| W E L C O M E T O: JAY SHAH'S HOMEPAGE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This property was reserved by Jay Shah I'm 20 years old, from Houston,Texas, USA. I currently attend The University of Texas-San Antonio. After playing only once in seven days, the Maple Leafs are eager to start the postseason. And that happens Thursday night. Finally. "It's like studying for an exam all year long. They want to do well," said Leafs coach Pat Quinn as the Leafs prepared to battle the Philadelphia Flyers in an Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. Of note and concern to the Leafs was a stat from last year: Of the eight teams that enjoyed home-ice advantage in the first round of last year's playoffs, only four advanced to the second round. The four that did not survive -- Colorado, Pittsburgh, New Jersey and Philadelphia -- each had a home-ice loss in Game 1 of their series. Food for thought for the Leafs, who are also busy digesting a 1-3-0 record against the Flyers, although that was the Flyers with Eric Lindros. ... Rust could be a factor for the Leafs who have played twice in 11 days. The Flyers were much more active during the final week of the season. ... As recently as a month ago Quinn described the Maple Leafs power play, which finished 18th in a 27-team race, this way: "It stinks." Toronto's penalty killers finished 24th. Considering how important special teams are in the playoffs, the Leafs could be in trouble if they don't show quick improvement in both areas. "Let's face it. (Special teams) can give you the opportunity to win a hockey game," said Quinn. "That's how the Islanders won their first Cup. (Philadelphia) was the better team five-on-five. But the Islanders' power play was exceptional." ... The average Flyer is one inch taller and 4.2 pounds heavier than the average Leaf. According to the latest league statistics, the average Flyer is 6-1, 203.5 pounds, the average Leaf 6-0, 198.3. The Flyers also are slightly older group, 28.7 years of age compared with 27.2 for the Leafs. ... It appears the Leafs have a point when they say the Flyers are crease crashers. But the Flyers are not alone. A review of season stats revealed that the Flyers, accused by the Leafs of being notorious goalie jostlers, were called seven times during the regular season for goaltender interference. That's the same number of times the Leafs were called for the infraction. ... It would not be a complete shock if someone other than Mats Sundin dominated the Leafs' scoring race this spring. In 18 games against Philadelphia, Boston, New Jersey and Ottawa, Sundin scored one goal and added three assists -- meager totals by anyone's standards. Sundin's lone goal came against the Flyers. "He may not be a major scoring factor for us (in the playoffs)," Quinn said. "We're not really depending on that. What we want him to do is be reliable back in his own end.". ... | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Their fans wonder if they will make the playoffs, but really the Raptors might as well consider themselves involved in the playoffs right now. Beginning Sunday against Detroit, Toronto's final seven games of the season are all against teams fighting for the final four playoff positions in the Eastern Conference. In essence, the team is about to embark in a best-of-seven series to determine if they will take part in postseason play. "Every game is a big game now," said Raptors backup center Michael Stewart. Friday in Orlando, the Raptors defeated the slumping Magic for the second time in five days, and additionally won for the fourth time in the past five outings. Even more surprising, the Raptors have now won five of their past seven road games, and with the win over Orlando Friday, the team set a record for the number of consecutive road wins -- three. In short, as one of the team's TV analysts put it recently, in one season the Raptors have gone from road kill to road warriors. The ability to win on the road will be put to the test in the next week, however. The Raptors finish the season with four of their last five games on the road. Two of those will be in Milwaukee, one is in Cleveland and the other is in Philadelphia. Each of those teams are fighting for a playoff berth as well. . . . Twice in the same week, Tracy McGrady has had the opportunity to go up against his boyhood idol, Penny Hardaway. Both times the 19-year-old McGrady and the Raptors came out on the better end. Friday, McGrady scored 17 and had eight rebounds and two blocks in a 96-88 victory. Hardaway finished with seven points, and was 3 for 10 from the field. Last Monday, in a 107-91 win, McGrady finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and four assists against Hardaway's 11 points. . . . Dee Brown hit four three-pointers against the Magic Friday, and he now leads the NBA with 112 threes. He became the first NBA player this season to nail 100 long distance baskets by sinking two on April 19. Against Washington Wednesday, Brown made six threes in the fourth quarter, setting a team record. . . . Friday's game was the Raptors first taste this season of national-TV exposure in the U.S. Last week, TNT decided to switch games to give its audience a look at rookie phenom Vince Carter. Although nervous beforehand knowing that more than the usual number of eyes would be on him, Carter delivered down the stretch and led all scorers with 24 points on 11 for 23 shooting. Many of his points came off unstoppable fade-away jumpers. He also had seven rebounds and two blocked shots, and was a disruptive force on defense. . . . Kevin Willis scored seven points Friday, leaving him just five short of 15,000 for his career. When he reaches the milestone, he will become just the 17th player in league history to score 15,000 and pull down 10,000 rebounds. . . . If the Raptors make the playoffs, it will mark one of the biggest turnarounds in league history. Since the league adopted its 82-game schedule, only two teams have gone from less than 20 wins one year -- the Raptors had 16 wins last season -- to the playoffs the next. And no team has ever gone from last place in its division one year to the playoffs with a .500 record. . . . With the end of the season approaching and legs growing weary, coach Butch Carter is finally beginning to go easy on his team when they get an off day. Thursday, the entire team spent the day at Dee Brown's house in nearby Jacksonville, Fla. Brown's mother made the team dinner, and the players spent time relaxing in the water on a jet ski. Carter has decided that time off is more valuable at this stage of the season than practice or preparation. In the meantime why not check out the link below to get your own 20MB of free webspace? | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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