230 replies to this topic

[Greg29fan]

I'm not sure what he wanted, they threw Orpik (who has had one marginal hit in his career many years ago against Erik Cole) out of the game and the Rangers had 5 power plays in the game to the Penguins 1.

[Salem's Lot]

Torts is the biggest goddamn whiner on the planet. I wish Dan Bylsma clocked him last week.

He may be a hypocrite but he's 100% correct. Pittsburgh has been whining about people being too rough on thier stars while employing cheap shot artists since Mario was skating with Ulf 20 years ago.

Edited by Salem's Lot, 05 April 2012 - 09:20 PM.

[ForceAtHome]

In a game that means exactly nothing for the Rangers, I doubt they are going to risk their meal ticket.

The Canes on the other hand, have nothing to lose and are playing a division rival.

I think Lundqvist will play on Saturday, but I'll be thrilled if he isn't. Rest isn't necessarily a bad thing, and I know his arm is banged up a bit, but it'll be 8 or 9 days between starts for him if he doesn't play. Since the finale is at home and the Rangers are guaranteed to start the postseason at home, there's no travel. Even if he plays, he'll get at least 3 or 4 days off between games without having to travel -- that should be plenty and it's my understanding that he's always been the kind of guy itching for every start anyways.

[SoxFanInCali]

Dallas is 2 minutes from being out. Colorado is down 2 in the 2nd period. We may know all 8 Western playoff teams tonight as well.

[Pumpsie]

Well, congrats to the lowlife scum Rangers, who will get to feast on Florida's corpse in the 1st round thanks to Philadelphia knocking Buffalo out.

I think you're a little confused here. The Rangers meet the Caps in the first round. The Devils (the 6th seed) play Florida (the 3rd.) The three Division winners get the top three seeds.

[Manzivino]

Florida hasn't clinched the Southeast yet. Washington win, Florida regulation loss on Sunday and Washington is the 3 and Florida is the 8.

[ForceAtHome]

Dallas is 2 minutes from being out. Colorado is down 2 in the 2nd period. We may know all 8 Western playoff teams tonight as well.

Kings and Coyotes are in with the Dallas loss.

Colorado would need to win in regulation or OT to stay alive. A shootout win would end their season. However, Colorado is losing 4-2 to Columbus after 2. San Jose looks like the odds on favorite for the final seed (whether it's 3rd, 7th, or 8th).

Edited by ForceAtHome, 05 April 2012 - 09:57 PM.

[PedroSpecialK]

Viva Torts.

[Greg29fan]

He may be a hypocrite but he's 100% correct. Pittsburgh has been whining about people being too rough on thier stars while employing cheap shot artists since Mario was skating with Ulf 20 years ago.

choir boys (read Canadiens, Montreal the last 15 years) don't win Stanley Cups. Every team that wins the Cup has guys that can inflict damage, and that includes the Pittsburgh Penguins, and this time of year, the more the better.

yes the Penguins had Ulf, yes they have Matt Cooke - guess what Detroit, the bastion of integrity, has career-ender Todd Bertuzzi, too.

Edited by Greg29fan, 05 April 2012 - 09:48 PM.

[ForceAtHome]

Potential scenario brewing in my mind...

If the Kings win in the SO tonight over the Sharks, and the Sharks win in regulation on Saturday, we could witness a crazy scenario. That would give the following standings:

Kings: 95 points, 34 ROW, 7 points gained against SJ
Sharks: 95 points, 34 ROW, 7 points gained against LA

The Kings are currently +17 in goal differential with the Sharks at +16. A Kings SO win would make it LA +17 and SJ +15. If the Sharks win the finale by 2, they would be tied in goal differential as well as points, ROW, and head-to-head points gained.

The final tiebreaker I can find listed on any source is simply "goal differential." The two teams would have an identical goal differential in this situation. If head-to-head goal differential comes into play, the Kings would have 1 more goal than the Sharks against each other. However, it's unclear to me if that's written as an official next tiebreaker? I'm curious what the official plan is if this happens.

[ForceAtHome]

Akim Aliu gets a helper on a Cammalleri goal in Calgary and the continent of Africa officially has a point.

[Pumpsie]

Florida hasn't clinched the Southeast yet. Washington win, Florida regulation loss on Sunday and Washington is the 3 and Florida is the 8.

Truly? They've been on the verge for a week now. God, Florida sucks.

[Greg29fan]

Truly? They've been on the verge for a week now. God, Florida sucks.

they have eleventy billion ot/shootout losses so they can't clinch as long as Washington keeps winning and they keep getting 0 points - Washington has the regulation wins tie-breaker.

