The road to the Stanley Cup begins.

[Guest]

No, I said they were going to take it to Game 7, which they did.

 

And now I'm saying they'll win the series, which they will. Apparently you don't get it, the Stars are better than your beloved Canucks.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

The National Hockey League has delivered a message to the Calgary Flames. Calgary Flames goaltender Jamie McLennan has been suspended five games, Calgary coach Jim Playfair has been fined $25,000 and the Flames' organization has been fined $100,000 for a variety of actions late in Game 5 of the team's Western Conference Quarter-final series against the Detroit Red Wings

Seems about right, though I was hoping for Langkow to get something for that sucker punch.

[CanadianChris 0]

All right, bring on the Devils.

[bob_barron 0]

My bad King- I thought you said take it in 7.

 

Dallas is the better team, but I think we have the better goalie. And I think the Canucks can take this.

[packwingfn 0]

Seems about right, though I was hoping for Langkow to get something for that sucker punch

 

Eh I can see why they didn't suspend Langkow...Even if it was cheap, it's no worse than a fight during a game compared that to Mclennan who used his stick

 

And Angle Is God...I see your from Calgary, how come your not a Flames fan?

[Guest]

but I think we have the better goalie.

Maybe. I will reserve judgment on that until tomorrow night, considering that Vancouver's lack of offense has made Turco look really good. I think that if Dallas can get anything out of Lindros that it's a big boost.

[bob_barron 0]

I forgot Lindros was still around.

 

Canucks really need something from Naslund, how the hell does he remain captain?

[Annabelle 0]

luongo is a better goalie, but turco is playing crazy awesome. i can't see the canucks winning this. they just aren't deep enough offensively. the only reason i want the canucks in is to potentially see a wings/canucks series in the divisional final. imagine the reaction bertuzzi would get? off the charts.

 

but i want dallas to win mostly because the wings would have an easier time with the stars than the sharks. the sharks are scary.

 

and i am loving the hell out of the match-ups in the east. rangers/sabres is going to be a shoot out. either on of them can choke. or prosper. the senators/devils is going to be tight. though i just don't see the sens having enough to beat the devils. this isn't a team of 19 year olds they can push around. if the sens do make it out of this series, they're going to the finals. no question.

 

and tonight, i see the flames bowing out. all of their gooning it up won't mean anything. zetterberg will score two more goals, including the game winner.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

The Sabres are the far better team, and should win easily. In the regular season, they skated all around them.

 

But, playoffs, and fucking Lundqvist. Please suck.

[Guest]

If only the Lightning had a better core built around Lecavalier. I would kill to have him on my team.

 

For the Eastern series, New York in 7 and New Jersey in 6, setting up a rematch of the 94 Conference Finals. This is New Jersey's year. New Jersey is too deep for Ottawa, and they play the perfect system that can keep Ottawa's big guns off the scoresheet.

[CanadianChris 0]

the senators/devils is going to be tight. though i just don't see the sens having enough to beat the devils. this isn't a team of 19 year olds they can push around. if the sens do make it out of this series, they're going to the finals. no question.

This will come as a complete shock to everyone, but I see it the other way. I think the Devils just don't have enough scoring punch to get past Ottawa. Brodeur is going to need to win this series for the Devils. He's certainly capable of doing it, but I didn't see him play at that level against Tampa Bay.

 

Besides, no one wants to see the Devils in the conference finals again. Well, no one except Barron, that is.

[treble 0]

There's really no potential Eastern final that I want to see. Two teams that I don't care about (Rangers, Devils) and two teams that I can't cheer for (Sabres, Sens), awesome.

[CanadianChris 0]

I suppose it is too much to ask for a Leaf fan to cheer for Ottawa in a "doin' it for the conference!" kind of way, except with "country" replacing "conference."

[KGB 0]

Anyone see the Bolts-Devils game tonight? I walked into Tortorella's "press conference" in which he told a reporter to audibly 'get the fuck out of here', and said reported clearly said "Fuck you" on camera to him. When it was over, Ron MacLean mentioned the opposite sides of the spectrum of Tortorella and Joni Mitchell....?

 

The reporter was Larry Brooks, he told John "Fonzie" Tortorella to "fuck off" after Fonzie told him to get the fuck out.

Here's the clip of the interview (someone recorded it on a digital camera, apparently):

 

[treble 0]

I suppose it is too much to ask for a Leaf fan to cheer for Ottawa in a "doin' it for the conference!" kind of way, except with "country" replacing "conference."

I'll never be able to see my dad again if the Sens even get to the Finals, let alone win. And I can still cheer for Calgary and Vancouver (for now, at least) to do it for the country.

[Annabelle 0]

the senators/devils is going to be tight. though i just don't see the sens having enough to beat the devils. this isn't a team of 19 year olds they can push around. if the sens do make it out of this series, they're going to the finals. no question.

