Well played sir. :lol:

NHL & NBC Sports Group Announce New 10-Year Deal; All Stanley Cup Playoff Games to be Televised Nationally - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers

10 years, expanded playoff coverage. NBC remains exclusive broadcast network, Versus remains exclusive cable outlet.

It's about time somebody decided to air all playoff games nationally in the US. I can't remember if it was last year or the year before, but there was a season where none of the Devils playoff games aired nationally. I get that there are ways to find streams online and whatnot, but I'd much rather watch on my television. Assuming the Devils make the playoffs next year, I will get to see all 7 games they'll play, from the energizing first shift to the soul-shattering heartbreak at the end.

Thanks, NBC!

One game each for Downie and Kunitz.

Bylsma presser was pretty funny-

"We have Eric Tangradi as an option, Mike Comrie is an option, Nick Johnson is really close (returning from concussion), he may be an option...Eric Godard also skated today"

It's also similar to the hit Kunitz put on Kimmo Timonen a few years ago in the playoffs which you called a good hockey hit :)

Not sure if this is good or not. 10 years definitely adds some stability for the NHL and from what I hear the ratings on Versus has steadily increased. I just think that if you had it on ESPN you would get more carry over viewers from ESPN's other programming, while I believe Versus is strictly a destination channel.

I just VS would put a bit more effort into its NHL coverage. It just feels and sounds rather second-rate to me. Starting with Mike Emrick.

what the foxtrot

Wow...I thought I was bad saying that Doc wore women's glasses...Galaxy just kicked Pumpy square in the nuts.

Don't mess with me when I'm angry.

Without watching both, Kunitz is inside the zone, about the faceoff dot (maybe deeper?). Downie is out by the blueline.

If anything, the Kunitz hit is illegal now because Crosby, I think, is right on him, and as the rule's written now, can't make the hit while already receiving lateral or back pressure. AKA the Colby Armstrong special.

Nice start Sharks... @&$!*

:(

It's funny. I've been on the board while the second period has been going on and it seemed like every time I looked up from reading a thread, another goal was scored. 5-3 LA now and there's still three minutes to go in the second period. :eek: Good run by the Sharks to get back into it, though.

edit: Scratch that, now 5-4 with 1:25 to go in the 2nd. This is nuts.

edit again: Now 5-5. :eek:

Holy crap! What a comeback.

This is setting up to be an awesome 3rd period.

Guess I won't be getting much sleep tonight. I will not miss the end of this game between the Sharks and Kings.

Same here. Being in the Eastern time zone sucks for a game like this.

Seems like something's gone wrong, though. Nine minutes have gone by and nobody's scored yet. What's up with that?

Not for the lack of either teams trying. I have never seen so many odd man rushes in one game in my life.

Is the Staples Center actually sold-out?

And man, I flipped the game off when LA had that big lead.

I was stunned to see the number of idiots around us leaving the Honda Center during game 2 in the last 5 minutes of a 4-3 game.

I guess beating LA traffic is more important than watching the end of the playoff game you paid hundreds of dollars for...

Burn

Wow.

That was crazy.

Bummed for the Kings. That Ducks-Kings series I keep hoping for seems less and less likely. They'll need to rebound quick and then try to do it all again uyp in San Jose.

As for the Ducks, I hope they show what they're worth tomorrow.

"CAN YOU HEAR US???"

Great 2nd period for NYR.

I just got in a twitter fight with Damien Cox and he blocked me. Pussy!

HAahahahahh

Cox is the biggest ASSHAT in the world.

Arron Asham has 3 goals in the playoffs so far.

Let that sink in a minute.

I believe he had 4 last year.

Good thing Philly hung onto Carcillo

Carcillo has 1 playoff goal...and how many games did Asham play this year in the regular season?

3rd period...not so much.

Overtime.

About 30 games, missed about 20 with a concussion, plus shoulder issues all year.

OT in Tampa too

Paul Davorski breaks up a 2 on 0 breakaway for the Rangers.

I'm legitimately nauseous.

I'm happy with it. My problem with ESPN is that I feel it would get buried behind other sports that are more popular. While Versus will build their entire network around it.

I don't feel quite as bad, since the Pens lead the series 2-1.

But I am still anxious.

Texting back and forth with an old work friend, we decided NHL playoff OT is like eating 5 Big Macs, 3 Whoppers and a Baconator. In 4 minutes. While having sex. On a rollercoaster.

