2023 NHL Playoffs

[tomh009]

1 hour ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

Starting Skinner was a big mistake and after pulling him three times those idiots thought that he was the way to go.

A coaching issue. And when Vegas shut down the McDavid and Draisatl lines, they should have adapted, another coaching issue. They have the talent (like the Leafs) but if you don't have a coach that can make best use of that talent, especially in a playoff series, you won't go anywhere.

[DON]

Dont follow closely enough or care too much, but too bad for the Oilers.

Little short on picks but not horrible i guess.

Dont know what their contract situation looks like.

 

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

1 hour ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

Starting Skinner was a big mistake and after pulling him three times those idiots thought that he was the way to go. 

 

1993 will hold until the Habs win it all again. 

 

The guys on the Sportsnet panel all said that they would come back with Skinner after Game 5. Not that they are infallible by any means, but this does show that Skinner was regarded as “the go-to guy.” 🤷‍♂️

 

Despite letting in four goals on 17 shots Skinner seemed adequate to me. He was unlucky on one that hit him and bounced over into the net, and at least one other goal was a deflection, although he did overcommit on the tying goal (2-2).

 

The real problem, IMHO, lies in the contrast with Adin Hill. Hill made some massive, clutch saves, especially in the third period on McDavid and others. When your guy is playing merely OK, and the other guy is stoning your stars, the contrast is glaring.

 

8 hours ago, Neech said:

Must be a special kind of hell to be an Oilers fan. Have two of the very best players in the world, but cannot find a goalie to save their lives. 

 

What would it take as a sweetener to get out of the Campbell contract?

 

When they signed Campbell, analytical types said they’d made a big mistake. Lo and behold. Holland is a dinosaur.

 

Boy, it’s one of those years - the Cup is wide open for the taking. I hate to say it, but CAR might just have the edge as the favourite IMHO. 

 

 

[sbhatt]

Now that the Oilers are out, I look at the remaining teams and ask myself who I want to win the cup.  I dislike Carolina (history with Habs), not a fan of the Kraken (too new, the far-left city they represent, dorkiest home barn name in the league)...so I guess it'd be most palatable for me if Dallas or Florida win it all.

[GHT120]

47 minutes ago, sbhatt said:

Now that the Oilers are out, I look at the remaining teams and ask myself who I want to win the cup.  I dislike Carolina (history with Habs), not a fan of the Kraken (too new, the far-left city they represent, dorkiest home barn name in the league)...so I guess it'd be most palatable for me if Dallas or Florida win it all.

 

If politics enter the equation ... Florida is the home of Ron Desantis and Texas is represented by Ted "Cancun" Cruz ... best to leave them out IMO.

 

I like the team Dallas has built.

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

2 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

The guys on the Sportsnet panel all said that they would come back with Skinner after Game 5. Not that they are infallible by any means, but this does show that Skinner was regarded as “the go-to guy.” 🤷‍♂️

 

Despite letting in four goals on 17 shots Skinner seemed adequate to me. He was unlucky on one that hit him and bounced over into the net, and at least one other goal was a deflection, although he did overcommit on the tying goal (2-2).

 

The real problem, IMHO, lies in the contrast with Adin Hill. Hill made some massive, clutch saves, especially in the third period on McDavid and others. When your guy is playing merely OK, and the other guy is stoning your stars, the contrast is glaring.

 

 

When they signed Campbell, analytical types said they’d made a big mistake. Lo and behold. Holland is a dinosaur.

 

Boy, it’s one of those years - the Cup is wide open for the taking. I hate to say it, but CAR might just have the edge as the favourite IMHO. 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, adequate is usually not good enough to win in the playoffs. Skinner was ok/mediocre/average but in the playoffs you need your goalie to steal a game once in a while and he did not do that. It's too bad as the Oilers could have gone all the way.  I could care less who wins now. The difference between the 29th pick and 32nd pick is probably negligible. 

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

I want Florida to win. They deserve it after smiting the two Great Satans. However, if they don’t win, I won’t cry in my beer. 

 

Carolina is the kind of roll-four-lines, all-around team I would usually like - indeed, I’ve always supported the idea that the Habs could win using this model - but the KK factor is too much to stomach.

