Nhl Playoffs Start Tonite.

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

Any hockey fans looking foreward to the begining of the playoffs as much as me? Love this time of year .. March Maddness , NHL Playoffs , Baseball, a sports lovers dream .. my NHL picks .. outta the east ..Montreal , outta the west.. Detroit , same Stanley Cup final as in 1966 .

 

[Tim]

Just two words. GO PENGUINS!

 

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

God Love Ya , Tim .. I do give the Pens the series over The Sens , but they dont have the goaltending to come out of the East , Gotta love Crosby, Malkin ,the Kids are alright.

 

[ZMAN]

I hate to say it but my Redwings, are looking pretty solid going in. Glad that we won't have to watch the Leafs. I can't understand how they kept Maurice. His lack of any kind of system for coming out of his own end, and that dump and chase mentality, is hard to watch.
Now the Wings on the other hand!

 

[R_of_G]

Let's go Flyers. Nobody is picking them to do anything againsy the Caps but the Caps are, essentially, a one line team. Granted, that line has Ovechkin on it, but still, that team is not deep enough to go 7 games with anybody. I see NJ coming out the East, I just think Brodeur is that good. Pittsburgh is good not great. The Rangers are ok. Montreal is WAY over-rated, and playing an inexperienced goaltender.

In the West, I hate the Wings, but they are the strongest team. San Jose is primed for a fall. Maybe not in round 1, but they aren't going to the finals this year says I. Everyone else is cannon-fodder.

We shall see...

 

[Robert]

Go Oilers!

 

[Blaze]

Sorry i don t like the Hab s even from a quebecor , i was and i ll always be a Nordiques de Quebec fan..

Watch out for Washington Capitals and mr.Ovetchkin, they ad Chris Huet, former hab s goalie in the net , they could be in the race..


Cheers :beer:

Blazes

 

[marnold]

Drop the puck!

I'm a huge Wings fan so a Wings-Habs finals would be awesome. Shades of Howe-Richard.

 

[warren0728]

hey i live in florida....not much of a hockey fan....our hometeam magic basketball team is doing pretty good though....

ww

 

[merlin]

Big Predators fan here.
sorry Red wings fans but I feel a upset coming.

 

[Tim]

Let's Go Penguins

Penguins 4, Senators 0

 

[Tim]

Ok! Game #3 tonight.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Highlight:

Game #1 - Penguins 4 / Senators 0
Game #2 - Penguins 5 / Senators 3

The pressure is on the Penguins due to two reasons. 1. They will be playing the next two games away. 2. The fans at ScotiaBank Place can get really loud.

An easy solution to win the next two games is simple. Keep the puck away from th other team. Good offensive games is all that is required to win the Divison.

Let's Go Penguins! :bravo: :beer: :bravo: :beer: :AOK:

 

[Tim]

Oh yea!!!

Well I am proud of my home team during this Eastern Division Playoffs.


Tonights Game: Penguins 4 / Senators 1


Standing Division Game Review:

Penguins 3 / Senators 0


Game 4 coming this Wednesday night.


LET"S GO PENGUINS


Sorry my Canadian friends.

 

[R_of_G]

Game 3
Flyers 6 Capitals 3
Flyers lead series 2-1.

So far they have been able to contain Ovechkin (only 2 pts in series) and really get under the skin of Washington goaltender Cristobal Huet. Far from over, but the Flyers have looked like the better team for two straight games now.:AOK:

 

[Tim]

The Penguins sweep the Eastern Division 4 wins back to back.

Final score for tonight game Penguins 3 / Senators 1.

Fleury the gold tender stopped the Senators from scoring many times.

Great series by both teams. Now on to the second round, Eastern Conference Finals. Who shall we play New Jersey or New York?

Go Penguins!!!

 

[R_of_G]

Now on to the second round, Eastern Conference Finals. Who shall we play New Jersey or New York?

i don't think it's necessarily NY or NJ next. the penguins had the #1 seed, IF the #6 flyers beat the caps [they are up 2-1] and assuming the #7 Bruins don't beat MTL, then wouldn't the pens play the flyers next? the flyers would be the next lowest seed left [NJ and NY are the 4 & 5]? these other series are still happening, so the Pens get a rest, but now the key is keeping the momentum up for a week while these other series play out. Hard to do sometimes when not playing. still, good for them getting thru round 1 even if it was over a terrible Sens team. any of the potential round two opponents should provide better competition for them.

 

[Tim]

i don't think it's necessarily NY or NJ next. the penguins had the #1 seed, IF the #6 flyers beat the caps [they are up 2-1] and assuming the #7 Bruins don't beat MTL, then wouldn't the pens play the flyers next? the flyers would be the next lowest seed left [NJ and NY are the 4 & 5]? these other series are still happening, so the Pens get a rest, but now the key is keeping the momentum up for a week while these other series play out. Hard to do sometimes when not playing. still, good for them getting thru round 1 even if it was over a terrible Sens team. any of the potential round two opponents should provide better competition for them.

You are correct RoG. But I have no doubt that the Penguins will be playing the New York Rangers. A team that always gives them problems. Getting past the Rangers is my major concern.

 

[R_of_G]

But I have no doubt that the Penguins will be playing the New York Rangers.

The more I think about it, the more I see that it is not possible for the Pens to play the Rangers in the next round. The NHL re-seeds teams after round 1. Even if the Caps win the series against the Flyers, they would be seeded lower than either the Rangers or Devils [bc of a lower reg season point total] and have to play the #1 Pens. If Montreal beats Boston, Pittsburgh will get the winner of Washington/Philly whoever it turns out to be {Flyers now lead 3 games to 1}. You may see a Rangers/Pens matchup, but it won't be in round 2.

