TSM

I agree with this 100 percent! It must be a joint Yooper-Shanahan appreciation between the two of us as fans. What disturbs me about this whole thread is how differing people within this thread consider this type of play "fair ball" when we all know that it would be a different reaction had this been Howard. The rules exist for a reason because goaltenders that match Lucic's size are few and far between. Secondly, I'd be curious to know what Ryan's brother thinks about this entire thing from a player versus goaltender perspective. what pisses me off about the homer broadcasters for Boston is how they talk about Lucic being justified and how the Bruins must have his back? Are you kidding????!!! I hate homer observations like this that make a mockery of common sense. I love the physical aspect of the game, but it's nice to see "class" displayed when an opportunity to gravely injure a fellow hockey player is shown. This is the home of Steve Yzerman afterall. Would he consider that a hockey play just because Miller made a play on the puck to prevent a scoring opportunity? I think not! Really? How would you describe that sort of play? I consider Lucic to be a goon-sized gutless scrub? Does the succession of overused adjectives offend you?

I loved this article; they need to hire Cam Cole as the interim Canucks coach as Vigneault is lost at this point. The fact that he couldn't see anything wrong with this hit (moral relativism based on coaching loyalties) is what bothers me about this whole thing. "If Horton wasn’t already out before he hit the ice, he was by the time the back of his helmeted head struck the surface — and the helmet might well have saved his life." I stated this very thing to my girlfriend last night about this type of hit. Without his helmet, Horton is most likely dead after a hit of that magnitude. Fans love to talk about how Kronwall stones people at the blue line, however the puck being in possession is the key to determining the difference between a hockey play and a late hit. In the case of this hit on Horton, what I don't like about it is how late the hit occurs. To me, hockey needs to be about respect between players. I would have had no issue if a hip check had been placed as that would have been enough of a wake up call for Horton to keep his head up at center ice (Insert Mickey Redmond's voice here). However, Vancouver opted to play the game differently and now they've woken a sleeping giant. The Canucks trainer is going to be having some long nights over the next week or so.

It's funny as I was rooting for Vancouver until they opted to be a bunch of goons (see Anaheim or San Jose). No matter what, that hit on Horton is late and he's the type of player that I love. Goes out and plays hard, smile on the face, etc. Rome is a bum and should be out for the rest of the Cup Finals. This is the type of hit whereby someone is going to get killed. :-( The size and speed of the players these days guarantees it. We have a series now and we all gotta love a goaltender that lays one on the Captain like Thomas did to Sedin. Bravo Timmay. :-P

AMEN!

This is precisely how I feel. I personally watched the end just to see how our guys reacted to the Pens winning on OUR ICE. I would be embarassed as a Wing player for that to happen at home. We simply didn't bring it tonight; it wasn't there in game six either. We're a year overdue to bring in a player(s) truly hungry to win the Cup. f*** the money, the commercials, media bias thanks to Buttman. Someone who wants to win and recognizes its value as compared to owning a fleet of Bentleys.

I have two words for you: Chris Osgood. Wings in 5 games.

The cast on NBC is truly repugnant. I'm tired of hearing the dire predictions from the wankers on NHL Network (especially Terrey) prior to the game only to have that followed up by the absolute homers that the crew for NBC represent for Pittsburgh. Doc Emrick is awesome in my mind though. I can tell that he especially enjoys the play of Helm and he observes with humor as compared to bias. It's no surprise to me why Doc is respected for the most part by fans. He's the only guy outside of Mickey and Ken that I can stand. The rest are hoping for the Red Wing's plane to crash on the way to game three. I haven't complained about this stuff until recently because it's becoming vitriolic with the Wings never receiving due credit or respect.

