The OFFICIAL Stanley Cup Playoffs Thread

[TazFTW]

Go Not Jersey!

[kingfc22]

Guerin just took a slapshot in the face. He probably just lost all his teeth there.

[bhlloy]

How the hell can you let a guy walk in two on one with 30 seconds left in a one goal game?

Nabakov has to make that save but still.... the guys on the ice at the time will be getting chewed out for hours if the Sharks end up losing.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

the guys on the ice at the time will be getting chewed out for hours if the Sharks end up losing.

Start the ass chewing...

[Pyser]

i felt sick watching the devils all game long.

this isnt the same team id been watching all season. they were terrible for too long at the start of the game. over a whole period. they just didnt want it.

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by Pyser

i felt sick watching the devils all game long.

this isnt the same team id been watching all season. they were terrible for too long at the start of the game. over a whole period. they just didnt want it.

YOu say that like it's a bad thing

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Pyser

i felt sick watching the devils all game long.

this isnt the same team id been watching all season. they were terrible for too long at the start of the game. over a whole period. they just didnt want it.

Good thing Lou hired .. Lou.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

YOu say that like it's a bad thing

Allow a Ranger fan to chime in for a minute...

I think there should be a board rule that a n00b has to be part of this community during the regular season in order to contribute to a playoff thread. None of this "Johnny Come Lately" bullshit.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Wow. A hell of a come back by the Wings last night. A late goal in the second period and the Lang ties it up with 20 seconds to go. Right before he scored I was completely baffled as to why he was on the ice at that crucial time. He's been horrible this series. Non-existant. Then he scores. All very odd.

[Hurst2112]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Wow. A hell of a come back by the Wings last night. A late goal in the second period and the Lang ties it up with 20 seconds to go. Right before he scored I was completely baffled as to why he was on the ice at that crucial time. He's been horrible this series. Non-existant. Then he scores. All very odd.

lang had a couple good looks in the late 2nd/early 3rd period.

What was up with Zetterberg's passing mistakes?! I counted 3 in the neutral zone.

Draper has been getting penalties at the worst possible times. Last night he got one late. Last game he got one late that they scored on.

Holmstrom looked good, really good. As they said in the game, it looked like his hand-eye coordination wasn't affected by his injury. Any idea what he went off for later? Hope he isn't hurt.

I saw Bertuzzi try a backhand spin SOG. If I were Babcock, I would get in his face and tell him to stop trying to be a player he isn't.

I like game 5s coming off a 2-2 tie. They are almost as fun as game 7s. Tie breakers after a 2-all can really deflate the other team. I'm excited.

[Hurst2112]

Patrick Marleau stats for the series.

Game  	G  	A  	P  	+/-  	PIM  	PPG  	SHG  	Sh  	Sh %  	Shft  	TOI  	FO%
4 	0 	0 	0 	-1 	0 	0 	0 	2 	0.0 	28 	23:20 	33.3
3  	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	4 	0.0 	22 	18:12 	50.0
2  	0 	0 	0 	-3 	2 	0 	0 	0 		22 	17:57 	21.4
1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 		23 	17:32 	75.0

[Pyser]

elias badly damaged his captaincy last night. he played a HORRENDOUS game.

start with multiple turnovers in the first period...add in passing up a wide open shot in the slot...and then just look at the teams play in general. i havent seen him step up at all all season.

and sure, he assisted gionta's first goal, but that was on an odd bounce from the boards, not a designed play.

i stand by my decision that at this point he is too "fancy" a player for the devils system. and if i watch him rush the zone, only to pull up 2 feet over the blue line, try and deke, and lose the puck one more time, ill....complain some more.

[Maple Leafs]

Devils are done.

It's been a funny series... normally the Devils are the one team that you always expect to win a close game. Even when they're down a goal you just assume they'll end up winning. But this series, even though it's been close since the second period of game one, you always feel like Ottawa is in control and the Devils are hoping for a lucky bounce.

I can see them winning game five at home, but they're finished in six at the best.

[Milton]

Originally Posted by Logan

Allow a Ranger fan to chime in for a minute...

I think there should be a board rule that a n00b has to be part of this community during the regular season in order to contribute to a playoff thread. None of this "Johnny Come Lately" bullshit.

But of course you make an exception for Ranger fans .

[Young Drachma]

They do need to retool some things in Jersey. That team just lacks the firepower that we're used to. It's all right though and Marty isn't playing that great, but no one else is stepping up either and Ottawa consistently has their number.

