NHL playoffs looming

[quote name='Mike23']This week will make or break most teams playoff lives, my team specifically.[/QUOTE]
great night for the thrashers. they move to 1 point behind montreal and 3 points behind tampa, and put 4 points between themselves and the islanders.

and how bout kari lehtonen? that kid is on a roll winning 9 of his last 12. i smell a future vezina winner. too bad he was out for 35 games earlier this season...
 
[quote name='darkmere']vancouver's doing their best to help you out...five straight loses. edmonton also seems to be on a losing streak. sj has enough games in hand, if they can keep winning they're in it.[/QUOTE]

yeah we have 19 games left to make up 5 points, so its entirely possible. but the sharks just havent played consistently this year, one day were beating the red wings the next were getting crushed by columbus. but im hopeful.
 
[quote name='darkmere']great night for the thrashers. they move to 1 point behind montreal and 3 points behind tampa, and put 4 points between themselves and the islanders.

and how bout kari lehtonen? that kid is on a roll winning 9 of his last 12. i smell a future vezina winner. too bad he was out for 35 games earlier this season...[/QUOTE]
There's a reason for that... the man has Yuna and Rikku from FF painted on his mask... it's all about the video games. Just need Legace to put Mario and Luigi on his.
 
[quote name='savestheday888']The Red Wings are sick, but their goaltending presents a ?, yet again. Legace is having an awesome season, and Osgood is doing pretty good as a backup, but I don't know how they'll hold up in the playoffs.[/QUOTE]
[quote name='botticus']There's a reason for that... the man has Yuna and Rikku from FF painted on his mask... it's all about the video games. Just need Legace to put Mario and Luigi on his.[/QUOTE]
what's up with the hate for detroit goaltending (legace in particular)? last i checked he was 28 - 8 - 2 with a 2.25 gaa and a .911 save percentage. sure, he's no brodeur, but i would kill to have a goalie with those numbers on my team. detroit is sitting pretty atop the western conference with 95 points and ONLY 166 goals against. there are three teams with fewer goals against, only one of which is in the same conference. it leads me to ask one little question...what's wrong with you people? is there something i don't see or know about?

sorry, i'm just confused by the hate for a player who's having a good year. maybe you'd be happier with khabibulin?

rant over.
 
[quote name='darkmere']sorry, i'm just confused by the hate for a player who's having a good year. maybe you'd be happier with khabibulin?

rant over.[/quote]

Chicago fans would be happy to hand over Khabibulin to anyone who wants to take a risk. I was so excited when I heard that the Hawks signed him. Now I'm just depressed.
 
[quote name='botticus']Hell no, I love Legace as I said before. He's just unproven in the playoffs.[/QUOTE]
so was kiprusoff, and the flames almost won a cup with him. roy and brodeur both won cups with barely a season worth of experience their first times. legace has always been a backup for marquee goalies until this season. in order to prove yourself in the playoffs you must first be given a chance. i think he's earned the chance.
 
what the f just happened in the philly tampa game? i'm looking at the scoresheet and at 18:17 in the third all hell broke lose. lecavalier scored a goal and at the same time instigated a fight, got 35 min. worth of penalties, and was apparently ejected from the game. did someone see this game, cause i'm wanting some kind of explanation...
 
[quote name='darkmere']what the f just happened in the philly tampa game? i'm looking at the scoresheet and at 18:17 in the third all hell broke lose. lecavalier scored a goal and at the same time instigated a fight, got 35 min. worth of penalties, and was apparently ejected from the game. did someone see this game, cause i'm wanting some kind of explanation...[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I was watching...
Lecavalier scored a beautiful goal, and as he put it in, he got leveled by Gauthier (a late hit in my opinion). He stood up and charged at Gauthier, and they threw some punches. The refs broke it up pretty quickly. I think it's ridiculous that he got all those penalties. There should have been more to Gauthier than Lecavalier...
 
What did you expect with Khabibulin, the Blackhawks signed him? The Hawks are easily the worst run team in the league. I do have to say though about Khabibulin, he is a good goalie if he has the D around him.
 
