All-Time Draft - 1st Round - Thunder vs. Buckaroos - Results (NO WRITE-UPS!)

[MXD]

Sorry to let you down... both would have deserved better. I explained a little what happened in the "urgent" thread...

If someone would like to do a post write-up or anything...

Las Vegas Thunder wins the round in 7.

Stars

1 : Dominik Hasek
2 : Phil Esposito
3 : Jari Kurri

Click to read more...

 

[hockeyfan125]

sorta weak to work so hard on a team and no write up, but then again I couldn't find the time to contribute to other threads. Thought I had the better team but ah well.

 

[pitseleh]

sorta weak to work so hard on a team and no write up, but then again I couldn't find the time to contribute to other threads. Thought I had the better team but ah well.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. As I said in another thread, I found all three Foster Hewitt series to be very difficult to come up with a winner. All three went to seven games for me (I had you slightly ahead of Las Vegas).

Surprising that the first two stars were on the losing team. I guess that shows the depth that Las Vegas has, as they probably had a lot of vote splitting.

 

[Frank the Tank]

I have been following your guys draft out of interest, always wanted to try this, and am monitoring a boring experiment. So if you do not mind... I tried to base key performances off the star rating MXD provided and what round the players were drafted (higher = better).

Game 1- Second Period Outburst Wins the Opener for the Thunder

PORTLAND, Oregon. (AP) -- Jari Kurri and the Las Vegas Thunder provided an answer to anyone questioning whether they are a competitive team in the ATD.

It's a response that came through loud and clear in a 5-2 victory over the Portland Buckaroos in Game 1 of their Foster Hewitt Round 1 series on Wednesday night.
"I think we showed everybody we were ready," Esa Tikkanen said. "A lot of things were said before the game, and we made sure we showed to respond not in the paper but on the ice."

Tikkanen was referring to Buckaroos coach Dick Irvin Sr.’s comments suggesting the Thunder weren't the league's "toughest team."

"Yeah, obviously, everybody heard it," Tikkanen said. "We talked about it. It's a good thing."

Kurri scored twice and Kharlamov once during a three-goal second-period that broke open a scoreless game and put the Thunder in control.

It was a vintage outburst – the Thunder scored three times on four shots in a 5:03 span -- for a potent Thunder team that was one of the highest scoring teams in the league during the regular season.

"When we finally got that first one past (goalie Dominik Hasek), it was, 'All right,"' Thunder captain Ron Francis said. "For us, it gave us confidence and we just kept attacking."

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Friday at Portland.

Red Berenson, off a rebound from a Dallas Smith point shot, and Jay Pandolfo, with an empty-net goal, also scored for the Thunder.

Cy Denneny and Phil Esposito scored third-period goals for Portland, which never got closer than two goals in the final 20 minutes.

"Mentally, we weren't as sharp as we needed to be, and not as sharp as we'll be next game," Esposito said. "I don't know if they outplayed us, but they outperformed us."
The Buckaroos went 0-for-5 in power-play chances, and failed to score during a 2-minute, two-man advantage early in the third period.

"We did not compete hard enough and it really showed," Irvin said.

Effort wasn't the only problem. Portland's defencemen had difficulty keeping up with the Thunder's speed all evening.

That was apparent when the Thunder finally got one past Hasek, who was otherwise sharp in stopping the first 23 shots he faced.

Kurri opened the scoring 14 minutes into the second period with a power-play goal. Parked in front and a step ahead of defender Jim Schoenfeld, Kurri was in perfect position to deflect in Leetch’s shot from inside the blue line.

Las Vegas’ top line struck for the next goal when Kharlamov, set up by Igor Larionov's pass, split two defenders and snapped a shot from the right circle that beat Hasek high on the far side.

Kurri capped the surge when he got hit by Ulf Samuelsson at the Buckaroos' blue line, drove in and around Jim Schoenfeld, and scored on a defenseless Hasek.

 

[Frank the Tank]

Game 2 - Fast Start Paces Buckaroos to Shutout Victory

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) -- The Portland Buckaroos made sure to avoid another long night by jumping on the Las Vegas Thunder early.

Wayne Cashman and Ken Hodge scored on the opening shift in each of the first two periods, and Dominik Hasek made 35 saves as the Buckaroos evened their best-of-seven first-round playoff series with a 2-0 win over Las Vegas on Friday night.

