The 2007 NHL Playoffs Thread

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by Kekkonen

Some bad news for Sens fans: teams that go up 2-0 at home are 30-1 in the Stanley Cup finals (according to this table).

Then again, as they say in investment commercials, past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

Leaf, I mean Duck nation is hoping to the contrary.

I wonder who the lone blemish was?

[Kekkonen]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

I wonder who the lone blemish was?

1971 Blackhawks, I believe (lost to the Canadiens in 7 games).

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by Kekkonen

1971 Blackhawks, I believe (lost to the Canadiens in 7 games).

Man I should have known that one...

[Bluenoser]

Actually it's happened three times in NHL history that a team has gone down 0 - 2 in the final and come back to win the cup.

41/42 Leafs over Detroit
65/66 Habs over Detroit
and the aforementioned 71 Habs over Chicago



Good game last night, nice to see the Sens get back into it. Hopefully they can build on that win and even it up on Monday.

[Kekkonen]

Originally Posted by BruceM

Actually it's happened three times in NHL history that a team has gone down 0 - 2 in the final and come back to win the cup.

Only one of them had lost the first two games away.

[canadiancreed]

I'll agree with the improved performance. It seemed that they first overcame their issue with scoring (Chris Neil's redirect), then their see-saw battle in the score (Alfie's re-direct), and the rest is history. Pronger's second bout with "uncontrollable body spasms" looked to be just more fuel to the fire.

It was a whole different team then what we saw the previous two nights. Neil was a man possessed. I never thought too much of this guy but eh was what the doctor ordered. Its' almost like they got rid of a few hangups. Gigeure is not only beatable, he' horrid when swarmed, the DUcks's D is beatable when their fore checked consistently, and get them annoyed and they start getting stupid penalties (although the refs as usual missed lots of clutch and grabs, there was four that we counted in less then a minute on Sen players before that mini brawl where the Ducks best line ended up in the box.)

It's also bad when they say that the refs are from Canada the fans are like "thank God, better officiating.). I wonder just how bad it was for the first two (I sadly didn't see the games)

[Long_Long_Name]

Seventh career suspension for Chris Pronger. SEVENTH! Geez, the NHL hands these babies out like they're detentions for not doing your homework properly.

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by Long_Long_Name

Seventh career suspension for Chris Pronger. SEVENTH! Geez, the NHL hands these babies out like they're detentions for not doing your homework properly.

What i'm wondering is this as effective as baseball's drug policy? I mean after a while shouldn't we clue in that suspending this guy for one game fo such infractions is not working and up the ante? When I saw this happen the first thing that came to mind is what Dale Hunter did to Pierre Turgeon when he was with the Islanders.

[Long_Long_Name]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

What i'm wondering is this as effective as baseball's drug policy? I mean after a while shouldn't we clue in that suspending this guy for one game fo such infractions is not working and up the ante?

Well, with the drug policy in MLB, wouldn't you be banned forever after the 7th offense?

Also, I'd argue that the things Pronger got suspended are much worse than drug use. Drug use is prohibited mainly because it will have negative consequences over a person's health, and you'd have to spin pretty hard to find a way in which drug use could harm anyone but the player himself. I think injuring someone else is a much, much worse offense than using performance-enhancing substances that are only hurting yourself.

If I were the commissioner of the NHL, punishments would be very, very harsh for attempt at injury. 1-game, 2-game suspensions are laughable. Bring on the 20+ games suspensions, and don't be afraid to ban players like Bertuzzi and Pronger. Yeah, I know they're stars, and I know that hockey is a physical sport, but a deliberate attempt at injury should get you some very severe consequences. Clearly suspensions don't have a discouraging effect on a guy like Pronger, they're more symbolic than anything.

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by Long_Long_Name

Well, with the drug policy in MLB, wouldn't you be banned forever after the 7th offense?

Not according to Steve Howe.

Originally Posted by Long_Long_Name

Also, I'd argue that the things Pronger got suspended are much worse than drug use. Drug use is prohibited mainly because it will have negative consequences over a person's health, and you'd have to spin pretty hard to find a way in which drug use could harm anyone but the player himself. I think injuring someone else is a much, much worse offence than using performance-enhancing substances that are only hurting yourself.

Yes it was a imperfect comparison. It was just the first thing that existed in the sports world that was around the same level of i-effectiveness as the current suspension policy in the NHL.

Originally Posted by Long_Long_Name

If I were the commissioner of the NHL, punishments would be very, very harsh for attempt at injury. 1-game, 2-game suspensions are laughable. Bring on the 20+ games suspensions, and don't be afraid to ban players like Bertuzzi and Pronger. Yeah, I know they're stars, and I know that hockey is a physical sport, but a deliberate attempt at injury should get you some very severe consequences. Clearly suspensions don't have a discouraging effect on a guy like Pronger, they're more symbolic than anything.

