NHL Playoffs Thread

[STEVEHOLT]

I’m quite excited the kraken advanced simply because I enjoy the Nirvana sound effects at their games

 

[ScrabbCuse]

With the Avalanche and Bruins going out last night, Carolina is the most recent of the remaining teams to win the Cup. That was back in 2006. It’s been 20 plus years for all the other remaining teams and of course a few have never won at all. Definitely wide open this year!

 

[Cowtown]

No. Because the bruins are frauds. And it’s hockey. one hot and one cold goalie creates a freaky Friday situation

C'mon, Boston (whom I dislike immensely) is not a "fraud." Frauds don't go 65-12-5. The problem is the regular season and the playoffs are two different seasons with two different rule books, and two different playing styles. And make no mistake, the league wants it that way to push the inverted snobbery that says "This is a man's game, and real men don't need rule books."

As for the hot goalie, there's a lot more going on out there. I think you're only seeing the actual saves themselves. Not the bad angle shot selection that comes from the middle-out defense that keeps the puck and shooters at bad angles, the litany of painful sacrifices in all the blocked shots, the "panic speed" back-checking, and the defense-first line-matching and even player-matching; e.g., McDavid never saw the ice without Doughty in his grill.

 

[Cowtown]

With the Avalanche and Bruins going out last night, Carolina is the most recent of the remaining teams to win the Cup. That was back in 2006. It’s been 20 plus years for all the other remaining teams and of course a few have never won at all. Definitely wide open this year!

The fear of an Edmonton-Toronto final is already keeping Bettman awake at night.

 

[ssbriefcase]

Ok I’ve never claimed to be a “hockey guy” but, I think it’s dumb as hell after a goal is scored to be able to rewind a minute previously when the other team wants a review. Also it seems to me that with scoring so few and far between that a missed call can really affect the outcome a lot more than other sports. And yeah I’m bitter I don’t get to have that excitement this year as we all did out here last year.

 

[Cusefan95]

Go Kraken!
Everybody here is excited for the playoffs. The NHL did a good job allowing the new teams to be competitive early.

A while ago I was watching a sports & business show, one of the questions was why leagues changed the way expansion rosters are selected which has allowed the expansion teams to compete right away. The business expert pointed out the costs of buying an expansion team are astronomically higher than 30 years ago - as a result teams HAVE TO be competitive right out of the gate. Otherwise the likelihood the team will hemorrhage money to a point they are a liability to the league is too great.

Additionally, the idea of putting a team in a location like Vegas is to grow the sport and gain new fans - that’s unlikely if the team is destined to be terrible for their first decade.

Having seen how it plays out - it’s clearly the right direction for leagues to go. Seattle knocking off the Stanley Cup champ is a huge story. Vegas’s run to the Finals was a huge story, too.

 

[Cusefan95]

Ok I’ve never claimed to be a “hockey guy” but, I think it’s dumb as hell after a goal is scored to be able to rewind a minute previously when the other team wants a review. Also it seems to me that with scoring so few and far between that a missed call can really affect the outcome a lot more than other sports. And yeah I’m bitter I don’t get to have that excitement this year as we all did out here last year.

I suspect linesmen don’t call offsides on close calls because they know it can be corrected on review. One result of not having that would be more bad offsides calls where it wasn’t an offsides, and more offsides calls generally which would slow the game down.

When they first started using reviews I hated it - now I think it’s a net positive. Hard to feel that way when your team gets burned on review though, I know.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

I’m quite excited the kraken advanced simply because I enjoy the Nirvana sound effects at their games

I went to a couple Kraken games when I was out there last year and this year. They did a great job on the arena ( Climate Pledge). The gameday atmosphere and the way they set up the concessions etc are really great. Just need to get the Sonics back now.


I am rooting for the Kraken, GRUUUUUUUUUUUUUU was great last night, great to see as he has taken his share of abuse this past year

 

[NYCCuse826]

Rangers have to strongly consider benching Panarin. He's been that bad. They got thoroughly outplayed in the 1st. 0/3 on the PP. They're not ready tonight.

 

[NYCCuse826]

Adam Fox is a joke. Had to have taken general elective classes at Harvard. The dumbest play I've seen all season in a game where no mistakes could be made.

 

[NYCCuse826]

Series over.

 

[ScrabbCuse]

Congrats to the Devils. They played hard and the Rangers didn’t show up. Will be a 30 year drought at least for the Rangers now. I was in the 5th grade last time they won the Cup. I’m 40 now. Sad thing is they are still the second most successful pro team I root for. Ah, the joys of being a Knicks, Mets and Rangers fan. Thank god for the Giants.

 

[samspann1]

 

[NYCCuse826]

That tweet sucks.

 

[Cusefan95]

Congrats to the Devils. They played hard and the Rangers didn’t show up. Will be a 30 year drought at least for the Rangers now. I was in the 5th grade last time they won the Cup. I’m 40 now. Sad thing is they are still the second most successful pro team I root for. Ah, the joys of being a Knicks, Mets and Rangers fan. Thank god for the Giants.

I’m thrilled the Devils won - I was hoping they’d maybe be able to squeak into a wildcard spot before the season, so this entire year has been like found money.

The negative is the impact on the NHL. The league has made 30 years of short term decisions which have led to it falling far behind the NBA in popularity…it’s honestly hard to fathom how close the two leagues were in the mid-90s. The Rangers making a run to the Stanley Cup finals would lead to 1000X more coverage on ESPN and sports radio than the playoffs will get now. The only reason I would have been ok with a Rangers win is that the league badly needs more coverage to help regain popularity, which a Rangers win might have helped provide.

 

[CanadianSU]

Weird so far. Go panthers !

 

[Cusefan95]

Leafs are pure trash.

I hope that Maroon, Jeannot, et al fill in Marner, Tavares, etc.

I don’t know that the Leafs are pure trash…but Panthers are scary good and are making them look rather “trash-like” so far.

 

[jncuse]

Scanning twitter when the Leafs are losing, and leafs fans are whining is always amusing.

 

[jncuse]

Leafs goal song by the way

 

[Cusefan95]

This is starting to feel like 2012, when the Kings upset the President's Trophy winner in the first round and then demolished everyone else on their way to the Cup. I knew Florida was better than their record indicated and were going to be a tough out, and they are starting to come together at the right time like that Kings team did.

Different subject - the Leafs goal song is embarrassing; I'd encourage them to change it but those clowns would probably just pick a random Taylor Swift song to replace it.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Jamesville’s Thomas Harley scores second NHL goal in Dallas Stars’ playoff win

Shout out to local product Thomas Harley doing it big in the playoffs for Dallas. Great family and he has his whole career ahead of him.

 

[samspann1]

BLOW LEAFS BLOW

 

[samspann1]

 

[STEVEHOLT]

This is starting to feel like 2012, when the Kings upset the President's Trophy winner in the first round and then demolished everyone else on their way to the Cup. I knew Florida was better than their record indicated and were going to be a tough out, and they are starting to come together at the right time like that Kings team did.

Different subject - the Leafs goal song is embarrassing; I'd encourage them to change it but those clowns would probably just pick a random Taylor Swift song to replace it.

Carolina is going to stomp the panthers.

 

[OrangeDW]

BLOW LEAFS BLOW