DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum NHL Playoffs thread

Wow! Did anyone just watch game 7 between the Caps and Habs? That was non-stop super intensity action up to the last second. I was rooting hard for the Habs and thought it was over when they went up 2-0. I figured the Caps would sneak in one goal near the end but got it kinda fast. And then Halak had to make a crazy save with 15 seconds left. Great series!

Wow!

unreal.

caps are the most immature team i have ever seen.

and not immature in the way they act, just the way they play as a whole.

you go up 3-1 on someone, you need to slam the door. they screwed around, and they payed dearly for it.

halak was a machine though. i don't know if he can keep that up, but hell of a series for him, specially those last 2.

Stick a fork in the Wings, they're done. Yet again, they give up 4 goals.....as they have in 7 of the 10 playoff games this postseason. Howard is NOT a playoff goalie. They have enough trade bait to get a good goaltender this offseason.

I'm surprised they're down 3-0, haven't seen any of that series on TV.
The Pens-Canadiens game tonight was OK but nothing great even though it was a close game... Pitt. won 2-0 (empty-netter). Pittsburgh is a better team, the Canadiens hardly got any shots on goal and can't seem to mount much of a sustained attack. Their forwards are small and are getting manhandled on the boards. Pens in 6 if not sooner.

i don't think boston or philly can get pittsburgh either. they're solid defensive teams but the penguins have too much talent.

i would love to see a sharks/penguins final or a blackhawks/penguins final. that would be great television.

and i think i just turned in the worst 90 minutes of hockey in my life. just call me the cleveland cavaliers of goaltending

I'm a little worried about the Pens. I don't think they looked good at all in game 2. Halak is going crazy right now, but it looked like Montreal's defense actually shut down Pittsburgh (clearing away rebounds, deflecting/blocking shots). Pittsburgh was in Montreal's end the entire 3rd period, but they didn't have nearly enough chances.

They played better in the third game, but sooner or later they are going to run into a team that's more talented than their competition so far. That wake-up call is going to be rough. Not sure what to make of Detroit.

I'm hoping for Chicago to make it to the finals and lose. I'd just love seeing that gun-for-hire Hossa come that close three years in a row. He's a beast on the ice, but when he jumped ship to the Wings from the Pens... that was crap.

i actually give hossa credit for doing that. he took a gamble by only doing a 1 year deal to play with detroit. he had offers all over the place for a long term contract.

that's what i love about the nhl, it's not always about the money. that guy wants to win.

and he's really fun to watch. i've gotten to see him on an every game basis and he's unbelievable.

Wow....I gave up on the Sharks/Wings game with 8 mins left last night. I figured the Wings would score 2-3 more goals. So I flipped on a DVR'd show on black holes and crashed 10 mins later. Little did I know that the Sharks tied up the game about a minute after me switching. Bad fan, baaad fan.

The Sharks are my 3rd NHL team I follow (Chicago and San Jose being #1 and #2). And since the Wings are one of my least favorite teams in all of sports....I'm really upset I missed the ending last night.

Oh well, up 3-0. I'll take it.

I'd like a Blackhawks and Canadians Cup Final. I'd accept the Sharks instead of the Blackhawks. I don't really like anyone else in the East (Pitt, Boston, & Philly).

I understand him wanting to win, but the guy helped the Pens into the finals, lost to the Wings, then jumps ship almost immediately after the season from the Pens to the Wings saying he wants to win the cup? That's crap. Seeing his face after the Pens beat his Wings the next year was priceless. It also doesn't help that I'm a Pens fan, and hate the Wings.

I will never disrespect his play on the ice, though. The guy is really fun to watch.

the hawks looked great last night. niemi was fantastic.

if they continue to play like that, they're gonna get a great shot to win it all.

It's hard to believe what the Canadiens are doing. If they upset Pitt. that would mean they beat Washington and the Penguins back-to-back.
Not nearly as much talent, but playing more like a t-e-a-m.

