NHL 2013-2014 Season

[Beamer]

NHL reffing in playoffs is garbage. There is no set rules. They call whatever they want. They are consistent in one dept though : they swallow the whistle from third period and let everything go unless its blatantly obvious like blood coming out of face.

[Sohel]

Carter scores a buzzer beater at 19:59 to give the Kings a 1-0 lead after 1. Solid defense from LA and solid aggression from NY. Good game of hockey so far.

[Sohel]

2-0 LA early in the second. Now the Rangers must show character and overcome this 2-goal deficit the LA has done. Won't be easy but must be done.

[Sohel]

Key PP for the Rangers. Gotta score here.

[Sohel]

Quick's in top form tonight.

[Sohel]

Mike Richards scores. 3-0 Kings and I don't see the Rangers coming back in this game or the series.

[Sohel]

*MUST* score PP coming up for the Rangers.

[Sohel]

Nash is dumb and useless. Shoots straight at the goalie as if the puck will go through all that gear. All that size gone to waste because of his woeful inaccuracy.

[Sohel]

Quick gets the shutout and puck-luck or not, a thoroughly cohesive performance by the LA Kings on their way to their second Cup win in three years. Eerily similar to 2012. A couple of OT wins against Jersey followed by a dominant 4-0 shutout.

[Sohel]

Just spoke to my 10YO niece Eren, born and raised in Brooklyn, and feeling really bad for the Rangers and their real fans. It's so frustrating to have your team play well but lose and go down to a team 0-3 because they execute better at the right, more crucial times in the game. Puck-luck is integral to a sport of this physicality and velocity, utterly futile to whine about it when the other team seems to be monopolizing it, but you still gotta be in position. Gotta get it done by being at the right spot. That's what the Kings have been doing remarkably well throughout the series. Once you play basic Sutter-Hockey centered around team cohesion, you end up with a team full of clutch guys winning playoff games. As simple as that. NYR: cannot have that many PPs and not score in an SCF series. Nash sucks balls! Overrated and overpaid, he's a weak-hearted idiot letting his team down. I reckon this is over folks. Don't think Lundqvist or AV's gonna get his Cup this year.

[Beamer]

This series once again shows how fortunate one has to be to win a series. Puck luck is real. Looking at the series as 3-0 in favor of Kings is not the whole story. Don't get me wrong, Kings are an awesome playoff team ( two trips to the SCF in three years and one WCF ), but there is no way Rangers are getting dominated. A bounce here and there and Rangers could be up in this series. I never had the feeling that Kings are destroying the Rangers. Sometimes, that's the way it goes. I recall our ECF against Boston last year where we got swept. Besides game 1 where they beat us clean, we were in on every game, yet the puck never crossed the line. Rask was great but he was beat numerous times only the post came to his rescue. I am afraid its over for the Rangers this time. Maybe, they win game 4, but don't see them coming back. If they do, you know, they will go down as the greatest story of hockey in 80 yrs.

Never been a fan of Nash. I can see him going to Toronto.

[cricman]

Proud of the Season regardless, Would like it to last a few more days.

Just get a W Tomorrow.

Quick made 2 Superhuman saves last night with the Stick.

[Sohel]

The Cup would be at the MSG tonight. The Rangers need to win this one game to make sure the Kings don't lift it in NYC.

[Sohel]

Truth can be hilarious.

... San Jose Sharks centre Joe Thornton's name surfaced in trade rumours this week, so of course the Leafs were mentioned as a possible destination. This according to a Toronto-centric hockey media, who quite often ignore logic and reason, all to the delight of Leafs Nation. Not a free agent, tradeable asset, or draft eligible player can enter hockey's consciousness without being linked to Toronto. Before long, kids in The Junction were dreaming of Thornton's pure passing skills and Phil Kessel's scoring prowess, Jumbo Joe sweaters under the Christmas tree, and parade routes up Yonge Street. But would Thornton, who has a full no-trade clause and as such controls his destiny, want to play in Toronto? I would argue no, and here's why: Toronto is the most difficult place in the world to play hockey. It is the NHL's Hell ...

... Toronto's hockey media is the most intense in all of professional sports. Maybe Montreal's is equal, but half of the vitriol and conjecture there is in French, and only a fraction of NHLers understand it. (Reasonably, even those of us who are bilingual don't really understand it.) In Toronto, there is endless speculation, much of it even based in fact. Each flaw, each mistake (on and off the ice) is dissected and disseminated ad nauseum. Trade rumours are fabricated on a daily basis, the ubiquitous "NHL executive" noted as an unimpeachable source. The discussion of hockey in Toronto has become an insufferable wall of noise for an uninvested observer, so imagine if the discourse directly affected your family, your income, and your life.

