EC Playoffs Round 2: Pittsburgh Penguins vs NY Rangers (Rangers win series 4-3).

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by 4oh3

Does anyone else have a deep, unexplainable hate for Marty St. Louis?

I do. But not so unexplainable. I don't like the massive chip on his shoulder that he has developed over the years. The way he handled the whole thing with the Olympics struck me as exceptionally immature, and made him appear like an entitled brat.

Originally Posted by Camronius

Quite the opposite, guy is amazing should have been on team canada all day every day over Kunitz... top 20 in scoring every year since 2007. Has a cup. Does everything right despite not having the stature. Love the guy.

One scored a goal in the 2014 gold medal game, the other did not.
One was a part of the only Canadian Olympic team to fail to win the Gold medal in the past fifteen years. The other was not.

[Erick Estrada]

Agreed. I feel bad about him losing his mother but I lost a lot of respect for him how handled the whole Olympic snub thing and strong-armed his move to NY. Lots of great players have been snubbed by Hockey Canada over the years and they have all handled it with much more class.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

Gotta think there's going to be some big shake ups this summer in Pittsburgh. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see Malkin moved, among others.

Bylsma is toast. They really need to get a strong defender there and some muscle for Sid.

Originally Posted by trackercowe

Was I the only one who wasn't aware that Jacques Martin was still coaching somewhere?

I could see his stink on that team. Martin teams play boring, uninspired hockey. I was so happy when the Habs fired him.

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Agreed. I feel bad about him losing his mother but I lost a lot of respect for him how handled the whole Olympic snub thing and strong-armed his move to NY. Lots of great players have been snubbed by Hockey Canada over the years and they have all handled it with much more class.

I've heard he's wanted a trade since they let Richards go. He acted like a baby about the whole Olympic thing. Sad what happened to his Mom, but I lost a lot of respect for him over the whole "trade me right effing now" stance he took with Yzerman.

[Resolute 14]

Sidney Crosby in games 5-7: 0-0-0, -2, 6 shots.

Ouch.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Sidney Crosby in games 5-7: 0-0-0, -2, 6 shots.

Ouch.

It's an alarming trend in elimination series for Crosby(started against Detroit when Pitts won the cup).

08/09 Detroit: 1-2-3, -3, 16 SOG
09/10: Montreal: 1-4-5, -1, 17 SOG
11/12: Philly: 3-5-8, -3, 13 SOG
12/13: Boston: 0-0-0, -2, 13 SOG
13/14: New York: 1-2-3, -2, 19 SOG

Including the Stanley Cup finals they won Crosby has put up 6-13-19 and is a -11 in the 31 games that make up the Stanley Cup Finals and the 4 series in which the Pens were eliminated since 2009.

-11 and 0.6 PPG is not nearly good enough for Crosby during those series.

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

It's an alarming trend in elimination series for Crosby(started against Detroit when Pitts won the cup).

08/09 Detroit: 1-2-3, -3, 16 SOG
09/10: Montreal: 1-4-5, -1, 17 SOG
11/12: Philly: 3-5-8, -3, 13 SOG
12/13: Boston: 0-0-0, -2, 13 SOG
13/14: New York: 1-2-3, -2, 19 SOG

Including the Stanley Cup finals they won Crosby has put up 6-13-19 and is a -11 in the 31 games that make up the Stanley Cup Finals and the 4 series in which the Pens were eliminated since 2009.

-11 and 0.6 PPG is not nearly good enough for Crosby during those series.

That's absurd.

If you took Toews point totals from only the series that the Blackhawks lost I am sure they would be similar.

He only scored 3 goals in 23 games in last season's Stanley Cup march for example.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

-11 and 0.6 PPG is not nearly good enough for Crosby during those series.

It's my opinion that he's not big enough to be the dominant player he is in the regular season in the playoffs with the tighter checking. He was getting pushed off the puck all series by Rangers defenseman. Not sure how else you can explain the disparity of scoring from regular season to playoffs.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

That's absurd.

If you took Toews point totals from only the series that the Blackhawks lost I am sure they would be similar.

He only scored 3 goals in 23 games in last season's Stanley Cup march for example.

He also faced stiffer competition than any Eastern team would face save for the Bruins. You simply aren't going to score a lot of goals against the Wild, Wings, and Kings. For the Hawks it's not about blowing out teams or dominating for long periods. They seem to be able to score key goals when they are needed as they have clutch players.

[Tinordi]

Pretty sure Crosby was just worn out. I read somewhere that since January last year he's played 143 games. These are people not superheroes.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

Pretty sure Crosby was just worn out. I read somewhere that since January last year he's played 143 games. These are people not superheroes.

That's not really an excuse. Why isn't Bergeron worn out? He's probably played more games than Crosby has in that same amount of time. He went to the Olympics too, plus he had a deeper playoff run last year, didn't miss as many regular season games last year...

