redwing77

But being pretty red hot all season long worked for DU, right? I think how you get there is irrelevant. The only two factors that matter are: 1. You make it in the first place 2. You play well once you're there. The regular season isn't indicative of anything only that you belong (or you got lucky). The playoffs start a perilous high stakes season of 4 games maximum. I agree that we need to become a tourney team but every year a team goes into the playoffs with such an unbelievable line that you think they're going to the Frozen Four at least and they bow out early. Then other times they barely make it into the tourney and they end up winning it all (BC has now done it twice). I think Coach York of BC has it nailed in terms of what I've said. They make the playoffs, but they're not really dominant in doing so. Then they just find ways to win once there.

I doubt they're smiling all that much about this. I think they'd say something like: "What the bloody hell are those two things?"

I haven't. The Red Wings went about as far as I thought they would round-wise. Competition wise, I thought the SJ series was a disappointment. I thought they would give the Sharks a better run for their money. I'm not tuning out as long as the Canadiens and Hawks are in the playoffs. I am a bandwagon Habs fan solely because of what they've done to Bettman and the PR machine. Ok, in truth, I'm just a Halak fan. As for the Hawks, they're exciting to watch. I can't believe that Niemi is getting it done. He's not Huet or Price in terms of suckitude, but he does look very shakey at times. Halak's run and the whole Leighton/Boucher thing (wtf they were never that good in the past) makes this year's playoffs entertaining to me.

Big A is right on. Sometimes talent on paper is merely a paper tiger... For example: On paper, Minnesota should be FAR better than they've played the past two seasons. I think it all comes down to who can play better in the playoffs (assuming you make them in the first place).

Looking at the picture, it appears SOMEONE is happy to see them.

HEY! Think of the long term possibilities. After the events are over, they can paint over the kiddie paint scheme and use them to represent ahm... certain adult entertainment ah.. carry on.

Sad. They vandalized a 1999 Honda. Feel proud Philly. Feel proud.

Wow. That's a blow to tUMD. I didn't think Hjelle was all that bad.

I love this attitude. I hope the Flyers have this attitude too. Then it will be the trifecta when Montreal ends their season. I'm sure that the Pens were laughing at the Caps when they lost in 7. Then the Pens were crying 7 games later. PHI-MON should be the best series of this round. Both teams that have experienced exceptional luck and timely play to get where they're at.

Definitely. This is arguably the best airshow in the world. Farnborough tries hard to compete as does the Dayton and EAA Fly In...

Sorry, I disagree with this wholeheartedly. Derek Boogaard is a worthless fighter. He can't do anything but fight. He's in a category all of his own among the list you named. The rest have a reputation for cheap, classless, acts on the ice. I don't know much about Samuelsson as I didn't watch the Pens and still don't all that much. Tie Domi was ruthless around the net, but he reminds me more of Danny Carcillo than anyone else. Matt Cooke termed his hit on Savard as "letting him know I was on the ice" or something like making his presence known. WHAT? He has REPEATEDLY gone out onto the ice and used his elbow or forearm to seriously injure players... AND THAT IS JUST THIS SEASON. A grinder is someone like Cal Clutterbuck or Chris Kunitz etc. Matt Cooke and Danny Carcillo are the cheapest hacks in the post season. Fortunately for the hockey world, Cooke is out. Unfortunately, the Bruins choked and Carcillo is not out. You can be gritty, physical, and make your presence known without going for the head. You don't have to use your forearm or elbow to make a big hit or make the hit count. You don't make your presence known by concussing people. Matt Cooke is a lowlife at least ON the ice. take your Pens glasses off, Dave. Start looking at the whole picture including your beloved Pens. Only a fool wouldn't be able to call out a player on their own pro team for being cheap. I do it with Holmstrom. I wasn't the biggest fan of Ciccarelli. Heck, listening to my father describe Gordie Howe's days with the Wings, I believe that Howe had his own cheap streak as well.

