NHL Playoffs '09

[Surlyboi]

Devorski's been asleep most of his career. 

[Special J]

So I DVR the game and come home to 4 hours of a telethon for a local hospital instead. That's right. The local affiliate preempted a game from the Stanley Cup Finals for a telethon.

Oh wow.  I'm glad I'm north of the border where such things would be scandalous, and get to have broadcasts from CBC and TSN.

And Paul Devorski is one of the best.  I'll take the veteran refs any day.  I have no issue with how that game was called.  Let 'em play, it the Finals.  The Adams hook was weak, and Malkin shouldn't have got his breakaway, so they even out.

[Surlyboi]

Devorski is indeed one of the best. Even talked to him a couple times.

My point about his sleepiness still stands though. Especially this time of year.

[Azaroth]

Can't really say I had much of an issue with the reffing tonight.

Obviously there were a few missed calls on both sides, but usually NHL reffing is such a fucking joke...

[Azaroth]

I keep reading how evenly matched the teams are, and I realize that bounces were the story tonight... but I just can't shake the feeling that this series is over in 4 or 5.

[Slayerik]

I loved that Abdelkader goal. Catch, drop, top shelf em. 1st playoff goal of his career (and like the song they played for em, FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME!)

Detroit kept putting the puck on da net, and it paid off. Failed clears killed the Pens. Osgood had a good game, and made a big stop on Malkin. Once I saw 71 on the breakaway I just assumed it was a goal.

Overall it was a pretty close game. Reffing was fine. The Wings did what they were supposed to do, win at home. I'm guessin' the Joe was rockin' last night, eh Surly?

[Surlyboi]

IN-sane.

And yeah, the Abdelkader goal tore the roof off. When the crowd is in it and the Wings are winning, the entire Joe rocks.

The Igloo is like that too, so this is gonna be a great series for the fans at both locations.

[Azaroth]

Uhhhhhhhhhhh I'm actually really nervous about a game for the first time in the playoffs.

If the Pens lose this game it's over and done with. The Red Wings are not the Washington Capitals.

[naum]

So I DVR the game and come home to 4 hours of a telethon for a local hospital instead. That's right. The local affiliate preempted a game from the Stanley Cup Finals for a telethon.

WTF?

What market you in?

I might go insane and launch into anti-abortion doctor killer mode if that happened…

[Abagadro]

Salt Lake City, previous host to the winter Olympics. 

It was the station owned by the LDS Church. They are always jerking around the schedule (won't show SNL for instance). Usually it shows up in the DVR tags though so I can hunt down where they have shifted it (usually to a lousy UHF station so I wouldn't have gotten HD even if I had managed to find it).

[naum]

WTF?

Red Wings getting away with clutching, grabbing, slashing…

The call on Malkin was BULLSHIT as Red Wing held him and he shook him off…

Then, Hossa slashes Dupuis who would have cleared the puck, breaking his stick, leading to Wing PP goal…

Fuck the NHL and its inconsistency.

Who said refs were for Pens?

Blatant.

[Abagadro]

Pens do seem to be getting jobbed.

Osgood keeps getting caught behind the net. It's going to cost him a goal one of these times.

[Paelos]

Wah wah wah, both teams have PP goals, and the Pens can't seem to hit anything but posts. If they learned how to shoot they'd have 4 goals by now.

[Azaroth]

Pens would definitely be up if they'd hit the fucking net instead of the posts.

Reffing has been atrocious tonight, though. There's no getting around it, really.

Edit: When you're listing the shit Detroit is getting away with don't forget the FUCKING ELBOWS. Elbows EVERYWHERE.

[Abagadro]

ANOTHER one off the pipe.

[Paelos]

That's the worst soft goal I've seen in the playoffs. My god Fleury.

[Abagadro]

That thing didn't even look on net to me. Did Fleury deflect it in?

[Paelos]

That thing didn't even look on net to me. Did Fleury deflect it in?

Yes, off his glove.

[Azaroth]

I don't even understand why there were referees in this game.

Just keep the refs off the ice so everyone knows what's up and there's an even footing. That way everyone can just do whatever they want.

If you want, at one point you can randomly call a single penalty on each team and there you go. That's what the refs have accomplished tonight.

[Abagadro]

I don't even understand why there were referees in this game.

Just keep the refs off the ice so everyone knows what's up and there's an even footing. That way everyone can just do whatever they want.

If you want, at one point you can randomly call a single penalty on each team and there you go. That's what the refs have accomplished tonight.

They called some at the end there. 

[Azaroth]

And the Red Wings win another cup.

Fucking yawn.

[Paelos]

I'm seriously not seeing all the stuff you're talking about. Still, it's 5 on 5 hockey most of the time, and that's where the better team should win. Exactly what's wrong with calling it loose?

Oh right, because Pitt has no real defense and they hit people with their purses. Got it. If they didn't ring 3 off the iron, we wouldn't be hearing about the refs.

[Azaroth]

What the fuck are you talking about?

Watch the hockey game.

[naum]

I'm seriously not seeing all the stuff you're talking about. Still, it's 5 on 5 hockey most of the time, and that's where the better team should win. Exactly what's wrong with calling it loose?

Call it the way its been called all season/playoffs long.

Red Wings permitted to clutch, grab, hold, interfere, trip, slash, elbow at will, with no threat of penalty call.

Malkin is held, but is called for shaking off the hold.

