iB::Topic::NHL playoffs!

Sally
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the standings are set! I have been meaning to do an nhl playoffs thread every year but never have. discuss who you think will win! i am just putting my picks for the first round.

east:
1. washington vs. 8. montreal- washington in 5.
the caps are just too powerful offensively. montreal wont be able to expose any defensive shortcomings.

2. new jersey vs. 7. philadelphia- nj in 7.
this could really go either way, but the devils are my team. it comes down to goaltending, and marty could be great or awful.

3. buffalo vs. 6. boston- buffalo in 6.
miller is too good and boston doesnt have the offense.

4. pittsburgh vs. ottawa- pittsburgh in 6.
the stanley cup experience carries them to the next round, but it wont be easy against ottawa.

west:
1. san jose vs. 8. colorado- san jose in 4.
san jose wont let their playoff failure haunt them (at least in this round) and will sweep an inexperienced colorado team.

2. chicago vs. 7. nashville- chicago in 7.
chicago proved they are a solid team last year in the playoffs, but they will get a scare against a tough nashville team.

3. vancouver vs. 6. los angeles- vancouver in 6.
luongo will have one shaky game against la, but the canucks offensive depth pushes them through to the next round.

4. phoenix vs. 5. detroit- detroit in 7.
could potentially be the best opening round. bryzgalov will be a beast in goal, but detroits experience helps them move to the next round. could go the other way if howard/osgood falter, but i think howard will hold up.

what i love about hockey is no series is ever certain. my picks could go completely the opposite way and it wouldnt be that much of a surprise.

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posted on April 11 2010,16:43
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LowNote
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I was flipping the fuck out during todays Flyers Rags game. Playoff hockey is such a glorious thing.

I don't see the Flyers going very far. This is one of the least mentally tough teams I've seen in a while and I don't think they'll be able to deal with the challenge that is playoff hockey.

That said: Caps, Buffalo, Ottawa, Flyers come out in round 1, and I like Buffalo over the Caps in the Eastern Conference Finals.

San Jose, Blackhawks, LA, and Detroit in the West with Chicago edging out the Red Wings in the Finals.

Chicago wins the cup, and I can't really believe I'm saying that right now. I didn't really sleep last night, so I might think very differently tomorrow.

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O bailan todos o no baila nadie

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the public gets what they deserve, not what they demand
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posted on April 11 2010,16:48
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bszmak5
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I was practically rooting for the Devs to lose today. Playing philly is gonna suck, what a miserable team with miserable fans.... ugh. That said, they had us this regular season, but Playoff hockey is totally different.

posted on April 11 2010,17:03
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LowNote
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hey, fuck you.

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O bailan todos o no baila nadie

Music Should Never Be Harmless.
-Robbie Robertson

the public gets what they deserve, not what they demand
unless we all decide to be a business, not a band

posted on April 11 2010,17:06
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bszmak5
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Quote (LowNote @ April 11 2010,18:06)

hey, fuck you.

...Take Backsies. Generally annoying fans. I know some pretty alright flyers fans. but i'm insistent that they are the minority.

posted on April 11 2010,17:16
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don14120
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Sabres over the Canucks

GO Buffalooo!

posted on April 11 2010,17:39
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DanConway
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Best caps team i have ever seen, and i've been a fan since i started watching hockey.

it is going to take ALOT to bump them off even in the playoffs-the capitals are going to have to fuck up 4 games for anybody to get past them. It's a different game in the playoffs, but not by much, and they've shown themselves to be a dominating team.

I think montreal is going to be tough to beat, just going by how they played up to the caps in the regular season. If washington ends up playing against buffalo, i'll take the capitals over them in 5 games.

posted on April 11 2010,17:53
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Aria
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The Bruins are starting to step up a little more so we'll see what happens. I'm cautiously optimistic.

posted on April 11 2010,18:07
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don14120
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Quote (DanConway @ April 11 2010,20:53)

It's easy to fuck up when you have the weakest goaltending of the Eastern Conference playoff teams.

posted on April 11 2010,19:48
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Will
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The Devils have been the Flyers' best team to play this season. With the exception of one game we've had Brodeur's card all season, and I'm very happy to have lucked out and got them instead of Washington or Pittsburgh. Flyers in 5. Then we'll probably get swept the next round

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I'm not a punk, how can I be?
Show me the way to conformity
Try to be different but it's always the same
End up playin' someone else's game

posted on April 11 2010,21:23
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Matt the Knife
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Quote (Will @ April 11 2010,21:23)

I think the longer this series goes, the harder it'll be to win. If they don't win it in 5, they'll end up losing it.

Also, out of all Philly sports fans, Eagles fans are the most annoying, followed by Flyers fans, then Phillies fans, then Sixers fans (who are last simply by virtue of the fact that there are no Sixers fans right now)

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posted on April 11 2010,21:43
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9mm-3piecesuit
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Only thing i'd change from the predictions in the first post is Penguins over Senators. The Penguins are a much more dominant team, and no matter how much I fucking hate them to no end, I have to give them this one. (here's to hoping i'm wrong!)

Playoff Hockey depresses me, cause my team will never get invited to Lord Stanley's dance.

