Hockey

[shadows]

There will be tears of laughter and tears of joy shed tonight, my friends. What kind of tears did you shed?

Here are the scores from March 20th's games:

1. Carolina beat Pittsburgh 3-2 in overtime. Damn it, I really wish Carolina would stop winning! I want the Leafs to pass them(in fact, pass as many teams as possible) so the pick they end up giving will not be a #1(sorry Smc, but I have to think about my beloved Leafs first and foremost).

2. Dallas beat Ottawa 5-4. Jason Spezza got a hat-trick in this one. Didn't Ottawa win 11 games in a row at one point? I guess the Olympic break was not good for them, as they have been putrid since then. They were in third place in the Conference at one point, but are now in sixth. They are tied in points with Montreal(Montreal would have leapfrogged Ottawa had they beaten Toronto) and only SIX points from being OUT of the playoffs!

3. Toronto beat Montreal 3-2 in the shootout. I am sorry that your Habs had to lose tonight Ila, but I really want the Leafs to finish strong and have the young players build on this for next season.

4. St. Louis beat New Jersey 1-0. I imagine that the tears that dauls are shedding are tears of fury! Zajac seems to have been talking out of his ass when he said they have the top three lines in the entire NHL. Actions speak louder than words, Mr. Zajac, especially when those words are smelly farts(which is what happens when you talk out of your ass). New Jersey better wake up, otherwise it will be a short playoffs for them!

5. Atlanta beat Philadelphia 5-2. I wonder how Philly is going to do now that they are in dire straits with regards to their goaltending situation. Their top two goalies are out with injuries, and they are now relying on Boucher. Atlanta got 2 points closer to the playoff picture with the win.

6. Buffalo beat Florida 3-1. It looks like Ryan Miller is back to his old self, and that is a bad thing for the opposing teams! Florida just keeps slider further and further down the standings. They are only 3 points ahead of the Leafs!

7. Washington beat Tampa Bay 3-1. Ovechkin got his 45th goal of the season, but I feel he shouldn't have even been in this game since he should have gotten more than a 2-game suspension.

8. Nashville beat Columbus 1-0. I sense a pattern here. This is the second 1-0 game tonight.

9. Phoenix beat Chicago 5-4 in the shootout. This was Phoenix's 8th win in a row, and they are now only 1 point away from San Jose! One point!! They are also only 2 points back from Chicago, who is the current leader in the Western Conference. Who would have thought they would be where they are now, especially with the turmoil that was happening before the season started. With this great season they are having, I wonder if it has even made a difference with their attendance?

10. Detroit beat Vancouver 4-3 in overtime. Detroit scored in the final second of overtime to claim victory. Luongo cannot be faulted for the loss(the defense can, though) as he made 50 saves!

11. LA beat the Islanders 1-0. See? A pattern! The third 1-0 game of the evening.

[dauls]

Originally Posted by shadows

St. Louis beat New Jersey 1-0. I imagine that the tears that dauls are shedding are tears of fury! Zajac seems to have been talking out of his ass when he said they have the top three lines in the entire NHL. Actions speak louder than words, Mr. Zajac, especially when those words are smelly farts(which is what happens when you talk out of your ass). New Jersey better wake up, otherwise it will be a short playoffs for them!

shrug.gif Sometimes the opposing goalie just has one of those nights, Conklin's 29 saves and the Devils poor first period were the difference.

'Highlight' of the night was a 1st period fight between Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond and the Blues' Cam Janssen that lasted almost 3 minutes - the longest fight of the season.

This was Leblond's third fight in the last 4 games.

[smc]

Hockey East: kudos to the Maine Black Bears, for whom I rooted, for making it past the hated BU and playing an amazing game against BC last night. While BC ultimately won, 7-6, it was a helluva hockey game.

[smc]

Kevin Paul Dupont has a column in the sports section of today's Boston Sunday Globe about the terrible hits that have become all too regular in the NHL lately. It's worth a read (apart from the stupid reference to Al Sharpton, which has no place in the discussion):

http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/...ab_on_players/

Late in the piece, former Bruins defensemen Brad Park makes some excellent points about Matt Cooke and Alex Ovechkin that call into question their quality as hockey players overall.

This, my friends, is a very good read.

[shadows]

Originally Posted by dauls

Attachment 154930 Sometimes the opposing goalie just has one of those nights, Conklin's 29 saves and the Devils poor first period were the difference.

'Highlight' of the night was a 1st period fight between Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond and the Blues' Cam Janssen that lasted almost 3 minutes - the longest fight of the season.

This was Leblond's third fight in the last 4 games.

That is a long fight! They usually are over pretty quickly as the Refs slide over the fighters like slippery eels!

Who won?

[shadows]

Got a final score for today!

Boston beat the Rangers 2-1 in afternoon action! They gained two precious points on the Rangers, now they just have to hope that Atlanta loses tonight. Atlanta plays Philadelphia so I hope Philly wins!

[k.sucks.you]

Out of their troubles BEFORE the playoffs this time....

[smc]

The NHLPA approved the new rule this morning to ban blindside hits to the head, and it goes into effect immediately. Colin Campbell, the useless douchebag, can now hand out suspensions when a player hits an unsuspecting player where the head is the targeted. Will he? Who the hell knows, but it'll be tough for him to ignore the calls from teams demanding action. My Bruins lost Marc Savard for the season because of one of these ruthless hits.

All 30 NHL teams were sent DVD showing what is legal and what is not.

[shadows]

I guess we'll know shortly. David Booth of Florida was taken off the ice after being hit in the head with a shoulder. I don't think it was a dirty hit, and Booth is now prone to concussions(due to previous ones), but if it falls into the newly-banned hits it should be a suspendable hit. I have not seen it myself, so I don't know where it falls.

Speaking of falling....the Atlanta Thrashers fell to the Leafs 2-1 in overtime!

[shadows]

Smc, the darned Maple Leafs couldn't help Boston out last night! They lost 5-1 to the Rangers, and now New York is only 1 point behind Boston!

I guess a silver lining can be found in the fact that Boston has a game in hand, which can be the difference maker.

[smc]

Originally Posted by shadows

Smc, the darned Maple Leafs couldn't help Boston out last night! They lost 5-1 to the Rangers, and now New York is only 1 point behind Boston!

I guess a silver lining can be found in the fact that Boston has a game in hand, which can be the difference maker.

Yeah, thanks a lot Toronto!

Actually, the silver lining can be found in the fact that I can take something else in hand and forget about hockey for a while.

[smc]

Oh, yeah! Bruins 3, Sabres 1. Boston now has 87 points, and the playoff hopes have improved exponentially!

[shadows]

Unfortunately the Sharks won, but at least Nabokov lost his shutout. Now the other person in the pool only gained 1 point on me rather than 6. I still have a 6 point lead with many opportunities to get points tomorrow night(since I have a lot of players that he doesn't).

Thankfully the Sharks only have one more game(he has Thornton, Heatley, and Nabokov)!