All-Purpose Hockey Thread III

Good get.

What we were witnessing --on national TV--was the disintegration of our vaunted hockey superiority.

We didn't care about the Olympics because we couldn't send our best and this series was to prove, once and for all, that no one could touch us.

And if you remember, in the first game, the Canadians jumped off to an early two goal lead but that was it. The Soviets came back and demolished us.

They were in better shape, they were better skaters, they moved the puck better and quite frankly, on paper, we had no business winning the series.

 

Increasingly, the Canes best shot at the playoffs (and it's not a great one) is to overtake the Thrashers and Lightning to win the Southeast Division. They have two games left with Tampa Bay and one game left with Atlanta.

 

Why wouldn't Tretiak contact Hockey Canada instead? The NHL's blessing isn't required to make this happen, is it?

 

There's a big difference between the Oilers of last year and the Maple Leafs of this year. A) If the Oilers last year played in just about any other division they would have been a 100+ point team, easy. Instead they didn't have a single easy team in their division to play. Also they had three solid pairs of defenceman, with a better seventh (Tarnstrom) than most had on their second pair. That grouping included Pronger and Spacek who not only provided offence but could play in their own end as well – Kaberle and McCabe are great offensive defencemen, but I trust them about as far as I can throw them in my defensive zone. After that they had the likes of Smith, Staios, and MAB. Their offence, while not prolific, was balanced throughout, and didn't rely solely on just one line to score. The Biggest difference though, is in net. True I had my questions about Roloson heading in, but he proved he could steal games in the playoffs, Raycroft has done little to inspire that confidence in anyone.

The Oilers had built that team over the course of several years, the Leafs are the beginning of that process now. Same with the Canes who won it all last year, that team was built over several years, same with the Flames and Tampa the year before the lockout.

The Sabres are in a similar boat to the Red Wings only in that they haven't really played a meaningful game. Top to bottom they have a more complete team than Detroit. The Sabres have also a tougher schedule than the Wings did the last few months – whether they went all out in them or not.

 

If it doesn't get the NHL's blessing, it aint' gonna happen. And even if Hockey Canada loved the idea, they're not going to fuck around with the NHL if they're against it.

 

I wasn't comparing the two teams. I was using the Oilers as an example of how an 8th place team --any 8th place--can knock off a 1st place team.

That's why the first round is so great because those upsets happen.

I find my interest wanes slightly in the second round and depending on who's left in the Conference Finals, picks up again for that round and the Final if it's a non Canadian team(not just the Leafs) or it's a team I genuinely like--Buffalo, for example

 

Maurice has experience taking a team to the Stanley Cup finals and losing.

 

I heard about this other coach who, at the start of his career, took St. Louis to the Cup final three years in a row and lost every time. Talk about a loser, this guy totally sucked. I think the Blues have been way better off since they got rid of that guy Bowman, I think that was his name.

 

Playoffs? PLAYOFFS? (/JimMora)

Carolina has been smashed the last two games by a combined 11-2. One of those losses by to the F_cking Flyers. The basement-hugging Flyers!

Then again, Montreal smashed the Canes 6-1 in the first postseason game en route to the Cup. Maybe it's an omen. Whalercanes fans can only hope so.

 

Loser goes home game tonight between the Bolts and Canes. Tortorella came out with the "We're getting in" speech after Tuesday's loss to the Panthers. They need any line except for Lecavalier-St. Louis-Prospal to start producing.

Time to earn that money Brad Richards.

 

This is rather shocking, particularly if you're a NBA fan.

The NHL telecast on NBC (Boston Bruins-Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers-New York Islanders regionally) drew a larger national audience than ABC's National Basketball Association telecast (Phoenix Suns-Sacramento Kings).

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070330.TRUTH30/TPStory/Sports/columnists

From the perspective of the NHL, the numbers show that, on a good day, hockey is in the same ballpark as the NBA and even capable of posting a win.

 

Hmmmmm....maybe the NHL should be back in the Big Four and the NBA should be out.