No I believe he was referring to the Toews interference penalty, which was questionable for sure. Phoenix scored as a result.

I don't bitch about officiating as an excuse for losing but man, this is one series where any avid hockey fan I've talked to said Phoenix was clearly favored. Hats off to Mike Smith though, he played out of his mind.

I was discussing the game through the second period (I didn't really see the third). It was pretty annoying for the Hawks that when Torres destroyed one of their three best forwards no one caught it so the Hawks got no in game benefit and were crippled for the series but then they had a major go against them. To really fix this issue in playoff series there needs to be away to award penalties that hurt the team in the next game. You would see this shit stop more quickly and these players out of the league.

The Blackhawks had the same thing happen for them (albeit in the regular season) when Keith took out Daniel Sedin. Sure, he gets suspended, but we end up without our best player in the first three games and our powerplay is brutal and costs us a game.

Keith got the penalty in the game. That's what I mean. At least a five minute major in game 3 would have been of great benefit to the Hawks.

Sweet

I know this is a convenient position for a Canucks fan to hold right now, but there really should be a serious reward for top seeds in the regular season beyond home ice advantage and an empty trophy.

Because of the re-seeding, they get to play the worst team in each round. They knew the track record of the top team. They could have rested people to not win the most.

No sympathy.

But the worst team in the regular season isn't necessarily the worst team for the #1 seed. At the very least the team that seeds #1 in both conferences gets to pick it's first round opponent.

The NHL already does more for the top team than the NBA and MLB. Any more is ridiculous.

Or you know just don't lose as the top team. What is becoming clear is that the Pacific division was probably the best division in hockey and the reason no team could grab hold of it was because every team was really talented and capable of playing lights out. That depressed records. Vancouver meanwhile gets to play in the kiddie division which helps it get the number 1 seed. I have no real sympathy for the number one overall seeds that can't get it done. Dallas managed to make it to the conference finals and win the cup as the number 1 overall seed and managed to go back to the finals the next year as the top conference seed. Why? Well because they were a complete team. Yeah Vancouver kind of drew the short end of the stick with an LA team that was better at the trade deadline but those are the breaks.

Let me be the first to congratulate the NJ Devils for advancing to the conference finals. (no surprise they are my favorite team after the MN Wild)
GO DEVILS!!!!!!!!

Is fake Ilya. Weak man who does not stop the shots. Ilya Kovalchuk is strong like Russian tank!

Bryz was not at fault--the defense hung him out to try time and time again. But really, the Devils forecheck killed the Flyers. There may have been a post-Pittsburgh hangover, but it was primarily the Devils' play. Ugh.

If it were any other team, I'd root for them, so I can say my team was beaten by the best, but it's the Devils. Fuck them. Memories of Scott Stevens are too strong.

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