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NHL Playoffs

Frayed Knot Apr 18 2012 08:27 PM

So I haven't been watching, but have certainly heard enough about the wars going on particularly in the series between the two Pennsylvania clubs where the favored Penguins were down 3 games to zip and looked like sure bets to get their asses run out in the first round. So what happens tonight? ... they shove 9 goals past the Flyers keeper(s?) in the first two periods alone en route to a 10-3 victory. WTF? Bet no one saw THAT game coming. Rangers headed to OT

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Apr 18 2012 09:04 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Fart. And anyone who saw the first three could've seen that game coming. NEITHER team seems to have a currently-operable keeper on the roster.

Frayed Knot Apr 19 2012 07:52 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

Yeah, even though Philly in particular perpetually seems to be devoid of playoff caliber goalies, the cliche (one that's probably less true than is reported) is that the playoffs means lower-scoring games. These two are obviously not following the script as they've totaled 45 goals in 4 games. Still, the Penguins were reeling so badly the last thing I was thinking about was them putting up a 9-spot in just over half a game just as the Flyers, their fans, and the Philly media (mocking back-page coverage in Philly DN) were moving in for the kill. Meanwhile out west, top-seeded Vancouver - missing half of their matching Sedin bookends - staves off an embarrassing sweep in LA.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Apr 19 2012 11:30 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

Fair enough. However fun, though, that series is a joke, level-of-play-wise; the overwhelming majority of the goals have been softer than frozen yogurt. However unhappy I've personally been with the s series' overtime results, the same can't be said of Rangers-Sens, which has seen both teams and their keepers playing at superlative levels.

Frayed Knot Apr 20 2012 07:10 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

Last time there were scores this low involving the Senators was when Walter Johnson was pitching.

Edgy MD Apr 26 2012 08:34 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

And HEY WHOAH STAY CLASSY BOSTON BRUINS FANS!

metirish Apr 26 2012 06:28 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Senators just scored to make it 2-1 NY Rangers, excellent game, it's everything the regular season isn't.

Frayed Knot Apr 26 2012 07:50 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Based on my only seeing the 3rd period: the Rangers didn't win that game, they survived it!

Frayed Knot Apr 26 2012 07:51 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Edgy DC wrote: And HEY WHOAH STAY CLASSY BOSTON BRUINS FANS! I assume this is in reference to various tweets about the game/series winner being scored by a black player? I heard something about this although didn't see/read any of the specifics.

Edgy MD Apr 26 2012 09:27 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Pretty harsh stuff. One of the accidental virtues of Twitter is that if you're an asshole, you haven't the space to be coy about it. The list at Deadspin is about 15 tweets. This one has about 50.

metirish Apr 27 2012 06:36 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

Awful, over in England right now racist tweets have become a huge problem, yet the authorities are treating it very seriously. You may remember the Bolton player that collapsed recently on the field for a heart attack and nearly died? This fool got jailed for recist tweets about the player Fabrice Muamba. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/mar/2 ... mba-tweets no hiding on twitter there have been several incidents involving black soccer players getting abused via twitter, great to see the abusers getting such treatment back.

Frayed Knot Apr 27 2012 07:20 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

Short of outright threats of harm, I'm not sure there's much the "authorities" can do here. The best thing that can come out of cases like this is for the various tweets to get back to the senders' neighbors, family, employers, etc. so that everyone in their town or office knows what kind of mentality they're dealing with. You want to say it and claim free speech as your right to do so? Fine, then OWN IT and see how many friends that buys you. The fact that a good number of these seem to have actual names attached to name makes it that much easier - and those that don't are probably easily traceable.

