NHL Playoffs 09. Drop The Puck.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:20 pm

Best hit of the playoffs so far C. Kunitz on K. Timmonen. Bang.

34, Lucic will learn from this, definitely a dumb penalty but Lapierre was charging at him and he lost it and crosschecked him. Definitely an unnecessary infraction.

jondiehl · Post by **jondiehl** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:39 pm

fletcher21 wrote:Blues season has 12 minutes left. They lose this game, they might as well pack it up.

Agreed. Canucks special teams smoked us tonight. 3 damn power play goals, plus they killed three 5 on 3 power plays

fletcher21 · Post by **fletcher21** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:40 pm

The Blues are showing the spine of a jellyfish. Come on 2 minutes left do something!!

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:48 pm

So, are the Blues still in good shape now?

The Blues have no one to blame but themselves on this one. Allowing three PP goals, failing to score on 5-on-3's.

There's only one question remaining in this series: Will it return to the Pacific time zone?

Still, this series will be a good learning experience for the Blues' kids, much like the pasting Pittsburgh took in the first round two years ago against Ottawa. The young Penguins bounced back last year to reach the Finals, armed with the playoff experience from the previous year.

St. Louis can make very similar strides next season -- it's a budding club that's not quite ready for prime time.

Take care,
PK

tjung0831 · Post by **tjung0831** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:48 pm

Props to the Canucks....

jondiehl · Post by **jondiehl** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:56 pm

Well said PK. Just getting them some playoff experience was key. We'll bounce back next season with Erik Johnson and Paul Kariya back in the lineup too. The Central division is going to be a dog fight though.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:56 pm

10spro wrote: 34, Lucic will learn from this, definitely a dumb penalty but Lapierre was charging at him and he lost it and crosschecked him. Definitely an unnecessary infraction.

10s Dont take this the wrong way ...but...you are the nicest guy on the net.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:59 pm

Blues' fans coming to their senses? Special teams was the difference today and the third line of Raymond, Wellwood and Bernier. Ryan Johnson was key during faceoffs in the penalty kill and you could tell the home team was deflated after they missed their 5 on 3 advantage.

The so called 'Kid line' has been invisible especially Oshie and Berglund, do like the shiftiness of D. Perron. Bring on P. Kariya.

And yeah Blues still look good after three games played PK,...on the way to the golf course.

fletcher21 · Post by **fletcher21** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:02 pm

XXXIV wrote:
10spro wrote: 34, Lucic will learn from this, definitely a dumb penalty but Lapierre was charging at him and he lost it and crosschecked him. Definitely an unnecessary infraction.
10s Dont take this the wrong way ...but...you are the nicest guy on the net.

hahah

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:03 pm

XXXIV wrote:
10spro wrote: 34, Lucic will learn from this, definitely a dumb penalty but Lapierre was charging at him and he lost it and crosschecked him. Definitely an unnecessary infraction.
10s Dont take this the wrong way ...but...you are the nicest guy on the net.

I watched Milan since he was 17 playing in the WHL for the Vancouver Giants. And I am sure he regrets it, he's a good kid, BOS's next Cam Neely. Hey put it this way, with his absence your Habs may steal game 3.

fletcher21 · Post by **fletcher21** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:04 pm

My St Louis friend paid me the 500 bucks a minute ago. I have CASH IN HAND. He's thrown in the towel and said he's done with the club til next season... Just to think, I claimed they would get swept on here and was mocked and ridiculed... They played hard, but this ain't no Red Sox vs Yankees series like some may hope for. Party's over for the dirty dirty

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:06 pm

jondiehl wrote:The Central division is going to be a dog fight though.

No doubt, one of the best in the league.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:30 pm

10spro wrote:
jondiehl wrote:The Central division is going to be a dog fight though.
No doubt, one of the best in the league.

Amazing, because it was easily the worst division in the league as recent as two seasons ago. Detroit and the Sisters of the Poor.

My, how times have changed.

Take care,
PK

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 12:29 am

Like I mentioned early in the thread, ANA is one team I would not like to face. With Beauchemin back in the lineup, their D is solid and the Perry line continues to be strong for the Ducks. Good game going in SJ.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:33 am

Two teams in NHL history have come back from 3-0 down. Have some faith boys. Wow. Glad I'm not a fan of the cities you guys live in. Gotta have a glimmer of hope. It's not over....not yet at least.

