Death From Above Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 It's weird. The consensus is the west is the stronger conference, and the interconference play seems to bear that out over the year. Yet I feel there are more contenders to win the east this year than the west (since I was never a St. Louis believer, that sort of left Chicago and Anaheim as the two obvious options once Pat Kane came back). And I've actually been looking more forward to the east playoffs overall this season because I feel it's more unpredictable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 (edited) Who betta dan Chicagoooooo? I can't even see the best eastern teams beating Anaheim or perhaps even Minny. Minnesota vs. New York or Washington would be close I think. But then again, I know nothing and the bracket challenge proves that. Edit: 4-0, Calgary's got 'em right where they want 'em! Edited May 1, 2015 by Oyaji Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 This is hilarious. My soul is filled with goodness these recent times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumbojustice Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Urgghh.... Well, I was expecting the Flames to get blown out at least once in this series. So now that that's out of the way -- and pretty much everything went wrong that could go wrong -- hopefully the rest of the series will go a little more smoothly. It will be a huge blow if Hudler isn't back for game 2, though. Losing Ferland would hurt (and it looked very much like he could be concussed), but the Flames have had success without him most of the year, and I think they could cope. Hudler, though, has been the Flames' offensive MVP. DFA: You're not buying the "Bob Hartley: Coach of the Year" hype? Strategically, I don't think he's a particularly good coach, but it's hard to argue against what he's done with this Flames team. Even if they get swept by Anaheim (which I don't think they will), this is a team everyone expected to be "competing" with the bottom-feeders for McDavid. Even most Flames fans anticipated that. And here they are in the second round of the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dewar Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 So he did the same thing as Paul Maurice, and finished behind the Jets in the standings. They will probably give the coach of the year to Peter Laviolette anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie M. Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Hartley's one of those coaches who is good for young players and will get the Flames to a point but they'll have to fire him and get a smarter coach when they're actually ready to compete with the top teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 So he did the same thing as Paul Maurice, and finished behind the Jets in the standings. They will probably give the coach of the year to Peter Laviolette anyway. I think he's the right choice anyway. That Nashville team looks so thin on paper but they were one of the powerhouses of the league and it would've been really interesting to see how the Chicago series would've played out had Weber not been injured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumbojustice Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 So he did the same thing as Paul Maurice, and finished behind the Jets in the standings. By two points. And the Flames had more wins. And made it further in the playoffs (not that that counts towards the Jack Adams, but still). And we'll see who does better against Anaheim (the Flames can't possibly do any worse). But anyway, I'm not saying Hartley is a shoo-in, just that I don't see how anyone could argue against him being one of the favourites. Hartley's one of those coaches who is good for young players and will get the Flames to a point but they'll have to fire him and get a smarter coach when they're actually ready to compete with the top teams. That's pretty much how I see it going down. Still, I think he had a fantastic year, and him and his team vastly exceeded expectations considering the stage in their rebuild where the Flames are at. Maybe I'm higher on Hartley than most because (aside from him having an awesome season), he's the first competent coach the Flames have had in forever (since Darryl Sutter, I would say). You'd love Hartley too if you had to put up with years of coaching by bums like Brent Sutter and Mike Keenan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 So he did the same thing as Paul Maurice, and finished behind the Jets in the standings. By two points. And the Flames had more wins. And made it further in the playoffs (not that that counts towards the Jack Adams, but still). And we'll see who does better against Anaheim (the Flames can't possibly do any worse). But anyway, I'm not saying Hartley is a shoo-in, just that I don't see how anyone could argue against him being one of the favourites. Yes, they can. They can lose 3 more games like last night. Each game of the Jets series except the clincher was close. Next year, stats point towards Winnipeg improving a bit and Calgary likely regressing next year. Too many players had shooting percentages that are completely unsustainable, particularly Hudler and the top line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumbojustice Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Yes, they can. They can lose 3 more games like last night. Each game of the Jets series except the clincher was close. Next year, stats point towards Winnipeg improving a bit and Calgary likely regressing next year. Too many players had shooting percentages that are completely unsustainable, particularly Hudler and the top line. Well, yes, I suppose that would be more embarrassing, but ultimately, it doesn't really matter if you lose 4 one-goal games in a row, or get blown out 4 times. You still got swept. And I don't think the Flames will get blown out 3 more times. If nothing else, they've proven to be resilient this year. I think they'll push the series to six games. I do have concerns about them regressing next year -- that can happen when you vastly exceed expectations. They did have an awful lot of guys having career years. Wideman and Hudler, in particular, are two guys where you have to wonder if they can do it again. On the other hand, Gaudreau, Monahan, Brodie and Russel aren't going anywhere, and there's no reason to expect they won't be as good or better (with Gaudreau and Monahan, their offensive stats might not be quite as good, but their all-around game should be better). Depending on what the Flames do in free agency, they have room to upgrade their defensive depth in a big way (their 3rd pairing D was pretty awful most of the year, and Derek Engelland should be in no team's top 4, ever -- even if it is due to injury). They might get a full year of Giordano next season. Backlund has room to be better (and can hopefully avoid injury). It shouldn't be hard to get similar or better goal-tending. And they'll have a full season of Sam Bennett next year, which is the big X-factor. Long story short, I won't be surprised (or really that upset) if they regress, but a lot depends on whether their young players continue to improve, and what UFAs can be brought in. With the right moves, I think they have room to be even better next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 It's funny that Johnny Hockey got his niickname ripping off that other guy because the hockey media are so boring, yet he will outlast Manziel as a pro by 10 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 Do we get another 2-1 game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 Not at this pace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 Yeah, and it was all started with AV's favorite transition: the stretch pass tipped into the zone. Worked perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 Well at least I can take comfort in the fact that if it ends 2-1 - the Rangers win Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 It is a privilege to watch Alexander Ovechkin play hockey. Holy shitsnacks! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 If the Rangers could sorta, kinda defend Ovi - it would make things a whole heck of a lot on my heart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 It is a privilege to watch Alexander Ovechkin play hockey. Holy shitsnacks! That was so gross. "I'm scoring now k thanks bye". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 https://twitter.com/IAmByks/status/594999829949911042 You will smile if you click here. Trust me. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie M. Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Stamkos with a woooo that Ric Flair would be proud of after he deked Price out of his jock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Prust doing his best Burrows impression post-game. I don't get the logic there. Worst case scenario, the referees remember and hold it against you. Even worse case scenario, NHL frowns on it & suspends you a game in addition to the referees being pissed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBob Skeeter Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 The wife and I were on vacation in the Twin Cities Friday and found a local establishment to take in the Wild/Hawks game. Got there 10 minutes before it was supposed to start. 8:30 comes and goes and still no Wild. Other patrons are starting to complain. I tell them that NBC has been messing up home game starting times all over, but this night took the cake. They right away had a BREAKING NEWS scroll that said the Wild would be on right before the puck drops. The cut in 1:15 into the first period. People are pissed. Ten minutes later, they switch back to Tampa/Montreal and are showing on the bottom that it's now on (whatever channel it switched to). So now, the poor manager of this very busy place is dealing with a ton of people wanting their hockey. She does find it within two minutes, all is good. THEN, when Tampa/MTL is done, they switch the game back AGAIN to MSNBC, and this poor girl had to scramble AGAIN to switch all the TV's in the place back. Is anyone else experiencing this kind of crap? NBC has just been dropping the ball this year. Oh, and could they get Mike Emrick to stop calling Mikael Granlund Michael Gronlund please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Granlund is pronounced Grahnloont in Finnish, he's pretty spot on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I am starting to hate hockey again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 If the Rangers could score a road goal in Washington that would probably be helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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