Post: #101

The faggotry parade just never ends in this Brave New NHL where Hockey Is For Everyone. What a week it's been.

HOCKEY. IS. FOR. EVERYONE. BIGGOT.

Post: #102

The NHL playoffs start tonight. Best hockey of the year if anyone is interested in getting into the sport. The first round is my favorite because there are tons of games every night with everyone giving 110% playoff level hockey. While I would love to see the Caps repeat I think the Lightning are just too hot this year. Bruins also look good. I think the Blues could fly under the radar in the west.

Also, anyone else hyped for a female ref next year? SO progressive.

Post: #103

Yeah NHL playoffs are the best. I'm thinking St Louis in the West too, crazy how hot they got in Dec after such a terrible start. I'm just loving the Hawks lucking into the #3 overall pick in the draft lottery last night, so great!

Post: #104

Yeah the Blues were like, what? Dead last until Berube took over? What a great story for them. I saw several of their games this last half of the season and their fundamental game looked really strong, like a well coached team.

doc holliday are you a Hawks fan? How do you feel about Q leaving? Do you think Panera Bread errr Panarin will come back in the offseason? I'm in Panther country so Q being the new HC here will be exciting.

And fuck did I miss the draft lottery? I love watching the extreme awkwardness of the GMs "reacting" to the lottery.

Post: #105

Yeah man, big Hawks fan. Q probably needed to go when he did, the players weren't responding to him. Colliton, the new coach did a good job and now with the #3 pick, they should be a playoff team next year and back to contending for a cup in 2-3 years. Panarin will end up in FLA with Q I'm guessing, not here.

Panthers should be very good next year, esp if they pick up Panarin and or Bobrovsky. Best time of the year for hockey, I love it.

Post: #106

Bobrovsky is good but you can't overpay to sign him and I wouldn't give him anything more than a 5 year deal. If Panarin and Bob want to play on the same team not too many teams can afford both though or have they need for another #1 goalie. Regardless of them signing Bob I think Luongo will come back for one more year then go on IR to finish out his contract.

My picks for the West are Calgary, Winnipeg or San Jose (if Karlson is healthy), the problem with all those teams those is that their goalies are suspect. For the East I'd say Pittsburgh or WSH, Tampa isn't built for playoff hockey, they have so many small forwards and a team like WSH with Wilson running around would kill them.

Even though Tampa lost game 1 on home ice they should still beat Columbus in 5 or so.

Chicago got lucky with the draft lottery, even with an aging core they should be good picking up a big centre this spring. Dylan Strome sure turned his game around though, so whoever they draft could develop playing 3C for however long. The number one priority for Chicago needs to be dumping Seabrook, his contract is awful.

The best story in the NHL this year I'd say would have to be Binnington, he was 4th on the Blues depth chart and at 25 he had only played one NHL in 15-16. They even tried to send him to the ECHL. I hadn't really heard his name since the WJC when he was playing for Canada.

Post: #107

Dumping Seabrook isn't likely to happen, his contract is terrible and no team will take that on. Hawks have some cap room this year so it won't affect them too much. Having the No 3. pick will go a long way to getting the Hawks back to where they belong.

Yeah not sure about Tampa but if Columbus does beat Tampa, watch for them to go on a big run.

I think St Louis is the team to come out of the West, not at all sold on Winnipeg or Nashville. Maybe San Jose or Calgary but I like St Louis to do it.

Post: #108

(04-10-2019 11:35 PM)doc holliday Wrote:  I think St Louis is the team to come out of the West, not at all sold on Winnipeg or Nashville. Maybe San Jose or Calgary but I like St Louis to do it.

Counterpunching style of the Preds has worked against skilled physical teams like Anaheim in the past but the Ducks were nowhere near as deep as the Jets/Stars. Also didn't help that the Oilers wore out the Ducks in the series prior in 2017 not to mention Getz/Kesler at their age just breakdown deeper into the postseason.

A sleeping giant like the Stars with multiple lines of physicality, size, speed, and skill will give Nashville a tough time in a best of 7 much like Winnipeg did last year.

