haroldsnepsts

tripping? they both fell down. good lord.

Yeah, I thought it was just a busted stick or something. He's hurt?

I'm not sure where the penalty was, but someone explain to me why Emmerton is in the lineup?

I thought 2 minutes was the right call. White was sort of falling awkwardly which made it much worse than it would've been.

Nashville with the lucky bounce. crap.

Let's keep the discussion more about the game and less about speculating on what Pierre and Crosby would be doing to each other.

two weak calls to start the game

Jagr (I think) totally quit on that backcheck and left Kennedy wide open for the goal. McGuire or whoever it was generously said "he couldn't keep up" but in reality he completely stopped skating and coasted. It's not like he got beat in a footrace. He quit. And how is it possible that the Flyers have a question mark in goaltending for yet another playoff season???

Honestly I've come to hate Malkin more than Crosby. He does some b.s. cheap little play nearly every shift. Pens get another one, from Kennedy. Two on one. You'd like him to make the big save but I wouldn't fault Bryz for that one.

I can't believe I'm rooting for the Flyers. I don't think that's happened since Hextall was between the pipes. Who do you think'll let in a bad goal first? Flower or Bryz? Crosby with the first goal. I hate the kid but dammit he just keeps working hard and putting up points.

Agreed. One thing about Danny Cleary is that injured or not, he's not afraid of anybody. He'll go into corners, block shots, do whatever. You need that in the playoffs, even if it's only to set the tone for the other guys in the first game.

Series about to start. This should be a good one. Though it makes me sad that Pronger is still out of the lineup so he won't be there to crosscheck the snot out of Crosby and Malkin.

He's President of Business Operations for the Kings, though that doesn't involve player management. Having spent most of his career with LA, it makes it less likely he'd leave that job, but who knows. As a French Canadian, he apparently has the most important qualification for the Habs.

I thought earlier in the season he had mentioned possibly getting it fixed in time to be ready for the playoffs. But it was also around the time that the Wings players were dropping like flies so maybe they decided against it. Cleary at 50% is still better than Emmerton at 100%. And if Babcock and company thought he was too big of a detriment out there, they would've benched him and he could've gotten the surgery. It's not like Cleary strongarmed them into this or made this decision alone.

wow. didn't here about that happening to richardson. strange. Not surprising, but it still stinks. That hit by Rome may have ended his career.

Considering that the Preds are recipients of charity from Detroit through revenue sharing, it's nice that they're returning the favor in some way. That's why it makes so much sense to sign Weber or Suter. If some of Illitch's money is going to those guys, they might as well be playing for the Wings.

No kidding. Lidstrom would be old enough to collect social security by the time the playoffs finished.

as someone who's moved from Detroit and become a fan of a more local team, I would still never trade in a Red Wings jersey to get a discount on a new team's. It feels to much like renouncing your Red Wings fandom.

Well, with all Vancouver's Cup wins it's only natural that people are so jealous.

Henrik is making it sound like he's ready to go now. Their coach was a lot more vague. He's practicing with the team but it doesn't sound like he's been cleared yet. Who knows though. Vancouver loves drama, so maybe they're saving it for a big reveal in game 1.

Is anyone really surprised Leino didn't live up to that contract? We'll see what happens next year but this season was a return to a more expected production from him, with 2011 in Philly looking like an aberration. Well, I guess he's got 5 more years to work it out. Sammy put up respectable numbers despite playing half the season. I haven't seen him play much for the Panthers but it seems like a good pickup by them. I'm sure he's irritating opponents and firing the puck at the net every time it touches his stick, which isn't always a bad thing. As for Kopecky, as I've said before, I don't know what that guy did to get the hockey gods to shine on him so brightly. It's like he saved Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky from getting hit by a bus or something. He's got better hockey karma than any player I've seen. He's nothing special but keeps falling into great situations. His numbers fell off a little but are still better than I expected. Though the puck still ends up in his own net way too often when he's on the ice, finishing yet again as a minus player, with a career -27 in 6 seasons. His only plus season is 08 in Detroit, and that team was awesome defensively. To put it in perspective, as much as Cleary has had an off season, he put up similar points to Kopecky in fewer games (on one knee), is better defensively and costs 200k less.

I want to believe the Kings can pull it off, but it's definitely a long shot. They've got great goaltending in Quick and great team defense and PK. The scoring is much improved but is still a definite question mark. They've been without Gagne for half the seasons and will be in the playoffs, which is too bad. But at least this year they'll face the Nucks with a healthy Kopitar. Carter says he'll be back for game 1 but he's dealing with a deep bone bruise and likely won't be 100%. They're gonna goal scoring from unexpected places (I'm looking at you Penner). Kings can take this one but they'll need some help from the Canucks. Luckily they'll be facing the most mentally fragile starting goalie in the NHL (assuming they start Luongo). If Vancouver gets rattled, anything can happen.

The new sharks dive is boarding actually. Anytime they're touched from behind along the boards, they fall to their knees, throw their head back dramatically, then fall to the ice like they've been shot. It started against the kings with a legitimate boarding, then two or three times after that if you touched a shark player along the boards you could count on him falling into them.

I was hoping the Sharks would play the Nucks. With the diving and crying those two teams are made for each other. Oh well. Don't have a strong feeling on this one. Blues in 6?

Let's keep it out of the personal and back to the rivalry, shall we? Personal attacks and trashing cities/states will be deleted and could result in suspension/banning. Thank you.