Stanley Cup Playoff Pick 'Em 2007

[Flubber]

Ok and the the Flames slammers-- NO parade plans here-- not even close

But the Flames did show last night that they have the capability to be competitive with the Wings. After being completely owned for two games they played a solid competitive game

Now they need to do it again. If they manage that, then game 5 is the chance to show they can play on the road when it matters.

If the Flames somehow managed to take this series, as a fan I would be hopeful but there are no easy teams in the west. Next up would almost certainly be Anaheim so the fun would continue. despite my fandom, I did not pick Calgary out of the west-- Could it happen ?? Sure I would not be shocked by any of the 8 western teams.

In the east I would have been shocked if either the Islanders, Pittsburgh or Atlanta made it through and a little surprised if the Rangers or Tampa make it

[Asher]

Some stats:

On average, Kipper has faced 30 shots against per game this year.

Last year it was 26.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Asher
Some stats:

On average, Kipper has faced 30 shots against per game this year.

Last year it was 26.

Yup -- I would largely attribute that to the frequent complete lack of good effort

[Asher]

BTW, Tingkai -- how 'bout that Brodeur?

Poor Kipper is outplaying the guy still.

Holmqvist has edge on Brodeur, Devils

Before the post-season, the overwhelming opinion in the hockey world was that the New Jersey Devils had a distinct advantage over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the goaltending department.

But as the teams prepare to play Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarter-final in Tampa on Wednesday night (CBC, 7 p.m. ET), it's clear that Lightning netminder Johan Holmqvist has outplayed Devils star Martin Brodeur.

Tampa Bay leads the best-of-seven series 2-1, mostly on the solid play of playoff rookie Holmqvist.

Playing with some obvious jitters during the opening game in New Jersey, Holmqvist surrendered five goals on only 24 shots.

While there were some reports suggesting Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella would make a change after another shaky performance by Holmqvist, the goalie responded in Game 2, stopping 17 of 18 shots in the second period to lead the Lightning to a 3-2 win.

"They were just pushing me to go out there and have fun and enjoy it," said Holmqvist of his teammates. "This is a great time to play hockey."

The 28-year-old Swede continued his strong play in Game 3 on Monday night, sparking another 3-2 Lightning win with 30 saves.

"We help each other," said Holmqvist. "I was a little bit too anxious, too nervous, and I didn't go out and do what I was supposed to do."

Brodeur struggles

The ever-reliable Brodeur, meanwhile, has been uncharacteristically sloppy in letting in soft goals over the last two losses.

With New Jersey holding onto a 2-1 lead in Game 2, Lightning winger Martin St. Louis fired a one-timer from the far endline that beat a surprised Brodeur high and to the short side.

The weird bounces didn't stop there. In Game 3, Vincent Lecavalier fooled Brodeur with a fake pass and then fired a wrist shot from a similar wide angle from which St. Louis scored.

"Everybody has to step up their game, including me," said Brodeur, who has allowed nine goals in the three games. "We're right there. "It's just a question of getting ourselves believing that we can do it."

Despite Brodeur's recent struggles, the Devils can regain home-ice advantage with a win on Wednesday.

For that to take place, Brodeur needs to overcome a 7-10 record in the post-season since winning the Stanley Cup in 2003.

"I never worry about Marty Brodeur," proclaimed New Jersey coach Lou Lamoriello. "Never have. Never will."

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Asher

I really do not buy into this at all. Kipper has been great this year with the exception of a handful of games.

Great at times yes
Very good at other times yes

But as good as last year-- not even close IMHO

Originally posted by Asher

.

The problem is the amount of shots getting through. The defensive breakdowns. The excessive pinching Playfair encourages that develops in oddman breaks.

Take last night-- BY my count, the Wings got 7 shots off of stupid Flames plays where a Flame had the puck and did not clear the zone and gave it away with a weak clearing pass-- Are you saying PLayfair system cause that?

Oh and where did you see him encourage pinches? Source??

Originally posted by Asher
.

The lack of physical pressure is the #1 noticeable thing on their road games which is usually remedied at home.

I agree. Do you think PLayfair tells them not to hit?


I hear PLayfair talk to radio guys about 3-4 times a week. In the media he is consistently preaching defense and hitting-- He sounds almost identical to Sutter last year on the message. The difference seems to me that players weren't listening. Is that a coaching failure? IMHO it certainly is-- BUT I still have difficulty understanding the system that changed-- Did they go to a 1-2-2 versus a 2-1-2?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Flubber
Take last night-- BY my count, the Wings got 7 shots off of stupid Flames plays where a Flame had the puck and did not clear the zone and gave it away with a weak clearing pass-- Are you saying PLayfair system cause that?

