Good Bye Shoot Loose And Good Bye Dawgs

[DanielNegreanu 141]

SHOOT LOOSE:Forwards:Patrick Elias NJ Shoot F 3 1 4 5 3 1Evgeni Malkin PIT Shoot F 4 2 2 4 3 0.75Marc Savard BOS Shoot F 4 0 4 4 2 0.5Brendan Morrison VAN Shoot F 4 1 2 3 2 0.5Tuomo Ruttu CHI Shoot F 3 1 0 1 1 0.333333333Eric Staal CAR Shoot F 3 0 2 2 1 0.333333333Martin Havlat CHI Shoot F 3 0 1 1 0.5 0.166666667Alex Frolov LA Shoot F 3 0 1 1 0.5 0.166666667Thomas Vanek BUF Shoot F 3 0 1 1 0.5 0.166666667Radislav Olesz FLA Shoot F 1 0 0 0 0 Christopher Higgins MON Shoot F 1 0 0 0 0 Nikolai Zherdev CLB Shoot F 1 0 0 0 0 Eric Fehr WAS Shoot F 1 0 0 0 0 Wojtek Wolski COL Shoot F 1 0 0 0 0 This is a great group of forwards, no question about that, but it's still the weakness on a team with an awesome defense and goaltending. It really showed on some of the short game nights. A lot was expected of Havlat and Ruutu, but bad match ups against teams like San Jose who's been stoning everybody made it impossible for them to get on track. The team got NO help from it's second and third tier forwards, and in the end, that was the difference. Defense:Phillipe Boucher DAL Shoot D 4 1 3 4 2.5 0.625Kimmo Timonen NAS Shoot D 4 0 3 3 1.5 0.375Joni Pitkanen PHI Shoot D 4 1 1 2 1.5 0.375Niklas Kronwall DET Shoot D 2 0 1 1 0.5 0.25Sami Salo VAN Shoot D 5 0 1 1 0.5 0.1Joe Corvo OTT Shoot D 2 0 0 0 0 0Rusty Klesla CLB Shoot D 1 0 0 0 0 Haed to imagine that only seven defensemen dressed during the entire series, but they really didn't dissapoint overall. Corvo's doughnut and Sami Salo with just one assist in five games was unlucky, but Boucher got the job done with his usual point a game pace. The group didn't perform at a spectacular level, but put in a workman like effort, and certainly gave the team a chance to win.Goaltending:NEW JERSEY A Shoot G 3 X X X X X 10 3.33DETROIT Shoot G 3 X X X X X 10 3.33 Look no further than goaltending for the real difference in the series. While San Jose was posting shutouts for the Cheap Thieves, the Shoot Loose defense and forwards had to fade a six goal outburst against Detroit, and the tone for the series was set in game one when New Jersey allowed five goals. It's been said before, but you can't win in the playoffs without spectacular goaltending. The favorite in the Eddie Shack conference is now history, and two teams that really turned it on late in the season will battle to represent the conference in the AHL finals. DAWGS:Forwards:Craig Conroy CAL Dawgs F 3 3 2 5 4 1.333333333Robert Lang DET Dawgs F 4 3 2 5 4 1Ilya Kovalchuk ATL Dawgs F 3 2 3 5 3.5 1.166666667Andy McDonald ANA Dawgs F 2 3 1 4 3.5 1.75Alex Tanguay CAL Dawgs F 3 1 2 3 2 0.666666667Brad Richards TB Dawgs F 3 1 1 2 1.5 0.5Michael Ryder MON Dawgs F 3 1 1 2 1.5 0.5Alexei Yashin NYI Dawgs F 3 1 0 1 1 0.333333333Corey Stillman CAR Dawgs F 3 1 0 1 1 0.333333333Mike Comrie OTT Dawgs F 2 0 1 1 0.5 0.25Mark Parrish MIN Dawgs F 2 0 1 1 0.5 0.25Petr Sykora EDM Dawgs F 2 0 0 0 0 Jiri Nivotny WAS Dawgs F 1 0 0 0 0 Mike Grier SJ Dawgs F 2 0 0 0 0 The team got off to a quick start before the M's could get their engines going, coming back from an 0-2 defecit, but it wasn't for lack of firepower from the Dawgs powerful group of forwards. Conroy and Tanguay made for a dynamic duo when Calgary played, and Robert Lang, Andy McDonald, and Ilya Kovalchuk all did quite well. If there was a spot that the Dawgs were hoping for more, it would be Brad Richards, who was held pointless in his first