Fuck the Stadium Series. The NHL is doing a behind the scenes build up to each game similar to 24/7, as well they are shooting it in the exact same fucking way, with players talking to the camera while driving to the rink.
The stadium series is fucking ridiculous. The NHL is determined to ruin something great (the Winter Classic) by giving us too much of a good thing. Enough with the fucking gimmicks.
Holy hell what a game between the Kings-Blackhawks. Here's hoping that the intensity and execution of the next game (or two) stays this high.
I don't watch regular season hockey at all. I barely watch playoff hockey. But being in Chicago and defaulting to the Blackhawks, if they win this series, I will become the biggest goddamn fan because I hate NY sports teams. I'll take a night and review the entire seasons of both teams, learn about players and whatever else I need to just to coherently talk shit about the Rangers. Woot. Go Hawks.
I fucking hate the Blackhawks. I'm hoping for a Rangers vs Kings final, not a fan of either team but I dislike them less than the Hawks.
You are the worst fan ever. I hate that you're a Pats fan. I hope you suffer a head injury that somehow removes all memories of sports from your brain.
One thing to remember when dealing with Blackhawk fans is that Bill Wirtz, the previous owner, would not televise the Hawks because he wanted people to come the stadium and pay admission to see hockey. They have only been on TV for 6-7 years here in Chicago, so most fans are still playing catch up on hockey and what goes on around the league. Get pissy all you want, at least we're not Boston fans
When is the next Wings game? Oh wait, they've been golfing since March... Crawford had no prayer on a deflection like that. And while he's an easy scapegoat, the Hawks defense was terrible this series. They don't even make the conference finals with out Crawford playing lights out most of the playoffs. He was up and down this series but he was one of the top backstops the entire playoffs. Would Quick be considered garbage if the tables were turned? He's been riding on his reputation for awhile cause he's not been great recently either.
How is it a garbage goal then? Crawford, who've we established is not a garbage goalie (although I tend to disagree), having no chance it would imply that it was indeed a solid, skillful goal. Just typical homer bullshit really. "I didn't like the result so it was garbage". As for the Cup, Kings in 5. I think they're too physical and skilled for NYR to matchup with consistently. "King" Henrik is an overrated product of the NY media hype machine. Expect for Rag's fans to file (another) missing persons report for fuckboy Rick Nash at some point this series.
Garbage as it unfortunate, flukey, tough to take. It happens to everyone. Flinging a wrister towards the center of the net where it bounces off a defenseman's arm and midsection and flutters like a wounded bird into the top corner at a 45 degree angle from its original path is not solid or skillful. It wasn't a snipe. At the same time, I'm not taking a shot at Martinez or the Kings, that is all a part of hockey, which is why its fun but also frustrating as hell. Its not like it was a purposeful redirect from a forward. But by all means keep throwing shots at me for being a bullshit homer fan and stuff. You didn't answer my question about Quick, especially since Crawford has a better GAA and Save Percentage than him in the playoffs.
I'm no hockey expert but this is exactly what it seemed like to me. I mean if you're going to screen your own goalie then you better make damn sure you deflect a shot away from the goal, and not to the open side - and certainly don't just change its trajectory so your goalie can't make a play on it. Also, when there's a rush, you probably don't want to just lackadaisically let Gaborik get behind you. Just saying.
My friend called me when the Hawks were 2-0. "Hey, they Blackhawks are up 2-0, if they win, we're going to the first game in Chicago. You can even bring the girlfriend. They're probably going to keep this up." "Dude, you just fucked them with this call. I still hope they win though." Sorry Blackhawks fans. Oh, and I'm definitely a bandwagon hopper when it comes to hockey. I don't watch it, but will get on during the Playoffs, because all of my friends are like "Yeah, we're only going out and partying to watch the game." I'm not just going to sit home and not hangout with my friends. I'm quite intrigued of anything that requires defense, I know the rules, the bigger names (because Grantland) and all that. I'll watch when they get more black people playing.
I think you're seriously underrating the skill it takes to get a puck through that type of traffic, even if it's deflected. That was a high level play from Martinez at literally, the most important time of the season. Can't forget the real hero of that play, Justin Williams, setting that all into motion with a nice drive coming from behind the net. I actually thought Quick was outstanding in game 7. You can't discredit Martinez's overtime goal and then say the Blackhawks' goals were pure skill. The Saad goal was flukey. Does it take a highly skilled player to make the original pass, and then finish it? Yes. Was it probably just an attempt to get a puck on net and generate a rebound? Also yes. The Toews powerplay goal was the result of flinging it at the net, bouncing off of Kane's ass and redirecting to a crashing Toews, a pretty lucky bounce basically. Sharp's first goal just knuckled and bounced in. Obviously you want Quick to have that. Sharp's second was just a bad (or good depending which laundry you like more) screen on Muzzin's part. In the end, the better team and the better goalie prevailed. It sucks not being able to watch Chicago play anymore, because holy fuck are they fun to watch, but LA's depth up the middle ended up being too much.