[Pyser]

where do you retool though? if gomez comes back, our top 6 forwards are set, and they are excellent at that - best O we've had in years.

i think its time to retool the 4th line. buff and ott have proven that adding a 3rd scoring line is huge come playoff time. clarkson is a good start there. need to call up another kid or 2, and let the "crash" line era become a bygone.

[Pumpy Tudors]

This is last year's playoffs all over again for New Jersey. First, you had the dominating opening round. There wasn't much difference between this year's series with Tampa and last year's with New York. The only reason Tampa was competitive was that they actually tried. The Rangers didn't even bother last year.

Anyway, now you have the second round where the Devils are constantly thisclose to winning, but they can't get it done except for one game. Didn't that happen last year against the Hurricanes, too? Each night, the Devils play the kind of game that you expect them to pull out in the end, and they haven't done it. Brodeur looks like a great goalie instead of a legend. Now, most teams would love to have a great goalie, but we're into the final 8 teams. Generally, every remaining team at this point should have a great goalie, so just being "great" isn't enough right now.

Brian Engblom made a good point last night. Scott Gomez was skating through all of the Tampa players in the first round, and he set up a lot of plays. The Senators are not allowing Gomez the same luxury. He's not going to get very far past the blue line by himself. Elias seems to have the turnover bug lately, so Gomez should be looking for Gionta ASAP. If that doesn't work, hold up for your defensemen and let them join the play. The Ottawa defense isn't really attacking the puck handlers until they're 15 or 20 feet past the blue line, and they're not attacking along the wings until the puck gets past the faceoff dots. The Senators are giving the Devils time to set up an offense, and New Jersey just won't do it. After four games, shouldn't the coaches do something about this?

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Good thing Lou hired .. Lou.

Yes. Having Julien(sp?) here in the playoofs would have been a horrible mistake. He really should jsut stick with the coach until the off-season, instead of pulling a Ted Turner with the Braves.

Originally Posted by Logan

Allow a Ranger fan to chime in for a minute...

I think there should be a board rule that a n00b has to be part of this community during the regular season in order to contribute to a playoff thread. None of this "Johnny Come Lately" bullshit.

Being Canadian doesn't count at all?

Originally Posted by Milton

But of course you make an exception for Ranger fans .

[Pumpy Tudors]

You know, Lou Lamoriello is a hell of a general manager, and he did a great job coaching the Devils to the division title last year. I may have mentioned this in the regular season thread, but I'm just concerned that he likes the glory and the rush of being behind the bench during the playoffs. The problem is that it looks like he doesn't want to put the time in for all 82 games leading up to that point. So, he brings a coach in who will get the team to the playoffs, and then Lou can fire the coach and take all the credit if the team wins the Cup. Being the GM, it's a win-win situation for him, because even if the Devils lose, he can just hire another coach and keep his own day job.

Now, I would hope that Lou isn't that shady. He was right that the Devils weren't playoff ready at the time he fired Julien. If he wanted to fire Julien, though, let John MacLean be the replacement. You know MacLean's going to get a head coaching job somewhere in the NHL within the next few years, and it might just be in New Jersey anyway. If you don't want to commit to letting MacLean coach next year, put an "interim" label on him, and just let him be the assistant again next year if it doesn't pan out.

Really, after last year and now this year, I don't see what Lou really brings to the team as a head coach. I think he should realize that he is probably not capable of winning a Cup from behind the bench and just let it go.

[Maple Leafs]

{rubs hands together}

That's right, Devils fans... let it out. Let the anti-Lou bandwagon start rolling. Don't hold back. Drive him out of town. Make it so that he has no choice but to look for a job in another city. Maybe a big market somewhere that needs a grown up as GM...

{lightning and thunder}

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

{rubs hands together}

That's right, Devils fans... let it out. Let the anti-Lou bandwagon start rolling. Don't hold back. Drive him out of town. Make it so that he has no choice but to look for a job in another city. Maybe a big market somewhere that needs a grown up as GM...

{lightning and thunder}

Yep, I know there are folks like you out there. Whenever I say something bad about Lou, I make absolutely sure to qualify it and explain that I'm talking about Coach Lou, not GM Lou. You're not gonna pin this rap on me, copper!

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

{rubs hands together}

That's right, Devils fans... let it out. Let the anti-Lou bandwagon start rolling. Don't hold back. Drive him out of town. Make it so that he has no choice but to look for a job in another city. Maybe a big market somewhere that needs a grown up as GM...

