The OFFICIAL 2008-09 NHL Playoffs Thread

[Ajaxab]

If the Red Wings could ever get any offense from those Datsyuk and Hossa fellows, they just might be a good team.

[Honolulu_Blue]

The Blackhawks played a very good game last night. They played their game and were able to dictate the pace of the game for the most part. Toews showed. They hit the Wings at every opportunity. I can't remember the last time the Wings were out shot during a playoff game. It rarely happens.

Osgood was quite excellent. Neither of the goals were his fault. Khabibuhlin also was quite good. The Wings just burried the two great opportunities they had - Cleary's breakaway and the 3-on-1 that ended the game.

Filupulla made a stellar play on that last goal. I watched it about a dozen times and that little move he made to freeze Barker and the Khabibuhlin was just excellent.

Game 3 will be really interesting. The United Center will be rocking.

[DataKing]

Decent article on Ozzie:

hxxp://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2009/news?columnist=lebrun_pierre&id=4176419

[sterlingice]

Osgood has impressed me so far this series, especially in game 2. I've always believed the Wings have won in spite of and not because of him but he won that game for them last night.

SI

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Osgood has impressed me so far this series, especially in game 2.

He was really good in Game 2. Especially in that first period.

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I've always believed the Wings have won in spite of and not because of him but he won that game for them last night.

SI

You and pretty much everyone else in the world. You would have figured that after what he did last year in the playoffs all this would have finally been put to rest, but it wasn't. The fact that he had a horrendous regular season this year didn't help.

I am not sure if there's anything Osgood could ever do, short of leaving the Wings for a lesser team and leading that team to a Cup (which will never happen since he's non-Red Wings days are behind him), that will ever really convince people otherwise.

The fans here, however, especially those that go to the games, have really rallied behind him. His teammates and coaches completely believe in him. So, that's all that really matters.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Osgood has impressed me so far this series, especially in game 2. I've always believed the Wings have won in spite of and not because of him but he won that game for them last night.

SI

Haven't we all been thinking this for years, and somehow always end up wrong?

I think he's viewed that way universally though. Any one else with his numbers (400+ wins, 3 cups) would be a slam dunk HOFer with a different name and jersey.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Haven't we all been thinking this for years, and somehow always end up wrong?

I think he's viewed that way universally though. Any one else with his numbers (400+ wins, 3 cups) would be a slam dunk HOFer with a different name and jersey.

Yeah, but it's kindof the Phil Jackson/Joe Torre syndrome, but for a player instead of coach: "if I had those players around me, I could win multiple rings".

We're not talking about transplanting Brodeur to Detroit- we're talking about a fair comparison. I just did a quick run to hockey-reference.com and looked up active players with games played for a keeper. Who's closest to Osgood? Kolzig. Similar ages, identical save percentage but he's got 2000 more shots on goal over his career and a higher GAA since he's played on worse teams. So, the obvious question- if you put Kolzig on Detroit and Osgood on Washington for the majority of their careers- who are we talking about and how right now?

Is Kolzig a slam dunk HOF'er?

SI

[DataKing]

I used to think that the Wings won in spite of Osgood, rather than because of him, during his first stint with the team. Yes, he had good days like most other professional netminders, but he also had some epic meltdowns as well.

But something seemed to happen to him while he was away from the team those few years (playing for the Islanders and the Blues), and when he returned to the team after the lockout it seemed to me like his head no longer was getting in the way of his natural abilities.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Yeah, but it's kindof the Phil Jackson/Joe Torre syndrome, but for a player instead of coach: "if I had those players around me, I could win multiple rings".

We're not talking about transplanting Brodeur to Detroit- we're talking about a fair comparison. I just did a quick run to hockey-reference.com and looked up active players with games played for a keeper. Who's closest to Osgood? Kolzig. Similar ages, identical save percentage but he's got 2000 more shots on goal over his career and a higher GAA since he's played on worse teams. So, the obvious question- if you put Kolzig on Detroit and Osgood on Washington for the majority of their careers- who are we talking about and how right now?

Is Kolzig a slam dunk HOF'er?

