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colleyvillesooner
4/11/2007, 10:33 PM
Time to get my Hockey face on. I follow the Stars through the regular season, but I can't sit down an watch your average wed night Hockey game like I can with the Mavs.

Stars and Canucks are trading goals, but the canucks just put a 3rd one through. Marty just got owned face to face through the 5 hole. Maybe it's true about Marty...

colleyvillesooner
4/11/2007, 11:20 PM
Canucks score to make it 4-2 and send I'm reaching for the remot as it's getting late. Just as I do the Stars score to make it a 1 goal game.

Pretty good back and forth if you're up. It's on Versus.

Canucks 4
Stars 3
8:50 3rd

GrapevineSooner
4/11/2007, 11:26 PM
Luongo sucks tonight. ;)

royalfan5
4/12/2007, 12:06 AM
I just want to go on record as saying this is going to be the year for Ottawa to break through and take the Cup back to where it belongs. The Capital of one of the Top 5 nations of the World.

garland sooner
4/12/2007, 01:24 AM
man. this sucks. I can't watch any stars' playoffs action on tv here in norman. what am i to do?

hurricane'bone
4/12/2007, 01:59 AM
Game is getting ready to enter its fourth overtime

hurricane'bone
4/12/2007, 02:33 AM
Dallas loses in the 4th OT

colleyvillesooner
4/12/2007, 07:19 AM
:(

Went to bed way before that.

colleyvillesooner
4/12/2007, 07:20 AM
man. this sucks. I can't watch any stars' playoffs action on tv here in norman. what am i to do?

Don't have Versus in Norman?

GrapevineSooner
4/12/2007, 07:46 AM
I feel strangely confident about the rest of the series, though. In the end, I think Dallas' depth will wear down the Canucks and I fully expect the Stars to take this back home tied 1-1 after tomorrow night.

Boomer_Sooner_sax
4/12/2007, 07:57 AM
Man, that game must have gotten over really late with it being on the West Coast. What time did it end. I really would love to see Dallas bring the Cup home again!!!

GrapevineSooner
4/12/2007, 10:01 AM
Probably around 2:30 am here. I went to bed after the 3rd OT at around 1:40.

hurricane'bone
4/12/2007, 10:37 AM
Yeah right around 2:30

HoserSooner
4/12/2007, 11:58 AM
I just want to go on record as saying this is going to be the year for Ottawa to break through and take the Cup back to where it belongs. The Capital of one of the Top 5 nations of the World.

I'd like to see them win it, just to get the "chokers" monkey off their back.

Honestly though, I can't see them getting out of the Eastern Conference. Buffalo should roll to the cup final, but stranger things have happened.

royalfan5
4/12/2007, 12:30 PM
I'd like to see them win it, just to get the "chokers" monkey off their back.

Honestly though, I can't see them getting out of the Eastern Conference. Buffalo should roll to the cup final, but stranger things have happened.
I don't think Ray Emery is a good enough goalie to win it, but like you said strange things have happened.

GrapevineSooner
4/12/2007, 02:03 PM
I'd like to see the Islanders continue their Cinderella run.

I'll sit in front of my computer screen tonight and watch them play Buffalo in Game 1 of their series.

And I still won't believe they won four in a row and got several breaks (sorry, Hoser ;) ) along the way just to get in.

jk the sooner fan
4/12/2007, 03:07 PM
props if you stayed up and watched the whole game.....damn i barely made it to the end of the 3d period

HoserSooner
4/13/2007, 10:27 AM
I'd like to see the Islanders continue their Cinderella run.

I'll sit in front of my computer screen tonight and watch them play Buffalo in Game 1 of their series.

And I still won't believe they won four in a row and got several breaks (sorry, Hoser ;) ) along the way just to get in.

Well, out of Montreal, Toronto, and the Islanders, it was the Islanders who deserved to be there. Both Toronto and Montreal controlled their own destinies, and just needed to win out to make the 8th spot.

Toronto didn't show up in their game against New York, and let them back into the race. Winning the last 4 games of the season to get in, it was them that belong there. Even though they will be the sacrifical lamb for the Sabres, as would any of the teams that in.

GrapevineSooner
4/13/2007, 01:22 PM
Toronto didn't show up in their game against New York, and let them back into the race. Winning the last 4 games of the season to get in, it was them that belong there. Even though they will be the sacrifical lamb for the Sabres, as would any of the teams that in.

I'm afraid you'd be correct, sir. :(

Scott D
4/13/2007, 02:26 PM
Is there a more cheapshotting team in the league than Nashville? I know Trotz got his start coaching minor league goons, but at some point he has to coach up to the talent level he has on the ice.

GrapevineSooner
4/13/2007, 03:38 PM
There's just something ironic about somebody in San Jose getting injured on a knee-on-knee hit. ;)

I can't quite put my finger on why that is.

