Breaking the ice : the Official 2008-2009 NHL season thread

[lefty]

Now you know how I felt the other night. Good game last night between the Blackhawks & Flames.....OT.....Go Hawks!

@ the Red Wings. I'm rooting for Columbus in that series, this is the first time they've been in the playoffs? Red Wings won it last year, that's enough.

So, you are rooting for 8 teams or what ?

That's too easy

GO PENS GO

What a game tonight. The Flyers have played pretty stupid in the closing moments of both games. This was a well played game, with few penalties.

I wish the Pens would have played this aggressive against the Red Wings last season....I think they could have forced a game 7. Even playing timid for much of the series, they forced 6 games...and had a few good shots at the end to tie it and send it to OT....

I hope this series ends just like last years.....

PENGUINS RULE

Almost similar to Bruins-Habs game 1's ending............... stupid penalties in crucial minutes

[lefty]

I'm still recovering from that Kovalev goal

Watch the goal at 2:40 with full screen mode , including the 2 replays that follow

http://www.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?h...3,111&fr=false

[JudynTX]

GO PENS GO

What a game tonight. The Flyers have played pretty stupid in the closing moments of both games. This was a well played game, with few penalties.

in Flyers......... , they can only blame themselves for losing that game....2 penalties in OT......

So, you are rooting for 8 teams or what ?

That's too easy

No, I'm only rooting for the Flyers.....but I'd like the Blackhawks to advance this year too.

[Biggems]

This is NOT a real jersey. It's body paint.

yeah, now that is what i am talking about....id hit that in a heartbeat.....and I hate the Flyers......GO PENS

[lefty]

yeah, now that is what i am talking about....id hit that in a heartbeat.....and I hate the Flyers......GO PENS

You would sleep with Bobby Clarke ?????

[jn77]

WTF Caps??

No offense at all.

Winning in the regular season doesn't mean a damn thing, if you can't win in the postseason.

Well 20 years as a fan and always the same result.

[Jacob1983]

Ovechkin is the TMAC of the NHL.

[JudynTX]

You would sleep with Bobby Clarke ?????

He might take one for the team, yes!

The Flyers are at home this afternoon...come on Flyers, kick some ass on the ice today!

[Biggems]

The Penguins got their ass handed to them on a platter.....they had their chances, but sucked major, especially on defense. Philly came out with a chip on their shoulder....played smart and aggressive.

IMO, Pittsburgh played stupid, committing a lot of dumb penalties and just letting the Flyers get under their skin instead of focusing on winning the game. Their Power Play sucked big time tonight.

My boy Fleury had one of the worst games of his career. I hope he got it out of his system for the rest of the playoffs.

GO PENGUINS

[Jacob1983]

The Sharks are pulling a Mavericks. If the Ducks do beat the Sharks in the 1st round, where would it rank on all time upsets in sports history and where would it rank all time in NHL playoff upsets?

[JudynTX]

The Penguins got their ass handed to them on a platter.....they had their chances, but sucked major, especially on defense. Philly came out with a chip on their shoulder....played smart and aggressive.

IMO, Pittsburgh played stupid, committing a lot of dumb penalties and just letting the Flyers get under their skin instead of focusing on winning the game. Their Power Play sucked big time tonight.

My boy Fleury had one of the worst games of his career. I hope he got it out of his system for the rest of the playoffs.

GO PENGUINS

Now that's how you play the game Flyers!!!

Loved seeing all the orange tshirts in the crowd!

[DarkReign]

San Jose = Choking
Detroit = Dominating
Vancouver = Barely, but winning
Chicago = barely, but winning

Boston = Dominating (I thought it'd be a good series, but the games havent even been close)
Washington = Complete No Show (Lundqvist has a lot to do with that, Green is great forward, not a defencemen)
New Jersey/Carolina = VERY Compe ive
Pitt/Philly = VERY compe ive

[lefty]

Injuries have plagued the Canadiens

- No Andrei Markov : simply put it this way; Markov is one of the top 3 D-men in the NHL, along with Lidstrom and Chara

- No Robert Lang: our best center this season

- No Alex Tanguay: our best forward, along with Kovalev

- No Mathieu Shneider in game 3: PP specialist


We would have easily beaten Boston with those guys together






Aaaaargh

[DarkReign]

Injuries have plagued the Canadiens

- No Andrei Markov : simply put it this way; Markov is one of the top 3 D-men in the NHL, along with Lidstrom and Chara

- No Robert Lang: our best center this season

- No Alex Tanguay: our best forward, along with Kovalev

- No Mathieu Shneider in game 3: PP specialist


We would have easily beaten Boston with those guys together






Aaaaargh

Lang and Markov are huge losses. Tanguay would have helped. Schneider is kind of washed up, but his absence is only exacerbated by Markov's.

