One down…
The Caps had a day off on Thursday. Holtby used it to become a father. I suppose there is a joke there somewhere about not pulling the goalie nine months ago…
Braden Holtby re-enacts the conception of his son…
Two freaking days without NHL hockey. So weird.
Damn, it’s going to be a long summer.
Where did you find that?
I know, that’s one of the worst things about getting knocked out of the playoffs – no Pens until the end of September. AAAAAHHHH!!! 
Got it off Reddit, but it’s Puck Daddy from Yahoo! Sports.
One advantage of the Habs rebuild is the amount of news (and tons of speculation) to anticipate for it. That, and a top-3 pick at the draft at least helps fill the summer!
As I said, you have to beat Lundquist twice. Two goals, you might (and did) win. One goal isn’t enough.
Caps played great but Lundquist carried the Rangers.
Great series. Congrats to the Rangers.
Well that was fun.
O’s playing tonight?
It was classic Stanley Cup playoff hockey which is usually a different game than what is played in the regular season. The deeper you get into the playoff the more pure the game gets. I like it.
3 of of 4 outcomes ain’t bad.
Rangers over Devils in 7
Kings over the Yotes in 6
God help us if it ends in a Devils-Coyotes final. Two teams with maybe one team’s share of fans. Snore.
9 down, 7 to go. 
The reason some stereotypes continue to exist is because some people continue to perpetuate them despite all evidence to the contrary.
Considering you picked the Devils to finish 14th in the East (iirc) and to be swept by the Flyers, I shouldn’t give a moments thought to any hockey related offerings you provide, but these types of comments are exactly why people continue to lament that the Devils are a boring trap team when they’re clearly anything but. You don’t like them, that’s just fine, but there’s no need to perpetuate false narratives.
Um… nothing to do with the trap that I read in RickJay’s comment; it just sucks to watch teams that no one cares about. Neither team has big fan bases, certainly not outside their own regions, and that makes it more boring to watch because you don’t really feel like anyone is interested in the outcome. Kind of like watching the IIHF World’s - these aren’t teams or rosters that you have much interest or time committed to, so there’s a lack of excitement. Also, you don’t get fans from one team travelling to see the game in the other city, as you would with some of the bigger market teams. The narrative off the ice isn’t interesting. It just takes away from the lustre of the Stanley Cup a little bit, even if the hockey is good (at least IMHO).
I agree with you, soulmurk, the Devils aren’t the dull trapping team they used to be. But you have a tendency to take any criticism of the team and assume people are calling them a trap team. You’re a little over-sensitive on the issue, at least in this instance.
Dale Hunter resigns as Caps coach. Six months; 30-30 regular season; 7-7 playoffs.
The snarky “snore” at the end is implication enough.
Perhaps I am a bit sensitive to it, especially because I’m caught between two much larger market and media darling franchises in the Rangers and Flyers who take every opportunity to belittle their more successful and deserving neighbor (did you catch the shirts Philadelphia handed out to people at home games?), but it’s very frustrating to listen to people on the outside (and it’s not just RickJay… it’s the mainstream media in many cases) continue to bash on certain teams in the same tired old ways regardless of actual facts.
It’s a pet peeve of mine personally because this stigma hurts the team. People want to bash on the Devils for not selling out every game, but then tell anyone who’ll listen how boring they are and how they single-handedly killed all that was good with hockey. All of these stereotypes are interconnected and they all lead to negative feelings towards the team. It counteracts attempts to grow the team and the brand because some people are too lazy to update their preconceived notions (but not too lazy to talk about them) and people who may be getting into the sport are turned off to the team before ever even watching them.
The fact of the matter is the fan base IS growing. Attendance has been up since moving from the Meadowlands, though still not where it should be. Every playoff home game has been a sell out and a terrific environment. Win or lose this series or the next, excitement has been built and interest renewed in the state… I’ve personally gotten several people who’d not been following hockey excited in it once again. As of May 10th, four of the top 10 highest rated hockey games in these playoffs involved the Devils (though a lot of it was the Philly market, it still set records locally). The Rangers/Devils series will rack up huge numbers, especially locally where the markets overlap and NBC won’t be able to relegate NJ to their hard-to-find channels like they did in the first round so more people will be able to see them play and that’s a big deal because, believe it or not (and based on your comments I’d say you don’t) the Devils have fans elsewhere (their away attendance was 95.7% capacity, ahead of Philadelphia, among others).
Regardless, what does the size of the fan base have to do with enjoying watching the game? The buildings would be packed full of screaming fans, so who cares if there are seven or seven million people who root for the team that aren’t there? How could that possibly be interpreted as not feeling that any one cares about the outcome? The problem isn’t the size of the fan bases or who cares about the outcome, it’s that hockey, perhaps more than any other sport, suffers from fans so ridiculously loyal to their own teams that most would prefer not to watch once their team is eliminated.
I looks like Semin is the newest stud on the FA market. I wouldn’t complain too much if the Wings got him, It’s possible they might have the money to try, if there aren’t any D men worth it.
Are you denying, sir, that the Coyotes are the worst attended team in the NHL, and that the Devils have never drawn especially well? Those are facts, not opinions or predictions.
As to your claim that this comes out of some sort antipathy for the Devils becaue I picked them 14th, I picked MY FAVOURITE TEAM to finish 15th. I was wrong about that one, too.
Perhaps you could point to me where I said the Devils are a trap team.
As a matter of fact, I’ve defended them in the past against that very accusation. Every time someone says they won their Cups playing the trap I patiently point out that the best Devils teams always had good to great offenses. I have no problem with the New Jersey Devils.
However, it’s going to be damn boring to have a Finals between two teams that have pitifully small fan bases. Especially the Coyotes. It’s absurd the team even plays in Glendale.
I’ll make this brief.
Devils vs. Rangers: I’ll take the Devils in six simply because I want to punch John Tortorella in his smug face every time he smirks sarcastically when a call doesn’t go his way. I hate him. I just hate him.
Kings vs. Coyotes: They’ve gotten this far. I’ll take the Kings in five.
Time Warner Cable is pissing me off right now. Game is on NBCSports, which is NOT available in high-def in my area. I haven’t watched a hockey match in standard def in at least 6 years, probably more. I think the difference is greater for hockey than any other sport.