Its' Here! NHL 2008 Playoff Thread

[Fidatelo]

How exactly are the Tampa Bay Lightning closer to a title than the Pittsburgh Penguins?!

[Suburban Rhythm]

Another chance for Hal Gill to torture Jagr. And the nutjobs at Mellon Arena to boo him everytime he touches tke puck.

Agree with previous thoughts, Pens and Rangers are the two best teams in the East. Fleury was excellent in the first round, but hard to say since he wasn't challenged all that often. Still, when Ottawa did show up (late in game 2, early in game 3) he made the big save when needed. In the past, he imploded in those situations.

Habs - Flyers: Did they finish 1-2 on the PP during the regular season? That might make the series more interesting. But two hot powerplays cancel each other out, and like most in the playoffs, will come down to goaltending.

Wings- Avs: Can we please bring Claude Lemieux back for a game or two?

Sharks - Stars: Maybe the Sharks finally turned the corner with that series over Calgary, most of us I think expected them to fold.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

How exactly are the Tampa Bay Lightning closer to a title than the Pittsburgh Penguins?!

Dola

Says titles recently won, or expected soon. The Bolts have one in their pocket. That has to weigh more than a team possibly winning one.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by bsak16

http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sport...anks?year=2008

PING: Maple Leafs...

121. Toronto Maple Leafs

I wouldn't have accepted 10,000-1 odds on the only team below them not being the Knicks.

[Maple Leafs]

Montreal in 5
Penguins in 7
Detroit in 5
San Jose in 6

[Travis]

Originally Posted by bsak16

Same rules as last year...you will see your record as Wins-Losses-Correctly Picking Series Score. Double check me because I sometimes make mistakes.

After Round 1

3t. Travis 6-2-2

Maybe just double check me to be sure, but I think I should be at 7-1-3 (missing just the Stars in round one while hitting the other 3 western series for games played as well, my first round picks are post 63 in the thread).

[Schmidty]

Even though the flame of hatred has dimmed, I'm having a blast watching the Wings kick the shit out of the Avs so far.

[Schmidty]

And as soon as I posted that, the Avs score.

If the Wings lose, I take full blame.

[Schmidty]

Ok, I officially suck.

[MikeVic]

Go Montreal!

[EagleFan]

WTF!!! The Flyers got robbed big time tonight. First the goal knocked in with the high stick gets allowed then the BS penalty call for kneeing when it was a clean shoulder check leads to the late goal to send it to OT. Should have been a 3-1 win.

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Re: the ESPN survey.

Go to the overall list and sort by "TTR" -- i.e. "Title Track", or how close a team is to a championship.

Look who's #1. Out of every team, in all four sports.

Good job, ESPN. Excellent survey.

Being a Carolina fan, I found that a bit bizarre, really. One Stanley Cup surrounded by a bunch of misses. Of course, the prior playoff appearance to the 2006 win was the 2002 finals run. I have no idea what they're using to figure that makes a #1 ranking for recent/expecting titles. I think part of it may be that 2007-08 isn't counted here since it hasn't finished yet, so the 2006 win probably has more weight.

Even so, #1 is odd with everything else considered. If they had made the playoffs last year, then perhaps I could see some sort of top-end ranking, but there have been teams in other sports who have been more consistently in their respective playoffs since 2002 that even if Carolina had made the playoffs, I can't see them getting a #1 ranking like that unless they went back-to-back.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

WTF!!! The Flyers got robbed big time tonight. First the goal knocked in with the high stick gets allowed then the BS penalty call for kneeing when it was a clean shoulder check leads to the late goal to send it to OT. Should have been a 3-1 win.

I can give the officals a break on the Richards penalty because honestly, real time, I thought it was one too.

But I still think that shorthanded goal was knocked in with a high stick. The sheer physics of the play points to it being hit with a high stick. The puck was above the crossbar, and Kovalev's stick came to rest on top of the crossbar. So unless he has some sort of stick that can go through the crossbar without moving the net, it had to be struck above the crossbar.

Anyway, the Flyers gave up a 2 goal lead and another lead late in the 3rd. You can't do that and expect to keep winning. They played well and neutralized Montreal's speed by keeping them to the outside, but when Montreal did rush down the middle, I was impressed with their speed.

In the end when you look at it, two of the Flyers goals were lucky...the first one off the defenseman's stick and the one that went in off Lupul's leg. Also the Habs left quite a few pucks in the crease and hit the post a number of times. The Flyers played well but they still lack that killer instinct to put teams away.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by bsak16

But I still think that shorthanded goal was knocked in with a high stick. The sheer physics of the play points to it being hit with a high stick. The puck was above the crossbar, and Kovalev's stick came to rest on top of the crossbar. So unless he has some sort of stick that can go through the crossbar without moving the net, it had to be struck above the crossbar.

I only saw the replay a few times, but I'd have to agree, I couldn't see how it was possible that the stick made contact with the puck below the crossbar.

[Booj]

Originally Posted by bsak16

I can give the officals a break on the Richards penalty because honestly, real time, I thought it was one too.

Even if he made contact with Kovalev with the shoulder, it was still kneeing on this play. According to the rulebook "kneeing is the act of a player or goalkeeper leading with his knee and in some cases extending his leg outwards to make contact with his opponent." Richards led, and made contact, with his knee, so it's still kneeing.

As for the Kovalev goal, it was not conclusive on video review... although the French broadcasters were saying he could have hit the puck going straight through, like a baseball bat as opposed to hitting the puck down, but you can't see it either way. Because it was called a goal on the ice, the referee had no choice but to keep it.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Booj

Even if he made contact with Kovalev with the shoulder, it was still kneeing on this play. According to the rulebook "kneeing is the act of a player or goalkeeper leading with his knee and in some cases extending his leg outwards to make contact with his opponent." Richards led, and made contact, with his knee, so it's still kneeing.

