Calgary can't win on skill, so it just....

[USAsoccer]

Chris Clark's first-period crosscheck on Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Nolan Pratt was extraneous, and it cost his team the game's only goal. Ville Nieminen's brutal boarding penalty was egregious, and it may cost the Flames much more. Finally, Sutter's toll-taking style has taken a toll of its own.


http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs2004/columns/story?id=1813350

Can you blame Sutter? Sure. Does he care? No. Will he rethink his style? No. Will he show remorse? Never. Keep in mind, Sutter sent Oliwa out at the end of an out-of-reach regular-season game against Nashville, and disagreed when an ensuing brawl resulted in a suspension. Sutter is everything that's wrong with hockey, or everything that's right with hockey, depending on the opinion and the outcome. Like Nieminen, Sutter is what he is.

.......

So expect more of the same in Game 5. Sutter really has no choice but to keep pushing down on the physical throttle. The Lightning have better finishers and superb two-way defenders. If the Flames do not seek to crush Tampa's pinching blueliners, or "look for a train wreck" in the words of Calgary assistant coach Jim Playfair, they will lose this series.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs2004/columns/story?id=1813350

[USAsoccer]

And this....

It's a simple matter, really.
There had better be an announcement today that Calgary's Ville Nieminen has been suspended for the remainder of the Stanley Cup finals. When the predictable outcry comes from all provinces in Canada, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman should tell them to shut their yaps.

http://www.tampatrib.com/Sports/MGBMOW4QYUD.html

And this....


That's becoming increasingly difficult for Tampa Bay, as key Lightning players appear to be targeted by Calgary.

In the past two games, Tampa Bay has suffered three head injuries at the hands - in two cases, elbows - of the Flames.

This all started in Game 1 when Cory Stillman got an elbow high on Marcus Nilson, leaving the Calgary forward woozy but able to continue.

Andrew Ference got payback when he baited Stillman into a fight in Game 2.

It should have ended there.

But the Flames know they can't outskill the Lightning to win the Cup, so they are trying to knock them out.


http://www.tampatrib.com/Sports/MGB5SLWUYUD.html

[slipknotter]

And this....

It's a simple matter, really.
There had better be an announcement today that Calgary's Ville Nieminen has been suspended for the remainder of the Stanley Cup finals. When the predictable outcry comes from all provinces in Canada, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman should tell them to shut their yaps.

http://www.tampatrib.com/Sports/MGBMOW4QYUD.html

And this....


That's becoming increasingly difficult for Tampa Bay, as key Lightning players appear to be targeted by Calgary.

In the past two games, Tampa Bay has suffered three head injuries at the hands - in two cases, elbows - of the Flames.

This all started in Game 1 when Cory Stillman got an elbow high on Marcus Nilson, leaving the Calgary forward woozy but able to continue.

Andrew Ference got payback when he baited Stillman into a fight in Game 2.

It should have ended there.

But the Flames know they can't outskill the Lightning to win the Cup, so they are trying to knock them out.


http://www.tampatrib.com/Sports/MGB5SLWUYUD.html
Wow...is the Tampa Tribune always this unbiased? :rolleyes:

[SweetOwnGoal]

It's a good thing the 'skill-less' Flames couldn't keep themselves out of the box in game four; otherwise the little man from New York would have been handing Iginla a big silver cup tonight.

Calgary is outplaying Tampa. Even tonight, in a game that was played more 'Tampa style' than 'Calgary style', it was the Flames who created more chances. Tampa wasn't killed, but the right team won.

If the Flames win Saturday they win the Stanley Cup. Unfreakinbelievable.

[MetroAndAGuinessPlz]

It's a good thing the 'skill-less' Flames couldn't keep themselves out of the box in game four; otherwise the little man from New York would have been handing Iginla a big silver cup tonight.

Calgary is outplaying Tampa. Even tonight, in a game that was played more 'Tampa style' than 'Calgary style', it was the Flames who created more chances. Tampa wasn't killed, but the right team won.

If the Flames win Saturday they win the Stanley Cup. Unfreakinbelievable.

Seriously. The biggest story in all of this is the fact that a team absolutely no one would have picked to win it all and many picked to miss the playoffs again are one win away from the Cup.

[el_urchinio]

I like how some of the hockey purists believe that skill alone should win games. Bottom line is that the team scoring more goals will win a game. Whether they do it because they had more shots, because they're more skillfull or because they beat the living crap out of the other team is pointless.

Sure, the Flames play rough and sure it sometimes spills over into violence, but it's not as if they get away with it. Nieminen was suspended before during these very playoffs and the Flames may well have accumulated more penalty minutes per game than any other team. The refs punish them and yet they win anyway. As far as the Flames not winning by skill, even if it were true, so what? I'll reiterate again that the point is to score more goals, not play sexy hockey. If the Lightning players made fewer behind-the-back passess on odd-man rushes, maybe they wouldn't have been in this position. And as far as the Flames trying to pick fights with Lightning stars, nowhere does it say you have to fight back. If one wants to let a 6'4 Pole pummel them into the ice, not only will this not be detrimental to his team, it will land the said Pole a major and maybe even a game misconduct and give the other team a lengthy powerplay. Unless, of course, proving your manhood is more important than winning.

In any case, game 6 is here in Calgary and I'm excited to have been able to get tickets. If this is to be a true fairy tale, the Flames need to win at home. It's looking like they will. The puck stops here.

[BlueMeanie]

Too bad such a brilliant, enjoyable Finals is marred by this pissfight and the ratings story.

Hey, Tampa, here's an option for dealing with Niemenen...have one of your guys kick his ass. It worked for the Sharks in game 4 of the conference finals, when Jason Marshall (who rarely fights) beat the snot out of Niemenen after Ville had taken several stick-related liberties or committed other cheap shots over the previous couple games. Didn't see/hear a peep from Niemenen for the rest of that game, and SJ won 4-1.

Oh, here's a good quote from the one and only Martin St. Louis in today's San Jose Mercury News sports section:

"Watch less wrestling." -- Tampa Bay Lightning forward Martin St. Louis, on what it would take for local fans to become more interested in hockey