two playoff games before notching a goal and an assist in a losing effort in game 6.Defense:Tom Preissing OTT Dawgs D 4 1 1 2 1.5 0.375Johnny Oduya NJ Dawgs D 2 0 1 1 0.5 0.25Brett Clark COL Dawgs D 1 0 1 1 0.5 0.5Christian Ehrhoff SJ Dawgs D 4 0 1 1 0.5 0.125Kim Johnsson MIN Dawgs D 5 0 0 0 0 0Mattias Ohlund VAN Dawgs D 5 0 0 0 0 0Anton Babchuk CAR Dawgs D 1 0 0 0 0 0Cam Barker CHI Dawgs D 1 0 0 0 0 Dan Girardi NYR Dawgs D 1 0 0 0 0 The Dawgs were really beaten badly on defense, facing a ferocious M's blueline. If the Dawgs were going to win this series they would have needed their defense to overachieve, but instead, they underachieved badly. Pillars of strength during the season, Kim Johnsson and Mathias Ohlund, were held pointless and played in all but one of the six games. That's killer right there, and this first round loss is being placed on the shoulders of those two men. So much more was expected of them, and they failed the team.Goaltending:NY ISLANDERS Dawgs G 3 X X X X X 8 2.67LOS ANGELES Dawgs G 1 X X X X X 3 3PHILADELPHIA Dawgs G 2 X X X X X 7 3.5 This was the Dawgs one weakspot all season long, and in the playoffs, the goaltending was actually better than it was all season, but it's still not good enough. It's a wonder how GM Peter Pappas never learned anything from the Flyers organization over the years, an organization that always seemed to neglect that position, and like the Dawgs, it always cost them too. Pappas should look to upgrade his goaltending next season, and may look to find a familiar trading partner in Rug Rats GM, Elliot Jacobson. Rumor has it, they are already talking deal, reversing the Brad Richards deal:Dawgs send:Brad RichardsLos Angeles GoaliesPhiledalphia GoaliesRats send:Patrick MarleauBrian RafalskiBrian RolstonMinnesota GoaliesBuffalo Goalies In the Tiger Williams division, both of the top seeds advanced, so we still have a 1), 2), 3), and 4) seed remaining. Some say that the match up between the Swackers and the Big M's is akin to the finals, as either team would be heavily favored in the finals. After a slow start, the M's are back to firing on all cylinders and are favored to win it all:The Big M's evenSwackers 5/2Red Ravens 4/1Cheap Thieves 7/1

[Zach6668 513]

When does round 2 start?

[DanielNegreanu 141]

March 16th. March 15th was game 7 of the first round.

[rinswun 6]

nice stats, its still pretty hard to believe the M's put up back to back -.5 games. i would probably agree with your odds, though i'd push the theives out a touch due to your injuries. i reckon a fully fit roster and you might even by favoured over the ravens

[DanielNegreanu 141]

nice stats, its still pretty hard to believe the M's put up back to back -.5 games. i would probably agree with your odds, though i'd push the theives out a touch due to your injuries. i reckon a fully fit roster and you might even by favoured over the ravens

Gagne could return immediately. Kovalev probably will. Kopitar also, should very well be back soon. If all that happens, I'll be healthy in a hurry.

[gruven 530]

Gagne could return immediately. Kovalev probably will. Kopitar also, should very well be back soon. If all that happens, I'll be healthy in a hurry.

The Kovalev thing is weird: he's day to day, depending on how he feels in the morning. It's APPARENTLY related to vertigo, although there have been some suggestions that it might be a mild concussion. They have NO idea whether he'll be in the lineup or not.....