NewUserName

This might be the post of the day! That might be the post of the month! That made me laugh out loud... good thing I'm not at work. I think instead of using slut, tramp or trollop, the term to use in the future should be McReady.

Wings win. Again the game was much closer than it should have been.

the second goal was arguable - it's either interference if you think the flyer player pushed the goalie into the goalie, or a no call and a good goal. as for the game winning goal, if you don't think that was a tripping penalty, then you're basically saying the referees shouldn't call penalties in playoff overtime. Barry Melrose said it was a good no-call, so it probably should have been called something. I do believe it was a penalty and should have been called. My problem was this. There were about 4 penalties in the last couple of minutes of regulation. Why werent any of those called? This is a issue that has always bothered my about the NHL. Just call the penalties at all times and there will never be controversy. What is even worse is if the Caps would have killed off the penalty, there probably would have been something called against the Flyers within a couple of minutes to even the PPs.

I cant believe how close the Wings/Preds series was. Except for a couple of moments here and there it was easily as one-sided as the Pens/Sens. OH well the Wings won. Wings/Avs. Forsberg and Foote back with the Avs. McCarty and Osgood back with the Wings. And some memories from the past http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7DlAjrhm9s

OK, I have been slacking with the posts, so I will start picking it up. I think we should strive to keep the NHL playoff thread larger than the NBA playoff thread.

It took about as long as an average Yankee/Red Sox game.

My brother the Giants fan kept warning me in 2003. I was apprehensive towards Dusty but kept saying "look at the record?" by the middle of 2004 the light was shining bright and it clearly wasnt Dusty's smart managerial moves that was shining.

I really really feel bad for the Reds fans.

Didnt Purdue have both OSU and Michigan off their schedule recently also?

Claude Lemiuex says hi to all Avs fans crying about other teams gooning it up.

I think that sometimes Good is the biggest enemy of Great. In a rush to be good now, The Cubs dont take the time to let younger players be great. It is more important that we win as many games now with Reed Johnson type players. I dont mean this as a Reed Johnson bash but he clearly is not ever going to be a great player. Pie may or may not become a great player. The one thing I know for certain is he will not get great on the bench or back in AAA.

wow i really can't believe the reactions to that play. guys like holmstrom do this every game, theyre just less obnoxious and obvious about it. but you hear all these canadian talking heads saying they're embarrassed for the game of hockey, sean avery's family and the entire human race. give me a break. Difference is that Holmstrom faces out and tries to redirect any puck being shot on net. Avery is obviously not trying to do that.

i'm a little surprised but not shocked. if i were a low (#1/2) seed in the west, the last thing i would want is to take on a team in western or central canada. those fans live for hockey, and no matter how big an underdog their team is, they go all out for their team. calgary, edmonton and (once upon a time) winnipeg were great places to play in the playoffs, but not for opposing teams. combine the intimidation factor of the saddledome with a very good goalie in kiprusoff, one of the game's best players in iginla, and a true #1 d-man in phaneuf, and you've got a tough matchup. Kiprusoff was pulled. It was Cujo who shut them out the rest of the game. I would normally agree with you, however San Jose was so good down the stretch. Calgary won game 1 in San Jose which is a pretty tough place to play also. Joe Thorton has really been a non-factor again in the 2 games I have watched.

The Flames overcame a very quick 3 goal deficit to beat the Sharks last night. I am very surprised that the Flames are giving the Sharks this much trouble.

I am not really looking forward to Michigan this season. i am. Me too. 85-21 the last two years. I want a piece of those guys. I think "those guys" are mostly gone.

The Ducks are not as good as San Jose. I also dont think the Wings have this first series in the bag yet

I watched some of the Flames/Sharks last night. Sure looked like the Sharks controlled the action, just couldnt get the puck behind Kiprosov when needed. Yes I know I am not even close on the spelling of kiprozof.

How does this work? Should I have already quit shaving? Can I shave on the day of game 1? I dont want to jinx my team by messing up my playoff beard.

The NHL has never had a fix in regarding that. They have had some of the worst matchups possible for the Stanley Finals TV wise. It wouldnt be a fix. It would be calling the game like they do during the regular season and letting the best players play.

Here we go Wings, Here we go!!!!! If the Hawks were any good they would be in the playoffs. Most talented team not to make it??? Say hello to Vancouver I think the NHL are not going to allow too much clutching and grabbing because they really want Pittsburgh to make the finals.

I think everyone is missing the real question, what bowling team is Mark on?

Isnt that what about 90% of people said about his first book? I may agree with you on what his motivations are. It doesnt make what he is saying untrue though.

you mean timely hit. Going 3 for 4 wont do him any good if he KO's with a runner on 2nd with 2 outs.

On the original topic. I agree at this point you could probably put a blanket over Hattieberg and Votto. Since neither is very capable of playing other positions, I dont understand why the Reds dont trade Hattieberg while he still has value. Kosuke1, I enjoy your insight and thoughts. I pretty much disagree with everything you say though. Using the watching games point is not a very good way of judging everything. That is the main point of statistical analysis. Yes Eric Chavez may not be as effective of a player in late innings as Juan Pierre. This may even be easy to see watching a game.(I actually dont believe this but I will concede it for the debate) However Eric Chavez is going to do a lot more offensively to win a game from innings 1-6 than Pierre. Because he helps your team score more runs. There are very scientific formulas that have been shown to be very accurate is judging a players ability to help a team score runs. No matter what mindset you come from there is no debate, scoring more runs than your opponent is the main stat. When, where, and how is what you are debating. I should look this up first but I am just going to assume it. I would assume that all of the very accurate measurements of a players ability to help a team score runs would favor Eric Chavez. He therefore is a more valuable player no matter the when, where, and how. The problem with the not so intelligent thinking GMs and managers in baseball is that they value runs scored late in games more than runs scored early in games. Truth be told if you win 5-4 because Juan Pierre led off the 9th with a Hit, SB, Sac Bunt and Sac Fly. That does not have the same value as the 3 run HR Eric Chavez hit in the 3rd. However Juan Pierre's run will make the biggest story in the paper because it was the "winning" run. Without Chavez's HR though its not even important.

I dont agree with everything that you said football. However You do bring up a good point in that there seems to be no direction. Every move seems to be a reaction to last weeks problems. Instead of being in front of issues. Also what kind of team the Cubs want to be seems to be dictated by last years World Champion. Lastly the Cubs strive to be good under Hendry. In general except for 2006 they have been good. Sometimes good is the biggest enemy of being great. He has learned how to be good. So he keeps doing those things over and over again. He has never had the Cubs great and doesnt seem to know how.