coming from someone who isnt his biggest fan (bc he isnt big enough) i think he played a VERY good game yesterday...
- LetsGoIsles

WHAT???? Yikes if you call that good then you need your eyes check or you don't know how a NHL defenseman should play

Milbury and Roenick bash the Penguins every chance they get. The Penguins beat Milbury twice in the ECF and beat Roenick in the SCF. They both would like nothing better than to see the Pens crash and burn.

As far as the refs, a penalty is a penalty. If you call it in the regular season or in regulation, then you should have the balls to call it in OT. There is nothing in the rulebook that says defensemen are not allowed to impede the puck carrier except in OT, when everything goes.
- Emperor Filonius

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

we get it...still not happy with it.

And the ref who raised his arm did not have direct line of sight. He was on the other side of the crease with bodies crashing towards the net. He saw crosby go down and assumed that he was dragged down instead of BOTH players battling for position.
- special_k1074

Very well said. Most importantly, he saw Crosby go down. Must be a penalty. But no hold. No interference. No trip. No hook. None of the criteria for a penalty.

Where do you fall on the bashing of Milbury and Roenick and the other tool that is there to feed them?
- Doogs

I think unquestionably Mike and Roenick shoot from the lip but both are former hard nosed hockey players who know the game far better than any of us. I'm not saying everything they say is right, but it stands to reason when both agree that it was a softy and should have gone uncalled in OT, it's worth noting.

Not everyone is going to agree, which is why boards like this are fun, but I think a majority of the folks who watched that game felt the 5 on 5 play should have continued. If that was worth the call, then the Pens should have already been in the box for their hook on Streit.

Amen Cannot make that call in playoffs OT and it will only fuel NHL/NBC Pens bias talk.
- ses111

Again, it's not the call....it's that if you're going to call ANYTHING, call everything. If not, then let the boys play in OT. That's the issue for me. I counted at least ten more penalties in that game, seven for Pittsburgh and three for us....and those are just the ones I SAW from the upper deck (and more for Pittsburgh probably because I sat at the end where Fleury was for two of the first three periods). It's not MY job to see them. My real issue is that I just have to wonder what makes them decide when to call something, and when not to.

Again, within a minute or so before the call on Strait, I saw virtually the same move at the other end of the ice that Streit pulled in period one- two guys fighting for the puck behind the net, puck shakes loose, Islander player goes to get it, Pens player pins him to the boards, and other Pens player dumps it out of the zone- even in French, pinning someone to the boards is called OBSTRUCTION. Why is that NOT a penalty, while what Streit did IS a penalty? It's either obstruction, or it's not obstruction.

That's the argument. You can't have it both ways. If the rules are the rules, then call everything. If not, then let the boys play, unless there's something blatant...and even though I was tongue in cheek before about bleeding and unconscious as the criterion, I'm even fine with the call on Strait if he does what Martin did in the second period, which is essentially wrap his arms around someone, grab his jersey and wrestle him to the ice. The penalty that WAS called however, to me, is not something that qualifies as "blatant" in the overtime....and so AGAIN, I'm just trying to understand how they decide what TO call and what NOT TO call....and I can't come up with anything other than Crosby being who he is...which may not be fair, but I have nothing else.

Does it deserve to be addressed? Other than the 2 minutes he got?
- Doogs

a) i was laughing at the comparison to a player coming off a bench...thats a joke.
b) cooke was hanging over the boards INSIDE the isles bench; its not like carkner left his stick dangling in play. is he going to win the lady byng award? no...was it a cheap shot? sure...but if carkner gets suspended for that play; kunitz better get suspended as well for the spear to grabners nuts...

WHAT???? Yikes if you call that good then you need your eyes check or you don't know how a NHL defenseman should play
- kasperrko

i cant take you seriously in a series where youre rooting for both teams.

and yes, considering how he was playing, he played very well...

She is horrible but it was a weak call after they let a blatant spear on Grabner(which happened right in front of the ref) and a slash go moments before. I agree you can't blame the refs, all teams have to battle through adversity as far as refs go. You are right there have been some bad ones going the other way too. The refs need to be more consistent, up until yesterday they were deciding the flow of the game which they need to stop doing for better or worse. BTW, what the fack does sook mean?
- Cptmjl

The last holding call in overtime during a stanley cup playoff game was two years ago when bertuzzi mugged someone (i forgot) the call was very borderline on Strait at best....but it was Cindy!

i cant take you seriously in a series where youre rooting for both teams.

and yes, considering how he was playing, he played very well...
- LetsGoIsles

I'm not sure if I want to have a beer with kasper or throw my remote at him.

