NHL Season 08-09

[Brill Weave]

They've done it before. Why didn't you stop watching it then?

[Abraxas]

i used to not mind them. but their games have become like a grind... but not in a good way. i really cant say why. they just bore me. the florida panthers also have the same effect on me

[Brill Weave]

Agreed. Not meant to bag on Carolina. But I do find their style of hockey boring. Though nowhere near as bad as Jersey back in the day when the neutral zone trap was in it's prime.

[Vedder]

Agreed. Not meant to bag on Carolina. But I do find their style of hockey boring. Though nowhere near as bad as Jersey back in the day when the neutral zone trap was in it's prime.

Blame Paul Maurice! :D

Their play style is more exciting now than it was in 2002 at least, mainly due to having more dynamic players now ... but Maurice definitely doesn't let it open up on offense as much as Laviolette did in 2006.

I was among the many who rolled their eyes and went "WTF?" when they brought him back midseason, but the results speak for themselves... the Canes were floundering at the time and since then they're among the best in the league record-wise.

[Brill Weave]

I can't fault Maurice for playing them the way he does. He caters to their strengths. Which is solid defense and timely scoring. Aside from Staal and Ward they really don't have that superstar player who can just take over a game. So I can understand the need to play within their system. Despite how mind numbingly boring it is lol.

[Selamis]

Gotta love watching Anaheim steal one in Detroit. This is kind of why I think they have an outstanding shot at knocking out the Wings. On paper they are horridly matched with Detroit. But yet they still manage to come out and play damn good hockey against them. They've been here before, and they've played Detroit before. This isn't new territory and they aren't intimidated by the Wings at all. Should be a fantastic series when it's all said and done.

I'm reeeeeeeally hoping for a Ducks win here, just because based on potential matchups they'll work better for me if Chicago gets into the Finals, for my tickets I bought today that went on sale. Between my friends and I, we have tickets to Round 3 Game D and Round 4 Game D which comes out to either game 7 (against Ducks) or what would be game 8 (Wings), if there was a game 8.

That Ducks/Wings game though yesterday was fantastic to watch, thought it slowed down a bit once they got into second OT.

[Ishido]

I'm really not too bothered by the Wings 3OT loss. They played a horrible first 2 periods, and dominated the 3rd and OTs. Anaheim is playing their first line far more than any other line, which could give them fatigue problems. The line is doing great things for them, but I'm wondering if they can carry the team along with Hiller for a whole cup run.

I'm really hoping Rafalski and Draper are back for Detroit soon, playing with essentially 5 Defensemen yesterday was probably one of the main reasons for the loss, and he would be a big boost for our PP which is already doing pretty well.

I'd like to see less shitty penalties called though, the slashing and interference calls yesterday were all absolute crap.

[Selamis]

Did NBC ever report on why Chelios was benched for most of the overtimes? Woulda made sense to me to keep him active and use 6 defensemen instead of 5...

[Ace-o-fire]

why your a red wings fan?


I don'T care who wins in the west atm, all i want is the RW to loose badly and i wanna see Blackhawks or Canucks at the Stanley cup final.

I'm a big wings fan, i was even at the cup game last year. But I'm just hoping for a dynasty a team that can hold on to the cup for more then a year. If the pens won it last year, i would be pissed off, but if the wings get knocked out i would hope the pens would keep it.

[Izzy]

Fucking Ovechkin hat trick hahahha. I think they gave out hats too.

[Brill Weave]

And that sound my friends is the sound of a team collapsing. As much as I love them, I think the Pen's are done after this one. The lack of intelligent play is almost staggering to see. There has been little to no adaptation by Bylsma while the Caps have been able to adapt and meet the Penguins head on. Horrible penalties by the Penguins, two games in a row with a delay of game penalty? Pathetic. The complete and total disappearance of an MVP candidate? Pathetic.

The really sad thing is all three of Ovechkin's first three goals were one timers from the right faceoff dot. How many more times will the Pens get burned by this before Byslma learns to float a dman on the faceoff?

I love them, do or die, I still love the Penguins. But this is just plain sad to watch right now. Malkin has become a non-factor. The wingers are still a non-factor, which is nothing new for the Penguins. Just an extremely disappointing game for Penguins fans to watch. Nice to see Sid get a hat trick to match Ovie's. But I think it's too little too late.

[Absolutely Virtue]

A lot of people were qqing about the NHL overplaying the Ovechkin v Crosby thing. Still think it was overplayed now? I appreciate that a lot of fans in other markets might not like it, but how many NHL marketing execs are wetting their pants about the stat line for tonight? I mean, come on. You couldn't write a script like that.

*edit- Brill I think this series is far from over. Two extremely close games, and the Caps are getting the benefit of a lot of luck. Our franchise has an /extensive/ history of blowing leads to the Pens. I don't feel the slightest bit comfortable.

[Ishido]

A lot of people were qqing about the NHL overplaying the Ovechkin v Crosby thing. Still think it was overplayed now? I appreciate that a lot of fans in other markets might not like it, but how many NHL marketing execs are wetting their pants about the stat line for tonight? I mean, come on. You couldn't write a script like that.

*edit- Brill I think this series is far from over. Two extremely close games, and the Caps are getting the benefit of a lot of luck. Our franchise has an /extensive/ history of blowing leads to the Pens. I don't feel the slightest bit comfortable.

It's still overplayed because 1 player does not a team make. Still, it is what needs to be done for more attention to come to the NHL. They are both good players but they are not the entire team, no matter what the stat line looks like.

And lol at Malkin pulling another disappearing act.

[Ivaden]

Hat tricks for each of the NHL's cash cows is insane lol. I think I heard Bettman orgasm.

