NHL playoffs start now. It's the most wonderful time of year

[Duncan]

yea bro it's been a while here it was fun

Yeah, thumbs up to the rats. That was great!

[Duncan]

For me i could not be more proud of the Flyers. Laviolette is the best coach in the game. I hated it when Carolina let him go, but it worked out well.
The Penguins showed everyone just what kind of team they were today. Cheap hit after cheap hit and it ended up with another little wussy pulling hair. Crosby loves to run his yap and take cheap hits, but when someone gets right in his face he backs down every time cause he is a dirty $@$%%$@ son of an itch. Coach lav kept the Flyers in check with discipline today and the entire world got to see the real Penguins.
I would love to say more but out of respect i won't.

After the game I read a number of different stories about it. I hit some Philly sites, some Pitt sites, Canada, Yahoo, SI, etc. One constant across the readers' comments was that Pitt fans tended to be bothered/embarrassed by the dirty play. While that reflects well on those fans, it's not good for anyone - not the team, and not the NHL. I think that a line was crossed today, and I'm not sure what happens next.

Re: the hit on Sedin - clean or dirty? I say clean-ish.

[spacecaps]

I'd be embarrased if I was a Penguins fan. It's hard to support play like that. Did you see Crosby's postgame interview? He was saying things like "They're doing the same thing to us as were doing to them but you guys just want to make a story out of it." Really? I wanted a reporter to ask him if he wanted some cheese with his wine. He didn't come off looking good at all after that game and he looked worse after the interview.

Totally clean hit on H. Looked like he got caught with his head down looking in the wrong direction. There's been a lot of dirty hits in the playoffs so far and that wasn't one of em.

[warlock664]

I'd be embarrased if I was a Penguins fan.

Really? While I'm certainly disappointed in their performance, I'm not embarrassed. I have no control over how athletes I follow comport themselves. Additionally, I take no personal pride if a team I follow wins a championship. After all, I don't score any goals or hit any home runs myself. It's great when my favorite team wins (as the St Louis Cardinals did last year), but I don't take anything personal away from it. In the end, it's the athlete's accomplishment, not mine. I can separate the two, which allows me to forget a loss immediately after it occurs and concentrate on things I can control.
Believe me, it wasn't always that way. 25 years ago, I would stew for days when the Raiders lost. Eventually I realized I was miserable over things I couldn't control, and learned to let it go. I admire the achievements of the athletes I follow, but I don't take them personally. In the end, they're just highly-paid entertainers, and I'm no more embarrassed by what they do than I am an actor or musician I like.

[spacecaps]

I like it when a team or athlete I root for conducts themselves with dignity and respect and yes while I get nothing materialistic from a team succeeding, as a sports fan, there is some emotional connection with that team. It's why I root for them in the first place. One of the reasons I'm a Yankees fan (aside being born into it) is because the organization always seems to do things the right way. For me there has to be a certain sense of pride with pulling for a team. I can't stand the Jets because of how the organization conducts themselves. The Mets are always putting themselves in bad situations and living in the shadow of the Yankees instead of just going about their business the way they should. I can't respect that. I know the Yankees are a love em' or hate em' type of team but for me I'm glad to be aligned with them. About 10 years ago I was the biggest Roger Clemens fan but the way he acted after the steroids allegations was something I just couldn't get behind. Sometimes you can't defend an athlete or teams actions so yeah, I think it can be embarrassing as a fan if you align yourself with them. In Clemens' case, even though nothing was proven, I stopped liking the guy and packed up my jersey and moved on to someone else I could get behind and want to see succeed. In the Pens case, it's hard to defend their style of play and it starts with the way Crosby conducted himself.

As for comparing athletes to actors and musicians they may all be entertainers but I don't care what an actor does before they film a movie or a musician goes into the studio. Hell, I'd probably prefer it if a singer did an 8-Ball before going on stage or smoked a doobie before writing their next album but if my favorite athlete shoots up some PEDs before taking the field, it's different. I'm just saying that I like teams and individuals with some character and in the Pens case last night, there were a lot of guys on that team that showed they were lacking in that department and if the Devils pulled that, I'd be embarrassed for them.

