Sedin Sisters? Twins Getting It From All Sides
Friday, June 10, 2011
NOT SO SWEDE:
With tonight’s all-important game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals to be played in Vancouver, many knowledgeable hockey fans both here and abroad are beginning to question the excellence of the Sedin twins.
How bad is it for the two of them? NBC and Versus hockey analyst Mike Milbury called them “Thelma & Louise” on national television. Now Bruins fans are calling talk radio and coming up with nicknames for them as well. “Laverne & Shirley” and the “Swedish Meatballs” are just a couple that B’s fans have come up with. Myself, I’d call them “pudding” because they seem pretty soft to me.
The regular season accomplishments of the Sedin’s are well-known. They are considered to be as feared a duo as there is in the National Hockey League.
But with the Stanley Cup hanging in the balance, many are starting to wonder just how good these two Swedes really are.
For all of their dominance during the regular season and even in the Western Conference playoffs, the Sedin’s have been very quiet in the Stanley Cup Finals. Henrik Sedin has 0 goals and 0 assists through the first four games of the series while Daniel has talled just 1 goal and 1 assist.
Much of that credit has to go to the Boston Bruins who have done an excellent job defensively against them. But is there something more to it than meets the eye?
Turn back the clock to 1999 when the Sedin twins played for Modo in the Swedish Elite League. Like Vancouver is in these Stanley Cup Finals, Modo was considered to be a strong favorite against Brynas in the championship 12 years ago.
But, as has been the case in these Stanley Cup Finals, the Sedin’s did not produce to the level expected of them back in 1999. They were upset by Brynas in the 5th and deciding game of the Swedish Elite League Championship on home ice.
While just about all of Sweden is pulling for the Sedin’s and Vancouver to win the Stanley Cup, they are also beginning to question whether or not they are chokers.
Now that hurts!
However, Bruins fans, beware! With everyone questioning the heart and toughness of the Sedin's, Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks, you have to believe that if that team has any pride that they will respond with a much better effort tonight at home than what we saw in games 3 and 4.
KING JAMES THE COURT JESTER:
I have one question for all of you LeBron James lovers out there: how can “King” James be the best player in the NBA, as many suggest, when he’s not even the best player on his own team?
If you have watched any of the Heat’s games in the NBA Playoffs and particularly the Finals, you have seen Dwyane Wade carry the Heat to victory more often than not with James adding sporadic excellence to the mix.
In fact, when you watch the NBA Finals, James (17.3 ppg) is performing like the third best player on the floor behind Wade (29.8 ppg) and Dirk Nowitzki (26.5 ppg) in these Finals.
Through the first four games of the NBA Finals, all of the contests were close going right down to the wire. With that in mind, check out these numbers from James, Wade and Nowitzki in the 4th quarters of games 1-4:
LeBron: (3-12 FG – 25% for a total of 9 points)
Wade: (10-18 FG - 56% for a total of 30 points)
Nowitzki: (12-14 FG – 50% for a total of 44 points)
Now tell me, who’s the King?
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