The official NHL thread

[Nosauz]

solomon..... shush unless you want to be pwnd by the ultimate tag team of caron butler and the only agent zero. Any way yes the redskins were a dissappointment but jason cambell is getting better, and I really think next season might have playoff potential.

[White Manju Bun]

Thank you Nick Lidstrom for not having that game go into overtime! 49.1 secs left! Sigh of relief heard around Hockey Town

Cant wait for the Caps and Pens today!

[Nosauz]

+1 caps, pretty good game

[Karlson]

Great game by Nucks today, way to step up their game after a rather embarassing performance in Game 2

And it ended just in time for me to watch Game 3 of Ducks/Wings

While I admit its tough to be a Sharks fan after that epic choke job they did, I think Yotes fans now have them beat.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=277664

Sure nothing is ever guaranteed or set in stone with Bettman in charge of the NHL but this franchise just never gets a break. Its never easy when fans are uncertain of their franchise's future. I'm sure the real Pens fans know the feeling all too well since that franchise was under a similar situation a few years ago

Edit-And I just realized its the same guy who attempted to buy the Pens just now. And its looking like the owners and Bettman are gonna take this one to the courts.

And tough break for the wings tonight that disallowed goal at the last minute should of counted. Hiller didnt have it looking at the replays but the ref didnt see the puck and made an early whistle. Series can still go either way tho. Quite an exciting game overall.

[The Guy Named Zeo]

He also tried to buy the Preds when they were having money troubles.

That call at the end of the Wings game was BS, but we should have played a full 60 minutes.

[Karlson]

The worst part about that call was that they decided to deem it unreviewable

Seriously I thought the point of video replay in this sport was to challenge a ref's decision in a situation like that, but I guess not. I'm assuming something in the rulebook was changed regarding this and I didnt know about it but if the coaches are gonna be restricted from what can be reviewed as far as goals are concerned why even have video replay to begin with.

Even tho the whistle was blown early it can easily be argued that the puck still crossed the line before the play was whistled dead. I'm not even a wings fan and I say that disallowed at least deserved a review.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0clp66dC3M

The Disallowed goal in question for those who missed it. I know...not the best quality but the bird's eye view especially highlights where the complaints are coming from here

[Zippicus]

The refs for that whole game were pretty sad. Calling stuff they should have let go, letting go stuff they should have called, etc. Calling that a no-goal was just the icing on the cake.

[The Guy Named Zeo]

Well this is a rule on a goal being disallowed

[Goal is disallowed...]
"(xii) When the Referee deems the play has been stopped, even if he had not physically had the opportunity to stop play by blowing his whistle."

NHL's scoring rules page: http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=26489.

So it doesn't matter that the whistle wasn't blown before the puck entered the net, the only thing that matters is the intent the ref has to blow the whistle.

Still doesn't help that the reffing the whole game was horrible.

The TSN panel on the disallowed goal http://work.tsn.ca/window/oneclip_nh...tml#clip168978

[Karlson]

Yeah I can agree there were quite a few soft penalties called and some (what i thought anyway) obvious ones that got left alone.

It kills me to say this everytime but unfortunately it's just one of those kinds of things that teams have to overcome to emerge as champions cause they happen every year. That's why special teams is that important to the game. Like how injuries are outweighed when your team has proper depth in its lineup, bad officiating is often outweighed when your strong on the PK.

Honestly I dont blame the ref in that game for blowing the whistle early. If you dont see the puck, assume play is dead before the goalie gets overwhelmed with opposing players crashing into him. Nothing can be done about that. Still, I think a review would have been fair but that's just my opinion

[Karlson]

Back on the topic of Balsillie and the Phoenix Coyotes...

Am I the only Canadian who disagrees with the notion that this franchise needs to move back to Canada?

