re: NHL Playoffs.

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Hawks are the best team in hockey, would love to see them win it all.

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If they are, then they will. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing them make it to the finals.

On a side note, I read that Ovie skipped the optional skate before Game 7. According to the report, just about every other player went, but Semin skipped as well. Isn't that something that the captain should probably attend? Or at least "encourage" someone like Semin to attend? I certainly didn't see a lack of effort of Ovie's part last night, but captain is more than just giving it a good individual effort IMO. Not that this is why they lost, but I don't think it helps.

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The best team rarely wins. I love the Stanley Cup playoffs, but the it doesn't mean the best teams wins.

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I completely disagree. The best "regular" season team may not always win, but it's a best of 7 all the way through and every team in the league knows the format. It's hardly random/luck when you go through 4, 7 game series. If you win the Cup, you're the best team that year, period.

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Given that 8 seeds upset the 1 seed nearly 25% of the time, I'm just going to say the best team doesn't win

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Some teams are made for the regular season and some teams are assembled for the Stanley Cup Playoffs...But if you get through the regular season and make the playoffs then knock off a top seeded team you deserve all the accolades you get...Stanley Cup playoffs after an 82 game season + preseason games=Hardest trophy to win bar none, you need Luck, Good Goal tending and a willingness to sacrifice...

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They have a nice little trophy for the team who accrues the most points in those 82 games. And last time I checked, no player, fan, or coach in the NHL would want it over the Stanley Cup. And you should at least be consistent in your argument. If we're going by the 82 regular season games, then don't claim that the Blackhawks were the best team when they clearly were not. The Caps were the best team by far in the regular season and the Sharks had more points than the Hawks as well. Your argument can then be reduced to this: whoever I happen to like and say is the best team in a given year, is indeed the best team regardless of if they win the President's or the Stanley Cup. And I'd argue that if the rules were changed to strictly reflect an 82 game season (with no playoffs and most points in that season wins), then you'd see different teams at the top of the standings. And those teams would most likely be the teams you're about to see advance to the Stanley Cup finals. The bottom line is that great teams win when it counts the most, and the Stanley Cup playoffs are where it counts the most.

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Good argument. This reflects my opinion of the San Antonio Spurs. They play for the postseason, not some silly division title. Older teams will do this to save legs.

Also, the way hockey is scored, one great game by a goaltender can win you some things. One lucky break in OT can give an underdog a win. In basketball or football, you need more than one break to win.

Baloo; what happened last night was fricked but it was fair, Montreal won twice in Washington and once in Montreal to come back from being down 3-1 in a best of 7. I am not happy about this but at the end of the day you give credit where it is due...and assign blame dispassionatly as possible. There is something wrong in Washington and it's down to the General Manager to figure out what that is, only this time I suggest he start by looking at videotape of not only this series but what went wrong last year too...

The Caps egregiously outplayed the Habs. It wasn't even close for most of the time. The better team lost. This in no way means I think the Habs didn't deserve to win: they scored more goals and that's the measure. Halak absolutely stole this series with play that bordered on the best I have ever seen. He stopped 131 of 134 shots over three games. Just think about that.

So, if you're the Caps and you think, "what do we do going forward?" you don't overreact and say this team sucks and can't win in the playoffs. You probably fire the coach for not making adjustments and you start looking for a place to ship Semin, but you do not take the lesson "this team, as currenly constructed, cannot win in the postseason." Becuase that is absolutely, 100% the wrong lesson. It took a historic goalie performance to beat you. Not really good, not even great, historic. Short term, that sucks. But from an institutional standpoint, the team is fine. You have to make some reactive changes, but you also can't tear the thing down in a childish fit.

In 1982 and 1983, the Oilers scored over 400 goals. No one was scoring like that, and the Oilers lost in consecutive years in the postseason in devastating losses, one to the lowly Kings, the worst team in the playoffs (they even allowed 10 goals in one of their losses. Ten). People said you can't win in the postseason playing like that.

they would score over 400 goals in the next three seasons, and even score MORE goals in 1985 en route to four straight Stanley Cups. It also ushere din an era of exciting, attacking hockey all over the league. It wasn't just good for Edmonton, it was good for the game.

The Caps should continue to buck convention. Add MORE scoring. The game is moving that way, stay ahead of the curve.

The reason they blocked so many shots is because Washington TOOK so many. Game 6, especially, was a shooting gallery. But even that misses the point...

... encouraging a style of play which was 1 forward and 4 defenseman (as the Habs used their wingers) is bad for hockey. It's a cynical style of play, and one that horribly overmatched teams use to beat more skilled teams. They clog the ice and rely on the off chance of their goalie getting really really hot in the hope of winning 2-1. It's great if you win, but it is a brutal style of hockey to watch. Trust me, I'm a Flames fan. I watch it 82 games a year and it sucks.

It's a lifetime of pain. Two words: Easter Marathon. Can I get a witness?

I didn'tsay they clogged the neutral zone a la the Devils, they packed in thier own defensive end entirely. They had a one man forecheck. They conceded 2/3 of the ice, packed in the zone, and just removed all space in their own end. They played a style even more offensively challenged and antithetical to actual skill than the 1990's Devils, which is pretty near impossible.

what time do the games start at? guide on the television says its on but put it on and whacked out sports is playing