Sports discussions: Football, Pie throwing, Chinese chequers, etc.

[Cookie Monster]

Yeah, too many missed chances to reduce that difference and the fucking refs are always there...

Wait, are we talking about Arsenal or Madrid here

[Nick]

Okay.. I'm finally done, that took me various sites and apologies to people. It took quite a long time. But I'm finally finished eating my words. Arsenal deserved the win there. They were the better team from the start to the finish. Wenger and his boys finally got a win against us again. Next up is Schalke and another big one vs. Chelsea. And We better win that one!

[Gypsy]

So who's ready for Barca to camp? I know I am!

[Panda Man]

Ok, I'm done with the thread title

[Drageuth]

Recap:

Boston won the game against Philadelphia last night/yesterday/whatever time it was played at. They are currently leading the series 2-0.
San Jose is leading the series against Detroit 2-0.
Tampa Bay is leading the series against Washington 2-0.
Vancouver and Nashville are tied at 1 game each.

Tampa Bay v. Washington is tonight at... some time. I can't keep track of timezones anymore. I think the game starts at 4PM my time.
Vancouver v. Nashville is tonight at 6PM my time.
Boston v. Philly and Detroid v. San Jose play tomorrow. All of these are the third games in the season.

Ironically, the Vancouver Canucks were the leading scorers in the regular season, but have the least number of goals out of all the remaining teams in the Playoffs. Burrows has been moved to the top line with the Sedin twins, with the hope that his style will give the Sedins a bit more confidence and chances with the puck. This is vital against an outstanding goaltender like Pekka Rinne, who played phenomenally in the game on Saturday night, when Nashville beat Vancouver 2-1, finally sneaking a puck past an exhausted Luongo late in the second overtime. Rinne made some outstanding saves, and it is fair to say that he is one of the main reasons that Nashville, for the first time in franchise history, has made it to the second round of the Playoffs. Definitely a force to be reckoned with, and one that the twins, and all of the top scorers for the Canucks, need to learn how to beat.

Surprisingly, another goaltender has been the key ingredient in getting Tampa Bay so far into the playoffs. Dwayne Roloson, the oldest goaltender in the playoffs at the moment, is a shining star and has arguably performed the best out of all the remaining goaltenders -- which is saying a lot. He had an amazing playoff run back in 2006, where he carried the 8th seeded Edmonton Oilers through to the Stanley Cup Finals before an errant play left him injured for the remainder of the playoffs, and backup goaltender Markennen stepped in to carry the time all the way to Game #7 before finally losing to the Carolina Hurricanes, who won the cup that year. Roloson is performing the same feat again this year, carrying the 5th place Lightning through to the second round and maintaining a two games to none lead over the 1st seeded Washington Capitals. The Lightning are playing magnificently and are only two wins away from returning to the Eastern Conference finals, which they haven't seen since 2004.

Predictions:

Vancouver v. Nashville - I think Vancouver is going to win tonight, 2-1. I'm thinking it's going to go to one overtime.
Tampa Bay v. Washington - As much as I hate to say it, I think that Washington is going to come out guns a-blazin' this time and beat the Lightning. I'm thinking the final score is going to be 4-2 in favour of the Capitals.



My prediction for Western and Eastern conference finals:

Vancouver v. San Jose (Western)
Boston v. Tampa Bay (Eastern)



Should be some good games coming up.

[Fer!]

Loving the new shirt Elmdy-doo.

[Elmdor Rizer]

Loving the new shirt Elmdy-doo.

Me too. ^_____^ And I didn't actually get one this season (I wanted the away shirt, and figured I could wait until I actually had time to go to London, but all the non-super-fat sizes were gone ), so I'll be sure to get it fast. :>

Have you seen the leaked away shirt though? Looked pretty awful.

Sorry, Cookies. I don't know which team I hope loses the most now...

