Resetti

Is it just me or is Schenn a bit of a diver? Throughout both playoff series for him, I constantly see him falling over when he gets touched. Either he has an inner ear infection throwing his balance off, or he has a high center of gravity.

Love the way the Kings are playing. Can they go through the #1, #2, and #3 seeds to get to the Cup Final? I don't see any other team playing as comfortably as Los Angeles right now... everything just looks fluid. Even when Quick isn't totally on his game, everyone looks confident. In fact, the only thing I don't like about watching the Kings play is when the piercing voice cues for the "GO, KINGS, GO" chant starts. It doesn't seem to matter what the volume level is at, that voice cuts like a dagger to the ear.

Looks like you had great seats to the game! New Jersey quietly played well all year long but was completely under the radar with the Rangers, Penguins, and Flyers getting all the attention. They may have been fourth in the Atlantic but finished just one point behind Philadelphia. This may be an unheralded hockey team but that definitely doesn't mean they're overmatched. And, I tell you, it's fun to watch Parise fly out there... he makes everyone else look like they're in slow motion!

I'm really surprised that the Predators are doing this, given they're two of their more talented offensive players. It sounds like something that happens in college sports, but not a professional league let alone in the postseason. I'm inclined to think there's more to this story than two guys out partying too late, but who knows. If nothing else, it's a bold way for the Predators to make a point that nobody's bigger than the team. Whether the team responds... well, it'll be interesting to see how this shakes down.

The problem with the Hart trophy is the parameters of "most valuable" are pretty subjective. You can justify a lot of different arguments. Lundqvist played behind a great defense, Malkin played with some great offensive talent, while Stamkos plays with less heralded teammates. The way that I look at awarding the Hart trophy is considering where the teams would be without these players. Lundqvist backstopped an impressive New York Rangers team to the top spot in the East, but their defense did such a good job insulating the goalie that I tend to think a lot of NHL goaltenders could have been put behind that team and had success. The Malkin-Neal-Kunitz line was the only threat for the Penguins for some time while they battled injury, and I don't think there's any chance they're contending for the top of the conference without Geno's dominant play. As for Stamkos, he had an outstanding season -- only the second player to notch 60+ goals since the lockout -- but it's hard for me to consider him for League MVP when the Lightning finished 10th in the East. If you take him off the roster, they still don't make the playoffs. I think this would have been really interesting if Jonathan Quick was on the ballot because I don't think there's any question that he was the difference that helped the Kings qualify for the playoffs. An argument could have been made for Giroux as well. Based on these nominees, however, I'd have to say it goes to Evgeni Malkin.

They just flashed on the screen that 5 consecutive OT games ties the record set in the 1951 Cup Final between the Leafs and Canadiens. But now, the Coyotes and Blackhawks can break the record in Game 6!?

When I first saw the 25-game suspension, I thought it might be a bit heavy-handed, but after watching the explanation video that showed how many times Torres has done this exact same thing over his career, I think it was definitely warranted.

What a crazy series. Four straight games going to overtime? Has that happened before? Nothing beats overtime in the playoffs!

Pretty sure the refs basically shortened both the Penguin and Flyer benches by two just as a preventive measure to discourage the throng of fights that plagued the last game. He was officially given 2 minutes for holding the stick and a 10 minute game misconduct, but as far as I could tell he was just getting crosschecked on that sequence.

I think the hit by Bitz was vicious and warranted a suspension, but it actually occurred during a hockey play. Weber took a swing at Zetterberg's head before deciding to ram it into the glass after the game was over. He definitely should have been given some kind of supplementary discipline. A $2,500 fine doesn't mean anything to millionaires. Unfortunately, the league puts too much stock into whether a player is injured.

It might be a matter of people tuning out Colin Campbell. Here are some other examples of Campbell acknowledging blown calls: ----- From April 6th, 2012 on Ryane Clowe interfering from the bench (game between San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings): “If the officials had seen the actions of Ryane Clowe it would have definitely been a two-minute interference penalty,” Colin Campbell, the NHL’s senior vice president for hockey operations, told The Times on Friday. “It was obviously a missed call.” source From October 28th, 2010 on missed goalie interference (game between Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators): "It's quite obvious if they had the chance to see it again, you would hope the call would be made that it was interference on a goaltender,'' Campbell said to the Miami Herald. "This happens. It doesn't happen often, but it's certainly a call you wish was made differently.'' source From November 4th, 2006 on a goal being waived off in the waning seconds of the third period (game between Edmonton Oilers and Atlanta Thrashers): "While the NHL regrets the missed call, Craig MacTavish's comments after the game regarding the call were totally inappropriate and crossed the line," Colin Campbell, the league's director of hockey operations, said in a statement. source ----- The reality is that the NHL has a great opportunity to showcase their product, with all playoff series being nationally broadcast, and they're not competing directly with the NBA at the moment. The league should be sensitive to how the teams, players, and officials perform. Unfortunately, opening night highlighted a blatantly missed offsides call that sparked a comeback, Weber ramming Zetterberg's head into the boards out of frustration, and Bitz's vicious boarding hit on Clifford. But I think it just goes without say that people will read this apology, file it in their mind as league favoritism to Pittsburgh, and be done with it.

It's incredible how much jealousy poisons the mind. Or just call it hatred. Crosby missed half the season and postseason because of a temper tantrum, and he was too "embarrassed" to come back without getting his way? The guy bleeds hockey, he wouldn't miss the playoffs if he could play. We've all seen the hit. We all know how serious brain injuries can be. Anybody who genuinely believes that he faked this injury is a boob.

I thought for sure this was going to be about Casey Jones...