Frayed Knot May 06 2012 05:58 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Mike 'Doc' Emrick is the best. Following the Rangers' triple-overtime win: 'There were three great games in the NHL playoffs tonight ... and two of them were here' In the next game of the same series during a disputed goal review: 'Even though this game is in Washington the tapes have not been accidently erased so we will get to show you the replay'

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr May 07 2012 10:22 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

I'm just glad I wasn't watching both the Ranger game and the Met game simultaneously, because I'm pretty sure my heart would have joyfully exploded. Nice to see hard work-- 40 shots, and a whole lot of hard hits/blocks-- pay off.

metirish May 08 2012 06:02 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

I was watching both.......and missed Valdespin's blast because I was catching Richards tying goal....what a game... both of them

Ceetar May 21 2012 09:49 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

The Rangers coach (I don't want those stupid blueshirts, can't spell his name) is apparently notorious for one-word answers and refusing to answer questions. What I don't understand is why reporters seem to be letting him get away with this. Why not keep pushing, or phrase things differently? What could he respond with if you asked "I'm going to write tomorrow that you benched Del Zotto in the second period because you didn't think he was invested in winning. Will you suggest something contrary to that opinion?"

metirish May 22 2012 06:57 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

Trortarella has always been known to be a real asshole.....IIRC he and Larry Brooks have a lot of bad history....not following any of this current post game stuff, it's nonsense and I can't stand Al Trautwig . And anyway let's be honest here, weather it's one word answers or long winded answers nothing of note gets said .

Ceetar May 22 2012 07:04 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

metirish wrote: Trortarella has always been known to be a real asshole.....IIRC he and Larry Brooks have a lot of bad history....not following any of this current post game stuff, it's nonsense and I can't stand Al Trautwig . And anyway let's be honest here, weather it's one word answers or long winded answers nothing of note gets said . Yeah, but nothing gets said almost every time you ask a baseball player what his approach was in that AB, or such, but writers find a way to spin it into words for the sake of their columns. You'd think they'd be a little more forceful in eliciting more nothing for them to analyze. But I guess this is a side effect of a whole bunch of people covering the Rangers that don't normally and don't actually know how to talk hockey but know how a press conference is 'supposed' to go? And I wonder if the regular beat guys have given up expecting good answers and don't press because they want to remain in his good graces? (which is the biggest piece of bs in sports reporting, right up there with 'don't be a fan')

Frayed Knot May 22 2012 07:05 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

If I were commissioner Bettman I'd fine him for what he's doing. If a player wants to be an uncommunicative asshole that's his problem and his team's. But the coach is supposed to be a kind of conduit to the press and the fans and Tortarella isn't doing the whole sport any favors by treating the media the way he is - particularly when you're the head coach in the biggest city in the country while competing as one of the final four teams. You want to keep certain tidbits or strategies under your hat? -- fine, but stop giving the equivalent of 'no comment' when asked whether you think it's going to rain today as if you're protecting some kind of state secret, and even versions of 'no comment' can be delivered in better ways than you're doing it.

metirish May 22 2012 12:49 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Meant to ask this before, anyone else see the carry on of Wayne Gretzky's daughter?, Google her....Paulina , apparently the Great One had to sit her down and have a chat about her social media habits, specifically her desire to post sexy pics of herself all over twitter.....and Instagram..... I think she closed her twitter account .......

The Second Spitter May 22 2012 09:55 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Kings/Future Nordiques heading into OT in Game 5. Humdinger of a game. 9th consecutive time Future Nordiques haven't scored in the 3rd period on this playoff run. Quick is the best goalie in the Playoffs. Rangers will get swept in the Stanley Cup if they face the Kings.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr May 23 2012 07:10 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

The way they're playing, they're running roughshod over whatever team you stick in front of them.

Frayed Knot May 23 2012 07:48 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

Hockey's inexplicable that way. Teams that scratch just to make the playoffs suddenly turn unbeatable once they get there. The best explanation I can come up with is that it's the league with the most parity plus has the hot goalie factor. The problem that creates is that it makes the already-too-long regular season even more meaningless while the SC Finals frequently becomes a battle of also-rans. The NBA has the opposite problem. It's so ridiculously unbalanced that every year produces a half-dozen teams each that are either better than the '86 Mets or worse than the '62 bunch. This season was a bit different due to the lockout & condensed schedule, but in most years the best teams clinch the playoffs and the worst ones eliminated around New Years. After that there's some jockeying for position among the middle ranks but for the most part everyone simply naps until March and even the 1st round of the playoffs is usually a snooze-fest that goes according to form. Injuries have made the early rounds in this one more competitive than usual but usually you can pick at least three of the final four by Xmas.

