NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2007

[PowerPuff Grrl]

I am well aware that nobody here cares or at least cares enough for hockey. I think I am the only Canadian member left on this forum and ypsidan04 has long left us (the only dude I knew here who followed the playoffs... and liked the Leafs, nobody's perfect).

In any case I will be to this hockey thread what spyretto is to the tennis, tough act to follow but I am up for the challenge. And besides my team is kicking ass right now and there are only eight teams left in the playoffs so it won't be that much of an effort.
So let's begin:

Western Conference:
The Anaheim Ducks is leading the series against the Vancouver Canucks 3-1; Van City needs to win tonight's Game 5 or else they are out of the series. It's really sad with this series too, the Canucks were supposed to have tied it last game with their 2-0 lead in the third period, Anaheim somehow got two goals in 16 minutes, brought the game to overtime and won.

The series is tied 2-2 between the Detriot Red Wings and the San Jose Sharks; Detroit got their asses saved last game. The Sharks were leading 2-1 up until the very last minute of the third period, had they have held the lead any longer they would have led the series 3-1, but Detroit got one in the last minute, took the game to overtime and won tieing the series.

Eastern Conference:
The series is now tied 2-2 between the New York Rangers and the Buffalo Sabres. The Rangers managed to hold onto their lead of 2-1 even when the Sabres pulled their goalie for a sixth man on ice. It was pretty close, it could've went into overtime with the wrap-around attempt from the Sabres on the Rangers' goalie but the goal didn't count, it didn't pass the line.

The best for last: the Ottawa Senators is leading the series 3-1 against the New Jersey Devils, or as my brother would say Ottawa is leading the series 3-1 against Martin Brodeur (the goalie for the Devils). Yesterday's game, like most games, was a close 3-2 win for Ottawa, but if anybody actually watched these games including the one where Ottawa lost 3-2 in double overtime, the Sens have completely dominated the game and the entire. The only reason why these games seem really close is because Brodeur is the greatest goalie in the entire league, it is sooooo hard to score on this guy, such a pity he's plagued with such a shitty team. The Devils are playing a defensive game which Ottawa can be more than qualified to say that defense an only take you so far. Defense can only work if the other teams' offense sucks. Ottawa, for once, has a flawless offensive line to match their defense and a goalie that won't choke! In the ten years of always making the playoffs, I have never seen the Sens take such command of game.


So obviously you know where my loyalties lie. My coverage of the Stanley Cup will be largely dependent on the survival of the Sens. I'll try to keep up if they follow their tradition of choking and get eliminated but it'll be really hard for me hold myself together afterwards what with the chasing bottles of pills with beer and all that.

[PowerPuff Grrl]

Glad to see so many people interested!


The New York Rangers lost against the Buffalo Sabres last night 2-1 leaving the Sabres leading in the series 3-2. Maxim Afinogenov of the Buffalo Sabres saved the day (at least for Buffalo) by scoring power play goal in overtime. MVP of the game should go to Henrik Lundqvist, the goalie for the Rangers, who pretty much kept New York alive throughout the game.
I personally really don't want the Sabres to win. Last year they demolished the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the playoffs. They're young, but fucking fast as shit. If they win the series, which they probably will, they'll advance to semi-finals facing off Ottawa if they win against New Jersey, which they probably will (they fucking better).

The Vancouver Canucks are out. The Anaheim Ducks managed to get one in winning 2-1 but it was really a hard win double overtime. It's really misleading to say that the Ducks won the series 4-1, because every game was so close, this one in particular the refereeing was horrific, that first goal by the Ducks should not have counted - yah don't spear the frickin' goalie. (Though I'm not sure that would have made any difference). The Canucks goaltender, Roberto Luongo, played phenomenally blocking 47 shots in regular time. Too bad the rest of the team didn't try as hard.
Maybe next year Vancouver.

Tonight's games:
Detroit Red Wings vs. San Jose Sharks - The series is 2-2
Ottawa Senators vs. New Jersey Devils - The series is 3-1 Ottawa.

GO SENS GO!!!

[PowerPuff Grrl]

Western Conference:
The Detriot Red Wings has now taken the lead in the series against the San Jose Sharks 3-2. The last game was almost sad, though San Jose got the early score leading 1-0 in the first period and managed to take out one of Detroit's best players Mathieu Schneider, the guy who carried Detroit into overtime thus winning the game, Detroit destroyed them 4-1.
The second goal by Detroit was pathetic. Words cannot describe.

If Detroit wins again they'll face the Anaheim Ducks for the Western Conference final. San Jose will need to win two more to win.

