Official 2007 NHL Playoffs Thread...

[skier0178]

her and the rest of canada who are now all overnight sens fans

GO DUCKS!

Good thing I'm from Ottawa and can legitimately cheer for them

LET'S GO SENS!!!

[Crud's Uncle]

As I stated, I don't think the hit on Naslund was cheap. It did not warrant a bounty.

I think Yeti's points about Bertuzzi and fighting are valid. However, it was a cheap shot and uncalled for. I do not think Bertuzzi did it with the intent to cause injury, pain yes, but permanent injury no. He was penalized and paid a pretty high price for a crime of passion.

As a Wings fan, I am undecided on him. He did not do much in the playoffs. If it was due to his back, and he will be the old Bertuzzi next year, then we should sign him. If he has lost his spark and toughness, then he will turn out to be another Lang. The Wings definitely need add a skilled enforcer.

[powder11]

I see the point about the original hit on naslund not being cheap.

I'm going to guess this without googling so get ready to laugh when I'm wrong, but was it the Denver rockies. Oh fuck, I'm going to be wrong and all will be lost.

yeah, I had a tirade last night. Whatever. I guess I had a shit day or something, Bertuzzi was my favorite player in the league before all this shit went down because he had good skill and he played hard physical hockey. I think all my arguments about the incident itself are valid except that moore's hit may not have been cheap. I still think that you have to go after a guy that's injured your leading scorer or face a league of guys trying to take him out every time he's on the ice.

I'm going to go google denvers team now and probably face bitter humiliation.

I think you were right about Bertuzzi up until the point he broke the guys neck, it clearly happened when Bertuzzi fell on top of him. Bertuzzi was perfectly justified in going after Moore, but he should've waited to get a cleaner shot at him and that was his mistake. I dont think Bertuzzi was out to purposely mame Moore, but he fucked up and is now paying the price.

You site generations of hockey scores being settled in the same manner which is true but, it seems like the NHL changed the game a bit and we no longer see goon squad players whose only role is to clock people. I blame Crawford for putting a player like Bertuzzi in that role. maybe its the "new NHL" where teams dont have enforcer players anymore so they have to rely on the more physical guys to carry that burden. who knows?

My favorite player growing up was Cam Neeley because he played that same aggressive style offence, so I see where your coming from. I hope Bertuzzi can eventually shake this from his rep because he is definetly no marty mcsorely.

[Fritz]

Sens in 4. That is all.

[KGTrips]

This morning on TSN ,they said that the Ducks have more Canadians on the roster than any other NHL team. Which raises the question - who is Canada's team ?

Just a Leafs fan looking for a way not to root for the Sens ( who are probably the better team based on the playoffs this year).

Also, there's a lot of media talk about Emery having to prove himself because of lack of playoff experience. That seems ridiculous to me. Dryden, Roy, Giguerre and Ward picked up Conn Smyhthe trophies as goalies lacking playoff experience. Really a non- issue. You're either hot or not when it comes to playoff goaltending.

[PlayHarder]

This morning on TSN ,they said that the Ducks have more Canadians on the roster than any other NHL team. Which raises the question - who is Canada's team ?

Had the same deal in '04 - Flames and 'bolts. TB had way more Canadians playing than Calgary.

her and the rest of canada who are now all overnight sens fans

GO DUCKS!

Canadian team playing or not, I want the cup in the west, even if it's Walts team that does it. I don't get the whole "Canadas Team" thing, I've been a flames fan since the arrived here from Atlanta and there's no way I'm cheering on the Canucks or Oilers just because they're Canadian teams.
No reason to dislike the Sens, I guess, except that they're an Eastern team.

[KGTrips]

Canadian team playing or not, I want the cup in the west, ...No reason to dislike the Sens, I guess, except that they're an Eastern team.

So having the Rocky Mountains at your doorstep isn't enough for you.

-bitter easterner (worse yet - central easterner from Toronto - no mountains, no Stanley Cup)

[PlayHarder]

So having the Rocky Mountains at your doorstep isn't enough for you.

-bitter easterner (worse yet - central easterner from Toronto - no mountains, no Stanley Cup)

Still just bitter about losing to an Eastern conference team in '04.
It does sound like you guys may have one more team in the mix out there soon enough, with the Preds sale.
As for the mountains, at least there's Westjet

[Fritz]

Looks like this will be a good series. Pretty even matchup IMO. Sens in 7.

[Tippster]

Let's hope for 6 more like that one.

[atomicboy]

Looks like this will be a good series. Pretty even matchup IMO. Sens in 7.

