NHL 08 Playoffs

rubba19 · Post by **rubba19** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 12:45 am

Feanor wrote: but I just can't stand when illegal hits that can end careers don't get penalized.

Ask Patrice Bergeron how he is feeling about that right now.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 1:50 am

Who says JR is finished?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 9:14 am

Props to Boudreau for not taking the bait in the post-game press conference to criticize the call on Poti. No question -- Poti tripped the Habs' player. Full credit to the ref for having the balls to make the call.

Nice win for the Sharks. Fitting that a guy with fire, JR, led the way. He's teaching this team how to win when it counts.

The Sharks face a much stiffer test this round with Dallas, which I think was the best team in the West in the first round. Dallas wins this series.

Colorado-Detroit is tough to predict. Colorado is riding Theodore, who could collapse at any time, but Detroit looked very mortal against Nashville. Colorado in an upset.

Rangers will beat the Penguins in the East, as the NYR's are playing excellent defense and Pittsburgh will be rusty after the cruise in the first round. Montreal got a good scare against Boston, which will help it beat Philly in the second round as long as Price holds up.

Bring on the second round!

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 9:15 am

Feanor wrote:Overall, I think both teams got their share of the marginal decisions over the 7 games, but I just can't stand when illegal hits that can end careers don't get penalized.

I get the irony here. I really do.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 9:42 am

Who was the most clutch player of the first round? Alexei Kovalev, according to Campbellnomics at The Hockey News:

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/1 ... il-22.html

Take care,
PK

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 10:05 am

pk500 wrote:Props to Boudreau for not taking the bait in the post-game press conference to criticize the call on Poti. No question -- Poti tripped the Habs' player. Full credit to the ref for having the balls to make the call.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 10:10 am

ScoopBrady wrote:
pk500 wrote:Props to Boudreau for not taking the bait in the post-game press conference to criticize the call on Poti. No question -- Poti tripped the Habs' player. Full credit to the ref for having the balls to make the call.

Flyers, Flyers, Flyers. My error.

Take care,
PK

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 10:20 am

pk500 wrote:Props to Boudreau for not taking the bait in the post-game press conference to criticize the call on Poti. No question -- Poti tripped the Habs' player. Full credit to the ref for having the balls to make the call.

In retrospect, I think the only reason they made the call because it was the second time in a shift or two where the Caps broke up a 2on1 with a blatant trip. The refs didn't call any penalties in the third despite some pretty obvious ones, but I guess the Caps can only push their luck so many times before the refs feel they have to call one. If you watch the clip on TSN video where they discuss officiating standards, the play where Kapanen was tripped was the one right before the penalty call, and was an even more blatant trip.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:08 am

Second round predictions (after a pretty mediocre 5 for 8 in the first round):

PHL v MTL - Even with the number one seed, the Habs are hardly a juggernaut, but the Flyers can only win in spite of their poor defense for so long. MTL in 6.

PIT v NYR - This series will push Pens to their limit, but I still think they have more than the Rangers can handle. PIT in 7.

COL v DET - When the Avalanche are healthy and getting goaltending they are tough to beat, and the Wings have hardly elevated their game for the playoffs (so far anyway). COL in 6.

DAL v SJ - I think this is the toughest series to call, but the SJ lineup is so strong from top to bottom I think they'll pull it out. SJ in 7.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 1:13 pm

pk500 wrote:
ScoopBrady wrote:
pk500 wrote:Props to Boudreau for not taking the bait in the post-game press conference to criticize the call on Poti. No question -- Poti tripped the Habs' player. Full credit to the ref for having the balls to make the call.

Flyers, Flyers, Flyers. My error.

Take care,
PK

That ref actually missed a trip moments earlier. He called the second one that happened right in front of him. The one that he swallowed his whistle on was much more an obvious penalty....

My thought was that he felt he couldnt choke on that whistle forever.

