The Syndicate

Here's who I am rooting for:

fingersplints wrote:Round 1

Eastern Conference
Montreal Canadiens vs. Ottawa Senators
Tampa Bay Lighting vs. Detroit Red Wings
New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Washington Capitals vs. New York Islanders

Western Conference
St. Louis Blues vs Minnesota Wild
Nashville Predators vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Anaheim Ducks vs Winnipeg Jets
Vancouver Canucks vs. Calgary Flames

Obviously I want Montreal to go all the way. I've been following them for over 15 years now and everyone else in my family has got to see their team win a Cup but me.

I prefer Detroit to win over Tampa only because Detroit's got a shaky situation in net and I'd love for Montreal to exploit it in the second round.

Pittsburgh is my #2 team but I don't think they can win the series. The Pens would really have to turn things on to make a deep run. They were awful at the end of the season.

Islanders v. Caps is one of the least interesting possible matchups in the East for me. I think the only way to make a more blah matchup would be Columbus v. Carolina.

I don't care one way or another for St. Louis or Minnesota but I like supporting underdogs.

I'm okay with either Nashville or Chicago winning. I have a soft spot for Nashville. Their logo is cool but those yellow jerseys need to go!

Ever since the Ducks dropped the Mighty and adopted an ugly color scheme, they lost me. Plus I support the Jets because Atlanta sucked as a hockey city. It's now lost two teams to Canadian markets.

Vancouver is my least favorite Canadian team. In fact, they are the only Canadian team I actively cheer against (though the crybabies in Ottawa are dangerously close). Back in the days of Iginla & Kiprusoff, Calgary was my #3 team. Glad to see signs of life there again.

A guy walks into a sports bar and notices that the bartender has changed the names of several mixed drinks in honor of the NHL playoffs. After studying the list, he approaches the bar with a smirk.

"I'd like to order an Ovechkin," he declares.

Confused, the bartender looks at his lists of drinks. Not seeing this drink on his list, he turns to the man with a puzzled look on his face.

"What's an Ovechkin?" the bartender asks.

"It's really simple," the patron explains. "It's a white Russian with no cup!"

Praise the Lord and pass the collection plate- the Habs are through to the second round!

Here are my picks:
Eastern Conference
Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lighting
New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals

Western Conference
Minnesota Wild vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Anaheim Ducks vs. Calgary Flames

Montreal- obviously.

New York- tough call. I'd rather Montreal play Washington in Round 3 but I don't want Ovechkin and bandwagon Capitals fans getting any closer to a Cup.

Chicago- my mom's favorite team. Plus the Original Six factor is cool. Did you know that of all the possible Original Six matchups, every combination has occurred in the Cup Finals except Rangers v. Blackhawks?

Calgary- my old #3 team. Glad to see signs of life there again. I understand that Minnesota was a wild card but Calgary feels like the true Cinderella here.


Anybody following the Calder Cup playoffs in the AHL? I live 30 minutes from Hershey and have been a life-long Bears fan. I hope they can win another one to make their haul an even dozen.

DisgruntledPorcupine wrote:I'm more afraid of Tampa than any other team in the league by quite a wide margin, but I still think Montreal has a good chance. Picking them obvs. I vote a Caps upset over the Rangers, I think people underestimate them. Wild > Hawks, I'm thinking Dubnyk carries the Wild past them. Ducks > Flames, but hoping otherwise. I think the Flames have a chance to upset but I don't think they'll achieve it.

I agree about Tampa. They beat Montreal every single time they met in the regular season. Hopefully Price will stand on his head and bail the rest of his team out this round.

juliets wrote:Go Lightning!

I have no beef with the Lightning. Give me 10 years of them being division rivals with the Habs and that may change. They're a team that I can easily cheer on. I loved watching Marty St. Louis back in his early days. If the Habs lose, I will easily support Tampa in the next round.

Anyone watching the Caps-Rangers game? What a third period! I haven't been watching the series much at all. Has Ovechkin been a factor? I hardly heard his name at all so far tonight.

Chicago definitely looks strong heading into the Conference Finals. The question now though is how long of a wait will they have?

To be honest, I was hoping Montreal got swept after Game 3. What a letdown with that last second goal. Part of me believes that Game 4 was a "last gasp game" because I've seen plenty of teams down 3-0 pull out a whopper like that in Game 4 only to get eliminated in Game 5. If Montreal can pull a repeat in Game 5, I just might get foolish and hopeful for the miracle to end all miracles. It's only happened four times before though, so I won't hold my breath.

Only nine teams have ever come back from being down 3-0 in a series to force a Game 7 in NHL history. Will Montreal make #10 tonight?

Oh well. Going down 3-0 in a series and forcing a game 7 is the second most difficult thing to pull off in the NHL, so I can't say I'm surprised. I thought Tampa might rebound in Game 5 but I guess Montreal had home ice advantage. Price has been amazing all year so it's sad that the rest of the team couldn't pick their collective game up a notch for the playoffs. Maybe they will have tools to make a deep run next year. That would be sweet, as I plan on growing a playoff beard next year. Regardless of who wins the Cup, I'll be growing a beard until the Cup is claimed.

fingersplints wrote:Who are you rooting for now G?

I will support Tampa Bay in the ECF because I can't stand Washington and I live close enough to New York to be regularly annoyed by their douchiest of fans (mostly Yankees fans really, but douche-bag Yankees fans bandwagon on the Rangers when they're good). I'm pulling for Chicago in the West- they're my mom's favorite team and they're probably my 3rd favorite team at the moment (Habs, Pens, Hawks). Ever since the Ducks dropped the Mighty, I just have trouble digging them. Purple and teal were awesome colors!

Also, has anyone seen this:


As someone old enough to remember The Mighty Ducks movie, I got quite a laugh out of it!

I have no idea who the other five teams are that forced a Game 7. Whoever they were, they lost. I found that stat yesterday on a hockey site but it only listed the four winners out of the nine. I too am curious who the other five teams are but I was happy to not have to pour through nearly 100 years of NHL playoff series stats.

Oh wait! I found the answer!

1939- New York Rangers (lost G7 to Boston)
1942- Toronto (won G7 against Detroit to win the Cup)
1945- Detroit (lost G7 to Toronto in the Cup Finals)
1975- NY Islanders (won G7 against Pittsburgh)
1975- NY Islanders (lost G7 to Philadelphia)- they almost pulled off two comebacks in the same playoffs?!?
2010- Philadelphia (won G7 against Boston)
2011- Chicago (lost G7 to Vancouver)
2011- Detroit (lost G7 to San Jose)
2014- Los Angeles (won G7 against San Jose)

So Montreal is the only Original Six team to not be on either side of a 0-3 comeback attempt that forced a Game 7.

Gotta love two Game 7's for the Conference Finals! I think Anaheim has looked like the stronger team most of the series against Chicago. I still hope the Blackhawks win though. Lightning-Rangers could go either way.

The next two nights are going to be awesome!

I'm okay with either team winning the Cup this year. I'll be cheering fro Chicago though. They're my mom's team and they're exciting as heck to watch.