EHM The Blue Line

No question in my mind the team that makes it through the hellish Western Conf playoffs will win the Cup. But any team could do it. It is freaking scary.

Minnesota looked awesome last nite, and only ended up winning in OT against Van. Detroit is starting to scare me, and they don't have Bert in the lineup yet. Nashville-if Foppa healthy is scary. Colorado if they get in and keep Budaj hot...Calgary...well yeah they are good too...

Anaheim--who the heck would want to play a 7 game series against that team? San Jose up front is lethal, with a young d-core though.

Dallas-if Turco overcomes his playoff weakness, that vet and Finn laden lineup could do serious damage.

Minnesota scares me the most though. Save for goaltending...that lineup plays so well together, so smart, and now they even have some offense. Rolston seems to have Luongo's number with that shot of his.

Should be one hell of a playoff. The worry for the Western team in the final would be that they are too beat up to pull out the final round against an Eastern team which has likely had an easier first three rounds.

So u dont give Buffalo, Ottawa or NJ no chance against a Western team??

Dont know, I guess the Western 8 top teams are pretty tough all of them, but the battle to enter the PO's in the East is also pretty hot!!

Iam also looking ahead for the playoffs, even if the B's wont be in it.

Sabres will win 4-2 against the Ducks because the Ducks will arrive to the Stanley Cup pretty tired

....just to make a quick preview

No I do not!! Buffalo--all injured, no depth on D, and cannot take a Western beating. Ottawa--Playoffs are coming, they will die. New Jersey--hmmmm.. not unless west gets beat up by themselves.

Finally T-cleese and I can agree. Maybe this is how we avoid the issues...make it WEST vs EAST. [john lovitz] That will work, yeah... that's the ticket [/Jon Lovitz]

Wow, these races are just insanely close

Flipping around tonight I caught the end of the Calgary and Detroit games, Calgary grabs their much needed points with the king of all lucky bounces and Detroit only gets one point from Columbus as Federov buries the game winning shootout goal That one quieted the "hockeytown" crowd that booed him for all he did for the team. Classy.

Big win for the Isles tonight as luckily DiPietro is healthy and blankin' the opposition again.

Flames are in trouble...they really needed that circus time point. Actually glad they got it..right now would rather have them in the playoffs than the Av's.
Nashville could be in trouble---Forsberg looks slow, and Trotz said during the Canucks game they want Peter to play "a more uptempo game, like the rest of the Preds and Foppa is struggling with it". Now changing a player's style of game okay. But trying to change Forsberg's style? That is like telling Wayne to play the role of a checking center. (Note: Wayne>Foppa, so my change for Wayne>change for Foppa)

Oilers....ummm...where are you?

Wild--Still scary

Canucks---Where are all the Flames fans again eh?


Devils and Brodeur scary.
Sabres--if healthy..watch out.

Rangers could do something too, if they get healthy.

Man this is gonna be a heck of a race in the East, and a great playoff.

I just thought this was kinda funny. Last night was Bertuzzi's first game as a Red Wing. He was cut during the game...by...guess who...Chelios. Haha, Chelios threw the puck up along the glass where Bertuzzi was battling and the puck caught him on the chin.

Beers and laughter after the game. At least after Babcock finished ripping the Dead Things for not whooping the Bum Coats.

Joe wrote:I just thought this was kinda funny. Last night was Bertuzzi's first game as a Red Wing. He was cut during the game...by...guess who...Chelios. Haha, Chelios threw the puck up along the glass where Bertuzzi was battling and the puck caught him on the chin.

That's classic case of inexperience on Bert's part... he should know not to get anywhere near the boards/glass when Cheli has the puck in the defensive end. He's like a robot, he gets the puck he automatically clears it hard around the boards/glass no matter who might be there. He also usually does it blind with his back to the clearing location so I'm sure it's something all the other wings know to compensate for by now. Bert will learn

Oh Minstrel....20 years later and you are still prejudiced against Chris? I bet one time...long long ago, in a land far far away, back when dinosaurs ruled Chicago, and when Chris still wore the #7...you loved the Greek-American hotel trasher.

