BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: gnu
Date: 12 Jun 06 - 11:03 AM

Oilers in six!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 Jun 06 - 10:16 AM

Well, gnu, players have different specialties (as we all do in life). They don't all do all things equally well. That's part of the fun of playing as a team and part of the challenge opponents have to overcome-- to know what's most likely to come from each individual on an oppposing team and also to try to predict how the various line combinations may function given the range of skills of its component players.

GO OILERS!

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: gnu
Date: 12 Jun 06 - 05:54 AM

I suppose, if ya have a poor wrist shot, ya compensate best as ya can.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Jun 06 - 03:14 PM

But the slapper so mesmerizes the D.

And... I kinda have a funny feeling the guys know what they're doing? :~)

GO OILERS!

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: gnu
Date: 11 Jun 06 - 03:13 PM

~S~... well, a good wrist shot can accomplish the same thing. And it doesn't take that extra 2 to 3 seconds. That's an awful lot of time in close quarters.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Jun 06 - 03:06 PM

congrats oilers!
Ottawa out and we got a Canadian team against a team two hours up the highway. I don't know who to root for!

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Jun 06 - 10:52 AM

gnu, the point of those slappers in "Today's NHL" is to generate rebounds (for close-in or wraparound shots) and to make the defencemen move out of the way (chasing the rebounds for example) to open up lanes for other subsequent shots. And every once in awhile, a slapper does get through and score a goal. But the idea is to use them to generate a series of planned plays closer to the net when an opening is spotted and the defence doesn't realize they and the goalie have been carefully maneuvered out of their preferred positions with several longshots and lured into a more vulnerable set of positions for close or screened shots.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Peace
Date: 10 Jun 06 - 10:23 PM

They didn't have latex jeans in your youth.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: gnu
Date: 10 Jun 06 - 10:03 PM

So far in this game, it appears to be so. They dance around and around without taking a shot on the net. Even when they get a 20' shot, they take a slap shot. A slap shot? Scuse me... I don't make millions of $ a year playing hockey, but, sweet suffering moly joly, I can put dat puck on dat net! And without taking a great windup at twenty feet so the defenceman has time to stick his stick out and make a slap shot useless.

Gosh... for someone who doesn't follow hockey, I am some pissed. Must be a latent Canuck gene from my youth.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Peace
Date: 10 Jun 06 - 09:37 PM

True. An empty net goal with the goal tender on the ice--like, is that something new they bes tryin'?

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: gnu
Date: 10 Jun 06 - 09:29 PM

Yer close... Oilers in six. If the PUT DAT PUCK ON DAT NET GODDAMN!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Peace
Date: 10 Jun 06 - 09:19 PM

Relax. Oilers in seven.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: gnu
Date: 10 Jun 06 - 09:13 PM

What the f***? When I was a lad, we use to "put the puck on the net!!!"

What is this "shoot it into the corner" when you have a 5 on 3!? What is this dancing around until you have an empty net? How can you ever win a game if you don't PUT THE PUCK ON THE NET? Is this stuff fixed? I am beginning to wonder, because this is not exiting hockey... it's exasperating hockey.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 06 Jun 06 - 10:30 AM

Yes, Craig McTavish announced it in the post game interview. Knee. I haven't heard much more, but for them to be saying that he is out for the series this soon after the injury I suspect that it is a torn ACL.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Beer
Date: 06 Jun 06 - 09:24 AM

You say he's out? I didn't hear. This could very well be a sad ending to what is (was) going to be a great series. Lets keep our fingers crossed that it still will be.
Beer

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 06 Jun 06 - 08:40 AM

Quite a collpase last night. I don't like Edmonton's chances now that Roloson is out. What a shame, I think he would have led them to the cup.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Jun 06 - 03:21 PM

Two items from NHL.com.

Go OILERS! Go Canes, too (Mark Recchi)!

~S~

-------------------

Edmonton Oilers say biting loss in regular season key to NHL playoff success
2:18 PM EDT, 06/03/2006

EDMONTON (CP) - To understand how the Edmonton Oilers have come to be within four games of romancing the Stanley Cup, you need to look back two months to a hellish one-night stand in St. Louis.

It was there in the heart of the Show Me State of Missouri that the copper and blue, fighting for their playoff lives, skated out and played like SpongeBob SquarePants, getting slapped upside the head by an NHL weakling.

But through the madness emerged the method to saving themselves and redeeming a season on the brink.

It was Al MacInnis jersey retirement night April 9 at the Savvis Center and Game 79 in the long march of the NHL regular season.

