2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs

[habsfan1]

A few thoughts concerning the Blackhawks...

- This is Marion Hossa's third consecutive Stanley Cup Final apperence with three different teams. I may root for the Hawks depending on the eastern outcome, but I don't think I will be able to contain myself if his streak of epic failures continues.

- Cristobal Huet has a chance to win the Stanley Cup. I don't care if he's the #2. He was great on and off the ice when he was with the Canadiens, so it's nice to see him get a chance I never thought he'd have.

- If they win it all, good for them. I grew up seeing them in nothing but obscurity when I watched hockey. Once again, I'll be very happy for them.

[The_Admiral]

Marian Hossa back to back to back Stanley Cup Final appearances.

im beginning to get rather tired of him .....

Hey, he may be a cold-eyed soulless mercenary Slav, but for the time being, he's my cold-eyed soulless mercenary Slav.

[JACK IS CONSTRUCTION]

I have never seen Hossa smile.

[FiddySicks]

Okay, with the Sharks losing in 4 games in the Western Conference Finals, someone's head is going to roll. They just got a new coach, so he's safe. They replaced their captain, so he's safe. So that leads me to either they replace the GM, or replace the goalie who's contract ends this year. I just don't see management and the fan base being satisfied bringing Nabokov back. You can say what you want about him, but he falls in the line of Luongo and Turco, goalies who have a knack for not being able to bring their game to the next level in the playoffs. I just don't see how they can bring him back, yet I wonder if they don't who do you replace him with? Carey Price, Jose Theodore? A couple more goaltenders who are questionable, or do you sign Vesa Toskala? I just don't see a goaltender out there better than Nabakov, yet I find it hard to see him returning to San Jose.

I've had this argument with some of my Shark fan friends, and they agree that they want something done about Nabakov, but there is no one to replace him with really. It's the same argument for all of their players. Thornton, Marleau, Heatley, Blake, Boyle, and even Cheechoo when he was there. They are all great in the regular season. There is no reason that they shouldn't have won a Cup by now.

They've changed the coach. They changed the captain. They changed Cheechoo for Heatley. The only thing they haven't changed is the GM, but its ulitmately not his fault with the way the Sharks are. Doug Wilson has made some great rosters there in San Jose.

You could say to just blow the whole thing up, or get rid of Nabakov. But what are they going to do to replace that? Why break something that is so wildly successful minus the championship?

It seems like a good idea on the surface, but breaking up what the Sharks have isn't the way to go. The only thing that I think they could improve on is their defensemen. And really besides Setoguchi and Pavelski, they don't have any young cornerstones. So once this run of players is done, the Sharks could be in for a big fall. And truthfully, I'd say the Sharks have one legitimate Cup shot left. And the worst part for the Sharks is that this year might have been their best shot at it all.

They really don't have much they need to change, if anything at all, but yet they know something has to change. Nabakov seems to be the logical point, but like I've said, who is going to replace him? The Sharks find themselves in another quite odd conundrum.

The Sharks do have Henrik Karlsson who was one of the best goalies in the Swedish League. I don't know a ton about him, but everything I've heard so far is good.

[FiddySicks]

Okay, with the Sharks losing in 4 games in the Western Conference Finals, someone's head is going to roll. They just got a new coach, so he's safe. They replaced their captain, so he's safe. So that leads me to either they replace the GM, or replace the goalie who's contract ends this year. I just don't see management and the fan base being satisfied bringing Nabokov back. You can say what you want about him, but he falls in the line of Luongo and Turco, goalies who have a knack for not being able to bring their game to the next level in the playoffs. I just don't see how they can bring him back, yet I wonder if they don't who do you replace him with? Carey Price, Jose Theodore? A couple more goaltenders who are questionable, or do you sign Vesa Toskala? I just don't see a goaltender out there better than Nabakov, yet I find it hard to see him returning to San Jose.

I've had this argument with some of my Shark fan friends, and they agree that they want something done about Nabakov, but there is no one to replace him with really. It's the same argument for all of their players. Thornton, Marleau, Heatley, Blake, Boyle, and even Cheechoo when he was there. They are all great in the regular season. There is no reason that they shouldn't have won a Cup by now.

They've changed the coach. They changed the captain. They changed Cheechoo for Heatley. The only thing they haven't changed is the GM, but its ulitmately not his fault with the way the Sharks are. Doug Wilson has made some great rosters there in San Jose.

You could say to just blow the whole thing up, or get rid of Nabakov. But what are they going to do to replace that? Why break something that is so wildly successful minus the championship?

