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Some are true greats, some aren

in Maps Discussion Thu Jul 12, 2018 4:25 am
by zxlbxj1 • Farseer | 487 Posts | 4870 Points

Every night of the Stanley Cup playoffs, TSN hockey analyst and former NHL goaltender Jamie McLennan breaks down each goalies performance. Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Tuukka Rask, Boston (4) - Explosive, perfect positioning and great rebound control for all five games that led to this series being clinched. The Datsyuk goal came off a rare rebound, but he had big saves on Franzen, Datsyuk, Glendening, and Alfredsson. He made it look easy. Jonas Gustavsson, Detroit (3) – He had some great saves in the game on Smith, Boychuk, Eriksson, and Soderberg. Not a lot of chance on the goals. Monster gave the Wings an opportunity to win. Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh (4) - Huge response game. He looked comfortable and relaxed given the pressure on him and made big saves on Dubinsky and Johanssen. There was a lot of traffic plays in front of him, and he did a good job of fighting through it. Made a great save on Johanssen in the third which hit Crosbys knee and changed directions, he was able to squeeze the pads to make the save. Active stick all game, aggressive and well timed. Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus (4) - Big saves on Crosby, Neal, Kunitz, Stempniak, and Sutter were the norm. He was the only reason it was close; was really good at controlling his rebounds. His work ethic in the net is evident as he never gives up on a shot - the Crosby back door save on the PK rebound was evidence of that. Semyon Varlamov, Colorado (4) - Strong again. He was under fire but extremely quick but controlled movements. Great crease work again on Grandlund and Koivu. Once again the big reason to the Avs success; timely big saves. Darcy Kuemper, Minnesota (3) - Good saves on MacKinnon, McGinn, Statsny, and Holden early on to look poised and relaxed on the road. No chance on the first two goals against; deflections. The game-winning goal was a great skill play by MacKinnon through a bit of a screen. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles (5) - Brilliant all night long, huge saves on Burns, Marleau, Pavelski, Couture. He was locked in all night, and you had a feeling he was going to dominate. The ridiculous save on Wingels, where he makes a left pad/glove save where the puck is going top glove, shows how fast and dynamic he is. Antti Niemi, San Jose (1) - Toffoli and Carters are not good goals against; Toffoli has a quick snap shot, but just beats him blocker side from far enough out, and Carters hit Stuarts skate, but check his post positioning – doesnt give himself a good chance for success. He got pulled in the first minute of the second period; rough night. Alex Stalock, San Jose (5) - Did a nice job of coming off the bench and mopping up, stopped the bleeding, had a calm demeanour. Good saves on Carter, Toffoli, Gaborik and Doughty. France Jerseys . The injury will keep the Finnish forward out of the Olympics. The 29-year-old has 20 goals and 41 points in 56 games this season, his first with Tampa Bay. Adil Rami France Jersey . -- Masahiro Tanaka knows that first appearance in a spring training game for the New York Yankees will be scrutinized. http://www.soccerfranceproshop.com/c-42-...nce-jersey.aspx. His recovery time is expected to be six to eight months. Seidenberg was injured in the third period of Fridays 5-0 victory over the Ottawa Senators, when he got his leg tangled with forward Cory Conacher. Benjamin Mendy France Jersey . - Veteran Kings defenceman Robyn Regehr, sidelined since Game 1 of the Anaheim series, says hes close to returning. Hugo Lloris Jersey . General Manager Sam Presti said the three-time All-Star had knee swelling that would not subside, and the procedure was intended to solve the problem. He said doctors determined that a loose stitch was to blame for the swelling, that Westbrooks lateral meniscus has healed properly and the procedure was successful.Watching the Montreal Canadiens lose goaltender Carey Price to injury this week reminded me of what I often think is the great weakness of North American sports. The reliance of individuals in team sports. Hockey is obsessed with goaltenders. A team loses and the first place people look at for blame is in between the pipes. Baseball? As they say, momentum is all about the next days starting pitcher. NFL? Find an elite quarterback if you want to win the Super Bowl and stop using Trent Dilfer as an example (unless you can find one of the greatest defences to go alongside him). Basketball? You wont find many NBA championship teams that doesnt feature a current or future hall of famer. The global game of soccer is often very different, as the achievements of Atletico Madrid this week have shown. A sport that is so reliant on teamwork rarely allows a figurehead to rise to such prominence to make a championship be about them. Sure, domestic leagues have outstanding players who take over games, weeks, even months of a campaign, but without their teammates they are just one man with a ball at their feet. Even the greatest players in the world today are surrounded by players close to their level that allows them to perform brilliantly so often. For some reason, however, every four years many forget the common sense around this belief and two words are the reason for it. World Cup. There have only been nineteen of these in history and, specifically for the last 16 of them, it