Crosby tripped behind the net, no call.

Numerous elbows and sticks to the face, no call.

Much interference, even the chatty announcers who fellating all over Red Wings, note all the interference no-calls Red Wings getting away with, how it's part of their game…

It's bullshit hockey.

[Slayerik]

It's not cheating if you don't get caught. :P

Wings are flat out are the better team. All this crying doesn't change that.

Are the Pens even capable of forechecking? You can't give Detroit the passing lanes they do, they will eat you alive. Pens are getting outhussled and outplayed. Detroit's forecheck kills the Pens advancement about half the time.

Oh yeah...Sydney who?

EDIT: Also, you can not be serious about non-elbow calls, Pens got away with a bunch Saturday.

[Surlyboi]

The Pens CAN forecheck, they're just not. Why aren't they? Who the fuck knows, but watching their fans blame the officiating is
almost as much fun as the nerdrage that came off the Star Trek movie.

[Azaroth]

Hurhurhur.

Except after game one, I defended the refereeing and said I had absolutely no problem with it.

Hurhurhur dem penz fanz blamin dur refz, wouldn't bee complenen if dey wun.

[Strazos]

This is totally ruining Bettman's plans to hand Crosby the Cup, personally.

[Paelos]

Detroit hits you in the mouth and hopes to knock you off your game. They will play dirty, hit you when the refs aren't looking, glove-washing hockey. You can either cry about it or you can man up and keep your cool by scoring goals. THAT knocks them off their game and forces them to take more chances. If they get the early lead, they can just lock down and piss you off.

Rarely do you hear so much complaining about refs letting stuff go. Get over yourselves Pittsburgh. This is fucking hockey. Play five on five and win or don't.

EDIT: This is coming from a Dallas fan, and we've dealt with the same shit in the playoffs with them before. Sometimes we won the series, sometimes we lost, but you knew you couldn't let all the little jibs and jabs affect your game.

[naum]

No.

Game should be called same way it was all season.

To do otherwise, is to be bush-league.

Interference is interference.

A stick to the face should always be whistled.

Tripping is tripping.

Yeah, Pens need to deal, but I as a fan have a right to expect consistency from the officials, even if I allot that they're going to miss some…

[HaemishM]

Red Wings permitted to clutch, grab, hold, interfere, trip, slash, elbow at will, with no threat of penalty call.

Yeah, that. The reffing was utter shit tonight. There's letting them play and then there's just forgetting every fucking rule in the book. There were a ton of missed calls, stuff that any other fucking game in the season or the playoffs would have gotten called. Bullshit hockey is right.

Osgood has not been that good. He's been lucky as fuck. Just take 2 of the shots off the post in each game and put them in the net and suddenly we're in OT. Of course, if the Pens D would stay awake the whole fucking game, at least 1 or 2 of those Red Wings goals would be erased. They are lazy as fuck back there. They need to have a pillow strapped under their helmets.

[Azaroth]

Like I said - if you're going to call the game like that (which is clearly in the favour of the team that takes advantage of it expertly every year and everyone knows that), then just take the fucking refs off the ice and everyone will know the score.

Here's my problem as a Pens coach:

Wings hook, hold, trip, interfere, elbow, crosscheck, mug, fuck with the goalie, slash, whatever ALL game long. None of it is called.

Do we come back in the third and start doing the same shit? See, I doubt it, now you have to be afraid of the calls starting and going against you. So if they're not going to call penalties against the Wings, again, just get the fucking refs off the ice.

But I do agree with Paelos. Ancient Jewish wisdom states something along the lines of "In this life, there are no asterisks - just scoreboards. And ours is currently reading 'fucked'."

[Paelos]

No.

Game should be called same way it was all season.

To do otherwise, is to be bush-league.

Interference is interference.

A stick to the face should always be whistled.

Tripping is tripping.

Yeah, Pens need to deal, but I as a fan have a right to expect consistency from the officials, even if I allot that they're going to miss some…

Granted on sticks to the face and tripping, but interference is probably one of the most subjective penalties in the game.

[naum]

Again, on the Red Wings second goal — that was a blatant slash on Dupuis. Yeah, I know some of you hate that rule change, and in past years would not necessarily been a call. But in 2008-2009, in the regular season, and in the 1st 3 rounds of the Stanley Cup post-season, that's a no-brainer slashing call.

Even Doc "clutch-n-grab Devil lover" Emrick and Eddie "resentful of Pens for letting him go" O both took time out from their Detroit fellatio to remark on all the interference non-calls…

Finally, in regards to the NBC broadcast team — PLEASE, STOP *TELLING* US WHAT IS HAPPENING; INSTEAD, JUST SHOW IT! If you want to let me know everytime Crosby is out on the ice without Zetterberg, run a ticker or overlay or something. I don't need to hear it every shift. We have HD now, we can see the skaters. And I don't need to be told one team is gaining momentum or how important a faceoff is, for Gates sake, it's plainly evident even if you're a new fan to the game. Bring back Peter Puck if you want to do Hockey 101 but let's can the chatter and cross-talk, and instead, do you know, PLAY-BY-PLAY or cue up replays.

[naum]

Granted on sticks to the face and tripping, but interference is probably one of the most subjective penalties in the game.

Sometimes. Usually when somebody goes beyond finishing their check. Or if it's a judgment call on whether they had the puck or not.

But we're talking blatant interference, pick throwing, completely AWAY from the puck.