This will come as a complete shock to everyone, but I see it the other way. I think the Devils just don't have enough scoring punch to get past Ottawa. Brodeur is going to need to win this series for the Devils. He's certainly capable of doing it, but I didn't see him play at that level against Tampa Bay.

 

Besides, no one wants to see the Devils in the conference finals again. Well, no one except Barron, that is.

 

ya. a biased sens fan.

 

listen. on paper the sens do have 3 players with better numbers than anyone on the devils. but i think they're spread pretty thin after that. also, sugar ray emery isn't on brodeur's level. not by a long shot. and here's something to frighten you more. the top 3 of the lightning are infinitly better than the top 3 of the senators. and they weathered the storm. brodeur shook the rust off by game 3. in fact, i'd say he is now only hitting his stride. the only reason why the lightning stayed with the devils this long is because of their experience. they won a cup a few years ago. the sens don't have that character. they are going to get drawn into a chess match & lose their cool. i'll be flat out shocked if the sens do anything of consequence in this series. they may win a game or two, but thats stretching it.

 

and i'm with leena. i do expect the sabres to win their series. but, if we're judging this by the last series, the rangers would steamroll them. they need to pick up their game. and as far as the rangers go, i'm not convinced that it wasn't "these rangers are dominant" as much as "how bad are the thrashers". should be interesting. but i do see a devils/sabres eastern final. it sorta seemed pre-destined from the beginning, actually. but let it be known, i'm totally cheering for the rangers.

[Guest]

The Devils have quite a bit of scoring depth. Gomez, Gionta, Elias, Zajac, Parise, Langenbrunner. Not to mention their checking line players that can shut down the Senators 3. Unless the Sens break up their big line, this series will not be close. If the Senators would be playing the Rangers, I'd pick them to get to the conference finals, because the Rangers don't have great third line players that can stop the big 3 of Ottawa. Now, no.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I'm gonna side with King, even though I liked Chris' assessment. It's easy to overlook how much scoring punch the Devils actually have.

 

Treble is not alone among Leaf fans I know. My grandfather is a die-hard Leaf fan (and I'll have photo evidence of this shortly), and he's turned off his Senators hate. My father and brother however, despise Alfredsson enough (I don't know) to pull for western Canada.

[treble 0]

I don't even really hate the Sens, I just would never hear the end of it from my dad if they won, so I need them to lose.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Anyone see the Bolts-Devils game tonight? I walked into Tortorella's "press conference" in which he told a reporter to audibly 'get the fuck out of here', and said reported clearly said "Fuck you" on camera to him. When it was over, Ron MacLean mentioned the opposite sides of the spectrum of Tortorella and Joni Mitchell....?

 

The reporter was Larry Brooks, he told John "Fonzie" Tortorella to "fuck off" after Fonzie told him to get the fuck out.

Here's the clip of the interview (someone recorded it on a digital camera, apparently):

 

 

From the YouTube comments:

 

"I started a John Tortorella is than man group on Facebook".

 

 

Akin to it, Treble, is my hatred of the Sabres (although I appreciate what you said). I got so sick of Sabres fans last year, especially working in a Buffalo border town. Far too man of them hopped on the spring bandwagon.

[bob_barron 0]

Besides, no one wants to see the Devils in the conference finals again. Well, no one except Barron, that is.

 

After tanking that game against the Islanders...fuck the Devils.

 

But wow- Buffalo, New York, New Jersey, Ottawa- no one to root for.

[Red Baron 0]

Rootin for the Devils.

 

Especially when I picked them to win it all.

[packwingfn 0]

The Flames have been getting ALLLLL the calls this series.

 

What a horribile goalie interference on Holmstrom....Doesnt goalie interference require some kind of contact?

[CanadianChris 0]

What a horribile goalie interference on Holmstrom....Doesnt goalie interference require some kind of contact?

Yeah, that's what I would've thought as well, but apparently not.

[CanadianChris 0]

New Jersey doesn't have a single 70-point man on their team, and only nine guys with 30 or more points. They finished next-to-last in the East in goals scored. I don't think I'm exactly on shaky ground when I say the Devils won't be able to match goals with the Senators, who are a wee bit better defensively than the Lightning.

[packwingfn 0]

Not that I really follow the East teams but I guess to support the Devils..despite not being a fan of them....I just have to say Brodeur for reasons how they win games despite not being a goal savvy team

[Red Baron 0]

But Dany Heatly is Mr. Invisible so thats a 100 points vanished.

[packwingfn 0]

That was some nifty passing by Detroit to lead to Lang's goal.

 

And this has been one fast game or is it just me?

[Red Baron 0]

Pace is pretty good.

 

 

Is it just me or does anyone find it funny that Kelly Hrudy is critizing Dominik Hasek goaltending style?

[CanadianChris 0]

Is it just me or does anyone find it funny that Kelly Hrudy is critizing Dominik Hasek goaltending style?

Yeah. I must have missed the part of Hrudey's career where he won five Vezinas and two Harts and was qualified to criticize a first-ballot Hall of Famer.