The OFFICIAL Stanley Cup Playoffs Thread

[Schmidty]

Calgary is a dirty, steaming pile of shit. I hope McClennan goes to jail, and that Iginla gets suspended at least the rest of the series.

Any of their fans that defend that shit are classless scumbags.

[bbor]

Tell us how you realy feel

[Hurst2112]

I thought it was sorta funny that Calgary has a coach named Playfair.

Oh, and by the way...message to Jerome Iginla:

You are more of a help to your team ON the ice. Take your head outta your ass. Your team doesn't seem to get motivated by your tough guy stuff.

[Travis]

Originally Posted by Karim

I agree. It was much worse than Edmonton's stellar performance down the stretch.

You're comparing sending a goalie out to hack a guy to Edmonton suffering through a brutal injury report for the last 20 or so games of the season?

I'd rather my team miss the playoffs than pull anything resembling what the Flames did today. I understand you're a fan of the team and all, but I'm failing to see anything the Oilers did that can even be ball parked with what went down today.

[Hurst2112]

Originally Posted by Travis

I'm failing to see anything the Oilers did that can even be ball parked with what went down today.

Maybe to an Atl/Cgy flames fan...winning 5 cups counts. :P

[TazFTW]

w00t! Game 7.

[sachmo71]

Originally Posted by TazFTW

w00t! Game 7.

I must say, I'm amazed. The first games were close, but history was against us. Seeing their fight in game 5, and then the overtime winner...now this. Turco is playing LIGHTS OUT. Nice to see he's at least capable of a great playoff series.

[Karim]

Originally Posted by Travis

I'd rather my team miss the playoffs than pull anything resembling what the Flames did today.

Sure. If the Oilers were the meanest, toughest, dirtiest team in the NHL, you'd be defending them just like any Oiler fan would.

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by Travis

I'd rather my team miss the playoffs than pull anything resembling what the Flames did today.

Absolutely agree 100%. That was repulsive.

[Karim]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

Calgary is a dirty, steaming pile of shit. I hope McClennan goes to jail, and that Iginla gets suspended at least the rest of the series.

Any of their fans that defend that shit are classless scumbags.

What did Fred Shero say? Something like, you can't beat them on the ice if you can't beat them in the alley. Whatever... Being poor losers has been a trademark of the Flames ever since Sutter took over. I can't say I mind.

[Travis]

Originally Posted by Karim

Sure. If the Oilers were the meanest, toughest, dirtiest team in the NHL, you'd be defending them just like any Oiler fan would.

Dude, you don't know me at all. There is no room in the game for what the Flames did today, and to be honest, I was shocked to watch it. For as much as I love to hate them, it's always been because they were our rivals, but I would have reacted with equal disdain had this been done by any other team in the NHL, including the Oilers.

Whether that makes me less of a "fan" for my team or not if I wouldn't defend them in that situation is up to each individual I guess, but if we were to have a controlled discussion about our teams, up until today, I probably would have pointed out much more that is wrong with the state of the Oilers than what was going on in Calgary (same would have been true at the start of the season, not just after we had to ice an AHL team for the last quarter of the season).

[st.cronin]

What McLellan did today is why people don't respect hockey. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if he was kicked out of the league forever.

[Karim]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

What McLellan did today is why people don't respect hockey. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if he was kicked out of the league forever.

Fair enough. I've heard people say it was as viscious as Simon, others saying it was nothing more than a tap embellished by Franzen.

Personally, I don't mind a little violence with my hockey, but then that's just me.

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by Karim

Fair enough. I've heard people say it was as viscious as Simon, others saying it was nothing more than a tap embellished by Franzen.

Personally, I don't mind a little violence with my hockey, but then that's just me.

Hockey is the greatest sport ever invented. Diluting it with boxing, street fighting, and vicious assaults bring the sport down to something too common for me to really enjoy.

[RendeR]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

Hockey is the greatest sport ever invented. Diluting it with boxing, street fighting, and vicious assaults bring the sport down to something too common for me to really enjoy.

You obviously have no real understanding of the game's history.





and I just can't resist....

Originally Posted by st.cronin

bring the sport down to something too common for me to really enjoy.

POMPous ...... ASS!

[Hurst2112]

Originally Posted by Karim

Fair enough. I've heard people say it was as viscious as Simon, others saying it was nothing more than a tap embellished by Franzen.

Personally, I don't mind a little violence with my hockey, but then that's just me.

I don't care if it was embellished. The fact that Jamie did it two-fisted shows intent.