Scott D
4/13/2007, 03:47 PM
There's just something ironic about somebody in San Jose getting injured on a knee-on-knee hit. ;)

I can't quite put my finger on why that is.

anytime you want you can substitute Edmonton for San Jose and get the same ironic feeling ;)


I already put in another thread the sack of **** that Marchment was

GrapevineSooner
4/13/2007, 03:52 PM
Speaking of injuries, tough luck for Vancouver's Ryan Kesler.

Kid comes back from hip surgery early to play in Game 1 and he breaks his finger on a blocked shot and is out for 5 weeks.

Scott D
4/13/2007, 03:57 PM
Somehow I think Cheechoo's injury is worse than just a knee sprain.

I'm also not surprized that the NHL didn't suspend Hartnall for 1 game after the whole Ville Niemenen fiasco.

GrapevineSooner
4/14/2007, 10:34 PM
DiPietro comes back and stands on his head.

It's a series now between the 8th seed and the 1 seed out East.

Let's Go Islanders!

colleyvillesooner
4/15/2007, 03:52 PM
Speaking of standing on your head, Turco was brilliant Friday night. 2-0 shut out to make it a series coming back to Dallas tonight.

I feel for the changeover crew with a Mavericks home game not ending until 5 and having under 3 hours to change it over.

Scott D
4/15/2007, 04:11 PM
Wow, if there wasn't any idea that Barry Trotz is a minor league goon coach at heart just read his comments after each playoff game so far.

jk the sooner fan
4/15/2007, 05:39 PM
Speaking of standing on your head, Turco was brilliant Friday night. 2-0 shut out to make it a series coming back to Dallas tonight.

I feel for the changeover crew with a Mavericks home game not ending until 5 and having under 3 hours to change it over.

how in the hell do they do that? switch from a basketball court to an ice rink?

i'd love to see that.....

Scott D
4/15/2007, 08:06 PM
how in the hell do they do that? switch from a basketball court to an ice rink?

i'd love to see that.....

it's cool to watch in that time lapse camera bit. The ice is under the hardwood, and they have a layer of rubber that they put between the two to prevent the water from seeping up. They basically disassemble the court putting it all on hi-lo cats to put into storage before rolling up the rubber mats before tending to the ice.

There have been in the past occasions where the weather was so warm on a day where the arena has double duty that they have an issue with 'meltage' (it's more like sweating) seeping up and causing problems on the hardwood, but that's usually if they play the hockey game first.

jk the sooner fan
4/15/2007, 08:25 PM
cool, thanks for the info......you'd think the AAC website would have that for viewing

Scott D
4/15/2007, 09:08 PM
cool, thanks for the info......you'd think the AAC website would have that for viewing

actually I'm surprised that the local broadcast hasn't covered that during an intermission or halftime on a day where they have to do that at the AAC. I remember seeing them show it once when the IHL was still in existance and the Pistons and Detroit Vipers had a game on the same day.

GrapevineSooner
4/15/2007, 09:38 PM
Took the AAC crew just an hour and 15 minutes to do the full changeover today.

tulsaoilerfan
4/16/2007, 12:39 AM
And another OT loss for the Stars; if they don't win this series, is Tippett gone? I'm thinking yes.

pb4ou
4/16/2007, 01:45 AM
Puddy says, "GO DEVILS!!!!!"
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/7015/puddydeviloz0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

jk the sooner fan
4/16/2007, 05:53 AM
ohhhhhhh, a face painter......

colleyvillesooner
4/16/2007, 09:02 AM
went to bed when it was 1-1.

Wish we could help Marty out with some more goals, since he's gonna take all the blame if we lose the series.

jk the sooner fan
4/16/2007, 09:14 AM
he played really well last nite...you knew eventually one of those would go in, with all the shots he was taking

Scott D
4/16/2007, 09:24 AM
The problem is you have too many former LA Kings in your defense. ;)

GrapevineSooner
4/16/2007, 09:24 AM
For all the blame Turco gets, I saw a stat somewhere that indicates the Stars are 2-9 the last 11 times they've scored two goals or less.

Turco had a shutout streak of over 100 minutes before Jan Bulis scored to tie it last night. During that timespan, the Stars managed to score a grand total of 3 freaking goals.

Turco's not the problem in this series. An offense that's afraid to score is.

GrapevineSooner
4/16/2007, 08:25 PM
cool, thanks for the info......you'd think the AAC website would have that for viewing

Dallasnews.com has time lapse video from yesterday's changeover.

tulsaoilerfan
4/16/2007, 09:46 PM
For all the blame Turco gets, I saw a stat somewhere that indicates the Stars are 2-9 the last 11 times they've scored two goals or less.