"It was amazing, our guys were talking about it yesterday, that we're going to come out and dictate the pace," Buckaroos defenseman Carl Brewer said. "Kenny got us on the board early and I thought we were off and running.

Phil Esposito assisted on both goals for the Buckaroos, who head to Las Vegas tied in the series. Game 3 is Sunday night.

The Buckaroos came out with lots of early energy. It took them only 39 seconds to get the goal they couldn't through the first two periods in Game 1, with Hodge scoring on the first shift of the game.

Left alone in the slot after a defensive zone breakdown by the Thunder, Hodge deflected Doug Wilson's pass from the point behind a prone Tiny Thompson.

"I don't know if you can plan something like that but we wanted to come out early and have a good effort to start the game," Esposito said. "It was nice to get the goal really early like that."

It was more of the same to start the second period, with Cashman left unchecked to convert Esposito's cross-ice feed just 45 seconds in.

That was more than enough offense for the Buckaroos, who clamped down after establishing a two-goal lead.

"For me tonight it was two mistakes at the beginning of each the first and second period from two different forwards that led to tap-in goals for them, Thunder coach Scotty Bowman said. "And it wasn't the fact our guys were fatigued, it was just we didn't bring our best game to the table."

Hasek made his best saves in the final six minutes. He slid across to stop Vladimir Vikulov in the slot and got a piece of hard shots by Brian Leetch and Dave Burrows to preserve his shutout. Not that Hasek, who stopped 17 shots in the third, was making a big deal about it.

"I thought I was on my way to one the other night, he said with a smile, pointing to 23 saves before the first one slipped past him in game 1. "I don’t count those. It doesn't really mean anything, it's all about the first win of our series."

Hasek, now 1-1 with a 2.04 GAA and 0.918 SV%, was also good in the first period, getting his left toe on Terry Crisp’s deflection and sprawling to stop Ron Francis on a rebound in the slot.

Despite the 35 shots, there wasn't much in the way of high-quality chances coming at Hasek from the Thunder, especially in the second period as Las Vegas missed the net on their few scoring chances, and Mark Recchi hit the post from the slot with 2:30 left in the period.

"He was just solid in there," Dick Irvin Sr. said. "I don't think they had a lot of great chances or outnumbered rushes or anything but there was a lot of poking and prodding around the net and he was very strong in there."

Thompson, who stood tall in Game 1, made 25 saves in his first loss of this postseason, but had little chance on the two goals.






More later...

 

[hockeyfan125]

much appreciated.

 

[Frank the Tank]

Game 3 - Francis Tap-in wins it for Thunder in OT

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AP) -- The Las Vegas Thunder have cracked the code. Use their speed and victory will be theirs.

Ron Francis scored to cap off a brilliant rush at 12:51 into the extra period Sunday night, giving the Thunder a 3-2 victory Sunday night and a 2-1 lead in this first-round series.

Both of Las Vegas' wins this series have come by utilizing their speed through the neutral zone and crisp passing. The Thunder won the series opener in a 5-2 rout.

"We could tell they looked nervous," said assistant captain Butch Goring, who scored Las Vegas’ first goal. "It was like they didn't want to skate with us, they wanted to muck it up. They never found their rhythm and it was up to us to take it."

Hasek, coming off his first shutout of the postseason, was good, making 35 saves. It just wasn't good enough.

"It's a matter of not getting frustrated and sticking with your game plan," Phil Esposito said. "The overtime loss speaks for itself, but I believe in these guys. The next time we get in an overtime situation we'll be playing to win again."

"You need to play to win and find a way to win," Buckaroos coach Dick Irvin Sr. said. "We haven't been able to find a way to make the play that counts."

Francis’ tap-in goal was set up by a beautiful pass from a streaking Jari Kurri. The goal was his first in the series.

"To be able to get it in overtime as a game-winner is definitely a nice feeling," he said. "I just drove to the net, Jari put it on my tape, and it wound up in the net. That's all that matters."

Thompson made 29 saves, with some spectacular ones like a pair from his back late in the third.

"We relied heavily on him," Terry Crisp said. "He proved to be the key guy again. Late in third we were outplayed. He made some great saves to keep us in the game, or else it we have never made it to OT."

Portland hung in and persevered. Las Vegas felt like it let control of the game get away. The third period was a closer than it should have been in more ways than the score: The Buckaroos also outshot Vegas 15-4, but squandered a crucial 34 second 5-on-3 with four minutes remaining.

