I'm a big NHL fan, Toronto Maple Leafs in particular. The season is just getting to the interesting point, as the contenders and pretenders are being sorted apart.

The Leafs haven't won since 1967. I have never seen a team I follow in ANY sport win it all...I sure know how to pick them.

  On 19/01/2012 at 18:05, Good Times Grimes said:

I have never seen a team I follow in ANY sport win it all...I sure know how to pick them.

I know how you feel.

The Vics and Aussies aside (funnily enough, even though I follow the cricket and get excited by the wins, for some reason cricket trophies etc. just don't really sit well/properly with me - goes against the grain of why I watch the game IMO).

Having said that, I am a White Sox fan. I met my, now fiance(e?), in early September of '05 to see them win the Series in the end of October. But, having never been to a game and only following them for a month and a half, doesn't really cut it.

In terms of the NHL, I follow the Flyers. A magical run in 2010 just fell short, bit of a disappointing end to last season. Seem to be going well this year again.

Silly story about why I follow them - in about '98-'99 my brother and I bought NHL '99 (think that was it) with a Flyers player (Lindros?) on the front and they were the default team you played with - it was love from then on.

  On 19/01/2012 at 23:33, 45HG16 said:

In terms of the NHL, I follow the Flyers. A magical run in 2010 just fell short, bit of a disappointing end to last season. Seem to be going well this year again.
Silly story about why I follow them - in about '98-'99 my brother and I bought NHL '99 (think that was it) with a Flyers player (Lindros?) on the front and they were the default team you played with - it was love from then on.

Eric "concussion" Lindros. He had all the potential in the world but couldn't seem to string together a full season. He played for Toronto in his last season and started as the best player on the team, but unfortunately he fell victim to the concussion again.
2010 was a great run for the Flyers, they seemed to come out of nowhere. Similar to St Louis in the MLB last year. They've lost many of the stars that they had from that run, but have somehow maintained their position as one of the top teams in the league. Very impressive management, really.

Edited November 25, 20159 yr by Good Times Grimes

  On 19/01/2012 at 23:33, 45HG16 said:

In terms of the NHL, I follow the Flyers.

You must be a happy boy today. What a great start to the playoffs (unless you follow one of today's three losers).

I've been a Sharks fan since the club's opening season (bought a hat, Sharks is about as Australian a mascot as you're going to get), and have followed them passionately since. It's been a frustrating but enjoyable journey. I've managed to get to a couple of games at the Shark Tank and seen us play in LA as well. (As a side story for Good Times Grimes I managed to get to a couple of Leafs games in Toronto and it's a magic experience - one of them was a game in January 2011 when Toronto scored with 12 seconds to go to bring the game into OT and the ACC erupted. Brilliant.) Anyway, the Sharks have given me good value in the sense that we've made the playoffs 14 of the last 15 seasons and have piled up the regular season wins. That has been tempered though with some soul-crushing playoff exits since 2004, and I think we've outshot our opponents in every series we've lost since then. Upset by low-seed Calgary in the 2004 WCF as our former goaltender Kiprusoff outplayed Nabokov in a year we really should have won the cup, ousted by 8th seeded Edmonton in the second round 2006 after leading the series 2-0 before losing game 3 in triple OT and blowing a 2-goal lead in game 4, upset by Dallas in the second round in 2008 and losing the deciding game 6 in quadruple OT, winning the Presidents Trophy in 2009 only to lose to Anaheim in the first round, and then falling in the WCF the last 2 seasons (game 5 against Vancouver was particularly brutal). That said, I shouldn't put forward a "woe is me" story - we've been a well-run club and a very honest team. Stanley Cups are incredibly tough to win and for whatever reason - poor goaltending, our best players not performing to their optimum when it counts, insufficient facial hair - we just haven't gotten it done. I'm struggling to contain my nervousness/excitement about tomorrow's series opener in St. Louis, and while we're rightly underdogs, I'm hoping that like a teal and black-clad AFL club who copied our questionable colour scheme did in 2004, we can go all the way with a team slightly past our best after years of regular season dominance marred by postseason failure. Bring it on.

