The world will be an instantly better place the day that Pierre McGuire is decapitated by an "accidental" slap shot between the benches.

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Jay.... are you in the penalty box?

Nope, just no longer wanted my posts here anymore, and accidentally hit the wrong button while editing them.....

Trade deadline day, here are the trades so far:

TRADES SO FAR TODAY:
(newest trades are on top)

To MON: Drew MacIntyre
To ATL: Brett Festerling

To CGY: Fredrik Modin
To ATL: 7th round pick

To VAN: Chris Higgins
To FLA: Evan Oberg, 3rd round pick

To VAN: Maxim Lapierre
To ANA: Joel Perreault, 3rd round pick

To NJD: Dave Steckel, 2nd round pick
To WAS: Jason Arnott

To NYR: John Mitchell
To TOR: 7th round pick (2012)

To LAK: Dustin Penner
To EDM: Colten Teubert, first round (2011), conditional 3rd round pick (2012).

To CHI: Chris Campoli, conditional 7th round pick
To OTT: Ryan Potulny, conditional 2nd round pick

To ANA: Brad Winchester
To STL: 3rd round draft pick

To FLA: Sergei Samsonov
To CAR: Bryan Allen

To EDM: Kevin Montgomery
To COL: Shawn Bell

To PHX: Rostislav Klesla, Dan Byers
To CLB: Scottie Upshall, Sami| Lepisto.

To WAS: Denis Wideman
To FLA: Jake Hauswirth, 3rd round pick

To ATL: Radek Dvorak, Fifth Round pick;
To FLA: Niclas Bergfors, Patrick Rissmiller

Of all the trades that FLA made (four in total, from the listing above) one of the biggest trading chips on the team that was rumoured to be already packaged & shipped to a real contender actually ended up untouched (I'm talking about Vokoun, not Weiss). In the interest of the team, of which I'm no really a fan of anyway, the general management at the very least realized the best player on that team right now is Vokoun, and even though his cap hit on the team for this season and the next was probably the biggest fuel to the fire that he might not be long for the Panthers, Tomas gets the reprieve, up until next season.

So long as I make my unwarranted mention of the Panthers, I'll add: I don't believe the team is strong enough to make the playoffs this season, though I'll add the caveat that if they do, the two main reasons for that hypothetical to happen would be 1) primarily the play of G Tomas Vokoun, and 2) with all those new acquired forwards, if there can be some line-tinkering for the better, and the team actually finds a way to score maybe more than 2.5 goals more than 50% of the time, then... just maybe, do they secure a playoff spot (plus: their division rivals aren't all that difficult to overcome).

and jump over Buffalo, Toronto, Atlanta and Carolina... That's going to be tough, but there is almost a quarter season left.

Florida is 10 points out of 8th with 19 games left. Barring a Carolina and Buffalo free fall, Florida is screwed. And if that free fall were to happen, they would still be in a dogfight with a Toronto team thats playing alot better lately. Not to mention 6 of those 19 games are against Phili, Washington, and Tampa Bay, the 2 top dogs in there division and the eastern conference leader.

so Matt Cooke throws another elbow... What was he thinking? With all the focus on head shots, these guys should be on their best behaviour:


In this case, Cooke actually raised his elbow. What was it, a planned act or reflex?

Even if this was his first and only offense, its clear that this was a planned skate-by elbowing. Since its Cooke, he probably meant to do worse and just didn't catch him flush. 10 games and a playoff round aren't enough. If Bylsma, Shero and Lemieux had any class, which they haven't shown in the past, they would bench Cooke when he returns and get rid of him over the summer.

Well it's Game On for the second season. The Playoffs have started.

The first set of game 1's:

Pittsburgh over Tampa - 3-1
Washington over New York - 2-1
Detroit over Phoenix (Winnipeg) - 4-2
Vancouver over Chicago - 2-0
Nashville over Anaheim - 5-4


That last one surprised me!

Tonight Boston & Montreal meet up under the swirl of the Chara controversy - will they really arrest him in Montreal? I also hear that Air Canada has banned him from the VIP lounge.

Also tonight is Buffalo / Philly & LA/San Jose.

I am a bit disappointed in the rangers I felt they should of had that game last night.

