The Deer

I just figured it'd be nice to have a thread just for general playoff commentary, just observation of the other series and water cooler type chit-chat about what's going on. What series have been surprises, who is looking good so far, stuff like that. Only two SNES playoff series underway so far, both in the East, and both have yielded surprises! The first playoff game of the 2006 Spring League season occurred, not surprisingly, between two of the league's most dedicated players, #2 seed the94kid (NY Rangers) and seed #7 Schwartz (Hartford). And the opening game was a bit of a shocker, with Schwartz shutting down the offensive machine Rangers and limiting them to just two goals, hanging on for a very gritty 3-2 win to take a 1-0 series lead. Hartford had stolen home ice advantage and had gotten the split they wanted (to use a couple of pretty overused sports cliches). In Game Two, however, a pissed off Rangers team came out and did what they're quite capable of doing; filling the net. An easy-looking 7-2 Rangers win in this one, and the series is tied 1-1 going back to Connecticut, where I'm sure it'll be a sea of green and white in the stands and where Brass Bonanza will be pumping at full blast. Was Game One just a fluke or was it a sign that Schwartz is gonna give the Rangers all they can handle? Stay tuned! The other playoff series to have opened was between the #1 seed in the East Shakazuzu (Montreal) and #8 I Am Blurb. Few people, this scribe included, gave Blurb much of a chance in this series, but when I checked the scoreboard yesterday, I almost jumped out of my chair. Buffalo walks into the hallowed Montreal Forum, where I'm sure the Canadiens hardly lost all season, and stole the first game 5-3. A total shocker, and maybe a sign that this is going to be more of a series than most people thought. Maybe the best thing for Buffalo was to get that "nothing to lose" mentality that came with the tough matchup against Shaka. They've already stolen away home advantage........ can the Sabres possibly sneak out of Montreal with both wins, putting Montreal in a large hole after cruising through the regular season? Or will Montreal start to dominate as everyone expected? In either case, what an upset in the opener of this series, and an almost-as-good upset in the opener of the NYR-Hartford series. Goes to show that the old adage is often true; anything can happen in the playoffs!

s**t BUCKETS that's quite the month, major congratulations man!!! Wow can't say I blame ya for not being around lately, although come on, you and I both know that if you REALLLLY loved NHL 94, you woulda snuck in a couple games on the honeymoon, I mean seriously. Who cares what the new wife thinks, you gotta show her what the priorities are and put her in the place right off the hop, it's the key to a successful marriage!!!! Haha no seriously, congratulations on your all-around success, and once I get my new controller (please God soooooon), I'll msg your ass for some games, I need a little bit of practice before facing off against the Devils in the first round!

Her next rival? Are you a girl JotaC? PS- Just a suggestion, not trying to start anything, but instead of having an entire playoff series forfeited, maybe the next best team in the West (LA I think) should be promoted to SJ's playoff spot? After all, the LA coach did stick it out for the whole season. And it's better than having no first round series at all. I don't know if Evan and/or Jota would be cool with this, and I personally don't care cuz it's pretty unlikely to affect me, I'm just suggesting it cuz it might be nice for the league not to have a forfeited playoff series.