  On 12/04/2012 at 12:13, pantaloons said:

You must be a happy boy today. What a great start to the playoffs (unless you follow one of today's three losers).

I've been a Sharks fan since the club's opening season (bought a hat, Sharks is about as Australian a mascot as you're going to get), and have followed them passionately since. It's been a frustrating but enjoyable journey. I've managed to get to a couple of games at the Shark Tank and seen us play in LA as well. (As a side story for Good Times Grimes I managed to get to a couple of Leafs games in Toronto and it's a magic experience - one of them was a game in January 2011 when Toronto scored with 12 seconds to go to bring the game into OT and the ACC erupted. Brilliant.) Anyway, the Sharks have given me good value in the sense that we've made the playoffs 14 of the last 15 seasons and have piled up the regular season wins. That has been tempered though with some soul-crushing playoff exits since 2004, and I think we've outshot our opponents in every series we've lost since then. Upset by low-seed Calgary in the 2004 WCF as our former goaltender Kiprusoff outplayed Nabokov in a year we really should have won the cup, ousted by 8th seeded Edmonton in the second round 2006 after leading the series 2-0 before losing game 3 in triple OT and blowing a 2-goal lead in game 4, upset by Dallas in the second round in 2008 and losing the deciding game 6 in quadruple OT, winning the Presidents Trophy in 2009 only to lose to Anaheim in the first round, and then falling in the WCF the last 2 seasons (game 5 against Vancouver was particularly brutal). That said, I shouldn't put forward a "woe is me" story - we've been a well-run club and a very honest team. Stanley Cups are incredibly tough to win and for whatever reason - poor goaltending, our best players not performing to their optimum when it counts, insufficient facial hair - we just haven't gotten it done. I'm struggling to contain my nervousness/excitement about tomorrow's series opener in St. Louis, and while we're rightly underdogs, I'm hoping that like a teal and black-clad AFL club who copied our questionable colour scheme did in 2004, we can go all the way with a team slightly past our best after years of regular season dominance marred by postseason failure. Bring it on.

Good luck to San Jose there 'pantaloons' . I follow the Canucks mainly because my Cousin moved there in the early 90's . Gotta love playoff hockey hey . Though I just watched Vancouver lose their opener to L.A 2 - 4 . Not a good start !

You're right about winning the Stanley Cup . It seems there's not a great deal of home ice advantage and I'm not sure the seeds mean much at all . And having 16 teams in the playoffs makes it a tough ask . If a team can hit form at the right time , then even a 7 or 8 seed can win the whole thing . And there's always lots of upsets .

For those with Foxtel the next game to be shown is game 2 between Pittsburgh and the Flyers - Sat morning 9.30am . Ideal .

Cheers

Edited April 12, 201213 yr by Macca

Nice one, Macca. Plenty of time for the Canucks to turn it around. I've seen a few Kings games at Staples, albeit regular season games. While it's easily the best indoor stadium I've ever been to, it wasn't an intimidating environment at the games I saw there. Good luck. You're right about getting hot at the right time. Especially in net. If you've got a goaltender in insane form you can go a long way.

Early days as we're only one game into each series, except the yet to commence Devils-Panthers series, but plenty of wins by road teams thus far. Obviously a great result for the Sharks today. We traded Heatley for Havlat in the offseason for the very reason that Havlat was a much better playoff performer, and he's gone and scored two goals for us today including the double overtime winner.

The Pittsburgh/Philadelphia series has been insane in terms of fights, hits, outrageous scores and unpredictability. I'd be more than happy to see the Penguins ousted from the playoffs tomorrow.

I'm also very anti-Vancouver, and happy to see them down 3-0 (Sorry Macca). It would be a great upset if LA could sweep them.

