How about them Avs .........

[Mtbrncofn]

Whatever, I won't even have to jump in on that. MT will handle you no problem.

:)


I hope that's a compliment! Don't get me in trouble, sol. Philly and I could have civilized arguments, right Phil?

[BlueDamsel]

But didn't we do this last year? 3-1.. home game.. lost it.. and lost the series? We musn't repeat this, we MUST win next game.

Well, not to curse it or anything, but when we've started a series 2-0, we haven't lost the series since '93 when they were still the Nordiques...

Last year we started 0-1...

[Mtbrncofn]

It sure would be nice if the Avs could put a couple refs on their roster, like Dallas.



LOL....glad I'm not the only one who thought that way. This was by far, the worst reffed game yet. Those bastards. How about all that mauling of Aebi? Blind f*uckin zebras!

[Mtbrncofn]

Congrats again Philly on your win. Has anyone seen Martin Brodeur this year? Whatever happened to him?

So far, I am really liking this Philly wins, we win thing. I started sweating it out for awhile then turned to my husband and said, nah...we'll win, the Flyers won. I'm putting in my Go Flyers now, for luck!

I thought for sure Guerin would find the twine sometime. He was shooting left and right. Last I heard, he had 11 SOG. He has totally tanked for them this playoff season, as has Madona. Damn shame, eh?

[Tredici]

Good thing Dallas wore themselves out shooting. In that first OT the ice was definitely slanted towards Aebi.

Call me a cynic but I have a feeling a lot of the series this year will get pushed out to 7 games. Everybody likes the sellout gate. And there may not be much revenue next season...

[Breck Bronc]

Martin Brodeur is feeling what it's like to not have a great defense in front of him. No Scott Stevens, not Cup in NJ.

When Brodeur breaks Roy's win records (there's no question he will do it) he will be called the greatest goalie of all-time. I just hope he has to play on a team with a bad defense in front of him, kind of like what Roberto Luongo has to put up with in Florida. Every since Marty broke into the league he has had a trapping, suffocating blueline in front of him, limiting good scoring chances. Combine that with his outstanding puckhandling and he wins a bunch of games.

He's a good goalie, one of the best of his generation, but not the best of all-time, or the best when Roy was around.

[Swedish Extrovert]

This game was very dissappointing.

At least we won.

The refs were awful again tonight, but this time on both sides, much more against the Avalanche... but the Av's got away with some stuff in OT. I saw a tripping and an interference on Rob Blake. I guess he is experienced and knows what he can get away with.

Aeby stole the show. The Av's never got setup in the offensive zone, and all their goals came on fast breaks. We had a sloppy forecheck, and never closed the defensive gap. We also had a huge break in OT off of the deflection of Foote, then again off of Skrastins.

Right now, Aeby is my favorite person in the world. I could just kiss his Swiss... eh... glove.

We really didnt deserve to win this game. At all. This is really the first game in this series that we didnt deserve to win. Game three we lost on a lucky bounce and a goalie interference no-call.

The Av's will probabally win the series, but they need to get their sh*t together.

Our skaters sucked today. Except for Sakic, Hinote, and (always) Forsberg.

But holy crap.... Aebischer stoped 41 of 43 shots. Thats a .952 save %.

We got lucky folks... and I think Aebischer has answered any questions on weather or not he can play in the playoffs.

[phillybroncosnut]

Martin Brodeur is feeling what it's like to not have a great defense in front of him. No Scott Stevens, not Cup in NJ.

When Brodeur breaks Roy's win records (there's no question he will do it) he will be called the greatest goalie of all-time. I just hope he has to play on a team with a bad defense in front of him, kind of like what Roberto Luongo has to put up with in Florida. Every since Marty broke into the league he has had a trapping, suffocating blueline in front of him, limiting good scoring chances. Combine that with his outstanding puckhandling and he wins a bunch of games.

He's a good goalie, one of the best of his generation, but not the best of all-time, or the best when Roy was around.

BINGO BANGO BONGO! Breck is 1000% correct.

Did anyone see the job Esche did tonight? Unbeleivable is all I can say.

[Breck Bronc]

BINGO BANGO BONGO! Breck is 1000% correct.

Did anyone see the job Esche did tonight? Unbeleivable is all I can say.I didn't get to see him too much because the Avs were on at about the same time and I watched Toronto/Ottawa on the dish in between periods.

I like Esche, he could be Team USA's starter in the upcoming World Cup if he continues to play well this postseason.

I hope your Flyers beat NJ 8-0 in game 5 back in Philly. I can't stand the Devils and their overrated goalie. I'm rooting for the Flyers unless they play Colorado in the finals. It has to be one hell of a boost for that Flyer team to finally beat New Jersey in the playoffs. It could catapult them far into the postseason, especially with Ottawa and Toronto looking like they are going to war for 7 games. I think Philly can beat either Tampa Bay or Boston. You have to like how the Flyers are sitting, though they choked in a similar situation to the Devils back in 2000. I don't think it will happen again. Shut down Elias' line and you're golden.

[Tredici]

And at the other end of the spectrum... Apparently Detroit is ready to wheel Cujo out into goal on a hand truck if necessary. Manny's 3 goals on 11 shots is putting the Winged Wheels in panic mode.

After playing outstanding defense this season, the Wings are not getting it done. Hatcher has turned into a liabilty. Go figure...

And how about that Hasek? The charges against him are dropped and suddenly he's on a plane back to Czech for groin surgery. What a POS. And the Detroit fans are all gooey over the fact he stopped cashing checks in January. What a humanitarian.

[Mtbrncofn]

Hmmm, things may be getting interesting in the Ott/Tor series. They whooped the Eagle tonight, and lost Mats Sundin and Joe Nieuwendyk. Doesn't sound too serious for Sundin, but Joe is going home to have an MRI. That would really hurt the Leafs.

[Tredici]

Aaaaahhh.. Eddie can just fortify himself with a few pre-game belts.

[bpc]

I'll be rooting hard for the Preds tomorrow.

We looked slow tonight. Definately got outhustled after the first period. I feel lucky to get the win but it was nice to see Aebi step up and handle the workload. Glad he got that first OT win under his belt. If we are to go all the way, he'll probably have to have a few more of those.

[Mtbrncofn]

HA! That Asslick. What a POS.

I love that Hatchling has turned out the way he hasn't in the playoffs. I remember when Detroit got him. All I heard from Wings fans was, blah blah Hatcher this and blah,blah Hatcher that....he's gonna make you Avs sorry.

I think Vokoun has been pretty damn good in that series. I'm sure its surprised the hell out of the Wings too. They are probably pooping their shorts right now having nightmares of Ducks all over again. I really don't see CuJoke getting it done for them either. He's such a hot and cold guy, plus that ankle will be a huge liability and with the way the Preds keep crashing the net, they will be gunning for that ankle. I'll definitely be tuned in for that game tomorrow night.

[phillybroncosnut]

I didn't get to see him too much because the Avs were on at about the same time and I watched Toronto/Ottawa on the dish in between periods.

I like Esche, he could be Team USA's starter in the upcoming World Cup if he continues to play well this postseason.

I hope your Flyers beat NJ 8-0 in game 5 back in Philly. I can't stand the Devils and their overrated goalie. I'm rooting for the Flyers unless they play Colorado in the finals. It has to be one hell of a boost for that Flyer team to finally beat New Jersey in the playoffs. It could catapult them far into the postseason, especially with Ottawa and Toronto looking like they are going to war for 7 games. I think Philly can beat either Tampa Bay or Boston. You have to like how the Flyers are sitting, though they choked in a similar situation to the Devils back in 2000. I don't think it will happen again. Shut down Elias' line and you're golden.

Try to catch the highlights. I'm sure they'll show a bunch of his saves. He had AT LEAST TEN 10 bell saves (Hockey term get the Hockey for dummies book out).
Damn, I never even thought about Esche being the USA's G for the world cup.

And, yes, it feels wonderful to know we are a better team then Jersey. they've had our number for years. The only team I'm worried about in the East is Ottawa.
And, don't remind me about what happened in 2000. I was at that game and i remember thinking that even though we were up 3-1 in the series, it was a must win for the Flyers. IT WAS. That was Lindros' last game in a Flyer Uni.
I'll be there on Saturday but the outcome will be much more joyess for Flyer fans!

GO FLYERS

[Mtbrncofn]

A few more SOG would certainly help out our situation. That was a pretty appalling stat. Anybody else notice the not so crisp passing or the sh!tty line changes? We almost got busted a time or 2 on those.

[Hogan11]

Dude! Esche was unfreakinbeleivable tonight. His performance tonight ranks right up there with the greatest goalie performances in Flyers history! He put his name right there with bernie Parent, Ron Hextall, and Pelle Lindberg (RIP).

He was just unconscious tonight. Primeau is have the best series of his career. he's probably playing the best hockey of his career too.
Damn, i should have made the short treck up the New Jersey turnpike tonight for the game! Plenty of empty seats. They probably have the worst fan base in all of sport (save for the Expos :poke: ....)

One more to go. Let's enjoy this win brother with a few ^5 and alot of :alky:

Oh I agree (except for the Expos Part) we should wrap this thing up Sat, no problem.:thumbsup:

..and always remember: Montreal didn't fail MLB..MLB failed Montreal.

[phillybroncosnut]

Oh I agree (except for the Expos Part) we should wrap this thing up Sat, no problem.:thumbsup:

..and always remember: Montreal didn't fail MLB..MLB failed Montreal.

LMAO!

Dude, how did you get that Pic up of Primeau in your avatar. I am trying to put an Esche pic up but It's not showing up.
I right clicked the pic, saved it, resized it so it would fit and uploaded it. but it isn't showing. Whats the secret?

[Hogan11]

LMAO!

Dude, how did you get that Pic up of Primeau in your avatar. I am trying to put an Esche pic up but It's not showing up.
I right clicked the pic, saved it, resized it so it would fit and uploaded it. but it isn't showing. Whats the secret?

No special trick Philly...I just went to Yahoo, put in The K Train's name and then looked under "Images" for one that was in accordance with TJ's avatar restrictions and got lucky.

I know your trouble though..had a killer pic of Gary Carter and one of Jose Vidro that were too big....tried to resize them and they looked kinda distorted.
I just resized it, saved it to the desktop and then uploaded it from there...why it wouldn't work like that, I have no idea.

Best of luck Bro.

[solipsist]

I hope that's a compliment! Don't get me in trouble, sol. Philly and I could have civilized arguments, right Phil?

Of course its a compliment! Philly and RHogan are good people, just not Avs fans.

:)

[solipsist]

A few more SOG would certainly help out our situation. That was a pretty appalling stat. Anybody else notice the not so crisp passing or the sh!tty line changes? We almost got busted a time or 2 on those.

No doubt. Who is Dallas' backup? You know Tippett is wondering that too, because that was an absolute dismal performance on Turco's part. Smurf is absolutely right, we should not have won that game, Aebi stepped in and did exactly what a playoff goaltender should do - he stole us the game.

[phillybroncosnut]

Of course its a compliment! Philly and RHogan are good people, just not Avs fans.

:)


I become an AV's fan when the Flyers are eliminated.

Sakic is my favorite player in the NHL (Non Flyer). I have to cheer for them. As an added bonus, Bronco fans cheer for them. How can I not root for a team that Bronco fans cheer for?

[Pezman]

Bailed out! We should have soooo lost this game. How are we going to make it past round 2 (if we win this round) unless we start clamping down on d when it matters the most? I almost feel as though we lost tonight. But it could be worse, we could be Stars fans bwahahaaha! They have to feel like its already over. Lets wrap this thing up on Saturday Avs! Please?

[Tredici]

I don't know why Star fans would be disheartened. After all they have a sparkling road record...

:~ohyah!:

[phillybroncosnut]

No special trick Philly...I just went to Yahoo, put in The K Train's name and then looked under "Images" for one that was in accordance with TJ's avatar restrictions and got lucky.

I know your trouble though..had a killer pic of Gary Carter and one of Jose Vidro that were too big....tried to resize them and they looked kinda distorted.
I just resized it, saved it to the desktop and then uploaded it from there...why it wouldn't work like that, I have no idea.

Best of luck Bro.

GREAT CALL MAN!

