I guess goaltending is not a skill.
No, I misspoke. Osgood certainly has been skilled. And lucky, too, no doubt. And the Red Wings avoided a penalty shot on the play where the puck ended up on his back.
But they’re letting them play.
No, I was referring more to the goals they’ve scored. None have been impressive from a skills perspective. Osgood certainly has, and Fleury has not.
I for one would like to see the refs call things closer-if I was the league I’d make sure they understand that the rules don’t change (or rather shouldn’t) in the playoffs.
The Pens can still make this a series-they have been horribly unlucky I’ll admit. But Osgood is completely outplaying Fleury, and that may be the difference. Amazing comeback by Ozzie after a completely awful regular season.
I should also be clear that I think the Pens have really played pretty crappy, too. Their passing has been awful, they seem to have trouble controlling the puck, and at times they are looking to make big hits instead of good plays. Letang looks like he’s playing with a bowling ball again. Geurin, who’s looked like a kid again, looks like an old guy at times now. Malkin looks like he did last year, rather than last series. His stick-handling and decision making have been pretty bad. It isn’t hardly all due to a different style of hockey. I think for all their talk, they have let the situation get to them.
In the playoffs ,the idea has always been ,let them play. The refs are supposed to step into the background and only call obvious infractions. They don’t want to become basketball and slow the game into a series of exasperating whistles.
I think the ice was bad. It has not been that warm in Detroit but the puck is hopping all over. It is hard to control a bouncing puck.
I’ve noticed some bad passing by the Wings recently. It’s not just confined to the Wings, though.
I didn’t watch much of the Western Conference playoff games, but the officiating in this series is light years apart from that of the Eastern Conference playoff games. They didn’t let teams get away with the kind of nonsense going on in this series.
Yet they were much more enjoyable. I think most fans would rather see a two-hat trick game (like the one that the Capitals won over the Pens) than Games 1 or 2 of this series.
Only casual fans. Hockey is a lot more than offense.
Personally, I’d rather watch hockey. This series is hockey and the Wings are much, much better at it.
A few thoughts from a Penguin fan:
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Detroit is winning because of Osgood, plain and simple. The guy is playing in top form.
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I think we all agree that the NBC coverage is horrible. They do suck up to Crosby, but they play up the HockeyTown angle to an ugly degree too. Plus it really does sound like they’re saying “Applicator.”
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There’s clutching and grabbing going on, but it’s not like none of us have seen this before. The Pens should just play through it. The calls are reasonably even with two exceptions which I’ll get to in the next point. For some reason, I’ve read time and time again that TPTB in the NHL don’t want penalties and power plays in the marquee games because it slows the “fastest game in the world” down. Yeah, so does interference and such. I love watching a well executed PP or PK.
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Number 1 officiating problem: Malkin should have been suspended. Colin Campbell again made a mockery of the rules. I know Malkin was frustrated but that’s somebody else’s job to take care of that business. Number 2 officiating problem: Zetterberg covered the puck in the crease in consecutive games. Unacceptable to not call a penalty shot at full speed, let alone after a booth review.
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Man, is Hal Gill slow.
Now it’s time to win two at home and make it a best of 3.
That’s not a reviewable play.
what were they reviewing then? Whether it crossed the line?
Yeah. Hockey isn’t basketball. Defense counts as skill. Strategy matters in hockey, not who scores the prettiest goal. To appreciate hockey, you have to be able to enjoy more than who scores the prettiest goal.
Of course, you thought the tantrum that Malkin threw was an ass kicking. :dubious:
Since you mentioned it, Wings players & draft pick:
Justin Abdelkader—42nd overall by the Wings
Dan Cleary-----------13th overall by the Hawks, signed after being released by Phoenix
Pavel Datsyuk-------171st by the Wings
Kris Draper-----------62nd by the Jets, traded to Detroit for $1
Valtteri Filppula------95th by the Wings
Johan Franzen-------97th by the Wings
Darren Helm---------132nd by the Wings
Tomas Holmstrom—257th by the Wings
Marian Hossa---------12th by the Senators, free agent to Wings
Jiri Hudler-------------58th by the Wings
Ville Leino-------------Undrafted free agent
Kirk Maltby------------65th by the Oilers, Wing since 1995
Darren McCarty-------46th by the Wings
Mikael Saumuelsson—145th by San Jose, signed after being released by Florida
Henrik Zetterberg----210th by the Wings
Chris Chelios-----------40th by Montreal (in 1981)
Jonathan Ericsson----291st by the Wings
Niklas Kronwall--------29th by the Wings
Brett Lebda------------Undrafted free agent
Nicklas Lidstrom-------53rd by the Wings
Andreas Lilja-----------54th by the Kings, free agent signing
Brian Rafalski----------Undrafted free agent to the Devils, free agent signing
Brad Stuart-------------3rd by the Sharks, traded to Wings by LA Kings
Ty Conklin--------------Undrafted, signed with Oilers, free agent to Wings
Chris Osgood-----------54th by the Wings
Also, Pittsburgh seems to expect a lot of loyalty out of a guy they picked up at the trade deadline from Atlanta last year.
Slows it down in what way, exactly? If you call things tight it will speed things up, and provide more power plays which certainly can involve some of the most exciting play in the game. I’d like to see a cite for this (not getting on your case CP, I just find that line of argument incomprehensible).
Calling a bunch of penalties ,speeds the game up?
If they didn’t suspend Walker and Bayda, they sure aren’t going to suspend Malkin. At least they are consistent.
-dogbutler, Canes fan.
Babcock said he felt the ice was in poor shape as well.
I thought people out grew the “luck” argument when they were in their teens. Its a pitiful excuse made by sore losers. The Penguins technically didn’t score in game two, the puck went off Stuart’s stick, not a Penguin stick. So, therefore the Penguins got “lucky”, right? Both games were won by two goal margins. The Penguins didn’t have a goal disallowed because one of their players asscheeks crossed the plane of the blue paint by a millimeter in OT. Don’t blame fate, they weren’t playing of frozen gypsy tears you know. If a bad goal goes in, blame your goalie. If a player hits the post or crossbar with a shot, its because he didn’t shoot the puck into_the_goal. If only the puck didn’t take a bad bounce the Penguins would have scored. If only Geurin’s shot would have went in and not off the post. If only Osgood wasn’t in the way. If only the Penguins would have won. Pathetic.
Neither of Abdlekader’s goal were cheap either. They both beat Fleury up high and were well aimed. The second goal was on a one on two, maybe a one on three. It was a nice play. If your gonna complain about a goal complain about the one off the boards, off Fleury’s ass(again) and into the net.
We have at least two games left, lets try to enjoy this ok.