The OFFICIAL Stanley Cup Playoffs Thread

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Logan

I will never be happier for a Canadien team to advance. I hope Buffalo doesn't come close to sniffing a win.

As much as I wanted them to lose earlier in the playoffs, this makes up for it completely. Their fans shot their mouths off and now they'll end up with nothing but their foot in the mouth.

[Maple Leafs]

[bbor]

What the hell was Jiggy doing on that first goal.....it was a nice pass by Franzen,but holy cow....talk about biting on the fake.

I have to admit,Detroit is doing much,much better than i expected them too....now Buffalo on the other hand.........

[Chief Rum]

Agreed. Jiggy's off his game right now. We outshot the Wings again, but we shot ourselves in the foot with bad penalties and some bad defensive decisions. You can't do that against a very good offensive team and expect to escape that.

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Agreed. Jiggy's off his game right now. We outshot the Wings again, but we shot ourselves in the foot with bad penalties and some bad defensive decisions. You can't do that against a very good offensive team and expect to escape that.

Nah. Detroit's just the better team, plain and simple.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

Nah. Detroit's just the better team, plain and simple.

Tonight they are definitely. We're playing like shit.

P.S. A real Wings fan would have said something like this before the game started.

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Tonight they are definitely. We're playing like shit.

That's what I meant.

I'm a firm believer that the best team wins every time. Because they won.

[Schmidty]

Fuck the Ducks. Fuck you Neiderfucker. Fuck you Pronger.

Fuck you cheap bitches.

[Schmidty]

There need to be suspensions for crap like that.

I have zero respect for either of those guys anymore.

[Schmidty]

Dola.

Now I hear Duck fans chanting and booing. I have no respect for them anymore either.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

Dola.

Now I hear Duck fans chanting and booing. I have no respect for them anymore either.

Coming from a member of a fan set that boos Fedorov lustily whenever they see him, I'll take that as a compliment.

BTW, not in support of that hit--but bigoted assertions about whole groups of people based on the actions of a few are so 1930 Mississippi.

[Logan]

Details, por favor.

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Coming from a member of a fan set that boos Fedorov lustily whenever they see him, I'll take that as a compliment.

BTW, not in support of that hit--but bigoted assertions about whole groups of people based on the actions of a few are so 1930 Mississippi.

I disagree with the people booing Federov, as I've said before. Besides, there's a big difference between booing an ex-player, and booing a guy who might be out for a long time because of a cheap play by a "respected" player like Niederfucker.

As far as your second assertation: The fans booed. That is a fact. They are classless losers. What are you arguing? It's not like I said every single Mighty, Mighty Duck fan is classless, just the ones that are there. If I wasn't clear, my bad.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

I disagree with the people booing Federov, as I've said before. Besides, there's a big difference between booing an ex-player, and booing a guy who might be out for a long time because of a cheap play by a "respected" player like Niederfucker.

As far as your second assertation: The fans booed. That is a fact. They are classless losers. What are you arguing? It's not like I said every single Mighty, Mighty Duck fan is classless, just the ones that are there. If I wasn't clear, my bad.

You weren't clear, just like you weren't clear earlier tonight with your "better team" comment. Something to work on, I guess.

Since now you are clear, though, I apologize.

Scott Niedermayer is respected. I have never heard that Rob was respected. He's always been a tough guy type. Not that that excuses it, but you have an entirely different concept of him than everyone else if you think he's respected.

As for Holmstrom, he's on the ice. I think he's just fine. After seeing replays, it wasn't even that bad. Even the ref has taken off Holmstrom's helmet tonight.

The fans weren't booing Holmstrom getting hurt. They were booing the penalty as fans knowing that would hurt them, as well as losing a player themselves.

[Chief Rum]

What's a...power...play?

I thought that was something that happens just before the Wings score.

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

You weren't clear, just like you weren't clear earlier tonight with your "better team" comment. Something to work on, I guess.

Since now you are clear, though, I apologize.

Scott Niedermayer is respected. I have never heard that Rob was respected. He's always been a tough guy type. Not that that excuses it, but you have an entirely different concept of him than everyone else if you think he's respected.

As for Holmstrom, he's on the ice. I think he's just fine. After seeing replays, it wasn't even that bad. Even the ref has taken off Holmstrom's helmet tonight.

The fans weren't booing Holmstrom getting hurt. They were booing the penalty as fans knowing that would hurt them, as well as losing a player themselves.

That's cool. I was just riled up at the time. It's what I do. :P

[MizzouRah]

Roasted Duck tonight.

[Chief Rum]

Big kudos to the Wings tonight. They came to play and absolutely shellacked us. No excuses for us. We just got flat beat.

Hasek didn't have to be dynamite tonight, but he was, and that may end up being even more important. Because he may be starting to get into the Ducks' heads now, and that's a bad, bad thing for us.

Tonight's game ended at regulation, and the Ducks can just move on from it and chalk it up as a bad loss to forget. But Hasek's incredible play is something they can't escape so easy. They are going to have to find better, more consistent ways to beat him if they expect to make this a series again.

