I'll add that Brookbank was effective stepping in for Seabs. Hammer continues to be a stud. Shaw had quite the bi-polar game - stupid penalty and a grease goal. Sharp was bad, and dogged it down the ice after missing a shot before the 3rd Blues goal. Hossa has been intermittent.

Anybody want to bark about Bickell's contract or tell us again about how he's a lazy-ass?
- mohel

I still will because laziness is inexcusable, but gotta love how he's gotten off his ass and put others on theirs.

I love this line of thinking. You think NHLers, people who on average are way more competitive than anyone on this board, think its ok to play bad in the playoffs, and need Kris Versteeg to get benched to figure it out. What?!?! Are you seriously saying the NHL changed so drastically the Cup winning coach from last year has an OLD mentality. God, do you think you would be the winningest coach of all time if only you got the chance?
- rollpards19

That does indeed sound like what he's saying.

Ben Smith can play anywhere in your line up and he is a winner flat out. He could do what Shaw does on the PP, he can kill penalties. Physically, you would like a bigger center, but to me if he played with Sharp and Kane, would be dynamite. Replace him with Nordstrom or Morin on 4th and move on....
- TrueGrit

Totally Totally Agree. Ben Smith is a winner and can play anywhere. He would be a 20 goal scorer if he was moved up and also got some PP time. His puck handling skill are smooth and comes out of the corner nicely to create scoring chances. Get him away from Bollig and with some quality scorers will enhance his game. I'd like to see him with Kane and Bickell. With those 2 little guys creating, Bickell might get 7 to 10 shots on goal ?? And those wrist shots of his will start going in repeatedly.

Likely to become an annual event.
- Beaver-Warrior

Kind of feels like a formality now. Not that he doesnt deserve it. Just saying i'd be more surprised if he WASN'T nominated

That does indeed sound like what he's saying.
- mohel

... and also why I laughed out loud at the statement

Versteeg has been highly ineffective. THAT I do agree with the OP on.

They say he's limited to 10-12 minutes, so I'll say 10-12 minutes.
- mohel

It'll look kind of funny when Bergeron steps off the ice to get on the bench and Zetts is sitting next to him.

This series is going to be the death of me. I was several beers deep by the end of the 1st last night.
- eburgio

Not so much the drinking, just went with one a period. Was talking to my brother in Seattle and he was telling the game was on local at 630.

I did the math for EST and was like wtf!?!

Especially considering the season Boston had.
- StLBravesFan

Anze, Anze, Anze. But I think Jonny finishes third this year behind two deserving guys. One of my big problems with analytics is the value on zone starts, and the Selke is pretty much the advanced stats award these days (for some writers), so it'll be harder and harder for Toews to win unless the complexion of the team changes.

... and also why I laughed out loud at the statement

Versteeg has been highly ineffective. THAT I do agree with the OP on.
- CaptainBlackhawk

I have a feeling steeger might've played himself into the press box for game 5. He was relegated to fourth line minutes and how could Q not see more value in a grittier guy like Morin at this point?

Two cups of coffee into the morning and well worth the late night at the UC.

THAT'S HOCKEY BABYYYYYYYYYYY!!
- CaptainBlackhawk

13 cups made it a euphoric (cuz the Hawks won) but hellish day for me...but I got through it

Free, free, free at last!

Totally Totally Agree. Ben Smith is a winner and can play anywhere. He would be a 20 goal scorer if he was moved up and also got some PP time. His puck handling skill are smooth and comes out of the corner nicely to create scoring chances. Get him away from Bollig and with some quality scorers will enhance his game. I'd like to see him with Kane and Bickell. With those 2 little guys creating, Bickell might get 7 to 10 shots on goal ?? And those wrist shots of his will start going in repeatedly.
- Hawkytalk

It's great to see him get his career back on track.

It looked like he'd earned a spot after the '11 playoffs with 3 goals vs the Nucks; only to be concussed out of a chance at a spot that season by a Brendan Smith elbow during a PRESEASON game. Still makes me mad.

I'm late the the game but Oduya's pass to Kane on our 2nd goal was just disgustingly amazing.

You don't see Leddy making those type of passes.

I have a feeling steeger might've played himself into the press box for game 5. He was relegated to fourth line minutes and how could Q not see more value in a grittier guy like Morin at this point?
- redrising10

Could be, but Q has a strong history of sticking with a line-up after a win.

I'm late the the game but Oduya's pass to Kane on our 2nd goal was just disgustingly amazing.

You don't see Leddy making those type of passes.
- DarthKane

Thought last night was the best playoff game Leddy ever played.

Saw this on PHT in the comments section for the Selke article...