SI

I think the one thing that folks have on Osgood is that he never really accomplished much during the 3 years he was not in Detroit. He never won a playoff series for the Islanders or the Blues.

That said, he had a winning regular season record each of those years and has save percentage was only below .900 in 02-03 and his overall goals against was never above 2.95. Those aren't great numbers, but decent.

The "Should Osgood be in the hall of fame" discussion happens pretty much weekly on Detroit sports talk radio. To be honest, I can't stand any "should X be or not be in the Hall Of Fame" discussions. I find them very annoying and pointless.

That being said, if the Wings some how manage to win the Cup this year, I can't see how he doesn't make it. Everyone acknowledges that playoffs are the "real" season. That's where it really counts. Winning a Cup is often considered the difference between a "good" and "great" career. It'd be hard to imagine that a goalie with 400+ regular season wins, the winningest goalie in Red Wing history, and a goalie who won 3 Cups as a starter (and another as a back-up) not make it.

If Kolzing had won 3 Cups as a starter, yes, he would be a slam dunk HOF'er.

[DataKing]

Anyone spotted any defense in the Pens/Canes game yet? I can't find any.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by DataKing

Anyone spotted any defense in the Pens/Canes game yet? I can't find any.

Here's hoping for 10-8 final

[DataKing]

That back-hander by Malkin was sick.

[Fidatelo]

Turn. Spin. Back-hand roofer! THAT MAKES YOU A MONSTER!!

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Here's hoping for 10-8 final

You were close

Tho the first ten minutes were just stupid. It looked like the All Star Game.

SI

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

Turn. Spin. Back-hand roofer! THAT MAKES YOU A MONSTER!!

Never thought I'd say this...but Thank God I am watching on VS!

Pens Asst GM Cliff Fletcher taking the GM job in Minnesota...which means one less job for PM

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

You were close

Tho the first ten minutes were just stupid. It looked like the All Star Game.

SI

Seemed pretty likely. MAF was looking really shaky. And Ward...I've never seen him that bad. Sure, some of those are understandable-- Crosby's was on the doorstep, Malkin's were all in tight, and the HT goal was just ridiculous-- but he seemed off. Any Canes games I've ever seen Ward has been at the very least solid.

I don't care how much of a superstar Mad Max is, Ward should make that save.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by DataKing

That back-hander by Malkin was sick.

Double Dola

Going forward on the faceoff...scooping up the puck behind the net. Shades of 66.

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Seemed pretty likely. MAF was looking really shaky. And Ward...I've never seen him that bad. Sure, some of those are understandable-- Crosby's was on the doorstep, Malkin's were all in tight, and the HT goal was just ridiculous-- but he seemed off. Any Canes games I've ever seen Ward has been at the very least solid.

I don't care how much of a superstar Mad Max is, Ward should make that save.

This. Ward's picked a splended time to revert to pumpkin/first-half-of-season form. Yes, the defense sucked, but there have been other games this playoffs where they've left him out to dry and he handled it much better than he did tonight. Ward's really looked very ordinary since Game 2 of the Boston series.

It also doesn't help that Carolina's power play continues to be abysmal. It doesn't matter much that they're generally keeping the Pens at bay on the kill if they don't score on the PP. Pittsburgh's got the better tools at 5-on-5, so they need better specialty teams play to make up for it and they've not gotten it since the playoffs started. Supposedly this was the main coaching duty Ron Francis was handed when he stepped behind the bench with Maurice and for a while, they were pretty effective, but it seems like everyone's figured out how to stop us since the playoffs started and right now there is zero confidence for any of our guys when we have the man advantage.

At any rate, I guess the game shows that Carolina can run-and-gun with the Pens for a while, but going 60 like that asking for a loss. Even so, Carolina has at least shown the Pens aren't simply going to blow them off the ice every game, but it goes without saying that they'll need to win both games in Raleigh to have any chance going forward.

[Honolulu_Blue]

That Malkin backhand goal was incredible. With the way Crosby and Malkin are playing right now Pittsburgh is going to be a very, very difficult team to beat in a series.

Where's Mike Richards when you need him?

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Where's Mike Richards when you need him?

