# NHL: The Playoffs **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 8, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187 "2012-04-08T17:26:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/161 "2012-04-19T01:28:18Z")
Just checked Yahoo Sports. What in the hell is going on in the Penguins-Flyers game? Dammit, this is not the week to be without a TV. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/162 "2012-04-19T06:07:15Z")
Hoooo-boy. I’ve heard my team from Philadelphia is calling Ron Hextall and The Beezer for net minding duty. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/163 "2012-04-19T10:19:06Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Just checked Yahoo Sports. What in the hell is going on in the Penguins-Flyers game? Dammit, this is not the week to be without a TV. I’m wondering what the hell is going on in the series. Apparently the defensemen and goalies just check out as soon as the puck hits the ice. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/164 "2012-04-19T13:06:41Z")
This series is a little bit what it was like to watch hockey in the 80s. I hate both teams, but damn if it isn’t ridiculously entertaining hockey. ---
**Author:** ![Tazmanian\_Devil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@Tazmanian\_Devil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tazmanian_Devil)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/165 "2012-04-19T17:14:44Z")
Well, Pittsburgh avoids getting swept. Now I hope the Flyers emulate the 2004 Yankees and choke the next three games away. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/166 "2012-04-19T17:30:47Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > At least it wasn’t the Kris Draper hit. 😉 > > Seriously, you’re right, but I still don’t want to see my team become the Flyers. We’re better than that! And we’ve been playing so good all year, and then bang, we fall apart at the play-offs? > > Malkin’s got the Art Ross, he’s almost a lock for the Hart, and now we choke in the first round? We’re not the Caps, dammit. > > Dicks is giving out free yard signs, and I think I’ll leave mine up throughout the playoffs, even if we lose. (I have two) The fairweather fans calling for people to fire Bylsma, or trade the entire team are seriously pissing me off. That is just unfair. Sometimes the Caps don’t choke until the second round! ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/167 "2012-04-19T22:56:25Z")
> [@Tazmanian\_Devil](#): > > Well, Pittsburgh avoids getting swept. Now I hope the Flyers emulate the 2004 Yankees and choke the next three games away. I’ll admit to rooting for the Flyers simply because of Penguin/Crosby overload, but I also have to admit that watching the Flyers choke after stomping to a 3-0 series lead would be pretty damn enjoyable too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/168 "2012-04-19T23:05:40Z")
Well, as Mike Lange would say, I am smilin’ like a butcher’s dog! > [@Tazmanian\_Devil](#): > > Well, Pittsburgh avoids getting swept. Now I hope the Flyers emulate the 2004 Yankees and choke the next three games away. Don’t we all? I haven’t seen a comeback like that in a long time. By the third quarter, the crowd was dwindling (something that’s always pissed me off – I HATE fairweather fans!) Now we just have to keep it up through the next four games. I’m so happy tomorrow’s is in the CEC. **soulmurk** , I never said Cooke was an angel. However, I do believe he deserves credit for the way he’s turned his game around. Nobody believed he could do it, people were skeptical, and yet he accomplished it. He’s no saint, but he’s made an attempt, and he succeeded. (BTW, Stan Mikita had the same issues.) I don’t believe that the Penguins are dirtier than any other team. If that’s bias, so be it. I don’t feel they’re persecuted. I don’t feel that I’ve ever defended any of their dirty tactics – I said I fully supported any suspensions that were given, and that’s the last thing I’m going to say about that. I WILL, however, continue to defend Mario Lemieux. I do NOT believe he’s a hypocrite. Notice at the Islanders game he didn’t name any names, and both sides were equally at fault. (If you’ll recall his own side was fined, and Eric Godard was banned for ten games for leaving the bench to fight Micheal Haley.) I’m through with this bullshit. You don’t like Mario Lemieux. Fine. But he’s done a lot more good for the league than bad. (Speaking of Matt Cooke, anyone know why he was tossed out of the game last night? He didn’t do anything – in fact, he’s the one who got hit in the first place!) ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/169 "2012-04-20T00:47:27Z")
Ten minutes for being Matt Cooke. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/170 "2012-04-20T02:32:12Z")
And Yotes-Hawks go into yet another OT, with Phoenix blowing the lead this time with just under a minute and a half left in the game. So, counting last year’s Vancouver series, that makes five straight playoff OTs for the Hawks. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/171 "2012-04-20T03:07:14Z")
Holt-bee! Holt-bee! Holt-bee! ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/172 "2012-04-20T03:23:18Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Holt-bee! Holt-bee! Holt-bee! That guy is INSANE! Stopping the Bruins scorers is not easy. He knows how to read them. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/173 "2012-04-20T04:09:33Z")