 

Dallas is a big “meh” for me, and I don’t like the idea of an expansion team winning the Cup in only its second year in existence. 

 

VGK are battle-hardened and have paid their dues, at least, so I could live with them winning.

 

So: FLA or VGK, I wouldn’t mind. Carolina, ugh, Dallas, meh.

 

Bettman must be having an orgasm. The final four are quintessentially “Gary Bettman NHL” teams.

 

 

[revvvrob]

On 5/12/2023 at 10:06 PM, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

Can’t cheer for the Canes because of KK.

 

I want whoever comes out of the west to win the Cup. 
 

but, imagine if Florida dispatches of Boston, Toronto AND Carolina … it’s like they are picking off all of our rivals! 
 

id think in the west, that Colorado is who I think I have the most deep seated dislike for - because of their Nordiques roots and that Roy won for them. Pity they weren’t in the finals so the Panthers could beat them in the end!

 

if I could have my way tho as things stand now, I’d want the Canes to beat Florida just for the slightly better draft pick - but NO WAY I want KK to win a cup. Id rather Florida win this round than KK win a cup. 
 

in the west, I’m rooting for Dallas now. I think Vegas and Seattle are too new to the NHL. 

[DON]

Was barely watching when Oilers -Leafs still in it.

Now, absolutely no interest in watching american teams, or really who wins, but go Panthers...i guess?

 

Watch CHL playoffs now instead.

 

[huzer]

3 hours ago, DON said:

Was barely watching when Oilers -Leafs still in it.

Now, absolutely no interest in watching american teams, or really who wins, but go Panthers...i guess?

 

Watch CHL playoffs now instead.

 

 

As a token American, I don't think ANYONE has any desire to watch Seattle/Dallas-Vegas, Carolina-Florida. That's like a Detroit Lions/Jacksonville Jaguars Super Bowl matchup.

[Sir_Boagalott]

Kraken finally come alive and score with 17.6 seconds left in the game to make it 2-1.  Can they do it again?  Not likely.  

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

39 minutes ago, Sir_Boagalott said:

Kraken finally come alive and score with 17.6 seconds left in the game to make it 2-1.  Can they do it again?  Not likely.  

 

Indeed not.

[tomh009]

Hintz is a late bloomer but has turned into an awesome player, especially for a late second-round pick.

[BCHabnut]

Out of the 4 teams left, I can't think of a reason to cheer for any of them, so I think I'll cheer for pavelski. It would be cool for him to win a Cup. I really want to see Vegas knocked out.

[Neech]

1 minute ago, BCHabnut said:

Out of the 4 teams left, I can't think of a reason to cheer for any of them, so I think I'll cheer for pavelski. It would be cool for him to win a Cup. I really want to see Vegas knocked out.

Yeah, the Stars are somehow the least detestable team, and I hated the Stars as a kid. Maybe my four least favourite teams in the league (besides Leafs and Bruins). My friend has a big wager on the Stars, so I guess it's them.

[dlbalr]

 

How bad is the state of officiating in the NHL when Chris Lee is judged as one of the top officials in the league, allowing him to work this deep in the playoffs?

[Sir_Boagalott]

Did anyone watch the entirety of that nonsense? It seemed like most people in arena didn't either.   I managed to watch most of the 1st 2 OT's. My feed was lagging bad and I noticed that the time of the game kept increasing so I knew it hadn't ended yet. From what I saw it was fairly boring, but I am sort of bummed I didn't see it all.  In the last 40 years I've managed to see the entirety of every crazy long game but that one. 

 

I have a funny memory from when I was 10 or 11 years old and watching the Caps vs NYI game and it went into OT.  My dad was going to bed and I asked if I could stay up until it ends and he said yes.  He woke up 3 hrs later and heard the TV on and came downstairs and when he saw I was still up he gave me hell.  He didn't believe that the game was still on and it was on commercial during the 5th intermission.  He kept telling me to turn it off and I refused so he walked over to the TV and was about to turn it off the game came back on for the faceoff for the 4th OT.  Incredibly, those OT's weren't boring at all.      