I will say this right now, our organization has alot of ties to Pittsburgh by virtue of Scotty Bowman. Those early 1990's Pittsburgh teams were monstrous. When I heard of Mario's bout with Cancer, I thought that it was an absolute travesty for a player whom I've considered to be classy. His return to the game was inspirational to say the least and the way he gives of his time to charities is something to behold. Mario is a genuinely good human being that I would never hold any enmity towards. For ANY Pittsburgh fan, writer, radio analyst, to mock the tragedy that happened to Konstantinov is inexcuseable and the epitome of deploreable humor. One would never wish Cancer on another person, let alone an opposing team's star contributor, let alone find any humor in an accident that nearly cost three people their lives and devastated their families beyond description. I have a hard time watching Konstantinov as he is now. His wife eloquently sums him up in the best of ways by calling him his own hero. The horror of that day lives with her still (in her face and words); where is there something to ridicule in a woman's heartbreak for her husband? We all remember him as the fierce competitor who never backed down to anyone or anything. How could we have known that his greatest example of tenacity would be his post accident rehabilitation and the profound impact that it has had on our team? I think of it as his destiny and the sort of hurdle that only Vladimir could conquer. Shame on anyone who doesn't see the greatness in his courage and shining example of the strength of the human spirit.

Post of the year from this board for me thus far!

Just like Sid doesn't get upset when every call doesn't go his way related to physical exchanges with defenders? It is also funnier than hell to me when the queen of divers (Forsberg) calls Sid out and he is on the verge of whimpering because of the accusation. Hilarious stuff. name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>&"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350" />

Decisions on who stays or goes are left to after the Stanley Cup winner is determined. Why get caught up in these contract scenarios and instead enjoy the moment while we have it. I'm just hoping that we have everyone relatively healthy by Saturday: that is priority number one at this point.

Darren's play was nothing short of inspirational this evening. What a great hockey player and there were Hockey Gods in the house when he ends up with the game winning goal. Moments like that are what separate hockey from the rest of sports for me. Couldn't have happened to a harder working player.

Drug use of any kind is cheating, it doesn't matter at what level or in what sport. When it comes to hockey, I expect a higher pedigree of ethics. Baseball in the US has been destroyed by the habits of greedy home run hitters. Hockey has never had a scandal that approaches any of the epic issues that have run rampant in both MLB and the NFL. A cheater is a cheater, and I have no respect for one. Banned for life from the sport is the only answer in my mind.

Godspeed to him and his family at this time.

This comment from the YouTube comments posters says it all: The Mule must be saying saying: Let me get that binkie for ya Probably passed it to Quenville for his post game pity party. LOL

Keep feeding the Mule all the way to the Stanley Cup. The man is a monster playoff performer, no doubt about it. We're lucky as a franchise to have him.

:rotflmao:

This is a horrible idea. No matter how fast the WCF or ECF series end, the SCF game dates should stay the same for the sake of rest and recovery. Our team would not benefit by jumping into the SCF with all of our injuries at key positions.

I came up with the same name change for Havlat given what Kronwall did to him. Kronwall fans think alike.

Absolutely not! I agree with you on this 100 percent. Obviously, someone with the Blackhawk's scouting department forgot the memo about Stuart being just as competent of a checker as Kronwall. In my opinion, Stuart let up on him a bit as well (classy by him) but it was proof of why Havlat didn't belong out there. He hasn't had time for his bell to stop ringing, let alone learn the first rule of hockey all over again. His career is definitely in jeopardy if Stuart drives full force through him on that check.

There may be an underlying issue with Osgood behind all of the semantics, but there's no doubt that given the rowdy nature of the Blackhawks and the fact that their coach had no control of them, Babcock made the right move to sit Osgood in order to preserve his energy and his physical health. There's no doubt in my mind that someone (Probably Buttfuglyien) was going to take a run at him in the third.

Jake needs to learn that statistics only tell part of the story. I've been watching Homer since he got to our team and there's an intangible respect that he brings to our team. The nature of his presence in front of opposing goalies is two fold in the sense that he's both effective at deflections and being an all around pest. In my mind, the man enjoys the punishment and there is no statistic that measures that degree of toughness. Homer is THE MAN in my book, no matter how many goals he scores or not.

Someone has to make a "Have splat?" picture as a tribute to the Kronwall hit.

Amazing hit by Kronwall. I've been wondering when the neutral ice shark was going to reappear. But with that said, you hate to see a guy get knocked out like that. The worst of it for me was when the other goon charged Kronwall after the fact.

This type of fact is what separates Mr. Illitch MILES apart from any owner in professional sports. I truly feel for Darren McCarty, but I have the utmost admiration for the sort of benevolence that the Illitch's have shown to Darren. The epitome of CLASS.