If anyone forgot, The puck drops tonight!

Airdog · Post by **Airdog** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 7:52 pm

Leafs suck.

Hard.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 12:54 am

10spro wrote:This division is just crazy, from the 4th place to the 10th, everyone still got a chance to make it with less than a dozen games to go.

San Jose scares the sh*t out of me now. Playing very good hockey, with two games in hand on Edmonton and three on Vancouver yet only two points behind both teams.

I think the Sharks are going to leave either you or I in tears in about three weeks.

Take care,
PK

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 2:43 am

Not to mention the Ducks who won 9 of their last 10 games or so, with a couple of games in hand as well I think. This is going to the last game of the season, not only to decide who's out but also the always interesting match ups during the playoffs.

Speaking of SJ, since Thornton was traded that J. Cheecho guy is on fire with over 43 goals or so.

To demosntrate how close our division is PK, with your win over the AVS, Oils are just 2 games from tying for 1st yet 2 points from the last playoff spot. Crazy! Now the pressure goes back to VAN.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 10:02 am

Yep, if it wasn't for George Mason, the NHL playoff race right now would be the true March Madness.

This has been the most competitive, exciting NHL season in years, yet no one is noticing here south of the border. A shame. People have no f*cking clue what they're missing.

Take care,
PK

Gangrel · Post by **Gangrel** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 11:58 am

Ahhh, I loved Rollie's save on Sakic in the shootout! clutch. But like everyone else, I'm nervous. Things can go from good to bad in a heartbeat in the West.

The guy on TSN wasn't far off when he said "the newspaper is no longer enough, standings change in the NHL every 4 seconds now!"

Sudz · Post by **Sudz** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 1:40 pm

about TIME the bruins fired o'connell!

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 1:45 pm

Sudz wrote:about TIME the bruins fired o'connell!

I'm just glad they did it AFTER Samsonov was traded to the Oil. That was a nice pickup for my boys!

Take care,
PK

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 1:56 pm

pk500 wrote:Yep, if it wasn't for George Mason, the NHL playoff race right now would be the true March Madness.

This has been the most competitive, exciting NHL season in years, yet no one is noticing here south of the border. A shame. People have no f*cking clue what they're missing.

Take care,
PK

No s**t , man. I was just south of the border last week for a couple of days, and while I was catching up ESPN at night in my hotel room, they had nothing but two lousy highlites from the estern conference games, of which only the Rangers have a place in the playoff.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 2:16 pm

Then again, ESPN is the most revenue-based sports news gathering organization in America. If ESPN doesn't show the sport or have plans to show the sport soon (i.e. NASCAR), then it doesn't bother to cover it more than lip service.

"SportsCenter," much like ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, is nothing more than a promotional vehicle for the network's programming. I've really grown to like cbs.sportsline.com during the NCAA Tournament, as I find it to be a much informative, balanced and entertaining than espn.com.

Take care,
PK

JackDiggity · Post by **JackDiggity** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 5:43 pm

Congrats to Steve Yzerman who scored his 690th goal to tie Mario Lemieux for eighth place on the career list. However, you won't hear Yzerman compare himself to Lemieux.

"I don't really know the significance," Yzerman said. "If anything, it shows how good (Lemieux) is; he played almost five years less than I did."

Next up for Yzerman is Mark Messier, seventh with 694 goals.

Class act and great team leader.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 12:51 am

Stevie Y is a class ACT by himself. Good for him, I don't know if he'll catch Messier as I think most likely he'll retire next season although he hasn't said so. With 10 games or less to go, hopefully he'll get those 4 goals or so.

Speaking of accomplishments, I don't know if there's any Rangers' fan out there but as a true Hockey fan I'd like to mention J. Jagr. What a season he's having, ties all NYR records and is the 1st player that scored 50 goals or more already. With over 100 points under his belt ,he's the BEST player today.

laurenskye · Post by **laurenskye** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 8:00 am

"With 10 games or less to go"

Don't forget about the playoffs. He has a good chance to catch Mess.

And the Wings are still the best team in the league Paul

.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 10:54 am

laurenskye wrote:And the Wings are still the best team in the league Paul .

Cherish that avatar, bro, because it's not going to be updated this year.

Take care,
PK

Gangrel · Post by **Gangrel** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 10:05 am

Hey PK. Are you as scared of going into the playoffs(hopefully) with Roloson as I am?

Whenever I've seen him on TV, he's looked kinda weak. I.e. the 3rd, late in the game, tying goal the Blackhawks scored last night........

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 10:48 am

The refs tried to screw the Oilers out of another point last night. I understand that they couldn't actually see the puck in the net, but if the puck is in Khabibulin's glove and his glove is in the net, I think it's safe to assume the puck is in the net.

Luckily, Smyth netted the game winner seconds later. Great stuff going on in the Western Conference right now.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 10:52 am

The call Thursday night against Minnesota was even worse. The puck was clearly 4 to 6 inches over the goal line when it hit the paddle of Fernandez's stick.

How the f*ck the refs missed that was beyond me. And yes, that cost the Oil a point unlike last night.

Gang, yeah, Rolie scares me a bit. But he doesn't scare me nearly as much as Markkanen, Conklin or the now gone Morrison. Still, goaltending remains a weak spot.