I should probably point out that my post wasn't in response to anybody specifically here, and it wasn't even directed to any particular comment on these boards. It was commentary on the whole Crosby issue on the LGW boards over time. Picking between Ovechkin and Crosby isn't irrational or ridiculous at all. Both are tremendous talents who present different styles to how the game of hockey can be played, and one may be preferable over the other. What's ridiculous is the fans who mutilate his name (seriously, does anybody still think it's clever to call him Cindy Crysbaby?), say that he's overrated and would never want him on their team, or when it devolves to even more base bashing. I agree that he's overexposed. I don't blame the NHL for this though since they're trying to grow the sport and pull in new fans, and Sidney Crosby is a talented and young hockey player that can sell the brand. When he came into the league, he mouthed off, he complained, he... well, he acted like an 18 year old. This bothered a lot of people. I don't personally think those early labels still stick but so many people still cling to that stigma purely for the purpose of hatred--and that's fine, if that's how fans want to spend their time. But when it comes to real hockey discussion, it helps if everyone takes off their Fan Goggles and takes an objective look at things. But... I guess it would really put a dent in the appeal of being a fan if you had to be reasonable all the time.

The amount of vitriol on these boards towards Crosby is staggering. I know it's popular to hate the star players on other teams in sports but I'm not sure I've ever seen this kind of bashing in any league. You'd think that Sidney Crosby personally ran over the dog of everyone on these forums, then threw his car in reverse and wheeled over the dog again honking his horn and laughing obnoxiously, barreled through their window and stole their Most Prized Possession before speeding away! I don't get this kind of hate. Is he over-marketed? Yes. But anybody who denies that he's a very gifted hockey player is willfully ignorant. And with the NHL desperate to grow their sport, they decided their best bet was on the back of an exciting young player: Sidney Crosby. Get over it.

If Howard is the goaltender of the future for this franchise, you don't hide him on the bench when the going gets rough. He doesn't have experience but how is he going to learn sitting when the chips are down? No, you leave him in. He has been playing well for the Red Wings all year. He has been having a solid postseason so far too. He's a rookie goalie and rookie goalies rarely backstop a team to a championship, I think expecting him to do that is a little much, but you definitely don't yank him if he's the guy Detroit will be counting on for the next decade or so. He gives the Red Wings the best chance to win now, and later. Whatever Detroit's playoff destiny is this year, the experience will make him a better player.

That is Game 2. Look at the end of April, it lists a game against the Sharks on Thursday.

I say no goal. It looked to me like Foligno moved his right foot out further to make sure it came into contact with the puck. I am surprised that it's generated so much controversy, I immediately thought it was a kick-in and that thought was confirmed after multiple replays.

Mike Babcock looks like the Willem Dafoe. The Green Goblin coaches the Red Wings! (I don't know if it's really an insult or just odd commentary.)

Look, my original statement was that I think Malkin was far from healthy before they made it out of the Eastern Conference Finals. From watching him play through the playoffs, he just seemed slower and less willing to engage physically after he was slammed by Mike Richards in Game 1. When he hit the wall courtesy of Richards, his productivity did too. You asked what my basis was for believing that was the result of health problems and I told you. I'm not going to research the Internet to find every media outlet that reported any Malkin injuries because it was an "I think" claim and it's irrelevant now anyway -- we're in 2009 and last year's playoffs are behind us. I just typed in a couple words into Google and Pittsburgh's newspaper was the first source that came up. Now obviously the Red Wings defense made teams struggle. There's no denying they're great at limiting players. But Malkin being hurt and Malkin being played tightly by the Wings defense aren't mutually exclusive categories.

From watching the games last year, he suddenly disappeared in games following that particular game against Philadelphia. The Flyers made it a point to make things difficult for him and, whether it was that or something else, he just seemed slow everywhere he went on the ice. Obviously playing against a Red Wings defense that was shutting down the Penguins offense wouldn't make him look any faster or healthier (or less tired), but watching his play over the course of the playoffs formed the basis for thinking that something happened to him health-wise in the Eastern Conference Finals. And a quick search on Google offered this less-than detailed article on Malkin's health: source He may not have needed corrective surgery that tells everybody, "Yes, he was hurt all this time," but that doesn't mean he wasn't hurt. Based on what I saw in last year's playoffs, I don't think he was healthy by the time he was in the Cup Finals -- but then again, what hockey player is fully healthy at the end of a season?

Actually Malkin was dominant in the first two rounds of last year's playoffs and started to trail off against Philadelphia in the ECF after Mike Richards slammed him into the boards in one of the early games (I remember that hit lead to him being behind on the ensuing play, which ironically resulted in a breakaway where he scored on a slapshot). After that game, he became a shadow for the rest of the playoffs. I don't think that Malkin was anywhere near healthy by the time he was in the Finals last year.

When it gets to the playoffs, their beards are too red. It's as though every Red Wing was a ginger. It reminds me of the old NES hockey games where every player looks the exact same because the NES could only display 16 different colors at a time, so everybody gets the same skin/jersey/hair combo.

If the Caps knew that they had media coming into their locker room, why didn't someone just erase the board? ...or would they forget ingenius and delicately thought out keys such as "don't turn the puck over?"

The posts on the Ducks board are hilarious! One of the funnest things to do during playoff hockey is look up the fan forums of teams that are losing at the time and read all the rage; conspiracy theories about refs wanting "their team" to advance, having to play "against the refs" during the series, simply distraught posts about how they knew their team wasn't ready, and the always comical inspirational speeches with the intent to fire fans up but almost always including horrible grammar (presumably because they already are, in fact, fired up). I get a real kick out of it. Actually, I think that's how I found this forum in the first place.