I was at the game last night and sat next to some pretty cool Sens fans who made the trip out from back east. After the game I invited him to a local watering hole where we exchanged notes. It was a very entertaining game and I hope like you all games are as good. The keys will be if Emery can hold up in this series as he was not too impressive last night. Will the Sens hold up to the pounding they will receive each game? Will the Ducks lose the cup to penalties? Will the Ducks show up each night?

Lastly, I did not have replay last night but at the end of the game Pronger was called for hooking but it appeared as though it should have been called on Niedermayer. WTF was Getzlaf thinking crosschecking like five times before he was called or Pronger bear hugging with a throw down in front of the net.

[Tye 1on]

Lastly, I did not have replay last night but at the end of the game Pronger was called for hooking but it appeared as though it should have been called on Niedermayer. WTF was Getzlaf thinking crosschecking like five times before he was called or Pronger bear hugging with a throw down in front of the net.

Good call, it wasn't Pronger [although that doesn't change my opinion of him as a dirty hacker]. Great game tho, looks like a fun series.

[nesta]

Looks to me like Ducks in 7. Might have to change that to 6 if they win Game 2 tonight.
Ottawa better start hitting somebody if they want to win this series.
As much as I want Ottawa to win in order to say the Cup's coming back to Canada, I know it will be anyway, as most of the Duck players are Canadian and get to parade the Cup around at home in the off-season. Hell, the Cup lives in Canada anyway most of the time. Neidermayer bros will likely bring the Cup to Fernie, so good chance I'll get to touch the thing. BC Rules!

[45hill]

Fuck Anaheim, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Phoenix, Atlanta, Florida and Nashville. Bettman has destroyed the NHL with expansion and the bull shit referees controlling the flow of the game. The NHL is dead. That being said regardless of how many Canadians play on what team please dear god do not let the Cup rest in Southern California. I hate them, but go Sens.

Yes I know that Carolina and Phoenix were not expansion teams.


http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/teams/news_sto...name=nhl-ducks

Hard to find hockey fans in Anaheim
Ducks celebrate

Canadian Press

5/29/2007 3:38:54 PM

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (CP) - It may be less than an hour from the home of the Anaheim Ducks, but the only waterfowl attracting any attention in Newport Beach this week were the six pelicans flying overhead.

The Stanley Cup final is going on in its backyard but this affluent resort city with palm-tree-lined streets and kilometres of white sandy beaches might as well be on another planet.

Finding anyone who knew the NHL championship was even happening proved challenging.

It has been suggested that on the scale of important sports in the Greater Los Angeles area that hockey ranks somewhere between eighth and 10th. Ranked higher in the pecking order include two Major League Baseball teams, the NBA, college football, auto racing and even women's volleyball from Pepperdine University.

There was plenty of volleyball going on at the beach Monday but little sign of a hockey fan. Some say they are fans but it's wise not to scratch too deeply below the surface.





''Yes I am. I live right near where they train for the Ducks,'' said Anaheim's Sheryl Lobbig, who was taking a break from suntanning. ''I like how they get in fights. It's very aggressive. I like the aggressiveness.''

But can she name the team facing the Ducks in the final?

''No, not now I can't,'' she said. ''I'm not up on that right now. The Kings?''

Lobbig turned to her two friends.

''Who is the team from Canada?'' she asked.

The responses were ''Minnesota'' and ''the Royals''.

Ish Finley was playing Frisbee with his daughter and although a self-proclaimed football fan, he was aware the Stanley Cup final was going on in Anaheim.

''It's the Ducks and those guys with the Flames,'' he said. ''Flames, Flames Flames,all I can see in my head is the Flames. They are there every year.''

Many have never seen a hockey game but all feel they have to support the home team.

''I'm cheering for Anaheim because they've always been an underdog but they're pretty good aren't they?'' said LeDonna Bedsaul, a purchasing manager. ''I'm not really a fan but I do know a little bit.''

Eleven-year-old Natali Cooper from Mission Viejo, California had been spending the morning swimming and surfing and is about to get introduced to hockey at her school.

''We're doing it for sport in PE. It's on the ground,not on the ice,'' she explained. ''We're going to do it in our school. We have these sticks and we pass up the puck and we try and score it in the other goal.''

Nine-year-old Isabella Finley said she's seen the sport on TV before.

''They skate on the ice and they use equipment so they don't hurt themselves,'' she said. ''They put glass around the game thing so people don't get hurt.''

A group of skateboarders waded into the hockey debate.

