Stanley Cup Playoffs thread

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sat May 27, 2006 2:25 pm

Except that you won't see the inconsistency that Philly had with R.Esche.

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Sat May 27, 2006 4:48 pm

10spro wrote:Except that you won't see the inconsistency that Philly had with R.Esche.

Esche allowed 21 goals in the 7 games to Tampa, and outplayed Brodeur and Belfour on his way to the Finals. He allowed 4 goals in 3 of the games during the ECF. I believe his save percentage for the series was .880.

Miller has allowed 13 goals in 4 games, and 4 goals in a game twice during this series. Save percentage during the series? .885

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Sat May 27, 2006 5:06 pm

10spro wrote:Except that you won't see the inconsistency that Philly had with R.Esche.

Haha, good joke. Esche was consistently great in the 2004 playoffs. He played just as well as the Tampa goalie, but he had a shell of a team in front of him by game 7 when the Flyers lost 2-1 on the road.

Similarly, Miller gave up four goals last night on 21 shots, but only a moron would criticize him and say he was the reason Buffalo lost the game, and ignore the fact that the defense playing in front of him has been decimated.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sat May 27, 2006 6:28 pm

Sully wrote:
10spro wrote:Except that you won't see the inconsistency that Philly had with R.Esche.

Esche allowed 21 goals in the 7 games to Tampa, and outplayed Brodeur and Belfour on his way to the Finals. He allowed 4 goals in 3 of the games during the ECF. I believe his save percentage for the series was .880.

Miller has allowed 13 goals in 4 games, and 4 goals in a game twice during this series. Save percentage during the series? .885

Save percentage don't mean much to me. It's just that: A stat. M. Brodeur arguably the best stopper today allowed only four goals and had a fantastic .965 save percentage in a sweep of the New York Rangers. Yet they lost tothe Canes next.

R. Miller is one the reasons BUF is in the CF, sure he had some weak goals, but his overall performance is strong. Miller's 2.25 goals-against average is the second-lowest among goalies with 10 or more appearances this post-season.

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Sat May 27, 2006 8:15 pm

Nobody is disputing the fact that Ryan Miller has been exceptional during this playoff run. I posted those stats as a comparison to how he's playing against Carolina, and how the "inconsistent" Robert Esche played against Tampa. Esche was the Flyers best player during their run to the CF 2 years ago.

Gangrel · Post by **Gangrel** » Sat May 27, 2006 11:12 pm

aghhhhh, 2-1 Oil, 10 minutes left, and they've hit 2 posts and just missed a 3rd chance to get some insurance!

I'm wringing my hands here!

ddtrane · Post by **ddtrane** » Sat May 27, 2006 11:37 pm

Whew, that last 5 mins was something special. Hey pk, is there room on the bandwagon for another?

Its time for a Canadien team to win it all.

Gangrel · Post by **Gangrel** » Sat May 27, 2006 11:45 pm

suuuh-f-ing-weet!

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sat May 27, 2006 11:58 pm

Roloson was the story here. The Oilers penalty kill had done a good job of blocking shots and making Anaheim shoot from the outside. Now the players will get a deserved break as the other series goes best of 3. The city of EDM is going crazy now. And yes it's time the Cup goes back to Canada.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun May 28, 2006 6:42 am

YES! Four more to go, baby!

Torres' game-winner was brilliant. Oiler hockey, all the way, putting his stick and body in line with a hard shot for a sweet deflection. I was happy as hell to see Chopper (Moreau) get the first goal, too, as that guy works so hard.

I'm very glad the series is over because the team needs time to recover from the flu bug. People have no idea how bad this team has been ravaged by the flu. Players hooked up to IV between periods. Horcoff lost 10 pounds and popped a blood vessel in his eye from repeated forceful vomiting. Roloson puked his guts out after the first and second periods in Game 4 due to the flu.

