Playoffs

[Quackaddict9]

Stan Mikita...I have over 10 autographs from this guy. But I do not know where they are except for a couple. No big deal, see him every summer for 17 years at his Deaf Hockey School I attended to. Good times!

Big game tonight- Pengs at Caps, I'm pulling for the Pengs!

[OnAFly]

Well the Caps goalies didn't seem to show up tonight. I only caught the third period. I was kinda hoping the Caps would take it, oh well. Now we all get to hear about the greatness of Crosby instead of Ovechkin.

Go WINGS!!! Not really a Redwings fan, I just hate Anaheim.

[so haaad]

It's kind of like rooting for the lesser evil tonight. Hopefully they beat up on each other so much that the winner has nothing left for the Hawks.

[so haaad]

Two game seven's last night, and two great games!

[OnAFly]

Yeah, the Wings and the Ducks...I had to choose who I liked less. The BH/Wings series is going to be great. I can't wait for that one. I really thought Boston was going to pull it out last night. I was kind of rooting for them, since they had never come back from a 3-1 deficit. Hopefully we still have 21 more games to watch

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

It's Original Six time boyz and girlz!

Any predictions?

I will cast my vote for my beloved Black Hawks in 6 games on the eve of my 50th birthday, now that will be a present!

[so haaad]

As much as I'd love to see Chicago win, I'll go with Detroit and Pittsburgh advancing.

[Slowhand]

Detroit looking like they had a hangover from the Anaheim series to start off game 1 of the Western Finals, but true to their championship pedigree they righted the ship. Todays game looked abit much for poor little Patty Kane . Skating in/around Detroit aint quite as easy as going through Vancouver.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Kind of expected the Wings to come out firing and the Hawks stayed with them for two periods thanks to Habbie playing out of his mind. I think the Hawks are looking to steal game 2 and come back with home ice advantage and since that is the best they can hope for then I expect that I am right! LOL Go Hawks.

To be the man....you have to beat the man!

[so haaad]

Darn, I thought the Hawks had the game when they tied it up 2-2.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Just too much pressure from the Wings. Give them credit, they put it on when it had to be put on and did what they had to do on their home ice. Hopefully this will relax them just a bit and we can steal game two!

[OnAFly]

Good luck to the Hawks, but I just don't think they can beat the Wings. The ultra-physical style seems to slow the Wings down a little, but teams with the wide open skating style of the Hawks don't seem as affective. Maybe the Wings were just getting over a little Anaheim hangover for those first two periods. It must be nice for them to not face a team full of hacks for the next couple of games.

I'm taking the Penguins and the Wings in the Finals...again...and the Wings winning it...again.

Anyone else have predictions? WCWH, I think I know your's

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

OnAFly,

There is a difference between a prediction and a wish. You know my wishes, if I had to put money down it would probably be on the team that plays where all the jobs are leaving! LOL

[OnAFly]

Yeah, I know what you mean. Either way, it will be a fun series to watch with all of that talent on the ice.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Oh heck yeah,

And the Wings will only get older and the Hawks are just coming into their own with a ton of young guns. I like their chances in the next 5-7 years. This is just a preview of better things to come. Go Hawks!

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Getting closer! Just can't get over the hump. Wings got some mighty favorable calls, to be expected at the Joe. Hope the calls go the Hawks way at the Stadium. This win tonight would have been the triple crown in my jewel case tonight. My beloved Pale Hose whompped their bitter rival Twinkies. The Cubbies lost to their bitter rival Red Birds but my Hawks could not get over the hump in OT against their bitter rival Red Wings. Could not ask for a better night of sports watching in the Windy City! And all three games looked mighty fine in HD on my 57" big screen! I guess I will have to agree with Meatloaf....Two out of Three Ain't Bad! LOL

[OnAFly]

I wish I could have gotten to watch that game last night. I was out looking at houses. It was probably for the best though. At least that way I didn't have to see any of the Twins game.

[Slowhand]

Totally off topic; but I was watching classic games on NHL network. They had NorthStars/BlackHawks on....turned on just in time to see Tinardi score on Belfour. [PoorWordUsage] I loved those NorthStar uniforms....those stars running up the side of those breezers were mean.

