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The Everything NHL Thread

Bettman mistakenly followed the regular season flowchart because he didn't believe the Kings or the Ducks would ever make the playoffs. You can tell because he handed Torres no suspension and the Canucks are clearly a playoff team.
 
go nucks

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also

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...ning-skate-20110419,0,4358435.story?track=rss

On the flipside of the ledger, defensive whiz center Dave Bolland will rejoin the lineup for the first time since March 9, when he suffered a concussion after taking an elbow to the head from the Lightning's Pavel Kubina.


Bolland did not participate in the morning skate, but Quenneville said that was merely to "get ready for the game.


"Watching (Bolland) practice and watching him skate ... he's been ready to play for a while," Quenneville said. "It's just a matter of getting him clearance to play. He feels really good about himself. He feels he can handle responsibility and he's going to get some."

yet he apparently felt symptoms a couple of days ago...poor bolland, shithawks are gonna play him before he's ready :/
 
So many questionable hits lately...

I'm not as annoyed by Torres not getting a suspension as I am about his teammates and coach defending him. Shit like that keeps happening because the people who's opinions players care about supports it. Seabrook had no chance of defending himself and the hit was unnecessarily high. I don't care what arbitrary hit rules we're using this year, it's pretty obvious what the physical result of that is going to be regardless of what rules the darts landed on in a given year. Head injuries are serious shit that can fuck players up long after their careers are over, people like Henrik Sedin need to stop defending that shit in the media. Would love to see him get clocked in the head from behind late in Game 4, maybe he'll shut his damn mouth.

Kunitz should really get enough that he'd essentially be done since there's so many things wrong with his play - elbow, interference, unsuspecting player -- there's just no way to justify anything he did as a "hockey play," no matter how stupid that justification usually is to begin with. More cheesy head hits and this time on someone with a history of concussion issues, can't imagine what the intent was there. He'll get like 1-2 but really players doing shit like this should get about 10-20. I get irritated by players who seem to forget that they're paid millions of dollars to play a game. I'm not sure if they just miss out on some of the basic decency/maturity normal people get through having to get real jobs and have real problems or what, but the consequences of some of this shit can be life-ruining and it is even worse with stuff like the Kunitz elbow since there's no positive to it at all.

Downie should get a few too. Imagining it'll end up in a bout two, but given that it's nearly identical to the hit he got like 20 for outside of being slightly-less-interference...




Also Boudreau is kind of embarrassing me as a Caps fan -- if he could stop crying in the media about the officiating it'd be great. Yes, the officiating wasn't very good. The officiating was pretty openly anti-Canucks in their game 3 too, and they still managed to win. Man up and deal with the factors under your control, Bruce.
 
*is lovin' how everyone picked the Yotes to beat the wings*

Man, i wished my computer wouldn't have had problems connecting, then i could have gotten in on the fun... Oh well... i'll just post my opinions on the series so far...

Caps vs NYR

Hmmmm... The new defensive style for Washington is definitely working for them. Neuvirth is a stud. Ovi hates it when he doesn't score on a shot from the point (that's just insane, this mentality change). I can't see New York winning more than one more game in this series.

Flyers vs Sabres
I thought the Sabres would be stronger than they are. It's still gonna be a series, but it will be closer than i thought initially. We will see in game 4

Bruins vs Habs
I initially thought the Habs were gonna sweep the Bruins (to my surprise) but Game 3 has definitely given some life to this series. We'll see what happens later.

Penguins vs Lightning
Hasn't failed to meet my expectations. This is a series that is going 6 or 7 games. Now if Stamkos could figure out how to score a goal, advantage lightning.

Western Conference

Nucks vs Hawks
I knew the Hawks were gonna get manhandled without their depth... I just didn't think it would be that bad. I was thinking maybe 5 or 6 games ala Sharks vs Ducks.

Sharks vs Kings
I thought the kings were gonna be shark chum playing without Kopitar. Boy was i wrong. This thing might go seven games. Man, Jonathan Quick, you aren't human.

Wings vs Yotes
I'm surprised at the amount of people who thought the Yotes had this. I was more nervous about this series just being stretched along. My sentiments at the start of the year was that if these two teams met, it wouldn't take nearly as long for them to make it. Well, in some sense i was wrong because i was thinking 6 games. Now we are looking at a possible sweep. That's Red Wings depth for you, and when Zetterberg returns, watch out. With a full healthy lineup, nobody will be better. I'm also happy, as a wings fan, that Howard is pulling through.

Ducks vs Preds
I was nervous about this series at the start. I figured this would be the overlooked series that deserved more attention. Game 1 didn't help, but this series has settled into what looks to be a long series.
 
