2003 NHL Playoffs

[Fittisize]

Well? You are you all cheering for to take home Lord Stanley's Cup? I'm sure all of you have a team...I myself am going for the Ottawa SENATORS, because they have been my fav. NHL team for around five years now. Presidents trophy winner (most points in the regular season) I have high hopes for them to go all the way to the finals...if they can overcome the friggen NY Ilsanders (they just lost 3-0 in game one). Man I hate New York teams...

SO, who do you all want to win the most challenging award to get in sports???

[A Black Falcon]

the most challenging award to get in sports

And why would you think that? I doubt it...

Oh, and I'm for the Bruins of course... :)

[Fittisize]

Because...hockey is the sport that requires the greatest amount of skill and practise to excel at. I want the Oilers to do good too. I go and see them play every once in awhile.

[Dark Lord Neo]

Dallas always beats Edmonton though, Tonight was the first time in Years that Edmonton has one a game in Dallas.
I'm going to post who I think/hope will win in this round, I'm not sure who will win the cup overall though

Bruins vs Devils -Devils
Maple Leafs vs Flyers -Maple Leafs
Oilers vs Stars -Stars but I wish it was the Oilers
Islanders vs Senators -Senators
Capitals vs Lighting -not sure don't know enough about either team
Mighty Sucks vs Red Wings -Red Wings
Blues vs Canucks -Canucks
Avalanch vs Minisota -Quebec er Colorado

[Dark Lord Neo]

Originally posted by Fittisize
Because...hockey is the sport that requires the greatest amount of skill and practise to excel at. I want the Oilers to do good too. I go and see them play every once in awhile.

What about those Eco-Challenge things, I think they may be harder, I'm not sure, the only way to know for sure is to find someone who is good at everything and ask them which is easiest though that wouldn't really be that good either

[Laser Link]

I don't know if hockey requires the most skill, but there is no question that the NHL playoffs are by far the most physically demanding. The competition always improves over the regular season and then the games get better every round. So I would agree with Fittisize.

And it's all about the Avs baby. It's always nice when you have the leading points scorer and leading goal scorer. 9 straight division titles (:shake: @ Vancouver) means they have plenty of experience in the playoffs. Sakic and Roy will step it up as they always do. They've struggled all year with injuries and got off to a slow start, but they are hot now! Colorado will take care of the Commies- if Detroit lasts that long.

[A Black Falcon]

The Red Wings will probably win again... they're certainly good enough...

Um, isn't it just really odd that so many NHL teams are in the south and southwest? I mean... I bet not a player on any of those teams is from the southern 2/3 of the US (excluding the Rockies)... :)

[alien space marine]

God I hope red wings dont win again ,Yah I hope the Senators win they could sure use it.

[Italian_Pyro]

ok first of all soccer is much more demanding then hockey. In hockey you skate for maybe a minute and a few seconds, give it your all(or at least you should¤cough¤Brisebois¤cough¤) and then you sit on a bench for 6 minutes. So in a game you'll usually play a max of 20 minutes(and thats if your an all-star defence).

Now in soccer you must run around on a field for 90 minutes. Not only is a field much bigger then a rink, your also on it for much longer. And I dont see how you can say hockey players practice more then soccer or basketball players.

But now for my predictions and a couple of reasons

Bruins vs Devils -Devils. The Bruins just arent that good, there goaltending sucks. So unless Hackett wakes up theyll be playing golf soon enough

Maple Leafs vs Flyers -Flyers. This will be very close and it depends very much on goaltending, I wouldnt be very suprised or desapointed if Toronto won but I hope that Philly will(that way the CBC will play matches other then Toronto...)

Oilers vs Stars -Stars. Sigh... I guess

Islanders vs Senators -Senators. Even if they lost game 1 they should still get through at least the first round... But if they reach NJ or Philly theyll have some problems(they already showed that they could beat Toronto on various occasions this season)

Capitals vs Lightning -Lightning. I really dont care but I like the name Khabibulhin

Mighty Ducks vs Red Wings -Red Wings. I think this is gonna be closer then what everyone expects.. Id love Anaheim to win really, they have a great them. Im hopping Curtis chokes...I really dont like him

Blues vs Canucks -Canucks. Well there my favorite team so come on. I also like St-Louis, and Im sure its gonna tight enough. Much to do with goaltending here(and also how far the Canucks will go, Cloutier better get hot again)

Avalanche vs Wild - Avalanche. Not that I really care, I hate Roy and Im not crazy about the Wild so whoever is fine with me

[Weltall]

If the Penguins aren't in then I can't care.

