Official Hockey discussion thread

Saw most of the Pens vs. Rangers game (passed out with like 10 minutes left...longs story) and it was awesome to see Crosby play with Dupuis and Hossa. Another cool thing was to just watch Crosby work his magic, hanging behind the net, reminded me A LOT of Gretzky.

Pierre McGuire and the other fool talked about possible Cup winners, McGuire said the Pens and even the Rangers might win it. The other guy essentially called him an idiot and said the winner will come from the west, either the Sharks, Ducks or Wings.

Now, even a little bit before the lock out we had low seeded teams make the finasl (The ducks were 7th when they lost to NJ), but ever since the lock-out whoever makes the playoffs has a legit chance of winning giving credence to Maguire's claim of the Rangers having a shot, however I respectfully disagree and concur with the other guy that said the winner will come from the west. However both McGuire and I agree that Detroit might not be it. His reasons were an old team and unproven goal tending. My reasons are inflated stats from playing in THE  weakest division (yes even weaker than the southeast.) With so much divisional play Detroit has benefited from playing half their games against some of the worst teams in the league.  Still interesting to see the developments in the last few weeks!!!
 
I'm ready to make my revised playoff prediction.

The final will be the Sharks....vs. the Canadiens.

Canadiens in six.
 
Man, how happy I'd be if a Canadian team wins it, especially Montreal.  Calgary and Edmonton came close lately, so let's hope again.
 
Ottawa made it to the finals, but didn't acquit themselves so well as the Flames or the Oil did.

I have good hopes for Les Club du Hockey Montreal.  Or the Flames.  Anyone else...ehhhh.
 
If Vancouver gets their shit together and makes it into the 8th spot at least they have as much of a chance as any other club.
 
No.  You need to be able to score goals to make it to the Finals.  It's like a rule.
 
Indeed, and Crosby did well injury aside... he'll also win it again in the near future :D These playoffs are going to be very intense! Not to mention the Caps might still squeak in and I hate to say it but LC was right... Vancouver's lack of scoring did them in down the stretch and is the single reason why they will miss the postseason... too bad, they have a decent club. The Aves are in though :D
 
The west is decided; Washington needs one point tonight to clinch.  Then that'll be all done up.

What a story it'll be if Washington makes it.  Bruce Boudreau is guaranteed the Jack Adams, and Ovechkin is guaranteed the Hart and Art Ross, probably the Pearson too.

However, I have my fingers crossed for Carey Price for the Calder.
 
I just came home and had to report the hockey news.  Leafs went out in style (not!), bitterly defeated, but fighting to the end as there was no other recompense left to them.  Habs clearly had the night, winning 3:1.  Montreal is at the top of their division and, (finger's crossed) if Pittsburgh loses against Philly tomorrow, the top of the conference.  Interestingly, the Habs are also in the lead for most goals by any team this season.  That is excellent when one considers that only one of their players (Alex Kovalev) is in the top 30 goal scorers this season; he is ranked 14th.  Ottawa is ranked 2nd in goals scored, with three top 30 scorers and two of those in the top 10.  Detroit is 3rd in the NHL with two top 30 scorers and one of those in the top 10.  What this gives is concrete proof that the Canadiens are a solid team througout and not just a one or two man powerhouse.  It is this sort of team that won them the last Stanley cup almost a decade and a half ago.

"The [last] goal [by Higgins] gave the Canadiens a league-high total of 262 this season, one more than Ottawa. Detroit, which hosts Chicago on Sunday to complete its schedule, is third with 253 goals.  Montreal has not led the NHL in goals since 1979-80. The Canadiens scored 328 goals that season, one more than Philadelphia."

More from the official Habs website.

NHL Rankings -- Top 30 scorers
 
Washington's in, Carolina's out.

Looks like a (relatively) easy matchup for the Sens first round.  I really think they'll be able to get organized again and make a run for the Cup.
 
And then you wake up!  Washington has been the best team in the NHL since they fired Glen Hanlon - 37-17-5, and been even better since they acquired Sergei Federov and Cristobal Huet, whereas Washington's play down the stretch has been terrible, and now two of their best players (Alfredsson and Fisher) are out and done for at least the first round.

By the way, the first round matchups are decided.  Just the order is left to go:

Montreal vs. Boston - Montreal trounced Boston in the regular season - 8-0.  Carey Price has had reasonable success.  Montreal in 5.

Pittsburgh vs. Philly - These two teams split in the season so far, but Pittsburgh has won recently.  Nobody can deny that Pittsburgh has been one of the best teams in the NHL this year, and they are healthy with all their big guns - Gonchar, Whitney, Fleury, Crosby, Malkin, and Hossa - ready to go.  However, Philly has heart, but it looks like they'll be missing Daniel Briere.  Pittsburgh in 6.

Washington vs. Ottawa - see above.  Washington in four.  No joke.

New Jersey vs. New York Rangers.  Tough call.  Both teams that are goalie reliant and lower on offense.  I'd say a seven game series here, and New Jersey will probably win in the end.
 
That was outstanding.  That was just the kind of send off a player like that deserves.  I love this sport!  :ok:
 
LooseCannon said:
And then you wake up!  Washington has been the best team in the NHL since they fired Glen Hanlon - 37-17-5, and been even better since they acquired Sergei Federov and Cristobal Huet, whereas Washington's play down the stretch has been terrible, and now two of their best players (Alfredsson and Fisher) are out and done for at least the first round.

By the way, the first round matchups are decided.  Just the order is left to go:

Montreal vs. Boston - Montreal trounced Boston in the regular season - 8-0.  Carey Price has had reasonable success.  Montreal in 5.

Pittsburgh vs. Philly - These two teams split in the season so far, but Pittsburgh has won recently.  Nobody can deny that Pittsburgh has been one of the best teams in the NHL this year, and they are healthy with all their big guns - Gonchar, Whitney, Fleury, Crosby, Malkin, and Hossa - ready to go.  However, Philly has heart, but it looks like they'll be missing Daniel Briere.  Pittsburgh in 6.

Washington vs. Ottawa - see above.  Washington in four.  No joke.

New Jersey vs. New York Rangers.  Tough call.  Both teams that are goalie reliant and lower on offense.  I'd say a seven game series here, and New Jersey will probably win in the end.
Click to expand...

you got your match ups wrong... The Pens face OTT, Washington goes against Philly and it's NJ vs. NY....
 
Let's do an aside from the NHL.  The World Hockey Championships are coming up in Halifax, and I don't have tickets.  But it looks like Shane Doan, Rick Nash, Jonathan Toews, and Eric Staal are all coming back.
 
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