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Okay, congratulations to Ryan Miller for his second straight appearance on NHL.com's Three Stars. He followed up a ridiculous 43 save performance with a 31 save shutout less than 24 hours later. Sabres captain Chris Drury added his 15th and 16th powerplay goals while rookies Jason Pominville, Thomas Vanek and Paul Gaustad all contributed goals. Not to leave the defensemen out, Jay McKee set a painful NHL record the other night against the Habs by blocking 11 shots. This was darn near the perfect way to finish off the home schedule...now if the Flyers/Rangers/Devils could just figure out who wants to be the 5th seed the playoff preparations could begin.
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Wings defeat the Dallas Stars for their 21st straight point. Fantastic third period turn around for the Wings, scoring 3 goals to overturn a 2 goal deficit they'd suffered in the first two periods.
Tomorrow night we finish out against a weakened Nashville team.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Congrats to Sid the Kid for his 100th point. This was the most quietly loud season I've seen someone have. I think people just had to stop talking about him because everything had already been said for the past two years.
And while I'm glad that the Avs made the playoffs, I'll be sad to see them leave so early this year. Theo just isn't on form this season. Maybe next year, neh?
Posts: 193 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Well then I don't have an excuse to buy another one!
I want to get a game worn one, with away colors this time. I already have a home jersey, but it's not a game worn jersey.
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When I found out who was sending us a package, Jenni's friend Crystal (who is a HUGE Red Wings fan), I guessed it was a Jersy, and asked for Yzerman.
She was a little mad at first, then told me I was wrong. Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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quote:Congrats to Sid the Kid for his 100th point. This was the most quietly loud season I've seen someone have. I think people just had to stop talking about him because everything had already been said for the past two years.
I've been following Crosby news and commentary on the Pittsburg Penguins forum of HFBoards. Been exciting to follow.
I wish I could actually see some of it . I had OLN in the first couple of months of the season, but there was only like 5 games the penguins were in scheduled for the whole year. Without getting the NHL center ice, or whatever its called, I don't know how I can do more than listen to their games on internet radio. Not the same as watching. And the NHL center ice, last I checked, was way too expensive for me to even consider .
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All NHL game radio broadcasts are available at NHL.com. Actually, if anyone watches the Sabres on OLN tonight, I highly suggest running the Sabres radio broadcast as it is much superior to anything OLN has thrown together this year.
There are a few single seat tickets left for the Sabres home games, starting at $50. I don't want to sit by myself again, though. Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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No, looks like upper bowl tickets. Probably for all the people who can't commit until they know which day their team's games will start. Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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Just finished watching the Sabres/Hurricanes, and the Sabres just demolished the canes. Pretty much every line played well with Drury getting his 30th, and JP Dumont going for 19 and 20. I don't think the Flyers will know what hit 'em.
Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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quote:National Hockey League fans returned in record numbers in the 2005-06 regular season. A total of 20,854,169 and per-game average of 16,955 attended the 1,230 games, 2.4% ahead of the 2003-04 figures (20,356,199 and 16,550) and 1.2% ahead of the previous record season of 2001-02 (20,614,613 and 16,760). In all, NHL teams played to 91.7% of capacity.
quote:Twenty-four of the 30 NHL clubs finished even with or ahead of their 2003-04 performance. The top gainers were the Pittsburgh Penguins (+33%), Carolina Hurricanes (+27%), Calgary Flames (+16%), Tampa Bay Lightning (+15%), Nashville Predators (+10%), Buffalo Sabres (+10%), Ottawa Senators (+10%), Boston Bruins (+7%) and San Jose Sharks (+6%).
And this list doesn't count teams like the Canadiens and Avs who can't gain much, as they sell out all their games anyway.
Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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Looks like the officials will be calling the games just as they have in the regular season, or else.
quote:"My instructions to Colie and to Stephen are if an official puts his whistle away, they should put the official away for the rest of the playoffs," Bettman said.
"How long you work in the playoffs is discretionary. It depends how well you are working. And if a guy decides he's putting the whistle away, then he's done."
That's good news for the Sabres.
Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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I'm debating whether or not I should go to any playoff games this year. I've always gone in years past, but the Oilers always lose when I'm there (predict joke about the Oilers always losing anyways, har har). Then again, playoff games are the best ones to attend. The energy is amazing, and the bonding between fans with a lot of hope is fun.