I highly doubt Chara will be arrested or even detained.

Hah.


Chicago in 6. (a pint says so)


:thumbsup:

Actually it was 3-0 Pens.

Fleury stood on his head (as he is known to do), but the Lightning are the better team in this series.

It may go 7, but the Bolts will prevail.

right you are... and I watched the game too. My typo.

I expect the Lightning to prevail as well, even though Pittsburgh was better during the season - they're handicapped now.

My hockey pool hopes so... ugh last choice in a ten person draft suuuuuucks.

Where did you get your scores?

Pittsburgh beat Tampa 3-0
Nashville beat Anaheim 4-1

Vancouver might have won, but Chicago took its to them for much of that game. And Luongo better pull his head out of his ass, he was bailed out by lucky posts a few times while he was swimming around out of position.

As far as the Pittsburgh series, it makes the game alot easier when you spend the entire game on the power play. Nothing like Tampa having to play the entire series 7 on 5.

and GO WINGS!

wow..........got our asses handed to us last night........

i'll say. You think Luongo got shook up on that fall where he landed on his arm?

Wings for the sweep, without zetterberg. 13 different players scored in round 1, was just a great game to watch last night.

While Howard wasn't great in game 4, he deserves alot of credit for that series. He made many key stops, and the team always plays looser when they have a confidence in their goalie.

Stay classy Boston......
See if this suspension goes along the lines of Wisnewski's telling Cooke he sucks cock earlier in the season.....

Ference ended being fined $2500 for that bird. He says that his glove got hung up, and he was only pumping his fist in celebration. But regardless of what the truth is, or how appropriate it was, the Montreal fans deserve that and much more. They abandoned class long ago. So, good on ya Ference.

Haha, that was the worst excuse ever, heard his statement last night, everyone in the HNIC studio laughed their asses off at him. I at least could have respected him a bit had me been a man and said yeah I fucked up, I did it.

As for the fans deserving it, these guys are supposed to be professionals, fans aren't supposed to get to them to that point, that's why they make the big bucks. I was told that as a kid and when I played Jr. and I did some dumb shit to the fans back then, but I also wasn't making millions of dollars a year, or anything for that matter, aside from 'gas money' as they called it.

Regardless, booing another country's national anthem and trying to get another teams' player put in jail because they are sore ass losers deserves a parking lot beating at least. They got off easy with the one finger salute.

Gotta commend Carey Price for his comeback year, though. Even in the face of all the Montreal fair weather fans calling for his head last year, he's shown that management made the right decision to keep him over Halak. He kept his team in alot of games they didnt deserve to be in, and was a driving force for getting them into the playoffs.

Halak who? Niemi who?

I'm loving this playoff season.... solid play by pretty much every team and few are sticking out to be front runners in winning it all....

Go Wings GO!

Waiting to see if Vancouver completes the choke tonight or if they pull it together and play like they did during the regular season.

Big night tonight.

I didn't get to watch the Philly vs Sabres game tonight (work) but how the hell did Buffalo get outshot 16-2 in the first??? I needed that Philly win for my hockey pool.

1-0 Vancouver after 1.

Edit: Wow Blackhawks tied the game! Looks like OT!

Edit 2: Vancouver really deserved that win, but man did Chicago come close.

Amazing Vancouver / Chicago game. Don't think there will be another series that exciting in this playoffs.

Disappointed that Buffalo bowed out so easily. And a game 7 for Montreal/Boston tonight? C'est incroyable!

Two more game sevens tonight. Let's go Montreal and I don't think Pittsburgh are going to be able to do it without their two big guns. I see Stamkos and St. Louis stepping it up tonight.

So.... Vancouvers success thus far..... a result of luck during close games or have they been the better team in the series? And with that said, what about San Jose/Detroit, Washington/Tampa Bay and Boston/Philidelphia? Which has been the better team in the series?

Personally, Washington didn't show up at all, taking a group of offensive weapons and trying to make them more defensive isn't the way to work it there. I love Tampa and think that Steve Yzerman was given a very good team and that team has the right motivation, if you've heard the back story about personel on the team having cancer....

I thought in the Vancouver series, Nashville was all over Vancouver. They made Luongo look like an amateur and if they win the cup, someone on Keslers line should get it, they've been dominating. I think the fact that Nashville have few known players and so many contributors, has made me a believer in their team. Barry Trotz has done wonders with that team.

