2011 NHL Playoff Thread

[Puddy]

Great hockey so far during these playoffs.

I have to agree but only for the first round. Everyone was so pumped about all the 7 game series with the overtime games. You get to the second round which is supposed to be more competitive and there have been two sweeps and the other two series are 3 - 1. Not exactly as competitive as one would hope.

Edited May 7, 2011 by Puddy

[Hugh 0ne]

I have to agree but only for the first round. Everyone was so pumped about all the 7 game series with the overtime games. You get to the second round which is supposed to be more competitive and there have been two sweeps and the other two series are 3 - 1. Not exactly as competitive as one would hope.

 

Yeah, but the sweeps were of Philly and Washington, and that's great hockey.

[SeductiveNun]

Oh, and Washington, Boudreau isn't your problem, far from it, he's a great coach. You have no goaltending, and Ovechkin isn't a leader (exactly why Russian players rarely make good captains). The goaltending is the bigger problem. I'd like to thank you and the Flyers for not being able to figure this out yet, because if those 2 teams had solid goalies, they'd both have one a Cup by now.

Geez, I'm late in jumping back in here......

 

Agree with the Caps and Flyers assessments, however I think the Caps are on the way up with their goaltending. It was improved from last year to be sure. Neuverth and Varlamov are still pretty young. If their D keeps improving the goaltending will come around soon and start winning games for them as well. The Flyers..........well, that's just a train wreck between the pipes.

 

Not sure who steps up for the Caps as a leader though. Carlson or Green might be able to, although Carlson is pretty young yet. Still, Ovie to me has the leadership skills of Gaborik, only Ovie actually shows up in the boxscores of the playoff games.

[SeductiveNun]

HUGH game for the Sharks tonight. If this ends up going to 7, they'll be crushing their sticks into sawdust before the first period is halfway over.

[Hugh 0ne]

Yep, big game tonight. Go Sharks!

 

And congrats to the Preds for a nice run, that's a solid looking team right there that will grow with this past playoff experience.

[montster]

Yep, big game tonight. Go Sharks!

 

And congrats to the Preds for a nice run, that's a solid looking team right there that will grow with this past playoff experience.

 

 

Sharks give up three third-period goals TWICE.

 

And we've got a school open house during the game Thursday night.

[Puddy]

I was at the Joe tonight and that place was f'n rockin. 7th row. Amazing game for Wings fans.

[Hugh 0ne]

Goddamn Red Wings.

 

If they beat the Sharks there will be a Canadian team and the Red Wings in the Finals. Great. Shoot me now.

Edited May 11, 2011 by Hugh 0ne

[Puddy]

Goddamn Red Wings.

 

If they beat the Sharks there will be a Canadian team and the Red Wings in the Finals. Great. Shoot me now.

Why do you hate the Wings? Just curious. I get it from back in the day when we would spend more money than most teams and became "the Yankees of hockey". But the salary cap's been around forever and this is simply one of the best run franchises in sports.

 

Edit: I mean really...rooting for a hockey team from California.

Edited May 11, 2011 by Puddy

[SeductiveNun]

My disdain for the Red Wings goes back to when we referred to them as the Detroit Red Army. You couldn't swing a dead cat without knocking into a handfill of Russkies on that team. You had Yzerman, and then is was Konstantinov, Lirianov, Whoopingkov, etc. That and when they threw around tons of cash to buy the best team in the league is why I didn't like them.

 

Nowadays, there are a lot of players on the Wing I like so I've started to come around on this team. I still will cheer for San Jose over them though as the San Jose team could have very easily been the North Stars before Norm Green bought the team and kept them from moving to San Jose. The Gund brothers then got the expansion franchise in San Jose, which was originally populated with a fair amount of former North Star players. Still, I remember when the Sharks as the 8 seed beat the President's Trophy Red Army way back in what I think was the Sharks first ever playoff appearamce so that got me on the San Jose bandwagon for good. I don't hate the WIngs anymore, I just like the Sharks more.

 

And I don't necessarily share H1's views about Canadian teams as I am a Habs fan, but why do we have to suffer through the Canuckleheads of all teams?

[Hugh 0ne]

Why do you hate the Wings?

