ADF: (1) Montreal Canadiens vs (2) Tampa Bay Lightning

[Salmonberries]

there would be a shortage of referees then.

same way soccer wouldn't have enough.

same way baseball wouldn't have enough umps because they all can't call balls and strikes like us watching at home.

same way basketball... (tbh this is corrupt, no sport is more clear with it.by far the easiest sport to call, yet they can't do it properly. everyone knows superstars get calls)

either way, people don't like to accept human error for some reason. it doesn't make sense to me. funnier part is, every call against montreal tonight was valid. i can take screenshots or find gifs of the other ones.

You get the feeling sometimes that people don't realize that the on ice officials are an integral part of the game.

They are no more or less competent than the players.

[Tortorella's Rant]

Habs can't score and they're doing what the fans do first and foremost: blame officials.

[Ronaldoescobar]

Prust may become the most hated player (after burrows and all the rest of the Canucks) by the referees and the nhl after this

[Ronaldoescobar]

Colin Campbell already investigating the Prust incident according to John Shannon.

This won't end well for Prust I don't think.

Canucks need to trade for him in the offseason!

[M A K A V E L I 96]

Habs can't score and they're doing what the fans do first and foremost: blame officials.

It's not like the officials haven't played a big part in this series so far. The game 1 winning goal was scored on a clear offside and in game 2 you have Zebra Watson doing his best Auger/Burrows impersonation.

[Tom Sestito]

difference here is the penalties auger called on Burrows were god awful and Burrows hadn't done jack $&!# in that game.

prust was doing stupid $&!# all game long. everything called against him he deserved.

[King Heffy]

Bottom line is that kind of conduct is grossly unprofessional and would be considered completely unacceptable in a league that wasn't a complete joke. The NHL has allowed its refs to get away with far too much, including, but not limited to, rigging games if not entire playoff series. Given that the NHL has shown no signs of forcing the officials to clean up their act, the media is the next step.

Past history does not suggest the refs deserve any benefit of the doubt.

[FireGillis]

Love seeing the Habs get destroyed! Here's hoping for a Tampa sweep!

[the last outlaw]

difference here is the penalties auger called on Burrows were god awful and Burrows hadn't done jack crap in that game.

prust was doing stupid crap all game long. everything called against him he deserved.

Doesn't excuse Watson for allegedly making those kind of comments to Prust. That's totally unacceptable and unprofessional. He should be fired if it's determined he made said comments.

Surely there must be some witnesses who overheard what Watson said.

[RUPERTKBD]

I thought everyone wanted Weisse back.

That's not entirely accurate. While there were a few people saying that we never should have traded him, most of us were using his play in Montreal to refute the theory put forth by Tortorella that his 4th line wasn't good enough to play more than a few minutes a game.

The reffing has been an absolute disgrace. Only reason Tampa's up.

Still whining about the officiating? Do Habs fans think that crosschecking is legal now?

At least Calgary gooned it up. The Habs are just laying down here.

Spoke too soon. Prust with the obligatory run at Bishop and then backs it up by going full Burrows with the media afterward.

Methinks he'll get a fine....if he's lucky. (Loved it when Stammer gave his elbow pad to a fan. At least one guy left the rink happy )

[mephnick]

And the guys at work ridiculed me for picking Tampa to make the final in my bracket.

[Tre Mac]

Watched a bit of this series and in the 10min i watched i saw a bad call and a missed offside. Couldn't care less on who wins, just watching as a fan (a fading fan) but it is really easy to see game management is in full effect.

The series that by far was the worst was Predators/Blackhawks. I feel so bad for pred fans. Getting so fed up with this sport. Scratched that i am getting fed up with this league. Stupid rule changes, idiotic team placement. And i still have a hard time.believing Dallas, Carolina, Anaheim, and Tampa Bay all had what it takes to win a cup. Yeah sure....

[Pears]

Watched a bit of this series and in the 10min i watched i saw a bad call and a missed offside. Couldn't care less on who wins, just watching as a fan (a fading fan) but it is really easy to see game management is in full effect.

The series that by far was the worst was Predators/Blackhawks. I feel so bad for pred fans. Getting so fed up with this sport. Scratched that i am getting fed up with this league. Stupid rule changes, idiotic team placement. And i still have a hard time.believing Dallas, Carolina, Anaheim, and Tampa Bay all had what it takes to win a cup. Yeah sure....

Anaheim was filthy top to bottom when they won, led by a Niedermayer-Pronger top D pair. I'm with you on Dallas, Carolina, and Tampa. What's the coincidence between the 3 of them? They all won within 5-10 years after entering the league.

[Xbox]

Watched a bit of this series and in the 10min i watched i saw a bad call and a missed offside. Couldn't care less on who wins, just watching as a fan (a fading fan) but it is really easy to see game management is in full effect.

The series that by far was the worst was Predators/Blackhawks. I feel so bad for pred fans. Getting so fed up with this sport. Scratched that i am getting fed up with this league. Stupid rule changes, idiotic team placement. And i still have a hard time.believing Dallas, Carolina, Anaheim, and Tampa Bay all had what it takes to win a cup. Yeah sure....

Anaheim and Tampa had great teams.... how could you say that? Anaheim had the 2 best defence man in the league leading their d core and Tampa had that filthy young top line of Lecavalier-Richards-St Louis.

Dallas I can't comment on, and I do agree with Carolina.

EDIT: I've always wondered that if this is true (which i don't think it is), why hasn't the league done anything to get Nashville a cup? IMO, their current team trumps the 06 Canes. Still can't believe they won, and still can't believe EDM made it to the finals that year. It was more of a WTF year

[Xbox]

Every year in the playoffs Montreal reminds me why I hate them so damn much. I don't even argue with their "fans" and actual fans anymore. I just sit back and laugh at the stupidity and conspiracy theorists from one of the most favoured teams by refs in recent years.

I am thoroughly enjoying this, although I believe this series is far from over. Last year I was getting in heated debates with so many "Canucks-Habs" fans on here. This year Im just sitting back and enjoying the fun.

I have a buddy who is a huge Habs fan and he hates Tampa and always tells me "The Lightning are full of bitches". Like wtf? lol

I love Carey Price. I think he's an amazing goalie, the best in the world. But as long as he wears that hideous jersey he'll never get my support. Unless they play Calgary that is..

[hatedkid666]

S/O to the one guy who predicted a lightning sweep

[Pears]

S/O to the one guy who predicted a lightning sweep

A sweep isn't two games. Nice try tho.

[Tom Sestito]

tbf it was me and i voted after game 1

mostly out of my disdain for the habs.

[Brad Marchand]

What I learned in this thread:

Dallas, the back-to-back Presidents' Trophy winners in 1998 and 1999, the team with future Hockey Hall of Famers Joe Nieuwendyk, Brett Hull, Ed Belfour, and Mike Modano, were handed the Stanley Cup in 1999. Never mind that they made it back to the Cup Final the year after. Apparently the league rigged it for them.

Come on, people. Mentioning that team in the same sentence as Carolina is an insult to the Stars.

[Xbox]

A sweep isn't two games. Nice try tho.

Montreal hasn't lost 3 games all season

Tampa Bay has the best home record and has given the Habs a 4.07 GAA vs. the other 28 teams 2.11

Game 3 will be interesting