dlbalr Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Columbus Blue Jackets (35-27-6) Projected Lineup Boone Jenner - Ryan Johansen - Nathan Horton Matt Calvert - Brandon Dubinsky - Nick Foligno R.J. Umberger - Artem Anisimov, Corey Tropp Derek MacKenzie - Mark Letestu - Blake Comeau Jack Johnson - Dalton Prout Fedor Tyutin - James Wisniewski Nikita Nikitin - David Savard Sergei Bobrovsky Curtis McElhinney Team Leaders G Ryan Johansen (26) A James Wisniewski (33) PTS Ryan Johnasen (51) +/- Nikita Nikitin (+11) PIMS Brandon Dubinsky (94) Injuries: Oliver Gabriel, Ryan Murray, Jack Skille Scratches: Cam Atkinson, Jared Boll, Matt Frattin, Nick Schultz, Frederic St-Denis Montreal Canadiens (38-25-7) Projected Lineup Max Pacioretty - David Desharnais - Thomas Vanek Daniel Briere - Tomas Plekanec - Brendan Gallagher Alex Galchenyuk - Lars Eller - Brian Gionta Travis Moen - Ryan White - Dale Weise Andrei Markov - Alexei Emelin Francis Bouillon - P.K. Subban Jarred Tinordi - Mike Weaver Carey Price Peter Budaj Team Leaders G Max Pacioretty (30) A P.K. Subban (38) PTS Thomas Vanek (57) +/- Tomas Plekanec (+10) PIMS Brandon Prust (121) Injuries: Michael Bournival (cond.), Josh Gorges, Brandon Prust Scratches: Rene Bourque, Douglas Murray, George Parros Puck Drop: 7:30 PM EST TV: RDS, TSN Habs Radio: TSN 690 FM 98.5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine of Loving Grace Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 I swear the Jackets have some of my favourite named players in the league. Boone Jenner. Dalton Prout. Nikita Nikitin. Johansen out of nowhere. Drafted behind Hall, Seguin and Gudbranson. I think he's made it clear he has first line center ability. Interesting to see if he keeps it up. The longer Bourque sits the happier I'll be. We can win tonight but we can't sit back. Columbus wants to make the playoffs and Top Cop is good. Score early, prove the second period collapse is dead and finish strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsfan Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 I just hope our Habs don't take the Jackets lightly, cause if they do, they're gonna get their asses handed to them! The Jackets aren't a lousy team anymore, and they're desperately fighting for a playoff spot, so you know they'll be hungry! Score early and score often and kill any thoughts of competing for the jackets and we should be fine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine of Loving Grace Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 We're in a very good position right now after the Tampa/Toronto game only gave away two points and Toronto has now blown two "must win" games. It'd be nice for the falling apart Senators to beat the Lightning but I won't hold my breath on that. Even if Tampa wins and we win, that means we're five points up on the Leafs with the same amount of games played. Very good place to be. Beat the Jackets Thursday, beat the Leafs Saturday? That's pretty much a clinched 2/3 spot. Philly/New York/Columbus/Washington won't be decided until game #82. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stogey24 Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 We're in a very good position right now after the Tampa/Toronto game only gave away two points and Toronto has now blown two "must win" games. It'd be nice for the falling apart Senators to beat the Lightning but I won't hold my breath on that. Even if Tampa wins and we win, that means we're five points up on the Leafs with the same amount of games played. Very good place to be. Beat the Jackets Thursday, beat the Leafs Saturday? That's pretty much a clinched 2/3 spot. Philly/New York/Columbus/Washington won't be decided until game #82. If we can finish top three I'd feel pretty good about our playoff situation. We have a quality top line right now with an elite goalie on the back end. Tell me why this team doesn't have a shot at making a run? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Vanek changes the equation. If Price plays like Price and we don't get key injuries, we just might be able to make a run. That said, I'm troubled by a lack of quality depth on the back end (we have lots of garbage, but that's another thing), and I don't trust Therrien to make the right moves. We have an "outside chance," but that's a lot better than the Cinderella's chance we had before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stogey24 Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Vanek changes the equation. If Price plays like Price and we don't get key injuries, we just might be able to make a run. That said, I'm troubled by a lack of quality depth on the back end (we have lots of garbage, but that's another thing), and I don't trust Therrien to make the right moves. We have an "outside chance," but that's a lot better than the Cinderella's chance we had before. Therrien needs to leave his ego at the door before he walks into any arena. