toby91_ca

I think the Wings would definately be the favourite in the Finals against the Pens, no question, but I think this idea that the Western conference is so much better than the Eastern conference is a bit of a myth. Again, I'm not saying the Pens will win, but I think they should probably be given a little more respect than they are getting. Their record during the regular season against Western conference teams was 8-1-1. Included in those 8 wins were wins against Dallas and Anaheim, they didn't play Detroit. They lost 3-2 to Colorado (no Hossa and no Fleury in the lineup) and they lost 2-1 in a SO to San Jose (no Hossa, no Crosby and no Fleury in the lineup). I don't care who they are playing against, a record of 11-1 so far in the playoffs is nothing short of impressive. It doesn't matter how weak you think a team is, generally, all teams are strong enough to at least win some games against better teams every now and then. Pens record (11-1), Wings record (11-2), very, very impressive for both teams.

I don't underestimate them, I think they have a great team and are underrated in certain areas, they are really maturing as a team. However, I think the Wings are a better team, which is at its best right now and on top of all that, I think their experience will be too much for the Pens. I'm not an idiot either, the Pens have a chance at winning, but if I'm betting on the winner, I'm picking the Wings.

Yeah, Downie, who else, nailed him about 15 seconds after the puck was gone. How the hell Downie got away with that is beyond me.

And you know what ends up happening? Uninformed fans and media think the booing fans must be right and all you hear about the next day is how one-sided the refs have been. For the record, I think the only weak call in the game so far is the hooking call against Hossa where he lifted is stick with one hand and tapped a guy. I'm sure the ref was calling it as a make up call (which I hate), but there was no marginal calls to make up for.

That is such a load of BS, why are so many sucked in so easily to think refs make calls in favour of these guys? Is anyone actually watching the game and seeing the abuse Malkin is taking? He gets hit when the puck isn't even on screen. I'm not saying there should be calls as similar stuff is happening all over the place both ways, just pointing out that there is no preferential treatment. People that think this are simply blind and buying into the propaganda being spewed by the media of the particular city that the Pens are playing against.

I'm sorry, but if you ask 100 refs to review that play, 100 of them call it a penalty. I'm actually having a really hard time watching this game, the Philly fans are so annoying, booing at every clear cut call against the Flyers and booing every non-call, which again is clear (see Gonchar play).

Konstantinov was "one of the best" at the time of the accident, not sure I would call him the best. He was also 30 years old at the time of the accident, I think it is pretty far fetched and, at a minimum, way too speculative to even suggest he could have won 8 or 9 consecutive Norris trophies seeing as at that point in time, he had zero. Pretty doubtful he'd string off 8 or 9 in a row between the ages of 31-40. He's not the same age a Lidstrom, he's 3 years older and I think his level of play would have dropped quicker than Lidstrom just due to style of play.

You are mostly right in that a blood clot in the brain is basically an aneurysm, but after that, you are a little off base. If someone has an aneurysm in the brain, it is very dangerous, but treatable. The big issue that you are likely thinking about is when an aneurysm ruptures / bursts.

My opinion: I love watching the Pens play in these playoffs, they are truly and exciting team to watch. Crosby and Malkin's defensive play is not as seasoned as Dats and Zetterberg, but this is an aspect of their game that is truly underrated, they are very responsible defensively. Pittsburgh has been playing great, have some very exposive players, which will give the Wings trouble at times, but I think it comes down to the Wings simply having much more experience and that experience will likely play a large role in them taking a series against the Pens. You can talk all you want about how the lineups compare, but I don't even think that matters, I think experience wins out here, but the Pens will have gained a lot of experience this year and should be pretty good in years to come. I'm not even taking into account how well the Wings are playing right now.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I thought the the second line was simply placed just over the width of the puck behind the goal line, so if the puck were to touch that line, you know it has fully crossed the goal line. I'm not aware of any additional technology that goes into it (i.e. chip in the puck, etc.). Again, I could be totally wrong here.

I missed the first half of the Pens game last night due to my own game and didn't actually see this or any of the replays, but when reading this article and looking at the picture attached to the article, I wonder how they could not have called that a goal. I understand the logic of "we know the puck is in, but we can't call it a goal because we can't see it actually across the line due to the goalie's glove" but surely you have another angle, like this picture that would show it. Then again, I think this picture was taken from one of those photographers sitting by the glass and they may not have had video evidence with the same angle. http://timesonline.com/articles/2008/05/12...53629091394.txt

Yes, even if, but it doesn't matter, since he isn't, at least I do not think he is. According to Yzerman's wiki page, he has 55 pts for Team Canada in international play http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Yzerman...ernational_play Heatley, according to my stats has 57, see below: World Juniors - 9 World Cup - 2 Olympics - 3 World Championships - 43 Not even sure if Heatley is the leader overall, I haven't tried to search too deeply. I know Heatley is the leader in terms of World Championships (he passed Yzerman last week, who has 39).

