NHL Season 08-09

[Sepukku]

We're gonna bury Baby Briere next to that old Faillies announcer.

[Abraxas]

We're gonna bury Baby Briere next to that old Faillies announcer.

Philly fans are just classless

a hall of fame announcer. but we're the classless ones, right?

im not suprised tho. you showed how much of a dumbass you are via your argument about Gonchar/Timonen/Eaton.

only an idiot such as yourself would think this series will be easy for the Pens.

btw - the "Faillies" won the championship last year. but keep trying

[Ivaden]

idk, the pens lost alot of good players from last year's run. and i wouldnt be too ecstatic about Satan being on the fourth line. he's there due to being demoted throughout the year, which wasnt suprising. he's one of the biggest flukes in the NHL, year in and year out.

the Pens may have depth, but i think they are outmatched by the Flyers in that department.

tbh, i think the deciding factor will be Bylsma vs Stevens. This is Dan's first time in the NHL playoffs. Therien had the first round knockout 2 yrs ago to prep for last year's run, while Stevens had last year's conference finals run. Bylsma hasnt been there before.

and ouch at Crosby being +3.

The only person that really hasn't been replaced in terms of functionality is Hossa in my opinion, comparing this year's roster to last year:

Malone? Kunitz and Guerin easily replace him (though Malone was one of my favorites).

Ruutu? Cooke can agitate on par with Ruutu, but Ruutu took stupid penalties while Cooke doesn't as often. (Ruutu's PIM last year was 138, while Cooke's was 27 -- playoffs, Ruutu with 26, Cooke with 4, but obviously Caps didn't go as far as Pens so less opportunity I guess. This year their PIM is Ruutu 144, Cooke 101).

Roberts? Veteran leadership and grit, sounds like Guerin to me.

Laraque? He was better offensively than Godard, but as far as fighting, I don't see a whole lot of it happening outside of the first round.

Hall? I liked Hall a lot, too, but he's easily replaced by anyone on the third or fourth lines. He was a good face-off man as well as a decent PK, but assuming we get Zigomanis back some time soon, I'd take Ziggy over Hall.

And I was actually starting to get impressed by Satan when he was in Pittsburgh playing under Bylsma, but he had to be sent down for cap issues when bringing in Guerin if I remember correctly, so he didn't have a whole lot of time.
-

I do agree with you about Bylsma and Stevens being the main factor in this, but even if we get bounced by the Flyers I don't think I'd doubt Bylsma much. I honestly do hope he returns next season behind the bench. In any case, I can't imagine being knocked out first round, being brought back as the head coach next season, that Bylsma would come back anything else but hungry for more and hopefully give us a better all around season.

Crosby's +/- though, I'd contribute to him having pretty much no line for a good portion of the season. Not only that, but when we had Therrien, Crosby was out a lot for desperation during our dark times. Not trying to make excuses, but +/- isn't an indication of individual skill.

[Abraxas]

+/- has absolutely nothing to do with skill. it has to do with determination. for putting up 103 points in 77 games, thats a pretty shitty +/-. Malkin is muchbetters, and he has 113 pts in 82 games. and im sure he was put out in the desperate times when the team was falling too. the championship caliber teams are the ones who have their best players committed defensively. thats why Detroit is so good.

[Izzy]

The best thing about arguing in a sports thread is that, unlike FFXI, someone is proven wrong at the end of the series and the other person gets "I told you so" rights.

[lolBST]

idk, the pens lost alot of good players from last year's run. and i wouldnt be too ecstatic about Satan being on the fourth line. he's there due to being demoted throughout the year, which wasnt suprising. he's one of the biggest flukes in the NHL, year in and year out.

the Pens may have depth, but i think they are outmatched by the Flyers in that department.

tbh, i think the deciding factor will be Bylsma vs Stevens. This is Dan's first time in the NHL playoffs. Therien had the first round knockout 2 yrs ago to prep for last year's run, while Stevens had last year's conference finals run. Bylsma hasnt been there before.

and ouch at Crosby being +3.