Turco had a shutout streak of over 100 minutes before Jan Bulis scored to tie it last night. During that timespan, the Stars managed to score a grand total of 3 freaking goals.

Turco's not the problem in this series. An offense that's afraid to score is.
This has been the problem for the Stars all season, and they really did nothing to try to solve it; Nagy was supposed to help, but i have seen absolutely nothing from him since he joined the team. I agree Marty isn't the problem, and i still think if they lose this series that Tippett is gone

John Kochtoston
4/17/2007, 05:47 PM
I'd like to see them win it, just to get the "chokers" monkey off their back.

Honestly though, I can't see them getting out of the Eastern Conference. Buffalo should roll to the cup final, but stranger things have happened.

I think your Buffalo pick is still a good one, but they've looked very average in the last two games. Dunno if it's just Buffalo believing they could coast, or if they're a regular season stud/playoff dud team that seems to be all the rage in the Leauge this year. Still, I'm hoping Tampa Bay beats the Devils, so the Rangers can avoid them in Round 2.

jk the sooner fan
4/17/2007, 08:45 PM
hey Stars - great idea......game 4 on home ice and you spend the majority of the second period defending the power play

brilliant!

tulsaoilerfan
4/17/2007, 10:11 PM
hey Stars - great idea......game 4 on home ice and you spend the majority of the second period defending the power play

brilliant!
This team has absolutely no heart come playoff time; Tippett will be gone after this fiasco, unless they somehow pull off the miracle comeback. :mad:

colleyvillesooner
4/17/2007, 10:26 PM
Once again, not Turco's fault. Bounces just didn't go our way. That puck flicked off the redline was .5 sec from a goal.

GrapevineSooner
4/17/2007, 11:01 PM
In fairness, that was a great hustle play by Willie Mitchell.

And yeah, some of the bounces aren't going Dallas' way. But their forwards have been absolutely brutal the last few games doing absolutely nothing. Especially Ladislav Nagy.

Whoever the GM is next year, I hope that when Nagy asks about resigning here, they just say 'No thanks. And don't let the door hit you in the *** on the way out. You might cough up another puck if it does.'

Scott D
4/18/2007, 04:10 PM
I think you guys are stuck with Armstrong for at least one more year as GM.

GrapevineSooner
4/19/2007, 11:56 PM
Well, well, well...

Dallas actually won an OT game.

And Vancouver has only scored one goal on Marty in the last 10 periods of play at home.

Granted, Dallas almost scored one for them on a delayed call with Marty on the bench.

HoserSooner
4/20/2007, 08:27 AM
I think your Buffalo pick is still a good one, but they've looked very average in the last two games. Dunno if it's just Buffalo believing they could coast, or if they're a regular season stud/playoff dud team that seems to be all the rage in the Leauge this year. Still, I'm hoping Tampa Bay beats the Devils, so the Rangers can avoid them in Round 2.

They certainly haven't looked incredible against the Islanders. I have found the Islanders though to not be a great team, but a team that gives certain teams fits with their play. Buffalo just has too much speed, and the Islanders defence has had trouble countering.

As far as the Lightning/Devils go, Brodeur has looked very average so far, and Tampa has so many weapons offensively. But the best goalie to ever play the game (IMO, will easily pass Patty Roy for all time wins), should pull NJ through.

Disappointed with the Penguins lack of success against Ottawa. Any team that doesn't pick up Gary Roberts (Leafs GM, you listening?) are fools. The dude is almost 40, and hits people like they just killed his first born. He's a freakin' animal and still has the scoring touch. He never should have been allowed to leave Toronto.

colleyvillesooner
4/20/2007, 10:34 AM
Granted, Dallas almost scored one for them on a delayed call with Marty on the bench.

That was really scary.

I love how Ralph just yelles "NOOOO!" and Razor went with "OH MY GOD!"

Scott D
4/21/2007, 05:41 PM
Jim Playfair (ironic name) should be suspended and fined for the travesty that was the last 5 minutes of the game today. Sending a backup goalie into the game to goon things up is so far into the realm of ridiculous even the Hansen brothers found it to be offensive.

colleyvillesooner
4/22/2007, 12:30 AM
STARS FORCE GAME 7!!!!!!

WOOT!!!!!!

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

GrapevineSooner
4/22/2007, 10:23 AM
You know, the difference between the Marty of past series and this one is like night and day.

Granted, this was the easiest of his three shutouts in this series. But a shutout's still a shutout.

This team ought to have boatloads of confidence that they can finish this off Monday night in Vancouver.

GrapevineSooner
4/22/2007, 11:25 AM
Jim Playfair (ironic name) should be suspended and fined for the travesty that was the last 5 minutes of the game today. Sending a backup goalie into the game to goon things up is so far into the realm of ridiculous even the Hansen brothers found it to be offensive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQK_cRQhfXE

20 games for McLennan at least. And a suspension for Playfair for at least the rest of this playoff series.

