NHL Thread

[CanadianGuitarist]

That was New Jersey's game in hand against Pittsburgh, too. It's all tied up with five games to go. I like the Penguins to win the division now, and hopefully draw Montreal in the first round. That would be a great series to watch.

 

I'm conflicted over that. They've played decent against the Pens this year, but not great. The series would be exciting as fuck, though.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

I still want NJ in the 4/5 slot. They worry me most. Let OTT/NJ kill each other. I think the Sabres can outscore PIT.

[treble]

It's not going to be fair that the 4 vs. 5 series is going to have 2 of the best teams in the conference, while the 3 vs. 6 series is going to have 2 inferior teams. Teams are going to be fighting hard to move up to 6 and play Atlanta (probably), too, instead of getting stuck with Buffalo or Jersey/Pittsburgh.

[CanadianChris]

At this point, I'd love to get Jersey. I'd rather go against a team entering the playoffs on a slide than a hot team, and there's no team in the East hotter than the Penguins.

[CanadianChris]

It's not going to be fair that the 4 vs. 5 series is going to have 2 of the best teams in the conference, while the 3 vs. 6 series is going to have 2 inferior teams. Teams are going to be fighting hard to move up to 6 and play Atlanta (probably), too, instead of getting stuck with Buffalo or Jersey/Pittsburgh.

Oh, definitely not. It's entirely possible that the four matchups in the East are going to be:

 

1 vs. 8

2 vs. 4

3 vs. 7

5 vs. 6

 

That's just wrong, and there's no excuse for not having fixed this long ago.

[CanadianGuitarist]

If there's an undoing to Pittsburgh in the playoffs, and that's a big if, it's experience. You can make the case it's been addressed with Roberts, but goaltending is huge. Thibault does have three times in the first round (Chicago in '02, and the Habs in 96 and 97), but not a serious dent. And I'd take the bet that Fleury still hasn't recovered from the 2004 World Juniors.

 

Again, that's still a huge if.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

At this point, I'd love to get Jersey. I'd rather go against a team entering the playoffs on a slide than a hot team, and there's no team in the East hotter than the Penguins.

But, the Pens have all those talented little guys you can seriously injure with cheap shots. Of course, you'll still lose. But, Ottawa has that hooligan spirit.

[CanadianChris]

Still bitter over the Drury hit, are we?

[CanadianChris]

Carolina ended up getting blown out, 5-1. That's just flat-out embarrassing.

[Smartly Pretty]

jesus christ, you'd think those last three spots would clear up already, but nope.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

Still bitter over the Drury hit, are we?

Buffalo fans have lots of angst.

 

We want to kill your team. Badly.

[KGB]

Thanks Buffalo (*cough*) for putting a little dent in Brodeur's GAA and SVPCT. I want Luongo to win the Vezina this year, partly because I'm so sick of the "greatest goalie ever" hype Brodeur gets (fuck no he isn't). I hope New Jersey gets lit up for the rest of the season.

 

They've pretty similar numbers: Brodeur has a record of 44-23-7, 2.24 GAA, .921 SVPCT, and 12 SO's in 74 GP. Luongo has played in 71 games, a 44-20-6 record, 2.26 GAA, .922 SVPCT, and 5 SO's.

[Red Baron]

Brodeur is the best goalie in the league right now.

[CanadianGuitarist]

Thanks Buffalo (*cough*) for putting a little dent in Brodeur's GAA and SVPCT. I want Luongo to win the Vezina this year, partly because I'm so sick of the "greatest goalie ever" hype Brodeur gets (fuck no he isn't). I hope New Jersey gets lit up for the rest of the season.

 

They've pretty similar numbers: Brodeur has a record of 44-23-7, 2.24 GAA, .921 SVPCT, and 12 SO's in 74 GP. Luongo has played in 71 games, a 44-20-6 record, 2.26 GAA, .922 SVPCT, and 5 SO's.

No, he's not the best ever, but it's tough to not put him top 5, or at the very least, top 10. Hasek and Belfour could also make that statement. I give the nod to Brodeur for the Vezina.

 

Who do you guys like as the Hart nominees? Its Crosby's, of course, but do Luongo and Brodeur get the nod as the other two? How bout Lidstrom? Hossa? I tend to not say Heatley, as Ottawa is a deep enough team (same with any on Buffalo and Nashville to a lesser extent).

[bob_barron]

I think Luongo should get the Vezina. Since Christmas, he's carried the Canucks on his back

[CanadianChris]

My three Hart finalists would be Crosby, Luongo and Lecavalier. And I agree with Bob about Luongo deserving the Vezina.

