NHL Playoffs

[Asher]

That was simply an awesome game, even if we lost.

Coming back from a 4-goal deficit to send a game into triple overtime, and even having one of the shots in the 2nd overtime hit the crossbar. Wow. Edge-of-your-seat entertainment, folks. Easily the most entertaining hockey game in years.

The Flames are just fun to watch. Unlike, say, the Devil's.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Agathon
Man the Flames are a bunch of talentless poo lickers.

Originally posted by Agathon
Too little, too late.

The Flames are choking like the new hooker on the block. No veteran leadership, that's the problem.

Quoted for posterity.

[Asher]

Originally posted by notyoueither
I don't know if someone who knew their ass from icing would say that about a hockey game in the 2nd period.

Indeed. A true Canadian understands this, apparently.

We have to forgive the FOBs like Agathon, he's only trying to fit in by feigning insight and knowledge about hockey.

[monolith94]

It seems as though the Bruins might slip out of the playoffs.

And what with the Red Sox currently whipping the Yankees, I couldn't care less!!!

[Agathon]

Rubbish. No sane person would have taken money on the Flames coming back from 4-0 down in the playoffs (except you two, and both of you are deluded, being Western hockey fans).

The Canucks played terribly in the second half of the game but got their game back in overtime. Props to the Flames for coming back, but they still didn't have it when it mattered and Vancouver did. That's what separates the men from the boys.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Agathon
Too little, too late.

During the second period.

I think that about describes what you know about hockey.

Cheer up, there's still football and cricket.

[Agathon]

Whatever... How many teams have come from 4-0 in a playoff game? Not many. And the Flames lost - so I was right, it was all in vain.

I've only seen one regular season game in five years that compares - the Leafs blowing a 5 goal lead and losing in overtime.

To suggest that any team was a good bet to come back is to display your ignorance, not only of hockey, but of statistics.

[notyoueither]

Oh, my. Your five years experience. Oh. I am put in my place.

Maybe you could just stop being a jackass and observe for a bit. You might learn something.

[Guynemer]

Why is it that every year, I pick one, and only one, sweep in the first round, and WITHOUT FAIL, that series ends up going the other way?

What the hell kind of business do the Flyers have winning a playoff series?

[Tingkai]

If Calgary continues playing like that then Vancouver has a good chance of taking the series. The Flames D were lousy. Terrible clearing the puck. On the winning goal they let Morrison waltz right in. Donovan was standing in front with his thumb up his butt.

Lousy night for Kip too.

[Hot Mustard]

You can't really blame anyone after 100 minutes of hockey. It's a shame when games are decided by fatigue, but them's the breaks.

[joncha]

Better fatigue than a shoot-out.

[cinch]

Poor Burnsy...

___________________________________________

Burns battling colon cancer


Pat Burns said Sunday he will begin treatment immediately and that his status with the team will be determined in five weeks, the earliest the treatment could end.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (CP-AP) -- New Jersey Devils coach Pat Burns is battling colon cancer.

Burns said Sunday he will begin treatment this week and that his status with the team will be determined in five weeks, the earliest the treatment could end.

The announcement came a day after the defending Stanley Cup champions were eliminated from the NHL playoffs by the Philadelphia Flyers.

"The last month or so I have not been feeling well," Burns said. "There were signs that something was not right but I was reluctant to do anything because the playoffs were coming up."

Burns said he insisted on coaching the Devils in the first round even though the treatments would not have allowed him to coach had the Devils advanced.

"For those who know me well, I've never backed down from any fight. And I'm not going to back down from this one," he said.

Burns appeared at the news conference at Continental Airlines Arena with his wife and with Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello. He read from a prepared statement and did not answer questions.

New Jersey lost 3-1 on Saturday, with the Flyers taking the best-of-seven series in five games.

Burns said the he would undergo treatments five days a week for the next six to eight weeks. He did not go into further detail.

Burns, 52, missed a morning skate and an off-day team meeting last week. The team said in both instances he had to take care of "personal matters."

Defenceman Scott Niedermayer said he didn't notice anything different about Burns in the weeks leading up to the playoffs.

"He was trying to get the team ready 100 per cent just like he always does," Niedermayer said. "We didn't notice anything until he didn't come to a couple of morning skates. Then we knew he wasn't feeling well."

A three-time winner of the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top coach, Burns replaced Kevin Constantine behind the Devils bench on June 13, 2002, and won his first Stanley Cup ring last spring when the Devils defeated the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the final.

On Sunday, he praised his team's efforts in the regular season and the playoffs, and lamented the timing of the illness.

"I wasn't the coach I should have been the last couple of weeks, but I had a lot of things on my mind so it was understandable," he said.

Defenceman Scott Stevens described the reaction of his fellow players to Burns' illness as "shock and depression."

"This definitely puts everything in perspective," Stevens said. "Hopefully he'll fight through this. He's a tough guy."

Before arriving in New Jersey, Burns had coached three Original Six teams -- Montreal, Toronto and Boston -- and had only been to one Stanley Cup final in 13 seasons, during his first season with Montreal.

He hadn't coached since being let go by the Bruins only eight games into the 2000-01 season. There was talk it would be tough for him to find a job as teams sought younger coaches with new ideas, new systems and no reluctance to try new things.

But Burns, a former policeman from Hull, Que., with a sullen personality and a self-proclaimed inability to smile, meshed well with the Devils. He reached two milestones this season. A victory over the Rangers on March 30 was the 500th of his NHL career and on Feb. 27 he coached his 1,000th game when the Devils faced the Atlanta Thrashers at Continental Airlines Arena.

Burns has a career regular-season record of 501-367-151 along with a playoff record of 78-71.



________________________________________

Hope everything turns out for the best.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Agathon
Whatever... How many teams have come from 4-0 in a playoff game? Not many. And the Flames lost - so I was right, it was all in vain.

I've only seen one regular season game in five years that compares - the Leafs blowing a 5 goal lead and losing in overtime.

To suggest that any team was a good bet to come back is to display your ignorance, not only of hockey, but of statistics.

You just don't seem to understand the huge effect of desperation in playoff hockey. The Flames entered the game with the series lead, Vancouver was fighting from being eliminated. Vancouver simply outplayed the Flames, due to their desperation.

Once the 4-0 lead came about, the desperation reverses, and the Flames outplayed Vancouver to tie it up.

You just don't understand much about how thirsty the Flames are for even a series win (it's been 15 years), and how hard-working the team is.

[Ben Kenobi]

You just don't understand much about how thirsty the Flames are for even a series win (it's been 15 years), and how hard-working the team is.

They've got guts.

But it isn't enough.

Canucks are the better team.

Game 7 will be interesting.