2008 Stanley Cup goes to...

[thetroy]

What trick are they going to try against Detroit...will Mario suit up?

If they do that, we might have to bring back Yzerman or perhaps Gordie Howe... he's always around the games anyway!

[Rupe]

Biron doesn't have a series against Ottawa to pad his stats and he doesn't have some of his best D men to solidify his team's efforts either. Getting the Philly line-up a bit beat up along the way is exactly what the Pens were hoping to accomplish by dodging them initially. It worked for them.

What trick are they going to try against Detroit...will Mario suit up?

Yeah, Spezza and Heatly suck

You may not like the Pens, fine, but anyone who doesn't recognize that they have put forth perhaps the best defensive effort of anyone in the playoffs is clueless. I feel for the Philly fans...it sucks when your best blue-liners are off the ice, but what happened to the offense? Briere and Umberger were unstoppable in the prior series, yet Philly's top line got it's first goal and points last night (nice play by Prospal to make that happen). The fact is, Pittsburgh's neutral zone trap has yet to be solved by Philly and they continue to commit costly turnovers (I'll bet Downie has seen his last action of the playoffs). On the flipside, Pittsburgh's puck management is stellar, and they create off of others mistakes. Pittsburgh has also out hit Philly in 2 of 3 games...something I never would have expected.

I'll speculate on the Pens/Wings once each team has four wins. Last I checked, that's what it takes to win a series. Although thats the probable match-up, stranger things have happened (although only twice in NHL history ). For those of you who are superstitious, the first comeback from 0-3 was in '42 and the second was in '75, 33 years apart. How many years has it been since '75?

[goodwood]

Yeah, Spezza and Heatly suck

They did from the all star break onward...until the IIHF when Heatley started rolling. Everyone and their dogs were beating them so it isn't difficult to see how a team that was rolling would swamp a team that was rolling downhill backwards.

The finals will be incredible with the two deepest rosters and the two most talented rosters.

...and the trap sucks...the NHL tried to get rid of it for a reason. At least Pitts only fires it up closer to the end of the game and doesn't start using it 5 minutes into a game like NJ did.

It will be a huge test for the Pens to play Detroit because it will be the only adversity that they will have faced. If they can win against them then they will have earned the Championship.

[goodwood]

For those of you who are superstitious, the first comeback from 0-3 was in '42 and the second was in '75, 33 years apart. How many years has it been since '75?

Marks like that were 'made to be debunked'...from WWII on the Montreal Canadiens have only gone 7 years between Stanley Cups. Until 2000...now it has been 15 years.

[Rupe]

That's why I qualified it with "for those of you..."

I'm not superstitious and I don't see either Dallas or Philly mounting a comeback. That said, it's not over until it's over.

And I hate the trap as well, but the difference is twofold. First, as you mentioned, the Pens do it late to close out a game. Secondly, they do it without all of the clutching and grabbing that NJ made a part of the game for about a decade. Finally, the stars are allowed to be stars again...if you can't skate with the big boys, you don't deserve to be in the NHL.

[Bengal]

Dallas wins game 4. To be fair to Dallas, they played a hell of a game. Turco finally played like he usually does. But I still think the goalie interference call on Holmestrom was bullshit, that goal should have counted. Make up call for the interference that wasn't called a couple of games ago. The Datsyuk-Zetterburg-Holmestrom line played well but that was about the only line that played well. The others looked tired and slow.

No sweep. We'll have to wait til Saturday to see what's what.

[semagic]

Dallas wins game 4. To be fair to Dallas, they played a hell of a game. Turco finally played like he usually does. But I still think the goalie interference call on Holmestrom was bullshit, that goal should have counted. Make up call for the interference that wasn't called a couple of games ago. The Datsyuk-Zetterburg-Holmestrom line played well but that was about the only line that played well. The others looked tired and slow.

No sweep. We'll have to wait til Saturday to see what's what.

bengal, from what i saw on the highlights (dish network crapped out on versus last night so i listened to the game... for another day)that was a goal, i hate to say make up call... but that's what it was, a lucky break and dallas made it count. hopefully no more calls like that on either side. let's see what happens sat.

[Bengal]

It was a goal, but that's the game. The ref called it and there it is. We still would have lost 3-2. Dallas was just on last night. They played the way they had through the playoffs until they hit Detroit. We'll see what happens Saturday, if Dallas comes out like they did last night, it's going to be a game.

[semagic]

It was a goal, but that's the game. The ref called it and there it is. We still would have lost 3-2. Dallas was just on last night. They played the way they had through the playoffs until they hit Detroit. We'll see what happens Saturday, if Dallas comes out like they did last night, it's going to be a game.

it's going to take an even better effort to win the next game at the joe. like i said just getting to game five is huge for our young defensemen, "now" we should be happy to be here... the series is a long shot at best, so just enjoy the experience and see where it takes us. hopefully they can come up with a solid game sat.

[Bengal]

Last nights game was very entertaining, even though it didn't go my way.

Sweeps are good, don't get me wrong. But a good hockey game beats it. And it was a good game last night.

[slash]

At least the Stars won't be swept... but I bet it's a different outcome in game 5.

[CharvelRocker]

Alive for another couple days... I thought the thing with Dave Mustaine was pretty cool, but I'm a Flyer's fan

EDIT: Just read Timonen could be back Sunday. 33 years since the last come back from 3-0 for a team. 33 years since a Flyers come back. Timonen could be back and Coburn may also come back. It might be the year...

[semagic]

thank you NBC for picking up this weekends games, dish network's signal isn't giving me versus. not seeing these games is killing me

[Spivonious]

Timonen could be back?? That's just stupid on his part. Blood clots are serious business and it takes at least two weeks for the blood thinners to start working. My dad had some in his lungs a few months ago and he was out of commission for two months. Granted, that's more serious than clots in your ankle, but at any point they could break apart and travel to your lungs or your brain and kill you.

Coburn coming back is all but confirmed. Although the way we played last night, I don't think we need him. The Pens defense collapsed in the first period and we scored three goals. Then our own defense locked down and Marty made a few great saves to keep the Pens scoreless in the second. In the third I think we kind of let up on the pressure a bit and Staal managed to score a few. Then we woke up with about 5 minutes to go and locked the game down again. Play like that and we have a solid chance at the Cup.

Did anyone else notice that they misspelled "Megadeath"?

[goodwood]

Nice that both series went over 4 games.