NASH-DET had no lead changes and the team that scored the first goal has won each of the 5 games.
PHIL-PIT has had seven lead changes and the team that has scored the first goal has lost each of the 5 games.
It has been like watching two different sports. The up and down elite offense in Pennsylvania with subpar goaltending versus the safe clogging the middle defense and solid goaltending in the Central Division showdown.
I predicted a Flyers-Predators Finals and it's looking like it may very well be a clash of styles if it comes about.
The Hawks series is the first "5 OTs in a row" playoff series since the Bill Barilko decided 51 Habs-Leaf Series. The Leafs didn't win another Cup until his body was discovered in 62.
Quote:
At 2:53 of the first overtime period, Barilko became a national hero. He hadn't recorded a single point in the series prior to then, but he fired a desperation shot as he crossed the blue line. He had so much effort into his shot he actually fell to ice after releasing the puck. The puck somehow found its way past Montreal goalie Gerry McNeil, and the Cup was Toronto's. Barilko was the unlikely hero who won the Cup.
Anyone else think the Sharks are gonna blow it all up? For a team that is so talented on paper, they just don't have it. Thornton was the only player who showed up in that entire series for SJ. Dude had the heart of a lion, no way anyone can call him a choker. You want an example of a choker, look no further than VanI's boy Patty Marleau. My guess is Wilson sends him to Toronto first chance he gets.
No one really seems to have an issue with Torres' suspension. The issue is that why is he sitting out for the next 6 months while Duncan Keith is playing in the playoffs when Daniel Sedin could've been in the same situation as Savard right now due to that elbow.
You want an example of a choker, look no further than VanI's boy Patty Marleau. My guess is Wilson sends him to Toronto first chance he gets.
1. In 70+ Sharks games I've watched this season, Marleau has played well, but a NEW STYLE, away from the crease, more of a passer from the circles, in fact often as a point man on the powerplay, with Couture and Havlat taking the crease spots. Hell, even Thornton has been put in the position of crease presence more than Marleau.
2. The St. Louis Blues have been marvelous at limiting opportunities from the circles and the point, thanks to Hitchcock's coaching and then astute goaltending. Success for the Sharks has been sparse, and by those in the crease, which is where Marleau has not been placed!
3. Marleau has again been announced (during the final home game) as winning the 2011/12 season's Fan Favorite award once again in San Jose, not Thornton. (Couture was MVP though.)
4. Marleau this season and postseason mostly plays the first pk and centers the second line instead of Thornton's wing where he best belongs, and he has been good in defensive zone face offs in the series.
5. Pavelski scored more regular season goals but like Marleau had none against St. Louis, Pavelski going a team record low -3 among forwards against the Blues in the series. Expect Pavelski to be traded before anybody!!
6. Thornton has played very strangely this season. His passing has been off, but he has been playing harder to the net, shooting more, really not the old passing magic Joe. He has NOT been on the penalty kill, which, after the Comcast crew mentioned in a late season postgame interview, was followed by Thornton's reported lobbying for pk time, which he got in the postseason. The result? Six damn Blues pp goals, not one of which counts against Joe's +/- because of the nature of plus-minus calculation. Joe is no pker. It was Marleau who killed penalties and was 3rd in Canada's ice time amomg forwards in the 2010 Olympic gold medal tourney. Joe is no pker and really his efforts to get on the unit didn't help in the least. Yeah, he scored a key goal in the last playoff game to keep the Sharks in it, and had one late in a losing effort the game before, which no one including himself celebrated. I am not saying Thornton has been playing bad, but he hasn't been as good as stats may seem to indicate, and Marleau not as bad as they show either.
7. If there is a hockey god in San Jose then Boyle will be sent packing and my boy Murray will either get his brains back or join Eager in the dumb defense shipped outta town category!
Last edited by VanIslander: 04-22-2012 at 07:42 AM.
7. If there is a hockey god in San Jose then Boyle will be sent packing and my boy Murray will either get his brains back or join Eager in the dumb defense shipped outta town category!
Dan Boyle is 35 and I believe this was the final year of his contract. If the Sharks are blowing it up, I doubt they'll attempt to re-sign him, though Boyle does still have some gas left in the tank, and could be quite useful to a contender. He hasn't lost his speed yet.
It wouldn't shock me to see Wilson have something of a firesale. The question is where do they draw the line? I guess Burns, Vlasic, Pavelski, Clowe and Couture would be the new core moving forward, although it is doubtful that the Sharks would be able to graduate enough young talent quickly enough to field another Cup contender by the time these guys are old. The pipeline looks pretty bare at this point. I seriously doubt that Wilson will completely blow the team up and go so far as to deal guys like Pavelski and Vlasic simply because the organization still needs to sell tickets.
