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

[MegoMark71]

Yup another walk out of the room press conference by the king of all A holes. Your so right on that last post. Jersey was incredible. The things the Rangers did better in game one were corrected in game 2 and Jersey looked great. And i agree on the 1pm start time. Now that there is only 4 teams left, there is no excuse for that game not being in prime time and the same with the 3pm Sunday game.

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I thought today was a more important game for the Rangers to win than the Devils since the pressure seems to be on NY. The Devils have outplayed them 6 out of 8 periods and yet they're down 2-1 in the Series. After watching the first two periods today, I'm kind of shocked the Devils didn't win today. They're clearly the better team but twice now the Rangers have scored late in an 0-0 game to steal the win. Obviously Monday is huge cause you don't want to go back to MSG down 3-1. The Devils have come back a lot this post season and they bounce back well after a loss. If they win their remaining home games and take just one of two on the road, they win the series.

Im not sure if LA is as good as they seem or if teams are just losing their heads when they play them. It seems to be part of their game to get other teams frustrated. Once they do, they go to work and play fundamental hockey and get their opponent to make mental errors and physical mistakes. They're kind of a hybrid of the Devils and the Flyers. Last series, Phoenix was the team that just went about their business while Nashville took stupid penalties and played awful. Hard to believe this is the same team playing against LA now. All that composure and discipline they had in the first tow rounds is gone. The Kings overwhelmed Vancouver and did the same thing they're doing to the Coyotes that they did to the Blues. If they finish tomorrow, they could be looking at a 10 rest if the Devils/Rangers go 7. All this talk about LA being an 8 seed is stupid too. If you follow the sport the Kings got off to a terrible start and it took their head coach to get the boot before they started playing well. They also lost a ton of 1-0 games this year too and toward the end, were playing to be the 3 seed and fell short. The way NHL seeds, you don't just go from first to second in the seeding you drop to 4th and so on and I think too much is made about that. Just look at Florida, they were not better than Philly or NJ and yet they finished ahead of both teams and ended up in 3rd because they play in the South. An 8 seed is just as dangerous as a 1 seed.

After watching these teams though, I really think NJ will match up better with the Kings than the Rangers. Let's hope the Devils come out with a win on Monday to get this one to go at least 6 if not 7. Also, if it does go 7...18 years to the day from the last Rangers & Devils Game 7 for the right to play for the cup. Perfect day for revenge if you ask me.

[MegoMark71]

Great game till about 5 minutes into the third period. I thought the Devils played a great game till they gave up the second goal. I do have to say the Devils coach messed up bad by not using his timeout before that first goal. Him not calling it lead to the bad penalty cause his guys were spent. I do have to say, one of the best performances i have seen this year by Lundqvist, he was amazing today. I hate the Rangers so much but i have to admire a performance like he had today. Shot after freakin shot the dude was all over them. Also if that piece of garbage Prust doesn't get a game suspension for that elbow to the back of the head i will be ticked.

[MegoMark71]

Sean i agree totally about Jersey out playing the Rags, however the rags have lundqvist and he is the entire reason they are ahead 2-1. Brodeur has been good but he can be better. Tough goals today though. That second one was a killer and a terrible redirect. Not sure any goalie could have made that save. Devils will come out in game 4 and play exactly how they have, maybe get more bodies in the face of lundqvist or even bump him if you have to.

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Yup..Prust should get a game. Devils didn't even get a penalty there. Also I agree a time out should have been called to give NJ a rest. The announcers said it, I thought it, and it didn't happen. I'm not sure what Pete was saving it for because that seemed like the time to do it. They had a shot of Parise sucking wind right before that so it was clear all the Devils were on fumes right then. Devils made some poor choices on the breakaways today too. I also thought Kovy got mugged on one of them but I guess it wasn't enough for a call. That second goal was a bad break. Can't fault Marty on that one, there nothing anyone could have done about it. It be nice if the Devils got a few lucky bounces like that on their end too. I honestly stopped watching after that. I don't even know how the 3rd goal was scored so I can't comment but by then, it was probably too late anyway. I turned the game off in disgust and went outside. Brodeur has been great this series and I have no complaints about his play so far but I don't care how good you are, you can't win if your team doesn't score. Also was it me or were there some odd icing and offsides calls, and face-off placements for both sides in this game too?

