Stanley Cup Finals

[SEMOSTLfan]

May I ask something? No? Oh ok.

Well, too bad. Someone keeps saying that Atlanta is a bad market for hockey because they can't sell out the NBA or the MLB. Does that equate that we should move any team because of their fan base in other sports? Should we take away the Cardinals because no one goes to Rams games anymore? Where does it end? Or actually, why does it matter? I don't care about hockey, but someone does. You took our team once, you no good canadians, you ain't taking this one.

well you'd have a great point except for the fact that the rams have sold out every single home game in their 11 season history in St. Louis.

However I feel no need to move the Thrashers out of Atlanta, if anyone pays attention even the Braves aren't doing so well attendence wise.

As for an explanation I have none, but a valid observation none the less.

[BloodAtFirstBite]

Carolina just scored to go ahead 5-4 in game 1 with 30 seconds left. Game over.

[Roger Clemente]

...shades of Steve Smith...

Edmonton had that game almost in the palm of their hand and literally game it away at the very last minute.

Cam Ward is a monster.

And now what about Roloson....

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[jkrdevil]

Ward stole that game.

If Roloson can't come back the series is over. With him they are a Cup Finalist without him they are barely a playoff team.

If Rolo can't come back and it cost them the series Bergeron won't be back in Edmonton next year.

[jkrdevil]

McTavish just said Roloson out for Series.

[Eye]

Wow! With Rolo gone, I don't think they can win. Now they gotta go with the rookie Conklin. I thought it would be a great series. I'm sure it still will, but just not as good.

[Fred T. Jane]

...shades of Steve Smith...

Edmonton had that game almost in the palm of their hand and literally game it away at the very last minute.

Cam Ward is a monster.

And now what about Roloson....

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

*barely-coherent thoughts about the game ahead*

Not like the refs almost gave the game to Edmonton in the 1st. Several of those calls were marginal even in the "new" NHL to be called. It took me a while, but OLN finally had a good enough angle for me to agree on the call leading up to the penalty shot.

It was looking bleak for the Canes until they *finally* started playing their vertical style of hockey. After that, Edmonton couldn't hang with them and had to rely on Roloson's skills to keep them from storming back. This was most apparent when Roloson made a great poke check on Eric Stall when he broke past the two defenders in the second period.

However, the story of Game 1 won't be Bergeron's gaffe, but Roloson's status. If this is serious, they're toast. Here's to Roloson coming back on Wednesday.

*edit* Wishful thinking on my part. SportsCenter is saying the knee injury is serious enough that he's out for the series (ESPN said season...hehe)

[jkrdevil]

...shades of Steve Smith...

Edmonton had that game almost in the palm of their hand and literally game it away at the very last minute.

Cam Ward is a monster.

And now what about Roloson....

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

*barely-coherent thoughts about the game ahead*

Not like the refs almost gave the game to Edmonton in the 1st. Several of those calls were marginal even in the "new" NHL to be called. It took me a while, but OLN finally had a good enough angle for me to agree on the call leading up to the penalty shot.

It was looking bleak for the Canes until they *finally* started playing their vertical style of hockey. After that, Edmonton couldn't hang with them and had to rely on Roloson's skills to keep them from storming back. This was most apparent when Roloson made a great poke check on Eric Stall when he broke past the two defenders in the second period.

However, the story of Game 1 won't be Bergeron's gaffe, but Roloson's status. If this is serious, they're toast. Here's to Roloson coming back on Wednesday.

*edit* Wishful thinking on my part. SportsCenter is saying the knee injury is serious enough that he's out for the series (ESPN said season...hehe)

It was Bergeron's gaffe that knocked out Roloson. HE was the one that knocked the Hurricane player into Roloson.

[Fred T. Jane]

It was Bergeron's gaffe that knocked out Roloson. HE was the one that knocked the Hurricane player into Roloson.

Bah, mea culpea, I was more thinking of Jason Smith being a victim of circumstance on the game winner. Good catch.

[NJTank]

Richard Petty Parade Here we Come no way the Oilers win without Roloson.

[LMU]

Richard Petty Parade Here we Come no way the Oilers win without Roloson.

Are you saying that you actually see a Hurricane cup victory happening?

I'm shocked.

[Roger Clemente]

Richard Petty Parade Here we Come no way the Oilers win without Roloson.

Why do you keep bringing up Richard Petty? What does he have to do with Hurricanes hockey?

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[HatCityEnforcer]

That was one of the wildest games I've seen in quite some time...

--The call on the penalty shot was the correct one (Wallin did close his hand on the puck in the crease...McGeough for once made a good call on that). Also, it was kinda neat to see Pronger take the shot and bury it with a quality decision (to his credit, Ward wasn't totally out of position on it...he thought it was gonna be a bit lower than it was).

--Cam Ward had his coming out party last night...he had a few jaw dropping saves, especially the 2 that robbed Horcoff of easy goals. Also, he stood tall when it mattered most and kept the Canes in the game (especially on those extended Oiler PP chances...Edmonton had plenty of chances to blow the doors off the Canes and put it away early).