Price isnt Jesus, hes making the routine saves, but not the HUGE save.

Really, I based my projection of this series on nothing more than a hunch and the rivalry of these two teams in the playoffs.

Obviously, I over-estimated Montreal with their injury problems. Boston is deeper, meaner and more physical with two better goalies. I should have went with my head instead of my heart.

[lefty]

Lang and Markov are huge losses. Tanguay would have helped. Schneider is kind of washed up, but his absence is only exacerbated by Markov's.

Price isnt Jesus, hes making the routine saves, but not the HUGE save.

Really, I based my projection of this series on nothing more than a hunch and the rivalry of these two teams in the playoffs.

Obviously, I over-estimated Montreal with their injury problems. Boston is deeper, meaner and more physical with two better goalies. I should have went with my head instead of my heart.

Nothing wrong with your pick; you can't be aware of every team's injury status

Regarding Schneider, he might be old, but our PP was transformed the second Gainey acquired him: from 18% to 25 %

Price has talent; he made some amazing saves vs Boston, but he also allowed softies.
No athlete in North American pro sports faces more pressure than the # 1 goaltender in Montreal.
Price is only 21, so he is not ready yet; Patrick Roy was the exception: he led us to the 1986 Stanley Cup as a 20 y/o
As I said, Price has talent but he is not ready mentally; a top NHL goalie can allow 2 early goals but bounce back, keep his team in the game by making big saves and win it; Price seems to be devastated after allowing 1 bad goal.
If I'm the Canadiens, I send him 1 more year in the minors so he can mature from a mental standpoint.
Halak has been great his year for us; he should have been our starter in the playoffs

[jn77]

Ovechkin is the TMAC of the NHL.

Ouch!!

[jn77]

Caps with a bit of a bounce back last night. Game four feels like a must win.

[Biggems]

Fleury Fleury Fleury............GO PENS GO

what a game. i know the Pens got away with some calls, but I dont care. I am taking this win and running with it.

Fleury is a flat out beast in the net.

[JudynTX]

Fleury Fleury Fleury............GO PENS GO

what a game. i know the Pens got away with some calls, but I dont care. I am taking this win and running with it.

Fleury is a flat out beast in the net.

Yea, yea.....don't stick a fork in the Flyers yet!

[DarkReign]

Regarding Schneider, he might be old, but our PP was transformed the second Gainey acquired him: from 18% to 25 %

Holy !

I didnt know that. Thats frickin HUGE. Oh man, no Markov, Schneider, Lang or Tanguay makes a big difference then.

Thats 4 out of 5 people on the first PP unit (Kovalev being the 5th). Thats insane. That sucks for the Habs and their fans.

BTW, did I ever tell you how much I hate the Canadiens? Just an FYI. (also, when referring to les Habs, is it spelled like Canadians or Canadiens?)

[DarkReign]

Caps with a bit of a bounce back last night. Game four feels like a must win.

Oh, its absolutely a must win. No team in the playoffs can go down 3-1. Teams have come back from it, but the chance is miniscule.

[DarkReign]

Fleury is a flat out beast in the net.

45 frickin saves?!

Unbelievable game from Fleury.

[lefty]

Well, our blue line

I've never seen so many giveaway goals handed off by a blue line in a playoff series

That was a joke

[lefty]

Holy !

I didnt know that. Thats frickin HUGE. Oh man, no Markov, Schneider, Lang or Tanguay makes a big difference then.

Thats 4 out of 5 people on the first PP unit (Kovalev being the 5th). Thats insane. That sucks for the Habs and their fans.

BTW, did I ever tell you how much I hate the Canadiens? Just an FYI. (also, when referring to les Habs, is it spelled like Canadians or Canadiens?)

Huge loss, indeed; thanks for feeling my pain

It's spelled with an " e ", as in Canadiens Français.

I think i know why you hate the Habs; I think it has something to do with the number 24


By the way, Carey Price pulled a " Roy " tonight; the crowd was booing, and he raised his arms, like Roy did before his trade to Colorado (you know, during that game when the Red Wings drilled him 8-1 in Montreal )

[cnyc3]

Sorry bout the habs lefty, i was pulling for you guys