We lost a some players and replaced them with better ones. I'll take Kunitz over Hossa any day.


(Pens in 5)

[Ishido]

We lost a some players and replaced them with better ones. I'll take Kunitz over Hossa any day.


(Pens in 5)

lol

Kunitz isn't bad, but over Hossa? Please, a 50-60 point scorer with some playoff experience vs a 70-100 point scorer with twice the playoff experience and far better production in both areas. He's fine for a replacement, but I think choosing him over Hossa would be a mistake any day.

[lolBST]

Hossa was garbage down the stretch at the end.

Also, I hate Versus....the announcers need shot.

[Ivaden]

+/- has absolutely nothing to do with skill. it has to do with determination. for putting up 103 points in 77 games, thats a pretty shitty +/-. Malkin is muchbetters, and he has 113 pts in 82 games. and im sure he was put out in the desperate times when the team was falling too. the championship caliber teams are the ones who have their best players committed defensively. thats why Detroit is so good.

Well I agree with you that Crosby's defensive game isn't as strong as Malkin's for example, you'll never find me argue that lol. It's one of the reasons why I think Malkin is overall better than Crosby, but I digress. The fact is, Malkin has been playing consistently with the same line throughout most of the season while Crosby, for most of the season, was playing with players who are now on the fourth line. I really can't see holding someones +/- against them and only them regardless of how bad it is for how many points they have.

Fun fact, when Crosby won the Art Ross in 06-07, his +/- was only +10. In 05-06 he had 102 points and had a -1.


And uh, as much as I like Kunitz, as a player I'd never take him over Hossa lol. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

[BadKarma]

Rangers Caps is very even so far.

[Sepukku]

a hall of fame announcer. but we're the classless ones, right?

im not suprised tho.

You're right. Keep harassing young children, pouring beer on 9 year olds and throwing condiments at the visiting manager's grandchildren. You're right, we're the monsters.

[Ace-o-fire]

hey they where just training that 9 year old for the rest of his life here. give them some credit.


in other terms wow @ the devils slapping around the hurricanes

[Sepukku]

As my friend aptly named his fantasy team, "NO BEATON MARK EATON"!!!

[BadKarma]

Dubinsky broke Green's ankles lol

[Richybear]

Philly looks quite sharp tonight!
That being said, 1 game does not a series make.
Flyers chanting "Fore" in 4.


Rangers up 4-3 vs the Capitals right now. And man I hate Gomez, yet he's on fire tonight.

Oh well, I'm on cloud 9 right now since earlier today the Oilers got rid of Craig MacTarded as their head coach. :D

[BadKarma]

woot fuck yeah rangers

[Ivaden]

Philly looks quite sharp tonight!
That being said, 1 game does not a series make.
Flyers chanting "Fore" in 4.

By sharp you mean being goons in the last 20 seconds? Four penalties in three seconds, nice. Hopefully our new arena will have some more space in the penalty box.

[Sepukku]

By sharp you mean being goons in the last 20 seconds? Four penalties in three seconds, nice. Hopefully our new arena will have some more space in the penalty box.

Hopefully the Commish takes a look at that shit too. Carcillo's cheap shot to Talbot that didn't get whistled in the final 5 seconds, and Parent's hit from behind on Staal 15 seconds [all Flyers penalties included, more like 10 minutes] prior.

[Furtwangler]

Devils dominated that game, cheers to 3 more just like that one.

[Oxyminus]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Easily the most uncomfortable I've seen the Rangers look in many many many games. Can argue they stole this game, or Theodore gave it away, either way a win opening game on the road is HUGE!!!

Things that struck me:

* Ovechkin and Green playing nearly the entire 2min of EVERY Caps PP can be their undoing. On Dubinsky's goal he made a SICK move on Schultz, Green was too tired to try to make a defensive play.
*Blair Betts is a god, enough said.
*Drury is clearly missed. We were awful on faceoffs, and looked out of synch all night
*Theodore was shaky at best (he said it, his coach said it, along with saying he may start a rookie in game 2) While Lundqvist was out of his mind.