Its' Here! NHL 2008 Playoff Thread

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

I think criticism of Turco is one of the most ridiculous things in hockey. I would take him on my team in a heartbeat.

I wouldn't reccomend this if your team has to play many games against the Wings. He's 2-9-5 lifetime against the Wings with a .899 sv %. I don't think he's ever won at Joe Louis Arena.

I know he had struggled in the past in the playoffs, but I thought he sort of shook that off last year. He was amazing, unfortunately Luongo was just a little bit better.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

I'm bracing for the ripping from the Wings fans, but I would rather see them than Dallas or San Jose. I just think we match up better with a less physical team.

No. No ripping. Anaheim and San Jose are the favorites in the West. I would rather face Detroit than either of those teams.

As for Dallas, I don't think they're really that much more physical than the Wings, especially if, due to some injuries up front, the Wings dress both Downey and McCarty.

[sachmo71]

turco really did stand on his head last year, but I'm going with history. Turco will lose. It's all his fault Modano and Ribero won't score.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I am now a fan of Bob Duff.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/ne...2-ec257ee017d6

Too soft. Too old. Too European. Too weak. No heart.

To listen to the National Hockey League's talking heads talk about the Detroit Red Wings, if the Wings don't set up a meeting with the Wizard of Oz and fast, their chances of capturing the Stanley Cup are non-existent.
Some of hockey's loudest voices --Don Cherry from Hockey Night In Canada's Coach's Corner, Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury from TSN and NBC and Mike Emrick of NBC, gathered Monday to offer their assessment of the impending National Hockey League playoffs, and much Detroit bashing was on the agenda.

Sadly, it was simply a case of perpetuating the same tired, old myths about the Wings, who open the playoffs Thursday against the Nashville Predators.

You'd think the most recognizable analysts in the game could see past the stereotype.

"Detroit is a team that won the Jennings Trophy, won the Presidents' Trophy, has a strong candidate for the Norris and the Hart Trophies (Nicklas Lidstrom), a coach who's been mentioned as coach of the year in (Mike) Babcock and two of the top six scorers in the league (Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg) and yet there seems to be questions about them," Milbury said.

"I think the reasons are two. The first is their goaltending. Is (Dominik) Hasek going to be able to perform at the level he has done in the past and drive them deep into the playoffs? If he can't, will (Chris) Osgood?

They've been just OK.

"The second one is character. Nashville has it by the bucket load. The Europeans have smashed a lot of stereotypes, but it still raises its ugly head when you talk about Detroit. Do they have enough character, or are they going to be stamped as the Euro skill players and can Nashville intimidate them?"

TESTY RESPONSE

It's the latter criticism that causes steam to rise from the ears of the Wings' brass.

"Didn't we answer those questions last year when we went to the conference final," growled Wings general manager Ken Holland regarding his club's supposed lack of toughness.

Cherry is also of the belief that Hasek, 43, is the weak link that will cause the Wings to break.

"Hasek doesn't seem as he's got that bounce," Cherry said. "He's stopping pucks, don't get me wrong. I think he's a good goaltender. But to me, he doesn't look as alive as he used to."

Babcock was perplexed by the criticism launched at his netminders.
"Didn't we just win the Jennings?" he asked, obviously aware of the answer. "Didn't we allow the fewest shots in the league. Chris Osgood led the league in goals against all season.

"What more do they want?"

Apparently, nothing less than a Stanley Cup celebration will silence Detroit's critics.

McGuire took the Wings' secondary scoring to task.

"If Detroit can't get consistent scoring from Datsyuk and Zetterberg, it puts a lot of pressure on Tomas Holmstrom and Johan Franzen to produce," he said.

You mean the two guys who combined to net 47 goals this season, among 10 Wings who netted double digits?