But Pierre's love affair more then makes up for it!!
- special_k1074

Pierre is embarrasing. I was so glad to get Strader doing p x p yesterday.

Martin needs to step it up too. Strait being out against Crosby in OT was yet another gaffe for Capuano. I get rolling all the lines but you have to match up a little better than that. Strait has been underwhelming to me except for in glimpses in game 2.
- Cptmjl

The real problem for us is that we have nothing for Crosby on the back end. The one serious weakness we have is physicality and skating ability on the back end- we have players who have one, or the other, but not both. We have a nice 3-4 pair in Hamonic and MacDonald, and two power play quarterbacks in Streit and Visnovsky (with Hickey as a backup), but we have no bruiser on the back end who makes the opposing forwards wish they had done anything but come near our net, and who can skate with the same speed as their mark. That, and the fact that we probably should get younger between the pipes, are the two needs that this franchise must address during this off-season. It's time for Snow to put on the big boy pants and make a REAL trade, and it's time for Wang to pull out the checkbook and sign a REAL player. If nothing else, no matter what happens here, these guys deserve at least that kind of an upgrade during this off-season.

I'm not sure if I want to have a beer with kasper or throw my remote at him.
- UIF

what about having a beer while throwing your remote at him?? best of both worlds...something kasper is fully enjoying nowadays.

i cant take you seriously in a series where youre rooting for both teams.

and yes, considering how he was playing, he played very well...
- LetsGoIsles

I am rooting for the Islanders for the upset but if the Pens win I wont be upset either.

You say how he WAS playing, he is still playing that way. He seems to be on the ice for every goal the Penguins get. He is to slow of a defenseman to get top minutes

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

we get it...still not happy with it.
- LetsGoIsles

I think its safe to say this topic has been beaten to death.

a) i was laughing at the comparison to a player coming off a bench...thats a joke.
b) cooke was hanging over the boards INSIDE the isles bench; its not like carkner left his stick dangling in play. is he going to win the lady byng award? no...was it a cheap shot? sure...but if carkner gets suspended for that play; kunitz better get suspended as well for the spear to grabners nuts...
- LetsGoIsles

Yeah, that should have been at least 10 for both...I understand the 2 and 2, but you're really not supposed to hit someone who is on the bench, and spearing is what it is- this is what I mean by cr*p when I talk about yesterday's officiating.

Again, it's not the call....it's that if you're going to call ANYTHING, call everything. If not, then let the boys play in OT. That's the issue for me. I counted at least ten more penalties in that game, seven for Pittsburgh and three for us....and those are just the ones I SAW from the upper deck (and more for Pittsburgh probably because I sat at the end where Fleury was for two of the first three periods). It's not MY job to see them. My real issue is that I just have to wonder what makes them decide when to call something, and when not to.

Again, within a minute or so before the call on Strait, I saw virtually the same move at the other end of the ice that Streit pulled in period one- two guys fighting for the puck behind the net, puck shakes loose, Islander player goes to get it, Pens player pins him to the boards, and other Pens player dumps it out of the zone- even in French, pinning someone to the boards is called OBSTRUCTION. Why is that NOT a penalty, while what Streit did IS a penalty? It's either obstruction, or it's not obstruction.

That's the argument. You can't have it both ways. If the rules are the rules, then call everything. If not, then let the boys play, unless there's something blatant...and even though I was tongue in cheek before about bleeding and unconscious as the criterion, I'm even fine with the call on Strait if he does what Martin did in the second period, which is essentially wrap his arms around someone, grab his jersey and wrestle him to the ice. The penalty that WAS called however, to me, is not something that qualifies as "blatant" in the overtime....and so AGAIN, I'm just trying to understand how they decide what TO call and what NOT TO call....and I can't come up with anything other than Crosby being who he is...which may not be fair, but I have nothing else.
- dcb1

My point exactly

I think its safe to say this topic has been beaten to death.
- Emperor Filonius

AND AGREED...but it is the obvious topic

On a different note, not sure if anyone saw the video fro Shannahan explaining the suspension on Gryba but I've lost any confidence on Shanny as the NHL Director of Player Safety at this point.

In the video he basically said, it was technically a legal hit, made illegal since the principle point of contact was the head....he goes on to say
However, Gryba's route is not correct and we do not feel that he makes enough of a full body check for this hit not to qualify as an illegal check to the head. In our view, in attempting this very difficult check, Gryba does not hit squarely enough through the body. Eller's head is the principal point of contact and the subsequent contact to Eller's right shoulder is secondary."

"The pass that Eller received just prior to the check is completely irrelevant to whether Gryba delivers a reckless, illegal check to the head."

