The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: First round predictions

Watched both games yesterday. WOW, the Flyers were "ROLLIN' ROLLIN' ROLLIN'!"

**sorry, I'll never make a Limp Bizkit reference again**

I tell you what, the refs better get ahold of these two teams before somebody gets seriously hurt. I saw tons of hits from behind, cross checking, and hits to head the whole game and they called nothing. That's a recipe for what happened in the third period. The players have no choice but to police themselves. But the emotions just keep building and building as the cheap shots keep coming and the refs do nothing.

Yup. The Penguins are showing their frustration. If they take a dump early on in the next game, they'll just be out for blood. It'll be a case of "Well, if we're going down, I'm taking a few of 'em with me". Could get ugly real quick.

Quote :

Wednesday's game should be interesting. The Pens are gonna be fighting like cornered rats. I'm anticipating lotsa game delays and gloves on the ice.

Which should help Philly as the Pens focus will be on things beside scoring.

I'm back from Detroit, well it was nice to watch a game, the last one live has been quite some time ago and i liked the introduction light show they did. Still, i would've wanted to see the Wings win, would've made it better.

T-Roy wrote:

I tell you what, the refs better get ahold of these two teams before somebody gets seriously hurt. I saw tons of hits from behind, cross checking, and hits to head the whole game and they called nothing.

NHL referees have been terrible since quite a few years and in this playoff year they are downright horrible, every series has so many weird calls, no-calls, questionable situations. I wonder what's going on with them.
There were two questionable situations in the Red Wings - Predators game 3 too: First Franzen spearing the one guy which should've been a 4 minute penalty or maybe even a 10 minute misconduct - instead it was called slashing, only 2 minutes.

The other one was the Predators guy jumping onto Datsyuk who was going for a rebound of Rinne, should've been a penalty, refs ignored it again.
Instead we get a lot of weird phantom calls, stuff that nobody would call a penalty, weird roughing and charing, offside that is onside.

And with Flyers - Penguins, it's getting out of hand, it reminds me of those Red Wings - Avalanche games from the mid-late 90's. I've seen most of game 3 and i was really expecting a remake of the "Fight Night at the Joe's".

Overall i'm surprised that the Flyers managed to once again kick the asses of their opponents. They don't give up (so far every game, Pittsburgh scored the first goal), they don't back down, they give more than 100%, i think it's really amazing and Claude Giroux is outstanding.
And Cindy Crosby is again crying like a little girl, whining and complaining, just like he did in his first 2 years. I think he is about to destroy the reputation he built up since then. Funny that he say he never liked Maxime Talbot, who was a teammate, both doing RBK commercials together and back then were more or less friends, now he says he hates that guy

T-Roy wrote:

Watched both games yesterday. WOW, the Flyers were "ROLLIN' ROLLIN' ROLLIN'!"

**sorry, I'll never make a Limp Bizkit reference again**

I tell you what, the refs better get ahold of these two teams before somebody gets seriously hurt. I saw tons of hits from behind, cross checking, and hits to head the whole game and they called nothing. That's a recipe for what happened in the third period. The players have no choice but to police themselves. But the emotions just keep building and building as the cheap shots keep coming and the refs do nothing.

the pens are one of the dirtiest teams in recent memory - and they dont get dinged for it because Cindy is there starting stuff and then hiding behind the linesman. I hope Shanahan tosses Neal for his clearly meant to injure hits. It is really hypocritical that Mario is saying there is no place for dirty hockey and his team is the one, by and large, engaging in it.

The Canucks are tanking... I'm so happy

Hopefully getting swept by the 8th seed team in the west will shut up their fans.

exact33 wrote:

T-Roy wrote:

Watched both games yesterday. WOW, the Flyers were "ROLLIN' ROLLIN' ROLLIN'!"

**sorry, I'll never make a Limp Bizkit reference again**

I tell you what, the refs better get ahold of these two teams before somebody gets seriously hurt. I saw tons of hits from behind, cross checking, and hits to head the whole game and they called nothing. That's a recipe for what happened in the third period. The players have no choice but to police themselves. But the emotions just keep building and building as the cheap shots keep coming and the refs do nothing.

the pens are one of the dirtiest teams in recent memory - and they dont get dinged for it because Cindy is there starting stuff and then hiding behind the linesman. I hope Shanahan tosses Neal for his clearly meant to injure hits. It is really hypocritical that Mario is saying there is no place for dirty hockey and his team is the one, by and large, engaging in it.

Yeah it's been terrible. I'm embarrassed to say I'm a fan of the Pens right now. They look like a bunch of thugs out there and for no discernible reason. It almost seems like they'd rather take the cheap hits than actually play their game. They're way too talented to play like that. Thankfully it should be over tomorrow night.

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NHL referees have been terrible since quite a few years and in this playoff year they are downright horrible, every series has so many weird calls, no-calls, questionable situations. I wonder what's going on with them.

The tv networks tell the NHL, who in turn tell the officials, to let things slide to increase viewership, especially during the playoffs. The NHL as a whole, stuggles enough as it is in the US tv market. Anything they can do to generate viewers and increase sponsorship (ie $$$), they'll do it.

If that means letting the players get extra chippy and fight more, which in turn causes more 5-on-4 advantages and increases goal situations, so be it. 6 or 7 goals and fights keeps people interested. 1-0 games does not. If they were, people would watch soccer.

I wish they'd increase the size of the ice to European dimensions, opens the game up more and scoring would increase. I don't mind a fight or two but the non-stop thuggery gets old.

Dark Horseman wrote:

I wish they'd increase the size of the ice to European dimensions, opens the game up more and scoring would increase. I don't mind a fight or two but the non-stop thuggery gets old.

