It's here! The NHL 2003-04 playoff thread

[Vince]

And now McLaren's hurt.

[Vince]

Dang it, where's the high-stick call.

[MJ4H]

Hang on Flames!!

[Honolulu_Blue]

Oh boy...

[ice4277]

Shit.

[Hurst2112]

damn

[Hurst2112]

dola, 3 wings fan posts in a row. that's not a good sign.

Not too happy knowing the Wings took attitude out of their vocabulary.

Yzerman's injury probably sealed the coffin.

[Vince]

This sucks. I hate being worried about a series in which you have home-ice advantage, and are up 3-1.

[Vince]

[SFL Cat]

What??? They're still playing hockey?

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by SFL Cat

What??? They're still playing hockey?

The Flames? Yeah. I was as shocked as anyone.

[Johnny93g]

11 years ago today.....May 1, 1993 - Nikolai Borschevsky scores at 2:35 of overtime at Joe Louis Arena to oust the Red Wings 4-3 in the seventh and deciding game of the division semi-finals series.

It still seems like yesterday

Just thought HB would enjoy that...hehe

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Johnny93g

11 years ago today.....

Jesus Christ do I feel old...

[bbor]

Wow...11 years ago...that IS depressing

Not as depressing as it is for H_B...but still depressing

Anyone hear how Stevie Y is doing?

[Cards4ever]

Originally Posted by Johnny93g

11 years ago today.....May 1, 1993 - Nikolai Borschevsky scores at 2:35 of overtime at Joe Louis Arena to oust the Red Wings 4-3 in the seventh and deciding game of the division semi-finals series.

It still seems like yesterday

Just thought HB would enjoy that...hehe

Could be worse, you could be rubbing in that 1967 Stanley Cup, oh wait, none of the Leafs fans on this board were alive when they won that one.

Seriously though, why do you guys get such satisfaction about Division Semi's and shit like that, why not win a Cup before talking all that smack.

[kingfc22]

Crap. Now I'm worried. Still up 3-2 but now its back to Colorado. Game 7 here we come.

[Draft Dodger]

WOHOO.

and my playoff beard gets a to stay a little longer...
I don't know if my heart can take another close game like that.

[Draft Dodger]

dola - yesterday was me wife and my 5th wedding anniversary. we went with some friends and our kids to the New England Aquarium, had an amazingly GREAT day. came home and my wife and we watched the recorded game after exchanging gifts (my wife gave me an extremely cool geneology report of our families she's been secrelty working on for months)...Sakic's OT winner was scored at 11:59 pm Tivo time...the last minute of one of the best days of my life.

[klayman]

Originally Posted by Cards4ever

Could be worse, you could be rubbing in that 1967 Stanley Cup, oh wait, none of the Leafs fans on this board were alive when they won that one.

Seriously though, why do you guys get such satisfaction about Division Semi's and shit like that, why not win a Cup before talking all that smack.

hehe

[ice4277]

Originally Posted by Cards4ever

Could be worse, you could be rubbing in that 1967 Stanley Cup, oh wait, none of the Leafs fans on this board were alive when they won that one.

Seriously though, why do you guys get such satisfaction about Division Semi's and shit like that, why not win a Cup before talking all that smack.

Didn't you hear, they are planning a parade through downtown Toronto if the Leafs make it to the Conference Finals.

[bbor]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

dola - yesterday was me wife and my 5th wedding anniversary. we went with some friends and our kids to the New England Aquarium, had an amazingly GREAT day. came home and my wife and we watched the recorded game after exchanging gifts (my wife gave me an extremely cool geneology report of our families she's been secrelty working on for months)...Sakic's OT winner was scored at 11:59 pm Tivo time...the last minute of one of the best days of my life.

Gratz on 5 yars DD...I think any best day of my life would include hockey too

[Karim]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

dola - yesterday was me wife and my 5th wedding anniversary. we went with some friends and our kids to the New England Aquarium, had an amazingly GREAT day. came home and my wife and we watched the recorded game after exchanging gifts (my wife gave me an extremely cool geneology report of our families she's been secrelty working on for months)...Sakic's OT winner was scored at 11:59 pm Tivo time...the last minute of one of the best days of my life.

That's sounds pretty awesome. Congratulations.

[Tekneek]

Congrats on 5 years.

That's good stuff. It will be 5 for my wife and I on 9/9/2004, if we can make it another 4 months and a week.

Go Flames! Let's finish it in Calgary now!

[bbor]

Originally Posted by ice4277

Didn't you hear, they are planning a parade through downtown Toronto if the Leafs make it to the Conference Finals.

It used to be worse,we used to have a parade whenever we won a game in the early 80's....I think between 80-83 we had 10.....total

[Hurst2112]

Nice steal from Recchi. Good goal.

[bbor]

Memo to Leafs....The game started 12 minutes ago....how about a shot on net?

