NHL Play Off Prediction thread

[Garak]

Congrats to the Penguins and their fans - what a game, Fleury's save on Lidstrom was sensational, what a finish. We just witnessed history there, that's like Wayne and Messier winning their first cup back in the '80s.

It looked like Matt Cooke was playing with at least one severely injured shoulder - he could barely lift the Cup over his head. THAT is what hockey is all about, almost brought a tear to my eye. Plus I just love Cooke, wish we had never let him go.

Fuck, now the sad reality of no hockey until October is hitting me - I hate when that happens.

 

[BigFoot]

^ Yeah I'm really happy for Cooke.

 

[Garak]

Kind of surreal seeing him win the cup!

I would love to still have him, I thought he played HUGE in the playoffs, but apprently coach AV couldn't stand him so that's why he got shipped off to Washington last year.

 

[AdmiralGarak]

Cooke has been an instant fan favorite here. The Pens certainly wouldn't have gone the distance without the shutdown defense of the Cooke - Staal - Kennedy line.

 

[Rob Hal]

For those of you who don't have the opportunity to watch HNIC, here's a link to a great montage of the playoffs that CBC put together...

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/ondemand/?...61c32cb42fabc2af9a1c8490bc&videoId=1151280851

I always get bored of the playoffs during the final two rounds because I miss all the drama and storylines that go around when you have 16 teams still in the mix... this video reminded me of a lot of the great moments of this year's playoffs. It's really well done.

I'm already pumped for next year.... but first, Draft '09 on the Friday the 24th! Come on GMs! Don't let an exciting player like Tavares get lost in the obscurity of the Islanders franchise! Will someone trade up? Lecavalier to Montreal? For who? Is Markov involved? Phaneuf out of Calgary? Bowmeester going anywhere? The Sedin twins? Hossa? Gaborik? Tanguay? Who's asking about Heatley? So much excitement! Wooohoo!

 

[James Bond]

How WONDERFUL was it to see Mario lift the Cup over his head again. Just beautiful!

 

[scottydog]

How WONDERFUL was it to see Mario lift the Cup over his head again. Just beautiful!

Here, here! It was wonderful to see. Mario essentially saved the franchise when it was a gnat's eyelash away from leaving Pittsburgh.

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

I'm officially disappointed that no one has yet posted any pictures of the Cup being lifted - no Sidney, no Malkin, no Guerin, no nothing.

 

[scottydog]

Okay, you asked for it!

 

[Islander]

Here's talbot:

 

[scottydog]

^Didn't Talbot have a huge beard like everyone else?

 

[Garak]

That's Malkin.

 

[Islander]

What!?! Do you mean I cannot trust anything I find on the Internet? Pfff... these are the days...

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

How WONDERFUL was it to see Mario lift the Cup over his head again. Just beautiful!

Here, here! It was wonderful to see. Mario essentially saved the franchise when it was a gnat's eyelash away from leaving Pittsburgh.

Twice -- 1984 and 2007

In 1984 the Penguins were so close to folding up operations that Ed DiBartolo (who owned the Penguins at the time) had already hired the moving company to clean out the stuff from the team's offices (furniture, equipment, etc.), but when Pittsburgh "earned" the rights to draft Lemieux, he decided to hold off and see what happened...and what happened was that the team won the Cup 7 years later.

In 2007, Lemieux negotiated the agreement that would keep the Pens in town for at least 30 more years, and decided not to sell the team to Jim Balsillie, who wanted very badly to put a team in Hamilton, Ontario and would not guarantee to not move the team.

I'm officially disappointed that no one has yet posted any pictures of the Cup being lifted - no Sidney, no Malkin, no Guerin, no nothing.

I've had my avatar since the day we won the cup (but I suppose that isn't the same as "Posting" pictures)

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

I'm officially disappointed that no one has yet posted any pictures of the Cup being lifted - no Sidney, no Malkin, no Guerin, no nothing.

I've had my avatar since the day we won the cup (but I suppose that isn't the same as "Posting" pictures)

I noticed your av then, but you're right, it's not the same as gloating in thread.

I missed out on second place in the playoff pool I was in by one point. The guy who won second had Pittsburgh winning in 7, I had them winning in 6.

Oh well, it was fun and the best I've done in years. I won't think too much about what I could have done with $500.

ETA: Don't you wish the Cup could talk?

Mario Lemieux's pool

 

[AdmiralGarak]

Bylsma got a call from the Pres

Standing on the red carpet leading into the NHL Awards Show at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma almost had a story for the ages Thursday.

His cell phone, low on battery charge, rang and a voice said, "Hold for the President..."

"I was scared big-time," Bylsma said. "I didn't know he was calling. My phone charger is broken, and I was down to my last bar. I was scared it was going to go out.

"In the two seconds that I'm waiting to hear from him, I'm wondering, 'Does the President call back?'"

This time last year, the guy was a minor league assistant hockey coach. Now he's talking to the President.

Would have been funny, though, if his phone had gone dead just as Obama greeted him.

 

[scottydog]

^Great story. I love rags-to-riches success stories. Wow. The only problem now for Bylsma is that expectations for him are now very high. I wish him luck.

 

[tomalak301]

Now why wasn't Bylsma up for coach of the year. I mean in Febuary, the Pens were pretty much down in the dumps (10th place I believe) and he brought the team all the way back to win it all. Now that's coaching.

 

[AdmiralGarak]

Probably, Bylsma had only just gotten the job when they started voting.