"You've got to play complete games, that's the key," said Ken Hodge, who scored Portland's first goal. "We did that in Game 2. We had a great game, start to finish. Tonight we waited too late to show up and they took advantage of it."

In the first period, things went from tactical to testy for the first time this series when Ulf Samuelsson took a run at Valeri Kharlamov. There was a big pileup with lots of pushing and shoving, sticks and gloves dropped and helmets knocked off. Two players from each side wound up in the penalty box following that skirmish.
However, it didn't last. Both teams stuck to their formulas, making for tight, but crisp action.

Goring opened the scoring by converting a centering pass by Esa Tikkanen at 5:55 of the first. The Thunder went ahead 2-0 toward the end of the second period when Kurri redirected a long shot by Brain Leetch while on the power play. It was Kurri’s third goal of the series, first on the powerplay. It also ended a string of 10 straight scoreless chances with the man advantage.

The Buckaroos got on the board early in the third period when a Ken Hodge shot found the far corner. Thompson did not even see the shot as he was screened on the play by Esposito who was jostling with Serge Savard. Late in the period, Denis Savard whacked a shot off Thompson's left shoulder, the rebound going right to Rick Tocchet. He popped it past Thompson for Portland's to tie it up with 6:01 remaining.

 

[Frank the Tank]

Game 4 - Tight Defense Wins it for the Thunder

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AP) – Valeri Kharlamov, maybe. Same goes for Igor Larionov, Jari Kurri, or Ron Francis. The Las Vegas Thunder have numerous skilled players capable of deciding their first-round playoff series against Portland, but whether on not the Thunder’s team defense could rise to the occasion appeared to be a question mark.

Four games later, that's all changed. Right now, that may be the most valuable component of a tightly played yet free-flowing series in which there seems to be a good scoring chance created nearly every minute but not always a lot of goals.

Thompson made big save after big save against Portland's collection of scorers and the Thunder weathered the Buckaroos' best all-around game so far for a 2-1 victory Tuesday night in Game 4.

"He was really good," Portland coach Dick Irvin Sr. said of Thompson, whose play is bringing back memories of the ‘Ken Doraty Derby’. "He was the difference."

A go-ahead goal from an unlikely source, defenseman Dallas Smith, decided it as Las Vegas swept their two home games to take a 3-1 lead into Game 5 on the Buckaroos' ice Thursday night.

"We want to go into their building and bury them," Esa Tikkanen said (we think). "We don't want to come back home and give them life. When you get a team on the ropes, you wanna try to knock them out."

If it weren't for Thompson, who had few easy saves among the 23 he made, the series very easily could be a best-of-3 right now. Instead, the Buckaroos must sweep the next three -- two at home -- to win this first round series.

"Tiny definitely was the key," Serge Savard said. "We stuck to our game plan, tinkered with a few things to make adjustments to their adjustments, and just tried to keep applying pressure instead of trying not to get scored against."

The Thunder, attempting to gain a commanding series lead, got a fluky goal from Red Berenson off Buckaroos forward Marty Pavelich's stick with only 3 1/2 minutes gone. After that, they limited the Buckaroos to only a Johnny Bucyk goal during the second period, going into a lockdown mode after Smith scored midway through the third.

The game-winner came when Jari Kurri carried the puck from behind the net and threw a hard pass to the slot, and Smith one-timed a 30-foot shot over goalie Dominik Hasek's shoulder.

"I don't score much but I scored a very big goal," said Smith, who is reputed as the league’s strongest man . "It was a great, great play, a pass for me ... and not too much traffic. I might be a little bit lucky."

The Thunder quieted scoring champion Phil Esposito, who failed to make the score sheet for the first time in the series despite playing a strong game, and Denis Savard, who doesn't have a goal despite having a strong regular season. Portland also was 0-for-5 on the power play to Vegas o-for-3.

"We're all aware when their big guys are out there for them, and the guys who have been given the assignment to shut them down have doing a good job," Thompson said.

"You've got to win the next game, that's the way you look at it. You can't win three (games) in one (night)," Esposito said. "You win the next one."

 

[Frank the Tank]

Game 5 - Hasek Shuts the Door Late and Savard Extends the Series with OT winner

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) – Dominik Hasek wasn't going to let anything end the Portland Buckaroos' season -- not a cheap bounce or Brian Leetch's snap shot from the slot.