I would LOVE to see the Habs take down Pittsburgh. Montreal is a scrappy team who is playing very well right now. Of course, it helps that Halat has been so strong in the net. Fun to watch.

My Wings finally woke up. Unfortunately, it's probably too little to late for them. All they can do now is take it one game at a time and play with desperation. We'll see what happens, but I fully expect San Jose to close this thing out on Saturday.

yeah, but if there is a team capable of blowing a 3-0 lead, it's the sharks.

LOL... true enough. Their playoff history isn't exactly stellar.

... as I suspected, my Wings are out. Luckily, I was too tired to watch the whole game last night. Unfortunately, my last memory of this season will be one of the worst power plays I've ever seen Detroit "execute." LOL Oh well...

San Jose was clearly the better team this year. Kudos to them and good luck going forward.

My wings better get a proven goaltender next year. Didn't get to see the game last night (working), but too many soft goals will always lead to an early exit in the playoffs. A playoff GAA of 2.75 just will not cut it. 40yo Lidstrom is an unrestricted FA that's going to take about 7.5 of an available 15mil to sign. Holmstrom and Maltby are also UFA's, and I think Maltby's finished. It's going to be an interesting off season.

I have to disagree with you on Howard. He's a Calder Trophy finalist (and has a pretty good shot at winning it) this year and, if he hadn't played as well as he did during the regular season, the Wings probably would have missed the playoffs altogether.

This was a team loss. Yeah, Howard could have played better at times. However, the Wings turned the puck over WAY too much. The defense in front of Howard was very inconsistent (slow and soft -- a horrible combination). They took WAY too many penalties that they couldn't kill off. With the exception of Game 4, the Wings power play was absolutely anemic. They just didn't play Red Wing hockey (mostly because San Jose basically didn't allow them too).

Howard is the least of the Wings' problems right now, IMO. With the experience he got in the playoffs this season, he'll only get better going forward.

Might be a year or two of re-tooling for Detroit. Every empire stumbles sooner or later, a guy like Lidstrom in his prime can't be easily replaced.

If Philly wins again to make it 3-2 after being down three-nothing, there might be some tight hands holding the sticks in Boston.

Trust me... I won't complain about a 19-year playoff run that includes four Stanley Cups and a few additional Finals appearances in between.

I agree with you, though. I think we'll see some re-tooling over the off-season. We need to get younger in a number of spots (defense and offense). Next year, we'll have way more 30+ somethings than 20-somethings. It's good to have a veteran team, but the wear and tear of a long season requires a little more youth than the Wings have right now. It will be an interesting off-season to be sure!

Who knows what Lidstrom is going to do next season. I can't imagine he'd play for another NHL team at this point. If I had to guess, he'll retire or go play in his native Sweden for a couple of years. We'll see...

i know howard was a calder finalist, but i don't think he's all that great.

i will say that it is very very hard to be the goalie for the red wings. you don't see a lot of pucks, because they dominate the puck so much. so you could be just standing there, watching the other goalie do all kinds of work, and then out of nowhere you could see a good chance. that is really hard to do when you're a goalie, that is why chris osgood was such a great fit for that team, while he's no top 5 goalie or anything like that, he was great at handling those responsibilities.

just from my own experience, i prefer to see a decent amount of shots to keep a rythym, keep the adrenaline going.

i think with the way the final four should be set barring any kind of miracle comeback, i am going to be thrilled at any pairing of the finals, san jose or chicago, boston or pittsburgh. i think any way you set up the finals with those 4 teams, they're all great matchups. no pretenders in there. boston may have flown under the radar, but they are riding a hot goalie, and have one of the best, if not THE best d-men in the game. they're a scrappy team that reminds me of edmonton back when they got to the finals. hopefully rask doesn't suffer some fluke injury like roly did.