Results so far

Hart (28 ballots)

1. Sidney Crosby (25-3-0-0-0) 271
2. Ryan Getzlaf (2-18-6-2-0) 182
3. Claude Giroux (0-6-8-9-2) 111
4. Semyon Varlamov (1-2-7-3-2) 70
5. Patrice Bergeron (0-0-3-2-4) 25
6. Anze Kopitar (0-0-1-3-1) 15
7. Jamie Benn (0-0-1-2-3) 14
8. Tyler Seguin (0-0-1-2-2) 13
9. Joe Pavelski (0-0-1-1-3) 11
10. Jonathan Toews (0-0-1-0-2) 7
11. Ben Bishop (0-0-0-1-3) 6
12. Alex Steen (0-0-0-1-1) 4
13-14. Corey Perry (0-0-0-1-0) 3
13-14. Gustav Nyquist (0-0-0-1-0) 3
15. Carey Price (0-0-0-0-2) 2
16-17. Shea Weber (0-0-0-0-1) 1
16-17. Duncan Keith (0-0-0-0-1) 1

Norris (27 ballots)

1. Duncan Keith (9-4-8-1-2) 173
2. Zdeno Chara (5-8-10-3-1) 166
3. Shea Weber (9-6-1-4-3) 152
4. Ryan Suter (2-3-2-7-4) 76
5. Drew Doughty(2-2-4-4-8) 72
6. Alex Pietrangelo (0-4-0-3-5) 44
7. Mark Giordano (1-0-0-2-0) 16
8. Matt Niskanen (0-0-1-0-1) 6
9. Victor Hedman (0-0-0-2-0) 6
10-11. Ryan McDonagh (0-0-1-0-0) 5
10-11. Nik Kronwall (0-0-1-0-0) 5
12-13. Andrei Markov (0-0-0-1-0) 3
12-13. Marc-Edouard Vlasic (0-0-0-0-3) 3
14. Erik Karlsson (0-0-0-0-1) 1

Selke (28 ballots)

1. Bergeron (20-7-1-0-0) 254
2. Kopitar (7-10-6-3-1) 180
3. Toews (0-5-13-4-2) 114
4. Backes (1-2-4-13-4) 87
5. Hossa (0-2-1-0-1) 20
6. Couturier (0-1-1-1-3) 18
7. O’Reilly (0-0-1-2-6) 17
8. Pavelski (0-0-1-2-1) 12
9. Stastny (0-1-0-0-1) 8
10-11. Plekanec (0-0-0-1-1) 4
10-11. Getzlaf (0-0-0-1-1) 4
12. Steen (0-0-0-1-0) 3
13-19. Couture (0-0-0-0-1) 1
13-19. Zetterberg (0-0-0-0-1) 1
13-19. Little (0-0-0-0-1) 1
13-19. Vermette (0-0-0-0-1) 1
13-19. Cogliano (0-0-0-0-1) 1
13-19. Thornton (0-0-0-0-1) 1
13-19. Palat (0-0-0-0-1) 1

Calder (28 ballots)

1. Nathan MacKinnon (27-1-0-0-0) 277
2. Ondrej Palat (0-19-7-1-1) 172
3. Jacob Trouba (1-4-4-2-3) 67
4. Tyler Johnson (0-2-5-6-7) 64
5. Torey Krug (0-1-7-3-4) 55
6. Olli Maatta (0-0-2-6-3) 31
7. Hampus Lindholm (0-1-0-4-3) 21
8. Frederik Andersen (0-0-1-1-4) 12
9. Valeri Nichushkin (0-0-0-3-1) 11
10. Tomas Hertl (0-0-1-1-0) 8
11. Sean Monahan (0-0-1-0-0) 5
12. Seth Jones (0-0-0-0-1) 1

Could be, but Q has a strong history of sticking with a line-up after a win.
- mohel

Yea, good point. Well lets hope he at least keeps the top 6 of 29-19-81 and 10-28-88 lines.

Thought last night was the best playoff game Leddy ever played.
- rollpards19

I was just joking around....there's always that Oduya vs Leddy debate.

I guess when you look at it the Hawks are sneaky physical for lack of a better term.

Hammer , Bollig, Bickell , Shaw , even Hossa last nite , play physical enough that it could ware opponents down.
Brookbank and Seabrook hit a bit too now don't they


Nice post Mo
- mrpaulish

Yeah, Sneaky Physical. Totally agree. Like a quick boxer against a guy with a heavy jab... when he gets off balance you respond with a sneaky physical combination. That's a great way to describe them.

Not so much the drinking, just went with one a period. Was talking to my brother in Seattle and he was telling the game was on local at 630.

I did the math for EST and was like wtf!?!
- HawkintheD

Yeah, game finished at 9:30 here, which gave me plenty of time to hydrate before bed.

