2011-2012 NHL playoff thread.

[MaTH716]

Kings still perfect on the road, up 2-0 in the series.

[slotdirt]

I was just remembering the goofy illegal stick penalty from the 1993 finals. That was the NHL's equivalent of the George Brett pine tar incident, right?

[pgiaco]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

I was just remembering the goofy illegal stick penalty from the 1993 finals. That was the NHL's equivalent of the George Brett pine tar incident, right?

Not necessarily...the NHL had the balls to uphold the penalty and not cower behind "the spirit of the rule" nonsense that MLB did back then. Every player knows that rule and you look like a real jacka$$ when you get nailed for something stupid like that.

[slotdirt]

Yeah, but how many dudes over the last 20 years have used an illegal stick whether they knew it or not? It was cherry picking by Demers, no doubt about that.

[hi_im_god]

the really sad part is it only wound up being mcsorely's second most memorable penalty.

[slotdirt]

Well, yeah, when you whack a guy in the dome with your stick, that's going to kind of be memorable. McSorley was a throwback, and certainly a major part of the success of Wayne Gretzky in the 80's and 90's.

[MaTH716]

Jonathan Quick was ridiculous tonight. 3-0 Kings.

[pgiaco]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

Yeah, but how many dudes over the last 20 years have used an illegal stick whether they knew it or not? It was cherry picking by Demers, no doubt about that.

You would be surprised how few illegal sticks there are. Coaches usually have the equipment managers keep an eye on the blades to avoid just such a stupid penalty. They really do stick out like a sore thumb..I'll bet one of the players told Demers early in the game and they sat on it until later. Plus now the composite sticks are almost impossible to alter without ruining them.
One last thought, it really does warm my heart to see that the Kings are winning with a bunch of guys the Flyers felt they couldn't win with. Of course having a goaltender playing like he's the best on the planet helps quite a bit.

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by pgiaco

You would be surprised how few illegal sticks there are. Coaches usually have the equipment managers keep an eye on the blades to avoid just such a stupid penalty. They really do stick out like a sore thumb..I'll bet one of the players told Demers early in the game and they sat on it until later. Plus now the composite sticks are almost impossible to alter without ruining them.

But didn't they used to alter the sticks to get more on their shots? Now that these sticks are all composite and have a tremendous amount of flex, (helping the speed of the shot) wouldn't you think that there really aren't too many illegal ones left?

[pgiaco]

Originally Posted by MaTH716

But didn't they used to alter the sticks to get more on their shots? Now that these sticks are all composite and have a tremendous amount of flex, (helping the speed of the shot) wouldn't you think that there really aren't too many illegal ones left?

A lot of guys used to alter the wood sticks and it was open season on the goalies, hence the rule change and enforcement. The measuring device is at the official scorer's table for every game. It is ridiculous how hard these guys (or anybody at different levels) can shoot with these composite sticks, and like I said it is virtually impossible to alter the blades now.