OFFICIAL NHL PLAYOFFS THREAD...

[Retroballer]

Originally Posted by AddictedToFreshKicks

Moments after the Rangers hit the ice for the morning skate, Washington star Alex Ovechkin emerged from the visitors' dressing room alone, took a seat on the Caps' bench and watched intently. After a few minutes, Caps PR guru Nate Ewell came over to Ovechkin and tapped him on the shoulder.

The Rangers asked Ewell to tell Ovechkin leave the bench but offered him a seat in the stands. Ovechkin stood up, smirked and walked back to the dressing room.

he said they asked him to leave because they were scared of him.
Win a game first then maybe you can talk

 

[DeadsetAce]

montreal came out flying...got the first goal. we answered with a goal on a lucky bounce at the end of the first. this is going to be a good game...

 

[gingersaintbad]

It appears some sort of normalcy has returned to the 2nd vs 7th series in the East

 

[doublejs07]

@ Avery...

 

[DeadsetAce]

Originally Posted by DoubleJs07

@ Avery...

what'd he do now

 

[doublejs07]

Originally Posted by DeadsetAce

Originally Posted by DoubleJs07

@ Avery...

what'd he do now

Three minor penalties....they were all dumb. Would Torts have the balls to scratch Avery for game 4?

 

[DeadsetAce]

damn

 

[cquan05]

Originally Posted by DoubleJs07

Originally Posted by DeadsetAce

Originally Posted by DoubleJs07

@ Avery...

what'd he do now

Three minor penalties....they were all dumb. Would Torts have the balls to scratch Avery for game 4?

The 1st one

.......the goalie interference one was kind of soft, but Avery was pretty deep into thecrease

Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane will miss Game 3 of the club's Western Conference Quarterfinal series with the Calgary Flames on Monday night due to the flu.

 

[gingersaintbad]

I know the flu sucks and it can be pretty brutal but if I am Kane I am giving it whatever I have and doing what I can to get on the ice. Deadset, I guess Ishouldn't have doubted Boston, I had to pick an upset though. Shouldn't have been Boston getting upset though. Carey Price is horrible.

 

[doublejs07]

Avery w. 18 minutes in penalties....


*edit* Nicklas Backstrom is easily one of the smoothest dudes in the L...dude has SICK vision....

 

[DeadsetAce]

Originally Posted by GingersAintBad

I know the flu sucks and it can be pretty brutal but if I am Kane I am giving it whatever I have and doing what I can to get on the ice. Deadset, I guess I shouldn't have doubted Boston, I had to pick an upset though. Shouldn't have been Boston getting upset though. Carey Price is horrible.

price is definitely not the same goalie he was last season. i really thought they were gonna stick it to us tonight, and they definitely came outflying. i think we just stayed composed, got that lucky bounce at the end of the first, and killed any momentum they built up during the first. after that, wejust played our game. the last ten minutes were brilliant, amazing forecheck and just kept the puck in their half. byron bitz stepped up great in lucic'sspot. he's a real grinder. i loved ryder getting the game winner in montreal...good for him.

not over yet though. i hope we can close them out wednesday and rest up a bit before the next series...this has been a real physical series so far. then again,a big rest may not be good...don't want to cool off too much.

 

[duncarooos]

GregOdensBedpan you from surrey? I lived in surrey, the fraser heights area for like 5 years. Canucks fever must be VERY strongright now lol.

 

[DeadsetAce]

seems like the caps came out with their A game tonight. would love to watch the blackhawks game, but i have a 6 am flight so i need to pass out. my job FTL...

 

[addictedtofreshkicks]

embarrassing... smh

 

[dublbagn]

I cant wait for the wings to go up 3-0 tomorrow......is the game on versus? to many games to watch tomorrow.......

 

[gingersaintbad]

I think one of the major reasons why I like Ovy better than Crosby and think he's a better player is because of what happened last night when Korpikoskyforced for a turnover. He had a two step lead on Ovechkin and Ovechkin put his head down and gave everything he had eventually closing that gap and knockingthe puck away. For some reason I don't see the same thing coming from Crosby. I could be wrong and probably am, but that play to me last night wasindicative of the way way Ovy plays the game.

 

[doublejs07]

Originally Posted by GingersAintBad

I think one of the major reasons why I like Ovy better than Crosby and think he's a better player is because of what happened last night when Korpikosky forced for a turnover. He had a two step lead on Ovechkin and Ovechkin put his head down and gave everything he had eventually closing that gap and knocking the puck away. For some reason I don't see the same thing coming from Crosby. I could be wrong and probably am, but that play to me last night was indicative of the way way Ovy plays the game.

Ovechkin leaves it all on the ice.....the play where it happened, AO was on the point and I think it was Backstrom who tried to get him the puck. Itwasn't a good pass, and it was right at AO's skates. He couldn't control it, and the dude on the Rangers had a 2-3 stride lead over Ovechkin fromthe blueline. AO caught up right inside of the circles, and timed his dive perfectly to knock the puck away. If he tripped him, or missed the puck entirely,we're looking at a penalty shot.

For as good as Malkin/Crosby are on the offensive end (and I do think Malkin is the BEST offensive player in the L), I think AO has a big advantage over thesetwo when it comes to playing defense/backchecking....Dude never quits on the play. He may not be putting the puck in the net, but he's making a differencethrough other aspects of his game...and that is the reason (to me) why he should repeat as MVP.

