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[MrToughPants]

Yeah and I think the role players like Armstrong and Neil will be huge too, players like Crosby, Malkin, Heatley and Spezza will be shadowed to no end. Infact, the Pens big stars have been largely ineffective this season against the Sens, it's been player like Armstrong, Ouellet and Talbot that have been Sens killers.

Too bad Murray is a ****ing tool and juggles the forward lines every single game. His match up plans ****ing suck.

 

[NinSoX]

When JFJ gets fired this offseason, which GM do you think will fill in? A rookie GM or someone with some respectable experience?

The thing is, the team needs a complete revamp and hockey clubs aren't as easy to change and play effectively as a group as, say, baseball.

 

[bishoptl]

Canucks lost. Bummer.

On the other hand, this means the Avs are still alive and mathematically valid to punt the Briquettes out of the playoffs! Glass half full, gentlemen.

 

[Mike Works]

yeah, even though it's ****ing RETARDED when the canucks' last two games are (seriously, 1pm on saturday and 2pm on sunday, what ****ing genius thought that one up), the upside with losing this game is it keeps colorado's hopes alive of ****ing over the flames.

then there's the san jose game on saturday. if we win, we clinch the division. if we lose, we basically clinch facing dallas in the playoffs, which pretty much everyone wants instead of san jose.

not too bad.

 

[GSG Flash]

Too bad Murray is a ****ing tool and juggles the forward lines every single game. His match up plans ****ing suck.

Yeah, his line match ups suck, but sometimes they actually work, I have no idea what the **** he was thinking putting Meszaros in the critical moments of the game against the Pens. Meszaros has been laying an egg this whole season and has the worst plus/minus on the whole team, so I guess the right thing to do would be NOT to put him on the ice at the time you need solid defense right? Not according to Murray

 

[Socreges]

Malakhov, saturday.

then there's the san jose game on saturday. if we win, we clinch the division. if we lose, we basically clinch facing dallas in the playoffs, which pretty much everyone wants instead of san jose.

not too bad.

It'd be a little sweeter if Dallas just lost to Anaheim tonight and the Canucks could head into the playoffs with a little winning streak.

 

[Solo]

Best part of not posting during the games: I avoid the Leafs/Habs "debates"
Jesus the Habs looked sad last night though. All we had to do was show up for one game, and we didnt. Now we could lose that spot to the freaking Islanders or Leafs. I wont have any sympathy if we dont get in, since we shit the bed.

 

[ShutEye]

When JFJ gets fired this offseason, which GM do you think will fill in? A rookie GM or someone with some respectable experience?

The thing is, the team needs a complete revamp and hockey clubs aren't as easy to change and play effectively as a group as, say, baseball.

Does it really matter? Ownership will still be setting the overall direction of the franchise and they are more interested in a couple playoff gates than the 5 year process of rebuilding.

There isn't any indication in Toronto that ownership is ready or willing to embrace what would amount to a 180 degree change in philosophy. Whomever they hire will be just as much a lame duck as Ferguson was.

 

[Alucard]

Too bad Murray is a ****ing tool and juggles the forward lines every single game. His match up plans ****ing suck.

Therrien does a load of line juggling every game too. If something's not working within 2-3 shifts, he switches it up. It's worked for us so far this season, so I have full confidence in his decisions.

 

[Duality]

When JFJ gets fired this offseason, which GM do you think will fill in? A rookie GM or someone with some respectable experience?

The thing is, the team needs a complete revamp and hockey clubs aren't as easy to change and play effectively as a group as, say, baseball.

Bryan Colangelo.

But yeah, Leafs management is pretty asinine.

 

[May16]

Therrien does a load of line juggling every game too. If something's not working within 2-3 shifts, he switches it up. It's worked for us so far this season, so I have full confidence in his decisions.

I agree to an extent, but Christensen has no business being on the 4th line like he was last night. Like wtf?

 

[ForzaItalia]

I'd say that with a healthy DiPietro in net, the Isles have the type of team composition that would offer the best challenge to the Sabres...

 

[scissorfight]

Sure would be nice if the Oil could man up and win one ****ing game.

 

[May16]

I'd say that with a healthy DiPietro in net, the Isles have the type of team composition that would offer the best challenge to the Sabres...

As a Sabres fan, I fear Montreal more than NYI. The Habs have given the Sabres a small problem all year, and I dunno, I think they pose just a slightly bigger threat than the Islanders.

 

[Alucard]

As a Sabres fan, I fear Montreal more than NYI. The Habs have given the Sabres a small problem all year, and I dunno, I think they pose just a slightly bigger threat than the Islanders.

My roommate's g/f is a Sabres fan and she's totally been rooting for the Leafs in every game because Montreal scares her.

 

[ForzaItalia]

Why would a weak road team scary anyone come playoff time? That's the time when they'll really disappear....

