2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs

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Anyone who watched games 1-4 of the Ranger/Cap series knew the Caps were by far the better team for most of those four games...even with the Rangers leading three games to one. It was only a matter of time until they solved Lundqvist, although him completely falling apart for two games was a little surprising.


Sandra
 
SandraC said:
In 2006 during the Canes' cup run, the RBC was as loud as any NHL arena you can find. Some may have been transplanted hockey fans from the rust belt, but they were completely behind the Canes three years ago. It was wild.


Sandra
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True, but there are always "fair weather" fans to be found at any venue. The real test of a Hockeytown is whether the fans will support the team during a down cycle. While growing up in the 60s/70s all I heard during hockey season were the names Abel, Lindsey and Howe, along with talk of the championship teams back in the 40s and 50s. Needless to say the fans still managed to fill the old Olympia and new Joe Lewis areas...even through the Dead Wings era that lasted many years.

To be factual, the Carolina Hurricanes have excellent ownership and have done a fantastic job building-up the fan base. However, I stand by my statement that only a small percentage of people care about hockey outside of the immediate Raleigh-Durham area. In fact, when I was picking-up furniture in Highpoint, NC. (less than 100-miles away from Raleigh) back in 2006 the locals were unaware the Hurricanes were in the Playoffs, much less that Raleigh had a professional hockey club.

I think many of us northeners follow the local hockey teams after moving south. I followed the Capitals during my many years of living in the Washington DC area, but I dawned my Red Wings jersey and cheered wildly for the Wings during Game 3 of the '98 Stanley Cup finals at the Caps Center. Likewise, I also followed the Stars last year...until they ran into the Red Wings in the Conference Finals. My wife spent 2 1/2 hours watching me scream (aka cheer) at Game 4 of the Conference Finals in Dallas last year
 
Let's Wrap things up in May, Please...

I just noticed this years Conference Finals started 5 days later than last year. OK, as much as I love hockey, I would love to see the season wrap-up in May. At this rate, the teams are going to be playing the Stanley Cup finals into late-June pretty soon. Yikes!
 
riffjim4069 said:
True, but there are always "fair weather" fans to be found at any venue. The real test of a Hockeytown is whether the fans will support the team during a down cycle.
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Totally agree, I don't see the RBC filling up if the Canes aren't doing well. But for a group of 'fair-weather' fans, they totally blew the roof off the building in 2006.


Sandra
 
SandraC said:
Totally agree, I don't see the RBC filling up if the Canes aren't doing well. But for a group of 'fair-weather' fans, they totally blew the roof off the building in 2006.


Sandra
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I have occasionally wondered how many (percentage) of Sunbelt team fans are locals and how many are northern transplants. Offhand, I think the percentage of northern fans who grew up playing/watching hockey would be rather high, and it would be an interesting tidbit to know. I'm sure the NHL has conducted studies, but I can't seem to locate anything.
 
riffjim4069 said:
Shifting focus back on tonight's game between Pittsburgh and Carolina...does anyone else, besides me, think that Carolina is going to win this series? In any case, this is going to be a close series and I think we'll see a couple of the games go into OT. We shall see.

Also, are there any Hurricane fans out there?
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I would like to see Carolina win.
 
Monday's Playoff Schedule

Carolina at Pittsburgh- ECF Game 1- 7:30pm ET [Versus (HD), TSN (HD), RDS (HD)]
 
We have game and an early PowerPlay opportunity for the Penguins. I noticed my Versus and Versus HD feed went out 30-minutes prior to game time. All the other channels appeared to be working...just not Versus. Anyway, I called Comcast and tech support wanted to dispatch a technician even though all the other channels were working, I had excellent signal levels for all QAM channels, and I reset my Tivo. Ugh! Anyway, while waiting after I told the agent her answer was unacceptable, Versus started working.

Anyway, Carolina was called for a 2nd back-to-back penalty and now Pittsburgh has been called for a holding penalty. It looks like the NHL is using the officials from the Detroit-Anaheim series. Come on...let the boys play hockey!
 
2-0 Pittsburgh at the 1st Intermission. The Pens played a better 1st period, but the Canes have had their moments as well and would up outshooting Pittsburgh. The Canes had about a half-dozen golden opportunities within 10 feet of the net, but Fleury made some highlight reel saves.
 
If you're not watching, you're missing a competitive game between Pittsburgh and Carolina with the Pens leading 2-1 after the 2nd period. Cam Ward absolutely robbed Guerin with a couple highlight reel saves. The 3rd period should be a good one.
 
SandraC said:
Anyone who watched games 1-4 of the Ranger/Cap series knew the Caps were by far the better team for most of those four games...even with the Rangers leading three games to one. It was only a matter of time until they solved Lundqvist, although him completely falling apart for two games was a little surprising.


Sandra
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You called this in October. :hatsoff::hatsoff::hatsoff::bow:bow:bow
 
riffjim4069 said:
That's only of the reasons why I feel Carolina will win the series; their team still has a lot of veteran players who played against the Wings in the finals in 2002, and won the Cup in 2006.
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Did you realize that the Wings only have 6 players from that roster still with them today? My hat is off to Ken Holland for completely rebuilding this team in this age of the salary cap, and making it even better. He may be the best GM in any sport.:)
 
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