I remember they used to come down like a ton of bricks on stuff like that. Look at Dale Hunter's 20 gamer, or Hextall's infamous forum freakout. Hell Bertuzzi was suspended for a year was he not? (I honestly dont' recall), and McSorely was also blackballed for pretending to be a woodsman. I'll agree though that repeat offenders need to be given more then wrist slaps, which is what this is.

As for the excuses that Carylyle gives for "he's a big guy, blah blah blah", soem thougths on that statement:

1) If you can't control your body without outside influences (such as a player draped all over you), then you realyl shouldn't be playing the game.
2) Size is a poor excuse. By that logic Chara should be allowed to elbow till the cows come home.
3) When you snap your elbow foreward like that, that is intentional, or something iffy with your nervous system. SInce Pronger hasn't been tagged with a nervous dis-order, we'll go with intent to injure.
4) His track record speaks for itself. Seven suspensions isn't the mark of a guy that's just unlucky with the officials, that's the mark of someone that just doesnt' get it, or doesn't care to get it. Hell some would suggest that's the mark of a goon and unlike the seventies, they have no place in today's NHL. (and indeed never should have)

And in closing, LLN you'd be much better then the current commish we've got in there. Then again so would an inanimate carbon rod so I guess that's not a hard race to win.

[Long_Long_Name]

Well, yeah, Bertuzzi and McSorley got somewhere between 20 and 30 games. They'd be out of the NHL forever if it were up to me. Pronger would be to. When I mean 20 games, I think that'd be a rather "mild" penalty - for a first time offender, something like what Pronger did to Homstrom would earn him well over 20 games.

Is it harsh? Yes, probably too much so. I'm not a law & order kind of guy, but I'm sure players would think about it twice before trying to behead a player. For the sake of professional hockey, cheap shots need to be taken out of the game. I have nothing against body checks, or a defenseman cleanly clearing the front of the net, but attempt at injury is simply not acceptable, and it's not with 3-game suspensions that you're going to fix that.

[boilermaker]

It was wierd how disconnected Pronger was from the incident when talking about it.

Commenting on his own suspension:

"I've been in front of them before and now I'm a repeat offender," the 32-year-old Pronger said at a news conference, dressed in a warmup suit and wearing a baseball cap. "I'm sure that plays into it as it normally does in any situation.

"They did the right thing here. It's a situation where there was a head blow, and that's obviously something that the league's trying to crack down on. I don't blame them in any way."

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/...ap3782702.html

I mean, you have to hear him say that. He says it like a commentator on television dispassionately talking about someone else as if it happened in the distant past.

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by boilermaker

It was wierd how disconnected Pronger was from the incident when talking about it.

Commenting on his own suspension:



http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/...ap3782702.html

I mean, you have to hear him say that. He says it like a commentator on television dispassionately talking about someone else as if it happened in the distant past.

YA that's a bit disconcerning....

[Kekkonen]

You people are harsh. Surely Pronger deserves the benefit of the doubt -- he'd been a model citizen for what, 6 full games since his previous suspension.

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by Kekkonen

You people are harsh. Surely Pronger deserves the benefit of the doubt -- he'd been a model citizen for what, 6 full games since his previous suspension.

We can we say? THis isn't the NBA/NFL.

[darkhorse]

Chris Pronger is another who missed an obvious career as a porn star.

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by darkhorse

Chris Pronger is another who missed an obvious career as a porn star.

So THAT's why his wife wanted him to move to Anaheim!

[boilermaker]

Well, if there's any team that can afford to lose as central a player as Chris Pronger, it's Anaheim. The depth of this team is staggering, and perhaps overlooked. I wouldn't be shocked if they stole tonight's game.

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by boilermaker

Well, if there's any team that can afford to lose as central a player as Chris Pronger, it's Anaheim. The depth of this team is staggering, and perhaps overlooked. I wouldn't be shocked if they stole tonight's game.

Neither would I, but not for that reason.

[Long_Long_Name]

Originally Posted by boilermaker

Well, if there's any team that can afford to lose as central a player as Chris Pronger, it's Anaheim. The depth of this team is staggering, and perhaps overlooked. I wouldn't be shocked if they stole tonight's game.

That's weird, I would think that their defensive staff is quite top-heavy.
Pronger, Niedermayer and Beauchemin play almost half of every game each, and I had to take a look at their website to learn that the rest of their staff is made up of R. Jackman, DiPenta, Huskins, O'Donnell and Rome. Yikes.