Running Stanley Cup Playoff Thread

The Blackhawks were 4th in goals and 14th in goals allowed. Way better than a typical eighth seed, and interesting considering that all the focus was on the offense they let get away. The real problem this year has been how pedestrian Keith and Seabrook have been.

 

I think the problem is how much Keith and Seabrook have had to play because of all the youth, injuries and inneffectiveness of other defensemen.
Crawford has covered way more problems than I thought he would this year, but I just don't see how the Blackhawks can slow the Sedins over a seven game series.

 

and dominated the strongest division in the league. Their record against the Pacific was a ridiculous 13-5-2. It is not as if the schedule is that unbalanced within the conference and the West is a far toughe conference than the East.

 

Yeah, well the hardcore group would think the Caps are going to lose even if they were playing the Abbotsford Heat in the first round. We're a little defeatist. That said, I have full confidence that this group is going to beat New York. The kind of defensive consistency the team has displayed over the last four months is not a fluke. It's a 50-plus game sample. And I think Neuvirth is going to surprise a lot of people in these playoffs. That kid is nails when protecting a late lead.

 

Nik Lidstrom is better than anyone team's d so I'm not sure what that means.

The Canucks have two of the top scorers in the league plus Kesler, who wasn't exactly chopped liver with 41 goals

Luongo has the fourth best Save % and the second best GAA. I think I'd rather have him in net than Jimmy Howard even with Luongo's sketchy playoff record. .

When I say they remind me of the Wings I mean their businesslike attitude towards the game. It seems to me Vigneault is a lot like Babcock.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb right now and predict that both No. 1 seeds will be upset this round. I'm also going to say that San Jose is finally going to the final and they'll do it against Boston.

 

Unfortunately, don't see another Stanley Cup run this year, Rick.

Watched their last two home games, and the Blackhawks struggled mightily to beat the Blues and couldn't beat the Red Wings, forcing them to back in to the playoffs.

On several power play chances, they struggled to even get a shot on goal. And yeah, several easy goals allowed.

"But hey, everyone's 0-0!"

 

JR,

Your posts reads 90's wings.

 

I watched those two games too (albeit the Blues game not live), and the Blackhawks were playing pretty well in both of them, I thought. They outshot St. Louis 39-24. The only reason it was close was that it was one of those "can't get a bounce" games that everyone has. They skated circles around the Blues. The Detroit game had a few defensive breakdowns that could cost them, but overall I thought it was a solid game for them against an excellent opponent.

In terms of quality of play, I'd put both of those games over a good chunk of their Cup run, especially the Nashville series or the Finals.

They aren't better than Vancouver, but they are within the realm of luck, and there's a shit-ton of that in a 7-game series.

 

You're right. So substitute Jimmy Howard for Mike Vernon/Chris Osgood.

 

The French Language election debate, scheduled for Thursday, has been moved to Wednesday night to avoid conflict with the Habs/Bruins opener.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110410/wl_canada_nm/canada_us_politics_election_5

Hockey is close to a national obsession in Canada, and New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton admitted most people would rather watch the Montreal-Boston game instead of a political face-off.

"Were I not in this election I might very well make the same decision," Layton joked with reporters on Sunday, saying the networks should consider rescheduling Thursday's debate to avoid a conflict with the game.



Only in Canada

 

Special teams have killed the Hawks all year and will kill them in the playoffs.