[A Black Falcon]

The Penguins? You sure don't follow hockey at all, do you...

[Laser Link]

Yeah, the NHL is trying to get more people playing hockey by expanding to places that have never seen ice before. The promise of frozen water is enough to get sellouts for the first couple years, and by then they hope some people will start to enjoy the game. :D I think they are trying to get people everywhere playing hockey, so that in a decade people from Florida will be playing for the Lightning and it won't just be imported Canadians. But then the US will have the best hockey program and Canada will explode.

Now to Italian_Pyro: Yes, soccer players are on the field for the whole game. But if they run into each other somebody gets ejected. In hockey, it happens every few seconds. I have lots of respect for soccer players (even though I hate the game) because they do some amazing stuff and have great talent, but they aren't flying around at 30 mph slamming into each other every shift. Finally, I'd like to see a soccer player hit plates in the 4 corners of the net from 50 feet.

And I was under the impression that basketball players DON'T practice. ;)

[A Black Falcon]

I still say that the World Series is the hardest... not because baseball's playoffs are the toughest to win (3 rounds, and the first one is 5 games), but because its hard to get into the playoffs. Only 8 teams make it in, after all... 3 division winners and 1 wildcard... quite unlike the NHL and NBA which have 16-team tournaments and some teams under .500 in the playoffs...

And it takes less than a month, not three...

But hey, I also find it odd how all the other sports play so many games against teams in the other league... :)

Anyway, I doubt that there will be many southern hockey players anytime soon... its kind of hard to get them interested when its a sport that they can only play in arenas since they don't get ice...

[Italian_Pyro]

Originally posted by Laser Link


And I was under the impression that basketball players DON'T practice. ;)

Let me level with you, I dont know anything about basketball

[Dark Lord Neo]

Originally posted by Laser Link
But then the US will have the best hockey program and Canada will explode.

But I doubt the typical gym class in the US will ever be like this
Teacher: Ok Children we're going to play a game called badminton today
Students: Badminton?
Teacher: It's a Game where you play with birdies and rackets
Students: Not Hockey
Teacher:No
Students: We want to play hockey!
Students Refuse to play anything
Teacher gives in, class plays hockey

[Fittisize]

Heh. :)

The reason why I say hockey takes the most amount of skill to play is because it requires you to be excellent in all aspects...puckhandling, passing, shooting, backwards and forwards skating. In football, kickers kick and do nothing else. Runningbacks run, blockers block etc. You only have to be good at one aspect. In soccer, you have to be good at all aspects, too, but shooting a hockey puck and learning how to take and give a body check is much, much harder than kicking a soccer ball and running fast. And in soccer (I know this because of my past experiences, good ones) you can stand still for a long amount of time. You maybe do 5 sprints a game, and can basically rest the rest of the time. That's not to say I don't like soccer. It's my second favourite sport.

Also, like Laser Link said, the reason why the Stanley Cup is the hardest championship to win in all sports is because everything is stepped up by ten times. Going out, skating for a minute, getting knocked around everytime you get the puck, stopping and starting at least 10 times a shift, turning etc. is very physically demanding (trust me...). 20 minutes of ice time in pro hockey is much more hard on you than 90 minutes of pro soccer.



Just for facts sake, a comparision between Canadian and American hockey: I live in a town of about 2500. Last year (and the year before) we played the best players out of the entire state of Utah...vs. the best players out of our tiny town of 2500, we beat them two years but about 5 goals each time.

[Weltall]

Originally posted by A Black Falcon
The Penguins? You sure don't follow hockey at all, do you...

Sure don't. Does Lemieux still play for them?

[A Black Falcon]

Yes, and this might or might not have been his last season.

You see, they did pretty badly...

[Dark Lord Neo]

Originally posted by Weltall
Sure don't. Does Lemieux still play for them?

Plays for them, yeah, he owns them too

[Italian_Pyro]

He pretty much is them...

[Fittisize]

He was saying that he might leave next year though. But yeah, he is the team.

