Detroit Red Wings & the NHL

[madootra]

Original 6 Final. Not a huge Boston fan, but I just can't cheer for a team with Kane and Toews.

[WingsFan]

Have to cheer for the B's here, couldn't stomach Chicago lifting the Cup (knowing we had them) Kanes a punk, I hate him as much as Cindy.

[WingsFan]

Some insight why Ian White was in the doghouse (not a minute of playoff time) and is gone. I guess Mr I. wants to get along with Bettman now (like moving east).

http://www.freep.com/article/20130607/SPORTS05/306070121/detroit-red-wings-ian-white

[madootra]

Have to cheer for the B's here, couldn't stomach Chicago lifting the Cup (knowing we had them) Kanes a punk, I hate him as much as Cindy.

Un-possible. But.....close.

[WingsFan]

Yea your right, I guess I was a little emotional seeing as he (Kane) still a punk, scored the winning goal and Hat-Trick) tonight. Cindy is the worst.

[Optimus Prime]

Crosby needs to watch where he's going.

Liney let me help you with that......it's actually called an interference penalty.

The puck & puck carrier are actually about 60 feet away on the opposite wing. Not only did the Pens never catch a single break, the damn referees can't even call a proper game.

Boston Bruins' Daniel Paill? should have spent 2 minutes in penalty box for interference.

Blindside the GREATEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD, sad.

[Optimus Prime]

Popped in briefly while on vacation, had to comment regarding the Pens' humilation.

“Holding down Crosby and Malkin was the key. He is the best player in the world," Bergeron said of Crosby. "We did a good job with that."

Patrice Bergeron
Best two-way player & reigning Frank Selke Trophy winner in the NHL.

I’d like to thank Pittsburgh for an exciting and remarkable season, sure the Stanley Cup favorite just fell short of another SCF but frankly “them’s the breaks”, oh well there will be plenty more Cups for the best team in the NHL.

Rask's second shutout of the Eastern Conference finals continued his domination of the highest scoring team in the NHL. The Penguins big offensive threats — Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jarome Iginla and James Neal, Brenden Marrow, Chris Latang — didn't score a single point and Boston outscored Pittsburgh 12-2.

Give Boston their due, they played a disciplined, defensive game, countless blocked shots, sticks in passing lanes, rock-solid goaltending. Pittsburgh scored twice over 4 games, that’s 136 shots, include attempted shots, they threw perhaps 200 in total at the net, they had plenty of looks couldn’t capitalize.

Pens were snake bitten, frustrated and it cost them the series as they hit the post or crossbar 16 times in 4 games, post-out, crossbar-out not a single post and in, Boston got every lucky bounce in the series, it’s the way it goes sometimes. Rask had two shutouts, assisted by strong defensive play from his teammates, who cleared rebounds, blocked shots and made Penguins to get set up offensively. The few rebounds Rask allowed throughout the series were quickly cleared away by a defenseman or a forward getting back into the play. On offense and defense, the Bruins always seemed to be in the right spot at the right time. They made precise passes and got their sticks in the way of many passes the Penguins tried.

The NHL’s over-all highest scoring team finished the series 0 for 15 on the power play after scoring on 24.7 per cent of their advantages during the regular season, and 28.2 per cent through the opening two rounds against the New York Islanders and Ottawa Senators.

"For whatever reason, we couldn't capitalize," Crosby said. "We had chances, open nets. There weren't times where we were worried, to be honest, where we felt like we were losing momentum.

------------------------------------------
Now back to my vacation…..drove the Sea to Sky HWY # 99 from Vancouver to Whistler, staying at our partner’s chalet, Alpine Meadows, Nicklaus North Golf Course, if there is a such a thing as Heaven on earth, this it.


MooseHeads are huge in Canada.

[Rocky Bleier]

Liney let me help you with that......it's actually called an interference penalty.

The puck & puck carrier are actually about 60 feet away on the opposite wing. Not only did the Pens never catch a single break, the damn referees can't even call a proper game.

Boston Bruins' Daniel Paill? should have spent 2 minutes in penalty box for interference.

Blindside the GREATEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD, sad.