If you watch it again on replay...there was no knee contact. But again, I understand why the call was made because it looked as if he stuck his leg out to trip him.

And I agree with you on the Kovalev goal. There was no conclusive evidence to overturn it, I was just rationalizing the physics of the play.

[Booj]

Originally Posted by bsak16

If you watch it again on replay...there was no knee contact. But again, I understand why the call was made because it looked as if he stuck his leg out to trip him.

I've watched it about 50 times on replay, and every time see contact with the knee... maybe I'm blinded by my Bleu-Blanc-Rouge glasses, but surely there was some knee contact, no? I'd bet my home that there was contact with the knee given the replays I've seen.

[Dr. Sak]

Looks like the shoulder makes first contact to me. I'll send you my address you can send me the deed to your house.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Booj

I've watched it about 50 times on replay, and every time see contact with the knee... maybe I'm blinded by my Bleu-Blanc-Rouge glasses, but surely there was some knee contact, no? I'd bet my home that there was contact with the knee given the replays I've seen.

Your rulebook quote says "leading with his knee." Just knee contact isn't enough.

[Booj]

Originally Posted by bsak16

Looks like the shoulder makes first contact to me. I'll send you my address you can send me the deed to your house.

I don't know. I just went back to the replay (PVR = awesome) and it still looked like he led with the knee and the knee hit first. I think in that picture (it was that shot that I looked at on the replay) the depth is hard to see, whether the knee is ahead of the shoulder...

Again, that's my honest opinion. If it wasn't a good call, I would say so because it doesn't matter at this point. I would say if the refs screwed up, even if it favoured my team.

[JonInMiddleGA]

http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/mino...ory?id=3366250
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Ryan Potulny scored at 2:58 of the fifth overtime to give the Philadelphia Phantoms a 3-2 victory over the Albany River Rats early Friday in the longest game in American Hockey League's 72-year history.

Michael Leighton made 98 saves for the River Rats, and Scott Munroe stopped 65 shots for the Phantoms, who took a club-record 101 shots (breaking the previous mark of 64).

According to the Albany Times Union, only 1,809 attended the game, and of that, only a few hundred remained at the end of the historic game.

Aat 12:38 a.m., just two minutes into the fifth overtime, the Phantoms took their 100th shot, the Times Union reported. The shots-on-goal counter on the scoreboard, unable to deal with the three-digit situation, clicked to "0."

And in what could be considered a huge injustice to goalies everywhere, Leighton was voted only the second star of the game. Potulny got the first star.

In the previous longest game in the AHL, Michael Ryder scored at 14:56 of the fourth overtime to give Hamilton a 2-1 victory over Houston in the 2003 Calder Cup finals.

In the longest game in NHL history, Mud Bruneteau scored at 16:30 of the sixth overtime to give Detroit a 1-0 victory over the Montreal Maroons in the 1936 Stanley Cup semifinals.

[Dr. Sak]

I believe you and like I said before...watching it full speed I can see how the ref called it a penalty.

[Dr. Sak]

I don't know why but I found this funny...

[Booj]

Originally Posted by bsak16

I believe you and like I said before...watching it full speed I can see how the ref called it a penalty.

Sorry, I meant I watched in slow motion. Either way, it's over, it was called and it will still be a great series.

[Logan]

I'm positive that I just saw Pumpy among the Pens fans celebrating during Versus' intro.

[Logan]

Dubinsky!

[TazFTW]

Originally Posted by Logan

Dubinsky!

+1

[Logan]

Wow, a lot of penalties being called.

[Dr. Sak]

Pens are finding out quick that the Rags are much better than the Sens.

[TazFTW]

w00t, Drury!

[TazFTW]

w00t, Avery!

[Logan]

Not a bad start.

[Dr. Sak]

You can get in MAF's head and rattle him.

[Logan]

Can't think of the name of the Versus color guy, but he made a pretty solid point. The Rangers needed Lundqvist to get them out of those first 10 minutes or so with a few big saves, and he did.

Ugh, Pens just scored (edit) twice.

[Dr. Sak]

Scored again...

[Logan]

Feels very similar to Game 5 against the Devils...hope there's the same result.

[Logan]

Fuck.

[MikeVic]

Wow.

[Dr. Sak]

The Rags are falling apart.

[Logan]

I don't know if falling apart is the right way to describe it...more like sitting back on their heels while the Pens fly.

[JonInMiddleGA]

That was quick.

[Dr. Sak]

Did the 3rd goal actually go through the hole in Gomez's skate between the blade and the shoe?

[Vince]

This game has been pretty wide open since I started watching. Started about 2 minutes before the Pitt equalizer.

[Logan]

Thank god that puck didn't find its way to Straka's stick...there's no way he would've put it in the net.

[MikeVic]

Nice game.

[Logan]

I thought the rebound shot was in that followed the puck coming off the post.

[MikeVic]

Originally Posted by Logan

I thought the rebound shot was in that followed the puck coming off the post.

Must have been a crazy emotional roller coaster then.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by bsak16

Did the 3rd goal actually go through the hole in Gomez's skate between the blade and the shoe?

He said it like 3 times, but they had no good replay. I don't know how he saw that from any of the replays they showed.

The Penguins have yet to play their best game I think (Game vs Ottawa was more of Ottawa being terrible, IMO)...and are still 5-0 to this point.

[DeToxRox]

So really .. all the Avs love .. why again?

[bronconick]

How bad is Minnesota's offense if Theodore looked that good vs. them?