I'll find a better one though.

[solipsist]

Aaaaahhh.. Eddie can just fortify himself with a few pre-game belts.

LOL

[solipsist]

I become an AV's fan when the Flyers are eliminated.

Sakic is my favorite player in the NHL (Non Flyer). I have to cheer for them. As an added bonus, Bronco fans cheer for them. How can I not root for a team that Bronco fans cheer for?

There are a lot of classy guys wearing 19, Sakic and Stevie Y being the tops.

Sakic has alway impressed me as being so much of what you want professional athletes to be, confident without arrogance, leadership without assuming superiority, leading by example. Great great player.

[Hogan11]

Of course its a compliment! Philly and RHogan are good people, just not Avs fans.

:)

I used to love the Nordiques when I first got into hockey..but they moved shortly thereafter and the Flyers were the only other team I liked as much, so I adopted them as my lone, official hockey team to follow.

So, if the Flyers are out of it, then sure I'd like to see the Av's get the cup.....but that ain't happening this year because the Cup is going to Broad St. ;)

[Tredici]

I used to have a picture of Eddie wearing some widdle red cowboy boots. Why would someone who looks like a deranged dwarf wear red booties?

[phillybroncosnut]

Denied!!!!

[solipsist]

I don't know why Star fans would be disheartened. After all they have a sparkling road record...

:~ohyah!:


and the hits just keep on coming.

Speaking of hits, interesting to see Barnaby on a line with Forsberg and Hejduk for a bit there in OT. If anyone can draw hits away from Foppa it's the premier pest in the league... Still, if Tanguay can play he should play with the Duke.

[phillybroncosnut]

PHUCK! I have to change that picture. I just noticed something. Bad omen.

[Hogan11]

GREAT CALL MAN!

I'll find a better one though.

Glad I could be of service :thumbsup:

[solipsist]

I used to love the Nordiques when I first got into hockey..but they moved shortly thereafter and the Flyers were the only other team I liked as much, so I adopted them as my lone, official hockey team to follow.

So, if the Flyers are out of it, then sure I'd like to see the Av's get the cup.....but that ain't happening this year because the Cup is going to Broad St. ;)

Good to see you're an optimist. :)

I'll tell you what, when teh Avs win I'll buy you a copy of the victory video and send it out to you as a consolation prize. Just cuz I'm a nice guy.

[phillybroncosnut]

Go Flyers!

[phillybroncosnut]

Good to see you're an optimist. :)

I'll tell you what, when teh Avs win I'll buy you a copy of the victory video and send it out to you as a consolation prize. Just cuz I'm a nice guy.

Why I oughta!

[Clockwork Orange]

By the way, just wanted to point this out. Peter Forsberg picked up an assist tonight, giving him at least 1 point in 10 straight playoff games going back to last season.

He doesn't have the 5th best points per game average in playoff history for no reason.:)

[Hogan11]

Ha!

[phillybroncosnut]

New Page, we gotta be heard Hogan......

GO FLYERS!

[Clockwork Orange]

http://espn.starwave.com/media/nhl/2004/0414/photo/g_svatos_ht.jpg
Svatos celebrates the biggest goal of his young life.

I love the shot of Mike Modonna in the background. The dejected look on his face tonight will only be topped on Saturday when the Avs send him to the golf course for the summer.

[solipsist]

Why I oughta!

Settle down there, tough guy... ;) Don't get jealous, maybe RHogan will let you borrow the video. S'up to him.

[Ugly man]

By MIKE HEIKA / The Dallas Morning News

The book on Marty Turco right now is he's not a "playoff" goalie.

For the second consecutive season, Turco has not had the big saves when he's needed them. For the second consecutive season, he has broken at the wrong time. For the second consecutive season, the Stars are looking at a playoff exit when they had aspirations of winning the Stanley Cup.

And Turco knows it.

He stood in the locker room Wednesday night after a 3-2 loss in double overtime and carried the weight of the entire franchise as he talked about his team's chances in Game 5 Saturday in Colorado.

"More than anything, for the guys, they know they can play well, they played really well tonight," Turco said of a 43-21 advantage in shots. "They deserved a lot better. If I could step up and not even make big saves, but the ones I should make, then I think we'll be better off."

Turco did not make the saves he should make. He didn't make them early in the game when he should have. But all of that could have been forgiven if Turco could have delivered in Game 4. Win that game and the Stars are back in the series. Lose, and they are toast. Sure, they could come back from being down, 3-1, and win two games in Colorado. The Minnesota Wild did it last year. But everybody in the building know the odds are against it.

Turco knew the importance of overtime.

Win, and you could change a series. Lose, and you could change a season, a career, a franchise. That's the difference between what we in the media (and you in the seats) call a winner or a loser.

It is unfair. It is cruel, really. But it is also the NHL.

Turco and his Colorado counterpart, David Aebischer, knew that when they took their respective jobs. Being a goalie at any level is pressure. Being a goalie for a franchise with a $60 million payroll is excruciating pressure. Being a goalie who follows Patrick Roy or Ed Belfour is impossible pressure.

Aebischer broke in Game 3. He made some bad reads and had some bad luck. And just like that, fans in Colorado were wondering if their weak link would be a first-year goaltender.

Turco, meanwhile, broke badly in the 14th minute of Game 4, allowing a Joe Sakic short-handed goal that simply had to be stopped by a playoff goalie. When Turco didn't stop it, when it slid under his pad, you had to wonder if Turco might not be a "playoff" goalie.

His 3.65 GAA and .841 save percentage were the worst in this year's postseason. He had failed to be the difference in the series. He had let in the same kind of soft goals that dogged him in last year's playoffs.

And just as Colorado fans were pondering the loss of Roy, Stars fans had to be thinking that this guy will never be Belfour. For all of the Eagle's warts, the guy did not give up a lot of soft goals in the playoffs. For all the rage that bubbled inside the man fondly known as "Psycho Eddie," he was rock calm in overtime.

Marek Svatos lifted a neat shot over Turco. It was a great play. But great goalies stop those shots.

Playoff goalies stop those shots. And Marty Turco knows it.

[Clockwork Orange]

http://images.sportsline.com/u/photos/hockey/img7256528.jpg

I'm Marek Svatos, bitch!!

[Ugly man]

Check out these jackasses claiming that Svatos shot didn't actually go in. It apparently just clanked off the post.

http://boards.dallasstars.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=84836&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=93&fpart=1

[watermock]

Jeez, they are a little hard on the goalies.

Abby stood on his head and had another non call.

Sakic is still one of the best, hopefully they can wrap it up soon and lick their wounds.

Maybe I don't watch enough hockey, but it seemed pretty physical out there the way the boards were banging. Maybe they have mics in the corner, and it wasn't alot of fighting, (which I find so amusing), but whatever. I had the game running in the background, but hockey is nothng compared to football to me.

At any rate, the Av's got their road win and are in position to move to the next challenge. I have no clue who that is.

I imagine Detroit is out there somewhere.

[want2bAbronco]

one of our biggest teams *when we win* will be detroit. always is, BUT that series is tied 2-2 and the VERY surprising Nashville Predators have out played them in everyway. it should be 3-1 Nashville but a goal was knocked in by a Nash player that gave Detroit a win. For the next game Detroit is changing there goalie to Jospeh. I really hope the Wings lose, will help us out a lot!

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs2004/news/story?id=1782141

red wings article~

[solipsist]

And at the other end of the spectrum... Apparently Detroit is ready to wheel Cujo out into goal on a hand truck if necessary. Manny's 3 goals on 11 shots is putting the Winged Wheels in panic mode.

After playing outstanding defense this season, the Wings are not getting it done. Hatcher has turned into a liabilty. Go figure...



Yeah, suddenly things aren't looking as great for two of the goalies of the future, Turco and Lag-assee have really been too easy to beat in the playoffs (not that I'm complaining!)

Hatcher has always been a big hitter around the net and not a speedy skater. He's gotten slower and now on a team with Chelios the dinosaur. Lidstrom is starting to show some age as well. But yeah, the Hatcher free agent signing has gone about as well for the Wings as the Kariya/Selanne signing for us....craptastic.

[solipsist]

At least a lot of those Dallas fans are moving on from it... When I saw the replay I thought it might not have gone in, but the net moved with the impact of the puck and the ref called it a goal - and Dallas has gotten better breaks than that, like Hull scoring the Cup winning goal with one skate firmly in the crease.

[solipsist]

from the DenverPost

Avalanche goalie David Aebischer (http://www.forecaster.ca/denverpost/hockey/player.cgi?0626) picked up his first overtime victory in the playoffs. Here are other numbers from his performance in Game 4:


<LI>He faced a career-high 43 shots.



<LI>He made a career-high 41 saves.



<LI>He improved to 9-1-1 in games after giving up four or more goals in the previous game.



<LI>He improved to 12-5-3 in games after a loss.



He had a career-high 85 minutes, 18 seconds played.

[want2bAbronco]

David Aebischer (http://www.forecaster.ca/denverpost/hockey/player.cgi?0626) is no Roy, but i really like the kid. Look at those numbers, they arent bad at all. He is also 3-1 as a starter in playoffs.

[orange 4 life]

Jeez, they are a little hard on the goalies.

Abby stood on his head and had another non call.

Sakic is still one of the best, hopefully they can wrap it up soon and lick their wounds.

Maybe I don't watch enough hockey, but it seemed pretty physical out there the way the boards were banging. Maybe they have mics in the corner, and it wasn't alot of fighting, (which I find so amusing), but whatever. I had the game running in the background, but hockey is nothng compared to football to me.

At any rate, the Av's got their road win and are in position to move to the next challenge. I have no clue who that is.

I imagine Detroit is out there somewhere.

playoff hockey will always be VERY judgemental on goalies (its what made roy what he was) for better or worse.
that said, i agree mock that often they go overboard criticizing goalies.

one thing with this article though, is it came from a likely upset stars reporter.
i had a long night at work, no cable here at the dealership, and an AWFUL radio signal from denver. unfortunately i didnt get home until the start of the second period, and inexplicably my cable company had the dodger's blowout on instead.
in a weird moment, they switched back to the avs game about 2 minutes before the winning goal.
anyway, i saw NONE of the game except the end, but i can say this from what i did see.
NO WAY should turco have stopped that shot.
to me, its ludicrous to criticize him for that one. it was a perfectly placed laser, and roy or belfour wouldve missed it too.

great ending to an otherwise lousy game.

still though, this is what great teams are made of.
realistically, ALL teams that win the cup will have a few lousy games. the key is finding a way to win those games even when youre outplayed.
also, while the shots on goal stats are alarming, they arent as bad as some are making them out to be.
the bottom line is that often when a team gets an early two goal lead they will be outshot the rest of the game.
the avs were outplayed in this game, and thats precisely what pleases me about this win.

find a way to close it out at home guys, we dont need another game 7 heart attack.

jake

[solipsist]

What it comes down to is there is no way you can be called a playoff goalie with less than a 90% save percentage, for the most part the goalies should be sitting around 93%.

With a series percentage of 84.1% Turco is not a money goaltender. Sure, the Avs are an offensively talented team, we've gotten some good bounces and our talented forwards have scored some sublime goals. But a playoff goalie needs to stop some of those, a playoff goalie needs tobe able to steal a game under pressure. Aebi did it, and earned the applause and the first star. Turco has bombed. It is a lot harder for a goalie sometimes, to sit idle for most of the game, facing occassional bursts of great scoring chances, but damn... It's the playoffs and you need to be better than ever before.

Harsh? Sure, but your team depends on you, don't like it? Guess you should have played another position. Turco can still steal a game in this series, he's a great goaltender and the best puck handler in the league and he needs redemption bad, because Armstrong is watching, and I doubt he's happy.

If the Avs post another crap effort like game 4 we might just let him do it too, Granato needs to get this team up and roaring.

Anyone notice Tanguay not playing much in the OTs? Wonder if they'll rest him and pull Hendrickson up for a game... nah, that'd never happen.

[bkhuntfish]

First off, I knew that kid was gonna knock in some big goals for us this playoff run, I did'nt think it would be that big though. If his shoulder can hold up over the years we are watching a future Avs star beginning his career in a big time way. He has had at least one quality scoring chance every game and most of them have been created purely by his own ability.

