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Stanley Cup Playoffs Thread...

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by nafselon, Apr 19, 2006.

  1. TigerVols

    TigerVols Well-Known Member

    I'd think twice about picking San Jose over Nashville; the Preds haven't skipped a beat since Mason went in goal.
     
  2. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    Well, except in addition to better and proven goaltending, SJ has Thornton and Cheechoo.

    And Nashville, in the last six games of the season, played St. Louis twice, Minnesota, Chicago, Phoenix and oh, yeah, Detroit. Not exactly stiff competition. (well, except for the Wings)

    Mason is the Cristobal Huet of Nashville. Sharks will pick him part in the series.

    And don't get me wrong--I like Nashville a lot but they're gonna be hardpressed without Vokoun.
     
  3. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    The league will maintain its clampdown on clutching and grabbing; otherwise they'd have given up in January. But you can trap without clutching and grabbing.

    A fast team can break the trap.
     
  4. nafselon

    nafselon Well-Known Member

    You can trap without clutching and grabbing, but it's so much easier when you are allowed. I'm hopeful the pressure stays on the officials to react quickly to it. I'm hoping for a replay of the 80s-early 90s playoffs in terms of excitement and scoring.
     
  5. Beef03

    Beef03 Active Member

    Here's my playoff break down as promised

    Edmonton 4-3 Detroit
    - Edmonton is feeling no pressure now that they've made the playoffs, their speed on lines 1-3 will be tough for an aging Red Wings team to handle, the only question is in goal, and Roloson has been playing better the last few games. Edmonton also took 5 of 8 points fromt he Wings in the season, so they have proven they can beat them. Will be a great series though.

    Dallas 4-0 Colorado
    - Colorado is over powered at every spot. They slumped hard into the playoffs while the Stars played their normal solid style. Goaltending is the biggest difference where the Avs have none and the Stars have a Vezina candidate.

    Anaheim 4-2 Calgary
    - Anaheim is a much more rounded team and played better than Calgary down te stretch. The Flames are a one trick pony and if the Ducks can solve Kipper then the series is theirs. Won't be easy though as Ducks will pay the price physically and be ousted quickly by whoever they play in the second round.

    San Jose 4-1 Nashville
    - the Preds will take one game on emotion at home, but the Sharks are too much for them to handle, especially with a second sting goalie as their go-to guy. Too bad though, I really like Nashville with Vokoun to do some damage.

    Eastern Conference
    Ottawa 4-1 Tampa Bay
    -The Bolts are in way over their heads. The Sens won 12 games in one month with Emery in net  and they can certainly ride him to The finals if he's healthy. Their last game of the season gave them a much needed confidence boost, and if they can stay healthy, watch out. Tampa really hasn't impressed me at all this year and they won't change that in the playoffs. Much to the chagrin of everyone in Toronto, these are not the same Senators of past years. That game against the Leafs was an abberation.

    Carolina 4-2 Montreal
    The toughest series for me to figure out. Montreal had an outstanding post-Olympic run and if Huet can play up to that previous standard, watch out. However, Carolina is just too rounded a team. They are too deep and have played solid wire-to-wire hockey this season.

    New Jersey 4-1 NY Rangers
    My previous statement about the Rangers winning the cup be damned. Weekes is not going to carry them to the promised land. Brodeur is looking like he finally regained his form from the last decade and the Devils are white hot right now. Best bet for a Stanley Cup out of the East right now.

    Buffalo 4-1 Philly
    Buffalo can skate laps around the Flyers. Reminded of a Sather quote in description of Gretzky "You can't hit confetti." The Flyers will not be able to catch the Sabres if the rules are called like they should be. Flyers lucky to win one game maybe.
     
  6. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    Like I said, if they wanted to let up on calling it, it would have happened by now. They're sure as not going to let that stuff go right now.
     
  7. spinning27

    spinning27 New Member

    Good point, except for the fact that Toskala is going to be in net for the Sharks, and he has exactly zero playoff starts as well.

    I agree the goaltending will be a big factor in the series, but I think Nashville could still win this series. The key might be the health of Steve Sullivan, who is simply a wizard on the power play.
     
  8. dixiehack

    dixiehack Well-Known Member

    While I'm all for continuing the crackdown, it likely means the end for a lot of the multiple-OT epics that define the playoffs.
     
  9. Pastor

    Pastor Active Member

    Go Devils! 8) [/fanboylooser]
     
  10. nafselon

    nafselon Well-Known Member

    Yes and no IMO, the last "great" Stanley Cup playoffs in my opinion was in 1993 and there were a ton of good double overtime games that year.

    The problem with those 4-5 OT games is that teams would begin averging 6-7 shots a period after the second OT, both sides were so eager to keep 4-5 guys back to avoid the odd-man rush. I'll take a balls-to-the-wall OT for 12 minutes over a 100 minutes of extra time with both teams play "dump and get back"
     
  11. Sea Bass

    Sea Bass Well-Known Member

    Which is a blessing in disguise, because many people think that multiple OTs are one of the reasons the TV networks will eventually push for shootouts in the playoffs.
     
  12. Beef03

    Beef03 Active Member

    Has nothing to do with it. Through the 80's and early 90s there were a lot of double and triple OT games. Two examples off the top of my head - Washington and Long Island in '87 (might have been '86) went into triple OT. Edmonton and Boston in 1990 went into triple OT at the old Boston Gardens before Peter Klima was thrown out on the ice for the first time in three periods and he scored to end it.
     
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