Eastern Conference: Columbus Blue Jackets (W1) vs Pittsburgh Penguins (M1)

[Fast Tony DeNiro]

Philly or New York will beat Pittsburgh in the next round. Well, New York will for sure, and Philly will as long as Steve Mason plays competently.

[The Comish]

Well that was an entertaining series! The fans in Columbus seemed to be revelling in playoff atmosphere. CBJ took a step forward during this series. Getting rid of Nash and bringing in some gritty less-talented players was the right idea to start making waves in the playoffs.

Pens are going to be on the MAF meltdown watch the rest of the playoffs.

[agentzero]

You and your silly assumptions. Big_Ev doesn't 'cheer' for teams. That would involve positive emotions.

Right. Typo.

Who will you jeer for once they're each eliminated? lol.

[mister_mcgoo]

Pens are going to be on the MAF meltdown watch the rest of the playoffs.

Agree with this, I think especially if they play the Rangers they're going to have trouble. Lundy can steal games all on his own and Fleury can lose games all on his own.

[suvojitde]

While I agree that the other team (NYR/PHI) will likely have a better chance of winning the series against PIT in Rd 2, I still believe that PIT has a better chance against NYR than against PHI.

[agentzero]

Pens are going to be on the MAF meltdown watch the rest of the playoffs.

I agree many will, but I will be in his corner unless they play Montréal. He showed a lot of fight this series, while many Pens (#Crosby, Neal) struggled and pulled Houdinis... The spotlight should shift to them IMO. If you want Fleury to have success, then stop putting the microscope only on him and on no one else on that Pens team..

Go Habs Go! But enough Fleury bashing already. Let's hope for some success for the good people out there (and for failure for Cooke lol).

[Big Ev]

Pittsburgh didn't win or lose because of fleury. They have no depth and no identity. Bylsma is possibly the worst coach in the league right now.

[fungchen3]

They have no depth

How can the Pens have good depth when they're paying Sid 8.7, Malkin 8.7, Neal 5, Martin 5, Fleury 5 and another handful of guys 3.75? Their team model doesn't allow depth. They need to get lucky and have young, cheap talent take on important roles and achieve. I still can't believe this team gave Letang a new contract that will pay him a 7.25 mil cap hit starting next year.

[mister_mcgoo]

How can the Pens have good depth when they're paying Sid 8.7, Malkin 8.7, Neal 5, Martin 5, Fleury 5 and another handful of guys 3.75? Their team model doesn't allow depth. They need to get lucky and have young, cheap talent take on important roles and achieve. I still can't believe this team gave Letang a new contract that will pay him a 7.25 mil cap hit starting next year.

Yeah I could not agree more, the Pens have horrible cap management. They should have traded Letang while he had big name value instead of re-signing him to an albatross contract. They also shoulda let Fleury walk and acquired some young talented goalies (Schneider, Bernier, etc even a guy like Elliot could thrive in PIT) to fill that role. That's one their biggest problems is that they have sick centers that play with scrub wingers and their 3rd and 4th line are virtually non-existent compared to teams with some depth

[Fast Tony DeNiro]

How can the Pens have good depth when they're paying Sid 8.7, Malkin 8.7, Neal 5, Martin 5, Fleury 5 and another handful of guys 3.75? Their team model doesn't allow depth. They need to get lucky and have young, cheap talent take on important roles and achieve. I still can't believe this team gave Letang a new contract that will pay him a 7.25 mil cap hit starting next year.

While I do agree with you, this comment led me to check something out.

Just counting players with a cap hit of 5 million or more, the Pens spend 32.4 million on those contracts. The Blackhawks spend 35.1 million on them. This includes Crosby, Malkin, Neal, Martin, and Fleury for Pittsburgh and Toews, Kane, Sharp, Hossa, Seabrook, and Keith for Chicago. So as far as top-end contracts go, the Pens actually spend less than a team that has won two Stanley Cups in four years.