It's going to be very interesting to see who takes out the cup this year. My early pick is the Flyers, but they'll need Bryzgalov or Bobrovsky to give them some stability in goal.

This is such a great time of year for sports: NHL playoffs, NBA playoffs in a couple of weeks, MLB season has just begun, the Masters, and of course AFL.

Pantaloons- Who were the Leafs playing when you went recently? I was also at a game in early 2011 against Calgary in which they came back in the final seconds, but I can't remember which month it was in. I think they ended up losing it 2-1. I really hope the Leafs come good some time soon, they are the only team to have missed the playoffs every year since the 2004-2005 lockout.

Edited April 16, 201213 yr by Good Times Grimes

  On 16/04/2012 at 19:52, Good Times Grimes said:

Pantaloons- Who were the Leafs playing when you went recently? I was also at a game in early 2011 against Calgary in which they came back in the final seconds, but I can't remember which month it was in. I think they ended up losing it 2-1. I really hope the Leafs come good some time soon, they are the only team to have missed the playoffs every year since the 2004-2005 lockout.

You're kidding! Yep, same game - January 15 v Calgary. A friend of mine from Toronto is pretty well connected and hooked myself, my wife and another friend up with tickets two rows from the glass pretty much on the goalline at the end Toronto scored their one and only goal. I wore my Dees scarf - pity we missed each other! Great night.

Don't worry GTG , there's a lot of hate and grudges when it comes to Ice Hockey . Especially with all the goons and "legal" fights that go on . It never ceases to amaze me . Those Maple Leafs have got a rich history with Stanley Cup victories but they will need to start getting into the last 16 . Fans can get awfully impatient .

My cousin reckons he can find a reason to hate every other team !! Might be the only sport in the world where this is the case . Apparently the ratings are up 50% in the States . This is probably due to the "Big City" teams being in it but there has to be a "Bit of biffo" factor yeah ?

Did a little "look see" at the records of the 1 and 2 seeds for the last 10 completed years of the Stanley Cup . 21 of 40 teams didn't make it past the 2nd round ! Does that sound like I'm making an excuse for the Canucks ? You betcha ! Have to win tomorrow .

Got a couple of mates who follow the Bruins and Penguins so there's other teams I've got an interest in . And those Sharks need a win pantaloons !

It's been great viewing so far - watched the Bruins win a beauty yesterday and game 4 of the LA / Canucks series is on Fox1 from midday tomorrow . C'mon Vancouver - do something !

  On 18/04/2012 at 06:07, pantaloons said:

You're kidding! Yep, same game - January 15 v Calgary. A friend of mine from Toronto is pretty well connected and hooked myself, my wife and another friend up with tickets two rows from the glass pretty much on the goalline at the end Toronto scored their one and only goal. I wore my Dees scarf - pity we missed each other! Great night.

That is too bad! Sounds like you're pretty lucky to have a friend with connections. I've been to about 6 games in the past three seasons. Not very many considering there have been 123 home games in that time. I can't stand how in Toronto businesses get a hold of the tickets and use them all to entertain clients-- it means that real fans don't get many opportunities to go out to games.

The upside of the Leafs not making the playoffs in so long is that people are more willing to sell their tickets and make a profit rather than attend and see a losing team. So if you're desperate to get to a game you can sit in the nosebleeds and pay $140!

Hopefully the Sharks can finally deliver this year. I've often picked them to win the cup only to see them go out in the first couple of weeks of the playoffs. Who do you think is going to win it all this year?

  On 18/04/2012 at 08:30, Macca said:

Don't worry GTG , there's a lot of hate and grudges when it comes to Ice Hockey . Especially with all the goons and "legal" fights that go on . It never ceases to amaze me . Those Maple Leafs have got a rich history with Stanley Cup victories but they will need to start getting into the last 16 . Fans can get awfully impatient .