''I'm cheering for the other guys to beat the Ducks because I am a Red Wings fan,'' he said to hoots of derision from his friends. ''I predict Ottawa will win it in three.''

[atomicboy]

Fuck Anaheim, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Phoenix, Atlanta, Florida and Nashville. Bettman has destroyed the NHL with expansion and the bull shit referees controlling the flow of the game. The NHL is dead. That being said regardless of how many Canadians play on what team please dear god do not let the Cup rest in Southern California. I hate them, but go Sens.

Enjoy it kid as the cup is coming to sunny southern california at my doorstep. I can't wait to see the cup resting on the beach and paraded around disneyland. Thanks for posting that article as that was fucking great. There are some choice quotes in that thing.

[45hill]

Enjoy it kid as the cup is coming to sunny southern california at my doorstep. I can't wait to see the cup resting on the beach and paraded around disneyland. Thanks for posting that article as that was fucking great. There are some choice quotes in that thing.

The only positive about Anaheim possibly winnning is that GMs tend to build teams like the previous Cup winners. Anaheim is a tough hard hitting North American team. If teams are built like them in the future the NHL may be able to make a come back. If that's what it takes to bring the league back to it's former self then I'll accept the Cup in SoCal.

The bandwagon, know nothing about hockey people are what drives me crazy. And the parade to the penalty box. How about that call in last 34 seconds of the game Monday night. Hooking on Pronger. Wrong call wrong player. Cross checking on Neidermeyer, yes, but it's the final seconds of the game. Put the whistles away and let them play.

[PlayHarder]

The only positive about Anaheim possibly winnning is that GMs tend to build teams like the previous Cup winners. Anaheim is a tough hard hitting North American team..

I don't much like the Ducks, but I'm pulling for them this year for that reason. Big, fast & hard hitting. Fuck the Euro style figure skating with sticks that the NHL seems to moving towards.

[powder11]

its sad the canadian press has to resort to nationalism while reporting the finals. why do they write weak stories describing american fans knowing nothing about hockey, poor attendance and how bad the ice surface at the pond is rather than admit the ducks have the better team?

national pride aside, from a pure hockey point of view, the ducks are the only team out there actually playing canadian style hockey. the ducks defence is an iron curtain, while the sens defence have spent more time with their face plastered against the glass than anything else. the ducks offence may lack the speed and nifty moves, but they get the puck in the net.

the way things are going, I predict a sweep.

[Tye 1on]

It hurts to agree with ya powderdude, although i don't have a clue what the canadian press said. What they should have said was that the Sens played a freakin pathetic game. Can't convert on a over minute long 5 on 3. And fucked up a line change in the last ten seconds that left the Ducks standing there with the puck wondering if a whistle had been blown.

If the Sens take that level to the next games, you're right, a sweep for sure. My guess is they'll take at least one at home. Next Wednesday's game will be a good one. Not a Quacker fan at all, but damn if Giguere isn't one of the best goalies I've seen in a longggggg time.

[BigAirSkier1580]

After the Ottawa-Buffalo series, I was thinking, Ottawa was going to roll right thru Anaheim to take it.

After the first 2 games, it's going the other way. Ottawa cannot compete with anaheim's size and strenght and physical play. Ottawa can hardly get out of their own zone, and if their defense wasn't so good at clearing out the gaping rebounds that Emery gives up, it would easily have been 10-0 last night.

[Fritz]

Ottawa needs to step it up at home. They are trying to get way too crafty with the puck, need more dump, chase, and retrieve. I dig the way they stepped up their physical play last night however. That Fischer penalty on Perry was fucking hilarious: sit down bitch! sit down bitch! sit down bitch!

[Tippster]

I thought guarding the blue line was no longer legal in the NHL?

Fucking Emory was on fire last night. Easily the best player on the ice, despite letting the one and only goal in. Giguere may as well have taken a nap in the 2nd & 3rd. 8 Shots on goal in 2 periods? Whoah.

[45hill]

The Hamilton Predators.

One Southern team down five to go.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=209447&hubname=

[BigAirSkier1580]

It'll be the Winnipeg Predators before there is a team in Hamilton.

Hamilton is too close to 2 existing successful (and established) markets. Although it COULD happen, I see a team in Winnipeg (again) much sooner than Hamilton.

[PlayHarder]

The rumour I heard on the Preds was for Kitchener/Waterloo. Crackberry dude has land purchased and zoned for an arena a convenient 2 miles past the Leafs protected range.
Even with the salary cap Winnipeg can't afford another NHL team, in spite of a small group that can't accept reality.