NHL 2011 PLAYOFFS

looks like they are leading with the detroit game and will cut to the flyers game after the detroit game is over.

edit, just checked the local listings and this is the case here.

also the game isn't listed on NHL network or center ice channels, although i would assume the NHL network will pick it up.

i'm gonna watch the bulls tonight.

Heisenberg wrote:

At the rate our teams are going Fixer...I don't think either one of us should watch.

haha, true. I'm a sucker though. Especially with the flyers. Kinda like Charlie Brown going to kick the football that Lucy holds for him.

Heisenberg wrote:

The Fixer wrote:

Heisenberg wrote:

At the rate our teams are going Fixer...I don't think either one of us should watch.

haha, true. I'm a sucker though. Especially with the flyers. Kinda like Charlie Brown going to kick the football that Lucy holds for him.

I know how that feels...I'm a Browns fan. Although actually, that would be more like Lucy pulling the football away and then using a weed wacker on my man region while shooting my dog and pouring sugar in my gas tank.

It could be worse. At least we aren't fans of this pathetic team.

More shame for Washington Capitals. Sweep ranks among least likely playoff exits since 1996
By Timo Seppa
Hockey Prospectus
Archive

Kim Klement/US Presswire
The Caps' sweep was one of the most suprising exits in recent history.

On April 21, 2010, the Washington Capitals were poised to put away the Montreal Canadiens, leading the first-round playoff series 3-1. Just seven days later, the Habs stunned the hockey world, winning three games in a row to take the series, all while holding the regular-season offensive juggernaut -- 3.82 goals per game, the highest mark since the lockout -- to two goals or fewer in each of those games.



Given the disparity of Washington's 121 points, plus-85 goal differential and .738 point percentage to Montreal's 88 points, minus-6 goal differential and .537 point percentage, it appeared to be the biggest upset in recent playoff history. Until ...



You would have thought the Capitals had hit rock bottom last April, but this season's playoff exit -- a sweep at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning, a division rival and bottom-four seed -- has provided a new kind of humiliation.



The Lightning were a legit team this season, quickly rebuilt from an Eastern Conference cellar dweller through bold moves by new GM Steve Yzerman. Just based on the teams' records, Tampa had a solid 44 percent chance to advance past the Caps. In that context, the Caps' loss isn't altogether astonishing. However, there's a big difference between losing in six or seven games to a roughly equal team compared to getting skunked.



Calculated from points percentage only, the odds of Montreal's comeback against Washington were about 12 percent. The odds of a Lightning sweep were roughly 5 percent. In that sense, this was an even uglier result than the loss to Montreal last season, despite the higher caliber of Tampa's team.



For a No. 1 seed to lose two such series in consecutive playoffs is either very bad luck or a sign that something needs to change with the team. But how bad was Washington's performance this season compared to other postseason stinkers? Let's take a look at sweeps by lower-seeded teams since 1996 to find out:



Worst Upsets Since 1996
Year Favorite Points GD Underdog Points GD Odds of underdog sweep*
2001 #2 Ottawa 109 +69 #7 Toronto 90 +25 2.1%
2003 #2 Detroit 110 +66 #7 Anaheim 95 +10 2.6%
1999 #2 Ottawa 103 +60 #7 Buffalo 91 +32 3.3%
2011 #1 Washington 107 +27 #5 Tampa Bay 103 +7 5.0%
2001 #2 Dallas 106 +54 #3 St. Louis 103 +54 5.0%
2007 #3 Atlanta 97 +1 #6 NY Rangers 94 +26 5.4%
2010 #1 San Jose 113 +49 #2 Chicago 112 +62 5.9%
*Calculated from points percentage only


Since the lockout, there have been 11 sweeps. Of them, the only other sweeps by lower-seeded teams were No. 2 Chicago over No. 1 San Jose in the 2010 Western Conference finals and the No. 6 New York Rangers over No. 3 Atlanta in the first round of 2007. Yet in both cases, the nominal underdog had a higher goal differential -- a sign they actually were the stronger teams to begin with. Therefore, this sweep is the worst since 2005-06. For sure.