OK I know a couple of series have already gotten underway, but I still think there should be a thread where some people can make some playoff predictions! Seriously, what are playoffs without making some predictions? There's nothing like making predictions on best-of-seven series (OK so getting laid is better, I lie), so here goes! Oh, and I don't know about you guys, but one thing I'm not gonna do is make any predictions on my own series, that's just askin for trouble no matter what you predict. OK here goes: WALES CONFERENCE (1) Montreal vs (8) Buffalo No disrespect at all to Blurb, very solid player, but Montreal is a machine. Prediction: Montreal in FOUR (2) NY Rangers vs (7) Hartford There was a fair difference between these two in the standings, but in the many exhis they played, the games were pretty close from what I remember hearing. Schwartz will step up his play in the playoffs, and has already surprised by winning the first game. But "the kid" still has too much skill, and I'm still callin him in six games, albeit six tight ones. Prediction: NY Rangers in SIX (3) Boston vs (6) Washington VERY good series coming up here folks, the best of the series in the east I would say. Two guys that I think are pretty evenly-matched players, and possibly the two best defensive players in the league. I predict an extremely close series, with at least an OT game or two. I'm gonna call the Bruins in six, but it wouldn't surprise me THAT much to see Washington pull off the upset either. Prediction: Boston in SIX CAMPBELL CONFERENCE (1) Edmonton vs (8) San Jose What makes this one difficult to call is that we haven't seen Rucinsky around in like two months. If he plays, I think he gives Edmonton a solid series. If he doesn't, who does play as San Jose for this series? Or does another team (LA maybe) get the playoff spot? Anyway we'll assume Rucinsky is still out there, and I'll say Edmonton in six. Prediction: Edmonton in SIX (2) Chicago vs (7) Rudy This might be the best series of them all! McMarkis and Rudy are VERY evenly-matched players, and I'm gonna say that this one goes down to the wire, a seven-gamer. Five outta seven games will be decided by one goal. Prediction: Chicago in SEVEN (3) Detroit vs (6) St Louis Another potentially great series between two great players. Cajanek has ripped it up since getting the new controller, but I still think Slimeball is the sleeper player of this league, and is gonna surprise some people in these playoffs. St Louis puts up a great fight, but Detroit in SIX Prediction: Detroit in SIX (4) Dallas vs (5) Winnipeg Goin Dallas in this one, in five games. Ack I picked the higher seed in every series, that's kinda boring, I went thru them thinking that I should have at least one upset, but I couldn't pick one that I wouldn't be just picking the upset for the sake of picking the upset. I guess Washington and Vancouver are my "upset picks" if there are any.

Alright here goes with the votes! Best Overall Coach Of the Season - Shakazuzu, almost seemed invincible at some points during the season. Best Sportsmanship Coach - Wow, the94kid did exactly what I planned to do for this one. Can't decide between Schwartz and Cajanek, both are about as sportsmanlike and cool to play against as you can possibly get. I'd also like to nominate Patrick Brady (New Jersey), my upcoming playoff opponent. All three of those guys compliment every goal you score against them, GG's all over the place, and even put up with the sooking of sore losers like me without seeming to mind at all. I'd like to cast a vote for all three of these guys! Best One-Timer Coach - Well Rudy is the pioneer behind the "Rudy One" or the "Udy 1", but against me he wasn't one-timing as much as usual, all he seemed to do was cheap-ass cuts (jk man haha), so I'm gonna go with the Mad Slimeball, I found that if you let him get a one-timer away from where he wanted to get it away, it was basically an automatic goal against. A close second to Fenty, who lives and dies off of the one-timer. Best Deke Coach - Shakazuzu, he doesn't do the super-fancy triple dekes or anything, he just gets it in the slot, waits for you to make the first move, and then just puts it in the opposite side. Best Slapshot Coach - I don't find slapshots are really that effective a way of scoring in this game, and I don't remember anyone who really used them all that much. Best Defensive Coach - Boston, in my two games against him I couldn't get ANYTHING going offensively, he totally shut me down, can't remember anyone that was that hard to get a decent scoring chance against. Best Offensive Coach - The #'s don't lie, it's the94kid on this one, when he's on his game he can score all day, and NOBODY in the world loves to score goals more than this guy! Most Improved Coach - Two guys immediately come to mind, Cajanek and Rucinsky (San Jose), both started out with awful records in their first 10 games or so, but both stuck with it and improved (or maybe it was more a matter of getting a better controller) a shitload, and next thing you knew both strung together huge winning streaks and were above .500. Very tough call here, I'm actually gonna just make this one another tie, Cajanek and Rucinsky. Best Far-Better-Than-Their-Actual-Record Coach - Fenty. In exhibition games I find he's just as tough as the guys near the top of the standings. But his record is well below .500 and out of the playoffs. I don't understand it at all! And some of the games he did win in league play were against top players. Doesn't make any sense at all! A couple of other coaches better than their record are Rudy and Slimeball. Yes I know both are above .500 and in the playoffs, but both are still better than their records. Best Replacement Coach - Three great choices here. Boston (energymike), Edmonton (JotaC), and Dallas (Blazer) all got top notch contenders as replacement coaches. Well I haven't actually played against Blazer, but his results have been impressive and people have told me he's the real deal. Hard to pick among these three, but I'm gonna go with Boston. Coach Who Stuck It Out Through The Hard Times - Again San Jose and St Louis come to mind immediately here, gonna go with St Louis because he was playing with the keyboard for the first part of the season when he's a guy who's used to playing with a controller. Most Hardware Broken During The Season - I know some people don't think you should vote for yourself, but I'm sorry, I damned well earned this award!!!!!!!!! THREE purple Illuminix controllers broken, one within less than 24 hours of acquiring it. None of them broken thru temper tantrums or anything, I swear, all broken just by what I consider to be natural game play! It's the reason I haven't played any games in like a month and a half. So yes, I vote for myself on this one! Great award categories! Such attention to detail is yet another reason why this league kicks ass.

