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Nor shorthanded, on cherry-picking breakaways...

But there isn't a goalie alive who could've done anything about that shot... I guess Malkin got sick of everyone laughing at his penalty shot attempt vs. the Rangers.

eh. Worst case scenario, down 1 game to 0. Right where they want them!

Missing Timonen tonight didn't just screw up the top pairing, it screwed up ALL of them. Those guys played like they hadn't played together all year. There was ZERO puck movement through the neutral zone after the first period.

And why the hell would Stevens put Smith and Modry back together? They were on the ice for the first 11 goals against in the Capitals series before Stevens (mercifully) broke them up.

One good thing about tonight's game: The officiating was solid. The Pens won because the Flyers gave the game away and nothing more.

Will Philly give away game 2???

Tune in............

That should count as a goal for PITT.

Agreed Zak, definitely a goal. Big break for the Flyers.

I know if you're a Flyers fan, being down 0-2 s*cks. But you should be pretty proud of your team. This comes from a Penguins diehard, by the way.

Playing against a killer offense with some of the most skilled players in the league with 5 defensemen, it took a late goal by Talbot to beat the Flyers Sunday night.

I respect Philly and I don't think this series is over by any means. I look for the Pens to win in six, the difference being I don't think the Flyers win in Pittsburgh.

Crosby's attempt at a playoff beard is my favorite part of the series so far.

The Flyers think the refs did a good job yesterday. Yep. Especially Saunders and Propp. Yuh-huh. Not one negative word from any of them. You betcha.

CLANK...

Good lord, the guys next to me bitching about the officiating

Don't know too much about hockey, but with the way the radio guys were complaining, you'd think the refs were after the Flyers. Even AFTER they gave the Flyers a break on that no-goal call. I mean, they were complaining about the refs before the series began! To a hockey novice like myself, that just spells of sour grapes. Not to mention can ANY loss not be attributed by the refs from these goons?

And I dare anyone to really show how NHL refs are worse than NBA refs.

I share an office with a Penguins fan.

"Irrational hate" describes his view toward the Flyers.

The "hooking" call on Hatcher was brutal. I will say that. He straight up stood his man up with perfect D.

Gonna be a barn burner tonight. Win here and at least it's a series

Nice reverse angle of the Pens goal that wasn't.
Yo, click it

And I dare anyone to really show how NHL refs are worse than NBA refs.

Bass, I think they're equally bad but for different reasons. The difference between the NHL and NBA officials is that on top of incompetancy, the NHL has rules that are arbitrary and ridiculous. Not to mention they're under orders from a Neo-Nazi regime that is ordering them to call the game according to the 'New NHL Rules' (Which through some dilusional belief is what they THINK Hockey fans want).

The 'New NHL' wanted to eliminate clutch-and-grab hockey so they told the officials to call any and all infractions, no matter how trivial, to open up the game and allow more offense. What makes it worse is that these officials are constantly being watched (I guess you can say it's the NHL's human version on Questec) and if they miss a significant amount of penalties, they can get punished by not being allowed to work deep into the postseason (Or in some cases, the postseason altogether). Therefore, you now have officials calling penalties that are borderline ridiculous just so they can cover their own asses. The two-referee system makes it worse because often times you have two people seeing two completely different things and calling penalties that really aren't penalties. As a result, you now have nearly half the game being played on the power play and therefore both teams getting numerous man-advantage chances they don't deserve.

Another problem is inconsistency, a player will tap another player's stick and get called for a slash, but a minute later they will ignore a blatant boarding call. Hatcher's penalty the other night was bullshit because he simply stood the guy up who had the puck (If he does that away from the play its Interference). He got two minutes for 'Playing Defense' if you will. However, they missed Malkin's elbow straight to Briere's head away from the play.

One place where the NHL KILLS the NBA in terms of bad officiating is what I like to call 'Reffing the Score'. If a team is down by a goal with 5 minutes to play, the slightest infraction will be a penalty. The NBA officials can do this, as well. But it's two points out of 150 as opposed to 1 goal out of six or seven.