Scott D
4/22/2007, 01:16 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQK_cRQhfXE

20 games for McLennan at least. And a suspension for Playfair for at least the rest of this playoff series.

it's wierd, everyone I've talked to in regards to "Noodles" (aka McLennan) says that they've never so much as seen him show any signs of anger much less lose it. I think what may be telling is that a lot of Flames fans (who wanted Playfair fired during the season) defend McLennan by believing that Playfair pretty much ordered him to do it. *If* Playfair ordered it, forget a suspension the guy should be banned from coaching.

Arguably Iginla and Langkow could be looking at being suspended for tonight in addition to being fined for some of their actions during the 3rd period yesterday. I doubt that Iginla gets suspended, but Langkow's sucker punch which was caught on tv and replayed a few times is definitely getting some views in Toronto.

I heard that Morrow wasn't hurt that badly....losing Zubov could be bad for you guys offensively though. Was glad to see the Stars win last night.

Scott D
4/22/2007, 03:41 PM
NEW YORK (AP) -The NHL came down hard Sunday on Calgary, suspending goalie Jamie McLennan for five games and fining coach Jim Playfair $25,000 and the team $100,000 for actions late in Game 5 of the Flames' first-round series against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.

McLennan was given a match penalty for slashing Detroit's Johan Franzen in the midsection at 17:01 of the third period, one of four penalties the Flames were assessed for aggressive and illegal use of the stick (slashing or cross-checking) in the closing minutes of the Red Wings' 5-1 victory.

"In our pre-playoff conference calls with the coaches and general managers of the respective organizations, we addressed a number of topics and one of them was actions late in the game when the score was out of hand," NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell said. "The coach and the organization must be held accountable for the players' actions."

McLennan's suspension was to begin with Game 6 Sunday night in Calgary. Detroit led the series 3-2.

Colin has no balls, otherwise he'd have suspended Playfair.

SoonerStormchaser
4/22/2007, 04:40 PM
I agree...the last five minutes of the Detroit-Flamers series was the worst act of thuggery I've seen outside of a Boston Bruins-Montreal Pussies game! The suspensions were well warranted...and probably should have included Iginla as well.

As far as last night's Stars game...whoever it was who took out Morrow should've been given a game misconduct. That was a Hansenesque!

Scott D
4/23/2007, 02:54 PM
Stars...better....win...tonight.

Flames fans wanting Darryl Sutter to fire Playfair rumblings have been picking up steam again.

colleyvillesooner
4/23/2007, 08:46 PM
GOAL!!!!

Stars draw first blood in Game 7!

Suerreal
4/23/2007, 10:47 PM
Hockey seems to be more vicious, not less so, since the NHL cracked down on the brawls that used to occur three or four times in a typical game.

Back in the days, everyone would throw off helmets, gloves, and anything else loose. The object of the fighting seemed to be to partially pull off some guy's jersey so their arms were trapped uselessly above their head and pummel the midsection a bit. Before anyone got seriously hurt, the refs would go in and break it up, and it took a few minutes for everyone to reassemble their gear and get back started.

I wonder if that wasn't a good way to blow off steam caused by hard checks and Lordknowswhat mumbled out of hearing of the refs.

Seems like lately the major incidents involve sticks used in ways with the potential to maim or kill. Don't remember the name, but one player took a blade across the chin that an inch or two lower could have resulted in enough damage to the windpipe or major blood vessels to be fatal.

I miss the old style fights.

- Sue

tulsaoilerfan
4/23/2007, 11:00 PM
Well that game 7 was 2 1/2 hours of my life that was totally wasted; does Tippett have a job after the last 3 first round exits? I'm hoping not

Madd Dawg
4/23/2007, 11:04 PM
Way to many penalties, most of them the refs should have let go. Hockey is pretty much turning in to basketball.

tulsaoilerfan
4/23/2007, 11:10 PM
Way to many penalties, most of them the refs should have let go. Hockey is pretty much turning in to basketball.
I totally agree; whatever happened to letting them play and decide it on the ice in a Game 7? Both of Vancouver's goals came on the PP and Dallas couldn't do squat when they had theirs; difference in the game right there.

GrapevineSooner
4/23/2007, 11:30 PM
My .02,

First off, congratulations to the Canucks on a hard fought series. I honestly thought we were well on our way to the comeback after the first period.

But whatever was said in the dressing room after the first period seemed to light a fire under the Canucks and they stormed out of the gates in the second period and eventually got the game knotted up.

Then they went on the power play, again, in the third and got a nice deflection from Trevor Linden that barely worked it's way over the goal line to grab the lead.