[Manzivino]

Florida has gone 1-3-5 in their last 9 and the 1 win was a shootout. They are redefining the concept of limping into the playoffs.

[Spaulding Smails]

Clifford just ran Couture from behind into the boards, 5 min major. Pretty cheap hit.

[ForceAtHome]

Colorado loses and the Sharks are in. All 16 teams are finalized, although two division titles and some seeding remains to be settled.

[PedroSpecialK]

Holy jesus

[mikeford]

Yo whatsup with Drew Doughty's My Chemical Romance haircut tho?

[PedroSpecialK]

Why waste 20 perfectly good Jack-in-the-Box dollars (aka USD) on a haircut?

[SoxFanInCali]

With a couple of minutes to go in the Kings-Sharks game, it was tied 5-5. The Kings were attacking down the wing, with Jarret Stoll carrying the puck near the Sharks bench. Ryane Clowe, while sitting on the bench, reached his stick over the boards and poked the puck away. Somehow none of the referees or linesmen saw it.

The Sharks ended up winning in a shootout.

[SawxSince67]

Holy jesus

Nearly 10 unanswered blows to the face.

[Spaulding Smails]

With a couple of minutes to go in the Kings-Sharks game, it was tied 5-5. The Kings were attacking down the wing, with Jarret Stoll carrying the puck near the Sharks bench. Ryane Clowe, while sitting on the bench, reached his stick over the boards and poked the puck away. Somehow none of the referees or linesmen saw it.

The Sharks ended up winning in a shootout.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.c...ed/daaU4QCM5MY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I don't ever recall seeing that before, what would be the penalty if he was caught? Seems like it should be more than a minor that's a pretty weak move.

[AMcGhie]

I don't ever recall seeing that before, what would be the penalty if he was caught? Seems like it should be more than a minor that's a pretty weak move.

Double minor any 2 of for delay/unsportsmanlike/6men?

[Curtis_Lesspanic]

choir boys (read Canadiens, Montreal the last 15 years) don't win Stanley Cups. Every team that wins the Cup has guys that can inflict damage, and that includes the Pittsburgh Penguins, and this time of year, the more the better.

yes the Penguins had Ulf, yes they have Matt Cooke - guess what Detroit, the bastion of integrity, has career-ender Todd Bertuzzi, too.

Just stop. You sound ridiculous. The Penguins are too good a team to resort to the BS that they routinely employ.

Cooke and Ulf are in no way even comparable to Bertuzzi. Bertuzzi had one major incident where lost his crap in a rage because Your boy "Cookie" couldn't win a fight with Moore. Maybe if Crawford told Cooke to knee him the incident would have never happened. Ulf and Cooke are guys who made a career out of taking potentially career ending cheap shots and then never showing up when called upon to do so. You ask anyone in the league who they have more respect for, Bertuzzi or Cooke and see what answer you get. Cooke and Ulf are two of the dirtiest guys in league history. Period.

Crosby Malkin and Letang act like punks and then hide behind Engelland and Asham, etc... Go watch the Jay Beagle vs Asham fight again and look at what caused it. Letang tries to drive Beagle into the boards face first with a crosscheck. Beagle turns around and shoves/slaps him. Letang snaps his head back (shocker) then acts like Beagle touching him is against the rules and looks over to the bench for help. Then Asham hops on the ice does his job, as he's supposed to. That's not how the code is supposed to work but you Penguins fans wouldn't know any better because that's they way it's been in the 'burgh since you guys tanked to get Mario.

No Choir boys don't usually win titles. That doesn't mean you need to employ the dirtiest players availible. Inflict damage? When you have Malkin and Crosby, you shouldn't need to resort to the Syracuse Bulldogs Alumni playbook.

[BoSoxFink]

I think Vancouver is the worst but I have to admit Pittsburgh is right there for second most disliked team in the NHL. What a team of scumbags

[Greg29fan]

It isn't a popularity contest. EVERY TEAM has guys that push the boundaries and sometimes go over them - you do not win without them. Lemieux was the greatest player I ever saw, but he didn't win anything until the team brought in some toughness and this edition of the Penguins didn't win anything until they brought in guys like Gary Roberts, Jarko Ruutuu, and yes, even Matt Cooke. Claude Lemieux was one of the biggest dirtbags in the league, but he lasted forever too because he was tough to play against in the playoffs.

Cooke's reputation is well-known, he's worked extremely hard to clean it up this year - I can't excuse what he did, but at least he's tried to change, that's more than you can say about guys like Andy Sutton or Raffi Torres.

[j44thor]

Of course so supplemental discipline for Orpik.

