NeverForgetMac25

Neil gets a penalty than tries to grab his eye in hopes of evening things up!

Underway! Wow, poor Gerber.....a 4.00 GAA yet he still has a 0.909 SV%. Time for the rest of the Sens to step up.

Underway! Wow, poor Gerber.....a 4.00 GAA yet he still has a 0.909 SV%. Time for the rest of the Sens to step up.

Why would you say the forbidden word on not only a gameday, but the playoffs?

As I was reading that comment I thought just how dumb of a statement it was. Seriously, who in their right-mind would actually "want" to get hit? It's just a dumb comment to even make.

Don't worry about that.....it'll be done. BTW, we blew last years participation out of the water. Last year we had 57 participants before the first round while this year we have 122 entrants!

Swift and effective.

This is the point I wish those that are ok with what Avery did would address. I haven't heard any solid refute to this type of comment, rather we just keep hearing how its not against the rules and he was "clever" enough to come up with it, so its ok. It has nothing to do with being stodgy and everything to do with class and sportsmanship.

I couldn't agree more with GS&T in this regard. Just because a player "can" do something, doesn't make it "acceptable". It tarnishes the integrity of the game and makes it look ridiculous and bush-league.

I would assume you are referring to OsGod given the statement above the bolded one, but just wanted to be sure you know that I'm not "against" the NHL.

In the past maybe. We have no way of knowing how this team would respond to a week off in the playoffs before starting a second round match-up. I'd be more than happy to risk that if it meant one less game in the series where yet another Red Wing could possibly get injured. Besides, any time an opponent wins a game that can translate into confidence which may result in 3 more wins. It's never worth the risk, IMO.

It was a 5-on-3 at the time, and they really couldn't afford to take another penalty. Besides, once Avery scored they were down by a goal and needed to play catch-up. Taking a retaliation penalty wouldn't have been the smartest thing in the world seeing as that you essentially take 2 minutes off the clock with little chance to score and tie the game up.

Uh....I think you'll survive. The last thing you want is for your teams playoff series' to go any longer than they need to. If you can get out in 4...you do everything you can to make it happen.

Correct......that was quick.

Speaking of the Goride Howe Hat Trick.....here's a quick trivia question for everyone: How many Gordie Howe Hat Tricks did Gordie Howe himself accomplish?

I can embrace players that show creativity and are pioneers to a sport, but I could never embrace players that show no respect for the game or their fellow colleagues. That being said, I'm not referring to the game itself, I'm talking about the NHL. If you are as upset with it as your posts make you sound, why don't you key in on other hockey leagues that better suit your interest? If you still want to continue watching the NHL you obviously don't have as big of a problem with it or the way its being run. I'm not saying you shouldn't be critical of the NHL, because I am plenty, but from you it comes off like you absolutely hate the NHL and everything to do with it. Please don't be offended because I'm certainly not trying to attack you, that's just the way I've come to know you from your posting.

I don't think SJ is in that big of a hole......Anaheim on the other hand. That being said, if ANA can find a way to win tomorrow I bet that series will go 7 games. SJ isn't in panic mode just yet but if they lose tomorrow they'll be in trouble. Even if both those teams do find a way to move on, I'm thrilled to see it won't be any quicker than 6 games for either of them. That's great news for the Wings or anyone else that plays them.

I agree, that it looks as though his teammate and the ref told him to keep his stick down, but people are upset about the integrity of the game.

Neither do I, but one of those situations you just mentioned was illegal before this morning.....the other was not. Keep in mind, that I don't agree with what Avery did, and find it to hurt the integrity of the game.

OsGod, I'm asking this in complete seriousness and its not meant to be condescending one bit. Why do you still watch the NHL? I know you love hockey but the amount of anger you have toward this league seems to be enough for most people to just leave it behind. I know if I had the strong feelings that you have toward the NHL and all its surronding participants I'd be gone and never look back, but you continue to watch....and I'm not sure why? I know you love all different levels of hockey, but if the NHL pisses you off as much as it comes off on LGW, I just don't understand why you continue to put up with it when you could just as easily watch other leagues that better suit your interest.

I don't think its the trend setters that people don't like.....its Avery.

Why would he take himself out of position briefly to tell Avery to keep doing it? Everyone knows thats Avery's type of game, and I highly doubt he needed any encouragement from a teammate to keep doing what he was doing. That being said, after watching it again, perhaps his mate told him to keep his stick down while doing it to watch for a potential high-sticking or the off chance that a puck could deflect off his stick only to go in and be disallowed due to playing the puck with a stick above the crossbar. You notice after he skates away from Avery that he no longer uses his stick in the air and rather uses his hand/glove to get in Marty's line of sight.

Sidenote: Calfan, tell me you went to that game! You must have been going nuts if you did. BTW, if you were there, how far were you from the Sarich/Marleau hit?

While I agree that it hurts the integrity of the game (and keep in mind that I agree that Avery shouldn't be allowed to do this), I think its incorrect to say it has "no offensive value other than to try and screw with the goalie" because it obviously took some of Marty's attention off the play and put it on Avery, which in itself is "offensive value".

But Os, I don't think thats a fair comparison seeing as that elbows to the head are illegal. I'm not saying the league does enough about those instances but you're comparing an illegal play to a play that was for all intents and purposes a legal play until this morning.