It's funny I go from wanting to know after tonight who the Rangers are playing to not minding if this series gets extended to Sunday night.
Both goalies have given up a lot of goals in these playoffs. We know those teams can score which is what has bailed out their net minders.
For sure. Was only three years old in 1979 so clearly don't remember that. 1994 was awesome but outside of that more tough playoff loses so this run to the finals is tremendous.
I think they match up better with Chicago, plus i always root for them after the Rangers are out so at least they'd be champions if they aren't. Toews reminds me of Messier which would be ironic.
I think they can beat either team. Both teams won already, the Hawks are due to lose (probably tonight), and the Kings can lose too, they already won. Plus the Rangers were 2-0 against the Hawks and 1-1 against the Kings, losing to Martin Jones
I'll say this, the one plus I see from playing the Kings is their home ice is no where near as much of an advantage as Chicago's is. If the Kings win tonight they are 6-3 at home in the playoffs. Meanwhile the Hawks are 8-1 at home. The UC is also much louder and more alive than Staples. I guess the flip side is the Kings are a better road team, but I like our chances better at LA than at Chicago, and obviously we need to win at least one game on the road.
A Game 7 between these two teams.......guaranteed to be a barn burner and they may play into Monday AM. GOOOO RANGERS.
2 great teams. Great series. Great game tonight. Multiple OT sounds awesome Sunday Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Dis, I wouldn't be so quick to call either of them great teams. Great Offensive teams. Yes! But in order to be a great team, you have to play defense too. I just don't see that. Either team may outscore us but they won't win because they are a great team. Our series against either team will be much different. We will play defense. The question is will they. I also don't see 7:30 going off the clock without a whistle. Just not going to happen. Another words, it won't be so wide open. I know we are a huge under dog going into the finals, but I like our chances against either team until they prove they play defense too.
Great result for us last night. Now the winner of the series only gets two days off. That is a plus. On top of that, LA has gone 7 games in every series now. Yes they are big and deep, but playing 21 playoff games this year, after a trip to the WCF last year, after winning the cup the prior year is a lot of hockey for any team. Even Chicago will have played 19 games this playoff season, and they had a lot of Olympic players, and they won the cup last season. Again a lot of hockey. And people were saying they are starting to look worn down prior to game 5. Don't know if we will win the series, but this was our best hope. We finish in 5 or 6, get 5 days off. The WCF goes 7 and they pound each other, and only get 2 days off. That is very good for us.
As for the game tomorrow night, I am still rooting for the Hawks. Like we have all said, pick your poison with these two teams (this is not a Boston Montreal situation where we clearly wanted Montreal to win). Either way we are facing a very good team in the SCF, I just think Chicago is the better matchup for us. The Hawks are loaded with high end skill with Toews, Kane, Sharp, Hossa, Keith, Seabrook, and so on. So they are very talented of course, and Toews is a special leader. But the Hawks are not as big and not as deep as the Kings. Plus I know Quick hasn't been great in the playoffs, but he is still the guy I fear more between Crawford and Quick. Look at last night, the Hawks had 3 guys not play 10 minutes (2 didn't even play 7 minutes). And they had a 4th guy just play 12 minutes. Meanwhile the Kings had 1 guy play 11 minutes, and everyone else played more than 12 minutes. 5 Hawks played 20 minutes +. 2 Hawks played 19 minutes +. For the Kings it was 4 guys at 20 + and 1 guy at 19 +. The Kings play more guys. They are bigger. They are deeper. And they have Quick. So yeah pick your poison. Yes the Hawks are great. Yes the Hawks are defending champs. Yes playing in Chicago is VERY difficult (9-1 at home if they win game 7). Yes they have a dynamic player like Kane. Yes Toews is a great leader. But I still "rather" play the Hawks. BUT I will say this, now that the Kings have gone 7 AGAIN and now that the Kings have to fly to Chicago and back to LA AGAIN, I do feel a little better about playing them if they win game 7. Last night was really big for us IMO. We really wanted a Hawks win I believe.
I also thought Jones was comical after the game. Liam asks Jones how do you think the NYR feel after this game. The obvious answer he was setting him up for was a lot better that these teams were going 7 and going to pound each other another game. But NOPE...he says in awe of how good these teams are. The West is just so good and deep. No disrespect to the Rangers, but the West is great. I just laughed. So far I have heard a lot of, the Rangers are good, they will make that a series, BUT I have to go with the West winner. Good luck finding someone who will pick us. I see 11-1 or 10-2 on ESPN. And I like it. Let everyone pick the West team, and I get it BTW since those teams are so good, but I think we will have a shot. To me Staal will be a HUGE key. McD/Girardi will be on the Kopitar line or go against Kane I would think. Still leaves that 70's line or Toews to deal with. That is where Staal comes in. He must play a strong series in the SCF because these teams have a lot of scoring depth, and he will have to face a very talented set of forwards no matter what. We need him to be Flyers Staal and not Pens/Habs Staal. At any rate, I really believe the WCF going to 7 gives us the best possible chance to win the Cup. Maybe I am over the top a little about this, but I think it was really huge for us that the Hawks won last night. Another trip to Chicago. Another pounding game. A few more days to be mentally tied up into that series. Two teams that have played a lot of hockey this year, and the recent past years. All the mental prep that a game 7 takes. And only 2 days off now prior to starting the SCF against a "lesser" team, which could mean the 100% laser focus is not there for game 1. We'll see, but to me it was big this series went 7.
