2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs

[General Veers]

Well the playoffs haven’t started yet so we can talk about the teams that will go fishing/golfing once the season ends. The Leafs are well accustomed to that.

Besides, the ‘impending’ departures of Tavares and Stamkos adds even more pressure to their respective teams.

[Young Grasshopper]

@General:

Well the playoffs haven’t started yet so we can talk about the teams that will go fishing/golfing once the season ends. The Leafs are well accustomed to that.

Besides, the ‘impending’ departures of Tavares and Stamkos adds even more pressure to their respective teams.

I agree with you that the Leafs suck, and we know all about pressure to sign star players up here… The Red Sox already out bid the Blue Jays for David Price, and the Yankees are hovering like vultures over the “impending” Jose Bautista departure.

[General Veers]

Alright, enough distractions. We all know that besides the defending champions the team with the biggest bullseye is the Washington Capitals. If they don’t at least make the Finals it would bury Ovechkin even further in criticism. I have a hunch we could see Rangers-Caps in the 2nd round/division championship for yet another spring.

[Young Grasshopper]

@General:

Alright, enough distractions. We all know that besides the defending champions the team with the biggest bullseye is the Washington Capitals. If they don’t at least make the Finals it would bury Ovechkin even further in criticism. I have a hunch we could see Rangers-Caps in the 2nd round/division championship for yet another spring.

I would completely sympathize with Capital fans if their team doesn’t at least get to the conference final this year. However, with that said… I think Ovechkin’s career numbers are at a point where they can stand on their own without needing team success to validate his worth (but then again, even Pavel Bure made it to game 7 of the cup final if I’m looking for comparisons).

[John Brown]

@LHoffman:

@John:

I’m excited about my Dallas Stars, but it is going to be tough, being in the same division as Chicago, St. Louis, as well as others, but I can hope. :-D

I love the Central Division, but am kinda glad Detroit is no longer in that buzzsaw.

For sure, over decade ago when Dallas was good, they were Dallas Stars, main, nemesis, as well as Colorado, but Dallas and Colorado got worse as the years went by, until Dallas recently got better.

[Young Grasshopper]

@John:

@LHoffman:

@John:

I’m excited about my Dallas Stars, but it is going to be tough, being in the same division as Chicago, St. Louis, as well as others, but I can hope. :-D

I love the Central Division, but am kinda glad Detroit is no longer in that buzzsaw.

For sure, over decade ago when Dallas was good, they were Dallas Stars, main, nemesis, as well as Colorado, but Dallas and Colorado got worse as the years went by, until Dallas recently got better.

Dallas has some great young fire power, but the only team IMO with a chance to get past Chicago in the west is Anaheim (and that’s a slim chance at that).

[axis_roll]

@LHoffman:

@John:

I’m excited about my Dallas Stars, but it is going to be tough, being in the same division as Chicago, St. Louis, as well as others, but I can hope. :-D

I love the Central Division, but am kinda glad Detroit is no longer in that buzzsaw.

Yeah, just when my Hawks started to kick their butt consistently, they get moved out of our division.

I recall being on the wrong side of those games for many years, and the NHL took our chance for payback away  :oops:

[John Brown]

@axis_roll:

@LHoffman:

@John:

I’m excited about my Dallas Stars, but it is going to be tough, being in the same division as Chicago, St. Louis, as well as others, but I can hope. :-D

I love the Central Division, but am kinda glad Detroit is no longer in that buzzsaw.

Yeah, just when my Hawks started to kick their butt consistently, they get moved out of our division.

I recall being on the wrong side of those games for many years, and the NHL took our chance for payback away� � :oops:

Yes, they kind of changed the whole conference that way. There are times I missed the older days. Before the Northstars came to Dallas, I was a Chicago fan, but naturally when we got a team, I had to pull for Dallas, but Chicago is still up there as one of my favorites. :-)

[LHoffman]

@General:

Besides, the ‘impending’ departures of Tavares and Stamkos adds even more pressure to their respective teams.

Is the Tavares thing real? I mean, I have heard a lot about the Stamkos situation obviously, but not that anything serious was happening with John Tavares. Not to the level of Stamkos anyhow. Which is kinda surprising because as far as I am concerned, Tavares is as good as Stamkos is and probably better as an all around player. Isn’t Tavares an RFA though? That may be why a lesser degree of chatter.