In Philly with both shoulders in slings.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

In Philly with both shoulders in slings.

That's not helpful to anyone.

[DeToxRox]

Anaheim fans I now take back Mike Brown's game misconduct. He was boned and Kronwall was boned just as badly.

[DeToxRox]

I think Joey Crawford is reffing this game.

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Anaheim fans I now take back Mike Brown's game misconduct. He was boned and Kronwall was boned just as badly.

Yeah, that penalty was awful. Apparently, hard hitting hockey isn't allowed anymore.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Anaheim fans I now take back Mike Brown's game misconduct. He was boned and Kronwall was boned just as badly.

Heh...you better not. You guys don't score on that major, we might have taken that game. And then Kronwall would not have been around to get boned in this series.

[Suburban Rhythm]

By the book, Havlat never touched the puck. I know that's hard to pin on Kronwall, and the call was based on the result rather than the intent, but it was still interference.

Somewhere in the regular season thread is a discussion about Colton Orr hitting Mark Eaton and getting a 5 min interference major. The way the rule is written, if the interference call is made, and the hit results in an injury, the 5 min version MUST be called.

Maybe not within games themselves, but I'd say the officiating has been consistent across similar situations in the playoffs. Kronwall and Mike Brown treated the same, AO and Cooke's knee on knee hits treated the same, and Kunitz on Varlamov/Walker on Ward/Bayda on Letang all fined, but not suspended.

[Maple Leafs]

Just a quick note that I've started digitizing some of my old hockey tapes, and have created a youtube channel where I'll be uploading clips:
YouTube - DownGoesBrown's Channel

So far it's been a lot of 1993 and '94 playoff stuff, although I have quite a bit of content up through about 2004.

[gstelmack]

Paging Cam Ward. Paging Cam Ward. You are wanted on the ice.

Is the Vice President in town and someone threatening to blow up the RBC Center?

[Wolfpack]

It was a fun ride while it lasted, but Pittsburgh is just a buzzsaw right now and Carolina has pretty much abandoned all pretenses of the play and effort that got them here. Malkin in particular is playing absurdly well right now (though admittedly our swiss cheese defense is probably making him look even better than he is). If the Pens can keep it up, I think they'd eat up Chicago and will be much more of a match for Detroit this year than they were last year.

I'd still like to get one win out of this even if only to avoid having such a thudding end to the season after such a tremendous ride over the last couple of months.

[henry296]

Can someone explain to me why Malkin's first goal was not unassisted since I think it was Corvo who played the puck into Malkin's body.

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by henry296

Can someone explain to me why Malkin's first goal was not unassisted since I think it was Corvo who played the puck into Malkin's body.

Actually, it was Gleason, but yeah, that makes no sense he doesn't get an unassisted for that one. Maybe Gleason should've gotten the assist. Or better yet, maybe because Crosby demanded he get an assist.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

It was a fun ride while it lasted, but Pittsburgh is just a buzzsaw right now and Carolina has pretty much abandoned all pretenses of the play and effort that got them here. Malkin in particular is playing absurdly well right now (though admittedly our swiss cheese defense is probably making him look even better than he is). If the Pens can keep it up, I think they'd eat up Chicago and will be much more of a match for Detroit this year than they were last year.

I'd still like to get one win out of this even if only to avoid having such a thudding end to the season after such a tremendous ride over the last couple of months.

MAF still worries me against the Wings. He's not playing near the level he was in the playoffs last year.

I think a bigger difference will be the style change. Remember games 1 and 2 of the SCF last season, both games ended in shutouts (I think 4-0 and 3-0), and the Pens struggled to break 20 shots per game. Since the change to Bylsma, they are outshooting the opponent in 13 straight games now, and have broken 40 like 10 of those.

I am not expecting 40+ vs the Wings, 25-30 consistently

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by henry296

Can someone explain to me why Malkin's first goal was not unassisted since I think it was Corvo who played the puck into Malkin's body.

The Carolina player (Gleason) never controls the puck. He whacks at it in desperation as Malkin descends on him, but that's not enough. It would be interesting to see if contact like that would have been considered enough to blow down a play on a delayed penalty, but I wouldn't fault a ref who let it play in the scenario either. Just contacting the puck isn't enough to gain possession.

