4-1 Wings at the end of the 2nd.. I'm gonna have to call it a night with a comfortable lead. Work at 4am is not going to be pretty. Hopefully I'll wake up to some Wings vs Sharks series analysis :-)

:-)

bummer... hopefully we'll see the Yotes in it next year... :-)

I think so matt. They are well coached and played well this year. In the end I think you had team full of guys who have done it so many times before and didnt panic vs a young team and a good goalie who appeared to let the moment get in his head. Howard played pretty well, but the Wings really supported him very well. That said he made the big saves when the game was on the line. If the Yotes had gotten to him early it may have been different, but they didnt. My son in my avatar was pulling for the Yotes. Hes a big fan of the Jersey.:-)

Now my Sharks get to try to knock out the Wings. The Sharks are bigger and stronger, but the Wings just looked scary tonight. I dont know if the moment just got to the Yotes or if the Wings have just hit their stride or a combination of both. As a Sharks fan though that game did not make me feel comfortable about the Sharks chances. As I keep saying though thats why they play the games.

Make it 5 and I am in....that's my standard sports bet, and I do have other bets going. You should just send me your address now since you seem so certain the Hawks don't stand a chance.

My breakdown on this one?

Forwards: I think this is Vancouver's biggest strength, epsecially the 3rd and 4th lines. Both teams are stacked on the top two. The Sedins and Samuelsson and all playing great hockey, Kessler is a great two-way player, and Burrows scored 31 goals this season. I give the Canucks the edge offensively with their depth...Demitra, Raymond, some good support players.

Hawks have Toews, Kane, Hossa, Sharp, Versteeg...but some of their role players like Brouwer and Bolland need to get their heads into the game. Eager and Frasier will probably sit in favor of Burish and Bickell...Burish's only potential upside will be getting Canucks to punch him in the face and draw some penalties.

Slight edge to Vancouver.

Defense: I am not even going to go through the individuals...the Hawks defense outclasses Vancouver's by a wide margin.

Bid edge to the Hawks.

Goalies: Luongo's big game experience gives him the mental edge over Niemi. Hawks need a good net presence to be effective against him...maybe moving Byfuglein back to forward will be necessary.

Edge to Vancouver.

So the bottom line will be, can the Hawks limit the Canucks chances enough to keep their shots on goal totals low and allow Niemi to have an easier time than Luongo? That's the million dollar question.

I will take the Hawks in 7.

Congrats to the Wings on making the Semis! :-)

For San Jose to have a chance in the series, their big players need to play like it. Heatley, Marleau and Thornton need to step it up big time, and not rely on Pavelski and Clowe to do the scoring. That and Nabokov has to be sharp 60 minutes a game...Wings just have so many weapons.

It should be an awesome series...not as nasty as the Hawks-Canucks series will be, but every bit as entertaining.

Thanks Pops :-)

With all your recent analysis I say you take over for Don Cherry :-)

I can't wait for this series to get started. That Pavelski line for SJ has carried them so far, and Pavelski has emerged as their emotional leader. Detroit is a challenge for the Sharks. We are fast, don't make many mistakes, and have good goaltending. However, I'm waiting for the Marleau line to wake up. If that line can produce and Pavelski's line keeps it up, there will be a lot of pressure on the Wings aging D and young goaltending. Speaking of goaltending, it always makes me smile to see Nabakov sitting in net :-)

I see this going 7 games to the Wings, for a rematch against the Hawks in the Western Conference finals.

Congrats to the Wings, Hawks, Sharks, Nucks, Philly, Pens and B's all for making the second Round.

Habs-Caps Tonight. Come on Habs (that hurt).
The B's have to Travel to PN no matter what.

The Wings were very impressive last night. Constant pressure on the puck, excellent back-checking, crisp passes, fluid, etc. On the other hand, the 'Yotes came out flat, and played seemingly uninspired hockey which is a real shame for a game 7. I couldn't believe their reluctance to dumping the puck in deep and pressuring the defense and trying to work the boards...carrying the puck into the zone clearly wasn't working. After surviving the 1st period, they needed to show some spark to shift the pressure they had to feel. Didn't happen. If I were a 'Yotes fan, I would have been pi$$ed at that performance.

Congrats to the Wings fans.

And I told you my ability to predict games was...:-)

:-)

Blackhawk playoff tickets went on sale for potential rounds 3 and 4 this morning. It was absolutely insane trying to connect to the Ticketmaster site, all the brokers must have had things tied up but good. Hoped to score tickets for 3 or 4 games, LOL...ended up with one, and a longshot to boot...but if it comes to fruition, it will likely save me thousands over what I would have been willing to spend. Here's the low percentage scenario:

If the Capitals do not make the Finals

and

The Blackhawks do make the Finals

and

It goes to a Game 7

Then I will have a pair of face value tickets.

Guess who I am rooting for in the Habs-Caps game tonight? :-) :-)

The fans were pissed in the second period when they got down 2-0, the fans were booing the home team. The Red Wings did a great job keeping the pressure on from the beginning and kept the crowd out of it for the entire game. The Desert Dogs looked very flat the whole game and the only sign of life was after their goal. The Wings looked great, I just hope they can carry that momentum into San Jose and come home atleast 1-1. :-)

So nice to actually be able to watch an entire hockey game on TV and not streamed on the internet. Cincinnati cable carriers suck :-)

All this Canada and U.S. banter going on let's just end it and Let Canada Be the 51st state.:-):-)

:-):-)

Doh!

No thanks:-)

Buddy, I'm ONLY referring to myself and the banter going on in this thread. With respect to provocation, I was referring to YOUR comments (I hadn't said anything derogatory in this thread about the US). If you want to turn this into something else, go ahead, but I'm not playing. Chill out a bit....LOL.

Well thought out analysis. I agree with the Analysis with respect to forwards and goaltending. I also believe your D is stronger than ours, but when Sopel is in your top 4 (I might be hazy on whether he's top for or 5), I couldn't say your D outclasses ours by a wide margin with a straight face.

It's going to be a close series (6 or 7 games). I will take the Canucks in 6.

5 Sticks is fine by me. May the better team win !! :-)

Fly to Vancouver and we'll go to a game. :-):-)

Go Habs! :-)

I am a virtual life-long Penguins fan, recent era (Toews/Kane) Chicago fan, and tonight I think I am more of a Habs fan than ever!

So you can guess who I want to see in the Finals! 1992 all over again! :-)

As a Pens fan, i gotta root for the Canadiens tonight.