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine of Loving Grace Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 If we can finish top three I'd feel pretty good about our playoff situation. We have a quality top line right now with an elite goalie on the back end. Tell me why this team doesn't have a shot at making a run? I wouldn't tell you that. I've supported the idea for a while. When this team is on? I think we're Top 3 in the East and while not Top 5 in the NHL, we can compete with the Top 5 when we're on. The seeds are likely to shake out with Boston playing a wildcard team and us playing Tampa. Beat Tampa, we likely play Boston. Boston is right now the hottest team in the league but unlike our last game against them, I think we'd be much more competitive with Price in net and Vanek comfortable in a seven game series. Beat Boston and we're facing the winner of a Pittsburgh/Wildcard and some combination of New York, Philly, Washington and Columbus. Beatable. Then it's a Cup final that's likely against either St. Louis, Los Angeles, Chicago or San Jose. Even if those four teams are better built and more suitable as a Cup favourite? Seven game series is a seven game series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Ha ha, there is almost no way we beat any of those western teams (St Louis in particular would be a hopeless case), but I dig the scenario you're painting, Machine. It's fun to be a fan when bright things seem possible. Of course, if we lose 2-3 in a row, all of that optimism will go "poof." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illWill Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 I'm not too worried about matching up with the powerful Western conference teams because we simply will only have to beat 1 of them to get a cup. The East has a lot of question marks and there are many favorable potential match ups heading in to the playoffs. Boston is the simply the most complete team we would have to go through but we have always proved to be a thorn in their sides. Pittsburgh has a ton of fire power but we are better rounded. Shut down Stamkos and Tampa is in trouble. Toronto will show their true colors in a 7 game playoff series. NYR and Philly are the match ups that could be the ones to worry about for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davehab Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Philly and Toronto both worry me heading into the playoffs, and there is a good chance we meet up with one of them if we end up in a top three spot. Wouldn't a Habs\Leaves series be great tho. I've said it before but if MB can sign Vanek and somehow get another top 4 d-man we would be in the contenders category for a long time. Because Seeing Boullion's name beside Subban's reminds me of how fragile our back end can be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neech Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Philly and Toronto both worry me heading into the playoffs, and there is a good chance we meet up with one of them if we end up in a top three spot. We only face teams from our division if we finish top-3 in the division. Only wildcard teams have a chance of playing the other division. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine of Loving Grace Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Ha ha, there is almost no way we beat any of those western teams (St Louis in particular would be a hopeless case), but I dig the scenario you're painting, Machine. It's fun to be a fan when bright things seem possible. Of course, if we lose 2-3 in a row, all of that optimism will go "poof." Even if we get swept in the Cup finals, I'd rather be there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davehab Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 We only face teams from our division if we finish top-3 in the division. Only wildcard teams have a chance of playing the other division. wow you just blew my mind...I had no idea thats the way it was going to work this year... so there is no chance of us playing Philly in the first round if we finish top three? do the wild card teams automatically play eachother? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neech Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 wow you just blew my mind...I had no idea thats the way it was going to work this year... so there is no chance of us playing Philly in the first round if we finish top three? do the wild card teams automatically play eachother? The division winner will play a wildcard, which could come from either division (I misspoke previously). 2-3 will play each other in each division (no crossing over), and the winner of that series will play the winner featuring the 1 seed from that division. The highest-ranked 1-seed will play the lowest-ranked wildcard regardless of division. So it stacks out that we're much more likely to face our division rivals in the playoffs each year, both in the first and second round. There's no chance we face Philly this year, unless one of us somehow wins the division and the other gets a wildcard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovett's Magnatones Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 The division winner will play a wildcard, which could come from either division (I misspoke previously). 