[Cookie Monster]

Me too. ^_____^ And I didn't actually get one this season (I wanted the away shirt, and figured I could wait until I actually had time to go to London, but all the non-super-fat sizes were gone ), so I'll be sure to get it fast. :>

Have you seen the leaked away shirt though? Looked pretty awful.

Sorry, Cookies. I don't know which team I hope loses the most now...

Thanks, Elmy but Şenes Erzik already decided that only the Unicef team will win euro titles this year :/
Did you see the goal Higuain scored, pretty good, wasn't it?

[Drageuth]

Every single time the sportscasters talk about playing at someone else's arena, they always -- ALWAYS -- say "this is a tough building to play in."

We fucking get it. Most people at a game are there for that city's team. Shaddafuckup already.

[Gypsy]

Every single time the sportscasters talk about playing at someone else's arena, they always -- ALWAYS -- say "this is a tough building to play in."

We fucking get it. Most people at a game are there for that city's team. Shaddafuckup already.

Aye, and what about the places that are easy to win in because the home team sucks? Anyway, pretty lame so far with this round of the NHL playoffs. I most wanted the Flyers and Wings to win and well...yeah...

Loving what Tampa is doing though.

As for the Canucks series, Pekka Rinne is ridiculous, but not enough to stop Vancouver from advancing.

[Drageuth]

Aye, and what about the places that are easy to win in because the home team sucks? Anyway, pretty lame so far with this round of the NHL playoffs. I most wanted the Flyers and Wings to win and well...yeah...

Even with some of the worst teams in the league (take Edmonton and Colorado as an example), the buildings are notorious for having rowdy and very faithful fans. Even if the team itself doesn't put up much of a fight, sometimes just the atmosphere of the arena is enough to through some lesser players for a loop. Most teams (not all, but most) win more games at home than they do on the road. Looking at the standings this year, there were only five or six teams that didn't win more at home than away. Edmonton did, and Colorado did. Hell, even Florida and the Islanders did. Doesn't mean anything about the team that's actually there, it's the mythical "home ice advantage."

Loving what Tampa is doing though.

This, so much this.

I also love that Roloson has gray in his beard.

As for the Canucks series, Pekka Rinne is ridiculous, but not enough to stop Vancouver from advancing.

You know, I don't think I watched a single Nashville game in the regular season, and I'm starting to regret that. Rinne is freaking amazing. Even with the game tonight, he really only made one mistake that I picked up on, which led to a goal for the Canucks. But beyond that, he has been practically unbeatable.

I wish I could put more odds in favour of Nashville, because I'm really only cheering for Vancouver because they are the local and Canadian team (I live just outside of Vancouver). But when Nashville goes seventeen minutes without a shot on goal... they can't win the series doing that. They might win another game, but I don't see them making this a run to Game 7 against the Canucks.

Definitely gonna keep my eyes on Rinne next season, though.

[Fer!]

Me too. ^_____^ And I didn't actually get one this season (I wanted the away shirt, and figured I could wait until I actually had time to go to London, but all the non-super-fat sizes were gone ), so I'll be sure to get it fast. :>

Have you seen the leaked away shirt though? Looked pretty awful.

I'm a United fan, yet I would like to have an Arsenal jersey, I like their designs, but I find it hard that they will top the 2005 one, it was beautiful. I wouldn't wear a Chelsea jersey though. They're horrid.

I haven't but I hope it's not a horrible flashy yellow jersey with blue shorts.

Did you see the goal Higuain scored, pretty good, wasn't it?

Won't comment on the match, but I liked how Madrid played without Pepe. Oh, and it's good to see Higuain back, I love that guy. <3

Here's hoping Man U don't do anything stupid and lose, and if they advance I expect them to play a better game than the last time, which, honestly isn't that hard, just try to do some football dammit.

[Elmdor Rizer]

T'was a crap call, Cookies. Bizarre, really.

Fer: I wish.

[Fer!]

What the shit?

[Elmdor Rizer]

What the shit?

I know, right? Although it will probably look slightly less awful when worn, but still.

And, yes, the Chelsea shirts are always horrible. Looks like some sort of armour.