Say goodnight, Kate Smith.
God bless parity.
Another top seed is out of the playoffs.
Ilya Kovalchuk, who is having great playoffs, fired a rocket past Ilya Bryzgalov on a New Jersey power play to seal the deal in five games.
With Claude Giroux watching from the stands, Philadelphia couldn’t generate enough offence to beat New Jersey’s rock-solid defensive system.
Bottom line: New Jersey’s best outplayed Philadelphia’s.
Jaromir Jagr was invisible in the series, as were James Van Riemsdyk and Wayne Simmonds.
In the end, the Flyers may have been hurt by their easy conquest of the Penguins.
The Devils had a tough series against Florida, going to OT in the seventh game in the Panthers building.
They were battle-tested, and ready to advance.
BTW, Bryzgalov is signed until 2020.
And Phoenix, his old team, has Mike Smith.
The Flyers join the Bruins, Penguins, Canucks, Blues, Blackhawks, Red Wings and Predators as upset victims.
Here’s a wild stat: the Devils are the highest-scoring regular-season team still alive in the playoffs.
Another one: Only three of 25 highest salaried players are still active in playoffs: Brad Richards, Marion Gaborik and Alexander Ovechkin.
There is a problem in Montreal, and it is not the GM, the coach, nor the coaching staff, the problem people, is that Montreal Canadiens are owned by a Committee of Owners, who Geoff Molson is beholding to. This committee gave us a dismal year.
It is time Montreal fans pushed to stop this Ownership Committee which reared it’s ugly head first under Gillette, then now under Molson. They have given us dismal hockey in Montreal even before the lockout and after the lockout.
Fans should be telling the ownership committee and the media in Montreal is the most to blame, for not laying the blame where it belongs. Not on Gauthier, not on Gainey, not on Gilette, but on the committee.
Molson should come clean and remind us that while Bergevin may have good humour, and a people person, hey, at the end of the day Bergevin is just a figurehead GM. He has no authority, we saw that in Gauthier. How can Molson expect to turn things around when he can be outvoted easily and unable to make quick changes? You can see the hand of the Committee in the slow way things were done, and the shoddy way they were done. Come on fans, let us give the Ownership Committee what they deserve, give them the boos, not the players. All the players do is sign a contract offered to them by the Ownership Committee. Come on Molson, next time, let the committee come out of hiding and get the eggs they so rightfully deserve after giving us ten years of horrible hockey in Montreal. Some rebuild you Ownership Committee did…..brand name Gainey, owners, the Ownership Committee……..come on Boone, come on Red Fisher, are you guys sleeping at the wheel?
Anybody ever have one of them portable inflatable spas?
[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.
Cat, to ask a question like that at 5:22 AM only leads me to believe my life must be extremely boring and empty compared to yours.
***Subbang Baby!!!***
Ah good ol schadenfreude to see the dirty Flyers gone. Lmao “that’s offside!!”.. And loved that highlight of Briere getting his stick yanked from him hahaha
That’s strange re Hawks firing assistant coach…. Something’s going on for sure…
Something no one seems to have written about:
If there is a strike or lock-out next year, nothing can stop the Russian draftees (Yakupov, Grigrenko, Galchenyuk) from going to Russia for the year.
If they do move to the KHL they will be that much harder to sign.
—
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
That is why you don’t draft Russian players. WHy take the chance.
Because their better than other players?
Galchenyuk would stay in America for sure. Grigs and Yakupov would probably stay in CHL too.
It could benefit Grigorenko,give him time to get over his mono.
NorthTOHab
Galchenyuk is not a russian . Born and raised in Milwaulkee.
Bruin scum out: check
Dirty, jerk Pronger led Flyers out: check
Habs hire new fresh blood for GM: Check
aaah, no Habs playoffs offseason just keeps getting better and better.
Perfection for me will be:
Totally overrated GM Sather: out
jerk di#$head Richards: out
GO HABS GO!
Speaking of harmless crushes, Amanda Lang is on CBC’s The National again.
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How about it NHL? No fighting, just hockey?
http://relentlessineptitude.blogspot.com/
Lauren Hart and Amanda Lang on the same network on the same evening.
Kind of makes up for Bob Cole.
The plot thickens in Chicago.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/joel-quenneville-commits-indian-explains-firing-blackhawks-assistant-013138944.html
Oh boy! They’ve got the goofy shrink on again.That’s it I’m outa here!
Belanger has gone Edmonton Hipster! No socks!