I did'nt think the Avs ever went into their crappy defensive shell last night, they just got out played. It happens. The Stars are a talented club, and they trapped well, got in the passing lanes and generally made it very hard to transition the puck last night. It also is huge for them to get the last change and dictate the matchups. Something they will not get at the Can on saturday. I for one thought this game was every bit of what I expected it to be and I was much more disappointed in game 3's play than us eeking out a win against a Stars team that was playing with game 7 intensity.

The AMP line continues to show why it IS the premiere line in the NHL. Even with the Stars firing on all cylinders defensively and in the neutral zone the AMP line was getting their chances.

On a side note, how exactly did we not get a 4:00 PP with that high stick on Sakic. I thought if it drew blood it was an automatic double minor, or was that just ketchup streaming out of Joe's nose when he got to the bench? He got high sticked and bloodied twice in that game and we got all of 1 2:00 PP for it. It's BS. I realize we got away with a few in OT, but they got away with a bunch through all 5 periods. Lets hope the refs are wearing their burgundy and blue tinted glasses come Sat.

[bkhuntfish]

Hey Solipsist,

I think Tang was having skate problems at the end of the game. Or at least that is what I assumed when I saw him relacing his skate and than trotting back to the bench. That knee might have been bothering him as well, but I know he had some sort of skate problem either at the end of regulation or in the first OT.

[solipsist]

Yeah, Modano should've gotten a double minor for that, no question. But then again, no way is getting knocked down by an opposing player an interference call. Especially when it gives a team a 5 on 3! I mean, really... calling a BS penalty is one thing, making a good call when a team is already short handed is one thing - but making that boneheaded call to give a team the 5 on 3 is just rank BS.

I hope that is the case with Tanguay, we really need that kid. And Svatos, who I've been a huge fan of since the preseason. Damn lot of potential, hopefully with the trainers in the Avs organization he's gotten all the p[hysical therapy needed to rehabilitate his shoulder completely.

[solipsist]

I'd just like to point out that almost every single professional sports writer in the US called the Stars winning this series in 6.

Which just goes to show - those guys are stupid. :)

[Tredici]

Dullass always wears Sakic like a cheap suit. Then he sneaks off with Hinote and scores a shortie. Bwahahahhahahhahaha.

Hey Lipsi, you don't have to type Chelios and dinosaur. I prefer to shorten it to Cheliosaurus.

[solipsist]

Decreptasaurus... :)

Dallas just signed Lessard, damnit. The day after he goes on record saying he was "Just visiting." This kid is ready to write injury reports for the NHL.

[Mtbrncofn]

http://images.sportsline.com/u/photos/hockey/img7256528.jpg

I'm Marek Svatos, bitch!!



Ahaahaaaaaa....that's great, CO.

[Mtbrncofn]

On a side note, how exactly did we not get a 4:00 PP with that high stick on Sakic. I thought if it drew blood it was an automatic double minor, or was that just ketchup streaming out of Joe's nose when he got to the bench? He got high sticked and bloodied twice in that game and we got all of 1 2:00 PP for it. It's BS. I realize we got away with a few in OT, but they got away with a bunch through all 5 periods. Lets hope the refs are wearing their burgundy and blue tinted glasses come Sat.


Exactly what I was wondering! Then Modana busts someone else ( damnit, i cannot remember who it was ) in the face with another one later in the game. I thought for sure that was a 4 min. The Saks one that is. Those bastards.

[Mtbrncofn]

New Page, we gotta be heard Hogan......

GO FLYERS!


I am going on record to be heard for the Flyers too, cuz as long as Philly's Flyers win/Avs win thing holds up, I'm all for the Flyers.

Go Flyers ....in the East!


P.S. Hey sol.....Tugnutt is Dallas' back up I'm pretty sure.

[solipsist]

Tugnutt... Well, I guess we'll be seeing Turco in goal for sure then. :)

Flyers have Jeremy Roenick going all out like Stevie Y two years ago, the guy is a hero and his team has to be feeding off that. Awesome story.

This is the best postseason i can remember, the race is so tight...

[Mtbrncofn]

Hmm, things get interesting in Nuckland. Seems the Moose may not get the start tonight, as Crawdad wasn't impressed with his play. Gee, I thought he did a fine job for the Flames. ;D

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=80240&hubName=nhl

[bkhuntfish]

Crawford noted, however, that his indecision should not be seen as a shot at Hedberg.
"I don't want you to misconstrue that in any way, shape or form," he said. "We've got confidence in everybody that is here.

He has confidence in Hedberg but he's thinking of sticking a rookie 3rd string goalie in there for a pivotal game 5 in the playoffs. Laughable at best. I think the Chokenuks are gonna get it handed to them per usual in the first round.

Nice find MT ^5

[orange 4 life]

i certainly wont shed any tears if the bastards from vancouver are sent packing in round one, though i would still ideally prefer to see our avs be the ones to send them home. sweet redemption.

jake

[Spider]

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Avs

[solipsist]

Yeah, that won't ding a goalie's confidence at all. Not that it's an easy call to make, Hedberg was wobbly in goal for them in both games, it's a three game series now. Glad I'm not a Canucks fan. :)

[bkhuntfish]

I don't want to see those bastads again until next year.

Let'em lose in the first round again and watch as the Avs bring the 3rd Cup to Colorado.

[Clockwork Orange]

Check out these jackasses claiming that Svatos shot didn't actually go in. It apparently just clanked off the post.

http://boards.dallasstars.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=84836&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=93&fpart=1

Yeah, and Hull's skate wasn't actually in the crease in game 6 of the '99 Finals either. ::)

Dullass fans have a warped perception of reality.

[Tredici]

And good luck to the Avs North. The CalgAVry Flames.

Yelle
Donovan
Nieminen
McAmmond
Simon
and
Reinprecht

You go boys. Knock the Knucklehead Kanucks right out of it.

[solipsist]

On the Canuck's site they have apoll as to what the Canucks need to do to win game 5 - 37% of the fans say Hit More Flames, winning by a 11% margin over Score Even Strength.

Glad to see there's a constant in Vancouver.

[solipsist]

And good luck to the Avs North. The CalgAVry Flames.

Yelle
Donovan
Nieminen
McAmmond
Simon
and
Reinprecht

You go boys. Knock the Knucklehead Kanucks right out of it.

Amazing just how many skill players can through the Avs at some point. Between Lacroix and some seriously badass scouts, we rock.

Here's to hoping Naslund is golfing next week! In Sweden. Forsberg owns a nice course I hear....

[Tredici]

I bet Peter would comp 'ole Marcus.

[Ugly man]

Yeah I agree with Canuck fan. They need to raise the level of physicality with the friggin' Calagary Flames...one of the most physical teams in the league. Obviously you can't dodge the contact, but that's not a matchup that favors those hard ons.

I actually thought the Avs played a pretty good road game. Dallas was playing balls to the wall...like a cornered wolverine. The Avs played within themselves...kept the majority of the shots to the outside...and did a pretty good job of sweeping away the garbage. Aebischer was outstanding. He made every big save he had two. Neither goal Dallas scored was his fault. Obviously you'd like more shots from the Avs, but the trade off is the possibility of getting thrown in the box...which plays into the Stars' hands.

You know the Avs are having a good playoff series when after every game Modano is quoted saying something like "We deserved a better fate."

[solipsist]

I bet Peter would comp 'ole Marcus.


Oh, yeah! Call it a recruitment expense for MoDo.

[enjolras]

Thought I would issue my 'first hand' account of the Dallas game last night.

The Avs are in serious trouble if this game was any indication. I saw some things that we're incredibly disturbing. Once they got out to that two goal lead, things went to hell. What was amazing was the way that the Avs got on their heels.. as soon as the puck crossed the Stars blue line 5 Avalanche players would basically turn around (in UNISON no less) and head back to their defensive zone. It was almost art... there would have been several chances for goals if the Avs players would have been moving TOWARDS the Stars net, rather than away from it. I've seen some of this on TV, but seeing it live really brought home just how incredibly soft this team gets with any kind of lead (hell it was just one goal). It was hard enough being decked out in an Avs Jersey in a see of god awful black and green... but when they stopped playing offense (the entire 2nd and 3rd periods) it became quite difficult to watch.

Random observations:

1) Dallas fans suck:) The Arena was far from full.. a LOT of Avs fans in attendance. Would have taken up an entire section if we could have gotten everyone together.

2) Parking at the American Airlines center sucks:) The Pepsi center is so superior to that pile of crap.

3) Drunk rednecks suck... took every ounce of restraint to stay out of a fistfight with the redneck in front of me.

4) The Avs are just to reserved.. save Hinote. The Stars where always jawing with each other, firing each other up, talking strategy... the Avs just kind of sat on the bench and slumped on the boards during time outs. The younger players (liles, hinote, etc..) are the only spark this team has. Maybe Granato should give them more ice time when playing with a lead??

[solipsist]

I still cannot belive that through 4 & 1/4 periods we only managed 21 fooking shots on goal - no matter what, that's weak. I cannot believe that people aren't all over seeing playoff hockey, especially after Dallas won the first home game. I think I would have to hawk a kidney to get a decent Avs playoff ticket for Saturday's game (any takers? i'm healthy...) Dallas played awesome too, it wuld've been a great game to see live, lots of board shaking hits, home team dominance, only thing missing was a win... cripes, I feel bad for theplayers and hardcore fans down there.

[Pezman]

Thought I would issue my 'first hand' account of the Dallas game last night.

The Avs are in serious trouble if this game was any indication. I saw some things that we're incredibly disturbing. Once they got out to that two goal lead, things went to hell. What was amazing was the way that the Avs got on their heels.. as soon as the puck crossed the Stars blue line 5 Avalanche players would basically turn around (in UNISON no less) and head back to their defensive zone. It was almost art... there would have been several chances for goals if the Avs players would have been moving TOWARDS the Stars net, rather than away from it. I've seen some of this on TV, but seeing it live really brought home just how incredibly soft this team gets with any kind of lead (hell it was just one goal). It was hard enough being decked out in an Avs Jersey in a see of god awful black and green... but when they stopped playing offense (the entire 2nd and 3rd periods) it became quite difficult to watch.

Random observations:

1) Dallas fans suck:) The Arena was far from full.. a LOT of Avs fans in attendance. Would have taken up an entire section if we could have gotten everyone together.

2) Parking at the American Airlines center sucks:) The Pepsi center is so superior to that pile of crap.

3) Drunk rednecks suck... took every ounce of restraint to stay out of a fistfight with the redneck in front of me.

4) The Avs are just to reserved.. save Hinote. The Stars where always jawing with each other, firing each other up, talking strategy... the Avs just kind of sat on the bench and slumped on the boards during time outs. The younger players (liles, hinote, etc..) are the only spark this team has. Maybe Granato should give them more ice time when playing with a lead??

Good stuff! How was the ice there last night? I've been told that its far improved from the hellishly bad Reunion Ice. I imagine everyone in Dallas is geared for the NBA playoffs and that the Stars are not the main attraction in town.

[Mtbrncofn]

Crawford noted, however, that his indecision should not be seen as a shot at Hedberg.
"I don't want you to misconstrue that in any way, shape or form," he said. "We've got confidence in everybody that is here.

He has confidence in Hedberg but he's thinking of sticking a rookie 3rd string goalie in there for a pivotal game 5 in the playoffs. Laughable at best. I think the Chokenuks are gonna get it handed to them per usual in the first round.

Nice find MT ^5


LOL....I also found that very statement quite humorous. He must think the fans are real brainiacs up there. I'm with you, bk....i HOPE they get it handed to them.

[Mtbrncofn]

On the Canuck's site they have apoll as to what the Canucks need to do to win game 5 - 37% of the fans say Hit More Flames, winning by a 11% margin over Score Even Strength.

Glad to see there's a constant in Vancouver.


What a bunch of dumbasses. They have not been too nice in the series. What I watched of the last game, the Nucks were running Kipper over constantly. Knocking him around, kicking at him....they must have been in connection with our dumbass linesmen, because not one of them was called. Sutter was pissed and he had a right to be. We all know how the Canucks react to an ass whoopin'. They figure to hell with it, we know we're going down, so lets inflict some damage. Great sportsmen up there.

