2023 NHL Playoffs

[Neech]

I hope Marchessault takes the Conne Smythe. Vegas has such a balanced attack so it's hard to single anyone out. 

 

At least a win for the Golden Shites is a win for Canadian hockey, and one higher spot for our pick.

[Sir_Boagalott]

Damn, how is it not 6-2?  That was an great save by Hill.

 

I wasn't sure how Flor would play in game 4 but after that loss I figured they'd done in 5.  I thought that before I knew Tkachuk was out for this game.

 

Realistically, Flor was actually lucky that they even won game 3.  Vegas out chanced them big time in that game and hit the post 4 or 5 times.  Flor should have been swept. 

 

Wow, the score is now 7-2.  lol

 

It is now in that territory where I'm half expecting Bob to skate over to the bench and claim he's never playing for them again.  Why is he still in the game?

 

 

[Prime Minister Koivu]

Tkachuk played with a broken sternum… no wonder he couldn’t go last night. 
 

Bring on the draft

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

However many dismal trades the Habs have made, at least we can console ourselves that we never traded away a Conn Smythe Trophy winner to the team that ended up beating us in the Cup Finals. That's not in fact the Worst Trade Ever, but it might have just become the most painful trade in league history. 

 

I find it quite irritating that VGK were gifted a contender from Day One, and I also find some of the media commentary I've heard quite ludicrous (e.g., there was a commentator on Vancouver radio praising Vegas for "going for it every year," as if they have somehow found a magic formula against the need to rebuild). So this is a gross outcome. Still, I think about the Bs and the Leafs...thanks to FLA, it could have been a lot worse.

 

Funny how the magic wore off for Florida. Bob was erratic and with Tkachuk's injury, well - their two key cogs were not firing. There is some minor consolation in the thought that the '21 Habs did better against a stronger team. 

[GHT120]

2 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

... I find it quite irritating that VGK were gifted a contender from Day One ...

 

Respectfully disagree ... it is true that in return for a HUGE expansion fee they did get far more favourable expansion draft terms ... but they then played many opposing GMs like violins leading up to that expansion draft, drafted well then and in the amateur drafts since, made aggressive trades and smart free agent signings ... IMO they earned it.

[huzer]

Vegas could have t-shirts made like TB, $10M over the cap! Ha. All joking aside, it was pretty significant for Vegas to get an impact player like Stone back for the playoffs.

 

 

[Commandant]

4 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

However many dismal trades the Habs have made, at least we can console ourselves that we never traded away a Conn Smythe Trophy winner to the team that ended up beating us in the Cup Finals. That's not in fact the Worst Trade Ever, but it might have just become the most painful trade in league history. 

 

I find it quite irritating that VGK were gifted a contender from Day One, and I also find some of the media commentary I've heard quite ludicrous (e.g., there was a commentator on Vancouver radio praising Vegas for "going for it every year," as if they have somehow found a magic formula against the need to rebuild). So this is a gross outcome. Still, I think about the Bs and the Leafs...thanks to FLA, it could have been a lot worse.

 

Funny how the magic wore off for Florida. Bob was erratic and with Tkachuk's injury, well - their two key cogs were not firing. There is some minor consolation in the thought that the '21 Habs did better against a stronger team. 

 

Over Half of the players Vegas had on their opening night roster are no longer in the NHL.  And the reality is that they weren't given all those players by the rules, many were from the mistakes of GMs such as the Marchessault trade.

 

Only 6 of them are still on vegas. 

 

They made moves for Stone, Eichel, Pacioretty, Pietrangelo, Martinez, and others. 

 

People like to talk about their team going through a five year rebuild when they are down in the dumps, but we are upset that Vegas won in year 6?

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

2 hours ago, GHT120 said:

 it is true that in return for a HUGE expansion fee they did get far more favourable expansion draft terms ... but they then played many opposing GMs like violins leading up to that expansion draft, drafted well then and in the amateur drafts since, made aggressive trades and smart free agent signings ... IMO they earned it.

 

I agree, they made some great moves. I believe teams were able to protect 8 players so it's not like they were able to get the other teams top players but they were able to get a solid base and built smartly from there.  The Eichel trade was the final piece of the puzzle. 

[BCHabnut]

44 minutes ago, Commandant said:

 

Over Half of the players Vegas had on their opening night roster are no longer in the NHL.  And the reality is that they weren't given all those players by the rules, many were from the mistakes of GMs such as the Marchessault trade.

 

Only 6 of them are still on vegas. 

 

They made moves for Stone, Eichel, Pacioretty, Pietrangelo, Martinez, and others. 

 

People like to talk about their team going through a five year rebuild when they are down in the dumps, but we are upset that Vegas won in year 6?

But how many of these moves could have been made without the several advantages that Vegas had? In a cap era, having no bad contracts is massive. Every team has multiple bad contracts. Add the extra exposed players from each team so you can run 3 second lines on day one. Finally no state income tax. There's no doubt that they were a well run organization from the beginning and they made brilliant moves with their cap space and how they drafted in the expansion. I don't begrudge them, but I definitely see the advantages they had from the beginning. 

