Cereal

Solid. For what it's worth, I also seemed to remember WAY more back-to-backs int he playoffs when I was younger (in the 90s, I guess), but I suppose it was just my imagination as well. I think I'll attribute it to the fact that I was a big baseball fan in those days (they musta had more back-to-backs?)

I ended up attending the Chicago@Anaheim Game 5 last Monday, so I thought I'd briefly share my experience. (This is the game where Toews scored twice in the final 2:00 of the third to send to OT, then Beleskey scored off a Kesler rebound in the first minute of OT.) The Honda Center is very nice. Surrounded by parking lots, down the street from Disneyland. Traffic was surprisingly efficient to and from the arena. We arrived about 45 minutes early and got a good spot near a lot exit, with a quarter-mile walk to the nearest arena entrance. Had a couple beers in the lot after we parked, but we saw no one else "tailgating". We had seats in the last row of 401 (upper-est deck), behind Frederick Andersen's left post for the first and third period. (Also saw the game's final three goals in our end! Although I just realized that... yes, the first SIX goals of the game were in fact in the opposite end!) Last row was nice; I stood for most of the action. There were Blackhawks fans scattered everywhere. My brother wore a PKane jersey and I wore a PKane t-shirt, so that made things fun. They kept trying for a "Let's Go Hawks" chant that would quickly mutate into a "Let's Go Ducks" each time. During one of the intermissions, there were at least 16 consecutive Hawks fans in line for the men's room. The concourse after the third period was outstanding; Hawks fans were going nuts (understandably)! I was hoping to get my money's worth and was ready for more than 45 seconds of overtime, but overall I am happy I went. For what it's worth... I also attended with a Pens fan who recently transplanted to LA... he said that Kings regular season games are nuts, while Ducks regular season games can be pretty bland (as far as fan attendance and intensity). Also for what it's worth, the game didn't sell out immediately. I kinda just randomly checked on tickets a few weeks ago and noticed that it wasn't sold out, and scooped up tickets directly from the Ducks. Although at the time of my purchase, the date of the game was unknown (Ducks had advanced to WCF, but their opponent was unknown).

Bump. So, dEnnis and "Fancystats" are the only two who predicted CHI and TB. dEnnis wins it if Chicago wins. "Fancystats" wins it if TB wins.

No Halak??????

Ha, I guess so! http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=768243&navid=nhl:topheads I like how the Hawks all stormed the ice to celebrate, but a handful of them realized there was no way that'd count.

That was just whoever on WGR blabbing his mouth. He later clarified, after a caller questioned him, that he was just stipulating... like, "If he's getting an offer for $%M/yr, can you imagine if it is for ten years... $50M??!?!?!" Unless there is some rumor from elsewhere.

Ahhh.... HCMB

Saturday 9:15am CAN-CZE semifinal Saturday 1:15pm USA-RUS semifinal (ECF Game 1 at 1pm) Sunday 10:15am Bronze medal game Sunday 2:45pm Gold medal game (WCF Game 1 at 3pm) All times eastern

The ESPN article seems to state that it is the Patriots who craeted it. To be more specific, an attorney who is representing them: http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/12885305/new-england-patriots-offer-rebuttal-wells-report

Well it looks like USA won, 3-1. Nothing else Eichel-noteworthy? (Thanks to those who offered some insight.) They will play the winner of Sweden-Russia on Saturday... I think at 9:15am (the other semifinal at 1:15pm).

Ah shoot.... so you are tez702? We have identical brackets (CHI over NYR), except you got the advantage on those first-round bonuses! Oh well. By the way, I too was really pulling for the Caps over the Rags.

Guys... I didn't mean to be insulting. There is just a lot more to the game than flashy goals. There is plenty of offensive and defensive strategy, positioning, individual battles, etc. to provide entertainment. Twelve guys on the ice at a time... lots of dynamics, actions, reactions, gambles and mistakes and capitalization and display of brilliant skill that doesn't result in a goal. I'm no expert at hockey (far from it compared to MANY of y'all), but there's a lot I can learn about the game by watching different parts of it, without needing goals in order to do so. So, "learn more about the game" (from my original post) means: Try to pay attention to all the other really cool and interesting aspects of the game.

NHL FINALLY gets the schedule up for the third round! (not sarcasm) http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=767618&navid=nhl:topheads I gambled earlier today and bought up some tickets for Anaheim Game 5, and the game will in fact fall on the date I'll be in LA.... w00t!

Yup. My first thought was... none of ANY of those top picks outta Edmonton (well, there's McDavid) qualify as "elite potential" hmmmm? Not disagreeing; it's just terribly sad. And of course no Sabres either (except Eichel).

Ovechkin looked pissed at the end.... flying through the handshake line as quickly as possible. I've been really growing weary of folks complaining about low-scoring Rangers hockey etc. etc. .... the whole series was just fine, entertaining HOCKEY. If you really need that much more scoring in order to enjoy yourself, then learn more about the game or something. Or perhaps people just think it's the cool thing to call it boring.

So, USA vs. Switzerland at (Edit: 9:15am) ET tomorrow (Thursday). It does not appear to be listed on NBC Sports' TV listing... perhaps NHL network? Edit: Grr. NBC Sports website has it as Canada v Belarus http://affiliate.zap2it.com/tvlistings/ZCGrid.do?aid=nbcsportswhatever, see K-9's post below, US-SUI at 9am.

Link? I found this regarding ECF Game 1 on (Edit: Saturday) 1pm: http://tbo.com/events-tampa-bay/lightning-playoffs-could-kill-weekend-performances-of-frozen-on-ice-20150512/ I will be in LA for Memorial Day... hoping for WCF Game 5 that night.

This whole time I thought I'd picked Montreal over TB, but checking this morning, it seems I had actually correctly picked Tampa. But no matter... as I sit patiently in third place now, Oli-V has an identical bracket to me with an edge due to first-round tiebreakers. Doooooooooooooooooooooooooooomed!

Looks like they will match up with the Swiss in Quarterfinals, too, regardless of the outcome of SUI-CZE this afternoon (or whatever it is in Czech right now). Also, since Canada is the #1 seed coming out of the other pool, the only way that USA-CAN would meet is in the bronze medal game or the gold medal game. Edit: http://www.iihfworlds2015.com/en/games/

Nice shot! That reporter Julie R-something called in to WGR from Czech for and interview yesterday and was saying something like... Eichel is still being too unselfish with the puck (passing instead of shooting), so coaches are trying to get him to take the shot more. Perhaps this goal is evidence of Jack responding to that.

Bette Midler concert in Tampa's arena tonight. What was the NHL to do?

remove the S from HTTPS

Ha. I was thinking the series had been exciting until the first period tonight. It has picked up in the second period though.

How about for the year that Babsy won the Cup? Beneficiary of a stacked roster? Roster: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Stanley_Cup_Finals#Detroit_Red_Wings

dudacek, perhaps you could periodically edit your last post there (#81 above) with the summary of picks so far, since it is conveniently at the top of page 3? SDS has the original post of this thread, not sure if there's easier way post the "big board" somewhere. Happy drafting, y'all. http://stats.nhlnumbers.com/players?year=2015 and you can sort the columns