I'm starting to think ML has issues.


I wanna meet him :D

What is this h...h...hoc....hockey on Saturday night you speak of?

I remember when i was young..........

I'll believe it when I see it.

Surely the NHL doesn't want to go up against a new episode of Trading Spaces do they?

My money says they'll find a way "conveniently" reschedule the game for 3:45 on Sunday afternoon.

What in the blue hell is Robert Esche doing in picture 8? :eek:

Sitting on his eggs. They'll incubate and hatch into little goalies before too long.

SI

I just read a story about some Flames fans on their way back from Denver who delayed a flight because boarding was a few minutes before the end of Game 6. :D

Well, the FLyers have just over 13 minutes to tie this game or else they're done.

5 minutes left.

2 minutes...Philly is going ot need a lucky break here.

And that'll do it....it's the end of hockey as we know it. :)

the officials were fucking terrible. Almost as bad as my spelling and grammar. I don't know how many times a flyers stick was held or they were tackeled and they didn't call shit. GOD DAMN IT FUCKING BULLSHIT.

You a Tampa fan?



:D

hmmm - an All Natural Disaster Finals.

Is there an answer to the officiating?

Once a "crackdown" begins on hooking, holding and interference, we get 10 PP/team and everyone complains. In no time, we're back to where we started.

I don't think anyone has an answer.

I have an answer.

The officiating is fine. Enjoy the game, understand that these refs have been around the sport their whole lives and understand it a lot better than you do, and for god's sake don't complain that the world is ending just because your team didn't get 15 power plays in a big game.

These are big games and somebody has to lose. It's not the refs fault.

It wouldn't have mattered if the Flyers got as few more power plays anyway. The Flyers could not score on the power play against Tampa Bay. For the series, I think they were 1 for 26 on power plays. If they would have scored 4 or 5 out of 26, there wouldn't have been a game 7 and we'd be talking about a Philly-Calgary Stanley Cup Finals.

Go Flames! It just wouldn't be right for a team from Tampa to win the Cup.

I know. The biggest reason I wanted the the Flyers in the finals was a city south of the Mason-Dixie line has no business playing ice hockey!! :)

Better team won....Now i need to decide....Go Canadian team....or Go Dave Andreychuck

hmmm

well, as long as Boobie Clark doesn't win anything, I'm happy.

Esche was terrific this postseason...meaning it's almost time for Bobby to start the next goalie search.

I thought he sucked against TB IMHO.

I just read an interesting story about the "small-market" Flames. The net worth of ownership exceeds $2 billion US. The past seven losing seasons, ownership has steadfastly stuck to a business model (i.e., internal salary cup/budget). The economics of the game has dictated despite conservative ownership, a cumulative loss of $35 million US. This playoff run has thus far produced a profit of about $1 million CDN (gate revenue). Merchandising which has been staggering goes directly to the league to be divided up among all member teams; the exception is Flames' owned stores of which there is only a few about town.

To be fair to them, that's like when the Yankees and Red Sox fans say the Brewers and Pirates should spend $100M a year and then they wouldn't have to worry about constantly losing money because winning teams generate more revenue. Which is a great solution except that only a few teams make the playoffs each year and even less make it deep enough to impact their bottom line significantly. So, if every small market team decided to spend $100M, we'd be back to upwardly spiraling salaries and there would be even more money hemorrhaging out of the system because there still have to be a lot of teams that lose. What's better for the league as a whole is to have there be a limit to spending otherwise it always will be those teams where it's a lot less of a calculated risk to spend a lot of cash that always win (i.e. the Brewers go bankrupt if they spend $100M 3 straight years and don't make the World Series but the Yankees can have 3 subpar years at $100M and still make money).

SI

Nice little Freudian slip, there. :)

My God! That was so unintentional!

It's a sign! It's a sign! :D

The NHL has heard the whine from Canada:


3 Sat., May 29 Tampa Bay at Calgary ABC, CBC, RDS 8 p.m.

*6 Sat., June 5 Tampa Bay at Calgary ABC, CBC, RDS 8 p.m.