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:37 am

10spro wrote:Best elbow to the head of the playoffs so far C. Kunitz on K. Timmonen.

Agreed.

I love the description of the hit by the guy who uploaded it to youtube:

The elbow appears to make contact, but its a clean hit because Timmonen isn't even 5'8'' and Timonen wasn't injured so he didn't get him with it that bad.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:56 am

sportdan30 wrote:Two teams in NHL history have come back from 3-0 down. Have some faith boys. Wow. Glad I'm not a fan of the cities you guys live in. Gotta have a glimmer of hope. It's not over....not yet at least.

True Dan, never give up and the last game that puts away the opponent is always the hardest, but if only the NYI and Leafs are the only teams that have come back from 0-3 deficits, that means that over 95% of the time a team that has a stranglehold in a series advances to the next round.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:10 am

feanor wrote:
10spro wrote:Best elbow to the head of the playoffs so far C. Kunitz on K. Timmonen.
Fixed.

Huh? Since when an elbow extends to the right hand?

For those that didn't see it, here's the hit before you edited:

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BNhrdc_yC_g&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed>

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:14 am

10spro wrote:. Hey put it this way, with his absence your Habs may steal game 3.

At this point, Im thinking, that that would only prolong the agony.

EDIT: I need to get me some of that optimism the Blues fans have.

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:23 am

A clear elbow, like the Wings fan who uploaded it said. Although if you're claiming he hit Timmonen in the face with his right hand that's just as illegal.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:29 am

10spro wrote:
feanor wrote:
10spro wrote:Best elbow to the head of the playoffs so far C. Kunitz on K. Timmonen.
Fixed.
Huh? Since when an elbow extends to the right hand?

For those that didn't see it, here's the hit before you edited:

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BNhrdc_yC_g&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed>

Here's the AP's description; "Kunitz landed a flying elbow hard into Timonen's head and sent him to the ice. "

I don't see an elbow myself, but given the run-up and perhaps leaving his feet you would think this is treading on charging penalty territory. I can't help but think of the Downie 20-game suspension whenever I see a hit like that, but generally these plays are rarely penalized.

Whatever, there are worse things to complain about when it comes to officiating these days so I can live with this hit. s*** happens. At least Timonen saw it coming, and though it was too late for him to avoid the hit, he leaned back lessening the impact and whiplash to his head, but causing the hit to look worse as he went head-over-heels.

What you didn't see on the NBC broadcast is that after the hit Kunitz took 3 punches to the chin from Hartnell. Funny that, after Kunitz has been running people all series (and specifically targeting Timonen), after taking those punches he barely threw a hit the rest of the game...

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:44 am

The last 20 seconds of the video is kind of interesting with Crosby looking around for a ref after getting a stick-tap on the arm from Lupul. I don't blame him for hoping for a call, but it does look kind of funny to see him waving at the ref for a penalty just a minute after Timonen got head-hunted with no call.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:59 am

Tip of the cap to the Canucks!

Blues had their chances for sure...

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 12:02 pm

I thought the hit was clean. If anything should've been called, maybe charging, but you rarely see that called in the NHL these days.

I do love how all hell broke loose after the play, and Crosby is at center ice begging the ref for a penalty to be called on Lupul.

As for the series, I don't think the Flyers can survive without slowing down Malkin somehow. The guy is unbelievably talented, and isn't afraid to mix it up. He should be wearing their "C". He's got a couple lucky bounces through three games, but great players put themselves in those positions.

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 12:15 pm

A great player, but apparently also a bit of an ass man:

Flyers C Mike Richards and Penguins C Evgeni Malkin are developing a nice rivalry. After the two got tied up with a little more than five minutes left in Game 3, Malkin gave Richards an unfriendly tap of the stick on the backside as Richards climbed onto the Flyers bench.

Richards laughed when he was asked if that struck him as unusual.

"Um, I'm not too sure," he said. "I didn't really feel it, to tell you the truth."

Addressing the incident after the game, Malkin grinned and said, "Just part of our game — between me and him, and I'll leave it at that."