Three Stars and season-ending glance
By Brian A. Shactman
ESPN.com
Take a look at who ESPN.com chose as the three stars of Game 6. And then check out what each team can think about over the summer:
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No. 1 star: Jason Arnott
Arnott gets the nod so we can stay in compliance with the unwritten rule that any player who scores the game-winning goal in overtime -- regardless of how he plays the rest of the game -- automatically gets the No. 1 star. Arnott could have been the goat with his overtime penalty. But the Devils killed it off, and Arnott redeemed himself in the best possible way: By scoring on Ed Belfour and winning the Cup in the second OT. Let's not forget that Arnott was shaken up badly in Game 4 and may still have been feeling the effects of Derian Hatcher's questionable hit. Tough, focused and can score. Pretty good combination. |
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No. 2 star: John Madden
He may not have had any points, but boy, was he valuable. For a rookie to show such poise and smarts with the puck just shows what this kid will do in the future. He delayed when others would rush and forechecked aggressively when others backed off. Because of that, he created space for himself, and that's why he had a game-high seven shots. Plus, he took key faceoffs, played a lot of minutes and killed penalties -- as usual. |
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No. 3 star: Martin Brodeur
He shares this in spirit with Ed Belfour, who was equally amazing the past three days. Brodeur played his best in Games 5 and 6. Where did all those two-pad slides come from? For much of the playoffs, his gaudy stats seemed more because of the team in front of him, but over the final two games, Brodeur allowed two goals on 72 shots. Put that in your save percentage and smoke it. So, who cares if he was snubbed for the Vezina Trophy nominations? Do you think any of the nominees would trade the Vezina for the Cup? Enough said. |
Dallas: Perhaps, they went to the well one too many times. Or to abuse the cliché a little more, the 3-1 hole may have been too deep to dig out of. After Game 4, it would have been easy to say this team is too old and slow to keep together. It's probably still true, but the Stars played so well and so hard in the final two games. Let's worry about contracts and free agency later. One thing is for sure: The Stars need scoring depth. If Joe Nieuwendyk had Jamie Langenbrunner, it still may not have been enough. Maybe, one of the young guys will emerge, but truth be told, none of them look like budding 30-goal scorers. Belfour, Modano and Hull are great, and the defense is solid. Two or three upgrades at forward, and the Stars remain competitive. If not, the Stars will fall well behind St. Louis and maybe even Colorado.
New Jersey: Enjoy the Stanley Cup because no one knows what's going to happen when George Steinbrenner involves himself in the ownership equation -- even if he does nothing, his mere presence could induce chaos. On the ice, there is a tremendous core of young talent with Madden, Scott Gomez, Patrik Elias, Petr Sykora, Brian Rafalski and Colin White. However, there will be some contract issues, and no one knows if Larry Robinson will stick around if both Dr. John McMullen and Lou Lamoriello are gone. Too many question marks to project anything, but it's doubtful this team could repeat. Then again, who really thought this team would win the Cup at all, especially after coach Robbie Ftorek was fired late in the season.
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