 

It's really not a longstanding, deep rooted hatred, it's more because you beat us in the Finals 3 years ago, followed by that commie Hossa wanting to play for Detroit the following year. Add to that the fact that the Wings have been very good for very long, it's pretty easy for me to root against them. Although I must say my greatest moment as a sports fan was the Penguins Stanley Cup win over you guys 2 years ago and watching Hossa's reaction.

 

Teams I hate most in order:

 

Any Canadian Team.

Flyers.

Rangers.

Devils.

Capitals.

 

I will be rooting for a team from California and a team from Florida to meet in the Finals. You're right, what the hell is wrong with me?

[chiefjay]

I love this game, teams I hate now most in hockey.

 

1. Pittsburgh (not because of you Hugh)

2. Chicago (long standing and current)

3. Phoenix (mainly because of Doan who is ironically my son's favorite player)

4. San Jose' (Thorton is a joke)

5. Anaheim (although they are dropping)

 

Oddly I find I don't have a lot of hate for many NHL teams. I actually like watching the East play also (except the Burgh)

[Hugh 0ne]

1. Pittsburgh (not because of you Hugh)

 

 

Why do you hate Pittsburgh? Menyoudo?

[Bier Meister]

bleh........ niemmi has been playing well, but det has been playing better. det is a team that just knows how to wein. great cycling, very tough to clear the zone...and always seems to have a wide open trailer. kudos for two hugh comebacks.

[SeductiveNun]

Hey, this list making idea might be kind of fun. Here's my list of teams I wouldn't necessarily say I hate, but rather teams that I truly enjoy watching them lose.

 

1. Vancouver - goes back to the playoffs vs. the Wild in 2003

2. Pittsburgh - Matt Cooke, Ulf Samuelson, Darius Kasparitus, beating the North Stars in 91, Mario Lepuke (who I always thought was a whiner).

3. Washingon - Ovechkin is gonna ruin someone's career if he doesn't shape up. In the meantime keep treating him like the savior of the game.

4. Islanders - Garth Snow is a total and complete tool.

5. Carolina - Absolutely cannot stand Karamonos (the owner). One of the power brokers behind the lockout.

[Cameltosis]

My disdain for the Red Wings goes back to when we referred to them as the Detroit Red Army. You couldn't swing a dead cat without knocking into a handfill of Russkies on that team. You had Yzerman, and then is was Konstantinov, Lirianov, Whoopingkov, etc. That and when they threw around tons of cash to buy the best team in the league is why I didn't like them.

 

Nowadays, there are a lot of players on the Wing I like so I've started to come around on this team. I still will cheer for San Jose over them though as the San Jose team could have very easily been the North Stars before Norm Green bought the team and kept them from moving to San Jose. The Gund brothers then got the expansion franchise in San Jose, which was originally populated with a fair amount of former North Star players. Still, I remember when the Sharks as the 8 seed beat the President's Trophy Red Army way back in what I think was the Sharks first ever playoff appearamce so that got me on the San Jose bandwagon for good. I don't hate the WIngs anymore, I just like the Sharks more.

 

And I don't necessarily share H1's views about Canadian teams as I am a Habs fan, but why do we have to suffer through the Canuckleheads of all teams?

 

 

If you hate Russians then you can have that argument. Other than that I assume by throwing cash around you mean sigining free agents? Is that why you hate them? Because the grand majority of the talent the wings had from '96 to the salary cap werent bought from free agency. There were a few, like Hull, Robiaille (who sucked as a Wing), and CuJo (who sucked worse as a Wing) but who else that would be considered star talent? Shanahan, and Hasik were traded for. The rest were home grown or scouted from Europe. I know I am missing some names so fire away, but I have always thought the Red Wings have gotten a bad rap on this. Certainly not like the Yankees. And they have certainly proven there metal as an organization since the cap.

 

ETA the Avalanche are still the poopiest team in the NHL. Chicago and SJ are catching up but I still smile when I think of Choad Lemiux turtled up on the ice as McCarty pummels him mercilessly.