HAHAHAHA YES, how could anyone else in the GENS league possibly win this award? He also wins the award for most hilarious post of the season, in either league! Remember it? "Boys I have to retire from the league, I broke my keyboard in half, I broke my table, I almost broke a couple of my knuckles, and my girlfriend got so mad that she almost left me. That's it for me and this league until I learn to control my rage." (not an exact quote but that was the gist of his post) Total classic stuff, who could forget that?

OK with all this talk about league awards, I nominate Rudy for the "Best Avatar Ever" trophy!!!!!!!!!

Boys I'm gonna be outta commission for a bit while I (a) work on a new controller and ( spend some VERY quality time on a dream trip to the Memorial Cup in Moncton, May 19-28!!! But I DEFINITELY wanna stay in the league and definitely think I can finish out my schedule by June 4 and be good to go for the playoffs. I just purchased the other day two SNES controllers off of E-bay, and when they come, Rudy said he can wire one up for me so that I can connect it to the computer and play online with it. Once I get that done, not only will I be back playing my games, but I'll own all your asses!!! I doubt my controller situation will be sorted out before I leave on the 19th for the Memorial Cup, but I'm hoping it's all dealt with shortly after I get back on the 29th, just in time to play my last few regular season games.

No way man, I know who it'd definitely be if it was earlier in the season.......... but with his season pretty much over I don't think it'd happen now.

Gotta agree, that's effing cool as hell!!!!!!!