 

[Alucard]

Why would a weak road team scary anyone come playoff time? That's the time when they'll really disappear....

It's just that the Habs have given Buffalo some trouble this year. I still think the Sabres would dispose of Montreal in 5 games, but you really never know once the playoffs start.

 

[Solo]

Why would a weak road team scary anyone come playoff time? That's the time when they'll really disappear....

Just like how they disappeared in 2002 and 2004 when they knocked off the top seed in the East in the first round both times (Boston both years, in case anyone is wondering)?

Im not saying the Habs are a great or even very good team, but they DO have a recent history of playing first round spoiler. Something to keep in mind. They way things go with this team though, haha, if we make it in, we'll either beat Buffalo or get swept. There is no middle ground.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

Teh leafs either make it to teh confrence finals or lose first round.


They should have beat the isles but Raycrap just didnt come up big.

Now to wint the leafs have to beat MTL in regulation correct?

 

[DopeyFish]

Teh leafs either make it to teh confrence finals or lose first round.


They should have beat the isles but Raycrap just didnt come up big.

Now to wint the leafs have to beat MTL in regulation correct?

win in regulation and start praying

 

[Solo]

Montreal still controls their destiny, right (man I hate that cliche)? Win and we're in?

 

[DopeyFish]

Montreal still controls their destiny, right (man I hate that cliche)? Win and we're in?

not even. Lose in OT and they're in

 

[CSSer]

not even. Lose in OT and they're in

Nope. If they only get 1 point, it's a possibility that the Islanders can leap by them with two wins against the Flyers & Devils. So, they must win to clinch. Otherwise, there are a few possibilities with the Leafs and Islanders.

 

[R_GILL]

Does it really matter? Ownership will still be setting the overall direction of the franchise and they are more interested in a couple playoff gates than the 5 year process of rebuilding.

There isn't any indication in Toronto that ownership is ready or willing to embrace what would amount to a 180 degree change in philosophy. Whomever they hire will be just as much a lame duck as Ferguson was.

I'm sure they want to win there just incompetent. They hired rookie GMs on both of their teams so they could control them and both teams sucked. Now I think they might have learned there lesson with the hiring of Colangelo on the basketball side and a year later there in the playoffs. There only hurdle is that it would take much longer to rebuild or retool the Leafs. JFJ has saddled the team with a bunch of bad contracts and it might not be attractive for a competent GM to come here. Anyway I figure the Leafs are going to have to rebuild sooner or later, if they don't do it on purpose they will probably have a year sooner or later like the Flyers this year and have no choice.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

win in regulation and start praying

Son of a bitch!


damn *Prays that Big Johnsson does not enther thread.*

 

[ForzaItalia]

Just like how they disappeared in 2002 and 2004 when they knocked off the top seed in the East in the first round both times (Boston both years, in case anyone is wondering)?

Im not saying the Habs are a great or even very good team, but they DO have a recent history of playing first round spoiler. Something to keep in mind. They way things go with this team though, haha, if we make it in, we'll either beat Buffalo or get swept. There is no middle ground.

Oh please dude. Boston sucked come playoff time and were hardly as stacked and feared as Buffalo is especially with Miller in net. Who did they have to beat?...Dafoe....Raycroft?

Sources tell TSN the Detroit Red Wings will announce they have re-signed star forward Pavel Datsyuk to a multi-year contract extension. The contract is believed to be a six or seven year agreement that will pay Datsyuk between $6 and 7 million per season.

 

[ShutEye]

I'm sure they want to win there just incompetent. They hired rookie GMs on both of their teams so they could control them and both teams sucked. Now I think they might have learned there lesson with the hiring of Colangelo on the basketball side and a year later there in the playoffs. There only hurdle is that it would take much longer to rebuild or retool the Leafs. JFJ has saddled the team with a bunch of bad contracts and it might not be attractive for a competent GM to come here. Anyway I figure the Leafs are going to have to rebuild sooner or later, if they don't do it on purpose they will probably have a year sooner or later like the Flyers this year and have no choice.

I'm sure ownership wants to win too. That doesn't mean they are willing to accept the necessary changes. They want to win without 'pain' and win without giving up the option to meddle directly in the teams operations.

I guess we will see their direction in the off-season. There just isn't any reason to have any confidence in the imo.

 

[DopeyFish]

Nope. If they only get 1 point, it's a possibility that the Islanders can leap by them with two wins against the Flyers & Devils. So, they must win to clinch. Otherwise, there are a few possibilities with the Leafs and Islanders.

oh yeah my bad

 

[fallout]

oh yeah my bad

Yeah, it's ****ing hard to keep track of all the possibilities, eh? :lol

God I love playoff time!

 

[Foreign Jackass]

Oh please dude. Boston sucked come playoff time and were hardly as stacked and feared as Buffalo is especially with Miller in net. Who did they have to beat?...Dafoe....Raycroft?

