But I tip my hat to Carolina-Irbe, Francis, and Coach Maurice as well. From Toronto, congratulations and I hope you win the Cup-mainly because I'm sick of hearing about whoever winning the East will get slaughtered by whoever wins the West. Plus, Carolina seems like a likable bunch. You saw some real respect between the two teams in the handshake.
As for the Leafs-great run, inspiring, gritty, what can you say. They shouldn't have made it past Ottawa, but did so much more.
Now I can get on with summer...oh crap, the World Cup is about to begin.
Arturs Irbe has the lowest GAA average and highest save percentage of all remaining goaltenders.
Yeah, but he's played only half the games that the others have played, I believe. That's not to say, however, that his stats aren't amazing. I was going to make a comment about scoring prowess faced when I remembered that Toronto led the East in scoring this year. Nevermind
At the same time, I do wonder if Carolina's not playing better than either of the teams in the West right now. They're definitely playing better team defense, if not team hockey. It will definitely be interesting to see what the final brings.
Oh, and, yeah, what a game tonight. This whole playoff has easily been better than any I can remember since the early nineties.
(edited by tarnish on 28.5.02 2358)
(edited by tarnish on 29.5.02 0001) /tarnish... I'm a disturbed and bitter herb, like salt water and parsley... -- Prince Paul
GO CANES!!!!! WOOOOOO!!!!!!! YAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! WOOOOOOO!!!
Anyway, wow, it seemed like Toronto was so much more fired up in the OT than Carolina, and I was sure we were going to end up in game 7, but the Canes pulled it out. Now it's time to rest, and get ready, because both Detroit and Colorado are playing great hockey, and either one is going to be tough to beat. Hey and Toronto rocked tonight with all the hugs and the handshakes afterwards. That was cool.
-Jag
ON TO THE FINALS!!!! GOOOOOOOOOOOO CANES!!!!!!!!!!
"You gotta hate somebody before this is over. Them, me, it doesn't matter."
"Hate, who do I hate? You tell me."
"Who do you love?"
-Wintermute to Case in William Gibson's Neuromancer
As I see it, Carolina won the series because they made less mistakes. Both goals tonight were off boneheaded plays by Kaberle (I think) and Mogilney.
I'm STILL upset that neither Hoglund nor Reichel ever got their act together.
And if the Leafs want to be contenders next year they have to:
a) Resign Curtis Joseph. It'll cost a ton, but he's proved he's worth it. b) Shore up the defense somehow. If I see Aki Berg on defense for the Leafs next season, I'm going to weep.
Ike
"Go for the eyes, Boo! GO FOR THE EYES! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" - Minsc, Baldur's Gate.
And my beloved Leafs pack it in for another year. Sigh. They gave a great effort, but the breaks just didn't go their way. THREE losses in overtime...damn.
But I tip my hat to Carolina-Irbe, Francis, and Coach Maurice as well. From Toronto, congratulations and I hope you win the Cup-mainly because I'm sick of hearing about whoever winning the East will get slaughtered by whoever wins the West.
This just in: whoever wins the West will slaughter the Hurricanes. Western conference champ wins the Cup final in five games tops.
I was born in a manger, like that other guy. You know, he wore a hat?
Sure, I'm only 20 years old and I haven't been suffering as long as most Whalers fans...
But holy hell it feels good! I remember the team going 6 or 7 years without making the playoffs once. I remember the heartbreaking 7 game series against Montreal back in 1991. I remember Sylvain Turgeon tearing it up when I was REAL young. I remember hearing that one of my favorite players in Steve Chiasson had died in a drunk driving accident after bowing out of the playoffs in 1999. I remember Ron Francis, Kevin Dineen, Andrew Cassels, Pat Verbeek, Ray Ferraro, Geoff Sanderson, and the rest of the Whalers crew who never got their just due because of the team they played on.
After years of being a suffering fan of this club, they made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. I doesn't matter who they're playing - this is unbelievable.
This is far better than seeing the Braves win the World Series - because at least that was expected. This playoff year has been a dream!
Well, I hope that Carolina & Colorado have a fun time, because next year will BELONG TO THE FLAMES! Mark my words, with the powerhouse that is called Iginla...and Turek...and some nameless, faceless rookies...we will dominate! HEED MY WARNING!
All kidding aside, this will be the first Stanley Cup Final with two teams that've moved...'cept Colorado and Jersey...so...let's say it's the first Final with two teams that've moved WITHIN THE LAST DECADE. Yeah... [runs away]
I really hope who ever wins the West destroys the Canes. It'd be cute if it were Colorado (The match-up WHA fans have waited 20+ years to see!) I am still not over the fact that the Canes are in the Finals. "That they beat New Jersey, Montreal, AND Toronto and they have a shot at Hockey's Holy Grail. It's like 1996 all over again when FLORIDA made it to the Finals. I guess it's an appropriate final series for a strange strange season.
...Some fear the Pink... ...But many fear....THE MOUNTIE! (He's handsome, he's brave, and he's strong, you know)
Florida was more of a WTF? team than the Canes. The Hurricanes have the old Whalers background, have some great veterans, some of them bound for the hallf of fame and more..
"...And I use that to fuck them some place fairly uncomfortable." "What, like the back of a volkswagen ?" -Mallrats
Originally posted by Freeway420Well, I hope that Carolina & Colorado have a fun time... All kidding aside, this will be the first Stanley Cup Final with two teams that've moved...'cept Colorado and Jersey...so...let's say it's the first Final with two teams that've moved WITHIN THE LAST DECADE. Yeah... [runs away]
good call...i hope you're picking the canes in a sweep.
(edited by quagmire on 1.6.02 1645) Marge: Mr. Scorpio, this house is almost too good for us. I keep expecting to get the bums rush. Scorpio: We don't have bums in our town, Marge, and if we did, they wouldn't rush, they'd be allowed to go at their own pace.
Never got a chance to congratulate the Hurricanes on their victory - as depressing as it was. I have no hard feelings - the Leafs gave it their all, had gone through two BRUTAL game 7 series to get there, and just didn't have the OT magic that Carolina has right now.
That Carolina defence is stifling. They are SO under-rated. And now it looks like Detroit is finding out what the Leafs found out in Round 3. Carolina is not gonna roll over at ALL. If Detroit wants their Cup, they'll sure as hell have to earn it against these boys.
I'm happy for the Carolina fans down there - while there aren't that many of them, they are GREAT fans who have gotten behind their team in a terrific way. This will be great for hockey in Carolina for sure.....I'm still bitter though. *grumble grumble grumble*
Should be an interesting (and long) Cup final.
Hey Omar, I've had a look at the sports wire in a couple of different places and couldn't find confirmation of this. What's your source (or if you can't reveal it, how reliable is it)?