What’s up with the rioting IN THE FIRST ROUND!?!?
Hey! I felt like rioting in the first round
But more out of frustration and no court is gonna convict me cause the judge will understand when your team looks that bad, it is an acceptable riot defense.
No kidding. The city of Montreal may fall off the face of the earth if they win the Cup.
I thought it was pretty presumptuous of them do to the
*na-na-na-na na-na-na-na hey-hey go-od-bye *
thing up by 3 with 5:00 left. That’s a lot of time.
Naah, they knew Boston was done. We met them in playoffs 31 times. Out of those Montréal won, what 27, 29 series. No, they were done.
As for the rioting, people no longer respect traditions. You riot when YOU WIN THE CUP. Otherwise you might jinx the tem.
Time for a joke I heard from a Canadian (Leaf’s fan)
An American, Englishman, Canadian go into a bar and each order a Canadian beer. They sit down to drink and three flies come along and land one in each glass.
The Englishman sighs and pushes his drink away.
The American fishes the fly out and continues to drink.
The Canadian lifts the fly out and shakes it and says “spit it out, spit it out dammit!”
Gratz to the Sharks. They took it to us, they deserved to win. Damnit.
Like they say there is nothing better than a game 7, except two game 7s. And one of them going to OT - a small slice of heaven.
Only problem was that the wrong teams won both games.
Now THAT’S what I’m talkin’ 'bout!
That’s the Sharks I watched the second half of the season. They controlled the game and hustled when they needed to. I was a bit worried after Owen Nolan kicked in his breakaway shot, but then Roenick’s shot trickled in and we were off to the races. Old man’s still got game.
I was scared to death of the Flames, I would have taken any other team in the league over them. They play balls to the wall, the style makes it very difficult for the Sharks deliberate pace. They outplayed us for 3.33 games.
The Stars are toast. I’m calling Sharks in 5, unless Turco steals an extra win for them.
GO SHARKS!
Ovechkin was in the slot with the puck. He faked a shot and made a pass to Federov who missed what would have been a simple tip-in.
Barry Melrose, love him or hate him, says Alex’s paid to score goals and he should have shot the puck.
I think it’s a brilliant play to draw everyone to you, the goalie’s outside his crease, and pass it to a teammate on the goalpost with no one between him and the goal.
What do you think? Missed opportunity or blown play?
I don’t know if the miss changed the game, but I think a goal there would have changed everything.
Biron was out so far to challenge the shot, I don’t think that Ovechkin could possibly have gotten it by him. The pass was the right play.
Past Predictions:
In the East:
Montreal (1) v. Boston (8): Montreal in 6. (Montreal won it in 7) 
Pittsburgh (2) v. Ottawa (7): Pittsburgh in 6. (Pittsburgh won with sweep)
Washington (3) v. Philadelphia (6): Washington in 7. (Philadelphia won it in 7) 
New Jersey (4) v. New York (5): New York in 7. (New York won it in 5)
In the West:
Detroit (1) v. Nashville (8): Detroit in 7. (Detroit won it in 6)
San Jose (2) v. Calgary (7): San Jose in 7. (San Jose won it in 7) 
Minnesota (3) v. Colorado (6): Colorado in 7. (Colorado won it in 6)
Anaheim (4) v. Dallas (5): Anaheim in 6. (Dallas won it in 6) :eek:
My Predictions for the next round:
East:
Montreal (1) v. Philadelphia (6): ** Montreal in 6**. Montreal has had no problem beating Philly in the regular season, but the same was also true against Boston and it turned into a 7 game riot. I think this time the Habs will do a better all-around job against the Flyers than they did against the Bruins. Both goalies have been hot and cold in their previous series, but the Habs have had better offense than the Flyers last round, plus the Habs went 4-0 against the Flyers this season outscoring them 15-6. If the goalie Price holds up his end, this might be done in 4 or 5 games, but I think this Philly team can beat them once or twice coming off of an intense series against Washington.
Pittsburgh (2) v. New York (5): Pittsburgh in 7. Although the Rangers won the regular season series 5 games to 3, Pittsburgh has been more flashier against a hapless Senators team and has gained confidence with their first playoff series win since the days of Lemieux. But New York is also on a high beating Brodeur and the offense starved Devils, so I think this series is gonna be decided by the 7th man…it may well be the home team winning every game in the series.
West:
Detroit (1) v. Colorado (6): Detroit in 6. Where’s Claude Lemeiux to bring us back to 1996? Everyone else is here in the party…Forsberg, Sakic, Foote, Draper, McCarty, Chelios. The season series was split, 2-2 but Red Wings had the last two wins with resounding victories over the Avalanche. The scoring punch for the Wings is better than the Avs, and the goaltending by both teams has been a little suspect with Hacek, but maybe Osgood and Theodore will be the only puckeaters in this series. Detroit’s defense is superior to Colorado’s, so this might come down to who’s hot in net. My nod is in the Wing’s direction.