Going back a bit further in history, we find three particularly surprising upsets in which the underdog dismantled the favorite in four games. Those three worst playoff defeats of the past 15 years: Anaheim over Detroit in 2003, Toronto over Ottawa in 2001 and Buffalo over Ottawa in 1999. Yet in two of those cases, Anaheim in 2003 and Buffalo in 1999, you had two "live dogs" that would end up making the Stanley Cup finals. The real anomaly is seventh-seeded Toronto's clean sweep of second-seeded Ottawa in 2001. The Senators managed only three goals in four games -- shut out twice by Curtis Joseph -- ignominiously losing to a team 19 points behind them in the standings and far behind in goal differential. The Maple Leafs went on to be defeated in seven games by eventual Cup finalist New Jersey in the following round.



While not as stunning, Washington's loss to Tampa on the heels of the Montreal playoff debacle in 2010 will be tough to take for Capitals management and fans. Although the Caps have put together back-to-back regular seasons atop the Eastern Conference, the ignominy of their past two playoff exits ranks right among some of the most shocking ousters in the past 15 seasons. And that fact likely won't let Caps coach Bruce Boudreau sleep too well any time soon.

Well, I hope this means we get another year out of Lidstrom.

norm wrote:

still livin'

Yay! At least one more game until all I have is the Tigers.

Its ova

:P

If there is 1 team I could always picture blowing a 3-0 series lead it's SJ...I'll never understand yesterday's game...up 3-0...why not come out flying? some run and shoot offence...you are up 3-0, take the game to them...up 3-0 the coach said all the right things, apparently the players didn't get the message. They did come back and tie this up which has to be a good sign....but if they lose Sunday...they better watch out.

My favourite excuse from Wings fans this week...to much time off, we are out of sync...last year it was not enough rest...when Pittsburgh beat em' for the cup it was not enough rest ...the fans have more excuse's...I'll hardly hear any of them say we got beat by the better team.

Bad sign for the wings though is that they are blowing leads...which I take as a sign of age...so even if they come back and win this series, I suspect Vancouver will make quick work of them. I thought last August Vancouver would have to be a favourite to win it all...they look like they still are the best team...I especially like how LU is playing...he seems to have settled down after the Chicago series.

So far the 2nd round has been extremely boring...maybe the 3rd round will be better.

haffajappa wrote:

lukin2006 wrote:

If there is 1 team I could always picture blowing a 3-0 series lead it's SJ...I'll never understand yesterday's game...up 3-0...why not come out flying? some run and shoot offence...you are up 3-0, take the game to them...up 3-0 the coach said all the right things, apparently the players didn't get the message. They did come back and tie this up which has to be a good sign....but if they lose Sunday...they better watch out.

My favourite excuse from Wings fans this week...to much time off, we are out of sync...last year it was not enough rest...when Pittsburgh beat em' for the cup it was not enough rest ...the fans have more excuse's...I'll hardly hear any of them say we got beat by the better team.

Bad sign for the wings though is that they are blowing leads...which I take as a sign of age...so even if they come back and win this series, I suspect Vancouver will make quick work of them. I thought last August Vancouver would have to be a favourite to win it all...they look like they still are the best team...I especially like how LU is playing...he seems to have settled down after the Chicago series.

So far the 2nd round has been extremely boring...maybe the 3rd round will be better.

I dano.. the first time we had a 2 goal lead was in the last 20 seconds of the third period last game...
Lack of goals is starting to scare me! But we had Rinne lookin behind him a few times.. hopefully we're getting in his head

I hear what you're saying about the lack of goals...but the playoffs are a grind...and usually only the best teams are left now...Rinne has been outstanding...their still my pick to win it all. This is the predators game...they kind of lull you to sleep and hope to sneak 1 by you...hopefully the Canucks wrap this series up tonight.

GO CANUCKS GO

VANCOUVER
VANCOUVER
VANCOUVER
VANCOUVER
VANCOUVER
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

♥