NHL 2012 - 2013

[Shannow]

Last 4 teams left are the last 4 Stanley cup winners. Its a hunger games quarter quell, or whatever that thing was called.

[WayAbvPar]

I really wish the Red Wings had pulled it out in OT last night, and not just because I fucking hate the Blackhawks (and every other team still alive). The NHL needed to be embarrassed by its utterly substandard officiating on a huge stage, and instead got lucky.

[Azaroth]

Speaking of utterly substandard officiating... is there a reason the Bruins always seem to benefit from it?

[Ceryse]

Speaking of utterly substandard officiating... is there a reason the Bruins always seem to benefit from it?

Eh, they really don't, not from what I have seen. They only seem to get a bit more than average in favourable calls/non-calls. Penguins and Sharks have been the teams with the most favourable disposition, imo, with the Rangers and Wings a fair bit back of them, but still overly in their favour.

Its something a group of the stat-guys on various blogs are looking at tracking. I know a group of them have done a trial run of it in these playoffs; wish I knew what their results were and hope its something that gets a lot more work done on it because its the number one issue facing the game (aside from the concussion issue, of course). Reffing is horrific in the NHL and far too subjective on the teams playing, the time of year, conditions of the game, reputations of those involved and so on.

Technically, if the refs called games by the book you'd see close to 30-40 penalties a game -- which is why reffing is so shitty. So much shit is gotten away with for so long that its just steam-rolled.

Look at Vancouver, as an example. I know a few years ago a group of the stat guys looked at their games and found that, on average, the Canucks got away with almost four interference penalties for every five minutes played (and in terms of impacting the rules, the Canucks were the reason offensive zone interference became a penalty --and its a big reason their powerplay suffered as they couldn't run picks nearly as often).

Of course, a sub-set of the problem is that most fans don't even understand what is, or is not a penalty based on a few poll samplings Dellow and others did. Even something that should be a simple yes/no like high sticking saw a large number of fans get it wrong (primarily because a surprising amount of fans did not understand a high stick actually has to make contact to be a penalty and that the follow through from a shot is not a penalty).

Hell, just look at off-sides; most fans don't understand that if the defending team brings the puck back into the zone it negates any off-side (and its something the linesmen screw up from time to time, as well).

[Paelos]

Blaming the Pens game yesterday on refs seems silly. Pitt was giving away the puck and playing like shit.

[Shannow]

Blaming the Pens game yesterday on refs seems silly. Pitt was giving away the puck and playing like shit.

Why not? Sydney Crosby certainly wants too.  I've never watched enough of Crosby but dear god what a little shit.  My favorite moment may have been when he was jawing with Chara...seriously?  The whole country knows you ain't going to fight so shut your mouth and actually play.

It wasn't a great call on Matt Cooke but fuck it, that's revenge for Marc Savard.

And it's fricken laughable if you want to blame the game on the refs. 

[Arinon]

Pens deserved to lose that game, shit calls or not. 

Marchand makes it really fucking hard to cheer for Boston in this series.  He's such a shitheel.  Gets away with the same hit they tossed Cooke for and with blatant interference on Letang while fucking waving Bergeron into a breakaway.

First two periods were some great hockey though.

[Speedy Cerviche]

Chara is a dirty s.o.b. and you can call him that without having to fight him.

[Shannow]

Chara is a dirty s.o.b. and you can call him that without having to fight him.

W...T...F?

[naum]

First, the uneven calls - Cooke gets 5 minutes, yet same Boston hit results in a minor. Just about the most infuriating thing about NHL officiating -- not calling it consistent.

But I think the officials are influencing the play and it does affect the Penguins more -- the permitting of holding, clutching and grabbing that the Bruins did on wide scale. Previous Penguin opponents got whistled more for these acts of interference, but the officials have decided to just let 'em play. Which often erupts in fights and retaliation that often goes against the purer skating team.

Bruins look like they're going to accentuate their size and goaltending.

[Speedy Cerviche]

Chara is a dirty s.o.b. and you can call him that without having to fight him.

W...T...F?

Chara constantly dishing dirty shots or boards, in corners and in scrums. If you don't see it you either got Bruins homer goggles on or don't know enough hockey well enough to see it.

[WayAbvPar]

Anyone who says Chara isn't dirty after he almost killed Pacioretty is either blind or willfully ignorant. The entire Bruins roster takes as many cheap shots as they can every single shift.

[Shannow]

Anyone who says Chara isn't dirty after he almost killed Pacioretty is either blind or willfully ignorant.

Oh god , I knew that was coming up. You guys are idiots.

[Paelos]

If your team gets 30 shots and comes up with nothing in the net, blaming the refs is the last ditch effort of delusional fan.

I have no horse in this race. Crosby needs to STFU and play, the Pens had home ice and got pantsed by their own turnovers, and I don't think there's a single defenseman in the league that shouldn't be called "dirty" by opposing fans if he's actually doing his job.

[WayAbvPar]

Anyone who says Chara isn't dirty after he almost killed Pacioretty is either blind or willfully ignorant.

Oh god , I knew that was coming up. You guys are idiots.

Well argued. I especially like how you used facts and logic to counteract the claims.

[Shannow]

Anyone who says Chara isn't dirty after he almost killed Pacioretty is either blind or willfully ignorant.

Oh god , I knew that was coming up. You guys are idiots.

Well argued. I especially like how you used facts and logic to counteract the claims.