It was a chance for the Oilers to move up in the congested lower half of the Western Conference playoff race.

The Blues had lost 13 in a row and were starting rookie goalie Jason Bacashihua.

"We were nervous about the game, as nervous as we had been for a game for a long time," recalled defenceman Steve Staios. "Their goalie stood on his head. It seemed like everything was going wrong for us."

The Oilers had to kill off eight power plays. They woke up from a 2-0 deficit to fire shot after shot at Bacashihua in the third period but fell one goal short. They slipped to eighth in the conference and would rise no higher.

The dressing room was a still life portrait of sweat, silence and anger.

"Guys were pissed off," said winger Todd Harvey. "We had an opportunity to seal it.

"We just didn't bring it."

The team then stumbled into Detroit, where coach Craig MacTavish had a meeting with the troops then up and left, leaving his assistants to run practice.

"He probably wanted to kill everyone," defenceman Chris Pronger said at the time.

The loss typified a year of ironic twists, high expectations and unfulfilled promise in the Alberta capital.

It began in August when the new salary-capped NHL had fans lining up at the ticket wicket to be part of a promised level playing field.

General manager Kevin Lowe traded for and signed the biggest ticket of all, Pronger, along with centre Mike Peca.

But the season proved to one of consistent inconsistency. They beat teams above them in the standings, but were fodder for squads below.

MacTavish became Sisyphus, pushing the boulder up the hill with a crucial win on the road, only to see it roll back with a loss at home.

Pronger struggled early by his Olympian standards, but by the new year had solidified himself as the straw that stirred the drink.

Peca was in the tank until late spring, and raised hackles for a news story in which he suggested Edmonton may not be such a good fit after all.

There were freak injuries. Defenceman Matt Greene cut his face when he got smacked by a truck that jumped the curb outside a nightclub. Ethan Moreau wrecked his ankle playing hoops.

Marty Reasoner had one slapshot bruise a lung and another shred his ear before he took it in the neck in March by being dispatched to the lowly Boston Bruins.

Goaltenders Ty Conklin, Jussi Markkanen and Mike Morrison struggled and key wins slipped away as the untimeliest of shots found the twine.

In March, Lowe brought in Minnesota Wild backup goalie Dwayne Roloson to go with speedy Bruins winger Sergei Samsonov.

Roloson needed playing time to shake off the rust. He was streaky and so was the team, but the fans were patient. In letters to the editor, Lowe was instructed, in the following order, to:

-fire MacTavish

-fire the coaching staff

-fire the front office

-fire himself.

The harshest criticism was saved for Roloson, who didn't have the paint dry on his new goal mask when he was being told to take a hike.

"Anyone who thinks Dwayne Roloson is going to lead us to the playoffs needs to give their head a shake," read one epistle.

"This guy is a sieve," shouted another.

(Less than a month later, the Sieve would become sanctified as Saint Roli, with fans rapturously chanting his name after each stunning game-saving playoff save.)

This was not considered unusual behaviour, however, in a city notorious for tough-loving its team.

Praise is lavished when times are good. But when they're not, the Rexall Centre can be a harsh environment.

This year's victim was Cory Cross, an Alberta boy who grew up with dewy-eyed love for the Oilers only to struggle with his big feet in the new roadrunner NHL. He was harassed and heckled, and as he left town in a January trade said tearily, "I'm sure the fans will pick on someone else."

As the snow melted and April arrived, the playoff berth remained maddeningly out of reach.

"We were squeezing our sticks," said Harvey.

Centre Shawn Horcoff said they knew more than a missed playoff opportunity was at stake.

"We know there would have been tons of personnel changes both in the locker-room and in management, and we didn't want that.

"We just knew what we had in here. We knew that if would get to the playoffs we were going to be able to do some damage.

The pressure vice appeared to squeeze even media-friendly Lowe. As he watched one practice, he told a TV cameraman aiming a lens in his direction to point it somewhere else - now. Words were later exchanged, hands shaken, a hatchet buried. The pressure remained.

Then came St. Louis - and redemption.

"We could've packed it in there," said Moreau.

He said after St. Louis and then the flat performance in a loss in Detroit, the coaches brought them off the mat by helping them discover that the answer lay within them.

"We realized the only way for this team to play good is (to have) a lot of energy and a lot of confidence and we manufactured that.

"The coaches created an environment after that Detroit game where you knew you could relax, go out and play - and that's what we did."

The next game - Game 81 at home against Anaheim - they became the last team to make the playoff cut. The pressure was released, exploding like black gold from a gushing oil well.