I think Boston has surprised me the most, since I thought that the Flyers would win the east. I hate the fact that no goalie has stepped up to the plate and they just around with the goalies.... I hate Boston, with passion.... I only really like Lucic and Krejci because they're hardnosed, hard working players.... the rest should be on unemployment.

San Jose has been my surprise in the west, I thought this was the best matchup for my beloved Wings.... needless to say, I may have to take back the comment I made about Neimi, he's been great.... and they've been close entertaining games, the last few which Detroit has been ahead only to have San Jose to come back and win it. Although I hate Detroit losing, I like seeing the heart the Sharks have shown. In the past, I've been critical of the heart players like Heatley, Thorton and Boyle have had but I think they've either covered their asses or have rose to the occasion..... and my vote goes to Couture for rookie of the year.

so what do you think?

Boston will play Tampa......

going on a limb here.........Vancouver will be playing San Jose.

although,Detroit played pretty good yesterday so,don't count them out yet.....Preds are done tonight.

Holy hell, my blood pressure is still up from yesterdays Wings game. If they could only play 3 periods like they played in the 3rd, San Jose wouldn't stand a chance. Here's to hopin tomorrows game isnt as big a nail biter as game 5.

By the by, if Detroit somehow manages to pull this out, I'm nominating Jimmy Howard for sainthood.

I second Jimmy Howard for godliness, he's been a game changer....

RIP Boogyman
Rangers forward Boogaard found dead in apartment

made easy work of the Sharks last night........if Blowongo would only stay in his net and not play the damn puck........


3rd lines could be the difference in this series

I think his stick got broken on one of those plays - made it look like he couldn't play the puck.

i heard that the fans in Atlanta are pissed at what they perceive to be the opportunistic or even predatory nature of the 'Peggers. While I feel for the desire of Winnipeg to regain their team I also feel for the fan base in Atlanta who have to go through this drama a second time.

Really, the Coyotes should return to Winnipeg and the league should expand to put another team into Southern Ontario as well as return to Quebec City

Fuck Yeah.........Canucks are goin' to the cup.

Boston and Tampa..........please kick the shit outta each other for two more games.

yes! 2XOT couldn't stay up for the finish tho.

And after missing the weekend games, I wanted my hockey fix. What's the deal with Afternoon hockey games???? I sat down on Saturday evening for the usual HNIC on CBC, and there was NOTHING. Who the hell schedules an NHL playoff game for the afternoon? what an asshat move.

That Bieksa goal was such crap. What a perfect way for the perennial underachieving Sharks to end their season.

yup,but greasy goals count too.......

Thats right, just like Mickey Redmond always says, they don't ask how, they just ask how many.

And I have chosen Boston as my surrogate team for the remainder of the playoffs.

Vancouver gets Manny back..........best face off man in the league

My Admin assistant is friends with Manny's sister (out Oshawa way). They are ecstatic that he's making the recovery and may be playing by Wednesday.

---------- Post added at 08:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:59 AM ----------

Large Canadian Pizza Restaurant Chain showing some home-town support:

http://www.bostonpizza.com/en/Default.aspx



Boston Pizza becomes Vancouver Pizza for Stanley Cup




By Juanita Ng, Postmedia News May 29, 2011 Comments (12)



In a show of local support, popular restaurant chain Boston Pizza temporarily renames its franchises Vancouver Pizza.


VANCOUVER — In a show of hometown support, Boston Pizza has become "Vancouver Pizza" in B.C. — for the duration of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, anyway.

The change was made on the restaurant chain’s website almost immediately after the Boston Bruins won their series Friday night, and more substantial changes will take place early next week.

But the planning for this mastermind marketing move actually took place last year when it looked as if there were a chance Boston and the Vancouver Canucks might play each other at some point.

"The stars didn’t align at that time so we just kept it in the can," Brad Bissonnette, Boston Pizza’s director of regional marketing said in an interview Saturday. "Now, the city is on overdrive and it’s really special to be a part of that."

As soon as Boston won its series, the restaurant "pulled the trigger," ordering up rebranding materials for all of its 62 B.C. locations.

