Stanley Cup Picks

[chaz]

i dont like ovie because he plays for the caps

but not getting the ovie resentment when caps fans show so much venom towards sid is just silly

I can see that, I just don't get the "no class" and "no respect for the game" comments.  For whatever gripes folks could have against Crosby, the guy is clearly great for the game.

[shemptiness]

i dont like ovie because he plays for the caps

but not getting the ovie resentment when caps fans show so much venom towards sid is just silly

I think Ted Leonsis nailed it:

""Sid is the best white wine the restaurant has to offer. Alex is a Denver Slammer, a shot of tequila in a glass of champagne. You whack the glass so that the fizz is coming up and you just shoot it."

[chaz]

Pens Wonder about Ovechkin's Blade

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/s_623801.html

[sweetcell]

and a quick word from those not in the playoffs: The NHL has loaned an unknown amount of money to the Phoenix Coyotes for payroll and rent payments

coyotes headed to the hammer?!?

Phoenix Coyotes file for Chapter 11

TORONTO ? BlackBerry boss Jim Balsillie is looking to buy the cash-strapped Phoenix Coyotes and move them to Ontario.

The co-CEO of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion said that his $212.5 million offer is conditional on the Coyotes relocating to Canada, where they existed as the Winnipeg Jets before moving to Phoenix for the 1996-97 season.

The team filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday. The filing included the proposed sale of the franchise to PSE Sports & Entertainment, LP, a Delaware limited partnership, which would move the franchise to southern Ontario.

continued: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/s_623812.html

[vansmack]

I will make no excuses for last night.  Anaheim was more than fortunate but I don't think you know what you were up against.

It was Cinco De Mayo.  Smackette, who has the worlds greatest sports karma for those that are sleeping with her, is half Mexican.

Manchester United, the Ducks and the Angels all won yesterday.  You had no chance from the get go.

Seriously, 2-1 Detroit I can stomach, but anyone who thinks that Anaheim did not deserve to win a game in Detroit is clearly looking through their homer glasses.

[vansmack]

coyotes headed to the hammer?!?

All we need is The Whale back, and all will be right in the world.

[sonickteam2]

do we really need a 7th underachieving canadian NHL team?

[sweetcell]

do we really need a 7th underachieving canadian NHL team?

yes.  and on the upside, they can't do much worse than the coyotes.

[Julian, Alleged Computer F**kface]

do we really need a 7th underachieving canadian NHL team?

Are you on crack? The Canadian teams fund pretty much every team south of St. Louis through collective bargaining. Moving a team to where Balsillie wants to move it is a de facto right to print money. Shit, don't stop there -- move one of the Florida teams to Canada too and the salary cap leaguewide goes through the roof.

[Julian, Alleged Computer F**kface]

Seriously, 2-1 Detroit I can stomach, but anyone who thinks that Anaheim did not deserve to win a game in Detroit is clearly looking through their homer glasses.

I will grant you that wiping away the ridiculous calls by the referees in game 2 and 3 don't guarantee a Wings victory in either game, but that's twice in a row they've removed the same teams chance to win. I'm not trying to discredit Anaheim, or Hiller, and I didn't say a word after the first time, but last night was almost too much to stomach. Only to then discover its the same referee crew who called much of the Stanley Cup Finals -- lauded by every major hockey outlet outside of Pittsburgh as one of the most bewilderingly lopsided referee jobs in hockey history -- and at some point I'm going to get pissed.

How a veteran official can lose sight of the puck that was never held or covered in any way, shape or form is beyond me. By the head of the referee crews own admission in the LA Times this morning, he "was not in an ideal position" and "assumed" it was covered. And this guy is good enough to be calling the playoffs? And this says nothing of the events leading to Anaheim's second goal. Geez.

[sonickteam2]

do we really need a 7th underachieving canadian NHL team?

Are you on crack? The Canadian teams fund pretty much every team south of St. Louis through collective bargaining. Moving a team to where Balsillie wants to move it is a de facto right to print money. Shit, don't stop there -- move one of the Florida teams to Canada too and the salary cap leaguewide goes through the roof.

i meant as far as underachieving on the ice.  As a Canadian, i wish half the league was back there but we dont want the Coyotes, thank you.  Unless its just payback for the Nationals!

[Julian, Alleged Computer F**kface]

i meant as far as underachieving on the ice.  As a Canadian, i wish half the league was back there but we dont want the Coyotes, thank you.  Unless its just payback for the Nationals!

OH!

I think Balsillie would throw so much money into the team (and have such unlimited resources if he puts it where he's talking about) that they'd turn around nicely. The Coyotes weren't bad for most of the year, and hockey futures ranks their farm system as really good (EDIT: #4 in the league). You add to that actually spending somewhere near the cap ceiling and I don't think it's a long turn around for the Winnipeg Jets Redux at all.

Also, unfortunately, I think if Canada wants more than 6 teams, the only way that's happening -- barring Bettman dropping over dead and someone completely different coming in as commissioner -- is for a terrible southern team to move up there. Might as well be this one.

[sonickteam2]

barring Bettman dropping over dead

GOOD IDEA!

[shemptiness]

but if we're calling goals garbage, cooke was clearly interfered with on ovies second goal

One day after the Penguins complained publicly about the Caps using illegal picks on faceoffs, Coach Bruce Boudreau responded to the accusations by making some of his own.

"I agree that there was a lot of interference, but most of it was done by them," Boudreau said. "It's so funny. It really is. When we were pre-scouting these guys, one of the things we talked about what how many picks [former Cap] Matt Cooke throws everywhere. I know he's whining about our last goal, but if you look, every faceoff they won, he interfered with our guy going to the net."

Boudreau's theory is that the Penguins are simply trying to gain preferential treatment from the refs.

"It's just jockeying and whining," Boudreau said. "It's enough of it."

[sweetcell]

Pens Wonder about Ovechkin's Blade

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/s_623801.html

hilarious that the message of the embedded video on that page is "stop making excuses, the pens are losing because of lack of offense".  how appropriate as they seek external excuses like illegally curved sticks.