[solipsist]

Yeah, well Oliwa will play that game too. Calgary's favorite headhunter with Sutter being the screaming assh*le behind the bench on one side, crawford the king assh*le of the other sides bench. No matter which team gets knocked out, neither are exactly classy teams as far as how they are run.

[Mtbrncofn]

Add Chris Simon to the mix too, if hé's healthy. They can definitely match goon for goon, except that I'd say the Flames have an advantage in size and aggressiveness with their top 2 goons. I think ( last i had looked ) that Oliwa and Simon both finished in the top 3 in PIM this year.

[solipsist]

Yaeh, I guess what really gets to me is the fans from both teams. Burnouts chanting for Oliwa to pound someone at the end of a game, Caschmuck fans screaming for tenfold retribution on a legal if hard hit after they have crossed the line with the Avs way more often.

If that's a true hockey fan in Canada we'll just take hockey to the USA and let them play ice rugby or professional eye gouging. Rock, Paper, Scissors, Suckerpunch to the Throat sounds like a fair way for them to decide which becomes the new national sport. They'll get everything they seem to love about hockey without any of those pesky "skill" players (in Canada skill is synonymous with "Wuss").

Or maybe the Habs can stay and do theatre...

[WaffleBoy]

Anyone watching the Nsh/Det game? Redwings are killing Nsh right now, 2-0 early! How great is Brett Hull anway?

Waffle Man

[solipsist]

Wings win and Montreal runs all over Boston, though the Boston fans did resoundingly cheer the Canadian anthem - how's that for a message??

[solipsist]

Hey SJ - Thornton's out too? Damn: Sturm, Thornton, McCauley...Is LA contagious?

[Clockwork Orange]

Wings win and Montreal runs all over Boston, though the Boston fans did resoundingly cheer the Canadian anthem - how's that for a message??

That's called taking the high road, something those morons in Montreal obviously know nothing about.

Auld is in net for Vancouver, looks like Crawford is getting desperate. Oops, 1-0 Calgary as Conroy scores on a power play.

Fear not Vancouver fans, you've got your built in excuses for losing in round 1 ready to go. I figure it'll take about 0.7 seconds for them to start playing the "If We Had Bertuzzi We'd Have Won The Cup" or "If Cloutier Was In There We'd Have Won The Cup" cards after they're eliminated. These are the same mental midgets who tried to convince me that they'd have beaten the eventual champion Avalanche in 2001 if Naslund hadn't been injured. Keep in mind that the Avs swept them out 4-0, but let's not let facts get in the way here. These are Vancouver fans we're talking about, they don't deal in facts.

Saturday can't come soon enough, I've been waiting for some playoff payback on Dullass for years now.

[enjolras]

Good stuff! How was the ice there last night? I've been told that its far improved from the hellishly bad Reunion Ice. I imagine everyone in Dallas is geared for the NBA playoffs and that the Stars are not the main attraction in town.

I can never really get a good feel for the quality of the ice having never played myself... I have heard lots of complaints from Dallas players tho. Apparently it's improved from the slush they used to play on at Reunion, but the climate and what-not still apparently make for a rather poor surface compared to some of the other rinks in the NHL.

[Swedish Extrovert]

Jeez, they are a little hard on the goalies.

Abby stood on his head and had another non call.

Sakic is still one of the best, hopefully they can wrap it up soon and lick their wounds.

Maybe I don't watch enough hockey, but it seemed pretty physical out there the way the boards were banging. Maybe they have mics in the corner, and it wasn't alot of fighting, (which I find so amusing), but whatever. I had the game running in the background, but hockey is nothng compared to football to me.

At any rate, the Av's got their road win and are in position to move to the next challenge. I have no clue who that is.

I imagine Detroit is out there somewhere.

Aebi was spectacular.

This was a very physical game for a playoff game. There are hardly any fights in the playoffs. Too much at stake. In fact, I dont think I have ever seen a fight in an Av's playoff game. Plus Peter Worell and Jim Cummins handled like 90% of the fights for the Av's this year, and most likely neither one will dress for a playoff game, barring any (god forbid) injuries... plus we have Kurt Sauer, Darby Hendrickson, and Brett Clarke - so cahnces are Cummins and Worell have seen all their action.

[solipsist]

They're already griping about the officiating being terrible throughout the series (and well, when is the oficiating that good in hockey??). Of course you didn't see them griping at all the PP chances they got early in the series. damn lot of penalties in the first:

VAN: Brendan Morrison (Tripping, 2:00) 4:12
CGY: Oleg Saprykin (Roughing, 2:00) 6:34
CGY: Chris Clark (Slashing, 2:00) 8:35
VAN: Ed Jovanovski (Interference, 2:00) 9:18
CGY: Jarome Iginla (Boarding, 2:00) 10:06
CGY: Shean Donovan (Holding, 2:00) 14:57
VAN: Trevor Linden (Holding, 2:00) 18:37
CGY: Chris Clark (Roughing, 2:00) 20:00
CGY: Mike Commodore (Roughing, 2:00) 20:00
VAN: Jarkko Ruutu (Roughing, 2:00) 20:00
VAN: Jarkko Ruutu (Roughing, 2:00) 20:00

This is a f*cking playoff gmae? Like I said, glad these two guys play each other first, then the Sharks can gnaw away at the winner (Flames) and get ground down a bit more for the Wing wearied Avs to take out.

Yeah, I've cancelled all my plans for Sat, blowing off the non-hockey watching friends so I can park myself in front of the TV and get ready to celebrate.

[Clockwork Orange]

The ice at Reunion arena was once compared to trying to skate on a Sno-Cone. It was ridiculous to even try to make a cross-ice pass more than 5 minutes into any period. There were times when guys didn't look like they were carrying the puck up ice, they were practically having to dribble it.

The ice seemed to play into Ken Hitchcock's system. His slow it down, defense first, suffocating team was made more successful by the fact that their ice was a neutralizing factor against skill teams.

If anyone remembers this, when the Stars first moved into the American Airlines Center they struggled mightily. I think that having to adjust to a playing surface that wasn't tailored to their slow down style of play was a difficult task.

Either way, Reunion is no longer a factor and after Saturday the Stars won't be either.

[solipsist]

How many groin injuries resulted or were agravated by that sh!t surface at Reunion? So terrible that they kept up that slop of a sheet for so long, glad they can get into playing some decent hockey.

Just imagine being Edmonton and coming down to play on that... Sucked. Hitch is gone too and doing a decent job with the Flyers...

[Swedish Extrovert]

You know, the Stars griping about the puck not going in has merit. You really cant prove that it did. But one of ths posters has a good point - It never hit the post, it hit the net, thus it is a goal.

[Clockwork Orange]

I can prove that it did, I saw it . The net in the top corner bulged when it hit and it came directly back out. It's called a perfect shot.

1-1, one of the Sedin Sisters just scored.

[Mtbrncofn]

Just wanted to get my GO FLAMES in!

[Mtbrncofn]

I cannot believe people are actually arguing if the damn puck went in or not. I certainly had no problems seeing it. Even the green and white zebras had no problem calling it a goal. And with the way they were calling the game last night, if anyone would have missed it, it would have been them because they certainly seemed to miss the rest of the calls that needed to be made.

[Swedish Extrovert]

My bad. I just watched it again. There was a distinct 'ping' when the puck when in. Guys, I think we might have gotten away with somthing.

[halfcreek]

My bad. I just watched it again. There was a distinct 'ping' when the puck when in. Guys, I think we might have gotten away with somthing.
No way, Smurf. I taped RM Sports Report and went through a shot that they had from behind the net frame by frame. The puck extends the twine out beyond the post and then is sling shot across to the other post, causing the ping. Clearly a goal. Wish I could put the shot on the Stars board where they are yapping about being jobbed.

[Clockwork Orange]

Smurf, the puck was in. Every single goal that is scored in the NHL is reviewed. Every last one of them. The off-ice officials watched it and ruled it was a goal.

If there was any controversy over it don't you think the Stars or the Dallas media might be making at least a little bit of fuss over it? They're not because there's no case to be made.

You're entitled to your opinion, but I know what my own two eyes saw. The net bulged, that doesn't happen unless the puck hits it.

[Swedish Extrovert]

anyone got a pic? they never showed behind the net or the overhead or the net camera.

[Clockwork Orange]

And the first team excused from the NHL playoffs is the St. Louis Blues.

They made this pretty easy for the Sharks, I don't think they could have taken any more dumb penalties if they'd tried. But I expect no less from the Blues, they were the team that everyone wanted to play in the first round. Now you see why.

[Mtbrncofn]

I knew the Blues were done. Hey, Philly....I'm getting my told ya so in now. ;D

All I can say is I'm surprised they pulled at least one win out of the whole series.

Congrats SJ on your boys advancing.

[Swedish Extrovert]

YAAAAAAAAHAWW Calgray up 2-1

[Mtbrncofn]

Anyone else happen to catch the B's collapse tonight? It surprised me that they could give up 5 to a team like the Habs. Especially after the Ribeiro seizure incident and the Kovie fake. You'd think that would just ire a team like the B's enough to play really inspired.

I watched a little of it tonight, and the B's announcers were going nuts. It was hysterical. Joe Thornton smacked someone in the chops after getting cross checked and ended getting 4 minutes for it, a roughing minor and a goalie interference call. I thought their announcers were going to have coronaries. I love to listen to the complete homer announcers, they make it so much fun.

[Clockwork Orange]

2-1 Calgary. Flames crashed the net and cashed in.

[Mtbrncofn]

And the first team excused from the NHL playoffs is the St. Louis Blues.

They made this pretty easy for the Sharks, I don't think they could have taken any more dumb penalties if they'd tried. But I expect no less from the Blues, they were the team that everyone wanted to play in the first round. Now you see why.


The Oilers deserved the playoff spot. Too bad they couldn't pull it out over the Nucks. Double damnit on that one. They would have at least put up a fight.

[Swedish Extrovert]

Classic, Im watching NHL tonight on ESPN 2 and listening to the Flames game.

Barry Melrose is giving a best dressed list, lol.

[Clockwork Orange]

Game over, Flames win 2-1 and lead the series 3-2.

[Mtbrncofn]

Yeehaw, Flames. One more and bye bye Nucks!

[Swedish Extrovert]

Im not to fond of the Flames. I basically hate any team Oliwa goes to, lol.

But I'm cheering for them for one more game. Then its the enemy.

[Clockwork Orange]

If things hold to form as they are in the West, the 2nd round will look like this.

1. Detroit vs 6. Calgary
2. San Jose vs 4. Colorado

Veeeery interesting.

[Swedish Extrovert]

So im gloating over at the Canucks forum and the Ruutu subject comes up. Someone calls him an agitator, and I defined agitate -

Websters -
Agitate
1. v. to disturbe or excite
2. v. to stir or rub excessivly, shake or move
3. v. to create public concern
4. v. the act or acts of masturbation
syn - rub, annoy, disturb, masturbate

[Clockwork Orange]

Ruutu is an ankle biting little bitch.

I'd call him a punk but that would be an insult to all the actual punks out there.

[Swedish Extrovert]

yes he is an ankle biting b*tch

[Pezman]

I found myself in a weird position tonight rooting for the Sharks!?! Strictly for the AVS that is... If the Sharks would have lost tonight, they would have likely blacked out the AVS-Stars on Saturday on ABC, instead now I'll be able to watch our team kick some serious Dallas booty. God I hate SoCal regional sports....

[Ugly man]

You know what I really want to see after the Casucks get knocked off in Calgary?

I REALLY want to see Brian Burke's press conference. I think he might actually start sobbing...after of course...he shows slides of Todd Bertuzzi rescuing puppies from the jaws of Wildebeests...darning the socks of Vancouver's orphans...and tending to some 3rd grade class' guinea pig.

[Tredici]

How 'bout the KIDS?

I don't know about anyone else, but the youngsters in goal are making this a fun off-season. Watching Kiprusoff last night was just a joy. Even Auld made a better playoff appearance than I was expecting. The game winner really found a flukie way through all the traffic.

Esche, Aebischer, Kip, Nabokov, Raycroft, Vokoun. The future of minding the net seems to be in good gloves - and big pads.