I'm all for great rivalries. I dug the whole Avs/Wings 'trilogy' of the late 90s, early 2000s. Still, there was something really dumb about Jamie and the Flames actions yesterday. It felt like they were substituting playoff talent with ignorance.

[Milton]

Had to jump in here... What the hell has happened to the Detroit Red Wings? I'm not a fan of either team and don't follow the Western conference very closely, but the Wings used to be a tough AND talented team. What Calgary did was brutal and thuggish ...and it demanded a response right then and there. I actually felt badly for them, they looked helpless. Bob Probert is rolling over in his bar stool.

[Hurst2112]

the leagues gotten soft. Osgood doesn't have a Roy to fight with anymore.

[Young Drachma]

Devils looking pretty great.

[Hurst2112]

LEAGUE HANDS DOWN FINES AND SUSPENSIONS TO CALGARY

McClennan susspended 5 games.

Playfair fined $25000

Calgary fined 100,000

Just announced on NBC

[Hurst2112]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Devils looking pretty great.

I noticed NJ has a lot of patience playing the 'ning. They are looking pretty good. I'm not sold on Brodeur so far though.

[Young Drachma]

Brodeur is getting the job done. I don't think he's even close to where he wants to be down the line, but if he's looking this good so far against a team that's playing pretty aggressively, I'd love to see him in later rounds.

It just feels like a Devils' year. I dunno. You can usually tell with this team. That and I think Lou being on the bench this particular season has an impact because he built this team and knows it well and seems to be able to get enough out of them to win.

I'm looking forward to a matchup against the Senators, because I don't think they can hang with the Devils this year. I mean, this game isn't over yet. But...provided we get out of it, I'd like to see the Sabres and Rangers beat each other up in a six or seven game tilt and have the Devils dispatch the Senators.

Not that it'll be that easy. But...I'm REALLY not sold on Ray Emery as a playoff goalie, at least not yet.

We shall see though.

[Hurst2112]

my god, the lightning thrive on shots from the left side!

[Young Drachma]

Nice shot.

[Young Drachma]

They need to chill with the penalties, because if nothing else..I know I want nothing to do with this team in a Game 7.

[Hurst2112]

It just feels like a Devils' year. I dunno.

Believe me, I've been wanting to see another Wings/NJ finals rematch for 12 years.

[Hurst2112]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

They need to chill with the penalties, because if nothing else..I know I want nothing to do with this team in a Game 7.

I haven't been paying close attention (playing EHM as game is on tv)

Is it the refs calling a hard game or is it the Devils? Seems like the Devils D is getting most of the calls.

[Young Drachma]

Yeah, I've been playing OOTP and watching and it seems the refs were calling it pretty down the line. Tampa did some pretty stupid things early on. And now, the Devils are getting their share of the penalties.

It doesn't seem like they're being uncharacteristically tough to me.

[Young Drachma]

Dola --

I will say that nothing beats playoff hockey. I mean, even crappy series have the urgency that no other sports seems to have in their playoffs. Except maybe playoff baseball at certain points (though I hate to admit the Wild Card has diluted that to me...)

But man, I love playoff atmosphere.

[Hurst2112]

prospal with a nice pass.

damn.

Vinnie Prospal...is he related to Vaklav Prospal?

[Young Drachma]

Ok, that's a bullshit call.

[Hurst2112]

nuther penalty for the Devils...

baaaaad call on the refs part.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Hurst2112

prospal with a nice pass.

damn.

Vinnie Prospal...is he related to Vaklav Prospal?

It's the same guy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaclav_Prospal (and this tidbit from Wikipedia..so who knows if it's true)

Although it is not widely knowledgeable, Prospal's last name has a humorous significance in the Czech language, its proper pronunciation pṝospăl means "He overslept".

[Hurst2112]

no shit. damn

what an opportunity by NJ!

[Hurst2112]

brian rafalski never drafted? unreal.

My boss is friends with Parise's old man.

[Young Drachma]

Is it just me or are these in-game interviews with players pretty annoying? I mean, I get why they do it. I just don't like it. Whether it's the NBA, managers in baseball or in hockey.

They just annoy me. And I imagine they're distracting to the players too.

[Hurst2112]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Is it just me or are these in-game interviews with players pretty annoying? I mean, I get why they do it. I just don't like it. Whether it's the NBA, managers in baseball or in hockey.

They just annoy me. And I imagine they're distracting to the players too.

My GF mentioned that she thought it was unusual. She's not a hockey wonk.