 

I thought Lomberg's goal in the 1st OT should have counted.  The Florida player did skate into the crease and made contact with the goalie, but it was irrelevant to the play.  The goalie was moving back and to his right when the Florida guy tripped over him.  The goalie was moving on his own and way over played it so when the shot came to the other post he was way out of position.  i.e. usually, when a goalie's skate gets clipped its the goalie that is tripped.  The contact didn't change the goalies movement or prevent him from doing anything in that regard.

 

 

 

 

[sbhatt]

10 hours ago, Sir_Boagalott said:

I have a funny memory from when I was 10 or 11 years old and watching the Caps vs NYI game and it went into OT. 

 

I remember watching that game too.  That and the Flyers Penguins 5OT game stand out in my memory as the best long games I've watched.

[hab29RETIRED]

4 hours ago, sbhatt said:

 

I remember watching that game too.  That and the Flyers Penguins 5OT game stand out in my memory as the best long games I've watched.

Lalalalafontaine!!! Lafontaine on the blueline!

l loved that game, and Lafontaine was a guy I wish Montreal could have picked up. He wasn’t French, but played like the  flying Frenchmen, and the speed and style of the habs of the 70’s.

[DON]

3 OT goals.

Tkachuk is Clutch!

 

Wonder how close Canucks were to picking him vs Olli Juolevi in 2016? Habs likely regretted passing on the other one also.

 

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

20 minutes ago, DON said:

3 OT goals.

Tkachuk is Clutch!

 

Wonder how close Canucks were to picking him vs Olli Juolevi in 2016? Habs likely regretted passing on the other one also.

 

 

Jolevi’s career has been partly compromised by injuries. But there were a LOT of Canucks fans and media at the time who were worried/confused about that pick.

 

It struck me at the time as one of those “too clever by half” picks, where the GM tries to be clever and goes with a slightly under-the-radar guy who has no specific area of exceptional strength, telling himself that he’s getting an all-around, all-purpose player. Sometimes management can overthink things. (I have a mild concern, founded more in intuition than any real evidence as yet, that when Hughes makes mistakes, they will likely be of this “overthinking” variety).

 

If memory serves, though, the guy that media and fans were expecting the Canucks to take was Clayton Keller. He certainly would have been better than Juolevi, but he’s no Matthew Tkachuk.

[DON]

https://theathletic.com/975897/2019/06/05/wheeler-a-2016-nhl-draft-re-draft-and-retrospective-look-back-at-my-ranking/

Wheeler was correctly pretty high on Adam Fox, back in 2019, in his 2016 redraft exercise.

(will Hutson be similar?)

9. Montreal Canadiens: Adam Fox
Actual draft pick: No. 66 (change: +57) to Calgary
My final ranking: No. 29 (change: +20)

Remember when I said that this ranking was going to be based on my evaluations? Well here we are at the point where a kid who has yet to play an NHL game gets ranked ahead of several who are a season or two deep into their NHL careers. I’m confident Fox is going to be that good. He’s one of those players who is going to spend so much time with the puck on his stick on offence that concerns over the ability of a smaller defender to be a No. 1 are quickly going to be muted. Fox is a stud who just had the most productive season by an NCAA defenceman (1.45 points per game!) since I began doing this whole scouting things six years ago (breaking the record of 1.08 points per game that he tied two seasons before). This is a kid, who, as a defenceman, posted 17 more points than his nearest teammate while playing to a plus-23 rating on a Harvard team that spent more time outside of USA Today’s national NCAA ranking than it did inside it. 

[GHT120]

1 hour ago, DON said:

3 OT goals.

Tkachuk is Clutch!

 

Wonder how close Canucks were to picking him vs Olli Juolevi in 2016? Habs likely regretted passing on the other one also.

 

 

Forget Vancouver ... imagine if Edmonton had taken Matthew Tkachuk instead of Jesse Puljujarvi.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

12 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

 

Forget Vancouver ... imagine if Edmonton had taken Matthew Tkachuk instead of Jesse Puljujarvi.

 

The mind boggles. Although they’d still have shite netminding, wouldn’t they?

[GHT120]

58 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

The mind boggles. Although they’d still have shite netminding, wouldn’t they?

 

Well ... who knows if making THAT right decision might have triggered more.