EHM The Blue Line

Wow... what a night. And of course what a night to have Center Ice so I wasn't forced to watch Detroit v Edmonton

Very surprising first evening of games!!

Don't believe the score of that Ottawa/Tampa game. Tampa absolutely owned that game through two periods as they looked like they really wanted it and were going to go out and take it while Ottawa was looking like they were just waiting for it to happen just blindly firing pucks on net.

I think Tampa got a little gassed and started taking bad penalties though and it didn't take long to unravel; but they really played great for most of it and Grahame was spectacular in the first two periods

The big surpise in the Anaheim game was that Bryzgalov took to the net not Giguere who reportedly strained a groin in practice yesterday I guess people who didn't see the game I mentioned in my predictions would say another surprise was that Anaheim not only stood up to the physcial play but did their fair share of initiating too... hey there was even a fight!!

Of course the other was the continuing truism of Stnaley Cup Playoff hockey; it is all about your role players. Tonight Darren McCarty and Kirk Maltby were overtime heros not any of the star players.

Good to see that they supposed continuation of the close calling of stick fouls actually happened too. Though watch for this wierd new emphasis the league has made the referees aware of which is to allow "no agressive slashing movements" with the stick. I've always wondered why this isn't called really but the standard "I didn't slash him I just tried to break his stick in half!" excuse now will get you nowhere. Vinny Levavalier was called for this exact thing, didn't get the guys wrists or even fingers, but was called for slashing.

Interestingly another "clarification" along the same line of reason as "slashing doesn't have to connect to be called" is that now hooking doesn't actually have to involve a hooking motion either now they are planning to call if you put your stick in a guy's chest and and push as a "hooking" call now. I guess they decided that sounds better than "slow motion semi-spear/jabbing"

The teams all got a refresher course and new update of all these things before their games I guess... we'll see how it holds up as a series moves along.

I watched all 4 games and boy were they exciting

None of the teams I wanted to win won though

Wow, this Dallas - Colorado series is going to be a WAR! Colorado is playing some amazing hockey right now (after the second they are up 4-2!) as their defense looks awesome. If it wasn't for some rediculous saves by Turco it could be a helluvalot worse!

For me the most interesting though is that they've brought Wojtek Wolski in just for the playoffs and he scored a goal and had an assist in his first game It seems every year a callup makes a statement and I'd say Wolski is well on his way to being that player!

New Jersey is really firing in their game vs the Rags too and Patrick Elias is back to looking like the dynamic difference maker he was in their last Cup run. He ended with SIX points today!! It, to me, is surprising how little respect New Jersey is getting in the playoffs. This is a team that won eleven games in a row to finish the season and win their division. This is a team that people were writing off as dead early in the season. Fear the Devils!

Yeah Minty....I saw the Devs-Rags Game also tonight. was my second nhl-game of the season
but can you tell me....have all the playoff games this year that many penalties. they called really everything on both sides. i don't think there were even 10 minutes of 5on5 hockey tonight. in the first period i thought every devil will be called a penalty if he even looks at jagr, or steps on the same ice.
the deciding moments of the game were the two chances dominic moore missed early in the 2nd period(post and marty). after 4-1 the rags were out of control and jagr hurt himself.

though pretty beginning of the series. 6-1. devils got only one czech, but he was better than all of his countryman in the blueshirts. (the goal with his puck kicking move to langenbrunner was very nice

Buffalo and Philly just finished there first overtime, Esche is standing on his FREAKING head. The shots are something like 60-25 for Buffalo. Cambell also absolutly ROCKED Umberger. His eyes were so glazed oer, it was clear he was out of it.

R.J. Umberger?

More like R.J. Hamburger!

That hit was insane

So was Gerber's goaltending, but not in a good way

That was the worst game I've seen all season, and I've seen every game this season

It's times like these when I like to say, "F**K YOU ORPIK!"

Devils88 wrote:have all the playoff games this year that many penalties. they called really everything on both sides.

At this point in the year the penalties are all the player's faults... I think a lot of players (like me as a fan) figured once the playoffs started the "new calls" would vanish and it would back to clutch and grab hack and whack whenever you want. That continues to not be the case, so it is again up to the players to keep their sticks down and keep thier free hands from trying to "slow up" opposing players if they don't want to sit.

That's what games looked like in the first month of the season too. Games that the players didn't try to test the refs were still just as physical as any playoff season but there was also a great flow to the games that really made them fun to watch. Personally, I love it... we had a 5 on 3 in sudden death overtime today and they weren't 'bad' calls either. No more of that "well they wouldn't call that in overtime" or "they're already down a man so they won't call another" that had infected the league before the lockout. Penalties aren't on a sliding/conditional scale so the "if it's a penalty in the first minute it is a penalty in the last minute" standard seems to actually be working.