I don't mind 'in tunnel' interviews with a non star but the interviews right before the game and right after the period seem wrong. The coach interviews are lame as well. Just like the MGR interviews in baseball during the game.

Lastly...I'm a little biased but I dig Hully on TV. He's a dude.

[Hurst2112]

Threadjack...

Listening to the local sports radio here last week.

State had a bill that they tried to pass. In the bill, they had a bit about 25 cents of each men's Gopher tickets be given to the US hockey hall of fame. The HOF has come into some hard times the last couple years. I have never been there but I drove past it last year on my way to a camping trip. It's in the middle of the sticks...near where the North Country movie was shot.

The bill failed (Dems turned it down). In return, some Dem bill was axed and the money for that was given to the HOF.

[Young Drachma]

I read an article in the NY Times about the US Hockey Hall of Fame.

The problem with putting things like that in places that are remote is that NO ONE can get to them. Add that to the fact that hockey is a niche sport at best in the USA and they just need to be smart and move it from its remote locale and put it next to an arena like the Wild's or perhaps in a place that will get more visitors. Heck, do it in Detroit next to Joe Louis and make it part of some bigger redevelopment project.

But...you're not going to get people to sign on or to get interested in something that doesn't really affect them, when the US Hockey of Hall of Fame is located in some remote Minnesota town in a building that's not exactly awe inspiring either.

Really sad. But they should've known better than to do that from the jump me thinks.

[Young Drachma]

Clutch save by Marty.

[Hurst2112]

I agree, totally.

The HOF is located in Eveleth. It's about 75 miles NORTH of Duluth.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...89654,5.987549

There was talk about moving it down to the X but I'm not sure what became of that. It makes total sense. I feel that it should be located in one of the original 6 cities but Minnesota does have a long history in US hockey, esp the northern half of the state.

But, if I am a hockey fan, it would be hard to justify a trip all the way up there just for the HOF.

[Hurst2112]

Marty big save on Kuba.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Game 5 thoughts...

Dan Cleary has been one of the Wings' best players in this series. He's been all over the ice, tormenting Phaneuf, he's been physical, and has made great plays at both ends of the ice. His penalty shot was a thing of beauty.

I would really like to see Detroit win tonight. While the Wings' will have home ice for game 7, it's just not a risk I'd like to have to take. You never know when the bounces just might not go you way, even at home.

I thought Hasek was solid, especially in the first period when the Wings seemed to be in a bit of a haze. Definitely his best game of the series.

It was great to see Zetterberg finally contribute, he needed to get back on track. The Wings finally seemed to solve the specialty teams issue.

I knew that Calgary would start taking runs as soon as the game got out of hand, but they were pathetic. It's one thing to be tough in front of the net, finish your checks, be a little more edgegy during scrums after the whistle, but the amount of stickwork was beyond the pale and Langkow's sucker punch on Lebda has knocked him out for Game 6 (at least). Calgary are just playing it off as they were just playing through the last 5 minutes, that they are physical and fiesty and all that. Bullshit. That kind of hacking has no place in the game. A tape of the last 5-10 minutes of that game should be used as Exhibit A when making the case for eliminating the instigator rule (not that the Wings really have anyone who would have instigated anything, but still...) I did enjoy Bertuzzi's choke-slam on Phaneuf.

It was a good win, but I still can't get too excited. We've seen the Wings dominate Calgary 3 times at home and get dominated twice on the road. There is really no reason to believe that tonight will be any different.

[Young Drachma]

Go Devils!

[Logan]

There was as much life in Tampa at the end of that game as there is color in Tortorella's shirts and ties.

[Young Drachma]

Yeah that was a pretty uninspired last minute or so. It was as if after they missed that big opportunity, that was pretty much all they had left.

[Pyser]

phew. that was a tough, tough series for the devils. lecavalier and st. louis were playing about as well as ive ever seen 2 players in the early part of the series. just absolutely dominant. and to shut them down late in the series without colin white...pretty impressive.

not even ready to think about the sens. just breathing easier that we got by tb. if they had any sort of 2nd line we'd of been dead in the water.

[Hurst2112]

Im excited about a NJ/OTT series.

[Logan]

I'm not excited about a NYR/BUF series. As good as our D has been, I don't think we can handle that offense.

[Hurst2112]

Originally Posted by Logan

I'm not excited about a NYR/BUF series. As good as our D has been, I don't think we can handle that offense.

Chris Drury...Mr Playoffs.

East has some good matchups.