It could probably play a large role. Do they have set plays for clearing the puck? Did they practice it at all? Did he encourage them to not simply clear the puck, but try to set up a rush by Lombo (which I think is what happened)?

Oh and where did you see him encourage pinches? Source??

Playfair doesn't publish his system/gameplan from what I can tell? It's something we deduce by watching the play of the team. Sutter didn't encourage pinching, Playfair thrives on it. How many times have you seen Phaneuf parked infront of the net this year compared to last? Last year Phaneuf scored his goals from the point, almost entirely...this year he's scored quite a few from the net itself.

From watching the games, I'm seeing a LOT of pinching in..sometimes with horrible outcomes, sometimes good outcomes. Playfair plays a far riskier game than Sutter did in this respect.

I agree. Do you think PLayfair tells them not to hit?

I think he does, to an extent. He tells them to be careful not to take penalties all the time, which makes the plays tentative. Instead of nailing a player they peel off. Then they start having to play aggressively to try to play catchup, and take lots of bad penalties (hooking, holding, etc).

I hear PLayfair talk to radio guys about 3-4 times a week. In the media he is consistently preaching defense and hitting-- He sounds almost identical to Sutter last year on the message.

I don't care what the moron says publicly. What he says and what his team does are completely different things.

Judging by his utterly retarded "blog" posts, which contain mixed messages, I'm sure his coaching is tentative and contradictory as well. He's simply a douche.

And this pic is cool:

http://bp3.blogger.com/_aUhKHoAog_w/RiZTL6ys3SI/AAAAAAAAAJA/oAqx4c7BTnM/s1600-h/seaofred_moonracer.jpg

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Asher

It could probably play a large role. Do they have set plays for clearing the puck? Did they practice it at all? Did he encourage them to not simply clear the puck, but try to set up a rush by Lombo (which I think is what happened)?

Lombo was not on the ice in several of those instances. I am just saying it is not a "system" thing when a player flicks the puck up the boards to simply clear the zone and fails to raise it high enough. It could be a coaching thing since he could have his players all spend 10 minutes practicing the high clearing flips

Originally posted by Asher

Playfair doesn't publish his system/gameplan from what I can tell? It's something we deduce by watching the play of the team. Sutter didn't encourage pinching, Playfair thrives on it. How many times have you seen Phaneuf parked infront of the net this year compared to last? Last year Phaneuf scored his goals from the point, almost entirely...this year he's scored quite a few from the net itself.

I see two things there

1. Phaneuf's natural maturation into a player that is willing to take more risks each and every year. Under ANY coach I would expect that an offensively talented d-man might pinch more in year 2 than they would in their rookie campaign

2. Many of Phaneuf's down-low chances came on the PP. I have seen the Flames using a configuration where Phaneuf starts at the point on the faceoff but then rotates with a forward until he planst himself closer to the net. I actually thought this attempt at a different look on the PP was to the credit of the coaches.

Originally posted by Asher

From watching the games, I'm seeing a LOT of pinching in..sometimes with horrible outcomes, sometimes good outcomes. Playfair plays a far riskier game than Sutter did in this respect.

But again I draw a distinction. Even if the d-men pinch more -- is it because PLayfair tells them they should ( ie his system) or are the players just tuning out his defense first message ( which I see as the more likely cause of his teams problems-- he fails to motivate and inspire ). I clearly see it as the latter

Originally posted by Asher

I think he does, to an extent. He tells them to be careful not to take penalties all the time, which makes the plays tentative. Instead of nailing a player they peel off. Then they start having to play aggressively to try to play catchup, and take lots of bad penalties (hooking, holding, etc).

I heard Sutter give messages about not taking penalties repeatedly when he was the coach. Its a pretty basic thing to say. I actually find that the bulk of the Flames penalties are when the DO NOT hit and need to hold or hook. Last night was a perfect example-- they hit more and were penalized less. So I don't know where you translate a basic message like 'avoid penalties' as a message not to hit




Bottom line Asher is that you have disliked Playfair from day 1. I have my own issues with his coaching since I believe it the coach's role to get a good effort from his player's regularly and Playfair has not done this regularly.

But take last night-- The FLames were competitive with one of the best and most talented teams in the league. Special teams , the most coached part of the game were flawless for the Flames on the PK and quite good on the PP. Unless you say that the Flames play a different system at home than on the road, system things cannot explain the change.

