The Official NHL Thread

[SilvioDante]

Still sucks balls...Oh well, we won, Wilson's pissed...

All's right with the world again.

[Romeo Delight]

I actually love that call.

It is possible that there is a tripping infraction and a dive on the same play.

Soccer is basically unwatchable because they allow those pansies to flop around the "pitch".

Give me a sport where a guy breaks his hand and doesn't want to miss a shift.

Ryan Kesler did exactly that in the Canucks 7-period overtime win.

He had surgery yesterday and is out 4-5 weeks, with pins inserted in his hand.

Hockey is the best sport on the planet.

[SA ME WHO]

Originally posted by DavidFlamma
Give me a sport where a guy breaks his hand and doesn't want to miss a shift.

Ryan Kesler did exactly that in the Canucks 7-period overtime win.

He had surgery yesterday and is out 4-5 weeks, with pins inserted in his hand.

Hockey is the best sport on the planet.

I agree. Unequivocally. I only wish more people realized that.

[SilvioDante]

Didn't Kjell Sammuelson get like 80 stitches during a playoff game one time and still played in the game afterwards.

I am not gonna say hockey is my favorite sport, but there is NOTHING like playoff hockey, end of story!

[Golden AWe]

Check out what I just bought...I only paid 75 euros (~90 dollars?) for this CCM replica jersey...it's got JAGR #68 on it...I know he wasn't at his best in the Capitals, I know they're not in the playoffs, and I know he doesn't play there anymore...but Caps have a very cool jersey...and it's JAGR we're talking about...these usually cost at least 160-180 euros plus mail if you order them from the North America...

[Romeo Delight]

Jagr looked like he was in his prime last night with 4 assists versus Atlanta.

[Romeo Delight]

The Canucks are a team of destiny. They will win the Cup this year.

[Romeo Delight]

No one's biting?

Ok, every team in the NHL but the Nucks sucks ass.

Seriously, I can't believe the mugging Crosby is getting.

Some serious no-calls there.

Good defence too, with layers of defenders if Crosby happens to get by the first, he is stopped soon enough.

Where's Malkin?

Too soft, I think.

Maybe next year.

[Golden AWe]

Originally posted by DavidFlamma
The Canucks are a team of destiny. They will win the Cup this year.

I've actually betted on New Jersey from the East and either San Jose, Calgary or Vancouver to play against them in the Finals...I'd win hundreds of euros if it happens...

[Romeo Delight]

It will be Vancouver or Anaheim from the West

[SA ME WHO]

I missed part of period 1, but of what I've seen so far, Pens don't look too hot. If it weren't for a couple of Fleury saves, it would be a lot worse than down 1.

As a team, they just seem in over their heads right now. A couple of players are doing well (across the board), but in general.

Hell, 2 shots in the final 16 minutes of the 1st period is not all that hot, especially when you're playing a do or die game.

I hope they catch a lucky break (screw it, I'll take what I can get!) and then maybe that'll light a fire underneath them.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

I just typed a novel on the Pens on my blog....

[Romeo Delight]

Originally posted by Va Beach VH Fan
I just typed a novel on the Pens on my blog....

Too bad you don't post here much anymore

I'll go read it anyways

[Romeo Delight]

From VA's Blog:


Game 5 - Sens 3, Pens 0; Hold your heads up high boys, the future is bright….
Posted: Fri, 20 Apr 2007 01:31:59 +0000
All good things must come to an end, or so they say.

Yes, the Penguins’ season frustratingly ended last night in Ottawa. Understandably, an athlete’s competitive nature makes it a difficult pill to swallow that his season is over, and ended in defeat.

A big tip of the hat goes to the Ottawa Senators. You can’t play much better than the Sens did these five games, absolutely every aspect of their game was outstanding. The execution of their penalty kill clears out of the zone, against one of the best powerplays in the NHL, was at times nearly flawless. Their physical play gave the Pens a rude awakening into what playoff hockey is all about. Can the Sens win the Cup ?? Quite possibly, but let’s see what the Sens do against a team with better defense and a powerplay that’s not tipped to the left (more on that later).

However, that group of mostly very young men in the Pens’ locker room has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. If you would have asked them before the season started what their goals were, and after the prerequisite answer of winning the Stanley Cup was glossed over, you would have heard most of them say, “make the playoffs”.

Well, not only did the accomplish their goal, they did it in overwhelmingly grand style. The Pens were the toast of the NHL. Selling out nearly everywhere they went, including rare sellouts in places like Phoenix. An amazing season series sweep of the Flyers. A 14-0-2 points streak.

But the Pens got what some would call a bad break when it came to playoff seeding when they had to meet Ottawa, arguably the best team in the NHL since the new year (the Pens were right up there as well). The alternatives weren’t much better, in reference to how the Pens had played against other playoff teams such as Tampa Bay or New Jersey. In hindsight, a slight Pens slump at the end of the season may have had the Pens facing Atlanta in the opening round.

