This is beyond embarrassing that people are talking about tanking games for a possible easier matchup in the first round of the play-offs.
Every Stanley Cup winner at some point and time looks back and thinks I wonder if we would have still won if we faced Team X instead of Team Y in this round or that round. Case in point 2010 Hawks caught a break not having to play the Wings in round 3 and getting the Sharks instead. The Wings team that year was really good and they have owned us in the playoffs so we caught a break. The 96 Avalanche Cup team caught a break facing the Florida Panthers in the SCF instead of a Lemieux and Jagr Pens team that would have flourished in a series with the Avs.
I don't want the Preds in round 1. They will beat us, hands down. They almost beat us in the Cup year, they have killed us all year and they are a much better team than us right now. They're not a proven playoff beast but they are built better than we are. I want the Pacific winner. Yotes have zero playoff success and no real stars, Kings nothing since 02, and a Sharks team that we have beaten in crunch time, face a goalie we know well and play overall solid against. So if need be I'd like the Rockford Icehogs to be suiting up in the Indianhead Saturday morning.
Every Stanley Cup winner at some point and time looks back and thinks I wonder if we would have still won if we faced Team X instead of Team Y in this round or that round. Case in point 2010 Hawks caught a break not having to play the Wings in round 3 and getting the Sharks instead. The Wings team that year was really good and they have owned us in the playoffs so we caught a break. The 96 Avalanche Cup team caught a break facing the Florida Panthers in the SCF instead of a Lemieux and Jagr Pens team that would have flourished in a series with the Avs.
I don't want the Preds in round 1. They will beat us, hands down. They almost beat us in the Cup year, they have killed us all year and they are a much better team than us right now. They're not a proven playoff beast but they are built better than we are. I want the Pacific winner. Yotes have zero playoff success and no real stars, Kings nothing since 02, and a Sharks team that we have beaten in crunch time, face a goalie we know well and play overall solid against. So if need be I'd like the Rockford Icehogs to be suiting up in the Indianhead Saturday morning.
Good let them play the play-offs too, if the Hawks have no confidence they can beat the Preds then don't play in the play-offs.
No team should EVER tank games and no team that won the Cup ever did, you can look back after and say we caught a break but you don't lose on purpose it's pathetic.
Very good chance the #6 seed will get Phoenix. The Hawks are 1-3 against Phoenix, with that one win being in the 2nd week of the season. Mike Smith is 3-0 against the Hawks - as he wasn't in goal for the lone Hawks win against the Yotes this year.
The last time the Hawks faced Phoenix, Mike Smith had a 38 shot shutout. Oh and Mike Smith also has 3 consecutive shutouts rolling now including a 54 shot shutout the other night against Columbus.
Finally - does anyone remember him standing on his head against the Hawks in that lightning game last year? I can't believe some of you want to tank to face this guy. No thanks...I'll take my chances with the Predators.
Home Ice can suck it in a 7 game series. You will have 2 home games before you can even lose the series. Hawks are good, Hawks can beat any team in the NHL and Hawks can win on the road in the POs.
Beat them and show them that they can't keep up with teams like the Hawks
Anybody who thinks you should purposefully tank this game to avoid Nashville is dumb, no offense. First of all, why would you want to play the LAST game before the playoffs with a LOSER'S mentality or a SCARED mentality? The thought process I want from this team heading into the playoffs is one of confidence and determination, with hard work and good team play we can beat anyone. Second, there's no guarantee that whoever slots into the 3rd position is even an easier team to play against, the Hawks struggle against Quick, have struggled against the Yotes, I would think the Sharks wouldn't be too bad though. Thing is though whoever it is will have just won the division after a bloody and tough battle for it and will have a lot of swagger and home ice. Not really an easy opponent in my book. Finally, and this can be overlooked, TRAVEL. I'd rather the short shuttle to Nashville than the long plane rides to the Pacific division and day of the week.
I don't buy into the theory that pro sports teams tank to begin with, at least not for playoff seeding. Draft picks, maybe.
Well if the Hawks knew how to tank properly we would have had Evgeni Malkin instead of Cam Barker.
Regarding L.A. alot of Kings fans want to play us, that would be a mistake on their part. We will beat that team. Toews, Kane, Sharp, Hossa, Bolly, Keif, Seabs, Hammer are playoff vets and winners, L.A. has two guys on their team that have had playoff success, and we beat both of them for the Cup two years ago. The last 3 years, Hawks have a Cup and 28 playoff wins compared to the Kings 4.
I don't want the Preds in round 1. They will beat us, hands down. They almost beat us in the Cup year,
Yeah because Niemi was absolutely horrible in that series and was giving up soft goals left and right. In the first couple of games the Preds were scoring on bouncing pucks, shots from the half boards, and generally easy saves.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bring Back GLR
they have killed us all year and they are a much better team than us right now.
I don't buy that one bit. They are a much more disciplined team then the Hawks. They know the system and stick to it. But if both teams are playing the best hockey they can the Hawks will win.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bring Back GLR
They're not a proven playoff beast but they are built better than we are.
That isn't at all true.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bring Back GLR
I want the Pacific winner. Yotes have zero playoff success and no real stars, Kings nothing since 02, and a Sharks team that we have beaten in crunch time, face a goalie we know well and play overall solid against. So if need be I'd like the Rockford Icehogs to be suiting up in the Indianhead Saturday morning.
I sure hope the players, coaches, and staff are infinitely more confident than you or this team is going nowhere no matter who they face.
Very good chance the #6 seed will get Phoenix. The Hawks are 1-3 against Phoenix, with that one win being in the 2nd week of the season. Mike Smith is 3-0 against the Hawks - as he wasn't in goal for the lone Hawks win against the Yotes this year.
The last time the Hawks faced Phoenix, Mike Smith had a 38 shot shutout. Oh and Mike Smith also has 3 consecutive shutouts rolling now including a 54 shot shutout the other night against Columbus.
Finally - does anyone remember him standing on his head against the Hawks in that lightning game last year? I can't believe some of you want to tank to face this guy. No thanks...I'll take my chances with the Predators.
Phoenix, with the same players and a better goalie the last two years, has failed in the first round both times.
The story isn't going to change this year. That team will not win a series.
Ridiculous. Just ask Toews how he'd want the team to do against Detroit knowing all this. You think Toews would want to throw the game to not play the Preds? What a joke. Toews would be like, let's go out there and ****ing win, I feel this team can be anybody, bring on the Preds.
Good let them play the play-offs too, if the Hawks have no confidence they can beat the Preds then don't play in the play-offs.
No team should EVER tank games and no team that won the Cup ever did, you can look back after and say we caught a break but you don't lose on purpose it's pathetic.
Huh? Pittsburgh scratched Crosby the last game in 2007-08. A win and they would have faced Boston. A loss and they would have faced Ottawa. They lost, played Ottawa in the first round and swept them en route to the finals. Boston pushed Montreal to 7 games and Montreal was beat up and out of gas in round 2, losing in 5 games. This happens all of the time. You never let pride get in the way of winning.
