2018-19 NHL Season

[Sport]

31 minutes ago, selby56 said:

Nothing went right last night for Carolina. I just want to make the playoffs again 

 

Everything's been going right for like six weeks. They were due for a bad game. They'll be fine and they'll avoid Tampa in the first round, which is the real playoff race in the East. 

[Glover]

34 minutes ago, McCarthy said:

 

Everything's been going right for like six weeks. They were due for a bad game. They'll be fine and they'll avoid Tampa in the first round, which is the real playoff race in the East. 

On Thursday if we lose to the Caps (again) and you beat MTL, that will be two teams behind us by just one point. Or even worse, if you guys win in OT then MTL will be tied with us AND you'll be just one point out. Maybe it is the paranoid sports fan in me, but I certainly am much less confident than I was yesterday morning. 

[The_Admiral]

I'm sure things will turn out just fine for The Showboating 7 Seed

[habsfan1]

Columbus destroying Montreal right now in the battle for the last wild card spot. The game's not even close.

 

Anybody want Price on their team? I'd trade him and his contract for one of those free McDonalds fries, if I could.

[monkeypower]

A guy I went to elementary/junior high (K-9 school) and was friends with during younger grades now has five points in five games with the Wings.

 

That's really weird.

[Crabcake]

Ovechkin hit 50 goals tonight, eighth time in his career. Only Gretzky and Bossy have more. He’s also 33. 

[JerseyJimmy]

ISLANDERS! 

[NYUNDERDOGS]

"Playoffs, ing right."

[Dynasty]

I honestly thought the Islanders were gonna be bad before season start. But they aren't... and that's okay.

 

I'll feel bad for whoever has to play the Lightning in the first round. You might as well just call it a season.

[DTConcepts]

Lest we forget.

 

F***ing proud of this Islanders team. First time in my life we've been good.

[tp49]

I thought the Islanders would be tanking for Hughes not fighting for home ice in the playoffs.  I wish Lamoriello would have added some power play help at the deadline but I've been more than pleasantly surprised by the team this year.  Much credit to ownership for growing a set, jettisoning Garth and Dead Weight, hiring Lou and getting Barry Trotz in.  Trotz is arguably the best coach this team's had since Al Arbour.  Been an Islander fan a long, long, long time.  This is the second time in the past twenty years this team's made me smile.  I'm going to enjoy the ride as far as it goes.  LGI!

[Cosmic]

I thought about taking my kids to the Sabres' second-last home game tomorrow night, since tickets are getting as low as $6.30 on StubHub. I decided the team wasn't worth that kind of money.

[Sport]

I got all Negative Nicholas on here and the team responded with 5 straight wins and a 24-4 goal differential and have jumped Carolina so gonna keep expectations low to maintain the reverse jinx. 

 

5 hours ago, Cosmic said:

I thought about taking my kids to the Sabres' second-last home game tomorrow night, since tickets are getting as low as $6.30 on StubHub. I decided the team wasn't worth that kind of money.

 

I have a lot of experience watching teams play out the string while making travel plans in between periods. It was a very familiar effort. The Sabres were interested in that game for about 6 minutes last night. What's the read? Is Housley gone? 

[Cosmic]

7 minutes ago, McCarthy said:

What's the read? Is Housley gone? 

My feel from what I've heard from management through the local media makes me feel like he's safe, but it has been AWFUL since their 10-game winning streak. It really feels like it's getting to the point where they have to do something; it feels like there's no bottom. There's all kinds of horrible stats to rattle off (from memory, so forgive me): I don't think they've won two games in a row since December. Seven game losing streak. Shut out in five of the last twelve games. They should be building at least a little, and there's no question the team is going backwards.

[Sport]

What's more impressive? Winning 60 games in today's salary cap NHL that has 3on3 OT and shootouts OR winning 60 games like the Red Wings did in 96 when there were ties, but there was no salary cap and you could sit on a lead much easier. 

 

Just looked it up and I never realized the 97 Red Wings were such a lackluster regular season team. Coming off the 96 season with 131 points and 62 wins (but no cup) they only won 38 games and only put up 94 points. That's in an era where the Wings routinely broke 100 points. And that's the team that finally broke through and won the cup. Weird. 

[Still MIGHTY]

3 hours ago, McCarthy said:

What's more impressive? Winning 60 games in today's salary cap NHL that has 3on3 OT and shootouts OR winning 60 games like the Red Wings did in 96 when there were ties, but there was no salary cap and you could sit on a lead much easier. 

 

Just looked it up and I never realized the 97 Red Wings were such a lackluster regular season team. Coming off the 96 season with 131 points and 62 wins (but no cup) they only won 38 games and only put up 94 points. That's in an era where the Wings routinely broke 100 points. And that's the team that finally broke through and won the cup. Weird. 