The irony of your post is quite amusing. Lets move on...Vokoun pulled in the first period, Bylsma needs to pull his d and forwards who can't give two shits about playing defense. U

[Ceryse]

Is Chara dirty? Of course. Is he as dirty as say... Cooke? Not even close -- and Cooke will almost never get the benefit of the doubt, nor should he given his history of not only being a dirty player, but one who HAS hit to hurt (I despise Cooke, but I give him props for largely changing his game in the last few years, but he's still got that stigma about him and always will). Chara is dirty in a manner that's not only largely accepted, but encouraged by the players, refs, media, fans and league. He walks the line very closely, and not nearly as well as a lot of others who do that; as his penalty minutes show. Refs actually watch him pretty closely, especially after the Pacioretty hit (which, imo, was clean, if nasty -- a horrible confluence of timing, position and a guy as large as Chara stepping up).

Bruins do clutch and grab, but not nearly as much as some seem to make out; the Penguins have actually been more guilty of that then the Bruins so far and its showing; Penguins are slowing down, trying to play the man and not the puck, reaching and getting beat, badly, by a team that is fast, physical and relentless and is only rarely stopping to engage in the dirty while the play is alive. That's the lesson the Penguins have refused to learn about playing a team like the Bruins. You save that shit for between whistles or when the play is slow and along the boards or behind the net. Trying to do it around the blue lines is suicide in the playoffs; but that's what they're trying to do.

Bruins have been the clearly better team so far -- its not even close. Crosby and Malkin need to play hockey and stop being children trying to beak and instigate. They're overwhelmingly better players than anyone on the Bruins and yet they are getting schooled because they aren't playing a skill game. They aren't even trying.

Also, Penguins defensive zone coverage? Horrendous. Krug is playing better than any Penguins defenseman and that's pathetic.

[Paelos]

I'd like to hear how the refs got in the way of that asskicking.  

PS - 12 Giveaways? It seemed like more. That's how much of a disaster the Pens appeared to be.

[Paelos]

 

2OT 

[Arinon]

Another really great game.

Hoping for the original six finals match-up.

[Ceryse]

Nice to see the Pens pushed to elimination. Not a fan of the Bruins.. but would prefer them in the final; they deserve it more, imo. Either the Hawks or Kings would be fine with me (although I'd prefer the Kings solely on the number of ex-Oilers I can cheer for).

[Shannow]

I actually fell asleep during the intermission between 1st and 2nd OT. Arrrrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhh.

[murdoc]

51 seconds... That's all they had to hold on for was 51 seconds...

/wanders off muttering

[01101010]

Like I was saying to my friends on a chat channel last night... Pittsburgh is the alpha strike team. If you can withstand or nullify that aspect, they are pretty squishy and fall over quite easily. DPS vs Tank, Tank wins as long as it keeps facing the DPS.

It is rather amazing how the Pens have completely shit the bed in this series. Defense and goaltending always are good enough when you are scoring 4+ goals a game. Take that away and the model falls apart pretty dramaticallly.

[Shannow]

In 30+? years of watching sports this was one of the most awesome things I have ever seen. According to reports he broke his leg on the play. The crowd's standing o and then later chanting his name was the perfect touch.

[Speedy Cerviche]

I'm a big believer in the necessity of adversity and it's fairly clear the lack of it that the Pens faced up until now bit them. They have not faced very good defense in the playoffs and have crutched on scoring 4+ goals per game and came in to this one playing loose hockey.

Too bad they lost last night cuz I think they were starting to get it and it would have been a new series but now with the 3-0 deficit a comeback will be extremely difficult even against known chokers like Boston.

[01101010]

I'm a big believer in the necessity of adversity and it's fairly clear the lack of it that the Pens faced up until now bit them. They have not faced very good defense in the playoffs and have crutched on scoring 4+ goals per game and came in to this one playing loose hockey.

Too bad they lost last night cuz I think they were starting to get it and it would have been a new series but now with the 3-0 deficit a comeback will be extremely difficult even against known chokers like Boston.

Well, Ottawa is not lacking on the defense or the goalie. Boston is just proving they have a playoff gear they can tap into when needed.

[Speedy Cerviche]

Ottawa was exposed as a weak team since that "playoff gear" is rather essential so any team that lacks it is clearly not all that great and the Pens overwhelmed them with offensive depth (something Montreal had, but lost with injuries).

[Paelos]

It is rather amazing how the Pens have completely shit the bed in this series. Defense and goaltending always are good enough when you are scoring 4+ goals a game. Take that away and the model falls apart pretty dramaticallly.

They can't shoot. Plain and simple. They have 110 shots in 3 games, and 2 goals. They are mentally shot, completely out of their normal flow, and Boston is going to sweep this thing in 4 unless a team that knows how to shoot the puck shows up.

[Shannow]

Pens looked good last night, hit the post 3 or 4 times? Rask was on fire. A 2-1 deficit with the knowledge that you can play with the B's vs 3-0 are two completely different things.

[Shannow]

This is awesome. 

[El Gallo]

Can't believe he was brought back this year, but Bylsma really has to go now, right?  Team was utterly clueless both in this series and the Islanders series.  Either Bylsma thinks that was an appropriate strategy, in which case he's a moron, or the players were ignoring him, which means he's lost the team.  Either way, gotta go. 

[Ceryse]

Man... Pens swept. Out-scored 12-2. Shut out twice. Crosby and Malkin pointless in all four games (first time in their careers they've gone four games in a row without a point).

Honestly, you have to hang the series on the top players on the Penguins. Crosby, Malkin, Iginla, Neal, Letang. They were not only far from effective, but often liable for goals against.

Bruins were the lesser skilled team that played harder, skated more and worked together and it showed. I think they win the cup. Chicago has a good team.. but I don't think they're as good as the Bruins are right now.

[Paelos]

I still think Chicago wins it all.

Pens honestly couldn't look worse, and I don't think it was all Boston's doing. They simply choked.

[Shannow]

Oh Jerrrrrommmme