2014 Playoffs Talk

[Josh]

I think the final I'd really like to see would be Philadelphia VS St. Louis.

[Sara]

Re: 2014 Playoffs Talk

I'm going to go all out and say Pittsburgh vs San Jose.

[Jasmine]

Re: 2014 Playoffs Talk

I'm gonna say Boston - St Louis

[Alfie11]

Re: 2014 Playoffs Talk

Boston - Anaheim is my guess

[Josh]

Re: 2014 Playoffs Talk

Philly - St. Louis wasn't really my guess; it was what I'd like to see.

[Alfie11]

Re: 2014 Playoffs Talk

I'm sorry, but there's no way any Habs fan can say there's NO bias towards them. Nearly every game (especially home ones) they get blatantly biased reffing.

[Dean Ambrose]

Re: 2014 Playoffs Talk

I'm sorry, but there's no way any Habs fan can say there's NO bias towards them. Nearly every game (especially home ones) they get blatantly biased reffing.

There isn't lol. Did the referee fuck up the interference call? Sure. But he was in the crease, Price gambled and ran into him and he got the call.

Habs going to the cup finals.

[Alfie11]

Re: 2014 Playoffs Talk

I'm sorry, but there's no way any Habs fan can say there's NO bias towards them. Nearly every game (especially home ones) they get blatantly biased reffing.

There isn't lol. Did the referee fuck up the interference call? Sure. But he was in the crease, Price gambled and ran into him and he got the call.

Habs going to the cup finals.

- Silfverberg no goal for goaltender interference
- Greening no goal due to incidental contact
- Neil no goal due to incidental contact
- Tonight's no goal due to incidental contact

These are four terrible calls. Three of them are from this year, one from last year. Bad calls do happen. But they do also happen in favour of some teams more than the others. Anyone who's not a Habs fan can see that calls go towards the Habs, especially in the Bell Centre. Even Ron MacLean, while he agreed with the call (head-scratcher, I know) made note that the game was in Montreal. Don Cherry said the call was tough and also noted it was IN Montreal.

I think it's pretty clear to most people that aren't Habs fans that there's a bias in Montreal. Anyways, I guess at the end of the day it doesn't matter. It may have just assured Montreal won the first round, but I don't see them really going anywhere. They could probably give Boston a decent run but I think they're too small and soft to really stand much of a chance.

[Dean Ambrose]

Re: 2014 Playoffs Talk

Montreal gets the short end of the stick more often than not.

And are we really complaining about no goal calls when the Sens had that kick in goal last year count in the first round? Shit happens. Move on. To say there's a bias towards the Habs is ridiculous.

[Alfie11]

Re: 2014 Playoffs Talk

Montreal gets the short end of the stick more often than not.

And are we really complaining about no goal calls when the Sens had that kick in goal last year count in the first round? Shit happens. Move on. To say there's a bias towards the Habs is ridiculous.

Well, that was the situation room not the refs for one. It was a reviewable play, I'm talking about the refs. The Habs were given a five minute power play in Game 1 for a clean hit. Habs fans were clinging to anything that series, even blaming a loss because the face-off was on the wrong side of the ice when the score was 2-0 MTL with under ten minutes to go. Also, not to mention reading around and seeing their fans still whining and complaining about the Zibanejad goal from last year.

I completely disagree about Montreal getting the short end of the stick more often than not. If the Habs are down a goal or two on home ice, they'll always get a PP in the final five minutes of a game. I'd say they get pretty timely officiating.

[Alfie11]

Re: 2014 Playoffs Talk

Canadiens vs Bruins
Penguins vs Rangers

Avalanche vs Blues
Ducks vs Sharks

I think this is how round two will look...it should be entertaining. You have Canadiens vs Bruins which is obviously a very historic rivalry. Then you have the Penguins and Rangers who have shown many times in the past they don't like each other. Then in the West you have the Avs and Blues who started a bit of a rivalry late in the season..there's a bit of hate there. Then the Ducks and Sharks obviously are rivals..that should be a pretty good series.

[Dean Ambrose]

Re: 2014 Playoffs Talk

Montreal gets the short end of the stick more often than not.

And are we really complaining about no goal calls when the Sens had that kick in goal last year count in the first round? Shit happens. Move on. To say there's a bias towards the Habs is ridiculous.

Well, that was the situation room not the refs for one. It was a reviewable play, I'm talking about the refs. The Habs were given a five minute power play in Game 1 for a clean hit. Habs fans were clinging to anything that series, even blaming a loss because the face-off was on the wrong side of the ice when the score was 2-0 MTL with under ten minutes to go. Also, not to mention reading around and seeing their fans still whining and complaining about the Zibanejad goal from last year.

I completely disagree about Montreal getting the short end of the stick more often than not. If the Habs are down a goal or two on home ice, they'll always get a PP in the final five minutes of a game. I'd say they get pretty timely officiating.

Then I have a tip: watch all the Habs games rather than a handful, more specifically, against the Sens and you'll see how we get the short end of the stick more often than not.

[Josh]

Re: 2014 Playoffs Talk

I don't really think there's any bias. There's shitty calls, sure, but I think the refs take a lot of pride in calling an impartial game and I doubt they'd give away calls and put themselves on this line just to help out their favorite teams. I'd bet it's happened before, I just don't think it's commonplace. I sure hope not anyways.

[Jasmine]

Re: 2014 Playoffs Talk

Well, contrary to you Josh, I think they do take a lot of pride...but not in their job but their ego. Seriously, I watch a boat load of games...and the incompetency is at its best. And it happens too many times where the game ends and the big story of the game, is how it was reffed. Wrong on all levels. Only in the NHL are the refs above everything like they can't make mistakes. They do make mistakes but they are never held accountable for the shit they disturbe during a game. I use to watch when there was only one ref, you would think having two would make things better. Wrong again. They take too much room on the ice for the little difference it makes. One was enough, considering it hasn't improved anything by having two.

* And yes, some refs are too obvious on their biased. Specially the French connections when they do Mtl. And if you can't see that as a Habs fan, you are obviously too biased yourself. And I'm not saying it doesn't happen anywhere else..but just don't say it doesn't happen in Mtl.

[Alfie11]

Re: 2014 Playoffs Talk

I think Jasmine brings up a really good point. Too many times the refs let their ego's get in the way and it costs one team the game. It's not just fan fuelled that there's a bias, though. I remember Peter Laviolette yelling out "Montreal Typical". That was one example that was caught on camera/mic. Personally, I'd like to think there's no bias. I really would. But I've watched Montreal play often and seen this happen way too often, especially in the Bell Centre. And it's not little calls, it's blatantly bad calls going their way.

Yeah, also another thing to look at is who exactly the refs are in Montreal. I remember reading a tweet or something when the Greening goal was waived off..."The accent says enough". The ref had a French accent. And the ref who blew off the goal last night? Francis Charron - a French born ref.

I think the best thing the league can do is stop letting French refs officiate games in Montreal as it seems they bring a bias with them.

Edit: I just saw two videos on YouTube of disallowed goals, also for "incidental contact". They were both pretty questionable - Toronto and Chicago. What did they have in common? Both were in the Bell Centre.