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Post by Simey on Apr 24, 2009 5:04:59 GMT -5
Hmm - bad times in Montréal. It's not good that they lost in four games straight, but to be fair to them, Boston have been outstanding this season with the Habs merely lucky to scrape into the play-offs, all things considered.
I meant to ask you this before, BC: do you think that Guy Carbonneau was partly fired to cover up all the other things going wrong behind the scenes at the club? Would they have fared better with him stil at the helm?
And do you reckon the Canadiens is a good team that needs to built on, or would it actually be better if a lot of players left and a new-look team was constructed over the summer? After all the apparent controversy over some of the players' activities, maybe a good clean out might be in order....?
Vancouver sweeping St. Louis is pretty impressive - wouldn't have expected it to be quite that easy. The Chicago/Calgary series being tight is no surprise. C'mon the Blackhawks! They are now my favourite team left in the play-offs, I think. I'd like to see them and the Canucks in the conference final if that's possible.
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Post by jan on Apr 24, 2009 15:39:46 GMT -5
Have you guys noticed that the World Championship has started in Switzerland? On TV I was watching the match Slovakia - Hungary which Slovakia won 4:3 by a goal 14 seconds before the end. I can't believe it - it was almost a draw! The hockey was ugly, very defensive from Hungarian side (understandably), but very bad from the Slovakian side - I hope they're gonna play much better next time.  |
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Post by Black Cat on Apr 25, 2009 10:09:17 GMT -5
I meant to ask you this before, BC: do you think that Guy Carbonneau was partly fired to cover up all the other things going wrong behind the scenes at the club? Would they have fared better with him stil at the helm? Honestly, I don't know. What Carbonneau said after been fired was along the line of "The truth will come out one day". What truth? Bob Gainey, the general manager, said a few months prior of firing his head coach that Carbonneau was the thing he was the most proud of since being the GM. Then why did he fired him a few weeks later? A lot of people are thinking that the decision came from someone higher than Gainey, someone that probably wasn't pleased that Carbo was about to use Jaroslav Halak instead of Carey Price for the remainder of the season. There is something fishy in this. However, Gainey did a few things when he became the head coach that helped the team, like putting Kovalev and Koivu together and making look like both players were happy together (most observers say that these two guys don't get along well normally). But the team suffered a few injuries and the fact that Price was constantly in net (because of Gainey's decision or from that someone higher than him that asked Carbo to be fired) didn't help in the end. And do you reckon the Canadiens is a good team that needs to built on, or would it actually be better if a lot of players left and a new-look team was constructed over the summer? After all the apparent controversy over some of the players' activities, maybe a good clean out might be in order....? With ten free agents, and not the worst players of the team either, could be hard to attract other good players that are also free agent when they don't even know the identity of half of the team. Some players need to stay (most people think of Tanguay, Kovalev, Komisarek and Lang) but others will probably not get a new offer (Koivu...). What most observers agree on is that the young players need to be more under surveillance from the big boss. Let's take Price as an example: he's 21, rich, very popular and lives in city that has a good nightlife reputation. Well, a lot of pics of him doing parties can found on the web. There are rumors of him having fun with underaged girls, if you know what I mean. On the other hand, when Sidney Crosby arrived in Pittsburgh, he was younger than Price and went to live with the owner of the team, Mario Lemieux. He was under constant surveillance and heck, he plays very well compare to Price. Same thing could be said of the Kostitsyn brothers. jan: Yeah, I only figured out that he had started yesterday when they announced that Canada had won over Belarus. And what the heck Hungary is doing there?!? Ranked 20th in the world, they will play against Canada, ranked 1st. That is going to be massacre... Oh, and we'll play against Slovakia! |
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Post by jan on Apr 25, 2009 15:38:00 GMT -5
I know that Beowuuf is desparately waiting for the news from the World Championship - so yes, the Czech Republic won over Denmark 5:0 (1:0, 3:0, 1:0), 3 goals from power-play. Our hockey was not perfect, but there were some nice moments. But it was sort of "compulsory" victory, much more challenging matches are going come!
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Post by Beowuuf on Apr 25, 2009 15:49:01 GMT -5
;D
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Post by blazingsaddle on Apr 27, 2009 2:57:09 GMT -5
And what the heck Hungary is doing there?!? Ranked 20th in the world, they will play against Canada, ranked 1st. That is going to be massacre... Oh, and we'll play against Slovakia! 9-0. Is the word massacre is enough? ;D |
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Post by jan on Apr 27, 2009 4:43:06 GMT -5
Slovakia lost with Belarus! Doh! What on Earth is going on here?
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Post by Black Cat on Apr 29, 2009 11:39:15 GMT -5
Back on NHL playoffs, I did pretty good in the first round: 5 good predictions against 3. Anaheim beating the Sharks was a big surprise, no doubt about it. As for the Hurricanes, they got lucky to score two goals in the last 2 minutes of game 7. These were the two goals that allowed them to win the series because otherwise, it would had been the Devils. About Chicago's win over Calgary, maybe I underestimated the young talented players this team has.