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 1:43 pm

rubba19 wrote:
Feanor wrote: but I just can't stand when illegal hits that can end careers don't get penalized.
Ask Patrice Bergeron how he is feeling about that right now.

Randy Jones got a five-minute major, a game misconduct and a 2-game suspension.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:06 pm

Well, the only series I missed was the one that DAL upset ANA in what it is the big surprise of the first round. The second round of course is going to be much harder to predict, all teams are pretty equally balanced with strengths and weaknesses.

SJ-DAL: I still think the Sharks haven't played their best game yet, game five of their series with CAL was strong but they followed it up with a stinker the next game. DAL's special teams did the damage against the many stupid penalties that ANA took, even without the services of S. Zubov. A couple of players are standing tall, M. Ribeiro and S. Robidas. Marty Turco has been strong too. A close series but I picked the Sharks to go all the way, so SJ in 7.

DET-COL: A decade ago these two teams were at war, of course the players are not the same with the exception of a few, but I like how COL is playing. A. Foote has been rejuvenated and he'll try to shutdown the tandem of Zetterberg and Datsiuk. Theo has found his game again and I think he'll outduel C. Osgood in the end. COL in 7.

MON-PHI: Habs will go as far as C. Price can take them and I have them going to the final dance with SJ. They can't have the mental lapses they suffered in game 5 and 6 with BOS. PHI will have to play them physical but they have been rather inconsistent with their play. Habs in 6.

PIT-NY: S. Avery will do his best superpest job against the likes of Crosby and Malkin and G. Laraque and G. Roberts will have to watch their backs. In the end the Pens have more offensive weapons than the Rangers and will beat them in 6.

Now, in more important news, it looks that player agent M. Gillis will be the next Canucks GM.

Jimmydeicide · Post by **Jimmydeicide** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:16 pm

Dallas in 5 and here is your stanley cup winner.

Detroit in 6

Habs in 6

Pens in 7 and hopefully Avery is shot by a sniper during game 3

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:32 pm

Kane, Toews and Backstrom are the finalist for the rookie of the year. Who's your pick this year? I like Nicolas Backstrom but I think one of the Hawks player will take the big prize.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:43 pm

10spro wrote:Kane, Toews and Backstrom are the finalist for the rookie of the year. Who's your pick this year? I like Nicolas Backstrom but I think one of the Hawks player will take the big prize.

I know it's a shocker, but my vote goes to Toews. He led all rookies with 24 goals, finished tied for 3rd in scoring despite missing almost 1/4 of the season, and the fact that the Hawks were not the same team without him in the lineup. There's no doubt in my mind that the Hawks would have made the playoffs if Toews didn't miss that time due to injury. He meant that much to them.

That being said I think Kane will likely win it due to leading the rookies in scoring and being so young and small.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 3:12 pm

Should be Toews for exactly the reasons Scoop mentioned. The Hawks went in the tank without him in the lineup -- he's a VERY complete player.

Plus Kane's numbers tanked a bit in the second half of the season.

Toews should win the Calder. But if only my boy Sam Gagner played as well during the entire season as he did for the last two months of the season after Shawn Horcoff was lost for the year ... then this conversation would be entirely different.

Gagner was the best rookie in the league the last two months of the season.

Take care,
PK

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 5:07 pm

Jeff carter gets hit in the face with a beer bottle. If only the Caps players had that much accuracy on their shots in the 3rd period.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFHne2NAgyI

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 8:33 pm

pk500 wrote:Should be Toews for exactly the reasons Scoop mentioned. The Hawks went in the tank without him in the lineup -- he's a VERY complete player.

Absolutely!

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 7:56 am

Feanor wrote:Jeff carter gets hit in the face with a beer bottle. If only the Caps players had that much accuracy on their shots in the 3rd period.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFHne2NAgyI

Imagine if it were a Philly fan throwing that bottle at a Caps player...