{lightning and thunder}

But Ottawa and Montreal already have long-term commitments to Gm's so you can't have them get near the playoffs, have the manager fired, then have them kicked out in the second round.

Although for the Leafs, that would be an improvement over the current situation.

On a serious note the fun that Mike Keenan's reign in the league should have taught us; coaching and GM'ing should be seperate. The man has proven that he can build a good team ( ), stick with what your'e good at Lou.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

But Ottawa and Montreal already have long-term commitments to Gm's so you can't have them get near the playoffs, have the manager fired, then have them kicked out in the second round.

Although for the Leafs, that would be an improvement over the current situation.

And what makes you think that Maple Leafs was talking about Toronto? Clearly, he was talking about Chicago.

Clearly.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

You know, Lou Lamoriello is a hell of a general manager, and he did a great job coaching the Devils to the division title last year. I may have mentioned this in the regular season thread, but I'm just concerned that he likes the glory and the rush of being behind the bench during the playoffs. The problem is that it looks like he doesn't want to put the time in for all 82 games leading up to that point. So, he brings a coach in who will get the team to the playoffs, and then Lou can fire the coach and take all the credit if the team wins the Cup. Being the GM, it's a win-win situation for him, because even if the Devils lose, he can just hire another coach and keep his own day job.

Now, I would hope that Lou isn't that shady. He was right that the Devils weren't playoff ready at the time he fired Julien. If he wanted to fire Julien, though, let John MacLean be the replacement. You know MacLean's going to get a head coaching job somewhere in the NHL within the next few years, and it might just be in New Jersey anyway. If you don't want to commit to letting MacLean coach next year, put an "interim" label on him, and just let him be the assistant again next year if it doesn't pan out.

Really, after last year and now this year, I don't see what Lou really brings to the team as a head coach. I think he should realize that he is probably not capable of winning a Cup from behind the bench and just let it go.

Agreed 100%

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

But Ottawa and Montreal already have long-term commitments to Gm's

Well, Muckler is like 90 years old. It's technically impossible to have a long-term commitment to him.

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Well, Muckler is like 90 years old. It's technically impossible to have a long-term commitment to him.

Not that I'd really be crying over that. After all, he did keep Redden around (although Chara wasn't much better this year from what I've heard from the few Bruin fans that I know)

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

Not that I'd really be crying over that. After all, he did keep Redden around (although Chara wasn't much better this year from what I've heard from the few Bruin fans that I know)

Muckler has actually been a terrible GM for Ottawa. Other than the Heatley/Hossa deal falling into his lap, he hasn't made a single move that worked out. When you're biggest success story in five years is using all your remaining cap space on Mike Comrie and then seeing him take two months to work his way off the fourth line... wow.

Ottawa should have three Cups by now, but they don't largely because Muckler has been hopeless. Of course, Melnyk likes hanging around a guy he watched on TV in the 80s so Muckler's job is safe. But the core of that team was built by the guys who came before Muckler, they're winning in spite of him.

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Muckler has actually been a terrible GM for Ottawa. Other than the Heatley/Hossa deal falling into his lap, he hasn't made a single move that worked out. When you're biggest success story in five years is using all your remaining cap space on Mike Comrie and then seeing him take two months to work his way off the fourth line... wow.

Ottawa should have three Cups by now, but they don't largely because Muckler has been hopeless. Of course, Melnyk likes hanging around a guy he watched on TV in the 80s so Muckler's job is safe. But the core of that team was built by the guys who came before Muckler, they're winning in spite of him.

You wont' get a big arguement here. The fact that we finished fourth this year has to me yellow flags going. I dont think we'll get back to the upper echelon of the league again for a while barring changes which I doubt will ever happen with this group.

[TazFTW]

Wow, Luongo lets in a goal because he is calling for a penalty.

[bhlloy]

Luongo with one of the best goaltending performances I have ever seen, and then he lets a dump in from the blue line go in for a goal while he is talking to the ref about a penalty.

That sucks for him, but Luongo has always had a reputation for crying to the refs. We will definitely take it, I thought there was no way through for sure tonight.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Being out east, I didn't stay up long enough to see the end of the Anaheim-Vancouver game. I just saw the last goal in highlights, though, and that's just horrible stuff by Luongo. He had such a great season, and from what I can gather, he's been terrific in the playoffs, too. Why the hell is he trying to play backseat referee when the puck is still in his zone? He shouldn't really be yapping to the refs during play at all, but it's overtime in an elimination game. If there's any time at all to be 100% focused on stopping the puck, that's it. If an NHL goalie can't handle that, he's got a serious problem.

