2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs

[tnitnetny]

I think the only way the Habs can be beaten this year is if they only go 4 or 5 games. It seems Halak is on fire, but needs a few games to get used to the other teams style of play.

The Flyers must win the next two games or the Canadiens will come back and take it. In my hockey pool I chose Canadiens. I want the flyers, am rooting for the flyers, but my practical side that wants to win money chose the Canadiens.

[The Cid]

The Flyers must win the next two games or the Canadiens will come back and take it. In my hockey pool I chose Canadiens.

I have a slightly different feeling: Philly cannot lose at home. If they lose one game at home they will not win this series. They have to wrap the series up at the Wachovia Center. Last night they looked like fish out of water.

[Nukinblackmage]

The Blackhawks win Game 4 and are going to the Cup Finals! That was a very, very good game. Both the Flyers game yesterday and the Hawks game today were very good games. Let's go Flyers on Monday!

[tnitnetny]

I thought San Jose would at leats win one game. Oh well, there goes my hopes if the Canadiens had to win this year they would hopefully beat both first seats. Now I am really rooting for the flyers. My hockey pool is already crap because of the Blackhawks.

[sneaky ninja]

Alright, my support's behind Philly now. I like the Hawks, but....I will love it SO MUCH if Marion Hossa loses three Stanley Cup finals in a row. That would make my year!

[Calus]

After leaving the Pens I have started to root against him too.

I'm rooting for Philly because the Eagles site says so.

[Arminius]

You guys have no honor. Flyers don't deserve the Cup, no more than the Canadiens btw. That team shouldn't even be in the playoffs. The Hawks, meanwhile, have been almost impeccable (almost). And they had a great season.

[The Cid]

You guys have no honor

And neither does your response. My my, what sour grapes from a fan of the franchise that's won the Stanley Cup more often than anybody else.

At no point during this past series did it appear that the Flyers were playing any "dirtier" than the Canadiens. (Actually, the Flyers weren't the ones playing up the refs in game 5, that was P.K. Subban. Muh'bad.)

And keep in mind Arminus, coming into the playoffs the Flyers were missing several of their most important players. They played the first round with a #3 goalie because their top two were injured, and without Simon Gagne or Jeff Carter for much of the playoffs they had to rely on more defensive wingers like Hartnell and Carcillo to chip in with points. Considering all that, the way the season ended makes a bit more sense, no?

Now all they're missing, in effect, is Ray Emery. ("All." Not like Emery was their biggest free-agent signing last year. Not like he was supposed to be the key to a breakthrough or anything...) Carter and Gagne are not only back, but they seem to be 100%.

Anyone who survives the month and a half of playoffs we've had to this point deserves to be here. Certainly in the postseason, nobody else has earned the right to play for the cup. Not Washington, whose best players seemed to mail it in for the playoffs. Not Pittsburgh, whose stellar offensive attack was entirely negated by a goalie on a hot streak. Not New Jersey, whose best players all looked exhausted (and rightly so, considering Parise, Langenbrunner and Brodeur were all part of Olympic finalist teams, adding two grueling weeks to their schedules) and who was blown off the rink in the first round. Not the Bruins and their half-injury/half-choke meltdown. Buffalo's entire team consisted of a really good goalie, unlike the young and potentially explosive Canadiens. Ottawa couldn't get past Pittsburgh in the first round.

That only leaves Montreal, whose entry in the conference finals was not a fluke. It seems to me from all the hockey I've seen in my life (pro, college, pickup street hockey games...) that a team with a goalie on a good streak is nearly unstoppable in a playoff series. Halak is 25. Much of the Canadiens' roster consists of young players trying to figure things out. That they put two and two together right after the regular season ended isn't all that surprising nor is it undeserved. If anything, what they did sends a message: the Canadiens will be involved in this Eastern Conference for years to come. (And that's going to be one deep conference for a while. The Caps, the Pens, these Flyers will stay together for a while, the Devils are young and talented, the Bruins have a goalie surplus, the Sabres have Miller, and I expect Montreal to be more "conference finalist" than "8 seed" next year. That's seven teams in the east with a positive future.)

[ampersand]

Wait, pickup street hockey, Cid? Were you in a bad part of Montrèál at the time?

[The Cid]

Actually, that was in my neighborhood growing up. Closest I ever got to playing hockey was street hockey.

[sneaky ninja]

You guys have no honor. Flyers don't deserve the Cup, no more than the Canadiens btw. That team shouldn't even be in the playoffs. The Hawks, meanwhile, have been almost impeccable (almost). And they had a great season.

Uh, for real? Man, if I weren't a Vancouver fan, I'd mention a thing or two about RIOTS, but I know what I am, right? This is sports. It's not about reason, it's about spirit.

[Nukinblackmage]

Go Hawks! I actually like Hossa, even though he ditched the Pens for a stupid damn reason.

Honestly, I'll be happy if either team wins, but I'm going to root for the Hawks.

[Arminius]

Don't take me wrong Cid. I never said that the Canadiens or Flyers were bad teams and I don't want to discredit their effort in the playoffs. But they have gone farther then they should. Halak clearly made a pact with the Devil against the Caps and the Pens. The Flyers push their luck to the extreme against the Bruins. The rest was a combination of circumstances that would make the Gods of hockey laugh to death. The Flyers and the Canadiens didn't win their series because they played prodigious hockey but more because there was something REALLY wrong about the other teams. To me, the Hawks are truly a Stanley Cup team this year and they deserve this honor more than Philly.

Uh, for real? Man, if I weren't a Vancouver fan, I'd mention a thing or two about RIOTS, but I know what I am, right? This is sports. It's not about reason, it's about spirit.

Spirit yes, and worthiness. Winning a race because all of your opponents tripped is not very sporty.

[The Cid]

To me, the Hawks are truly a Stanley Cup team this year and they deserve this honor more than Philly.

I'd disagree with you more--because I do think the playoffs are a second season and they break how they break. If your team wins they deserved to win. Luck and flukes and all that get weeded out in a playoff structure this massive--but at the same time I've always been bothered by the enormity of the NHL (and identical NBA) playoffs. Literally half of the NHL qualifies for the postseason; sixteen teams opposed to the twelve in the NFL playoffs or the eight MLB playoff teams per year. Under a smaller playoff structure the Flyers wouldn't have qualified to begin with, and that is worth noting.

I just think the word "deserve" goes a bit far. Anyone who gets this far deserves to be there, if only because nobody else deserves the trip, given their playoff performances. Which I guess calls for a question: is it a good thing or a bad thing that the NHL playoffs include sixteen out of thirty two teams?

[Nukinblackmage]

Holy crap, that was an intense game. Very very good game on both sides. If all the rest of the games are going to be like this one, it's going to be a fantastic series. Can't wait for game 2!