Glad to see Bergeron start playing well again, though. He disappeared in February and March. Was hampered by injuries, but still ... Tarnstrom is another guy who has done nothing for me. Spacek has been an absolute steal and is the Oil's second best overall defenseman behind Pronger, but Tarnstrom is invisible most games.

Take care,
PK

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 11:01 am

pk500 wrote:The call Thursday night against Minnesota was even worse. The puck was clearly 4 to 6 inches over the goal line when it hit the paddle of Fernandez's stick.

How the f*ck the refs missed that was beyond me. And yes, that cost the Oil a point unlike last night.

Gang, yeah, Rolie scares me a bit. But he doesn't scare me nearly as much as Markkanen, Conklin or the now gone Morrison. Still, goaltending remains a weak spot.

Glad to see Bergeron start playing well again, though. He disappeared in February and March. Was hampered by injuries, but still ... Tarnstrom is another guy who has done nothing for me. Spacek has been an absolute steal and is the Oil's second best overall defenseman behind Pronger, but Tarnstrom is invisible most games.

Take care,
PK

Yes, I saw the replay of the Wild goal while they were reviewing last night's "goal" in OT. I sure hope that point doesn't cost the Oilers a playoff spot.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 1:26 pm

Gangrel wrote:Hey PK. Are you as scared of going into the playoffs(hopefully) with Roloson as I am?

Whenever I've seen him on TV, he's looked kinda weak. I.e. the 3rd, late in the game, tying goal the Blackhawks scored last night........

Like I said before. He ain't worth a 1st round pick, at best he's just been a notch better than Conklin. The game vs the Wild, the refs definitely blew the call against Peca, and while in yesterday's game, the puck did seem to barely cross the line, the rules states that the puck must be IN without a reason of a doubt in a conclusive way. In the end it worked out for the Oils.

Do or die game for my Canucks tonight. With only 5 games left, we are out of 8th place all of the sudden. Never thought that the loss of Cloutier, Jovo, Cooke and Salo would affect the team this much. Naslund and CO better pick up their pace or it's golfing time.

Gangrel · Post by **Gangrel** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 3:04 pm

Rumour has it Morrison might actually START a game for Ottawa on Monday in Montreal.... (I'm going to be at that game!)

Emery has started 18 or so straight. Doesn't scream confidence........
the Oilers didn't have goaltending all year long. I was hoping Rollie would be the answer, though I would have prefered Biron or Raycroft.

But even during the game last night, Pierre "I hate him" Maguire was actually right on one thing. Rollie is *horrible* at talkign to the dmen. In the first period alone the Oil gave up at least 2 good scoring chances because either Dwayne misplayed the puck and didn't have a clue where his D was, or vice versa and the Dmen had NO idea what Roloson was going to do with the puck.

Colour me copper and blue, and very, very scared.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 5:12 pm

I've seen every game that Rolie has started since he came to the Oil, and he has two glaring weaknesses:

1. The guy can't handle the puck to save his life. He'll never be mistaken for Martin Brodeur, Marty Turco or Ron Hextall.

2. He gives up a disproportionate number of soft five-hole goals.

A scary proposition, no doubt. And I agree with 10s: The guy wasn't worth a first-round pick. But the Oil was desperate, and Rolie was the best they were going to get. And Rolie is better than the Three Amigos who occupied the Oil's goal before him.

Plus nearly every analyst says the upcoming draft is pretty shallow once you get past the first eight to 10 picks. Not a bumper crop.

Take care,
PK

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 5:20 pm

And then again, a Goalie can get HOT at any time during the playoffs.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 5:27 pm

10spro wrote:And then again, a Goalie can get HOT at any time during the playoffs.

And Rolie alternated getting hot with Manny Fernandez in the Wild's magnificent run to the Western Conference Finals...maybe he can get hot this year. I'll play the role of Oilers fan if they make the playoffs.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 6:46 pm

10spro wrote:And then again, a Goalie can get HOT at any time during the playoffs.

Exactly the reason why Calgary will win the Cup this year, as much as it pains me to write that as an Oilers' fan. There is no better goalie in the NHL right now than Mikka Kiprusoff, and the Flames' aggressive forechecking gives teams fits. Calgary can forecheck like bastards because the skaters know Kiprusoff will bail them out if their forecheck breaks down.

Calgary is the hockey version of Arkansas' "40 Minutes of Hell" non-stop press in basketball when Nolan Richardson coached there.

The Flames will hoist the Big Mug in June -- mark it down.

Take care,
PK

JackDiggity · Post by **JackDiggity** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 7:03 pm

pk500 wrote: The Flames will hoist the Big Mug in June -- mark it down.

Take care,
PK

Wings baby. Wings.

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 7:07 pm

I'm going with Anaheim or Dallas out of the West. Both are playing great hockey, and are solid defensively. Nobody wants to be matched up with Anaheim in the first round with the way they've been playing lately.

I think the East is wide open. Philly's been inconsistent all year, and other than New Jersey, it appears every other playoff team will feature goalies that lack playoff experience.

Montreal - Huet
Philly - Niittymaki (Even if Esche is between the pipes, he's been up and down this year)
Tampa - Grahame
Buffalo - Miller
Ottawa - Emery
Rags - Lundqvist (currently injured)
Carolina - Gerber

It'll be interesting, to say the least...