Guess that 5min Major and Game Misconduct for all of 4:29 was enough of a penalty. If you get a 5 and a Game and there isn't even enough time left to serve the 5 shouldn't that equate to an automatic game suspension unless the penalty were to be reversed?

[Hendu's Gait]

It isn't a popularity contest. EVERY TEAM has guys that push the boundaries and sometimes go over them - you do not win without them. Lemieux was the greatest player I ever saw, but he didn't win anything until the team brought in some toughness and this edition of the Penguins didn't win anything until they brought in guys like Gary Roberts, Jarko Ruutuu, and yes, even Matt Cooke. Claude Lemieux was one of the biggest dirtbags in the league, but he lasted forever too because he was tough to play against in the playoffs.

Cooke's reputation is well-known, he's worked extremely hard to clean it up this year - I can't excuse what he did, but at least he's tried to change, that's more than you can say about guys like Andy Sutton or Raffi Torres.

Who are you calling dirty anywhere to the level of Roberts/Cooke/Clode on the 97-98 Red Wings? Lapointe? Fetisov?

[Greg29fan]

Lapointe, McCarty, Kocur, Maltby, heck even Shanny - those guys weren't "dirty," but they knew when to throw the body and how important it is in the playoffs. Do I think the Penguins have some dirty guys? Heck yeah, but I think a lot, if not all teams in the league have at least one guy other fan bases would consider the same thing.

Edited by Greg29fan, 06 April 2012 - 03:01 PM.

[PedroSpecialK]

The difference is the Pens' owner is on record saying the NHL is a "garage league" while employing players of this ilk. And he and his GM still whine when anything, innocuous as it may be, happens to Crosby or Letang.

Can't have it both ways. Either the team has to clean up its act, or they have to quit whining about supplementary discipline (as the Bruins have).

[Greg29fan]

The only time the "Penguins" have whined about anything was after the Islander game last year, and you guys have to admit, that game was outside the bounds of "normal hockey." They've had more guys injured in the last two seasons than any other team, sometimes by legal checks, sometimes by illegal checks, so they've had plenty of opportunities to whine and have taken the high ground. They've also had guys suspended (Cooke, Letang, Kunitz, Engelland) to name four in the last year and I can't remember them saying anything about their supplemental discipline, in fact, Shero and Bylsma both went on the record each time (if I recall) that they agreed with the league.

[PedroSpecialK]

The only time the "Penguins" have whined about anything was after the Islander game last year, and you guys have to admit, that game was outside the bounds of "normal hockey." They've had more guys injured in the last two seasons than any other team, sometimes by legal checks, sometimes by illegal checks, so they've had plenty of opportunities to whine and have taken the high ground. They've also had guys suspended (Cooke, Letang, Kunitz, Engelland) to name four in the last year and I can't remember them saying anything about their supplemental discipline, in fact, Shero and Bylsma both went on the record each time (if I recall) that they agreed with the league.

Bylsma complains about Schenn: http://www.philly.co...l#ixzz1qpOfzk00

Bylsma complained about Brayden Schenn hitting Crosby late in the game.

"That's clearly a cheap shot, clearly a guy targeting a player," Bylsma said.

...clearly targeting a player who'd just given him a shot on the way by.

Edited by PedroSpecialK, 06 April 2012 - 03:36 PM.

[AimingForYoko]

The difference is the Pens' owner is on record saying the NHL is a "garage league" while employing players of this ilk. And he and his GM still whine when anything, innocuous as it may be, happens to Crosby or Letang.

Can't have it both ways. Either the team has to clean up its act, or they have to quit whining about supplementary discipline (as the Bruins have).

QFT.

Lemieux wanted to take his ball and go home for christ's sake. I don't even like Torts but he was right on the money.

[mikeford]

Except that him and his team whine just as much if not more. Fuck "Torts", I hope they get knocked out by the 8th seed. That team stinks.

[AimingForYoko]

Except that him and his team whine just as much if not more. Fuck "Torts", I hope they get knocked out by the 8th seed. That team stinks.

I despise the Rags too. Hate them and their coach. It's just that in this case the Penguins are utter hypocrites. Basically, they can both fuck off.

[AMcGhie]

Bold prediction: There will be a "Clowe Rule" in place for the playoffs. Some sort of clarification of an existing rule just like the "Avery Rule" from a few years ago.

[TheStoryofYourRedRightAnkle]

Well, a point of emphasis because I think there is a rule that you can't play the puck from the bench.

[Hendu's Gait]

Lapointe, McCarty, Kocur, Maltby, heck even Shanny - those guys weren't "dirty," but they knew when to throw the body and how important it is in the playoffs. Do I think the Penguins have some dirty guys? Heck yeah, but I think a lot, if not all teams in the league have at least one guy other fan bases would consider the same thing.