 

[dmxfury]

Would really like the Pens to come out firing tonight. Got my game at 645 so should catch at least third period. Go Pens

 

[addictedtofreshkicks]

PLAYOFF LEADERS AND GAME RESULTS UPDATED ON FIRSTPAGE

 

[addictedtofreshkicks]

Originally Posted by DoubleJs07

For as good as Malkin/Crosby are on the offensive end (and I do think Malkin is the BEST offensive player in the L), I think AO has a big advantage over these two when it comes to playing defense/backchecking....Dude never quits on the play. He may not be putting the puck in the net, but he's making a difference through other aspects of his game...and that is the reason (to me) why he should repeat as MVP.

absolutely not... I like Ovechkin, but he never puts in enough effort while backchecking... he's one of those guys who will fly down the iceinto the offensive zone but when he has to come back, all of a sudden hes just floating around. Sure, that was a great play he made last night, but he barelyever does that.

I would take Ovechkin's offensive game over Malkin's but I would take Malkin's defensive play over Ovechkin's... Evgeni Malkin lead the leaguein takeaways this year, and surprisingly enough, he actually put in alot of effort in the defensive zone this season. I couldn't say the same thing a yearago about Malkin.

 

[cquan05]

AO's defensive game is HORRID! I wish I could find the clip Don Cherry showed on Coach's Corner (this happened before the whole celebration incident)where it showed the effort AO puts in to defense. It was almost sickening to watch

There were clips from at least 5 different games where AO literally just glided back into the defensive zone and didn't really do anythingexcept for skate in a circle waiting for the breakout pass. I would most definitely say Malkin > AO in terms of their defensive games. Crosby'sdefensive game is so much better than Gino's, nevermind AO. It's just the small things he does and the way he can read the play in his own end, itkinda looks effortless, and he therefore doesn't really get as much credit for his defensive play as he should.

 

[cquan05]

BROSSARD, Que -- Bob Gainey has appealed to Montreal Canadiens fans to stop booing the U.S. national anthem.

The Canadiens coach and general manager said fans who booed during "The Star Spangled Banner" ahead of Game 3 of their playoff series against the Boston Bruins should find other ways to voice their support.

"I feel like there's a confusion there with our fans," Gainey said Tuesday. "They feel like booing the anthem is supporting our team, in that the anthem represents the Boston team.

"And I think if they could separate those two things, then we could respect the anthem of the United States of America and they could still participate loudly in whatever way they want to disrupt the Bruins."

Many fans booed the U.S. anthem at the Bell Centre on Monday night, even though others tried to drown them out with chants of Go Habs Go.

The same booing has been heard during the playoffs annually in recent years. In the past, the Canadiens responded with a taped appeal on the scoreboard of Canadiens legend Jean Beliveau asking fans to respect both national anthems, and there would be less booing at subsequent games.

Instead of playing the tape again, the team is counting on Gainey's appeal to stop it, a team official said.

When told of Gainey's statement, Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas said "that sounds like a very classy thing he did."

Thomas, a native of Flint, Mich., said he was not put off by the booing

"No, because I've heard it before," he said "The same thing happened last year and it happened just about every time I've played here.

"I was prepared for it. I knew what was going to happen and I just ignored it."

Boston leads the best-of-seven NHL Eastern Conference series 3-0 and can complete a sweep with a victory on Wednesday night.

 

[gregodensbedpan]

Originally Posted by duncarooos

GregOdensBedpan you from surrey? I lived in surrey, the fraser heights area for like 5 years. Canucks fever must be VERY strong right now lol.

yessir..

 

[DeadsetAce]

Originally Posted by cquan05

BROSSARD, Que -- Bob Gainey has appealed to Montreal Canadiens fans to stop booing the U.S. national anthem.

The Canadiens coach and general manager said fans who booed during "The Star Spangled Banner" ahead of Game 3 of their playoff series against the Boston Bruins should find other ways to voice their support.

"I feel like there's a confusion there with our fans," Gainey said Tuesday. "They feel like booing the anthem is supporting our team, in that the anthem represents the Boston team.

"And I think if they could separate those two things, then we could respect the anthem of the United States of America and they could still participate loudly in whatever way they want to disrupt the Bruins."

Many fans booed the U.S. anthem at the Bell Centre on Monday night, even though others tried to drown them out with chants of Go Habs Go.

The same booing has been heard during the playoffs annually in recent years. In the past, the Canadiens responded with a taped appeal on the scoreboard of Canadiens legend Jean Beliveau asking fans to respect both national anthems, and there would be less booing at subsequent games.

Instead of playing the tape again, the team is counting on Gainey's appeal to stop it, a team official said.

When told of Gainey's statement, Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas said "that sounds like a very classy thing he did."

Thomas, a native of Flint, Mich., said he was not put off by the booing

"No, because I've heard it before," he said "The same thing happened last year and it happened just about every time I've played here.

"I was prepared for it. I knew what was going to happen and I just ignored it."

Boston leads the best-of-seven NHL Eastern Conference series 3-0 and can complete a sweep with a victory on Wednesday night.

screw that...bring it on. fuel the fire, montreal fans...fuel the fire

 

[13rownie]

go flyers