@John:

Yes, they kind of changed the whole conference that way. There are times I missed the older days. Before the Northstars came to Dallas, I was a Chicago fan, but naturally when we got a team, I had to pull for Dallas, but Chicago is still up there as one of my favorites. :-)

I am a Red Wings fan first and foremost. However, the Blackhawks are my second favorite team and I root for them in non-Detroit related situations.

Got to see them in Detroit last Wednesday. A terrible shellacking to the Wings, but man is Chicago good. It is cool just to see Toews, Kane and Kieth in person. Kane is an unbelievable player, not even taking into account his smaller stature.

[John Brown]

@Young:

@John:

@LHoffman:

@John:

I’m excited about my Dallas Stars, but it is going to be tough, being in the same division as Chicago, St. Louis, as well as others, but I can hope. :-D

I love the Central Division, but am kinda glad Detroit is no longer in that buzzsaw.

For sure, over decade ago when Dallas was good, they were Dallas Stars, main, nemesis, as well as Colorado, but Dallas and Colorado got worse as the years went by, until Dallas recently got better.

Dallas has some great young fire power, but the only team IMO with a chance to get past Chicago in the west is Anaheim (and that’s a slim chance at that).

Maybe so, I guess we will find out. I’m going to see Dallas play Tampa Bay, next Thursday. It has been awhile, since I’ve seen a Stars game. It so much better in person than seeing it on tv. :-)

[John Brown]

@LHoffman:

@General:

Besides, the ‘impending’ departures of Tavares and Stamkos adds even more pressure to their respective teams.

Is the Tavares thing real? I mean, I have heard a lot about the Stamkos situation obviously, but not that anything serious was happening with John Tavares. Not to the level of Stamkos anyhow. Which is kinda surprising because as far as I am concerned, Tavares is as good as Stamkos is and probably better as an all around player. Isn’t Tavares an RFA though? That may be why a lesser degree of chatter.

@John:

Yes, they kind of changed the whole conference that way. There are times I missed the older days. Before the Northstars came to Dallas, I was a Chicago fan, but naturally when we got a team, I had to pull for Dallas, but Chicago is still up there as one of my favorites. :-)

I am a Red Wings fan first and foremost. However, the Blackhawks are my second favorite team and I root for them in non-Detroit related situations.

Got to see them in Detroit last Wednesday. A terrible shellacking to the Wings, but man is Chicago good. It is cool just to see Toews, Kane and Kieth in person. Kane is an unbelievable player, not even taking into account his smaller stature.

Chicago has been a beast for the last few years now, for sure. I will be seeing Dallas, play Tampa Bay, next week. I’m taking my wife, and my Sister-in-Law. My Sister-in-Law has never been to a live game. She is very excited about going. :-D

[LHoffman]

@John:

Chicago has been a beast for the last few years now, for sure. I will be seeing Dallas, play Tampa Bay, next week. I’m taking my wife, and my Sister-in-Law. My Sister-in-Law has never been to a live game. She is very excited about going. :-D

Yeah, I took some friends to that DET-CHI game last week who had never been to one before… unfortunately the result wasn’t great.

[Young Grasshopper]

@Young:

@Young:

I personally don’t use GB as a scapegoat when my team located in Canada does poorly, and I don’t understand fans who use him as such to explain their own team’s failures. There will always be relocation and when Winnipeg and Quebec got dismantled, it was just a product of the financial landscape at that time. Before GB, the Atlanta Flames were moved to Calgary, and then later the Atlanta Thrashers were moved to Winnipeg… so if any fan base should be pissed with relocation and expansion, it’s Atlanta. Now of course all this opinion would go straight out the door if my Montreal Canadiens were ever to get moved to lets say… Hartford. The sour grapes of the typical Canadian hockey fan are grown on the vein planted by the management in their own organization for which they cheer for. Especially teams like Montreal and Toronto where money can and should buy the best coach, the best scouting staff, and the best training facilities. When GM after GM comes in and screws the organization worst than how it was when they got there, that’s not GB fault, and it’s certainly not Las Vegas’s fault.

I wrote this because I thought the topic brought up was whether or not Canadians (not Canadiens) were resentful of Gary Bettman, but I would gladly get back to talking about hockey and predict that the Islanders get to the second round.

Just a reminder that I made this prediction before Halak went down 😇

[General Veers]

The Halak injury was a message from the Hockey Gods to be careful what you wish for: There were plenty of fans clamoring for Griess to get more starts and even wrestle the job from Halak.