If a major sale happens, Todd McLellan will probably be the first to go. Douglas Murray belongs in the AHL.
... The issue is that why is he sitting out for the next 6 months while Duncan Keith is playing in the playoffs when Daniel Sedin could've been in the same situation as Savard right now due to that elbow.
Sedin did the exact same thing to Keith earlier in the game, D. Sedin was not taken off on a stretcher like Hossa was, Keith is not a repeat offender like Torres, and Keith's hit did not break 3 rules like Torres' hit did.
Sedin did the exact same thing to Keith earlier in the game, D. Sedin was not taken off on a stretcher like Hossa was, Keith is not a repeat offender like Torres, and Keith's hit did not break 3 rules like Torres' hit did.
Different rules for different players m8. We saw that all season. Malkins none suspensions and not even penalties is clearly showing the lack of cosistency and how certain tiers of players get different kinds of actions taken against them. This is nothing new entirely but its more vivid in post-lock out NHL.
Sedin did the exact same thing to Keith earlier in the game, D. Sedin was not taken off on a stretcher like Hossa was, Keith is not a repeat offender like Torres, and Keith's hit did not break 3 rules like Torres' hit did.
If you think Sedin did the exact same thing earlier, then I don't know what to tell you..
I dont knwo if this has been mentioned before but isnt it a little funny that Briere plays for the Flyers since he was the pick that they traded away in '96?
So in an all-time sense, what to do with the numbers that the guys in the Pens-Flyers series put up? Claude Giroux put up 14 points in 6 games.. that's more points than most players will have all playoffs in one series.
Wayne Gretzky. 18 in 6. 3 PPG
Rick Middleton. 19 in 7 games. 2.714 PPG
Mario Lemieux. 17 in 7. 2.429 PPG
Claude Giroux. 14 in 6. 2.333 PPG
Barry Pederson. 16 in 7. 2.286 PPG
Doug Gilmour. 16 in 7. 2.286 PPG
So in an all-time sense, what to do with the numbers that the guys in the Pens-Flyers series put up? Claude Giroux put up 14 points in 6 games.. that's more points than most players will have all playoffs in one series.
we can't really discredit his points because of the way the series was played , if we are to really analyse things like ''this series was in a low-scoring era but high-scoring series'' then we are really nitpicking and also always downplaying the great acheivement of modern players while I never heard any argument that a player did this or that in a series that was particularly offensive discrediting some of the value of the production he offered.
To me , what Giroux did right there was incredible.
we can't really discredit his points because of the way the series was played , if we are to really analyse things like ''this series was in a low-scoring era but high-scoring series'' then we are really nitpicking and also always downplaying the great acheivement of modern players while I never heard any argument that a player did this or that in a series that was particularly offensive discrediting some of the value of the production he offered.
To me , what Giroux did right there was incredible.
No no, I'm not saying we should discredit him at all. What he did was indeed an incredible feat, and according to Billyshoe, the 4th highest scoring individual effort in a playoff series per game in history. It's just, this series is so lopsided in how much more scoring there was than in any other series in the first round, that any Flyers player that ends up high in scoring for the playoffs will really have this series to thank for that. I think Briere and Giroux had a strong chance to do that without such a high scoring series anyways, but some of the other guys.. I dunno. And if Giroux holds like a 6-7 point lead on the next highest scoring player in these playoffs, again, he will have this series to thank for it.
I wonder how many other instances of something like this has happened (one unusually high scoring series as compared to the others that were played).
Wow, holy crap. Giroux already has a substantial lead in playoff scoring. 5 points up on Staal, or 156% of 2nd place.. haha. This guy basically WAS the difference in that series.
With this kind of firepower at their disposal, does any other team in the east stand a chance against the Flyers? Haha.
And people were saying that trading Richards and Carter was going to ruin the team. Not only did that not ruin them, but losing Pronger, their best defenseman, for the season didn't either. I've maintained that the trades were great trades for the Flyers, given the depth in their top-6, and they've proven it.
Yeah but you had to be sure that Giroux would be THAT good.I don't why the hell Giroux wasn't drafted higher , and the habs select david fischer just before him
Giroux is massively and spectacularly proving all the doubters wrong
Also , Brière reminds me of a child playing on the street dreaming of being in the NHL playoffs , that's where he is mentally it seems , and that's why he's so good in the playoffs, every damn year.