2-3 will play each other in each division (no crossing over), and the winner of that series will play the winner featuring the 1 seed from that division. The highest-ranked 1-seed will play the lowest-ranked wildcard regardless of division. So it stacks out that we're much more likely to face our division rivals in the playoffs each year, both in the first and second round. There's no chance we face Philly this year, unless one of us somehow wins the division and the other gets a wildcard. There's one other possibility, if MTL is a wild card and play the Pens and win, they stay in the Metropolitan division. Assuming that the Flyers win their round, they could play the Habs in the second round . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGC21 Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Prust is out, White is in - per Hockey Inside Out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Reading that playoff format, I have to laugh. When you need a computer to figure the stuff out, something's wrong with the model I remember a time when the league's #1 team played its 16th overall team, #2 played #15, etc.. Now that made a hell of a lot of intuitive sense, so of course the masterminds of hockey had to go a screw it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neech Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Yeah, I'm not a fan of the new playoff format, mainly because it's much worse than the last one at giving better teams a weaker first round matchup. For instance, Montreal and Tampa could finish 3-4 in the East this year and face off in the first round. I also don't really care for the narrowing down of first-round possiblities - as far as I can tell, and I'm no statistician, there's a 75% chance that you'll face a division rival in the first-round. On the other hand, we'll get more rivalry series (although we managed to play the Bruins a lot anyways). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine of Loving Grace Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Reading that playoff format, I have to laugh. When you need a computer to figure the stuff out, something's wrong with the model I remember a time when the league's #1 team played its 16th overall team, #2 played #15, etc.. Now that made a hell of a lot of intuitive sense, so of course the masterminds of hockey had to go a screw it up. Pacific 1 vs. X, 2 vs. 3 Central 1 vs. X, 2 vs. 3 Atlantic 1 vs. X, 2 vs. 3 Metropolit 1 vs. X, 2 vs. 3 X = Wildcard. Wildcard 2 (8th Playoff Team) plays Conference winner. Wildcard 1 (7th Playoff Team) plays Conference Runner-Up. Ain't that difficult when you look at it that way. Only the Wildcard can be confusing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Well, thanks, Machine. I realize that it's not THAT complicated - I was being somewhat sardonic. I guess my point is, the ideal playoff format would be immediately intuitive. This is anything but, as several explanatory posts in this thread prove. And there seems to be something very typically "NHL" about this sort of needless tying itself into knots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine of Loving Grace Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Well, thanks, Machine. I realize that it's not THAT complicated - I was being somewhat sardonic. I guess my point is, the ideal playoff format would be immediately intuitive. This is anything but, as several explanatory posts in this thread prove. And there seems to be something very typically "NHL" about this sort of needless tying itself into knots. Honestly, they can do whatever they want with a 16 team format as long as they don't attempt a 20 team format that they keep teasing doing. The best of three stuff they used to do in the late 70s before settling with a final eight they want to do where 7/8/9/10 in each Conference play each other to decide 7 and 8. The Wildcard concept actually lends well to it so I fear they'll do that to squeeze more playoff games out. No thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 I guess the argument for doing THAT is that the current 16-team playoff is way out of whack with the NHL's traditional playoff allotments, percentage wise. Only top half of the league now makes the playoffs. In Original Six times, it was 4/6; in the early 80s it was, what, 16 out of 21? So there's a "principled" argument for doing it apart from sheer greed. Not that I want it; one thing I like about the 16-team limit is that it ensures that pretty much any team that makes the dance is a genuinely good team. You don't see too many dogs come spring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovett's Magnatones Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Johansen is a great player. Jackets have the jump early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sim.on Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Price holding it down early Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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