Thoughts On A Wednesday Morning

from Elliotte Friedman of CBC, • Joel Quenneville’s in- and post-game meltdowns—although justified—will test Gary Bettman. Teams were warned not to criticize officiating during these playoffs. On the annual pre-playoff conference call, Bettman got on the line and warned of stiff fines if anyone lashed out at the zebras. One exec called it “The Tortorella Rule.”

• Remember talking a year ago with Keith Yandle. He pointed out that you don’t really realize how hard the NHL is until a good coach game-plans against you in a playoff series. For him, that was Mike Babcock. Brought that up to Babcock’s former assistant, Paul MacLean, about Erik Karlsson. “Playoffs are about you against the other team ... you against your man ... for seven hard games. Who cracks first?” MacLean said. Win or lose, Karlsson will learn the same important lessons Yandle did.

• One scout: “Most teams have too much respect for Pittsburgh’s talent and play safe. Philly is not in awe and is taking it to them. Forecheck, physical, no space, etc., which is exposing Pittsburgh’s defensive shortcomings.” He added that the Flyers are showing that defencemen Paul Martin and Kris Letang make mistakes under physical pressure.

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Source: http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/hockey/comments/thoughts_on_a_wednesday_morning/

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