BuckeyeWingsfan80

In his own defensive zone too.... Remember when Stevie tore his oblique when he was playing D along the boards? As I remember he grabbed it, and went back to playing D....

Notice we haven't see a replay of the latest "penalty"

another penalty to Washingon And Bruce Boudreau got a "you've gotta be ******* kidding me" on national TV

Crysby injured

Yeah they are...they have mostly controlled every aspect of the game. It evened out a bit after Ovie's goal, but that's about it.

Oh yeah, another observation - The Craps aren't going anywhere with Jose as their goalie. Do they have another option?

He punched him first

Let's see here....struggle all year but get some of the kids some significant playing time while waiting for cap relief next year OR Getting embarrassed in the playoffs I don't like either option at this point.

the last two games I've watched (Pittspuke and Anaheim), they've lost. The game I didn't watch inbetwee was San Jose. So I won't watch today

It's nice to be optimistic....yeah....

I guess, since this seems to have run it's course, it's time to post another question: Who do the Blackhawks part with after this season? Which players do they have going UFA or RFA?

Sorry I did mis-read your post there. My apologies.

I never really got into the NBA. For a long time I watched baseball the most, but the roids era kinda stopped that, along with the retirement of Cal Ripken.

Some of those offenses were pretty good, much like Chicago's.

Didn't mean to make you cry

I don't need to bring up the 1st round failures of clearly superior Detroit teams, do I? Crazy things happen in the playoffs - that's why the NHL playoffs are the greatest tournament ever. That is also why I think Chicago makes a move.

Did I ever say they had "many problems"? It's not about not giving Chicago credit - it's about winning in the playoffs. I don't think they'll win the Cup with what they have defensively. Now if we get into a time warp and it's 1982 again with stand up goalies and looser checking games, then yeah, I think they'd do just fine. And that's not to say they won't even now. But I am saying that if they DO get beaten, it will be because of their defense.

College football has a slight edge on hockey for me. CFB > Hockey >>>> NFL >>>> MLB

The howard comment was a joke for f***s sake. Chill.

We'll just have to wait and see I guess. I'm pretty sure Chicago will do something to bolster their defense and/or their goal-tending because that is their Achilles heel.

Read my first post in this thread. chicago has too many defensive issues at present to be considered a Stanley Cup favorite.

horses***. Chicago has some serious defensive issues they need to address going into the playoffs. They aren't going to score 4 goals a game in the playoffs. They also have goaltender issues, which Columbus and other teams have shown. And LGW was hilarious for days afterward It makes perfect sense if you ever watch Columbus games, which you may not. Unfortunately that's the only hockey that's on TV for me since I don't get Versus anymore. They didn't forecheck under Hitchcock for some reason. Last year guys like Malhotra and Peca were very aggressive on the forecheck as well as Umberger and Nash. They don't have any effective playmakers - Vorachek is as inconsistent as Filipula. Huselius disappears for long stretches of the game if the other team is physical with him. Brassard is a whiny ***** who didn't get enough ice time to learn the game at the NHL level under Hitchcock. Last year they seemed to both make the plays they had to make AND they received just about every break possible down the stretch in their playoff run. This year, not only are they NOT making plays they aren't getting any breaks either, much like Detroit actually. At the time of that game, Nash would take the puck and try to go 1 on 4 against the other team. He very clearly doesn't trust his team mates to put him in a position to score. Last year, since it was considered in Columbus a contract year for him even though he had a year left, they were feeding him the puck instead of him going out and trying to take it. Another glaring difference is the puck control game Columbus doesn't have this year. While they were never on Detroit's level in terms of puck control, they are not even in the same ballpark as their team last year. And lastly, this is a team this year that has QUIT. Last year's team had something to play for. I think this may be the BIGGEST difference. If you still don't see it, you're blind. I don't really care. Columbus sucks - they shouldn't be scoring 5 goals as a supposedly "Stanley Cup ready" Blackhawks team.

Thank you

The point stands and it's not ridiculous - or at least anymore than your idolization of Jimmy Howard Yeah, Detroit gave up 8 to Columbus - LAST YEAR. Columbus is a completely different team this year.