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posted 21-04-2010 15:57
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The G&M on conspiracy theories in B.C.
The Habs have pulled Halek in favour of Carey Price, an interesting move ahead of Game Four, though not as interesting as the reaction of Luongo, the Sedins, Burrows, Kessler et al to being called out by Vigneault yesterday.
It's time for the Canucks' big names to earn their money.
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posted 21-04-2010 16:55
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In truth, if you check the stats, none of them have played that badly, including Big Lulu, who when the team's at full strength, has the best GAA in the play-offs.
If (and its a big one) the 'Nucks could achieve mediocrity on their special teams they'd be cruising in this series. However the deeper problems on defence are problematic and the reason why, should we advance against the Kings, we're unlikely to go much further.
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posted 22-04-2010 14:54
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What a weird and wonderful game. From absolutely dire to amazingly brilliant in the space of a Kings PP that, finally, didn't manage to score. The Sedins owned the third period, Wellwood and Demitra turned into defensive titans and O'Brien was persuaded by his captain that battling the other team is a more productive move than calling out your own coach. Roll on Friday.
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Last Edit: 22-04-2010 14:55 By Amor de Cosmos.
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posted 22-04-2010 14:58
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All because I went to bed during the second intermission. I'll try for an even earlier bedtime on Friday.
Is scoring on six consecutive power plays some kind of record? I can't recall having heard of something similar, certainly not in the playoffs.
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posted 22-04-2010 17:09
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I haven't heard that it is but it surely must be.
It was clear, to me at least, that killing that Kings penalty midway through the second period turned the game. Apparently, because of that, the dressing room was electric between periods and, fortunately, they managed to transfer that to the ice. The third was in turns, messy, passionate,sketchy, brilliant, desperate and heroic. The best playoff period this particular Canucks team has had in three years.
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Last Edit: 22-04-2010 17:11 By Amor de Cosmos.
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posted 23-04-2010 03:48
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Ottawa win in triple overtime in Pittsburgh to keep their series alive at 3-2 down. The Flyers upset the Devils to become the first team through, winning in 5 games.
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posted 23-04-2010 16:16
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Please... say it ain't so AV. Andrew Alberts is back in the line-up tonight.
Where's my blanky?
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posted 24-04-2010 21:54
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Didn't turn out so bad in the end, did it? Every time I looked up at the screen in the pub we were in last night, there were celebrating Canucks.
Chicago have just equalised shorthanded with 13 seconds at home to Nashville to make it 4-4. Marian Hossa got a major boarding penalty, and so the Hawks still have the better part of five minutes worth of penalty killing to finish. Nashville are one stubborn team, and are making Chicago work really hard in this series.
Hopefully Detroit can finish Bettman's Coyotes off tomorrow.
Edit: Hossa scores the overtime winner just as the penalty expires, straight from the penalty box.
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Last Edit: 24-04-2010 22:10 By Unbelievable Jeff.
Reason: score update
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posted 25-04-2010 06:34
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Not so bad at all.
Of course after all the weeping and wailing Canuck Nation have tossed aside their tin hats and now believe the next game is just a formality. I'm enjoying the ride but remain aware that we're a shin-splint away from defensive disaster. It was great to see Bernier and Demitra catch fire. How far do you think a team can a team go with with an unstoppable offense and band-aids and bubble-gum at the other end? After being either injured or awful all season the most gratifying thing about last night was Bieksa's play. Now if he can only maintain that we just might win a couple of games against a really good team.
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posted 25-04-2010 10:59
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I knew the Devils would blow it. That's what they get for being pretty and not grinding teams like they used to.
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posted 25-04-2010 14:45
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Yes it does seem as if the Devils have finally entered the inevitable "rebuilding" period. Brodeur must surely be thinking about hanging them up and the acquisition of Kovalchuk appears to have destabalised the team. The latter never sat right for me, free skating and scoring Russians just aren't what Lou's Devil culture is about.
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posted 26-04-2010 05:47
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And so it came to pass.
This is the game everyone was waiting for, the one Luongo stole. By rights, on open play, the Canucks should have lost this. The Kings were clearly better for two periods. But a combination of very solid, and on one occasion purely spectacular play by the guy in our net, and the opposite down at the other end, kept us in it until the third. And the Canucks pretty much own every third period they play. It's been that way since before Christmas. I don't why, I don't know if they do. Perhaps it's judicious line juggling by AV, or the belief that if they're close after the second — which is by some distance our worst period — they can always pull it out. So who's next? Revenge on the Hawks would be nice.
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Last Edit: 26-04-2010 05:48 By Amor de Cosmos.
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posted 27-04-2010 01:39
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Jaroslav Halak has just gone quite some way to establishing his claim to be the number 1 goalie in Montreal. Outshot 54-21, the Habs win 4-1. Credit to them, I never had this going anywhere near a game seven.
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posted 27-04-2010 01:45
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Me neither. It would be a massive upset if they took out the Caps, though I can't say I'd be upset to see the last of OV for the season. Boston have beaten Buffalo and it's 3-3 after the first in Nashville. Several articles today have talked about this series as if Chicago's already won. The Preds are continuously underrated, I can't understand it, why are people so oblivious?
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Last Edit: 27-04-2010 01:55 By Amor de Cosmos.
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posted 27-04-2010 02:07
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I think that there is a portion of the mainstream hockey media that refuses to recognise that Nashville actually has an NHL team. The location, the name, the logo, the colours; the whole package just causes short circuits in the minds of those who grew up with the Oshawa Generals and Medicine Hat Tigers. I'm convinced that a good portion of this effect is subconscious.
And I can't really blame them, because I feel the same way (and not just about the Preds, the Florida Marlins have won two World Series, and I still have difficulty considering them a "real team").
Nashville are seriously good, however.
Allez les Habs. Make this an annus horribilus for Mr. Ovechkin (sorry, Reed).
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posted 27-04-2010 03:26
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It's just our lot.
I recall that when I was in Edmonton, I watched, on TV a very long four-man debate, in French, about who should start in goal for Les Habs. I was watching just to see if I could learn any French. But now it seems really odd that there was ever a debate about that.
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posted 27-04-2010 05:32
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Nashville are seriously good, however.
Barry Trotz certainly is. Spins gold out of thin air on an annual basis. He's been with them from the beginning of the franchise too, that's usually a gig that lasts a couple of years tops. I haven't checked but he must also be close to being the League's longest serving coach by now. Chicago triumphed tonight however, providing the Hawks/Canucks rematch that everyone was slavering over.
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Last Edit: 27-04-2010 05:33 By Amor de Cosmos.
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posted 27-04-2010 05:39
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Yeah, great game by Halak tonight. I think the Caps will prevail on Wednesday though.
It seems like the CH management always spends just enough money to get the team into the playoffs but not nearly enough to make a deep run. Given the financial success and tremendous clout of the franchise in Quebec, you can't blame them for this...
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posted 27-04-2010 14:38
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Like all NHL clubs, except Bettman's basket cases, the Habs are right up against their salary cap limit. The day Montreal's hockey team can't, or won't, compete financially will be the day the NHL disappears. The problem in recent times has been finding the right personnel not paying them. Team chemistry hasn't been right for a long time. Seven coaches in nine years and eleven goalkeepers in eight, tell a good deal of the story.
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posted 28-04-2010 02:59
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Looks like the end of the trail for the Coyotes, 1-4 down after two periods.
Brzygalov has been standing on his head all game, but Detroit just have too much talent for Phoenix. And I will certainly not be sad to see the back of that recorded coyote yelp or their white bread fan base.
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