2008 Stanley Cup goes to...

[anuske9]

The Senator's "backed into" the playoffs as it was, plus this bs:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=b59LxkvpW8Y

Bell took out Alfredson in one of the last games of the season. Toronto finished 12th btw and ended up losing that game 8-2..
They apparently also lost MIke Fisher in that game.
Watch this goal:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=v-8fBzoRPws

They just couldn't get much together as far as offense during that game. Maybe they'll switch up the lines a bit again for tonights game. I like both teams but I'm a Spezza fan more like I like anybody on the Pens..

[CharvelRocker]

I'm pulling hard for the Caps over the Flyers...hopefully skill can win out over cheap shots and dirty play. I was shocked at how dirty they played during their two late season meetings with the Pens prior to Pittsburgh letting them have the season finale. Hartnell is simply a cheap shot artist...anyone who says differently is a Philly fanboy. Going for Crosby's head after the the play??? What a POS.

Every team takes a cheap shot every once in a while (Roberts hit on Bass Wed night would have pissed me off if I were a Sens fan) but Philly seems to make it a part of their game plan. The "Legion of Doom" era team had class...these guys they have now are bums.

Anyone in a series with Philly is going to come out of it scarred and most likely less than ready for their next series. Part of me wants to see the Pens play those thugs but another part would prefer to keep the team healthy. We'll see where the chips fall.

I think the Rangers may be one of the toughest teams to beat in the playoffs. Their defense and penalty kill is top notch. If Jagr can step it up and Drury and Gomez get hot, watch out. I'm curious to see how the Devils respond to that thumping they took.

Obviously, you can't count out Montreal either...they are a complete team.

I love playoff hockey!!!

You know why? That prick Gonchar rammed the end of his stick and split Hartnells nose in half? It took CLASS for Stevens not to have Downie go out and break Gonchars face after that. Or Ruutu ramming his knees into Briere's gut? Oh by the way, want to mention how Gagne got knocked out for the season? People think the Flyers are dirtbags because they get called for it, while they let Crosby do anything.

Crosby is a big baby. He sits on the bench whining about a cut on his lip while Hartnell gets his nose stitched back on like a man. Roberts is a coward AND a cheap shot artist. He was like that with Tye Domi and Darcy Tucker in Toronto, and is still that way in Pittsburgh, along with Ruutu and Crosby. Crosby is the worse type, up their with Tucker who will only hit who he knows is smaller or won't hit back (unlike Scotty Upshall for the Flyers, who will hit just about anyone, but ends up bouncing off of them ). Lot of the Penguins team is like that. Malkin is always one for a great, clean hit though.

Part of the reason the Legion of Doom was "class" was because Lindros was a total wimp. I've never seen a Neanderthal (granted a skilled one) be such a pansy in ice hockey. Ovechkin is what that guy should of been. Kind of wish the Pens still had LeClair, but he wanted too much money, his production was way down, and Malkin pretty much replaced him.

[Spivonious]

^


Crosby =

[T@rgetDrone]

I try to remain objective about the violence in hockey and the ways it is delved out. I'm no Flyers fan by any means. But I don't see them as simply a team of cheap shot artists. They are very much a blue collar, lunch bucket team who can and will mix it up from the cradle to the grave. Sure they've committed their share of cheap shots. I can't think of a single team, ever, that didn't. Lepuke (lemieux, sp?) was a classic example of a cheap shot cross checking bitch. But let anyone so much as touch him and it was to the box. Messier was so good at using his stick blade that he could carve his initials into your cheek on a full speed flyby. Anyone remember when the Caps lost to the Islanders in the playoff (years ago)? Immediately after the last horn, Dale Hunter skated all the way across the ice and demolished Pierre Turgeon into the boards-never saw it coming. Broke his arm or some shit. The list goes on... forever. I don't like Philly. But I sure as fuck respect them.

As far as being a baby in pro hockey. Their idea of a baby makes me and the rest of us look like dried smegma. They all bitch and moan. It's the nature of the game. But it's a man's game when the puck drops. Crosby finished a series w/a broken ankle and scored numerous points in the process. He refused to sit. Again here, I'm no Penguins fan. But if Crosby is a baby then what does that make you, me, or the rest of us mere mortals? I may make an exception though in the case of Lindros. Still, I wouldn't fuck w/him on the ice. I'd like to keep what's left of my squash full intact.

[Spivonious]

Crosby is a baby because he flops to the ice whenever anyone touches him and if someone challenges him to a fight he drops the ice covering his head. Yet he's always instigating. He reminds me a lot of Matthew Barnaby.

[semagic]

gotta love playoff hockey... it brings the passion out in all of us fans of the game.

[Rupe]

I see far more blatantly cheap shots committed by the Flyers than I do by any other team in the East (I rarely watch West games). Like I said before, every team does it once in a while, but the Flyers take it to a new level. I used to respect them, but not anymore after the $hit that they've pulled this season...all season long.

As for Roberts, yeah he takes his shots (nothing like that POS Tucker though) but to call him a coward is pure ignorance...he'll stand up up to anyone in the league. I always hated him until the Pens traded for him

Crosby is hands down the most complete player in the league so you have to expect him to get the type of treatment that was afforded to Gretzky and to a lesser degree Lemieux. The NHL is going to protect they're most marketable assets. He DID take a high stick so complaining about him whining is just dumb. All he did was correct the announcer who was saying that he took a dive...I'd call that defending an injustice and not whining.
The Gonchar shot to Hartnell was for the shot to Crosby's head...I'm all for a well delivered cheap shot when it's for payback against a marginally talented goon

We'd probably have a great time at a bar together watching our teams play

[thetroy]

I still haven't really watched Crosby play. Pavel Datsyuk (sp!?) is by far my favorite forward to watch these days. His puck control is amazing. It's also not easy to get almost 100 points when playing for Detroit.

[Rupe]

Crosby is a baby because he flops to the ice whenever anyone touches him and if someone challenges him to a fight he drops the ice covering his head. Yet he's always instigating. He reminds me a lot of Matthew Barnaby.

And you've watched him play how many times? There is nothing remotely close to true about that post

[Bengal]

This thread has been a good read so far.

I love hockey but I'm more of a casual fan then a diehard. It's a great sport though.

Hard to find on the tele here since the strike. I find it funny the NHL Network doesn't play a bunch of NHL games. But Versus helps and NBC has a match once and a while.

I'm a Red Wings fan. Always have been. Vladimir Konstantinov was one of my favorites. But their record in the playoffs has been rather crappy of late. We'll see this year.

[thetroy]

I'm a Red Wings fan. Always have been. Vladimir Konstantinov was one of my favorites. But their record in the playoffs has been rather crappy of late. We'll see this year.

I liked him and Kozlov when they played. Maybe that's part of why I like Datsyuk - he wears Kozlov's number 13.

[CharvelRocker]

What bullcrap. Go from letting them play to calling everything in the third. Blow the whistle because the goalie lays there like he is dead, but on the Flyers penalty kill, a guy goes down and they do nothing about it and they score the tying goal. Should never of gotten to that point, but that irks me a LOT.

[Shawn Lutz]

Nice comeback by the Caps tonight.Glad to see Ovechkin get his first playoff points tonight as well. That dude is the real deal. I like him because he's so "non-NHL poster boy" like, crooked nose, missing teeth, shaggy hair and he's not Canadian..lol...just to piss off Don Cherry and Gary Bettman who want to put Crosby on the right hand of God's feet.

[Razor]

I'm just happy to see Biron let in another softie game winner another game.

[cookiemonster2]

I guess with the Oilers out of the playoffs Detroit has a chance of getting past the first round this year. :P