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 8:43 am

Sully wrote:
Feanor wrote:Jeff carter gets hit in the face with a beer bottle. If only the Caps players had that much accuracy on their shots in the 3rd period.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFHne2NAgyI
Imagine if it were a Philly fan throwing that bottle at a Caps player...

Trying to imagine Ovechkin dressed as Santa...

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 9:09 am

Sully wrote:
Feanor wrote:Jeff carter gets hit in the face with a beer bottle. If only the Caps players had that much accuracy on their shots in the 3rd period.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFHne2NAgyI
Imagine if it were a Philly fan throwing that bottle at a Caps player...

Is there a fan in the NHL with a greater inferiority complex than Flyer fan? I'm starting to wonder.

Funny: Nearly every post I've read at hockey boards from Capital fan is lamenting the end of the season, Ovechkin's decision to pass to Fedorov instead of taking that open shot in the slot late in the third, praising the job of Boudreau and Huet, etc.

Most posts from Flyer fan still are b*tching about the missed trip call before Poti was caught for tripping, the bottle that hit Carter's shoulder, the dirty hits on Flyers, etc.

Makes you wonder which team actually won the series ...

Take care,
PK

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:04 am

I think you misunderstand some things PK.

First, my post about the Kapanen trip was explaining how the refs actually made a call after having swallowed their whistle. I wasn't complaining that the Kapanen play should have been called, but referencing the Kapanen play to explain why the Umberger trip was a reasonable call when the two plays are taken together. I'm guess I'm a little sensitive to Caps fans complaining about the officiating after personally getting an earful about how the refs handed the Flyers game 7 from Caps fans in the stands during the game, outside the arena afterwards, and on the train ride out of the stadium.

Second, Flyers fans ARE extra sensitive about this kind of fan behavior. Not because it's so terrible what Caps fans did, but every year we have to read crap from clueless writers in other cities about how the Flyers are a team of dirty players and their fans are all a bunch of classless jerks. It happened again this year with this ridiculous article. Thanks to this article I was actually asked by Caps fans at game 7 to explain the Flyers playoff slogan "vengeance now" because it seemed an inexplicably crass slogan to them. This is also related to the beer throwing incident because when these things happen in Philly it's on the frontpage of hockey webpages about Philly fans or players acting up again, and we're just tired of being singled out.

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:20 am

Naples39 wrote:I think you misunderstand some things PK.
Second, Flyers fans ARE extra sensitive about this kind of fan behavior. Not because it's so terrible what Caps fans did, but every year we have to read crap from clueless writers in other cities about how the Flyers are a team of dirty players and their fans are all a bunch of classless jerks. It happened again this year with this ridiculous article. Thanks to this article I was actually asked by Caps fans at game 7 to explain the Flyers playoff slogan "vengeance now" because it seemed an inexplicably crass slogan to them. This is also related to the beer throwing incident because when these things happen in Philly it's on the frontpage of hockey webpages about Philly fans or players acting up again, and we're just tired of being singled out.

Exactly. It is irritating to constantly be accused (not by you PK) by non Philly fans of being a bullwinkle, etc. that boos Santa Claus (he was a drunk Santa, thats why he was booed), throws snowballs at Jimmy Johnson, cheers injured opponents, etc. It gets old because it happens in EVERY city. Yes there are asshole fans in Philly but they are NOT the majority. Its kinda like my job as a teacher...all I do sometimes is b*tch about my bad students when the vast majority of my students are good kids.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:40 am

That is definitely frustrating Philly fans. I can sympathize as the same logic applies to the White Sox after that father/son wonder duo attacked that Royals first-base coach. You guys definitely get more of the brunt though.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:52 am

Diablo25 wrote:Philly fans of being a bullwinkle, etc. that boos Santa Claus (he was a drunk Santa, thats why he was booed), throws snowballs at Jimmy Johnson, cheers injured opponents, etc.

You forgot to mention once being the only U.S. sports team (as far as I know) to have an actual court room setup at the stadium during events.