And away we go NHL thread!!!!

[clifffclaven]

I haven't seen Chicago play yet, but when Philly's defense is clicking, they're definitely able to shut down speed. It should be a fun series.

???? Did you not watch any of the western conference games?

[Spivonious]

???? Did you not watch any of the western conference games?

I caught a little bit of the Detroit/San Jose series, but I tend to stick to the better conference.

[Shawn Lutz]

Chicago, looks good and should win but as Rupe says, thats why you play the games. Philly is getting healthier by the minute and if they execute a good gameplan they could cause some trouble. Its going to be a good netminder duel and a good final. I just hope the refs let the boys play and not turn it into a special teams series...

Anything can happen when players understand they are 4 wins away from the ultimate trophy. At this juncture is all will over skill, who is hungry, who is willing to pay the price (whatever that may be) and who wants its the most and accepts the challenge? I remember in 97 when no one under the sun picked Detroit to beat the Flyers and what did they do? They swept them so you never know.

[Hellbat]

I think Buff will find his shit don't fly when Pronger is covering the net so that battle should make the series interesting.

[clifffclaven]

I caught a little bit of the Detroit/San Jose series, but I tend to stick to the better conference.

Then you shoulda caught all the games in the west

[goodwood]

I think Buff will find his shit don't fly when Pronger is covering the net so that battle should make the series interesting.

I think you are getting Pronger mixed up with the pre-lockout Pronger who used to stand there and cross check people 5 and 6 times in a row to clear the crease. Pronger has never moved anybody as large as the BUFFtruck.

Toews is amazing.

Chicago in 6.

[atomic charvel guy]

Niemi has been the difference. The Hawks were this good last year but had no goaltending.
Current Line -

Spivadelphia +170, +1.5 goal spread
Cliffago -200, -1.5 goal spread
Over -Under 5.5 goals

[goodwood]

Didn't Khabibulin get hurt last year? Or was that this year...? Huet was in the net quite a bit. Interesting interview with Mike Keenan on TSN yesterday. He has of course coached both teams but long ago but has coached Pronger and possibly a couple of the other players.

Anyway, in the future I'd rather see Nashville win than Montreal win.

[Spivonious]

Niemi has been the difference. The Hawks were this good last year but had no goaltending.
Current Line -

Spivadelphia +170, +1.5 goal spread
Cliffago -200, -1.5 goal spread
Over -Under 5.5 goals

Not a betting man here...what do these numbers mean?

[Spivonious]

I think you are getting Pronger mixed up with the pre-lockout Pronger who used to stand there and cross check people 5 and 6 times in a row to clear the crease. Pronger has never moved anybody as large as the BUFFtruck.

Toews is amazing.

Chicago in 6.

He did a good job clearing out Chara.

[atomic charvel guy]

Not a betting man here...what do these numbers mean?

ok Spiv, here's the deal, that's the game 1 line.
If you take Philly, you bet 100 to win 170, or 200 to win 340, etc. etc., or you can play the 1.5 goal spread, meaning if you bet on the Flyers
and they lose by 1 goal or of course win outright, you still win your bet. if they lose by 2 goals or more you lose your bet. The empty net at the end
always makes for a dicey ending when betting the spread. OR, you can bet the over-under on the goal total which is 5.5, meaning you can put money down
on whatever you think will happen with the total of both teams goals combined for the night, either you think both teams will combine for more than 5 goals or less
than 6 goals. If you take the over both teams have to score 6 or more, the under of course is 5 or less. the extra half goal on the spread (1.5) and on the over under (5.5) ensures that there will be no push on the bet, or "tie" to the uncorrupted non gambler.-lol
Now, if you want to bet on Chicago, since they are heavily favored, you must bet 200 to win 100 on the money line, or win by 2 goals to cover the spread.
Does this help? If i were betting this morning, I'd take a parlay of philly and the 1.5 goal spread with the over 5.5 goals combined.
I think the Hawks win game one 4-3.

[Spivonious]

Thanks Tommy, that helped a lot. I have trouble giving money to slot machines, so gambling is not for me

I bet $100 on Chicago, and Chicago wins, I'd get $150 back.
I bet $100 on Philly, and Philly wins, I'd get $270 back.

What do you mean by parlay?

I'm surprised that Philly are such underdogs. I imagine the game 2 "line" will change quite a bit when Philly shuts out Chicago on Saturday.

[atomic charvel guy]

yes, that's right.
"parlay", a play that can make one very happy or very infuriated, especially in the NFL.
A parlay is when you take two plays, you must win both calls to collect on the bet though.
my pick at this moment is Philly and the over.
So if Philly loses by a goal or wins the game and the goal total is over 5.5, you get the win. but you must cover both bets.
The good part is the payoff, which is 2.5 to 1, so if I bet 100 on philly minus 1.5 and the over i'd win 250.00 (or get back 350.00 as you put it) if both bets come through. I'm thoroughly ensconed in the long nosed thick lipped gambling element, i fukkin' love it, even though I don't have
much money to bet with. I used to have righteous bucks to bet with a long time ago, nothing like watching a game with a grand on it, makes the heart beat even faster, not mention it making a Jacksonville Jaguars-Cincinnatti Bengals Monday night football game mean a whole whole lot all of a sudden-lol

[Tekky]

Didn't Khabibulin get hurt last year? Or was that this year...? Huet was in the net quite a bit. Interesting interview with Mike Keenan on TSN yesterday. He has of course coached both teams but long ago but has coached Pronger and possibly a couple of the other players.

Anyway, in the future I'd rather see Nashville win than Montreal win.

Last season Khabibulin was in the last year of his conract and on his way to being an unrestricted free agent.

The Blackhawks' plan was to dump him and pick up Huet. Unfortunately everyone else smelled that coming and decided that Khabibulin was just fine where he was. So the Blackhawks had the most cap dollars tied up in goaltending than any other team in the league. What surprised everyone is that Khabibulin out-worked Huet to take the team deep into the playoffs.


The rub for this season is that we were still paying Huet millions to sit on his ass while a technical rookie out-worked him and took the team to the cup finals. I'm hoping Huet follows Dale Tallon to Florida. But, I'm guessing that's where he'll wake up and start playing up to his salary. (Like a couple of former Blackhawk net-minders... can we say Leighton? How about Hasek?)

Khabibulin did get hurt this year, but that was while he was between the pipes in Edmonton.

[goodwood]

He did a good job clearing out Chara.

Chara is a defenseman...not really much of a stand in front guy. In fact, he didn't play in front of his own net that well either.

Khabibulin did get hurt this year, but that was while he was between the pipes in Edmonton.

I knew that I was missing something big in the Khabibulin story. It's so easy to forget about a player when they go to Edmonton.

I was actually surprised that Chicago signed Huet as he was rather half-assed in Washington but came on strong(ish) in the playoffs. There are many many cases of backups stealing the show (particularly this year) but Hasek would have been amazing had Chicago played him - it's just that they had Belfour at the time. Hasek needed to see a lot of pucks to perform well. If he had've spent those prime years of his career anywhere other than Buffalo he'd have a couple of rings to show for it. Definitely one of the best of all-time.