Eastern Conference:
The Buffalo Sabres win the series against the New York Rangers 4-2. The game was a nail-biter, it was pretty good, the Sabres miracuously hung on the lead winning 5-4. New York certainly knew how to bring it. Buffalo, which I think is the first ranked team in the league (or at least offensively, or score-wise or something) has been playing a sloppy game of hockey last several of matches.
In any case, a similar gaffe was made like in the Red Wings/Sharks game; for a moment the net was empty but New York (proving how freaking well they have been playing lately) managed to avoid an goals from that, though in the end it wasn't enough. Major props to Paul Mara of the Rangers.
Video Recap of the game.

The Ottawa Senators won the series in just five games (which is amazing for a semi-Conference final) against the New Jersey Devils, 4-1. God I hope they fire Lamoriello, the coach for the Devils who devised the most infuriating game play in hockey history; the "Trap" which pretty much consists of boring the shit out of your opponents (and audience) then nabbing it when they aren't sharp enough stop a play. In any case Ottawa pretty much schooled them, you can't wait for your opponent to screw up when they are busy your kicking ass. New Jersey had the early goal in the first period, Ottawa then scored three goals just in the second period with the Devils scoring another in the third just after bring the goalie in to put in another man.
Video Recap of the game.

So now the Eastern Conference final will be the Ottawa Senators against the Buffalo Sabres. These two teams have some serious history together. The last biggest hockey brawl occured during the regular season against these two teams, IIRC.
One giant brawl in one game, followed by several scuffles in another.
(It's been a while, I know, but now that the League has pretty much laid the law against rough play with bigger penalties, everybody is really careful with the fights and bodychecks and all.)

[freddie]

I started following the league a bit this year cause we have one of our own playing for LA Kings, but shamefully I got lost in the playoffs... There are no live coverages here obviously so I rely on what I read from the news. Hopefully Ottawa does it this yeah, right? Unless they have to wait for me to grace the city with my presence in order to win like it happened with the Red Sox.

If I had to bet money on someone (and mind you I'm goins stictly on instinct since I'm not very involved with the league) I'd go for Detroit.

[PowerPuff Grrl]

LA Kings!

You're going to have to wait a while till they make it to the playoffs. Last time I saw them appear was during the Gretsky years!

Detroit, as everyone guessed (but San Jose), beat the San Jose Sharks in a shut-out game 2-0 winning the best of seven series 4-2. I'll have a video recap up shortly. Detroit does seem like they'll be going all the way this year freddie, but I wouldn't bet on it. Everybody is predicting an Anaheim Ducks/Buffalo Sabres Stanley Cup finals this year and those teams are the best ranked too. The last time Detroit even made it to the Conference finals was back in 2002 where they went on to win the Stanley Cup. If they beat Anaheim, then maybe, but Anaheim is pretty tough.

I think it'll be even tougher for Ottawa, the last two teams they defeated can't even be compared to Buffalo. Not to say that New Jersey sucks (well they do actually) but they play a defensive game whereas Buffalo is probably the strongest offensive team in the league. Ottawa hasn't faced an offensively strong team since the regular season. It'll be such a change of pace that it just may affect them. The only thing I think Ottawa has that can be considered a clear advantage is Ray Emery who is a far superior a goalie than Buffalo's Ryan Miller and Buffalo's defense is shakey whereas Ottawa' is solid. Other than that, it should just be a fantastic series of hockey where two offensive teams battle their hearts out. I can't pick a clear winner, if this were last year I'd say Buffalo straight up but now that Ottawa's game has changed I really don't know. The odds are against us, statistically speaking. The last time Buffalo lost to a Canadian team in the playoffs was back in 1993 when the Habs (Montreal Canadians) ruled and they did in fact clean us out last year in the playoffs but we did beat them last February during the regular season.

Western Conference Final:
The Anaheim Ducks vs. The Detroit Red Wings

Eastern Conference Finals:
The Ottawa Senators vs. The Buffalo Sabres


If your presence could make the Boston Red Sox win then surely shouldn't be too hard for it to work on Ottawa.
Pack yo' bags baby!

[PowerPuff Grrl]

Oh man, I knew Ottawa would win the series against Buffalo but I thought it would be a hard fight. No way did I think that the Sens would sink the Sabres 5-2 in the first game... in Buffalo. That is just too beautiful. First goal pretty much set the entire game; Buffalo on several power plays, all averted by the Sens to the point where the Sens have a short-handed goal!
Video Recap

It's just the first game and it's far too early to get my hopes high, but I hope Ottawa can win again in Buffalo so the series could be ours. No way would Ottawa lose on their own turf.

