Stanley Cup Playoffs 2011

[Sohel]

Show no mercy, leave no doubt! Let's go Red Wings, bring the 12th title home this year.

[AsifTheManRahman]

Who will it be? I have a suspicion the Canucks, albeit all their glory so far, will fall short in the end. Tampa Bay? Nah. Pens? Probably not. Canadiens? No. Red Wings? Maybe. Blackhawks? Doubt it. Too early to tell, way too early.

[AsifTheManRahman]

Could be the Flyers or the Capitals too!

[Sohel]

I've liked our chances pretty much every year since '95 but this year I'm not so sure. Datsyuk came back with a bang, much to our joy and relief, but we're still missing Zetterberg. Not a good when we're playing an excellent, more mature Coyotes team led by Doan and his guys in the first round. Almost blew a seemingly insurmountable lead in game 2 to those guys who play a similar puck possession, cycling and back-checking game as we do. I hope we continue to use our depth and move on to the second round with Zetterberg back in action. He plays with a lot of heart and won't take too long to find his natural rhythm and timing once he's in.

I wouldn't count Kane and the Hawks out yet. Champions have a way of digging deep and coming out on top. The Sharks and Kings are also solid but without the skill and imagination it takes to go all the way, IMHO.

The Pens face a spirited team in Tampa but will go probably go through in the end. If Vinny and his Bolts can manage to beat the Pens, I won't count on it, they may go far. The winner of the Boston-Habs series may also go far. Philly is a tough team of overachievers like LA and SJ in the West and like them, lack the quality to win it all, IMHO. Then there's the Caps. All in all the East looks a bit more competitive than the West.

[Nocturnal]

Canucks or Canadiens!!

[Beamer]

Its always good to have a SCF thread opened by Sohel.

I have no expectation from my Pens. They are hard workers, but short on skill right now. We can't score goals. So, if we don't play great defense, we have no chance. And, the PP is non-existent. When a team like ours is built on Centers, missing two of the best five centers in the league is a tall task indeed. Still, big kudos to Danny B for changing our style on the fly late January, knowing we won't have those guys back. One benefit : I can watch the playoffs more objectively. Tampa will beat us in six. We will scrap for another win, maybe two..

East : Montreal is going to beat Boston. Caps are good defensively this year. I think they will handle Rangers. Philly is probably the deepest team in East. I look for them to come out against Buffalo, unless Miller steals the series.

West : Hawks are done. Red Wings beats Coyotes. I think the Preds-Ducks go game 7. Sharks are much better than Kings and will eventually come out.

I do have a new found appreciation for Red Wings way. Why? After we realized we will be shorthanded rest of the season, Michigan boy Danny B announces in Jan that Pens will follow the Red Wings model ( much to my disappointment ). What is it? Its playing defense as a five man unit. Everybody back checking, puck possession, and grind out your opponent by crashing the net. We have had some success doing exactly that in regular season in later months. But, obviously we are missing the elite talent to take advantage of power plays and goals scoring. But, a great model nonetheless. And, when Danny B says it, I have to admire and follow the Wings model to see what he is talking about. He is the coach of the year in my book, even though we will get bounced very soon..

[Sohel]

Leading the Yotes 2-0 after 1 for a 3-0 lead in the series. Great to see the Bruins get one back.

@Beamer-Dan is the man for sure. Kudos to the Pens for continuing to win.

[Sohel]

VF scores early in the 2nd, 3-0 Wings. Great to see 3rd and 4th liners stepping up to score as usual.

[Nocturnal]

3-1 Wings ... 5 mins to go 2nd period!

[Sohel]

Much better stuff from the Yotes, 3-1 Wings after 2. Howard made some good saves.

[Sohel]

The Mule puts us ahead 4-1 with a breakaway goal. Soft hands for such a big guy

[Sohel]

Our PP's totally off tonight.

[Sohel]

Another PPG for the Yotes as Whitney scores. 4-2 Wings with under 7 to play.

[Sohel]

Datsyuk misses the ENG as we hold on to a 4-2 win, now leading 3-0 in the series. Zetterberg has more time to recover now

Howard won this one for us and great to see the guys not panic facing their sustained 2 minute assault.

[Beamer]

Yet another scrappy win for the Pens. Bolts are only scoring on PP's. They have terrific skill players up front. St.Louis is something special. Stamkos is completely being shadowed by Michalek. What a signing he has been for us. Coyotes could have used him for sure. Our PP is just garbage now. We can't enter the zone. We can't set up and when we do, the point men misses the net or gets blocked when he shoots. No more Crosby down low or Malkin on the half wall. They drove D-men backskating. Now, they just stand on the blueline to deny. Once again, we have to play great defense, get great goaltending from Fleury and use our speed 5 on 5 to get goals from turnovers. Without effective PP, we will be doomed sooner or later.

