The Official NHL Playoffs Thread

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I was watching TSN this morning and they were showing two instances from last night's game where Kovalchuk was near a Rangers puck-carrier who was breaking into the Atlanta zone. Rather than trying to make a defensive play, Kovalchuk instead skated towards the Atlanta bench to come off on a change. It's obvious that he could care less about what's happening on the ice. The Rangers ended up scoring in both instances.

I don't agree with Don Cherry very often...but I think he has a point when he says that many European players just don't care about the playoffs. They're here for a paycheque, and want to get home as quickly as possible once the regular season is over. There are some exceptions, of course, but the exceptions are completely overshadowed by guys like Kovalchuk and Yashin.

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I don't have TSN, but Versus was showing a few clips from the game. ATL's headcoach basically wanted Holik's line on the ice every second Jagr's line was out. Since ATL doesn't get to match lines at MSG, Kovalchuk was out against Jagr's line and had to get to the bench. Kovalchuk has shown he cares. Plus, you've never seen guys get off the ice so someone else can jump on 15 feet closer to their zone? Blame it on the coach, not the player.

The euro comment is silly. If they were really just here for the checks, they'd play well in the playoffs to increase their value. A lot of euros can be making more $ in Europe also.... but some like to play in the best league in the world and face competition. Don Cherry is an idiot who loves Canadian boys. Others have pointed out that he's all for "safety of the players" yet rips players apart when they wear visors. He wants no-touch icing, yet lobbied for the nets to stay bolted on the ice.

[g-bebe]

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As a Rangers fan, is there any merit to me hoping they lose game 4? Those other series could take awhile and I've heard of teams struggling afer long layoffs. This team is on a roll and maybe a game 4 loss might not be that bad?

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no - i suspect this is a myth. people just expect that if you swept the first series you should win handily in the next one as well.

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That's stupid. You expect the Rangers to steamroll the next round just because they beat up on the Thrashers? I sure don't. I don't think anyone would have picked the winner of ATL-NYR to get past the second round, no matter who else they faced (maybe NYR over NYI... but that matchup is impossible in the second round).

Week-long layoffs in between rounds is a big pain in the ass to the team who is not playing. Definetly kills lots of momentum.

[MacGuyV]

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As a Rangers fan, is there any merit to me hoping they lose game 4? Those other series could take awhile and I've heard of teams struggling afer long layoffs. This team is on a roll and maybe a game 4 loss might not be that bad?

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There'll be plenty of time for struggling when they face Ottawa or Buffalo next round. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I see what you're saying, though. Ottawa finished off Tampa Bay quickly in the first round last year, and seemed to be on cruise control heading into their series with Buffalo. A week and a half later they were eliminated from the playoffs, still trying to figure out what hit them.

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Ottowa did get off to a terrific start in Game 1 vs. Buffalo before blowing a 3rd period lead on 3-4 seperate occasions, and controlled Game 2 & lost b/c Miller stood on his head...
I guess you could argue that maybe Emery was rusty in Game 1, but mostly the Sabres were just underrated last yr which was also reflected in the closeness of the pt standings.

[Hopey]

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yashin and kovalchuk are outliers - and kovalchuk does care about winning in the playoffs, problem is he takes super long shifts and probably wanted to come off after that.

you can't tell me that most european players don't care - they do care, it's just guys who are great enough like kovalchuk can not care. you also can't tell me yashin didn't care in his first playoff experience.

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yashin and kovalchuk are outliers - and kovalchuk does care about winning in the playoffs, problem is he takes super long shifts and probably wanted to come off after that.

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The puck-carrier was about 3 feet away from him, but rather than trying to knock him off the puck, he literally turned his back to the play and skated to the bench. It doesn't matter *how* long a shift you've taken, this is not the time to come off the ice.

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you can't tell me that most european players don't care - they do care, it's just guys who are great enough like kovalchuk can not care. you also can't tell me yashin didn't care in his first playoff experience.

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"Most" might be overstating the case -- but there are definitely a good number of Europeans who disappear come playoff time. Who is more likely to be motivated by the Stanley Cup playoffs? A Canadian kid who grew up watching the Stanley Cup playoffs on CBC, and dreamed of making it to the NHL, or a Russian kid who grew up in Moscow and grew up a Moscow Dynamo fan and dreamed of one day playing hockey for his national team?

[Hopey]

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Ottowa did get off to a terrific start in Game 1 vs. Buffalo before blowing a 3rd period lead on 3-4 seperate occasions,

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I know...I was at the game. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

The Sens could have easily won that series. They lost 3 out 4 games in overtime, and lost the other game by 1 goal. Other than in game 1, Miller was the difference. Had the Sens had Hasek in nets, it would have been a different story.

[Triumph36]

there are a good number of north americans who do too, what's your point? there's also a good number of european players who've had their greatest moments in the playoffs.

this characterization is mostly unfair and mostly don cherry's fault. it used to be true, but it becomes less and less true as time passes. almost every european player i've ever seen play for new jersey has cared a great deal about winning in the playoffs - you just need the right leadership structure in place.

[Hopey]

If you had your choice between two players who were identical in every single aspect -- except that one was Canadian and one was Russian, which one would you want on your team for a long playoff run?

[B00T]

No way in hell Kovalchuk would be challenging people to fights if he didn't care. The guy is acting like the complete opposite of someone who does not care. He is completely rattled in this series. If he didn't care, he'd be playing better than he is.

[MacGuyV]

I'd probably favor a Labatt's hangover over Vokda.

[Triumph36]

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If you had your choice between two players who were identical in every single aspect -- except that one was Canadian and one was Russian, which one would you want on your team for a long playoff run?

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this question is stupid and impossible. c'mon. if they were identical in every aspect, they'd be the same player ldo.

plus russian players tend to be different from canadian players in their capabilities, creativity, and ability to play multiple forward positions.

the fact that you listen to don cherry at all disappoints me. and that's a good point about kovalchuk fighting - the guy's lazy on d without a doubt, so was pavel bure. it didn't stop pavel bure from lighting up the playoffs in 94 like no player has done since.