Goaltenders share a similar dynamic to football quarterbacks in that often when a team is struggling the backup is the most popular guy in town.

And even Lundqvist gets put through the ringer when he misses a stretch of time and a backup (Cam Talbot and now Antti Raata) plays well.

[Young Grasshopper]

WOW, 5-0 for LA against Chicago, and a 7 spot for Anaheim… I think tonight has changed my approach towards the upcoming pool.

[LHoffman]

@Young:

WOW, 5-0 for LA against Chicago, and a 7 spot for Anaheim… I think tonight has changed my approach towards the upcoming pool.

LA seems to do very well in the postseason when they are mostly unremarkable during the regular season. They are still an excellent team and can handle anyone in the league. Can never count them out.

I am glad they will be in the playoffs this year… it is much more fun populating all the Pool boxes when you have good teams and a surplus of superstar players.

[Colt45554]

I’d love to join. Go Wings

[LHoffman]

Watching the Wings-Habs last night I went from Oh crap, not again despair to, hey, we got this! to OMG… not again.

Detroit’s defense is abysmal. DeKeyser was a liability. Ericsson is below average. Kronwall is just not a number one caliber. Kyle Quincey cares more about his beard than playing defense with any aptitude. Fortunately Brendan Smith was scratched or it probably would’ve been worse.

Mike Green at least shoots the puck. Alexey Marchenko made some unfortunate rookie mistakes, but he shows promise. Heck, Brad Richards playing point on the powerplay was one of their best defensemen! If these guys squeak into the playoffs, it will be one and done. Not proud of it.

In other news… How have I not realized until now how dirty a d-bag Duncan Keith is? What a colossal idiot:
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/03/chicago-blackhawks-duncan-keith-another-high-sticking-intent-to-injure

That is beyond irresponsibility. It is fully deliberate and there is an established pattern of this ass-hattery. And talk about selfish play… getting suspended does no favors to a Chicago team that is wallowing in mediocrity of late with multiple star players out of commission. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/rosenblog/ct-blackhawks-duncan-keith-ejection-rosenbloom-20160330-column.html

I hope he gets rest of the season, plus two playoff games.

[Young Grasshopper]

I hate my Habs playing the role of spoiler, first… it’s the worst position to be in and definitely not something to be proud of, second… it sticks daggers in the hearts of hockey fans who just want to see their team get in, so why would anyone cheer for their team to be spoilers (well maybe if we’re spoiling the Bruins chances, that would be worth cheering for).

[LHoffman]

@Young:

I hate my Habs playing the role of spoiler, first… it’s the worst position to be in and definitely not something to be proud of, second… it sticks daggers in the hearts of hockey fans who just want to see their team get in, so why would anyone cheer for their team to be spoilers (well maybe if we’re spoiling the Bruins chances, that would be worth cheering for).

Ha. I don’t begrudge the Canadiens for playing well and winning. I would expect nothing less. A win is not worth having if the other team simply lays down.

What irks me is the Red Wings not being able to pull it out and shut it down after scoring three consecutive goals to give them the lead. They only have themselves to blame for that. The Red Wings’ greatest failing is not a lack of talent (well defensively perhaps) but a lack of both resiliency and killer instinct. I saw flashes of both last night in the second period, but it wasn’t consistent in a single game and isn’t consistent over the course of the season. This is what will be their undoing in the playoffs, should they get in.

I am not really sure who the culprits are, if any individuals can even be fingered. The defensive corps is not good and they are the weakest link. And I would like to think that the younger guys like Larkin, Athanasiou, Marchenko, Sheahan, Abdelkader and Glendening are not part of the problem, even though Larkin, Athanasiou and Marchenko all make inexperience related mistakes occasionally. Mantha is a guy I really want to succeed, but I cannot help but see his AHL issues with lack of hustle transferring to his NHL play… the guy would be a force if he gave it 100% up and down the ice every shift. But the limited amount I have seen him, it doesn’t appear to be the case. I can’t fault Datsyuk either, since he is excellent night in and night out. Zetterberg is consistently solid, but I feel like he isn’t leading the charge that well. Nor is the coaching staff. I guess I am frustrated with Blashill more than anything right now. Not for his coaching entirely, but for the seeming lack of attention given to defensive problems. He acknowledges them routinely but we haven’t seen the turnaround in performance like the renaissance that has happened on the powerplay in the last month.

The whole thing is just frustrating. Anyway. That’s my rant.