And away we go NHL thread!!!!

[atomic charvel guy]

it's deplorable isn't it? if I were a coach i'd take a swing at anyone on my bench asking me questions
in the middle of a game, they did it during the baseball playoffs last year too.
dicks with ears i tell you-lol get the fukk outta here is the only thing you'd hear me say. i swear it.

[Shawn Lutz]

You know they want to but they can't.

I'd be real short with my answers if that was me on the bench

Dick with ears: "what do you need to do to contain them?"
Coach: "Play better"

Dick with ears: "How do you get the puck past (insert goaltender name here)?"
Coach "Put the puck in the net" lol

Dick with ears: "How do you approach the PK"
Coach: " kill the 2 minutes off before they score"

[Spivonious]

Freakin' A. Carter out for 6 weeks, Gagne out for 2 weeks. I hope Carcillo keeps up his scoring streak.

[Shawn Lutz]

those are two key injuries right there Spiv. Close em out tonight if you can, heal up a bit before round 2 starts off.

Looks like Brian Campbell is going to play tonight for Chicago....

[atomic charvel guy]

some weak ass calls against the sabres in the 3rd period, but give credit to the bruins for coming back.
canucks finally bust out.

[Jayster]

some weak ass calls against the sabres in the 3rd period.

They're playing without heart, like they've already lost the series(and I'm a fan). Boston is more physical and they are not showing the finesse that it would take to overcome a more aggressive team. I'd personally love to see them play with more 'emotion' or even like they cared at this point! The loss of Vanek has been a big issue IMHO. One can only hope ....

It's not the same as Perreault, Martin, Robert and Gare type of lines.

Meh, maybe next year

[atomic charvel guy]

still, you're not gonna tell me that was boarding against Lucic or goalie interference right before that?
I give credit to the bruins for coming back being down 2 goals in the 3rd, but the zebras suck ass.

[Shawn Lutz]

the refs do in fact blow. Let them play and battle. Way too many marginal calls imho. You used to have to murder someone in OT to get a penalty called not its ticky tac stuff being called.

Also the too many men on the ice calls are outta hand. I read somewhere that in this playoffs so far they have been 16 too many men on the ice calls, we only 5 games into round one. They had 17 for the entire playoffs last season...wtf is up with that?

[clifffclaven]

Agreed, shawn. Muggings were commonplace before the lockout, Amazing with all the too many men calls that they missed a blatant one in the philly/nj series that led to a GWG.

Campbell is playing tonight? Thats good news.

Edit: and the call on lucic for boarding was one of the absolute worst calls ive seen all playoffs. Total bs.

[Shawn Lutz]

Datysuk got a boarding call similar to Lucic's. Datsyuk is a mutiple lady bing winner, has about 18 pm's all season.

Franzen also got penalty for a clean open ice hit, not blindsiding, straight shoulder. Still don't know why they called that, I guess its a penalty for hittign a player skating through the neutral zone with their head down these days.

Stick around and keep watching Cliff, you will see a new "worst calls you've ever seen" the way this playoffs are being called by the zebra's

[atomic charvel guy]

Lucic got flat out smashed, nothing more.
the kings had a too many men call on them last night, it was huge. same with the sabres.

[Spivonious]

Devils had too many men in game four: 7 + goalie. Oops!

[Razor]

Gotta agree about the zebras this year. The Lucic call last night had me unglued, and keep in mind that I'm pulling for the B's to win just so I can see the Reccin' ball play some more hockey into the post season.

Totally shocked by the Flyers being up 3-1 against the Devils. Nothing against the Flyers for once, but I didn't think they would have had a chance in hell in that series. Not the first time the Devils have chocked against a lower seeded team in the first round either though. I'd rather see the Pens play the Flyers in a series than the Devils anyway. Way more entertainment value

[Spivonious]

Flyers have to make it past the Caps first if they're getting to the Pens.

from philly.com:

Devils coach Jacques Lemaire still did not believe the Flyers will be without Carter and Gagne and refused to say the absence of those players will give his team a lift:

“I thought it was bull-[bleep], as a matter of fact,” Lemaire said this morning. “I don’t believe nobody [sic]. So, I can’t say it gave us a lift.”

[Spivonious]

Is it time for predictions?

Craps-Habs: Craps in 5
Devils-Flyers: Flyers in 6
Sabres-Bruins: Bruins in 7
Pens-Sens: Pens in 6

So far so good, although my game numbers may be off.