The Hockey Thread

[The Sultan of Swank]

So not only is Halak going to have to channel the ghosts of Vezina, Hainsworth, Durnham and Plante, but also the future ghost of Dryden and Roy just to give us a chance...

I think it was R.J. Umberger who said that any team that can play a team game against Washington will win.... Pittsburgh is not a one dimensional team(even if Washington's dimension is an awesome one), Montreal will need Pleks and Cammy to keep scoring, they'll also need Gionta to get going, Gomez to keep making great passes, and they'll need a lot of depth scoring from Andrei K, Benny Pouliot, Metropolit et al.

Also...

The USS Hal Gill will need to keep doing what he's been doing all playoffs, Gorges too.... but now we need more contributions from the rest of the D... looking at you Hamrlik.... you fucking 5.5 million dollar bum.

Also...

Did I mention Halak will probably have to be better than what he was against Washington?

After much thought, I revise my prediction to Pittsburgh in 5.... maybe 4.

[Evil Chase K]

The USS Hal Gill will need to keep doing what he's been doing all playoffs, Gorges too.... but now we need more contributions from the rest of the D... looking at you Hamrlik.... you fucking 5.5 million dollar bum.

That's our nickname dammit! We Pens fans came up with it. Give it back! Besides now that he plays in Canada, he can no longer be a member of the US Navy.

Also...

Did I mention Halak will probably have to be better than what he was against Washington?

After much thought, I revise my prediction to Pittsburgh in 5.... maybe 4.

I would not be shocked if the Habs took Game 1 tonight. I expect Halak to still be riding the wave of momentum from the previous series and the Pens came out slow in Game 1 against Ottawa. It would not surprise me if they do the same tonight.

[Draevyn]

One thing that the Pens have going for them going into game one, besides being an awesome team , is that they have had a bit more of a break. Not by a whole lot, but Montreal may be burned out after that Game Seven.

[TGWL]

Did I mention Halak will probably have to be better than what he was against Washington?

I don't know if he'll have to be better. If Halak can keep playing as well as he did against Washington, then it really comes down to Montreal playing defense and blocking a ton of shots like they did against Washington. If that happens, I wouldn't e surprised to see Montreal take the series, but I don't think it'll need to be all Halak.

[The Sultan of Swank]

I just feel that Washington was already looking at a conference final match up against Pittsburgh rather than on the first round. The Pens are also an incredibly complete team, and while Montreal has a huge chunk of guys who've won the cup and know what it takes, Pittsburgh essentially has the same core from their last 2 runs, so the experience is there as well.

Anyone else think Boudreau should be fired? He shit the bed pretty hard, I mean Jacques Martin was making adjustments to the Habs game throughout the series, his coaching was pivitol in winning game 5. He coached Boudreau into the ice. It showed a pretty big flaw in their team.

[Clawson]

Yeah Boudreau should be fired for just failing to outcoach Jacques Martin in the playoffs. Every coach out-coachs Jacques Martin in the playoffs.

By the way, I was totally ready to call Matt Cooke a piece of shit again but he actually injured someone with a clean hit...shock.

[SeanDMan]

It's Markov though, you could hurt him with an unkind word.

[SeanDMan]

It looks like a shoulder injury, and even though that's kind of an awkward position to go down, it's only a danger if Cooke follows through and Markov takes the weight in his legs. As it is, he hits his... oh, wait, his elbow is right on the top of the boards. That could sting, but through an elbow pad? If he misses more than a few shifts it's confirmation he's just a wafer thin soft euro.

Clean hit by Cooke.

[Clawson]

His right knee twisted underneath him. Thats where his injury happened.

[SeanDMan]

I saw that, but he grabs his elbow. Grabbing your elbow says either shoulder or, well, elbow.

[SeanDMan]

Okay, I watched it again, his grabbing his elbow isn't as immediate as I thought it was. You're right, it was probably a knee.

[Draevyn]

Well that was a decent game, even though I was yelling at Eaton most of the game. Five minutes in and he'd already made two mistakes. Also, is it just me or does someone really need to wake Malkin up and let him know that the playoffs have started. He just seemed like he should have stayed home in this game.

[Meacon Keaton]

I am hoping it means Malkin will wake up and poop on whoever we play in the Eastern Finals and the Cup finals. Let him lay back and play meh while everyone else picks up the slack. He will break out soon enough.

[Toe]

PK scored for the Canadiens. That has to be encouraging for them, despite the loss. He played 19 minutes and was an 0+/-, so his play in tonights game was good.

[Evil Chase K]

Well that was a decent game, even though I was yelling at Eaton most of the game. Five minutes in and he'd already made two mistakes. Also, is it just me or does someone really need to wake Malkin up and let him know that the playoffs have started. He just seemed like he should have stayed home in this game.

Don't job Eaton too much. Dude's been great so far in the playoffs.

As for Malkin, his parents are in town...he's gonna come on any minute now.

I am hoping it means Malkin will wake up and poop on whoever we play in the Eastern Finals and the Cup finals. Let him lay back and play meh while everyone else picks up the slack. He will break out soon enough.

Indeed, he always raises his level of play when his parents are around and they just arrived. Give him till the end of the series, if he doesn't have a "Malkin Game" by then, then we must consider if he's hurt.

[SeanDMan]

Aw, how cute. A certified momma's boy.

[SeanDMan]

Erhoff!

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Raymond!

[Clawson]

Paging Chicago Blackhawks...

The second round has started. I repeat the second round has started.

[Plubby]

The moment where everyone was a Rangers fan...

Never Forget!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXY3qWtkeJM