It seems a lot to ask of a player to endure such amplified attention, especially given the fact the Leafs have not been a competitive team since 2004. And that is final circle of the NHL's Hell: irrelevance. Toronto is still recovering from the John Ferguson Jr. era. They have some formidable pieces in Kessel, Morgan Reilly, and Jonathan Bernier; a young skilled forward, puck moving defenseman, and promising goaltender around which to build. They have a top-ten pick in the coming draft, some interesting if not spectacular prospects (Stuart Percy, Matt Finn), and some movable pieces (Nazem Kadri, Jake Gardiner). Brendan Shanahan emanates stability and hubris. But they're still saddled with bad contracts (Dion Phaneuf, David Clarkson), a suspect coaching philosophy, and a lack of depth. And to watch the Kings, Blackhawks, and Rangers this spring is to know the Leafs are far removed from that level of hockey ...

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The photo of Leafs fans watching the game pretty much sums up the true quality of their pathetic play. No wonder they have such mean and vicious fans!

[Sohel]

The Rangers stay alive as Lundqvist makes 40 saves. The man deserves a Cup. What an amazing goalie! Puck-luck goes both ways. The Kings played their best hockey of the series after scoring that goal.

[cricman]

Finally got some Puck Luck.

Dan Girardi, I'd rather you Ice the puck than try to clear the zone the way you have been doing all series.

Just get it back to MSG, we play better on the Road than we do at Home, Lundqvist is stellar in elimination games, so if get this one things will get fun again

[Sohel]

Yep, serious puck-luck. I've never seen skate-shaved snow ever stop a gliding puck before. How about that Rick Na$h eh? Can't even touch a gaping empty net with all the time in the world. How much does he cost again?

[Sohel]

Looking forward to the game tonight. Rick Na$h, that seething jackass better score some goals and force game six in NYC.

[Beamer]

Nash is not playing poorly though. He just doesn't have any playoff pedigree. I think thats eating at him. Its purely mental. For sure, he makes a lot of money, and highly paid players are expected to score in playoffs. In the end, thats all it matters. Your corsi numbers or fenwick stats be damned ! Just put the puck in the net. It applies to Nash, and it applied here to 87. But, 87 has playoff pedigree and stats to back that up. Nash doesn't, so its a tough time for him. I liked him a lot once.

[cricman]

I'm not down on Nash, the way other Ranger fans are.

1. He gets Zero PP Time
2. He's really good on the PK
3. He's not a Liability on the Ice ala Richards
4. He's doing everything else well, Starting to hit big & He's created some scoring chances and it just seems like chemistry issue with his linemates.

[Sohel]

The ever-resilient Los Angeles Kings win their second Cup in three years. What a team! Just the right combination of grit and skill it takes to win the Cup. Justin Williams wins his third Cup and first Conn Smythe. What a playoff performer he is!

Commiserations to the New York Rangers. Great season and postseason including the Cup. The 4-1 defeat isn't indicative of just how close the series was. I feel absolutely horrible for their fans and guys like Lundqvist. McDonagh, and Zuccarello. Wonderful players who never give up on the puck, ever! Each deserves to win the Cup before he retires.

[Sohel]

My Playoff Allstars for 2013-2014

1. Goal: Lundqvist

2. Defense: Doughty-McDonagh; Keith-Hjalmarsson; Martinez-Subban

3. Forwards: Carter-Kopitar-Gaborik; Williams-Malkin-St. Louis; Kane-Toews-M. Koivu; Kreider-MacKinnon-Getzlaf

Coach: Sutter

[cricman]

I'd rather miss the playoffs than lose in this fashion.

Starting all over is what makes it so hard, have to get through Pittsburgh & Philly. You figure Islanders, Caps and Devils will get better.

I feel for Lundqvist the most, I don't know if he'll ever get back (at least in a Rangers Uniform). He takes all this crap from the Broedur fanboys in the area, Islander fans & his even own fans etc.

Alot closer than 4-1 too.

[Sohel]

The Rangers are just a couple of pieces of away from going back to the SCF and lifting the Cup. Get rid of Na$h, shouldn't be tough, and get a proven playoff performer who doesn't shoot at the opposition goalie's chest. Someone with size and heart who's accurate and effective enough to be on the PP. Also get a poised defenseman less error-prone under pressure than Girardi.

[Sohel]

Looks like Kenny's gonna keep Gustavsson. I think that's a great move but feel bad for Mrazek. This was supposed to be the year he pushed Howard for the starting job. Kenny has also committed to signing Alifie should the man decides to play another season.