NHL Playoffs

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pk500
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Post by pk500 »

I think the debate over whether Luongo or Brodeur is the best goalie in the world became much clearer tonight. Luongo has been INCREDIBLE for Vancouver. Anaheim should have scored at least five or six goals in this game through the early parts of the third period.

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Post by Jimmydeicide »

What about now ? :twisted:

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Post by XXXIV »

Jimmydeicide wrote:What about now ? :twisted:
Now I think Luongo should play goalie instead of referee.

He probably learned something tonight though...and for being his first playoffs he was pretty damn good.

The better team won. Anaheim is better everywhere except maybe the nets...maybe.
To paraphrase George C Scott in Patten.... Niedermeyer you magnificent beast.

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Post by pk500 »

Jimmydeicide wrote:What about now ? :twisted:
That was one strange goal, no doubt. I still can't figure out what Luongo was signaling. That the puck went offsides, maybe? There's no way that was an interference penalty on Rob Niedermayer; maybe Luongo thought he threw an elbow on the hit.

A real shame that one of the stronger performances in goal in an NHL playoff game that I can remember had to end like that.

I'm still not sold on Anaheim. It has two lines. Ottawa and Buffalo can roll four strong lines.

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Post by Jimmydeicide »

Yeh maybe he was signaling for offside or maybe interference on the hit or something . No doubt it was weird and is gonna haunt him for a very long time, shame.

As for Aneheim they are not even playing at their best yet so start selling, if they put it together like earlier in the season its gonna be one helluva final against Buffalo.

Whoa i think i just made a prediction. I usualy wait untill there are 2 teams left but ill go out on a limb here, just for you lads :twisted:

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Post by 10spro »

OK the sobbing is over, and I am back to earth today. It's a damn shame that Luongo lost that game. What a performance! Like the 'Nucks crowd would chant MVP! MVP!. I was dissappointed at the gameplay VAN had in the first two periods. There was no rush, no desperation and if it wasn't for #1 the score could have easily been 5-0 by the end of the second period.

Having said that, I don't think ANA's 1st goal should have counted as Louie was clearly shoved into the net and why they did not call goalie interference is beyond me. Similar scenario on game four I think when R. Miller was shoved into the net by a NYI player where the goal was disallowed.

'Nucks showed some life in the third where they tied it and I honestly thought that this was any coach's nightmare when you have like over 40 SOG at the end of the game and the control of the game throughout and the score was still 1-1.

Canucks were dead at the beginning of this series as game one would indicate. What little emotion, heartbeat, banging was available, only T. Linden provided that, as our energy guys Cooke, Kesler and Cowan were all injured. Then you have Salo and Bieksa not playing the first two-three games of the series, guys that are huge for our PP (which sucked big time) and that's a lot to give away to a team that was stronger, more talented and more important, better rested.

No excuses, all games were close except the 1st one, but I have this sour taste in my mouth saying what if all the guys were healthy. Ducks deserved to move on and I think in the end Luongo was caught napping a bit (by his reaction) as to say how could you not call that a penalty on Hansen's hit?

ANA gets even more rest now, as SJ-DET looks like it's going to go all the way but they better play more convincing Hockey in order to get to the final dance.

There's always next year. When does training camp start? :)

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Post by GameSeven »

pk500 wrote:
Feanor wrote:For those of you who have watched the series closely, what's going on with Ray emery? I thought he was a real journeyman goalie, but he only lost twice all playoffs. Is this ia huge surprise, or did he actually have a breakout regular season?
Emery wasn't even supposed to be the starter this season. Ottawa got Martin Gerber from Carolina during the summer when Gerber lost his job early in the playoffs last spring to Cam Ward, who went on to win the Conn Smythe.

But Gerber struggled horribly early in the season, and Bryan Murray had no choice but to replace him with Emery. Razor responded with decent numbers: 2.47, .918 in 58 games and became the clear No. 1 in Ottawa.

Emery's save percentage in the playoffs is almost identical to the regular season: .917. But his GAA is down to 2.04.

Some of that improvement is due to Emery. But Ottawa also is flattering him by playing excellent team defense. Emery is a good goalie, but I'm not ready to ordain him as one of the best in the NHL due to his playoff performances.