You could always do what I did in 2008: Turn down a chance to see the Farborough Air Show in England to hang around London. Seriously.

Wow. Epic fail by the Bruins. As for the Flyers/Habs series: Neither team was slated to get past the first round. Ain't the non-dynasty system grand? My vote? Habs vs. Hawks. Why? I have no legit reasons, only ludicrous ones. Here's an example: Carcillo doesn't deserve to ever have his name on the Stanley Cup. Matt Cooke does and that, in itself, is a tragedy. I'm sure other goons and cheap hacks have their names on the Cup as well, but I lump it in with the "new" NHL: Fast, skilled, higher offensive totals, tighter overall game, and CLEANLY PLAYED (with regards to player integrity). I told you it was ludicrous, but I stand by it.

You're friends with Gary Bettman?

Why does whether or not he wore a letter this year mean anything? I think Malone is a candidate for sure. Your logic is flawed, but the result is the same though imo. I think it will go like this: C - Genoway A - Lammy A - Marto A - Trupp/Blood/Hextall (doesn't matter)

I think Howard is going to be a good one. I think Halak looks great, though. However, the last time I thought that of a Canadiens goaltender, his career track took a somewhat mediocre turn (Jose Theodore). To correct an earlier claim: Vokoun is NOT a free agent this offseason. He's rumored to be trade material. In other rumors... Jonathon Quick of the LA Kings is rumored to be on the trade block. I'm not sure exactly why. I don't know what else you wanted of the guy? Big name free agent goaltenders are Evgeni Nabokov, Marty Turco, and Jose Theodore. Big name free agent wingers and centers include: Patrick Marleau, Olli Jokinen, Saku Koivu, Matt Cullen, John Madden, Tomas Plekanec, Matthew Lombardi, Tomas Holmstrom, Ilya Kovalchuk, Big name free agent defensemen include: Nicklas Lidstrom, Sergei Gonchar, Scott Niedermeyer, Paul Martin, Kim Johnsson, Pavel Kubina, Tony Lydman,

Those Darn buildings don't know to look both ways before crossing the street! Or, at the very least, be wary of oncoming traffic! Fricking retard. And that drunk lady should be fined for the difference in the reassessed value of that guy's home.

I wonder if Montreal will let Halak leave now that Gainey's gone. If they do, I wonder if Detroit will make a run at signing him despite Howard's performance (promising, but not there yet imo). In case anyone's wondering, if Vokoun does indeed go Free Agent, no way does he end up outside of Philly.

I don't like the Habs either, but I'm a fan of Jaroslav Halak and the French word for Goal (which sounds to me like a grown man moo-ing). Oh, and your boy Crosby is second to our boy Toews now. 3g 2a and still the 3rd period left to finish. WOW.

Take out Montreal (but have Pittsburgh win in 7 games) and you've got your final four.

I'm not going to debate atmosphere as we've been down that road many many times and it always leads us back to the same spot. It's all a time waster. All I'm saying is that they aren't exactly a morgue like atmosphere for hockey.

Take it for what its worth, but... Having read Chris Dilks' WCHBlog, the chances of Ebert going the NCAA route seemed to be slim even before the draft.

I don't know about that. The Kohl center setup maybe. But look at what those UW fans do for atmosphere. That's all I'm going to say.

