NHL Playoffs

[mpare]

Spezza!!!!!

[gbower]

Huge game by Anderson and Spezza!!!!!!!!!!

[cleek]

I thought the Pens had what it took ( did not factor in weak defence and sub par goaltending ) but I have to hand it to Philly they deserverd to win. Especially since they blew up the team last summer, it sure has worked out for them so far, lots of exciting young players on the Flyers. Bryz may be their eventual achilies heel.

Sens played a perfect road game on Saturday , looking good for them , but they need to play it 1 game at a time. Anderson has been stellar.

Sens win and hopefully Tortorella shuts up !

[fundonny]

Bye Syd, don't let the door hit you on the way out...

[nokids]

Remember all that Pens dynasty talk?

crickets

[cleek]

yeah Fleury tried to catch one of those crickets , was right in front of him , he put his had on it and it went through his legs

[jeffc]

Remember all that Pens dynasty talk?

crickets

dynasties are few and far between these days. They've still got a great team but didn't perform and hats off to Philly for re-tooling last year and coming back better than ever. Imagine if Pronger was playing for them right now how good they would be. I still think goaltending is their weak link but they can score goals like there is no tomorrow. It was unfortunate the Pens had to play Philly in the first round due to the stupidity of the NHL playoff seeding, but they would have had to play them sooner or later to win the cup. Next

[LobWedge]

Racist pig Bruins "fans" tweet after loss.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1454495.html

Makes me want to throw up.

[mpare]

Unfortunately, the world still has an abundance of mean-spirited fools whose malevolence far exceeds their wisdom. Worse yet, their access to the Net gives them the ability to spew their anonymous venom to a broad audience. Like roaches, they prefer to act under act under cover of darkness.

[LobWedge]

Unfortunately, the world still has an abundance of mean-spirited fools whose malevolence far exceeds their wisdom. Worse yet, their access to the Net gives them the ability to spew their anonymous venom to a broad audience. Like roaches, they prefer to act under act under cover of darkness.

Part of me is not surprised, but a much larger part of me is very sad. Do these people not remember Willy O'Ree??

[mpare]

Rest assured that these idiots have no historical knowledge.

Part of me is not surprised, but a much larger part of me is very sad. Do these people not remember Willy O'Ree??

[Break68]

That is just insane, what is wrong with these people? It's a game.

[cleek]

if freedom of speech means you can make remarks like that and get away with it then I am not for it

[davevandyk]

Bittersweet finish to the season, but man did the Sens make the Rangers earn everything this series. They showed a lot that's gonna carry them into next season. Anderson just proved that he's a bonafide #1 goalie.

Let's hope Alfie comes back another year cause they have a lot of building blocks going forward.

[mpare]

There is no shame in this defeat. The Sens, to a man, gave it their all. The pressure they brought to bear in the third period was exceptional.

[XTOUR]

I agree. Disappointed with the outcome but they were predicted to finish last in the conference this year. Well done Sens. Only thing that bothers me is Spezza. He's not someone I want on the team. Good for regular season points but come playoff time never truly shows a desire or a sacrifice to win. He was benched again in the game tonight. Blind passes, hesitation to shoot and lack of backchecking. I know it won't happen but I would like to get someone better in his place who has heart and doesn't skate around with a dozen eggs in his pants.

On a side note, I thought not having your tie strap not attached is an instant penalty? It was obvious in tonights game Haglan's wasnt' attached. In one period you could see his shirt climb up his back behind the net with the ref watching.

[brucestats]

Sens played great, but Spezza was invisible. Alfie played inspired.

[cleek]

11/12 was a feel good story for the Senators , so many positives to take away. Start with the GM , Murray's best move of the year was hiring coach MacLean not to mention snapping up Turris and Bishop. Anderson was very solid in nets all year, seemed to get better down the stretch. D-man Karlsson came into his own ( I do think the playoffs proved to him that he has a ways to go before his game is complete ) he was fun to watch with the puck on his stick this year. Cowan emerged as a better player in his rookie season than expected, Gonchar , Phillips & Kuba all rebounded with good seasons. compared to the previous year
Spezza really came into his own from a leadership perspective, after all the years of hearing 'trade him' I think he is here for good. Alfie , class act , hope he sticks out another year. Michalek , a bull , but streaky but good player to flank Spezza. Foligno , I have said for a couple of years , don't trade this kid he will be good, he had a nice season. Neil was his usual self , you gotta keep your head up when he is on the ice, decent hands too. ZSmith , solid 3rd line center. The Bingo boys ( from last years AHL team ) all played well when given the chance. The role players also did what they were asked to do. Some dazzling rookies on the way up too. The future is bright for the Ottawa Senators
& all this coming from a Red Wings fan