Edited May 11, 2011 by Cameltosis

[SeductiveNun]

If you hate Russians then you can have that argument. Other than that I assume by throwing cash around you mean sigining free agents? Is that why you hate them? Because the grand majority of the talent the wings had from '96 to the salary cap werent bought from free agency. There were a few, like Hull, Robiaille (who sucked as a Wing), and CuJo (who sucked worse as a Wing) but who else that would be considered star talent? Shanahan, and Hasik were traded for. The rest were home grown or scouted from Europe. I know I am missing some names so fire away, but I have always thought the Red Wings have gotten a bad rap on this. Certainly not like the Yankees. And they have certainly proven there metal as an organization since the cap.

 

ETA the Avalanche are still the poopiest team in the NHL. Chicago and SJ are catching up but I still smile when I think of Choad Lemiux turtled up on the ice as McCarty pummels him mercilessly.

It really irked me back then when guys like Hull, Robitaille, and Joseph left to go with the Wings. They were star players on their former teams and it seemed like Detroit was willing to throw them a ton of money to get them to come in and win a championship. I did some quick checking and you're right, much of Detroit's acquired talent during that period was through trades - so my assumption that they signed guys here and there as free agents was wrong. But I still hated them for seeming to get the best of the best to play for them at that time.

 

I will have you know though when they played the Flyers for the Cup in 1997, as much as I tried to avoid it, I was cheering for the Wings in that one.

 

And I fully agree with you regarding Claude Lemieux.

[Cameltosis]

It really irked me back then when guys like Hull, Robitaille, and Joseph left to go with the Wings. They were star players on their former teams and it seemed like Detroit was willing to throw them a ton of money to get them to come in and win a championship. I did some quick checking and you're right, much of Detroit's acquired talent during that period was through trades - so my assumption that they signed guys here and there as free agents was wrong. But I still hated them for seeming to get the best of the best to play for them at that time.

 

I will have you know though when they played the Flyers for the Cup in 1997, as much as I tried to avoid it, I was cheering for the Wings in that one.

 

And I fully agree with you regarding Claude Lemieux.

 

fair enough and I have no problem with you hating my team, I just wanted you to hate them for the right reasons. and i understand that hull and robitaille were big signings (I refuse to acknoledge the Cujo years) but its not like other teams didnt go out and sign a couple guys just as big. the only reason the Wings got so much pub was that their salary base was so big and they were so good. but if you scour Europe like they did and then draft some future studs late that will happen. with no cap you either pony up or start loosing guys and Illitch had some deap pocket pizza money!

 

Oh, and let us not forget getting Draper for $1.

[SeductiveNun]

And one other thing I have to give credence to, I have always heard the Red Wings have one of the best systems in developing younger players. That is how a team forms a solid base for as long as they have.

 

ETA: And it's used to hate the Wings. I don't feel that way about them anymore. Actually not for quite a few years now.

Edited May 11, 2011 by SeductiveNun

[Cameltosis]

And one other thing I have to give credence to, I have always heard the Red Wings have one of the best systems in developing younger players. That is how a team forms a solid base for as long as they have.

 

ETA: And it's used to hate the Wings. I don't feel that way about them anymore. Actually not for quite a few years now.

 

This. And when you draft guys like Zetterburg 210th, Datsyuk 171st, Franzen 97th, and Filppula 95th you can build a pretty good core.

[Caveman_Nick]

1. Montreal

2. Montreal

3. Philadelphia

4. Buffalo

5. Carolina

[The Darkside]

1-5 . montreal

6. New Jersey- couple years back the leafs needed a win to get in the playoffs and the devils were in already but started f'in brodeaur in goal.

7. NYI- going from a team that did everything well in the early 80's to a complete joke and how not to run a team. that 15 yr contract to dipietro started the ball rolling to the crap we see know

8. Minnesota- made hockey so boring if they got a one goal lead it was almost unwatchable.

9. Boston- must possess obscene photo's of brian burke, no other way to explain the kessel deal.

10. Flames- more or less because of there fans , i've gone there a dozen times to catch the leafs, and the f'ing place is a morgue .

 

of all the teams in the NHL I think I respect what the red wings have done more than any other, before the cap they were big spenders , always in the top 5 , the cap comes in and it has no effect on them, they scout better than any team in the league and somehow manage to avoid paying the big money or long term deals .