The funny thing is, all of these experts are picking the San Jose Sharks to win it all. Those would be the same Sharks who folded up their tents at the first sign of adversity in their series with Detroit last spring. Now there's a team whose character rightfully deserves to be questioned.
For these hockey mavens to raise the same issue about the Wings merely shows that they haven't been paying attention.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Round 1

EAST:
Montreal over Boston in 6
Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 4
Washington over Philadelphia in 6
Rangers over Devils in 5

WEST:
Detroit over Nashville in 5
San Jose over Calgary in 5
Colorado over Minnesota in 7
Anaheim over Dallas in 6

Round 2

EAST:
New York over Montreal in 7
Pittsburgh over Washingon in 6

WEST:
Detroit over Colorado in 6
Anaheim over San Jose in 7

Conference Finals

East:
Pittsburgh over New York in 6

West
Anaheim over Detroit in 6

Stanley Cup Finals
Anaheim over Pittsburgh in 5

[JonInMiddleGA]

Western Conference
Detroit over Nashville in 5 games
Calgary over San Jose in 6
Colorado over Minnesota in 6
Anaheim over Dallas in 6

Eastern Conference
Montreal over Boston in 5
Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 5
Philadelphia over Washington in 7
New York over New Jersey in 7

[Fidatelo]

West
Det over Nash 4-2
SJ over Cgy 4-2
Min over Col 4-3
Ana over Dal 4-2

East
Mtl over Bos 4-3
Pit over Ott 4-0
Wsh over Phi 4-3
NJ over NYR 4-3

[Draft Dodger]

I'm notoriously lousy on these

Det over Nash in 5
SJ over Cal in 6
Col over Min in 6
Dal over Ana in 7

Bos over Mon in 7
Pit over Ott in 6
Was over Phi in 6
NYR over NJ in 6

San Jose was my preseason pick for the Finals (along with, get ready to laugh, Toronto) and I'll stick with them. In the East, I think it's kind of a crapshoot. When I had to make a pick for the Times blog I picked the Rangers. Then I switched to the Devils. And then switched back to NY. I don't really have a good reason why, but I guess I feel the eastern finalist will be the winner of that series.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

San Jose was my preseason pick for the Finals (along with, get ready to laugh, Toronto)

I understand each of the words individually, but this sentence makes no sense to me.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Eh, OK, I'll give this a try.

DET over NSH in 6
SJ over CAL in 6
MIN over COL in 5
ANA over DAL in 6

MON over BOS in 5
PIT over OTT in 6
PHI over WSH in 5
NYR over NJ in 6

I hate myself for that last one, but oh well.

[Dr. Sak]

I'll keep track of it again if you guys want.

[MikeVic]

Guess I'll try...

DET over NSH in 5
SJ over CAL in 6
MIN over COL in 6
ANA over DAL in 6

MON over BOS in 5
PIT over OTT in 5
WSH over PHI in 6
NJ over NYR in 7

[Travis]

West
Detroit over Nashville in 6
San Jose over Calgary in 7
Colorado over Minnesota in 6
Anaheim over Dallas in 5

East
Montreal over Boston in 5
Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 6
Philadelphia over Washington in 6
New York over New Jersey in 7

[Suburban Rhythm]

I hope all these predictions of a Pens sweep don't jinx us!

First round

Montreal over Boston in 6
Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 5
Philly over Washington in 7
NYR over NJ in 7

Detroit over Nashville in 5
San Jose over Calgary in 7
Colorado over Minnesota in 6
Anaheim over Dallas in 6

Conf Semis

Montreal over Philly in 6
Pittsburgh over NYR in 7

Detroit over Colorado in 6
San Jose over Anaheim in 7

Conf Finals

Pittsburgh over Montreal in 6
San Jose over Detroit in 6

SC Finals (homer alert!)

Pittsburgh over San Jose in 6

[yacovfb]

Montreal over Boston in 6 - When's the last time these two have met in the playoffs and Montreal hasn't won?

Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 5 - Should be a high scoring series, Pens are playing good hockey right now, Sens aren't and are without the captain...not a good combo.

Washington over Philly in 5 - Both teams had to play at least decent hockey down the stretch to get in, but I like the skilled Caps to beat the tougher Flyers...the longer this series goes, however, the more of an edge I'd give to Philly.