The fact that it took seven games for Boston to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning was definitely nerve-racking for everyone at the chain. "I was on pins and needles," Bissonnette admits. "But it was magical when (the Boston win) happened. And it was only natural for us to show our support."

Starting Monday, all restaurants will receive Vancouver Pizza banners to hang over their signage. They will also get Vancouver Pizza stickers to cover up the unsightly Boston Pizza logos on takeout containers. And staff will be instructed to answer the phones "Hello, Vancouver Pizza."

The rebranding will also take place at Rogers Arena, where the rink boards, LED displays and signage at all kiosks will be amended to say Vancouver Pizza. "Every consumer touchpoint will be rebranded," Bissonnette says.

Probably the best part of this is that all of these changes will only cost Boston Pizza . . . er, Vancouver Pizza . . . about $20,000. "The power is in the message and the timing," Bissonnette says.

All restaurants will also feature special Canucks menus; customers who order from them will get to enter to win prizes that include the chance to watch a Canucks playoff game in a private suite.

This is the second time the company has changed its logo to show support for a home team; when Boston played Montreal earlier this year, all BP locations in Montreal became Montreal Pizza.

Vancouver Sun

Hmmm...there are no Boston Pizza franchises in Boston...just as well, would have been awkward..

oh man I can't wait.........this is gonna be a killer series.......


and good to see Bost.....er.......Vancouver Pizza doing that in support of the home team here,they will rack in mega coinage on that move.........


GO CANUCKS GO...........

the good news: Winnipeg get an NHL team again! The bad news, the fans in Atlanta lose an NHL team again.

Sadly, the news didn't even rate front page on this Atlanta news site:


Thrashers are on their way to Winnipeg | ajc.com

Thrashers are on their way to Winnipeg


By Tim Tucker

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta added a lowlight to its sports record book Tuesday, becoming the first city in the NHL’s modern era to lose two teams.

Thirty-one years after the Flames left Atlanta for Calgary, an agreement was reached to sell the Thrashers to a Canadian group that will move the team to Winnipeg. The Flames lasted eight seasons in Atlanta. The Thrashers made it through 11.

The Atlanta Spirit ownership group’s deal to sell the Thrashers to True North Sports and Entertainment requires the ratification of the NHL Board of Governors, which meets June 21 in New York. A 75-percent vote is required to approve a franchise sale, and a majority vote is needed to approve relocation. Board approval is considered little more than a formality, though, since the transaction has the blessing of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

Bettman was in Winnipeg on Tuesday for a news conference announcing the deal, which was negotiated with his consent over the past 2 1/2 weeks.

“As we have said repeatedly, we don’t like to move franchises,” Bettman said Tuesday. “But sometimes, we simply have no choice.”

He considered this to be such a case because of Atlanta Spirit’s unwillingness to continue funding the Thrashers’ operating losses — pegged in court documents at roughly $20 million per year — and inability to find a buyer who would keep the team in Atlanta amid such losses.

“No real local purchaser emerged, and ultimately Atlanta’s ownership, which has made it clear they want out, reached outside the Atlanta market,” Bettman said.

“To our fans in Atlanta, we are not happy about leaving Atlanta,” Bettman added. “Please be assured it was never about whether Winnipeg is better than Atlanta. The decision to come to Winnipeg was made only after Atlanta’s ownership made the decision that they were going to sell, even if it meant that the club was going to leave Atlanta.”

Michael Gearon Jr., one of the Thrashers’ owners, choked up several times as he discussed the situation Tuesday.

“You get in a situation where you are faced with no other options, and that’s where we are,” he said. “It’s emotional. It’s painful. It’s saddening.”

Said Thrashers president Don Waddell, who has been with the franchise since its inception: “It is one of my tougher days. ... Obviously, being here from Day 1, to start a franchise and to see it leave, ‘disappointed’ is an understatement.”

The NHL leaves a metro area of more than 5 million people — the United States’ eighth largest TV market — for a city of 700,000 in hockey-loving Canada. The league returns to a city it left in 1996, when the Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix and became the Coyotes.

The True North group set its sights on the Thrashers after the city of Glendale, Ariz., agreed three weeks ago to cover another $25 million in Coyotes losses to prevent that team from moving back to Winnipeg.