[DeToxRox]

Anyone see this?
NHL Poll - who is the best player in Hockey (according to a Sports Illustred poll).
1. Alex Ovechkin - 51%
2. Nicklas Lidstrom - 11%
3. E Malkin - 7%
4. P. Datsyuk - 7%
5. J. Iginila - 5%
6. H. Zetterberg - 5%

That is pretty crazy that Sid didn't crack the top 6. I suspect a lot of voting was out of spite.

[DeToxRox]

Oof. No Lidstrom or Dats today. Lidstrom misses his first career playoff game.

[DataKing]

Doesn't look like the Wings are missing Nicky today...3-zip so far.

[DeToxRox]

And Havlet gets rocked again, this tine by Stuart.

[DeToxRox]

And Chicago gets a needed goal on the PP. What a shock that Detroit gives up a PP goal.

[DeToxRox]

LOL!

And Hossa scores about 5 seconds later.

[Neuqua]

Huet looks bad.

[DeToxRox]

5-1 now. A stupid penalty by Versteeg on a delayed call makes it 5 on 3 and Z buries it.

[Greyroofoo]

How embarrassing for Chicago

[DeToxRox]

It's sad that Chicago keeps thinking guys like Kronwall are going to drop them. It's not happening but they sure keep trying.

[Schmidty]

Not to be mean to Hawks fans, but I was laughing my ass off during the 2nd and 3rd periods. What an idiotic meltdown.

[Honolulu_Blue]

That really was a bit embarassing for Chicago. You can't overlook the effect the Kronwall hit from Game 3 had on this game. It got the Hawks in a bit of a tizzy to start the game, thinking "revenge" from the moment the puck dropped. Once it got 2-0 and then 4-1, it was a total meltdown. Their youth really showed yesterday. They will be a good team for a long time, but they need to mature a bit more.

[Suburban Rhythm]

The first of many 'Hossa returning to Pittsburgh' articles

For Hossa, final vs. Penguins would be 'interesting'

[sterlingice]

First time in the conference finals in years and this is what we do? Just pathetic. I thought after Game 3, we might have a series, particularly since Game 2 was eminently winnable. But, no

SI

[DeToxRox]

Is this NHL serious with this?

NHL considers moving up Stanley Cup finals dates
by Ansar Khan
Monday May 25, 2009, 1:30 PM

The Stanley Cup finals might start Saturday night, rather than Friday, June 5, as originally planned. If Pittsburgh wraps up the Eastern Conference finals Tuesday in Game 4 and the Red Wings finish off Chicago Wednesday in Game 5, I'm told the NHL might start the finals with back-to-back games Saturday and Sunday nights, in Detroit.

Games 3 and 4 would be in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, June 2, and Thursday, June 4.

That is still unofficial, though. And if Carolina wins tomorrow, it will be moot. But the league wanted to avoid having eight days between games if both series were wrapped up by Wednesday.

So we have 3 day layoffs for the Conference Finals, but back to back for the SCF potentially? Unreal.

[Ajaxab]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Is this NHL serious with this?



So we have 3 day layoffs for the Conference Finals, but back to back for the SCF potentially? Unreal.

Pin this one on the NHL and NBC. With NBC rolling out the new Tonight Show with Conan next week, they do not want to see any overtime games that could cut into Conan's audience. Putting games on Saturday and Sunday limits this possibility. Pretty ridiculous...

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Is this NHL serious with this?



So we have 3 day layoffs for the Conference Finals, but back to back for the SCF potentially? Unreal.

I really don't hope they do this. I am going to Switzerland for a wedding this Thursday and wont be back to the following Wednesday. Under this currenty schedule, I'd miss games 1-3.

To that end: Go 'Canes! Win at least one game, maybe two. I'm not asking you to win the series or anything.

I agree. Having back-to-back games for the Finals is ridiculous. Assuming the Pens advance, you have two potential dream match-ups: Detroit v. Crosby and Malkin Part II or the Young Hawks vs. Crosby and Malkin. Why dilute your product by having games on back-to-back nights?