[Wilster]

Gotta agree with some of those points .
IMO , Spezza played ok (top scorer in the team in the play-offs) he was being man marked the whole series ,i don't think we'll get a better center anytime soon , but i think he had a great season all-in-all , he's adapting , and that can only make him better.
Alfie , no explantion required , he'll be sorely missed should he decide to retire.
I thought the stars of the play-offs were , Neil , Anderson (solid) , and Knopka . All played like it was their last game , the rest of the team played great too , everyone left it out there.
A few of the rookies disappeared a little bit during some of the games , but nothing but positives have to be taken from this season .
Lets not forget , the Rangers , tough , tough team to beat when they get into "their" game (lundqvist = phenominal series)
Disappointed for sure that it didn't go any further , but what did i expect , we were supposed to finish last
GO SENS

[Golfer100]

For all you Ottawa folks out there who go to ScotiaBank Place and cheer for the Leafs and/or Les Habs - one question: who is in the playoffs ?

The RANGERS!!!

[TLB]

Clever

[Wilster]

The RANGERS!!!

Leafs fans ....
so jealous ...

[davevandyk]

I agree. Disappointed with the outcome but they were predicted to finish last in the conference this year. Well done Sens. Only thing that bothers me is Spezza. He's not someone I want on the team. Good for regular season points but come playoff time never truly shows a desire or a sacrifice to win. He was benched again in the game tonight. Blind passes, hesitation to shoot and lack of backchecking. I know it won't happen but I would like to get someone better in his place who has heart and doesn't skate around with a dozen eggs in his pants.

On a side note, I thought not having your tie strap not attached is an instant penalty? It was obvious in tonights game Haglan's wasnt' attached. In one period you could see his shirt climb up his back behind the net with the ref watching.

You say Spezza is not a guy you want on your team, but the Sens wouldn't have even sniffed the playoffs without Spezza in my opinion. Ya he makes a LOT of bad passes for sure, sometimes it just seems that he is trying to force the issue and do too much. I don't think we can speculate on things like 'desire' and 'heart'. Spezza has NEVER been a shutdown centre man, why do people hold him to that standard.

I remember looking at the 'giveaway' leaders for the 2010-11 season and in the Top-10 were: Spezza, Crosby, Joe Thornton, Malkin. Often times the most skilled guys try those passes with the highest difficulty and don't always work out... but they're the only guys with the vision to try them out.

[jeffc]

Spezza was ok in the playoffs. He was not picked in the top 20 centers in the league at the start of the year and finished 4th in scoring. Not bad.

[Chambokl]

One thing it proves for people who blindly follow one team... Karlsson should and is the best defenceman in the league. This kid has so much talent... He should be (probably won't be) the Norris trophy winner....

[cleek]

One thing it proves for people who blindly follow one team... Karlsson should and is the best defenceman in the league. This kid has so much talent... He should be (probably won't be) the Norris trophy winner....

sorry dude have to disagree on this one , he may be the best offensive defenceman in the league right now but he is not the best all around d-man. I like the kid and he has loads of talent & potential but I won't put him in 'elite' status until he strings together a couple of good years and improves his defensive play. It will be interesting to see how he does next year after signing a lucrrative contract ( with money comes pressure ) not to mention teams will be paying alot more attention to him

[Wilster]

sorry dude have to disagree on this one , he may be the best offensive defenceman in the league right now but he is not the best all around d-man. I like the kid and he has loads of talent & potential but I won't put him in 'elite' status until he strings together a couple of good years and improves his defensive play. It will be interesting to see how he does next year after signing a lucrrative contract ( with money comes pressure ) not to mention teams will be paying alot more attention to him

Great points here , it'll be interesting to see if they resign Kuba too .He had a great +- , but lets be honest , Karlson is the main reason behind Kuba's + - rating .
I like them both , but Kuba's not worth more than 2.5/3 mill IMO .
Should be an interesting summer for trades

[jeffc]

Great points here , it'll be interesting to see if they resign Kuba too .He had a great +- , but lets be honest , Karlson is the main reason behind Kuba's + - rating .
I like them both , but Kuba's not worth more than 2.5/3 mill IMO .
Should be an interesting summer for trades

And vice versa. Kuba's defensive capabilities allowed karlsson to play his offensive style, be creative and take some chances knowing his partner was there. And karlsson was only +16. Kuba should be singed for a couple more years to provide that stability to karlssons game, albeit at a reduced price- 2-2.5m IMHO.