Of course though...you are so right about what he does...What is funny, is how often it works.

I'M still around....I'm just not so pretentious as to make any big claims about how the Flames have played in the last two games. It does remind me of how they played in previous seasons, with tenacious forechecking, constant physical play and getting lucky around the net. Still, we're going on the road, Chicago has given us a hard time the last few years and Minnesota is excellent at home (plus the Flames/nobody in the league can stop Gaborik--imagine if that guy could stay healthy).

I propose a Christmas truce (like between the Brits and Germans in WWII) between Flames fans and Canucks fans for the period between now and March 31st. I'll cheer for you guys to beat the Avs twice and you guys can cheer for us against the Wild twice.

I've thought for the last couple years that the West is easily superior to the East, but somehow an Eastern team takes the prize. Eastern teams can't handle the West, they can't deal with the physical aggression and the fierce forechecking. The thing is, the Western teams grind each other down and the team that makes the final ends up out of gas. In the East there's a much bigger rift between 1st and even 6th so the top teams get to cruise through the first couple rounds over vastly inferior opponents.

In the East I actually like the Islanders--I'm watching them right now against Philly and they have a pretty Western style game. Ted Nolan is a very strong coach and there's a good mix of toughness and talent on the team. I can see the Rangers making some noise too, but they seemed like a better sleeper pick to me last year (I actually thought the final last year was going to be Oilers v. Rangers, really I did. I even said so before the trade deadline).

The West is much harder to pick. I really think if the Flames play great hockey and just squeak in it will greatly affect their playoff success (same deal goes for the Avs if they manage to pass the Flames), so the 8th spot make make some noise again. Turco stinks in the playoffs, Dallas is out. Minnesota has a pretty serious chance if their kids stay hot in net under the pressure (which would stand to reason according to basic physics, because an increase in pressure means an increase in heat, but basic physics and playoff hockey have little in common....). San Jose's moves haven't really worked out for them, as far as I can tell, Cheechoo isn't very dominant this year and they're having trouble finding a second line that works. Detroit and Nashville are both elite teams but neither has had to suffer through much adversity, which I think is key to success in the playoffs (that's why I think Flames/Avs or Minny with the injuries to key, key, key players are best positioned). At least one of them will be a first round bust. Anaheim is maybe the best constructed team in the league and obviously are a big threat to go all the way. That said I don't like Giguere very much--he's easily solved if you can get past that ridiculously awesome defense and get in his face and throw him out of position. Which of course leaves Vancouver (shudder). They've dealt with adversity (injuries to key players) and have become more succesful at doing so as the season has progressed. It's hard to argue against Luongo, even with his playoff greenness. I remember watching him in the last World Cup against the Czechs and nearly having a heart attack every time he faced a shot on goal because he really seemed shaky, but that was three years ago. Other than that I've never seen him in a high pressure situation. He's a fiery guy, which can help or hinder his performance depending on a lot of factors. I hate to say it but they're pretty well positioned for a deep run with their strong fundamentals...

Luongo does have a couple of gold medals at the Worlds. In 2003, he backstopped Canada in the semi final and later in the final since Burke was injured. Then in 2004, he was the #1 goalie through the entire tournament.

I know he's won in tournaments and that kind of thing, I'm just basing my statements on what I've seen of him in a pressure situation. I can't say that he's incapable of getting it done because I'd be laughed off the internet. The only real concern I would have is that his emotional nature might get him off his game, although it hasn't seemed to be a problem throughout the season (of course things are always different in the playoffs). Ultimately the best call is to reserve judgement until some games are actually played. He may well be another Marty Turco who crumbles when it counts or he may be Marty Brodeur who's at his best under pressure--we won't know until we see.