Le Journal de Quebec English Version though. Overall it's been a successful year for sure so far, the team is 22-10-0 and more often that not found a way to win those one-goal games that coulda gone either way......... could make a big difference in the team's final standing. Our goal right now is to have a great stretch drive and really get into a groove and comfort zone for the playoffs. As much as it's been a successful year, the team has had a few very bad games, and did go through a few stretches where they weren't playing well (sometimes winning in spite of themselves), and down the stretch (not only in the season games but in exhibitions) we're looking to really work out whatever kinks are remaining in our game so that we're ready and confident to compete as well as possible in the playoffs, because to come out of the East, you're going to have to be at your VERY best. We're currently in a pretty heated race with Boston for the third playoff seed in the East, and in order to get it there isn't too much room for error down the stretch. It hasn't helped that we've lost both of our head-to-head games vs the Bruins so far this season but we can't dote on that anymore. Our goal is to manage to stay ahead of Boston and keep the #3 seed, that's for sure. Individual thoughts: Hextall: Has been spectacular in some games and very bad in others. Goaltending has been boom or bust for this team so far.......... overall the team's goals against could be a little better, especially when compared to other teams with similar records. There have been a few games where the offense has bailed the Nordiques out. That said, there have been some games where our goalie has been lights out. With practice and more practice, we believe we can get Hextall playing consistent come playoff time. Duchesne: Good year offensively, but has been in and out of the lineup at times, often replaced with Adam Foote. Asking for a little bit more stability from him defensively. Lesyschyn (sp?): Has been the Nords' best Dman, not a huge threat offensively but seems to make sure his goals are big ones. Has been the team's best body checker. Nolan: A bit hot and cold, but overall has probably been doing better than the left wing on most teams in the league. Overall we're satisfied. Sakic: Although he's pretty horrible defensively (can't seem to hit anyone ever), he is the MVP, TIME AND AGAIN he comes through with the huge goals for this team, just like in real life. And if he gets the puck in a certain spot at a certain angle and just shoots it, it seems to go in almost every time. Mario is about the only other guy in this game I find that applies to....... maybe Roenick as well. Sundin: Very lazy and often very guilty of trying to do too much himself, and pretty inconsistent, but when he's on, WATCH OUT, and I mean watch out. In his "on" games he's owned that top shelf glove side. A big powerful right shot who just needs to learn to bring it every game. Overall, this team noticeably plays much better when they MOVE THE PUCK.............. every game we lose it seems to be because we're holding onto the puck too long........... shouldn't be on a guy's stick for more than a couple of seconds unless he has a wide-open lane. Move that puck around quickly and success will come. And we do better when we actually make a concerted effort to have the forwards play defense........... it's so easy to just go right to the defense control, but if you do that, you're already conceding that the other team has beaten three guys! Have the forwards be accountable, and THEN let the D take care of things if that fails. Moving the puck and finishing hits, even on guys without the puck, when we do those things the rest seems to take care of itself. And CREATIVITY, it's so easy for our team to find a move that works and then become too reliant on it. Against one opponent in particular, ALL of our signature moves were eventually solved. We must pass it around quickly and figure out new ways of scoring all of the time. Anyhow, that's our 2/3 season report! Once I get a new controller, see you guys down the stretch drive.