--Marc-Andre Bergeron has to be one of the dumbest SOBs in the NHL, IMO. What was he thinking when he shoved Ladd into Rolo and the net? Add to it a spectacularly dumb penalty he took when he shoved Weight to the ice after he lost his stick and almost racking up ANOTHER one like that later on...

--The game winning goal was one of the most surreal things I've seen since the infamous Steve Smith pass-back in 1986. Conklin handles the puck like a hand grenade under the best of circumstances to begin with, but doing what he and Jason Smith did wasn't wise....I don't think Brind'Amour's ever had an easier goal than that one.

--Rolo being out the rest of the way is a potential killer for the Oilers...Conklin's gonna be asked to do a lot from here on out. Who knows? He could answer the call...don't see it, to be honest, but stranger things have happened.

The Canes are showing why they were among the top teams in the league this year....and have shown TONS of heart throughout the season (8 comeback wins in the playoffs so far? That's kinda impressive)...

For their sake, the Oilers had best step up tomorrow night...if they go down 0-2, I don't see this series going much beyond 5 games.

[Sport]

Richard Petty Parade Here we Come no way the Oilers win without Roloson.

forget everything you thought you knew about North Carolina. Have you seen Richard Petty at any of these games? No. Does Richard Petty even live in Raleigh, North Carolina? I don't think he does. Has the team used one of his hit songs as motivation like the White Sox did with don't stop believing and Journey? No because Richard Petty is not a musician. This is just your regionalistic attitude surfacing and maybe more just your dissappointment over them knocking out your red hot devils. The stanley cup in Raleigh can only help the game grow, why can't anyone else see that?

[shiznit1083]

Tank, you are the biggest fraud on these boards. What in God's name gives you the right to criticize the Canes fan base? Your forgetting about many New Englanders (myself included) who still love the Canes, still spend money on the TV package, merchandise, etc. And get this: the playoff games have been sold out! Would you beleive it? You root for the Devils with possibly the worst fan base in the NHL. They've won how many times in the past 10 years? And they can't sell out a freaking playoff game!! I went to Game 4 in the Meadowlands and that was the sorriest excuse for hockey fans I have ever seen. That alone gives you absolutely no right to criticize any fan base.

[HatCityEnforcer]

Tank, you are the biggest fraud on these boards. What in God's name gives you the right to criticize the Canes fan base? Your forgetting about many New Englanders (myself included) who still love the Canes, still spend money on the TV package, merchandise, etc. And get this: the playoff games have been sold out! Would you beleive it? You root for the Devils with possibly the worst fan base in the NHL. They've won how many times in the past 10 years? And they can't sell out a freaking playoff game!! I went to Game 4 in the Meadowlands and that was the sorriest excuse for hockey fans I have ever seen. That alone gives you absolutely no right to criticize any fan base.

Amen!

I mean come on...the only time the Devils ever get crowds at the Swamp is when they play the Rangers or Flyers...and that's b/c the Ranger and Flyer fans in the area take the friggin' place over.

[NJTank]

Well in 2 years we will get bigger corwds in Newark.

[DEAD!]

Tank does have it all wrong everyone...

it won't be a Richard Petty cup parade.....

It will be a Ric Flair cup parade

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

As for the game. that was the most exciting game I've seen all year. A great comeback by the Canes, a wild last minut of the game. Too bad the game was not on NBC.

I don't want to get into too much about the fan base because really it's the players who deserve the accolades (sp?), not the fans, regardless of where the team is, New Jersey, Carolina, Edmonton, Toronto, heck even Guatemala if the NHL had a team there.

[CoryB]

Still little or no respect for the Oilers. They didn't unexpectedly make the playoffs (I don't think they were ever out of the playoffs for the entire season). They had 95 points, aside from Dallas and Detroit - they were 7 points away from third. They aren't a "Cinderella" team, which everyone seems to want to attach to them - Cinderella suggests they don't deserve to be where they are. They have a good, solid team. They work hard every game, and have been in a position to win every game they've played (even game 4 against Anaheim). They do whatever they can to get it done.

They block shots and clear the puck away from the net, have good scoring ability, and, to this point, very reliable (if not outstanding) goaltending.

Conklin and Markkanen are very reliable goalies - they have a problem with consistency, which doesn't help either of them to be a reliable starting goalie. That doesn't mean they can't get the job done - in tandem they seem to work very well. Conklin's mistake - when was the last time he played in a game, and how many times has he been called upon to play in the Stanley Cup final, not being able to warm up and expected to win the game? Cut him some slack - it was a timing miscommunication. The team shouldn't have been in the position it was in at that point, with a 3-0 lead. If not for some heroics from Ward, the score may have been a lot different.

I can understand how people see this team, being all but invisible since 1992, but who has honestly watched the Oilers until these playoffs (besides Oiler fans)? They have been building the team they have now for years, getting the right players, making the right moves, until they got to this point. Watching this team (faithfully every year), I kept feeling they were just one step from being successful. They've taken that step. They're not going to just fall apart now. If they do, I'll eat my words - but I'm confident it won't happen.

And please excuse my whining - I'm a little ticked at all the "fans" that have suddenly given up on the team. The team is more than just the goalie, and they have only lost one game. And the backups aren't bad (in fact, they can be very good).

acch - bandwagoners

[Roger Clemente]