Effort did. The flames skated harder than in games one or two. Goals like the third goal of game 2 where Huselius let up and let a man by him to pot a rebound . . . did not happen in game 3. Huselius error was an execution error since EVERY coach since atom would stress staying with that man. Likewise in Game 3 when Warrener flipped the puck right tio the Wings point man with less than a minute left, that was not a system error, that was an execution mistake. Rhett Warrener could tell you that every coach since the beginning of time would tell you to make sure the puck gets out and in a worst case ICE it. He had clear possession and it was a startling error that he did not flip the puck high enough. BUt he would tell you that he knew better and just Mucked up.


There are two parts of any game-- there are yous systems plans and then there is execution. I have seen far more -- far far more problems with the Flames execution that in any of the systems. Do I partly blame Playfair for that? Absolutely. Do I also blame the players that "mailed it in" in far too many games this year -- Also absolutely

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Asher

http://bp3.blogger.com/_aUhKHoAog_w/..._moonracer.jpg

It was better there in person-- intense building--THe loudest was before the Flames came out-- I think everyone wanted them to know we were behind them even though they quite frankly sucked ingames 1 and 2.

I was at centre ice last time-- Thursday I am behind Kipper-- MY hope is that in the first period all the action will be far far away

[Asher]

Originally posted by Flubber
Lombo was not on the ice in several of those instances. I am just saying it is not a "system" thing when a player flicks the puck up the boards to simply clear the zone and fails to raise it high enough. It could be a coaching thing since he could have his players all spend 10 minutes practicing the high clearing flips

I think it's a combination of all of them.

The team this year is more aggressive with the puck which results in more turnovers. They'll flip it ahead on the PK for a goahead pass, or even 5 on 5. They do this a lot more than last year, and it doesn't seem to work as well overall.

Either Playfair encourages this, in which case he was not a good coach...or he doesn't encourage or discourage this, in which case he is not a good coach; or perhaps he didn't practice it with the team enough, in which case he is not a good coach.

But again I draw a distinction. Even if the d-men pinch more -- is it because PLayfair tells them they should ( ie his system) or are the players just tuning out his defense first message ( which I see as the more likely cause of his teams problems-- he fails to motivate and inspire ). I clearly see it as the latter

In either case -- either a poor system or they're tuning him out -- he has to go.

I heard Sutter give messages about not taking penalties repeatedly when he was the coach. Its a pretty basic thing to say.

Yep. But when Sutter says don't take penalties, would anyone ever think this means "don't hit"? Playfair, on the other hand, comes across as a bit of a sissy...

Bottom line Asher is that you have disliked Playfair from day 1.

And look how right I was!

But take last night-- The FLames were competitive with one of the best and most talented teams in the league.

...in spite of Playfair.

Unless you say that the Flames play a different system at home than on the road, system things cannot explain the change.

They play completely different styles on the road and at home. Different systems? Perhaps. I'm more inclined to think Playfair doesn't have a rigid system and this is the problem in and of itself. I agree with you that he can't motivate either.

[Asher]

BTW Guy, do you still want to compare the lineups of the two teams?

'cause doing so, you know I'd have to include Lang and Samuelsson, among others...

[Guynemer]

Yes, I do.

Christ on a crutch, Asher, I thought you were smart enough to realize the most talented team doesn't always win. I also thought that you would somehow grasp that the 2004 rosters or future potential has zero to do with how talented the rosters are today.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Guynemer
Yes, I do.

Christ on a crutch, Asher, I thought you were smart enough to realize the most talented team doesn't always win.

So out with it.

Top 3 forwards on each team...

I also thought that you would somehow grasp that the 2004 rosters or future potential has zero to do with how talented the rosters are today.

Never said otherwise. I was talking about value, which does take into account things such as age.

Talk about talent all you want, Detroit has been overrated since, oh, 2002. All the talent in the world doesn't matter if your guys are invisible.

Ales Hemsky is a tremendously talented skater, too, that doesn't stop him from being a douche that I wouldn't want on my team. Same with Yashin...

...and Samsonov.

[Guynemer]

Originally posted by Asher
Never said otherwise. I was talking about value, which does take into account things such as age.

And I was talking about talent, you blockhead! Of course they aren't equivalent! If talent won out every time, the Wings would have 6-8 Cups in the past 12 years, instead of 3. Christ, you are positively infuriating.

If I had to pick one for the next 5-6 years, I'd take Phaneuf. If I had to pick one for the next 5-6 weeks, I'd take Lidstrom. Clear?

[Asher]

Even after last night?

If talent won out every time, the Wings would have 6-8 Cups in the past 12 years, instead of 3.

Wow.

You seriously think the Wings were the most talented team in the past 12 years?

Seriously?

Wow.

Must be all the rust in the water there... Do you define "talent" as something you have when your division is the weakest in the NHL with a division-heavy schedule?

[Asher]

Random factoid: Which team in the NHL has 4 75+ point guys?

hint: Not the "most talented"