Official 2007 NHL Playoffs Thread...

[ill-advised strategy]

[GBB]

Hell of a series. It will be said many times, but that was a phenomenal display of goal tending and if Luongo can keep it up the Canucks have a chance of making it deep. However, they can't keep giving pucks up in their own zone and not expecting to pay for it.

[GBB]

Both goalies posted .95 or better save percentage, and under 1.5 gaa. wow.

[Altaholic]

Sucks that one team had to go, both were amazing. That tough seeing Modano hit the post in the third, though Linden's goal was money.

[nesta]

Canucks now on the way to kickin some Duck ass. Doesn't sound right does it? It would now be officially embarrassing to lose in the semis to a team named Ducks. They're not even Mighty Ducks anymore....even if they were.....

GO CANUCKS GO!!!

[GBB]

I have to pull for the Canucks, because they are the only remaining team in the West that I don't have a deep hatred for.

[road trip]

Go 'nucks out West... I don't want Niedermeyer getting anywhere close to another cup after leaving the Devils.

[Dudley]

Rangers in 6... you heard it here first! (and a Huge victory tonight... say 3-2)

[Fritz]

Rangers in 6... you heard it here first! (and a Huge victory tonight... say 3-2)

Bold call. Let's see if they've had too much rest

[Franz Klammer]

Vanek gets back in form - GO SABRES.

Guess the Rangers shouldn't have scratched Thomas Pöck -- he might have prevented the two goals by his compatriote Thomas Vanek ...

[Dudley]

Staying with my Rangers in 6 call... But DAMN is Miller good. The explosiveness that the Sabres have is pretty impressive and unlike Renney, I would argue that they ARE the cream of the crop. Rangers need to stop putting the penalty kill unit on the ice and start taking the puck ot the goal more often... Looking forward to game 2... Game 1 was fun (if not a little lopsided)

[road trip]

Rangers looked completely out of their league. It'll be interesting to see if they can figure out how to catch up with the Sabres.

Teemu's second goal (?) last night was money. Pass to himself around the defender and then the backhand into the middle of the net. Sweeeet.

Tonight: Devils win 2 - 1; Sharks win 4 - 2.

Go DEVS!

[Raps]

Yeah disappointing first game for the Rangers.........

They started off well but all of those penalties were no good - if they could have struck first i think we coulda made it more of a game

Don't count us out though, even though Miller is sick nasty.....

[Tippster]

Jagr's almost on Vacation....

[Fritz]

Holy Mighty Ducks Batman! Yeah, and the Sabres just held a little clinic yesterday.

I would love to see the Sens spank Jersey tonight.

[road trip]

I would love to see the Sens spank Jersey tonight.

So would everybody, Fritz. That's why it ain't gonna happen!!

[freshie247]

Great article in the Couve newspaper,it is hilarious and just another of the many reasons why I love Vancouver. I just don't see the Canucks geting past the Ducks.


ANAHEIM—It was entertaining much the way it must have been when the Christians faced the Lions in ancient Rome.

This was Liberal leader Stephane Dion throwing the first punch against Jean Claude Van Damme. Donald Trump and Rosie O’Donnell were evenly matched if this was a contest.

At the beginning of the second period with the Ducks leading 3-1 and dominating the first four minutes at even strength, one press row wag leaned over and asked "how much time left in this power play." The response from another: “Thirty-six minutes.”


Roberto Luongo and the Canucks spent a lot of time looking at pucks behind them last night.
Jason Payne/The Province

Roberto Luongo’s biggest problem was not so much exposure to red light as wind burn from fowards whizzing past him headed for the Bonneyville Salt Flats. There was more entertainment than the entire Dallas-Vancouver series packed into the first period but with Vancouver’s lack of team speed in general combined with the injuries on defence and the absence of their two speediest fowards Ryan Kesler and Matt Cooke, this was a race between an F-16 and some characters in an ox cart. All this talk of the Ducks gooning Vancouver — heavens, they didn’t want to slow up long enough to bother. This was the classic example of how advantageous it is to finish off a previous opponent quickly. The Ducks had energy, while the Canucks were dragging.

Teemu Selanne and Andy McDonald combined for four points in five games against Minnesota. They had five after the first period, and had Luongo not been throwing himself all over the rink absorbing bullets with his superbly positioned body, double figures could have been within reach. It wasn’t just McDonald or Selanne, although they were the most spectacular. Chris Pronger was wailing away from the point, the usual quota blocked by the Vancouver defence. You had Scott Niedermayer shaking off a couple of early giveaways to waltz around Vancouver players at his discretion. Pretty much anything was a go. Dan Cloutier would have injured himself just watching.

Unless the league permits them to set leg hold traps, the Canucks have a significant problem and whether the potential return of any of the injured players would actually make a difference is open to question. Vancouver also had a bushel of chances and the temptation is to say "what if Taylor Pyatt had scored early in the second, or early in the third on his chances?" And while that’s intriguing, the corresponding question is what if the Ducks had scored on their good chances?

If there is one job the forwards must do better it’s slowing these guys down before they get to the defence, which suddenly looks ridiculously vulnerable with Sami Salo and Kevin Bieksa watching from the press box.

“It was definitely a different style out there but we took too many penalties,” said captain Markus Naslund, who had his opportunities offensively but couldn’t put it away. “Speed is one thing they do have going and we’ve got to skate with these guys with our sticks on the ice and stay out of the penalty box. It will be a short series unless we start doing better on the special teams too.”

“I didn’t think they were that fast, but even when they get a step we can’t be using our sticks, we’ve got to put our heads down and skate with them,” said Henrik Sedin. “They look fast because they’re on the power play so much.”

“We got a pretty good start the first six or seven minutes, then we started turning pucks over and taking penalties,” said Jan Bulis of perhaps the biggest problem this Canuck team has had all year. “There’s way too many penalties, especially against these guys. They’ve got one of the best power plays in the league and tonight we saw why.”

Nobody seemed to want to admit fatigue was a problem and that’s understandable — virtually nobody ever does in the playoffs. But if it wasn’t, then catching these guys is going to take a lot more energy than they showed Wednesday night. If that energy isn’t forthcoming, the Canucks can start hooking with their golf clubs.

[atomicboy]

I was at the game last night and the Ducks looked really good. A McDonald is just a quick mo fo. I just think Van were tired from the seven game series against Dallas. I don't think each game will be like this. I just hope the Ducks progress as it means more live games for me.

[MapleSyrup]

[Sinecure]

Go Sharks Go! Nabby shuts out the wed wings in Joe Louis. How cool is that?!?

I was a bit concerned by the way the throttled back the attack after scoring two early goals, but it was great to watch.

[skier0178]

So would everybody, Fritz. That's why it ain't gonna happen!!

Oh really 1 down, 3 to go...

[Tippster]

Devils pulling back to 4-3 after being down 4-0 was some great fucking hockey. This series is gonna rule, because you know that Marty will pull it together.

"The Dominator." Heh.

[GBB]

I'm not a Sharks fan, but I'm loving the fact that Detroit got shutout.

[MapleSyrup]

Ducks vs. Canucks is going off right now!

couple of great games we've had today

[Tippster]

This just in: Ryan Miller is a fucking MAN.