[Hurst2112]

It's official...Wings are done.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playof...ory?id=1793957

[bbor]

Why is Mccabe playing with the knob of his stick on the ice instead of the blade?

[Honolulu_Blue]

11 years ago? Wow. I was in college. That's terrifying.

Poor Stevie. Sounds like he's done for the year for sure. Hate to think that's how he goes out. Makes me sick actually...

Well, I'm finally state-side. Watching the Philly-Toronto game at the moment. BKP (Big Keith Primeau) had an excellent goal. He's a big, whiny bitch, but that was still a nice goal. Good to see the Leafs get one right back. I want a good game.

[ice4277]

How long are you back in the States for?

[bbor]

Anyone know which channel the arena football game is on?

[Simms]

Can we call mercy rule?

[Simms]

Dola...

Better game five than game seven (like last year), but geez....this is fucking embarrassing.

[bbor]

Time to pull Eddie and sit Newy and rest them for game 6

[portnoise]

What the f^&* happened to the Leafs? The only ideas I have are that (a) they NEVER play afternoon games and have been thrown off their routine, or (b) they got seriously complacent after winning the last two games pretty easily. Either way, no matter how well Philly is playing, something's happened. The Leafs are NOT this bad.

...another question: how many toronto columnists will call for Quinn's head tomorrow morning? Let's set the over/under at 3.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by ice4277

How long are you back in the States for?

Three weeks at least. Maybe a month.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by portnoise

What the f^&* happened to the Leafs? The only ideas I have are that (a) they NEVER play afternoon games and have been thrown off their routine, or (b) they got seriously complacent after winning the last two games pretty easily. Either way, no matter how well Philly is playing, something's happened. The Leafs are NOT this bad.

Leafs started poorly, the Flyers were very good, and for once Eddie didn't save the day. Once it was 4-1 it was pretty much game over... the Leafs had to abandon the game plan and it was easy pickings for the Flyers the rest of the way.

What can you say, Philly is a great team. There are some teams you can get away with not bieng at your best, but not the Flyers and definetely not in Philadelphia.

[EagleFan]

[EagleFan]

dola: What's the deal with the 4:00 start? Kind of messed up my sports viewnig schedule. It went like this:

Hey it's the bottom of the 9th, Phils down by 2.
(click)
1-0 already, what the?
(click)
Tie score, what happened?
(click)
2-0, now what?
...


Oh well, at least both games turned out how I was hoping. Not much to take from the game 5 though as neither of those teams will show up like that in game 6.

[Johnny93g]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

dola: What's the deal with the 4:00 start? Kind of messed up my sports viewnig schedule. It went like this:

I never liked afternoon hockey games....and I blame the start time for the loss.....Leafs never win in the afternoon....The only time I remember winning a afternoon playoff game was against the Isles 2 years ago.....LEafs dont play afternoon games......

[bbor]

Originally Posted by Johnny93g

I never liked afternoon hockey games....and I blame the start time for the loss.....Leafs never win in the afternoon....The only time I remember winning a afternoon playoff game was against the Isles 2 years ago.....LEafs dont play afternoon games......

Unfortunatly.....the afternoon start works against both teams,so it was hardly an excuse for that lay down the Leafs did.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by bbor

Unfortunatly.....the afternoon start works against both teams,so it was hardly an excuse for that lay down the Leafs did.

Well, the argument has always been that US teams are used to the afternoon games. The Flyers, for example, seem to somehow play the Rangers every Saturday afternoon from December through April.

Still, I can see that being an edge of maybe one goal. Doesn't really explain the other four.

[Maple Leafs]

OK, in honor of the anniversary of Nik Borchesvky's OT goal, in continuation of some of the old-school Leafs talk from this thread, and in an effort to wash away the aftertaste of Sunday's debacle...

I now present the first installment of Hardcore Leafs Trivia.

That's right. None of this pansy "Who scored in overtime..." nonsense. The following questions range from relatively easy to "are you freaking kidding me". With a few exceptions, I believe these will be next-to-impossible to look up, but I still think that the hardcore Leaf fan will have a shot at most of them.

And yes, I actually know these off the top of my head. Kind of sad, isn't it?

Today's theme: the Leafs back-to-back playoff runs of 1993 and 1994.

TOR/DET, 1993
Each game in Detroit, HNIC would start it's broadcast with a shot of which Leaf standing silently by himself in the hallway prior to the game (5 points)?

TOR/DET, 1993, game four
After losing games one and two to the Wings in blowouts, the Leafs come home needing to win both games to stay in the series. The turning point of game four, and perhaps the entire series, was a thundering open-ice hit. Who threw the hit (1 point), and which Wing was on the receiving end (2 points)?

TOR/STL, 1993, game one
Everyone remembers Curtis Joseph's brilliant goaltending in the double-overtime Game One classic. But which future NHL starter had to come in to play goal during overtime when Joseph had to leave the game (2 points)? Which Leaf knocked CuJo out of the game and how (5 points)?

