The Syndicate

fingersplints wrote:I want a playoff cupcake!

Here you go!!

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.

The Hawks have eliminated the wild the past two years, so they will probably have a bit of fight in them. This should be a very interesting matchup.

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leggyorlyb wrote:

fingersplints wrote:I want a playoff cupcake!

Here you go!!

I want to eat all five. They look so good!

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.

Go Lightning!

juliets wrote:Go Lightning!

I am from Tampa and there is no representation here for the Lightning except for me. I will continue to cheer them on no matter who they play and no matter how many people are rooting for that other team. If they lose, they lose and I will congratulate the winner but until that time I will be rooting for them. There is no right and wrong here - only fans.

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.

And if we lose I will cheer on the habs.

juliets wrote:I am from Tampa and there is no representation here for the Lightning except for me. I will continue to cheer them on no matter who they play and no matter how many people are rooting for that other team. If they lose, they lose and I will congratulate the winner but until that time I will be rooting for them. There is no right and wrong here - only fans.

People can cheer on whoever they want. Growing up in western NY I know all about rooting for the unpopular - and in our case, losing - team! ("I'm glad I am a Bills/Sabres fan" said no one probably ever.)

Actually, I've been shopping around for a new favorite team this season. Instead of picking one, I have several new ones I am following now

Also, I was apparently very wrong about this:

fingersplints wrote:

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.

The Hawks have eliminated the wild the past two years, so they will probably have a bit of fight in them. This should be a very interesting matchup.

wtf happened there lol Looks like they will be eliminating them for a third year!

And Blackhawks are going to the Western Conference finals. That team looking really good. This is their 5th time going to the conference finals in 7 years.

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.

My number 1 is already out in Detroit. If Tampa and Anaheim are out, I don't really care, anyone other than Chicago at that point.

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?

G-Man wrote: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?

Looks like no.

I'm taking Tampa though because of Yzerman. Him winning one as GM is good enough for me.

This thread is a bunch of hockey.

Yay Tampa Bay Lightning! Now lets see what we can do in this next series. I'm not holding my breath but there's always a chance we could squeak through.

juliets wrote:Yay Tampa Bay Lightning! Now lets see what we can do in this next series. I'm not holding my breath but there's always a chance we could squeak through.

haha I told keys you were probably happy.

I'm really sad about the loss of Montreal. I made it til the second period but was so tired couldn't stay up the rest of the game. I'm just not even excited about the eastern conference anymore. If the Rangers pull it off and win tonight that might all change.

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.

Who are you rooting for now G?

Leggy and I were actually just having a discussion the other day about how we always want 7 games. so while they lost, I too am happy with their performance in the end. can't win them all!

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!

Yea I get what you are saying about Yankees fans. They are used to winning and are cocky, and it does seem like a lot of Rangers fan pop up out of nowhere when they are doing good. However being from NY state I do know a bunch of non-douchey Rangers fans. Since I have moved out of the country, I'm a bit Nostalgic for all things NY so I'd still like them to move on. I'll generally root for any NY team now. (Except in football - i don't like that most of the Ny teams have their stadiums outside of NY so I can't root for them)
I don't hate Washington but I do hate Ovechkin - so I don't want the Caps to continue on. If they do I will root for TB in eastern finals.

I think I have said before but the Ducks have really grown on me. I went into this season looking for a new favorite team. (I still like Sharks and Sabres but need another to follow) and I had originally decided to follow Vancouver and Montreal and see which I liked better. Vancouver fell out and the Ducks are creeping into their spot for consideration!

I think I had joked with probably leggy that I would be leaving this season following 8 new teams instead of one haha and it doesn't seem far from the truth

Also that is funny about the Mighty Ducks prediction. I want to watch that movie now

I already have in the last month.

Too good.

And I actually want the ducks to win out in the west.

G-Man wrote: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?

I know they didn't but I am still interested in this. Who are the others? I found these ones:

*1942 - Toronto vs Detroit (This one seems most impressive as it was the finals)
*1975 - NY Islanders vs Pittsburgh
*2010 - Philadelphia vs Boston
*2014 - Los Angeles vs San Jose (This one is still painful. Actually Sharks playoff hockey is painful in itself)

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.

Cool! Thanks for finding that! I was really curious.

1975 NY Islanders were crazy! I would love to see a team do that now.

Round 3

Eastern Conference
New York Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Lighting

Western Conference
Anaheim Ducks vs. Chicago Blackhawks

I'm looking so smart with my picks post my team getting eliminated right now.

Please don't turn around either of these series.

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 wish all went to game 7. and I really love that I feel it's still anyone's game.
I'm still hoping for Ducks vs Rangers in finals, but I think all are deserving at this point.

Tampa Bay? Seriously?

S~V~S wrote:Tampa Bay? Seriously?

I don't watch hockey myself, but I thought southern teams weren't supposed to be any good. It's hockey afterall.

fingersplints wrote:I wish all went to game 7. and I really love that I feel it's still anyone's game.
I'm still hoping for Ducks vs Rangers in finals, but I think all are deserving at this point.

I guess Blackhawks now

Metalmarsh89 wrote:

S~V~S wrote:Tampa Bay? Seriously?

I don't watch hockey myself, but I thought southern teams weren't supposed to be any good. It's hockey afterall.

Yes! Tampa Bay! Seriously! You know we won a Stanley Cup back in 2004. Long time ago but at least it's one.

I don't think its so much that southern teams are bad. i think it depends on where they get their players. I don't think any of ours are from the south though I could be wrong. They all seem to be from other countries or the north.

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.

I don't care either way either really, but I know my uncle will be happy if Chicago wins, and I do like the city of Chicago.

Go Tampa. Give Yzerman that cup.

Now I'm actually following the Calder Cup (AHL Playoffs). Grand Rapids (Detroit affiliate) in the western finals, and their coach may get tapped for the Detroit coaching job now that Babcock's out.

A win here would solidify it.