NHL Playoffs Thread...

Originally posted by sweetcell:
not looking forward to julian's tirade :)

he's busy right now:

<img src="http://www.huddlestonhypnotherapy.co.nz/images/cd_nailbiting2.jpg" alt=" - " />

eh, i think it will be tier two tirade at best. he was there, but its only game 5

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
eh, i think it will be tier two tirade at best. he was there, but its only game 5

Seriously - how great was that game?

Stan Savran just said it ranked with the Immaculate Reception & Maz'z HR in Pitt sports lore.

Pitt news also reporting that Fleury squirted Al the Octopi twirler with his water bottle pre-game. He alleges that he just missed his mouth.

i mean, it was awesome. but its not near either if they dont win the next two games. even in recent memory i was more blown away by <img src="http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/PHO/aagu124-tackle_b~Ben-Roethlisberger-2005-Playoffs-Posters.jpg" alt=" - " />

Pops 2 Run HR in game 7 of the 79 World Series is still tops of my list.

Originally posted by vansmack:
Pops 2 Run HR in game 7 of the 79 World Series is still tops of my list.

ah yes, the sport that ended when barry bonds threw sid bream out at the plate and the stupid ass ump called him safe. i remember that sport

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:

Originally posted by vansmack:
Pops 2 Run HR in game 7 of the 79 World Series is still tops of my list.

ah yes, the sport that ended when barry bonds threw sid bream out at the plate and the stupid ass ump called him safe. i remember that sport

yeah, blame the ump for barry having a terrible arm. but, maybe he should have listened to andy van slyke

We should all listen to Andy Van Slyke.

Originally posted by Venerable Bede:

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:

Originally posted by vansmack:
Pops 2 Run HR in game 7 of the 79 World Series is still tops of my list.

ah yes, the sport that ended when barry bonds threw sid bream out at the plate and the stupid ass ump called him safe. i remember that sport

yeah, blame the ump for barry having a terrible arm. but, maybe he should have listened to andy van slyke

but…he was out by a mile. perfectly fine throw

if we want really put the blame on a player, its stan belinda for walking fucking damon berryhill in the midst of an .093 or so year

By Joe Starkey
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Going into Game 5, Sidney Crosby said the Penguins needed to "empty the tank."
One look around the locker room after the game was enough to see this much: The cliche had come true, in ways no one could have imagined.

It was 1:15 Tuesday morning, about a half-hour after the fifth-longest Stanley Cup final game ever played, when somebody wondered why Crosby looked as if he hadn't broken a sweat.

"It's all gone," Crosby said. "No more sweat left."

If you've seen one postgame locker room in professional sports, you've pretty much seen them all. But this one was different.

This one looked like a hospital ward.

Forget about Game 6 for a minute. That'll be here soon enough. The surreal scene in the aftermath of the Penguins' 4-3, triple-overtime victory on Monday - er, Tuesday - deserves a bit more attention.

No matter what happens the rest of the series, which the Penguins still trail, 3-2, this team long will be remembered for its incredibly courageous effort.

Surely, this was a top-five win in franchise history.

The first player I encountered afterward was battered winger Ryan Malone, blood still dripping from his nose. He'd been cracked "right in the beak" by teammate Hal Gill's second-period slap shot.

Malone sustained a chipped tooth, another broken nose (his second of the series) and a nasty gash. The medical staff stitched him up and stuffed some cotton in his beak. He barely missed a shift.

"Could you even breathe?" a reporter wondered.

"Out of my mouth," Malone said. "That's good enough."

Defenseman Brooks Orpik and winger Adam Hall still had gauze wrapped around their right elbows, thanks to a round of intravenous fluids. By one observer's count, seven players needed IVs at some point in the evening.

Can you imagine what that locker room must have looked like between the second and third overtimes?

"We had fruit, we had pizza, we had guys on IVs, guys pounding fluid," said winger Pascal Dupuis.

The fare included grilled chicken, pasta, pizza, apples, oranges and protein shakes, but to hear the players tell it, they didn't exactly pig out. They picked at the food, eating just enough to stay energized.

