2013 - 2014 NHL Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[DavidJ]

Hate that Price is out. With a loss that big, I'm afraid it is going to be easy for NY. I hope I'm wrong though.

 

[DavidJ]

Saw this on Twitter:"Reports: Rookie G Dustin Tokarski to start for Canadiens in Game 2 http://t.co/NDuOwuFAlv"Scouting report? Wouldn't it be something if he had a real coming out party performing at a high level?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Saw this on Twitter:"Reports: Rookie G Dustin Tokarski to start for Canadiens in Game 2 http://t.co/NDuOwuFAlv"Scouting report? Wouldn't it be something if he had a real coming out party performing at a high level?

I think this is the Habs best chance -- but it's still a very small chance - of winning this series. Tokarski played well in his brief stint up with the Canadiens late this season when Price missed quite a few games after the Olympics with a similar injury. Dustin is not Price, but Budaj tends to fall apart under a #1 netminder's workload, which is why Tokarski ended up playing a few games during that stint. Budaj does very well when given a spot start with enough notice to prepare himself (ask Bruins fans ). Tokarski was pulling a #1 goalie load in Hamilton before being called up.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Your appraisal of the Habs vs Bruins series about as accurate as your "Who Shot JFK" synopsis. Also note that Jeff hasn't made an appearance since his beloved Bruins were eliminated by the Habs. No congratulations..nothing. But of course when Boston won the Cup in 2011,he couldn't stop commenting on how fabulous the Bruins were. Says it all.

From Yahoo Sports:
"And with that, it's time to put this hapless 2013-2014 Bruins team and its "strong" fan base 6 feet underground. The marathon regular season that brought the Bruins the President's Trophy is now completely meaningless, and that's hilarious. They've been eliminated from the playoffs by one of their biggest rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, a team with a real fan base, a real organization that respects the national anthems and doesn't trot out a lounge singer whose forced enthusiasm has reached the level of actors in Levitra commercials.
On the bright side, the loss of this Bruins team means residents of Boston can now go take in a game at that trash can Fenway Park and root for David Ortiz as he shoots horse steroids into himself."

The fact that your very first post in this thread is to bust my chops about one of my last posts in this thread says more about you than me, phil*, as does your near pathological obsession with being schooled by me in the JFK thread years ago. Get over it.

Congrats to Scott M. and others, your team found a gear I didn't think they had and beat a Bruins team that had no heart and couldn't find the back of the net because of it. Naturally I hope the Rags sweep the Habs, killing their hopes and dreams and making them weep like schoolgirls. But that is the romantic in me.

And PS - " . . . a real organization that respects the national anthems"???

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Congrats to Scott M. and others, your team found a gear I didn't think they had and beat a Bruins team that had no heart and couldn't find the back of the net because of it. Naturally I hope the Rags sweep the Habs, killing their hopes and dreams and making them weep like schoolgirls. But that is the romantic in me.

Thanks, Jeff. It looks like my disappointment was just postponed by one more series than yours and other Bruins fans. While it is always sweet to send the Bruins packing in the postseason,the Price injury has made me feel like a kid who received a shiny new toy on Christmas morning, and then had it taken away and was told I couldn't play with it. We'll just have to look forward to trading barbs again next season.

 

[Ockeghem]

I know I chose the Blackhawks to take the series against the Kings, but how I would love to see the Kings knock them out. Tonight's whooping by the Kings in Chicago was a joy to see. I hope they can keep it up as the series moves to Los Angeles.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

What the heck happened last night? The last time I checked it was 2-0 Chicago and they seemed in control. I was shocked to see the final score of 6-2 this morning!

 

[Ockeghem]

Scott,The Kings scored late in the second period making it 2-1, Chicago. Then they scored two power-play goals early in the third period. After that, Crawford looked rattled. For the next Kings goal the puck took an odd bounce up in the air behind the net. The announcers said that they thought the Chicago players believed that the puck may have been caught in the net and that the play would be blown dead. Instead, the puck wasn't in the netting. It had bounced really high in the air and then came down over the net and was passed right to a Kings player who finished the play, making it 4-2, Los Angeles. They scored again several minutes later, and then an empty net goal made it 6-2.