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

He also faced stiffer competition than any Eastern team would face save for the Bruins. You simply aren't going to score a lot of goals against the Wild, Wings, and Kings. For the Hawks it's not about blowing out teams or dominating for long periods. They seem to be able to score key goals when they are needed as they have clutch players.

They have more stronger players I would argue.

For Pittsburgh, when Crosby and Malkin aren't on the top of their games it seems like the offence dries up completely. Guys like Letang, Kunitz, Dupuis, and Neal seem pretty dependant on the big two for their production and only Kunitz and Dupuis out of those players are good two way guys.

Chicago on the other hand has Hossa, Sharp, Keith and Seabrook to fall back on when Kane and Toews are winning them games.

All four of those guys are excellent two way players, that can defend and create their own offence.

[Tron_fdc]

Looked like Crosby was being manhandled by the Rangers, and the Pens had no answer for it. They need to get bigger or more physical so they (or at least their top players) don't get worn down like that if they want to succeed in the playoffs.

If someone runs Crosby they need guys like Marchand/Bolland/Ott (or even a Staios/Sarich type dman) to bring that kind of game right back. If the other teams agitators are getting punished they're going to be a lot less willing to run your top guys.

Playoffs are a game of attrition, and the Pens just aren't built to handle it (IMO). Crosby got brutalized, and they had no answer for it.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

Pretty sure Crosby was just worn out. I read somewhere that since January last year he's played 143 games. These are people not superheroes.

I'm thinking this as well

Originally Posted by codynw

That's not really an excuse. Why isn't Bergeron worn out? He's probably played more games than Crosby has in that same amount of time. He went to the Olympics too, plus he had a deeper playoff run last year, didn't miss as many regular season games last year...

Bergeron also didn't miss a huge chunk of the last 3 seasons with concussion issues. He's not working out during those times, he's recovering.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

That's absurd.

If you took Toews point totals from only the series that the Blackhawks lost I am sure they would be similar.

He only scored 3 goals in 23 games in last season's Stanley Cup march for example.

I am holding Crosby to a higher standard. He is a player that averages well over a PPG in the regular season and has not delivered close to that standard come playoff time recently.

Fact is he has been able to put up points in the first round against some of the weaker Eastern teams but once he has to play the bigger, physical, defensive teams he struggles to put up points.

I actually agree that Toews playoff dominance has been exaggerated as well. Kane, Hossa, Sharp, Keith, Seabrook, etc play just as a big a role as he has in their success.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

Looked like Crosby was being manhandled by the Rangers, and the Pens had no answer for it.

Isn't it Crosby who has to have an answer for being manhandled at the end of the day? Big bodies aren't going to help him win puck battles on the boards and get space in the offensive zone. Bringing in a bunch of McGratton's isn't going to change a thing as shutdown defensemen are still going to shut Crosby down physically.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by RyZ

Big win for the Rangers, but this basically tips the excitement level backwards for the playoffs going forward. More Rangers games..... meh..

Pretty much my feelings on it. By no means am I a fan of the Pens or Crosby, but as an impartial fan, I just wanna see exciting, offensive playoff hockey. Just thinking about what a Pens-Hawks Finals would've looked like was why I was bummed they choked yet again last night. Rangers just don't interest me, and it's surprising how dead (comparatively, to other NHL rinks) MSG in the playoffs is. I don't get it.

Not that I had any inclination going into the playoffs that Pittsburgh could win a series against Boston. I liked their odds of getting by Montreal though, if they win tonight.

[OzSome]

What do you think of the Head Coaching trade between NY Rangers and Vancouver Canucks..Okay not really a coaching trade. One guy ruined the team and got fired already while the other who the Canucks management thinks was no good is going to Eastern Conference Finals. Hmmmm...

I still can't believe the Penguins with talents like Crosby, Malkin, Neal, Fleury, Letang and others choked after leading the series 3-1. I am pretty sure Mario Lemeiux is mighty ticked off at somebody right now.

[sureLoss]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=452180

According to Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, sources say ownership believes Bylsma lost the team, especially franchise players Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and have favoured his dismissal.

Penguins ownership continues to hold meetings that are expected to determine the fate of Bylsma as well as general manager Ray Shero.

"I think it's a foregone conclusion (that Bylsma will be gone)," TSN Hockey's Bob McKenzie said on TSN Radio 1050. "In the past, Bylsma was seen a as a beloved figure by the Penguins players but I think anything but that is the case right now."

[19Yzerman19]

Originally Posted by OzSome

What do you think of the Head Coaching trade between NY Rangers and Vancouver Canucks..Okay not really a coaching trade.

Almost as funny; the Canucks traded Dale Weise to MTL for Raphael Diaz, and then traded Diaz to the Rangers. Both are now in the ECF. Talk about dodging a bullet if you`re one of those guys.