I'm glad to see ticket sales are so great across the board. Especially after all the talk of hockey's diminishing popularity during the strike.
Posts: 1855 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I'm surprised Calgary and Tampa Bay could go up that much. Tampa is the reigning champ, and Calgary has had a strong team for years. I thought they had a more numberous rabid fanbase.
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Four NHL Playoff series kick off tonight, starting at 7pm with defending champs Tampa Bay taking on Ottawa (on CBC) and Detroit starts their long road to disappointment against Edmonton (OLN/CBC). 8pm has the Sharks and Predators (TSN) and Calgary and Anaheim get going at 10pm (OLN/CBC). All times Eastern, heh. Let the fun begin!
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The Detroit-Edmonton game is actually in Detroit. Not that it matters, since Edmonton is going to win either way. In any case, it shall be a grand night. Go Oilers!
Posts: 1855 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Wow, this Oilers Vs. Red Wings game is intense. Red Wings clearly outplaying the Oilers, but Roloson is keeping us alive. But damn, the Oil was looking tired at the end of that first OT. If we don't come back with a serious game plan, this game is gonna go to Detroit.
Also, where was the interference call on Holmstrom at the end of that OT? Bad officiating. Anyways, on to OT #2.
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Poor Rem Murray. He deflected the puck in off Maltby's shot to win it for Detroit. Detroit would've won anyways, but that's disappointing. If Roloson keeps up his great goaltending, hopefully the Oilers can at least make this an interesting series.
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Yeah me too. And I agree there should have been a penalty on one of our guys for that take down. But I saw some pretty nasty hits from the Oilers earlier in the game go uncalled. Still, I'd agree that one wasn't exactly fair.
Still that was an intense friggin game, I hope the next three go just like it.
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This Philly/Buffalo game is like watching a repeat of the Edmonton/Detroit game from last night. Again, you have the goalie (Esche) keeping his team alive through an OT that was dominated by Buffalo. The big difference is that these refs are actually making penalty calls. Great game so far.
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Holy crap. Whatever the Flyers are paying Esche, they need to double it. He single-handedly kept them in the game to the end of the 1st overtime. Brian Campbell just annihilated Umberger - check out the highlights for that one. Wow.
Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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Habs rocked Carolina 6-1. That game wasn't even close, and this after Carolina beat the Habs all four times they met this season.
Colorado whooped on Dallas for a 5-2 domination upset.
The Devils beat up on the Rangers, and now with Jaromir Jagr hurt, their chances are rapidly decreasing for any sort of stunning victory.
But that's what is fun about the NHL, playoffs favorites are never sure things. Fun, and frustrating.
Also side note, 43 goals were scored in the first games of the first round. Averages out to 5 goals per game. In the first game of the first round in the 2004 Stanley Cup playoffs, 34 goals, which rounds to four goals per game. Not that the stat really means anything, just thought it might be interesting to someone. Interesting to see if it holds true through the series, that is, there being more goals scored, in this case 9 more, on average.
Also in 2004, the Avs and Stars faced each other in the first round of the playoffs, and the Avs rocked the Stars in five games, most of which weren't even close. Back then the Stars and Avs were ranked five and four, respectively. Amazing how things change in two years.
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Philly had better hope Esche stays hot or the rout is on. Buffalo's power play won't be held scoreless forever. They did a great job a drawing penalties but didn't capitalize. There were a ton of hard hits and scraps in the corners, and it's only going to get worse...the Flyers are way up on the list of hated teams here. Monday won't be here soon enough!
Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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It was nice to see Winchester score his first NHL goal in an important playoff game. The Oilers were really making me nervous with the turnovers in the 3rd period, but thankfully they pulled it off. Game #3 in Edmonton is going to be intense.
Posts: 1855 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Some shots from Game 1 from the photographer on hand. I think people are already arriving for Game 2...I'm going to HATE being here and hearing the crazy noise from next door. I'm hoping I can at least get the radio broadcast. Oooh, and I got money toward playoff tickets for the next round!
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I can hear some noise from the arena...that must mean the Sabres are up 5-0 after the first period! Esche has gone from stopped like, 96% to 50% of the shots faced. Umm, ouch.
Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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Buffalo dominated Philly, 8-2. Poor Esche, he went from team savior to blah. NJ beat NY for 2-0 in that series. We'll see if NY can do anything with home ice advantage. Biggest potential upset right now is Montreal over Carolina. Montreal won a fantastic game in double OT, and now heads home for 2 games. Possible sweep if Montreal keeps it up.
I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's Edmonton/Detroit game. Detroit is outplaying us, but we're scoring when it counts, and now we're at home. Unfortunately, Detroit has an awesome road record. Should be another interesting day.
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Equally potential for an upset is the Avs over the Stars. They blew a huge lead after the first period tonight, but shot back where it counted and eeked out a lead. Now they head to home ice with a two game lead.
Just to keep everyone updated on the current situation:
Eastern Conference:
Montreal(7) Leads Carolina(2) 2-0 Buffalo(4) Leads Philly(5) 2-0 Jersey(3) Leads NY(6) 2-0 Ottawa(1) Tied With Tampa Bay(8) 1-1
Lyrhawn's Take
Montreal just might take the Canes, it's hard to say, but going back to Canada will give them a home ice advantage, and unless the Canes can come up with some serious energy and drive to take the momentum away from the Canadiens, it's over. I think the next game will decide it. If the Canes can break it, they have a chance, but if they lose, there's no way they are winning four straight.
I'd venture to say Jersey and Buffalo are sure things. They'll probably both win in five. Tampa will put up a fight as the Stanley Cup defenders, but I don't think they have a chance for an upset. I see Ottawa winning it in six, if it takes that much even.
Western Conference:
Colorado(7) Leads Dallas(2) 2-0 Calgary(3) Tied With Anaheim(6) 1-1 Detroit(1) Tied With Edmonton(8) 1-1 Nashville(4) Tied With San Jose(5) 1-1
Lyrhawn's Take
Colorado has a very serious shot at forcing an upset against Dallas. They're a tough team with a long history of victory, so they aren't going to be bullied by a strong Dallas team. But Dallas has the numbers working for them. They've run a strong season this year, have a top notch defense, and they have the strongest goalie in Turco of the two teams hands down. While I doubt they'll win the next four straight out, I'd say Dallas in seven is a very real possibility, even if they lose the next game, I wouldn't count out a four game run, but it would surprise me.
While I highly respect the defensive play of the Oilers during Sunday's game, I don't see it being enough to trip the Wings up for another three games. Even though Legace isn't Roy or Hasek, he doesn't have to be. He just needs to stop enough to give the Wings' powerful offense a chance to score. Oilers did a nice job trapping the Wings in their attempts to come into the Oilers zone with speed, but that isn't going to play for the whole series. Their goaltending isn't any better, and their offense and defense are weaker, and over the course of the series this will play out. The Oilers are tough, but to be brutally honest, they're outclassed by a powerful and well balanced Red Wings team. Red Wings have the best road record in the NHL, playing away or at home means little to them. I see the Red Wings winning in six.
Anaheim and Calgary are a little more difficult. Calgary has a goaltending edge by far in Kiprusoff, and Giguere isn't anything close to the possessed magical performance in 2004 when he stonewalled the Wings early on. They've lost a lot of talent (and a lot of contract obligations thankfully), while the Flames are still strong. I say it'll be a strong series, but I give the edge to the Flames to win it in six or seven, probably six.
Before Nashville suffered its trifecta of injuries (Vokoun, Sullivan and Zidlicky), I would have given them the series in six, maybe even five if they were really on their game, but those injuries knock out too much power from their lineup. Chris Mason is settling in nicely as a new starting goalie, but he won't be enough. San Jose is coming in strong with one of the best 1-2 punches in hockey in Cheechoo and Thornton. Nashville will put up a tough defense, but in the end will be outmuscled and outscored by San Jose. I say San Jose in six.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Okay, so no suspensions for Gauthier OR Radivojevic? When Gauthier JUST got suspended for the same thing a few weeks ago for two games? What, did Vanek have to get cracked vertebrae for them to discipline anyone? Give me a break. The Buffalo/Philly rivalry had taken a back seat to the Leafs and Sens, but no more. I hope they beat 'em 10-0 the next two games.
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. I had OLN in the first couple of months of the season, but there was only like 5 games the penguins were in scheduled for the whole year. Without getting the NHL center ice, or whatever its called, I don't know how I can do more than listen to their games on internet radio. Not the same as watching. And the NHL center ice, last I checked, was way too expensive for me to even consider 
