On to Round 2!
Oh wait... we're still waiting to see if the Caps want to join us.

Many errors regarding the major penalty call on Eakin last night.

1. Neither referee saw what happened.
2. No call was made until afterwards.
3. Penalty was based on the injury, not the action.
4. The NHL Supervising Official Don Van Massenhoven's statement ("The referees called a cross-checking penalty for an infraction that caused a significant injury. In their judgment, the infraction and its result merited a major penalty.") was weak & he refused to answer questions about who made the call & what was seen.
5. One official told Vegas Coach Gallant that Eakin cross-checked Pavelski in the face. Didn't happen.

Yes the Vegas PK could have done better, but had the penalty been correctly assessed, the Sharks would have scored one goal. Maybe that would have been enough of an inspiration to give the same result, but the Referees directly affected the outcome of the game.

For anyone who reads "The Athletic", they have a couple of articles regarding this blown call. One of which is an interview with retired NHL Referee Kerry Fraser, whose reaction to the call was "Wow."

Unfortunately Jonathan Marchessault's correct assessment of the Referee's call will surely get him fined.

We can only hope that the NHL will finally acknowledge that utter lack of consistency of their Referees & actually do something to fix the issue. (Not holding my breath)

Guess we can look forward to more of the same. Fortunately I no longer have a dog in the hunt.

GO SHARKS...

I didn't see the play but I will take the win. I thought the season was over for the Sharks and went to bed.

From what you guys are saying it's right up there with the "no call" in the Saints Rams game.

Unfortunately that's sports.

Sharks got a break and took advantage of it...

WTF? Caps vs Hurricanes. This game is never going to end. Amazing hockey but it’s almost 1130 and I can’t keep my eyes open.

And it is official... It is the year of the wild card!

HA... GO JACKETS!!!

Sorry the Caps are out...
Damn, all 4 #1 seed teams beat by the wild card team!

I’m hoping the final 4 is the 4 wildcard teams.

Way to blow it Caps.

quote:

Originally posted by SR025:
I’m hoping the final 4 is the 4 wildcard teams.

Wouldn't that be something?

The Blues/Stars series should be fun.

"Big Ben" Bishop is well known around here. He went to Chaminade and played a while for the St. Louis Junior Blues.

Hochman: Born a Blues fan and drafted by Blues, Stars goalie Bishop faces old team in playoffs

Bishop now the Stars goalie trying to beat Blues in playoffs



Dallas Stars goaltender Ben Bishop loses his stick as he blocks a shot against the Nashville Predators during the second period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Saturday, April 20, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Raised in a barn?

You’re damn right he was – “The Old Barn,” over on Oakland Avenue, where the St. Louis boy was raised on bruising Blues hockey. Maybe you grew up there, too? Red Berenson on the attack, the Plager brothers on the blue line, Norm Kramer on the organ. And decades after his childhood at the St. Louis Arena, he’d take his own child there, cheering for “CuJo” and chanting “Bel-fooooooour!” He and his son shared a name and a love of hockey. And now, the dad is 64 and the son is 32, and the Blues might have their best chance at winning their first Stanley Cup … and the son is going to try to prevent it.

“I’ve been a Blues fan from Day One, always will be,” said the father, Ben Bishop. “But I have to take a timeout for whoever he’s playing for.”

The son, Ben Bishop, plays goalie for the Dallas Stars, the Blues’ second-round opponent, beginning Thursday night at Enterprise Center.

And you know how good Jordan Binnington has been? Their goalie has been better. They might have to check the foghorns between periods just to make sure they’re still working. For the third time, Bishop is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the league’s best goalie – he finished top three in the NHL in save percentage (.934), goals-against average (1.98) and shutouts (seven).

And somehow he’s been even better in the postseason (.945 and 1.90). A kid who grew up wanting to be Curtis Joseph – and even made his National Hockey League debut with the Blues – will travel home to play on the road ice.

“It’ll be pretty crazy for our family, I can tell you that,” said the father. “You’re going to have a lot of fans rooting Ben on, a lot of fans who are jealous (he’s with Dallas) and why isn’t he here, and there are going to be a lot of fans that are hoping they get 10 goals off him!”

The Blues are well aware of the goalie Ben Bishop. Some, such as captain Alex Pietrangelo or backup goalie Jake Allen, grew up in the Blues system with “Bish.” And others fell victim to the glove of pads between Bishop’s posts. Some Blues talked about “taking away the eyes” of the goalie, a hockey phrase, though against the 6-foot-7 Bishop, that might only work if Pat Maroon puts Robert Thomas on his shoulders. Coach Craig Berube gave the typical laundry list of possible ways to score – accuracy, traffic in front, opportunistic rebounds. But simply the presence of Bishop in this chess game challenges the Blues to play sharper in every aspect of the game. They must create extra offensive opportunities with success in other areas of the ice.

