EC Playoffs Round 1: Tampa Bay Lightning vs Montreal Canadiens (Canadiens win 4-0).

[Voodooman]

I have to say, I was so shocked to see that the official who called that horrible trip was Francois St. Laurent. Yes, shocked indeed.

It's funny how there always seems to be issues with officiating in Montreal, yet the league continues to use French referees there. No point in trying to avoid any potential controversy, I guess.

Full marks to the Scabs for quickly dispensing the worst team to make the playoffs (after the loss of Bishop). I predict their fate at the hands of Boston will be equally as quick, hopefully with the added entertainment of Chara putting more of the Mighty Mites into the turnbuckle.

(Full Disclosure: I hate the Habs with the passion of a thousand suns. The best thing that could happen to that franchise is contraction. Of course, their idiot fans would still be blathering on about 23 Stanley Cups for the next 4,000 years)

Go Iggy!

[Dogbert]

Originally Posted by Voodooman

I have to say, I was so shocked to see that the official who called that horrible trip was Francois St. Laurent. Yes, shocked indeed.

It's funny how there always seems to be issues with officiating in Montreal, yet the league continues to use French referees there. No point in trying to avoid any potential controversy, I guess.

Full marks to the Scabs for quickly dispensing the worst team to make the playoffs (after the loss of Bishop). I predict their fate at the hands of Boston will be equally as quick, hopefully with the added entertainment of Chara putting more of the Mighty Mites into the turnbuckle.

(Full Disclosure: I hate the Habs with the passion of a thousand suns. The best thing that could happen to that franchise is contraction. Of course, their idiot fans would still be blathering on about 23 Stanley Cups for the next 4,000 years)

Go Iggy!

We won, fair and square.

[stignasty]

[dino7c]

Montreal won the series and deserved the series...but don't try and tell me Habs fans wouldn't be freaking out if that call went the other way or that no goal call from the other night. The police would likely be involved

[CalgaryFan1988]

^^^ exactly! Montreal was the better team, nobody is arguing that. You have to be a real homer to not notice the calls/breaks Montreal got though.

[t0rrent98]

If Bishop had played all 4 games, I think the series would have been different.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by t0rrent98

If Bishop had played all 4 games, I think the series would have been different.

Agreed. Probably would have at least gotten a win or two with Bishop in. Totally forgot he was injured and was the reason I had the Lightning winning at least two games.

The Habs' next contestant is most likely the Bruins, and I don't see them surpassing them for the EC final. And sometimes being the only team that sweeps can be disadvantageous because your momentum can go away from not playing.

[AC]

Can't wait for a Boston/Montreal series.

Marchand vs Gallagher should be entertaining.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by AC

Can't wait for a Boston/Montreal series.

Marchand vs Gallagher should be entertaining.

Yup, Gallagher would hit him on his right side and Marchand will grip his left side in pain lol.

[AC]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

Yup, Gallagher would hit him on his right side and Marchand will grip his left side in pain lol.

I know Marchand has that reputation, but it seems to me that Marchand actually landed on his "wrong" knee really awkwardly and it twisted in a bad direction.

Full clip: http://d3j5vwomefv46c.cloudfront.net.../849586219.gif

Edit: Yeah this looks painful to me.


He also confirmed it was the reason for his injury.
@DJ_Bean Marchand told official he didn't have a big problem with Smith hit. Was more concerned with how he landed on other knee.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by AC

I know Marchand has that reputation, but it seems to me that Marchand actually landed on his "wrong" knee really awkwardly and it twisted in a bad direction.

Full clip: http://d3j5vwomefv46c.cloudfront.net.../849586219.gif

Edit: Yeah this looks painful to me.


He also confirmed it was the reason for his injury.
@DJ_Bean Marchand told official he didn't have a big problem with Smith hit. Was more concerned with how he landed on other knee.

Ya never saw a still till now. Even the slow motion replay it never looked that bad.

[djsFlames]

Boston's gonna wipe the floor with these amateurs.

Even their francophone ref won't be able to stop it.

[kenk-la]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Boston's gonna wipe the floor with these amateurs.

I am not sure if you are aware, but the Habs have played the Bruins extremely well over the past two seasons. I believe the Bruins will win due to their size and I hope they do for the sake of Iggy, but it'll be an intense six or seven game series in all likelihood. No team will "wipe the floor" or any other cliché you choose to use.a

Edit: Of course, that's assuming the Bruins defeat Detroit.

[djsFlames]

I am aware. Also, that's the regular season.

We've seen teams play each other very differently come playoffs. If Boston runs away with their series, look for them to carry a ton of momentum into the Montreal series. Meanwhile, the habs will be sitting around for a week plus.

[Daradon]

Great series by Montreal. Expecting them to dispatch Tampa, but not quite that decisively. Next series should be better than I expected. If Boston is playing I'll have to cheer for them though.

[UKflames]

Congrats to the Habs for winning this one. Yes the series could have been different if Bishop had been able to play but thems the breaks and 'What if' doesn't change the result.

I felt that when the habs stole game 1 , when Price was not at his best, that was the series decided in the Habs favour. If TB had taken that one they could have carried that momentum forward but losing that game seemed to take the series away from them imo.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Meanwhile, the habs will be sitting around for a week plus.

Yes.
That's what teams hate more than anything in the playoffs.
Time to rest, heal and prepare

And don't count out the Wings just yet, kiddo

[Erick Estrada]

Montreal deserved to win this series but they benefitted from playing a team that wasn't ready to compete in the playoffs and some really questionable officiating. From a Lightning perspective not much positives at all you can take as their best players weren't very good. I get that Bishop was hurt but for a 100+ point regular season team to get swept by an average Habs team is pretty embarrassing even with questionable officiating.

[Hockeyguy15]

Well I didn't watch every game, but it seems like the disallowed goal calles evened out for Tampa.

One game a goal is disallowed because of poor wording of a rule. Last game the goal that was allowed, I don't think should have counted. The goal last night kept Tampa in the game, and the disallowed goal kept Montreal in the game.

Lindback was the biggest problem for Tampa as he could not make the save when his team needed it.

[Resolute 14]

Tampa did not deserve to be in this series at all, but the simple truth is the Montreal Canadiens greatly benefited from a couple of highly controversial calls in games 3 and 4, in Montreal, called by Quebec referees. We are talking about a league that uses off-ice officials from other cities (historically, at least. Unsure about today) to avoid the perception of bias yet fails to do the same with its on-ice officials. Even if you think the calls were correct, the appearance of bias is legitimate, and should be of legitimate concern for the league.