Think about it. Our devotion to hockey and the NHL is as strong as it ever has been and that includes southern Ontario. The moves of the Nordiques and the Jets were tough ones to shake off but guess what? We got over it and we're still glued to watching hockey whenever we can. Its in our blood. We live and breathe hockey in this country regardless of how many franchises we have. So you'd think that adding another franchise to this country wouldnt add much to this sports' fanbase since Canada will watch the sport anyway. But apparently that bit of common sense is lost to my fellow canadians and I'm left thinking to myself "why?". The amount of fans the NHL is gonna gain by moving the franchise to where Balsillie wants is not gonna make up for how many that will be lost in Phoenix.

The other thing that makes little sense is Balsillie wants to move the team over to the eastern side of North America. We already have a number of franchises that are more on the eastern side of NA playing in the western conference. Why take away another team from the west and move them to the east? Gotta have some balance in there at least

From a "revenue" standpoint yes a move to Canada would be ideal. But not from a fanbase perspective which is what Bettman is basing his fight against this whole thing on. I'm in no way a Bettman supporter. In fact, far from it. But he's absolutely right in his stance on this issue.

That being said I'm going to be absolutely shocked if Bettman makes this franchise survive through this horrid economy unless someone decides to risk the losses to keep em there and make an offer.

If this franchise were to move anywhere, it be best to move it to a different US market. Somewhere in the Northwest preferrably where its lacking. You have Seattle (yes the Key arena would have to be torn down and rebuilt again), Portland, even Salt Lake City. There are plenty of options to consider should the Phoenix Coyotes be no more

[Dilla]

While the Caps-Pens series has taken up most of the little media attention hockey gets, the Carolina 'Canes have gone up 3-1 on the top-seeded Bruins.

[The Guy Named Zeo]

I wouldn't mind the Coyotes becoming the Jets again, but it seems funny that Bettman wants to save the Coyotes. He let the Jets, Nords, and North Stars move. The Nords becoming the Avs wasn't a bad thing, but letting the North Stars leave Minnesota for Dallas wasn't the greatest idea IMO. The Coyotes haven't had much financial success over the years and it should be moved to a real hockey market, either in Canada or the Northern States. The expansion teams that he has allowed in weren't a good idea in their placement except for the Wild. Nashville does seem to have a better fan base than expected though.

I wouldn't be surprised if Bettman thought a team in Las Vegas would be a good idea.

3/4 of the series are tied at 2 games each. Canes are the team to beat in the east IMO

[Karlson]

Caps/Pens series was like Bettman's dream come true lol especially the game where their star players each scored hat tricks.

I'm actually shocked where the bruins sit now. They got a big hole to dig themselves out of now. And I expected them to make a push for the finals this year. I guess the Canes' fans get the last laugh on me since I picked the Devils over them and now its looking like they are making a case to be the representative for the east in SCF.

Originally Posted by The Guy Named Zeo

I wouldn't mind the Coyotes becoming the Jets again, but it seems funny that Bettman wants to save the Coyotes. He let the Jets, Nords, and North Stars move. The Nords becoming the Avs wasn't a bad thing, but letting the North Stars leave Minnesota for Dallas wasn't the greatest idea IMO. The Coyotes haven't had much financial success over the years and it should be moved to a real hockey market, either in Canada or the Northern States. The expansion teams that he has allowed in weren't a good idea in their placement except for the Wild. Nashville does seem to have a better fan base than expected though.

I wouldn't be surprised if Bettman thought a team in Las Vegas would be a good idea.

3/4 of the series are tied at 2 games each. Canes are the team to beat in the east IMO

Yeah the North Stars to Dallas was not a good move. Getting a team to Dallas was fine, but not at the expense of Minnesota's fanbase. Bettman was pretty quick to realize that mistake and gave them an expansion franchise as compensation. Nordiques to Colorado was a really good move that opened up a very solid market and they gave up very little if not nothing at all to do it since Quebec has Montreal, a team with a rich history behind it to support as its team. Yeah I still dont back the move of the Jets to this day for a second, but I at least know Bettman's reasoning behind it, and it didnt help that the Jets at the time were struggling financially as a small market, not a good combination. But I agree that Phoenix just hasnt shown improvement as a hockey market (and its almost at the 15 year mark since it came to Phoenix) and that it just doesnt have the support of its fans to maintain it over time nor the ability to produce a competitive product on the ice any time soon to remedy their struggle with fan support. That's why quite a few people (including myself) are pretty confident its going under eventually its just a matter of when at this point now.

