NHL Playoff Thread-Mania...

[Imran Siddiqui]

Replace Brodeur with an average goalie and Detroit wins.

Sava... replace ANY Stanley Cup winning goalie with an average one and the other team wins .

I mean, you think Colorado wins a Cup without Roy?

Look at the '96 Florida Panthers

That was a BAAAAD year for the Eastern Conference. All the teams there sucked that year. It happens.

I just want to see rule changes that make it more feasible for offensively skilled guys to showcase their talent.

Yeah, I agree with some (no red line) and disagree with others (able to hit goalies outside the crease), but you said to talk about that in the other thread .

[Sava]

Yet the trap worked perfectly against them and swept them

Sava... replace ANY Stanley Cup winning goalie with an average one and the other team wins

You said the trap "swept them". If the trap did it, than they didn't need Brodeur.

That was a BAAAAD year for the Eastern Conference. All the teams there sucked that year. It happens.

I agree... the top four teams were in the West that year.

[Imran Siddiqui]

You said the trap "swept them". If the trap did it, than they didn't need Brodeur.

The trap requires a good goalie. In fact it doesn't really work without one. It's a main part of the system. You build a trapping team from the goalie out.

[Sava]

Winning requires a good goalie. Many NHL teams trap and still suck.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Many NHL teams trap and still suck.

But they are usually built on a goalie. He is usually the star of the team. The rest of the team might stink, but they base it on the goalie.

[Sava]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

Many NHL teams trap and still suck.

But they are usually built on a goalie. He is usually the star of the team. The rest of the team might stink, but they base it on the goalie.

This is irrelevant. Good goaltending is the goal of every hockey team.

[reismark]

Don't forget that the Panthers of '96 basically got demolished after the run by the front office. But dear lord, was I rooting for them that year... and one of the things that pissed me off was that after that run they were told to ditch the rubber rats while Detroit got to keep throwing the real octopi (albeit at a reduced rate) because they're friggin' Detroit.

And may I also point out that the trap was not the only thing that kept Minnesota going forward... not only did they have a flair for dramatic comebacks, but until they ran into J.S. Giguere, they led the NHL in playoff scoring. You can bet that the trap wasn't responsible for those two intangibles.

The Minnesota/Anaheim series was ALL Giguere - Minnesota had their shots (and plenty of them). Contrast that with the Finals so far - it's NOT Brodeur that's carrying the Devils right now. The Devils' D stopped enough shots to feed the homeless in the first two games, and when the D fell apart on Saturday, Brodeur did too, allowing two bad goals (one of them so ridiculous it deserves to be on blooper reels for years).

Tonight's really crucial: Both teams need it. Brodeur, Stevens & Co. need to get their confidence back, and Anaheim needs to get even. I say whichever team gets rattled first will lose, and that will be...

...the Devils.

(Sorry, Imran, but NO team in this year's playoffs have been more clutch in crunch time than the Ducks.)

[Imran Siddiqui]

Funny that you dissapeared when the Devils were winning .

Btw, the Devs won Game 1, just in case you forgot. I hoped you liked that crow .

[reismark]

Yeah, I did. I kinda overestimated Niedermeyer's value to the Devils and underestimated the effect that almost two weeks off would have on Anaheim. And I didn't disappear... I was caught up in other things (namely, improving my own little blossoming community with the *other* three-letter acronym) and then I got sick. Sue me for not being around for you to verbally rub in to.

And I further add to what I said below: Whoever wins tonight will be the Stanley Cup Champions. Just wait for Jiggy to get hot again, Imran. JUST WAIT.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Yes, because goalies turn on and off their hotness like that . I hope that crow wasn't too bitter tasting... you know calling a guy 'God' then having him lit up wasn't the exactly the best thing that could have happened to your prediction. Perhaps you should learn some more hockey before making more 'predicitions'?

Ducks could win, Devils could win... but just because the Ducks win tonight doesn't mean they'll win the series. Jersey has home ice advantage and they've been on fire at home.

[Sava]

reismark, I don't mean any offense, but are you a fair-weather fan? You've got a Tampa Bay avatar and you're a Duck's fan.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Sava, that he is. He admits he doesn't know much about hockey. That and he has this thing where he almost always roots for the underdog (when he isn't making idiotic predictions )... like a child .

[Sava]

Tampa Bay was the underdog in the Super Bowl?

[Imran Siddiqui]

No, he's been a Tampa fan for a while (originally because they were underdogs in the NFC and then because they were underdogs to the Rams... no matter what he says)... predicting they'd win a Superbowl for the past 4 seasons. One year he was bound to get it right... because he'd keep on saying it until they won .

--

And of course his hockey knowledge is typified by this statement he made (hilarious as Hell):

NO team in this year's playoffs have been more clutch in crunch time than the Ducks

When the Ducks actually GET to crunch time (Game 3 was the first game, IIRC, where they were in that position) then maybe you can make that statement .

[Sava]

Yeah, the Ducks, IIRC, haven't been behind in a series until getting to NJ.

Devils in 5...

I'll stop watching the NHL if the Ducks win the Cup.