2011-2012 NHL Playoff Thread: MOOSE NOOSE ON THE LOOSE

[NynJa]

ugh I hate when people start a fight after a clean hit

Shit like that needs to be dealt with pretty harshly

[Deader2818]

man, we look like shit.

[BadKarma]

man, we look like shit.

You scored 5 fucking goals. Shut up

[Flarega]

YES MISCONDUCTS

[Deader2818]

You scored 5 fucking goals. Shut up

Yes we did, but they were kinda running around in the 3rd. Their PK came up huge. Not mad at the outcome at all, but we defiantly have some things to clean up before game 3.

[Flarega]

15 power plays in LA-STL. No power play goals. Only a shorty.

[friedfunk]

6 down 10 to go

[aers]

I'm not sure I'm ready for the WCF matchup of Phoenix vs LA.

Still hoping Nashville can come through....

[Deader2818]

Halak out for the series.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=3947...ory/?id=394718

[Mazmaz]

That link doesn't work?

edit: nvm this one does http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=394718

[Bregor]

What a fucking roller coaster last night...

- I think we can safely say that Hunter is really fucking stupid for scratching Knuble early in the Boston series. Between the slam dunk goal and beating out Del Zotto on the icing late in the 3rd, he was one of the Caps' best forwards. Of course, he did take that idiotic high stick, but what can you do.
- Every single fucking time Wideman/Schultz are on the ice is a sphincter clench moment. They are so bad at puck retrieval and exiting the zone. At least Schultz is decent along the boards and positionally. But Wideman needs to go, I don't give a shit if he played for Hunter in the OHL.
- Mike Green has to adjust to the physicality of this series. He looks either unaware or scared every time he's below the goal line. He's a better skater than most so he needs to make quicker, better decisions and he can avoid some of these punishing hits. They're all clean so he shouldn't be waiting for the refs to bail him out.
- Speaking of the refs, they were pretty bad last night. Gaborik got away with two blatant minors, one was boarding Hendricks and another was a high stick on Chimera IIRC. The Green "trip" on Kreider was pretty laughable. As for Richards' penalty in the 3rd, technically it is a penalty, but just like Chimera's hold against Boychuk in game seven of the Boston series, you'd like to see those let go.
- How much do I love John Carlson? Legit or not, he drew the call against Richards by getting under New York's skin all night. Love the snarl from him and Alzner. They should be getting way more minutes, I'd love to see Carlson and either Green or Wideman as the top PP point men as well.
- Speaking of getting minutes, I really don't know what Hunter hopes to accomplish by playing Ovie 13:36 while Beagle gets 19:58 (!) and Brouwer 18:48. I love Brouwer, and Beags is pretty good at being a defense first/faceoff guy, but you've gotta get your best forwards out there more often. If he's keeping him away from Girardi, that's stupid, because all of New York's top four D-men are pretty fucking good. Besides, Girardi only played 20:35. If he's saving him from the physicality of the game, I could see that I guess. Bruce Boudreau said recently that Ovie can either focus on either scoring or hitting, but rarely both. If that's the case then save him for the PP and offensive zone draws, sure, great, whatever. Still, under 15 minutes for Ovie is pretty silly.
- I don't think it's possible for the NBCSN to fellate Chris Kreider any harder. Also fucking lol at Roenick saying he'd be okay with a "reduced role" in his playing days.
- All in all, another nail-biting series so far. The Rags got the bounces and the Caps hit the posts in game one, this time it was the other way around. The two games in DC should be fun.

Edit: Hunter may be stone-faced, but GMGM gets into Oviegoals!

http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...H-NYRGame2.gif

[Thoronas]

- Speaking of getting minutes, I really don't know what Hunter hopes to accomplish by playing Ovie 13:36 while Beagle gets 19:58 (!) and Brouwer 18:48. I love Brouwer, and Beags is pretty good at being a defense first/faceoff guy, but you've gotta get your best forwards out there more often. If he's keeping him away from Girardi, that's stupid, because all of New York's top four D-men are pretty fucking good. Besides, Girardi only played 20:35. If he's saving him from the physicality of the game, I could see that I guess. Bruce Boudreau said recently that Ovie can either focus on either scoring or hitting, but rarely both. If that's the case then save him for the PP and offensive zone draws, sure, great, whatever. Still, under 15 minutes for Ovie is pretty silly.

Saw this on twitter and thought you might find it interesting.

#Caps Ovechkin has played 17:01 or less in 4 of the past 6 games. His team is 4-0 when he doesn't reach 17:02 and 0-2 when he does.

[Bregor]

Ugh. Caps have been lucky to protect some leads, I just hope they don't fall into some really bad habits because of a small sample size W-L record.

[Anton]

The thing is Dale Hunter is so old school he'll do whatever it takes to win - even if it means benching the star. As long as he keeps going, how can you fault him for that?

The odd part is I thought Ovechkin was, for the most part, everywhere he needed to be in a two-way game. His first shift was... unimpressive. And there was a Sasha moment. But other than that he did his part to get open, shoot on net, and backcheck.

Then again Hunter had him put in for offensive draws, one of which bought OV the gamewinner, so it's not like he's a sub-10 minute grinder either.

[aurik]

There's also the point that Ovechkin is going to be fresh late in the game and late in the series and late in the playoffs because he is incurring less wear and tear than other stars.

[Richybear]

In more Caps news, Evgeni Kuznetzov is staying in the KHL for 2 more years

[Bregor]

The thing is Dale Hunter is so old school he'll do whatever it takes to win - even if it means benching the star. As long as he keeps going, how can you fault him for that?

I won't, as long as he keeps winning. But 60 regular season games and nine playoff games in, and he's won 50.7% of those games. Doesn't instill a great deal of confidence. If Del Zotto doesn't hit the post and the game goes to overtime, and the Caps end up losing, there would be a shitstorm in DC.

There's also the point that Ovechkin is going to be fresh late in the game and late in the series and late in the playoffs because he is incurring less wear and tear than other stars.

Yeah I touched on that in my rant a bit. But goals in the 1st period count just as much as goals in the 3rd. And at this point, playing for late in the playoffs is a very risky proposition. No need to empty the tank, but the 16-20 minute range for Ovie seems fair to me.

The good news is those 13 and a half minutes last night were spent wisely, he got good zone starts and plenty of shots towards the cage.

[Bregor]

In more Caps news, Evgeni Kuznetzov is staying in the KHL for 2 more years

I'll believe it when I see it. Apparently he's hung up on Sochi 2014, so if Bettman isn't a complete retard and allows NHL players to compete, he could change his mind.

[Bregor]

WAT

Nashville Predators Announce Alexander Radulov & Andrei Kostitsyn Will Not Play In Game 3 Of WCSF Series

Nashville, Tenn. (May 1, 2012) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that forwards Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn will not play Game Three of the team’s Western Conference Semifinals series vs. the Phoenix Coyotes as result of violating team rules.

“The Nashville Predators have a few simple rules centered around doing the right things,” Poile said. “We have always operated with a team-first mentality and philosophy. Violating team rules is not fair to our team and their teammates.”

The Predators practice today at 11 a.m. CT at Centennial Sportsplex and play Game Three at Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, May 2 at 8 p.m. CT.

http://predators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=630266

[NynJa]

Im pretty sure enforcing policies (which sounds like they were late for prac, or wulf has another epic story he hasnt shared) in a 0-2 hole in the semis is NOT a good idea