[Captain Sam]

St. Louis doesn't spend more than the salary floor. They're not expected to win any cups. They have no star players, just good coaching.

To lose a game 7 that was a guarantee'd victory is heartbreaking.

[Demosthenes]

Uhhh.. Pittsburgh is a big hockey town considering. St Louis is mediocre for the states. It's bigger than you might think, but still a niche.

I don't know about the caps other than that they suck.

That was a good point about St. Louis Sam.

[Magnetonium]

St. Louis doesn't spend more than the salary floor. They're not expected to win any cups. They have no star players, just good coaching.

To lose a game 7 that was a guarantee'd victory is heartbreaking.

Ummm ... didn't St. Louis go down in 6 games? Los Angeles ended up winning 4 straight in that series after losing the first two games in a clumsy manner.

Capitals disappointed me again, but it wasn't unexpected. Ovechkin is just not a good captain, and with his now-revealed foot injury he suffered in Game 5 it is clear why he didn't contribute anything in the last two games where Caps were shut down on all levels.

In my playoff pool I went 7 for 8 in the first round, with the only mistake being the pesky Sharks.

Here's a fun statistic: Babcock and his two assistant coaches won the Cup in 2008. Today the former assistants are coaches of San Jose and Ottawa teams. All three teams pulled off upsets in the first round of this year's playoffs. All three have lost their Game 1's in the second round

[Brio]

Glorious was it not?

Indeed it was. It was even better as I watched the game in the presence of Leaf fans. It was so worth it to see their swaggering bravado so quickly turned to shocked silence, then to deep mourning.

Toronto should not be allowed to win under any circumstance.

Agreed. The heating systems of hell can`t take it freezing over.

Seriously though I agree that Leaf Nation is getting fucked over by MLSE. As you aptly point out, MLSE doesn`t care if the Leafs win the cup as the fans will be back no matter what a terrible display of a hockey team they ice.

St. Louis doesn't spend more than the salary floor. They're not expected to win any cups.

However, hockey pundits for the last 5 years or so have been predicting St. Louis as the dark horse to win the cup, and a team to watch out for. So no while they weren`t ever front-runner to win the cup, their inability to raise their game to the next level (ala the Kings last year) is a little bit unexpected as they have a pretty good core group of players on the team.

[UltraBra]

Blues are too blue-collar. No real star players or guys who can make something happen out of nothing and really impact a game. If Tarasenko becomes as good as I think he is going to be that in itself will be a huge boost to the Blues.

[Magnetonium]

Well, just look at that. The final four teams in this year's playoffs are the last four teams that won the Stanley Cup. BORING!

[Demosthenes]

See? I told Brio he should root for the Flyers more!

Is it pretty much Chicago-Boston then? Or does LA have a chance at all?

From Philly.com:

It's been a pitiful series for the Penguins thus far in the third round of the NHL playoffs. The Bruins kicked the doors off the Consol Energy Arena and promptly stomped Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and the gang to the tune of a 9-1 outscoring them over the course of two games. Now the series heads to Boston where it's presumed the team with all the momentum may just benefit from a home crowd.

As the Boston media sat in their plane from Pittsburgh last night awaiting takeoff, a baby began crying close to the back of the plane, leading to one of the pilots to ask a fairly legitimate question:

Is that Sidney Crosby?

[Magnetonium]

Imagine this ... if the Leafs didn't blow their 3-goal lead with 10-something minutes to go in Game 7 versus Boston, they may have been in Boston's position right now

[Demosthenes]

Soooo...

Chicago- Boston.

Original 6 clash.

Wake me when its over so we can get on with the off-season already.

At least Sidney "WB" Crosby got sent home early.

[Brio]

Soooo...

Chicago- Boston.

Of the 4 teams that were still in it, I can't complain that those two won. However, now I don't really have a team to root for so the final is going to be pretty boring for me.

Wake me when its over so we can get on with the off-season already.

For the first time in a while I'm really excited for the Avs off-season. The changes in coaching (Patrick Roy) and upper management (Joe Sakic getting a more prominent role) along with the 1st pick (Seth Jones or Nathan MacKinnon) hold very interesting possibilities, to say the least. Not to say Patrick Roy might not fall on his face coaching, as the NHL is a big jump from junior, but anything is pretty much better than Sacco.

At least Sidney "WB" Crosby got sent home early.

and with a sweep at that.

P.S. what's the WB stand for?

[Demosthenes]

P.S. what's the WB stand for?

Why Brio, I'm so glad you asked that question.

A: Whiny Bitch!

Anyway, I love Patrick Roy, and for me that's a big thing because I am really the king of the homies when it comes to hockey. The Avs have only ever been the other team I could honestly say I don't hate, though the Kings have now swayed me a tad being Philly West and such..., still Patrick Roy has easily been one of the top 3-4 players I've ever watched (I DID get to see Gretz and Mario) and no goalie was better, nastier, meaner, while at the same time being an all round great player. I sincerely hope he can make the Av's competitive again, at the very least.

Anyway, it doesn't hurt to have an opposite conference team to root for a little in case things go south for your homies. I'd be rather excited as well, if I were a true Av's fan.

[Demosthenes]

This just in: Tuuka Rask is a weird lookin dude.

[Magnetonium]

Damn Boston is good. I hope they take that snatch. I am having a tough playoff pool this year after winning past 3 years, I'm 9/15 just because I didn't expect the last four champions to dominate it again this time around. I haven't bothered watching a game since Detroit got knocked out. It was a very good season though, it would have been nice if Columbus made it in the playoffs, I am certain that Chicago would have lost to them.

[Captain Sam]

Leafs acquired Bernier and I have no idea why. Reimer is clearly a starter, and Scrivens is an excellent goalie that could be a starter on some teams. Bernier is also an RFA this summer and he's going to want some money.

Now we have two bloody starters and it's going to create goalie drama. Unless Bernier becomes an all-star, it wasn't worth trading Scrivens, Frattin and a 2nd round pick for him.

[Brio]

You think MLSE runs on logic and reason? They haven't done that (at least in a bid to actually get the Stanley Cup instead of fleecing their fans of their money) since 1967.

So Chicago wins the Stanley Cup in a pretty decent final. Must say I was pretty bemused that Boston had that last game with about a minute left to go with a clear shot at game 7, then suddenly give up 2 goals in an incredibly short span to lose the cup.

Anyways, on to the most interesting off-season.

[Demosthenes]

No more weirdo. So long Bryz. You'd be fun in any capacity other than as goalie of my team.

I love how the philly media is jumping on the Steve Mason bandwagon after a whole 7 largely meaningless games. I wonder how they'll feel when/if our defense is just as porous and with our coach relentlessly playing him for 60+ games.

I can see it now: MASON JUST LIKE BRYZGALOV.

Philly sports are so freakin ridiculous sometimes.

[Captain Sam]

Vincent Lecavalier was bought out. He's going to be the top guy in free agency. This is a guy that was sitting on Tampa Bay's 2nd line, putting up 1st line numbers. I'd love for Toronto to buy out (or trade away) Grabo and sign Lecavalier.

Calgary gave Colorado Tanguay and Sarich for pretty much nothing. Feaster is going to run that club in to the ground.

[Demosthenes]

Vinny is worth trading away other assets for. His cap number may have been high in the new era, but damn... he's one of the few that would surely have been worth it.

If only...

[Captain Sam]

In other news, it looks like Letang is going to be traded.

[Demosthenes]

Brad Richard's buyout is also up in the air at the moment.