Basil McRae was a beatoff.

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It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a goddamn shame.

http://www.TheCommittedIndian.com/

I'm not Stink... but I got tired of hearing people saying, "The hockey thing needs a shootout like the World Cup..." Grrr.. I loved every moment of the 3OTs tonight.

Im definitely on your side here. I think the shootout that decided the Man U/Chelsea game was embarrassing. In the words of Jim Rome "How Soccer is that?" Play the game untill there is a winner, especially in a playoff.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

It's a very fine line. While I wish that more people could at least appreciate the sport and not dog it at every chance possible, I would never want an atmosphere where it's nothing but novices in the crowd acting like they know what's going on. I love that most in attendance at Hawks games are people that know and love the game.

It's a very interesting irony for hockey fans: we claim the sport gets no respect and should have a larger audience, yet when a newbie or a casual fan chimes in with a disagreeing opinion, the claim constantly is "You don't know hockey". It's very similar to punk rock in that regard. We as fans crave that it be legitimized, yet love our relatively tiny, hardcore subculture. There are many other parallels between those two as well which make hockey "the punk rock of the sporting world (and vice versa)", and I'm sure I'll one day post a dick picture manifesto clearly delineating those other points which I've wasted time thinking about when I have the time and energy to draft that manifesto. But, the important thing is, especially for me, would it go in the NHL section or the tunes section?

Edit: As a fun nugget before bed, here are two FANTASTIC commercials the NHL put together. I'm of the Buccigross school of thought. If the NHL aired these during the Super Bowl, it would spike ratings exponentially. This shit is goosebumps-inducing.

One Play

Cup Raise

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It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a goddamn shame.

http://www.TheCommittedIndian.com/

As neither a fan of punk rock nor the NHL, I still feel like I somewhat know what you are talking about. I try to make it clear Im not an NHL fan when making posts in this thread to differentiate my opinion for one that matters. Either way I've felt compelled to watch this series before it even started based on the "Sid the Kid vs. the Dominant Team" dynamic, although Sidney Crosby is not even one of my top 5 favorite players in this series right now. Im hoping I keep up this enthusiasm for hockey till next year, considering the Hawks are one of the teams expected to make the playoffs next season.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Last nights game was freaky exciting. 3 OT's. Wow. Fun to watch during pitching changes.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

I watched last nite's game on and off up until the end of the 2nd OT, and it was pretty good. I won't even pretend that I can talk about or break down the matchups, but if there were more games like the one last nite, I could see myself trying to get into the NHL and becoming at casual fan.

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Welcome to playoff hockey, Frank.

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It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a goddamn shame.

http://www.TheCommittedIndian.com/

I plan on climbing on the Hawks bandwagon next year. Funny thing is I've been to a handful of games but never really got to a point when I actually care. Hope to eventually care and graduate beyond seeing the game as a bunch of guys chasing the puck and trying to get it into the opponent's net.

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"It's not exactly a rocket surgery." D.J.

Now's the right time. The Hawks are an extremely likeable team, with a skillful young core that they will likely add some veteran names to, and consequently will become the sexy pick this coming off season. Kane and Toews did not wilt in the spotlight of having a lot of expectations put on them last year, let's see how well they do when even more are put on them this coming year.

_________________
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a goddamn shame.

http://www.TheCommittedIndian.com/

Is Fleury and the other guys gonna be significantly effected fatigue wise Wednesday night?

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

To some extent, yes. But they keep the players well nourished during these marathon overtime games now. Lots of bananas, pizza, and gatorade, with the occasional IV. I'd worry more about a mental letdown from either side as opposed to a physical one.

_________________
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a goddamn shame.

http://www.TheCommittedIndian.com/

by the end of that last extra time, you can see the players are completely gassed...i'm not making excuses for them, but it's not really fun watching guys basically stand around and wait for something to happen because they're out of energy (like in the world cup 2006 final).

i think if they were to extend another extra time, it should be without a clock, and it should be sudden death. or at least, let the clock run until someone scores.

Thats another thing I didnt know about hockey that I LOVE. They have Pizzas delivered to them mid-game. I cant imagine another sport doing that. How cool is that?[/Harry]

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

WOW. What a game. I was too fried to post last night but I was living and dying with every shot. I didn't have anything left by midnight.

Stink, it's interesting that you talked about the effectiveness of the Pens' dump and chase strategy. As a hockey novice, I used to hate that strategy because I didn't understand it. By about the fourth period last night, it was dawning on me that it was effective. Thanks for the explanation.

Make no mistake, it's not the style that Pittsburgh wants to play. They have far too much skill up front. But the Red Wings are suffocatingly good as a team defensively, so they're not allowing the space and passing lanes normally afforded to the Pens. And while the Wings are nearly flawless positionally, they're relatively undersized. Their defensemen would much prefer to pokecheck the puck away from you at their blue line as you try to carry it in than have to go fish it out of the corner with a forechecker bearing down on them. This is the exact strategy that the Flames, Oilers, and Ducks have used to eliminate the Red Wings recent playoff years. Pittsburgh has the finishing skill to put the puck in the net, they just now need to show a willingness to sacrifice physically and adapt to a new style because there literally is no tomorrow.

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It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a goddamn shame.

http://www.TheCommittedIndian.com/

Sure, especially when half the damned stadium yells SHOOT on a power play when the guy is behind the net or turned towards the boards

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Big Kudos.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs2 ... id=3424865

Two penalties that had NOTHING to do with the outcome of the game. Had Hudler controlled the twig, they wouldnt have been on that damned third penalty kill. Detroit was playing strong, physical hockey and not getting called, but I didnt hear babcock complaining then. Play your damned game and maybe you wouldnt be going to game 6.

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Any baseball fans going to skip watching their teams tonight to watch Game 6? Im not a huge Sox fan, though I usually try to watch their games, but Im definitely watching the NHL game tonight.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

What's the best beer to drink while watching hockey? Some canadian shit I suspect. I want to get in the mood for this. I'm interested in this game tonight. That last one hooked me. I'll bring down my small TV for the Sox game. Hockey will be on HD for me tonight.

st. pauli girl or labatt's should do it.

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@audioidkid

Hamm's.

As pittsburgh is playing, I have been trying my hardest to get Iron City beer, but have been completely unlucky with finding anything. Tried sams wine, binnys, cardinal, jewels, dominicks all without luck.

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I have 10 Bud Lights left and 3 Sam Adams Double Bocks. I'll just be sticking with those most likely.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

i know what i'd be drinking first...FF

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@audioidkid

What the hell. I just bought a case of Miller Lite. 10.99 sale at my liquor store. Weeeee!!!!

I didn't want to spring for the St. Paul Girl. For that price I want to know that I'll like it.

well...it's o.k. you should jsut buy the 18 pack oof high life for $11.49
Stink has converted me to a follower of the champagne.

St. P & Lbts.
a little beardy and rustic cheap lumberjack canada beer.
sort of like rolling rock vs. keystone light.

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@audioidkid

Detroit better fuckin win tonight so I can shave my playoff beard. This damned thing is out of control annoying.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

this from the guy that has bud light in his fridge?

c'mon now...

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@audioidkid