Edited May 12, 2011 by The Darkside

[Hugh 0ne]

1-5 . montreal

 

[SeductiveNun]

8. Minnesota- made hockey so boring if they got a one goal lead it was almost unwatchable.

That was on Lemaire because Riseborough wouldn't spend a dime on any shred of offensive talent other than Gabby the Ghost, and once he was gone that was that. Lemaire's system was the only way our team could have any success.

 

Of course, the new owner is just as bad if not worse about bringing in offensive talent. Believe me, the fans here don't want to see that kind of hockey night in and night out either, but when you don't even have a legit #1 scoring line on the team, you're forced into it. It really sucks and is eternally frustrating being a Wild fan.

[Delicious_bass]

Hey, this list making idea might be kind of fun. Here's my list of teams I wouldn't necessarily say I hate, but rather teams that I truly enjoy watching them lose.

 

1. Vancouver - goes back to the playoffs vs. the Wild in 2003

2. Pittsburgh - Matt Cooke, Ulf Samuelson, Darius Kasparitus, beating the North Stars in 91, Mario Lepuke (who I always thought was a whiner).

3. Washingon - Ovechkin is gonna ruin someone's career if he doesn't shape up. In the meantime keep treating him like the savior of the game.

4. Islanders - Garth Snow is a total and complete tool.

5. Carolina - Absolutely cannot stand Karamonos (the owner). One of the power brokers behind the lockout.

Agreed.

 

-Currently, my biggest hate is for the 'Nucks. Started back when they had more heels on the team (Cooke, Ruutuu, Bertuzzi, etc) and its strong to this day. I will be hoping like hell they dont win the Cup this year though (if there was ever a year they could do it) this could be it

-The Avs have been easy to hate especially since Sakic retired. JS was a class act but the rest are punks. They have had some first class dickheads over the years, too. C Lepuke, Forsberg, Foote, Laderierre, McLeod, etc. The list goes on of the dinks that have worn the Divealance colors...

-The Dirty Sucks of Anaslime have been easy to hate since they gooned their way to a Cup

-I still hate the Pens (mostly for breaking my heart by beating the North Stars in the Finals) and for having some pretty loathsome players over the years (including the aforementioned biggest d-bag in sports Matt Cooke(who, btw, is the only player I have ever seen cower behind his goalie to keep from getting beat up).

-Speaking of the North Stars, I still hold on to a fair amount of disdain for all the old Norris Div teams. Part of me wants to see the Wild get in that division but I know it will never be the same as it was back in the days of the Norris...

 

That was on Lemaire because Riseborough wouldn't spend a dime on any shred of offensive talent other than Gabby the Ghost, and once he was gone that was that. Lemaire's system was the only way our team could have any success.

 

Of course, the new owner is just as bad if not worse about bringing in offensive talent. Believe me, the fans here don't want to see that kind of hockey night in and night out either, but when you don't even have a legit #1 scoring line on the team, you're forced into it. It really sucks and is eternally frustrating being a Wild fan.

I will add to what SN has said by saying the Wild have been absolutely an embarassment when it comes to drafting. Entirely too many complete whiffs for a young franchise and its killing them now. Riseborough did a piss-poor job of managing the talent they ever did have, and the team (mostly under Lemaire) has always managed to be just good enough to ensure they keep drafting out of range of the young studs that turn into the next stars in the League. The Wild should have been worse in those early years, built up a nice core of good young players acquired through high draft picks, and then mixed in some vets/FAs on their way to being a contender. Lemaire's system helped a truly talent-deficient team win a lot more games than it should have over the years, though, and (as I mentioned before) now they're stuck in a vicious circle of mediocrity. They're just good enough to get in their own way.

 

Now, patience has run out amongst the fans and the owner, so the current GM (and whomever the next head coach is) will have the fun task of trying to both win now and rebuild the talent pool that was drained dry under Riseborough. There are some terrible underachievers on that roster signed to overachiever money and Fletcher is pretty much stuck with them til their deals run out. I have been a (partial) season ticket holder for years now and I have never been less enthused about watching that team play.

Edited May 12, 2011 by Delicious_bass