I was watching the Wings-Yotes last night. The Yotes goalie was terrible. Off his angles all night. They are trying to thug it up. It won't work with Wings. They just turn the other cheek. Trust me on that. We tried that route before, but at least we had some skill, unlike the Yotes.

BTW, Whatever happened to Istylish Cricketer ?

[cricman]

I love how, all Canadiens (not the team) all pulls for any team from Canada to take the Cup.

Big game tommorow, down 2-1 in the series. Need to help Lundqvist with some offense. I'm talking to you Marion Gaborik, get healthy and grow a Pair and Score!

[Beamer]

Originally Posted by cricman
I love how, all Canadiens (not the team) all pulls for any team from Canada to take the Cup.

Big game tommorow, down 2-1 in the series. Need to help Lundqvist with some offense. I'm talking to you Marion Gaborik, get healthy and grow a Pair and Score!

I like the interview sessions between Torts and Larry Brooks though. Callahan was a big loss for you guys.

[Mahir]

very little interest in the East. That's how it always is for me, given that the leafs aren't in the post-season, and that my "other" fav teams are all in the West.

Rooting for Detroit and LAKings. Hope they face each other in the finals

[Sohel]

Originally Posted by cricman
I love how, all Canadiens (not the team) all pulls for any team from Canada to take the Cup.

That's what happens when "their" game finds way greener pastures south of the border and excellent players everywhere including in the Minnow States of America. That being said, Arizona has never been green.

The LoseRonto (always "just 2 years away" from winning the Cup since 1967) discourse in particular is always interesting in a petulant, jingoistic sort of way. Moronisms such as Europeans aren't physical (Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Ovechkin, Malkin, Backstrom, Fedorov etc, etc, etc notwithstanding) or Americans aren't skilled (Kane and others notwithstanding) are always more amusing.

Big game tomorrow, down 2-1 in the series. Need to help Lundqvist with some offense. I'm talking to you Marion Gaborik, get healthy and grow a Pair and Score!

I see the Rangers prevailing in a close, 2OT-type contest or getting blown-away by the end of 2.

I have faith in Chicago and Boston to come back strong in game 4. Sharks-Kings go to OT tied 5-5 in game 3.

[Sohel]

The Sharks pull-off the OTW. This one's going to 7.

[Beamer]

Sohel

You do really dislike the Leafs ! lol.. But, in all fairness, I don't think they are that far away this time. They have a great budding young forward line. Kessel is a proven scorer. The emergence of Grabovski and Kulemin ( ding ding..Russian ) is true. They also have McArthur, another budding winger. They are missing an elite Center, and it looks like they will go after Brad Richards big time. Reimer is an emerging good goalie. Their defense has some big names, but needs some cohesion and proper coaching. They just missed the playoffs this time. I really think they are on the verge next year, but I could be wrong. But, they do have a good young team. However, their GM, Burke is too obsessed with rock 'em sock 'em style. In post lock out, its not a good theme to build your team primarily on that. But, I do sense a change.

Some Russian players can play a good brand of physical game. I won't say all European can, but some Russians can. Anyway, that's not the biggest barometer of your worthiness.

Sharks pulled it off last night being down 4-0. That is a huge momentum swing for them. If they lost, I think they would have choked again quickly. Kings are missing Kopitar. None of these two will go far with their goaltending.

After watching some games in the West ( I rarely do ), it looks to me that Wings are the best team. Canucks are second best. We will see how they recover from the pasting they took last night.

[Sohel]

The LoseRonto thang goes way back and beyond the Original 6 rivalry of the past. That rivalry was intense and created Hawks fans in LoseRonto and Habs fans in Detroit by default.

But their incessantly dumb and mean-spirited taunting during our fabled Dead Wings years is something Red Wings fans in Michigan & Southern Ontario, other places in the US and Canada (especially Western Canada) will never forget. They persisted with that BS even when we started making the playoffs, 20 straight years now, and didn't quiet down until we started to win the Cup. They should expect the same from the Red Wings Nation until they win the Cup again, something unlikely in our lifetime unless they move to some US city.

[Sohel]

Solid, "character" win for the Malkin-Crosbyless Pens in 2OT against an offensively superior side. Wonderful job shutting down Stamkos and crowding Vinny well, and slowing down St. Louis just enough during key moments. Unfortunate loss for the Rangers in 2OT. Well, when the puck doesn't bounce your way, the puck doesn't bounce your way!

2-2 Wings after 1 with Bryzgalov playing well. Helm and Eaves combine to tie it up.

[Sohel]

3-3 after 2. Our PP's getting better.

[Sohel]

4-3 Wings as Cleary scores the go-ahead goal with 6 left in the game. Tough angle.