icedog97

Really think Tavares deserved it but Ovie would be second (IMO) of the teams that made the playoffs (and that's part of the criteria 98% of the time).

Gotta like what the Blackhawks were able to do last night (unless you are a Bruins fans of course). This is the kind of series I expected the ECF to be. At least we are seeing it now from what are clearly the two best teams in the league this year. I hope it goes 7...and into 6 overtimes...

This is interesting. I expect to see the Rangers respond positively to this situation...from the sounds of the exit interviews any coach coming in will get a warm welcome/better performance after the last season with Torts.

Interesting article from Rob Rossi about Letang. Both he and Dejan Kovacevic have essentially said that Letang should be traded. Rossi points out that Shero has become a GM who is noted for his decisive actions...ala the Staal trade and the moves at the deadline this past season. If in fact Shero had offered or figured to offer Letang 6M per...and word is Letang wants 7M and a no trade...then it's possible Ray has already made up his mind to move him. Could it happen at the GM meetings before FA? Letang is still under contract...but trading him and freeing up some money that was targeted for him could help Shero sign a couple of his existing FAs (Like maybe Dupuis and Cooke) and would put him in a position to potentially acquire other players during the FA period. I don't always agree with Rossi's reasoning...but this time he's got some pretty valid arguments http://triblive.com/...s#axzz2Wf9RZBAl

Interesting article from Rob Rossi about Letang. Both he and Dejan Kovacevic have essentially said that Letang should be traded. Rossi points out that Shero has become a GM who is noted for his decisive actions...ala the Staal trade and the moves at the deadline this past season. If in fact Shero had offered or figured to offer Letang 6M per...and word is Letang wants 7M and a no trade...then it's possible Ray has already made up his mind to move him. Could it happen at the GM meetings before FA? Letang is still under contract...but trading him and freeing up some money that was targeted for him could help Shero sign a couple of his existing FAs (Like maybe Dupuis and Cooke) and would put him in a position to potentially acquire other players during the FA period. I don't always agree with Rossi's reasoning...but this time he's got some pretty valid arguments http://triblive.com/...s#axzz2Wf9RZBAl

-- The Boston Bruins are making the Chicago Blackhawks look a lot like the Penguins did in the Eastern Conference Finals. Game 4 is huge for the Hawks (says Captain Obvious) but it will be even more difficult to win if Marian Hossa is out of the line-up again. Either way, it will be interesting to see if Chicago can make any adjustments to help them out of the sleeper hold the Bruins have started to apply. Coach Quenneville probably shouldn't ask Dan Bylsma for any advice on that front. -- Speaking of Bylsma, as we all know he got a vote of confidence from GM Ray Shero by receiving a contract extension a couple of days after the Penguins were eliminated from the playoffs. The comments from reliable sources seem to indicate that Mario and the ownership believe strongly in Shero as GM and Shero believes in Bylsma. The players like Bylsma too. Now that we have acknowledged the good feelings toward eachother by all of those involved, let's see if they ALL can't find a way to get back to the finals next year. -- Speed is important but relative. I read a lot of comments about how slow the Penguins looked...especially their trade deadline acquisitions (The Turtle Trio?)...in the series against the Islanders and Bruins. When you lose you almost always look slower...most of the time because you are not controlling the game...thus you are chasing after the other team who has the puck. But the important thing, in my opinion, is that it's not speed that makes the difference, it's positioning. If you ask a guy that's slower than you might want (or need) to play a certain type of game that's so dependent on speed, he's gonna look and potentially be, snail slow when the opposition goes the other way. Bylsma is either going to need to get more players that can execute his style of play more consistently...or change his style. You can't keep pounding square pegs into round holes and expect there not to be a big mess as a result. -- Speaking of big messes...did anybody see the jacket Don Cherry had on? -- What are we to make of the Flyers signing of Mark Streit? OK...he has an offensive upside, even at 35 (will be 36 in Dec) but he's not exactly known for his play in the defensive zone. He was a -14 last season in New York and a -27 the year before. Sure, The Isles haven't been a great even strength team, but his defensive teammate Lubomir Visnovsky was a +12 last year. I'm sure it's part of other things the Flyers will do to bolster their defense this off season...so maybe we hold off judgement until we see more from them? -- I was eating in a local restaurant the other day and happened to notice the two guys sitting at the bar looked very familiar. Upon closer inspection (which was more obvious than I would have liked) I saw that it was James Neal and Paul Martin. I was thinking of casually going over to ask them for autographs for my son but then more people started to arrive at the restaurant and I got the sense they probably just wanted to enjoy their dinner. I did ask the guy who waited on me if they came in often and he said 'Pretty often. I think they like it here 'cause they don't get bothered much. Kris Letang is usually with them.' I wonder if it was just coincidence or if maybe James and Paul are trying to get used to what it might be like next year?

The problem with the Penguins is that some part of their current make-up...implodes when it needs to excel. The guys they brought in this year aren't the reason for it...it happened last year against the Flyers too. That's why I think it's a systematic problem. These players are playing a gameplan or system that is countered effectively by some teams and then they implode. They get frustrated trying the same things over and over again without success. The coaches job is to recognize that and CHANGE if needed. I didn't see any changes in approach. I saw different players (goalies and forward)...I saw line juggling...but it appeared to me the overall gameplan was the same. Maybe the conference finals are too late to try something new...but after last season...and the two playoff years before...this team should have been prepared for what the Bruins showed them and been able to adjust and find a new approach that was effective. I think given the past 4 playoff exists...and how they lost this year...last year and in game 7 versus the Habs a few years back...that this falls on the coaches and the system (or lack their of) they are trying to play. The best coaches find a way to win. They take what the other team gives and exploit their weaknesses. The Bruins did that to the Pens (and got some great goaltending along the way). There's no way the Pens should have scored 2 goals in 4 games and been swept. It happened...but something is fundamentally wrong with them at this point.