As was clear since December, the Sharks just aren’t all that good this year. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![cutman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@cutman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cutman74)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/174 "2012-04-20T04:19:52Z")
Later than everyone. yay! Haven’t watched much hockey since Sunday night. I get the impression that most people here are eastern conference. What I’ve seen, being admittedly a homer, is that the East in general, seem like dump trucks, while the west seem more like sports cars. If you can stay out of the way, a sports car is optimal. If not, well…Sunday was a disgrace. I couldn’t help watching both games on NBC thinking “any western Con team could skate circles around these guys.” Granted, hockey might not be the most civilized sport, but the display Sunday between Pitt and Philly was sad. In the past few years, I was starting to feel like a Cubs fan. I hope that coach cock can change this “always a bridesmaid, never a bride”(make all of the sexist jokes you like) culture change. I am happy that once again, after a long drought, the Blues are here and ready to be a force in the NHL. I have to say that the only team in the west that I’m even mildly worried about is the Preds. I really don’t think that there’s an Eastern team that can beat us four of seven. Hull was in the crease(which was against the rules) in game 7 when Dallas won, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![cutman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@cutman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cutman74)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/175 "2012-04-20T04:55:55Z")
Just had to add that last bit because the Blues had two or three goals disallowed in that same year because of that rule, one of which may have cost them the series against the wings. I always thought it was a stupid rule as Hull said, but it shouldn’t have cost the sabres the cup. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/176 "2012-04-20T06:21:58Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > As was clear since December, the Sharks just aren’t all that good this year. ☹ “since December”? “this year”? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/177 "2012-04-20T06:37:58Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > Ten minutes for being Matt Cooke. Heh, I saw a teeshirt that said “Two Minutes for Being Matt Cooke” – I really want to get it. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/178 "2012-04-20T21:55:08Z")
> [@cutman74](#): > > Later than everyone. yay! Haven’t watched much hockey since Sunday night. I get the impression that most people here are eastern conference. What I’ve seen, being admittedly a homer, is that the East in general, seem like dump trucks, while the west seem more like sports cars. If you can stay out of the way, a sports car is optimal. If not, well…Sunday was a disgrace. I couldn’t help watching both games on NBC thinking “any western Con team could skate circles around these guys.” Granted, hockey might not be the most civilized sport, but the display Sunday between Pitt and Philly was sad. In the past few years, I was starting to feel like a Cubs fan. I hope that coach cock can change this “always a bridesmaid, never a bride”(make all of the sexist jokes you like) culture change. I am happy that once again, after a long drought, the Blues are here and ready to be a force in the NHL. I have to say that the only team in the west that I’m even mildly worried about is the Preds. I really don’t think that there’s an Eastern team that can beat us four of seven. Hull was in the crease(which was against the rules) in game 7 when Dallas won, by the way. That happened in Game 6, not Game 7. I don’t really see how the Western teams are better, though, and in fact I’d argue that this is probably the first year in a long, long time when I think the overall quality of the Eastern teams is equal to that of the Western conferences. At least… I dunno, a decade or more. The weirdness of the Philly-Pittsburgh games isn’t really indicative of anything; it’s a bizarre series. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/179 "2012-04-20T21:57:38Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > And Yotes-Hawks go into yet another OT, with Phoenix blowing the lead this time with just under a minute and a half left in the game. So, counting last year’s Vancouver series, that makes five straight playoff OTs for the Hawks. Just wanted to correct myself. I just realized the Vancouver series last year ended with two games that went into OT, so it’s actually six straight OT playoff games for the Blackhawks. Wonder if that’s approaching some sort of record. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187/180 "2012-04-21T02:37:38Z")
And the Preds take it in five as I predicted. It wasn’t the size of the Predators or the “age” of the Wings. It was simply poor defensive play from the Wings. Two goals scored tonight and both of the scorers were never even challenged by the Wings. Nobody was near them. Said it before. I’ll say it again. The problems with the Wings have nothing to do with size, grit, age, or mix of players. It’s consistent defensive errors and to me that means it’s a coaching problem. Doesn’t matter though. The Wings have the talent to make the playoffs and that means Babcock keeps his job. Congrats to the Preds on the win. Good luck in the next round of the playoffs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-the-playoffs/618187.md?page=10)