[Smartly Pretty]

Lundqvist needs to be in the mix for Vezina hype. He has a GAA of like, 1.75 since the all star break, and has been on fire, excluding that last game against Montreal.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

Vanek for the Hart. Best +/- in the league.

[CanadianChris]

Vanek for the Hart. Best +/- in the league.

That's the kind of thing that gets you the Selke, really.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

Every award to the Sabres!

[the max]

We can even create some new awards to give the Sabres.

 

The Claude Lemieux Memorial "Take a dive" Award goes to...Daniel Briere!!

[World's Worst Man]

The Canucks really aren't a very good team, so Luongo doing what he's doing is more impressive than Brodeur. I like Luongo for Vezina.

[Red Baron]

Hart:

 

Luongo/Crosby/Thorton

 

Vezina:

 

Luongo/Brodeur/Hasek

 

Norris:

 

Pronger/Souray/Neidermyer

[Zetterberg is God]

Hart:

 

Luongo/Crosby/Thorton

 

Vezina:

 

Luongo/Brodeur/Hasek

 

Norris:

 

Pronger/Souray/Neidermyer

 

Souray plus-minus= -22

Lidstrom plus-minus= +36

 

Souray may put up ridiculous numbers, but he's a pretty shoddy defender. Hardcore Wings fan or not, Lidstrom is getting it. As for the Hart, Luongo should get it but Crosby will, and Luongo should also get the Vezina but Brodeur probably will.

[Red Baron]

Replace one of the Anaheim players.

 

I can see the NHL placing Souray in the running because points is good.

[CanadianGuitarist]

We can even create some new awards to give the Sabres.

 

The Claude Lemieux Memorial "Take a dive" Award goes to...Daniel Briere!!

 

You mean to Sean Avery?

 

 

Hart: Crosby over Luongo and LeCav

Norris: Lidstrom in a walk.

Vezina: Luongo over Brodeur and Lundqvist.

 

Angle, I've been trying to convince Baron of that all season. If the Norris were based on proficient powerplay quarterbacking, then Bryan McCabe would have w....nope, I can't even finish that statement.

[Justice]

Crucial win in Nashville for the Wings. A real nail-biter, too. Bertuzzi gets two assists, which is a good start, and hopefully he can start turning into the dominant player that he could be. Also, the Wings win the season series 6-1-1.

[KGB]

We can even create some new awards to give the Sabres.

 

The Claude Lemieux Memorial "Take a dive" Award goes to...Daniel Briere!!

 

You mean to Sean Avery?

 

 

Hart: Crosby over Luongo and LeCav

Norris: Lidstrom in a walk.

Vezina: Luongo over Brodeur and Lundqvist.

 

Angle, I've been trying to convince Baron of that all season. If the Norris were based on proficient powerplay quarterbacking, then Bryan McCabe would have w....nope, I can't even finish that statement.

 

McCabe just barely missed out on finishing within the top three in votes for the Norris back in 2004, believe it or not. Actually now that I remember, he was even named to the year-end Second All-Star Team. Still, there's no way Souray will get near the Norris trophy. "The only Norris I know is Chuck", as he once said.

 

Leafs took the Thrashers to overtime and lost, much to the chagrin of Tampa and Carolina, teams that are both in the race for a playoff spot and the South East Division lead. Leafs just had to take a penalty in OT albeit it was kind of a stupid call to make after letting a lot of worse infractions go all game long. Antropov got called for a weak hook on Kovalchuk, who had a breakaway.

[Zetterberg is God]

Crucial win in Nashville for the Wings. A real nail-biter, too. Bertuzzi gets two assists, which is a good start, and hopefully he can start turning into the dominant player that he could be. Also, the Wings win the season series 6-1-1.

This is the thing though. The Wings can string together wins against the elite but they somehow piss it away against inferior teams. Watch them beat Dallas tomorrow and then lose against Chicago and Columbus next week. Don't get me wrong, they can't beat the lower teams everytime but it seems like all the momentum they gain from games like tonight disapears thanks to a lacklustre loss. I love my team and all but the erratic play makes me scared come playoff time.

[Justice]

Yes, that's true. But I think beating Nashville and Anaheim to snap their inexplicable losing streak (Which should have ended against the Blues, damned stupid referees...) will definitely help. Of course, we are a lot closer to Columbus than we should be in the season series, but I have a feeling the Wings are finally gelling after getting back all those hurt players. Plus we have Zetterberg to still look forwards to soon.