One only needs to look at last year's playoffs to see that one spring doesn't make a career. What did last spring's playoff heroes, the Canes' Cam Ward and the Oil's Fernando Pisani, do this season? Not much.

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Ditto that. Not to take anything away from him as he has been as good as he has needed to be, I'd have to say his is definitely the case of benefiting from his team's defense. The Devils simply are barely challenging him. Ottawa's defense has been extremely solid and the Devils are again being exposed as a team lacking some size and grit up front. Guys like Gionta and Parise are the most willing to go to the net but are getting outmuscled in a big way. Ottawa allows precious little time and space to make plays and most of the Devils' chances have been kept to the outside. All of that said, when a shot *isn't* blocked by Ottawa's skaters, Emery looks VERY vulnerable and does not give the appearance of controlling his rebounds very well. He gives several second chance shots a game, the problem is the Devils lack the speed and muscle to get to them.

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Post by CrazyPsycho »

If they've got anything at all, the Sabres sure do have some moxie. What a hockey game, Lundqvist is a beast.

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Post by 10spro »

Great game five in BUF. They played well but couldn't solve Lundqvist until the very end. C. Drury played a great game and L. Ruff's gamble payed off as he reinstated M. Afinogenov for this game who scored the eventual winner in OT. Both teams need to improve their PP though and it's clear that for the NYR to have any success they have to have J. Jagr more involved. He seems to play differently away from home.

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Post by MizzouRah »

Even thought the Blues are not in the playoffs, I will say "nice job" to the NHL and the .vs channel, I'm fully back into hockey once again!

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Post by Gangrel »

Go Sens Go!

I'd like to cheer for the hometown boys, but man, the Sens weren't THAT good I don't think. The Devils just didn't seem into this series or something. I thought it would be a LOT tougher.

I love Brodeur, but it wouldn't surprise me to find out he was nursing an injury or something bizarre to explain all the bad goals he let in.

Something smells weird in Jersey.
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Post by Sudz »

lou lamarillo...

should have kept the coach...

that was the issue.

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Post by pk500 »

Gangrel wrote:Something smells weird in Jersey.
You must be referring to the lingering stench left by Lou Lamoriello's inexplicable firing of Claude Julien. All the guy did was guide New Jersey to a 100-point regular season ...

The only way New Jersey can be successful is for Lou to keep his ego in check and stay in the front office. Good luck.

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Post by Feanor »

Sabres - Senators should be a great series.

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Post by Sully »

Feanor wrote:Sabres - Senators should be a great series.
Most definitely. A lot of hatred between the two. Has the potential to be the best series of this year's playoffs.

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Post by 10spro »

One of the reasons the Sens are playing well this year is the performance by Captain D. Alfredsson. It just seems that he has that extra gear and the rest are just following him. The D is as stingy as I have seen OTT play in a while. Maybe after all those years of being labeled as chokers, turned their fate around but if you watch last year's video where Alfredsson was blown by the speed of J. Pominville who scored the eventual winner, this is a much committed team. And it helps when guys like J. Spezza, D. Heatley and M. Fisher are playing to their potential.

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Post by pk500 »

Feanor wrote:Sabres - Senators should be a great series.
Hell, yes. Really looking forward to it. I've been out of the hockey loop too much in the last seven days getting a ton of stuff done around the house before I leave for Indy, and working on the USGP and Indy at the same time.

Once I get to Indy Tuesday, I'll have more time to watch pucks again.

Looking forward to it!

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Post by 10spro »

Full credit to the Wings in closing their series with the Sharks. The veterans led by N. Lidstrom showed leadership and the younger guns played to their true talent. With M. Schneider out, D. Hasek and the so called old D shutout J. Thornton's line for good. Nabokov was shaky the last couple of games and P. Marleau was just absent in this series. Key turnaround was in game four when the Sharks failed to seal their win with an empty netter, and DET just took over from there. I have to pull for DET over ANA, it should be a good match up and we'll see how the Wings D can handle the size and strenght of the Ducks forwards.

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Post by Jimmydeicide »

I think what will be the difference in the Anaheim series is the offensive presence of their defensive players at the blue line, Sharks simply didnt have it and never used it , especialy tonight when it was screaming out for a shot from the blue line with traffic in front of Hasek, never seen it once a very weak effort i thought. Hasek was just too comfortable.