[so haaad]

The Tin-man!

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Finally! Hawks Win. Good game tonight, the Hawks totally dominated play except for the last 8 minutes of the second period, I know, "Other than that, how did you enjoy the play, Mrs. Lincoln"!

Nice to see them hang tough, good move to tear down the Bulin wall in the third period, Huet, did a good job. Total cheap shot on Havlet, glad the dude got a game misconduct. Hope Marty can make it back for the next game, he was out cold on the ice.

We need the next game or it is "turn out the lights, the party is over" time! LOL

GO HAWKS!

[so haaad]

Nice win by the Hawks. Good to see them bounce back and get one. Windy, I gotta respectfully disagree with you on the hit on Havlet. I hate to see the guy get injured, but I didn't think it was cheap. Big hits are sometimes a part of hockey, and in that instance the puck was right there and Havlet just got caught with his head down.

Game 4 should be interesting. Hopefully the Hawks can even it up.

[Quackaddict9]

Windy, I gotta respectfully disagree with you on the hit on Havlet. I hate to see the guy get injured, but I didn't think it was cheap. Big hits are sometimes a part of hockey, and in that instance the puck was right there and Havlet just got caught with his head down.

Game 4 should be interesting. Hopefully the Hawks can even it up.

I missed the hit in last night's game but just saw the replay on youtube and looked to be a clean hit but Kronwall's elbow may have been too high that knocked out Havlat good! The puck was under him so its a clean play to take a hit...I've been there and it hurts! Always keep your head up in this game... Go Hawks!

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Sorry to disagree guys but this guy has a rep for doing this same thing over and over. He also leaves his feet when making the hits and there was no way he was playing the puck. His elbow was way too high, it hit Havlat on his face guard. High elbow plus leaving his feet to make the hit plus a reputation for doing this makes a bunch of Hawks mighty angry. Look for some retaliation tomorrow. Havlat probably will not play.

[Slowhand]

Havlat and Gaborik might be 2 of the most softest stars in the game today...one could only wonder they both could stay healthy.

[snowman678]

Windy, you've got to put down the kool-aid. You're dillusional homerism is getting sad. That hit was perfectly clean, textbook in fact. You can try to claim that his elbow was up all you want, but if you take off your blinders you will see that Havlat had his head down (at elbow level). Here's a little cut and paste from hockey news, apparently most hockey folks agree completely.

Brutal Kronwall call doesn't spoil 'Hawks winby Brian Costello, The Hockey News

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Updated: May 23, 2009, 10:51 PM EST 54 comments The Detroit Red Wings absolutely got jobbed on the terrible major and game misconduct penalty to Niklas Kronwall, but the Chicago Blackhawks survived a scare and were deserving of their 4-3 victory in Game 3 Friday.

In case you haven't seen it by now, Detroit was trailing 2-0 in the first period when Kronwall flattened Martin Havlat with a perfectly timed shoulder check that knocked the Blackhawk out cold.

Predictably, the Hawks bench went wild and Chicago players swarmed Kronwall as Havlat lay prone, exposed and unaware beneath the skirmish.

The immediate reaction of referees Dave Jackson and Dan O'Halloran was proper — no arm in the air, no call. Why would there be? It was as clean as the hockey gods could have blueprinted — stiff shoulder against player with puck. But for some reason -— perhaps because Havlat was knocked out or perhaps because the game was in Chicago — Kronwall was given a major and game misconduct.

Appalling. Disgraceful.

The 'Hawks were unable to capitalize on the five-minute power play, but did go up 3-0 before the Wings battled back to tie the game without Kronwall.

Did the Wings lose the game because of the officiating blunder? Probably not. A lot happened before and after incident, but it was a shame nonetheless.

At the very least, it was nice to see three of the game's best TV analysts — Craig Simpson, Mike Milbury and Kelly Hrudey on CBC's Hockey Night In Canada — chastise Jackson and O'Halloran for the brutal call and commend Kronwall for the textbook hit.

Yes, it was unfortunate Havlat surely sustained a concussion and didn't return to action, but that's hockey. Moreover, the replays clearly showed Havlat glanced up twice at Kronwall in the second prior to the big hit.