[PowerPuff Grrl]

Been away for a while, I'm in Toronto right now visiting my brothers and sister so I'm going to be a little slow with the updates. Oh, and the mood in Toronto is oddly muted; it's almost like they don't know what hockey is, ignoring that their far superior rivals the Ottawa Senators is the only Canadian team left in the playoffs and most likely to win the entire thing. No, they're just talking about the Blue Jays (baseball) and the Raptors (basketball) as if either team will be successful this year.


Western Conference Final
Clearly the more interesting conference final between the Detroit Red Wings and the Anaheim Ducks. Game 1 Detroit won 2-1, scoring early in the first period and holding until the third where Anaheim tied the game 1-1 then Detroit scored another winning and starting a good lead into the series 1-0. The last goal by Detroit shouldn't have counted; Giguere (the goalie for the Ducks obvioulsy had some interference from the Red Wings).
Video Recap.
However the lead was short lived, Anaheim has now successfully tied the series 1-1 in Game 2 winning 4-3 in overtime. Scoring the first goal near the end of the first period, Anaheim took the lead having the Red Wings constantly trying the catch up only taking the lead in the third period where Anaheim scored another and carried the game into overtime and winning.
Video Recap.

Hard to tell which is the better team, they seem pretty fairly matched in terms of skills but good God is Anaheim just beating the shit out of Detroit. I kinda hope that Anaheim loses, they have the largest players in the league, Ottawa is playing pretty rough these days but it is no match for Anaheim.

Eastern Conference Final
Game 2 in Buffalo was a nail-biter. Buffalo pretty much dominated the game with three goals just in the first period (however one of them didn't count since it bounced off of glove from a Sabres player), Buffalo finished the first period 2-0. Ottawa then caught up with two goals in the second period and then scored another in the last seconds before the end of the period thus leading the game 3-2 into the third. Buffalo only managed to get one in the last 6 seconds of the game, tieing the game and bringing to overtime. Nothing much happened in the first overtime period. Second overtime Ottawa won with an amazing slapshot that no goalie could possibly saeve. 'Twas awesome.
Video Recap.
Game 3 final had the game brought to Ottawa and like I said; no way would Ottawa lose in their own turf. It was pretty uneventful actually (with the exception of the tension-filled face-off), Ottawa won 1-0 so that should tell you how exciting it was. I know Ottawa is good and should be recognised for playing amazing hockey during the playoffs but Buffalo is better than this. Everybody was predicting them for the Stanley Cup Finals they were the first ranked team in the Eastern Conference, Ottawa was 4th. Regular season stats mean shit usually but Buffalo slaughtered us in last year's playoffs. Now they'll have to win 3 games just to catch up whereas Ottawa just needs another game to adavnce to the Cup finals.
Sad... yet so sweet.
Video Recap.

[PowerPuff Grrl]

Ok, so I spoke too soon. Ottawa lost Game 4 in their own turf to Buffalo 3-2. I guess I underestimated the desperation in Buffalo. They totally commanded the first half of the game scoring 3 goals in just the first two periods with one of them in the first nine seconds of the game. Nonetheless Ottawa woke up halfway through; scored two but it wasn't enough to win.
I didn't watch the game live but I knew the result immediately from the Blue Jays (baseball team in Toronto) game I attended this past week. Leaving the stadium chants of "Go Jays Go" slowly turned to "Let's go Buffalo" then to straight up "Fuck the Sens." Can you believe that shit, how freaking bitter and petty does one have to be to turn a victory (Jays wons) into an anti-Senators rally. It just reminded me of how much I hate Toronto and Torontonians. In any case; Video Recap.

No matter though, Ottawa won Game 5 in Buffalo 3-2 in overtime.
Video Recap.
So you know what that means?
WE ARE GOING TO THE STANLEY CUP BABAY!!!!!

AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!
Those Toronto bastards said we couldn't do it, they said that anyday now we'd choke.
So who're the chokers now bitches, WHO ARE THE CHOKERS NOW?!
We did in 15 years what they couldn't do in 40; suck it haterz! You pathetically battled two teams for the last entry for playoffs... and you lost!

The Pittsburg Peguins, The New Jersey Devils, and now the Buffalo Sabres all beaten by Ottawa in a series of 4-1 each.

Ah God, if anybody's interested in the Western Conference finals (who we'll be facing in the Cup finals) here are the video recaps for both games.
Video Recap of Game 3 - The Detroit Red Wings bury the Anaheim Ducks 5-0.
Video Recap of Game 4 - Anaheim catch up winning 5-3 against Detroit thus tieing the series 2-2.
I'll try to be more attentive to the Western Conference now that the Eastern has concluded.