He stopped 52 shots, including 15 in the overtime period, to preserve Portland's 5-4 win Tuesday night and prevent the Las Vegas Thunder from closing out this first round series.

"When things weren't going our way at the end of the second period, we could've packed it in there, and said, 'Ah, you know it's too tough,"' Hasek said. "But we battled through some tough situations."

The Buckaroos survived after squandering a 4-1 lead, and forced Game 6 of the best-of-seven series, which will be played in Las Vegas.

Cy Denneny and Don McKenny -- who scored 17 seconds in -- had a goal and assist each, and Phil Esposito also scored twice for Portland, his second and third of the series. The heroics, however, were saved for Denis Savard who scored on a breakaway at 17:59 of overtime to extend the series.

But it was Hasek who saved the Buckaroos, this time rewarded after he was on the wrong end of a 31-save performance in a 2-1 loss in Game 4 on Tuesday.

After allowing the Thunder to tie the game at 4-4, when Igor Larionov and Esa Tikkanen scored on consecutive shots late in the second period, Hasek took over in the third and overtime.
He stopped 10 shots during a 4:30 stretch when Las Vegas enjoyed consecutive power-play chances. It's a span when Hasek produced his biggest save, throwing his helmut in front of a Leetch's snap shot from the slot during a scramble.

"It's always a relief to see the goalie make the save, big or small, but that was a huge one," defenseman Carl Brewer said. "Dom was amazing."

Tell that to Leetch, who thought the Thunder had the Buckaroos on the run.

"They were trying their hardest to give it to us, but their goalie decided that he didn't want to let anything by him after that fourth goal," Leetch said.

Now it's the Thunder's turn to rebound, still one win from advancing to the second round. Las Vegas, which has scored 14 goals in the series, had a two-game winning streak snapped.

Thunder captain Ron Francis wasn't happy with his team's start. Las Vegas allowed three goals on 10 shots.

"You probably can't afford to spot anybody three goals, and we battled back, and we had chances just didn't score," said Francis, who had a two-game point streak snapped. "I think we're still confident with where we're at."

The Buckaroos shed a couple of days of frustration, getting a big lift on McKenny’s goal, which threw the Portland crowd, still cheering from the opening faceoff, into a frenzy. The goal was set up by a turnover when Dave Burrows’ clearing pass ticked off Rick Kehoe’s skate, directly to Denneny just inside the Las Vegas blue line.

Denneny immediately fed a pass to McKenny who, standing to the right of the net, redirected the puck over Tiny Thompson.

The goal was the fastest of the series, breaking the mark set in game 2 when Ken Hodge scored 39 seconds into the game.

"I didn't know it would come that fast, but it was huge for us," McKenny said. "I think it just lifted the spirit of the team."

The Buckaroos needed something to go right after looking flat and demoralized at times in Game 4, when they managed only 23 shots.

Portland then got another, a power-play goal, when Esposito scored from the slot during a man advantage with 14 minutes left in the first. It was Esposito’s first power-play goal of the series.

Denneny's goal five minutes later paced the Buckaroos to a 3-0 lead, the forward converting Reijo Ruostalainen’s pass into the right circle and sneaking in a shot that beat Thompson inside his right arm.

Ron Francis got the Thunder on the board at 17:17 of the first period to give the Thunder a glimmer of hope. To start off the second, that hope seemed to be dashed quickly when Esposito capitalized on a turnover in the corner by Serge Savard and worked a nice give-and-go with Wayne Cashman to score his second of the game and once again restore the three goal lead.

The tide began to turn, however, when Brian Leetch scored at 7:40 of the second on a blistering drive from above the right circle to make it 4-2. The Russian line then connected on the power play at 15:09, with Larionov converting the rebound of a Valery Kharlamov shot to bring them within one, 4-3. And when Esa Tikkanen converted on a shorthanded break at 17:02, it was all tied, 4-4.

After the fourth goal, Hasek shut the door. Throughout the third and overtime he stopped chance after chance until Denis Savard ended the game on a partial breakaway capped by a smooth backhand deke around a sprawled Thompson. It was Denis Savard’s first of the series. Savard delivered a day after coach Dick Irvin Sr. urged his teammates to come out and fight like dogs.

"That was a whole locker room thing, that wasn't me just saying that," Irvin said. "Everyone understood that and knew what we were up against and I think it relaxed us.