I think players thought they'd get a free pass since it was the playoffs. No matter how much talk the league and the refs in special meeting with teams did to tell them otherwise it took the refs actually making the calls before the players believed it. Some guys weren't quite comprehending that though and some players were tagged over and over...

Elias today? Was a freakin DEMON!! That "kick pass" was just sick.

inSTAALed wrote:R.J. Umberger?

More like R.J. Hamburger!

That hit was insane

And the Scott Stevens Trophy for the most punishing, bone splintering, consciousness altering open-ice hit goes to.... Talk about standing on the tracks when the train is coming through! I had it on Tivo since I had a show while the game was on and I replayed it in frame by frame like 20 times That was the kind of hit that shown real time makes you instinctively recoil back in your seat and put your hands up in front of your face like someone threw a basketball at you when you weren't looking! I also kept hearing Don Taylor from EA 2002 was it? "Suffice it to say, that if he was a jelly donut? There would be jelly everywhere."

That looked like a MMA knockout (Hughes v Quarry to be precise); he didn't crumple he went down stiff and you could almost see that he was outside of his body looking down at himself saying "darn... now THAT looked like it hurt. Oh.. wait.. that's me laying there isn't it? "

As for John Graham; that was some darn crazy 'tendin! wOw, what a performance! It was like he was seeing one second into the future or something; that's the only possible explanation for some of those saves! If he plays that way the whole series? Good luck Buffalo!! You'll need it.

But as for the Canes... yeah. Not good. A lot of teams got caught in that though; other teams have been battling for so long it can tough for higher seeds early on; look at the demolition job Colorado pulled on Dallas who looked like they were stuck viewing the game on a two second delay... While I'm certainly not happy it went down like that I don't really mind too much and almost prefer that they get jostled into the series and be put behind so they come out firing next time. This has been a team at their best playing from behind so the loss in a crazy way may actually help them in the long run.

Just saw that hit...ooofff..

I don't have the Center Ice package so can only watch what OLN lets me. But the Philly/Buffalo game last night was a classic playoff epic. THAT's what playoff hockey is all about. Robert Esche standing on his head, making crazy saves, tons of hard hitting and most of all, intense hockey for the whole game.

On a side note, even though my Bruins aren't in the playoffs, it's nice to see/hear some familiar voices during the playoffs. Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley are announcers for the Bruins. Jack Edwards does play-by-play for all the away games and Andy Brickley does analysis for every game. Those two guys are top-notch announcers and I'm glad they are getting some work post-Bruins season.

Now, I'm glad OLN finally moved the score graphics to the top of the screen, but they really need to work on their audio. The level and quality keep bouncing back and forth and it's pretty annoying for me. I also think the studio set is much better than the "Cable Access" look they had going there for a while.

Minstrel wrote:

That looked like a MMA knockout (Hughes v Quarry to be precise);

To be even more precise, you're thinking of Franklin vs Quarry

Man, Umberger got rocked!

The Oilers beat the Wings 4-2 i Game Two, stupid trap!

E5150_ca wrote:

Minstrel wrote:That looked like a MMA knockout (Hughes v Quarry to be precise);

To be even more precise, you're thinking of Franklin vs Quarry

Arrggh.. yer right. darn! They did both go down the same way though Quarry and Umberger (though I'm still not convinced Franklin is that dominant of a champion as they needed to make him sound to make him coach of the dumb reality show... [/OT] )

Since this is a hockey thread though; I agree about OLN it was an absolute joke early on from a technical side and their game coverage has tech problems too, but it was a thrown together at the last moment kind of thing once they knew there would be a season this year. They've been improving though; I caught their clip show after the first games and it was pretty good. They still need time to settle into the live coverage/throwing to the studio thing though for sure.

Man did the Preds get embarrassed today I think it was a miscalculation/lack of big game experience showing through. It seemed that their attitude was "We pressured and were all over them causing them to take penalties and we scored four on the PP so this time we're going to go out there and play even harder/give them less room!" On the ice though I don't think they handled the emotion/pressure that approach brought about and that "we'll really get 'em this time!" approach became a million bad decisions to hold and hook guys and San Jose just buried them

Now, it was bad play/decisions on their part that killed them though not bad calls they deserved the calls they got. Yeah, nobody wants to see their team get called for that many penalties and get killed because of it. The Hawks did it all year on their march to the 3rd overall pick But just like the Hawks, the Preds just can't be successful if they are constantly putting themselves at a disadvantage. Again the game has been called like this since October. The Sharks learned their lesson last game and didn't take penalties this time.

One of the commentators made a great comment about how goalies when they get the "big chance" shouldn't go out and try to do more now that they 'The Man'; they should go out and do exactly what got them the opportunity. Just play your game. This applies to all of these young players that are getting into the playoffs for the first time; don't try to "do more/play harder/make a bigger impact" now that it's the playoffs because that along with the elevated emotion/intensity level will lead you to in the long run make more mistakes. This is going to be a key issue for teams this year I think.