It's apparent that the official recognized that Cindy ran into the Bruins' player in a sad attempt to draw an interference penalty.

[*JD*]

I'm on the "Can't root for Chicago" side of things.

[*JD*]

Liney let me help you with that......it's actually called an interference penalty.

The puck & puck carrier are actually about 60 feet away on the opposite wing. Not only did the Pens never catch a single break, the damn referees can't even call a proper game.

Boston Bruins' Daniel Paill? should have spent 2 minutes in penalty box for interference.

Blindside the FOURTH GREATEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD, sad.

It's okay that he lost. It gives him time to pursue his real passion, modeling.

[Hannibal]

While I can certainly sympathize with the schadenfreude going on here, the league just got another reminder that the way to win a Stanley Cup is to play with a boring-ass, low risk, low variance strategy that involves one forechecker and four other guys hanging back in the neutral zone. if the other team dumps it in, then your goaltender stops it behind the net and gives it back to you. If the other team gets a shot on goal, don't worry, your goaltender and his Michelin man pads will stop it easily. You wait for a bad line change or a turnover and score a goal with a well-placed shot. It's like watching a football game between Jim Tressel and Nick Saban where the second string offenses are on the field and the rules have been changed so that you have to punt on 3rd down.

By far, and I mean without any contest whatsoever, the most fun series to watch the past two years have been the Penguins' first rounders. The league desperately needs more of those, but every time that an offensive-minded team like the Penguins gets knocked out of the playoffs, you reduce the likelihood that it will happen. Hockey is the only sport right now where the games get uglier, without fail, as you get closer to a championship. The sport desperately needs balance. Crosby will never win another Stanley Cup until the games that he plays in are a lot more boring.

The league is back exactly where it was right before the '04-'05 lockout. The dead puck era is back. It might be even worse, because I don't remember the goaltenders freezing the puck and forcing faceoffs as much as they do now or the puck going out of play as often as it does now. I am developing carpal tunnel from all of the DVR fast forwarding that I have to do to get through the 150 times per game that there is a stoppage in play. Expect the finals to be another boring snorefest where the teams go two hours without a scoring chance until somebody coughs the puck up and loses the game 2-0 on an empty netter.

And to make matters worse, NBC Sports has, for some reason, made Darren Pang their "B" color guy now. Whoever's dick this guy sucked at ESPN clearly works for NBCSp now. Who in the fuck thinks that listening to a squeaky castrati is good for hockey? God, he is painful to listen to. Do I have some shitty focus group to thank for this travesty? Even sitting next to Dave Strader can't make him sound good.

[Rob F]

Agreed, Hanni, but I'll watch it anyway. Much better than being subjected to the media's Lebron love-fest in the NBA Finals. I tried watching that yesterday and could only stomach 5 minutes of the first half, at which point I totally abandoned it until just missing the end of the game when I guessed wrong as to when it would end.

Besides, I appreciate the fact that we have arrived at a rare alignment of the stars and planets in which two "Original Six" teams are playing for the Greatest Trophy in Sports, The Stanley Cup.

[lineygoblue]

Much better than being subjected to the media's Lebron love-fest in the NBA Finals. I tried watching that yesterday and could only stomach 5 minutes of the first half, at which point I totally abandoned it until just missing the end of the game when I guessed wrong as to when it would end.

I think the Lebron love fest is worse than the Jordan love fest in his prime. I also hate the NBA for making me hope that the Spurs win, because of my utter loathing of Miami.

Miami is almost as bad as the Bulls were, when it comes to feeling some sort of entitlement to championships. Its made even worse when the league feels the same way.

[madootra]

ITA on the Miami-Hate. As to the NHL.......I think most series have been very entertaining, and I expect Boston/Chicago to be so. I know I'm a rarity, but I like low-scoring, tight checking games. I loathe the NHL All-Star game. Vive la differance!

[geo weidl]

I'm old school as well madootra. Original six matchup, defence, checking with good goaltending should be a fun series to watch. With Joel Quenneville being a Windsorite, I'll be rooting for Chicago. Last time they won, he brought the cup back to Windsor for the day. We had both the Stanley Cup and the Memorial Cup won by the Windsor Spitfires that year in a parade.