They cashed in on their chances and the Stars did not.

And looking at the bigger picture, you're not going to win very many series when you only score 12 goals in 7 games. In my quest to avoid blaming officiating for my team's demise, I cannot stress this point enough.

That having been said, these two teams fought tooth and nail during the first six games of the series and with the exception of a few calls here and there, the officiating was very good.

I can't really say the same about the way the refs, especially Rob Schick, called tonight's game.

Now even though Vancouver had more power play chances than Dallas, the refs allowed both sides to marvel at their incompetence tonight. Simply put, there's no way in hell that any Game 7 in hockey should have 16 combined power play chances. It seemed like half the penalties were called in the final 13 minutes of the game, killing any momentum that the game could have and should have generated.

Sadly, that's going to leave a bitter taste in my mouth.

And BTW, I'd be saying the same thing even if Dallas won the series.

SoonerStormchaser
4/23/2007, 11:53 PM
I hate the effing ice zebras!

What a waste of a perfectly good series!

colleyvillesooner
4/24/2007, 12:23 AM
From a guy who really only watches playoff hockey, that 3rd period was bull**** by the refs. They called every ticky tack call. Really took the fun out of it.

Scott D
4/24/2007, 01:53 PM
As someone who was disappointed with the results from an outside agenda based point of view, here's my take.

Scoring.....this has been a bugaboo for the Stars in recent years. It could be argued that scoring has been in decline since 1999

Defensively the Stars did enough during the series to win. But, to be quite blunt...Vancouver has more scorers than Dallas does, and that was the difference, just flat out more offensive talent.

Ironically, had realignment been done correctly, the Stars would have had home ice advantage in that series..actually, going by point totals, the Stars would have faced San Jose in the first round.

Tippet will keep his job, so will Armstrong..and hell if the Rangers look terrible Washington won't lose his job. All of that is because Tom Hicks has a new shiny object to play with called Liverpool FC, that will keep him distracted from his domestic interests for quite a bit since they are a very good team.

Suerreal is right to a degree. There is somewhat less respect on the ice today compared to the past because of the lack of deterrent via 'goons'. However, the NHL has been in full blown marketing mode trying to gain new fans instead of keeping the relatively rabid fanbase it has along with playoffcasuals like coffeyville. ;) The Instigator rule is the reason that you don't see fights like you used to....so if say Trevor Linden (not that he'd do it) cheapshotted Mike Modano, you could expect enforcers from both teams to settle the matter without getting the combination of 2/5/10/Game out of it.

If I was Doug Armstrong and I was concerned about keeping my job these are the things I would do.

1. Get rid of Eric Lindros, and about 3-4 other 'marginal' players.

2. Get Mike Modano some offensive help. Brendan Morrow is a second line winger, and Jere Lehtinen is a good two way player, but truthfully he's a 3rd liner that can get you 20 goals in a season. An example would be the fact that Daniel Briere is likely going to be leaving Buffalo as a free agent. Aleksy Morozov played in Russia this past season, and lit things up in a league more defensive minded than the NHL. He's played in Pittsburgh in the past (with Jagr/Lemieux) so he knows enough about the offensive side of the game.

3. Quit getting your defensemen from the LA Kings. There's a reason the Kings never went anywhere in the playoffs, and why their draft picks tend to become more impact players in other cities....do the geography. ;)

that's all I'm thinking of right now....I'm off to growl and snarl a bit more because for the rest of the playoffs any road games we have are going to be in frickin pacific time.

p.s. I hate the Stars, and Wild almost as much as I hate the Preds now....well not almost, it'd take a lot for me to hate any team not called the Avalanche as much as I hate the Predators.

tulsaoilerfan
4/24/2007, 05:02 PM
As someone who was disappointed with the results from an outside agenda based point of view, here's my take.

Scoring.....this has been a bugaboo for the Stars in recent years. It could be argued that scoring has been in decline since 1999

Defensively the Stars did enough during the series to win. But, to be quite blunt...Vancouver has more scorers than Dallas does, and that was the difference, just flat out more offensive talent.

Ironically, had realignment been done correctly, the Stars would have had home ice advantage in that series..actually, going by point totals, the Stars would have faced San Jose in the first round.

Tippet will keep his job, so will Armstrong..and hell if the Rangers look terrible Washington won't lose his job. All of that is because Tom Hicks has a new shiny object to play with called Liverpool FC, that will keep him distracted from his domestic interests for quite a bit since they are a very good team.

Suerreal is right to a degree. There is somewhat less respect on the ice today compared to the past because of the lack of deterrent via 'goons'. However, the NHL has been in full blown marketing mode trying to gain new fans instead of keeping the relatively rabid fanbase it has along with playoffcasuals like coffeyville. ;) The Instigator rule is the reason that you don't see fights like you used to....so if say Trevor Linden (not that he'd do it) cheapshotted Mike Modano, you could expect enforcers from both teams to settle the matter without getting the combination of 2/5/10/Game out of it.

