GDT #81: 4/6/12 > Blues vs Yotes > 6:30 PM > NBCS/Fresh102.5

[sseagle]

HEY

FLASHCHAT IS EMPTY?

[Portland Blues]

What a shitty start...

[Getzkee]

Its a rare sunny day in Vancouver and I'm watching this game with the blinds drawn.

[sparty09]

Bergie! Hopefully that will light a fire under them

[Portland Blues]

Yeaaaahhhhhh...

[sparty09]

or maybe they'll totally blow it and lock up the second seed. Scottrade sounds dead right now.

[Nyghtewynd]

It's time to start questioning the playoff heart of these kids. The closer the playoffs get, the worse they play. We're making a brutally average Yotes team look awesome.

Halak is officially the starter. Elliott might have done better on the second and definitely could have done better on the third. He's starting to fall off.

[dmiles2186]

There's only one way to fix this team: take them to LA where they will play a rag tag bunch of street hockey players on a roof who teach them how to have fun and play the game the right way.

[Nyghtewynd]

Game over. Completely embarrassed tonight by a brutal team.

I'd give Halak a period tomorrow and let Elliott clean up the rest of the meaningless game.

I'm not sure we can win a series now. The heart has absolutely disappeared.

[sparty09]

How did Boston do down the stretch last year? I hope that this is the rude awakening they need, but I doubt it. They don't look like a playoff team at all. The Blues team which had guys on IR for 90% on the season has completely disappeared.

[dmiles2186]

Blues picked a great time to lose 4 straight for the first time all season.

I looked up the stats, sparty. Boston went 3-2 in April, and 7-4-4 in March. They lost 6 of 7 in March, but bounced back down the stretch.

[sparty09]

Blues picked a great time to lose 4 straight for the first time all season.

I looked up the stats, sparty. Boston went 3-2 in April, and 7-4-4 in March. They lost 6 of 7 in March, but bounced back down the stretch.

Thanks. I thought I remembered them losing a lot, but that didn't stop them. I wanted to believe that this was a different Blues team from years past, but things obviously aren't looking that way right now.

[cardsfan04]

I'm officially nervous for the playoffs. They need to find a way to bounce back. I don't know if they peaked to soon, if they were just on a sick run for the bulk of the season but their talent is catching up with them (doubt it), or they are just in a funk.

For now, I'm gonna vote for just in a funk. But, it's a terrible time to get into a funk. They are going to have to snap out of it in must win games which is a tall task.

[philco_3]

What a shitty start...

The whole game was shitty.

[kodos]

The confidence I had that this team could make a real splash in the playoffs is gone. The wheels are coming off the bus. This is not good. This is bad.

It's not just the losing, they looked like garbage tonight. The offense and the defense.

[philco_3]

The confidence I had that this team could make a real splash in the playoffs is gone. The wheels are coming off the bus. This is not good. This is bad.

It's not just the losing, they looked like garbage tonight. The offense and the defense.

Yup. Here's to a first round sweep by whomever wants to beat us.

[kodos]

Hey, here's a good idea, let's let the opposing team skate into our zone and just take a big fat shot from the slot, over and over. We'll just back right in. Go nuts! It's free shot night!

[theohall]

It's time to start questioning the playoff heart of these kids. The closer the playoffs get, the worse they play. We're making a brutally average Yotes team look awesome.

Halak is officially the starter. Elliott might have done better on the second and definitely could have done better on the third. He's starting to fall off.

Really? So you are going to start the guy who has allowed 3+ goals in what - all 5 of his last starts - while benching the guy who had ONE shaky game???

[not_a_wings_fan]

My fear when were at the top of the league is that this team doesn't have another gear - that they were playing as hard as they could at that point.

The last few games have done nothing to dispell that fear.

[cprice12]

I don't think you can put any stock at all in how the play over the last few games will transfer over to the playoffs.

Here's some history...

In '90-'91, we finished with 105 pts...2nd overall.
We finished real strong, winning our last 7 games to end the regular season...and what happened in the playoffs?
We lost 3 of the first 4 to Detroit before coming back to win the series in 7...and then we lost in the 2nd round in 6 games to the North Stars.

In '00-'01, we finished with 103 pts...2nd in the Central.
We really struggled down the stretch, winning only 4 of our last 19 games to end the regular season...and what happened in the playoffs?
We beat San Jose in 6 games in Rd. 1, then swept the Stars in Rd. 2, then lost to the Avs in the conference finals.

I won't be concerned until we are down by two games in a series AND have lost a home game.

Right now I'm pretty pumped about the playoffs starting.