NHL 2013 post season thread!

[hbarcat]

Here come the Hawks.




Hawks shut out the wild 3-0 to lead the series 3-1. Hawks' offence really wasn't that good but, like the score suggests, the D was on game and, most importantly in the playoffs, goaltending came up big. This is even more impressive when you account for the fact that Minnesota had 6 power plays.

 

[Lazarus.Bird]

Officiating was terrible in the Pens Islanders game. Not that it made the Pens lose, but it was very frustrating to watch. Felt like the refs were really ruining the pace of the game.

I read somewhere Fleury has given up 40 goals in his last 10 playoff games, and Game 1 of this series was a shutout. I love Fleury and his personality, but it is time to bring in Vokoun. This is why we signed him, in case this happened. Unfortunately, Vokoun showed signs of melting down during the regular season.

Pens D didn't do Fleury a lot of favors this game, and you have to hand it to the Islanders for giving themselves so many opportunities (their transition game is one of the best in the NHL), but man, some of those goals were SO soft. Two of them wouldn't have even been on the net if he hadn't been in position to be used as a back board.

 

[fokof]

2 feet wide apart with the left turning outwards when breaking?

When I go slowly like he was , yes.

When you go slow , you break with both feet parallel ?
I would fall trying to do that .....

 

[Lazarus.Bird]

One of the funniest things I've ever seen in a hockey game:

 

[Strat-Mangler]

Well, the Habs are pretty much done!

- No Emelin
- No Price
- No Prust
- No Gionta
- No White
- No Eller

No chance.

 

[Strat-Mangler]

One of the funniest things I've ever seen in a hockey game:

Starts at 0:20.

 

[Strat-Mangler]

When I go slowly like he was , yes.

When you go slow , you break with both feet parallel ?
I would fall trying to do that .....

Purely speculating, here... but maybe you have a high center of gravity. Who knows? But yeah. Easy to do so for me. Close to the boards, 2 feet apart, yes.

 

[dangnewt]

Well, the Habs are pretty much done!

- No Emelin
- No Price
- No Prust
- No Gionta
- No White
- No Eller

No chance.

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
B. Blutarsky in Animal House

Budaj might stand on his head and put Montreal right back in it.

 

[jim777]

Martin was trying to draw the penalty there, and Cooke was trying to get an Islander off the ice Looks silly but both both players totally had an agenda there. The Isles played with a lot of heart, which was great to see for a younmg team with little playoff experience. I see other teams with more experience playing with less heart, frankly (an one team arguably out of the playoffs for not showing the heart the Isles have shown).

It doesn't seem to me though after watching last year's Pens-Flyers series and now this one that the Pens really approach playoff games like the rest of the NHL does. They allowed the Flyers 28 goals in 6 games last year, and they've allowed an Islanders team with less firepower to score 14 goals in 4 games so far. Is defense really not that big a deal with Bylsma? If it is, then Flower has to go; he can't hack the big games it seems.

 

[dangnewt]

Did anyone else notice this?

Playoff hockey isn't crazy enough that the fans start to look like the coach!

It turns out he is just a regular fan and he finally got a chance to sit in the company seats. If you had told me it was a Montreal psych-out ploy (or even a pretty funny gag orchestrated by a radio station), I would have believed it.

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2013...ehind-senators-coach-paul-macleans-lookalike/

 

[Lazarus.Bird]

Playoff hockey? That was from a few months ago

 

[netface]

he sat behind the montreal bench last night.

 

[Lazarus.Bird]

Oh, the article doesn't mention that, and is from January

 

[dangnewt]

he sat behind the montreal bench last night.

You're right - I copied the picture from the article to illustrate and the picture looked like he was behind the Ottawa bench.

It is even funnier that he was behind the Montreal bench in light of the events/comments after Game 3. Although, if I were the boss of the company, I would have insisted that he take the tickets just on the offchance it got under Montreal's skin.

 

[Strat-Mangler]

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
B. Blutarsky in Animal House

Budaj might stand on his head and put Montreal right back in it.

I'm being realistic.

• The number one goalie has been playing with an injury for the whole season (groin) and has not looked sharp.

• Emelin's solid defensive play and his physicality have been sorely missed since getting injured on that weird hit on Lucic.

• Prust has been playing injured for a couple of months now (left shoulder) and he seems to have injured his right shoulder last night as well.

• Gionta & Pacioretty both have upper-body injuries and are in & out of the lineup... and have been shadows of themselves when they're inserted in.

• Eller was the team's best centerman going into the Playoffs and he got taken out. His season's over and that hit occurred when the Habs had perfect control of the game. It changed the momentum of the series, same as when Zednik was taken out by MacLaren and when Koivu almost lost his eye to Justin Williams' stick.

• White is an agitator and adds a physical presence that, as pointed out earlier, is sorely lacking by the team. Not being on the ice hurts the team.

So, the odds are slim to none that the Habs even make it 3-2, much less give the Sens a run for their money. I'll be cheering the Sens on after this series.

 

[jim777]

I really like the Habs but also think this might be it for them. On the bright side it's injuries, not glaring lack of ability at a particular position or anything. I'm not certain how many UFAs and RFAs they have, but they should be back next year again.

 

[Lazarus.Bird]

Vokoun has been named the starter for Game 5.

 

[Strat-Mangler]

Did anyone else notice this?

Playoff hockey isn't crazy enough that the fans start to look like the coach!

It turns out he is just a regular fan and he finally got a chance to sit in the company seats. If you had told me it was a Montreal psych-out ploy (or even a pretty funny gag orchestrated by a radio station), I would have believed it.

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2013...ehind-senators-coach-paul-macleans-lookalike/

View attachment 336199

Old news, sir. He appeared there a couple of months ago. He was behind Therrien's bench last game.

The bug-eyed walrus twins!

 

[Strat-Mangler]

You're right - I copied the picture from the article to illustrate and the picture looked like he was behind the Ottawa bench.

It is even funnier that he was behind the Montreal bench in light of the events/comments after Game 3. Although, if I were the boss of the company, I would have insisted that he take the tickets just on the offchance it got under Montreal's skin.

Would've been funnier if he had a sign that said either ;

"I've out-coached you!" or "Did ya love my timeout with 17 secs remaining?"

 

[Strat-Mangler]

I really like the Habs but also think this might be it for them. On the bright side it's injuries, not glaring lack of ability at a particular position or anything. I'm not certain how many UFAs and RFAs they have, but they should be back next year again.

Yep. That Eller hit really killed their momentum, though it was (mostly) a clean hit.

They have the following UFAs ;

- Armstrong
- Ryder
- Halpern
- Nokelainen
- Drewiske

I'd let them all go except maybe Ryder. He's been coasting during the whole series but was a star during the regular season. You might need a Ryder to get you *TO* the Playoffs, even if he disappears entirely when it counts.

As for RFAs :

- White
- Blunden
- Dumont
- Weber
- Mayer

White & Dumont should be re-signed, but everybody else could be either let go or sent to Hamilton as they're all career AHL'ers.

I'm much more curious about how the following teams will restructure during the off-season ; Penguins, Flyers, Oilers, and Canucks.