Lou L has done a masterful job in NJ. Always a tough team. An offense that is quick, smart, and lethal; a D that is big, smart and smothering, and, of course, Brodeur, the best money goalie in the league
3 cups since ’95, and they’re on the way to #4 this year.
LA hasn’t got a chance.
NJ in 6 games
they gotta get past Lundquvist and the rangers first
Thats the way the cookie crumbles
Way to go Chuck, you’ll never forget it.
I remember Matthew’s (11) first steps. We were playing roll the ball, and it got by him. Well instead of crawling to get it, he gets up on two wabbly legs and runs to get it. He hasn’t stopped running since. I couldn’t believe it, so exciting.
Hope to see ya this summer. We’ll see how it goes, sometimes I get so excited on trips that I can’t wait to get home and skip everyone.
Should be interesting. Stopping in 5 baseball cities along the 94 and maybe the Jays as well.
They Call Me Shane
“They never asked to be Canadiens, they were Chosen.”
Shane Oliver
Twitter @Sholi2000
http://www.Sholi2000.com
Custom Sports Figures
From below: Chuck posted – “By the way, while we are bragging about kids, my little one took he first steps today… ten of them!”
That’s eight more than Kesler ever takes before he falls down (and needs off season shoulder surgery)
So Tremblay likes Mike Therrien or Roy for coach.Dandy likes Roy,Belanger likes Hartley and Gaston says Roy would want to much say over personel. Nobody likes Crawford.
Only one French-speaking ex-NHL head coach never gets mentioned: Mario Tremblay.
—
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
Wonder why?
The only person who would hire Tremblay is Lemaire and not as HC.
With his record as HC its obvious.
The Canadiens need to move away from trying to clone the teams of the 70’s by osmosis!
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What does the Commissioner of the NHL do?
In short, a league commissioner is the action man for the Board of Governors.
They tell him what they want done and he works to make it happen through his subordinates while making sure that individual franchises play by the rules.
******** Translated if you haven’t won the Stanley Cup in 40 years your NHL team is becoming irrelevant in a sports mad city long behind MLB, NFL and NBA teams, you just tell the commissioner(who you gave a new contract at 7 plus million per) to make it happen and the rules are bent sufficiently to action the command.
The sum total of all of their input into the decision is squat!
AC guys all want their particular guy so in their mind they will have privileged access! No more!
———————————————————————-
What does the Commissioner of the NHL do?
In short, a league commissioner is the action man for the Board of Governors.
They tell him what they want done and he works to make it happen through his subordinates while making sure that individual franchises play by the rules.
******** Translated if you haven’t won the Stanley Cup in 40 years your NHL team is becoming irrelevant in a sports mad city long behind MLB, NFL and NBA teams, you just tell the commissioner(who you gave a new contract at 7 plus million per) to make it happen and the rules are bent sufficiently to action the command.
If the Kings, Coyotes or Caps win the cup it will be the first time since the 97-98 Red Wings that a team with less than 45 regular season wins takes home the cup!
It would also be the first time that a team that didn’t finish in the top 10 over-all wins the Cup.
Parity.
Like I said, all you gotta do is get in!
—Hope Springs Eternal—
I disagree. Getting in is not enough. The teams that go all the way do so because they have the horses and the depth.
As well, the distance between teams is less pronounced as in the past where a few teams ran away with the league. Now the best teams are all clustered in a pack or packs.
This season there was a 3 point spread between 1st and 4th, a 4 point gap between 4th and 5th, and then another 3 point spread between 5th and 10th. Last season the spread between 2nd and 8th was 4 points.
If the Caps win against the Rags it would be the first time that 3 of the 4 Conference finalists would be outside the top 10 over-all.
Getting in is important without a doubt, but eking or limping in, rarely is.
LA all the way – Best all around team still in the playoffs.
I would say best goalie left in the playoffs. Take quick and brown off that team and they would not have one either series.
“Like Canadian Hip hop..check us out http://www.groovecontrolmusic.com“
If NYR vs NJD will be for the Eastern final (w/c predictably, it may happen), this will be a violent series.
I like the Western final better – PHX vs LAK.
the 1st game of LAK vs Pho will be slow and boring seeing as the teams will get too much time off.
Looks good on em.
Go Habs Go!
Visit Your NHL Draft Headquarters
http://lastwordonsports.com/category/lastwordblog/nhldraft/
Dandenault and Belanger on L”Antichambre!
Too bad Carbo’s not there with Dandenault.