When you lower the threshold to 3 million, the Pens do pull ahead but it's still close. They spend 50 million on players over 3 million, while the Hawks spend 45 million.

I'm not sure if these numbers really mean anything, but it does kinda show that spending your money top-heavy should not mean you can't fill out the rest of your roster. Which kind of leads it back to my original thought that maybe Shero is the problem.

[mister_mcgoo]

While I do agree with you, this comment led me to check something out.

Just counting players with a cap hit of 5 million or more, the Pens spend 32.4 million on those contracts. The Blackhawks spend 35.1 million on them. This includes Crosby, Malkin, Neal, Martin, and Fleury for Pittsburgh and Toews, Kane, Sharp, Hossa, Seabrook, and Keith for Chicago. So as far as top-end contracts go, the Pens actually spend less than a team that has won two Stanley Cups in four years.

When you lower the threshold to 3 million, the Pens do pull ahead but it's still close. They spend 50 million on players over 3 million, while the Hawks spend 45 million.

I'm not sure if these numbers really mean anything, but it does kinda show that spending your money top-heavy should not mean you can't fill out the rest of your roster. Which kind of leads it back to my original thought that maybe Shero is the problem.

I guess it all depends on how you value the players...personally I'd take that Hawks group at that price over pretty much the rest of the league, it represents both quality and value. You can't say the same for the Pens

[The Comish]

I agree many will, but I will be in his corner unless they play Montréal. He showed a lot of fight this series

I agree with you and am hoping MAF doesn't have his annual spring meltdown, but even if you don't attribute those goals as "his fault", the fact is he didn't shut the door on the BJ's and they came back to where EVERYONE was THINKING it might happen. It gave CBJ confidence (because hey, you never know). Goalies that come up with the timely saves and shut the door when they need to (Grant Fuhr for example) have the reverse effect on their opponents, effectively demoralizing them and getting them to think, they'll NEVER score. So MAF has an uphill battle and will face unfair scrutiny at times, but he's earned it with multiple playoff meltdowns.

[agentzero]

I agree with you and am hoping MAF doesn't have his annual spring meltdown, but even if you don't attribute those goals as "his fault", the fact is he didn't shut the door on the BJ's and they came back to where EVERYONE was THINKING it might happen. It gave CBJ confidence (because hey, you never know). Goalies that come up with the timely saves and shut the door when they need to (Grant Fuhr for example) have the reverse effect on their opponents, effectively demoralizing them and getting them to think, they'll NEVER score. So MAF has an uphill battle and will face unfair scrutiny at times, but he's earned it with multiple playoff meltdowns.

Agree. I just like pulling for the guy I guess. Goalies are easy scapegoats is all, and are often blamed for team meltdowns but many times, if they quietly shut the door, they don't get noticed. It's a rough ride..

CBJ played a hell of a series and when those goals started going in they for sure smelled blood in the water, but Fleury couldn't help that and PIT was flat...But I agree if he miraculously makes those saves, it does wonders for his "rep" and keeps CBJ out of it.. But he essentially had to be miraculous. That's one heck of a standard, no?

It's just hard to see Fleury get tagged with meltdowns or meltdown watch because of a few past bad playoffs without other PIT players getting the same treatment, but who have had equal meltdowns. Just don't like the way things go when the mob goes out looking for a victim, in this case, BEFORE it actually happens lol. I heard someone say on the radio today that unless Fleury carries his team to the Cup Final he will forever be seen as a playoff failure! LMAO. Really? He has a cup (which he won in a 2-1 game lol) already and has plenty of time to win more.. but unless he gets his team at a place where only 2 of 30 teams can go every year, in such a competitive league, HE is forever labelled as a playoff failure? lol That's a little strong and I get that's the feeling around. But I'm pulling for him, if only for him to help me prove a point and for me little ol me to do the same for him.

Crosby better start putting the puck in the net.. But Go HABS GO!!