How quickly people forget. OK, I'll do it:

"L.A., the rest of Canada thanks you"

The hangover is made less painful when I realise that I'm about to call in sick ... a bad case of 200-level-ticket-itis for the Sens game tonight

/I don't think it's possible for Ottawa to riot

Man, LA/STL is going to be a crazy series. The Kings have shut down the Blues all year, giving up only 3 goals and winning 3 out of 4. The Blues aren't exactly a high powered offense, but that's still insane.

I'm expecting five 1-0 games and a 2-1 (OT) for the Blues to clinch in six.

Muta: animesucks: canucks, red wings, sharks, penguins have all been eliminated in the first round.
new jersey, new york, and chicago are attempting to fight off elimination. it's been a great playoffs so far, but nbc is probably starting to go into panic mode

Bettman is on the phone with the refs now to make sure the Rags make it to the next round. The LAST thing the NHL and NBC want is a Panther/Coyote series.

Actually, the NHL would love it if Phoenix were to make it to the final - a winning team is easier to sell. NBC, OTOH, just needs a major market like LA, NY or Boston to make it to the final. What would really make them panic is something like a Nashville-Ottawa or StL-Florida final.

soopey: The Kings/Blues matchup is going to be awesome like watching paint dry !

/fixed.

phyrkrakr: Man, LA/STL is going to be a crazy series. The Kings have shut down the Blues all year, giving up only 3 goals and winning 3 out of 4. The Blues aren't exactly a high powered offense, but that's still insane.

I'm expecting five 1-0 games and a 2-1 (OT) for the Blues to clinch in six.

That would make sense. The way this postseason is going, the total goals scored in each game will be no less than 8.

Father_Jack: its so strange to me to see people say "disciplined, defensive hockey" and "LA kings".

the kings i grew up with would win games 7:5 and lose them 5:4... this 9 shutouts a year thing is weird.

what are we, Martin Brodeurs NJ Devils in the late 90s? strange.

not surprised to see VAN out, am however happily surprised to see it taken care of so easily.

i hate St Louis. I will never forgive them for Courtnalls Douchebaggery in the 98 series against the kings in game 3. you guys remember that?

Not sure what you're talking about.

And whatever high crimes were committed back then; we've paid the price over the last 8 or 9 years.

mjohnson71: Father_Jack: its so strange to me to see people say "disciplined, defensive hockey" and "LA kings".

the kings i grew up with would win games 7:5 and lose them 5:4... this 9 shutouts a year thing is weird.

what are we, Martin Brodeurs NJ Devils in the late 90s? strange.

not surprised to see VAN out, am however happily surprised to see it taken care of so easily.

i hate St Louis. I will never forgive them for Courtnalls Douchebaggery in the 98 series against the kings in game 3. you guys remember that?

Not sure what you're talking about.

And whatever high crimes were committed back then; we've paid the price over the last 8 or 9 years.

Something about coutnall charging the goalie and refusing to fight when it came time to pay the piper. The kings got a five minute major penalty where the blues scored all 4 goals to win it.

pregerstheHobo: mjohnson71: Father_Jack: its so strange to me to see people say "disciplined, defensive hockey" and "LA kings".

the kings i grew up with would win games 7:5 and lose them 5:4... this 9 shutouts a year thing is weird.

what are we, Martin Brodeurs NJ Devils in the late 90s? strange.

not surprised to see VAN out, am however happily surprised to see it taken care of so easily.

i hate St Louis. I will never forgive them for Courtnalls Douchebaggery in the 98 series against the kings in game 3. you guys remember that?

Not sure what you're talking about.

And whatever high crimes were committed back then; we've paid the price over the last 8 or 9 years.

Something about coutnall charging the goalie and refusing to fight when it came time to pay the piper. The kings got a five minute major penalty where the blues scored all 4 goals to win it.

*smacks self in head*

That's right; now I remember. Thanks

SO HAPPY!

So the Canucks are this years version of the Capitals. How many years in a row have the Caps been in first place only to loose in the first round? Of course this year they seem to be doing well.

costermonger: Ghost Roach: /I don't think it's possible for Ottawa to riot

Watching them try would be like watching bad sketch comedy, I think.

it would have to be a quick riot cause we have to get to orleans after the game and all..