With most players having played a large chunk of their season, and with not much at ALL happening around the league lately, I thought I'd try and create some discussion and note the playoff races, races for division titles, and what the final standings (and playoff matchups, although that's looking a bit far ahead) might look like. This is just for generation of discussion, nothing more, so don't take any of this too seriously!!! In the Adams, it's pretty clear that Montreal (24-2-1) is going to win the division and more than likely finish as the #1 seed in the East. Quebec (22-10-0) looks like a FAIRLY good bet to finish second, although they're going to have to hold off Boston (14-7-0), who have been playiing excellent since acquiring their new coach (14-4 with the new coach). Battling it out for fourth are Hartford (11-15-1), Buffalo (7-8-2-1), and Ottawa (8-13-0), but more importantly, those guys are all in the hunt for the final couple of playoff spots. In the Patrick, it looks like the NY Rangers (23-5-1) will win the division and unless they catch Montreal (possible but only an outside chance), they'll be the #2 seed for the playoffs. Second in the division is a clear battle between Washington (14-9-1) and New Jersey (14-11-3), with those guys also around the range of fighting for home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Pittsburgh (8-18-0-3) probably won't make the playoffs, and I must say that based on my exhibitions with their coach, I'm surprised their record is so poor. Philly (1-16-0-4) and the Islanders (0-19-0-4) look to be pretty much out of the race. The Norris might be the most interesting division. There's a dogfight for first place between Detroit (19-11-0), St. Louis (20-14-0), and Winnipeg (19-9-1), and with a very good new coach in McMarkis (no disrespect to Fatty at all, just I know how good McMarkis is), Chicago (10-9-2) might just have enough games left to join that first place race. Also don't count out Dallas (7-11-0-3), whose record might look like he's not really making too much noise, but he's also a good player who I'd be surprised not to see make something happen...... not sure how his record is four games below .500. Also haven't seen him around in forever!!! Anyhow if he starts playing again and plays to his potential, he could still make the playoffs. Toronto (9-28-0) is done. Finally we have the Smythe, where it's looking pretty safe to say that Edmonton (25-13-0) will win the division.... whether or not they're seeded #1 for the playoffs remains to be seen. A fine race for second place should occur between Vancouver (19-17-1) and San Jose (17-14-0 despite an awful start, hats off to this guy on his improvement, and could be the playoff darkhorse in the West!!!). Los Angeles (14-19-0) and Calgary (11-18-1-1) can still make the playoffs but both (esp Calgary) are going to need to pull their socks up a bit. Anaheim (4-24-0) is all but done, which is too bad cuz their coach is a good player (play him when he's using Pittsburgh and you'll see), just #1 has a bad team and #2 by the time he joined the Ducks they were already screwed. Anyhow, without further ado, predictions on final standings!!!!!! EAST 1- Montreal 2- New York Rangers 3- Quebec 4- Boston 5- Washington 6- New Jersey 7- Buffalo 8- Hartford WEST 1- Edmonton 2- Detroit 3- Chicago 4- St. Louis 5- Winnipeg 6- Vancouver 7- San Jose 8- Dallas *Please note that the West standings are likely to be especially close, so those picks are really a crapshoot............ I expect there to be very little difference in points between say 2 and 7. This would set up first round playoff series of: Montreal-Hartford (I understand these two have a FINE rivalry, and they played one of the best games the league has seen this year, Montreal's epic comeback to win 6-5 and send Schwartzy on a bed-punching rampage). NY Rangers-Buffalo Quebec-New Jersey Boston-Washington (I think this would be a VERY good series) Edmonton-Dallas (like real-life Edmonton-Dallas series, this one would be a gooder) Detroit-San Jose Chicago-Vancouver (would be a very good one!!) St. Louis-Winnipeg Any thoughts?

Watch out rest of the Norris, things just got a bit tougher for you guys!!! That division already had a great race for first place (Detroit, St. Louis, Winnipeg), but if there are enough games left (I haven't checked), this will now become a four-team race for the division title......... and likely the all-important #2 seed in the West.

Wanted to see what division everyone thinks is the toughest. With all due respect to all players, I think I'm definitely gonna have to go with my competition- the Adams (no, not Northeast, this game is based on the 92-93 season, in which it still had the GOOD names!!!!). Shakazuzu is leading the league. Boston is red hot since joining and I for one got personally bitchslapped by him. My record's up there, although I really think my play has been declining lately , but the record's still up there. Mat Schwartz is like the pioneer of this whole NHL94 online s**t and is much better than his record, shitload of one goal losses. Hossim is a solid player who's just stuck with a shitty team. And Buffalo seems to be holding his own against tough competition since entering the league. ZERO weak players in the Adams. Thoughts?

Biffy I'm touched that you threw out a bday greeting on the board! THanks man. Your birthday sensitivity will likely soon be rewarded........ isn't your lady's bday around this time of year too? Guaranteed tail man!!! Thanks again!

Yeah I'm up for some exhibitions man, I know the feeling of only having the computer to play against, that was me for many years. Just post your AIM and I'm sujre lots of ppl will add you for some exhis. And here's hoping you somehow land yourself a team!!!

Controller crisis AVERTED!!!!!!!!! Special thanks to my man Biff from The Source who made sure to take care of me and hook me up with a new controller, this time I got the three-year warranty, as there will likely be some more button snappage in the future!!! Geez, it's normal to be on the computer and snap something off in your hand, but it's usually not a button on a controller!!!!!!!!! I mean..................... yeah.................... I'll shut up now. Anyways all that matters is that I'm back in business now!

