NHL Playoff Discussion Thread

[Ben Kenobi]

The fact that you think he is best known as a Blue is just because you are stupid.

Perhaps Calgary shouldn't have let him go.

[Asher]

It wasn't his best game, but he played injured.

You truly believe this, don't you. Wow.

That's how badly hurt Luongo was.

Wow.

He was 1.90 GAA prior to this game. Those are pretty good stats.

Bottom line...

Luongo: 2.53 GAA, .914 svp -- and this is even less telling that the more important the game was, the worse Luongo was. Trust me, that will weigh heavy in their decision on who to start in the Olympics.

Brodeur: 2.39 GAA, .929 svp.

Olympics are in Vancouver, so they will play Luongo to start next year, barring some catastrophic injury.

Ben, the starting goaltender for the Olympic games are decided on merit, not on whose NHL team plays closest to the arenas.

[Asher]

O RLY?

That's why you DanS'ed your post after a quick google?

What the flying **** are you talking about? Holy ****, you have no shame.

Of course, just like Lanny MacDonald, anyone who ever dressed for Calgary is eligible.



Seeing as I quoted the percentages, I suggest dissing my knowledge is a poor way to deflect from your inadequecies.

The fact that you quoted the percentages AFTER I CALLED YOU OUT ON BEING A LIAR shows you looked it up after I called you out on it because you didn't believe me!

BONUS: YOU ARE A LIAR WITH THE PERCENTAGES.
MacInnis played 13 seasons with Calgary, 10 with St Louis. That doesn't make it 48% St Louis.

[Asher]

Perhaps Calgary shouldn't have let him go.

It's too late for me to enter into a discussion that's way over your head. It'd involved many factors, such as strength of the local economy, the strength of the Canadian dollar, and other things beyond your comprehension.

Calgary had to let go lots of top-tier players in the mid 90s for a lot of reasons. It was unavoidable.

[Ben Kenobi]

You truly believe this, don't you. Wow.

Yep, I know what I saw, and I know you aren't going to agree with me but Luongo was not the same after Buffy's dirty play.

Bottom line...

Luongo: 2.53 GAA, .914 svp -- and this is even less telling that the more important the game was, the worse Luongo was. Trust me, that will weigh heavy in their decision on who to start in the Olympics.

Brodeur: 2.39 GAA, .929 svp.

Luongo did just fine last year. Remember the double overtime game against Anaheim? I'm not worried about Luongo when the pressure was on. Look at how Luongo heated up down the stretch, and Kipper folded like a cheap tent the last month of the season.

I am worried about injuries.

Ben, the starting goaltender for the Olympic games are decided on merit, not on whose NHL team plays closest to the arenas.

I'll lay a hundred dollar bet with you right here right now that Luongo starts in the olympics. I'm really tired of your bull****.

[Ben Kenobi]

MacInnis played 13 seasons with Calgary, 10 with St Louis. That doesn't make it 48% St Louis.

Except for the fact I said games...

What's your problem with reading comprehension Asher?

[Asher]

Except for the fact I said games...

What's your problem with reading comprehension Asher?

You are a liar, Ben. And you just don't even care to try not to lie...What you said is:

He played 48 percent of his career with St. Louis, so technically, it's correct, but he retired a Blue, and he was best known as a St. Louis Blue.

Besides...games is a retarded metric due to injuries, seasons is more apt. But even then, it is not 48%. 613 of MacInnis's 1416 career games were with St Louis, or 43%. (Edit: These numbers are even worse if you include playoff games, as MacInnis had 102 Flames playoff games while only 82 Blues playoff games.)

You are a liar in so many ways here, Ben, that it is pathological.

[Asher]

Here we go...Canucks fans complaining about the reffing.

http://www.theprovince.com/Sports/Refs+appeared+intent+letting+everything+until+rinky+dink+call+Brien/1587162/story.html

Refs appeared intent on letting everything go until rinky-dink call on O'Brien

It was a game where massive hits behind the play from Ben Eager went uncalled, where Dustin Byfuglien was allowed to rake Roberto Luongo's face and where Ryan Kesler was left bloodied by an Andrew Ladd high stick without a penalty. It was a game where nothing was called in the third period until an obvious Troy Brouwer goalie interference call at 12:07 that officials couldn't let go.

So, isn't it fitting that a cheesy holding call on Shane O'Brien led to the game winner?

The officials had a mess of a game and neither team could figure out what they were going to call and what they were going to let go. But you have to wonder if the O'Brien penalty would have been whistled if the Canucks hadn't scored on the power play from the Brouwer call.

"Mine is definitely a penalty under the new rules," O'Brien said. "But we had two guys come to the bench bleeding and there's no penalty. So my little hook on the hands that maybe nobody saw in the whole rink is a penalty?"

What's strange is that the officials had let almost everything go in the third period. O'Brien's ticky-tack penalty came out of nowhere at the 13:26 mark.

Yes, let's write articles about that. The Canucks had more powerplay opportunities than the Hawks, and they still ***** about it. Unbelievable.