 

[Frank the Tank]

Game 6 - Wilson Capitalizes on PP to Force Game Seven

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AP) – Dominik Hasek and the Portland Buckaroos are going back home to Portland.

From a 3-1 deficit, the Buckaroos have won in overtime and now on the road to force a deciding Game 7 in their first-round playoff match-up with Las Vegas.

Game 5 hero Denis Savard struck again, setting up Doug Wilson in the slot with a nice backhand pass. Wilson’s goal occurred on an early 5-on-3 power play in the kind of situation Portland had faltered earlier in this series, and Hasek had 21 saves in his second shutout of the series in the Buckaroos' 2-0 victory Saturday night.

"We had to play with poise, stay calm and do good things with the puck. We were able to get off to a good start and went from there," Dennis Savard said.

"We'll find out if momentum matters," said defenseman Carl Brewer, who didn't have a point before this game. "We've frustrated them a little bit with our physical game. Game 7 will be the biggest challenge."

"They were the hungrier team tonight and they deserved to win," Las Vegas goalie Tiny Thompson said. "That's the bottom line. But it's a clean slate now. It's a one-game series."

Wilson's goal 3:05 into the game was the first in the series by any of the Buckaroos' defensemen. Johnny Bucyk added an goal with 12:38 left after Las Vegas defenseman Gennady Tsygankov turned the puck over at the offensive blueline. Brewer quickly hit Bucyk with a quick outlet pass and the winger buried it for his second of the series.

The goal by Wilson was a huge lift for the Buckaroos, who had failed to score on other key powerplay chances in their three losses this series.

"Dominik was big time for us and the goal by Dougie was huge," Portland center Phil Esposito said. "Capitalizing on the PP was big." Esposito had an assist on the Wilson powerplay goal, bringing the big man’s total to 3 goals and 4 assists so far this series.

Portland had a two-man advantage in the second period of Game 4, but went 1:55 without scoring in that 2-1 loss. In Game 3, won by Las Vegas in overtime, the Buckaroos couldn't score during a 5-on-3 power play for 34 seconds late in the third.

With Thompson screened by Rick Tocchet in front of the net, Wilson took a slick pass from Denis Savard and shot from the slot between the circles. The puck dinged the right post and went into the net.

Only seconds earlier after Portland got the two-man advantage, Thompson denied Carl Brewer on a shot that almost went in. The puck was between the goal line and the goalie, who was on his backside, when Thompson reached back with his left arm and swiped the puck under him.

Thompson stopped 28 of 30 shots.

"If it weren't for Tiny, it would have been 10-0. It was not a good game on our part to say the least," Thunder coach Scotty Bowman said. "As far as I'm concerned there was one team on the ice. It was the Portland Buckaroos. They outworked us, outhustled us. ... If we bring this type of game or efficiency on the ice for game 7. I don't like our chances."

Butch Goring hopped and skated off -- putting no pressure on his left foot -- with 2:20 left in the game. Before getting off the ice, Goring stopped in front of the Portland bench and threw a punch at Jim Schoenfeld, who appeared to slash the Goring’s left leg only seconds earlier.

"It took every part of me to hold back," said Goring, who plans to play in Game 7. "I went over there for a reason and talked myself out of it."

Goring, who was done in the game anyway, was given a 10-minute misconduct penalty. So was Esa Tikkanen after the Las Vegas left wing got involved in the fracas with Ulf Samuelsson.

 

[Frank the Tank]

Game 7 - Kurri Finn-ishes Off the Buckaroos

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) – Jari Kurri was the back-checking, penalty-killing rock in the Las Vegas Thunder lineup all season.
Then he put them into the second round of the ATD.

The winger’s goal, his fourth of the series, snapped a third-period tie and halted the Buckaroos’ series comeback by winning their seven game war with Portland with a 4-2 victory over the Portland Buckaroos in Game 7 of the first round match-up.

Kurri also assisted on Serge Savard’s goal in the final minute to seal it, propelling the Thunder into the second round against the top seeded Detroit Falcons. The best-of-seven matchup opens Monday in Detroit.

"It stings," Buckaroos star forward Phil Esposito, who had a strong series with nine points, said. "They took it from us."

"Disappointing doesn't even begin to describe the feeling," said Buckaroos defenceman Carl Brewer.

"All the hard work put in by the guys through the entire regular season to get home-ice advantage. And we do not come out and take advantage of that."