Now let me say this, it was a SCARY hit that had folks gasping with concern. The vision we were left in of Eller lying face down in a puddle of blood was horrifyinig. That said, Shannahan totally obsolves Eller and the player who passed the puck to him saying their actions had nothing to do with hit itself....WHAT?
I played defense for many years (more than I care to admit) and did so against some damn big and fast teams, and I knew a hell of a lot better than to lead a player up the middle like that with the other team waiting at the blueline. The pass not only led Eller leaning forward for the puck, but Eller's reaching for the pass moved him forward in such a way that left him totally vulnerable.

What disappoints me with Shanny is that his suspension sounds like a matter of the ends justifying the means. If I'm playing forward like Eller and a pass is sent to me like that, I'm probably reaching to tip it out of the zone rather than trying to receive it. Why? Because I know damn well I'm going to be taking a nap if I try to receive it like that. Players are no longer being left with a personal responsability to their own safety...
- keaner17[/quote]


I like that. Well put.

Its a shame. She panders to the lowest common denominator and offers no insight whatsoever. I get that a blogger is a fan and not a journalist, but she's so over the top its just comical.

Its kind of like us being stuck with Paul Steigerwald as a play by play guy on TV.
- Emperor Filonius

Sadly JT just came out with a blog about the same effing thing. There will be no real hockey conversaation over htere today either.

The real problem for us is that we have nothing for Crosby on the back end. The one serious weakness we have is physicality and skating ability on the back end- we have players who have one, or the other, but not both. We have a nice 3-4 pair in Hamonic and MacDonald, and two power play quarterbacks in Streit and Visnovsky (with Hickey as a backup), but we have no bruiser on the back end who makes the opposing forwards wish they had done anything but come near our net, and who can skate with the same speed as their mark. That, and the fact that we probably should get younger between the pipes, are the two needs that this franchise must address during this off-season. It's time for Snow to put on the big boy pants and make a REAL trade, and it's time for Wang to pull out the checkbook and sign a REAL player. If nothing else, no matter what happens here, these guys deserve at least that kind of an upgrade during this off-season.
- dcb1

this is what my lines would look like next year

bailey-jt-nino
ko-strome- lucic/ryan
grabner-nelson-martin
mcdonald-cizikas-ullstrom/fa/tough prospect

than some combo of hamonic, visnovsky, hickey, fa/trade/prospects/(strait or carkner who i think have more value on the team then they would fetch via trade)

yes...that means id unload neilsen, macdonald, strait, carkner and moulson (+ prospects/picks) for lucic/ryan and a top dman

I am rooting for the Islanders for the upset but if the Pens win I wont be upset either.

You say how he WAS playing, he is still playing that way. He seems to be on the ice for every goal the Penguins get. He is to slow of a defenseman to get top minutes
- kasperrko

he was +3 yesterday...with 2 shots on goal; 3 blocked shots and 30 minutes of ice time... pretty solid day

he was +3 yesterday...with 2 shots on goal; 3 blocked shots and 30 minutes of ice time... pretty solid day
- LetsGoIsles

Still sucks and to be honest any other team would not have him logging the minutes that he gets on the Isles

The real problem for us is that we have nothing for Crosby on the back end. The one serious weakness we have is physicality and skating ability on the back end- we have players who have one, or the other, but not both. We have a nice 3-4 pair in Hamonic and MacDonald, and two power play quarterbacks in Streit and Visnovsky (with Hickey as a backup), but we have no bruiser on the back end who makes the opposing forwards wish they had done anything but come near our net, and who can skate with the same speed as their mark. That, and the fact that we probably should get younger between the pipes, are the two needs that this franchise must address during this off-season. It's time for Snow to put on the big boy pants and make a REAL trade, and it's time for Wang to pull out the checkbook and sign a REAL player. If nothing else, no matter what happens here, these guys deserve at least that kind of an upgrade during this off-season.
- dcb1

Yeah Crosby is killing us. We have nobody that can contain him. He was pretty much wide open for his goals and he is making sick passes off of the boards to wide open players. Wasn't he supposed to sit out this series?

Yeah Crosby is killing us. We have nobody that can contain him. He was pretty much wide open for his goals and he is making sick passes off of the boards to wide open players. Wasn't he supposed to sit out this series?
- special_k1074

Remember we lost 5 - 0 when he was not playing. Since he has been in the line up we have been playing a lot better

Sadly JT just came out with a blog about the same effing thing. There will be no real hockey conversaation over htere today either.
- Sell My Monkey

And this gem from his blog:
Can coach Capuano scratch Michael Grabner for the rest of the series? Please? The guy’s all over the ice.

Don't give him any ideas