If I was Doug Armstrong and I was concerned about keeping my job these are the things I would do.

1. Get rid of Eric Lindros, and about 3-4 other 'marginal' players.

2. Get Mike Modano some offensive help. Brendan Morrow is a second line winger, and Jere Lehtinen is a good two way player, but truthfully he's a 3rd liner that can get you 20 goals in a season. An example would be the fact that Daniel Briere is likely going to be leaving Buffalo as a free agent. Aleksy Morozov played in Russia this past season, and lit things up in a league more defensive minded than the NHL. He's played in Pittsburgh in the past (with Jagr/Lemieux) so he knows enough about the offensive side of the game.

3. Quit getting your defensemen from the LA Kings. There's a reason the Kings never went anywhere in the playoffs, and why their draft picks tend to become more impact players in other cities....do the geography. ;)

that's all I'm thinking of right now....I'm off to growl and snarl a bit more because for the rest of the playoffs any road games we have are going to be in frickin pacific time.

p.s. I hate the Stars, and Wild almost as much as I hate the Preds now....well not almost, it'd take a lot for me to hate any team not called the Avalanche as much as I hate the Predators.

I totally agree on all 3 points; Modano has not had a finisher with him since Brett Hull left, and come play off time he can't be as effective as in the regular season because he is THE guy that other teams focus all their energy on stopping. Dallas's young guys like Miettinen and Jokinen were huge disappointments this season and were scratches the last 3 games, and Steve Ott, while being entertaining and a pest, will never be good for scoring. Gritty role players are nice, but the Stars have WAY too many of those guys.

John Kochtoston
4/24/2007, 05:30 PM
Way to many penalties, most of them the refs should have let go. Hockey is pretty much turning in to basketball.

Problem is, when refs let them play, hockey turns into soccer.

When the Devils had their mid/late-90's run, they did so with grest defense. They also clutched and grabbed a lot. When other teams decided to mimick the Devils, they forgot the "great defense" part and went straight to the clutching and grabbing. Fewer goals, and, more importantly IMHO, fewer quality chances.

GrapevineSooner
4/24/2007, 07:20 PM
Problem is, when refs let them play, hockey turns into soccer.

When the Devils had their mid/late-90's run, they did so with grest defense. They also clutched and grabbed a lot. When other teams decided to mimick the Devils, they forgot the "great defense" part and went straight to the clutching and grabbing. Fewer goals, and, more importantly IMHO, fewer quality chances.

There should be a happy medium though. The refs in the first 6 games of the Dallas-Vancouver series were able to find it. Last night, Brad Watson and Rob Schick decided they were going to call most of the ticky tack crap that had nothing really to do with the play. And in the case of Henrik Lundqvist's twin brother Joel, they decided to call a high sticking penalty when there absolutely no contact.

Then Kevin Bieksa blatantly knocks his own net off it's moorings while the Stars are buzzing and they don't call a thing. Brendan Morrison of Vancouver gets run from behind and they don't call a thing.

And somehow, both refs earned second round officiating assignments!

Scott D
4/24/2007, 08:20 PM
as bad as Watson and Shick may have been, they aren't McCreary or especially McGeough.

But yet somehow Kerry Frasier didn't make the cut? I tell you what, give me O'Halloran and Van Massenhoven any day. They called Game 6 in Calgary and it was probably the fairest reffing I've seen all postseason.

John Kochtoston
4/24/2007, 08:25 PM
There should be a happy medium though. The refs in the first 6 games of the Dallas-Vancouver series were able to find it. Last night, Brad Watson and Rob Schick decided they were going to call most of the ticky tack crap that had nothing really to do with the play. And in the case of Henrik Lundqvist's twin brother Joel, they decided to call a high sticking penalty when there absolutely no contact.

Then Kevin Bieksa blatantly knocks his own net off it's moorings while the Stars are buzzing and they don't call a thing. Brendan Morrison of Vancouver gets run from behind and they don't call a thing.

And somehow, both refs earned second round officiating assignments!

I'll agree to the happy medium part, for sure, and yes, it does seem like more ticky-tack crap gets called these days. Didn't see game seven (finals suck), but I'll take your word that the refs were blowing the game.

Still, if the refs are going to err, I'd rather them err on the side of calling the penalty.

HoserSooner
4/25/2007, 08:15 AM
But yet somehow Kerry Frasier didn't make the cut?

There's a damn good reason for that. That guy is one of the worst refs in the history of the game. Freakin' horrible.