[quote name='darkmere']what's up with the hate for detroit goaltending (legace in particular)? last i checked he was 28 - 8 - 2 with a 2.25 gaa and a .911 save percentage. sure, he's no brodeur, but i would kill to have a goalie with those numbers on my team. detroit is sitting pretty atop the western conference with 95 points and ONLY 166 goals against. there are three teams with fewer goals against, only one of which is in the same conference. it leads me to ask one little question...what's wrong with you people? is there something i don't see or know about?

sorry, i'm just confused by the hate for a player who's having a good year. maybe you'd be happier with khabibulin?

rant over.[/QUOTE]

How was I hating? I said the goalies are having an awesome season (just as you reiterated); I just don't know if they'll hold up in playoffs.
 
i think the goaltending will stay strong in the playoffs. i don't think detroit will win the cup though. i'd look for a team with strong skating and team defense to knock them out, in a probably low scoring series. dallas, calgary, nashville, or anaheim are likely candidates. san jose would be my pick to eliminate detroit by blowout with explosive scoring from thornton, marleau, and cheechoo.

fart_bubble made an excellent point: goalies are only as good as the defense played in front of them.
 
fuck, man. Nashville is on a roll. Vancouver drops out of the final playoff spot, and the last 4 spots in the West just got even closer over the weekend.
 
The hit by Gauthier wasn't late at all. I was at the game and he totally hit Vinny cleanly. Vinny was just upset and went off on Gauthier. If you ask me, Vinny deserved all those penalties. Granted, I'm a bit biased since I'm a Flyers fan, but even my uncle who was with me at the game said that was a totally clean hit. Though we disagree on the hit Hatcher got a game misconduct for. I still say Hatcher never left his feet and shouldn't have gotten a major and a misconduct for that.
 
alright, thrashers beat the sabres 5 to nothing. shut out for lehtonen. if they make the playoffs, it's because they're making the most of this kid's hot streak in the net.

unfortunately the canadiens also won tonight and tampa gained a point in an OT loss to florida (thanks to olli jokinen for making sure it wasn't 2 points).

this is the closest atlanta has been this late in the season and they've now set a franchise record for points and wins in a season if i'm not mistaken.
 
Who do you guys think, as of right now, will make it to the Stanley Cup? I think Detroit (not because I like them, its just because they are really good) and either Ottawa or Carolina
 
out west it's gonna be a fight between dallas, calgary, and nashville. they seem to play like teams, not individuals, skate well, have good defense in general, and solid goaltending.

in the east it's ottawa and carolina's to lose. the biased fan side of me says watch out for the explosive offense, hot goaltending, and young atlanta team to be the cinderella team of the '06 playoffs, but realistically i see them making a second round exit after knocking out ottawa in an upset series that probably goes to 6 games. i can dream right?
 
I'm gonna say I could see Calgary or Dallas out West, and I expect Carolina to make it from the East. The biased fan in me wants to see the Flyers make it, but they're too injured to make it this year. I expect to see them heal up over the summer and come back strong next season. Though their goaltending could use some help. Esche is not the future at all there. Nittymaki could prove interesting though. He's really impressed me this season.
 
Don't count out the Rangers in the East. If Jagr stays healthy, they may go far. I think any of the top 4 teams in the East have a great chance to win the cup. I think it will be either Nashville or Detroit in the West.
 
i didn't see this...so I'll ask...what channel will the playoffs be televised on this year? since ESPN doesn't have the games anymore...is it OLN?
 
[quote name='scp89']i didn't see this...so I'll ask...what channel will the playoffs be televised on this year? since ESPN doesn't have the games anymore...is it OLN?[/quote]

OLN and ABC.
 
I'm picking Ottawa from the East (providing the goaltending holds up) and Calgary from the West.
 
[quote name='shieryda']Don't count out the Rangers in the East. If Jagr stays healthy, they may go far. I think any of the top 4 teams in the East have a great chance to win the cup. I think it will be either Nashville or Detroit in the West.[/QUOTE]
jagr's banged up. if that team loses him or lundqvist it's over. i'll admit jagr is finally living up to his potential, but the rangers are a two man team. i just don't see the depth and grit to make it through a 2 month playoff run.
 
thrashers won in a shootout, montreal lost their game tonight. which means...

thrashers in the last playoff spot (for now).

the leafs and islanders both picked up 2 points tonight as well. the playoff race is intense this year.
 
sweet, sharks won. now were only 1 point out of the 8th spot, and weve played less games that most of the teams ahead of us. so its looking really good. cant wait to go see them next week. i need to start saving a few extra bucks so i can go to a game the first round.
 