The Caknucklehead and Flames games have been great to watch. They look like they are playing on speed as opposed to the leisurely pace of the Avs/Stars. Is it me or the Sedin twins just a little creepy? It's like these little tiny heads inside the shielded helmets.

Oh yeah, we used to refer to the Star's old home as Reunion Marina.

[phillybroncosnut]

go Flyers!!!!!!

[solipsist]

If things hold to form as they are in the West, the 2nd round will look like this.

1. Detroit vs 6. Calgary
2. San Jose vs 4. Colorado

Veeeery interesting.

Damn...Detroit doesn't get a good opponent no matter who wins, but no way do they want to try to fight past Calgary to find the Avs waiting on the other side. Awesome.

[orange 4 life]

Aebi was spectacular.

This was a very physical game for a playoff game. There are hardly any fights in the playoffs. Too much at stake. In fact, I dont think I have ever seen a fight in an Av's playoff game. Plus Peter Worell and Jim Cummins handled like 90% of the fights for the Av's this year, and most likely neither one will dress for a playoff game, barring any (god forbid) injuries... plus we have Kurt Sauer, Darby Hendrickson, and Brett Clarke - so cahnces are Cummins and Worell have seen all their action.

fights are DRAMATICALLY reduced in the playoffs, but they do happen occasionally.
the one that i remember with the avs was deadmarsh some years ago.
he dropped the gloves and did his best, but took more shots than he landed.

anyway, i cant really remember any other avs playoff fights, but they do happen on occasion.

jake

[orange 4 life]

anyone remember that deadmarsh fight?

im racking my brain, and i just cant remember who it was against, or even what TEAM we were playing.

[Pezman]

Oh yeah, we used to refer to the Star's old home as Reunion Marina.

You mean the Dallas swamp? :drown: Classic. There were worse places to play hockey but most at least knew that ice = 32f :~ohyah!:

[Tredici]

anyone remember that deadmarsh fight?

im racking my brain, and i just cant remember who it was against, or even what TEAM we were playing.

Probably the one against Jovanowski. Ultimately the beginning of the end of Adam's career.

[orange 4 life]

Probably the one against Jovanowski. Ultimately the beginning of the end of Adam's career.

thats the one that keeps popping up in my head, but i remember that fight being like two weeks before the playoffs started.
am i wrong?

maybe that was it.
i just remember adam going after someone right next to the net (or pretty close anyway), and them going at it in the corner. deader landed a couple early, and then got leveled.

[SJ Bronco]

Injuries! We got em cheap if anyone wants one! Damn!, Well, we could get as long as a week to heal up a bit. We need this layoff, but I worry about rust and intensity though. Im glad we advanced, but I've ben looking past the blues for a while, I want the Avs. I said that from the beginning. Looks like Im gonna get my wish. WELCOME TO THE SHARK TANK! The player named loudest areana in hockey. We're gonna make the ice extra sloppy for you guys. ;) I can't wait, I've ben looking forward to this all season.

[orange 4 life]

Injuries! We got em cheap if anyone wants one! Damn!, Well, we could get as long as a week to heal up a bit. We need this layoff, but I worry about rust and intensity though. Im glad we advanced, but I've ben looking past the blues for a while, I want the Avs. I said that from the beginning. Looks like Im gonna get my wish. WELCOME TO THE SHARK TANK! The player named loudest areana in hockey. We're gonna make the ice extra sloppy for you guys. ;) I can't wait, I've ben looking forward to this all season.

enjoy the time now BEFORE it happens my friend.

you wont be enjoying it much if and when it actually happens.
roy scheider and richard dreyfus just signed on with the avs.

your shark's days are numbered.

jake

[Ugly man]

The Jovanovski/Deader fight took place quite awhile before the 2001 playoffs. Jovanovski busted him pretty good in the mush. Gave Deadmarsh a concussion. He was out for awhile. I believe his first game back was against the Canucks. He went right after Jovanovski...and gave as good as he got that time. Not long after that he was traded for Rob Blake. Geez...I really miss Deader. It really looked like he was becoming a dominant type power forward in L.A....until the concussions started mounting. He probably didn't recover fully from the shot Jovanovski gave him. Right on the button.

As far as playoff fights...Iginla sort of fought Ohlund this season after Mattias high sticked him and ran him into the boards as time was winding down. Not much of a fight. Iginla was throwing body shots...Ohlund was just holding on...waiting for someone to stop it.

Anyone remember the Chris Simon/Bob Probert tilt...during the Western Conference Semi Finals in '96?

[Pezman]

Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies / Farewell and adieu you ladies of Spain. / For we received orders for to sail back to Boston / And soon never more will we see you again.

You go in the cage, cage goes in the ice, you go in the ice. Shark's in the water, our shark. Here fishy fishy fishy...

We have caught and killed a large predator that supposedly injured some hockey players.

I just hope we make it that far... I'm still nervous about tomorrow.
http://www.spielbergfansite.com/images/jaws/quint01_max.jpg

[Mtbrncofn]

So how bout that Mike Danton thing? Geez. This is starting to sound NFL-ish.


http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=80442&hubName=nhl

[Mtbrncofn]

St. Louis strikes again. Bye bye Isles. They were the Blues of the East this year.

[Clockwork Orange]

Anyone remember the Chris Simon/Bob Probert tilt...during the Western Conference Semi Finals in '96?

I remember it well. Probert had just put a big hit on Joe Sakic and Simon said oh hell no. He wanted to send a clear message to Probert and the rest of the Hawks that anyone who even thought about taking liberties with the Avs star players was going to bed with a headache that night.

He fed Probert a steady diet of left hands and Big Bad Bob was a non-factor the rest of the series.

[phillybroncosnut]

St. Louis strikes again. Bye bye Isles. They were the Blues of the East this year.


Good, now if Boston can knock off the Can'tadians, we will avoid either ottawa or the Leafs for another series.

[Mtbrncofn]

The Sens/Leafs series just keeps going back and forth. It will be very interesting to see how that one ends up. I wonder if Mats Sundin will be able to go for them in the next one. Good thing Nieuwendyk was able to play for them tonight, he saved their bacon.

[phillybroncosnut]

I'd rather play the Leafs.

[WaffleBoy]

Good, now if Boston can knock off the Can'tadians, we will avoid either ottawa or the Leafs for another series.

I only have 3 words, "Bring it on!"

Waffle Man

[Clockwork Orange]

The Islanders get another early exit for their troubles.

You know what? They deserve it. Why? Because they still employ that imbecile Mike Milbury. I don't know if he's got photos of the owner in a compromising position, but this guy should have been fired years ago.

How bad is he? Let me count the ways.......

*Traded young All-Star goaltender (and possible Vezina candidate this year) Roberto Luongo along with Olli Jokinen for Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha. Why? Because the Isles had the #1 overall pick in the draft and decided they wanted to make a splash. They used the pick to select Boston University goaltender Rick Dipietro, making it the first time in NHL history that a goaltender was taken 1st overall. In the process he passed on Dany Heatley and Marian Gaborik, who went 2nd and 3rd respectively. Oops.

*Traded Zdeno Chara and the 2nd overall pick in the draft (used to select Jason Spezza) to Ottawa for Alexei Yashin. Alexei F'n Yashin. I've tried over the past few years to understand the logic behind this trade, I really have. I just can't do it. What the hell was he thinking? Something like this maybe......

"You know what? We don't need a 6'9 defenseman who is a physical terror and has Norris Trophy potential. We don't need a young stud center who has been touted as a surefire NHL star since he was 15 years old. No, what we need is a lazy, overrated, gutless, bum of a player who cares only about money and has held out on his team 3 times in 5 years. Yes! It's so perfect! The guy doesn't give a flabby rats ass about his teammates or winning games, just the money! He shall be ours!"

So it was done. Chara will be a Norris finalist this year, Spezza has potential All-Star written all over him and Yashin is still a lazy bum who could care less. But if the trade wasn't bad enough for you, check out Yashin's contract. Milbury actually gave this floater a 10 year deal worth $90 million. That's right, even with the financial landscape of the entire NHL in question, it didn't stop Milbury from giving the longest, most expensive contract in the league to the most undeserving player imaginable. Nice. The Isles only have 7 years to go before they're out from under that deal. Sheer brilliance.

*Traded Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan McCabe and a 3rd round pick to Vancouver for Trevor Linden. Say what you will about Bertuzzi and his actions (and we all have), he's an immensely talented player who Milbury simply gave up on way too early. McCabe is a solid top pairing defenseman in Toronto now. The cherry on the sundae here? The 3rd rounder the Canucks got was used to select that little piece of ****e Jarko Ruutu. Thanks Mike, another MENSA moment.

*Traded Ziggy Palffy along with Brian Smolinski, Marcel Cousineau and a 4th rounder to Los Angeles for Olli Jokinen, Josh Green, Mathieu Biron and a 1st rounder (used by Milbury to select Taylor Pyatt. Who? Exactly). What happened Mike? You couldn't get anyone to pony up a bag of magic beans for a future All-Star (Palffy) and a solid contributor to a playoff team (Smolinski)? It would have probably been better than the load of garbage he got in return. The only one of them worth a damn is Jokinen and oops, Milbury traded him away before he came into his own too. It must hurt to be an Isles fan.

So whenever you're thinking about badmouthing your favorite team's GM (even if that GM is Bobby Clarke) just think of Mike Milbury and know that it could alway be worse.

[Tredici]

That Lighting/Isles game had some bizarro moments. The first Islander goal scored ricochets out of the corner of the net and play just continues. Apparently the refs can't stop the game. So they skate around for over two minutes before the Bulin Wall gloves a puck and stops play. Then they give NY the goal and put the time back on the clock.

Later a referee adamantly signals a Lightening goal. But they go to review. No camera angle ever captures the puck anywhere but under DiPietro's butt. So they wave off a goal which was indicated by a ref.

Strange going ons.

But not as wierd as that article about the Blues player. Why would the guy change his name? None of that story made much sense.

[Mtbrncofn]

Yeah, I was wondering that too, Tred? I was thinking maybe I missed his link to an infamous criminal or something.

[Tredici]

Oh, I just read the article in the other thread. How tortured is that kid? Oh well, where he's going his new teammates will hug him too...

[phillybroncosnut]

It's 12:20 PM EST and I am headed to the Flyers/Devils game 5. Time to party it up a little with fellow Flyer fans before the puck drops. Bye Bye Jersey!

[Swedish Extrovert]

Remmember in seinfield... where they got tickets for games 5 and 7 for the Devils/Ranger playoff series, and they go to the first one, but they dont get to go to the second one because Jerry never thanked the guy for the tickets. And Elaine's boyfriend was a huge Devils fan, and he painted his face red and green and wore a devil suit.... then he ran into a spanish priest that was visiting... and he's like "we're the Devils! No-one can beat us! We're the DEVILS! THE DEVILS" and the Pries died of a heart attack because he thought he saw the devil?

[bkhuntfish]

Great, looks like Sol was right. Tanguay is out, Svatos is playing on the AMP line, Hendrickson is in for Tanguay.

[Pezman]

So much for watching the game here in Lala land. Those asses decided to show the Dead Wings...

I haven't missed an Avs playoff game ever... going...through....withdrawl....

Detail me on the happenings someone...

[Pezman]

Score!!!! Too bad I COULDNT SEE IT... damn L.A.

[BlueDamsel]

Atleast you get to watch *something*...
If you could get ahold of Robb somehow, I'm sure he could hook up the webcam to show the tv...

[Pezman]

I'm listening to it on NHL.com. Its good enough for now BG. Still though, just knowing that they are showing that POS Deadwings instead of the Avs just makes it worse.

But at least we're winning right! And if we win today, I'm sure that I won't miss another game considering that San Jose will be on the tube here.

[BlueDamsel]

Yeh of course we'll win it...I'm at work! That's how it works...Blame it on vacation that we lost on Monday...