The Wings were impressive, looking stronger and stronger , Scary. Should be a great matchup.

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Post by 10spro »

It's about time the NHL playoffs goes the distance this time, so far we had only DAL-VAN going all the way to the 7th game and we have two top notch conference finals that should fit the bill. It's been a little quiet the last couple of days but no doubt BUF-OTT will have a lot to talk about once the puck drops on Thursday. Here are my predictions:

Buffalo-Ottawa: There was a lot of emotion during the regular season between these two teams, especially when R. Emery was fighting the Sabres tough guys. I don't think it'll get to that type of emotion this time, but this is one scary good series to enjoy. It will come to who's hotter: Emery or Miller. I give a slight advantage to OTT's D, as they are a bit more physical but BUF will counter that with their speed and quickness. Both teams have top guys in their 1st line and BUF's PP will have to continue to get better. I am picking the Senators in seven.


Anaheim-Detroit: At this point of the game, no one can underestimate the Wings, they are a bit more banged up than the Ducks, the absence of M. Schneider is huge for their D and PP unit but the veterans have shown what they are made of so far. D. Hasek has been stellar (other than handling the puck) and Zetterberg & Datsyuk have been their top forwards. In the last decade everytime that they went this far they went all the way to the finals. And won it all.
T. Marchant is scheduled to play again after a lenghty injury and he adds speed and grit to an already good checking line. Ducks will try to pound on DET's smaller D and that will be the key to their success. Their D is one, if not the best in the NHL now, so I think in the end it will be the Ducks in seven.

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Post by pk500 »

Quick predictions.

<b>Ottawa vs. Buffalo.</b> Both teams can roll lines, but Buffalo can roll four lines that can score. If Ottawa shuts down Buffalo's first line, the Sabres still can hurt them pretty badly. If Buffalo shuts down Alfie-Spezza-Heatley, Ottawa is in trouble. As James said, goalie is a key position. Can Emery continue to play this well, and can Ottawa continue to play tough team defense against a team that is this fast with this much depth? Buffalo must keep Ottawa off the PP. If it can do that, then it will win. <b>Sabres in 7.</b>

<b>Anaheim vs. Detroit.</b> I must give the Wings credit: They have played with more grit and toughness than I ever expected. And I don't think Anaheim really has been tested much by its first two opponents. But the loss of Mathieu Schneider is crucial for the Wings. Schneider is such a smart player, such a key cog at the point on the power play. Anaheim also is getting Todd Marchant back, which will make it a bit deeper. Marchant is a fast pest who will cause trouble for Detroit. Still, the loss of Schneider is the biggie, and I don't think Detroit will cope. It's a shame, because I think a healthy Detroit could test Ottawa or Buffalo in the Finals more than Anaheim, which is defensive-oriented and has only two lines. <b>Ducks in 6.</b>

Take care,
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Post by jimd »

Any of the four remaining remaining teams could win the Cup and it wouldn't surprise me. No cinderellas this year--all great teams.

I'll be headed to Buffalo Saturday for Game 2, I can't wait. I was at game 5 last Friday for Drury's heroics--unbelievable.

Let's go Buff-a-lo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Post by Jimmydeicide »

Very cool Jim. Wear bright pink so we can spot you.

Dont mind who wins the Buffalo series just want it to go 7 for entertainment value. The longer hockey goes the better as once its all over all we have is baseball.

Want the ducks in the other and if they can get traffic in front and use the point it will be fine. Wings do have the dominater tho he could be the key, what a freak , i thought your reflexes went away with age or is it just me.

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Post by pk500 »

pk500 wrote:Buffalo must keep Ottawa off the PP. If it can do that, then it will win.
Ottawa scores two PP goals, so Buffalo loses. Simple as that.

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Post by XXXIV »

pk500 wrote:
pk500 wrote:Buffalo must keep Ottawa off the PP. If it can do that, then it will win.
Ottawa scores two PP goals, so Buffalo loses. Simple as that.

Take care,
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Almost but not quite...

I could say Ottawa outshot Buffalo in every period and domintated that stat for the game...

I could also say the Sabres go 0-5 on the powerplay.

What I am sure of is that the better team tonight won tonight. Sens were the better team the entire game.

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