The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Vegas turning impossible into possible
tive defense that helped propel the Golden Knights past the Jets on Sunday, with their sixth win in eight road games during the postseason.
“Everybody’s stepping up at different times during the season,” said goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who has 12 wins, four shutouts, a .947 save percentage and 1.68 goals against average. “That’s a big reason why we’ve been playing consistently.”
The key cog in Vegas’ engine has been Fleury, whose remarkable play has translated into a career-best postseason. He has allowed two or fewer goals in 10 of 15 playoff games, and is heading to the Stanley Cup final for a third consecutive year. And whether he admits it or not, the 14-year veteran still bears the scars of being left exposed by Pittsburgh last summer after spending the first 13 years of his career with the Penguins.
Gallant, who remained coy about his team’s aspirations during the regular season, made it clear theGolden Knights haven’t reached their goal.
“It’s been an awesome ride so far,” said Gallant, who some might also consider a “misfit” after Florida fired him following a road game at Carolina last season, then left him and his luggage on the curb outside PNC Arena. “We’re going to the Stanley Cup Final, but again, this isn’t whatwewant. We want to win.
“It’s great to win tonight and it’s great to be the (conference) champions,” Gallant added, “but that’s not what we’re here for.”
Even as impossible as that all seemed just a fewmonths ago. VERNON, N.Y. » For the fourth time in five weeks, weather has interfered with weekly DIRTcar racing at Utica-Rome Speedway as management was once again forced to cancel on Sunday May 20.
Heavy overnight rains and an ongoing mist cancelled the exciting program that consisted of the DirtTrackDigest.com 358-Modifieds, Broedel Energy Sportsman, Ted’s Body Shop Pro Stocks, and Rookie Sportsman.
“We were hoping to get Toyota.
“Last year, the Toyotas were on fire and really good,” Logano said. “I think this year with some of the rules changes and really the way the rules have been regulated, enforced, it has brought it to more of an equal playing field.”
Kurt Busch was the last Ford driver to win a Cup title, in the 2004 launch of the playoff system, and it capped consecutive championships for the manufacturer. He believes the commitment fromthe company has always been the same, from Edsel Ford II on down, but the engineering support has dramatically improved.
“The Ford Performance group, I see it everywhere, with all their different forms of motorsport collaborating together,” Busch said. “Whereas Ford Racing before ... felt like it was more focused on the NASCAR program and didn’t use information from IndyCar or Cosworth in Formula One or sports cars. What I see nowis information channels that are able to communicate quickly and gather data from all different branches of motorsports that Ford is involved in.”
Ford Performance initially housed a simulator used exclusively by its NASCAR teams. IMSA and WEC programs began using it, and the simulator has graduated into use for both Ford Performance production cars and now mainstreamFord products. To prepare for Le Mans, the drivers from Chip Ganassi Racing drove thousands of miles of Le Mans simulation so that the track would not be foreign when the manufacturer made its ballyhooed return. Ford’s sole intent was to celebrate its 50th anniversary victory by winning the race, and with just one test on the track before the 24-hour race, theTechCenter was critical in preparing the program.
Ford Performance began with seven engineers in 2013 and now has 45. They are busy preparing the Mustang for Cup introduction next year, and also the Mustang for the Supercars Series in Australia.
Rushbrook said Ford Performance is reminded often about its Cup championship drought, and believes the programhas nine drivers capable of winning races and contending for the title. Harvick is having a season like Truex did last year in which the championship appears to be his and Ford’s to lose, but the Ford program is strong across the board.
“We certainly don’t want to be peaking too early,” said Rushbrook, “but we are definitely here to win races and championships.”