That would have been interesting.
Carbo & Dandenault play together for The Alumni Team so it seems they get along at least on the ice…….
Their “off ice” interests seem to coincide as well.
Belanger has his ’80s Miami Vice look going. lol
Yeah, what’s with his hair? Looks like Cameron Diaz in “There’s Something About Mary”.
LOL
Your best players need to be your best players. Simple as that! The Devils played smart within their limits and really controlled the Flyers with a constant forecheck and a 5 skater kind of game meaning that all were often together in the same zone.
Can you name the star of the serie for the Flyers ? I thought so…
Obviously they gave everything against the Pens.
They should have been beaten by Pitt, got lucky that Fleury sucked for 2 to 3 games. So they shouldn’t have gone to the 2nd round. Holmgren should be smart enough to realize that he needs to tweak the team. Van Rymsdyk has not delivered the goods to be sure.
Maybe but the Pens were thrown out of the serie. Rarely seen a team that intimidated and out of their game plan.
The Flyers gave it all and were no threath against the Devils.
I feel bad for Mr. Giroux not playing tonight. Nah! He deserve the suspension. Too bad, he could’ve helped his team win this game. Sadly, the devils won the series.
So, who’s the early favourite for the Conn Smythe Trophy?
Quick?Smith?Kovalchuk?
The System
I would have to think Smith, so far.
My vote would go to Quick. The Kings needed 1 game over the minimum to eliminate the West’s top 2 seeds.
It looks more and more like it’s going to be the best goaltending that is going to win it all. My vote goes to the goaltender of the Cup winner.
I’d say it’s Smith because without him, the Coyotes would have been out of it a long time ago despite their opportunistic scoring – they NEED him to play well to win.
Quick and Brown have also been impressive for the Kings, but that team (except for Quick) underperformed during the regular season and should have done better so they’re heating up and succeeding as a group at the right time.
Hard to say, because as habsfan0 pointed out, they only lost 1 game so far in eliminating the top 2 seeds (however, I’d like to see the Kings face a team, i.e., the Coyotes, that are gaining momentum unlike the Blues and the Canucks)
I agree, although you have to admit that the Coyotes play a pretty tight system. But without Smith, no question, they wouldn’t be where they are.
Brown has been unbelievable for L.A.. He played so poorly all year, and picked the right time to wake up.
But Smith has made the difference overall, in helping one team in the playoffs.
Smith.
But if you could give it to a coach I would give it to Sutter of LA. Dont know what he’s doing but he has everyone playing well.
Gooins done. Flyers toast. Now if only the Rangers would make my week by folding like a cheap tent.
Bryzgalov’s gaffe reminded me so much of Steve Smith’s.
I thought you said Bryz’s gaffe reminded you of ‘Mike Smith’ from the Coyotes. Oops!!
By the way, while we are bragging about kids, my little one took he first steps today… ten of them! It won’t be long before she’s patrolling the blue line of her favourite team!
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Being a Hab fan is like buying real estate: only over the long-haul will you appreciate the true value of your investment.
Precious!
***Subbang Baby!!!***
The Laffs could use her today.
Id rather she go into politics. 😉
___________________________________________________
Being a Hab fan is like buying real estate: only over the long-haul will you appreciate the true value of your investment.
lol
Good for her, and daddy!
My grandson lives with us and will be 3 next month.
I love that age.
Enjoy! It’s one of the best times with your kids.
Lafleur!
Cool! It’s a great age for daddies. Enjoy and love love love. despite the odd accidents or mall tantrums.
The bad thing about both the Bruins and the Flyers being out is that I have no teams left to hate — so my interest in the subsequent games has lessened. I hope the Caps win, because they eliminated Boston, but I have to admit it doesn’t look good for them. If they don’t make it through, it’ll be Joisey in the East and Phoenix in the West for me.
Justice is served. I would like nothing better right now than to be a fly in the corner of a Philadelphia bar.
Well one thing for sure, Daniel Brière is a puke, a rat punk a55 puke. Spearing and then kicking ?
Anyway, they are out, and another thing I guess crappy goaltending by Pittsburgh made people overestimate the Flyers, they still have crappy goaltending, a suspect defense and an above average offense.
Larry Robinson ‘s fingerprints were all over this win. Larry always says that the playoffs are all about seeing how much abuse you are willing to suffer in order to win. Discipline !!!
Yup. Hope he’ll join the Habs as defense coach.
Does this mean no more Lauren Hart this year?
Not too happy about that.