There's more youth on that team than people think. You have people like Lidstrom, Draper, Maltby, Rafalski and Holmstrom really driving that average age up. Hudler's expected to return from his stint in Russia. Zetterburg, Franzen and Datsyuk are in their prime with Helm and Filpula showing some scoring touch. Defense can use some new talent if Lidstrom goes and Rafalski looks like he's lost a step. Kronwall and Ericsson will have to be the anchors. We'll be right in the thick of things again next year I think, especially if we get a proven goalie.

But the guys you named who are up there in age aren't easy to replace, dude.... guys like Lidstrom don't grow on trees. We'll see in time, as always.

I find it hard to believe Montreal could put out Washington and Pittsburgh back-to-back, but they're on the verge of doing precisely that. Wow.... If they win tomorrow it's wide-open for the Stanley Cup.
And Philly won again Monday night: that is a series that's getting quite interesting.

I'm not disputing that at all....Holmstrom can't be replaced either. I'm just saying those ages (37+) really drive up the average and there are some great players on the team who aren't ready to receive their AARP card.

Montreal's definitely the feel good team of these playoffs. That would be something if they took out the elite of the east.

they have a good mix of young and older players. i think the problem was goaltending, and also the fact that the entire team has seen a lot of hockey the last 2 years. 2 straight cup runs, that's 18 months out of the last 24. that is a ton of wear and tear.

i just think it wasn't their year. they are still a very talented and deep team.

The problem vs. San Jose was two-fold:

1. San Jose beat Detroit at their own game (with the exception of Game 4): puck possesion. San Jose committed FAR fewer turnovers, consistently beat Detroit to loose pucks and they consistently won faceoffs.

2. Detroit collapsed defensively in Games 2 and 3. Those games were Detroit's to lose and they did (in the third period both times). It wasn't just Howard by any stretch of the imagination. Detroit's defense got extremely disorganized and out of position at the end of both games and they couldn't stay with the Sharks. That pretty much sealed the deal for the Wings. Too deep a hole to climb out of.

Bottom line: San Jose was just the better team in that series. It wasn't any one player (it never is).

Congrats to the Hawks for making it to the Western Finals. Hawks/Sharks should be a really fun series to watch!

Love seeing all the "Original 6" teams pushing for spots in the conference finals. C'mon Habs (I hate Pittsburgh) and Bruins (I don't like Philly)!!

they were great last night, niemi impresses me more and more every time i watch. love his attitude, and his body language, doesn't get bothered by pressure, by getting scored on. he's nails tough.

Luongo gave up a couple of dubious goals, he was very ordinary, which is his M.O. in the playoffs. The Blackhawks made Vancouver pay for some atrocious turnovers, the better team won.... it should be a good series out west.

Way to go Habs! This team is fun to watch. Halak has been terrific. Very poised in goal and doesn't get himself out of position very often. Good stuff!

No hockey fan here, but it was a delight watching the Penguins lose,....

I really don't like Philly though... I'd much rather watch a Boston / Montreal matchup. Gotta love Original 6 hockey!

Amen OoooRah... Amen.

My sister is a big Penguins fan, but I know too many others that are not so nice. I really wasn't rooting against "that Steeler town."

Would like to see the Flyers pull this off,...

I'm hoping for Philly too... Bruins are too beat up IMO to threaten Montreal the way the Flyers would; they'll have serious momentum if they can finish off Boston tonight.
Only twice before has a team come back from a 3-0 series deficit (going strictly on memory, the '75 Islanders over Pittsburgh I think, and the Maple Leafs over Detroit in the 40s).

philly can definitely pull this off.

although i wanna see montreal. its not great for u.s. ratings but it's great for the true fans. the people that appreciate what montreal means to the league. the fact that they have fans all over the united states bodes well.

Yup.....me being a Habs fan would be good!

I'm hoping for a Blackhawks/Habs final. Wow! That would be epic.

Heck, even if the Sharks get in, I'll be happy.

Don't like Philly fan....they don't deserve jack.