TOR/LA, 1993, game one
We all remember the classic Clark/McSorely fight after Marty decked Gilmour. But there was a second fight going on at the same time, which can only be seen in the background of the HNIC broadcast. Which two players were involved (3 points)?

TOR/LA, 1993, game five
The Leafs took the lead in the series on Glenn Anderson's overtime goal. Which King's half-hearted defensive effort allowed Anderson to be wide open to swat home the winning goal (3 points)?

TOR/LA, 1993, game six
This game will live in infamy for Kerry Fraser's missed call on Wayne Gretzky's high stick on Doug Gilmour in overtime. It wouldn't be overstating it to describe this game as the Leaf fans' Bill Bucker game. Still the only game in the history of sports to include all of the Sports Guy's 13 levels of losing. Sigh.

Anyway, the high-stick wasn't the only reason the Leafs lost. Some fans forget that Kings OT goal actually came on the powerplay. Which Leaf was in the box for boarding at the time of the goal (2 points)? Who did he hit (5 points)? And what was the ad on the boards that he hit him into (10 points)?

TOR/LA, 1993, game seven
HNIC opened it's broadcast of what Wayne Gretkzy would later call his "greatest game ever" and Leaf fans would later call "the game that should never have happened, Fraser, you bastard" with a montage set to the theme song of what classic sports movie? (10 points)

TOR/CHI, 1994, game two
With a 1-0 victory, the Leafs take a 2-0 series lead on Todd Gill's OT goal. Gill beats Hawks' goalie Eddie Belfour through the five-hole with a slapshot from the point, despite no traffic around the net, no deflections, and no screen. After the goal, Belfour goes ballistic. Why (5 points)?

TOR/SJ, 1994
What was unusual about the format of the TOR/SJ and later the TOR/VAN series (1 point)?

TOR/SJ, 1994, game six
With the Leafs down 3-games-to-2 and facing elimination, HNIC opened it's broadcast of game six with a video montage set to what appropriate musical selection (10 points)? Which Shark almost eliminated the Leafs, hitting the crossbar in overtime (5 points)? What song played at MLG when the Leafs scored to win the game (10 points)?

TOR/SJ, 1994, game seven
The Leafs beat the Sharks 4-2 to win the series. What was unusual about the final seconds of this game (5 points)?

[Simms]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

OK, in honor of the anniversary of Nik Borchesvky's OT goal, in continuation of some of the old-school Leafs talk from this thread, and in an effort to wash away the aftertaste of Sunday's debacle...

I now present the first installment of Hardcore Leafs Trivia.

Are you freaking kidding me???

I remember those two playoff runs like they were yesterday, but apparently I've forgotten enough to be able to answer exactly none of those questions.

The fact that you know all the answers off the top of your head, frankly, scares me.

[Simms]

Actually the only one I *think* I can answer is the 1-point one about the formats of the '94 series against SJ and Van, and that's only because I have a vague recollection about *some* NHL playoff series doing this...no idea whether these two were among them.

Were they 2-3-2 instead of 2-2-1-1-1?

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Simms

Actually the only one I *think* I can answer is the 1-point one about the formats of the '94 series against SJ and Van, and that's only because I have a vague recollection about *some* NHL playoff series doing this...no idea whether these two were among them.

Were they 2-3-2 instead of 2-2-1-1-1?

Correct.

That year, the NHL had a rule where any series prior to the finals between a western team and an eastern team would be 2-3-2, to cut down on travel. This basically affected only Toronto and Detroit, since they were the only two "east" teams still stuck in the Western conference.

[Simms]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

TOR/LA, 1993, game seven
HNIC opened it's broadcast of what Wayne Gretkzy would later call his "greatest game ever" and Leaf fans would later call "the game that should never have happened, Fraser, you bastard" with a montage set to the theme song of what classic sports movie? (10 points)

Probably a 3-pointer at best using your scale, but while I can't answer yours, I'll offer a bit of minutiae from this game that I *do* remember...

In the final 3-4 minutes of the game, Gretzky completed his hattrick and put the Kings up 5-3 (I think) to seal the game and the series. Which Leaf's skate did he bank the puck off of to get the puck past Potvin?

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Simms

Probably a 3-pointer at best using your scale, but while I can't answer yours, I'll offer a bit of minutiae from this game that I *do* remember...

In the final 3-4 minutes of the game, Gretzky completed his hattrick and put the Kings up 5-3 (I think) to seal the game and the series. Which Leaf's skate did he bank the puck off of to get the puck past Potvin?

Dave Ellett.

(Who redeemed himself, a somewhat, by scoring to make it 5-4 with a minute left.)

[Simms]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Dave Ellett.

(Who redeemed himself, a somewhat, by scoring to make it 5-4 with a minute left.)

Somehow, I knew you'd know that.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Simms

Somehow, I knew you'd know that.

If my wife were here, she'd be shaking her head in that "I can't believe I married this hamster" way.