The Second Spitter May 23 2012 08:46 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

Frayed Knot wrote: Hockey's inexplicable that way. Teams that scratch just to make the playoffs suddenly turn unbeatable once they get there. The best explanation I can come up with is that it's the league with the most parity plus has the hot goalie factor. The problem that creates is that it makes the already-too-long regular season even more meaningless while the SC Finals frequently becomes a battle of also-rans. Bud Selig's solution to this problem would be for 4-way wild card of one-off games for places 5-8. There's another more sensible solution. It's called the McIntyre playoff system. We use here for all our sports . It's not really designed for series based playoffs, but the Australian Baseball League uses it in that way (just substitute "Week" for "Round" in the above link) The gist of it is (if you can't be arsed reading the link) - match-ups as normal - two teams are eliminated each round; - the top two-seeds (out of 8) cant' be knocked out in the first round of the playoffs if they lose; - elimination of other teams depends on what the team seeded above you does. E.g 8 will always be eliminated if it loses the 1st round, 6 will be eliminated if it loses the 1st round only if 7 wins, and so forth.); -Top winning seeds in the 1st round are rewarded by going straight in the 3rd round of playoffs.

Mets – Willets Point May 23 2012 09:09 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

I've always wondered why NBA & NHL use best-of-7 series at all. Baseball plays series all season long so it makes sense to use series for playoffs. NBA & NHL play one-off games all season long and then switch to series for the playoffs. I would think it would make more sense for NBA & NHL to use a knock-out tournament (like March Madness or the NFL playoffs) or a group play with round robins for the early round(s).

Frayed Knot May 23 2012 09:29 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

I've always wondered why NBA & NHL use best-of-7 series at all. More games = more money

Kong76 May 23 2012 06:29 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Holy fuck, Batman!

Kong76 May 23 2012 08:18 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Rinse and repeat at 3-3 with ~ 11 mins in regulation.

metirish May 23 2012 08:19 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

What a game , tied at 3........Doc Emrick isn't good for the heart , there is no one calling sports today that is as good as him.......has he ever called the ponies?, he'd be great at that............

Kong76 May 23 2012 08:27 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Funny, he does sound like he's calling a race sometimes.

metirish May 23 2012 08:37 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Well , that was deflating , NJ add an empty netter to ice this game 4-2.

John Cougar Lunchbucket May 23 2012 09:34 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Kong76 wrote: Holy fuck, Batman! This comment made me find what channel they show hockey on. Brutal for the Rangers to come back the way they did only to lose. Selfishly, I want them out so we NYers can focus on baseball (no one cares if the Devils win or lose).

The Second Spitter May 24 2012 01:49 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

Devastating. I'll be devastated if the Rangers are eliminated. Devastated. Bucket's twin?

Kong76 May 24 2012 09:03 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

He looks more like his brother in some pictures than his brothers do!

Ceetar May 24 2012 09:13 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Kong76 wrote: Holy fuck, Batman! This comment made me find what channel they show hockey on. Brutal for the Rangers to come back the way they did only to lose. Selfishly, I want them out so we NYers can focus on baseball (no one cares if the Devils win or lose). Looking forward to that. The Yankees are one game away from being intensely scrutinized and people will start having to actually give the Mets credit for being good.

Ashie62 May 25 2012 08:09 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Rangers on the brink. Never thought I might see the L.A. Kings in Newark NJ. They might like the Portugese cuisine.

metirish May 25 2012 08:12 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Easy now , penalty for the Rangers , game tied at 2, 10 minutes left.....squeaky bum time .

Ashie62 May 25 2012 09:38 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Brodeur truly spanning the years. personally? 18 years til revenge for the Matteau game. Sweet... The Devils just seemed fresher and faster.... Don't know much about the Kings, do they still have Gretzky and Robitaille?

Ceetar May 25 2012 09:48 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Yay Devils I guess. am I supposed to root for the LA team? that seems weird. I dunno.

