NHL Playoff Thread-Mania...

[Imran Siddiqui]

It's just a pity that Lemaire does employ the trap. Hopefully one day he'll be able to discard it for a more open system.

Why do you think the Wild are this far?! BECAUSE OF THE TRAP!

Lemaire will never get rid of the trap as long as he is coaching. That is why NJ was fired (the trap comes at the expense of offensive firepower). And as long as it is successful, I don't see why he should give it up. It works, don't change it.

[cinch]

QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK!!!

Great calls by the refs in the last ten minutes...

DUCKS WIN!!!



Now, all we have to do is get rid of New Jersey, and an entertaining Stanley Cup final will be ours!!!



WHERE'S YOUR MONEY NOW, ARNOTT!?!?!

[Imran Siddiqui]

Arnott is gone?

Hmm... that means that all of the A Line that has been traded away is GONE, while the Devs are still alive .



GO JERSEY!

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Kontiki
The one prediction I've been making is that the Vancouver-Minnesota game will be much more of a blow-out than any of the others were. I'll say the final score will be 4-1 or 5-1, but I'm not sure for who. I can just as easily see Vancouver having a rough home game as I can Minnesota just folding.

Kudos to you then. Wild 7-2

[Agathon]

And kudos to Jeremy Roenick. He was as gracious in defeat as it is possibly to be; a class act in an organisation with not much of it.

[Richelieu]

It's just a pity that Lemaire does employ the trap. Hopefully one day he'll be able to discard it for a more open system.

Lemaire invented the trap. He'll never abandon it.

[Sava]

This is the worst playoff year in a while. It's definitely worse than Florida or Carolina getting to the finals.

[Hot Mustard]

East:

Ottawa beats Philadelphia 4-2
New Jersey beats Tampa 4-1

Ottawa vs. New Jersey in Conf. final

West:

Anaheim beats Dallas 4-2
Vancouver leads Minnesota 3-2

? vs. Anaheim in Conf. final

[Hot Mustard]

Originally posted by Sava
This is the worst playoff year in a while. It's definitely worse than Florida or Carolina getting to the finals.

Why?

Because the aging, overpaid almost-dynasty teams are finally fading?

Because young, exciting, talented teams are finally seeing the fruits of years of labour?

Or because, excluding New Jersey, you have to go back to 1927 (Ottawa) to find a past Cup winner that is left in these playoffs?

This changing of the guard has been a long time in the making, and is making the game better. It should be embraced, not scoffed at because it isn't the status quo.

[Kontiki]

I agree with dejon. These playoffs are a triumph for smart spending teams and hopefully (though not likely) show the error of the ways for teams like the Rangers, Flyers and Blues. Even Toronto should take note - team chemistry MATTERS.

[Tingkai]

Just came back from watching a couple of the games.

The sens and flyers was major

The only entertainment value was watching the Flyers shoot themselves in the foot.

What the hell was Chekmanek thinking going out to get the puck and why didn't he at least try falling on it. He looked like a complete amatuer.

And then there's Brashear taking a couple of penalties early in the game when the flyers were down 2-0. That really helps any attempt to come back.

The Canucks-Wild game was much more entertaining, although I didn't see the third period. But it was great with the Canucks putting on the pressure and Rolson making some great saves.

But now I got to wonder whether the Canucks can win this.

Ducks

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Richelieu

It's just a pity that Lemaire does employ the trap. Hopefully one day he'll be able to discard it for a more open system.

Lemaire invented the trap. He'll never abandon it.

Was that the Trap I saw? Look like the Canucks were all over the Wild in the Wild end. The Canucks had some great chances, but the puck bounced the wrong way.

One thing I didn't know is that a South Korean is playing for the Wild. Must be the first Korean in the NHL.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by dejon
Because young, exciting, talented teams are finally seeing the fruits of years of labour?

Or because, excluding New Jersey, you have to go back to 1927 (Ottawa) to find a past Cup winner that is left in these playoffs?

This changing of the guard has been a long time in the making, and is making the game better. It should be embraced, not scoffed at because it isn't the status quo.

Yeah it's great seeing these young teams and new goalies coming up through the ranks and proving their worth.

[Hot Mustard]

Originally posted by Tingkai
Was that the Trap I saw? Look like the Canucks were all over the Wild in the Wild end. The Canucks had some great chances, but the puck bounced the wrong way.

The Canucks looked to be having their way towards the end of the first period, but got sandbagged with two 4 on 3 penalty kills, taking away momentum. That carried over into the second period.

In the second period, the Canucks I know dissappeared. They resembled a junior league team, chasing the puck, not taking the man, and forgot how to clear the garbage in their own zone.

The Wild are a great defensive team, but the neutral zone trap hasn't worked very effectively against the Canucks, so what they're doing is keeping the Canucks cycling along the boards, letting them kill time. They cover the middle very well, watching for and preventing passes to good scoring angles.

I think the Canucks were overexcited about the game, anxious to win it at home and be done with the Wild. As a result, they were tight in the offensive zone, and sloppy, risky, and undisciplined in the defensive zone.

The blow out score will be a good wake up call, and they should respond properly in the next game.

[Imran Siddiqui]

These playoffs are a triumph for smart spending teams and hopefully (though not likely) show the error of the ways for teams like the Rangers, Flyers and Blues. Even Toronto should take note - team chemistry MATTERS.

Yep! It's like the New Jersey playoffs . After all, for the longest time the Devils were held up as an example of smart spending and chemistry. They were cycling four lines of relatively equal worth (and playing them for relatively equal time) when everyone else hardly played their fourth line.