There ARE some similarities, however. Like the NBA, the NHL caters to its stars. Crosby will do a give-and-go with his linemate and head to the net. If he goes down (tripped or not) up the arm goes. Both leagues have officials who are incompetant (Salvatore/Palmer for the NBA and VanMassenhoven/Koharski for the NHL) or have a 'look at me' attitude (Joey Crawford & Bill McCreary).

Both suck, but it's really a lateral movement.

NBA refs call fouls that you would get punched for calling in a pick-up game. 90% of their calls are anticipated before they blow the whistle, and whether contact is made or not, they blow it anyway. And as far as stars "getting calls" goes, there is nothing worse than the NBA.

I don't watch enough hockey to know how good or bad the refs are. As far as that Hatcher penalty goes, the announcer (from Versus, mind you, so grain of salt) said that the reason it was a good call was because Hatcher had his stick between Malkin's legs as Malkin was trying to get by him. Don't know if that explanation suffices for the hockey faithful. I can't comment since I don't know what the rules are.

First IHSY, thanks for the explanation. Feel a bit smarter now, and I know at least something to look for.

The NBA has some stupid rules, as well. The whole Detroit/Orlando 4.6 second call was foolish all around. It's stupid to say that if a clock stops in a situation like that, the ref doesn't have the option to restart the play. That play changed the complexion of that game, IMO. It didn't impact the final score, but if Detroit's going into the 4th down by 2 instead of up by 1 (and the lift that shot gives them), it changes things slightly.

Many people would tell you that (as much as the Spurs whine and complain) that the refs (and the league, actually) favor the Spurs, based on past experiences and that whole nimrodic meeting of the minds that depleted Phoenix and basically awarded SA the series (and essentially, the title). I guess you could (somewhat) compare it to the Habs, but when did NHL officials decide to suspend Flyers players? THAT is the ultimate example of star catering.

I'll defer that they're at least both bad, equally, and we could sit here for hours lamenting about bad playoff calls (I'll call your Stars/Sabres Game 6 OT and raise you a Jazz/Bulls Game 6 pushoff). It just makes the playoffs unwatchable at times, between actual ref incompetency and the fans/radio guys/TV announcers displaying as much (I will say this for the Vs. guys, though - they at least explained why the no-goal call wasn't reversed, even if they themselves felt like it should've been, without dissing the refs).

Sunday was the first time I've had the misfortune of watching and hearing a full broadcast on Versus. Brutal. Absolutely brutal. The game was clearly secondary to all of their promotions, and what's with cutting away to the guy in the studio WHILE THE ACTION OF THE GAME IS STILL HAPPENING? Was it really necessary to do a 3-minute interview with Tom Glavine while play is continuing, frequenty cutting away to show shots of him instead of what's happening on the ice?

The bias of the announcers was so absurdly obvious. I know that Olcyzk played for Pittsburgh, and I thought I heard the play-by-play man say that he did, as well, but it really surprises me that a Comcast-owned network would be so prejudiced against their own team. My favorite part was when the play-by-play guy made a Freudian slip and instead of referring to the "visitors from Philadelphia," he mentioned the "villains from Philadelphia." Brilliant.

Not that any of this matters because I predict that both Randy Jones and Hatcher will get knocked out for the remainder of the playoffs within the first period.

Olczyk played all over the league and only 2 years for the Penguins. I remember him mainly as a Blackhawk.


You guys are really losing it with this "World is Against Us" shit....

The call on Hatcher was brutal, I will say that

Did he not get his hands up pretty high on a guy trying to make a move towards the goal? I've seen the play a few times, I thought it was marginal but not necessarily "brutal".


Last time I checked (no pun intended) you are supposed to play D w/ your stick and body, when you get gloves and hands involved it's call holding or interference, though I don't know that they called.

The call on Hatcher was brutal, I will say that

Agreed. As bad as the "it's not a goal" call against Crosby?

ENY you know they have to go "by the book" on those replays. You see it in football as well.

Hatcher's play was good defence. Christ, are you not allowed to even touch the guy with the puck? What happened to hockey?

They called "hooking", GGB

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