They haven't looked back, until this week at least, after practice at Rexall.

MacTavish was on his skates, leaning on his stick, and taking in a dressing room of laughing, joking, confident players who moved amongst hordes of reporters as they prepared to head east to chase their dream.

He was asked to reflect on St. Louis and on the day he walked away.

"It was just a case where you have a meeting with your team and sometimes the best statement you can make is .B .B . is .B .B ."

He stops.

"No, I don't want to say that."

He starts again.

"You vent your frustration to a certain amount and then the rest is up to the players.

"As it always is."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Simulation says Hurricanes will beat Oilers in seven-game Stanley Cup final
1:48 PM EDT, 06/03/2006

(CP) - The video game version of the Stanley Cup ends with the Edmonton Oilers having their hearts broken.

California-based 2K Sports, makers of the NHL 2K6 game, ran a simulation of the Stanley Cup final and Edmonton forced a Game 7 only to watch Eric Staal lead the Carolina Hurricanes to victory.

Staal scored two first-period goals in the decisive game and goalie Martin Gerber made 35 saves as the Hurricanes beat Edmonton 4-2 to capture the franchise's first-ever NHL championship.

It was a disappointing end to an unlikely playoff run for the Oilers, who got to a deciding game with a 5-4 victory on home ice in Game 6. Ales Hemsky led the way with a hat trick in that one.

The right-winger was also key in getting Edmonton off to a good start in the series as he scored both goals in a tight 2-1 victory over the Hurricanes at RBC Center.

Carolina responded in Game 2 with a 6-4 victory on the strength of a goal and assist from Staal to even the series.

In Edmonton's return to the Rexall Centre, the Oilers rewarded their passionate fans in Game 3 with a 4-3 victory. Defenceman Chris Pronger had two goals and Ryan Smyth scored the winner with less than two minutes to play.

But Carolina won the next two games, taking the Oilers to the brink of elimination.

Gerber stopped 54 of 60 shots in Game 4 and Ray Whitney scored the winning goal late in the third period to give Carolina a 7-6 victory before the Hurricanes won 3-2 in Game 5.

Five of the seven games in the series were decided by one goal.

**********************

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Jun 06 - 10:31 PM

Two of my favorite teams against each other-- promises to be GREAT hockey, so YES I am glad hockey is back! Go, boys, go!

Ward and Roloson in the same game.

Brind'amour and Pronger, that will be something.

And....

Our dog Faulkner now knows ALL the signs for a goal for the team we're backing:
1. Buzzer [may be absent of team is visitor]
2. Commentator saying SCORE
3. MASSIVE crowd noise
4. The doggie's mommy and daddy are throwing arms in the air yelling YEAH! or SCORE! or HOLY XXXX! [expletive varies]

He knows this because he gets a treat, and now he anticipates them if we are too caught up in the replay to put out! As the TV sound mounts and the commentator voice gets more urgent and the mommy and daddy are sitting rigidly rapt-- he starts wagging his ass JUST like a cheerleader.

(#4 is an absolute requirement, as he has not yet learned the phrases "REVIEWING THE GOAL" or "SENDING IT UPSTAIRS.")

He'll be a bit confused during the finals as we root for two teams, but get very fat.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Beer
Date: 01 Jun 06 - 10:08 PM

Well here we go.
Peace against Carolina
Beer

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Beer
Date: 29 May 06 - 10:29 PM

Thanks Bardford, those odds are really something.
Appreciate the information. I guess I bet on the wrong team.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 29 May 06 - 04:55 PM

Go Oilers.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Bardford
Date: 29 May 06 - 01:16 PM

Beer - In April, Edmonton was 25-1 according to this site:
Vegas Odds

Buffalo 15-1
Carolina 10-1

I'm hoping for a Buffalo-Edmonton series, but the Hurricanes seem to have a litle momentum after last night.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: gnu
Date: 29 May 06 - 10:56 AM

Can they cut through the storm or will they be blown away?

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: gnu
Date: 29 May 06 - 10:53 AM

Well, well, well. Game 6 in Buffalo. Is the stampede over?

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Beer
Date: 28 May 06 - 08:23 PM

Well, well, well. The only person left in the pool is Peace, and he didn't even want to get in on it. Good luck to the Oilers. Wonder what the odds were on the Oilers coming this far?
Beer

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 May 06 - 10:35 PM

Good one!