But four games away. WOW. After that dark day late in the regular season when the Oil got waxed by St. Louis and was out of the playoff chase with three or four games remaining, I seriously wondered whether the team would even make the postseason. And now they're four games away from hoisting the Cup.

Unbelievable. I don't want this spring to end. I'm sitting here typing this from the Media Center on Race Morning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the Oilers are in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Life is good.

Take care,
PK

nyisles16 · Post by **nyisles16** » Sun May 28, 2006 10:47 am

pk500 wrote:YES! Four more to go, baby!

Torres' game-winner was brilliant. Oiler hockey, all the way, putting his stick and body in line with a hard shot for a sweet deflection.

Take care,
PK

dang former Islander....

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sun May 28, 2006 9:46 pm

Just a great pivotal game between the Canes-Sabres with 10 minutes to go in the third. Tied 3-3.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sun May 28, 2006 10:37 pm

As mentioned earlier, P. Laviolette won't hesitate 1 minute to alternate between C. Ward & M. Gerber, and in OT CAR wins game 5 on a PP. But the story was C. Ward with two huge saves, one at the end of regulation on Afinogenov, and the other one during OT.

fightingcamel · Post by **fightingcamel** » Sun May 28, 2006 10:41 pm

Woohoo! What a game! One more to go!

jimd · Post by **jimd** » Sun May 28, 2006 11:16 pm

Sour grapes, but what a crappy call to put the Canes on the pp. In December that is a questionable call. In OT of the conference finals? A travesty.

tjung0831 · Post by **tjung0831** » Sun May 28, 2006 11:19 pm

fightingcamel wrote:Woohoo! What a game! One more to go!

Great comeback win for Carolina tonight. Too many penalties taken by Buffalo tonight and eventually it's going to come back to haunt you. Injuries are really killing the Sabres right now and you can really see this isn't the same team that we saw in rounds 1 and 2. Numminen could make a difference if he can get back in the lineup but the injuries might be too much to overcome. When you have to rely on Janik and Jillson on your blueline, that's a problem. I expect to see a game 7 on Thursday night.

fightingcamel · Post by **fightingcamel** » Mon May 29, 2006 1:26 am

jimd wrote:Sour grapes, but what a crappy call to put the Canes on the pp. In December that is a questionable call. In OT of the conference finals? A travesty.

Much like the one on Hedican at the end of regulation

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Mon May 29, 2006 8:33 am

I thought it was a fair penalty. You're not allowed to use your stick to interfere with a player like that any more.

10spro wrote:Except that you won't see the inconsistency that Philly had with R.Esche.

Miller gives up 4 goals for the second game in a row, so you're right, he's very consistent.

tjung0831 · Post by **tjung0831** » Mon May 29, 2006 10:18 am

Feanor wrote:I thought it was a fair penalty. You're not allowed to use your stick to interfere with a player like that any more.

10spro wrote:Except that you won't see the inconsistency that Philly had with R.Esche.
Miller gives up 4 goals for the second game in a row, so you're right, he's very consistent.

Talinder and Numminen being out have a lot to do with that.

CrazyPsycho · Post by **CrazyPsycho** » Mon May 29, 2006 12:39 pm

Feanor wrote:I thought it was a fair penalty. You're not allowed to use your stick to interfere with a player like that any more.

10spro wrote:Except that you won't see the inconsistency that Philly had with R.Esche.
Miller gives up 4 goals for the second game in a row, so you're right, he's very consistent.

You'll also notice that just about every goal Miller gives up is from the slot or closer. The new D is doing a terrible job of cleaning up the crease. Fitzpatrick is just brutal out there. Taking penalties, getting out of position.

That said, Buffalo really put it on the line in OT and had enough chances to win. No sour grapes here, just depressed is all. They won't go down without a fight. I see a Game 7 for sure.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Mon May 29, 2006 1:59 pm

tjung0831 wrote:
Feanor wrote:I thought it was a fair penalty. You're not allowed to use your stick to interfere with a player like that any more.