Frayed Knot May 26 2012 05:39 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

Ashie62 wrote: Don't know much about the Kings, do they still have Gretzky and Robitaille? I'm so out of it I think they still have Marcel Dionne and Rogie Vachon.

MFS62 May 26 2012 06:07 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

Ashie62 wrote: Brodeur truly spanning the years. personally? 18 years til revenge for the Matteau game. Sweet... The Devils just seemed fresher and faster.... Don't know much about the Kings, do they still have Gretzky and Robitaille? RANT ALERT! He has three Cups and (interesting, meaningless, factoid) a higher career save percentage than Mariano Rivera. (91 vs 89 pct.) He has more career wins and shutouts than any other goalie in NHL history. If he played for the Rangers, his statue would be in Times Square. Yet I'd bet that Joba Chamberlain has had more back page headlines than Martin. Hell, Neville Chamberlain has probably had more back page headlines than he has. His luck - the Devils will win the cup, but the sports headlines will read "Jeter Has a Hangnail". Feh Later

The Second Spitter May 26 2012 09:39 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

Devastated.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr May 26 2012 01:31 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Ugh. Just... ugh.

Ashie62 May 26 2012 05:49 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

The series in Vegas--- Kings -130 Devils +110 And the Kings were an 8 seed.

Frayed Knot Jun 12 2012 08:04 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

The funny thing here -- I mean funny above and beyond the idea of a sub-.500* and 8th seeded team winning the Stanley Cup while barely losing a game along the way -- is that, many years ago when the Kings were the only team both west of the Mississippi and south of the Canadian prairie, the league looked for success in the L.A. market as a needed ingredient for their dream of national (meaning, of course, U.S.) TV coverage. They almost got it a couple of times during the days when Marcel Dionne was centering a line with Simmer & Taylor backed by goalie Rogie Vachon. And while I don't want to say that the league dictated the trade of Gretzky to SoCal with thoughts of celebrity asses in rink-side seats dancing in their heads, I do believe that when it became apparent that the Edmonton owner was under a financial rock and looking to move The Great One that the league offices certainly were willing to grease the skids enough to make sure that THAT was where he wound up. But now that it's actually happened it doesn't mean as much. Over the intervening years the league (over) expanded to the point where other winners in California, Florida, and North Carolina long-ago removed the novelty of SC champs emanating from non-traditional hockey markets. And while they haven't totally abandoned their idea of a national Network TV deal, they realize that they'll never be high up on any U.S. network's hit parade and have instead settled into their cozy niche of 90% cable coverage which, while still a somewhat obscure location, at least doesn't treat their product like a red-headed step-child, along with enough NBC appearances here and there to keep their collective heads above water. * and, yes, they did have a sub-.500 record for the season. 40-27-15 is just a nicer way of saying 40-42

Edgy MD Jun 12 2012 08:27 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

It's like they don't know how to be a real mob so they do things that mobs on TV do.

MFS62 Jun 12 2012 08:30 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

I remember reading an article (either Schecter or Koppett - the one who occasionally wrote about the financial aspects of sports) the said that Jack Kent Cook bought the LA Kings when he learned there were over 500,000 ex-Canadians living in the LA area. When he lost his shirt the first year, he said "I found out that the reason they left Canada was because they hated hockey." Later

themetfairy Jun 12 2012 08:50 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

I was in Toronto in May 1993 on vacation while the hockey playoffs were going on. I forget which teams were involved, but it was probably a series between the Maple Leafs and an American team. There was a call that went against the Leafs, and the callers were convinced that the refs were trying to fix the series because the U.S. market wouldn't watch an all-Canadian Stanley Cup finals. I chuckled over the facts that A) New York doesn't have a monopoly on crazy sports fans who call into stations; and B) they assumed that a significant number of Americans would care who was in the Stanley Cup finals.