[MegoMark71]

Your going to love this if you haven't seen it yet.
New York Rangers coach John Tortorella takes shots at New Jersey Devils - NHL News | FOX Sports on MSN

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I don't get what Torts is trying to do. Deboer and he have real animosity for one another. It can't be a welcome distraction to the Rags either. He probably frustrated that his team has been outplayed for most of the series but this kind of stuff usually comes out when your loosing and want to take the attention off of that. Meanwhile the Devils are reguarded as one of the good guy Hockey teams and I don't think they or anyone else are buying into his accusations. He just looks really bad and what he's doing is turning his team into the NHL's version of the Miami Heat....the bad guys that nobody wants to see win. Even the NY Radio guys are saying he's got to stop because his antics are becoming an unhealthy distraction for the team. Meanwhile, NJ has again said all the right things and DON'T GIVE A @#$%! Jersey does need to win tonight though and I think they will but I am expecting a more raucous game since the pot has seemingly boiled over on NY's side. Same thing with Philly..if NJ plays their game whistle to whistle and doesn't get sucked in to the Blue Shirts aggression,, they should do fine.

Also yesterday was the 1st game I missed of the Playoffs. Again, dumb decision to have a 3:00 start.

What really kills me today is I could have had 2 tickets for tonight's game and I had to turn them down because I am dog sick. I may even have to tape it and watch tomorrow if I can't stay awake.

[MegoMark71]

They were even talking tonight during the pregame how windbag is full of crap. I had to watch even though i hate bill smacky patrick. My biggest pet peeve are people who suck their teeth before talking and make that smack noise. Even before they show him i can tell it's patrick by the smack before he says a word. And it's every dang time he talks. So glad he doesn't call games. ESPN has a few announcers that do the same thing. OK see how much it ticks me off, got me off track.
Anyway, like i said in the other thread, i got your back tonight. Jersey just needs to keep doing what they are doing. Put the puck on net and they will get the goals. I think it will be a great game tonight.....if your pulling for the devils that is.

[MegoMark71]

And the Devils dominate for the win. So tired of the Rangers mookcoach, he is a disgrace to everyone in the league. His players are cheap shot artist and take direction from him. He is the one who tells them to do the crap that they do. He should have another player suspended and i hope he gets a fine. The way his team plays when they know they are going to lose is a direct reflection on his coaching. Everyone who watched tonight's game got to see the arrogant icehole in action. His smug look after one of his thugs does something says it all. Biggest jerk in the sport and will always be that till he gets kicked out of the game.
Sean i hope the game did make you feel better, whenever your able to watch it.

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Fell asleep before it started but I was able to watch in about an hours time. Loved Pete going right back after Torts and Kovy knows how to pick his spots too when push comes to shove. I didn't mind that he gave Callahan a little pitchfork there at all. Nice to see Parise score a couple of goals as well. He was their best player tonight by far. The Devils' responded big tonight and I think they're in the Rags heads a bit. They said in the post game the Rangers kept looking at the refs on every little thing for a penalty and that's what I was saying before about Torts saying the wrong thing. I think Rupp should get a game after his performance tonight. The guy was like a wrecking ball on that one play and while punching Brodeur won't do it, he did leave his feet on the right before that. This is how games 1 & 3 could have gone but the Devils just couldn't find the net. Again, the Devils have been the better team in this series but they just got outplayed 2 periods that resulted in 6 goals. It's a best of 3 series now but if NJ can win the next one and make it 2 in a row they've got a great chance to be playing for the Cup next week.