(04-10-2019 08:30 PM)doc holliday Wrote:  Yeah man, big Hawks fan. Q probably needed to go when he did, the players weren't responding to him. Colliton, the new coach did a good job and now with the #3 pick, they should be a playoff team next year and back to contending for a cup in 2-3 years. Panarin will end up in FLA with Q I'm guessing, not here.

I personally think Coach Q is a product of the situation he landed in during his tenure with the Hawks. This guy was fortunate enough to coach a big spending Blues team pre-2004/2005 lockout when 75% of the budget conscious league had 30-35 million dollar payrolls yet couldn't do shit with it. It's as if STL was spending just as much as Colorado, Detroit, and Dallas yet they didn't achieved a fraction of what those teams did when buying championships was prevalent.

He didn't do any better in Colorado as well. One of the more overrated coaches in the league.....

Post: #109

To be fair, when Q was coaching those Stanley Cup teams, his strength was getting the match ups on the ice that he wanted. He was a very good in game manager which is something very underrated but critically important in hockey. it's hard to play the match up game in the NHL because you have to do it on the fly and you have very little time to set the match ups that you want and I thought Q was a master of that. His biggest weakness was developing younger players, especially later in his tenure. I will always respect his accomplishments here but it was time for him to go. Q did underachieve in STL no doubt. I was very impressed with Colliton who took over from Q in a no win situation. Hawks will be very good again soon enough.

I could see a Dallas upset of Nashville and I think STL will beat Winnipeg. Man if Benn and Seguin were to ever wake up and start scoring like they can, Dallas could go on a run. Love Ben Bishop, very under the radar goalie but just a rock back there (very injury prone however).

In the east, can't forget about Boston who really look strong right now. Caps too, being the defending champs and built for the playoffs.

It's so wide open even with Tampa's amazing regular season.

Post: #110

I hope we see Reeves vs Kane. I'd put money on Kane. I see they both got misconducts but did they fight? I didn't see the game.

Post: #111

Damn, Tampa, Pittsburgh, and Winnipeg are all down 2-0, just wow! Columbus is just taking it hard to Tampa. Great start to the 2019 playoffs.

Post: #112

I know it looks like Tampa is imploding, especially with Kucherov almost certainly earning a suspension, but trust me they're playing one trillion D chess here just like my Caps did last year against the Blue Jackets. You just watch, they're going to win the next four games and go win the cup.

Was nice to finally see the Blues-Jets play after they took away the NHL Network paywall. Definitely watching every game of this series, that was phenomenal hockey to watch. Colorado and Calgary looked good the other day too.

Post: #113

I'm not sure what's worse, Kadri crosschecking DeBrusk in the head, or clinging to and lying on his seemingly lifeless body as Chara goes at him.

I used to think that psychopath Reaves was the biggest pile of feces in the league but I'm starting to think it's a tie with Kadri.

Post: #114

(04-13-2019 10:31 PM)Once Was Not Wrote:  I'm not sure what's worse, Kadri crosschecking DeBrusk in the head, or clinging to and lying on his seemingly lifeless body as Chara goes at him.

I used to think that psychopath Reaves was the biggest pile of feces in the league but I'm starting to think it's a tie with Kadri.

It was a chickenshit move by a chickenshit player and one I hope is jettisoned in the off-season, but let's not pretend Debrusk wasn't running people all night, and despite having quite a few scumbags on the team (Chara, Debrusk, Marchand and Backes) the Bruins still don't get the benefit of the doubt from officials.

Still think the Leafs take the series in 7.

Post: #115

Yeah that DeBrusk his was definitely borderline. He knew where he was and that Marleau would hit that pole but Kadri is beyond stupid for what he did. He may end up costing the Leafs this series. Leafs were making a push back and would have likely scored again to make the game close. Since the Leafs are going to have big time cap issues this summer, Kadri should be one player who is sent packing.

Rest of the games yesterday were awesome though. There really isn't a whole lot separating these teams and bunch of these are going to go 6-7 games.

