Smith has been a good goaltender but look at how many times he has given up goals when it was desperation mode against the Hawks. My god Chicago tied it up twice within seconds of the game being over and he has been beaten twice in overtime.
The Yotes are a higher seed but they would not have even made the playoffs if they would have been in the central. The Preds have the better record and are a more proven team.
The yotes play very hard but so do the Preds. I think it would be a great even series and i would take my chances with them over having to deal with another series of unfair calls from the refs because it is "Chicago" and dealing with Kane, Toews, Sharp, and you know good and well Hossa will be back for the 2nd round if they make it.
Home ice would be nice but it is not a must. We took 2 in Detroit. Much rather have a hard working with fair refs in a series with the yotes.
At one point so did Steve Mason. But the dude has a chance next year to be the first ever starting goalie to have above a 4 GAA.
You mean in Columbus history? Because a GAA over 4 is nothing for a guy like Ron Low or Peter Sidorkiewicz.
Whether Smith is the next Tim Thomas or the next Jim Carey remains to be seen, but for this season, and this postseason, he has been nothing short of stellar, and, given the choice, I would much rather face Crawford.
How crazy would it be for the Preds to take down Detroit, Chicago, then St. Louis to advance to the SCF. When was the last time, it ever, that a team has played for the Cup after beating only division rivals?
Without Hossa, I'd rather play Chicago. If Hossa is available, give me the Yotes. Hossa in the lineup gives the Hawks 2 very strong scoring lines. Without him, we can focus on Toews and Kane while allowing our 2nd and 3rd lines to be more aggressive.
I would rather have the yotes as the way they are winning right now is by beating chicago's underwhelming bottom lines. We don't have any bottom lines really so I think PHX would have an extremely hard time matching us.
You mean in Columbus history? Because a GAA over 4 is nothing for a guy like Ron Low or Peter Sidorkiewicz.
Whether Smith is the next Tim Thomas or the next Jim Carey remains to be seen, but for this season, and this postseason, he has been nothing short of stellar, and, given the choice, I would much rather face Crawford.
It was sarcasm... Point being, Steve Mason sucks. As does Smith. Their 'team defense' is what makes him look good. Open up the game a lil bit and you can make a beachball go in the net as easily as you can a puck against him.
Phoenix during the regular season finished with 4 less goals against than we did but scored 21 goals less, Torress is one of their better producing forwards and he's out.
I'd prefer Phoenix but both are going to be a challenge.
I'll pick Chicago for one other reason not mentioned. No offense to Yotes fans, but I want media attention. IMO, Preds vs. Hawks gets NBC/NBCSN while the Yotes gives us CNBC.
Chicago because:
Home Ice
Opportunity to exorcise another demon, leaving only the Sharks for next year.
Crawford is worse than Smith
Yotes beat us twice at Bridgestone. Yeah, we're better now but ....
Better TV coverage because it's Chicago
Won't have to listen to the media blame Bettman for his parity and southern strategy as two small market southern teams playing while nobody watches on TV.
I picked Chicago, but just barely. If we play them it'll mean they're on a hot streak and dangerous, though, so it's a tougher pick 'em than if the PHX/CHI series had just gone back and forth.
Whatever happens please tell me that STL be able to figure out Quick and dispatch the Kings. I fear them the most of all the remaining teams in the West.
Chicago because:
Home Ice
Opportunity to exorcise another demon, leaving only the Sharks for next year.
Crawford is worse than Smith
Yotes beat us twice at Bridgestone. Yeah, we're better now but ....
Better TV coverage because it's Chicago
Won't have to listen to the media blame Bettman for his parity and southern strategy as two small market southern teams playing while nobody watches on TV.
another reason I want chicago ... but I'll kill the troll-train right now ... another reason ... very little travel ... you can't say that about most WC opponents
Phoenix has better goaltending, Chicago is a lot more potent offensively. Both are beatable, either can take us in a seven game series if they get hot.
Ok for the 60% of people who voted for chicago, I point to the first 4 minutes of this game and I say, this is really what you want to potentially face?
It was sarcasm... Point being, Steve Mason sucks. As does Smith. Their 'team defense' is what makes him look good. Open up the game a lil bit and you can make a beachball go in the net as easily as you can a puck against him.
That "team defense" allowed the third most shots in the NHL.
Smith is keeping the Coyotes in this game, and he's the main reason they're in the playoffs to begin with.
It was sarcasm... Point being, Steve Mason sucks. As does Smith. Their 'team defense' is what makes him look good. Open up the game a lil bit and you can make a beachball go in the net as easily as you can a puck against him.
... another reason ... very little travel ... you can't say that about most WC opponents