has been considered as the ultimate thing in the sport to win. However, the World Cup is not without its failings. Many games produce predictable, sterile games dominated by defensive-minded teams, unable to replicate the teamwork earned by club teams over long periods of time, who, subsequently, know its far easier to stop than score. It is a tournament that lasts one month every four years. The best team plays seven games and does not even have to win them all. Yet, because it is so short in time and so infrequent on the games calendar, the World Cup cares little for reputations, instead choosing to make them. This allows the sport to be much more North American in terms of individuals stamping their authority on it. With this in mind, collectively, we owe it to future generations to be extremely careful with the evidence provided (and this is not always easy with the lack of video available to us once the tournament ends). First of all we must remember that players can have excellent tournaments without actually winning it. This rule is for all, not just for those you didnt expect to win it anyway. Take Lionel Messis 2010 World Cup. Many adjectives have been used to describe this including poor and disappointing. What nonsense. Messi was excellent in South Africa but because he didnt score a goal some thought he was disappointing. When his out-of-his-depth manager, Diego Maradona, decided to play without a central midfield, Argentina were sent home packing in the quarterfinals. They never had a chance of winning the World Cup and none of that fell on the shoulders of Messi. Since leaving South Africa, Messi, with Barcelona, has won everything there is to win in club football, and added three more Ballon DOr awards. He has consistently succeeded in the most competitive tournament, the Champions League, the sport has to offer. He is described by many as one of the greatest players to play the game but suddenly he is removed from such a camp, by some, the closer a World Cup gets to starting, when a new hurdle is put in his path to reach the pantheon of greatness; a hurdle he simply cannot jump himself.dddddddddddd Messis countryman, Ossie Ardiles, who won the World Cup in 1978, hit the headlines last week with this gem of a quote: "To be considered alongside the top, top guys like Pele and Diego Maradona and so on, Messi not only needs to be in the World Cup but to win it." Mr Ardiles isnt the only one who feels this way, of course, and in fact there is an alarming chance he is in the majority rather than the minority when it comes to this topic. What a pity. And while we are on this quote, who is so on exactly? When Pele played, the World Cup was everything. He changed the sport and is arguably the greatest player to play the game. The World Cup made him the global star that he simply couldnt reach himself at Santos. Maradona graced four World Cups and is forever remembered as the face of Mexico 1986. It is fitting for a man so talented that he had that event to catapult him towards the legends of the game but many who celebrate Maradonas greatness, because of those 30 days in Mexico, often, conveniently, forget his 1982 and 1994 World Cups ended in disgrace. 1990? Dont let their runner-up spot fool you. His team was even worse than Messis 2010 side and his performances werent even close to the ones shown by Barcelonas current star in South Africa. There is no disputing Maradonas greatness on the field but if the guardians of football history and, subsequently, the makers of reputations are going to base so much on what happens at World Cups then they need to be fair about it. In a sport that cares so often about who wins and loses this seems like an impossible task. Only one team can lift the trophy when it all finishes on July 11. Of course, Messi will be considered as one of the true greats if that team proves to be Argentina but why should we wait to find out what some of his flawed teammates can do for him before we give him such an honour? Just because Maradona, Pele and so on won the World Cup? The game is full of true, elite greats who never did. Pele and Maradona call Alfredo Di Stefano the most complete player ever and what of Johan Cruyff, who was magnificent in the 1974 World Cup and did everything but win the tournament? Rather than holding the World Cup to a higher standard that some cannot reach, those who lean on individual quality, should enjoy its beauty at producing other stars whose solo acts can carry their teams far. Garrincha, Eusebio, Cruyff, Paolo Rossi, Toto Schillaci, Roberto Baggio, Romario, Davor Sukur, Ronaldo, Oliver Kahn, Fabio Cannavaro, Diego Forlan and David Villa are just some examples of that. Some won, some didnt. Some are true greats, some arent. Their reputations were enhanced by their World Cup play but also because their team was able to get to the final week of the event. Neither Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo needs to win a World Cup to be graced amongst the greatest ever. It appears, before the tournament already starts, that Ronaldo doesnt have the team to get him to the trophy, and if the tournament proves the same for Argentina why should Messi be judged differently to Ronaldo? This special group, created by the likes of Ardiles, that features Maradona, Pele and so on is a hindrance to football history and an ignorance to the game itself. Cheap Jerseys Online Wholesale Black NFL Jerseys Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping ' ' '

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