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 Friday, December 13, 2002
Veteran leadership key to advancement
By John Davidson
Special to ABC Sports Online
When you get into these playoff situations where there is always a time or two when you need to rely on something, generally that person with leadership will get it done. Gary Roberts did it for Toronto in Game 7 on Tuesday night against the Islanders.
These are the players who possess that ability to lead their teams to the conference finals.
Montreal-Carolina
Each team has a real veteran -- Montreal’s Doug Gilmour and Carolina’s Ron Francis. Both players have a lot of experience and great playoff success.
|  | | Doug Gilmour provided a leadership presence for the Canadiens in their upset of the Bruins. |
When everybody was up in arms about Kyle McLaren’s hit on Richard Zednik, Gilmour was the voice of reason on the Canadiens. Throughout the series, he would get up during the intermissions and talk to his teammates and pointed in the right direction. Besides Jose Theodore, he is the key to Montreal’s success.
Kevin Weekes will get the start for the Hurricanes, but it is Francis who will score the power-play goal. He will also help analyze things for Carolina. He’s like an assistant coach on the ice.
Toronto-Ottawa
During Ottawa’s defeat of Philadelphia, Daniel Alfredsson was relentless. That’s why he is the captain. He shows his effort, leadership and perseverance. It’s not sitting in the dressing room being a spokesperson. It’s also performing and leading on the ice surface.
Ottawa’s experience of losing to Toronto last year could be a negative, but the Senators’ experience of beating Philadelphia this year is a bigger positive. Being as healthy as they are and knowing they are playing their game, which is speed, finesse and smart defensive play, it’s a nice combination going.
Health is a huge question mark for the Maple Leafs. It’s a black and blue team right now. Mats Sundin is a question mark, thus there are two key players for the Leafs to advance. One is Roberts. In Game 7 against the Islanders, he was the best player on the ice in the first period. That turned the game around. He was the key. And they needed it right then.
The other one is Darcy Tucker. If he plays goofy, it will hurt his team. If he plays smart, he could be a bonus, a plus factor. But if he plays goofy, he’s a negative factor. It’s up to him, it’s his game. If you go into a series -- even if you are an agitator -- and you play smart, you are a bonus for your team. But if you go in there and play stupid, you are a complete negative. Who knows what you will get with Darcy.
San Jose-Colorado
I suspect we’ll see an Adam Foote-Owen Nolan matchup. Playoff series become a series of games within the game. In this series, Foote will likely play a lot against Nolan. It will be a war of attrition.
If that is indeed the matchup, then Teemu Selanne has to score because he won’t have to go up against the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Foote. And young players like Patrick Marleau have to have a good series for San Jose because Chris Drury will for Colorado. They are young and have to prove that they can play well in the playoffs.
When you look at the construction of the Avalanche, it’s like a giant puzzle. If everyone is healthy, then the puzzle fits beautifully. But Colorado hasn’t had a full lineup since the start of the season. Having Peter Forsberg completes the puzzle. Instead of just worrying about Joe Sakic or Drury, the other team has to worry about Forsberg and Milan Hejduk. The Avs are so schooled defensively that if Forsberg retains his health, he completes the offensive puzzle, and they will be really hard to beat.
Detroit-St. Louis
Detroit goes as Steve Yzerman goes. There is no single factor bigger on the Red Wings. He proved it against Vancouver. He’s the heart and soul of all heart and souls. The man wills his team. It doesn’t matter what his injury factor is.
|  | | Although not completely healthy, Steve Yzerman tied for the team lead with eight points in the first round. |
He probably has an aggravated knee that can feel really strong, but then feel really bad two days later. It’s a knee that has a lot of miles on it. But his drive is rare. You could take every sport in North America, and you could probably find at most five people like him. He’s what Mark Messier was in the early ‘90s, no doubt.
For the Blues, Keith Tkachuk has himself in the best shape of his career. He’s a factor and is heading into a series where he will go against a very intelligent Detroit defense, especially Nik Lidstrom and Chris Chelios. Chelios just finished having a private battle with Todd Bertuzzi, who is about 50 pounds heavier. He did very well. Tkachuk has to battle either the finesse of Lidstrom or the tenacious style of Chelios, and is going to have to keep his cool. Keith bubbles on the ice with a great passion level, but he is going to have to retain his level of boiling over. It’s an important factor in this series.
Brent Johnson had a great series against Chicago, but is going up against a legend. When a goaltender gets confident, it’s a terrific feeling. It was important for Johnson to get in a groove early in the playoffs. Montreal’s Theodore wasn’t himself until the final two games against Boston. He found his game, but it took him a while. Johnson found his game right away.
He’ll need to keep his confidence. Detroit has a different power play than Chicago. It’s spectacular and they move the puck well. The Wings have shooters, guys who can move the puck, guys who can get in front, and guys on the point. Johnson is a big kid and that will help with all the traffic in front. He has a good mindset for playoff goaltending. He’ll need it.
John Davidson is ABC’s NHL analyst and will contribute regularly to ABC Sports Online during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
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