EHM The Blue Line

And da Wings clinch da division.

TOR-MON saturday... so much stress for that game

jackknife77 wrote:TOR-MON saturday... so much stress for that game

For real, eh? I'm going to need to self medicate with alcohol to still my nerves. I'd like to be able to say I'm confident we'll beat the Leafs, but most of the games this year have been very close.

Oh my god..I am going to have to watch a Mon-Tor game? NOOOOOOOOOOO ... It can't mean anything. Please tell me it does not. Please....

But at least I won't be stressing like the two guys above me.

And if Sj holds on vs Calgary...can Colorado do it? WOW! Cannot believe they are still alive. 1 period left in SJ and 2-1 Shark lead. WOW

SJ-Van 1PM PST Sat
Mon-Tor 4PM PST Sat
Cal-Edm 7PM PST Sat

All could be huge huge games. WOW. Could that snowed out Col-Cal game come into play? That would be amazing.

When they rescheduled that game I thought to myself "that could really be a factor at the end of the season," and I was angry about it. It may not be, still, but the fact that the Oilers will actually have something to play for on Saturday sends chills down my blood and curdles my spine. I remember a few years back the Flames knocked the Oilers out of the playoffs on the last game of the season, I think it would've been 2002-2003....

I would say Lets GO OILERS...but I just don't care if Calgary or Colorado makes it. Both are worthy opponents for Det, Ana...whoever ends up on top. Both could be real scary for them too. I will likely root for Cal or Col against Det Ana anyway.

Fortunately I start work an hour earlier tomorrow, so I'll be home to catch most of the first game and all of the next two. It should be a great hockey weekend, Montreal vs Toronto games have been very exciting this year and tomorrow will be no different.

This situation scares the rubbish out of me. I just KNOW that all the Flames fans are going to start in with a chant of "Oilers Suck" (rather than "Go Flames Go") as soon as the puck drops and the few capable players on that team are going to turn it all the way up. I think Calgary is by far the superior team, and I can't imagine them taking this game off, knowing what's riding on it, but this has all the markings of a game in which the Hockey Gods, rather than the players, decide the outcome. (I know what you're thinking, batdad, what I mean is that the game will be won on a fluky goal or a bad bounce or a seemingly harmless play)

*cough* Steve Smith *cough* payback *cough*

The Flames always have to do things the hard way.

Funny, many Canucks fans say that too. Mebbe it is just because the other teams in the NHL are actually good? Even ones not in the playoffs. Hmmmm not sure.

It's overcoming adversity that prepares teams for the playoffs. Doing things the hard way = doing things the right way.

Habs-Leafs game is the best I've seen in a LONG time. Both teams have been up by 2 at some point. It's now 5-5 with 14:00 to go in the 3rd. Insanity. So stressful....more beer...

*EDIT*
DANG! 6-5 TO.

CatchUp wrote:Habs-Leafs game is the best I've seen in a LONG time. Both teams have been up by 2 at some point. It's now 5-5 with 14:00 to go in the 3rd. Insanity. So stressful....more beer...

*EDIT*
DANG! 6-5 TO.

darn it darn it darn it!! Losing for a silly lob and stupid penalties...

All I can say now is GO ISLANDERS GO

And so ends the season for my Habs...I'll tell you what - GO ISLES GO! I would love for TO to not make it simply becuase I hate them that much more after this game.

Comments:
*I think the refs decided the outcome of this one. Granted, the Begin 4-minute high stick at the END of the 2nd was totally brainless. But in the 3rd while down 2 men there was a major non-call on Laperierre (tripped) and a cross check on Huet that didn't get a whistle either.
*I loved Ryder playing the hero with the hatty. He'll be back next year and score 30 again.
*I think playing Huet was a mistake. He sure didn't have his usual cool - he looked nervous all game. But then again, I don't know if Halak could have handled that 19-2 barrage in the 1st.
*I wish MTL would have played Kostitsyn on the PP. He looked crazy out there tonight. Along with Higgins, he was the best Hab IMO.
*What the frank happened to Souray at the end of the 3rd? Uh, unless he has a broken ankle there is no good reason not to have him on the point in the last 2 minutes of the game down 6-5 with the playoffs on the line. Scratch that earlier comment about the ankle - he better be dead!

