GAME 4 - 2010 Stanley Cup GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators (1) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2), Tuesday Apr. 20, 2010 - 7:00PM EST.

N4L wrote:Kurri, Messier, Coffey, Anderson, so on. Crosby is on another level then all those guys with MAYBE the exception of Ovechkin. Crosby has had a lot less help then Gretzky ever did, he won a cup at a younger age, and he's already a Canadian Icon based on The Olympics.

Crosby is on the same level as the best of all time at this point and he's 23 years old. This guys might have another 20 years in the league. Put Crosby in the 80's and he's getting 200 points a year too.

Gretzky didnt really do all that much when he left Edmonton and the supporting cast he had.

Gretzky took the Kings further than they ever should have gone. Do you think people would know who the hell Bernie Nichols is without Gretzky? Crosby has Staal, Malkin and Gonchar which are hardly a poor supporting cast.

Ummm yes, he scored a ton of goals everywhere he went. Nichols was a good player.

Point being is Crosby is playing with a lot less tallent, in a league that has way better goaltenders and D men, and he domiantes. There is no way people in Ottawa can sit here and say that Crosby is one of the best of all time, that's just letting hard feelings get in the way.

Crosby is nothing short of the best player in this generation. He's done everything he can possibly do except for the COnn Smyth before most guys see a playoff game.

Terrible game last night, especially from our goalies. What do we have to do to get one of them to stop the puck for Diddle sake? Unbelievable. We're mounting a comeback and they Dung everywhere. Very frustrating. Not just them obviously, but to me last night I will put a lot of the blame on them and on Spezza and Alfie. Brutal! Oh well, it's going to be another long summer boys and girls. I guess I'll start cheering for anyone who's playing against the Pens, I dont' ever want to have to play that team again, what an embarrassment.

I dont see how people can go out and blame Alfi here, he is doing everything he possibly can from a physical and emotional stand point for his team. He's 37 years old playing through an injury.

As for Elliott he was asked to make big saves early and give his team a chance to win, he did that. His team didnt give him a chance and that Spezza give away leading the 2nd goal essentially ended their season.

I can't accept that for either of them. Sorry. They were both brutal through the whole series. The only thing I will give Alfie is that he was double-teamed the whole time. But, he is our captain and he needs to lift the team in a time of need like this and he didn't, plain and simple. He had 1 goal the whole series. Good for him! That's what we needed from our captain. I'm not saying to trade him or anything ludicrous like that, I still love him, he's still my favourite player, but he needed to be way better than he was. He was schooled by this team. Injured or not, it doesn't matter. We can't give him the excuse of being 37 years old either, okay, if you're 37 and too old and hurt and tired to play, then don't play anymore. It's not helping the team at all.

Elliott was just awful through the whole series with the exception of game 2, which we lost anyway. I can't rag on him too much because he is still very young and it was his first playoff series, but look at other teams with rookie goalies who are coming through for their teams. It's sad that he couldn't get his head in the game. We really needed him here and he didn't deliver. Sure he made like 5 saves in the first 12 minutes last night, but he didn't need to Dung the bed for the rest of the game.

N4L wrote:Ummm yes, he scored a ton of goals everywhere he went. Nichols was a good player.

Point being is Crosby is playing with a lot less tallent, in a league that has way better goaltenders and D men, and he domiantes. There is no way people in Ottawa can sit here and say that Crosby is one of the best of all time, that's just letting hard feelings get in the way.

Crosby is nothing short of the best player in this generation. He's done everything he can possibly do except for the COnn Smyth before most guys see a playoff game.

Crosby is a great player but a lot of Ottawa players, by your own admission, are mailing it in and, IMO, making Crosby look all world. I don't believe Crosby is one of the best all time. He may go down as that by the end of his career based on how he's played so far.

Oh man... that was an unbelievably bad game last night... what a horrible way to go down... the Pens were beating us all over the place... every battle... what a shame after Elliott played so well in the 1st and then they just hung him out to dry. We had no compete, no fire, no killer instinct.

After watching Spezza turn that puck over and then proceed to watch Pitt race down and score... he's dead to me... DEAD TO ME... I'm sick of watching him cough it up and then not care that he coughed it up... if he had skated hard and back checked, he could have prevented a goal. It boggles my mind. When he coughs it up... he either glides back or heads to the bench... it makes me want to throw things at the TV when I see him do this. What is it going to take for him to get it?

Every time we got something going, Pitt would just get one back and kill any momentum.

At least Sutton was laying guys out early... was glad to see that.

Pathetic. They're mailing it in now and seem to have thoughts of what tee time they should be booking for this weekend. I'm so pissed.

After that brutal giveaway by Spezza that DIRECTLY led to a goal against, he NEVER should have seen the ice again. If I were coach, I wouldn't have played him again, period. Especially when we're mounting a comeback, that just killed our spirits.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

N4L wrote:Ummm yes, he scored a ton of goals everywhere he went. Nichols was a good player.

Point being is Crosby is playing with a lot less tallent, in a league that has way better goaltenders and D men, and he domiantes. There is no way people in Ottawa can sit here and say that Crosby is one of the best of all time, that's just letting hard feelings get in the way.

Crosby is nothing short of the best player in this generation. He's done everything he can possibly do except for the COnn Smyth before most guys see a playoff game.

Crosby is a great player but a lot of Ottawa players, by your own admission, are mailing it in and, IMO, making Crosby look all world. I don't believe Crosby is one of the best all time. He may go down as that by the end of his career based on how he's played so far.

Absolutely, but Crosby beat any will out of Spezza he had.