The Thunder got plenty of steady performances to earn the victory in Game 7, from goalie Tiny Thompson’s 22 saves to Larionov's pair of assists on a three-point night. But ultimately, the focus afterward was on Kurri.

"He's has played well all series," Las Vegas captain Ron Francis said. "I don't like single one person out because it goes against what we believe in the locker room. There were a lot of big performances tonight. But that typifies Jari Kurri."

Las Vegas led 1-0, but fell behind late in the second period when Phil Esposito and Wayne Cashman scored goals for the surging Buckaroos. After Igor Larionov tied it at 2 early in the third, Kurri and the Thunder broke through.

Dominik Hasek stopped a shot from Ron Francis, but couldn't control the rebound with all the traffic in front of him. It slid outside the crease and glided underneath Portland defenseman Vladimir Lutchenko, who apparently didn't see it while jostling with Red Berenson.

It sat still and untouched for several tense seconds, giving Kurri time to charge in from the right side and beat Hasek at 12:22. That put the Thunder back on top for good in what has been a back-and-forth series.

Kurri, true to his workmanlike attitude, downplayed his significance while basking in the victory.

"They know what it's all about," he said of his teammates. "I just want to win."

Brian Leetch gave Las Vegas its early lead, and Serge Savard's goal finished off the Buckaroos, who nearly overcame a 3-1 series deficit. The loss was their first of the series when leading after two periods.

"You can hold your head up and feel good about the way you played, the way you battled, the way you faced adversity," Buckaroos coach Dick Irvin Sr. said. "Those guys in the room are a special group that never used an excuse all year long. Even tonight, gave it everything they absolutely had."

Now the fifth-seeded Thunder are moving on while the Buckaroos - the No. 4 seed in the Foster Hewitt division - head home with the empty feeling that a season's worth of hard work went unfulfilled.

"Obviously, it stings right now and it should," Portland winger Johnny Bucyk said.

Portland hung in behind the strong goaltending of Hasek, who finished with 34 saves and was the star of the series, and their offense. But in the end, the Thunder were a little too much.

 

[Frank the Tank]

As I was taught to always cite my sources, I want to acknowledge the Canadian Press and Associated Press. I basically used the outline of certain game summaries from a few series in the last couple of years (i.e., Dal-Van, Buf-Car), but edited the quotes/goals/names to reflect players in this series. I picked these series because I though certain games reflected how this series would be played by these two teams. In the end, my goal was to make it sound authentic. I hope you enjoyed it.

 

[Murphy]

I enjoyed it immensely, good job man........

Very lifelike and how you attributed the quotes was just awesome and very believable.

 

[VanIslander]

Phenomenal, very well done. Frank the Tank should become a resident genius here on the History Board. Join the next all-time draft! Anyone resourceful enough to put this together could research and put together a helluva line-up.

That said...

]Very lifelike and how you attributed the quotes was just awesome and very believable

Not believable at all in one small respect: with the Grate One's sudden ability to be literate, articulate and windy.

"I think we showed everybody we were ready," Esa Tikkanen said. "A lot of things were said before the game, and we made sure we showed to respond not in the paper but on the ice."

Nice touch with "in the paper" but he'd be even more disjointed, blunt: "We play they and zoom," smiling while making airplane motion with his hand.

"We want to go into their building and bury them," Esa Tikkanen said (we think). "We don't want to come back home and give them life. When you get a team on the ropes, you wanna try to knock them out."

How Tiki would really talk: "We hit them down, and down they go we say, and yes... pow!" grinning with a punch.

One needs a decoder ring when Esa opens his mouth. Who was it that said that his Finnish language skills were no better than his English?

 

[Frank the Tank]

Yes, I was looking for a talker for some of those Thunder quotes and should have known better than attribute them to Tikkanen, who as you said has his own language (see quotes below). In retrospect, I should have used Terry Crisp as a secondary interview source for the Thunder.

"I've never seen him shut up. He can't speak Finnish, Swedish or English, but where-ever he goes he makes himself clear and is popular everywhere. Esa is king, everywhere." - Jere Lehtinen, Dallas Stars

"He's almost like he would have an overdose of sugar in his blood."
- Kevin Lowe, former teammate

"Esa talks twice as much as anybody else. That's because you can understand just a half what he says."
- Craig MacTavish, former teammate

 

[shawnmullin]

Frank those write-ups were OUTSTANDING thanks for that.

It made the series come alive after the fact so thank you.

Also, Tricia Helfer is hot stuff