Thanks for taking the time to explain this all to me. I'm pretty sure you find my opinion (despite the fact that I stand by it) to be annoying. I see your point about marketing all of them at once, but... what about using Ovechkin and Crosby as the National campaign and then regionalizing the rest? Give the average sports fan a reason to tune in to watch the nearest NHL team? I guess that might seem silly or perhaps that's already done in the local areas, but not where there are no NHL teams. I'll take Omaha, NE as an example as I live here. People here follow football and admittedly Nebraska is a football state, but hockey could grow into a sport they like, even if it is going to be second or third fiddle to Football and perhaps baseball. The problem is, no one pushes the closest teams (Minnesota, Chicago, Colorado, St. Louis). Maybe this is unrealistic but I do think we could market TEAMS just as well as players. I don't know much about the NBA so I'll take your word for it. As for Golf, that's a sport of individuals. I see this as a different scenario than hockey, a team sport. If you were to promote the same way I'm pushing for, how would you even do it in Golf? You HAVE to promote an individual because that's all there is in Golf. I'm not saying that the NHL should promote EVERY player on EVERY team. I'm saying they should promote more than just 2 guys who happen to be playing on the East Coast (THAT isn't NHL's fault). My point with the NFL wasn't for the 90 year span. Look at how many of the players you listed played at the same time. Now how much media attention did they get compared to the scope of the league? Some, like Red Grainge, played when there weren't the number of teams the NFL now has. So, they weren't exactly narrowing the field, weren't they? Look, I really liked the commercials the NHL put out a while back when they had Crosby, Ovechkin, and a few other different NHL players from different teams in hotel rooms or doing something. I thought they really did a good job at promoting the league and spreading the media attention around. That's all I'm saying. No need to promote 36 different players. Or, as a compromise, promote the 2 off the ice. Fine. But during the game, it's time to back off and promote the game? I dunno. I'm just tired of all Crosby all the time. 1. I don't hate Crosby the player. I don't care much for what the media does for him. Give it a few years and it will be Favre-esque. I think Crosby is actually good enough in-game to let his play do the talking. We don't need commentators turning into giggling schoolgirls every time he touches the puck. 2. Ok, how much of the broad population has the NHL Network? The NHL Network markets in broad spectrum because that's all they cover: Hockey and the NHL. Versus has a bigger audience but it is still is quite limited. You cite ESPN as being stupid and, although you are 100% correct, their audience is greater than both Vs. and NHL Network combined and then some. And then there is NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, etc. What's being done there? Now, I know enough about TV contracts and their likes to know that it will be almost impossible for the NHL to break into the basic cable environment without the help of ESPN, but they could ADVERTISE there, couldn't they? Even if it is to push Vs. or NHL Network. 3. I don't question the NHL's motivation. If they weren't tirelessly working to grow the sport and its fanbase, then Bettman would be fired long ago (I still think he should but I digress). I'm just glad Crosby is living up to most of the hype. Everyone didn't want another Alexandre Daigle. Oh well. I may not be Crosby's biggest fan. I may understand the motivation and reasoning behind the media (now). But I don't have to like what they're turning Crosby into.

No, my issue isn't with the promotion of Sidney Crosby but my question for you is this: You said: But selling Crosby, Ovechkin, AND A COUPLE OF OTHER PLAYERS. Please list. THAT is my point. Not that they are using Crosby. Not that the practice this marketing tactic. The fact that it seems like everyone else are mere afterthoughts after Crosby and Ovechkin is detestable. What I'd LOVE to see is a marketing study for "Joe Sportsfan" asking them to name as many current hockey players as they can. There will be NO question that Crosby and Ovechkin will be mentioned, but how many others will be? As for all those football references, wow, look at the plethora of talent. How many years did the NFL market these players? And of course, no more than 2 played at the same time right? The fact is, the NHL is more than just two great players. There are a lot of them to varying degrees. Where's the media spotlight for players like Ryan Miller, the Sedin Twins, Toews and Kane, Nichlas Backstrom, Martin St. Louis, Steven Stampkos, Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Teemu Selanne, Martin Brodeur, Miiko Koivu, Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley, etc.? Heck, you could even push Evgeni Malkin too. Then there's the hordes of young and upcoming talent like Tukka Rask, Pekka Rinne, Matt Duchesne, Jim Howard, Doughty, Jaroslav Halak (Sheesh, the storyline was dropped in their laps in this case), and so on. So, fine, promote Crosby and Ovechkin... but DIVERSIFY! Give the idly interested channel surfer some talent to tune into just in case Versus or NBC or whoever is showing a hockey game that DOESN'T feature Ovechkin or Crosby. That's my point.