But that was not to be, and the Senators really slapped the Pens around for the vast majority of the series. With the exception of the 3rd period of Game two, and stretches of Game 4, the Sens totally stymied the Pens.

However, more importantly for the future success of the Penguins, the Senators made it painfully obvious what the needs of this team are. Moreover, those in the Pens’ management really need to watch tapes of this playoff series closely, as I’m sure they will, to see how the Pens can not only be a playoff team, but a Stanley Cup contender, and soon.

It doesn’t take Scotty Bowman to see what is the Pens bread and butter, of course that’s the powerplay.

However, even with world-class talent like Crosby and Malkin along with powerplay specialist Gonchar on the 1st powerplay unit, they became woefully stale, and teams eventually realized their weakness.

The Pens started around the beginning of the new year on the powerplay to experiment with Crosby going backdoor to Whitney, and it was very successful. For about three weeks, I should say. It didn’t take too long for teams that were scouting the Pens to quickly take that backdoor pass away. Once they took that pass away, the Pens’ opponents realized that Whitney, although a good passing defenseman, was no threat at all in terms of shooting the puck from the point, especially as the 5th left-handed player on the Pens #1 powerplay unit. So because they had nothing to worry about with Whitney, what the penalty killers started to do was fall back on the PK, basically making it a 4 on 4, and therefore leaving virtually no room for Sid to work his magic. That’s why during the playoffs you saw so many of Sid’s passes be deflected before reaching their destination.

So, as most Pens fans have been screaming for years now, for the Pens powerplay to become lethal, they must go out and get a right-handed defenseman. Kris Letang may be one answer. Letang played seven games for the Pens before being sent back to Juniors, and had two goals (one nice goal, one fluke). Alex Goligoski may be another, although he hasn’t decided whether he’ll continue at the Univ. of Minnesota or turn pro. Goligoski led the NCAA in points for D-men this year. While having the youngsters with the big boys would be great, a free agent coming in to fill that void would be much welcomed as well.

The question on the defense becomes; If Ray Shero brings in a free agent D-man, as well as Letang and/or Goligoski going pro, does that finally mean that Pens fans can say goodbye to Rod Scuderi and Joe Melichar ?? Not to be critical, but I sure hope so.

I’ll get into the free agents in a second.

Improving the powerplay would help the Pens out a lot, but not as much as it would if they had some punch on the 1st line with Crosby. Having a sniper on Crosby’s wing lessons the chance that the defense could double-team Crosby on his many rushes down ice. I just can’t see the Pens continuing to sputter around with “character guys” on Crosby’s wings.

So I think most Pens fans would love to see some help to come in, but can the team afford spend big bucks to fill in those holes ??

First and foremost, the Pens will very soon have to start dishing out some major cash to young stars such as Whitney, Fleury, and next year, Crosby. In reference to the defense, the Pens only have 3 D-men signed for next year (not including Letang, and not including Whitney, who is a restricted FA), those being Gonchar, Orpik, and Eaton. Both Fleury and Crosby both become RFA’s after next season (just take 20% of the salary cap and assign that to Sid). Malkin and Staal both become RFA’s the year after Sid. Role players such as Armstrong, Talbot, Ouellet, and Christensen are all RFA’s this offseason. In addition, Thibault is a UFA now as well, and there’s a feeling he may explore other avenues to attempt to become a starting goalie once again. Good luck with that.

There are several other prominent unrestricted free agents that could very well be out the door, such as Ekman, Petrovicky, Melichar, Kwiatowski and Scuderi. Then of course, you also have veterans Mark Recchi and Gary Roberts who are both UFA’s now. Recchi has indicated his desire to return once again to the Pens, while Roberts hasn’t given any hints as of yet. While I’d love the Pens to resign Roberts, something just tells me that he’s going to head north, whether that means Ottawa or Toronto. Recchi could be interesting, he really seemed to lose some steam late in the year.

Obviously, just by looking at that list of potential free agents, in addition to Shero’s possible desires to reshape the makeup of this team, there could be a lot of new faces next year.

If the Pens were to remain in the Igloo for several more years, I would say that their prospects for a significant increase in their payroll would be slim to none. But with the new arena coming in a couple of years, with season tickets sales sure to increase as well, the Pens should surely be in the upper portion of the NHL’s salary cap in the near future.

So Pens fans will watch the remainder of the Stanley Cup playoffs, most likely with a little scowl on their face, and countdown the days until the draft (with a low pick, finally), the start of free agency, and the start of training camp.

Great season boys, can’t wait to get it going again.

[Romeo Delight]

Alot of the Pens success depends on how much the cap goes up.

The Pens are in trouble down the road with the cap. I say, lose Fleury. Staal is going to be better than his brother. I just don't see Fleury - as cool as his pads are - as being an elite goalie.

Malkin needs some off-season conditioning for strength.

As you said, the PP was predictable. Crosby was mugged this postseason. Basically, there were no calls because the Pens weren't carrying the play...necessary to get calls in today's playoffs.