***The Official NHL Thread Version 3.0***

I forgot Montreal was the #1 seed. It's going to be a tough series for the Rangers. Pittsburgh is going to get every call.

LET'S GO RANGERS!

 

I won't need to kill him...there'll be a few guys wearing black who'll do that for me.

Besides....we have our own instigator...let's see if Ruutu can out-Avery Avery.

Oh please stop with the excuses, willya?

Yea...the Pens get every call, that's why twice in one game against Ottawa they were at a 5-3 disadvantage.

Enough with the whining already.

 

Sean Avery will get into those kids' heads.

 

Let the games and trash talking begin!

 

Man....I'd pay to see that!

 

I'll be cheering for Pitt and Montreal

What a great conference final that would be with Syd the Kid coming back to Quebec

 

Flyers gonna whup on the Habs, and then Cindy Crosby is next!!!!

 

Bettman wanted a Crosby/Ovechkin matchup in the East.

 

If a miracle happens and the Flyers somehow get out of this series with all their teeth, and the Pens beat the Rangers...care to place a wager that "Cindy" lights your guys up?

Tough talk from a fan of a team that squeaked into the playoffs and beat another team that squeaked in.

 

What a turnaround in Philly. I was watching these guys yesterday, and thought back to last year. They've gone from being the worst team in the league, to a top 15 team. And with studs like Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Danny Briere, Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Cobourn, you'll be hearing about them for the next decade. They'll have their hands full with Montreal though.

Fortune cookie Avery will get his clock cleaned by George Laraque and my boy Gary Roberts sometimes next week. M-A Fleury will face his first true test IMO, but if he plays like he has since his return from the DL, the Pens should be fine. I'm going to watch out for Mark Staal on the Rangers, every time I see them, he's taking on a bigger role, and in time should be a top pair D.

Rooting for the Avs and Stars in the West. Glad to see Turco snap out of it, and have always hated the original 6 Red Wings.

 

Great games tonight.

The Habs pulled it out

 

Crosby slips on his own.

PENALTY.

 

Intentional kick in goal by Malkin off a shot. Crosby shot it though so it counts.

 

It's funny how Malkin can somehow kick a puck without moving his leg, and I like how you conveniently leave out that blatant high stick redirect goal you guys got.

Please....stop with the whining. You lost.

Deal with it like a man, and....

 

Don't touch Crosby! Auto-penalty!

 

You're making yourself look ridiculous. Avery slapped Crosby in the face with his stick, no penalty.

Crosby was being taken down all night with no calls, so you're barking up the wrong tree.

Stop being a typical Ranger fan and deal with the fact that this isn't the no-scoring Devils you're playing now.

 

I want Pitt to win so Crosby needs to stay away from Avery

Just ignore him

 

I'd love to see Big George redden Avery's other eye so they match.

 

Resounding echoes of crickets chirping for the West on these boards, but the beat keeps going for the Stars as Morrow hits the OT goal to bail us out and give us the 1-0 lead in the series. Stars played not to lose in the third, and it nearly cost them. Turco was very good once again, but the Stars relied too much on him. They need to be more aggressive with the lead. An extra goal would have been huge.

Big second game Sunday night. The Stars home games are back-to-back weekdays, which I don't like, but you play 'em as they come. Who knows, maybe that benefits us.

 

Absolutely. Everybody's sleeping on the Stars. We are, the Ducks were, and the Sharks might be. You have to love it though, Brad Richards is a quiet guy, as is Mike Modano, Jere Lehtinen, Sergei Zubov, Stu Barnes, Mattias Norstrom, Marty Turco. Only Steve Ott stands out. That's how I like my teams, an agitator or two, but the rest, silent and deadly.

