It'll be a couple of more transitional years for the Kings but they have an exciting young group too, led by A. Kopitar.Jimmydeicide wrote:Yeh this blows if your a Kings fan but so do the Kings im about done with their BS. Time to get the check book out.
NHL Playoffs
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WillHunting
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Sounds crazy, but I enjoyed reading your long post than watching any of the games.pk500 wrote:Congrats to the Ducks. Clearly the better team won.
Elimination games in hockey are as much of a test of will as they are talent, and there's absolutely no question that Anaheim has an iron will. Name me one player on that team who is soft.
You can't.
Even the offensive-minded guys and small, fast guys like McDonald play with grit and are willing to submit themselves to any punishment to gain possession of the puck. I'm starting to wonder if the Anaheim management has some sort of special NHL Wonderlic test because every player on that roster has balls of steel.
Ottawa can't say the same thing. The soft Sens returned to the Stanley Cup Finals within the the first period of Game 1 when they realized that their opening barrage of hits against the Ducks was met with a shrug and then a thorough pounding by Anaheim.
The Ducks had the series won then and there because the Sens' will was broken by physical force that Ottawa never had seen in the first three rounds, just as I predicted (small pat on the back -- you've got to be right at least once in your life.).
Half of Ottawa's blue line is Cottonelle soft -- Corvo, Meszaros and Preissing. And Heatley and Spezza are just a disgrace. No heart, no will, no fire. I would burn their jerseys tonight if I was a Sens' fan.
As Pronger said in the post-game interview, Anaheim plays on the edge. They were the most-penalized team in the league this year and the first team to win the Cup with that distinction since the Broad Street Bullies in the mid-70s. But they also have such skilled big men and such competitive zeal. I really admire that.
The interview with the Niedermayer brothers after the game had me beaming, as did the emotion shown by Selanne. It would be so fitting if Teemu hung up the skates on top, especially after two excellent seasons rebounding from the disastrous tenure in Colorado.
I had mixed emotions watching Prongs hoist the mug for the first time. I love him as a player; I hate him for leaving Edmonton. But I started to feel physically ill when Lauren Pronger stuck her perma-tan mug into the screen during Prongs' post-game interview. F*cking Yoko Ono. 'Nuff said.
It's a shame more people don't enjoy this greatest of all sports, especially when it's televised on NBC. I'm no Emrick fan, but the Peacock Network's analysis teams of Hull and Ferraro, and Olczyk and McGuire are EXCELLENT, every bit as good as the guys on CBC. I think Kelly Hrudey breaks down film a touch better on "Behind the Mask," but NBC is really doing hockey right.
Finally, on the sixth day, God created hockey. On the seventh day, He sat back, cracked a Labatt Blue and admired his creation while watching NHL Center Ice on the couch. I think that tells you where I put hockey in my sports' pantheon.
I honestly will be lost a bit at night, after my wife and kids go to bed, for the next week without games. I sh*t you not.
The NHL regular season starts in about 15 weeks. My countdown already has started.
It's been a great time talking pucks with you cats all season and especially for the last two months during the playoffs. I feel the same passion for the game in you that I have, and that makes it even more rewarding.
Long may it continue here, boys!
Take care,
PK