[Spider]

2-1 Lead ............ 20 minutesto go ....... Lets see if we can make it 2-5 in Elimination Games .........
Lets go Avies

[orange 4 life]

2-1 LEAD, and looking strong.

we're also staying on the attack instead of sitting back, which is vital for this team.
a great pass from barnaby at the end almost made it 3-1.

as of yet, i havent ONCE complained about the refs, but the last few minutes of that period were alarming.
i can kind of understand the no call against forsberg, but to not call the tripping against blake is unconscionable.
it was COMPLETELY blatant, and right in plain view as blake moved in.
keep attacking guys, and good things will happen.

another thing i was pondering.
why is vancouver playing game SIX today?

that puts them a game ahead of our series ON THE SAME DAY.

im not sure whats in the cards, but its irritating that we could win in 5, and lose a day of rest because another series wraps up at the same time even though its in six games.

ive never paid much attention to the overall scheduling, but this doesnt seem right at first glance.
i dont think 7+ days of rest is healtthy anyway, but i would like more than 3 or 4 as a reward for finishing dallas off in 5.
anyone know any more about this?

jake

[Spider]

Freaking Forsburg is a hockey god

[Spider]

3-1 ........ Dallas Stars are now in the lockerroom Putting Forsburg Biatch on the back of their uniforms ............... LMMFAO

[orange 4 life]

still attacking.
i absolutely love it.
maybe they learned their lesson.

forsberg's was a soft goal, but thats the breaks you get when you are the best player in the world.

i cant wait to see what the dallas fans and media have to say about turco after letting in nikolishin and forsberg's goals! Hilarious!

jake

[Spider]

still attacking.
i absolutely love it.
maybe they learned their lesson.

forsberg's was a soft goal, but thats the breaks you get when you are the best player in the world.

i cant wait to see what the dallas fans and media have to say about turco after letting in nikolishin and forsberg's goals! Hilarious!

jake
Hydukes was softer even ...... Svatos made that one happen ............ ;D
4-1 Avs ........ BWAAAAAAAA

[Pezman]

Good stuff! The crowd sensing it, the Avs are gonna take this one

[Spider]

Sakic Scores ..................... 5-1 Avs

[Pezman]

SCOREEEEE!!!!!!!!! Well shucks, I guess Dallas just couldn't keep up! Woohoo! On to the second round we go! SJ, you are now Avalanche enemy #1 for the next 2 weeks.

[Pezman]

Unless the Nucks somehow come back on Calgary that is...

Nah!

[Rohirrim]

Wow! What a shutdown! That's what they've got to do. No more game 7s! GO AVS!!

[FADERPROOF]

5-1, bring on SJ or DET

[Spider]

I would like to see the Deadthings.....Err Redwings ..........;D

[Clockwork Orange]

The Avs finally show that killer instinct and put away an opponent at the first oppurtunity. Now they get to get some rest and get ready for round 2.

It should be noted here that since moving to Denver, the Avalanche have never lost a 2nd round series.

Svatos, what can you say about this guy? Another late round gem found by the Avalanche who put up 1 goal, 5 assists in 5 games in this series after missing practically the entire regular season.

Forsberg was the best player in the series as expected.

David Aebischer has silenced the last of his doubters.

Bring on round 2, doesn't matter who it is.

[Spider]

The Avs finally show that killer instinct and put away an opponent at the first oppurtunity. Now they get to get some rest and get ready for round 2.

It should be noted here that since moving to Denver, the Avalanche have never lost a 2nd round series.

Svatos, what can you say about this guy? Another late round gem found by the Avalanche who put up 1 goal, 5 assists in 5 games in this series after missing practically the entire regular season.

Forsberg was the best player in the series as expected.

David Aebischer has silenced the last of his doubters.

Bring on round 2, doesn't matter who it is.
you know thats right Bro ........
I am amped the way the Avs Played ..... Svatos wow huh .... Kid has got game ..... I thought we would take Dallas in 6 ....... ;D

[Pezman]

If the Nuckers manage to lose tonight, does anyone know when round 2 would potentially begin? I'd like to see us on the ice before next Saturday... don't want to get too rusty.

[orange 4 life]

It should be noted here that since moving to Denver, the Avalanche have never lost a 2nd round series.


that should most definately NOT be noted!!

sorry guys, im superstitious.
can everyone please knock on wood....right away!!

this is exactly the kind of statement that scares the crap out me. (typed with one hand while knocking with the other!!)

jake

[Hogan11]

Just quickly ducking in to give a shoutout to Philly....GO FLYERS!!

Bring on the next victim!!!

[orange 4 life]

If the Nuckers manage to lose tonight, does anyone know when round 2 would potentially begin? I'd like to see us on the ice before next Saturday... don't want to get too rusty.

im more worried about the OPPOSITE pez.

we played game five today, while detroit and calgary are playing game SIX in the same day.
seems to me we're getting robbed of a day off, and a much needed one considering kariya and tanguay.

i agree that i wouldnt want to be out a full 7+ days, but that wont happen since its possible that ALL the western conference series will be wrapped up today.
my question is why we are playing game 5 in the same day as two other series are playing game 6?
we deserve to be rewarded for dispatching dallas in 5.
a thursday or friday start would be nice, as it wouldnt be too much time to get stale (friday is pushing it), and enough time to get healthy.

a tuesday or wednesday start is a rip off.

jake

[BlueDamsel]

Mannn this is going to be a long 16W trek...We seem to win if I'm at work & don't really get to see any of the game...

Guess that just means more OT for me! All worth it, in the end! :)

[Clockwork Orange]

Wednesday I can live with, Tuesday I wouldn't like.

[Tredici]

It's hard to tell sometimes isn't it? I don't know how hard the Avs really played because Dallas looked like they packed it in after the 3rd goal. I joked they should pull Marty at the 10 minute mark. I missed it by 4:04 minutes.... Sakic looking around for somebody, anybody to take the puck in and then screw it, hit the empty net. Should've passed it back to Aebi... Ha.

The announcing continues to crack me up. First they bring up how they feel for Aebischer because of how much he has to hear about following up Roy. Then they proceed to talk nonstop about how Aebi is following up Roy. Interview Forsberg after the game and the first question, how's Aebi following up after Roy? Good grief.

I don't care what anybody says, Griese never took that much abuse directly from the press about Elway.

Svatos is like a baby Peter. Unfortunately right down to the injuries... but a joy to watch on the ice. That backhander to Hejduk was perfection. I don't think that was a soft goal at all. Turco either had to stay with the kid coming around or be burned by a pinpoint pass. Knowing what kind of hands Marek has and how he had given up a goal to Forsberg on that side of the net he chose staying with Svatos. The best thing about the kid having a good first series is now future coaches have to account for him.

Jake - don't worry too much about an extra day of rest. Most of the big boys had a liesurely pace in this game. HAhahHAhahhaa.

[WaffleBoy]

Hey, where is Philly now?

Waffle Man

[WaffleBoy]

Every I watched the Flyers play, we WIN--period!

Waffle Man

[Tredici]

Hey, where is Philly now?

Waffle Man

He went to the game. Probably had to stop for liquid fortification and Woot Wooting.

[Swedish Extrovert]

Will Karyia be back next series?

[Tredici]

Who cares? I'd rather see Tanguay back on the ice.

[phillybroncosnut]

Hey, where is Philly now?

Waffle Man


I'm Back! Forgive me though. I can only type with one hand because I need the other hand to cover one of my eyes to stop the double vision.
What a game. What a series. Devils Blow! Phuck em. Nice softy Brodeur gave up with 5 minutes left. What's the matter Marty, you play like an average goalie without a great D in front of you. You whining baby!

Bring on Boston!

[phillybroncosnut]

GO FLYERS!!!!!!!!!!

Esche had another phenominal game!

[Pezman]

Well, we may still be playing the Deadwings after all... It looks like game 7 is all but gonna happen in the Nuckers-Flames series.
C'mon Flames! I wan't to play the Sharks!

[phillybroncosnut]

I really want to see Wings/AV's. That's a Hockey heaven right there. Also, we might not play the Bruins afterall. They are on the verge of choking. If they complete their choke, the Flyers will get the winner of the Sens/Leafs matchup.
The Flyers versus the Leafs or Sens would be another Hockey heaven matchup, but I'd rather have Boston.

How bad would a Lightning/Habs matchup be? YUCK!

[phillybroncosnut]

Christ! Belfour has 3 shutouts already. Against an offensive team like the Sens, That's damn impressive!
Looks like the Eagle is on his game (until he comes to Philly)


GO FLYERS!!!!!!!!!!!

[clean]

I had given up all hope, but Ville just scored, and the Canucks lead is only two. I want the Avs to play the Sharks first.

[Swedish Extrovert]

ahhhh what a great game.... im so nervous... this is a nailbiter 5-5 in ot

[Swedish Extrovert]

i dont care who we play.... i just love to see vancouver suffer.

The way I see it... ifwe're going to win the cup, we're going to have to face the best of the best anyway. So bring it on.

[Tredici]

This has been the best series to watch. Man, these two teams skate their azzes off. They've got to be getting tired at this point. C'mon Auld. Make Burke fire Crawford...

[Tredici]

This hockey game is driving me nuts! Heading to OT3!

[Swedish Extrovert]

Seriously. Somthings gotta give. Former Av Neminen has had a few chances.

[Tredici]

Yelle and Needaname have seriously kept the Flames in this one.

Well, and Kiprusoff...

[Tredici]

CRAP!

Game 7...

[Swedish Extrovert]

f*ck... morrison scores

[bpc]

Crap... just turned on the game and jinxed the Flames. Oh well, honestly, I don't care either way. Bring on the dead wings. We'll have to eliminate them sooner or later. I would rather do it while we are pretty hot right now.

[Swedish Extrovert]

plus we could have another shot at the cansucks

[halfcreek]

I'd like to see the Nucks beat the Sharks and meet them in the Conf. finals if/when we get past the Deadwings.

[Swedish Extrovert]

And if we lose to the Deadthings? F*ck, we'd have to cheer for them... thats like a Raiders/Chiefs AFC championship.

[Pezman]

Great game tonight. I love those high-drama multiple ot affairs. I dunno about the rest of you but I personally could have watched that for another 7 OT's LMAO

[Clockwork Orange]

Time for a look back at the Avs/Stars series. The good, the bad and the ugly.

First the good.

*Peter Forsberg was his usual dominant self. 3 goals, 5 assists, 8 points and a +7 in the 5 game series. He became the first player since Jaromir Jagr back in 1996 to have a playoff points streak of 11 games.

*The coming out party for Marek Svatos. 1 goal, 5 assists, 6 points and a +2 for the kid. Yet another weapon for opposing teams to gameplan for when they play the Avalanche.

*Here's a great stat. Every Avalanche skater but Chris Gratton recorded at least one point in the series. Forwards and defensemen alike, all of them contributed on the score sheet at one time or another. Lack of depth killed the Avalanche in the playoffs for the last couple of years. This season they've got it in abundance.

*Ossi Vaananen saw his ice time jump from an average of 18:36 per game in the regular season to 24:13 in this series. People wondered why we got this guy from Phoenix and now everyone is getting their question answered. He's a big (6'4, 227 lbs), tough, physical defenseman who can make life miserable for opposing forwards and eat up minutes in tight games. Oh yeah, and he's only 23.

*The Avalanche defensemen did an unbelievable job of keeping the Stars forwards out from in front of the net. After every game I'd hear the Stars players talking about needing to go hard to the net and get to some rebounds.....yet they were never able to. The reason? The Avs defense isn't as smallish and easy to muscle as they once were. Guys like Skrastins, Vaananen and Boughner were brought in for this purpose. Add them to the already nasty pair of Blake & Foote and you've got one mean corps of D-men to deal with.

*Aebischer silenced all doubters. Anyone who is still critical of him at this point is just someone with an axe to grind.

The Bad

*Trying to sit on leads in the 3rd period of games nearly kept Dallas in this series. The Avalanche had a 3rd period lead in every game of the series, but were outshot by the Stars 60-25 in the 3rd periods of the 5 games. Amazingly, despite how badly the Avalanche were outshot, they outscored Dallas in the 3rd periods of these games 5-3. Another telling stat of how good Aebischer was in this series, he stopped 57 out of 60 3rd period shots. Regardless of Aebischer's performance, the discrepancy in shots shouldn't be that wide, they need to stay aggressive and go for the kill when they've got teams down, not sit back and try to bleed the clock.