KINGS.....Till I die.

/so f'n sweet.
//Bring on the Blues.

meddleRPI: phyrkrakr: Man, LA/STL is going to be a crazy series. The Kings have shut down the Blues all year, giving up only 3 goals and winning 3 out of 4. The Blues aren't exactly a high powered offense, but that's still insane.

I'm expecting five 1-0 games and a 2-1 (OT) for the Blues to clinch in six.

That would make sense. The way this postseason is going, the total goals scored in each game will be no less than 8.

In a straight up shootout, I still gotta like the Blues. Just about any line they have can put points on the board. All the young talent is on the top two lines, leaving the grizzled playoff vets like Langenbrunner, Nichol, and Arnott holding down the back end.

Whatever happened to that one FARKer who was claiming that Pens would sweep the Flyers, while outscoring them 2-1?

/Go B's, though I don't think the team has the determination that last years squad did.

gretzkyscores: Muta: animesucks: canucks, red wings, sharks, penguins have all been eliminated in the first round.
new jersey, new york, and chicago are attempting to fight off elimination. it's been a great playoffs so far, but nbc is probably starting to go into panic mode

Bettman is on the phone with the refs now to make sure the Rags make it to the next round. The LAST thing the NHL and NBC want is a Panther/Coyote series.

Actually, the NHL would love it if Phoenix were to make it to the final - a winning team is easier to sell. NBC, OTOH, just needs a major market like LA, NY or Boston to make it to the final. What would really make them panic is something like a Nashville-Ottawa or StL-Florida final.

I'm rooting for Nashville-Florida.

As for NBC, meh. They're locked-in for the next 10 years, so if they take a hit on the Finals this year, it's not such a big deal for the NHL. Besides, NBC has been getting strong ratings in the early rounds, so that makes up for it a little.

change1211: Britney Spear's Speculum: Can we put the Sharks choking lame meme to rest now?

Pssh, people were making riot jokes before Vancouver rioted last year and their last hockey based riot was 94!

If Phoenix wins the West will be a very defensive battle.

Ugh, it would make for a pretty lame SCF if all games were decided 1-0 or 2-1. Unless lots and lots of bonus hockey and alcohol were involved.

dletter: Just a question from someone who only tangentially follows hockey.....

It seems like these upsets, especially even 8 over 1 series upsets, happen much more in hockey than in like baskeball, or other sports. I am just wondering if there is anything about how the game is played that does that... I mean, obviously, not to the extent of soccer maybe, but, certainly more than other sports, every "score" is important, since there are so few of them. It is much easier for a "lesser" team to get a few lucky games where they can get more goals and pull off an upset? Are there just a lot of bad player matchups for the #1 seeds against the 8's lately? Are #8 seeds in hockey not as "worse" than a #1 vs. other sports?

Nah, the NHL has a salary cap which has promoted parity in the league. Of the 16 teams that make the playoffs their is not a large difference in skill, but there can be a huge difference in team play and work ethic.

pregerstheHobo: Something about coutnall charging the goalie and refusing to fight when it came time to pay the piper. The kings got a five minute major penalty where the blues scored all 4 goals to win it.

Sounds like exactly my argument why removing the 'intitagtor rule' will do nothing to clean up the game.

dletter: It seems like these upsets, especially even 8 over 1 series upsets, happen much more in hockey than in like baskeball, or other sports. I am just wondering if there is anything about how the game is played that does that... I mean, obviously, not to the extent of soccer maybe, but, certainly more than other sports, every "score" is important, since there are so few of them. It is much easier for a "lesser" team to get a few lucky games where they can get more goals and pull off an upset? Are there just a lot of bad player matchups for the #1 seeds against the 8's lately? Are #8 seeds in hockey not as "worse" than a #1 vs. other sports?

#8 over #1 upsets would happen reasonably often in baseball if they seeded teams that way. St. Louis tied for the worst regular season record of playoff teams last year and won the world series.

I would just like to ask whatever college girl(s) in the Boston area that is/are giving Marchand all the free ass he wants to please cut him off for the next couple days. It would be nice to see the pest show up this series, but we aren't going to see it if he isn't frustrated and riled up.