So last night I'm playing an exhibition against Toronto, and it's a tight game. 4-3 in the second period, and Mike Ricci is in a very tenacious battle along the boards for the puck. I'm pressing that control pad with all my might trying to burst free from the guys checking me, when all of a sudden the control pad snaps off in my hand!!! I tried to play the rest of the second period by just kind of trying to hold the pad together with my thumb, and actually didn't give up any goals hahaha not too bad eh. So I guess I have to go to The Source today to see if they can replace it for me, hopefully for free since I only got it like a month and a half ago and the breakage was a total accident. But just posting this inc ase it takes a while to get a replacement, won't be available for any games until I get one!!

Yup you were simply the better player last night Biffy. Last week it was my turn, this week was yours, and the belt returns to its original home (I can bring it over when I come to pick up my car haha). Your D and goaltending has clearly improved from the online league play, most of my "tried and true" moves weren't working last night. Good series and as always the beers went down GREAT!!! Was I ever bombed, not sure why, I didn't drink any more than I usually do, but man did it hit me hard last night! Slept in till 2:30 just to sleep the cobwebs off, hoo boy................. and if anyone wants to do it all over again tonight, I'm likely up for it!!! hahaha

I can't get over the awesomeness that is the fact that there will be an actual physical Stanley Cup awarded to the winner!!!! That's just mind-blowing boys, and yes I have to totally agree that whoever wins that will be having women knocking on their doors begging to have sex with them. Some of the ladies will probably also insist that they want the Cup in the bed while they're doing you as an added turn-on.

Totally agree with all of this. This league is f**king awesome, from how well it's run and how organized it is, to how good-looking the site is, to how good the calibre of play is (have yet to play against anyone who isn't very very good at this game), to how bangable Mat Schwartz's mom is. hahaha no seriously, it seems like a great bunch of guys, everyone's got skills, and it's extremely well-run and fun. Great way to make some new friends too. Like Biff said, all we have to do is play the games and enjoy the ride so a shout out to the boys who dedicate their time to organizing this s**t, cuz as much as I love 94, I for one couldn't organize a trip to the bathroom let alone a rock solid league like this. And I want to especially thank everyone who's helped me with my connecting problems because I am basically a retard when it comes to computers!!! I seem to know what's going on now and have been connecting to opponents with little difficulty lately, but it took me like two months to learn the ropes (opening ports and stuff), so a huge thank you to all the guys who have (1) put up with many failed attempts to play games (2) spent like a half hour at a time trying to walk me through all of that technical stuff. Schwartz, McMarkis, Shakazuzu, DeathHand, and that's just off the top of my head a few guys who've gone beyond the call of duty in helping a brother out. There's probably been even more guys, I just can't remember em all off the top of my head. Anyhow back to work before I get in some s**t!!!

I'll be 24 at the end of the month (29th), and I've been playing the game since I got it for Xmas on Xmas morning 1993, just after it came out. I played it throughout the next ten years or so, off and on, playing more often during some time periods than others, but always against the computer, didn't really have anyone to play against. But sometime around winter 2004, I discovered my NHL 94 soulmates in Terry (the94kid) and his friends. I finally found other people who were as crazy about the game as I was. Soon I was being invited to join their "championships" (it took a few exhibition games to prove I was worthy first hahaha) on Saturday nights, which were long and comprehensive tournaments had over a shitload of beer (and in the case of Coleman, Caesars, and oh yeah ya can't forget the flask full of fireball being passed around). So through these guys I not only found solid competition to play against, but I also discovered how truly awesome and almost holy it is to play the game drunk. Every whistle or goal, you and your opponent reach for the beer and take a couple quick swigs before hte play resumes............ after goals, you drink out of your beer like the goalie drinks out of his water bottle. Classic times! We even invested in a toy wrestling belt for the champion to wear, and a few times the championship belt has been coatchecked at the bar. Girls just love the man with the belt. "Oooooh you're the champ, that's hot, what are you the champion of?" Oh yeah they love it. Anyway that's a short story of my love for NHL 94!!!

I just got an AIM account, so my AIM can be added to the list, thedeer1982, add me up boys!!