[nokids]

he may be the best offensive defenceman in the league right now but he is not the best all around d-man.

How do you determine best all around d-man?

My way of evaluating a winner is to consider their performance offensively and defensively. You have a 10 point scale for offensive production and 10 point scale for defensive production. Something like this:

Offense: Karlsson 10, Chara 7, Weber 6.
Defense: Karlsson 7, Chara 9, Weber 9.
Total/Avg: Karsson 8.5, Chara 8, Weber 7.5

Offensively Karlsson blows the other guys away with his stats, but Defensively I don't see the other guys separating themselves from Karlsson as much. The numbers don't show Karlsson to be bad defensively at all. The only blight on Karlsson's defensive stats is how little Penalty Kill time he plays. He also doesn't hit a lot, but LIdstrom won what 7 Norris trophies? Here are the stats, you decide:

Plus/Minus: Chara +32, Weber +21, Karlsson +16
Takeaways/Giveaways: Chara 28/68, Weber 51/46, Karlsson 67/84
Time on Ice: Chara 25, Weber 26, Karlsson 25
PP Time: Chara 2:39, Weber 3:31, Karlsson 3:53
PK Time: Chara 2:43, Weber 2:16, Karlsson 0:33
PP points: Chara 18, Weber 22, Karlsson 28
Hits: Chara 166, Weber 177, Karlsson 60
Blocked shots: Chara 87, Weber 140, Karlsson 65

Also check out how these guys do 5 on 5: http://www.the6thsens.com/2012-artic...v59239319.html

I like the kid and he has loads of talent & potential but I won't put him in 'elite' status until he strings together a couple of good years and improves his defensive play.

The Norris isn't a lifetime achievement award. Karlsson had an Elite year on a marginal team! What does building a couple good years of the same have to do with winning the Norris THIS year?

[cleek]

How do you determine best all around d-man?

My way of evaluating a winner is to consider their performance offensively and defensively. You have a 10 point scale for offensive production and 10 point scale for defensive production. Something like this:

Offense: Karlsson 10, Chara 7, Weber 6.
Defense: Karlsson 7, Chara 9, Weber 9.
Total/Avg: Karsson 8.5, Chara 8, Weber 7.5

Offensively Karlsson blows the other guys away with his stats, but Defensively I don't see the other guys separating themselves from Karlsson as much. The numbers don't show Karlsson to be bad defensively at all. The only blight on Karlsson's defensive stats is how little Penalty Kill time he plays. He also doesn't hit a lot, but LIdstrom won what 7 Norris trophies? Here are the stats, you decide:

Plus/Minus: Chara +32, Weber +21, Karlsson +16
Takeaways/Giveaways: Chara 28/68, Weber 51/46, Karlsson 67/84
Time on Ice: Chara 25, Weber 26, Karlsson 25
PP Time: Chara 2:39, Weber 3:31, Karlsson 3:53
PK Time: Chara 2:43, Weber 2:16, Karlsson 0:33
PP points: Chara 18, Weber 22, Karlsson 28
Hits: Chara 166, Weber 177, Karlsson 60
Blocked shots: Chara 87, Weber 140, Karlsson 65

Also check out how these guys do 5 on 5: http://www.the6thsens.com/2012-artic...v59239319.html



The Norris isn't a lifetime achievement award. Karlsson had an Elite year on a marginal team! What does building a couple good years of the same have to do with winning the Norris THIS year?

stats should definatley be considered but watching a player play is the best way to evaluate overall effectiveness on the ice. When I see players cutting accross the ice to go down Karlsson lane that's a sign that they want to go 1/1 with him. He still can't handle the big winger who puts on a burst just over the blue line. Not saying he does not deserve the Norris this year just saying he is not the best all round d-man in the league IMO. I'd also consider intimidation factor , who wants to chip the puck into the corner when you know Chara or Weber is going to meet you ? the one advantage Karlsson has there is speed to the puck but he is not going to intimidate anyone as far as playing the body. He had a great year , looking forward to see if he can replicate next year.

one last point , consider which defenceman is on the ice when the game is winding down and a team is protecting a 1 goal lead ( under a minute left in the game )