Guess there's no pressure in WHC finals then.

i only wish that this year stanley cup winners will be a team with real hockey fans. seeing tampa bay and carolina win the cup made me sick, so please god of hockey make the predators, ducks, trashers and all those mickey mouse team playing garbage in the playo

That's why if my team can't make it I'd like a Vancouver-Buffalo final - two clubs that haven't won it before would make a good final.

jackknife77 wrote:i only wish that this year stanley cup winners will be a team with real hockey fans. seeing tampa bay and carolina win the cup made me sick, so please god of hockey make the predators, ducks, trashers and all those mickey mouse team playing garbage in the playo

Hello Tom Jr.

Way to be ignorant.

I didnt want to make you angry but during last year playoff, journalist asked 20 people in the steet of raleigh and only one person knew that carolina was facing the montreal canadiens in the first round.
If you tell me that you have a very good base of diehard fans know in carolina ill be glad because before that.. the situation there was horrible.
By the way.. when the Tampa Bay Lightnings were in the stanley cup final, they had to sell there tickets 10$ to get the arena full.

We've sold out every game for the past month and we already sold out playoff tickets and we have standing room only the rest of the season.

People are willing to pay 3 times the price to get tickets, it's insane.

The Canadian media just wants the situation to look worse down here than it really is. Tampa has sold out every game for the past 3 seasons...

What do u expect STaaly....he's a Habs fan!!!








Just kidding here jack!!!

flea wrote:What do u expect STaaly....he's a Habs fan!!!








Just kidding here jack!!!

No you aren't, trust me.

Ultimately the best thing for the NHL from an economic standpoint is for teams like that to win. Having champions in traditionally weak hockey markets draws interest to the game in areas that are more interested in football and NASCAR. That said, it's a highly regional thing, and that kind of interest is difficult to sustain over the long term. Poor TV numbers during the Cup Finals is almost inevitable when a team like Tampa or Carolina is involved. What the NHL wants right now is for major urban centers like NY to get their teams in deep--like a Rangers/Red Wings final. Ironically, I don't see them caring that much about the Canadian market because we're in no matter what.

On the topic of TV numbers, I've been thinking about how it's hard for Americans to get into the game in so many cases. I think the NHL should SLOW THE GAME DOWN rather than work so hard at getting it over with ASAP. I don't mean like slow down the on-ice action as it happens, but there should be more opportunities for whistles and the hurry-up face-off should be eliminated. This might sound crazy, but if you think about the most popular sports in the US (football, baseball and NASCAR), they are very slow-paced sports with plenty of interruptions (I know NASCAR is actually very fast, but it's also repetitive and there are long stretches with no real action). More breaks in the action would allow knowledgeable, likable commentators to explain the game to those who may not understand what's happening, to break down the strategies being used and that kind of thing. People don't like what they don't get, so help them get it. Even basketball screeches to a halt at the end of the games with timeout after timeout being called, foul after foul being committed, and so on (basketball's popularity also spawns from it's ability to be played just about anywhere with very little equipment).

Now, of course, this would not be in the GAME'S best interests. It would leave a lot of us real fans angry about the longer game times and that the commentators are speaking to us like we're children. The players on the ice would probably not be impacted too significantly by such a change, however. If it comes down to bigger nets, I think I'd much rather see them try this kooky idea.

inSTAALed wrote:

flea wrote:What do u expect STaaly....he's a Habs fan!!!








Just kidding here jack!!!

No you aren't, trust me.

What have you got against Habs fans?

Ahem...Hi CatchUp..How are you? Do you really want to know? Where is that 24 Avatar anyway?

ha!

the 24 avatar was a victim of the hack I'm afraid. I tried to change my av to something new last night and poof - can't upload a new one. oh well.. I think I read somewhere that uploading files wouldn't work and thus, I should have known better.

anyway, have YOU got a problem with Habs fans?

Me...an issue with NHL team fans? Nah. I love em all. Just thought I would have some fun with ya. I used to have issues with them, back when I was 15, but now I am old so I know...Habs fans are just the same as Canucks fans, Flames fans, Ranger fans, Bruins fans, Leaf fans and Devil fans.

Yes T-cleese I love Flames fans too.

Have I mentioned....HOCKEY RULES!!!