Honestly, that's all I can find bad for the Avs in this series and the only ugly performances were by some highly paid players wearing green (namely Turco, Guerin & Modano).

Hell of a job all-around by the Avs, even better when you consider that the majority of the local media picked them to lose this series in 5 or 6 games.

Now we get to wait until Monday night to find out who our opponent will be. Hell of an effort by the Flames tonight, but they came up just short. Game 7 of that series is gonna be a war.

[orange 4 life]

I'd like to see the Nucks beat the Sharks and meet them in the Conf. finals if/when we get past the Deadwings.

no "IF", its just "WHEN."

keep the confidence folks.
this is shaping up to be an interesting run, as we might get the OPPORTUNITY to play the wings AND the nucks.
i look at this as a positive, not a negative.
the wings is always fun, and i see that series as favoring the avs.
the nucks is revenge, and it will be sweet.
ive said all along that i want us to be the ones to eliminate them, and im sticking with that.

clockwork summarized it very well.
really, the only big negative is the lackluster play with the lead.
we did have a 5-3 3rd period goal advantage, but much of that is the 3 goals we had in game 5.
the GOOD part of that situation, is that game five was VERY different than the other 3rd periods. we kept on the attack, and it paid off.
it seems the lesson may have been learned.
if thats the case, there is really no glaring weaknesses on this team now.

hopefully kariya AND tanguay will be back, and we will be IMPROVED from the dallas series.

really, i dont care who we play, but i admit the idea of beating the wings and the nucks to advance to the finals would be a beautiful thing.

time to get some rest, and prepare for the next opponent, whoever that ends up being.

jake

[solipsist]

I would love to play spoiler for the 'Nucks, but I don't want them to get that far in the playoffs. And I don't want to have a petty minded coach like Crawford trying to bang the Avs up as much as possible before the finals in some sort of revenge for being outmatched and outclassed.

I really want to play the Wings, that makes winning the Cup all the sweeter... but it would be best done in the Conference Finals, that's where the two real juggernauts of the West should duke it out. An Avs sharks sereies would be awesome, as would a Detroit Calgary series - both would be hard fought and gritty, fun to watch and physical. Though Detroit would have to deal with a bit heavier hitting and cheap shotting team. How many penalties has Calgary taken in this series? It's unbelieveable how undisciplined that team is, and that's why the Canucks have a chance to win it. But there's no way I'm ever cheering for the Canucks to beat anybody - I don't want their revenue to increase from the extra games and I do not want the fans to have something to cheer about.

Whoever we face next, their going to have a better goalie than Turco was - it would be amazing if the Avs got billed as the underdogs again, they play better.

[solipsist]

Bottom line is, the Canucks aren't worthy of playing the Avs in the playoffs and their management and fans are an embarrassment to the league.

F*ck 'em, hope Calgary sends 'em packing.

[Swedish Extrovert]

*Ossi Vaananen saw his ice time jump from an average of 18:36 per game in the regular season to 24:13 in this series. People wondered why we got this guy from Phoenix and now everyone is getting their question answered. He's a big (6'4, 227 lbs), tough, physical defenseman who can make life miserable for opposing forwards and eat up minutes in tight games. Oh yeah, and he's only 23.



Uh. I'm going to pull a Mock here.

Everyone got pissed when we traded Derek Morris for Ossi Vaananen, but I told them just wait. I was stoked. Vaananen doesent score like Morris did, but Anyone who knows hockey can see what Vaananen does for this team. There isnt a real stat you can use for a definsive hockey player, so the stats cant prove it... but Vaananen is only 23 and already one of the better definsive defenseman in the league.

[BlueDamsel]

No to pull a mock you would have had to have worded it "Remember when Mightysmurf said that...."... :D

[solipsist]

I wasn't upset about getting Vaananen, but I think we'll have to see how things work out on that one - considering we gave up Morris and Ballard for Vaananen and Gratton. Not a terrible trade, but its very unlikely that we'll see Gratton in Colorado for a long time and we gave up a Ray Borque style maturing defenseman and one of the top rated prospects in the league. That's a tough call, but it does make sense when tooling up for a Cup run and buying into Granato's vision of the team.

[Evenrude]

Your first paragraph is dead on for mee too. Just substitute the teams to Flyers and Devils.

That's ashame about your brother Evenrude. My condolinces. But, if you are going to convert to a different team, the Av's are the only team that is acceptible IMO. I hope he is still pulling for the Flyers in the East though.
The true test will be to see how he cheers if we meet in the Finals. What do you think, will he cheer for the good ole Orange and Black?

Not sure I'll have to ask him. It's kind of odd being hockey fans around here, none of us grew up around it, but it's second only to football in my book. Having to pick between the Flyers and Av's in the finals would be a nice problem for him to have.....

[Clockwork Orange]

Uh. I'm going to pull a Mock here.

Everyone got pissed when we traded Derek Morris for Ossi Vaananen, but I told them just wait. I was stoked. Vaananen doesent score like Morris did, but Anyone who knows hockey can see what Vaananen does for this team. There isnt a real stat you can use for a definsive hockey player, so the stats cant prove it... but Vaananen is only 23 and already one of the better definsive defenseman in the league.

I was referring to the people around here locally, especially on the sports radio shows. They hated the fact that the Avs gave up the more offensive oriented Derek Morris for someone they knew nothing about other than that his numbers suggested he has no offensive game.

Vaananen has been steady as they come in these playoffs. Keep it up kid.

[solipsist]

Yeah, and most people thought that Svatos was getting healthy just in time to warm the bench for the Playoffs.

After watching him play in the preseason for a couple of games I was a believer though, it sure is nice to see the Avs pulling another young phenom out of seemingly nowhere.

[Mtbrncofn]

Uh. I'm going to pull a Mock here.

Everyone got pissed when we traded Derek Morris for Ossi Vaananen, but I told them just wait. I was stoked. Vaananen doesent score like Morris did, but Anyone who knows hockey can see what Vaananen does for this team. There isnt a real stat you can use for a definsive hockey player, so the stats cant prove it... but Vaananen is only 23 and already one of the better definsive defenseman in the league.


Ok, well just for the record, I wasn't pissed we traded Morris. I was never a big fan of his. I was hoping he would go. That being said, I do think Morris is the better player right now, so I can only hope Vaananen keeps on improving.

[Mtbrncofn]

Congrats Philly on your advancing too!

I'm sure there's no love lost here for the Devs, but my thoughts definitely go out to Pat Burns with that colon cancer. That's tough.

I hope the second round doesn't start until at least Wednesday. Right now all I can think is that Tang needs all the extra recuperating days he can get. When the game started and I saw Hendrickson, I thought wtf? Then I heard no Tang. Had a bad feeling, but turned out to be false. Whew! Still I don't want to be going without him at all if we can help it.

Only 12 wins left to go before the Cup comes home!

[phillybroncosnut]

Thanks MT. You too. The trend continues huh!

The news on Burns sucks. He's a class guy. Much to good to be with the Devils. It's funny, Burns and Hitchcock are really close friends. I'll bet the news hit Ken pretty hard. Although, Hitchcock may have known before it was made public.
Burns got the diagnosis before the Flyers/Devils series started. They were saying had the Devils advanced to the 2nd round, Burns would not have joined them.

Best wishes to Pat Burns on successful treatment, and a speedy recovery.

[phillybroncosnut]

Leafs Sens in OT. I hope it goes 3 or 4 extra periods with the Sens winning. Then, game 7 should also be a 3 to 4 OT game.

[Mtbrncofn]

Yep, I've got that game on right now. Verrrryy interesting. I'm kinda surprised Mats Sundin is still out. I say the Leafs win.

Lets hope our "trend" continues right on through the second round for both our teams, Philly. I am liking this trend thing.

How cool was it to get to see your boys knock those pesky Devs out, Philly? I'm jealous!

[phillybroncosnut]

Yep, I've got that game on right now. Verrrryy interesting. I'm kinda surprised Mats Sundin is still out. I say the Leafs win.

Lets hope our "trend" continues right on through the second round for both our teams, Philly. I am liking this trend thing.

How cool was it to get to see your boys knock those pesky Devs out, Philly? I'm jealous!


It was absolutely beautiful. The best sight was, when the final horn blew, Roenick jumped off the bench and made a bee-line to the puck. He picked it up and dashed to Robert Esche and handed him the puck. No one else paid attention to the puck but Roenick being Roenick, he was thinking team!

Esche was hands down the MVP of the series. Primeau was right there though.

[Mtbrncofn]

Well you were right Phil. Sens win. Hello game 7. Bet the Leafs are praying hard that Sundin will be able to go.

[Swedish Extrovert]

No to pull a mock you would have had to have worded it "Remember when Mightysmurf said that...."... :D


lol, I should've known. The people here are pretty intelligent. I was mainly disagreeing with all the commentators and people who said the Avs we're idiots for trading Derek Morris. I guess most people here agreed with the trade though.

Morris will always be more talented than Vaananen... Morris also has better hockey skill, but Vaananen is more gifted athletically - bigger, faster, stronger - and he plays more solid and doesent make some of the stupid plays Morris did.

[Swedish Extrovert]

Darby does Dallas - http://coloradoavalanche.com/images/Gallery/DARBYHENDRICKSON/action.jpg

:yep:

[Mtbrncofn]

Anyone else notice that since Kariya has been gone again, Teemu's spark was extinguished? I had a feeling that might happen.

[Swedish Extrovert]

When will Karyia be back?

[Mtbrncofn]

Haven't heard anything on that yet. All I've heard is that he is walking around in a soft cast. That makes me think it won't be anytime soon. For Teemu's sake, it would be nice. I'd just hate to see who they'd scratch if and when he does make it back. Hell, Svatos has been way better than both in the few games he has played this year.

[Swedish Extrovert]

Im loving this year in Denver sports....

- The Broncos make the playoffs and make significant strides to returning to superbowl form
- The Avalanche make the playoffs as usuall... they are hands down the most talented team in the league (see our lines on post #1), and finally starting to live up to their potential
- The Nuggets make the playoffs for the first time in 9 years
- Rockies baseball?
- Mammoth lacrosse?
- Rapids soccer?
- The Crush improve from two wins last year to 7 so far this year.

Great time to be a sprots fan in Denver.

[Pezman]

Well MT hopefully this extra time off will give him some more recoop time. You gotta figure that he's aiming to be ready for the conference finals at the worst. (Assuming we make it*) If he can somehow make an impact in this upcoming series, thats just bonus time IMO

[alkemical]

I still say you have nothing to worry about... as long as bobby clarke runs the flyers... they will always be choke artists.....

[Swedish Extrovert]

Go Av's.

[Mtbrncofn]

On a side note....is anyone else going to puke if they have to see that absolutely retarded Michelle Kwan/Kristi Yamaguchi commercial about the playoffs again? That thing is embarassing!

[alkemical]

i dunno... i think it's kinda hot

[Swedish Extrovert]

LOL! Its not that bad.

I'm a big figure skating fan.... I like Michelle Kwan a lot. Talk about talent. What I would give the have her skating skills.

[phillybroncosnut]

I still say you have nothing to worry about... as long as bobby clarke runs the flyers... they will always be choke artists.....

Who the Pens got next round?

Losers must shut mouth!

[Mtbrncofn]

Are you 2 serious? That thing is terrible! Thank God, she can skate, cuz her acting sucks.

[phillybroncosnut]

Figure skating= Fag's on blades

[Swedish Extrovert]

God... I followed Michelle so much last winter olympics. I felt her pain when she fell on the ic durring singles. Must've killed her. She's gotta be 22 by now... that could've been her last shot at gold.

[Swedish Extrovert]

Figure skating= Fag's on blades


Dude, serisouly, have some respect. Why dont you go ahed and try it. Just because you dont like somthing doesent make it horrible. Figure skating is an artform, just like hockey. In fact, a lot of hockey players - especially Europeans - start out as figure skaters. I can think of any offhand other than Paul Karyia, who started figure skating when he was 8.

[Swedish Extrovert]

BTW - I have considered taking figure skating lessons... but I figured that between school, hockey practice, and hockey power skating lessons, that it would take too much time.

Plus I have two pairs of skates, and I dont think that Bauer Supreme Elite's or CCM 4000 Sr. skates are exactly designed as figure skating skates.

