Round 1 Discussion (non Canucks)

[darren]

Say what you will about Burke, but some of his trades are starting to look pretty good now.

The Leaves' trade for Phil Kessel may or may not have been a good idea long term, but:
Phil Kessel has been money so far: 3G-1A, and the goals were huge.
Tyler Seguin: 0 points

If anything, Rask has been BETTER than Reimer in the games I've seen, so goaltending isn't the story.

There is STILL some room on the Leaves bandwagon, folks!!!
(unless you'd rather stew in your pathological hatred of all things Toronto)

[rats19]

Stewing is good darren, thanks

[ODB]

Of course I'm rooting for Toronto!

Hate the Leaf's less than I hate Boston....

Fuckin Chara lifting the cup in our barn.

Go Leaf's Go!

[Benjo]

The only other Canadian team I may root for is Ottawa. Love the way they're coached, the way they draft and their team play even with several stars injured. I don't recall too many other provinces getting on the Canucks bandwagon except for Montreal and only because they too hate Boston. Who gives a fuck anyway, most teams are 1/2 to 3/4 full of Canadians anyways.

[the Dogsalmon]

i have to admit it...as sick as it makes me feel i am pulling for the Leaves tonight...fuck the Bruins...

[Groovypippin]

I guess I'm wired differently than most here. I always pull for any Canadian team in the playoffs. Never understood this irrational hatred of fellow Canadians

[Aaronp18]

The Leaves' trade for Phil Kessel may or may not have been a good idea long term, but:
Phil Kessel has been money so far: 3G-1A, and the goals were huge.
Tyler Seguin: 0 points

Ummm don't forget it was Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton for Phil Kessel.

Leaves Suck!!

[herb]

The biggest reason I don't like the Leaves is because of Don Cherry.

Other than that, generally I cheer for the Canadian team over an American team every time.

I dislike Brad Marchand and the Boston Bruins more than I dislike Don Cherry, so I'll be pulling for Toronto tonight. Plus, I have a good buddy (Bruins fan) who goes on and on about the Bruins and I say fuck 'em!

[BurningBeard]

It will be interesting to see what the Blues do this summer.

They have been counting on Backes (29), Oshies (26), Perron (24) and Berglund (24) to step up and be those good first liners but it is looking like they are complimentary players rather than guys you build around though Berglund and Perron may yet develop some more but they need to develop in a hurry.

Are you thinking what they could trade with us to solve each others problems (if only partially at least ?)

Backes is a guy I'd love to see in a Canuck uniform, and apparently Gillis would too, because he signed him to an offer sheet in 2008. I find it hard to believe St. Louis would be putting their captain on the block though. Just think, if the Blues hadn't matched that offer sheet in 2008, not only would Backes be on the team but Gillis likely would have never picked up Bernier...

[Puck]

I don't like this dilemma much either. Is there any chance they could annihilate each other? Maybe they'll smash into each other hard enough to break apart into 3 minor league clubs, a collection of equipment and an elite ringette team. If not, there can be no real winner.

[Arachnid]

The Bruins didn't win the Stanley Cup, the Canucks lost it. Let's face it, we had the chance and they did everything and anything to win it. Boston use to be my favourite Original 6 before that series.
I have no problem with Toronto. It's the fans and media I can't stand. The fans think they will win it every year and it was clear that jealously drove the hate of Vancouver during our run. The media was also behind this if you read the papers here they clearly initiated a lot of the crap against us.
What drives me to not cheer for the Laughs this year is that they have to pay their dues. It's not a team you can get excited about. Kessel is a whiny little twerp. Dion likes sloppy seconds and Nonis is gunt. That said, I do like some of their young players and in a few years they will be a strong team in the East.

Go Bruins! Screw all the bandwagoneer Tarrana fans on here

[Cornuck]

I don't like this dilemma much either. Is there any chance they could annihilate each other? Maybe they'll smash into each other hard enough to break apart into 3 minor league clubs, a collection of equipment and an elite ringette team. If not, there can be no real winner.

I still like my idea of the their two planes crashing into each other mid-air.

[Aaronp18]

I still like my idea of the their two planes crashing into each other mid-air.

Boston did have a mechanical issue with their plane last night. Of course they waited the night in Tarrana to fix the problem.

So where were you during the game yesterday there Cornuck??

[Cornuck]

I still like my idea of the their two planes crashing into each other mid-air.

Boston did have a mechanical issue with their plane last night. Of course they waited the night in Tarrana to fix the problem.

So where were you during the game yesterday there Cornuck??

[tantalum]

Boston may be an interesting place if they do lose game 7. Yes they have the benefit of a game 7 Cup final victory a couple of years ago but you have to imagine another first round exit means the end of Julian as it likely will be the end for AV. Players have seemingly tuned him out, or like the canucks in the west have expected teams just to roll over for them when the playoffs started.

Bruins also don't have a great cap situation about $6.5 mil cap room next year and that is not counting Horton (UFA), Ference (UFA), and Rask (RFA) who totalled about $10 mil in cap space this season. Rask himself is likely to take up much of that remaining cap room for next season. It's why I believe one of Horton or Lucic ($6 mil cap hit starting next season) will have to be gone. That is likely Horton

Now if they win game 7, they certainly have the tools to beat anyone. Which would be similar to the cup year for them.


edit: it seems as though they still have Savard counting against the cap, but they would only be able to use the LTIR space if they can engineer the roster such that Savard is on it opening day. Not sure they can do that with both Rask and Horton. They'd have to temporarily farm 4 or 5 mil in cap hit.