will try and watch as many games as i can. no real surprises so far, colorado and dallas evenly matched. watched ottawa out-shoot the leafs. saw stolarz makes saves, while ullmark had a tough evening. blackhawks have the leafs' #1 pick, the ottawa Gs have to pick up their game to eliminate toronto and make that pick a mid-round pick. believe minnesota has a small chance, while carolina is too good for the hughes-less devils. would love to see the canadiens dump the caps. don't want to grit my teeth by watching demidov rack up points doing just that. kings and oilers, once again. will look to see how seth jones does in the playoff environment he always craved and strived for with the blackhawks.

Without Nieskenan (sp) Dallas has no shot vs Colorado. Too bad, that would've been a great series of Dallas was healthy.

The series I am most interested in are Florida/Tampa and Toronto/Ottawa. I would say LA/EDm but I don't acknowledge sports that start after 8 pm local time.

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every game yesterday turned into a 5 star thriller. colin blackwell, OT winner? oilers incredible rally late, skinner allows a knuckleball with less than a minute left. canadiens hung tough, have to tip your cap to ovechkin. ehlers still out after that collision with the linesman in chicago.

LOVED Blackwell on the Hawks. Thought he was a phenomenal 4th liner. Was very unhappy when we let him go.

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yeah, he played hard every shift -the talent just wasn't there. was o.k. letting him leave, the sure talent and upcoming prospects can't be denied a spot on the roster by players like him. dallas signed him because he's affordable ($775k) to clubs with talent and high salaries and need a cheap player or two to stay under the cap.

de boer had him out there giving his big shooters a rest, hoping for no goal against. he got a game winner from him. good for blackwell.

How are Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks doing this postseason?

toronto already planning the parade route. the wild beating up on las vegas - playing hockey the way the current blackhawk roster should play. oilers still have a G problem, i believe pickard will get the start tonight. hellebuyck's playoff failure graph just registered a blip. robert thomas is an excellent player and an elite play-maker.

I think I'm rooting for Minny in the west now that they have Buium on the roster. Also love their USA players Boldy and Faber.

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yeah, i also like the wild due to the way they play - given the smaller sized, but excellent skating of some of their FWDs. just like the blackhawks should play - create offense from the neutral zone, enter with speed and that first critical pass, is usually a good one after the wild entries. once they have possession in the o-zone, these guys are flying with and off the puck. fantastic movement. they are a good blueprint for the blackhawks.

the blues smothered the presidents' trophy winning jets. they're missing vilardi and ehlers - but, no help from the shakey hellebuyck. game 5 is critical for him and the jets. the blues' jake neighbors with a 3 point game today - the guy the blackhawks passed on for reichel. one guy is bigger and gritty and the other is softer than baby poo. demidov with a nice play and assist on the canadien PP, not enough - their season is over.

Hellebuyck is probably going to win his third Vezina this year but he's like .820 in the playoffs over the last three years. He's mentally weak, no other explanation. 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024, every time, the Jets lose four in a row with him.

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As a team USA fan this does not make me happy.


Would love to see Helly and Auston Matthews have playoff success so they can get rid of that demon before the next Olympics.

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Big win for the Jets tonight on home ice. Still don't trust Hellebuyck on the road one bit.

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Tie game and Hellebuyck gives up three in two minutes. Truly one of hockey's all-time losers. The Hawks should trade for him so we can at least lose in the playoffs.

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Stars and Avs game been really good.

Love game 7 hockey and love the blonde with the great rack behind the Stars bench!!!

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Another great comeback in the last few mins. OT for Blues and jets.

Lets go JETS

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

This game is killing me. Go Jets go.

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J E T S ....JETS JETS JETS!!!!

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

GO JETS GO

Amazing. Still don't trust Hellebuyck on the road but oh my god what a finish. Best fans in hockey.

Taking care of business! Working overtime! Winnipeg band!

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Bissonnette: "you have to admire the resilienceness"

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What is the Chicago Sports equivalent of that game 7 loss by the Blues? At least it was only the first round and not the Finals.

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Hawks game 7 loss to the Kings in 2014 comes to mind first. 2001 Bears loss to the Eagles, maybe: kinda bad team had no business being there but overachieved and lost.

Edit: no, duh, Hawks loss to Vancouver in 2011. 8 seed damn near stole the series from the President's Trophy winner until they blew it in overtime.

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September 1969 Cubs? That egg the Bears laid against Philly in the 2001 playoffs?

2014. i had already seen enough of leddy and his softness. q tried to hide him, couldn't totally hide him in an o.t. game. got rid of his softness the next season. i have no doubt q told the front office to send him packing. fairly good regular season player, brutal playoff performer. hated to get hit.

2011. campoli was added at the deadline, puck-moving d-man. shit happens.

The loss to the Kings was a huge gut punch. That was rough.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

We either would have had a threepeat or at the least we'd have called it three in five years, no doubt about it. The Rangers could always catch the Hawks dogging it on some February Wednesday but in a best of seven that 2014 team was always going to lose to whoever won the West.

Pretty sure either their tying or winning goal that game was offside and no one called it. Fortunately, the NHL got the idea to start Zapruder-filming every zone entry like the next year, one year after it would have helped the Hawks and about 20 years after the NFL had already been doing it for their line calls.

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Hellebuyck .830 sv%, 3.85 GAA, and that's with basically a Game 8 shutout. Pitiful. That or all the St. Louis fairy dust moved indoors from the Cardinals.

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League's really on one lately. Dallas was allowed to score on a kicked goal--the rulebook says even a deflection off an own stick is no goal--and then Bryan Marchment's shitty kid slashed a referee. Previous times that a player has slashed a ref, it's an ejection plus ten games. Zero tolerance. But when you're playing against Winnipeg in the playoffs and you gotta get them off American TV, it's fine. No penalty, no suspension, the league just said "it wasn't a big deal" and moved on. I wonder if it'll be a big deal the next time someone hits a referee with their stick because they're mad about not drawing a call. Combine that with the Florida Panthers continuing to get away with murder.

However, I'd like to congratulate shakes on his part-ownership of the Panthers:

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