Alright, second round picks:
BOSTON vs CAROLINA: Boston is way more relaxed now than the Hurricanes that had to played 7 games to beat the Devils. The difference might come from behind the bench: Claude Julien knows what to do in playoffs but Paul Maurice already brought his team to the Stanley Cup Final. This one might be a tough one, but I'll go with the Bruins.
PITTSBURGH vs WASHINGTON: Woah! Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin, Semin... This is going to be insane! I think we'll see some high scoring games. But in the end, I believe the Penguins will get away with it because they don't have a rookie goalie in net.
DETROIT vs ANAHEIM: One miracle is enough. The Duck won't get further. This is Detroit all the way.
VANCOUVER vs CHICAGO: After what I saw in the first round, I'm ready to think that the Blackhawks have a good chance to access the next round. Their young players proved that even if they lack experience in playoffs, they can win games. It won't be an easy one though because both goalies are at the top of their shape. But still, my head say Chicago will prevail. (...but my heart wants Vancouver to win...)
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Post by jan on May 2, 2009 10:49:58 GMT -5
Czech Republic - Slovakia 8:0 after the 2nd third.  I'm less anxious now. |
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Post by Simey on May 7, 2009 3:47:56 GMT -5
Okay, running a week behind as usual, because I only eventually finished watching the match braodcast last week last night (Game 7 of New Jersey vs. Carolina - terrific match, but wrong result, though very exciting way to finish), and I've been avoiding finding out any later results before doing so.
I seem to have picked five correct as well from the first round, though less scientifically than BC. I got San Jose wrong (who wouldn't have?) and New Jersey just the same. But I also got Montréal wrong - desperate hope not enough - whilst getting Chicago right.
The semi-final winners I'd guess at/hope for would be: Detroit (but c'mon the Ducks!); Chicago (tough pick, but sorry again, Canadian bias - I just like the Blackhawks too much); Boston (though you never know what'll happen when one team has had it sooooo easy while the other has really had to fight); Pittsburgh (purely on the basis of MAF).
Jan - what is the system of the competition? Is it round-robin or a straight knock-out? Were you concerned about Slovakia losing to Belarus because you didn't want them to or because it was just weird?
I trust the Czech Republic continue to do well....?
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Post by jan on May 7, 2009 4:41:31 GMT -5
Now the championship is in quarter-final matches, and the system is straight-knock out. Today, the Czech Republic will face Sweden - and I've got a bad feeling about this.
Slovakia didn't make it into quarter-final.
In the first two quarter-final matches yesterday, Belarus lost narrowly with Russia (3:4) and Finland with USA (2:3), so they're going home. Today, besides Czech Republic - Sweden, there is also the fourth and last match between Canada and Latvia - the result is easily predictable, but Latvia was very good on this championship and "their star is rising".
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Post by Simey on May 7, 2009 5:25:56 GMT -5
Wow - poor, tiny little LAtvia against Canada! But they've made it this far, which has to be a great achievement!
Surprising that Russia only narrowly beat Belarus.
Czech Republic vs. Sweden sounds like a pretty terrific match up - if only there was a way to watch these matches!
By the way, does anyone know what happens when it's an Olympic year, as next year? Do the leagues start early and have a break? Or do they finish late? Or do they have to let some of their best players go to the Olympics and carry on regardless?
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Post by Black Cat on May 7, 2009 14:33:42 GMT -5
By the way, does anyone know what happens when it's an Olympic year, as next year? Do the leagues start early and have a break? Or do they finish late? Or do they have to let some of their best players go to the Olympics and carry on regardless? Ever since professionnal hockey players are allowed at the Olympics (first time was in Nagano in 1998), the NHL takes a break during the hockey tournament. The season starts a little earlier and ends a little later, but the calendar is overall more hard on the teams since they have to play the same number of games with less days off. The two-weeks break is always welcomed by the players not going to the Olympics. |
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Post by jan on May 8, 2009 3:19:20 GMT -5
The semifinal matches of the World Championship are today:
Russia - USA (Russians should have no problems here, they are definitely the best team on the Championship)
Canada - Sweden (now this is going to be an interesting match! - I think Sweden is slightly better technically, but you know, anything can happen)
Czech Republic lost with Sweden yesterday 3:1, and our performance was very baaad, buuuhuuuuu. It seems that the best years for this Czech generation have already passed.
Canada won with Latvia 4:2 yesterday. The Latvians were really good but Heatley was the man of the match.
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Post by Black Cat on May 11, 2009 12:40:31 GMT -5
Well, Canada lost the gold medal game against the Russians for the second year in a row... There's always next year!
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I'm less anxious now.