[phillybroncosnut]

Dude, serisouly, have some respect. Why dont you go ahed and try it. Just because you dont like somthing doesent make it horrible. Figure skating is an artform, just like hockey. In fact, a lot of hockey players - especially Europeans - start out as figure skaters. I can think of any offhand other than Paul Karyia, who started figure skating when he was 8.

And I'm sure they change once they realize what a FAG exhibition it is!

Like I said before.

Figure skating= Fag's on Blades!

[Mtbrncofn]

God... I followed Michelle so much last winter olympics. I felt her pain when she fell on the ic durring singles. Must've killed her. She's gotta be 22 by now... that could've been her last shot at gold.



Well I hope that was her last shot at promoting hockey. :yep:

[alkemical]

Who the Pens got next round?

Losers must shut mouth!


Ever notice how flyer fans sound like raiduh fans? Always talking about how great their team is, when they suck so bad.....

Hey my pens had a rough year, but at least my pens are over achievers come playoff time instead of dong a good imitiation of Mrs. Chokesondick!

[phillybroncosnut]

Ever notice how flyer fans sound like raiduh fans? Always talking about how great their team is, when they suck so bad.....

Hey my pens had a rough year, but at least my pens are over achievers come playoff time instead of dong a good imitiation of Mrs. Chokesondick!

Ames, You're a Pr!ck! LMAO. We have rings too.

How far are you from Carlisle PA?

[phillybroncosnut]

I can't beleive you just compaired me to Raduh fan. I also can't beleive I rep'ed you for that post.

[alkemical]

LOL Philly - It's a good in-state rivalry... I mean honsetly, i don't think the rangers-isles is that good of a series... hell the devils/rangers was much better... I think the caps/flyers can be good games... but for some reason, i think it's extra hate night when our teams play.... Hell the end of the season, my team was the best team in the NHL record wise (we were like 12-5-2 at the end of the season) I mean before we were dead, dead last, and then we were like 1pt lower than wash (who phucking won the lotto, but anyway, he could be a headcase russian and just flake out) -

But we got a good corps of players, malone, orpik, fluery....


Carlisle... about 40min.... i'm exit 19 on the turnpike... :)

hbg, east.....

[Swedish Extrovert]

Philly, I bet you think that anyone who appreciates Bach, Rachmanov, Tkckawski, Mozart are fags too? Hey they were geniuses and artists, but hey, they wrote a couple of Ballets and Opreas.... so I guess they are fags.

You know, Mozart was regarded as a rebel of his time. A rock star of the 1400's if you will. He also drank beer nonstop, had multiple affairs with women and refused to alter his Operas adn Ballets to the liking to the king. Which led to his down fall. But I guess he was a fag anyway.

Of course it goes hand in hand.... because most figure skaters use their work as inspiration for their display.

Imagine what Peter Worell could do if he had Michelle Kwans skating skills. Just watch him... Worrell has a hell of a shot and pretty decent hands for a man his size. He is just a horrible skater... again imagine what Worrell could do with Kwans skating skills.

I love Michelle Kwan. She is an artist, and a talented skater at that.

It's hypotricital to say that figure skaters are fags and be a hockey fan at the same time. I'd say that probababally 60-80% of all european hockey players are figure skaters too.

Just try it man. See if you can even stand up on ice.

[phillybroncosnut]

LOL Philly - It's a good in-state rivalry... I mean honsetly, i don't think the rangers-isles is that good of a series... hell the devils/rangers was much better... I think the caps/flyers can be good games... but for some reason, i think it's extra hate night when our teams play.... Hell the end of the season, my team was the best team in the NHL record wise (we were like 12-5-2 at the end of the season) I mean before we were dead, dead last, and then we were like 1pt lower than wash (who phucking won the lotto, but anyway, he could be a headcase russian and just flake out) -

But we got a good corps of players, malone, orpik, fluery....


Carlisle... about 40min.... i'm exit 19 on the turnpike... :)

hbg, east.....

I was up in Carlisle about 2 weekends ago for a big a$$ funeral. My wife's uncle died. Maybe you've heard of him. Chip Miller. He owns the Carlisle fairgrounds. He also owns the biggest corvette collection in (I think) the world. He owns 77 corvette's. I went into his garage and he had 29 corvettes in mint condition in there. I nearly fainted. He was huge in the car industry. He was always on the cover of a car magazine.
Not to mention, he was an unbelievably great guy. there were over 1000 people at the funeral. We (the family) had a police escort to the funeral. It was covered by 5 or 6 local news stations. The thing was unbeleivable.
Have you ever heard of Chip Miller?
If you do a google search on his name, something like 200,000 results come back. Now, they aren't all for him but he has a lot to do with the volume.
He was a picture of health. Then, one day, got diagnosed with a very rare blood disease. he was dead 3 months later.
Unbelievable huh?

[phillybroncosnut]

Philly, I bet you think that anyone who appreciates Bach, Rachmanov, Tkckawski, Mozart are fags too? Hey they were geniuses and artists, but hey, they wrote a couple of Ballets and Opreas.... so I guess they are fags.

You know, Mozart was regarded as a rebel of his time. A rock star of the 1400's if you will. He also drank beer nonstop, had multiple affairs with women and refused to alter his Operas adn Ballets to the liking to the king. Which led to his down fall. But I guess he was a fag anyway.

Of course it goes hand in hand.... because most figure skaters use their work as inspiration for their display.

Imagine what Peter Worell could do if he had Michelle Kwans skating skills. Just watch him... Worrell has a hell of a shot and pretty decent hands for a man his size. He is just a horrible skater... again imagine what Worrell could do with Kwans skating skills.

I love Michelle Kwan. She is an artist, and a talented skater at that.

It's hypotricital to say that figure skaters are fags and be a hockey fan at the same time. I'd say that probababally 60-80% of all european hockey players are figure skaters too.

Just try it man. See if you can even stand up on ice.

Smurf, No, i don't think classical music is for fags.

And if Worrell could skate like Kwan, he would still suck becuase he has hands of brick.
It's not hypocritical to say figure skaters are fags and like hockey. But, the minute i see Donald Brashear do a figure 8 in a too-too, I'm out.

I can stand up on ice. And no thanks, I leave the trying for the fem's.

[halfcreek]

I can't beleive you just compaired me to Raduh fan. I also can't beleive I rep'ed you for that post.

Your bigotry fits the Raider mentality perfectly.

[phillybroncosnut]

Your bigotry fits the Raider mentality perfectly.


Opps, did I offend you? :poke:

[halfcreek]

Opps, did I offend you? :poke:
Every stripe of bigotry offends me.

[Swedish Extrovert]

sorry philly, we'll have to agree to disagree. your entitled to your opinion, but that doesent mean people have to think the same way. the whole tutu thing isnt like that. Just watch a skating show sometime, I think you'll appreciate the heart and talent these people put into all of it. Thats what I get out of it.

[phillybroncosnut]

Every stripe of bigotry offends me.


So sorry. Have to clean it up for the PC people.

Figure skating still= fags on blades.

[Mtbrncofn]

And if Worrell could skate like Kwan, he would still suck becuase he has hands of brick.




Sorry, Smurf....I have to agree with Philly on this one. Worrell is out on the ice for one reason only and that is to be a goon. He can't skate well and doesn't have good hands. I can barely recall a time when I saw him make or take a good pass. They are few and far between. I like him for what he is and that's a goon.

[phillybroncosnut]

sorry philly, we'll have to agree to disagree. your entitled to your opinion, but that doesent mean people have to think the same way. the whole tutu thing isnt like that. Just watch a skating show sometime, I think you'll appreciate the heart and talent these people put into all of it. Thats what I get out of it.


Thanks but no thanks. Everytime I hear the term figure skating, the sound of Brian Likesboytano voice comes in my head.
Enjoy that kind of exhibition. Who am I to stop you?

[alkemical]

Philly, I bet you think that anyone who appreciates Bach, Rachmanov, Tkckawski, Mozart are fags too? Hey they were geniuses and artists, but hey, they wrote a couple of Ballets and Opreas.... so I guess they are fags.

You know, Mozart was regarded as a rebel of his time. A rock star of the 1400's if you will. He also drank beer nonstop, had multiple affairs with women and refused to alter his Operas adn Ballets to the liking to the king. Which led to his down fall. But I guess he was a fag anyway.

Of course it goes hand in hand.... because most figure skaters use their work as inspiration for their display.

Imagine what Peter Worell could do if he had Michelle Kwans skating skills. Just watch him... Worrell has a hell of a shot and pretty decent hands for a man his size. He is just a horrible skater... again imagine what Worrell could do with Kwans skating skills.

I love Michelle Kwan. She is an artist, and a talented skater at that.

It's hypotricital to say that figure skaters are fags and be a hockey fan at the same time. I'd say that probababally 60-80% of all european hockey players are figure skaters too.

Just try it man. See if you can even stand up on ice.



First of all Smurf....

There is a major difference between composing a major orchestra, and skating all purdy on ice. Yes there is a talent and skill to it... but... come on man... IT'S FIGURE SKATING...

And yes, before you get into it.. i do ice skate, and i've played D & goalie, and LW.... To play D you have to be really good at skating... that's one reason i know you are still learing the game when you are talking about vannanin... yeah he maybe more athletic.. but athletic doesn't make you better in hockey... Hell look at Pavel Datsyuk... he's bow legged, small, not really atheletic at all... but he's a skater..... if you are a good skater you have good balance (also if you are a good fighter in hockey you have good balance, go figure) -

Now if you'd say that you were... say puddle of mudd to bach - then you'd have some case there....

[Swedish Extrovert]

Dude, Worell has shown hints of offensive talent. His biggest knock is his skating skills.

[Mtbrncofn]

So sorry. Have to clean it up for the PC people.

Figure skating still= fags on blades.



ROFL!

[Swedish Extrovert]

First of all Smurf....

There is a major difference between composing a major orchestra, and skating all purdy on ice. Yes there is a talent and skill to it... but... come on man... IT'S FIGURE SKATING...

And yes, before you get into it.. i do ice skate, and i've played D & goalie, and LW.... To play D you have to be really good at skating... that's one reason i know you are still learing the game when you are talking about vannanin... yeah he maybe more athletic.. but athletic doesn't make you better in hockey... Hell look at Pavel Datsyuk... he's bow legged, small, not really atheletic at all... but he's a skater..... if you are a good skater you have good balance (also if you are a good fighter in hockey you have good balance, go figure) -

Now if you'd say that you were... say puddle of mudd to bach - then you'd have some case there....

Good post. I wasnt talking about the talent level. I was compairing the level of emotion and 'feminity' (for lack of a better word) because of phily's use of the term fag. Plus I was nt talking to you. Im sure you can skate, as can I. I play Right Wing.

[phillybroncosnut]

Dude, Worell has shown hints of offensive talent. His biggest knock is his skating skills.


There are only a few "goons" that are not a liability when they are on the ice. Chris Simon, Donald Brashear, and Tie Domi come to mind.

And, before you say it, Barnaby is not a goon. He's actually a below average fighter.

[alkemical]

I was up in Carlisle about 2 weekends ago for a big a$$ funeral. My wife's uncle died. Maybe you've heard of him. Chip Miller. He owns the Carlisle fairgrounds. He also owns the biggest corvette collection in (I think) the world. He owns 77 corvette's. I went into his garage and he had 29 corvettes in mint condition in there. I nearly fainted. He was huge in the car industry. He was always on the cover of a car magazine.
Not to mention, he was an unbelievably great guy. there were over 1000 people at the funeral. We (the family) had a police escort to the funeral. It was covered by 5 or 6 local news stations. The thing was unbeleivable.
Have you ever heard of Chip Miller?
If you do a google search on his name, something like 200,000 results come back. Now, they aren't all for him but he has a lot to do with the volume.
He was a picture of health. Then, one day, got diagnosed with a very rare blood disease. he was dead 3 months later.
Unbelievable huh?


Yeah i've heard of him, and have even been to a few vette & other car shows down there....

I saw it all over the news too... condolences ....

i'm not that far from you really philly, i'm right out side of hbg - (hint, TMI...
My town is between carlisle and lancaster... i guess you could say it was in the middle)