Congratulations to the Detroit Red Wings

[Trek]

. The work the scouting team does to find and develop young, talented players is nothing short of amazing.

Yeah, whatever....I hope they die in a fire

[Wulfran]

Well, not playoff related but the Canucks are minus one talented young defenseman as of yesterday. Luc Bourdon, first round pick a couple years ago and stand out in the World Jr tourneys died in a motorcycle accident at 21. Always makes me sad when a kid dies like this but this guy looked like he might have been something special for the Canucks too.

[Fairweather Pure]

Headed into the 3rd OT right now. Damn good game!

[Xouqoa]

What a shitty end to a great game. I hate when OT games are decided by power plays. It was an obvious call, and had to be made, but very unfortunate for the Wings.

[Kluden]

I can't say enough for the officiating in this round...they really are "letting them play" except when its fairly obvious or flagrant.

[Sylvus]

Eh, there was a goalie interference or two that was not "letting them play". That last interference call was bs, I forget who it was but he was totally trying to get out of the way, and had someone right on top of him.

No matter, the Wings are still winning this one.

[Truant]

The Pens first goal on the phantom trip called against Datsyuk. The guy lost an edge and fell down (he didn't dive though).
Both of those interference calls were bullshit, one way more than the other.

It was a great game, but the officiating was terribad last night.

[Kluden]

Looking at the series as a whole...the good far outweighs the "bad" from last night, considering it is one possible bad call.

It's some of the best officiating I've seen in a stanley cup final...that's all I'm saying.

[Wulfran]

The officiating wasn't great last night but it wasn't the worst I've seen this post-season. The "goalie interference" on Zetterberg early on was bogus but Detroit also got away with some calls too: no one is as good at running neutral zone "picks" as the Wings and by the book that is interference. My biggest beef is the lack of consistency in the reffing but it was definately not anything ressembling the pre-lockout wrestling matches and in the end the deciding call was a non issue: there was contact and blood was drawn, thus its an automatic 4 min. Honestly my biggest beef with the refs is one the league can fix: use video replay on goals where interference is called or claimed.

Overall though I have to admit I was surprised by the Pens last night. I was like 99% of hockey fans/observers/reporters who thought last night was going to be the coronation of the Wings but the Pens never quit, even when down 3-2 late in the 3rd. I don't like the odds of them pulling the upset (think they said its been 66 years since a team was down 3-1 in the finals and came back to win) but they surprised me last night and won some respect if nothing else.

[masteen]

It's too bad that Pittsburgh won't be able to hold this team together after this season. Fleury is a restricted free agent, and if they decide to pony up the bucks to keep him, it probably means losing Malkin, Sykora, and Staal the year after.

[Xouqoa]

That third Detroit goal was really weird. Don't think I've ever seen that happen before.

I couldn't believe the refs didn't see Malone chop the stick out of Lilja's hands on the 6 on 4 power play. Oh well, I guess it (barely) ended up not mattering.

PS -

[Trek]

Whatever, I hate hockey










actually I just hate the wings

[Spang]

Hooters has good wings.

[Wulfran]

And its all over for the year.

I'm not too disappointed in the way the playoffs turned out: since my beloved Isles weren't in it, and I knew my next favorite team, the Flames, didn't stand a hope, my big thing was the teams I hate losing out early. The Rangers stayed in longer than they deserved (IMO) but hey, they still got punted in the end; the Habs were upset by a Flyer team that looks like it could be a contender with a couple more pieces and the Oilers and Leafs weren't in it at all, so my fears never came to pass. I didn't do too badly in picking winners (11-4 through all the match ups) but it ain't like I was a) smart/brave enough to bet on them or b) going to get paid by someone to pick the winners for em

Various thoughts:

- Detroit is the Champion and arguably the best team in the NHL this year but would things have changed if the regular season wasn't so divisionally heavy? Detroit wracked up a TON of wins against the other teams in the Creampuff...er... Central Division that helped cement both home ice and favourable matchups. Usually I don't think it matters but the rest of the West was a blood bath and the Wings got off pretty light all the way along.

- Is it finally the end of Hasek? I hope so. I've disliked the Detroit goaltending soap opera since they turfed Osgood last time around and followed it by snubbing Manny Legace. Osgood's re-emergence as #1 in Detroit was the best part of their run for me.

- Are the media types finally going to quit the BS of Detroit being a physical team? They are fast, skilled and have some big guys who are hard to move but aside from Kronwall aren't a physical bunch. The only time they faced physical play was from Dallas...after the Stars recovered from their war with San Jose and were down 3-0 already. I think its a good thing for the Wings it DID take Dallas so long to recover, from the way the Stars were able to rally. I'm not questioning the talent or ability of this Wing team (which they have loads) but I'm not hopping on the bandwagon that says this team is better than ones Stevie Y. captained either.