[MegoMark71]

Crosby just got shown for the whiny little $#*@% he is. There is a reason why the greatest to ever play the game number 99 Gretzky was talking about Giroux being an incredible player. He has never said that about Crosby because of the way Sid plays the game. Staal said the same thing about the Flyers Sid did. The Penguins must be putting something in the dang water that these tools are seeing something the rest of the world isn't. Everything i have seen about this series is talking about how well the Flyers have played, and how clean they have been. Laviolette hasn't one time put his 4th line usually the enforcer line on the ice for revenge. The Penguin coach is the one i blame the most. He is the one who needs to control his team better. Laviolette has made his players have discipline even when the Penguins took dirty shot after dirty shot. I do feel bad for the fans who have been let down by their actions and play. The Penguins were picked to come out of the east and play for the cup. Warlock and Spacecaps i understand what you both are saying and it was well said. However for me if it was reversed and it was the Flyers who were the ones pulling all this garbage, i would be embarrassed.
And the hit on Sedin was totally legal. He got trucked, Brown didn't leave his feet or target his head or use his elbow as a follow through. It was a perfect example of a legal hit. One of the best i have seen all year at that. And he had a heck of a game and scored the only goal.

[Duncan]

Ouch - Hamrlik just defected a puck into his own net, to give Boston a 1 goal lead. 2 minutes to go. That'll leave a mark.

[MegoMark71]

That'll leave a mark.

Hey now, i had nothing to do with it.

[MegoMark71]

Still no announcement on Asham and Neal. Both had their hearing today.

[MegoMark71]

Wow Jersey jumps up 3-0 but Florida just tied it and Jersey pulled Brodeur. Can't remember that ever happening.

[toys2cool]

Wow Jersey jumps up 3-0 but Florida just tied it and Jersey pulled Brodeur. Can't remember that ever happening.

4-3 now, what's up with these games?

[MegoMark71]

And Florida with the win. Apparently 3-0 leads are a bad thing. Huge road win for the rats.

And i have said my most hated player is Hossa from the blackhawks. He was just taken out of the game on a stretcher. A huge illegal hit from Raffi Torres. I can't figure out how 4 refs didn't see it when one was right near the hit. I hate Hossa but you never want to see a guy leave the ice in the way he did. This game is getting ugly and the refs need to real it in right now before it gets worse. Hawks have not done anything yet but it is just a matter of time before they get back for the dirty hit. Every part of it was dirty. He didn't have the puck, he left his feet and targeted the head.

[Duncan]

Crazy win for Florida. I had NJ in 5 or 6. Maybe not.

Didn't see the Hossa hit, but I'll go look.


Edited: Oh. I guess we won't be seeing Raffi again until November-ish. I'm rooting for Phoenix b/c of the 5 former Blue Jackets, but that was terrible.

[spacecaps]

I got to go to the Devils game tonight. Devils get knocked for not having enough team support but there was not a seat to be had and I saw a total of 2 Panther jerseys all night in the stands. The atmosphere was great too. Outside was like a carnival. They had games and food and a DJ to get the crowd going on the way in. The way the Devils started out you could actually feel the building shake. It was great but apparently the Devils were playing two opponents on the ice tonight: the Panthers which they could beat and the Zebras which took them out of the game. Now I have no idea what this game looked like on TV but I have never seen so many calls go against one team like that. There were blown calls, missed calls, bad calls but almost all of them went against New Jersey. The refs were a harder oppenent for the Devils than Florida was. I'm not taking anything away from the Panthers but in any sport, you never want the story to be the officiating. During intermissions and the train ride home, no one was talking about losing a 3-0 lead, or Florida's play, or Marty getting pulled, it was all about the refs. They. Were. Awful. Of course NJ did tie the game but "Unintentional Interference" was called, the goal was negated, no one got a penalty, and we weren't given any explanation as to what happened. It must have been what Raiders fans felt like when the "Tuck Rule" was called. When they scored, the place erupted, the players went nuts and when the goal was called off the atmosphere changed. The refs got showered with a 3+ minute arse whole chant and stuff started getting thrown on the ice. That call killed the vibe, the crowd was taken out of the game and the Devils were too. Like I said, I'm only going by what I saw in person and what I saw was the worst officiated game of the year and you can't have that in the playoffs. The Panthers got the win tonight but Jersey lost to the refs.

[Duncan]

Great that you got to go to a game; sorry they lost.

I could've gone either way on the disallowed goal. I think they called it because Bernier went down a little too easily; needs acting lessons from Holmstrom.