 

[Ockeghem]

Goodness, I thought the Canadiens had the game won with under a half-minute to play. So the last two goals (one by each team) were scored without a stick coming in contact with the puck as the goals were scored! Gotta love those deflections off of both defensemen.

Wow! That didn't take long in overtime. Good win for Montreal. I don't know if Scott stayed up for the game, but he's in for a pleasant surprise when he sees the score tomorrow morning.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Scott, I made it through regulation, but shut it off before overtime -- it was already past my bedtime. Caught the highlight of the winning goal this morning -- good things happen when you go to the net (as I always tell my wife when we are at the OHL games). Tokarski played very well, and after two games he's shown that Therrien made the correct decision in playing him over Budaj. I'm not sure if/when the roof will cave in on him (as it did on John Gibson in Game 7 for Anaheim), but it was nice to see the Habs show some heart last night.

 

[Ockeghem]

Scott,If Montreal can win game four, the pressure shifts squarely on the shoulders of the Rangers. I know it's a bit cliche to say this, but the next game is ... pivotal.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Yes, that is cliche... but true. The Habs must play better in the defensive end for this to happen, though. They had way too many turnovers in last night's game. Tokarski cannot be expected to out-duel Lundqvist in all the remaining games -- Lundqvist is too good for that to happen.

Dan Carcillo of the Rangers has been suspended 10 games for his encounter with an official in last night's game, and Prust has a phone hearing regarding his late hit on Stepan, so he could get a couple of games, too. Things are heating up in the series.

 

[Richard Travale]

Prust was given 2 games for his hit on Stepan. It will be different with Prust out of the line=up tomorrow night. Who replaces him? I’m hoping Bournival as I have liked his play a lot.I don’t know if Ryan White is available or not though. His style would be more similar to Prust’s.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Richard,

I would expect Bournival to replace Prust, as he has played very well in these playoffs, and his speed would be useful against the speedy Rangers. If Therrien decides to go with more toughness, then it will be Moen, not Ryan White.

 

[Ockeghem]

The Good: the Blackhawks lost again.

The Bad: the Heat won again.

and The [not quite as] Ugly: the Red Sox won a game.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The Good: the Blackhawks lost again.

The Bad: the Heat won again.

and The [not quite as] Ugly: the Red Sox won a game.

...and the Really Ugly: Montreal's defense in Game 4 on Sunday night. They really let their rookie goaltender down in that OT loss.

 

[Ockeghem]

Scott,There sure did seem to be some breakdowns. Why couldn't the Canadiens have had this many lapses in defense when they were playing the Bruins?

 

[Richard Travale]

Holy Hell, tonight’s game was hard on my cardiac system. I foresee a couple of suspension coming to the Rangers. That hit by Jon Moore on Weise, and the head-butt courtesy of Dorsett. That will be a lot of Ranger toughness out of the line-up. Despite 4 goals against, I thought Tokarski had a helluva game.

 

[Richard Travale]

and of course, a beauty of a hat trick by Rene (not to be confused with Ray) Bourque.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Holy Hell, tonight’s game was hard on my cardiac system. I foresee a couple of suspension coming to the Rangers. That hit by Jon Moore on Weise, and the head-butt courtesy of Dorsett. That will be a lot of Ranger toughness out of the line-up. Despite 4 goals against, I thought Tokarski had a helluva game.

It's hard to blame Tokarski for the four goals, as his defense once again deserted him. Fortunately, Lundqvist came down with another case of "Canadiens fever" -- he was very shaky in net. Hopefully the Habs are in his head again.

Not sure why Emelin wasn't in the lineup. I never heard a reason on CBC. Was he being punished for his horrible play on the OT goal on Sunday, or is he hurt? Despite the poor play on that goal, I'd rather see him playing with Markov, Beaulieu being paired with Weaver, and Bullion back in the press box.

Moore will definitely get a suspension. Not only was the hit late (like Prust's), but it was also a head shot (unlike Prust's). He deserves more than the two games that Prust served, but I doubt that will happen because Weise did not sustain an injury.

Dorsett will be the interesting case. Not only was there the head butt, but he was obviously trying to start a fight at the end of the game. He also blasted a young kid with snow during the pre-game ceremony, which was completely classless. His teammate Zucarello showed a lot of class in helping the kid up after he tripped over a cord right after being snowed. I have no idea what the league will do in his case -- anything from just a fine to a couple of games is possible.