[Fittisize]

Holy shit! The Ducks are leading the Wings 3-0 in the series now! THAT I did not expect. Now the Ducks will most likely win the series, as the odds of bouncing back from a 3-0 deffecit are extremely low.

[Laser Link]

Quack quack quack quack quack quack!

Being an Avs fan, my 2 favorite teams are Colorado and whoever is playing Detroit, but I've always liked Paul Kariya and the Ducks as well. So this is doubly sweet.

[A Black Falcon]

Kariya went to the University of Maine so I've got to like him... Sure, he left for the pros after his freshman year, but still...

[A Black Falcon]

Wow... the Red Wings... swept...

[Fittisize]

I know...

Sens....won. No surprise there. Same with Jersey.

[Dark Lord Neo]

Vancouver won oh boy

[A Black Falcon]

And Minnesota just beat Colorado to have a amazing upset after being down three games to one... quite a playoffs so far...

[Dark Lord Neo]

Originally posted by A Black Falcon
And Minnesota just beat Colorado to have a amazing upset after being down three games to one... quite a playoffs so far...

Wow

[Laser Link]

:( :( :( :(

[Fittisize]

Ya know, it sounds weird to even hear of the Minnesota Wild in the playoffs. And them beating out a team with Patrick Roy, Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic? PLUS a fifty goal scorer? Mind boggling. I'm happy to see Minnesota go on, because they have worked so hard all year, but I'm also sad to see Sakic and Forsberg go out. They are two of my most favourite players.

Whoo. Toronto's out. I dont' really like them, because they beat the Sens out 2 years in a row. Plus I hate Tucker and Domi (although I do admire their skill, as I do with all other NHL players). And Vancouver went on! I'm especially happy for that. Bertuzzi and Nasland could take their team all the way to the cup...

[Dark Lord Neo]

I'm happy Toronto lost

[Laser Link]

I have to root for Philly in this series because the Flyers are my brother's favorite team. But if the Sens win I'll be happy for you guys. They have been a great story all year long. At least Detroit is out too.

[Italian_Pyro]

well Im still cheering for Philly and the Canucks..here's something I found that made me laugh

[Fittisize]

Well, scratch another team out of the playoffs. Tampa lost last night in three overtimes. They had a great season, next year they'll do even better.

And the Sens play in Philly tonight. Er, this afternoon I should say. Why are most of the games played in the US in the afternoon? They not like night games or something?

[Dark Lord Neo]

Yeah, Canadian games are usually at night, probably because of Hockey Night in Canada

[A Black Falcon]

Its a weekend... and weekend games are on in the afternoon a lot... weekday games are nighttime of course.

[Fittisize]

Well...I guess the States have to compete with basketball playoffs at this time of year.

[A Black Falcon]

Huh? Weekend games are often daytime, not just in hockey... baseball and basketball too...

[Fittisize]

I've usually noticed games in Ottawa (minus the one today) and Vancouver games played on the weekend were at nighttime.

[Fittisize]

Yessssssss. Ottawa just beat out the Flyers. They could go all the way! And the 'Nucks will likely beat out Minnesota...likely. All I could ask for in pro hockey right now is a Vancouver/Ottawa playoffs.

[Laser Link]

Quack quack quack quack quack...

[A Black Falcon]

Anaheim already won a World Series... over my seocond favorite baseball team... so I DON'T want them winning anything else. Though it'd be nice if they beat the Stars first, then lost in the next round... I don't like the Stars.

[Fittisize]

Dang it, the Stars were the better team and they blew it. :( I HATE thundersticks! Anahiem I hope does not win. A Mickey Mouse team already won one major sporting event, let's not make it two. Although, seeing Paul Kariya with a cup ring and an Olympic Gold medal would be cool...but that can be said for anybody from Team Canada that is still in the playoffs.

[A Black Falcon]

Yeah, Kariya's the only reason I don't completely dislike the Ducks... he went to college here in Maine...

[Laser Link]

I think I mentioned it before, but the Ducks are my friend's favorite team and Kariya is his favorite player. So go Ducks!

If Thundersticks have this kind of affect in Anaheim, I hope they move down south a hundred miles into Qualcomm Stadium and help the Lightning Bolts. It would be good to see 75,000 people banging Thundersticks when the Raiders are at third and long. Very good.