2015 NHL Golf Thread

[The_Admiral]

DeBoer isn't mediocre. He squeezed a lot of competence out of horrendous Devils squads the last year and a half. He's not good with young guys whose two-way games haven't quite developed yet, but that's Quenneville, that's Babcock, that's more or less every coach in the NHL whose stakes are too high to dick around kid-gloving some 20-year-old who can't stop coughing up the puck. That's the NHL we have now for better or worse. (Worse.) When you consider that the putative finalists for the job were sentient burlap sack of defective hardware Randy Carlyle and daffy nitpicker Adam Oates, the Sharks came out of this search about as well as they could have.

[FiddySicks]

And there it is everyone. The moment the admiral officially got soft.

[Still MIGHTY]

And if the Sharks keep Larry Robinson, that's 2/3 of the coaching staff that took the Devils to the Final in 2012. I mean, hell, they interviewed Oates right? They could bring him in as an assistant to run the power play and whatever.

[The_Admiral]

And there it is everyone. The moment the admiral officially got soft.

I have to call it like I see it so that when the time comes that I do rip the Sharks for doing something really stupid, it has some resonance and can't just be written off as me having it out for them over a dopey website banner or something.

[NJTank]

DeBoer is absolutley a terrible coach

[The_Admiral]

No, the Devils keep fielding crap rosters. By rights, that team should have been as bad as or worse than the Maple Leafs last year, but hovered around borderline respectability. If he's a terrible coach, then so was MacLean, Sutter, Lemaire Part III, and the Lamoriello/Stevens/Oates triumvirate, and maybe that's why Lou isn't the GM anymore, all those terrible coaches he kept hiring.

[Sport]

The 2012 Devils were so annoying. I can't remember a less inspiring run to a championship final in any sport. The rest of the east was just like "ah we don't feel like it this year". And not to get all Sabresrule up in here, but the final between the Kings and Devils was awful. I haven't watched that few games of a final since 92 when I was 5 and didn't know what anything was yet.

[The_Admiral]

The 2012 Devils were so annoying. I can't remember a less inspiring run to a championship final in any sport.

The Rangers last year, the Rangers this year.

[Sport]

I disagree, but perhaps inspiring was the wrong word. Memorable would've been more appropriate. With the Rangers last year you had the 3-1 comeback against Pittsburgh, St. Louis' mom, making the finals for the first time since 94. This year they've had some fun high scoring overtime games, they beat Pittsburgh again (anytime anyone beats Pittsburgh it's seared into my head forever), the 3-1 comeback against Washington, the game 7 OT win, and this series with Tampa has been cool.

I know I watched the Devils' games that year, but I can't remember anything.

[NJTank]

It was afun last hurrah for a team that was great for 20 years. That is memorable.

[hamman095]

We all know who the top 4 is going to be

1 Edmonton- Connor McDavid

2 Buffalo- Jack Eichel

3 Arizona- Noah Hanfin

4 Toronto- Dylan Strome

but I've seen a lot of other's for the rest

[Dexter Morgan]

I don't agree, I think 1-2 is a lock.. the rest no.

Edmonton- Connor McDavid
Buffalo- Jack Eichel
Arizona- Noah Hanfin
Toronto- Mitchell Marner

[sportstar1212]

Here's a good read on the Marner vs. Strome debate:

http://theleafsnation.com/2015/5/25/mitch-marner-vs-dylan-strome

[lopernv]

I think 1, 2, and 4 are set. 90% sure Toronto will take Marner, as Mark Hunter will want him. I'm not sure who Arizona would take.

[The_Admiral]

Coyotes will take Strome over Hanifin. They need a forward more than a defenseman.

[TorinK92]

Coyotes will take Strome over Hanifin. They need a forward more than a defenseman.

They have a decent crop of forward prospects with guys like Domi, Duclair, Lessio, Perlini and other decent level prospects, past Gormley they really don't have much on the defense. 50/50 for them if they feel Strome or Marner are too big to pass up, but they're not in a win now situation so my bet is they'll focus on prospect development and go with Hanifin (unless of course they figure out that losing will drive a lot of the last 10,000 fans out of the arena so they'll try to hastily build a team to make the playoffs in the next season, which wouldn't work)

Lots of wildcards past the 5-10 ranked picks as well. It's no 2003, but I wouldn't be surprised if this draft sees quite a few studs develop past the obvious names.

[Morgan33]

The 2012 playoffs were pretty much a bore from start to finish. Sure, it was kind of cool seeing the Kings win their first championship but it was hardly done in an exciting fashion. With a 3-0 lead established, there was never a doubt of who was going to win and the game 6 rout was pretty much expected.

[The_Admiral]

Let's never speak of the 2012 playoffs again.

So anyway, the Sabres signed Dan Bylsma. I know he got a lot of crap in Pittsburgh for his man-crush on Craig Adams and other various self-handicaps, but I think he's still a pretty good coach and was the best coach available for Buffalo after missing out on Babcock, McLellan, and Blashill. The only team that hasn't done the right thing w/r/t coaching so far has been St. Louis extending Hitchcock. They doubled down on stupid.

[HedleyLamarr]

I loved the result of the 2012 playoffs....the Kings won me money in Vegas on a bet I made before the season!

[BigBubba]

So the Leafs went out and hired some fancy-schmancy team doctor/nutritionist/conditioner (i.e. anything to do with science). Hardly headline news in and of itself, but it's refreshing to see that, after a decade under the salary cap, they're finally putting their money to good use by spending their buckets of cash in other areas.