Anyway, in a way this is good for the Habs - it means the fat can be trimmed off the roster and they won't (hopefully) be a middle of the pack team next year. Players who I think won't be back next year:
Niinimaa
Aebischer
Bonk
Johnson
Kovalev
Souray
maybe even Koivu if he'll waive his NTC.

The Habs will go with Huet in net with Halak as his backup. I can see them playing Price at some point in the season as well.
D will be Dandenault, Komisarek, Markov, O'Byrne, Streit, Gorges, Côté. Yeah, that's right. Gainey has said from the beginning that he would be re-building with youth and I think that's exactly what he'll do.
The forwards are a bit up in the air. I do think there will be some major trades and some big name Habs will be on their way out. Higgins will rebound next year playing with Ryder and Plekanec. If Koivu is back he'll have brand new linemates. I don't think Kovalev likes playing here (I know batdad: it's Carbs!) and he'll be shown the door via trade. Maybe for picks - and I think Gainey will send him West. Edmonton? That would be fitting.
I think the Habs will make a pitch for Bertuzzi. Given Datsyuk's ridiculous contract and the other UFA's DET has to sign - Bert will be a goner. That's unless he can really work some magic in the playoffs and earn himself a 5+ million dollar chunk of the Wings cap space. I think it'll be a mistake if the Habs do sign him - the last thing we need is ANOTHER player who can dominate a game - when they feel like it.

Anyway, enough for now...

Go 07-08 Habs Go! hahaha.

Cheers mates.

-sigh-

When the freaking Montreal Canadiens organization will give us a nice season darn it... We did 100 games at 21 273 fans sit in the darn Bell Center and we still don't make the playoff...

The team is better to do a clean up and go get some good players during the off season or i am going to come really, really mad and boycott them next season...

See this is where I get upset about officiating affecting the game. David Hale LIFTS THORESON'S STICK on a breakaway. He gets no part of his body, not even his hands, he just lifts his stick, and gets called for hooking. The Oilers score on the ensuing powerplay. As much as, after the penalty, it's the Flames job to kill it off, this kind of thing, this kind of asinine call (the referee was right in front of the play and decided 'well this is a situation in which a player might take a penalty; regardless of what happens, I'm going to call one here if this guy even flinches his stick in the direction of the player), this DOES affect the game. The point of having officiating is to keep the game fair for both sides. If refs are incapable of this, it changes the game. I hate them all.

I also understand that it can go both ways. Remember the 2002 Women's gold medal game? The blatantly biased US official called something like 13 penalties against Canada, and after every kill they became more and more confident. I get, in this respect, that it IS ultimately up to the player to determine the outcome of the game. Still, is it too much to ask to have a game called fairly, in accordance to the rules, and consistently with equal discretion towards both teams, regardless of the time/period/score?

Refs...hmmm...Well I watched all 3 Canadian games up til now.

SJ was widdled, Van was widdled, Cal was widdled, Edm was widdled, Mon was widdled, Tor was widdled...all at some point during their games.

Van-SJ reffing was not great, but did not affect the outcome of the game. Vancouver was pretty brutal after 1 period, and did not overcome the adversity shoved their way during reg time. They then took advantage of their break during OT. I could whine and complain about the 2 5x3's for SJ...but they were deserved. Luongo penalty included. The Canucks, IMO were lucky today.

Mon-Tor....4 pps for Mon 7 for Tor each had 2 pp goals. Toronto just wanted it more. Sorry, but they did. Sorry Catch Up...I know it is frustrating... but Toronto started skating right at the beginning, and Montreal was a step behind..which caused early penalty trouble. after the first quick pp's...which Mon deserved, the game was even.

Cal-Edm..Reffing definitely NOT the cause here. Sorry T-cleese, but that notion is just not true. Flames get 6 pps Oilers have 3. That Hale penalty has been called all season.. You cannot impede a players progress in any way. The refs have been instructed to call anything where stick is parallel to the ice. No puck, no body - body call...penalty. Even if stick on stick. In a breakaway situation if you touch the puck first..then no call in general. Hale did not, and stick was parallel to ice. Touches even glances off Thoreson or his stick..Penalty. Flames have had plenty of chances tonight and did not capitalize. Sorry, but it is true.
And your example of Can-USA women is sooooo true. The referees could care less who wins a game between Calgary and Edmonton. Now anyone and New Jersey...may be different.

But Cal-Edm..the league does not care. Even if it means Colorado might get it. They just don't. Anything West of Detroit does not matter to the league.