Seems like Malkin's disappearing act is happening sooner than it did last year, which is very unfortunate. Hopefully he lights it up at home though, you can just tell his confidence is thinning, especially after the penalty and Ovechkin's goal that came from it right off the face-off. As much as I like Sykora, he's definitely not going to be a Penguin next year. I wonder when Tangradi will be ready for the NHL. If what I read about him shortly after getting him is correct, I think Malkin would really benefit with Tangradi on his line. Malkin does a lot better when someone has the balls to stand in front of the net like Malone did.

[Saphirea]

I rewound the last few seconds a few times here, am I just dumb or too much of a pens fanboy in that last touch from the capitals being icing with 3 seconds left and Guerrin touched up? I couldn't see to well but thats what I thought.

They just seemed so "flat" tonight so just oh well and face offs... and neutral ice giveaways. So crappy. I don't think this series is over but if they don't win game 3 by a decisive margin, then I don't know...

[Saphirea]

Agreed, I wish Malkin would step it back up and prove that he's worth that mega contract he signed last year. He's such a great player, it'd be nice to see him on a line with someone that can stand in front and create traffic.

[KoalaTrap]

It's 2-0 but still a close series. I was pulling for 1-1 just because I believe it would have been the 1st time the semis all went 1-1 all across the board ever, but having the 2 biggest names in hockey poop out hat tricks is fantastic too. Malkin needs to show up as has been said. Props to Varlamov he seems like the real deal and huge props to the coach for making the playoff change to a rookie goalie. Otherwise it would be Bruins 2-0 over Rangers and Pens-Canes.

[Sepukku]

Some thoughts after the past several hours of contemplating the pros and cons of drinking myself to death:

--Sykora sucks his own old saggy worn out balls.

--Eaton was a beast. Almost the entire D-corps rocked.

--Versus doesn't know shit, Gonchar is fine. He had good vigor and had at least 10 shots directed on the net, definitely more than anyone else.

--Thank god Letang is hurt, maybe Boucher on the PP will stir things up. 1 goal at the start and then 5-6 failed oppurtunities after (including a 5 on 3), followed by a 6-on-4 when the game was almost over, still unimpressed.

--We can't win a face off that matters. Owned every time one counted for something. Lots of defensive zone losses, eventually resulting in AO scoring. Losing a bunch on the PP including during the final couple minutes (although at this point, I think the game was already in the bag).

--Secondary scoring? Where? Anyone. Not just malkin. Everyone. Crosby 4G, Eaton 1G. The rest of the team, 0. Guerin+Kunitz+Malkin+Gonchar combined = zilch.

--Malkin being said, teams who have the regular season's leading scorer tend to rely on him to produce to advance in the playoffs. Teams who don't get that production typically falter.

--MOST UNDERRATED GOAT: I'm sorry. We threw him under the bus on the car ride home, but Fleury choked. 2-2 game, defensive end faceoff. We lose it, our winger falls down, Ovechkin gets it decently far out (back end of the opposite faceoff circle) and buries it. I'm sorry, you can say we should've won the faceoff. The winger shouldn't have stumbled. But irregardless of those, I don't care if Rocket Richard with Mark McGwire's steroid regiment has that puck on his stick, you can't let that shot, with no screen, no deflection, go in as a goalie. There was a clear shooting lane wide enough for me to drive my falty fucking Buick through and Fleury saw it the whole way, and didn't stop it. Atrocious. 4th goal was pretty weak IIRC, but my mind thankfully went white with anger and I can't picture it in my head.

Rant:

Spoiler: show

--Faggot of the week: Some Caps fan watching the game at the big outdoor screen at Mellon Arena, wherever your are. I mean really? Is AO all you know? Just like every Caps fan, AO jersey. Wheres your Semin or Backstrom or Green jersey? Real fans buy shit of the non-star players. I can take a small select trio of friends, and among them, myself, and my GF, the 5 of us have a T-shirt or jersey of almost every person on the team, including Scuderi, Staal, Orpik, Goligoski, Kunitz, Talbot, Dupius, Guerin, Kennedy, Eaton, and Cooke. The only players we don't have shit of is Gil and Garon. But no, you show your pastey ass up, sit in the back out of sight and don't say a word til AO gives you guys your first lead in the 3rd period, hiding as you lost, and then you open your gel spiked hair, jean shorts wearing braces fucking mouth. You're fucking in your 20s and you're wearing braces and jean shorts. What a fucking piece of shit. I don't want to be that type of guy who rags on people who are socially awkward and can't get a girl and use my attractive GF as a justification for me being better than someone cause I usually lol @ the people who do it in FFXI to people who play the game excessively, and I know some friends who are nice as can be but can't get a girl, but god damn, it was the only silent reason I could come up with in my mind as we packed up to not fold up my folding chair and Stone Cold that son of a bitch.

[KoalaTrap]

I'm glad Caps fans give a shit. Back when they got swept by the Red Wings no one really cared but this year and last year people in DC do care. If you want the hardcore Caps fans they're probably there somewhere but I'm happy Ovechkin has made people in that market give a fuck about hockey cause without his flashiness I doubt they would.

I was pulling for the Rangers but Ovechkin is amazing and deserves all the attention. The fact that he acts like a pest as well just adds to his awesomeness. That said I do think home crowd will sway this series and I hope the Pens pull it even.

Btw Reg Season-wise: I think Ovie should repeat as MVP. Mainly due to Malkin having the 3rd runner up to the Art Ross Troph on his team.

[Ivaden]

I'm quite proud of my Talbot jersey. May not be the most productive person on the team, but hell if he doesn't get shit going every now and then.

Also, if Cooke hadn't been interfered with (not saying it was a non-call on interference, just saying someone got in his way), there's a good chance that Ovechkin goal wouldn't have happened, or at least off the face-off.