I'm issuing a fundraising for Mudcat Challenge shortly-- see the "How Can We Help Max" thread above the line please for now.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Anonny Mouse
Date: 15 May 06 - 09:10 PM

Shark's might survive hurricanes, but Sabres' will slice them anyway-because the oil only helps the Sabres' blades get honed sharper. (wow what a confusing little metaphor! :>) )

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 May 06 - 05:34 PM

Time for a little rock/paper/scissors talk-- help the sportswriters a bit.

We have oil or sharks, plus sabres and hurricanes.

So--

Oil soaks ducks.

Sabres cut ducks.

Hurricane breaks oil slick.

Oil slicks sabres.

Sharks eat ducks.

Sabres slice sharks.

Sharks survive hurricanes.


Did I miss any?

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Beer
Date: 15 May 06 - 04:45 PM

Emery should have seeen that one coming.
I have to agree with you a/m. I think the next series will be a good one.
Beer

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Anonny Mouse
Date: 15 May 06 - 11:28 AM

My vote for Cinderella team--kinda like the 80's US Olympic team--no real superstars, a lot of names I never heard, but playing like 20 or so guys on a mission for eachother is...the Buffalo Sabres. So far they've left all the prognosticators in the DUST. (or ice-slush?). I think the 'Canes/Sabres' series is the one to watch for pure hockey enjoyment. I believe I'll pull for the Sabres...did any of you see that OT goal by "Pomenville"? (sp?). Geeze--completely baffled Emery.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: GUEST,jts
Date: 14 May 06 - 11:23 AM

Ottawa played badly.

Go Oilers!!

I'll have to cheer for the Canes for as long as they stay in since we're lining in NC, 2 1/2 hours from raleigh.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Beer
Date: 14 May 06 - 08:54 AM

Losing doesn't hurt as much since I am much older. I miss my Wings but I still enjoy a good game. I think I'll pull for Buffalo. How can I go for a team that beat mine out. Yes it is a Canadian team but I never looked at the N.H.L. that way. This of course could be a full topic in itself but I don't feel have the time.
Only two folks left I think. Peace and WFDU
Just maybe we will not have to praise anyone's team.
Beer

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: gnu
Date: 14 May 06 - 08:05 AM

Well, well, well done Sabres. Go Oilers!

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: bobad
Date: 13 May 06 - 10:13 PM

Well another favorite bites the dust. Ottawa did not deserve to win, the way they played this series, making mistakes that should not be made, even at the junior level. Go Edmonton.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: GUEST
Date: 06 May 06 - 12:27 PM

Interesting start to the second round.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: gnu
Date: 05 May 06 - 06:07 PM

Huh? The only Canucks that don't hate Ottawa are the MPs and the Senators (hehehe)... and the Ottawanians, Ottawanics, Ottawananers.... Ottawnaeverthefuck. And Don. He thinks they are cherry.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: bobad
Date: 04 May 06 - 10:30 PM

" I sure will have a tough time rooting for Ottawa."

Why's that?

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 04 May 06 - 10:13 PM

Okay, I lied. The Leafs are out, but I have been watching a bit. I agree, the Flames just didn't show up last night. So, it looks like we're down to two Canadian teams. I sure will have a tough time rooting for Ottawa.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: GUEST,Bardford
Date: 04 May 06 - 05:14 PM

What a disappointing end for the Flames. Outworked in what I thought was a very boring game.

Oh, well. More time to practice the fiddle now.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: gnu
Date: 04 May 06 - 02:38 PM

I just checked the standings and was elated. Then, I came here and saw that I am down for the Flames. I thought I had the San Hosers, so I went back and read my post on October 5. Now, it's pretty obvious I picked Calgary, on accounta they had the most Canucks, but, technically speaking, I did say, "Anyway, I will stick Tronna up if them's the rules, but, if I can change, I'd like ta pick the Flamin Hosers." So, just like when we were kids out on the pond, I am interpreting that statement to mean the San Hosers, on accounta Calgary went down in flames.

Of course, it's all moot. Don picked the Senators, so.... they are cherry.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 03 May 06 - 10:05 AM

With the Flyers TOAST, Here is who is left.

Jack the Sailor - Senators
Bobad - Senators
WFDU - Ron Olesko - Devils
Peace - Oilers
Bardford - Flames
gnu - Flames

We'll know about the Flames tomorrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Beer
Date: 02 May 06 - 09:49 PM

2-1 Carolina in overtime. Great great game.
So now it is Ottawa and Buffalo. As an outsider looking in, I would be tossing a coin as to who will win. Should be a good series. Hope so.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 May 06 - 05:45 PM

Paul Stanley looks like a goalie without his mask. :~)

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: GUEST,Bardford
Date: 02 May 06 - 03:22 PM

WYSIYWG - Conference winners play each other for the Stanley Cup.That's it in the middle. The cup, if memory serves, is named after noted rock star and gritty winger Paul Stanley of Kiss.