Devils over Rangers in 7 - The Devils style of play + Brodeur's brilliance usually is a good combo for the playoffs

Detroit over Nashville in 6 - Detroit shouldn't have too much trouble but the Preds might play with new life knowing they're not playing the Sharks.

SJ over Calgary in 6 - Flames have a good style for the playoffs but they've been inconsistent this year and the Sharks are peaking at the right time.

Colorado over Minnesota in 5- Don't really know what to expect from this series, but my gut just tells me the Avs will win fairly easily.

Anaheim over Dallas in 6 - Should be a good series, but there's too many question marks that don't bode well for the Stars: Turco, poor play down the stretch, overcoming the Ducks mix of firepower and toughness (Ott, for example, will have to be a little less of a pussy if they want to match up in this category), etc.

Can't wait for tomorrow...Go Sharks!

[TazFTW]

Wings over Preds in 6
Flames over Sharks in 5
Wild over Avs in 6
Stars over Ducks in 7

Habs over Bruins in 5
Pens over Sens in 6
Caps over Flyers in 5
Rangers over Devils in 6

[Pyser]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

NYR over NJ in 6

I hate myself for that last one, but oh well.

I completely agree, but could not force myself to pick the rangers, no matter how hard i tried. i'd rather be wrong than type that we could lose to fucking gomez.

[Fidatelo]

I think I'm going to game 4 of the NYR/NJ series! Woohoo!

If this post jinxes it I will crawl into a corner and die.

[Vince]

I'm just retarded. Don't mind me.

Go Sharks.

[Pyser]

does anyone with center ice have a playoff schedule? i have no info as to who is on what channel....which makes games tough to record while im at work

[Simms]

Not strictly playoff-related, though I suspect the timing isn't entirely accidental ....

TSN has finally let loose with their redesign ... huge huge improvement.

http://www.tsn.ca/

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

I think I'm going to game 4 of the NYR/NJ series! Woohoo!

If this post jinxes it I will crawl into a corner and die.

I have every other Penguins home game (as a partial season holder). But I am torn. My game would be Friday night. They aren't the best seats in the world, but they are OK. I pay $40 a piece. Someone at work offered me $150 a piece. I can't pass that up.

And that's just round one. I'll pay for the playoffs AND next season at this rate.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

- Washington over Philadelphia in 6
When a team is playing as great of hockey as Washington to make the playoffs, it translates over nicely into the chase for Lord Stanley's cup. Philly has no D, and though the Cap's D is also flakey, their offense has more punch then the Flyers.

They may have no one in the league of Ovechkin but the Flyers have 7 players that scored 20 or more goals this year. That's some pretty good scoring depth. What I am hoping is that the Caps feasted on the weaker Southeast Division for almost a month now and people have a wrong impression of them. While the Flyers had to battle through the Atlantic and still made it out.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

I have every other Penguins home game (as a partial season holder). But I am torn. My game would be Friday night. They aren't the best seats in the world, but they are OK. I pay $40 a piece. Someone at work offered me $150 a piece. I can't pass that up.

And that's just round one. I'll pay for the playoffs AND next season at this rate.

I bet you could get more if you would've posted them on ticketmaster. A guy I work with got $125 a piece for the Pens/Rangers regular season game, and his tickets are in section E.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Simms

Not strictly playoff-related, though I suspect the timing isn't entirely accidental ....

TSN has finally let loose with their redesign ... huge huge improvement.

http://www.tsn.ca/

I'm not so sure if I like it. I really dug their old layout. This one seems too much like ESPN to me. Anyone know why they got rid of the scouting reports on the player cards? I noticed they dropped around the trade deadline. I assumed it was to temporarily ease the burden on the servers, but they never came back.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Pyser

does anyone with center ice have a playoff schedule? i have no info as to who is on what channel....which makes games tough to record while im at work

they FINALLY have put up the schedule for tonight and tomorrow, but that's it. It would be nice if they could get their act together...

[Young Drachma]

Go Devils. Screw the Rangers and that carpetbagger.

