(1) New York Rangers vs (8) Ottawa Senators - Playoffs Round 1

shabbs wrote:Imagine if Game 2 was your first NHL game ever...

For Konopka, it was. Did alright.

Marshy is back - with a vengeance.

http://www.ottawasun.com/2012/04/15/sens-run-revs-up-marshy

22_4_ever wrote:

wprager wrote:
Third line, tops, to start, and only after a couple of practices. If he works out, consider moving him up. That's all.

You don't put a player like Silfverberg on the third line, especially in a series like this that is starting to get nasty. You're just asking for the kid to be destroyed. If he's ready to play, then he's ready to play on your 2nd or 1st line! Otherwise he isn't ready to play. He isn't a 3rd or 4th line player, so don't put him in that role.

Our third line scored a goal last game. In OT. The third line is not the "energy" line.

SpezDispenser wrote:I really don't think you want to subject Silfverberg to this kind of thing...yet.

Umm, what? They are "playing with house money". No pressure at all, other than the physicality. And playing on the third line you're not going up against the toughest the Rangers have to offer. This guy is not a kid any more, and he's just fiinished the SEL finals, which is likely more pressure than a 1-8 matchup in the 1st round.

Daniel Alfredsson WILL NOT play tonight.

ALL CAPS RAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wprager wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:I really don't think you want to subject Silfverberg to this kind of thing...yet.

Umm, what? They are "playing with house money". No pressure at all, other than the physicality. And playing on the third line you're not going up against the toughest the Rangers have to offer. This guy is not a kid any more, and he's just fiinished the SEL finals, which is likely more pressure than a 1-8 matchup in the 1st round.

Haha Prags, it definitely is not.

If we can win this game without Alfie....wow, I assume the fear of God will be in the Rangers.

Do it for The Aflie!

Riprock wrote:Do it for The Aflie!

Yeah, do this one for the Captain.

SpezDispenser wrote:

wprager wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:I really don't think you want to subject Silfverberg to this kind of thing...yet.

Umm, what? They are "playing with house money". No pressure at all, other than the physicality. And playing on the third line you're not going up against the toughest the Rangers have to offer. This guy is not a kid any more, and he's just fiinished the SEL finals, which is likely more pressure than a 1-8 matchup in the 1st round.

Haha Prags, it definitely is not.

Haha. Prove it.

Round one when no-one expected you to make the playoffs, going up against the best team in the East when, again, no-one gives you a hope of a chance. No pressure. You think after hitting two posts in OT in game 4 and then losing it, he's not going to feel a bit pf pressure? Think again.

Where I grew up there was no toilet paper. So we'd take newspaper and tear it into TP-width strips and then use that (best use for Pravda). My wife can't believe we somehow managed. Well, you grew up in the NA bubble where everything revolved around the Cup and fail to understand that in other parts of the world other things replace what you are used to. Maybe not the best analogy, and I certainly did not try to compare the Cup to Pravda, but the point is in *his* world the SEL finals *ARE* the SCF. Well, maybe not quite, since the real Holy Grail is the Olympic Gold, but close enough.

If you think the pressure is any less just because the game is less physical, think again. I just sat through my son's Bantam House C final game last night. Early goal put them in the hole but my kid tied it up late in the third. Then 3 minutes each of 4-4, 3-3 and 2-2 OT, then the shootout. That was the most pressure those kids have ever faced in their lives, and there was no hitting, no fights. They will face bigger pressures later on, but for now, that was their Stanley Cup Finals.

Back to Silfverberg. He is not asked to go from the SEL finals where he led his team to victory (allow me to jump the gun a bit), to lead this NHL team to victory in the SCF. He'd be asked to play 8-10 minutes on the third line, not expected to do much more than generate a bit of energy and not doo anything stupid. Baby steps, in a way. I think he's more than ready for that.

After that? We'll see.

I continue to think the NHL Playoffs is much more pressure.

SpezDispenser wrote:I continue to think the NHL Playoffs is much more pressure.

Much more? Maybe, but we're not comparing apples to apples here. Do you think Spezza feels more pressure than Daugavins?

Much more pressure back home in Brynas. It's his hometown team, he's the Captain, they haven't won in ages. They take their hockey seriously.

wprager wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:I continue to think the NHL Playoffs is much more pressure.

Much more? Maybe, but we're not comparing apples to apples here. Do you think Spezza feels more pressure than Daugavins?

Big Ev wrote:Much more pressure back home in Brynas. It's his hometown team, he's the Captain, they haven't won in ages. They take their hockey seriously.

There you go, I was wrong.

back home in Gavle*

Wprager/BigEV tag team FTW!

I think the physicality is more than the SEL.