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The Playoffs Thread

SlapShots said:
Thought I'd add that the Women's World Cup started this weekend-- Canada is the host country. USA v Australia tonight at 6:30PM from Winterpeg on Fox tonight.
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It's on Fox Sports 1, not regular Fox. And shameless plug...there is a soccer forum with a Women's World Cup thread. Go over and have a look, you might recognize some of the posters. http://www.forumice.com/forumdisplay.php?115-Soccer

My daughter had a schedule for all the soccer on Saturday with the Belmont mixed in. She didn't switch from the World Cup to the Belmont until they were loading the horses in the gate. Then it was back to soccer.
 
A patriotic song? What the heck?
Can't doc call it the star spangled banner or our national anthem?
 
Tampa wins 3-2 and is now up 2 games to 1. Tampa is only a late game collapse in game one away from being up 3-0 in this series. It has been a good series so far and seems to be turning into the coming out party of Hedman. I would expect to see his name among the Norris finalist the next decade. The guy is an absolute stud on the ice and really highlights what the Canes need to find either in their existing prospects or in this draft.
 
CarolinaPen said:
Tampa wins 3-2 and is now up 2 games to 1. Tampa is only a late game collapse in game one away from being up 3-0 in this series. It has been a good series so far and seems to be turning into the coming out party of Hedman. I would expect to see his name among the Norris finalist the next decade. The guy is an absolute stud on the ice and really highlights what the Canes need to find either in their existing prospects or in this draft.
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Hedman indeed is a stud on D...what a huge force on the backline that can join the rush at any time! Bishop looked wounded and beat up all night long but he hung in there. The Hawks are best to not fall behind 3-1.
 
CBC had their anual top prospects bio interview segment between periods (first intermission, part of Coach's corner)
So we the top 5. My impressions:
- Mitch Marner looks the youngest around the gills. But even Cherry reminded us that he had the same impression of one Patrick Kane on his draft year.
- Jack Eichel has a kind of nerdy studliness to him. Has a healthy level of confidence.
- McDavid seemed the coolest, calmest, even primed for this. Over confident?
- Hanifin came off a little nervous while fairly confident. I hope we can get him.
- Crouse - Didn't seem as big and bad as he's being advertised.
- Strome - Really seemed the most mature of the lot and I had a really good impression of him overal

Cheers
 
Surprised, and if the Hawks don't tie it - then they should (obviously) should worry.
If any team can comeback and deliver when it needs to - the Hawks have proven this before. So far a great series. I was marvelling at how dominant the Hawks were in the first period yesterday. Globtrotters out there!
 
Honestly .... the Blackhawks aren't getting much bang for their buck from their secondary tier of forwards. Clearly Tampa is throwing everything they've got defensively at Toews and Kane, but while Hossa is playing a good possession game, he's not scoring much and neither is Sharp. Of their secondary support guys, Saad is the only one doing much in the Finals. The third tier group has been fine (especially Shaw and Teravainen, at least in the Finals) but that second bunch has a ton of experience and they're there to be that second push you need to support the top guys under defensive pressure. Time to man up boys.
 
June 17 or June 19th for the start of the buyout period now. This has been another fantastic series in a playoffs full of them.
 
I didn't think last night's game was all that great compared to what we have seen. Lots of ill-considered or just plain poor passing and struggling goaltending (despite the score).

Duncan Keith, though... that guy is where breakaways go to die.
 
Heard the other day that in the last 7 years, the Hawks have been tied 2-2 in a series 8 times. Their record in Games 5, 6 and 7 is 16-1, and in those series they are 8-0. Impressive.
 
HNIM said:
I didn't think last night's game was all that great compared to what we have seen. Lots of ill-considered or just plain poor passing and struggling goaltending (despite the score).

Duncan Keith, though... that guy is where breakaways go to die.
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It's getting ragged out there due to the cumulative toll of all these super intense games. Chicago yielded to the bruising a bit quicker than Tampa, but I think it's evened out now.

And yeah ... for my money Keith is the best defenseman in hockey. He's certainly got his Scott Neidermayer act down pat, that's for sure.

And on the Hawks' record in tied series late? Two things:

1. This team ain't any of those other teams, so it only means something in terms of the "been there, done that" factor.

2. Crawford seems hell bent on making sure that success doesn't continue.
 
So far, it seems the biggest issue for the Hawks has been dealing with Tampa's speed (imo). Tampa's forecheck hasn't given the Hawks that much time to breakout, setup etc... they are ALWAYS on them when defending.
 
To my eyes, Hawks appear to have no grasp of 'been there, done that' for large stretches of these games.
 
JamesNorthern said:
So far, it seems the biggest issue for the Hawks has been dealing with Tampa's speed (imo). Tampa's forecheck hasn't given the Hawks that much time to breakout, setup etc... they are ALWAYS on them when defending.
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Again ... I saw signs of wear and tear starting to catch up with Tampa last night, especially in the second half of the game when it was tied. They put on another burst in an effort to tie it up after Saad scored, but I think you'll see that more and more as we go along. I really do think that Anaheim series did a number on Chicago ... as it would have on any team ... but I think the physical toll is starting to even out a bit.
 
I'm watching the game tonight. Again I ask how many years till the canes are capable of this caliber of hockey?
Any player from either team gets knocked down, they get up immediately and renter the play. The skaters skate full speed all the time. No slacking. Do I need mention what the canes do?
Maybe it's not the players per se, but the attitude, the leadership including management.
 
Congrats to the Blackhawks! The better team won, but they were about 3.5 minutes away from being down 0-3 to start the series before they figured the Lightning out. Very impressive franchise how they have kept things together over the past 8 years or so. Pretty much the polar opposite of the Hurricanes!
 
CarolinaPen said:
Congrats to the Blackhawks! The better team won, but they were about 3.5 minutes away from being down 0-3 to start the series before they figured the Lightning out. Very impressive franchise how they have kept things together over the past 8 years or so. Pretty much the polar opposite of the Hurricanes!
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Indeed. Every year the experts say they won't be able to hold on to so and so... (Patrick Sharp comes to mind) - yet they manage to not only keep the core intact but add to a winning thing (got good deals in picking up still serviceable Brad Richards and Antoine Vermette)
 
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