They also were reminded not to eat too much of the cheese and pepperoni on the pizza - that would slow them down - but rather the crust. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury advised team physician Charles Burke that he wasn't hungry, to which Burke basically said, "Eat anyway."

Equipment manager Dana Heinze said he and his assistants, Paul DeFazio and Danny Kroll, were running around like crazy, sharpening skates (Crosby likes his done after every period) and making sure the players' equipment was in working order. Most players went through three sets of undergarments.

"They just wanted dry laundry," Heinze said.

Amid the mayhem, winger Petr Sykora announced to his teammates that he would score the winning goal.

"We were being positive, pumping each other up and getting each other going, and 'Sicks' kind of stands up and says, 'I think I got one, boys,' " Hall said. "Everybody starts hootin' and hollerin'. We loved it."

They loved it even more when Sykora rifled a shot past Chris Osgood at 9:57 of the third overtime – when everybody on both teams was running on empty.

The players had no choice but to move on quickly and start thinking about Game 6 tonight at Mellon Arena, where a positively batty crowd will greet them.

More history could be written before the series is finished, but make no mistake: Game 5 will live forever.

There's so much great stuff out there…just classic:

"As someone who did not get home until 2:30 in the morning on Monday after being at the game I still want to VOMIT. My stomach still hurts from this game. I did however buy a stuffed penguin and hung it upside down in the kitchen for us to beat on. That penguin better watch out, I am going to give it to our dogs to beat the stuffing out of if we don't win tonight."

â??I don't think anybody really watches hockey any more,â? - Tiger Woods

the whining continues:

Wings coach Babcock questions officiating, takes shot at Pens coach Therrien

Originally posted by Erinaceous Sonickus:
â??I don't think anybody really watches hockey any more,â? - Tiger Woods

well he's black, so it's understandable that he might think that. no, wait, rhett has already confirmed that tiger isn't black. there goes that explanation.

Originally posted by sweetcell:
the whining continues:

Wings coach Babcock questions officiating, takes shot at Pens coach Therrien

I believe that makes him a "blubbering vagina."

Where's Jules? Still traumatized? However unlikely it may be - imagine if the Pens steal another one tonight?!?!?

Here's some therapy courtesy hometown rag:

BY MICHAEL ROSENBERG â?¢ FREE PRESS COLUMNIST â?¢ JUNE 4, 2008

There is a word for how the Red Wings lost Game 5, and that word is "&^@%&*%#*&!!!"

Hey, Game 6 is tonight, so it's time to move on. … But seriously, if you're a Wings fan, how miserable was that? I mean, I won't dwell on it, tonight's game is what matters. … But honestly, was that like the worst thing ever to happen to anybody or what?

OK, OK. Of course it could have been worse. It could have been Game 7. It could have put the Wings down 3-2 in the series, instead of leaving them with a 3-2 lead. And, yeah, one could argue that there are more important things than a hockey game featuring a bunch of players you have probably never met.

But if you're a sports fan, the Wings' 4-3 triple-overtime loss in Game 5 was excruciating on several levels. And sometimes, it's good to re-live the pain. After all, anybody can enjoy a win. Only a true fan suffers in defeat.

How bad was it? Let us count the ways …

1. The obvious: The Wings were less than a minute away from hoisting the Stanley Cup.
When was the last time a Detroit team had a championship ripped away like this?…

2. They had to play three overtimes.
Sometimes, you just invest more in a game. That was the case for the fans Monday night, and it was surely the case for the Wings.
When you play two games' worth of hockey and lose, it feels like two losses.

3. The Wings are the older team.
I don't buy that this loss will wipe out the Wings tonight. But the fact is that older bodies don't recover as quickly as younger bodies, especially after a triple-overtime loss.

4. Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall scored one of the Penguins' goals.
Hey, it's hockey. Pucks go off skates and into the net all the time. But rarely do you see a defenseman shoot the puck into his own net.
This wasn't a bonehead play. It was just bad luck. Still, it adds to the misery.