The Thrashers, who entered the NHL as an expansion team in 1999, struggled on and off the ice for most of their time in Atlanta. They reached the playoffs only once (2007), never won a postseason game and ranked in the league’s bottom four in attendance each of the past three seasons. The owners say the team has lost $130 million since 2005, including $20 million in the lone playoff season.

True North is believed to be paying $170 million for the franchise — $110 million to the Spirit and $60 million to the league as a relocation fee.

Lawyers worked through the night Monday on the transaction, including a 4:30 a.m. conference call with Bettman, with the last piece of the complex deal put in place at mid-morning Tuesday.

The relocation will mean job losses for an unknown number of Thrashers employees, although Waddell said he hopes some staffers will accompany the team to Winnipeg and others will fill openings on Atlanta Spirit’s other properties, the Hawks and Philips Arena.

Waddell said he won’t remain with the soon-to-be-renamed team after the sale closes and isn’t sure of his next career move.

As to whether Atlanta might someday get a third NHL franchise, Waddell said: “That’s a good question. I don’t really know the answer to it. ... Never is a long time, so I wouldn’t want to say that. Obviously, in the short term, it’s not going to happen.”

I myself am actually glad we have another Canadian team coming back,and would love to see more but ,yeah it's gotta suck in Atlanta losing a team twice........too bad.

All we need now is a Hamilton franchise.

yup,that would be killer......as well as a team in Sask.........and Que

3 more wins baby..........wooooooohooooooo

2 more wins.............

Fuck Yeah

4 - 0 for Boston in the first period of Game 6. What the?????? The wrong Luongo showed up tonight and now the Bruins have the momentum. I figure that Luongo will start the second period, and there is a lot of hockey left tonight.

---------- Post added at 09:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:02 PM ----------

start of period 2 - nope, Schneider is in net, but Bergeron just collided with him (penalty for GT interference) so a chance for the 'Nucks to get a goal

Win or lose, Thomas deserves the Conn Smythe and the Vezina. He has been beyond stellar.

Agreed. His focus is astounding. Hopefully, he isn't 100% on Weds - Game 7!

i think vancouver is in considerable trouble at this point. 5-2. the canucks briefly woke up at the start of the 3rd but goal 5 put an end to that. thomas has been great, boston's defense has been excellent. in boston, the canucks have been crushed 3 times. the games in vancouver could all have gone either way. should be an interesting game 7. personally, i see vancouver going down in flames. that will make me laugh and laugh.

I'm conflicted. I've never been a Canucks fan. If I can be classified, i would say I'm a Leafs fan first, but perhaps Original 6 support second. So I should be happy for Boston to win. But the swirl around me is that I should be patriotic and support Vancouver. Still the team doesn't strike me as having any personality - more of a collection of elite-ish players. And being a Toronto supporter, I have always appreciated the blue-collar effort that teams like Boston & Toronto put forward. A never say die attitude.

As for patriotism, I think that last time I counted, both teams had 17 Canadians on their rosters. So other than venue, it's a dead heat.

As far as the players are concerned, I think Boston is more Canadian than Vancouver.

But it all comes down to the names, logos, colours, and locales.

Boston is Boston.

I suppose it would be nice to see the Canucks win their first Stanley Cup and to bring it back to Canada. However, I was just at the Hockey Hall of Fame on Sunday, gazing at the old Stanley strips.

The Vancouver Millionaires are on there for 1915, in their pre-NHL glory.

i think all sports teams should be forced to rename themselves the millionaires.


the philadelphia millioinaires are taken to extra innings by the cincinnati millioinaires.
the dallas millionaires defeat the miami millionaires in the nba finals.
the boston millionaires take on the vancouver millionaires in a dramatic game 7.

It starts now. Game 7 for all the marbles.

This is fantastic.

Game On!

great game so far.
beginning of the 2nd period.
very intense.
that is all.

It looks like the Millionaires will take it.

Well that just about wraps it up for another amazing NHL season - Congrats to the Bruins and their "throwback hockey"

I'm thinking that they will be enemies of the Leafs next season, especially in the playoffs.

I'm glad it was a return to old time hockey, and I think if Vancouver didn't dive so much, many, many more calls would've been called their way...