Miller has sucky stats. He's not that great. If he wasn't playing with the Sabres you wouldn't hear of him...exactly like Raycroft with the Bruins.

Still, I'm not very confident after yesterday's game. The Habs have been playing like morons in away games and this gives an edge to Toronto. However, what I fear might happen is that we're gonna lose in overtime, and the Isles are gonna get in the playoffs by beating Clemensen at New Jersey and easily beating the Flyers.

 

[blah141]

Oh please dude. Boston sucked come playoff time and were hardly as stacked and feared as Buffalo is especially with Miller in net. Who did they have to beat?...Dafoe....Raycroft?

Wow, Boston sucked come playoff time???

1 z - BOSTON* 82 43 24 6 9 101

They finished 1ST in the conference in 2001-2002

2 y - BOSTON* 82 41 19 15 7 104

They finished 2ND in the conference in 2003-2004 (2 points back of tampa)

Yeah, they sucked...

EDIT: in 03-04 Raycroft save %: .926! (Yeah he was reallly easy to beat)
Even in the playoffs he was good: .924%






Also, our record against the Sabres this season has been impressive...

4-2-2 = 10 out of a possible 16 points, were one of the only teams with a winning record against them...

 

[Foreign Jackass]

Wow, Boston sucked come playoff time???

1 z - BOSTON* 82 43 24 6 9 101

They finished 1ST in the conference in 2001-2002

2 y - BOSTON* 82 41 19 15 7 104

They finished 2ND in the conference in 2003-2004 (2 points back of tampa)

Yeah, they sucked...





Also, our record against the Sabres this season has been impressive...

4-2-2 = 10 out of a possible 16 points, were one of the only teams with a winning record against them...

Actually I think we could win a best of 7 series against them. IF WE MAKE IT.

 

[ForzaItalia]

Also, our record against the Sabres this season has been impressive...

4-2-2 = 10 out of a possible 16 points, were one of the only teams with a winning record against them...

Yes....impressive enough to get booted in the 1st round....

Are all you Habs fans this delusional?:lol

 

[R_GILL]

I'm sure ownership wants to win too. That doesn't mean they are willing to accept the necessary changes. They want to win without 'pain' and win without giving up the option to meddle directly in the teams operations.

I guess we will see their direction in the off-season. There just isn't any reason to have any confidence in the imo.

I think they will give it up, Peddie is a bigger basketball fan than a hockey fan and he has pretty much stopped meddling in the affairs of that side. What MLSE needs to do is just hire a experienced guy to become the Leafs president and just let him take care of the hockey affairs.

 

[Malakhov]

Yes....impressive enough to get booted in the 1st round....

Are all you Habs fans this delusional?:lol

I believe we had the 4 wins.

 

[rs7k]

Raycroft will get Kovalev'd tomorrow night, just like in the 04 playoffs :lol

 

[ForzaItalia]

You guys are comparing the regular season to the playoffs....you guys are comparing Boston to Buffalo....you guys are comparing Miller to Raycroft....you guys are not even in the playoffs yet.....and somehow you think the Habs can beat the Sabres...

Please....never tell me again that Leafs fans (minus bigjonson) are more delusional than Habs fans....:lol

 

[Foreign Jackass]

We win or lose with Huet tomorrow. He didn't prove anything yesterday, and he's gonna start saturday.

 

[blah141]

You guys are comparing the regular season to the playoffs....you guys are comparing Boston to Buffalo....you guys are comparing Miller to Raycroft....you guys are not even in the playoffs yet.....and somehow you think the Habs can beat the Sabres...

Please....never tell me again that Leafs fans (minus bigjonson) are more delusional than Habs fans....:lol

Were not delusional, were just saying that the habs have a good record against the team that we might be playing in the playoffs...

That's a fact... Anything can happen in the playoffs

 

[Solo]

Oh please dude. Boston sucked come playoff time and were hardly as stacked and feared as Buffalo is especially with Miller in net. Who did they have to beat?...Dafoe....Raycroft?

I dont remember who was in net at that time. I was just simply saying that the Habs have had recent success as a low seed upsetting a higher one. Nothing more deep than that.

 

[Jason]

Wings Datsyuk signs seven year extension

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=203000&hubname=

Canadian Press

4/6/2007 2:25:23 PM

DETROIT (CP-AP) - The Detroit Red Wings locked up star centre Pavel Datsyuk with a US$46.9-million, seven-year deal Friday, making one of the NHL's top offensive players the club's centrepiece into the future.

Sources have told TSN that Datsyuk will earn between $6 and 7 million a season.

Datsyuk, earning $3.9 million this season, leads the Wings with 27 goals and 60 assists in 78 games and would have been eligible for free agency in the summer.

Instead, he will remain Detroit's first-line pivot for years to come and earn an average of $6.7 million per season.