/Thanks in advance

You can have these back now Loui!

dletter: Just a question from someone who only tangentially follows hockey.....

It seems like these upsets, especially even 8 over 1 series upsets, happen much more in hockey than in like baskeball, or other sports. I am just wondering if there is anything about how the game is played that does that... I mean, obviously, not to the extent of soccer maybe, but, certainly more than other sports, every "score" is important, since there are so few of them. It is much easier for a "lesser" team to get a few lucky games where they can get more goals and pull off an upset? Are there just a lot of bad player matchups for the #1 seeds against the 8's lately? Are #8 seeds in hockey not as "worse" than a #1 vs. other sports?


In my mind, there are 3 components, and you touched on them all:

- goal importance: as you said, since there are only 5 +/- 4 goals per game, skewing lower in the playoffs (Pens-Flyers notwithstanding), each one is very important, so a team that wouldn't necessarily be 'better' than another over a season, can manage to take 4 of 5 or 6 by buckling down and hoping for breaks.

- bad matchups: the Kings were waaay better than the 8 seed to close the season, but they scored so poorly through January that they were stuck in that 3/7/8 hole no matter what they did. This was a situation where the Canucks came up against a team with more momentum than they had, and much more ability than a typical 8 seed. The Penguins did a similar thing a few years ago when they fired Therrien and hired Bylsma after sucking for months, and went on to almost win the division (finishing 4th), and made the Finals.

- parity: especially in the went, the divide between the top 4, 6, or 8 teams (depending on the year) is very slim. The Kings could've been the #3 seed were it not for Clowe's cheeky play from the bench, and Sharks, were it not for their inherent Sharkiness, could've easily upset the Blues. Compared to the NBA, the playoff parity in the NHL is so great as to render seeding pointless. Of course, that's not reality, but the NBA sees first round upsets so infrequently that the NHL looks like bizarro world.

So, that's what I think happened with the Kings-'Nucks series. The fact that the Sens have the Rangers on the ropes was totally unexpected, because the Sens weren't great down the stretch, and have been punching above their weight all season. The Rangers play a grinding style of hockey, block a lot of shots, and play hard on the boards. Many pundits said that might cost them around game #100. It's only Game 88 now, but they've lost a couple of close game they could've won, and now they're on the edge.

With the Kings, it's kinda like Cards in the post-season last year: they were the worst team in the playoffs (by the standings), but they got good at the right time. We'll see where that takes them...

kab: Whatever happened to that one FARKer who was claiming that Pens would sweep the Flyers, while outscoring them 2-1?

/Go B's, though I don't think the team has the determination that last years squad did.

I'm pretty sure you just described every Pens fan as well as 3/4 of the people who only watch hockey during the playoffs.

Most of the people in my office thought a Pens-Canucks Final was chisled in stone.

Loomy: So, that's what I think happened with the Kings-'Nucks series. The fact that the Sens have the Rangers on the ropes was totally unexpected, because the Sens weren't great down the stretch, and have been punching above their weight all season. The Rangers play a grinding style of hockey, block a lot of shots, and play hard on the boards. Many pundits said that might cost them around game #100. It's only Game 88 now, but they've lost a couple of close game they could've won, and now they're on the edge.

yep. same way when Caps made the playoffs finally it was a case of "really? they shouldn't even be in the post-season this year."
then when they were seeded against boston it was "sweep time"

now it's a game 7 solely because of an overtime goal (best time in playoff hockey is game 7 OT, followed by any other series ending OT).

If caps eliminate Boston I will be almost as shocked as Philly going up 3-0 on Pitt. Never in my life thought I would see that.

dletter: Just a question from someone who only tangentially follows hockey.....

It seems like these upsets, especially even 8 over 1 series upsets, happen much more in hockey than in like baskeball, or other sports. I am just wondering if there is anything about how the game is played that does that... I mean, obviously, not to the extent of soccer maybe, but, certainly more than other sports, every "score" is important, since there are so few of them. It is much easier for a "lesser" team to get a few lucky games where they can get more goals and pull off an upset? Are there just a lot of bad player matchups for the #1 seeds against the 8's lately? Are #8 seeds in hockey not as "worse" than a #1 vs. other sports?