 

[djmcconnell]

I was at the Wild game last night at the Ex. What an exciting game. We totally dominated Denver in every stat that counts -- except the score. Crap!

We out-shot (by a factor or 3), out-hit, out-hustled, outclassed, and out-played them, but still took the loss.

It's Saturday or bust, now.

 

[marnold]

I was at the Wild game last night at the Ex. What an exciting game. We totally dominated Denver in every stat that counts -- the score. Crap!

We out-shot (by a factor or 3), out-hit, out-hustled, outclassed, and out-played them, but still took the loss.

The Wings did the same thing to the Predlies last night. I was not a happy camper when they scored with less than a minute left. Franzenstein's backhander in OT made everything all better though.

 

[birv2]

I may be the lone Sens fan here.

What a year, and I don't mean that in a good way. Started off on fire, cooled off considerably, almost stumbled out of the playoffs down the stretch, and then swept out by the Pens. Ouch.

It's going to be a very long summer in Ottawa, I can tell you that. Maybe we'll finally get a real goalie...

A transplanted Ottawa fan in Flyerville, PA,
Bob

 

[mrmudcat]

I saw the best game tonight Canadiens Bruins!!!:saw:

Its on game 7!!!unch:

 

[marnold]

What a great day! My Wings go on to the second round and a possible matchup with the Nordilanche and the Ducks get to pick out their favorite golf shirts. Ahhhh. Let me enjoy this . . .

 

[birv2]

Wings are looking kinda good, but 7 games to dispatch the Preds? Makes me wonder.
:whatever:

Bob

 

[marnold]

Wings are looking kinda good, but 7 games to dispatch the Preds? Makes me wonder.

Six, actually. The only teams that the Wings have had trouble with in the past couple of regular seasons are the "lowly" members of the Central. If Hasek could've stopped a beach ball in Nashville it would have been five games. Truth be told, I predicted six games at the beginning of the series.

The Sharks and Habs have both gone to game sevens against what were supposed to be vastly inferior teams. Just show you that there's no such thing as an easy round in the NHL playoffs.

 

[birv2]

Six, actually.

My bad. Still, it's hard to understand why it would take them 6 games. Sens fans miss Hasek, especially after this year! But he's either on or off, and it's all about riding a hot goalie in the playoffs, as you know.

Who's the hottest goalie so far? Fleury, Biron? Someone else?

 

[marnold]

My bad. Still, it's hard to understand why it would take them 6 games. Sens fans miss Hasek, especially after this year! But he's either on or off, and it's all about riding a hot goalie in the playoffs, as you know.

Who's the hottest goalie so far? Fleury, Biron? Someone else?

Ironically, I would have to say Ellis (at least until the mid-ice meltdown), but now he's going home. Beyond that no one has really played awesome through the whole series. Turco played pretty well, but the Wings 0wn him so I'm not worried if they end up facing the Stars in the future. Ozzie stopped 53 of 54 for the Wings, but he only played 2.5 games. The one he gave up nobody could stop. Fleury played well, but the Sens' main guns were out. Here's the list from NHL.com:

Save percentage leaders:
CuJo (only played one game)
Ozzie
Fleury
Theodore
Ellis

GAA leaders:
CuJo
Ozzie
Fleury
Theodore
Turco

Note that you do not see Kiprusoff, J.S. Giguere, Nabakov, or Brodeur on that list.

FWIW, Dom is dead last in save percentage in the playoffs.

 

[merlin]

Six, actually. The only teams that the Wings have had trouble with in the past couple of regular seasons are the "lowly" members of the Central. If Hasek could've stopped a beach ball in Nashville it would have been five games. Truth be told, I predicted six games at the beginning of the series.
.

Lowly?
The preds were one of the best teams in hockey last season.
And don't get me started on the "if" stuff.
Go easy on the Preds.
You are right about Ellis being hot.

The new ownership was on the radio today talking about actually spending money this off season so be ready to deal with us for a few years to come.

From the loudest NHL arena. Lets Go Predators!!!!!!!!

 

[marnold]

Lowly?
The preds were one of the best teams in hockey last season.
And don't get me started on the "if" stuff.
Go easy on the Preds.
You are right about Ellis being hot.

The new ownership was on the radio today talking about actually spending money this off season so be ready to deal with us for a few years to come.

From the loudest NHL arena. Lets Go Predators!!!!!!!!

Please reread what I wrote in the context of the question that was asked. I was replying to a comment questioning the Wings for taking seven (actually six) games to knock out the Preds. Note that I put lowly in quotation marks. Every year the Wings get questioned because of the division they play in, yet every year it is the division rivals that give them the hardest time.

I hope the Predlies do well. I was sickened by what ownership did to the team last year. As far as them spending money goes, I'll believe it when I see it. I don't trust their management nor Bettman's involvement any farther than I can throw the Joe.

As far as the loudest goes, that may have been true in the playoffs but certainly wasn't in the regular season. They averaged 13,400 in attendance in a 17,113 stadium. Given what ownership did, I'm not surprised by that. Yeah, yeah, I know the Wings have had issues at the Joe too, although it holds 3K more people.

Nothing against Nashville, but I'm looking forward to the change in the NHL schedule. It is ridiculous that Detroit would rarely get to play the eastern Original Six franchises, especially Toronto.

 

[birv2]

Totally with you on most of this, Marnold.

It's a testament to the resilience of the sport that it's survived the Bettman era.

And nothing against any of the fans in those cities (I'm glad they're getting into hockey), but it seems weird to have teams in Nashville, Tampa Bay, Columbus, etc. Basically, they were allowed in so that the other owners could split the "entry fees". But the end result, in my opinion, is a diluted product.

But hey, that's just my view. Let's just enjoy the playoffs!

Bob