It seems like a good idea on the surface, but breaking up what the Sharks have isn't the way to go. The only thing that I think they could improve on is their defensemen. And really besides Setoguchi and Pavelski, they don't have any young cornerstones. So once this run of players is done, the Sharks could be in for a big fall. And truthfully, I'd say the Sharks have one legitimate Cup shot left. And the worst part for the Sharks is that this year might have been their best shot at it all.

They really don't have much they need to change, if anything at all, but yet they know something has to change. Nabakov seems to be the logical point, but like I've said, who is going to replace him? The Sharks find themselves in another quite odd conundrum.

The Sharks do have Henrik Karlsson who was one of the best goalies in the Swedish League. I don't know a ton about him, but everything I've heard so far is good.

[HedleyLamarr]

As much as I've said that the Sharks will never win anything with Nabakov in net, he actually had a decent series and solid run in the playoffs. He shouldn't be the scapegoat.

Chicago was just simply better. The Sharks never had more than one consistent scoring line throughout their run....they were buoyed by Pavelski's line in the first series and a half, and the Marleau-Thornton line was producing in the latter half.

And...the Sharks improved from last season to this season.

[The_Admiral]

With the Sharks losing in the late moments of three games, one has to wonder if fatigue was an issue after all. McLellan rode his top forwards hard while Quenneville made sure even his fourth line got its requisite share of time on ice. Maybe this is why Dany Heatley found himself seemingly on another planet as Byfuglien fired home a sudden death winner the other night. Whether or not fatigue played a part, the lack of depth sure manifested itself. We swooned over Marleau|Thornton|Heatley all year long, and rightfully so, but then Dave Bolland comes out of nowhere leading an exemplary shutdown effort that reduces Thornton to practically nothing. People still gave him credit for laying down big hits and being a physical presence. Okay, sure, but that's what we ask Adam Burish to do because he can't do anything else. Thornton was on the scoring line and he was virtually scoreless.

I feel a little bad for Marleau. At least he came to play this series. What, five of the seven goals were his? Strong work. I feel like he hasn't been appreciated lately.

[LightningRide75]

Sad day for Sharks fans. Good luck to the Blackawks in the SCF and their long suffering fans who have had to deal with the lousy ownership of Bill Wirtz until his passing.

[lordsketor]

Sad day for Sharks fans. Good luck to the Blackawks in the SCF and their long suffering fans who have had to deal with the lousy ownership of Bill Wirtz until his passing.

Thats why the Blackhawks had been so good since then.

[NEW.ERA]

Marleau's due for a big payday come July 1st. But most likely that payday will come before then there is no way Doug Wilson doesn't sign him to one of those life time deals.

Now Joe Thornton on the other hand - How long does Wilson stay with him it sure seems to me that Mr. Pavelski is ready to become the Sharks number one center after the season and playoffs he had. So I wouldn't be one bit surprised if Thornton is sent packing on Draft Day.

[The_Admiral]

Sad day for Sharks fans. Good luck to the Blackawks in the SCF and their long suffering fans who have had to deal with the lousy ownership of Bill Wirtz until his passing.

Thats why the Blackhawks had been so good since then.

With the drafting they had done before Bill departed our mortal coil, they were bound to become somewhat competitive, but they wouldn't have rocketed into modernity and become a full-fledged NHL organization without that happening. Televised home games and the big Bill's Dead Goodwill Tour had to account for a lot of the revenue that gave Rocky the flexibility to rebuild the organization as he saw fit.

http://www.chicagoma...rticle=0#artanc

If you have some moments to spare, this is an interesting read. It gives you some insight into just how fraught with issues the whole family is: Bill kicked Rocky out of his own birthday party, and they'd had Art Wirtz's office boarded up for years and years because Bill couldn't bring himself to sit at his dad's desk. To summarize, two generations of seriously uncomfortable father-son relationships have manifested themselves in Rocky going out of his way to purge everything Art/Bill from the organization and to be everything they weren't so that he wouldn't have to live with the burden of being another hated member of his family. As such, the turnaround of the Blackhawks sort of destigmatizes the Wirtz name and lets Rocky stick it to his dad, with whom one gets the impression he didn't get along. Well, that's one way to do it. I think Antti Niemi actually costs less than most top-notch North Shore therapists, though Niemi lacks the warmth and altruism of Judd Hirsch as Dr. Berger.

Rocky made it clear from the start, however, who was in charge. For starters, he took the title of chairman of the Blackhawks. Rocky also told Peter that he planned to "keep the president position open until we could evaluate things," he says, meaning Peter would not be running the team. "I took [Peter] aside at Dad's wake and told him that certain things were going to have to change," Rocky says?namely the policy against televising home games.

What if Rocky didn't go on the power play? HISTORY WILL BE MADE

[Cujo]

I'm a day late on this one, but nonetheless....

