too many penalties

[gavin 0]

My team (montreal) just spent most of the 2nd period with a 2-man dissadvantage. I'm not complaining and neither were they. Hockey players know they can control what they do. And you put yourself into those situations. The ref didn't tug at the other player's arm for you: you did it yourself.

(Disclaimer: I love physical play and I have spent many minutes in the sin bin thinking over the merits of trying to stay out of it.)

[Jason Harris 31]

Joe Thornton hardly ever gets penalties and he got two in the last game.

Jumbo Joe going soft? A couple of seasons ago, they made a big deal about Joe leading the B's in scoring and PIM's.

That was the thing I always loved about Thornton -- he was kinda Neely-ish.

[MDE3 0]

I think the one thing the refs have not been calling in the play-offs as much as even in the regular season, are the unsportsmanlike "dives" and "spinarama's" after minimal contact....even more so in the games after Bettman's last edict...and that will probably be Bettman's next one....

Oh and btw....for you Forsberg fans...as skilled and tough as he is..he is one of the best actor's on the ice...and known for it...so he sometimes does not get a lot of the real calls that maybe he should... He is not exactly a "whiner", he just makes sure that most of the illegal contact made on him is noticed...through body rather than verbal language.

Sometimes his use of "bodily hyperbole" is a bit much.

As to the games...the boring ones are like where the Rangers and Philly are being just flat outmanned to all the loose pucks..(read speed)...unless you are a Devils or Buffalo fan....and taking all those penalties trying to catch up...The games are boring because they are so predictable...The only thing that mitigates their predictability is when a goalie steps up and plays like Robert Esche did in the first game....I think he was just flat worn out for last night's game.

Otherwise I think we are seeing exciting hockey pretty much...in the first few games there was some definitive difference between how refs called the games in the different series. The first Detroit/Edmonton game looked like the whistles were "put away" again like in the old days..in the second game "ABE" (After Betman's Edict)...the calls were definitely tighter.

[sabre09923 0]

As for 5-on-5 importance being diminished, I don't think so. 14 of the 16 teams in the league are in the top 16 in the league for 5 on 5 goals for/goals against. The two teams that didn't make it in that top 16 are Edmonton and Tampa Bay-the two 8 seeds. And Edmonton is in the top 16 in power-play percentage, and Tampa Bay isn't. So, presumably, Tampa is the freak of the playoffs. But further investigation shows that Toronto (the 9 seed in the east) shows that they are below Tampa in every one of those statitics. So all of these stats do apply in the playoff teams and the new rules' effectiveness towards them. The new rules haven't hurt the teams that are good at 5-on-5.

I agree that there was plenty of fun 5-on-5 action during the regular season. I just haven't seen much of it during the playoffs. A 4-on-3 powerplay used to be a very rare thing. No they happen pretty regularly in almost every game.

Yes, 4-on-3's are getting a lot more common. What I love, both as a player and as a fan is 4-on-4 action. Since I'm a defenseman, and I love to jump up in the play, 4-on-4s are really fun since they allow more creativity and puck movement in the offensive zone and it really comes down to the more skilled team moreso than a 5 on 5, IMO. That same reason extends to the NHL. I doubt that you will see a coach that's in his right mind put out a big, slow, defenseman (or forward) in those situations.

But if you really want to see good 5-on-5 action, you guys should have definetly watched the Stars and Detroit on April 17th. That game was an excellent game and was pretty much the way the game was meant to be played with the new rules. I think they went 12 or 13 minutes without a whistle in the first period. It's just a shame that I don't get to see very many good teams play, or rather evenly matched games (during the regular season)... I live in Massachusetts. And all we see here is the Bruins, who are terrible. Well, it'd be even if they were playing the Caps or the Pens (I actually went to a Caps/B's game down in D.C. this year, Bruins won in OT but Washington deserved to win that game).

[sdh 0]

the whole diving, acting thing is interesting. on the one hand, it is totally lame and getting out of hand, but ... if the calls were made consistently players wouldn't have to embellish, right? There's probably just no way to catch every dive. Players will get better at it over time.

for consistency ... why not have 4 refs (2 can still do linesman duties)? Or an off-ice ref with a radio who is watching the TV feed (which is what most fans are watching) and can give the on-ice officials another perspective (and I don't mean the call upstairs crap which takes forever). Anything to improve consistency.