''Pavel really wanted to commit here for his career,'' general manager Ken Holland said of the longest contract extension in team history. ''In the end we felt very comfortable with a long-term commitment to Pavel.''

Datsyuk, 28, led the Red Wings in scoring last season with 28 goals and 59 assists. He also won the Lady Byng Trophy as the league's most gentlemanly player and represented Russia at the Olympics.

More importantly, he gave the Red Wings another dominant offensive presence on the top line reminiscent of the retired Steve Yzerman and departed Sergei Fedorov.

''Everyone in the organization wanted him to stay with us,'' said team owner Mike Ilitch.

Ilitch singled out Yzerman for his insistence that the Red Wings' management retain Datsyuk.

''We felt it was extremely important to lock this player up for as long as we can,'' Yzerman said.

Datsyuk's play has helped keep the Red Wings among the league's elite despite the recent turnover in its star-laden roster.

The Wings clinched their sixth straight Central Division earlier this week and one more point will secure its third consecutive Western Conference title, the first of the post-Yzerman era.

''This contract was extremely important to me,'' Datsyuk said. ''Especially since I have been a Red Wing since 2001.''

Datsyuk won the Stanley Cup during his rookie season in 2001-02 and broke out in 2003-04, when he set a career-high with 30 goals.

Datsyuk, making US$3.9 million this season, leads the Wings with 27 goals and 60 assists in 78 games and would have been eligible for free agency in the summer. Instead, he will remain Detroit's first-line pivot for years to come.

''Pavel really wanted to commit here for his career,'' general manager Ken Holland said of the longest contract extension in team history. ''In the end we felt very comfortable with a long-term commitment to Pavel.''

Datsyuk, 28, led the Red Wings in scoring last season with 28 goals and 59 assists. He also won the Lady Byng Trophy as the league's most gentlemanly player and represented Russia at the Olympics.

More importantly, he gave the Red Wings another dominant offensive presence on the top line reminiscent of the retired Steve Yzerman and departed Sergei Fedorov.

''Everyone in the organization wanted him to stay with us,'' said team owner Mike Ilitch.

Ilitch singled out Yzerman for his insistence that the Red Wings' management retain Datsyuk.

''We felt it was extremely important to lock this player up for as long as we can,'' Yzerman said.

Datsyuk's play has helped keep the Red Wings among the league's elite despite the recent turnover in its star-laden roster.

The Wings clinched their sixth straight Central Division earlier this week and one more point will secure its third consecutive Western Conference title, the first of the post-Yzerman era.

''This contract was extremely important to me,'' Datsyuk said. ''Especially since I have been a Red Wing since 2001.''

Datsyuk won the Stanley Cup during his rookie season in 2001-02 and broke out in 2003-04, when he set a career-high with 30 goals.

 

[Giard]

Wings Datsyuk signs seven year extension

I said wow

 

[fallout]

Wings Datsyuk signs seven year extension

I uh ... hm. Wow.

I mean, at 6-7 million a season, why are you signing him for that long? If you got some bargain deal for him, sure, but that's quite a bit of cap space.

 

[The Internet]

Hopefully Datsyuk can get a goal during the playoffs.

 

[Manics]

Also, our record against the Sabres this season has been impressive...

4-2-2 = 10 out of a possible 16 points, were one of the only teams with a winning record against them...

Congratulations blah, I didn't think it possible, but you've surpassed Malakhov as the most delusional Habs fan on the entire board. Bravo.

 

[Foreign Jackass]

Congratulations blah, I didn't think it possible, but you've surpassed Malakhov as the most delusional Habs fan on the entire board. Bravo.

What's delusional about posting statistics? Delusional must be the only word you know, it's the only one I've seen you use lately. DELUSIONAL

 

[GSG Flash]

Me being a Sens fans, I would know a thing or two about having winning regular season records against a team and then going against them in the playoffs, basically, you can throw any regular season stat out the window once the playoffs role around. Habs fans here have to face the truth, neither the Habs or the Leafs stand a chance against the Sabres, the most I think either team can win against the Sabres is one game.

Heck, the Sens have a 5-2-1 record against the Sabres this season and I don't think we would have a good chance against them either.

 

[Mike Works]

Raycroft will get Kovalev'd tomorrow night, just like in the 04 playoffs :lol

He'll get tapped on the hand with a stick, skate out of the crease faking an injury, and cost his team the game through surrendering the game ending overtime goal?

 

[Foreign Jackass]

He'll get tapped on the hand with a stick, skate out of the crease faking an injury, and cost his team the game through surrendering the game ending overtime goal?

:lol
Yeah, I hate Kovalev as well, but he can turn me into his bitch just by scoring one or two incredible goals, which tend to come into the playoffs. Hard to be a Habs fan.

 

[sefskillz]

Damn thats one hell of a contract for Datsyuk.