Psychologically, this is all Wings right now. They just took a very physical game from the Ducks, and came through clean. That was the Ducks' main advantage. And the Wings took some huge hits, and still came out great.

It's a gut check time. In particular, I am looking at you Teemu and Andy Mac. You two are the offensive stars of this team. The PPG line is young. They shouldn't be looked to lead the offense. Nor should the blueliners. You both have to nut up and show up for this series, because frankly, you gusy haven't done squat since Game One of the Vancouver series.

And this coming from a guy who's favorite player is Teemu.

Thursday, from the Ducks' perspective, will be the most important game of the playoffs.

BTW, never watched a Ducks playoff game on Versus before (almost never home, and when I was, it was on the local channels). Do the Versus announcers always nut on the Wings? Or was it just tonight?

[Hurst2112]

What a fun game.

This may be the start of the next chapter.

I'd bet Pronger gets a game off from the league. Just my opinion. Dude's a chump. Guy almost dies from a puck hit against the wings and he's had it out for the team since then. Tried takin out Yzerman and gets his leg tore up. He's snakebit I tell ya.

TEEEEE-MUUUUUUUU where aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrre yoooooooouuuuuuuuu

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

BTW, never watched a Ducks playoff game on Versus before (almost never home, and when I was, it was on the local channels). Do the Versus announcers always nut on the Wings? Or was it just tonight?

I am not sure what "nut on" means, but if it means what I think it means, no. They just "nut on" whomever is winning/playing better.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I am not sure what "nut on" means,

Bukkake

[Milton]

Let's beat a dead horse. What happened to all the noisy Sabre fans? They don't even come on to complain.

[Draft Dodger]

The NHL is having a hearing today to see if they should suspend Pronger for the Holmstrom hit as well as just being a douchebag in general

[Honolulu_Blue]

Pronger has a disciplinary hearing set. That doesn't mean that he will be suspended, but at least there's the possbility.

I didn't think he'd get suspended for the following reasons:

1. Holmstrom came back and played in the 3rd.

2. Both Neidermeyer and Pronger his Holmstrom at the same time. I think the fact that two players hit Holmstrom will give the NHL an out. They can say it wasn't an intent to injure and that, some how, Pronger's hit was a result of Niedermeyer's hit and all that. If Pronger was the only one who hit Holmstrom, the case would be stronger.

3. It's Pronger who was the hitter and Holmstrom the hittee.

Great move by Babcock to juggle the lines last night. Splitting up Datsyuk and Zetterberg was a risky thing to do, but it worked wonders. Filppula had a great game. He looked very good out there with Datsyuk and Holmstrom and was used in every situation.

Bertuzzi actually had a couple of shifts that mattered, which has been rare.

Hasek continues to be steady in net, though not in the head. He's insane, but there seems to be a fine line there. At times he seems to be at his best when he's a little nuts, but there are times when he crosses that line and things don't turn out well. He's been stradling it very nicely so far. He allowed the Wings to weather the storm and get out of the first period with a 2-0 lead.

I thought Lebda had a bit of a brutal game. He wasn't awful, but he didn't look too sharp out there and set himself up for a number of big hits.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Milton

Let's beat a dead horse. What happened to all the noisy Sabre fans? They don't even come on to complain.

They are taking turns performing the Heimlich Maneuver on each other.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by bsak16

They are taking turns performing the Heimlich Maneuver on each other.

Or researching what letter grades they could possibly invent to assign to Ottawa's description of how well they've played this series, since the Rangers must have been playing their A+ game to take Buffalo to 6 games.

Ottawa gets a '~++!

[bbor]

IF Pronger gets suspended...he would only get 1 game max.They are not going to take Pronger out of the series(possibly).

[Hurst2112]

Here's my vote for Pronger sitting for a game.

The guy's a thug. I don't care if he's 2 feet taller than Holmstrom, don't lead with your elbows.

[Maple Leafs]

The hit was very reminiscent of Roberts taking our Jonsson during the TOR/NYI series (which was far dirtier than the Tucker/Peca hit in the same game). That one didn't result in a suspension, although it was also five years ago.

[Maple Leafs]

Pronger gets one game according to TSN.ca.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Pronger gets one game according to TSN.ca.

Good.

[Hurst2112]

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Anaheim Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger received a one-game suspension from the NHL on Wednesday for his hit on Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom the previous night.


Pronger, a former Norris Trophy winner and a finalist for the award this year, will miss Game 4 of the Ducks-Red Wings series Thursday night in Anaheim. He leads the Ducks with 12 points, including three goals, during this year's playoffs.

Detroit beat Anaheim 5-0 on Tuesday night to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals.

Holmstrom had two goals and an assist in the blowout, but left the game midway through the second period to get cuts on his forehead stitched up after Pronger and teammate Rob Niedermayer almost simultaneously slammed him into the glass.

Niedermayer drew a five-minute major for boarding and was ejected, but Pronger was not assessed a penalty on the play. The NHL reviewed the play Wednesday, Pronger spoke to the league on the phone and the decision was made to suspend him.