IMO Crosby is one of the best of all time, he has acheived more by his age then anyone in history.

Would any of you have taken Crosby's knee out if you had the chance last night? I'm surprised they just let him Diddle around like they do. I hope someone sends him into next century with a great hit next game. It's all I will look forward to seeing.

SensGirl11 wrote: I can't accept that for either of them. Sorry. They were both brutal through the whole series. The only thing I will give Alfie is that he was double-teamed the whole time. But, he is our captain and he needs to lift the team in a time of need like this and he didn't, plain and simple. He had 1 goal the whole series. Good for him! That's what we needed from our captain. I'm not saying to trade him or anything ludicrous like that, I still love him, he's still my favourite player, but he needed to be way better than he was. He was schooled by this team. Injured or not, it doesn't matter. We can't give him the excuse of being 37 years old either, okay, if you're 37 and too old and hurt and tired to play, then don't play anymore. It's not helping the team at all.

Elliott was just awful through the whole series with the exception of game 2, which we lost anyway. I can't rag on him too much because he is still very young and it was his first playoff series, but look at other teams with rookie goalies who are coming through for their teams. It's sad that he couldn't get his head in the game. We really needed him here and he didn't deliver. Sure he made like 5 saves in the first 12 minutes last night, but he didn't need to Dung the bed for the rest of the game.

I pretty much garentee if this was the regular season Alfi would be out for close to a month. No one knows right now what he is battling but he was basically a game time decision in the playoffs yesterday, it has to be bad. He was taking hits all series, he was getting involved, and fact of the matter is he is slowing down. The guy does all he possibly can and the effort is always there. That's what I am complaining about and I refuse to put this on the guy who was trying his very best and trying to lead a core group of players that seem to do anything but follow his example.

Spezza is in his prime and doing nothing close to what Alfi does on a nightly basis in the regualr season and the playoffs.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

N4L wrote:Ummm yes, he scored a ton of goals everywhere he went. Nichols was a good player.

Point being is Crosby is playing with a lot less tallent, in a league that has way better goaltenders and D men, and he domiantes. There is no way people in Ottawa can sit here and say that Crosby is one of the best of all time, that's just letting hard feelings get in the way.

Crosby is nothing short of the best player in this generation. He's done everything he can possibly do except for the COnn Smyth before most guys see a playoff game.

Crosby is a great player but a lot of Ottawa players, by your own admission, are mailing it in and, IMO, making Crosby look all world. I don't believe Crosby is one of the best all time. He may go down as that by the end of his career based on how he's played so far.

He is all world, and not because the Sens are making him look like it. Crosby just seems to find ways to win, and ways to get things done. He has the fire, the drive, the desire... his compete is off the charts... yeah, it's fun to rag on him and call him a cry baby... he was whiny in his early days but he's clearly taking it to the next level and becoming a super star... and he's just going to get better. He's so damn strong it's almost impossible to take him off the puck. I hate it when he scores, but you gotta give him the recognition he deserves.

SensGirl11 wrote:Would any of you have taken Crosby's knee out if you had the chance last night? I'm surprised they just let him Diddle around like they do. I hope someone sends him into next century with a great hit next game. It's all I will look forward to seeing.

Malkin for sure, Crosby no. He plays the game the right way for the most part, he's just better then everyone.

N4L wrote:I pretty much garentee if this was the regular season Alfi would be out for close to a month. No one knows right now what he is battling but he was basically a game time decision in the playoffs yesterday, it has to be bad. He was taking hits all series, he was getting involved, and fact of the matter is he is slowing down. The guy does all he possibly can and the effort is always there. That's what I am complaining about and I refuse to put this on the guy who was trying his very best and trying to lead a core group of players that seem to do anything but follow his example.

Spezza is in his prime and doing nothing close to what Alfi does on a nightly basis in the regualr season and the playoffs.

I heard that he has a torn abductor muscle and that they were essentially "freezing" him at game time to get through the pain. Not sure how true that is, but he's clearly battling through something big.

Why did he play then? He's got to stop playing through these killer injuries because it will only slow him down more down the line. I dont' understand. A hurt player like that does nothing to help the team. Captain or not. He can talk to the boys between periods. I would rather he get healthy and ready and completely strong for next year.

SensGirl11 wrote:Why did he play then? He's got to stop playing through these killer injuries because it will only slow him down more down the line. I dont' understand. A hurt player like that does nothing to help the team. Captain or not. He can talk to the boys between periods. I would rather he get healthy and ready and completely strong for next year.

Because he is the captain and just as important as his level of play on the ice is his will to compete, lead, and try to the best of his abilities for his team and his city. He leads, that what leaders do, they go above and beyonf the call of duty to inspire, guess certain guys were not inspired by this.

He is going to slow down, people expecting the Alfi from a few years back, be prepared for what is going to happen. It's starting to worry me how fans are reacting based on this... just because he is slowing down and becoming less effective, like an old useless person we throw him in a home and just forget about him? We say he isnt the man anymore (still lead this team in scoring) and guys like Fisher and Spezza who have watched the guy do it for years just dont seem to care or raise their level. Especially Spezza.

I dont think there is anything about Alfi you can question, he's given everything he possibly has for this city. Even if he had a bad series based on just poor play, I would give him a pass. Why? Because he has earned it and lead this team to more success then anyone else ever has.

What saddens me is that at the rate we're going and building, Alfie will retire before we have another real chance at getting him a Cup.

OMG obviously Alfi wont have a chance at a cup in Ottawa, that's been known for a long time, at least it should have been.