chippa13

When the overwhelming concensus of impartial folks call out the officiating then, as they say, where there's smoke there's fire. At least I didn't have to suffer through Emrick tonight so there's a silver lining.

Sure helps when you get the 4 minute high stick that wasn't and a play that was a slash all year long that takes away a scoring chance doesn't get called. I think I saw Stamkos on a milk carton.

The 2017 season was the first season in the last 6 that didn't have a goalie place in the Vezina voting appear in the Stanley Cup Finals. 2012: Kings beat Devils, Quick was 2nd in Vezina voting 2013: Hawks beat Bruins, Emery (7th)/Crawford (8th) vs Rask (5th) 2014: Kings beat Rangers, Quick (5th) Lundqvist (6th) 2015: Hawks beat Lightning, Crawford (6th) 2016 Pens beat Sharks, Jones (8th) Having a goalie in the Vezina conversation doesn't guarantee you a trip to the Finals but it gives you a hell of a lot better chance of getting there.

And yet the 3 Vezina finalists are still playing.........

Nobody expected this result in game 1. Was Stamkos even in the building?

Can't wait to see all the detractors railing against the Bauer holder system.

Interchangeable? No. There is a huge difference between the elites and the rest. Confidence in your goaltender to stop the ones he should and bail you out is enormous. It lets players do their jobs instead of do anything to prevent a shot. Yes, a team needs balance but a goalie on a run can take a team further than any other streaking player.

From what I've heard thru the grapevine, within another year or two all of the top level skates will essentially be "custom" and shops will only be able to stock 2nd from top down, all as part of manufacturers' efforts to manage inventory control.

"Goaltending is sort of irrelevant........." I stopped reading there.

You could basically say the same thing about every team in the playoffs. Goaltending is a huge factor. Teams might be able to overcome a faltering goaltender for short stretches (witness: Bruins) but it always catches up to them.

There are 2 ways teams can come off of the long layoff that these teams had; rested and hungry or tight and rusty. Last night we saw both.

It will be a short leash against Tampa or it will be a short series.

A young team got farther than even their coach expected in this series. They add a little veteran presence on the blue line and get another year older and they'll make a push next year. DeBrusk really showed something in this series.

They're trying to be too fine given how Andersen has played the last couple of games. Edit: I owe it to the guy to get his name correct.

I don't care for Wingels with Krejci and DeBrusk. I would much prefer Rick Nash or Donato on that line. How many plays last night died because Wingels can't match the skill of the other two? He is a nice plugger but shouldn't be riding on the second line. And if Krug pounds one more shot into shin pads I'm going to personally go down there and revoke his shooting privileges.

I wonder if Giroux would have had a DPOS call on the Hagelin hit if the Flyers hadn't been eliminated. He definitely appeared to raise up and obviously Hagelin was leaking from the mouth.

If the Bruins came out in the first like they did in the third then they would have blown the Leafs out of the building. They need to start the game with that kind of urgency.

I believe that is basically the entire thinking behind the True skate.

A lot of folks shy away from the BM12 when they see how short a blade it is. If only they made a true copy of the original Bure pattern that Bauer had. That would be a thing of beauty.

And Matthews doesn't really have the benefit of veteran examples to really learn from that a guy like DeBrusk does in the Boston room.

Advertised lies should be taken with a grain of salt because where they are measuring could make a big difference on what "lie" a rockered blade comes in at.

Andersson definitely pulled off some larceny in game 3. The playoffs are all about goaltending and power plays.

Players always perform better when they pick gear to fit their style and not the other way around.

I was skeptical of Base but I've been happy with the BM12 blades I got from them a few weeks ago. And besides, it's easy to find.......

Just being nitpicky but it is actually BM12.