My cousin reckons he can find a reason to hate every other team !! Might be the only sport in the world where this is the case . Apparently the ratings are up 50% in the States . This is probably due to the "Big City" teams being in it but there has to be a "Bit of biffo" factor yeah ?

Did a little "look see" at the records of the 1 and 2 seeds for the last 10 completed years of the Stanley Cup . 21 of 40 teams didn't make it past the 2nd round ! Does that sound like I'm making an excuse for the Canucks ? You betcha ! Have to win tomorrow .

Got a couple of mates who follow the Bruins and Penguins so there's other teams I've got an interest in . And those Sharks need a win pantaloons !

It's been great viewing so far - watched the Bruins win a beauty yesterday and game 4 of the LA / Canucks series is on Fox1 from midday tomorrow . C'mon Vancouver - do something !

That Canucks/Kings game should be a good one to watch. I would be surprised if the Kings could pull off the sweep. I think Vancouver will win the next two games and L.A. will win the series in Game 6.

Penguins are up 9-3 at the moment in Game 4 at the end of the 2nd period. That series has been so high scoring and unpredictable... some of the most exciting playoff hockey I've ever seen. Even though I hate the Penguins and Crosby, I hope they can win the next couple of games just so the series keeps going.

Interesting stat I heard today: Last year there were 7 suspensions over the course of the playoffs. This year there have been 8 in the first 7 days!

Big night tonight. Canucks win to stay alive. Series now 3-1 for L.A. and heading back to Vancouver for Game 5.

Senators win 3-2 in overtime. Series is now 2-2 heading back to New York.

Pittsburgh thumps the Flyers 10-3 to make the series 3-1 in Philadelphia's favour. Heading back to Pittsburgh for Game 5.

The other series are:

St Louis leading San Jose 2-1. Game 4 in the Shark Tank tomorrow.

Phoenix leading Chicago 2-1. Game 4 in Chicago tomorrow.

Nashville leading Detroit 3-1 with a chance to win the series on Friday at home.

Reigning champion Boston leading 2-1 over Washington with Game 4 in Washington tomorrow night.

Finally, Florida and New Jersey (probably the least eventful of all so far) NJ have a chance to tie the series at 2 at home tomorrow night.

My picks for the winners of this round (I know it's a bit late but I'll do it at the start of Round 2)

L.A Kings

New York Rangers

Philadelphia Flyers

St Louis Blues

Chicago Blackhawks

Nashville Predators

Boston Bruins

Florida Panthers

  On 19/04/2012 at 01:39, Good Times Grimes said:

Hopefully the Sharks can finally deliver this year. I've often picked them to win the cup only to see them go out in the first couple of weeks of the playoffs. Who do you think is going to win it all this year?

I don't have much confidence. We blew numerous chances over the last eight seasons unfortunately.

  On 19/04/2012 at 08:55, pantaloons said:

I don't have much confidence. We blew numerous chances over the last eight seasons unfortunately.

Yep, lot's of unlucky/bad mistakes. My personal favourite is this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PAQQyNw1lg

Seriously, that just sums it all up - crushing loss in overtime, own goal, Nabokov stinking it up when it counted most. His blatant choking cost us at least one cup. Thankfully we won the next three games against Colorado to take the series in question.

  On 19/04/2012 at 05:14, Good Times Grimes said:

Pittsburgh thumps the Flyers 10-3 to make the series 3-1 in Philadelphia's favour. Heading back to Pittsburgh for Game 5.

Pittsburgh have a horrible habit of leading, then losing especially while playing on their home ice......

That being said, as always Go Pens!!!

  On 20/04/2012 at 14:17, QueenC said:

That being said, as always Go Pens!!!

Saved by their goalie......

Yeah Pens !!!

  On 21/04/2012 at 08:55, QueenC said:

Saved by their goalie......

Yeah Pens !!!

Ugh don't tell me you're a fan of crybaby Crosby!

On another note: Lidstrom may have played his final game after the Predators eliminated the Wings last night.