A flat puck would create the greatest diameter, so in terms of calling it a goal, it would be even more conclusive if it were on an angle, like the Crosby example.

If there were such a rule, it would have been a goal, therefore, I don't think there is such a rule.

He probably means "a fresh coat", but I don't think that was the problem here anyway. I definately think they need to change the rule. In this case, it didn't really matter, but what about the next time? I know it seems like a rare occurrence, but I have seen the same type of call often enough that I think they need to change the rule.

What have I been drinking? I had a beer yesterday, but other than that, just water, thanks for asking. It's nice that there were over 50 hits in the last Detroit vs. Dallas game, last night's Philly vs. Pittsburgh, there were 78 hits.

You are right, they are playing "incredible" defense "for them" since they have been known to be poor in that area, but I think that has been a bit overblown. They have been playing pretty good D all year and have turned it up in the playoffs. Their D is not as good as Detroit's, but I don't think any team has the type of D that Detroit has.

I agree that the Briere call was awful, I'm just cutting the ref a little slack for the reasons I have provided. It is a very tough job to do and we have the benefit of replays, they do not. People look at the Crosby plays with a microscope and if you were to really watch everything, players get away with a lot more infractions against Crosby than get called. Crosby has possession of the puck a lot and in areas where guys are going to be taking liberties, it is only natural that there are going to be calls made. It is almost as if there are throngs of people out there waiting for a call to be made when someone does something to Crosby so then can then get on their soapbox and complain about it, but at the same time, they simply ignore the stuff that players do to Crosby that goes unoticed. Maybe it's my bias against Hatcher, I can't stand the guy, that's makes me call that play borderline. I think Hatcher can make some good passes, but in his own end, I think he just gets away with way too much garbage and if there is a weak call like this on him every now and then, I turn an eye to it since there are likely 3-5 other incidents he should have gotten called for but didn't.

They let the clutching and grabbing go the whole game, which favoured the Flyers in my opinion. In terms of the Briere incident, they couldn't have been watching it. If they were watching it, Orpik may have gotten a penalty, but in all likelihood, wouldn't have, as I said, they were letting that go. I think what happened is...the ref caught the end out of the corner of his eye and simply saw Briere hit Fleury and I can't fault the ref too much since it was away from the play, so he shouldn't be sitting their staring at it and if you catch it out of the corner of your eye, it seems like an easy call, when in reality, it should have been no call.

For some reason, I'm thinking that if both the Pens and Wings sweep their series, there is going to be a long layoff, which nobody wants (not the fans, not the players, nobody).

I agree that the consistency has been a joke. In terms of putting the whistles away, that would be a joke as well, will bring it back to "garage league." I would like the whistles to be put away because players are not hooking, holding and tripping, not because the refs are letting it go. I certainly do not want to watch a ton of powerplays, but I can't stand it when great plays don't happen because of players "cheating."

I disagree, big time. There were a couple borderline calls against both team. Against the Flyers, the call on Briere was bad, but if you are a ref and you catch Briere's elbow catching Fleury's head, what are you going to do? The one call on Hatcher on Malkin was borderline, but wouldn't the league be better if defenders couldn't do that (i.e. simply talking their two hands and getting them up in a guys face, etc. Body check the guy if you want to try and stop him and if you are not good enough to do that, too bad, you'll get beat. The Flyers got away with a lot last night and so did then Pens, it went both ways. The Crosby theory is simply laughable, if he had the refs in his back pocket, he wouldn't be cheapshotted like he is. How does Smith get away with simply right hooking him in the face to take him down rather than a clean body check? I love Smith as a defenseman for doing stuff like that, but you do have to pick your spots because if you get caught, it might cost your team. What he did to Crosby likely gets Crosby frustrated and off his game and potentially pulls him into retaliation. It didn't happen last night, but the Flyers were able to take Malkin off his game.

I wouldn't classify that penalty as "weak", it was a very easy call. Back in the day, it probably wouldn't have been called, but in today's game it is one of the easiest calls you can make, and rightfully so. The defenseman is beaten and has to make a lazy trip to slow the player down....you have to call that.

You are going to hear this type of s*** this time of year against the teams that are winning, simple as that.

It has gotten to the point that if are not talking about the Wings and how good they are (i.e. simply talking about how "x" team does "y" so well....no mention of the Wings), you are a Wings basher. I'm a Wings fan, but that doesn't mean I am a total homer and can't critique their game. If I had to go through life listening to everyone just drool over how good they are and that they can do no wrong, I think I would go insane. Fact is, when something someone could possibly take as negative is said about the team, they blow up, even though what is being said is likely true. I think some have the mentality that, "yeah, what they are saying is true, but they shouldn't be saying that about the Wings....damn Wings basher". I will be honest and admit that Wings games are not the most exciting games anymore, but they do what they need to do to win and that's what is most important in sports.