5. They outplayed the Penguins.
The Wings were the better team for most of Game 5, and they were really the better team in the third period and first overtime. It seemed like the NHL had instituted a new rule prohibiting Pittsburgh from having the puck.
Maybe that should make the Wings feel better. But in a way, it makes them feel worse. When you play that well and still lose, it can be tough to muster the mental energy to play that well again.
You know how Charlie Brown kept trying to kick that football? Well, here's a news flash: Charlie Brown was a comic strip character. Real people have a tougher time bouncing back.

6. You had to write two different columns and send them both to your editor before the game ended.
Oh, right. That last one only applies to me.

I apologize for my absence, some of us actually attend hockey games which requires travel time and working to pay for tickets, as opposed to sitting on ones ass and cheering for a shitty second-tier hockey team which requires nothing but alot of alcohol in one's system.

I said it before and I'll say it again: this series was over before it began. The Penguins have been outplayed in every game this series, and yet since hockey involves an element of luck and bounces, they managed to get two "wins." Good for them. They're still going to lose, they're still a historical footnote, and they're still not in the same league as the elite teams in the West. Pittsburgh's finals MVP at this point is Rob Scuderi's face for heaven's sake.

It's over. In fact, it never really started – the series is not, and never has been in doubt. Detroit 11, Pittsburgh 2.

Originally posted by sweetcell:
the whining continues:

Wings coach Babcock questions officiating, takes shot at Pens coach Therrien

First, everyone on earth said those two goaltender interference calls were garbage including all the announcers, Don Cherry, etc, etc, as opposed to Michel Therrien's complaints who were seconded by no one not wearing a Pittsburgh sweater.

Second, if you read the article you linked to, Babcock was asked for his opinion, and declined to give it twice before the reporter basically said, "No one cares what we think about it, we don't have much of a story without you opening your mouth." He then agreed with what everyone and their mother already said. Not exactly the same level as whining as the Frenchy McKnickersinabunch.

Originally posted by Julian, certified WEBLEBRITY:

Originally posted by sweetcell:
the whining continues:

Wings coach Babcock questions officiating, takes shot at Pens coach Therrien

First, everyone on earth said those two goaltender interference calls were garbage including all the announcers, Don Cherry, etc, etc, as opposed to Michel Therrien's complaints who were seconded by no one not wearing a Pittsburgh sweater.

Second, if you read the article you linked to, Babcock was asked for his opinion, and declined to give it twice before the reporter basically said, "No one cares what we think about it, we don't have much of a story without you opening your mouth." He then agreed with what everyone and their mother already said. Not exactly the same level as whining as the Frenchy McKnickersinabunch.

why arent you going to the game tonight? would you like to join me at a local bar and watch it? b/c you sound like a ton of fun to watch a game with.

Originally posted by manimtired:
would you like to join me at a local bar and watch it? b/c you sound like a ton of fun to watch a game with.

Well, I don't live in the District; I'm in metro Richmond. But if you'd like to drive down here, you're more then welcome to watch this at my house with the 5-6 other people who are congregating for the game. HDTV and all the gin you can down.

PM me for directions. During the intermissions we can discuss how best to defeat Barack Obama, er um, I mean, elect John McCain.

Originally posted by Julian, certified WEBLEBRITY:

Originally posted by sweetcell:
the whining continues:

Wings coach Babcock questions officiating, takes shot at Pens coach Therrien

First, everyone on earth said those two goaltender interference calls were garbage including all the announcers, Don Cherry, etc, etc, as opposed to Michel Therrien's complaints who were seconded by no one not wearing a Pittsburgh sweater.

Second, if you read the article you linked to, Babcock was asked for his opinion, and declined to give it twice before the reporter basically said, "No one cares what we think about it, we don't have much of a story without you opening your mouth." He then agreed with what everyone and their mother already said. Not exactly the same level as whining as the Frenchy McKnickersinabunch.

1) Does the rule book state clearly that those are penalties? Yes or No. [it does]

The announcers agreed they were penalties by the book - BUT that the rule was bad & should be changed. I agree.

2) Did the Pens score on either of those penalties to determine the game?

3) Why weren't Wings fans whining when Oz benefited from some interference penalties early in the series & AND clearly exaggerated to get them? (for which he has a reputation.)