Last I checked, pun intended, there's a difference between deliberate acts to injure and checking. Fact is, there are plenty of teams, including past Stanley Cup Winners, that did not possess dirty players.

[Myt1]

Cooke's reputation is well-known, he's worked extremely hard to clean it up this year - I can't excuse what he did, but at least he's tried to change, that's more than you can say about guys like Andy Sutton or Raffi Torres.

Really? What sort of hard work has Cooke been doing? Resistance band elbow dips? Playing a ton of Hogan's Alley to differentiate between a player's shoulder and the back of his head? Must be some workout regimen. Poor guy must be exhausted.

This congratulatory bullshit coming out of Pittsburgh with regard to their barely reformed thug is a joke. What do you want, a cookie? You're not supposed to get suspended for ending people's careers you low expectation having motherfucker.

[Myt1]

Lapointe, McCarty, Kocur, Maltby, heck even Shanny - those guys weren't "dirty," but they knew when to throw the body and how important it is in the playoffs.

Totally the same thing as blindsiding someone in the head. Totally. Perfect comparison.

[AimingForYoko]

eta:http://www.nhl.com/i...s.htm?id=626336

Wow NHL. Wow.

Torts I only have $5 to my name but I can send it to you.

Edited by AimingForYoko, 06 April 2012 - 04:37 PM.

[PedroSpecialK]

$20,000? Fuck off NHL. $0 for Lemieux's garage league comments IIRC.

[Haunted]

And the NHL cements itself as a garage league, proving the whiners point in a backwards, pathetic way.

[Greg29fan]

Now Torts getting fined I disagree with. He didn't criticize the league or the officiating, he criticized another team, which is his prerogative.

[mikeford]

Fine him his entire salary for being an overdramatic baby.

Remember that time "Torts" complained about DeBoer starting his 4th line @ MSG when THEY HAVE THE FINAL CHANGE?

[PedroSpecialK]

You're complaining about Torts being an overdramatic baby?

[LondonSox]

Well clearly there is something to the penguins whining and dirty claims that's twice what a week with division rivals. Both flyers and rangers beat the penguins and the penguins send out the thugs and lay out someone. Both times the coaches have gone apeshit and these are not rookie coaches. I've never seen laviolette so mad and my wife is a big flyers fan. The commentary guy between the coaches said the same. Then a national commentary guy says the same as torts after the flyers game too.
They are dirty but they whine if their stars are touched. Flyers and rangers hate each other but never any shit like this. So clearly to me everyone seems to have a beef with them, which suggests they are doing something many find unacceptable.
On the flyers thing, Schenn did cross check but it was pretty tame and Crosby slashed the hell out of him first, also Crosby freaked out and went apeshit as the penalty wasn't called because the pens scored on the advantage. Er would you rather the penalty than the goal. This is the shit I see from Crosby he does cheap shots and if anyone hits him back he goes spastic and then the team sends a goon out. Fuck him. Plus what is the fucking point, he's one concussion from a career ender so many he should play like a twat and cheap shot, oh and he still dives.
The pens could well play flyers and rangers back to back, and if they do get through they are going to be beat up. Great for the bruins etc I guess. The flyers pens series is going be nasty and I don't think they need a pointless warm up game tomorrow either, not likely to help.

[ForceAtHome]

Phoenix is up 3-1 on the Blues right now. If they can hold that lead there is a solid chance that the Coyotes will win the Pacific Division title. This would be the franchise's first NHL division title, even dating back to their days in Winnipeg.

If they hold on tonight, they would clinch the division if:
-They win tomorrow over Minnesota.
-They lose to Minnesota in OT/SO and San Jose beats LA tomorrow.
-They lose to Minnesota in OT/SO and LA beats San Jose in a shootout.

Put another way, they will not clinch the division if they:
-Lose in regulation to Minnesota tomorrow.
-Lose in OT/SO to Minnesota tomorrow AND Los Angeles beats San Jose in regulation/OT.

[Hendu's Gait]

Which opponent should scare the Red Wings more, Kings, Coyotes, or Predators?

personally, I would prefer to face the Coyotes and want to avoid Nashville. Not sure about the Quick Kings. Yesterday's Sharks performance gives me confidence v. Quick. So I guess I am rooting for a regulation loss today, eh?

Edit: crap. Forgot about Sharks still being there. Don't want to face Sharks.

Edited by Hendu's Gait, 07 April 2012 - 11:12 AM.

[NYCSox]

I normally hate saying "I'd rather face x than y" because it often backfires, but man I really don't want to see the Caps right now. Plus I think they have a shot against the Rags.

So please get a point today Ottawa and Florida.