[Commandant]

18 minutes ago, BCHabnut said:

But how many of these moves could have been made without the several advantages that Vegas had? In a cap era, having no bad contracts is massive. Every team has multiple bad contracts. Add the extra exposed players from each team so you can run 3 second lines on day one. Finally no state income tax. There's no doubt that they were a well run organization from the beginning and they made brilliant moves with their cap space and how they drafted in the expansion. I don't begrudge them, but I definitely see the advantages they had from the beginning. 

 

No state income tax is a huge advantage.  Thats not necessarily the benefit of being an expansion team though, many teams have that and yes, its an advantage but its not one that they are unique with. 

 

Vegas has used that advantage to attract free agents.   But you also have to make sure you sign the Alex Pietrangelo and not Karl Alzner when you have that cap space.  Smart management is part of this. 

Yes, they had no bad contracts and weaponized that cap space.  Other teams have cap space and haven't done as well at weaponizing it.  They didn't use their cap space in trades with other GMs to end up with three first rounders in their first draft (picks used to later be packaged for Stone and Pacioretty).  When they needed to clear cap space they traded Pacioretty plus an NHL defenceman to get it done.  They traded Dadonov and took on LTIR Weber to get that done, they managed the cap space extremely well too.  They got Alex Tuch from Minny to take on their cap problems and later Flipped Tuch and a first rounder for Eichel. 

 

Their management should get credit for smart moves they made. 

 

As for the expansion draft, find me the analyst who said they would be good after the draft (but before the season).  They outsmarted everyone.  People thought they would be shit, and they uncovered gems that other teams were overlooking.  NO ONE was picking them to make the playoffs in their first year, and to say they were gifted this is just revisionist history on what people said about the expansion draft at the time it happened. 

 

This is smart management at the culmination of 6 years winning the cup. 

 

Teams want to hire a new GM when they are in the dumps and want a 5 year rebuild.  And the first step in that 5 year rebuild is shedding contracts, getting picks and resetting the deck cap wise.  Vegas was just better at using that once they had it, then other teams have been. 

[Peter Puck]

8 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

However many dismal trades the Habs have made, at least we can console ourselves that we never traded away a Conn Smythe Trophy winner to the team that ended up beating us in the Cup Finals. That's not in fact the Worst Trade Ever, but it might have just become the most painful trade in league history. 

 

I find it quite irritating that VGK were gifted a contender from Day One, and I also find some of the media commentary I've heard quite ludicrous (e.g., there was a commentator on Vancouver radio praising Vegas for "going for it every year," as if they have somehow found a magic formula against the need to rebuild). So this is a gross outcome. Still, I think about the Bs and the Leafs...thanks to FLA, it could have been a lot worse.

 

Funny how the magic wore off for Florida. Bob was erratic and with Tkachuk's injury, well - their two key cogs were not firing. There is some minor consolation in the thought that the '21 Habs did better against a stronger team. 

  It is not as bad as the Bruins trading us Ken Dryden for 2 busts.  Dryden cost the Bruins 4 Stanley cups.

[alfredoh2009]

too funny not to post it here

 

#### I love this guy. pic.twitter.com/PsnoNJE1rG

— Pat Nadeau (@L4PatNadeau) June 14, 2023

 

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

9 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

too funny not to post it here

 

#### I love this guy. pic.twitter.com/PsnoNJE1rG

— Pat Nadeau (@L4PatNadeau) June 14, 2023

 

 

I love that quote from Kessel. He was a great example of hockey ideologues and blatherskite fans looking a gift horse in the mouth. 'He's not a complete player.' 'He's not in shape.' 'He's not physical.' Who gives a sh*t when the guy is a reliable producer? I hate that stuff. The players who drive me nuts are the ones you can't count on to deliver. I don't care what their workout regime is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sir_Boagalott]

That's a half fake quote from Kessel eh.  That is not exactly what he said and it is taken out of context from what he implied.  His comment was not directed at the Leafs or their fans but the media itself.  The 2nd sentence is made up, the it seems like it wasn't me part.   His comment was not malicious or trolling the Leafs or their fans.  He specifically said that to a Toronto reporter that he knew while playing there. 

 

 

[alfredoh2009]

2 hours ago, Sir_Boagalott said:

That's a half fake quote from Kessel eh.  That is not exactly what he said and it is taken out of context from what he implied.  His comment was not directed at the Leafs or their fans but the media itself.  The 2nd sentence is made up, the it seems like it wasn't me part.   His comment was not malicious or trolling the Leafs or their fans.  He specifically said that to a Toronto reporter that he knew while playing there. 

 

 

i was going to quote the actual hockewitters article but it wasn’t as funny 😁 

[Sir_Boagalott]

16 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

i was going to quote the actual hockewitters article but it wasn’t as funny 😁 

 

That is very true.  I've definitely seen numerous Toronto based sites claim that his comment was directed at the team and their fans, when it totally wasn't.

 

I've seen a bunch of great memes for Vegas winning.