“He has a very unique way of staying level-headed,” Bishop’s father said. “I think that’s been a big benefit for him, he doesn’t let it get in his head. Like in the series in Nashville, he had one bad game and the next game he’s a superstar.”

Also sounds a lot like Binnington. Really, the two netminders have a lot in common. Both were third-round picks by St. Louis, both toiled in the Blues system for a while, both needed lucky breaks to even get their chance in the NHL. Binnington, 25, began this season as the No. 4 goalie in the system. Bishop had played sparingly for St. Louis, and in 2011-12, the Blues went with Brian Elliott over Bishop as Jaroslav Halak’s backup. And because of a hand injury to the Ottawa goalie, Bishop was traded to the Senators. Then the Lightning (played in the Cup Finals for Tampa Bay). Then the Kings. Now the Stars.

“He’s come a long way, right?” Pietrangelo said. “He’s kind of taken it to the next level. … We’re going to have to make life hard on him.”

Growing up, Bishop played on high-level youth teams, as well as his high school team at Chaminade. One season, Bishop was on the same team as fellow future NHL players Paul Stastny and Chris Butler.

“Benny wasn’t even our starting goalie,” said Butler, who was just called back up to the Blues from the minors. “At the time – we had a senior, Keith Van Gels, he was our starting goalie. So looking back at it, maybe Ben should have played but Keith was a pretty good goaltender in his own (right). He was a quality goalie and a good guy too. Keith and I kind of joke about it, it was his claim to fame – Ben Bishop was his backup. And now Ben is making $6 million and is up for the Vezina.”

Before heading to the University of Maine, Bishop got a rare opportunity. It was the spring of 2005, during the NHL lockout. Kelly Chase hosted a big charity hockey game at the Family Arena – a chance for fans to see the local NHL players actually play. But a goalie dropped out, so they called on Bishop. He was 18. He was playing against his childhood. Brett Hull, Barrett Jackman, Keith Tkachuk and Al MacInnis, who possibly would (and ultimately did) retire before the following season.

“The home crowd never really got a chance to send Al off the right way,” said Blues broadcaster Chris Kerber, who was at the charity game. “The fans knew this was a one-more-shift kind of thing. I don’t think anybody would’ve cared what happened in that game – they just wanted to make sure they saw Al take a slap shot from the blue line. And he took it. And Ben gloved it.”

And Ben’s father is convinced that performance solidified his son’s status in the Blues’ eyes. St. Louis drafted Bishop later that summer, which began the goalie’s incredible journey to play for the hometown Blues ... and now against them.

https://www.stltoday.com/sport...-f710c5d62650.html#1

This message has been edited. Last edited by: chellim1,

The Caps/Hurricanes game was downright amazing. Well, the first and 2nd periods not so much as the Caps pretty much dominated it. The 3rd and overtimes were great and as a Pens fan I'm not sad to see the Caps out.

Right now I'm cheering for Columbus. Always been a fan of John Tortorella.

Great article about Bishop, he’s definitely the real deal. Hopefully he wins the Vezina and Stanley Cup

Reportedly the NHL reached out to Vegas GM McPhee & apologized but continues to remain silent publicly. Neither referee has advanced to officiate in further rounds this year. Dan O'Halloran will miss the second round for the first time in 10 years.

Pastrnak’s head is so far up his bung hole, I don’t know that he can pull it out. I’d almost be in favor of scratching him in game 2...make him ponder a thing or two. I'd say move him down to the 4th line, but that's seems to be the only consistency right now. Jeepers...

Again... Looks like we got a game.

This Jackets / Bruins series is going to be a real hum-dinger.

Go Jackets!!!

I'm listening to the Blues on the radio while watching overtime.
Bruins win game 1.

Crap...

This is going to be a good series.

We need to show up and play from puck drop on Saturday and we may be able to split.

Bruins take the first 1, but I got faith in my CBJ

Charlie Coyle (miraculously) redeemed himself tonight.....twice!

GO BRUINS!!!

I'm not a fan of these TV announcers. I'm sticking with Kerbs and Joey V on the radio.
Let's Go Blues!

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Yeah...the AJ chick is just out of place. I have no clue who she is and I'm sorry...call me a misogynist but a woman doesn't have any business commentating on an NHL game, a game she never played at that level. She can be in the booth for all the women's games she wants and I'd appreciate her insight at that level. As "Woody" said in "Brubaker", "Don't f--- with tradition." Plus she's a bad luck charm for my Preds...

What the hell. NBCSN dropped the Bruins before overtime. I watched the whole game and couldn’t find a station with the overtime. My WiFi thinks I’m in New York because I’m using a hotspot over cellular. That sucked. At least they won.