HahnSolo Jun 12 2012 10:12 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

themetfairy wrote: I was in Toronto in May 1993 on vacation while the hockey playoffs were going on. I forget which teams were involved, but it was probably a series between the Maple Leafs and an American team. There was a call that went against the Leafs, and the callers were convinced that the refs were trying to fix the series because the U.S. market wouldn't watch an all-Canadian Stanley Cup finals. I chuckled over the facts that A) New York doesn't have a monopoly on crazy sports fans who call into stations; and B) they assumed that a significant number of Americans would care who was in the Stanley Cup finals. It was the conference finals between Toronto and coincidentally, the LA Kings (the last time LA made it that far). LA's Wayne Gretzky high-sticked Toronto's Doug Gilmour, or one of their top guys, I think it was Gilmour in overtime of game 6. They didn't call a penalty (as they should have) and LA scored seconds later. LA won game 7 a couple nights later. Gretzky's involvement in the non-call only added kerosene to the Toronto fans' anger, as they believed the league wanted Gretzky and the LA market in the finals.

Frayed Knot Jun 12 2012 10:22 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

It was around that time period when there was a pretty significant Us-vs-Them thing going on in the NHL which spurned numerous pot-shots being taken both ways across the 49th parallel. The league clearly was trying to shift more of the game to the U.S. side of the border with those hoped-for TV dollars in mind and Canadian fans, not surprisingly, didn't like it. That such stuff should translate to thinking that refs were being ordered to tilt the outcomes of games is, of course, silly but it stemmed from the business attitude of the league at the time. Maple Leafs fans were likely also extra pissed that after being one of the glamour franchises in the NHL for decades they were (and still are) well into a period of prolonged suck by that point. On the American side there was resentment of the paternalistic attitude the Canadians had toward "their sport". When a slowly developing ownership change in St Louis left the Blues in a lurch one year all sorts of clamor came from the great white north citing this as proof that US cities couldn't or wouldn't support hockey even though this was clearly a temporary problem and that the Blues had been one of the stronger of the initial expansion franchises. But demands were quickly made to move the team immediately to one of the great markets in Canada where big time sports truly belonged -- Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. That poor ownerships later failed to keep teams in both Winnipeg & Quebec City pretty much quieted down that attitude.

themetfairy Jun 12 2012 10:38 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

HahnSolo wrote: themetfairy wrote: I was in Toronto in May 1993 on vacation while the hockey playoffs were going on. I forget which teams were involved, but it was probably a series between the Maple Leafs and an American team. There was a call that went against the Leafs, and the callers were convinced that the refs were trying to fix the series because the U.S. market wouldn't watch an all-Canadian Stanley Cup finals. I chuckled over the facts that A) New York doesn't have a monopoly on crazy sports fans who call into stations; and B) they assumed that a significant number of Americans would care who was in the Stanley Cup finals. It was the conference finals between Toronto and coincidentally, the LA Kings (the last time LA made it that far). LA's Wayne Gretzky high-sticked Toronto's Doug Gilmour, or one of their top guys, I think it was Gilmour in overtime of game 6. They didn't call a penalty (as they should have) and LA scored seconds later. LA won game 7 a couple nights later. Gretzky's involvement in the non-call only added kerosene to the Toronto fans' anger, as they believed the league wanted Gretzky and the LA market in the finals. That sounds about right.

Swan Swan H Jun 22 2012 06:48 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

NHL Draft tonight. The Islanders continue building for the future by trading a 2nd rounder in next year's draft for a 35-year-old defenseman.

Frayed Knot Jun 22 2012 07:09 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Well, those are the kind of deals you make when you're a 'Now' team. Wait, what?!?

Ceetar Jun 22 2012 10:06 PM Re: NHL Playoffs

Swan Swan H wrote: NHL Draft tonight. The Islanders continue building for the future by trading a 2nd rounder in next year's draft for a 35-year-old defenseman. Frayed Knot wrote: Well, those are the kind of deals you make when you're a 'Now' team. Wait, what?!? well, at least the Mets are good. *sigh*

Swan Swan H Jun 23 2012 06:31 AM Re: NHL Playoffs

And the Devils draft the son of Stephane Matteau. Kind of like Bobby Thomson Jr. playing for the Dodgers.