GrapevineSooner
4/25/2007, 09:12 AM
Kerry Fraiser = Joey Crawford.

But worse.

Scott D
4/25/2007, 12:41 PM
There's a damn good reason for that. That guy is one of the worst refs in the history of the game. Freakin' horrible.

no that'd be Mr Magoo...er McGeough. How he's still employed is beyond me.

HoserSooner
4/25/2007, 11:41 PM
no that'd be Mr Magoo...er McGeough. How he's still employed is beyond me.

Well, Fraser has a special place in hell as far as Toronto fans are concerned. No one man (not even Harold Ballard himself) has screwed the Leafs as bad as that tool has.

Scott D
4/26/2007, 04:44 AM
Well, Fraser has a special place in hell as far as Toronto fans are concerned. No one man (not even Harold Ballard himself) has screwed the Leafs as bad as that tool has.

Give JJF a little more time. Toronto should be challenging for the worst record in the league in a year or two ;)

HoserSooner
4/26/2007, 10:59 AM
Give JJF a little more time. Toronto should be challenging for the worst record in the league in a year or two ;)

I don't know...they have a lot of young kids that show a lot of promise. As long as we don't trade away a bunch of them for an Owen Nolan type of player, they should be good.

Defence is as solid as it gets. Kaberle will be the leagues premier d-man in 2-3 years, after Pronger and Niedrmayer retire.

Goal is the problem. Raycroft has to nut up and become an elite player, or they will never get further than the 1st round of the playoffs.

Fugue
5/3/2007, 08:33 AM
Wings rally. What a great game. If the Sharks ever played a full 60 minutes I'm not sure anyone would even stay close to them but they never do.

Scott D
5/3/2007, 09:34 AM
Wings rally. What a great game. If the Sharks ever played a full 60 minutes I'm not sure anyone would even stay close to them but they never do.

I don't know how many more nights of this dominating 30 minutes (well 50 minutes) of hockey I can take this season. What I like about this Wings team is that they are definitely more resilient than some of the teams of the past.

On a Sharks side of things, Joe Thornton is every bit the player right now that people envisioned when the Bruins drafted him #1 overall a few years back.

Fugue
5/3/2007, 09:59 AM
When JT has the puck it looks like the entire game around him goes into slow motion and he can then do whatever he wants. Jagr is that way too, it's fun to watch.

Detroit may not have the high powered offense as in the past but they do have some grit that wasn't there last year.

Scott D
5/3/2007, 10:13 AM
When JT has the puck it looks like the entire game around him goes into slow motion and he can then do whatever he wants. Jagr is that way too, it's fun to watch.

Detroit may not have the high powered offense as in the past but they do have some grit that wasn't there last year.

Eh, I don't know that Jagr really has that dynamic as much anymore. Thornton is definitely the best passer in the game right now...but in a year or two Sidney Crosby will pass him, he (Crosby) is already the most dynamic player in the league.

Fugue
5/3/2007, 10:16 AM
Eh, I don't know that Jagr really has that dynamic as much anymore. Thornton is definitely the best passer in the game right now...but in a year or two Sidney Crosby will pass him, he (Crosby) is already the most dynamic player in the league.

Normally I'd agree on Jagr but he has been different in this series. He's actually trying. :D

I was selfishly hoping the Penguins would move to KC so I could catch some games. :O

GrapevineSooner
5/3/2007, 10:24 AM
Still have a sneaking suspicion that San Jose will win Game 5 and close out the Wings in Game 6 to setup an all-California Western Conference Finals.

And yes, I'm already throwing dirt on the Canucks. You can't have a hard fought 7 game series only to have to come right back to come from being down 3-1 in a series.

Especially when that other team is the Ducks.

Fugue
5/3/2007, 10:26 AM
I agree, the Sharks can be so good at times. It should be a great game 5.

Scott D
5/3/2007, 05:14 PM
Still have a sneaking suspicion that San Jose will win Game 5 and close out the Wings in Game 6 to setup an all-California Western Conference Finals.

And yes, I'm already throwing dirt on the Canucks. You can't have a hard fought 7 game series only to have to come right back to come from being down 3-1 in a series.

Especially when that other team is the Ducks.

you know what I hate the most about the Ducks....that's right....Brian Burke.

John Kochtoston
5/4/2007, 07:52 PM
Normally I'd agree on Jagr but he has been different in this series. He's actually trying. :D

I was selfishly hoping the Penguins would move to KC so I could catch some games. :O

Jagr just got called for roughing. Maybe all that talk of a BCS berth in Stillwater, along with rumored sales of ice water in Hell, has some truth to it after all.:D

Suerreal
5/5/2007, 01:02 AM
Go Red Wings! I'm hoping either Hasek can keep the Sharks to fewer than the 2 goals he's allowed every game so far in the series, or that the offense can step up for more than 2 goals.