 

Tampa is 6-1 in the shootout this year, so if this was the ties era, they'd be at 54 wins. (54-15-4-7, 119 points) They're also 7-3 in the 3-on-3 OT. (The '96 Red Wings were 3-1 in 4-on-4 OT with 7 ties.)

 

To answer the what's more impressive question, I really don't know. There's pros and cons to both. Salary Cap vs No Salary Cap (Reading down that Wings roster, 7 Hall of Famers. Is there a current team with more than three?). Look at the top point scorers for both too. Tampa has Kucherov at 125, Stamkos 94, Point 92, then Hedman 54, Gourde 47. For '96 Detroit, Fedorov 107, Yzerman 95, Coffey 74, Kozlov 73, Larionov 71, Lidstrom 67, Primeau 52, Ciccarelli 47. In goal, Tampa has Vasilevskiy at 38-10-4, .925 SV%, 2.42 GAA. For '96 Detroit, Osgood was 39-6-5, .911 SV%, 2.17 GAA.

 

It goes both ways. In terms of who's better, I'd probably say that Wings team. In terms of what's more impressive, based on the results around them and their contemporaries in the era, I'd probably give Tampa the advantage.

 

As far as the last point there about the 96 vs 97 teams, that's just hockey, isn't it? Look at the Capitals last year. Is that the best version of the Ovechkin Caps we've seen? Overall, probably not, but they were the ones to find the extra juice to actually win the Cup. That's hockey haha.

[Sport]

42 minutes ago, Still MIGHTY said:

 

Tampa is 6-1 in the shootout this year, so if this was the ties era, they'd be at 54 wins. (54-15-4-7, 119 points) They're also 7-3 in the 3-on-3 OT. (The '96 Red Wings were 3-1 in 4-on-4 OT with 7 ties.)

 

To answer the what's more impressive question, I really don't know. There's pros and cons to both. Salary Cap vs No Salary Cap (Reading down that Wings roster, 7 Hall of Famers. Is there a current team with more than three?). Look at the top point scorers for both too. Tampa has Kucherov at 125, Stamkos 94, Point 92, then Hedman 54, Gourde 47. For '96 Detroit, Fedorov 107, Yzerman 95, Coffey 74, Kozlov 73, Larionov 71, Lidstrom 67, Primeau 52, Ciccarelli 47. In goal, Tampa has Vasilevskiy at 38-10-4, .925 SV%, 2.42 GAA. For '96 Detroit, Osgood was 39-6-5, .911 SV%, 2.17 GAA.

 

It goes both ways. In terms of who's better, I'd probably say that Wings team. In terms of what's more impressive, based on the results around them and their contemporaries in the era, I'd probably give Tampa the advantage.

 

I hate to Well, Actually a good post, but they were still playing 5 on 5 OT at that time. The NHL didn't go to 4 on 4 in the regular season until 99. 

 

The rest is a great summation of things I was too lazy to look up myself. 

 

42 minutes ago, Still MIGHTY said:

As far as the last point there about the 96 vs 97 teams, that's just hockey, isn't it? Look at the Capitals last year. Is that the best version of the Ovechkin Caps we've seen? Overall, probably not, but they were the ones to find the extra juice to actually win the Cup. That's hockey haha.

 

Yeah for sure. I was just saying I never realized that team wasn't the same juggernaut, at least not points wise, that some of the other Red Wings teams in the years before and after were. In hindsight that Avalanche win over them in the conference finals in 96 was a bigger upset than people give it credit for. Hockey was weird back then - The bottom 5 seeds in the 96 Western Conference playoffs all had losing records. 

[Still MIGHTY]

3 hours ago, McCarthy said:

 

I hate to Well, Actually a good post, but they were still playing 5 on 5 OT at that time. The NHL didn't go to 4 on 4 in the regular season until 99. 

 

Ha, well then there you go. Tampa is 7-3-7 in 3-on-3 OT. Detroit was 3-1-7 in 5-on-5 OT.

 

Does that say anything? Would Tampa put up more ties in 5-on-5? Would they be more effective? I don't know, but it's fun to ponder.

 

In a league that has changed fundamental rules as much as it does, the NHL record books should really have a lot more asterisks and footnotes. 

[SFGiants58]

Awfully nice of the Sharks to get their jitters out of the way right before the playoffs, right? No playoff bungling, right?

 

 

I feel so alone
Gonna end up a big ole pile a them bones

[Glover]

9 hours ago, SFGiants58 said:

Awfully nice of the Sharks to get their jitters out of the way right before the playoffs, right? No playoff bungling, right?

 

 

I feel so alone
Gonna end up a big ole pile a them bones

No need to be Down in a Hole. I’m sure you’d Hate to Feel like you have in years past, getting So Close, only for them to Put You Down while you drown in a Sea of Sorrow. But you have to Brush Away those thoughts. This year you’ve got to tell yourself It Ain’t Like That and be confident the Sharks will Grind to a Stanley Cup Championship. The days of the Sharks choking are Over Now.