NHL 08-09 Season

Sundin has probably played his last game.

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The novelist does not long to see the lion eat grass. He realizes that one and the same God created the wolf and the lamb, then smiled, "seeing that his work was good".

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They had temporarily escaped the factories, the warehouses, the slaughterhouses, the car washes - they'd be back in captivity the next day but now they were out - they were wild with freedom. They weren't thinking about the slavery of poverty. Or the slavery of welfare and food stamps. The rest of us would be all right until the poor learned how to make atom bombs in their basements.

Moving on to the conference finals! (But first the predictions from last round) Harry got 2/4, and I got 3/4, including a spot-on prediction that Varlamov will falter .

Eastern
Penguins v. Hurricanes

Western
Red Wings v. Blackhawks

Penguins in 6. Hurricanes won't be able to shut down Crosby, nor will they be able to score when they need to (their powerplay has sucked).

Red Wings in 7. The Blackhawks keep screwing up my predictions because I don't know much about them. I know a little more now, and know they are a great team but I just can't see anyone (except the Penguins... maybe) beating the Red Wings.

Rematch of last year!

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"Travis Bickle: Loneliness has followed me my whole life, everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man."

Pittsburgh in 7
Detroit in 6

Good job on the predictions Dill, you keep beating me. I agree that it'll probably be a repeat of last year, which I'm kind of liking as it builds up a legitimate rivalry. If it does come down to the same two teams it'll be first time this has happened since the Oilers and Islanders faced of in the final back in the 80's.

Mark, the Ducks put up a great fight, gotta hand it to them. They should have used the "Flying V" play.

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

Yep, Detroit should thank their lucky stars they escaped from that series.

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

It will be interesting to see if the Pens' offense can rattle Cam Ward. I'm not worried about the Canes offense, but Ward's amazing goaltending will be a problem.

About the Red Wings; assuming the Penguins get past the Hurricanes, the Wings will need Osgood to step up more than he has. They have yet to face the offensive powerhouse like the Penguins, and this Pittsburgh team has matured since last year - Crosby has been unbelievable and Malkin has finally woken up. Guerin has played pretty well, unfortunately Kunitz has been on a scoring drought though. But he has been good keeping players in check.

Fleury will need to play well, but unfortunately he hasn't been. He came up big with the save on Ovie in game seven, but they will certainly need more than that.

Hat trick for Geno!

Looks like this is an unqualified "yes."

Great start. Looks like we're destined for a rematch with Detroit. It'll be tough, but I think we're better than last year. Whether or not it's enough remains to be seen.

I agree with you, Yoda.

We are a better team this year for many reasons. Geno has shown up (big time), Crosby has matured, and everyone seems much more driven than the year before. Everyone is willing to do whatever is necessary to win, and that's a wonderful thing.

Let's just hope for a win tonight. A win in Carolina would be huge.

6-2 Pens, pretty well guaranteed another trip to the final, and they're playing like champs.

Indeed. They're playing very well right now. Still, they will need to keep it up. I realize the Canes are down 0-3, but I've never liked counting a team out, especially the Hurricanes.

Also, is Malkin a cyborg from the future?

Four in a row; and all of them dominating wins. Yikes. Bring on Detroit. Not that I think we'll necessarily win, but we're looking like we could.

Agree completely on Malkin. Crosby's just solid in basically every facet of the game, but Malkin has these spurts where he completely takes over.

Only two teams in history have comeback and won after being down 3-0.

So, for the first time since the mid 80's we have the same two teams in the final for two consecutive years. The last time this happened the Edmonton Oilers lost the first matchup to the Islanders before going on to win their first of five Stanley Cups the following year. I'm thinking the Pens will do the same as the Oil, and win the series in 7.

I agree; I feel pretty good about the Pens' chances. I wouldn't bet a thing on it, and I don't know if we (er, they) should be the favorites, but they've looked unbelievable over the last nine games and I think they might be a bit hungrier.

The Hossa subplot is fantastic. They trade him for him last year, he helps vaunt them into the Finals where they lose to Detroit. Then he becomes a free agent and signs with Detroit because he says they have a better chance of winning a Stanley Cup, and now they square off again with Hossa on the other side, basically having dissed Pittsburgh on his way out. Wow.

On a side note: why do I love the Pitt' teams, other than the Pirates? WTH are Pirates doing in Pitt' anyway?

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“The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

aaaaaaaand now i begin to watch hockey--game 7 of the stanley cup final lol.

It doesn't get much better than this.

Aye. I greatly prefer football and baseball to hockey, but I have to admit that hockey is far more inherently exciting than either if you care about the game. It's incredibly nerve-wracking.

Not terribly gung-ho about our chances, given how thoroughly Detroit's beaten us at home, but I do think the home field advantage will be mitigated a bit, if only because the intensity level should be off the charts. It'll be particularly interesting to watch, because even though I'm sure both teams will be internally freaking out, they'll probably step very carefully to avoid incurring penalties, so it should make for some ridiculous tension.

Friend of mine's ordering a bunch of pizzas and having people over, so I'll probably end up there. Definitely excited!

Well history is certainly against the Pens, both throughout the existence of the Stanley Cup and the fact that only the home team has been victorious this final. They're going to have to really pull off something special. Also, seeing as it's a game 7, here's to hoping the refs stay out of it for the most part (other than the really obvious calls) and let these two teams go at it.

You are, unfortunately, quite correct. Home field advantage seems surprisingly potent in the playoffs...moreso in game 7s...and perhaps moreso in hockey, where there's an actual difference in gameplay (last change). So, yeah...I'll be a tiny bit surprised if the Pens pull this out. I'd give them a 1 out of 3 chance.