I never got to post these before the forums went on spring vacation, so here are my predictions. I swear these are completely unchanged and undoctored, seriously WHO PICKS THE COYOTES OVER THE RED WINGS

EAST:

#1 Washington over #8 NY Rangers
Fuck the Rangers, they barely made it in and really didn't deserve to. They have been riding Lundqvist every year, but against a team like Washington that has clamped down defensively, their popgun offense will not win them any games.

#7 Buffalo over #2 Philadelphia
This is not just a homer's pick: the Sabres had the best record in the East since Jan. 1st and the Flyers stumbled in a huge way down the stretch. Pronger is uncertain, and even at less than 100% that's a huge blow to their defense corps. Buffalo can scores in clumps and Philly has no goalie; this should be a very entertaining series.

#3 Boston over #6 Montreal
I want to pick Montreal, mostly because I want to believe they can do it, but I just don't see it. Price will keep them in plenty of games, but I expect Thomas to outduel him in net. Boston is just built for the playoffs.

#4 Pittsburgh over #5 Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay's inexperience will do them in, Pittsburgh is another team built for the playoffs. When Fleury is in top form, he can steal a whole series. It will be pretty even without Crosby, but if he comes back in this round, it's a done deal.

WEST

#1 Vancouver over #8 Chicago
Not even a question here. Vancouver was far and away the league's best team and Chicago is a shell of what it was last year at this time. One has HUGE depth, the other has none.

#2 San Jose over #7 Los Angeles
LA lost its top two scorers and San Jose blazed a path into the playoffs over the last few weeks. This one is a foregone conclusion.

#3 Detroit over #6 Phoenix
Fucking desert hockey teams. Phoenix is a great underdog pick, but Detroit always has had their number. It just isn't their time to win in the playoffs yet, especially with the depth Detroit has. Unless Detroit's goalies show wear and tear and Bryzgalov stands on his shoulders, Detroit takes this one.

#4 Anahiem over #5 Nashville
Easily the most difficult series to pick. Nashville is one of the best defensive teams in the league and Rinne could take the Vezina, but Corey Perry is playing ludicrous hockey right now, and Selanne will put up 30 a year until he's 85. I went with the team that had been playing hotter recently, although that was just as close.
 
WHO PICKS THE COYOTES OVER THE RED WINGS

Actually I would have, but I like going for the underdog/wolves?
Was on holiday aswell, that's why I didn't post my predictions, hadn't written them and I'm quite sure I would have had results that were no longer possible.

Tagging in for next round when it's all square again.
 
Hmm, looking back at my predicts so far the only series I have wrong, ironically enough, is the Montreal-Boston series as far as winners/leaders go so far (though it depends on whether the Sharks or Kings win tonight), but some of the lengths don't seem very likely at this point (Wings-Coyotes going 7 games? lol)
 
whatever

a 4-3 comeback isnt gonna happen for another 30 years at least, so hawks are just delaying the inevitable

might even work out better for the nucks since they will have hockey fresher in the mind come round 2
 
Yeah the game was a write-off, although Henrik hasn't been playing well all series. Luongo was fine but the team in front didn't bring it. Bring on game 5!
 
a 4-3 comeback isnt gonna happen for another 30 years at least, so hawks are just delaying the inevitable

playing the odds in this way is a very illogical choice, but I pretty much do agree.

Anyways, I'm a tremendous fan of how I flat out said that the canucks are undisciplined and throw temper tantrums when things don't go their way and look what happened at the first opportunity to prove me right. Just reaffirms my belief that the canucks would find a team like Nashville or New York really hard to handle in a 4 game serious because of the amount of annoyers they pack.
 
whatever

a 4-3 comeback isnt gonna happen for another 30 years at least, so hawks are just delaying the inevitable

might even work out better for the nucks since they will have hockey fresher in the mind come round 2

I think the series could go to 7. The Hawks rattled Luongo and he was stonewalling the Canucks to their wins in the first few games. The only chance the Hawks even had was to blow out the Canucks and get them off of their game, which with...6 10 minute misconducts, a few game misconducts, and a few ejections, as well as a goalie pull, I think it is safe to say they did.

It is highly probable that they will not win the series, which saddens me and means I have to go back to my Red Sox hat, HOWEVER, they could pull this one out on a slim chance...
 
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Anyway, Canucks in 6 like I predicted on nhl.com looking more reasonable.

EDIT: OH MY GOD THIS SHARKS KINGS GAME 2ND PERIOD lol so many goals
 
was just about to post that picture...

Anyways I'd say it's either Nucks in 5 or Hawks in 7. If Hawks can ride this momentum to a win in Vancouver, they'd be incredibly dangerous at home for game 6. And if they win 3 in a row I'd say they take it in 7.

Nucks will definitely come out much stronger for game 5 so our odds are still very slim though
 
That is absolutely hilarious. On a different note, the Kings just pooped a lead away. I wonder if Vince got a few hotdogs for all of the people in his row at the madhouse...
 
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