NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2007 Discussion Thread

Eastern Division

(1) Buffalo Sabres vs. (8) New York Islanders

(2) New Jersey Devils vs. (7) Tampa Bay Lightning

(3) Atlanta Thrashers vs. (6) New York Rangers

(4) Ottawa Senators vs. (5) Pittsburgh Penguins

Western Division

(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (8) Calgary Flames

(2) Anaheim Ducks vs. (7) Minnesota Wild

(3) Vancouver Canucks vs. (6) Dallas Stars

(4) Nashville Predators vs. (5) San Jose Sharks

Mmmm mmm! Playoff hockey is about to start again! Nothin like it!

I pick Minnesota to upset the Ducks and I see the Sharks over Nashville in 7 games.

This is hilarious... though I'm sure the fans in the affected markets won't think so. It's a bit like the Heidi Game between the Oakland Raiders and the New York Jets in 1968.

Vancouver vs. Dallas Game 1 last night went to 4OTs and almost into 5OT's. The Versus network in some affiliate markets cut away from the game after the 3rd OT to show a late night infomercial featuring Elle MacPherson. Hahahaha! Oh, that sucks to stay up that late to watch the game and end up getting smacked with an extended commercial right when the game would enter the decisive period.

Cheechoo Hoping To Play
http://www.sjsharks.com/news/news.asp?story_id=3394

Pavelski Likely Replacement For Cheechoo
http://www.sjsharks.com/news/news.asp?story_id=3378

What the hell happened? They had perfect power play record in game ione and then in game two they can't score with two man advantage and they get scored on with a man advantage, ouch!

Oh well they beat the hell out of them at the end of the game. Hopefully nothing carries over. And hell, the sharks took one from them in Nashville.

Now back to the warriors.

A very late reply here, but I guess the question remained all the way through the end of the series. What the hell happened to their power play?!

I think Nashville's very aggressive penalty kill had a lot to do with it, but they clearly were not clicking on the PP either. Nashville was an extreme threat to score shorthanded goals (as they did once in the series), so it's possible that some of the conservative play on the power play was by design, but it wouldn't explain how they could barely get shots off on 5 on 3 power plays or barely get the puck in the zone when given a full five minute major to work with.

Hopefully they get it together for the second round. Nashville was a very good team and was highly rated on the penalty kill. The bad news is Vancouver has an even better penalty kill and Detroit isn't far behind, but those teams don't rely on speed as much on the PK, which should help out the Sharks.

Nabokov, Sharks Shutout Wings, 2-0, In Hockeytown

http://www.sjsharks.com/news/news.asp?story_id=3461

That was not the most exciting game, but hey I'll take it. It was a road game and a D-first style of game after all. A win's a win, but I thought they sat back a little too much in the 3rd period. It's strange that Bernier only got about 7 minutes of ice time and Goc not quite 10.

Wings Sneak Past Sharks, San Jose Eliminated From Playoffs
http://www.sjsharks.com/news/news.asp?story_id=3513

Augh, thanks for the reminder Becca. That series sucked didn't it? They were just bad or unlucky enough to lose night after night.

I am not sure if I can support either Anaheim or Detroit for the Western Conference. It might be nice to see either the Sabres or Senators get to the final. If Ottawa gets to the final it will be the organization’s first trip, in modern-day terms, to the Stanley Cup Final.

I'm rooting for Anaheim in the conference finals, but for the Cup, I'll go with Ottowa.

I was originally going to root for the Sabres, but given the similarities between the reputation that the Sharks are getting and the one that Ottowa is trying to shake, I'm feeling a lot of sympathy for Ottowa fans suddenly.

Detroit has had a similar rap in recent years too I guess, but they've won enough championships in the past two decades to get any sympathy.

Man o man, the difference between sweeping a series in four games and choking it up in six is not that big of a gap.No wonder there are so many upsets in the NHL. Even the Canucks had a much better chance at ipsetting the Ducks than I dreamed possible. They lost that series in five games, but given a few bounces, they would have advanced in five games.

Anybody watch that great game 1 of the finals? It was one of those games that validated my existence as a hockey fan if you know what I mean. Unfortunately, I agree w/ some talk radio that lambasted why a STANLEY CUP final game wasn't on a network or at least ESPN arguing that at least people may stumble onto the game & watch it since nobody stumbles onto VERSUS. NBC has arguably done a poor job but so I think has the NHL in promoting such a great sport!

I'm not really rooting for either team but for 7 great games! I do think that the Ducks will prevail because of Selanne, Getzlaf, Pronger & Giguere!!!

I saw it, Peter! You're right - it was a great game. The end was a real nail-biter. I'm looking forward to catching at least some of the game tonight, too.


Personally, I'm cheering for Ottawa. Canada deserves to take home the Cup after all these years. But, I'll settle for some really good games....

The Stanley Cup finals have brought record low ratings to NBC for a prime-time program, sports or otherwise. Game 3 Saturday night received a 1.1 national rating and a 2 share, the network said Tuesday. That matched a rerun of "The West Wing" on July 23, 2005, which also drew a 1.1 rating. On March 27, 2007, NBC Sports and the NHL agreed to a 1-year contract extension with an option for one more (I'm sure NBC is now regretting this!)

So sad but true. Other than Mary/Sheldon, I personally have not come across anyone (who isn't Canadian & including every Sharks fan I know) who is watching this GREAT series! I mean every game has been outstanding. Oh well, you are all missing out!!!