Now, I'm not saying that the Canucks should dump Luongo or anything. That's absurd. Still, this one incident should be enough to make any Vancouver fan cringe in the playoffs. How in the world can you feel comfortable with a goalie who loses concentration in a situation like that? He didn't make a technical mistake, he didn't make a bad read, he didn't misplay the puck. Those are things that, like it or not, "just happen" sometimes. He lost focus, and that's the #1 thing a goalie needs. If a goalie is not focused on stopping the puck for all 60+ minutes that he's on the ice, nothing else matters.

I feel bad for Roberto Luongo, because he kept Vancouver in the game. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, he's the one who ended up letting the team down. For his sake, I guess it's good that it wasn't a game seven. That's the kind of thing that he'd probably never live down.

[bbor]

Not a fan of either of these teams just a spectator.....but jeez that was a penalty......Nierdermeyers elbow almost took off Hanssons head.

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by TazFTW

Wow, Luongo lets in a goal because he is calling for a penalty.

Guh!

Guess I'm rooting for San Jose in the West now.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

Guess I'm rooting for San Jose in the West now.

How can this be? Detroit is (geographically) much closer to Canada than San Jose is.

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by bbor

Not a fan of either of these teams just a spectator.....but jeez that was a penalty......Nierdermeyers elbow almost took off Hanssons head.

We must have very different ideas of where an elbow is then... the contact was clearly shoulder and the elbow came through afterwards. I don't think the elbow ever touched Hansen. I haven't heard anyone from Vancouver complain about it since either. If you take that hit out of hockey, might as well stop playing hockey.

Actually, just read a quote where Alain Vigneault said it was clearly not a penalty. So I think that pretty much settles it.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

Guh!

Guess I'm rooting for San Jose in the West now.

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

How can this be? Detroit is (geographically) much closer to Canada than San Jose is.

Not to mention, they're the Red Wings. The beloved Red Wings. How anyone (not from St. Louis or Colorado) not love the Wings is inconceivable to me.

Look at how they've battled back in this series! They have heart and grit and even a bit of pluckiness.

The Sharks? San Jose? They were teal uniforms for god sakes! TEAL!

[MikeVic]

I'm rooting for San Jose becasue I have money on them.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Believe me, Luongo is about as focused as they get. But that was a huge mistake. I believe he will have learned this one and we won't see that nonsense again.

[Ksyrup]

What was the deal with Luongo missing the first 3 minutes of the OT? His backup got peppered and they almost lost the game right there. I didn't hear anything definitive.

I haven't seen the goal, but that's a crappy way to lose. I still can't believe a struggling franchise like Florida went out of its way to alienate the guy, then traded him for nothing. Just ridiculous.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

What was the deal with Luongo missing the first 3 minutes of the OT? His backup got peppered and they almost lost the game right there. I didn't hear anything definitive.

Official story: equipment malfunction.

Our theory: diarreha.

[bbor]

He had poopy pants.Sabourin did fantastic while Luogo was out though.

[bbor]

Marek Malik is fuckin terrible.


That is all.

[Travis]

Hey Pierre, it was an icing, Jagr kind of HAS to go back out there, yeesh.

[bbor]

Wow

[General Mike]

goddamn Rangers.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Travis

Hey Pierre, it was an icing, Jagr kind of HAS to go back out there, yeesh.

Ha, great call, totally missed that.

[RendeR]

MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX!!!!!!!!



Damn that was an amazing finish to a hockey game.

I almost pissed myself when Drury got the game winner. I'd been waiting to use the bathroom till the game ended and he scores with 7 seconds left..I almost lost control =)



LETS GO SABRES!

[Maple Leafs]

Well, I still think the Sabres are losing to Ottawa in round three, but wow... what a great win. Full credit to Buffalo, if they win a Cup we'll look back on this one as a turning point.

Interesting (depressing?) stat: The Sens/Devils game one was over a week ago. It was also the last time an NHL team scored more than three goals in a game.

[bbor]

Originally Posted by Travis

Hey Pierre, it was an icing, Jagr kind of HAS to go back out there, yeesh.

Actually i think that because a timeout was called the Ranger could have made a change.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by RendeR

MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX!!!!!!!!

Maxday? Maxday?