Post: #116

The best thing about the Pens probably getting swept is that we get to stop hearing the boiling hot takes from a color commentator that never played or coached at the NHL level. God that voice is such earrape, stop yelling at me woman.

Post: #117

Calgary was all over the Avs last night but being NHL playoffs one mistake and its game over before you can blink.

Calgary is quick and the youngens have that dumb houndog look that generally means a good shot at the cup.

Also props for the Mike Vernon and Lanny McDonald throwbacks. Classic.

Post: #118

(04-13-2019 09:21 AM)Once Was Not Wrote:  Was nice to finally see the Blues-Jets play after they took away the NHL Network paywall. Definitely watching every game of this series, that was phenomenal hockey to watch. Colorado and Calgary looked good the other day too.

Best quality of hockey in playoffs thus far. Being in the US, it's nice to hear former TSN play by play guys like Gord Miller and Chris Cuthbert calling these games on NBC depending on the location.

(04-14-2019 10:41 PM)Laner Wrote:  Calgary was all over the Avs last night but being NHL playoffs one mistake and its game over before you can blink.

Calgary is quick and the youngens have that dumb houndog look that generally means a good shot at the cup.

Also props for the Mike Vernon and Lanny McDonald throwbacks. Classic.

Imagine how much better Flames would be doing if they had not moved Dougie Hamilton to Carolina in a lopsided trade...skilled right-handed guys on the first D pairing to not grow from trees....

Post: #119

No way Toronto wins the series, they are going to lose their 3C in Kadri for how many games?

I'm happy to see Tampa be down 3-0 and almost certainly lose the series. I never expected them to go far in the playoffs but I'm surprised to see Columbus beat them.

Post: #120

Sidney, you got to see that Kane-Reeves fight that you were jonesing for the other day.

Can't believe the Lightning are on the verge of being knocked out. If Columbus takes Tampa out, I could see them making a run to finals. It just has that feel.

I think the Leafs are toast now too but who knows, maybe they will bear down and actually play some defense to make up for Kadri being gone.

Post: #121

They were throwing some bombs, I always think it's unfair when one player has a visor and the other doesn't though.

Post: #122

I didn't realize Makar was going to join the team during the playoffs, he is a game changer but I didn't see the game.

Tampa is done but they might win a game, not sure if Hedman will play or not but he will be playing injured regardless.

Post: #123

That Avs-Flames game yesterday was one of the best I've ever seen, glad I stayed up for overtime. Blues-Jets game was also standout tonight, Blues had an amazing comeback.

My Caps have dropped two straight and now Oshie is out for "a while". Don't think we'll be able to recover from that, he was one of the few showing up for this series. D has been struggling without Kempney worse than I thought and Reirden for some reason is playing LL and RR pairs on defense. Really not impressed with Reirden so far this post season, game 3 was one of the worst games I've ever seen us play...

At least we got to see Ovi almost kill someone in a fight.

Post: #124

The Blues comeback last night was amazing. Can't believe Schwartz tapped that into the net out of mid-air. The series is St Louis' for the taking now.

I still think the Caps will win this series but going forward, not having Oshie will be tough. That hit by Fogele on Oshie was dangerous as hell and Fogele should get a suspension for that.

Calgary is done I think but they may pull one out tonight. Johnny Hockey is not acquitting himself very well in this playoff so far and Mark Giordano is all but invisible.

Leafs and Bruins will go 7 just like the last two times and I still think the Leafs can pull it out despite all of the mess with Kadri.

Nash and Dallas will go 7 but no idea as to who will win that series.

Vegas should finish San Jose off in game 6 but I could see SJ getting to game 7 if Jones plays like he did yesterday. Eric Karlsson is still a mess on D though and Brent Burns can decide any day now that he'd like to show up.

All in all, crazy, incredible first round with a few game 7s in the making.

MVP of the first round is one of either Nathan McKinnon, Sergei Bobrovsky or Mark Stone.

Post: #125

Didn't TSN rank MacKinnon the 3rd best player in the league before the start of the season? He's a beast.