Rite of Spring 2018-“What happens in the playoffs stays in the playoffs”

[Kramerica Industries]

24 minutes ago, the admiral said:

 

Not an Oilers fan but I'll run my big fat mouth anyway: I think hockey fandom has developed an enormous recency bias that has some merit but is fast getting out of control. Oilers and Islanders fans can crow about their dynasties, but all I would have to say to that is that they won their championships when the NHL had 5'8" dudes in rollerblading kneepads playing goalie and otherwise unemployable chain-smoking mental defectives rounding out the bottom lines/pairings, so those Cups don't count. The Habs won most of their championships in a crooked league that was allegedly funneling the entirety of Quebec to the Habs' farm system (it wasn't quite like this but it sounds good), so those don't count either. And don't even get me started on the Maple Leafs. You can even flirt with throwing out the Devils' Cups as ill-gotten because they ran a neutral zone trap under the illegal two-line pass and free rein of goaltenders in the corners, all while Scott Stevens set out to murder people on the ice and everyone thought it was okay. I know all this because I've done all of those myself, a lot.

 

The NHL has indeed exploded in terms of its available talent pool, the physical fitness of said talent, the drugs to aid in that fitness, the equipment they use, goaltending technique, rule changes intended toward rewarding finesse (and occasionally they actually work that way), and so on. And that's all to say nothing of the documentation of the game: that washed-out, smeary standard-definition videotape of hockey looks like it may as well have been unearthed from an archaeological dig, and the league wasn't even good at keeping comprehensive statistics until like 1998. People were already figuring out how to honk off to internet porn, but they couldn't clock Brett Hull's ice time? So there are fair criticisms one can make about the legitimacy of the pre-pick-a-year-any-year NHL, but they come at the cost of acknowledging any sort of continuity between yesterday's game and today's, and when you don't have that continuity behind your game, you're arena football. And as some Franklin-Covey self-help douchebag might say, today is tomorrow's yesterday: are people going to belittle and diminish what Crosby, Ovechkin, Kane, Bergeron, and Stamkos achieved? Probably. And won't we feel like idiots for having cared so much about something so disposable?

 

So no, I don't think Oilers fans can point to the '80s much anymore. I don't know to what extent anyone can point to anything. I'm even starting to feel like the Blackhawks' achievements are yesterday's news and ready to be forgotten and denigrated as somehow compromised (I'm sure part of this pressure is from the Kane truthers). Topic for another day that I thought about broaching in the "Is This The Golden Age Of All Sports Ever" thread: I've never had less fun talking about sports online in my entire life.

 

DGB pretty much already covered this topic.

 

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/passing-judgment-on-your-stanley-cup-title/

[FGM13]

1 hour ago, Alex Houston said:

 

Let me ask you this: Considering your team has one of the greatest dynasties in the sport, is that any consolation to you and other Oiler fans when people try to talk trash about how crummy Edmonton has been for the most part in the last decade or so? I'd imagine being able to trump past accomplishments still overrides a lack of none, even if they were the ghosts of Messier past. 

 

It’s not really any consolation, as the last time the Oilers won the cup was ten years before I was even born. I like knowing that my team was one of the best dynasties of all time, but as I never got to experience it, hard to fall back on it.

[The_Admiral]

I had not read that before, but it's perfect. It do be like that.

[JerseyJimmy]

3 hours ago, Morgo said:

I bought an authentic jersey for my collection back in November, simply because I thought it looked great.  I never would have dreamed this team would be playing for the cup and subsequently reducing the NHL to a laughingstock.  Now I can't even look at the damn thing.

 

What size? I mean, if you don't want it anymore...

[Morgan33]

2 hours ago, Crabcake47 said:

Debates aside, Vegas’ jerseys are beautiful. Clean, not too busy, with a unique yet harmonious color scheme. 9/10

I don't think even the most stringent detractors of the Golden Knights would argue that point.  Whichever uniform they win in is going to look great with the Stanley Cup.
 

