Holy crap.

How can a team that is coached by one of, if not the, greatest players of all time?

I mean... the Coyotes are just a disgrace. They have TERRIBLE puck handling skills and don't play defense at all.

Florida winning would be the most bizarre playoff berth ever. I don't really understand what the East teams are doing right now. They all suck. I expect the Hurricanes to end up with the spot if anything, but for now, it's just kind of pathetic. It's not even a race that's fun to track because everyone is playing horribly. In a normal situation 13 out of 15 teams in the conference being in the playoff hunt would be fun, but at this point it's just looking more sad than anything. They're making the Islanders look mighty by comparison.

I'm liking that there's at least some sort of a playoff race in the East, unlike in the West, where the top 8 is all but locked (with the possible exception of Colorado). I mean, really only Buffalo and New Jersey are in and Washington and Philadelphia are out, as the other 11 teams are separated by only 15 points. And there's a three-way tie for eighth. The teams may all be shit, but at least it's exciting to watch.

And oh boy at Chris Simon tonight. Three year anniversary of Bertuzzi on Moore, and this happens? He could be gone for the rest of the season.

The Bruins are impossible to figure out right now. The lose to the Avalanche who at the time were 10 points out of 8th, the Wild, and the dead last Flyers. Yet they beat one of the best teams in West in the Detroit Red Wings. What the hell?

They had to go at least 2-2 in the stretch I listed and they ended up 1-3. And yet they are only five points out somehow. If they had won the winnable games, they'd be in great shape right now, and possibly in 8th, but instead they have to leapfrog five teams now. It's a long shot, but it's still somehow possible.

I've given up on the Bruins, I care too dearly on enough teams to put my emotions on another.

Oilers lost again tonight. Eight in a row. They've clearly given up on the season.

The Penguins have reached a deal to keep the team IN Pittsburgh.

http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=290429&page=NewsPage&service=page

Great news for me. I could never cheer for the Kansas City Penguins, even if the entire team remained the same. If they had left Pittsburgh, I was pretty much without a team to root for next season.

Or the Las Vegas Penguins.

I'm disappointed in Pittsburgh fans. Crosby, Malkin, Stall, Fleury, this team is the most entertaining and most dynamite to watch in the league, not to mention the fact that Pittsburgh is pretty northern and very close to Canada... and they still don't come out. What, the Pittsburgh Pirates provide more entertainment? Bastards.

http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=290453&page=NewsPage&service=page

This is the more official statement, including statements from Mario Lemieux.

I'm glad there's money going towards retaining Crosby, Malkin, Staal, and any other key players for the Pens. I hope that they, not only make the playoffs, but also give the playoffs a good run. I don't know if a win is gonna happen, but I hope they do well. They had a great year, after four craptacular seasons.

Wow, Pittsburgh on fire the last two games. They beat one of the consistently-best teams of the season, the Sabres, in a close shootout. Then, they blanked the Devils last night, 3-0. That's impressive, considering they were using Thibault instead of Fleury.

I just want to say I called this at the beginning of this thread, that the Oilers had screwed up with their trades. And trading away Ryan Smith who was one of their most consistent players on and off the team, was the dumbest thing of all. The heart was literately pulled out of the team and it's showing. Of course one of there problems all along is consistency. It plagued them during their playoff run last year and did so again this year. This team just can't get it together.

Not to mention the almost unbelievable rash of injuries that have plagued them. Smid went down last night, they're now down to only four healthy defensemen and have had to reach into the juniors to be able to have a full team. I'm not saying that the Smyth trade didn't affect them adversely, because it did, but the injuries certainly didn't help.

The team next year will certainly be interesting...

Colorado won today, so they're now just four points back of Calgary for the eighth spot with ten games left for each. A week ago, it looked like the top eight in the West was sown up, but the race for eighth is tightening now. As my Oilers continue to self-destruct, I would love it if the Flames did the same thing and dropped out of the playoffs. I'm sure it would lift the spirits of other depressed Edmontonians.

So tonight will either break or make the Bruins. If they beat the Habs they'll be 5 out of 8th and 3 out of 9th. If they lose or lose in overtime, forget it.

Well, they just lost 1-0. So they're done. Sorry jmart, but now you know how I feel.

That's okay. They should most likely be a better team next year and hopefully their play will be more consistent.

Well that pathetic performance tonight certainly makes things more hopeful for the Avalanche. Seriously, with the way they're playing, what's the record for most losses straight? Will they win another game this season?

Well, they've already beaten their franchise record for consecutive losses, which was 11, with their 12th loss in a row tonight. Up next is their franchise record of 14 games without a win. And then the league record of 17 straight losses. I really think they could do it. They've become utterly laughable.

Tonight it's absolutely embarassing to be a Bruins fan for two specific reasons.

A. Bruins / Canadiens + Garden = Sell Out - Right? Wrong.

I don't care if the Bruins are 7 points out of the final playoff spot, a Bruins / Habs game should always be sold out. Yes there was a good crowd tonight, but every damn seat should be filled. This leads me into my semi next point.

There were way too many Canadiens fans there. I don't really care about that so much as there was no attempt to drown them out. That was pathetic. Hockey is dead right now in Boston and that is further proof of it. I hope you are paying attention Peter Chiarelli. Pay for some damn free agents and something good might happen. And who knows? You might then draw a crowd and get people to care once again.

B. AND THE BIGGEST POINT OF ALL. How does a professional hockey team allow four goals in a period especially since.....

1. Playing a rival
2. Fighting for a playoff spot
3. Playing at home
4. Allowing those four goals in the third period when they were entering a period up by a goal.

The last game I pretty much thought the Bruins were out. Tonight confirms it. Tonight also confirmed they especially don't want to go for the playoffs for some reason, or else they would've played like it.

The Canadiens on the other hand played like a playoff team and actually cared about showing up for the third period. Good for them.

Baseball season cannot get here fast enough.

Sweeeeet. Habs sweep the home and home series. I love my Habs!!! (Through the good times AND the bad... but thankfully good times right now.)

I sorta feel bad for Boston. Other than being a division rival, I would like them. I'd rather see them in the playoffs than Toronto, to be frank. Toronto eats up TV time unfairly... geesh. Plus I hate many of the players on that team.

Peace,
Mike.

Oh I'm sure you do.

Haha. Sure, I'm super glad the Habs won, but I would have rather home and home swept the Leafs, and the Bruins be in a better position than them. Part of the reason I like Boston is that I generally like their administration and thus respect the team. I can't say the same for other teams.

Peace,
Mike.

Seems like Thornton is making a run at the scoring title... only 6 behind Crosby after tonight I think.

I like Joe, but him repeating would be kind of, uh, underwhelming. He's been mad under the radar this whole year, with Crosby/Lecavalier/Brodeur being top dogs in terms of press hype. I still think Crosby or Brodeur would win if Joe gets the most points.

He's only been flying under the radar because he plays in San Jose. 102 points so far is nothing to sneeze at. Just like last year, he's heating up as the season ends. I too wish that Crosby can hold on to win the scoring title, but he's really cooled down this past month or so, and Thornton very well could catch him.

By the way, the top four scorers and 8 of the top ten right now are Canadian.

Why can't Boston get players like that?




















Oh yeah. We trade them all the fuck away!