Holmstrom returned to begin the third period and had an assist on the Red Wings' final goal.

He said after the game that he wasn't exactly sure what happened.

"I got run into the boards, got hit again," Holmstrom said. "I never saw the guy come from behind.

"Get stitched up, yeah, I was ready for the third."

Niedermayer said he was surprised by the penalty.

"All I did was take a few strides, finish my check and hit him with my shoulder," he said. "You don't want to see anybody hurt out there, that's for sure. I'm glad he was back playing."

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

The hit was very reminiscent of Roberts taking our Jonsson...

Roberts took your Jonsson? Is that Swedish for penis? If so, Roberts should have definitely gotten at least 3 games for that.

[Hurst2112]

That sound you hear is the choke hold tightening on the ducks.

Tomorrow is gonna be sweet.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Hurst2112

That sound you hear is the choke hold tightening on the ducks.

Tomorrow is gonna be sweet.

I dunno. You have worry about the "Ewing Rule" taking effect...

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I dunno. You have worry about the "Ewing Rule" taking effect...

It sure worked well for the Oilers this year.

[Hurst2112]

HB,

I appreciate your Wings loyalty. However, I have noticed you tend to be a glass half empty kinda guy with Detroit.

I was that way. Then I realized that it was more fun to have faith and confidence. After all, the letdown is the same. Why not have some fun with it. If they win the series (which I always thought they would), then relish in the moment instead of being so cautious to get happy.

Wings were down 3-2 in the series with Colorado (2001). I was down on them after the Forsberg OT game. After they tied it up at 3, I knew they would win game 7 (but not by 7 goals).

I just want you to have fun bro.

[Draft Dodger]

tend to be?

[NoSkillz]

Originally Posted by Milton

Let's beat a dead horse. What happened to all the noisy Sabre fans? They don't even come on to complain.

We are trying to pick up all the pieces of our broken hearts. Thank you for your concern.

[Milton]

Originally Posted by NoSkillz

We are trying to pick up all the pieces of our broken hearts. Thank you for your concern.

Now you've gone and made me feel bad. Damn you to hell.

[TazFTW]

Ottawa seems to have brought their D game.

[bbor]

Emery has brought his E game.

[bbor]

E as in Everything goes in

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Hurst2112

That sound you hear is the choke hold tightening on the ducks.

Tomorrow is gonna be sweet.

Keep talking. Get that overconfidence up.

For examples of what sorta karma this elicits, see Sabres, Buffalo: FOFC fans.

[GMO]

End of 2nd

Buffalo 3 Ottawa 2

[RendeR]

Originally Posted by GMO

End of 3rd

Buffalo 3 Ottawa 2

Fixed.

[bbor]

Originally Posted by RendeR

Fixed.

End of 3rd

Buffalo 3 OttOwa 2

Fixed

[Hurst2112]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Keep talking. Get that overconfidence up.

For examples of what sorta karma this elicits, see Sabres, Buffalo: FOFC fans.

My overconfidence has nothing to do with the outcome of the game, or the attitudes of the professional players on the ice.

I am sure the Wings will continue the series the way they have. That would include:

Finding ways to get the other team off of their game
Playing beyond expectations
Continuing to have the best goaltending in the playoffs
Flexing their PP muscles
Allowing Holmstrom to continue his run for a Conn Smythe

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Hurst2112

HB,

I appreciate your Wings loyalty. However, I have noticed you tend to be a glass half empty kinda guy with Detroit.

I was that way. Then I realized that it was more fun to have faith and confidence. After all, the letdown is the same. Why not have some fun with it. If they win the series (which I always thought they would), then relish in the moment instead of being so cautious to get happy.

Wings were down 3-2 in the series with Colorado (2001). I was down on them after the Forsberg OT game. After they tied it up at 3, I knew they would win game 7 (but not by 7 goals).

I just want you to have fun bro.

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

tend to be?

Yes, yes, ok, I do "tend to be" a little negative when it comes to the Wings. Well, I don't call it being negative, since I'm not a person who bemoans and complains about anything in particular (though occassionaly a player or two will get my ire (e.g., Lilja)), I just try to be a realist, though because I am a bit of "Nervous Nelly" when it comes to the Wings, when I'm being a "realist", I usually end up sounding negative.

I am enjoying this immensely, though it's controlled. After a goal, I am happy, until the face-off pretty much. After a win, I'm happy until about the morning of the next game. After a series win, I am relaxed and all smiles until the morning of the next series. I wasn't completely relaxed in Game 3 until the Wings went up 5-0.

I do appreciate the advice!

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Keep talking. Get that overconfidence up.

For examples of what sorta karma this elicits, see Sabres, Buffalo: FOFC fans.

Hurst's just trying to compensate for my overall lack of confidence. It all evens out, though Schmidty is throwing off the balance.

We need another Doubting Thomas in here... Mayhaps I should talk to DeTox, but I don't know where he stands on this issue at the moment.