I think the Blue Jackets was a good idea for an expansion. Then again I dont know what kind of profits they are making off that team but they dont appear to be in anywhere close to trouble financially so they have to be doing something right.

And if a team went to Las Vegas I would quite literally be speechless

[The Guy Named Zeo]

I finally found the attendance figures for the NHL this season in case anyone wanted to see them.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/attendance

[Karlson]

I'm not gonna lie this loss hurts alot (and what a horribly undisciplined penalty by Bieksa), but I just cant help myself...

LOL at how that empty net goal by Havlat happened. That just made my day. Having been a Canucks fan for so long I've gotten used to things like that happening

But I aint giving up on this team yet. One win in Chicago and the series is once again up for grabs. If the Pens can come back from a 2-0 deficit and take over the series lead, we can certainly come back from this. Hell it wasnt too many years ago we've been down a series 3-1 and went on to win.

[The Guy Named Zeo]

That's three times the Canucks have done that this series, they had a lead and than lost it to a late period goal. They really need to do something about the Hawks in the third periods, the Canucks looked dead while the Hawks looked as if it was the start of the game. Hawks always seem to be deadly in the third, so if the Canucks want to win they have to play the full 60 minutes.

On a different note:
Kopecky sustained facial injuries during a fight with Anaheim defenseman Francois Beauchemin and might require surgery. Justin Abdelkader will be taking his place on the fourth line. Other players the Red Wings called up are forwards Ville Lenio and Aaron Downey, defenseman Jakub Kindl, and Goalie Jimmy Howard after the Grand Rapids Griffins were swept by the Manitoba Moose in AHL playoff action.

Babcock said he prefers to use the bigger, more abrasive Abdelkader (6-foot-1, 215) rather than the more skilled Ville Leino because he wants that physical presence against the Ducks.

[Karlson]

Against a physical team like the Ducks that's a smart move by Babcock.

And Vancouver's title of "goaltender graveyard" is once again proven in flying colors when arguably the most talented goaltender in the league cant come through when it counts most. Granted he's not soely to blame for this. Our defence pretty much disappeared and our PK took a vacation as well. I just hope the way this ended tonight doesnt mean Gillis lets Luongo go when his contract is up.

Bad penalties all around tonight, but we didnt deserve to win this game or this series for that matter, the better team won. Best of luck to Chicago (and they will need it if they face the wings).

Oh well the tension is over at least.

[White Manju Bun]

Really hoping the Wings can close out the Ducks tonight, I really dont want a game 7 back in the D. Nice seeing the Caps finally win in OT

[Karlson]

I hope the Wings put em away tonight or tomorrow I would hate to see the Ducks win this in 7 now after that blunder at the end of Game 3, mind you with Detroit having a 3-2 series lead the momentum is in their favor so I'm sure that game is long past their train of thought. Them faltering now would just be bad on their part but I dont see that happening. They're a skilled enough team with alot of experience on their shoulders.

Blackhawks/Red Wings. I do like the sounds of that. 2 Original Six franchises competing for that spot to represent the west. Gotta wonder how the hawks will fare I severely underestimated them when they faced my team I was expecting it to go 7 possibly even 6 going in favor of my team, but I was wrong. Then again Wings dont choke quite like my team does and those Stanley Cup victories prove that

[The Guy Named Zeo]

Well since the Wings decided that they didn't want play game 6, we are heading back to the Joe for game 7. I am not happy with the way the game ended but we were completely outplayed until the third so that happens. Hopefully the Wing play like they should in game 7 or it's golfing time for them.