San Jose (2) v. Dallas (5): San Jose in 7. This is gonna be good…Clowe v. Robidas, Roenick v. Modano, Nobokov v. Turco, Campbell v. Zubov (maybe). The regualr season series was split, 4-4 with only 1 & 2 goal games. Who’s the hungriest between the two? Dallas has had a little bit of rest and they maybe enough to catch San Jose napping in the first game on their home ice. But I think Roenick’s epic performance may be the catalyst for the Sharks going deep into the playoffs, and the return of a true leader. Marleau should just rip that “C” off his chest and staple it on Roenick’s jersey until they lift the Cup or he retires after his last game…whatever comes first. Dallas by no means will be laying down in this one; they have some things to prove themselves. They were very strong in the early half of the season and then meandered through the second half. There are quite a few veterans on the team with playoff and finals experience on the team to lead them. Who will beat the drum strong and steady to lead them to the promised land? We will get an answer probably in quadruple overtime in the 7th game.
OK, I’m trying to be neutral, but…How could they not wave off that 2nd Flyers goal? The Flyer Forward clearly pushed the Caps defenseman into Huett. If it’s not Goalie Interference (because it was the Cap that made the contact), then it at least has to be Interference (Flyer tying up a Cap that was not in the play). I’m sure if a defenseman was taking out a forward on a similar play, they wouldn’t have hesitated to call it.
Oh - and Ovie absolutely did the right thing passing that puck. Federov just missed it.
The puck was right there. That’s why the check was legal.
My thoughts on the first round.
Montreal vs Boston (Montreal in four): Montreal wins in seven. Major stumble for the Canadiens. This should’ve been no problem for them. Instead they failed to put them away when they should have.
Washington vs. Philadelphia (Washington in five) Philadelphia wins in seven. Well I was a bit off. Hopefully it’s a learning experience for the Caps and they’ll be better next year.
Pittsburgh vs Ottawa (Pittsburgh in six): Pittsburgh wins in four. Guess I underestimated the amount of quit in the Senators. They looked like they couldn’t get to the golf course fast enough.
New York Rangers vs. New Jersey Devils (Rangers in seven): Rangers win in five. Maybe the years and the games have finally taken a toll on Brodeur. Maybe it’s a consequence of the loss of talent on the Devils. At any rate, they couldn’t contain the Rangers offense.
Detroit Red Wings vs. Nashville Predators (Detroit in five): Detroit wins in six. I was right that goaltending proved the large concern for the Wings. Hasek just couldn’t stop the puck, which led to both Nashville victories. Nashville also did a good job of keeping the Detroit forwards from getting to the juicy rebounds that Ellis was giving up.
San Jose Sharks vs. Calgary Flames (Sharks in four): Sharks win in seven. When will I learn to stop picking sweeps. Sharks won, but Calgary made it hard for them. Kiprusoff stole games when he had to, and Calgary’s forwards made San Jose work for the series.
Minnesota Wild vs. Colorado Avalanche (Colorado in seven): Colorado in six. Theodore finally remembered how to play goalie. Good for him and the Avs.
Anaheim [del]Mighty[/del] Ducks vs. Dallas Stars (Anaheim in five): Dallas in six. :eek: Didn’t see that coming at all. Anaheim went completely off the rails and they deserve full credit for the loss. Dallas was good, but Anaheim could’ve at least tried to make things difficult for the Stars. I’ve said it before, but they shouldn’t have been outscored that badly with the defensive players they had.
Now for the second round.
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. New York Rangers: When you’re an older team, a nice layoff after a sweep is a good thing. When you’re younger, not as much. The Rangers are going to play Pittsburgh a lot harder than Ottawa did, and that will let New York steal one on the road. In the end I’m just not sure that youth will beat the driven veterans of the Rangers. I’ll take the New York Rangers in seven.
Montreal Canadiens vs. Philadelphia Flyers: I’m finding it really hard to think that the Canadiens can pull this off after they nearly choked on the upstart Bruins. Of course, the Flyers defense can be a bit heavy footed and will have problems against Montreal’s offense. I’ll go with Philadelphia. They seem to want it more than Montreal. Philadelphia in five.
Detroit Red Wings vs. Colorado Avalanche: Colorado’s net strengthened while Detroit’s weakened. With Detroit’s blue line though, all Osgood needs to be in net is solid, not great. Theodore will need to continue to stand on his head against the Detroit forwards. Detroit is gritty, talented, deep on offense and defense. It’s the net that scares me. I’m not as solid as I’d like, but I think the Wings will move on to the conference finals again. Detroit in six.
San Jose Sharks vs. Dallas Stars: Was Dallas that good or was Anaheim that bad? No question in my mind that Anaheim was that bad. They wanted out nearly as bad as Ottawa. Dallas will find a much tougher and hungier opponent in the Sharks. I think the Stars will find some success at home, but the Sharks will win the series. San Jose in five.