Oh, and go Edmonton!!!!

Go Oilers Go!

They deserved to win the first game too. Unlucky bounces

And down goes Ottawa!! They had Redden miss the game with an injury; Grahame continues to look fantastic and Richards/St. Louis/Lecavalier played a really great game too. This team's in trouble and look tired with the exception of Havlat who has been out most of the year. Heatley and Alf? Someone listening on radio might have wondered if either were actually in the lineup tonight...

Today one of the announcers was saying that Umberger when asked if he was worried that his jaw was broken said "No, I knew it wasn't... because I already have four metal plates in there from breaking it in Juniors." They also said he plan on playing tommorow

It's so much fun correcting you Minty

Redden was out because his mom passed on last night, and he flew back to Sask to be with this family.


Also, Flames are in bad shape, down 3-1 midway through the 2nd.


EDIT: make that 3-2, they just scored.

(OT. Gracie is gonna make Hughes tap)

Given the simple amount of text put forth I'm bound to be left open for frequent corrections [OT: I agree Hughes is going down ]

Regarding Calgary that last game of the season between them before the series began I mentioned seems to continue to tell the tale of this one. This team is just as tough and won't back down, then it comes down to they are getting at least equal goaltending and they have more firepower and speed... The reason they got beaten up so much today? Even Sutter knows all of that and went to a quicker lineup for this game; and that didn't work either. Sure they can still win; anything can happen in any series but these are the exact reasons I gave Calgary low odds to win four against Anaheim. They're pretty fortunate to not be down 0-2 really.

It's usually these second games that are the statement games and tell you how things are probably going to go and yeah the story isn't pretty for some teams.

Why did all the home teams in this second set of games in this round of the play-offs lose? They all won their first game of the series than crashed last night-does this always happen? And what a score the other night-Canes 1-6 Habs???

inSTAALed wrote:R.J. Umberger?

More like R.J. Hamburger!

That hit was insane

here are some more...
hockey hits

That's old news, cats

Don't worry, you tried

Jeez what a freakin rollercoaster of emotion that Canes game was tonight!! I'm sure Dallas fans feel the same way as both games went from "This is the end of our existence as a team, we are a disgrace fated to never be able to do anything again... we should just call the whole thing off now and issue a formal written apology to the League." To "See? There's the team we know and love... we're BACK baby!! YeeHAW!!! Look out Stanley here we come!! " and then back again.

They both go down 3-0 in the first after getting dismantled and embarrassed in their first game of the series then somehow fight back to take the lead late only to lose it again and go to OT where they do end up losing the game after all. I mean... is it better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all?? By that I mean; does it hurt more to be killed and feel like you can't do anything right or to fight back proving you can actually play this game but then still not be able to seal the deal? What now? Do you feel better that you were able to come back or even worse now since you appeared to pull it all together and really play your best game but it still ended with you losing the game?? I dunno... I guess we'll just have to see how it all turns out.

However, stick a fork in Philly and New York. They're done

As they say, Minty, that's why they play a 7 game series. It doesn't look good for CAR and DAL but I wouldn't write them off just yet. This could be just the thing to kick them back into gear.

Man, I love the NHL playoffs. Easily the best post-season of any sport.

My girlfriend commented after the NJ/NYR game "are all the playoff games this intense?"

noctambulist wrote:Man, I love the NHL playoffs. Easily the best post-season of any sport.

My girlfriend commented after the NJ/NYR game "are all the playoff games this intense?"

Even though it didn't go the way I wanted it to in the end I echo your sentiment exactly as I said out loud to myself "This is why hockey is the greatest sport in the world." It's hard enough being a viewer/fan can you imagine how drained players must be after doing the every other day for two months basically? It's nuts. And I love it!

Minstrel wrote: However, stick a fork in Philly and New York. They're done

Well, I dont know, as a more or less longtime Bruins fan I can assure u that u can never be sure until u have won 4 games!!!

I have to agree there with your NY statement. I also think they are done, but more because I believe the Devils are right now the strongest team in the league....and yes, not having JJ is also a hard punch in the face for Rangers fans...

As for Philly, I dont know, its true they got dismantled the second game, but here it doesnt matter if u loose 8-2 or 3-2, the price is only the same: have won or lose ONE game. They still can fight back in Philly and put the series even. I refuse to believe the Flyers will go out in 4 straight games.

About the Canes-Habs: well, here I have mixed feelings!! The Canes just discovered that Huet is beatible (sp) by scoring 5 goles against him and u never know! Ohh, but perhaps Iam speaking with the hart and not with the brain....as I want the Habs to loose even when they play darts, lol....

May the best win!!!