toby91_ca

Sammy comes out with 7 pts to Crosby's 3 pts....possible, but not likely. However, what I found completely unrealistic is that there were only 7 penalties in the entire series.

I'm surprised Roenick is coming back to be honest. He's 38, which isn't old, but with his history of concussions and his diminished abilities, you would think he would have called it quits by now. I thought he was pretty invisible for most of the playoffs. He did have 4 pts in one game (though I don't remember him being that dominant in that game), he only had 1 point in the other 11 games.

They probably rack up the most years, but the White Sox won the World Series recently.

At least one thing he got right is that Malkin needs to keep his head up. He's definitely more susceptible of receiving a big hit.

No, but being a Wings fan (which I'm assuming he is) makes him biased. It is "impossible" not to be biased when talking about players on your favourite team. I try to be as unbiased as possible, sometimes to the point of being negative against Wings players (everyone is that way sometimes though I think). But as unbiased as I try to be, there is no denying that you cannot be totally unbiased when you have a vested interest.

Based on what? I hear people make this comment all the time, but I'm not sure I agree with it.

I'm asking a serious question here, because I didn't see it, where is the comment of "comparable defense" in the article. I must say I didn't read it word for word, but there was a suggestion that the Pens were playing great D, but the Wings have the big edge in that area.

It's been noticeable to you? I doubt you've been watching then. Malkin I'll give you, he has seemed to get thrown of his game with that style of play (throw in a little dirtiness and it gets worse). Malkin ends up getting dirty himself in this type of game, similar to playing against Canada in the World Juniors. Haven't seen this side of him until these playoffs though. In terms of Crosby, I'd almost say he enjoys it. I think for brief moments in time, he may get thrown off (a shift or two), but in general, I think it makes him play better. Philadelphia plays him more physcial/dirty than any other team and he plays best against them than any other team. Here's my quick breakdown of how the teams measure up: Offense - Pens Defense - Wings (by a larger margin than the Pens edge on offense, but the Pens are not terrible by any means) Special Teams - Slight edge to the Pens or a wash, pretty close, even though the Pens look better in the playoffs. Goaltending - I think this is a wash, Fleury is more talented, but Osgood is more experienced, which is key, especially in the SCF Faceoffs - Wings, by a landslide. The reason I bring this up is that I really think this is key. It is going to be difficult for the Pens to be starting almost every play without the puck. I said it last week when this looked to be the matchup, I think the Wings experience will be the deciding factor. I think both teams and fans have a reason to be confident, but I think it would be silly for either side to overlook the opponent. I would think this would be a longer series, but that doesn't mean one side couldn't finish it off in 4 or 5.

I think Altanta has it worse. The only thing about about that city though is that they won the World Series 13 years ago, if it wasn't for that, there one and only championship would have been in Basketball, 50 years ago. If you add it all up, they have gone 113 seasons for the 4 combined sports and this doesn't include the old Atlanta Flames.

So, I was watching an old game today (game 4 or 5 of the 1984 Stanley Cup Finals), EDM vs. NYI. I would have seen this live back in 1984 (on TV), but I was only a kid then and didn't notice the details of the games. I can tell you this, the clutching and grabbing was 10 times worse in at least this one game than it is in today's NHL. Guys are basically wrapping both arms around guys if they are reachable...no penalty calls, appears to be pretty normal play. What does this tell me? It's not clutching and grabbing that's the big problem, which is what the NHL is focusing on getting rid of. Apart from the goalies being WAY SMALLER, the big difference I see from 1984 to now is simply the style of the game. There are far more scoring chances than there are now, more goals are not simply due to smaller goalies, it's mostly due to the lack of suffocating defense. And man, Bob Nystrom is one dirty MF'er, but his penalty minutes don't seem to suggest he's that dirty. From one sequence, he blatantly elbows Messier, then immediately after, goes towards a guy on the boards and blatantly puches a guy in the face (you can see him just going for that), about 2 seconds later, he does the same thing. The only reason I mention this is that you really don't see this sort of thing in today's game. I am not explaining it very well, but what he was doing is something guys would get suspended for in today's game (literally).

Great tournament by Fedorov by the way, kinda surprised.

He's a good defensman, I don't think he is overrated, simply because I don't think he's every really been rated as one of the best has he?

Yes, to name a few: Crosby, Iginla, Thornton, Phaneuf, Pronger, Niedermayer, Luongo, Brodeur.......

Pretty sure it's Saturday, which sucks. Why do they have to wait until Saturday?

I'm dumbfounded that this is third thread on this topic.

Canada was missing far more significant players....though I've never paid too much attention to the World Championships....just isn't played at the right time of the year.

Malkin was drafted 2nd overall (first that year was Ovechkin). Here's their 14 first round draft picks on their roster: Crosby (1) Fleury (1) Malkin (2) Staal (2) Whitney (5) Sydor (7) - hasn't played in playoffs Beech (7) - hasn't played in playoffs Hossa (12) Roberts (12) - has only played 6 playoff games so far Gonchar (14) Sykora (18) Orpik (18) Smith (23) - hasn't played in playoffs Taffe (30) - hasn't played in playoffs

I think the Pens might struggle a bit in game 1, I think they will be rusty and they will also be starting on the road for the first time in the playoffs.

A borderline kick-in? Are you serious? I'm not even sure Malone knew the puck was there. It was not even close to being a kick-in, which is why it only took 3 seconds to review. You are actually able to move your skate to re-direct the puck in the net and I don't even know if he did that.

I do think Chelios is getting less and less useful, but he minutes to show that. I'm not sure I'd bring him back for another year, but I wonder how much of this outbreak is the result of one bad decision he made today.....granted, it was a really bad decision, but these things happen and you have to hope that someone bails him out when that happens (Osgood).

I'm not sure who was watching the game on TSN last night, but pretty much near the end of the game, the camera was on Brett, sitting up in the owner's suite. Now, everyone knows that Brett has put on a few pounds since hanging up the skates (not that he was in the best shape when he played), but now it is pretty obvious why. All he was doing the whole time the camera was on him was continously stuff his face with fries or whatever else he was eating. I don't think he had enough time to chew and swallow before the next handful was coming. That in itself isnt' a big deal, I just figured it was strange that this was at the "END" of the game, so he must have spent the entire night eating. I wonder how big he will get.

I think it is a bit faulse advertising to call him another draft day "gem." Detroit has a reputation of finding players no other teams could, but I don't see how Hudler falls into that category. It's not like no one knew of him or his skill level. I remember watching the draft that day and the discussion around him. Everyone knew he had skill, but he wasn't drafted high because of other concerns, size being one of them. Detroit happened to "take the risk" on him. That is a little different than finding a gem that no one else could.

He makes some valid points, but are their deficiencies enough to give another team (the Pens) the edge? I don't think so.

Fedorov appears to be doing quite well in the tournament (stats wise, I haven't seen a single Russia game yet). He has 5 goals and 5 assits, mid-way through the 8th game.

The hit wasn't dirty at all. Ruutu is a bit of a dick though and a pest, but I don't think he is dirty to the point that he does things that potentially seriously hurt people, if that makes any sense. (i.e. he's not like a Downie) Not sure what the big deal is with the hit, looks pretty standard to me, he actually hits him in the mid-section. I think Jagr probably hurt his ribs more than anything or got the wind knocked out of him.