The NHL Playoff Thread

[CFH]

Results from the first night of action in the playoffs:

Vancouver 2 - St. Louis 1

Fuck you St. Louis! Was a good, hard fought game that was absolutely ruined by the terrible officiating which, sadly, has become a hallmark of the NHL. Terrible calls against both teams. It was close early on, but the Canucks absolutely dominated the 3rd period. It the Sedin Twins keep playing like this, all doubts about their ability to perform in the playoffs will be erased. Additionally, Ryan Kesler was a beast.

New York 4 - Washington 3

Booooo! I hate the Rangers and everything they stand for. Goaltending was the story of this one, the Rangers had it and the Caps did not. Lundquist was on top of his game, but Theodore was unimpresive - it seems like all the Rangers had to do was shoot over his shoulders. Ovetchkin had a great game.

Pittsburg 4 - Philadelphia 1

From what I saw, Martin Biron was the story in this one. The Philly goalie looked terrible and nervous all game. Watching Matt Cooke get his face smashed up was also strangely gratifying.

New Jersey 4 - Carolina 1

Didn't see much of this one, but the experienced Jersey team with arguably the best goalie to ever play gets the win.

[CFH]

Fuck me, I just know I'm going to end up like Saddoboxer talking to myself in my thread. It's a shame what has happened to the NHL. In my opinion, it's every bit as exciting as football or basketball (though I can't stand basketball). I remember after the '94 Ranger Stanley Cup victory (boooo!), Sports Illustrated came out with a cover that said something along the lines of "NHL More Popular That the NBA" or something like that. Of course, then the game descended into "dead puck era" - the more boring, defensive, uninteresting and unenteraining epoch the sport has ever seen.