I was enjoying the 4 on 4 hockey play...... even thought it was one of the ugliest games since I saw my first hockey game on the USA Network.

The First Period ended with a bench clearing brawl and the Second Period started with 2 on 2 hockey. It was the Maple Leafs and the Nordiques(I think that was the other team).... oh sooooo many years ago.

Dark Horseman wrote:

I wish they'd increase the size of the ice to European dimensions, opens the game up more and scoring would increase. I don't mind a fight or two but the non-stop thuggery gets old.

That discussion comes up every 4 years whenever the Winter Olympics roll around. I've sat in meetings with other NHL team reps and one of their biggest hesitatons, among other concerns, is retro-fitting the ice rinks to accomadate the new dimensions. If it means taking out a few rows of prime real estate seating against the glass, the teams shoot it down.

Big arenas would put seating next to the goalies if they were allowed. Our building moved the offical goal judges (the guys that hit the lights) out from behind the goalies so they could sell those spots as VIP seating.

How many arenas is this really a problem in? Most places aren't selling out until the playoffs and if you can reconfigure to add seats for an NBA game I be you can do it for NHL.

Dark Horseman wrote:

How many arenas is this really a problem in? Most places aren't selling out until the playoffs and if you can reconfigure to add seats for an NBA game I be you can do it for NHL.

All of them. Noone wants to remove seating. I can only speak from our own experience, but I imagine it's the same in most big arenas. And it's a complaint I've heard directly from other NHL team reps. They's probably other reasons too, but the seating thing is the big issue.

We have mechanical, retractible bleachers that accomodate hockey, basketball, lacross and arena football. In order to make a bigger ice rink, the whole mechanics would have to be redone. And after the section of the retacibles, it's all cement with no more room to move back. We would lose a couple of rows down by the glass to make it happen.

For big market teams, it's an expense and loss of seats. In smaller markets, it's an additional cost and loss of revenue to an already struggling facility. The NHL has brought it up to the owners and they've voted against it. That's not to say it won't ever happen, but it's gonna be a tough battle to win.

007 wrote:

I missed the game (didn't miss much) because I was out cutting grass. I came in and caught the score at the start of third and saw what was happening. Pens are just being outplayed,outcoached,out everything. Looks like they'll be hitting the links early this year.

The Pens are gonna have their work cut out for them. Asham and Neal are both suspended for tonight's game. Asham got 4 games, Neal got 1.

That hit by Torres last night on Hossa was despicable. He better be punished big as he's a repeat offender.

Dark Horseman wrote:

That hit by Torres last night on Hossa was despicable. He better be punished big as he's a repeat offender.

I don't know if this is possible (because of the union,legal issues ,etc.) but I think they should start banning guys who hit like that before someone suffers permanent damage. It seems that fines and suspensions are not getting through to the players. Maybe that would give them the wake up call that they all need.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

007 wrote:

I missed the game (didn't miss much) because I was out cutting grass. I came in and caught the score at the start of third and saw what was happening. Pens are just being outplayed,outcoached,out everything. Looks like they'll be hitting the links early this year.

The Pens are gonna have their work cut out for them. Asham and Neal are both suspended for tonight's game. Asham got 4 games, Neal got 1.

Oh tell me about it. They deserved everthing they got. They need to straighten out their act sooner than later. Mario's got to have long look at this team during the off season and make the necessary changes (coaches,players,management,etc.).

So do you move Crosby and hope to get big in return or do you use him as your anchor?

Dark Horseman wrote:

So do you move Crosby and hope to get big in return or do you use him as your anchor?

Tough call. I'd hate to lose a player of that caliber but they also have Malkin so that wouldn't hurt them too bad (just look what they did without him in the lineup). I would imagine there are quite a few teams out there that would give up quite a bit for him and they need to shore up the defense more, I think. Or maybe a defensive better scheme ?

Dark Horseman wrote:

So do you move Crosby and hope to get big in return or do you use him as your anchor?

Hard to fathom dealing Crosby, however, the large amount of concussions/head injuries this early in his career, I keep thinking of Pat LaFontaine. If you're going to move on with one or the other....I say you gotta move on with Gino, not Crosby (both have had plenty of injuries). I think Crosby will be forced to retire soon if the head injuries and concussion symptoms keep popping up. But if Mario was thinking with his head and not his heart, he'd deal him before he's not tradable. Which could be very soon.

I think T-roy is right but Crosby is popular there. Tough decision.

That's another thing, too, that I hadn't thought about when I originally posted. Would another team be willing to take Crosby with his recent history with concussions ? That's alot of money to spend on a guy that could possibly be one good hit from never playing again. The Pens already had him signed to that deal so they're stuck with it. I can't see them dealing Malkin away. They'll hold onto both Crosby and Malkin for the forseeable future,I'm sure.

007 wrote:

That's another thing, too, that I hadn't thought about when I originally posted. Would another team be willing to take Crosby with his recent history with concussions ? That's alot of money to spend on a guy that could possibly be one good hit from never playing again. The Pens already had him signed to that deal so they're stuck with it. I can't see them dealing Malkin away. They'll hold onto both Crosby and Malkin for the forseeable future,I'm sure.

Ah...but there's always the Rangers??!!! Nobody is more willing to throw money/trades at bad bets.

Tonight's game between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia is insane!

Required Fields wrote:

Tonight's game between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia is insane!

Tonight's game was ridiculous! Refs were WAY too involved! Cooke holding the stick and 10 min misconduct. Vitale unsportsmanlike conduct plus 10 min misconduct. Kubina for crosschecking and 10 min misconduct. Simmonds for unsportsmanlike conduct and 10 min misconduct. Ummm ... NHL ... What are you trying to say? Ridiculous.

Of course the Flyers defense could have shown up for the game. That would have been nice.