toby91_ca

Forgot to mention my opinion on the fact that it sounds like they plan on calling the games tighter now.....this is just stupid and compounds the problem....no one knows what is a penalty, there is no consistency.

I think the flow has been okay and clearly, a parade to the penalty box would not be good for flow, but I have bigger problems with the rules and officiating, see another thread I had just created. Here is the key issue as far as I am concerned: The league tried to enforce the rulebook tighter, with the thought that there would be tons of penalties called early on and then players would get used to it and stop committing the fouls and the game would open up, penalties would come down, etc. Penalties certainly came down over time, but not because players changed the way they play, but because the officials stopped calling so tight. In an ideal world, the refs would call everything by the book (i.e. if you hook a guys arm, even if ever so slightly, it's a penalty).....my hope would be that the players would then change their approach, it's not the penalties will stop being called over time, it's that the penalties would STOP HAPPENING over time....then you'd get to a spot where the flow of the game would be really faced paced.

I know I am extremely late in this, but I didn't realize this until today. I had always thought the award was simply in Messier's name.....what I didn't realize is that he picks the winner, no voting, other than his one vote for the winner. He solicits input from others however.

Crosby has 19 ESP.

I truly believe that both Lids and Dats would have played the last few games against Chicago if they really needed to. I think a decision was made that they get rest and be fresh for the Finals, they'll both be playing.

If the Pens win the cup, Crosby or Malkin will win the Smythe, with Crosby currently being the front runner, even though Malkin has the slight point edge....the Finals would likely decide who wins. If the Pens lose, I think it is next to impossible for either to win the award. I can't remember the last time a non-goaltender from a non-winning team won the award, not sure if it's ever happened....can't be bothered to check. Even if one is way, way, way ahead of the competition in terms of scoring, it probably still won't happen and I doubt either one will be that far ahead of the competition. Crosby and Malkin have separated themselves from the pack, but they haven't separated themselves from each other yet and in all likelihood won't.

Why? Because they are non-objective fans of their teams. A lot, if not most, on this board are no different. We all think there is some conspiracy to give the other team playing the Wings an added boost, especially if it's the Pens in the final, if both the Wings and Pens make it.

I really hope you are not suggested there is a bias here. Pens would get 4 days rest and Wings 2 and the difference would simply be due to the fact that the Pens swept their series and the Wings needed 5 games (based on the assumption that both are finished by Wednesday). To be honest, I'm thinking that the 2 days rest is the better spot to be in anyway. Had they both swept, the Wings would actually be getting more rest and if it were the Wings that swept and the Pens that took 5 games, the Wings would be getting 4 extra days rest, not the 2 that the Pens would be getting. All this is hypothetical of course.

I do think it would be strange to have a week and a half off before the finals, if the finals are actually set as of Wed night. That said, back to back games 1 and 2 for the Stanley Cup finals is really, really stupid, especially after having this 2 days off between games during this round, which I'm still trying to figure out, why are they doing this? I thought they were pushing to get the Finals wrapped up sooner rather than later. There is no game tonight, dumb.

I'm not looking too far ahead yet, but it's tough to ignore. I haven't bothered to look into this, but if it happens, I think it would be the first time since the Oilers beat the Islanders in the 1984 Finals for their first Cup.

It would actually be pretty cool if 3 of the final 4 are Original 6 teams.

Redman? Who?

He said the hit was dirty, I think you added the last little bit. He probably deserved 5 and a game, but I highly doubt a suspension is coming, if someone with a reputation did it....maybe.

Neither team is happy about this at all, but it is what it is. I think it has more to do with TV then arena availability though. I think the Caps and Flyers had back to back last year as well, games 6 and 7.

A good one or two seconds? You sure about that? I'm thinking maybe 3-5 tenths of a second.

And the 1 in overtime was a puck over the glass, so are you somehow suggesting they were getting favouritism there? The comments regarding Ovechkin's stick were likely planned. I totally understand why it would be done in the media rather than the game. How often do you actually see measurements? Very, very rare. I think the plan would probably be to get the Caps thinking about it and potentially take the illegal stick out of his hands, I think they'd rather that then call him for it in the game and get a powerplay, especially since sticks get changed all the time during the game and they'd be taking the risk of going short-handed. The one thing I did notice after last night's game was Ovechkin's complaints about the powerplay discrepancy. Can't say I'm surprised that his comments get ignored completely, but if Crosby said the same thing, there would be a 10 page thread on here about him complaining about the refs. I also found one of Ovechkin's comments funny when he suggested he had, basically a 100% chance in scoring in overtime, but the puck fell off his stick or something....really....100%??

Where the hell has Malkin been so far this series?

Really dumb talking about Conn Smythe at this point, especially since the chances of them losing in the second round are better than them winning. That said, Getzlaf has been awesome so far and the one thing that I can say after the first 2 games is that the Wings are having a really difficult time handling his line (regardless of whether they are scoring or not, which they are). At the same time, after his line, there isn't much threat from the other lines. I find it very interesting that that line has all 3 guys shooting right, amazing considering the majority of players in the league shoot left. I think at times it hurts them when they don't have someone to pass to for one-timer. I saw this a couple times in yesterday's game.

5 years ago, no one would have had a problem with that hit, there wouldn't have even been a penalty. Looks pretty similar to the hit Stevens laid on Kariya, which no one seemed to think was dirty. These days, the league is really cracking down on hits to the head, even if apparently clean, which I think they should, but I'm not sure a suspension is warranted here.

The games I've watched, he seems to spend most of his time around the faceoff circle, to the right of the goalie.

Hmmm, that is a really misleading way to look at their ages. By the way you put it, it looks like Ovechkin is almost 2 years older, when in fact, he's less than a year older. Malkin turns 23 before Ovechkin turns 24. Ovechkin is 2 years older than Crosby though.

Good thing the voting already happened then.

Is the bolded part supposed to be a knock against Burke? Just because you don't know something, how is that a knock against someone? Let me be clear, I don't like the guy that much, but I can recognize that he is a very, very intelligent individual. Also, he was asked a question, to which he didn't understand why his opinion mattered, but answered anyway. All he said was that Anahiem had a good chance at winning based on what they have. This is all true, not sure what is wrong with what he said other than it wasn't "Are you serious??? Anahiem has NO CHANCE, they will be steamrolled!!" Burke is in Switzerland attending the World Championships and is planning on meeting with Gustavsson, who the Leafs are pursuing.

Rafalski is only a few years younger than Lidstrom, he's not going to be doing that much more developing. He's not a HOFer.

While I don't think Ovechkin is the best player, he probably would be the best choice for the Wings based on the teams current needs/wants, which probably makes the thread irrelevent for what the initial poster was looking for. On a different team, you might pick someone different. Anyway, on the part that I bolded, I think for this to happen, it would be a significant change for Ovechkin, that is not the position he is used to playing.