Unlike other years where the Flyers just laid down and died, this year the fought till the end. And with that I am proud of the team. Usually this is where I (or any other Philly fan) would bitch and moan about the team choking, or not playing with heart, but this team gave it their all. From what I saw they looked like a tired, beat up team in the end. Injuries killed them. No Desjardans, Ragnerson, and JR was never the same after the concussion in game 4. Esche (although not as good in the ECF) played really well and for once the Philly fans cannot blame the goalie here. Nor can they blame Bobby Clarke, he finally pulled off some good trades this year and built the team for a playoff run, only to have it torn down by injuries. Man I wish he wouldn't have given Eric Weinrich up for a 5th rounder earlier in the year.

They beat a New Jersey, which many team's though would walk past the Flyers in 5 or 6 games. Next they defeated a very good Toronto team. I still say if Tampa had to play Toronto or anyone with half a heart in rounds 1 and 2 we would be signing a different tune now. For the 2nd year in a row Philly and Toronto beat each other up so bad that their opponents in the follow round had is easier because of that. I still whole heartedly believe they were the two best teams in the east.

Tampa is a good team, there is not doubting that. But I hope Calgary fuckin embarasses them. I really want someone to plant Martin "The Leprechan" St Louis and Vinny Lacavalier into the boards. The good part about all of this was that I did not actually get to watch Game 7 Saturday night. I was at a wedding and kept running into the bar to see the score every now and again. But I do have it on TiVo. I am not sure if I have the heart to watch it.

Go Flames!!

Don't fool yourself, Tampa is a damn good team. The Finals this year should be very entertaining.

Woohoo:)

The 5 people who watch can let us know. ;)

Don't watch it, its so very painful. I mean it hurts. I agree with everything you said above. I'm proud of the flyers this year, they played their hearts out.

Go Go Calgary!!!

Yay Flames!!!

Still playing hockey? The season is just too dang long. But, I guess you should enjoy it while you can since it looks like there might not be any for a while next year.

Page 3?!?

Go Flames!!!

Interesting article on viewership of the first game
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....ap/index.html

ditto

Could be worse, we could be watching the NBA playoffs, you know, throw it in to Shaq, watch Shaq get fouled, watch Shaq shoot free throws, yawn, wake me when it's over please!

C'mon now....Shaq taking free throws is a huge adventure :)

So, did you watch basketball or hockey tonight?

They are still playing baskeball??

My channel changer is stuck on Hockey night in Canada:D

I rest my case

Over 19k showed up to the 'Dome tonight to watch the game on the big screen. Around 1,000 people were turned away. Admission was a donation to the food bank.

Nice job.

Very cool :D

SI

Great win tonight!

Oh, man... Sutter was on fire in today's press conference. I'd like to paraphrase but I wouldn't do it justice... I wish I had a clip of it.

The adlib when his cell went off was classic.

Interesting thing about the Lecavlier hit was how Kerry Fraser, just ten feet away, didn't call it. It ws Watson, who was 100 feet down the ice, who made the (correct) call.

Gosh, if I didn't know better I'd think that Fraser is too gutless to call a major against the home team late in a crucial playoff game.

(Grumble.)

It's not the suspension that bothers most Flames' fans, it's the lack of consistency (where have we heard that before?) Campbell was quoted in a Tampa paper as saying the reason Stillman wasn't suspended for the flying elbow to the back of the head was because Nilson played the next game. Lecavalier will be playing tomorrow but Campbell was quoted today as saying the NHL needs to crack down on heat shots. So which is it? A crackdown on head shots or wait for the extent of the injury?

Van Hellamond (sp?) says that the list of which referees were to work each game was set prior to the Stanley Cup. Fraser was set to work Game 6 in Calgary. Campbell has contradicted that today saying that it's not necessarily set in stone.

Sometimes you frighten me :D

(Looks up from Kerry Fraser bobble-head with pins in its eyes)

What?

Fraser sucks. And to join in with Sutter's conspiracy theory, Fraser intended to screw the Flames. He called a penalty on Mark Hunter in double OT when the Flames played Montreal in the Cup Final in 1989.

Montreal scored but the Flames went on to win. ;)

~~~~
I really can't comment on the quality of the series because I'm biased but are knowledgeable hockey fans finding the series boring? I heard on PrimeTime Sports Cox, McGowan and Brunt all say the series was virtually unwatchable.

I guess over 3 million Canadians left their TVs on while they mowed the lawn...