[quote name='beerguy961']Looking like my team (the Sharks) won't be going. Need to make a trade to get a scoring winger for Marleau.[/QUOTE]
this is an old post i overlooked. hit the panic button early? i'd stick with marleau for now. 31 goals and 44 assists for 75 points in 67 games. i'm curious what a scoring winger is, if 75 points in 67 games isn't cutting it. that's not counting thornton and cheechoo. the offense is there and it's clicking well lately.
[quote name='iheartmetal']sweet, sharks won. now were only 1 point out of the 8th spot, and weve played less games that most of the teams ahead of us. so its looking really good. cant wait to go see them next week. i need to start saving a few extra bucks so i can go to a game the first round.[/QUOTE]
see, i told you they had plenty of games to make up those points. they can easily finish 6th or 7th in the west.
 
Big series on Thursday/Saturday with the Leafs and Habs, likely to decide who will end in the 8th spot in the East.
 
Just 5 games left (6 for some teams) in the regular season! San Jose is coming on strong the past couple of weeks. I only hope they don't bump Colorado out of the Western race.

Montreal has been hot, too.
 
i think the thrashers will be in it through the weekend, but unless tampa starts losing, their hopes will end with about 2 or 3 games left. it was a nice run while it lasted.
 
kovalchuk became the second player this season to pass the 50 goal mark. too bad he missed the first week or so of the season. would be cool to see him win the richard award again (there's still time) or the art ross. it's been good to see the league return with numerous players being able to hit 50 goals and 100 points. with all the young exciting players in the game it feels like a return to the late 80's/early 90's era.
 
Not Vancouver. They really needed to win last night.

I saw Ovechkin get his 100th point. That kid is amazing. Crosby and Pittsburgh take on Philly tonight.

Vokoun is out for Nashville. I don't see them going very far without him.
 
Wow, what happened to Ottawa? They were giving Detroit a run for their money, but it looks like my Wings have locked up the President's Trophy with one more point.
 
[quote name='shieryda']Not Vancouver. They really needed to win last night.

I saw Ovechkin get his 100th point. That kid is amazing. Crosby and Pittsburgh take on Philly tonight.

Vokoun is out for Nashville. I don't see them going very far without him.[/QUOTE]

Definitely interesting how Vancouver has fallen so far. Many people had them winning the NW division. Of course I'm glad Calgary is winning that one.

That's tough luck for Nashville. Losing their starting goaltender could (probably should) mean they are not going to go far. Although they have a pretty good winning percentage with their backup in net so it will be interesting to see what happens there. I'm just hoping to make a trip down there to see some playoff games if at all possible.
 
Ovechkin is pretty unbelieveable, though his goal last night was brutal.

Vancouver is much better then how they've played, I'll be disappointed if they don't make the playoffs. I guess they miss Cloutier more then we'd imagine?

Leafs are almost officially out, despite being red-hot lately.
 
critical game in the east tonite. atlanta at tampa. if atlanta wins they move to within 4 points and have a game in hand over the lightning for the 8th spot. if tampa wins the final spot is all but theirs.
 
thrashers won 6-2! could this be the final push for a playoff spot? all of atlanta's remaining games are against teams with losing records. they might just be back in it, at least for a few more days.
 
Another absolutely must win game tonight for Vancouver against San Jose, for the final spot in the West.

Great game in Philly last night against the Penguins. It would be sweet if Crosby can get 7 more points to break 100 in his first season.
 
the penguins will be great in a couple of years if they play their cards right. crosby is a great playmaker, he just needs a finisher. hopefully malkin will be able to get out of his russian contract or whatever the holdup is and play next year. i hear he's amazing and practically a lock for the calder trophy. if they use their top pick this draft for a good scoring winger to pair up with crosby and then focus HEAVILY on defense (both defensemen and team defensive playing) then they can be in the playoffs within 2 years. hell, with free agency and the salary cap they could have an amazing turnaround next year.

wouldn't hurt to let patrick go, the front office needs new blood.
 
[quote name='darkmere']the penguins will be great in a couple of years if they play their cards right. crosby is a great playmaker, he just needs a finisher. hopefully malkin will be able to get out of his russian contract or whatever the holdup is and play next year. i hear he's amazing and practically a lock for the calder trophy. if they use their top pick this draft for a good scoring winger to pair up with crosby and then focus HEAVILY on defense (both defensemen and team defensive playing) then they can be in the playoffs within 2 years. hell, with free agency and the salary cap they could have an amazing turnaround next year.[/quote]

I agree. Crosby, Malkin, Whitney, Fleury, Talbot and Armstrong will make this a strong club within 2-3 years. They are the #1 ranked team in terms of prospects.
 
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