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Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season
I've given the Flyers credit for hanging in there and coming back.
Credit?? All you've been doing is bitching about how the Flyers constantly have been "lucky" and the Blackhawks have constantly played "badly".... Far from giving the Flyers credit.
I wonder when the horseshoe is going to fall out of the Flyers' ass. Puck goes off the back of a player, off the post and in...yeah, that's all skill.
Doesn't it worry you at all that the Blackhawks played like crap in game 1 and won and didn't play much better in game 2 and won? Especially given the fact that they have been better on the road than at home during the playoffs.
Game 2 was a different style of game game, but the Blackhaks played equally poor (especially in the 3rd) and still pulled out the win. That is what should be worrying you...not that it's 0-2, but the way it's 0-2.
No. The Blackhawks played horribly again, yet arguably should have won that game too. No excuses, just the facts.
Hard to watch this. Between the referees and the Blackhawks whiffing on passes and shots and turning the puck over...
All they have to do is play an average game. That's it. Stop giving the Flyers gifts and this series would have been a sweep.
Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season
buzzsaw wrote:I've given the Flyers credit for hanging in there and coming back.
Credit?? All you've been doing is bitching about how the Flyers constantly have been "lucky" and the Blackhawks have constantly played "badly".... Far from giving the Flyers credit.
buzzsaw wrote:I wonder when the horseshoe is going to fall out of the Flyers' ass. Puck goes off the back of a player, off the post and in...yeah, that's all skill.
buzzsaw wrote:Doesn't it worry you at all that the Blackhawks played like crap in game 1 and won and didn't play much better in game 2 and won? Especially given the fact that they have been better on the road than at home during the playoffs.
buzzsaw wrote:Game 2 was a different style of game game, but the Blackhaks played equally poor (especially in the 3rd) and still pulled out the win. That is what should be worrying you...not that it's 0-2, but the way it's 0-2.
buzzsaw wrote:No. The Blackhawks played horribly again, yet arguably should have won that game too. No excuses, just the facts.
buzzsaw wrote:Hard to watch this. Between the referees and the Blackhawks whiffing on passes and shots and turning the puck over...
All they have to do is play an average game. That's it. Stop giving the Flyers gifts and this series would have been a sweep.
What out of that isn't accurate? EVERYTHING I've said has been true. If the truth offends you, that's a you problem. The Blackhawks were giving the puck away like it was Christmas for the Flyers until last night (for the most part). That is what happened. It's not like the Flyers were forcing most of the turnovers - they weren't (with a couple exceptions maybe). Credit the Flyers for taking advantage of that - otherwise they'd be sitting at home instead of going home for game 6.
The reality is that the Flyers have taken advantage of most of what they have been given. If they hadn't the series would be over. That is a completely undeniable fact. The credit is that they are even still playing. They are completely out classed from a talent perspective. They've pulled their starting goalie twice in the series, yet the series isn't over. Why you insist on finding that as an insult is beyond me. Good teams take advantage of what is given them. Nobody ever said the Flyers suck, they just aren't as talented as the Blackhawks are. Talent alone doesn't win hockey games, and the Flyers are doing a lot of little things and taking advantage of what is given to them. That is a credit to them.
Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season
^ I think so too, we shall see. I will at least admit when it's over whoever won, won it fair & square & were the better team over the course of the 7 game series. Much like I admitted the Phillies/Yankees series. Why Philly fans always get a bad rep is beyond me. Lazy journalism I guess. Blah blah blah booed Santa Claus.
Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season
Hawks answer call in Game 5? By Pierre LeBrun
ESPN.com
CHICAGO -- With all apologies to Dennis Green, it turns out these Chicago Blackhawks are what we thought they were. It only took five games to confirm it.
We took these Hawks to the woodshed in our Game 4 column. On Sunday night, it's the Hawks who took it to the Philadelphia Flyers in a 7-4 Game 5 victory that finally validated all the pre-Stanley Cup finals hype that made the Western Conference powerhouse such a favorite.
"We play like that every night, it's going to be tough to beat us," Patrick Kane said.
The transformation from Wachovia Center underperformers to United Center conquerors was no small feat. The Blackhawks had a laundry list of necessary improvements to make to avoid seeing this series slip away from them. Sunday night, Chicago checked off all of them:
Special teams? Check. For the first time in the series, Chicago won the special-teams battle, reversing an ugly trend that had it headed for disaster. The Hawks scored a pair of power-play markers while shutting down what had been a red-hot Flyers power play that had been humming at a ridiculous 31 percent rate (Philly was 0-for-3 in Game 5).
"We knew our power play was going to get going; we have the guys to do it," said Hawks forward Kris Versteeg, who assisted on Brent Seabrook's power-play tally that opened the scoring in the first period. "We ended up doing it tonight, and it feels good and it gives us confidence going forward."