OK enough picking holes in the armour of the champions

- I wonder what future holds for some of the young and emerging teams that showed some shine this year. The Flyers looked damn good for a team that was in such total disarray last season. The youth movement in Montreal is impressive but I think they need more physical presence to add to the skill level they have, and I hope this loss doesn't damage the confidence of Carey Price. The Pens, enough people have gushed over them but they did win some respect from me in not laying down for game 5 and forcing game 6.

- I also wonder how big the shake ups will be in San Jose and Ottawa. The Sens looked absolutely lost for the whole 2nd half of the season and it looks like Mgt in the Shark tank has run out of patience, firing Ron Wilson. Who is next?

- A hint to the Canadian sports media: no one outside Toronto gave a fuck about the Leafs coach and GM searching while there was hockey on the ice (and most still dont), so thats the story you should have be concentrating on. Worry about the other shit now that the playoffs are done. Pisses me off that in the middle of the Stanley Cup Finals, national sports shows/networks are leading with who Cliff Fletcher was having lunch with.

- Officiating was about average IMO but the NHL needs to fix 2 things: goals disallowed because of "the kicking motion" (the Brendan Morrow disallowed goal vs San Jose was a travesty) and reviewing goals for goaltender interference. Holmstrom was probably the worst offender in the league for this (and most called) but they didn't call it all the times they should have and called some when they shouldn't have. Video review is done for high stick goals (i.e. above the crossbar) so I don't see why they shouldn't for interference. And the kicking thing, they keep going back to this but about the best idea I've heard is that "if the skate blade doesn't leave the ice, it should be legal", which is easily verifiable visually.

- US TV ratings - highest since 2002 and up over 80% which is positive. The Wings were higher than Pistons when they went head to head on at least game 3 of the finals. I haven't seen Canadian ones to compare but Crosby is a media darling up here. I think the quality of play was up and the ratings reflect that, and the final had a perennial powerhouse vs an emerging one, with some of the best players in the game, which had to help. Be nice if things can keep improving, both in terms of quality of on ice product and the ratings.

[Xouqoa]

Detroit is the Champion and arguably the best team in the NHL this year but would things have changed if the regular season wasn't so divisionally heavy? Detroit wracked up a TON of wins against the other teams in the Creampuff...er... Central Division that helped cement both home ice and favourable matchups. Usually I don't think it matters but the rest of the West was a blood bath and the Wings got off pretty light all the way along.

I don't think it would have mattered too much. Nashville was decent, and Chicago went like 5-1 against Detroit this season. 17-12-3 isn't really that great, and pretty consistent with what other teams in different divisions did against their own as well. (The Blackhawks were actually best in the Central, at 19-11-2) The Blues usually play well against the Wings since it is a rivalry, so the only team that is really a "creampuff" is Columbus.

Is it finally the end of Hasek? I hope so. I've disliked the Detroit goaltending soap opera since they turfed Osgood last time around and followed it by snubbing Manny Legace. Osgood's re-emergence as #1 in Detroit was the best part of their run for me.

I don't think Hasek will be back.. he got what he wanted, and I expect he'll retire now. It amazes me that with all the scouting talent, they can't find a goalie under 30 years old to groom, and constantly have to trade for one.

Are the media types finally going to quit the BS of Detroit being a physical team? They are fast, skilled and have some big guys who are hard to move but aside from Kronwall aren't a physical bunch. The only time they faced physical play was from Dallas...after the Stars recovered from their war with San Jose and were down 3-0 already. I think its a good thing for the Wings it DID take Dallas so long to recover, from the way the Stars were able to rally. I'm not questioning the talent or ability of this Wing team (which they have loads) but I'm not hopping on the bandwagon that says this team is better than ones Stevie Y. captained either.

Kronwall, Stuart, Datsyuk, Drake, Draper (!), Franzen and Cleary were all pretty physical players all playoffs long. They're definitely a LOT more physical than they were a few years ago. Luckily though, they don't have to play physical very often because they move the puck so well. As far as best team ever, I think it might be so. Datsyuk and Zetterberg have gotten considerably better since 2002 and the blue line is as strong as ever. The talent level over all seems to be a little bit higher, but spread across more players. They don't HAVE to get goals from Datsyuk and Zetterberg to win. In the past, it always seemed like Yzerman/Shanahan were relied on to be the primary goal scorers. I dunno though, it is such a subjective thing, it is really hard to say.

[Sylvus]

It's too bad for all of you that aren't Wings fans, since we're probably going to win it again next year. Don't just take my word for it, Don Cherry said so!

[Trek]

It's too bad for all of you that aren't Wings fans, since we're probably going to win it again next year. Don't just take my word for it, Don Cherry said so!

I am on my way to PK you IRL