playoff hockey rocks

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

yup. 1-0 games are a heart-breaker

what really stinks is that is the only game so far where the top seed didn't win.
I have to admit that I said up front that I would rather the Bruins play ANYONE but Detroit. The wings are the only team that has had the B's number this year (they won 3 out of 4 in regular season).

On a side note, all the digs at hockey about fighting are a joke. That's like saying I won't watch Baseball because all the pitchers do is throw fastballs at the batters heads.

It is funny because I don't really have a team I'm following at all, and in fact end up rooting for both sides. I just want to see a good game - and that was a great one.

The other talented people are the play-by-play announcers. As a kid I used to "call" hockey games into a tape deck, making up the action with players from the Gulls (San Diego's minor league team). At one point that was a career goal, closest I got was being a DJ at an FM station in San Diego in the early 80's. The hockey play by play guys are amazing though - they keep track of so much stuff at such a pace. Mad skills...

[Tobra]

Hockey is tough enough without goons. The before and after shots on the guy that took a pretty good slap shot in the mug, playing a few days later, unbelievable. He sort of turned away from it, or looked like he did to me, or he would have taken it right in the grill.

[Por_sha911]

nostat: it was a great game to watch but would have been better if the B's won

nostat & Tobra: Hockey would be uglier without the enforcers. The best players would be roughed up continuously and they wouldn't be able to defend themselves. Do you really think (for even a second) that Gretzky would have achieved the numbers he did without McSorley?

[Por_sha911]

Oh BTW, great game today. The Blues dodged a bullet for the second time with a goal with just seconds to go and won it in OT. Looked bad for Backes. His bell was rung hard and unlike an regular injury, the league is very strict about playing with a concussion.

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by BSiple

Joe, what did you think of that ******* move by Lucic hitting Dekeyser in the nuts? I smell a fine coming.

Bill

Nothing new. He did to Emelin from Montreal also. $5,000 fine levied today. That's like me getting fined $10.

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

what really stinks is that is the only game so far where the top seed didn't win.

Montreal is up 2-0 on Tampa....

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by nostatic

I have argued in the past against "enforcers" and still am not a fan of the concept. The games I've watched recently have been quite clean, and they really do try and keep it under control. And no one wants to be the guy that gets the penalty that leads to the goal that beats you in the playoffs. That is one reason I like watching the playoffs, less so the regular season.

No one wants the instigator minor that is tacked on when you start a fight. In the regular season it's no big deal, in a close playoff game you can't do it. Plus, why fight when the referees let you kill people with body checks?

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

Montreal is up 2-0 on Tampa....

Like this year, back in 73 when it was the last time there was only one Canadian team in the playoff, it was Montreal and guess who won the cup...

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

Montreal is up 2-0 on Tampa....

woops. I was so busy feeling sorry for myself I forgot that the Bolts are the higher seed.

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

woops. I was so busy feeling sorry for myself I forgot that the Bolts are the higher seed.

You might have lots of time to watch other teams. Detroit is not the weakest team in the east, Boston didn't get much of a reward for finishing first.

Detroit could easily win the east.

[flatbutt]

I must have missed something. The playoff pairings don't seem right. Why are Rangers playing Flyers instead of Habs?

[1990C4S]

Hmmmm. Good question....from NHL.com

The top three teams in each division will make up the first 12 teams in the playoffs. The remaining four spots will be filled by the next two highest-placed finishers in each conference, based on regular-season record and regardless of division. It is possible for one division in each conference to send five teams to the postseason while the other sends just three.

In the First Round, the division winner with the best record in each conference will be matched against the wild-card team with the lesser record; the wild card team with the better record will play the other division winner.

The teams finishing second and third in each division will meet in the First Round within the bracket headed by their respective division winners. First-round winners within each bracket play one another in the Second Round to determine the four participants in the Conference Finals.

Home-ice advantage through the first two rounds goes to the team that placed higher in the regular-season standings. In the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final, home-ice advantage goes to the team that had the better regular-season record -- regardless of the teams' final standing in their respective divisions.

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

You might have lots of time to watch other teams. Detroit is not the weakest team in the east, Boston didn't get much of a reward for finishing first.
Detroit could easily win the east.

Unfortunately, I agree. I said earlier that I wished that Boston played anyone in the first round beside Detroit. They are the only team that we haven't had dominance over. That said, Period 1 today was quintessential Bruins hockey. That's more like it!

[Por_sha911]

Most humorous moment:
Brendan Smith mixing it up with Chara. Chara gives him a jab and is just laughing. It looked like he said to Smith "C'mon" several times (he doesn't want to get the instigator or be pegged a bully) but Smith came to his senses and about that time the refs showed up.

[JD159]

Stamkos just took a nasty knee to the head. Didn't look good at all...

I think he's donezo

[Por_sha911]

That sucks. No one wants playoffs to be decided by injury or bad calls by refs

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by JD159

... I think he's donezo

No but I think his team is

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

That sucks. No one wants playoffs to be decided by injury or bad calls by refs

The goal they disallowed in the Tampa game was borderline for sure...

Goals should be disallowed only if: (1) an attacking player, either by his positioning or by contact, impairs the goalkeeper’s ability to move freely within his crease or defend his goal

Carey Price played it well.

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

Unfortunately, I agree. I said earlier that I wished that Boston played anyone in the first round beside Detroit. They are the only team that we haven't had dominance over. That said, Period 1 today was quintessential Bruins hockey. That's more like it!

Detroit was outplayed. They need to play hockey, not try and fight Lucic and Chara. It's not over.

[Bugsinrugs]

Sharks destroy the Kings again!