Discipline? Check. Chicago took three penalties to Philadelphia's four; it was the first time in the Cup finals the Hawks took fewer penalties than the Flyers. Philadelphia entered Game 5 with 16 power plays to Chicago's nine, a ghastly gap that would have seen the Hawks head down the path to destruction if they didn't rectify it in a hurry. On Sunday night, the Blackhawks turned the other cheek, notably not retaliating against Flyers star defenseman Chris Pronger. Instead, it was Pronger who took a hooking penalty and the Hawks who scored on the ensuing power play.
"We didn't take penalties tonight; we played whistle to whistle," Hawks defenseman Brian Campbell said. "We did a great job tonight getting into piles, battling for the puck, and once that whistle blew, it's 'OK, let's line up and get playing again, boys.'"
Get offensive production from Patrick Kane and Dustin Byfuglien? Check. Does six points cut it? Funny how not playing every single shift against Pronger can help one's game. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville's decision to split his top unit was a wondrous hit. With the Flyers keeping Pronger on the Jonathan Toews matchup in the first half of the game, Kane and Byfuglien, also on separate lines, had more freedom to strut their stuff. And they did. Kane and Byfuglien combined for three goals and three assists, delivering their most effective games of the Cup finals.
Although Pronger wasn't too impressed by Byfuglien's four-point night, saying after the game, "I guess he's well-rested," the Hawks certainly were.
"He brought so much energy," Versteeg said of Byfuglien, who was invisible in the opening four games. "When he's moving his feet and he's playing hard and hitting bodies like that, he's a hard guy to play against. I think he now gets some confidence from a game like that tonight and knows what he can do and how much he means to this team when he's playing hard. He's got to bring that into the next game, and we know he will."
Get off to a fast start? Check. The Blackhawks had given up the first goal in six of the past eight games entering Sunday, a troublesome habit.
"I thought we had good energy right from the outset," Quenneville said. "Great pace. We had speed on all the lines."
By the time Dave Bolland scored to make it 2-0 15:26 into the first period (and celebrated once again by finding Vince Vaughn's corner of the ice), the Blackhawks achieved their much-desired quick start while feeding off the energy of a delirious United Center crowd that was delighted, and perhaps relieved, by the way the first period went.
"We had a strong first period, and scoring first was big," said Sharp, who Sunday morning told us that was a huge key for Game 5. "It seems like we kept building off that momentum. The crowd was awesome. We got them into it early, and we kind of responded from their energy."
Going to the net and paying the price? Check. The Blackhawks played way too much of a perimeter game in Philadelphia, seemingly unwilling to accept the physical pain one incurs when venturing near the net and making Michael Leighton's life way too easy as a result. The Hawks not only got into the Flyers' backyard Sunday night but they also kicked down the back gate with a stampede of volunteers charging in. You want screens, rebounds and dirty goals? You got some Sunday from a Hawks team that was willing to do what it takes.
Use that famous speed that was supposed to give Philadelphia fits in this series? Check. For four games, the Flyers skated stride for stride with the Blackhawks, which surprised a lot of people. Not Sunday.
"Our pace was as high as it's been in the series," Toews said.
Finally, find a way to minimize Pronger's impact? CHECK. The Flyers' blueliner, for our money the best player through four games in this series, was minus-5 -- the worst plus-minus rating for any game in his All-Star career. He was also on the ice for a Hawks power-play goal.
"He's a great player; we know he'll bounce back," Sharp said.
The Blackhawks certainly bounced back after dropping two straight for the first time this postseason.
"We learned a lot in Philly. We learned from our mistakes," Campbell said. "I know it's a lot about having skill and everything and working hard, but if you don't learn anything along the way, you're not going to be a successful team. The learning process has been over two years now for us."
Two years ago, they were a rebuilding club on the rise. Now, they're one win from the franchise's first Stanley Cup in 49 years.
If the checklist holds up again Wednesday night, consider that a done deal.
Pierre LeBrun covers the NHL for ESPN.com.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/ … id=5258816
For anyone that thinks I am alone in my thinking...
Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season
its always the same...after a good game then its a high then after a loss its a low...in this case the media is riding a high...the next game is in philly...and so far all the games have been won on home ice, i have no doubt that Chicago can win it all, but i wouldnt count philly out yet either...chicago has alot of work to do still 
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Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season
It was a good game. Glad the Hawks found their scoring long enough to get a lead they could hold on to. Philly did a good job keeping it within reach until the end, although Chicago deserves credit for pulling away again every time the Flyers got close.
Pronger did have a bad game, but he's just a big, slow cheater anyway. A pre-lockout era player who's been given a get-out-of-jail-free card by referees for years. It's best not to complain about people the rules don't apply to, it'll just make you mad.