Just to once again point out: Reffing has not caused any team to have to battle for a playoff spot, or to miss the playoffs. The players did. Breaks and bounces even out over 82 games. Some teams take advantage some teams do not. The best teams overcome the adversity of poor reffing, bad breaks…the worst..well they miss the playoffs. Yep some teams waited til the end..Colorado especially, and waited too long. However...that is the risk they take by not putting away games they needed to earlier. I am actually surprised Vancouver finally did put the division to rest...Thought for sure they would wait til Phoenix and then maybe blow it.

BTW Congrats to the Flames based on Nashville’s help. Darn..was hoping for a hell of a game tomorrow.

I'm not trying to say the refs cost the Flames the game at all (I posted that right after the goal was scored because I was frustrated). I'm not trying to say they single-handedly cost a team a playoff spot or whatever. I AM saying that they don't call games consistently and it Bryzgalovs me off!

I know the Flames had every chance to win that game--they REALLY let up after the Nashville/Colorado final was announced--but things like that just bug me.

Lifting a guy's stick is not a penalty! It's a good defensive play! Hale was stride-for-stride with Thoreson, he didn't 'impede his progress' at all. My understanding of the rule is that a player can hook to his heart's content as long as he only makes contact with the other player's stick (more or less). Refs are calling hooking penalties on guys who just tap a guy's shoulder with his stick parallel to the ice, regardless of whether or not he impedes the other player's progress. I know that if you make a diving pokecheck when a guy's on a break and knock the puck away, then he trips on your stick, it's no penalty. I know that if you latch onto his body with your blade and pull at his arm or waist to slow him down, it's a penalty. If lifting a guy's stick, your stick moving from the ice surface to the air, and at one point the stick being parallel to the ice, is a penalty, I don't know what game I've been watching all year. I just get wound up about this stuff because it's the time of year when things count the most and to see this shoddy decision making makes Thundercleese angry!

For the record, I roll my eyes in disgust even when a bad call benefits my team. This kind of garbage is really taking its toll on the game, in my opinion. If the league wants this kind of behaviour to disappear, allowing a more free-flowing game, they need to have the players/coaches/refs all on exactly the same page as to what's permitted and what's not, that's my point in all this. You can't get rid of hooking/clutching/holding if you don't know what it is! Calling nothing is the wrong move, as is calling everything.

Meanwhile there's dirty hits and goaltenders being run on a weekly basis...

batdad wrote:Mon-Tor....4 pps for Mon 7 for Tor each had 2 pp goals. Toronto just wanted it more. Sorry, but they did. Sorry Catch Up...I know it is frustrating... but Toronto started skating right at the beginning, and Montreal was a step behind..which caused early penalty trouble. after the first quick pp's...which Mon deserved, the game was even.

Well you don't have to be sorry because we lost... Our team would have won the game if the would had play like in the 2nd period all the game... If we had played like that all the season we would be in the playoff maybe in the 4th or 1st place (remember when we were at 4 or 5pts of Buffalo!)

I personally think it's better for Montreal to not make the playoffs, because it will only contribute now to the oncoming shakeup that is so sorely needed. I felt the same way with the Flames when they were performing quite dog poopy around late Jan-early Feb, that I would rather a team who doesn't improve on that miss the playoffs as opposed to scraping by, getting shelled in the playoffs, and then making minimal changes.

CatchUp, I'm surprised you didn't have Samsonov on the outbound list. But I guess that would be the obvious one

The Hutch wrote:
CatchUp, I'm surprised you didn't have Samsonov on the outbound list. But I guess that would be the obvious one

Curiously, Montreal started to win without him on the last stretch. I have nothing against Samso, I think he could play on top 6 forwards on nearly any teams, but he just didn't fit with the Habs. They tried nearly all linemates with him. BTW, Kovy was the invisible man yesterday..

All I can say as a very angry habs fan right now is... CLEAN UP TIME!!!!
Samsonov out!
Kovalev out!
Aebisher out!
Johnson out!
Bob Gainey... OUT!!! for beeing asleep when montreal went in hell in january and febuary ( I know.. emotional thing could be a part of that with his daughter death )
Place for the youngsters.. veterans didnt get the job done.

Wow. 0.7 seconds left and the Devils tie. Wow.

Thundercleese wrote:Wow. 0.7 seconds left and the Devils tie. Wow.

The laughs are out too!!

Thank you Mrs. Wang and Snow (and a bit Mrs. Kozlov and Satan)