Looking forward to an Edmonton/Calgary conference semifinal. The Flames have to first get past a tough Anaheim team in game 7, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 May 06 - 01:44 PM

JtS-- to determine the conference winners who will then play each other in the final? Or could both finalists be from the same conference?

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 02 May 06 - 12:26 PM

No Beer, I didn't know that Danny was playing with the Wings. But you are correct Cleary


that who plays whom will still be calculated by the seeding they came into the playoffs with. Can anyone clarify?

Below are the rankings at the end of the season. It means as long as Ottawa stays in they will play the team left with the lowest regular season rankings. The second best remaining team will play the second worst. The higher ranking team will retain home ice advantage. If Montreal wins, Ottawa will play them. If Carolina wins, Ottawa will play the winner of Buffalo/Philly

Eastern Conference
RK GP W L   OT PTS GF GA HOME AWAY L10
1 z - OTTAWA* 82 52 21   9 113 314 211 29-9-3 23-12-6 3-5-2
2 y - CAROLINA* 82 52 22   8 112 294 260 31-8-2 21-14-6 5-3-2
3 y - NEW JERSEY* 82 46 27   9 101 242 229 27-11-3 19-16-6 10-0-0
4 x - BUFFALO 82 52 24   6 110 281 239 27-11-3 25-13-3 7-3-0
5 x - PHILADELPHIA 82 45 26   11 101 267 259 22-13-6 23-13-5 5-4-1
6 x - NY RANGERS 82 44 26   12 100 257 215 25-10-6 19-16-6 4-6-0
7 x - MONTREAL 82 42 31   9 93 243 247 24-13-4 18-18-5 6-4-0
8 x - TAMPA BAY 82 43 33   6 92 252 260 25-14-2 18-19-4 5-4-1


Western Conference
RK GP W L   OT PTS GF GA HOME AWAY L10
1 p - DETROIT* 82 58 16   8 124 305 209 27-9-5 31-7-3 8-1-1
2 y - DALLAS* 82 53 23   6 112 265 218 28-11-2 25-12-4 4-3-3
3 y - CALGARY* 82 46 25   11 103 218 200 30-7-4 16-18-7 6-1-3
4 x - NASHVILLE 82 49 25   8 106 259 227 32-8-1 17-17-7 7-3-0
5 x - SAN JOSE 82 44 27   11 99 266 242 25-9-7 19-18-4 8-1-1
6 x - ANAHEIM 82 43 27   12 98 254 229 26-10-5 17-17-7 6-4-0
7 x - COLORADO 82 43 30   9 95 283 257 25-10-6 18-20-3 4-5-1
8 x - EDMONTON 82 41 28   13 95 256 251 20-15-6 21-13-7 5-4-1

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Beer
Date: 02 May 06 - 12:01 PM

Just kidding Bobad. Haven't had a suds since N/Years day. Had a hard time falling asleep though. Got to play music for the old folks this afternoon. This should help take my mind off this dreadful defeat.
Hay Jack? Did you know that Don Cleary who plays right wing for the Red Wings is from Carbonear??

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 May 06 - 11:37 AM

I'm really going to miss that Oiler/Wings matchup. Most exciting hockey I've ever seen, nevermind the upset factor.

I think that the Oilers reflected a better job of coaching. The Wings played really well IMO, and are the better-skilled, more athletically-talented team. But what I watched was that they were out-coached by creative strategy-flexing and the Oilers' ability to use new approaches at will. Kept the Wings off balance. They'd figure out how to play against things-- the V-trap for one-- and then the Oilers would shape-shift into another direction.

And-- that mean "Manny Chant" was wicked effective!

So I am looking forward to what their coach will try next.

As far as the next round matchups, I heard one of the commentators say recently that the matchups are not predetermined/bracketed as they are in some other sports-- that who plays whom will still be calculated by the seeding they came into the playoffs with. Can anyone clarify?

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: bobad
Date: 02 May 06 - 10:44 AM

A good excuse to drown your sorrows, Beer.

Subject: RE: BS: Hockey's back...Are ya happy about it?
From: Beer
Date: 02 May 06 - 10:33 AM

Well I guess I better say a few words.
Beer, beer, more beer.
Beer