St Louis could finish off San Jose tonight in Game 5 while Phoenix could eliminate Chicago.

Does anyone have any thoughts on Raffi Torres' 25 game suspension?

Here's a video for those who haven't seen the incident:

Sharks lost 3-1 tonight and are out. Washington beat Boston to take a 3-2 lead, and Ottawa is on the verge of knocking out the Rangers after winning 3-2 on the road. Florida beat New Jersey 3-0 and are one win away from the conference semi-finals. Game 5 of Chicago and PHX has just started.

It would be interesting if neither Vancouver or Boston made it past the first round of the playoffs. I wonder when the last time was that neither of the previous year's finalists advanced past Round 1.

  On 22/04/2012 at 02:32, Good Times Grimes said:

Sharks lost 3-1 tonight and are out. Washington beat Boston to take a 3-2 lead, and Ottawa is on the verge of knocking out the Rangers after winning 3-2 on the road. Florida beat New Jersey 3-0 and are one win away from the conference semi-finals. Game 5 of Chicago and PHX has just started.

It would be interesting if neither Vancouver or Boston made it past the first round of the playoffs. I wonder when the last time was that neither of the previous year's finalists advanced past Round 1.

Hell mate . you're quick to have a go at everybody else's team . Your own mob stink . Toronto are not even in the playoffs and haven't been for years . You're not exactly in a position of strength hey ?

The Maple Leafs choke before they even get to the dance floor . Now that's what I call choking .

Oh , and maybe if your team had somebody of Crosby's talent you might make it to the last 16 instead of being the "Also-rans" that your lot are !

Cheers

Edited April 22, 201213 yr by Macca

  On 22/04/2012 at 03:34, Macca said:

Hell mate . you're quick to have a go at everybody else's team . Your own mob stink . Toronto are not even in the playoffs and haven't been for years . You're not exactly in a position of strength hey ?

The Maple Leafs choke before they even get to the dance floor . Now that's what I call choking .

Haha schadenfreude is part of being a Leafs fan. Well aware that we're crap, and the joys that we do get are seeing other teams fail as well.

I'm a fan of upsets though. If the Leafs aren't in I go for the underdogs. And anyone playing Ottawa.

  On 22/04/2012 at 03:42, Good Times Grimes said:

Haha schadenfreude is part of being a Leafs fan. Well aware that we're crap, and the joys that we do get are seeing other teams fail as well.

I'm a fan of upsets though. If the Leafs aren't in I go for the underdogs. And anyone playing Ottawa.

Fair enough GTG . I'm guilty of that in the AFL so I can hardly talk !!

Schadenfreude alive and well . Go Cunucks !

I heard the other day that only 3 out of 116 teams have come back from 3 nil deficits and won a playoff series . Think it was Tony Kornheiser on PTI who said it . On one of those 3 occasions it was Toronto , your team "GTG" , who came from 3 nil down to win the Stanley Cup from Detroit in 1942 .

Well , even though the odds aren't great , the Penguins have forced a game 6 and I'm not giving up on Vancouver yet .

Ya just never know . Anything can happen in this wild and crazy sport !

Tough luck there 'pantaloons' with those Sharks . Barry Melrose has given St Louis a big rap . The Blues could go all-the-way !

Game 5 , Canucks / LA Kings , Fox 2 today 10am EST .

Edited April 22, 201213 yr by Macca

  On 21/04/2012 at 20:38, Good Times Grimes said:

Ugh don't tell me you're a fan of crybaby Crosby!

Oh for gods sake, I am as it happens.....

You may want to have a little more respect for that .

  On 22/04/2012 at 16:53, QueenC said:

Oh for gods sake, I am as it happens..... You may want to have a little more respect for that .

I'm sorry. I fully respect how good he is. By far the most skilled player in the game. He just tends to be a bit of a favourite with the refs. Similar to one C Judd.

Penguins are out. By far the best series I've seen...it had everything.