10spro wrote:Except that you won't see the inconsistency that Philly had with R.Esche.
Miller gives up 4 goals for the second game in a row, so you're right, he's very consistent.
Talinder and Numminen being out have a lot to do with that.

Exactly. All you people putting R. Miller down haven't watched all BUFF's games or are just blabbing for the sake of it. He's one of the MAIN reasons Sabres are in the CF's and when you're missing 3 of your top 4 defensemen, it's tough. As a goalie you know what your top D is about to do, instead of dealing with some rookies, second guessing each other.

The difference between both teams is so minimal at this point. The other day someone critized E. Ward and he's the reason they won yesterday. He made some franchise saves yesterday. When a team loses, blame it on the keeper. Come on people, are we watching the overall game?

tjung0831 · Post by **tjung0831** » Mon May 29, 2006 2:38 pm

Props to Carolina for taking advantage of this situation. That's what good teams do and they are a good team. If Buffalo were 100% healthy, we aren't even talking about game 6 right now. We'd be talking about the Sabres getting ready to take on the Oilers for the cup and there's a good chance that we still might end up talking about that. The Canes better wrap it up tomorrow night because they don't want to face the Sabres in a game 7 winner take all.

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Mon May 29, 2006 4:53 pm

I wasn't really being critical of Miller. I specifically mentioned in my post at the top of this page that only a moron would lay the blame for the game four loss on him when the Buffalo defense has been shredded.

I was pointing out how off base your claim was that Esche was inconsistent in the 2004 playoffs. Esche was the Flyers best and most consistent player behind Primeau. Especially considering that the Flyers defense was just as screwed as Buffalo's is at the moment - Desjardins even had a broken arm like Tallinder does now.

Everything you said about how hard it is for a goalie when his top defenseman are out injured applied to Robert Esche two years ago.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Mon May 29, 2006 7:15 pm

Feanor wrote: I was pointing out how off base your claim was that Esche was inconsistent in the 2004 playoffs. Esche was the Flyers best and most consistent player behind Primeau.

So before we go any further find my quote when I mentioned "2004". I've talked nothing but this year's playoffs, who cares about 2004?

He was great that year and even though he's the least person to blame for this year's loss in the 1st round, there were games where he couldn't stop a beach ball and in some games instead of contributing to the team, he decided to instigate a fight (leave that to D. Brashear, that's why they have him), that's what I meant by his "inconsistency".

And I guess coach Hitchcock agreed as he was pulled a couple of times during the playoffs right?

But first of all, find the quote where I said Esche was inconsistant in 2004. If I did, my bad, if not, I would expect the same treatment.

You also mention Miller giving up 4 goals for the second game in a row as a model of "consistency". If that's not sarcasm or critical of Miller, what is?

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Mon May 29, 2006 10:59 pm

It's sarcasm directed at you for making a statement about Esche that is totally off base in reply to my post at the bottom of page 35. (I actually think Miller has played great and the OT goal obviously wasn't his fault.) I was just pointing out how similar Buffalo's current situation is to that faced by Philly in the last Eastern Conference finals. We can now add "lost game 5" to the list of similarities. While I want Carolina to win because of Recchi, Brind'Amour and Williams, I feel sorry for any team like Buffalo that suffers a bunch of major injuries while their opponents have much better luck.

I said this - clearly talking about the 2004 playoffs:

Feanor wrote:It's weird how Buffalo is going thru the exact same thing the Flyers did the last time they held the Eastern Conference finals. Half the defense out with injuries, and not having home-ice advantage.

You replied in the very next post:

10spro wrote:Except that you won't see the inconsistency that Philly had with R.Esche.

When Sully proved that to be wrong, you didn't say "Oh, I actually meant Esche was inconsistent in the 2006 playoffs, not in 2004". You just said that you don't like Save % as a stat.