1 hour ago, the admiral said:

I'm even starting to feel like the Blackhawks' achievements are yesterday's news and ready to be forgotten and denigrated as somehow compromised (I'm sure part of this pressure is from the Kane truthers).

 

Come on now, The Blackhawk's last championship was only 3 short seasons ago.

[habsfan1]

2 hours ago, Crabcake47 said:

Debates aside, Vegas’ jerseys are beautiful. Clean, not too busy, with a unique yet harmonious color scheme. 9/10

 

They did an outstanding job. I mean, it's not an easy task to come up with a standout look using grey jerseys & grey helmets as the base, with just the right color combo to make everything flow together in an aesthetically and visually pleasing way.

 

It's all a part of the grand scheme of things, also known as the Gary Bettman Initiative.

[-kj]

Me reading the last twenty-four hours of this thread:

 

 

I'm bathing in all of this.  The explosion of heads from Vegas being in the finals gives me life.  C'mon, Tampa, make it an all-"OMG WHY DO THEY HAVE A HOCKEY TEAM?!" final.

[habsfan1]

20 minutes ago, Mockba said:

Me reading the last twenty-four hours of this thread:

 

 

I'm bathing in all of this.  The explosion of heads from Vegas being in the finals gives me life.  C'mon, Tampa, make it an all-"OMG WHY DO THEY HAVE A HOCKEY TEAM?!" final.

 

I don't know if I'd put Tampa Bay in the "Why do they even have a hockey team" category. However, we'll find out if they're going to ban Golden Knights jerseys from their building, just like how they banned Canadiens jerseys as well as others. Legit team, but their jersey ban rule is a joke.

 

As far as who I'm cheering for in the Cup Final, to be completely honest, I'm cheering for Vegas and I also confess that I was happy when they eliminated the Jets, despite being a Canadian. I've responded to both sides on the boards here as neutrally as possible cause I never told anyone I'm taking Vegas.  I completely understand the arguments against from fans whose team had to build and build and fall and build again. But TBH, I've never seen anything like this before and because of that it's just too much fun. Something history-making like this doesn't happen in every playoffs. Vegas needs to win the Cup.

[tp49]

8 hours ago, DG_Now said:

I just ordered a Vegas Golden Knights hat, so I'm an idiot and the NHL has succeeded.

 

 

I have a hat and three t-shirts including a Karlsson which I picked up in Vegas last month.  

[-kj]

22 minutes ago, habsfan1 said:

I also confess that I was happy when they eliminated the Jets

 

I was waiting three rounds for that.  No Jets No.

If my team can't win (which is a given), I'm all for chaos.

[Crabcake]

Hey guys! Keep talking about how much you hate Vegas, as much as you want! Let it all out! Don't hold anything back! Talk for as long and as meanly about them as you need to because maybe then you'll forget how bad we're about to choke away this series

[AstroCree]

Credit: https://twitter.com/BrianFromAIH/status/998556903696470016 

[Crabcake]

8 minutes ago, insert name said:

Credit: https://twitter.com/BrianFromAIH/status/998556903696470016 

Brilliant. 

[habsfan1]

- After only 5 minutes of watching them play, I could already tell that Washington has a noticeable lack of depth, throughout their roster. Everyone's playing their hearts out tonight like they did in game 6 versus Pittsburgh. But looking at the amount of missed shots, a better team would have gotten a goal or two by now. Idk...

 

- Number 88 for the Tampa Bay Lightning is a pretty good goaltender. He came up big, when his team needed it.

 

[habsfan1]

1-0 CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Crabcake]

Is Doc Emerick 13? Every five minutes his voice cracks something awful. Puberty’s rough man. 

[habsfan1]

48 minutes ago, habsfan1 said:

1-0 CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

2-0 CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AstroCree]

Game 7 looks like a sure thing. 

[FGM13]

Tampa is looking like garbage in this period.

[ozzyman314]

Great win for The Caps. 

 

Gonna make that Game 7 loss all the more heartbreaking.