[Logan]

It's weird hearing all my Devil fan friends say how the Rangers are so much better, guaranteed to win, etc. I'm hoping that by pointing out their attempts at reverse psychology, I can reverse the effect they are trying to cause.

[Fidatelo]

It's official, I'll be in section 220 of MSG next wednesday night! Sweet! I can't wait to heckle people. I think I'll be a Rangers fan for the night and pick on Brodeur :P

[Draft Dodger]

Great news: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=2338...headlines_main

"Mick McGeough, who announced his retirement this season, will also not work the postseason."

[Draft Dodger]

Great news: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=2338...headlines_main

"Mick McGeough, who announced his retirement this season, will also not work the postseason."

[Draft Dodger]

apparently, I was so excited I had to say it twice. it's the internet version of shouting with glee from the mountaintops.

[Maple Leafs]

Pardon my ignorance of the Western Conference, but have the Wings settled on a full-time goalie?

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Pardon my ignorance of the Western Conference, but have the Wings settled on a full-time goalie?

I'm under the impression it's Dom. He's played the majority of the recent games.

[MikeVic]

Detroit being considered "west" is weird.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

Detroit being considered "west" is weird.

Don't get me started. It's BS I have to stay up until one AM for two series minimum if they make it to the Cup. But the West needs to Detroit, they put a lot of fans in the seats.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

I'm under the impression it's Dom. He's played the majority of the recent games.

You are correct, sir. They will be going with Hasek.

I see a lot of 2-1/3-2 type games with the Wings out shooting their opponent 42-14.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

You are correct, sir. They will be going with Hasek.

So he's the full-time starter (barring injury or prolonged slump)?

Or is it a Gerber/Emery scenario where one bad game could mean the other guy gets the ball.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

So he's the full-time starter (barring injury or prolonged slump)?

Or is it a Gerber/Emery scenario where one bad game could mean the other guy gets the ball.

Probably won't. If Hasek struggles and we go down 2-0, then Osgood will come in, but that's the only scenario I can see.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

So he's the full-time starter (barring injury or prolonged slump)?

Or is it a Gerber/Emery scenario where one bad game could mean the other guy gets the ball.

More the former than the latter. Hasek would have to get injured or play very, very poorly and Osgood play very well in relief for Babcock to make a switch.

I think the intention all along has been to keep Hasek fresh and healthy for the playoffs.

[Maple Leafs]

Any word on which round Hasek has chosen to fake his injury in?

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Any word on which round Hasek has chosen to fake his injury in?

please stop causing problems

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Any word on which round Hasek has chosen to fake his injury in?

He has to consult with Crosby first because they both don't want to fake at the same time, that'll take the limelight off of one another.

[MikeVic]

What about Forsberg?

[Dr. Sak]

East
Montreal over Boston in 4
Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 5
Philly over Washington in 7
New York over New Jersey in 6

West
Detroit over Nashville in 5
San Jose over Calgary in 6
Minnesota over Colorado in 7
Anaheim over Dallas in 6

[Maple Leafs]

Spoiler

East
Montreal over Boston in 5
Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 7
Washington over Philly in 6
New York over New Jersey in 7

New York over Montreal in 6
Pittsburgh over Washington in 5

Pittsburgh over New York in 6

West
Detroit over Nashville in 5
San Jose over Calgary in 7
Colorado over Minnesota in 6
Anaheim over Dallas in 5

Detroit over Colorado in 5
Anaheim over San Jose in 7

Detroit over Anaheim in 7

Finals: Detroit over Pittsburgh in 5

[Honolulu_Blue]

Thanks for using the Spoiler Tags this year. It's greatly appreciated.

Oh, and:

Spoiler

YES!!

[Dr. Sak]

I think the roof just blew off Mellon Arena...Gary Roberts scored in the first minute to make it 1-0 Pens.

[stevew]

Where the hell are all these games on? VS is in the upper tier DISH package, kind of stupid to limit their market like this. But i guess it's par for the course for the NHL.

[stevew]

nevermind
FSN's schedule was wrong.