NHL Playoff Thread

[Booche]

Gary Bettman: Most Defensive Commissioner In Sports

That's just another retarded cut and paste Kev.

If he was that, would Bettman really do these types of interviews with Ron? Would he really call up the Team 1200 (and others around the country) radio shows for interviews/lambast sessions?

He wouldnt. He faces his critics and more often than not, schools them. A bunch of fucking uninformed folks who think they actually know the ins and outs of how the league operates try to trip up Bettman (he's a lawyer) on a weekly basis. They are becoming an embarrassment if you ask me because they arent really paying attention and obviously are working on the I Hate Gary Bettman agenda.

What do people really think he is going to say about returning to southern Ontario? Its obvious what the owners want (and dont want in this scenario). The only thing that these interviewers have done is made it easy for Gary to appease the fans who want to see a return to Winnipeg and Quebec City.

And lets remember a great point that Bettman brought up with Ron. We are coming out of the worst recession we have seen in our lives and the cap is going up this year. And just look at the television numbers in the US.

Great job Gary. I applaud.

[hamilton]

As the only one watching the game on Vs instead of CBC' date=' I feel like I'm missing out on half of the fun around here.[/quote']

Video here:

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2010/06/02/sp-maclean-bettman.html

Thanks for the link. I get to watch all of the games through NHL CentreIce Online, and it only shows the Vs. feeds. There isn't anything wrong with watching those feeds, but I know that everyone else I know is watching CBC... so I miss out on the between-period, pre-game, post-game and mid-game dialogues that everyone else is hearing.

I get Ed Olczyk, though.

[dave-O]

I'd be watching on VS if I could. I love Mike Emrick and Olczyk is pretty good as well.

[ollie]

Hey hamilton, CBC streams games live from their site but I guess it's blocked outside of Canada? If that's the case then an IP spoofer might help if you really want to watch live on CBC.

[ollie]

I'd be watching on VS if I could. I love Mike Emrick and Olczyk is pretty good as well.

I love Emrick for pretty regularly calling out Pierre McGuire on the observations he makes.

[hamilton]

Hey hamilton, CBC streams games live from their site but I guess it's blocked outside of Canada? If that's the case then an IP spoofer might help if you really want to watch live on CBC.

Yeah, it's blocked outside of Canada. It's not a big deal, really - I quite enjoy watching on VS actually. I like Emrick and Olczyk, but prefer the between-periods stuff on CBC. I find Brian Engblom mildly annoying.

[AD]

Free tickets for the Finals!!

[dave-O]

Holy shit.

How many of those goals were deflections into their own net?

How good is Ville Leino?

Some serious gamesmanship going on tonight. Any excuse, change stick/fix a blade/fix the ice to delay a faceoff and get a few extra seconds of rest.

[dave-O]

Biggest game of the year tonight. Billed as such, it will probably be a let down.

[hamilton]

I wonder if the Fratellis get royalties every time the Hawks score.

[Jaimoe]

I wonder if the Fratellis get royalties every time the Hawks score.

I hope someone from the band is getting paid. BTW, they broke up in April.

[hamilton]

Really? That sucks. I loved both of their albums.

[Jaimoe]

Really? That sucks. I loved both of their albums.

Part of the reason for the split was the singles from their last album tanked; the album didn't sell either.

[hamilton]

Really? That sucks. I loved both of their albums.

Part of the reason for the split was the singles from their last album tanked; the album didn't sell either.

Admittedly, it was not as good as the first one. But it was still a lot of fun, I thought.

Anyway... go Hawks!

[Jaimoe]

Really? That sucks. I loved both of their albums.

Part of the reason for the split was the singles from their last album tanked; the album didn't sell either.

Admittedly' date=' it was not as good as the first one. But it was still a lot of fun, I thought.

Anyway... go Hawks! [/quote']

Go Flyers.

[Kanada Kev]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/09/chrissy-pronger-poster-tr_n_605871.html

June 9, 2010

Chrissy Pronger Poster: Tribune Gives Flyers Star A Skirt, Catches Flak

Huffington Post/AP

PHILADELPHIA -- Chris Pronger has become poster-ized in the town where Michael Jordan made it an art form with high-flying dunks over helpless defenders.

The Philadelphia Flyers' star defenseman is hardly celebrating his portrayal Tuesday in a Chicago Tribune poster, though. It shows Pronger wearing a skirt beside a bold headline that declares, "Chrissy Pronger. Looks like Tarzan, skates like Jane."

