Majsheppard

I wish Dallas played tonight, so I knew if I wanted us to be them in regulation or beat them in OT. I know the three scenarios really suck for us, but I still would prefer Chicago to play San Jose first.

btw sharks up 2. Not good for us. Pretty much fixes us on Phoenix or Nashville, and both are bad draws for us.

If phoenix comes back it goes.... 4PHX 5Ducks 6Nash 7LA If phoenix wins, and we don't then we play the one team I promise will bounce us in the first round. I want phoenix to win and us to win. I would rather play LA. than Kings could finish 8th, how absurd.

It looks like.... if Phoenix loses... which they are now... and Ducks win, which they are. it will be 4Ducks 5Nash 6Phx 7LA And we are stuck playing Phx.

Larsson is moving away from making it to the NHL. The reports out of Detroit make it seem like there is no desire to bring him over at all. If he stuck with the AHL for another year he could have been the starter THIS year.

Well, it seems that bs win is going to make this last game against the Hawks of epic importance. IF this Hossa no goal was called correctly, the Stars would only have needed to win to get in... I hate the NHL, almost as much as the Wings when they play like crap. Who am I kidding, I can never hate the Wings.

Oh well if they issued a statement, then it must have happened. That is the weakest argument ever. I think I will issue a statement saying I am a billionaire, no trillionaire. That will definitely work.

Honestly, it makes you wonder how we ever got out of the caves. Every time you suggest there may be a link between something, people start saying you are crazy. I wonder if all the people who die in hospitals only die because they go to hospitals. Makes me glad I never go to hospitals, it will keep me alive forever. I stand besides my observations and claims of correlation. So why don't we bring these abnormalities to light and investigate? If nothing else, it could make everything more transparent and give the NHL reason to be more careful. To deny this and make excuses for the league only enables them to continue making the same mistakes. That is why if Homer gets a goal called off tonight, I would, from Babs to Illich, raise hell and point out everything that is wrong no matter the fines or punishments. When there are questions, intelligent people bring as much light onto the subject as possible. Ignorant people provide excuses to keep shade on the status quo.

Conspiracy or not, you have to note a correlation between bad calls and game outcomes no? Conspiracy or not, you have to note a correlation between bad calls and popular or large market teams no? Conspiracy or not, you have to recognize that the league makes a ton more money when they have large market or popular teams advance no? Now anyone with an actual education knows that correlation does not equal causality... but it does make an educated person want to form hypothesis and test them. Investigate, or at least bring it to the attention of the world. I am saying out and out the league plans who wins, I just think there are too many coincidences going on here with bad calls. There is undoubtedly some major correlation going on. The business argument makes the most sense to me, and we all know businessmen are not well known for their ethics. I hypothesize that the league simply makes it well known what the best scenarios are, and the instructions are in the absolute worst case scenario where a call is as close as possible, error on the side of profit. Is that really such a far-fetched scenario? I also feel like there are times, and this is apparent both in series as well as in games, that the whistles are put away to allow more competition. I think that this correlation of not making calls on teams that are too far behind happens enough to suggest the league knows the power of officiating, and how it can be used to make the product better. That is to say, affect the course of the game for a more dramatic form. Do they get in a room and say, we are going to steal games 2 and 5 for this team? No way, because that would ruin the sport faster than anything. However, if the league knows what is best, and the refs do as well, they can without saying a word make the close calls go one way. Really it can be as little as one call that changes the entire game or series. I could site many games. We all know about Homer, we all know about the Pens, we all know about Chicago and Nashville. It happens to many more teams as well. Conspiracy or not, that has to be happening. It just seems to happen far too often. I also think we should recognize that is has happened in our favor over the years as well. The NHL is run clean 99% of the time, and they make mistakes like humans do. Combine the two and you have a great tapestry of mistakes, and an indistinguishable duo of frustrating failure. This leaves many fans crying conspiracy, and a much greater number crying prove it. No one can, unless someone speaks up. Conspiracy or no, we have to deal with these bad calls. I just use my education to suggest that their are correlations we should investigate.

I misspoke on that, but basically if Chicago gets another win they have the first tiebreaker, which is wins. So even thought they both could finish 97, Chicago would have one more win. If Chicago gets two more points with no wins, the tiebreaker would be what you laid out. I am not sure, I haven't looked into it that much. I highly doubt they won't get a win against us, we aren't exactly strong against the Hawks.

It would have been so different if they actually lost that game like they really did...

Chicago has it unless we hold them to one point in two games, and Dallas wins their final two.

He seems to be a great addition there.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, unless it can do some of the damage you deserve for your years of physical dickery.

No way, he will get at least one more year.

I hope we beat them and keep them out, or at least make it clear Dallas should have been in. Then when Vancouver sweeps them, I will laugh all the the time I know this makes the nucks invincible. We will end up being screwed by this, but I will feel better playing a good game with honor. Honestly, I am coming to terms with the fact that the NHL will not let us win another cup. We don't have a good enough story, and the league is interested in selling their stories. Damn the results if they interfere with the story. I'd bet that Washington, Vancouver, or some other big market team with a feel good story gets the big momentum calls and wins the cup. It seems to be the new way of business. At least the last four years it has been that way, excepting the time Detroit just made it impossible for the league to give it to Pitt.

I think everyone is just so used to the way the NFL does it... which is a million times worse. Ask the Lions.

IF I think about both of these events at the same time... well it just makes my head explode.

Ed McGuire from central scouting, dies at 58. Too soon for a real contributor to hockey. I am pretty sure he will have a heavy hand in this years playoffs, because it all comes from scouting, and I really hope the games honor him and please his soul.

He is too young for a decision one way or another. When Howard was doing really poorly, he had two years of age on this kid. He turned it around.

MRI for Z just as I feared, most likely a tear in an MCL or such.

I agree, I wanted them to rest against Carolina, and play against the Hawks. Can't rest for three games straight, but one would have made a difference without giving up on making the team better.

Clearly the puck doesn't get touched by his stick. It went over his stick and bounced. This is lame.

The goalie brought in is Petr Mrazek, correct? He is just on a tryout basis, no affect on GR this year, or next. McCollum looks like crap though, unconfident, streaky, bad.

Yeah, he really plays hard and controls the puck and the game. I know he can own the juniors. I thought Larsson was going to be better than Howard though, and McCollum was going to be a bluechip. Neither came true, so I am just waiting until he has a few seasons under his belt in GR before I decide. I am excited to see him play, but not if he is going to ruin his confidence. The guy could be a starter.