Goodbye, Detroit.
Wish I had been there tonight.
Sad that the Wings lost, but now I can root for the Canadiens to oust Tampa. Lots of questions for next season- will Babcock be back? Howard?
Truly a legend in the sport, he is the voice of hockey here in the US. He was the first (and I think only) member of the media to ever be inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, he’s won tons of awards, including a National Sports Emmy for play-by-play. Someone once wrote down all 153 verbs he used in place of “pass” during a single game. There are lists, songs and soundboards dedicated to his wordsmithing. Google the phrase Doc Emrick verbs to see what I mean.
Personally I couldn’t give a rip about any of the teams that are left in the Eastern Conference. Nor do I care about the Anaheim Ducks. Unfortunately all three teams I care even a little bit about are in the same conference but if any of them emerge as Western Conference champions I WILL be pulling for that team against whichever Eastern Conference team shows up to play them. If it’s Anaheim that emerges from the West, however, then my interest in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs will END once the Western Conference Finals are over.
Has anybody else noticed how few league titles the Canadiens have won since 1979? 1979 marked the last of four straight years (and not the first time they’d done something like that) that the Montréal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup. I looked it up the other day - that meant that the Montréal Canadiens won something like 25 of the first 62 Stanley Cups contested. Since then they’ve won two of 34 (remember that there was an entire N.H.L. season cancelled a few years ago). Guess it’s a little tougher to maintain a dynasty when you have to beat more than two teams in the playoffs to win a league title.
Happy news for the Hawks: It looks like they’re finally ready to scratch Versteeg. I don’t care if the Hawks send their skate sharpener out there in his place, I’ve seen enough of Versteeg.
I hope Babcock stays; nothing I saw this season tells me the team needs a coaching change. it’s no secret the Wings don’t have the same level of talent across the board that they did in 2008. he turned down the last deal offered, but it was a 4-year deal and he might not want to do anything long term. But the fact that he was offered a 4-year means the team doesn’t think he needs to go.
Went 6 for 8…not bad…
Rangers v. Caps - Rangers in 7. Really a pick’em, IMHO.
Lightning v. Habs - Lightning in 7. If Price could play both goalie and center, then I would say Habs in 6.
Blackhawks v. Wild - Blackhawks in 7. Chicago is going to have there hands full, but experience is the difference.
Ducks v. Flames - Ducks in 6. Ducks are the Stannis Baratheon of the NHL.
Caps steal Game 1 from the Rangers with literally one second left! Big night for Ovechkin.
Perfect example of who wants it more and who works harder.
Yeah, that was weird. When the Rangers tied it in the 3rd, I was ready for it to go 3 overtimes with the Caps ultimately losing. Something ain’t right with the universe.
Tyler Kohnson got hurt somehow, that’s not good for TB.
Tampa wins in 2nd OT. It’s going to be a long series though.
Ben Bishop is looking really good.
Montreal hasn’t scored more than 1 goal in regulation since game 2 against Ottawa (other than an empty-net goal with 0.3 seconds left in game 6). Their offense has to be better if they want to go anyway, Carey Price or no Carey Price.
Another terrific game between The Caps and Rangers last night. This is shaping up to be another great series.
Pet peeve though, and I know this shouldn’t bother me as much as it does, but it does. It’s a nationally broadcast game. The commentators are supposed to be, in theory at least, neutral. But they don’t even bother to PRETEND to not be rooting for the Rangers. Everytime the Rangers had the puck, got scoring opportunities, they got undeniably excited, in a way they most definitely did not when the same was true for the Caps. Some begrudging compliments for Holtby here and there, but pretty much non stop love for the Rangers. They made it very, very clear who they were pulling for.
Again, I know it doesn’t make a difference, and shouldn’t bother me. It’s just annoying, is all.
As the regulars in the hockey threads probably already know, I’m a Caps STH. The series with the Rangers is so evenly matched, nothing will surprise me. But I know which outcome I’d like. 
Blackhawks announcer Pat Foley was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame last year.
I agree. Not sure how common it is but the local Caps announcers obviously favor the home team but are frequently critical of the team and complimentary of the other team. They seem more objective than the NBC crew.
Bob Miller (LA Kings announcer) said the most valuable advice he ever got was from Chick Hearn (LA Lakers of course) which was: “Don’t be a homie”. (I guess homie means something different now, but you get the idea.)
After the Minnesota Wild knocked out the Central Conference winner (yes, it was the Blues, but still, 109 points is pretty impressive), I thought the Blackhawks had an uphill battle in the second round.
Thanks to Crawford, it doesn’t seem so.