2005 Memorial Cup

[Mozy]

reigning champs look to have it in tough...what happened...Londond the onle 2 and oh team thats decent good to see rimouski didnt lose to the 67's that would have been an embarassment. Man that kid has this sixth sense for passing he can always find the open man....its amazing he has this gift for passing freaking crazy

[Grizzly]

Yep ... pretty tough now for Kelowna ... hopefully they can squeak it out but ...


Grizz

[Mozy]

hopefully they can squeak it out but ...

...but the odds are stacked agaisnt them because no team has ever won from down 0 - 2 then again that is what they said about boston and other teams that have pulled off similar , for lack of a better word, miracles

[Grizzly]

Well ... its all over for them, couldn't make the comeback ... too bad ... should be a London/Rimouski final ....talking about come backs though ....

LIverpool down 3-0 at half against AC MIlan ... comes back with 3 goals in the second half and wins in shoot outs ... first time in 50 years of UEFA Cup. Anyone watch the game ... ???

Grizz

[Madcombinepilot]

LIverpool down 3-0 at half against AC MIlan ... comes back with 3 goals in the second half and wins in shoot outs ... first time in 50 years of UEFA Cup. Anyone watch the game

it was awesome!
I thought they were cooked at halftime, and after drinking a bunch of beer, I suddenly woke up to a 3-2 game!

loved it!

[tantalum]

Thus far my impressions....

Hockey in HD is awesome!

The officiating has been downright terrible in nearly every game. What's with the refs always getting in the way of the puck and/or players? It happens several times a game. unacceptable.

London is a powerhouse at both ends of the rink it seems.

Rimouski only plays the puck...terrible positional defensive play.

Crosby takes a huge amount of abuse...and this is nothing compared to some of the stuff he took during the regular season. Of course it's expected and he takes it and dishes some out as well.

Crosby is a pretty darn good board player and gets involved in all traffic areas....hardly the perimeter player some like to paint him as.

Perry looks to be a player. This year was a coming out year despite being a first overall pick two years ago.

[Cookie La Rue]

Liverpool

[Mozy]

London is a powerhouse at both ends of the rink it seems.

touche.....i cant beleive kelowna dropped the first 3...then again goes to show your second string goalie can only get you so far....London will win for the simple reason that they have amazing D, stellar O and they have a better goalie...unless rimouski gets an unbeleiveable mnumber of PP's then they wont win because they dont have the tending it takes and as shown earlier london beat them

[tantalum]

London is a powerhouse at both ends of the rink it seems.

touche.....i cant believe kelowna dropped the first 3...then again goes to show your second string goalie can only get you so far....London will win for the simple reason that they have amazing D, stellar O and they have a better goalie...unless rimouski gets an unbelievable number of PP's then they wont win because they don't have the tending it takes and as shown earlier london beat them

I'm not so sure it's the goaltending for Rimouski. Desjardins has been good all year...facing 36 shots a game though not as good as either Coleman and Dennis have been. Though the biggest thing for Rimouski is how that entire blueline just plays the puck and not the body. They are constantly fishing for the puck instead of concentrating on positional play. The forwards outside of the Crosby line aren't any better. But the memorial cup is all about getting hot for the semi-final and/or final and all three teams left in this have guys who can score big goals, goaltenders who can make big stops and players that can make huge mistakes.

Kelowna looked disinterested in playing beyond Bodie, Comeau and Card (weber didn't really impress me the way he has in the WJHC). I haven't seen Kelowna play this year (being in Moosehead country) but they really looked uninspired and thought that being the defending champs was going to be enough to get them through. It was a tough position for Westblom to be in. An 18 year old kid only a year removed from midget that was and is a backup goaltender. He really looked to be struggling in keeping up with the play for the entire game. His concentration and focus just didn't seem to be anywhere it needed to be in a tourney of this caliber. It was especially evident in that double OT game when he had trouble covering up pucks that were just lying there and other instances.

I should add....in addition to the refs getting in the way I have never seen so many bad bounces on an ice surface. There is quite honestly 3 or 4 bad bounces every game from the glass or boards.

[Jovorock]

Kelowna looked disinterested in playing beyond Bodie, Comeau and Card (weber didn't really impress me the way he has in the WJHC). but they really looked uninspired and thought that being the defending champs was going to be enough to get them through. It was a tough position for Westblom to be in. An 18 year old kid only a year removed from midget that was and is a backup goaltender..

Comeau is either playing great or he does stupid things and plays lazy. Each game in this tounament he took a bad penalty and he drives the fans crazy with his selfish play. Comeau has all the talent to make it but pisses it away with his lazy and stupid play.

I think Weber was injured or sick, he wasn't himself at all. In the Brandon series he was dominating, but in the Mem Cup he stuggled.

Westblom who just turned 18 played great in this tournament in a very pressured situation. He is technically a very good goalie, he just needs more playing time, twelve games during regular season isn't enough. Rumor has it that Yeomans will be traded so Westblom can get more time next year.

Lack of finish killed the Rockets in this series, they couldn't get a goal on a hot 67's goalie and it took five periods to lose. Five period killed them in game two verses London, this game was the only game the Rockets were outshot. Kelowna outshot both Ottawa and Rimouski, but just couldn't finish with a goal.

Kelowna will lose four good players, Moisenko, Deschamps, Palin and Weber next year. With majority of the team next year already going to two or three Memorial Cups, and with excellent young guys coming this team chould and should return to Moncton for the fourth year in a row.

I wouldn't say the Rockets were uninspired, I would say lack of puck luck and finish was the problem.

[Mozy]

I think Weber was injured or sick, he wasn't himself at all

weber IMO has been less than stellar since the WJ's his play has just constantly declined

I wouldn't say the Rockets were uninspired, I would say lack of puck luck and finish was the problem.

definitely havin problems finishing....did anyone see the number of breakaways they had which they not only didnt capitalize on but they missed the net on most of them...however im still convinced that its because they didnt have Yeomans...

[tantalum]

I disagree. I saw a team generate chances yes but a team that didn't commit to putting the puck in the net. It seems a strange thing to say I know but it seemed that they just weren't focused on making the play as they should have been. Some call it puck luck I suppose I think it was a lack of focus and commitment all around.

[Madcombinepilot]

I disagree. I saw a team generate chances yes but a team that didn't commit to putting the puck in the net. It seems a strange thing to say I know but it seemed that they just weren't focused on making the play as they should have been. Some call it puck luck I suppose I think it was a lack of focus and commitment all around.

Could just be that some of the leaders were getting tired and forgot to lead. It has been a long year for some of these kids........

[Mozy]

I saw a team generate chances yes but a team that didn't commit to putting the puck in the net.

thats what i was saying. I wasnt saying they werent generating chances they just werent capitalizing on their chances