Who will win the Stanley Cup?

casper-

Montreal is _long_ overdue, but Ottawa came so close last year ...

Exit

I don't know much about hockey, just a passing interest. But you don't rate the Flames at all?

casper-

For some strange reason I've never had much interest in either Alberta teams (Calgary or Edmonton) ... even Vancouver was just thrown in the poll as an afterthought

Exit

Ah, I was just wondering. They are very much the outsiders aren't they though? They'd be my sentimental choice.

cerebus

Just wanted to make it clear that my vote was for Vancouver and most definitely not the Leafs

Exit, the Flames are up against Vancouver in round 1 of the playoffs. I think the Canucks might be a little bit too strong (they pushed Colorado out of top place in the Western Conference's Northwest division this year - first time the Avs have not been division champions in a long time!).

Having said that, any team with Jerome Iginla can't be written off! Add in the fact that Calgary's goalkeeper Kiprusoff looks pretty good and you never know, they might pull off an upset.

Game 4 is tonight in Calgary - Vancouver lead the best-of-seven series 2-1.

The_Ditch

Little chance this will go to Canada - Toronto is probably the best bet.
Some "useless" American team will win. Hopefully, it will be the Bruins who are 3-2 up against Montreal.
Perhaps it will be Philadelphia or Detroit once again.

casper-

Originally posted by The_Ditch
Little chance this will go to Canada - Toronto is probably the best bet.
Some "useless" American team will win. Hopefully, it will be the Bruins who are 3-2 up against Montreal.
Perhaps it will be Philadelphia or Detroit once again.

I doubt Toronto has more of a chance than Ottawa .. it's just whoever gets out of that series.

Boston's going down

casper-

Well Theodore prevailed and Montreal is on to kick Tampa Bay's a**

Sucks about vancouver losing though .. although we were losing one Canadian team last night regardless. I suspect I'll have to stay up till 3 again tonight to watch game 7 of Ottawa/Toronto.

CBC had an article about how sales at the Beer Store in Ontario have jumped 50% during the Battle of Ontario ..hehehe

The_Ditch

Montreal were the better team over the seven games. Joe Thornton had a very poor series. Still it was the most encouraging year for the Bruins in many years. One could ask that if they were to build from this, they might be better next year. But will there even be a NHL season next year?

I hope Montreal beat Tampa. Personally, I would like to see Toronto make the finals. The fans there deserve it. A Montreal- Toronto semi-final would be huge in Canada I would imagine.

Mossy Monk

i need to get me some US sports coverage

cerebus

Good show by Montreal. I'm pleased to see them go through. Now they just have to deal with Martin St. Louis!

I thought Vancouver were going to manage to win their game last night. Matt Cooke scored with 5.7 seconds left in the third period to make the score 2-2 and send the game into overtime - should have given the Canucks the momentum they needed. Unfortunately, Calgary had a powerplay and scored about a minute and a half into OT.

Fair play to Calgary - to be honest, they looked like they wanted it more.

Maybe next year Vancouver will make a run... though I think there might be some team rebuilding required. The core of the current Vancouver team just doesn't seem to have what it takes.

The_Ditch

What "next year"? It looks like the NHL will close down this fall, and nobody can guess when it will reopen.
The league has major financial problems, since it relys on gate money for almost all of its revenue. It cannot continue to keep paying the players the same type of enormous salaries that the other major leagues are doing.
Boston is probably one of a few clubs that are in a strong financial position.

casper-

Originally posted by The_Ditch
I hope Montreal beat Tampa. Personally, I would like to see Toronto make the finals. The fans there deserve it. A Montreal- Toronto semi-final would be huge in Canada I would imagine.

Looks like your montreal-toronto semi-final is possible now

cerebus

Originally posted by casper-
Looks like your montreal-toronto semi-final is possible now

Unfotunately not any more. Montreal crashed out last night, beaten in four games by Tampa Bay.

Detroit and Calgary are tied at 2-2 in their western semi-final...

Leafs managed a win against the Flyers to make it 2-1, and San Jose seem to have a lock on their series at 3-1 against the Avalanche.