Montreal (1) v. Philadelphia (6):
Montreal let off the throttle against Boston, which I don’t think will be a problem against Philly. The huge factor here is that Philadelphia is one of the league’s most penalized teams, and Montreal has the league’s best power play; Philly has a good chance of losing the series purely on penalties. Montreal is just generally a better team in almost every respect and appears to be designed specifically to slaughter a team like Philadelphia. A Philly intimidation effort will probably backfire, inasmuch as it hasn’t worked all year. Montreal in 5.
Pittsburgh (2) v. New York (5)
Pittsburgh is going into the playoffs a much better second half team than a first half team, and got warmed up nicely with a very easy series against what might actually have been the worst team in the NHL. New York is a better defensive, and much better goaltending team, but Pittsburgh with a healthy Crosby is just too much for the old farts. **Pittsburgh in 5. **
West:
Detroit (1) v. Colorado (6)
I’m frankly surprised Colorado got this far. It’s neat to see the old rivals back at it, but Detroit is a way, way better team. **Detroit in 5. **
San Jose (2) v. Dallas (5)
Unquestionably the highlight series of this round, with San Jose finally getting over their first round yips (albeit not bya wide margin) against a Dallas team that is getting better, it seems, by the week. I was surprised to look up the numbers and find San Jose allowed AND scored fewer goals than Dallas, but there it is; I have a feeling the play of Marty Turco is going to decide this one. San Jose usually disappoints, so I’ll go with history and say Dallas in 7.
First round yips? The last four years they’ve made the playoffs, they’ve never gone out in the first round(five if you include this year). It’s the second round that gives them trouble; they’ve only advanced beyond it once in franchise history.
Yeah, it is the second round that gives the Sharks problems, and it was the Stars with the first round yips. On HNIC, Kelly Hrudey likes the Sharks to win the Cup and compares the first round scare against the Flames to the Flames own first round scare against the Canucks back in 1989 when the Flames went on to win the Cup.
As both a Flames fan and as a Stars fan, I take a contrary view. Like RickJay said, the Stars are getting better and it appears that Zubov will return sometime in the second round. My father was at the Stars practice yesterday and said Zubov looks like his old self. Mark Fistric will probably sit to make room in the line-up for him which is kinda too bad considering how well he played when inserted for Boucher, who probably is done for the playoffs.
Holy Carp. The last thing I expected out of this series is for Jose Theodore to get chased twice before the second period is over. Yesterdays 5-1 pasting of the Avalanche is making it hard not to descend into the typical “RED WINGS RULE AVS SUK” that I’ve been seeing on the various newspaper boards.
1)While there is no question that Theodore hasn’t played well for the Avalanche, the Avs certainly haven’t played well in front of him. That’s on offense and defense. I’ve seen maybe ten minutes of good hockey out of them from both games, and that was in game one. They stink until the goalie change wakes them up. They need to start playing at the start of the game, not midway through the second.
2)Peter Forsberg: In or Out? It’s getting to be a distraction. For game three, they need to know before game time whether he’ll be playing. No more skating warm ups then sitting the game out. They should probably make the Theodore decision ASAP as well. The fewer distractions the better.
3)The Avalanche needs to forget about the rivalry. They’re coming back into their home arena down 2-0 after having been stomped. The last thing they need to do is turn that fan driven energy into a parade into the penalty box, which by the way almost made things worse in game two. Following going down 4-0 by giving the wings (by my count) roughly three hours of 5 on 3 time? I could hear the steam whistling from Quenneville’s ears over the radio (NBC annoyed me during pre-game). Detroit has been owning the Colorado zone. Best not to give them any more advantages.
4)Hell, improve something. Detroit outplayed them in every single way in game two. I can’t say if Osgood was better than Theodore. Colorado has so few shots on net Ozzie had to set an alarm clock to wake himself up when the period ended. Detroit outhit, outskated, outscored, outdisciplined, outeverythinged Colorado.
I wonder how it must feel to be a Sharks fan right about now.
Until they prove otherwise, you can’t call Marleau or Thornton anything but playoff chokers. Marty Turco really ditched that label last year and seems to be getting better right now as the playoffs move along.
I see that the Sharks beat writer is blaming bad ice for part of the Sharks failures, but the Stars have to play on it too.
I wonder if Wilson has a voice in the back of his head telling him that maybe he shouldn’t have played Nabakov in 77/82 regular season games. Either Nabakov is tired or his switch got turned from ‘good’ to ‘suck’ somehow.
Now, I would be surprised if the series didn’t return to San Jose for a fifth game, but I am almost willing to bet the farm that there won’t be 7th game there.
And to everyone who figured the Stars were going to be plagued by a Ribeiro disappearing act in the playoffs, he can be found - in second place on the scoring leaders chart.
It would be nice if the Stars started getting some credit, but the fact is that even if/when the get past the Sharks, they have HUGE issues with the Red Wings. Even still, I am loath to bet against the Stars right now.