Saw this on PHT in the comments section for the Selke article...

Results so far

Hart (28 ballots)

1. Sidney Crosby (25-3-0-0-0) 271
2. Ryan Getzlaf (2-18-6-2-0) 182
3. Claude Giroux (0-6-8-9-2) 111
4. Semyon Varlamov (1-2-7-3-2) 70
5. Patrice Bergeron (0-0-3-2-4) 25
6. Anze Kopitar (0-0-1-3-1) 15
7. Jamie Benn (0-0-1-2-3) 14
8. Tyler Seguin (0-0-1-2-2) 13
9. Joe Pavelski (0-0-1-1-3) 11
10. Jonathan Toews (0-0-1-0-2) 7
11. Ben Bishop (0-0-0-1-3) 6
12. Alex Steen (0-0-0-1-1) 4
13-14. Corey Perry (0-0-0-1-0) 3
13-14. Gustav Nyquist (0-0-0-1-0) 3
15. Carey Price (0-0-0-0-2) 2
16-17. Shea Weber (0-0-0-0-1) 1
16-17. Duncan Keith (0-0-0-0-1) 1

Norris (27 ballots)

1. Duncan Keith (9-4-8-1-2) 173
2. Zdeno Chara (5-8-10-3-1) 166
3. Shea Weber (9-6-1-4-3) 152
4. Ryan Suter (2-3-2-7-4) 76
5. Drew Doughty(2-2-4-4-8) 72
6. Alex Pietrangelo (0-4-0-3-5) 44
7. Mark Giordano (1-0-0-2-0) 16
8. Matt Niskanen (0-0-1-0-1) 6
9. Victor Hedman (0-0-0-2-0) 6
10-11. Ryan McDonagh (0-0-1-0-0) 5
10-11. Nik Kronwall (0-0-1-0-0) 5
12-13. Andrei Markov (0-0-0-1-0) 3
12-13. Marc-Edouard Vlasic (0-0-0-0-3) 3
14. Erik Karlsson (0-0-0-0-1) 1

Selke (28 ballots)

1. Bergeron (20-7-1-0-0) 254
2. Kopitar (7-10-6-3-1) 180
3. Toews (0-5-13-4-2) 114
4. Backes (1-2-4-13-4) 87
5. Hossa (0-2-1-0-1) 20
6. Couturier (0-1-1-1-3) 18
7. O’Reilly (0-0-1-2-6) 17
8. Pavelski (0-0-1-2-1) 12
9. Stastny (0-1-0-0-1) 8
10-11. Plekanec (0-0-0-1-1) 4
10-11. Getzlaf (0-0-0-1-1) 4
12. Steen (0-0-0-1-0) 3
13-19. Couture (0-0-0-0-1) 1
13-19. Zetterberg (0-0-0-0-1) 1
13-19. Little (0-0-0-0-1) 1
13-19. Vermette (0-0-0-0-1) 1
13-19. Cogliano (0-0-0-0-1) 1
13-19. Thornton (0-0-0-0-1) 1
13-19. Palat (0-0-0-0-1) 1

Calder (28 ballots)

1. Nathan MacKinnon (27-1-0-0-0) 277
2. Ondrej Palat (0-19-7-1-1) 172
3. Jacob Trouba (1-4-4-2-3) 67
4. Tyler Johnson (0-2-5-6-7) 64
5. Torey Krug (0-1-7-3-4) 55
6. Olli Maatta (0-0-2-6-3) 31
7. Hampus Lindholm (0-1-0-4-3) 21
8. Frederik Andersen (0-0-1-1-4) 12
9. Valeri Nichushkin (0-0-0-3-1) 11
10. Tomas Hertl (0-0-1-1-0) 8
11. Sean Monahan (0-0-1-0-0) 5
12. Seth Jones (0-0-0-0-1) 1
- prd797

Initial reaction is why did Backes and Giordano get first place votes in the Selke and Norris? And Varly deserved to be above Giroux.

Thought last night was the best playoff game Leddy ever played.
- rollpards19

Savvy should be along in a minute.

Any takers on how much time he spends draped all over Bergeron's back (ptp) like he did on Toews in the 2nd round last year?
- HawkintheD

Good. I hope he does. I can't stand Boston. I bet the whole team becomes unglued

I was just joking around....there's always that Oduya vs Leddy debate.
- DarthKane

Wasn't directed at you, I just wanted to say I thought that and you happened to mention Leddy. He made an outstanding play on the third goal in the corner.

http://thefilmspectrum.co...ds/2011/07/Picture-39.png

Kaner

Savvy should be along in a minute.
- mohel

Now the series isn't over, but if (when ) the Hawks, let's just say those saying to get ready for golf after 2 games aren't going to be forgotten by me.