There is a Creed song from the movie Scream 3 that has the title: Is This The End? It closes with: So, is this the end for us my friend? Sitting here today that's the thought going through my head with regard to Dan Bylsma's coaching days with the Pittsburgh Penguins. I am one of those people that thinks the Penguins can come back from the 0-3 deficit in this series and win it. Now, I'm not crazy (my mom had me checked) - I said THINKS and CAN...not KNOWS and WILL. The trouble is...that kind of comeback - although possible - is VERY difficult and, as history shows us, not very common. So if we gaze into our crystal ball for a minute and image that we wake tomorrow morning to find the Penguins have put up another valiant effort (like game 3...finally) but still lost to the Bruins in 4 games, what will that mean for head coach Dan Bylsma? Even if we imagine a scenario where the Penguins win a couple of games and lose the series in 6...what will it mean for Dan? I'm of the opinion that nothing short of the Penguins forcing game 7 in this series... and winning (okay, maybe losing in heartbreaking triple OT fashion)...will save Dan's job. Of course, I'm just a fan...I don't officially get paid to think about this stuff or have any say in what actually goes down. But there's a pretty strong argument that if the Penguins don't make a historic (or almost) comeback against the Bruins, the coach must go. Assuming a series loss to the Bruins...the facts are pretty clear. The Penguins will have been eliminated from the playoffs - for the 4th year in a row - by a team they were expected to beat. The Penguins will have displayed - for a 4th year in a row - an inability to grasp the concepts of patience and composure when it's needed most. The Penguins will have shown - for a 4th year in a row - the insane ability to look like the best team in hockey one day and the world's biggest turnover machine the next. Of course, it's not ALL Dan's fault. You have to believe that even with his north/south approach to the game he has told his players to make sure they do smart things, not dumb things. The players have done a number of dumb things over the past 4 playoff seasons. But when you look at the 'embarrassment of riches' roster that GM Ray Shero has put together for this Stanley Cup Playoffs... the skill, talent, size and grit...you have to ask the question: Could any team be better prepared for a cup run from a player personnel standpoint? (ok...you don't really need to ask that because the answer is NO) Look, I like Dan. He's a good guy and, in a lot of ways, a good coach. But something is not right here and it's either in the way the players are coached or the way they respond to what they are being told to do. The biggest problem that I (and others who observe the team regularly) see is that there appears to be a certain stubbornness/resistance to alterations in the game plan. Again, whether it's the coaches plan or the players execution, the problem is that there have been way too many times to mention when it appears this team is moving head on for a collision with a semi and does not alter it's course. Pittsburgh Tribune Review hockey columnist Dejan Kovacevic had some really good points in his article today http://triblive.com/sports/dejankovacevic/dejancolumns/4144756-74/bylsma-coach-really?fb_action_ids=10201163115617636&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582#axzz2VXVRY5a9 The best part for me was when he mentioned the Peguins only getting THREE shots off rebounds through the entire series to date. THREE. Dejan asserts: "And the glaring reason is that, once in the Boston zone, rather than simply gunning and going to the net — picture an armada of Tyler Kennedy clones — they've insanely tried to Mario their way through four boxed-in Bruins, including Zdeno Chara and his 75-foot stick. That's on the coach." I couldn't agree more or have said it any better than that. And it's not just this series against the Bruins where this has happened, So, Is This The End For Us My Friend? I'm sorry to say, but unless the Penguins manage to pull off a miracle comeback in this series, I believe the answer as it relates to Dan Bylsma's head coaching days in Pittsburgh is yes.

Never really thought the problem is/was chemistry. Personally think it's either A) being told to do the wrong things or B) being told to do something good but doing the wrong things. Seems like these Pens now look just like the Pens that lost to the Flyers last year. Some part of that is what the players do on their own but I also gotta believe that a "we'll win 1-0" approach would have served them a whole lot better in game 2 than what it appeared they were trying to do.

The rest of the hockey world is laughing at you, the Pittsburgh Penguins. They say that the ALL STAR team assembled in Pittsburgh, stock full of Hall of Fame like talent is an elite bunch of brats and when crunch time comes, they fold like an old picnic table. After watching the first two games of the series against the Bruins, where it seems like the Penguins are more intent on out hitting the Bruins than they are on out playing them, I have to agree with the assessment. So far...this is embarrassing. The question is...Penguins...what are you going to do about it? It's not a stretch to say that what happens next to this group of players is potentially CAREER DEFINING. Manage to scratch and claw your way back into this series and people will HAVE to respect you. Play two more games like the first two and it will be at least another whole year before you'll have the chance to redeem yourself...and the weight of this performance will be a heavy one to carry...perhaps too heavy for certain individuals. Now is the time when the true character of the player is shown. Back in 1991 the Penguins faced a similar situation against the Bruins and Kevin Stevens (and a few others) stood up and said enough. They turned an 0-2 series deficit into a 4-2 series win. Say what you will about Stevens troubles off the ice...the guy that played the game was all about the character necessary to succeed on the ice. These Penguins face an even more daunting task because these Bruins are better than those 1991 Bruins. These Bruins (essentially) have won a Cup. But isn't that what real character is all about? Facing the toughest situation and finding a way to deal with it? The challenge is there for every coach and player within the organization. The Bruins are beating you and making it look bad. Your ideas about how to beat them are not working. It's time for radical changes in the approach. It's time for serious ego checks at the door. It's time to decide how important winning is and make sure you put your players and teammates in the best position to do that come Wednesday night. You want the laughing to stop? Make it stop. It's not up to anyone else but you.