- Sue

Scott D
5/5/2007, 09:19 AM
3 seems to be our magic number this series ;)

John Kochtoston
5/6/2007, 05:08 PM
It was a surprisingly good run for the Blueshirts this year. I think they can make a serious run at the Cup next year, if they add one more goal scorer (Drury, perhaps?). Still, the window is pretty short, with Jagr and Shanny close to the end.

GrapevineSooner
5/6/2007, 07:55 PM
I gotta hand it to the Rangers, as much as I hate them. After Games 1 and 2, it looked like Buffalo was going to roll them. Instead, they fought back to tie the series and looked like they would win Game 5 before Drury showed up to be a hero.

Then today, they just wouldn't quit. I thought for sure they'd do to Buffalo what Buffalo did to them in Game 5.

John Kochtoston
5/7/2007, 06:03 PM
I'd love to go back to game 5 and cause a freak power outage at HSBC Arena with about 10 seconds left, or at least tell Renny to remind the defensemen not to shoot for the empty net...I like the new icing rule, but it bit the Rangers in the *** in that game.

Scott D
5/7/2007, 07:45 PM
now the Rangers get to deal with the Shanahan post-season drama....enjoy.

GrapevineSooner
5/7/2007, 10:38 PM
I see Scott's going to get to enjoy even more West Coast games. ;)

Ought to be a fun series next round.

Scott D
5/7/2007, 10:43 PM
Yeah, my early morning work schedule is going to love it.

Nobody can say it's been an easy road for us this year. We've played well against Anaheim all season. This is actually the best I've seen the Wings play all season.

GrapevineSooner
5/13/2007, 09:19 PM
Jeez, you'd think Rob Schick's performance in Game 7 of the Stars-Nucks series would have been enough to keep him out of the Conference Final round.

If he makes it through to the Stanley Cup Finals, then Stephen Walkom should be fired.

Oh and a mental note to Dom. When the puck is already on top of your pads in full view of the in net cam, it doesn't do any good to flip the puck over to your arm, allow it to slide down to the ice, and then try to make the refs think you stopped it on the line. ;)

JohnnyMack
5/21/2007, 10:29 AM
Wow. That game was a kick in the nutz for the ol' Red Wings.

Scott D
5/21/2007, 10:39 AM
Well there is a reason that Lilja was the 7th defenseman on this team when the entire defense corps was healthy.

GrapevineSooner
5/22/2007, 10:57 PM
What looked to be an Anaheim blowout turned into a nail biter at the end after Pavel Datsyuk scored a pair of power play goals to make it 4-3.

Really thought the Wings were going to tie it up.

Anyway, this ought to make for a very interesting Stanley Cup Final. I'd give Ottawa the edge primarily because Alfredsson, Spezza, and Heatley are unstoppable on offense right now.

Scott D
5/23/2007, 01:39 PM
If anyone plans on going to Southern California anytime soon could you find my heart....it was ripped out of me last night.

A part of me wants Ottawa to win because I picked them as a second favorite awhile back when they were pitiful. But I also know that I should also be loyal to the Western Conference....however, I want Chris Pronger and Rob Niedermayer to lift a cup about as much as I wanted Antoine Walker to win one last year...and we know how that went :mad:

JohnnyMack
5/23/2007, 04:09 PM
If anyone plans on going to Southern California anytime soon could you find my heart....it was ripped out of me last night.


Heh.

I'll be in tha LBC next week actually. I need to see if the dates match up so I can try and go.

GrapevineSooner
6/4/2007, 12:13 PM
Chris Pronger's a punk.

That is all.

JohnnyMack
6/4/2007, 09:09 PM
Daniel Alfredsson's a punk.

That is all.

Fixed.

What a bitch.

GrapevineSooner
6/4/2007, 11:43 PM
That was a chicken sh** punch by Alfredsson to be sure.

But Pronger's aimed for and nailed two guys already in the playoffs with shots to the head. At this point, I'm hoping that if the Ducks go on to win the Cup, he tries to lift it over his head, drops it on his head, and ends his career with a concussion.

Scott D
6/5/2007, 09:04 PM
my favorite Pronger moment is when he went to take a cheap shot on Steve Yzerman in the playoffs a few years ago, Yzerman saw him coming, ducked out of the way. Pronger ended up tearing his ACL.

Second favorite Pronger moment was the one where he was almost killed by a Marc Bergevin slapshot to the chest.

royalfan5
6/5/2007, 09:24 PM
I've pretty much resigned myself to accepting another playoff failure at this point.

HoserSooner
6/5/2007, 10:11 PM
Fixed.

What a bitch.

And people wonder why Canadian fans aren't cheering for Ottawa.

That puts an exclamation point on it right there.