A hot goalie can carry a team in the playoffs. No one player in any other sport has that much impact on a series.

4NSpy: dletter: Just a question from someone who only tangentially follows hockey.....

It seems like these upsets, especially even 8 over 1 series upsets, happen much more in hockey than in like baskeball, or other sports. I am just wondering if there is anything about how the game is played that does that... I mean, obviously, not to the extent of soccer maybe, but, certainly more than other sports, every "score" is important, since there are so few of them. It is much easier for a "lesser" team to get a few lucky games where they can get more goals and pull off an upset? Are there just a lot of bad player matchups for the #1 seeds against the 8's lately? Are #8 seeds in hockey not as "worse" than a #1 vs. other sports?

A hot goalie can carry a team in the playoffs. No one player in any other sport has that much impact on a series.

Yeah, who was that guy with Anaheim in about 2001? Jiguere or something like that? Dude had like 200 minutes of shutout or something.

Another factor with this is that momentum is such a crucial factor in the playoffs. Because so many teams make the playoffs, the top seeds might've been coasting for a week or two prior to the series start, while the guys at the bottom are still scrapping and clawing their way in. Then you get a hot team like the Kings that have been pushing so hard down the stretch against a Vancouver team that had their spot sewn up a month ago, and the Kings ambushed them in the first two games. After that, well, too big of a hole to climb out.

Good on LA for the upset, although I don't see them getting past St. Louis. Over in the East, man Ottawa couldn't have begged for a better match-up in the first round, and if they and Florida advance it's entirely possible the Sens could make the Conference Finals before getting crushed by Philly.

you have pee hands: dletter: It seems like these upsets, especially even 8 over 1 series upsets, happen much more in hockey than in like baskeball, or other sports. I am just wondering if there is anything about how the game is played that does that... I mean, obviously, not to the extent of soccer maybe, but, certainly more than other sports, every "score" is important, since there are so few of them. It is much easier for a "lesser" team to get a few lucky games where they can get more goals and pull off an upset? Are there just a lot of bad player matchups for the #1 seeds against the 8's lately? Are #8 seeds in hockey not as "worse" than a #1 vs. other sports?

#8 over #1 upsets would happen reasonably often in baseball if they seeded teams that way. St. Louis tied for the worst regular season record of playoff teams last year and won the world series.

Can we please never ever have a 16-team MLB playoffs? I love baseball, but I'd kill myself out of sheer ennui if that happened.

mikaloyd: me go Im on a roll


I think the phrase you're looking for is "call be butta cause I'm on a roll"

Flappyhead: Good on LA for the upset, although I don't see them getting past St. Louis. Over in the East, man Ottawa couldn't have begged for a better match-up in the first round, and if they and Florida advance it's entirely possible the Sens could make the Conference Finals before getting crushed by Philly.


Oh, man, those last few days of season, while pundits were talking about how Florida could somehow miss the playoffs by some weird set of results, I was just thinking: "Okay, if the Sens lose a few and the Caps don't suck the tape off their sticks, we can drop to 8th! Woo-hoo! No Bruins!"

/What a sweep that'd've been
//Now, of course, if the Caps blow Game 7 and Ottawa pulls it out, we still end up facing them... albeit as giantkillers

As a brand new hockey fan, I gotta say 2 things:

- Playoff hockey is absolutely farking awesome.
- Is it a requirement for all the players to grow scratchy, unkept hangover beards prior to entering the post-season?

4NSpy: A hot goalie can carry a team in the playoffs. No one player in any other sport has that much impact on a series.

Quick was fantastic in this series. I mean, he was good all year, but he was lights out (Game 4 notwithstanding) all series.

Luongoal, on the other hand, was shartastic.

/Canucks fan
//Hates Luongo

These playoffs are the new bizarro NHL

Detroit, San jose, Vancouver, Pittsburgh - probably the best 4 teams in the NHL - are the first 4 teams out?

My one meager consolation prize of the Sharks losing in round 1 is that this year's head-to-head playoff commemorative pucks are horrible. I will only need to have one in my display.



This is the most boring playoff design since they started the head to head pucks in 1997 or whenever. Jeez.