Hockey Thread

Ashley304 wrote:Playoffs are nearing. Bump.

Fuck yes they are. Red Wings & Lightning for the cup mofo's

Any of the top 3 in the East (Washington, Philly, Boston) look pretty good to make a run at it, I think. Tampa seems like they've been falling off the wagon in the past few weeks. Detroit is perennially a contender, so I'd rather just ignore them and hope they disappear. Vancouver still looks fucking unbeatable, but I don't know if they'll keep that up in the playoffs.

My Ducks are still fighting for the last playoff spot in the West. Probably won't get it.

Don't sleep on my Devils. There's a miracle going on in Newark right now

The Devils will make it, too much talent not to.

Vancouver will get beat in the first round, I'm calling it now.

Zetterberger wrote:Vancouver will get beat in the first round, I'm calling it now.

I've been saying this for a few weeks now. I hope so at least.

The only chance that Vancouver gets ousted in the first round is if the Blackhawks somehow drop to the eighth seed. Round three, man!

Thelonius Punk wrote:The only chance that Vancouver gets ousted in the first round is if the Blackhawks somehow drop to the eighth seed. Round three, man!

Chicago... beating out Vancouver? I predict that Chicago stays at the 7th seed, getting beaten by the Wings in 5 games. As for Vancouver, I'd bet they will lose in 7 games to whoever it is they play. I'd say it'll be Nashville that ends up in the 8th seed.. During the regular season Nashville has got their number, beating them 2 out of 3 times by a total of 7-3.

I was just making a joke about the past few postseasons. They've gotten rocked by Chicago the past two playoffs, and then whined about Chicago "running up the score." I do think that Vancouver is stronger than y'all are giving them credit for this year, though. I see them running out of gas right about the semis.

Thelonius Punk wrote:I was just making a joke about the past few postseasons. They've gotten rocked by Chicago the past two playoffs, and then whined about Chicago "running up the score." I do think that Vancouver is stronger than y'all are giving them credit for this year, though. I see them running out of gas right about the semis.

If they end up playing Nashville, then I see Nashville coming out on top, but if it's a team like Calgary or Minnesota, then Vancouver COULD advance... either way, I'm looking forward to seeing how things play out!... One thing's for sure, Pittsburgh will be taken out by whoever they play in the first round. And that excites me.

My mind will have a fucking meltdown if Calgary manages to make the playoffs ahead of the Ducks.

I'm secretly hoping that Toronto manages to catch the eighth seed and wreck shit in the East, especially since Pittsburgh isn't going to be doing much.

Sort of like the Montreal squad from last year? Wouldn't that just be fucking amazing!

So are you guys thinking Luongo is just gonna have a meltdown? The Canucks look like a well-oiled machine to me. (Granted, so have other Presidents' trophy winners.)

Zetterberg, your Red Wings look nasty too...everyone seems relatively healthy and there's a lot of chemistry and experience on that team. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere they didn't make a single roster move since opening day of this season...that's confidence.


...though I will say that I think Modano picked #90 to match his age.

The Olympics proved that Luongo just ran out of steam, rather than cracked under pressure, in past postseasons. They have a competent backup this year, so I don't see that happening again. I do see the rest of the team getting exhausted, though, and I don't think they're going to know what to do once a team successfully intimidates the Sedins and Kesler. The team is stacked, but I think they'll crumble when their leaders get smashed around a bit.

Modano still has a little left in the tank, he could probably still be a #2 or #3 center elsewhere, but he likes his #4 center role with the Wings. Lately we've had guys like Datsyuk and Hudler out of the lineup, so he's been getting a lot more ice time due to that. If you watched the game last night on versus, you probably saw that he had a sweet goal just go right above Brent Johnson's shoulder. the veteran leadership is really what is most valuable. He usually gets paired up on lines with our younger guys. I've also read that he usually travels with Darren Helm (speedy sniper who scores mostly on short-handed situations).. so having him around isn't completely useless.. especially since he is a great guy to quarterback the powerplay if Lidstrom's PP line doesn't get the job done.

As for Vancouver, basically everything was just pointed out in the previous post. They're a pretty stacked team but they will crumble once a playoff series comes their way. They can be a force if everyone is afraid of them, but I can definitely see an 8th seed coming in and just brutalizing them. Especially if that said team happens to climb into that spot from 9th or 10th place in the remaining games. Momentum will definitely be a contributing factor in that series. It's going to be fun to watch. The Sedins, Kesler, Bieksa, Samuelsson, and Burrows are all top notch talent, but if someone can manage to shut just the Sedins down, I can see them falling in 5 games... Depending on who they end up playing that is.

Also, a buddy from work was contemplating the idea of having brackets for the playoffs made... I'm not sure how many people we can get involved, but it could be done. The fact that they are floating brackets would make it tough, but it's manageable. Maybe $5-$10 to for each bracket filled out? Just an idea to toss around.

So uh, this ruled. Especially when Detroit came back from being down 3-0 to win it.

I hadn't seen that. Did see the result of the STL/DET game. Ooof

Starting goalie (Howard) and backup goalie (Osgood) were both out with injuries. We had to resort to a third string goalie and we recalled another from the ECHL (NHL debut). I'd like to think they would've only won by a lesser amount if Howard or Osgood had been in net.

The following game Nashville went up 3-0 on Detroit, with Detroit scoring three to tie it up and the game winner in OT. Not exactly the start I was hoping for, but it was a hell of a comeback!

I can't watch that video because my internet can't handle it. Is it Bertuzzi acting like his sucker punching thug?

Welp, if Dallas beats Minnesota (currently up 2-1 halfway through) then Chicago will fail to make the playoffs, bahaha! Only the 3rd time since 1967 that a defending champion fails to make it into the playoffs the following year. Buncha pussy dicks.

Anaheim's sitting pretty in the fourth seed!

Damned Blackhawks made it in... thanks to Minnesota... freakin' shitbags.. hahah