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NHL 2015, Part II - Stanley Cup Playoff Race and Beyond

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Re: NHL 2015, Part II - Stanley Cup Playoff Race and Beyond

FreshFish said:
even so, I wish that Shaw's header goal could somehow have counted. That was really clever and opportunistic.


I have a bad feeling about the Ducks - 'hawks series. It reminds me of a boxing match in which one boxer only delivers body blows, hard and persistent, all fight long, until the last round when the other fighter is too tired to lift his arms and gets KO. It seems like the Ducks are more interested in repeatedly putting hard hits on the 'hawks' defensemen than they are in taking the puck away from them. That might be legal but it's not very appealing, at least not to me. If I want MMA I can tune in elsewhere, I was hoping to watch some actual hockey not a war of attrition first with hockey as an afterthought.
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Agree on Shaw's play - that was hilarious and of course it was Shaw who did it. I knew right away that it wouldn't count, but it was fun anyway.


The Ducks are in the business of winning a Cup (much like the zzzzzzz-Devils of yesteryear) and beating the Hawks on the way to that. They're not interested in entertaining you. They believe this is the path. They certainly can't try and skate with the Hawks, so who can blame them?

The Bruins tried the same thing a couple of years ago. The first two games of that series felt very similar to this one. I believe through 2 games, the amount of hits on Hawks are essentially the same between the two series.


We'll see if they have better luck with it than the Bs did.
 
Re: NHL 2015, Part II - Stanley Cup Playoff Race and Beyond

Imagine how entertaining a Hawks/Lightning series could be.
 
Re: NHL 2015, Part II - Stanley Cup Playoff Race and Beyond

Gurtholfin said:
Agree on Shaw's play - that was hilarious and of course it was Shaw who did it. I knew right away that it wouldn't count, but it was fun anyway.
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Believe it or not, I scored an intramural hockey goal like that -- and it counted. I was crashing the net; the keeper steered the rebound right at my head. Somehow I had the presence of mind not to use a "distinct heading motion." In other words, I just let it hit my face shield and had the pleasure of watching it carom into the net. After the necessary flinch, of course.

Hadn't thought about that goal in many years, then Shaw does his thing. Funny that the NBC Announcers initially opined that it was a good goal. My reaction? Darn, I should have done the full header! Didn't realize that was legal! Of course the announcers were wrong; but I digress...

The Ducks are in the business of winning a Cup (much like the zzzzzzz-Devils of yesteryear) and beating the Hawks on the way to that. They're not interested in entertaining you. They believe this is the path. They certainly can't try and skate with the Hawks, so who can blame them?

The Bruins tried the same thing a couple of years ago. The first two games of that series felt very similar to this one. I believe through 2 games, the amount of hits on Hawks are essentially the same between the two series.
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The two triple overtime games were particularly reminiscent of one another. Emotional rollercoasters, significant momentum swings, yet extreme endurance contests all at the same time. And both vital victories for the Hawks.

One nice difference between the two series: This time the Hawks are coming home tied 1-1, as opposed to hitting the road tied 1-1.

We'll see if they have better luck with it than the Bs did.
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Hope not, but it's certainly possible. The Duck forecheck is very impressive. Beat the first guy on your breakout? You're just getting started. The Ducks support that initial forechecker extremely well.
 
Re: NHL 2015, Part II - Stanley Cup Playoff Race and Beyond

Hat's off to the Ducks; they were oppressive in all three zones...
 
Re: NHL 2015, Part II - Stanley Cup Playoff Race and Beyond

pgb-ohio said:
Hat's off to the Ducks; they were oppressive in all three zones...
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I think "oppressive" is a good word to describe watching them play.

Agreed that they imposed their will though.


Gotta hand it to Q going full r_tard with his lineup changes.
 
Re: NHL 2015, Part II - Stanley Cup Playoff Race and Beyond

Gurtholfin said:
I think "oppressive" is a good word to describe watching them play...
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Also true. Painfully true.

...Gotta hand it to Q going full r_tard with his lineup changes.
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Certainly a head scratcher. He messed with the chemistry of the bottom two lines, and it backfired. Further, the Hawks specifically missed Vermette on face-offs, a crucial element in this series. Need to keep Shaw on the wing where he belongs. In comparison, Nordstrom was pretty invisible, though the announcers remind us he got a couple of blocks. And I suppose Versteeg brought some positive energy on "fresher" legs. But the nominal payoff didn't justify the cost.

Straining hard to find a silver lining, maybe Teravainen and Vermette come back motivated and fresher in Game 4.
 
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Re: NHL 2015, Part II - Stanley Cup Playoff Race and Beyond

Meanwhile in the land of Putin, a different winners' share....

@SlavaMalamud: SKA St. Petersburg players will also receive a natural gas well each and a small Ukrainian city of their choice to invade during the summer.
 
Re: NHL 2015, Part II - Stanley Cup Playoff Race and Beyond

Just a hunch, but I'm guessing that Vermette will be in the Blackhawks line-up for game 5.:cool:
 
Re: NHL 2015, Part II - Stanley Cup Playoff Race and Beyond

You would know better than I; not doubting that. And taking nothing for granted is generally a good mindset. But I remain quite comfortable in my expectation that we'll be seeing #80 on Monday.;)

But suppose the irrational happens, and Vermette is a healthy scratch. I'll be happy to put up as many of these :confused: and these :eek: as you'd like.
 
Re: NHL 2015, Part II - Stanley Cup Playoff Race and Beyond

pgb-ohio said:
You would know better than I; not doubting that. And taking nothing for granted is generally a good mindset. But I remain quite comfortable in my expectation that we'll be seeing #80 on Monday.;)

But suppose the irrational happens, and Vermette is a healthy scratch. I'll be happy to put up as many of these :confused: and these :eek: as you'd like.
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I was just joking.

I doubt he'd be that stupid, although you never know...
 
Re: NHL 2015, Part II - Stanley Cup Playoff Race and Beyond

Gurtholfin said:
I was just joking.
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And I was just trying to play along, to banter with it; hence the triple smileys.

I doubt he'd be that stupid, although you never know...
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Yet there is an unavoidable serious side to this. The little hunches that don't pan out, the risks that maybe shouldn't be taken, can be shrugged off during the regular season. In contrast, the consequences of quirky errors at this juncture can be enormous.

Still, if we didn't like the intensity, we wouldn't be glued to the telecasts...
 
Re: NHL 2015, Part II - Stanley Cup Playoff Race and Beyond

I'm surprised that the Blackhawks continue to win by only playing four defensemen a game.

I had a hearty chuckle hearing all the "news" reporters talking about how the callups from Rockford were going to be inserted into the lineup and be utilized. Q doesn't insert green guys immediately into key roles. They'll sit on the bench mostly and have the best seats for the playoffs.

Everyone was hyped up for Cumiskey's start, "oh, he'll get at least 10 minutes." Only way he broke that was because the game went three OT's.


Really surprised Brandon Mashinter didn't get recalled with the rest of the Icehogs. He was a pest against the Griffs and always seemed to be either circling the net, a threat to score just entering the zone, and all around a**hole who wasn't afraid to start a dust up. Or end one.

I'd liken him to AJ Pierzynski: An a**hole that you want on your team.
 
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