[Sport]

So Toews avoided the Campbell bowl like it was radioactive. Personally, I don't like this practice. I don't know how we got to the point where touching the conference championship trophies equals contentedness with not winning the stanley cup. You don't have to celebrate around it like they do in the NFL or like the Kings did in 93, but picking it up and smiling for a photo would be enough. Winning your conference championship is worth at least that much and in no way means that you don't want to win the stanley cup.

Does anyone know who started this whole thing?

[Don]

So Toews avoided the Campbell bowl like it was radioactive. Personally, I don't like this practice. I don't know how we got to the point where touching the conference championship trophies equals contentedness with not winning the stanley cup. You don't have to celebrate around it like they do in the NFL or like the Kings did in 93, but picking it up and smiling for a photo would be enough. Winning your conference championship is worth at least that much and in no way means that you don't want to win the stanley cup.

Does anyone know who started this whole thing?

Superstition.

[Sport]

So Toews avoided the Campbell bowl like it was radioactive. Personally, I don't like this practice. I don't know how we got to the point where touching the conference championship trophies equals contentedness with not winning the stanley cup. You don't have to celebrate around it like they do in the NFL or like the Kings did in 93, but picking it up and smiling for a photo would be enough. Winning your conference championship is worth at least that much and in no way means that you don't want to win the stanley cup.

Does anyone know who started this whole thing?

Superstition.

Okay. Scott Stevens picked it up three times and didn't touch it once. The one time he didn't the Devils lost in the finals. Crosby didn't touch it the first time and did the second. Lindros didn't touch it and lost to the Red Wings. The Capitals a year later carried it around like buffoons and lost to the Red Wings. Yzerman touched it both of those years. Lidstrom's touched it both times. There is enough evidence on either side to disprove any sort of superstitious event surrounding the conference champions trophies and winning the stanley cup.

I say pick it up. If you win the Stanley cup then great, if you lose in the finals then it was because the other team not because you touched the prince of wales/clarence campbell bowl.

[Don]

So Toews avoided the Campbell bowl like it was radioactive. Personally, I don't like this practice. I don't know how we got to the point where touching the conference championship trophies equals contentedness with not winning the stanley cup. You don't have to celebrate around it like they do in the NFL or like the Kings did in 93, but picking it up and smiling for a photo would be enough. Winning your conference championship is worth at least that much and in no way means that you don't want to win the stanley cup.

Does anyone know who started this whole thing?

Superstition.

Okay. Scott Stevens picked it up three times and didn't touch it once. The one time he didn't the Devils lost in the finals. Crosby didn't touch it the first time and did the second. Lindros didn't touch it and lost to the Red Wings. The Capitals a year later carried it around like buffoons and lost to the Red Wings. Yzerman touched it both times. Lidstrom's touched it both times. There is enough evidence on either side to disprove any sort of superstitious event surrounding the conference champions trophies and winning the stanley cup.

I say pick it up. If you win the Stanley cup then great, if you lose in the finals then it was because the other team not because you touched the prince of wales/clarence campbell bowl.

Definitely. It doesnt matter one way or the other, but I dont think they want to take their chances lol.

[DelayedPenalty]

Maybe the trophy had cooties. Toews is still young enough to believe in those, right?

Unless Montreal pulls off another Round 1 style comeback, looks like I'll be cheering for the Blackhawks in the finals (they're my Western Conference favs anyways). Patty Kane and Dave Bolland flying the London Knights banner for the Hawks!

[The_Admiral]

Toews said he wasn't here to hoist the Campbell trophy. I'm fine with that.

[NEW.ERA]

Worst case in my eyes obviously is 2004. Jarome Iginla picked it up and Dave Andreychuk left it the PoW Trophy alone.

[The_Admiral]

Since we're doing all this jinx talk, here's this: I'm having a lot of trouble seeing how either one of these East teams can win four games in the Final. The Blackhawks figured out the Predators' defensive system which bears considerable resemblance to Philly and Montreal (grind, catch a mistake, score, hang back and turtle), they solved the gold medal goalie in Vancouver, and they beat the first place team in four straight games. Close games, but nonetheless four straight games. I'll say that Leighton, Niemi, and Halak are pretty much on even footing, but the Hawks have the best depth (Kris Versteeg is on the checking line; John Madden is on the fourth; Tomas Kopecky has 13 goals/12 assists and he's a healthy scratch), speed that the East teams have yet to deal with, and a much-overlooked defensive corps.

Looking at the regular season standings, this series is going to match a 52-win 112-point team against an 88-point team. If I'm not mistaken, 24 points is the largest differential between finalists. If the Blackhawks don't win the Stanley Cup, it'll be one of the biggest chokejobs in the history of sport. I might burn some Cubs paraphernalia just in case.