Check out the poster:

2010-06-09-6a0115709f071f970b013483a2bd2b970c400wi.jpg

"I don't read what you guys write, good or bad," Pronger said Tuesday. "I really couldn't care, to be honest with you. I'm worried about playing the game."

Others weren't so dismissive of the poster.

"I'd like to see that editor out on skates. I'll take them one-on-one on the ice any day," three-time Olympic medalist Angela Ruggiero told The Associated Press. "They obviously have never seen women's hockey and are living in the dark ages."

Ruggiero found out about the poster via Twitter and expressed disappointment and anger that such demeaning portrayals of women and hockey are still being made.

"For her and others who took offense, I apologize. No qualifiers, I'm sorry," Chicago Tribune sports editor Mike Kellams said in an e-mail. "We were just having a little fun with a guy who has come to personify all that has gotten under the collective skin of Blackhawks fans. Pronger is talented that way. And we were trying to connect to that emotion in a fun way.

"I grew up in Indiana and came to hockey as an adult. Ruggiero vs. me on the rink would be no contest. I know that from what she and her team did at the Vancouver Olympics."

Ruggiero will be in Bensenville, Ill., later this month for the Angela Ruggiero Girls Hockey School, but said she won't be buying the Chicago Tribune and plans to send an e-mail voicing her displeasure.

"Some people are still ignorant," Ruggiero said. "Our sport doesn't get a lot of exposure, so you have to see us play in the world championships or the Olympics to see what the highest caliber of women's hockey is.

"Obviously, it's offensive. It's disappointing more than anything. I grew up playing with boys, trained with NHL players. I would go head-to-head with Pronger any day I could."

Pronger has been an antagonizing force in the Stanley Cup finals against the Blackhawks, but he had the worst game of his career Sunday night when the Flyers lost 7-4.

Pronger, who often logs over 30 minutes of ice time, had a minus-5 rating and was on ice for all but one of Chicago's goals. He sat in the penalty box when the other was scored.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said he heard about the poster, but declined to comment.

The Tribune's website featured countless remarks - both pro and con - that ranged from calling the poster "stupid, juvenile and offensive, and an embarrassment to journalists everywhere" to suggesting it is "just the spark" the Blackhawks need for a Game 6 victory.

"I don't suppose this will move anyone on either side to change their minds about the image," Kellams said. "Some seem to hate it more than anything in life. Others think it's funny. I figure most folks don't care either way. But it's no more complicated than this: We were just trying to have a little fun. That's really it. Honest."

Edited June 9, 2010 by Guest

[dave-O]

gotta love the anticlimactic "where's the puck" finish

[c-towns]

turned it on just in time...

Happy for the Blackhawks but really didn't want Hossa to get it.

Byfuglien should put his hat on straight.

[hamilton]

Great game!

[Guest Low Roller]

Lame finish to a great game. Congrats Hawks!

I sort of wanted the Hossa curse to continue as well.

[Jaimoe]

I didn't enjoy seeing Hossa and Kane hoisting the Cup, but it was a good game between two great teams (and I like both).

[mister slippery]

Good final.

Bit of an anti-climactic winner, but good for Chicago.And, I thought, good for Hossa. I've got no problems with him, and he's never done anything to me.

Now, Chicago, since you've got your Cup now, I reiterate a question from several months ago. Can we, the Maple Leafs, please have Patrick Sharp?

[Hal Johnson]

Im with you Mr S, I was happy for Hossa, and man, can that Kane kid play. Also, he has sweet hair.

[dave-O]

Anybody else catch Jeremy Roenick balling his eyes out? And Mike Milbury half-heartedly trying to console him?

History will be made

[Kanada Kev]

can that Kane kid play. Also, he has sweet hair.

I loved that the mics were open and caught him in his elated glory "we won the fucking CUP!" Big smiles all over the Hawks.

That hair? Well, you can take Kane out of Buffalo, but not the Buffalo out of Kane

Total fizzle of a Cup winning goal though. That was just odd. Big respect for this Flyers team (god that feels weird to say) they really gave it their all and never gave up. The comeback from being down 3-0, taking care of the charging Habs, and then stretching this series to 6 (and so close to 7) after being down 2-0. Good job.

The Cup will be spending a LOT of time in Canada this summer