And still no evidence of Luongo playing very injured, despite your claims Ben...

http://www.theprovince.com/Sports/Canucks+Luongo+teammates+down+tonight/1586248/story.html

Monday's explosion was so sudden and devastating it left many players speechless, and in shock. It left Roberto Luongo trembling, fighting back tears. As he exhaled, repentance spilled from his lips. As he inhaled, he seemed to suck in more defeat, and more failure.

"I think I let my teammates down tonight," Luongo said. "It's something that's going to take a while to get over."

In the weeks to come, this team will be looked on as a success. The Canucks went further than anyone expected before the season started.

They did it with heart. They must have, because they never had enough skill. That was clear during the traumatic third period when the Canucks finally, and for the most part valiantly, fell on their swords in a 7-5 loss that gave the Blackhawks a 4-2 series win.

It was a game that was set up to be Luongo's moment. Instead, it will be remembered as his nightmare.

Never before had he let in seven goals in a game, and here it happened on the biggest stage with everyone watching.

The star with the massive salary, the big ego and the bigger-than-life reputation gave up seven goals in all, two third-period leads and four third-period goals.

"It was pretty wide open, but I have to make the saves," Luongo said. "Obviously, you let in seven goals, you're not very satisfied with your own performance, you know?"

Luongo exits the Chicago series 2-4 with a 3.50 GAA and an .879 save percentage.

But you have to wonder how this will affect Luongo's aura, and the way he is perceived around the league. He had a reputation for being a big-game goalie without ever having won a big game in the NHL.

Alain Vigneault had issued a challenge to Luongo earlier Monday.

He said he was the team's best player and needed to play "accordingly."

Luongo couldn't have started better. He sprawled across the crease to stop a Dave Bolland wraparound attempt. Then, he tracked Martin Havlat perfectly on a breakaway, getting his glove on a backhand.

"They had a few chances early, and I made a few saves. But the rest of the way, I didn't help my teammates out. I'm sorry, guys," Luongo said before finally walking away from his postgame interview, tearing up.

Seems pretty clear to me that he just had a bad game (a bad series, really). Nothing here about being injured at all, and especially not to the degree you implied.

[Guynemer]

Shame on me for backing down on my Hawks pick.

Of course, I'll do the same thing again if the Wings beat the Ducks. Wings-Hawks would be freaking amazing.

[Asher]

Yep

I dunno if it'll top Wsh-Pit, but it has a chance.

Maybe the Original Six factor will elevate it above.

[Guynemer]

You know, I was trying to find one of my all-time favorite highlights on YouTube, and I can't find it.

2002 Playoffs, King of the Douchebags Chris Pronger takes a run at playing-on-one-knee Steve Yzerman, and Stevie turns it into a hipcheck, sending Pronger ass-over-tea kettle, landing on his knee and tearing his ACL. Christ, that was glorious.


The rest of you guys may not like the Wings, but one thing we can all get behind is sending Chris Pronger out of the playoffs. Punkass.

[Asher]

[-Jrabbit]

Yep, I know what I saw, and I know you aren't going to agree with me but Luongo was not the same after Buffy's dirty play.

Here's the thing: Whether Luongo was injured or just had a bad game, the bottom line is that he let his team down when it counted most.

Bad game scenario -- If Luongo let the Hawks play bother him ("not the same after the hit"), then he's not the man that his reputation suggests. If this was true, the coach should have pulled him.

Injury scenario -- If Luongo was injured, then he should have fessed up and taken himself out of the game. If he stayed in and played hurt, he was putting himself before the team.

Whether he was intimidated, or had a bad night, or was hurt, both scenarios have the same bottom line: Luongo failed and cost his team the series.

My perception is that Vancouver got away from their recipe for success, trying to get on the attack and test the Hawks D (thus the reversal of the SOG stat compared to the rest of the series). This approach removed some of the defensive shield Luongo typically enjoys, putting extra pressure on the goalie and creating extra scoring opportunities for the Hawks. Who capitalized.

Oh and BTW, blaming the officiating is the hallmark of losers. Superior teams rise above the calls, ignore hostile crowds, fight through their opponents tactics -- and perform their best when the chips are down.

[Asher]

There will always be an excuse, and it'll never be the fault of a Canuck.

There's a direct trend in Luongo's play that the bigger the game and the more pressure he's put under, the worse he performs. Not just in the last game, but the entire post-season. As the article above says, he had a reputation as a big-game goaltender without ever having won a big game. This playoffs was seriously damaging to his chances to be Canada's starter in the 2010 Olympics.

[Guynemer]

Christ, I just found a highlight reel of the Wings 2002 playoffs, and the Yzerman hit was inexplicably absent.

Helluva year, though. Never forget it. Yzerman, Federov, Larionov, Hasek, Hull, Robitaille, Lidstrom, Chelios... my god. Darren mother****ing McCarty scoring a third period natual hat trick against the Avs. Patricia Roy pulling his Statue of Liberty act in game six and dropping the puck behind him. The Wings gangbanging the Avs 7-0 in game seven. A definitive end to the defining NHL rivalry of the late 90s-early 00s.

Stangely enough, the 2002 Cup Final is the last time the Red Wings closed out a series at home.