wjag

There is Paille again... What were you guys saying upthread about him?

Boston had some glorious chances on the PK

Because we had to trade somebody outside of the core. :huh: He turned into that year's somebody. Paille has turned into a very nice two-way player. His line has been consistently the most notieceable line in the Bruins series.

Is Wapner still on?

Pretty amazing to get outshot 19-4 in period 1 and walk away a 2-1 OT winner. The Hawks sure are fast. Their team speed is reminiscent of the post lockout Sabres. The Hawks defense sure can fly. They are an impressive team.

That's why I like this board. :worthy:

I couldn't hang until the 3rd OT. Nice game. This is going to be a great series.

Over the years my "hate" for other teams outside of Buffalo has diminished. I went from a liking the Yankees to absolutely hating them to agnostic over about 20 years. I hated the Dolphins from 1970-2000. Now I could care less. About the only team I year-in, year-out root to lose are the Baltimore Ravens. It probably has more to do with my teams being irrevant though. It is hard to get a good hate up when your team can't consistently win such that losses actually matter.

I'm pretty astonished how precipitiously my belief in the Sabres winning a cup has fallen off. I really, really thought going into this year that the Sabres were a couple of centers away from winning. I really, really thought that the team defense was the strength of the team. I really, really thought this was the year that Ville paid dividends. At the end of the year Ville was a no-show, the defense was decimated, the defensemen of the future regressed, the goalie wanted out of town, the Captain and Coach were shown the door, the shiny new centers were still a work in progress and the fans turned on ownership and management in ways I could not have predicted two years before. I sure hope there are better times ahead. I've been with the Sabres from inception. I'm running out of time. If you're 18, a four year rebuild doesn't sound so bad, if you're in your fifth decade, it sounds like a really long time. It sounds like another gamble I've seen countless times before. Some franchises and cities have "it", some just don't.

Love the love on here for Chicago. Same love folks had for Pittsburgh, which was really manifested as Boston hate. I think we are in for a redux and while I'm not predicting a sweep, Boston will steal one of the first two and win it in 5, maybe 6, but it won't go to 7.

I don't know how you assemble the talent to win a SC, but I know it when I see it, and Boston has it. The play of their defense has been the real difference in their run. They've gotten solid play and timely goals from their blue line, their forwards, even Jägr, have worked their defensive tails off.

Not me. I've been pretty vocal in this thread that Boston would win. I do recognize though a few of the posts early in the series could have made a difference.

Pitt will remember the Boston series by the singular sound, ping. Who would have believed that Crosby, Malkin, Iginla would register zero points in the ECF? That beating Rask put on them is one for the history books. He finished with a .44 GAA and a .985 SV%.

Boston is humbling the New York Yankees Pittsburgh Penguins and all their shiny free agent acquisitions, expectations, goalies, stars and aura. It's been fun to watch. Boston is how I want my Sabres team to look like and play like. I want a lunch pail crew sprinkled with a few stars. Who would have thought Rask would play so well replacing Thomas. My gut tells me Pitt wins the next one and then loses an unconscionable, unexplictable and unreal third game on home ice in front of their white, pom-pom waving faithful. I heard them say broken skate last night. Big difference between broken skate and broken leg. He played courageously on one leg and almost got the puck out of the zone. Malkin should send him flowers.

Penalties certainly are lopsided so far.

This is quite the period.

Game on

Pitt can't buy a goal..

Hahaha..

First ten minutes of this game will tell a lot about the forecast for this series.

I like how all the talking heads refuse to believe that Pitt can be this bad against Boston and that their fortunes will change. Pitt will be back in Pitt down three-one. Boston is just stifling their game. So far Neal, Letang, Kunitz, Crosby, Dupuis and Malkin all with zero points in the ECF.

Neal and Orpik..

I agree that second Marchand goal is a killer. Tough to swallow that one. That's a tough goal to let in at the stage of the game. It sucked all the air out of the building.

Boston really is a lunch pail team. Pitt has all that star power and they are getting embarrassed on their home ice.

I used to be a mix of 5-6. My faith though has been utterly and repeatedly crushed. Now I'm mostly 18. I have the potential of reverting back to 5-6 if either of my teams was/is competing two months into their respective season. But as sure as the swallows return to Capastrano, I'll be an 18 by season's end having passed through 11.