 

At the same time, I don't want to get ahead of myself. Going into the first round, I think most would have picked the Ducks to oust the Stars. Even now ahead 1-0, of the four teams remaining in the West, we're probably looked upon as the weakest, and maybe rightly so. But like UT said, we are getting healthy. Zubov might be coming back in the next game or so. I think that leaves only Boucher on the bench because of injury. Turcs has been hot to this point. And I just love the youth infusion on defense and the fact that even with Zubov/Boucher sidelined, guys like Fistric, Niskanen, and Grossman have stepped up and not been intimidated. As much or more than those guys, Stephane Robidas has been great for us. And yeah, as a Stars fan, you have to love Otter. If you're anyone else, you probably hate him. The one other guy who's been really good for us but was kind of hated before coming to Dallas was Riberio. The guy has just produced all year. And I went thru the whole paragraph without mentioning Modano, Morrow, and the ever-solid Jere Lehtinen, all three just great for the Stars team. Going forward, it's the old cliche, one game at a time because things can go South in a hurry. Hopefully not.

Mostly, though, I was just stating my observation that All Is Quiet on the Western Front here on the board except when I pop in (I haven't even seen much on the Wings or the Avs - and the Wings are, well, the Wings).

 

Another reason all is quiet on the Western is that most of us are fans of Eastern conference teams. Since the B's or Habs are in the Leafs division I literally see them half a dozen times a year. Ditto for Uni, Pagan, CoolMike, and most of the others. So I feel I'm talking a little less out of my *** because I feel I actually have an idea what they're about, as opposed to having seen the Wings or Stars only a few times.

 

Two zip for the Pens....

Please someone, tell me how Fluery isn't a good goalie again. Oh yea, and while you're at it tell me again that the Pens get all the calls.

Two Ranger power plays in the last 5 minutes on ticky tack calls. But instead of whining like the Rangers, the Pens get the job done.

And finally, Avery is a punk and a douche, and it was good to see Laraque and Gill jump his punk *** at the end of that game.

I'll sit back now and wait for the inevitable crying from Ranger fans.

 

Since when is jumping on someone's back and tackling him a "ticky tacky" penalty?

We'll take two in New York.

 

Tell that to Jagirl, who was whining about Tyutin's push down of Crosby.

And the ticky tack was more meant for the ridiculous high stick penalty.

Keep dreaming.

 

Do you mean Tyutin's love tap on Crosby's shoulder? Crosby slipped on his own again, and of course another penalty was called on it. All Tyutin did was touch his shoulder as he was going down.

AUTO-PENALTY.

 

Hello Starlings!

Stars use another big third period to go up 2-0 on the Sharks. Brad Richards had a great game, probably his best since his first one with the Stars. An unassisted goal to tie up the game at 2-2 and three assists. Niklas Hagman finally showed up... two goals (one an empty-netter). And Ribeiro and Modano came up big as well, the latter hitting the game winner. The difference in the series, though, has been the goalkeeping. Nabby has been shaky for the Sharks, and Turcs has been solid.

Just like with Anaheim, the Stars sit 2-0 going back to Dallas. Another dream come true for Stars fans. Be nice to get the first one this time, too. We'll see on Tuesday.

 

Yes the Habs lost and say all you want about them diving, but that had to be the dumbest penalty I have ever seen

If I coached Hatcher he would be benched. That was a terrible penalty to take and it almost cost them a 3-0 third period lead

 

Ouch. Just ouch. This insults both my favorite sport and my favorite football team.
It is kind of funny though...

NHL Star Called Up To Big Leagues To Play For NFL Team
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T3gDuT9I2o

 

Signs all over the Garden read tonight:

NICE DIVE
8.7

 

Signs all over my house read: 3-1 Pens.

 

My sign in my house says 3-3 for some reason.

By the way, did you see Marian Hossa get called for a DIVE early in the game? Did Sidney Crosby teach him that move?

 

Check that sign again. Someone in your house can't add.

 

No excuses for tonight's game. The Rangers had so many Power Plays and couldn't do anything with them.

At least the referees didn't decide this one.