[MegoMark71]

Sudden death right now for the Coyotes.

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Suddenly I find the Kings a very unlikable team. Phoenix just lost out on 3 penalty calls and the refs handed LA that game. That may have been the most one sided horribly officiated period of the entire 2012 playoffs. The no-icing delay of game call no call was huge. and that play when Smith lost the glove should have absolutely been blown dead just on the fact that he was making the attempt to cover the puck and had it knocked off by an offensive player. Something like that should be in the rules and if Refs can get away with "intent to blow a whistle", they could have easily blown that play dead since Smith covered the puck and lost the glove at the same time and no one would have said a word about it. The Kings score on that play and you've got a huge series ending controversy there. The way Doughty lost his mind on the refs, I thought for sure he was gonna get 4 minutes (and I'm pretty sure he got called for interference cause the refs botched so many calls for Phoenix earlier, it may have been a case of "balancing things out") Brown does not come off looking good after this series either. Whether that last hit was knee on knee or thigh on thigh, it was dirty and considering all the plays he's been involved in like that, he made himself out to be a goon. Honestly if I was a player on the Coyotes, I would have just walked off the ice and skipped the whole handshake thing entirely with the dirty Kings. I didn't think the Yotes were going anywhere after going down 3-0 but for them to go out like this has got to be just terrible for them. They didn't play great in the 3rd or the OT but they've got to be feeling like they got rooked by the refs at the end there and you know what, they totally did.

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Also Mike Smith and J.R. going at in the post game is classic. Both are toolbags but I totally agree with Smith. The whistle blows and the play is dead. Browns gotta pull off once the play is over. A penalty had to be called there.

[Jordiway]

Suddenly I find the Kings a very unlikable team. Phoenix just lost out on 3 penalty calls and the refs handed LA that game. That may have been the most one sided horribly officiated period of the entire 2012 playoffs. The no-icing delay of game call no call was huge. and that play when Smith lost the glove should have absolutely been blown dead just on the fact that he was making the attempt to cover the puck and had it knocked off by an offensive player. Something like that should be in the rules and if Refs can get away with "intent to blow a whistle", they could have easily blown that play dead since Smith covered the puck and lost the glove at the same time and no one would have said a word about it. The Kings score on that play and you've got a huge series ending controversy there. The way Doughty lost his mind on the refs, I thought for sure he was gonna get 4 minutes (and I'm pretty sure he got called for interference cause the refs botched so many calls for Phoenix earlier, it may have been a case of "balancing things out") Brown does not come off looking good after this series either. Whether that last hit was knee on knee or thigh on thigh, it was dirty and considering all the plays he's been involved in like that, he made himself out to be a goon. Honestly if I was a player on the Coyotes, I would have just walked off the ice and skipped the whole handshake thing entirely with the dirty Kings. I didn't think the Yotes were going anywhere after going down 3-0 but for them to go out like this has got to be just terrible for them. They didn't play great in the 3rd or the OT but they've got to be feeling like they got rooked by the refs at the end there and you know what, they totally did.

agreed 100% no wonder the NHL is loosing fans

[MegoMark71]

Actually your statement couldn't be more wrong. Other than the games on the weekend during the day the playoffs have had great numbers. This year since NBC took over from VS has seen viewership way up as the coverage has been amazing. Best post season coverage i have seen since the days of espn and espn2 both having double header games. There have been a few games that were down, but overall the rating have been good.
As far as the call your talking about i actually don't agree. It wasn't as bad as it looked. Brown never changes his stance, only thing he was guilty of was the hit being a tad late. I had no problem with that call. And i don't like him. He has a bad attitude about him i just don't like. Now for the rest of the game, yeah the refs called that game like crap on several occasions. But i blame the Coyotes for not playing as hard as they should have been in a series close out game if they lost...and they did.

Now tonight's game i am enjoying but i am watching it on a delay so i can fast forward through the commercials and in between period's