NHL 2010-2011 Season - Page 62

Nashville, along with the Sharks, are two Southern franchises that have always had good fan support behind them. I'm glad to see them move on. They deserve it.

The NHL does not want the Canucks to advance, period. This series was scripted the day the match-up was announced.

This is garbage. The NHL is run by buffoons. They may WANT Chicago to advance but to claim that they somehow gave orders to the refs to make it happen is absurd and overstates the intelligence of Bettman and his ilk. Also, if they wanted the Hawks to beat Vancouver, why did they let the Canucks take a 3-0 lead in the series?

The reffing has been terrible in this series both both teams have suffered. The Canucks only have themselves to blame for this collapse.

I've been reading through some of the stuff in the Vancouver media and on message boards and that entire province should be put on suicide watch. It aint pretty.

I think anyone who is a fan of a team that is facing elimination or has been eliminated can take solace in the fact that at least you're not a fan of the Canucks right now...

I'm really surprised at some of the stupidity of fans that post on online boards (for most teams, including the Canucks).

Seems like it is their destiny to lose this series...I mean c'mon....blow the lead three times on two goof ups by schnieder, a penalty shot....and then have to put lou back in net......

First of all, Kerry Fraser and the Flyers are in bed with business shit, so take that with a grain of salt. Secondly, Richards is of the old guard, one of the "Old Boys" from the Old Boys Club if you will. Had it been Avery, or Ruutu, or Cooke who made the hit, they'd be suspended for sure, and highlight shows and commentators on the NHL Network will be calling for blood. I haven't seen what they said about it yet (watching the show now) but they did put Ryan Miller's quote in..."Mass murder, they BETTER take a look at this". Shame...what do you guys think of the hit though. I think it was dirty, and I LOVE Mike Richards (very hard thing to say as a Ranger fan). I wish he was our captain.


This is another thing...fans who claim that the refs are paid minions of Bettman...total baby bull shit. Being a referee is probably one of the hardest jobs in ANY sport, let alone a sport as fast as hockey. I hate this kind of talk.

Last thing, I'm really surprised Briere is as good as he is for the Flyers. When they signed him for that money, I laughed, called him an "anti-Flyer" for his style. Guy has really stepped up and improved. Of the two Buff guys that were big free agents that year (Drury and Briere) looks like the Rangers got the shit end of the stick.

I love Richards' skill-set but I hate the way he plays the game. He's cheap, he whines, and he gets away with everything. I'm sure anyone would love to have him on their team but I wish he'd quit yapping to the media and quit the cheapshots.

His hit yesterday was dirty. Fraser's explanation that it wasn't dirty based on the fact that Connolly had time to put his hand up is complete and utter horseshit. Connolly never had the time to protect himself and Richards not only boarded him but pushed his head into the board as well. The reaction by TSN's "analysts" was the usual blind slurping of the league, BTW. No surprise there.

Here is a great comment I read yesterday regarding the Raffi Torres hit that sums out how I feel about the league's disciplinarians:

"This is Matt Cooke(notes)-Marc Savard all over again. This is Campbell acting as an attorney for legal aid, combing the statutes for technicalities to free a client charged with a felony, rather than the NHL executive charged with enforcing discipline in the game.
Lost in technicalities, Campbell misses the larger picture. It is the league's responsibility to protect the greater good, not serial headhunters like Torres, who had just returned from a suspension for a headshot."

Regardless of what happens in the Chi/Van seriers. I'm impressed with what the Hawks have done in the series. Say what you will about bad calls and Schneider's misteps. The Hawks who have lost key players from last year have come back on the team with the best record in hockey. Also two of the first three games Vancoucer won were very close. I'm not sure how far the Hawks can go if they get through. I'm just glad they won't go out so easily after wining the cup. It is pretty amazing to see how much confidence plays a role in the shift of the game from literally a shift or a series. As for the Richard's hit, it was dirty and he should be out a game.

How about the obvious flipping of the puck into the crowd by the $hi%hawk defence...no call.

The obvious head shot running of Bieksa....no call.

The blatant high sticking to a Sedin in the face...no call.

Numerous two handed slashes...no call.

One of the most BS penalty shot calls I've ever seen...seriously.

A 5 on 3 for nearly two minutes that was almost laughable in how ridiculous it was.

Bettman and the NHL are f^&king co$%suck$%s and not matter what, they will ensure that a Canadian team does not win the Stanley Cup again.

JESUS CHRIST MAN...from an objective pov here. Didn't see it, no comment. The Torres hit was worse, at least Bieksa was facing the opponent and HAD THE PUCK. Also, not that it should matter, but it does, Bieksa got up. Also a shoulder to the head, not an elbow or blindside from what I saw. Shoulder hits to the head will remain part of the game, its an inevitability. This is the playoffs, you watch ANY game and you'll see tons of these ignored for EVERYONE. How many times have guys simply got punched in the face after the goalie freezes the puck this postseason? EVerygame seems to happen a shitload, no calls. If you were as eagle eyed with Canuck infractions you'd see it probably evens out, and if it doesn't, the Canucks are not playing smart enough to know where the line is that separates allowable and illegal. This is just wrong. Player was behind the d, with no one between him and the goalie. Reasonable scoring chance was taken away by a trip (sure he got the puck, but after he got the legs of Frolik. If anything, we should see more of these. Again, here is the Canucks being stupid. They have been calling tons of hooks and holds all postseason in every series. Burroughs (I think thats who it was) hooked the stick/hands of Campbell, took the puck, and went on on a breakaway. Pretty obvious call in my book, especially knowing how the postseason has been officiated. Had that been in the offensive zone, not leading to a breakaway, maybe it doesn't get called, but to pressure high that aggressively is just asking for trouble. If more Canadians stopped this shit, they'd see that their teams are more affected by their respective city's press than Gary Bettman. I've heard this from fan's from EVERY team. Bettman wants the Isles to move, the Devils play boring hockey, he has a bias against the Rangers. Its all bull shit. The referees always do a great job, and for the most part get the calls right, even when they have rough games. Do individual refs have biases against certain players? Sure. But to say that a bunch of Canadian referees (which is what most are) would be willing to tilt games against Canadian teams (and they don't get paid that much) is simply ridiculous. Sounds like a lot of sour grapes here.

Wow I can't believe these Canucks fans who are blaming the refs ! You guys got outscored like 12-2 in games 4 and 5. Maybe Game 6's refereeing went against you, get over it. Does this series performance by Luongo finally shut up those that defend him? Hoping for Hawks win in Game 7. I don't even care for them but I just love watching the Canucks lose, especially after listening to a year of Canucks fan proclaming their invincibility.