I haven't decided whether the "hockey will get more exposure and someday gain immense popularity" people are better or worse than their soccer counterparts.

Soccer is a cheap and simple game to grow. Hockey not so much.

James Neal in 2OT.

Pens lead 3-1

Gaborik in 2OT...only he poked it off Jason Chimera while Lundqvist was trying to cover up.

Shitty way for a 2OT game to end.

A true cheapie.

Excellent series sweep by the Wings, now for some rest for the vets. Zetterberg and Franzen should both be available for the 2nd round series.

I was worried about the Wings heading into the first round. The team had three glaring weaknesses since the All-Star break, all concerning the defense and all inter-related. First, they had trouble clearing the puck out of their own zone. Time and time again they just threw the puck up the boards only to have it intercepted and dumped back low. Second, teams could endlessly cycle down low on them. I am not sure if it is the defensive scheme or the players, but it happened a lot. Third, bad give aways in their own end. I think it was a combination of not being able to clear and being tired from chasing the other team cycling down low that led to some horrendous giveaways.

All three reared their ugly head in the first 10 minutes or so of Game 1 against Phoenix. It looked horrible. They finally managed to right the ship in the second period of that game and, besides some really bad penality killing, they never looked back.

Datsyuk has been playing some of his best hockey all year. He was a force of nature in the first two games. Hanzal shut him down, more or less, in games 3 and 4, though he had an amazing assist on the first goal last night.

Howard was solid. He didn't really give up a bad or soft goal all series and made some really excellent, timely saves. He completely out played Bryzgalov in each and every game. I saw some statistic that compared Bryzgalov's playoff numbers - wins, goals against and save percentage - against everyone else and those same numbers against the Wings. It pretty much told the story. He got some bad breaks, but also let in several very bad goals.

The biggest improvement for the Wings, over last years, has been the play of Helm and Abdelkader. Abdelkader was centering the second line, since Zetterberg was injured, and Helm was probably the Wings second best forward, after Datsyuk, in every game. His speed put constant pressure on the Coyotes defense. It was great to see those two young players take a much more prominent role. Kronwall has also stepped up his game. He was the leader in ice time for all Wings defensemen. Lidstrom's ice time has been reduced considerably, which is a good thing for him. Time marches on for everyone.

It was very much a "team" win in this series with 13 different Wings scoring at least one goal in the four games.

I think the time off will be good. The Wings didn't have Zetterberg or Franzen last night. Fewer games mean fewer bumps, bruises or worse. As we all know the Wings have been an "old" team since about 1997.

The Wings could still work on those issues I mentioned above, as they flared up from time to time, and definitely need to sort out the PK.

Quick, which Bruins team will show up in Montreal tonight?

It would be kind of poetic if the Coyotes move to Winnipeg after this sweep. If I remember right, the last Jets playoff series was against the Red Wings too.

Indeed it was.

Wings need to stay out of the box and limit the sloppy play through the neutral zone, especially if we end up playing San Jose next. They have guys who can actually make us pay as opposed to the Jets. Our PK needs to step it up as well.

Some of my own thoughts on what I've seen thus far from the Wings:

1. Jimmy Howard might be playing his best hockey of the season, but the defense in front of him still looks a little leaky to me, which is a significant reversal from what we've seen over the past decade or so (Osgood -was- a serviceable netminder, but had really good defense in front of him). Time is finally catching up with Lidstrom. He's still good, don't get me wrong, and there is still no one else I'd rather have quarterbacking my power play. But Kronwall is probably the closest thing they have to a lock-down defender now.
2. As has been mentioned, the penalty kill needs to step it up a little bit. It's been far too passive for my taste ever since Babcock took over. Even a little bit of token pressure on the point-men can pay big dividends, so long as you don't over-extend.
3. Offensively the team is clicking really well right now, so I expect a lot of 4-3 results the rest of the way. Nearly everyone seems to be getting into the mix in the offensive zone, and I -really- like the change they've made with Holmstrom, moving him 6-12 inches further out from the paint. He's still effective, but we haven't even sniffed one of those horrible disallowed goals yet.
4. Helm continues to impress. The stretch last night when he took out Yandle, then fed Eaves for an easy goal was a thing of beauty. Bright, bright future ahead for him (hopefully in a Red Wings jersey well past next year).
5. I would pay money just to watch Pavel Datsyuk handle the puck. They should start playing Ragtime over the loudspeakers at the Joe every time he gets the puck on his stick in the offensive zone.