed it — Harris. And
speaking of Harris, I just got this:
From:
Harriss88@aol.com
Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2003 10:24 AM
To: bnewcomb@inlineservicesinc.com
can i just take a moment to remind u that the object of the newsletter is
as much to remind people of upcoming gametimes as it is to further your
career as a famous author. it is therefore, the point to have it filed by
friday so thusly most of the “list” can enjoy it AND be reminded
of the gametimes at their work (which is where many of the emails go).
thank you for your cooperation.
hs #88
Whoops, guess I better get to the newsletter ...
We have seen a lot of the Jags recently; first it was the Jags knocking
out the Pirates in the closing seconds of the Championship game, then a
few weeks later it was Mike Farrell knocking out Mark Andras in the closing
seconds of a 2-1 nailbiter. The game began with the Pirates short a few
players; Captain Russ Nicolosi was AWOL and nowhere to be found (Harris
says there will be the standard “6 quality beer fine” imposed
— we'll see). Evan Miller was also missing (no, he isn't missing any
more fingers — just missed the game). LeMatty also missed the game
(most likely because the last Wednesday newsletter was so late that he had
no idea what time the game was — hence the “warning” from
Harris above).
Going with the 5/3 rotation, it was Scott Miller, Wildman, Allen, Chris
and #67 on offense, while on defense it was Dave Matthews, Keith Richardson
and Mike Farrell. The Jags were the first team to get things going when
one of their players took the puck in along the far boards and cut to center
of the floor; with the Pirates climbing all over him he was able to fire
off a shot back across the grain for the score and the 1-0 lead. The Jags
would add another one in the 1st period on a similar play to give the Jags
a 2-0 lead at the end of the 1st period.
The Pirates got things going in the 2nd when someone on “D” (might
have been Mike Farrell, but I am not certain — he paid me $20 in the
parking lot to say it was him — but it was probably really Keith Richardson)
worked the puck up the far boards to Chris Goioiioione who was camped out
just outside the blueline. Chris could not help but hear the deafening baritone
of #67 demanding the puck and – fearing that his eardrums were about
to explode — sent the puck to the center of the rink where #67 was
able to tie up the stick of the Jags' player; as the puck passed the Jag
player, #67 was suddenly in on a breakaway and, with the old forehand-backhand-forehand,
#67 got the Jags goalie to drop and then went to the backhand one more time
for the shot . According to Mike Farrell at this point the Jags bench jumped
to their feet thinking their goalie had made a great save (apparently #67
was so nonchalant about the goal that no one thought he scored it, eh?)
#67 nonchalant? You gotta be kidding me! Indeed the puck was in the net
and the Pirates were back in the game, trailing 2-1. Unfortunately it would
be the Jags who would score next to again make it a two-goal game. On the
next face-off, however, it was Wildman who pushed the puck forwards and
stepped around the Jag center and carried the puck down the throat of the
Jags defense and – with at least three angry cats slashing at him –
he was able to bury the puck to get the goal right back. The 2nd period
ended with the score Jags leading 3-2.
The 3rd period remained tight until there was about 5:00 minutes or so to
go. That is were the Pirates vs. Ducks and Harris vs. Giguere comparisons
part ways; unfortunately, you see, Jean-Sebastien Giguere might have enjoyed
a certain benefit of having pads that stand taller than Harris (see “zoomed-in”
graphic below. note the comparison of Marty's shoulder pads vs. Jiggy's).
Anyway if Jiggy was in net for the Pirates, the slapshot that Gucci shot
would have hit his shoulder pads with a thud and dropped to the floor in
front of him. Unfortunately, Harris does not have Jiggy's pads and instead
the puck deflected off Harris' shoulder pad and bounced off the crossbar
on its way to the back of the net.
The Pirates would pull Harris in the closing minutes in one last attempt
to tie the game, but when a Jag player banked the puck off the glass from
behind his own net, the puck slowly skidded down the floor before stopping
just inches over the goal line.
I was going to get into the comments made by Mike after the game (the ones
he was afraid to tell his wife) but I seem to be pressed for time so I will
have to cover those next week.
