NHL Season 08-09

[Thoronas]

YouTube - Top 5 Kronwall Hits in The Playoffs 2008

Kronwall seems to fly every time he hits someone.

[Sepukku]

3-1 Pens, 1st intermission, fuck yeahhhh!

[KoalaTrap]

Malkin is just dominating the 'Canes. Him and Crosby are nuts at how they're performing this post season. I can't remember the last time I've seen such a dominating offensive player just take over in the playoffs. Maybe Sakic for the Avs first cup. I don't think the 'Canes have a chance because their def. can't stop Malkin at all. 6 goals in 2 and 1/3rd game lol.

[Brill Weave]

I've noticed two things about Kronwall when he lines someone up. First off he leads with the forearm and lifts it just at the impact which rattles the jaw and neck. Which is a trademark of most big open ice hitters and is definitely a clean move. Second, and probably the most frightening thing is that every single one of his monster hits, he's already airborne before he makes the hit. And that is a no no. No jumping into a check. I think it's probably safe to say Havlat won't be back in this series.

[nicholai]

Malkin makes everything look so damn easy it's silly. If he gets another hat trick tonight its gonna be crazy.

[Ivaden]

Wow, never expected we'd be up 3-0 against these guys. I wanted Boston so bad, but 3-0 good lord.

[Izzy]

Quite frankly, Carolina doesn't deserve to be as far as they are in the series. They should have lost to NJ, and I don't know WTF Boston was doing at the beginning of that series.

It's starting to look like Pittsburgh has what it takes to beat Detroit. I'm somewhat of a Wings fan though so...

[Sepukku]

Fleury owned the Flyers.
Crosby crushed the Caps.
Malkin decapitating the Hurricanes.

Like the Power Rangers, we must combine our powers for the final to form the Super Penguin, a 50 foot tall monstrosity to pinch Hossa's head with 2 of its robot fingers and lift him off the ground and squeeze his head til it pops like a cherry.

Look at the amazing road presence:
http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/521/penscanesgame3.jpg

[Brill Weave]

Super Penguin sounds a lot like Liberty Prime from Fallout lol.

[Arnwulf]

I think the Pens have this series in the bag. Carolina just looks like they have run out of gas. I do think the a Pens-Wings series would be exciting though, I didn't have that same feeling a week ago.

[nicholai]

Yea Pens/Wings would be awesome I think at this point, last years finals were great. Malkin and Crosby are better this year and the wings have been solid but still have made a few more mistakes this post season than they should be. Either way Pens all the way.

[Tythera]

Even though I'm all for Detroit, after that showing I have a feeling Chicago will come back next game. The youth and frustration really settled in but I think the two days off with Quenneville will set them straight and put up a good fight the rest of the series.

[Selamis]

We better come back next game. What an embarassing display. Huet is the second biggest bust we signed in free agency, somehow, like Campbell he duped everyone into thinking he's worth big money. Two goals for sure, maybe three out of the four that he let in should have been stopped.

[Norelco]

Player getting hurt does not automatically make it an illegal hit. I'm remembering a hit in the playoffs a couple years ago where a, I believe, Carolina player was coming up the ice from his own end and got clobbered right at the top of his right circle as he skated with his head down looking at the puck he was carrying. Knocked him into the 26th century, and was 100% legal. Believe it was a Buffalo player although I could be wrong...

I think you may be referring to the now-infamous Brian Campbell hit on Umberger from the Philly Flyers. Happened a few years ago.

The difference between Campbell's hit and Kronwall's is that Campbell didn't launch off of both his feet. Both of Kronwall's skates were off the ground. Dunno if leaving with both skates is illegal though.

[Sepukku]

Well according to Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell's backwards way of thinking, it isn't, seeing as AO leaves his feet all the time to hit someone and despite it being brought up by announcers and players, hes yet to be disciplined for it......

[Brill Weave]

According to the NHL rulebook it is illegal. The problem is that actual enforcement of it. Because it can always be argued that the momentum of the hit resulted in going airborne. The problem is that Kronwall literally jumps at the point of impact. I can't say he's dirty. But I will say he's a headhunter, just ask Martin Havlat.

[Evanos]

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_KQkmYfG5atE/Sh...all_havlat.jpg

[Norelco]

Yeah, it's interference. The puck being 1.5 inches away from him makes no difference as Havlat never touched the puck with his stick.

If the puck was 1.5 inches away from a player as he was skating across a blueline and it hadn't touched his stick he would be whistled for off-sides.

It's no different here.

[Izzy]

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_KQkmYfG5atE/Sh...all_havlat.jpg

That picture actually clears it up for me. I had assumed, from all the replays I saw, that his feet left the ice to make the hit. I guess I was mistaken!

[Sepukku]

Thats a pretty BS strict enforcement of the interference rule then... Its not like he couldn't have already played the puck, and he was about to play it anyways. Kronwall didn't get between him and the puck and prevent him from making a play on it, which is more of what the rule was designed to do - prevent players in the neutral zone/defensive end from stopping the offensive players from getting to loose or dumped in pucks before they got to it - not to reward power plays to players who idiotically get the puck lost in their skates and are dumb enough to turn up ice with their head down.

So yeah, by the rules it can be interference, but the puck is literally 1 inch from his skate and he could've touched it if he didn't insist on taking it in stride.