Poor Joel Ward

I think LA looks like they are on their way to a Cup Parade. That being said, watch out for the Devils, after thoroughly dismantling my Flyers, this team gained a lot of confidence. Marty looks like the beast that lead his team to 3 Stanley Cup Victories not so long ago, don't be surprised if he is hoisting his fourth before long.

Oh wow, I think I would be going for the Coyotes and LA before I would want to  see that. One thing is clear, he is second only to Roy in greatness. Roy just quit too early.

Personally, hope NY or Washington wins it. Probably will not watch much of the playoffs again until the final round. One good thing I do know that the first round had the highest ratings for the NHL in general, but I do not know if the momentum carried into the 2nd round in the US. I would be happy to see it go up, which makes sense as theis is the 1st year in a long time all 7 games were shown nationally this early on.

They might go all the way with you if you buy them dinner first.

If Washington wins... I don't even know what to say about the remaining four.

I remember laughing at EA's NHL simulator that showed a Washington vs LA Final, especially when both teams were fighting just to get into the playoffs, now it may actually happen.

What the hell.......

Much better match ups first round. Plus last years stanley cup finals were both in still and Philly vs. Pittsburgh

You really can't blame Roy for leaving when he did.  The Avs were starting to fall apart, and why spend your later years bogged down in mediocrity?  Marty is a beast, I have hated him my whole hockey watching life, but now its more of a hateful respect.  

No they weren't. They fell apart when the lockout hit a year later in which they lost key players like Foote, Blake, and Foresberg. So essentially it might have been his time to go due to the year of no hockey. 

I only saw Nj in the playoffs so I never probably had as much of the hate and respect. Of course, now there is no denying he is an elite player just on a team I dislike for popularizing the trap with such success.

They were definitely on their last legs man, Sacic, Forsberg, Claude Lemieux, Foote, and Blake were getting old. Forsberg came to Philly and had one decent year before foot injuries destroyed his career. The rest of them were getting old. Roy got out at the right time, 2 cups in hand and coming off of a good '03 performance for him. Go out at the top of your game, don't wait around until you are the back up goalie giving up 4 a game. He was a first ballot hall of famer and he has his name etched twice in the most coveted trophy of all of sports. Not too many people can say that.

Okay, I liked your post until you said two cups. He has four, two with the Montreal Canadians and two with the Avalanche.

It still does not matter about how they fell (not completely). They were drafting, trading and paying their way to the top. The lockout fucked that up so I think they would have continued to dominate. No matter, the point of lockout was to make parity and it worked. So job well done NHL. Since the 2004 every team has made the playoffs, but the Toronto Maple Leafs. So job well done.

I am just grateful Eric Lindros refused to play for the Quebec Nordiques and demanded a trade, resulting in Foresberg in Quebec and not Philly.