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When the sun drops, you ain't gonna be hungover the next day.
When the comet hits, you ain't gonna have no bills to pay.
When the bomb hits, it's gonna be a four day weekend. Hey hey!
When it's all done I'm gonna feel great finally.

posted on April 15 2010,08:43
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DanConway
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Quote (don14120 @ April 11 2010,19:48)

Quote (DanConway @ April 11 2010,20:53)

It's easy to fuck up when you have the weakest goaltending of the Eastern Conference playoff teams.

yeah fuck up a game or two, not 4. besides, cap's goaltending really isn't as weak as everyone seems to think. both goalies are sub 3.00 GAA, and the caps have a 3.8 goal per game average.

that's over .8 of a goal more than they need.

seriously, on paper the caps have this for sure. but it is playoff hockey, so stats go out the window as far as i'm concerned.

viva la playoffs, less talky, more hockey.

posted on April 15 2010,12:19
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barrow
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I don't have much faith in the Bruins being able to string together enough wins to beat Buffalo. I'm just thinking about this season, we may have come out with 4 wins in a 7 game period a few times, not many at all.

That's OK though because in Boston right now we couldn't be more excited, not because of tonight's series opener, but because of the lottery earlier this week.

posted on April 15 2010,12:34
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octopus
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i don't care that the bruins aren't scoring goals, this game shows that they are playing fucking hockey. i fucking love my team.

posted on April 15 2010,16:40
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don14120
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Thank God for Miller. Kaleta showed again tonight why he is the best pest in the league. And what the fuck was up with Lucic trying to fight Lydman? There's four guys on the ice willing to fight, and you pick the 5th guy, a player who has had one or two career fights. Ennis is the real deal, too. He skated around Chara all night like he was a pylon. And Vanek! Way to show up and earn that huge contract

and...

posted on April 15 2010,20:00
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octopus
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granted the sabres would have beat us tonight had the referees not had been legally retarded and bussed in from a group home, but the referees tonight were legally retarded and bussed in from a group home.

also, with all the dives buffalo took tonight, i hope one of them results in a broken neck.

posted on April 15 2010,20:08
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don14120
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Quote (octopus @ April 15 2010,23:08)

The refs were terrible both ways. I can't believe they let Chara out of the box before his penalty was over! Imagine if he scored. Shit would have gotten crazy

posted on April 15 2010,21:35
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octopus
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and how many times did that one ref stop play and then have to pause and come up with an icing that never actually happened?

posted on April 15 2010,22:00
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barrow
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The officiating has been bad all season so it's nothing new. But I agree with Steve, and it's not just us being bitter Bruins fans.

What kills me about that Chara call was that the referee three feet from the action didn't have a problem with it, it was the one way over at the blue line who was looking at Chara's back who made the call.

Thoughts On Game 1:
- Bruins were lucky they only went down one in the first, you have to give them the 2nd, and the third was just filled with penalties.
- Ryder surprised me and played very well, he just needs to find the back of the net.
- Wheeler has no business being on the ice, it's a waste when he's part of the odd man rushes.
- Wideman actually had a good game, I guess the boo's worked after all.
- It was really just more of the same thing we saw all season. Wouldn't surprise me if there's a lot of 2-1 Bruins losses this series. Overall they did play with more of a spark than the regular season though, but then again it's playoff hockey, you have to.

posted on April 16 2010,05:33
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don14120
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Quote (barrow @ April 16 2010,08:33)

Wouldn't surprise me if there's a lot of 2-1 Bruins losses this series.

Ditto. That was the Sabres MO all season. Have a lead after the second period and just shut the other team down. 31-0-0 (including last night) this season when they have a lead going into the third period. That is a ridiculous stat.

posted on April 16 2010,09:15
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barrow
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Quote (don14120 @ April 16 2010,09:15)

Quote (barrow @ April 16 2010,08:33)

Wouldn't surprise me if there's a lot of 2-1 Bruins losses this series.

Yeah and something else I just learned that goes along with this. Bruins have the 3rd best penalty kill percentage this season, I didn't realize that Buffalo is 2nd.

posted on April 16 2010,09:22
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don14120
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Cannot stop laughing at this picture

posted on April 16 2010,09:24
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Justafriend
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I SWEAR THIS IS FUNNY!!!

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posted on April 16 2010,09:36
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Sally
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i love the green men! i watch the highlights of the games online on tsn and they always show the green men, its great.

also to the comment about lucic going at lydman, lydman was jabbing lucic with his stick so thats why he went apeshit on him. the tsn broadcaster called lucic the "brock lesnar" of the nhl.

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"Dancing: it is a primal art form, used in ancient times, to express yourself with the body! And communicate!
Sometimes you have to take a break from being the kind of boss that's always trying to teach people things. Sometimes you just have to be the boss of dancing."

posted on April 16 2010,10:27
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Will
Headlights on?

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Watching Slapshot! for the first time in ages in honor of the playoffs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_w4MV_LwMw

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I'm not a punk, how can I be?
Show me the way to conformity
Try to be different but it's always the same
End up playin' someone else's game

posted on April 16 2010,11:09
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octopus
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great call! i raise you this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HGPh8Hjyg8

posted on April 16 2010,19:27
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DanConway
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this is embarrassing

posted on April 17 2010,17:33
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Sally
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who do you think caps go with in net? i think theodore will be back, its not like varly stole the show or anything.

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"Dancing: it is a primal art form, used in ancient times, to express yourself with the body! And communicate!
Sometimes you have to take a break from being the kind of boss that's always trying to teach people things. Sometimes you just have to be the boss of dancing."

posted on April 17 2010,19:05
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DanConway
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Quote (DanConway @ April 17 2010,17:33)

Capitals-" I am honestly laughing out loud at this very moment , jk"

fixed.

i dunno. varly isn't as good as jose except when jose is terrible, ie when the chips are down. i would say that they'll probably keep starting theo until he totally cracks, then switch to varly, but the coach is an odd bird sometimes. who knows?

they really need to get a better goaltender or two next season.

posted on April 17 2010,19:33
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