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Rite of Spring 2019: The Chase for the Stanley Cup


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1 hour ago, crashcarson15 said:

Of all the extremely weird things about how this series happened, the first period of Game 3 was maybe the weirdest. I'm sitting there before the game, thinking I'd be happy if the Jackets could weather the first 10 minutes or so, and they allowed 3 shots on goal the entire period.

 

My thoughts exactly. Game 3 was arguably more important than Game 4 because coming into that game I was terrified of blowing a 2-0 lead at home for the second straight year. You lose that game and then suddenly you're back to where you were last year and your confidence is shaken for Game 4. Next thing you know we're back in Tampa tied at 2.

 

I thought the Lightning were going to flip the switch and be the LIGHTNING and when they came out in Game 3 and looked like the standing still, frustrated, disinterested team from game 2 I said to no-one in particular "that's a really good sign". 

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17 hours ago, Dalcowboyfan92 said:

I'm sitting here, patiently awaiting the soon-to-be released "Congrats Lightning! (2019)" and "Congrats, Pens! (2019)" from Tree.

 

The Lightning one is now out, and this is easily his best Congrats video yet.

 

 

Sporting Venue Count (for games): OHL: 19 (28 Total)- 770 games (after 18-19),

MLB: 13 (15 Total), NHL: 4

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2 hours ago, the admiral said:

 

This is unprecedented and goes beyond hockey being hockey. This was more than the usual Goalie Goes Nuts fare (though Bobrovsky did throw up like a .950 on the series and, in fact, went nuts) : the Jackets also forechecked the Bolts into oblivion and for some reason they had no answer for the pressure, and meanwhile, Vasilevskiy had a terrible performance and never should have started all four games once it was clear what was happening (i.e., leaving home down 0-2). Steven Stamkos disappearing in the playoffs has been an elephant in the room for years now but it's finally so apparent that you have to ask whether he even deserves the captaincy anymore if there's any sense that his ghosting sets any kind of tone.

 

When this happened to the Blackhawks two years ago, it was because Rinne hit something like .960 and Artemi Panarin decided he wasn't going to show up (and, to tie it all together, got himself sent to Columbus for it). This was a catastrophic failure on far more levels.

 

I think I read that it was .932. Anyway... Something that's kind of gotten lost in all this are the two great saves Bobrovsky made towards the end of the 2nd period in game one. He lets in either of those goals and it's 4-1 TB headed to the 3rd and we're probably looking at a completely different series. I think those two saves were the turning point - if a series can have a turning point with less than 2/3 of the first game being played. 

 

In any case, I think that was where he went from the shaky playoff goalie we all knew and feared to the goalie that played a large role in winning the series. 

 

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So does anyone else thing this was all the result of the Lightning front office making a wish with a malevolent djinn last off season? 

 

"We wish for a 62 win season!"

"You want a 62 win season? You’ll get your 62 win season."

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10 minutes ago, Ice_Cap said:

So does anyone else thing this was all the result of the Lightning front office making a wish with a malevolent djinn last off season? 

 

"We wish for a 62 win season!"

"You want a 62 win season? You’ll get your 62 win season."

Top ten secrets the NHL doesn’t want you to know

bouta go sicko mode

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23 minutes ago, Ice_Cap said:

So does anyone else thing this was all the result of the Lightning front office making a wish with a malevolent djinn last off season? 

 

"We wish for a 62 win season!"

"You want a 62 win season? You’ll get your 62 win season."

 

The wicked djinn, stroking his goatee, leans in and rests his hand on Cooper's shoulder;

 

"Eh, Jon, what's in a number?"

 

"I hope you like BIG, ROUND numbers!"

 

*coughzerocough*

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48 minutes ago, Ice_Cap said:

So does anyone else thing this was all the result of the Lightning front office making a wish with a malevolent djinn last off season? 

 

"We wish for a 62 win season!"

"You want a 62 win season? You’ll get your 62 win season."

 

djinn: You want 62 wins?

TBL: Yes, we want to go down in history.

djinn: "Go down in history, eh? You're sure?

TBL: Yes, we want to be a historic team that people will talk about years and years after the season is over.

djinn: And you think 62 wins will accomplish that?

TBL: We do. 

djinn: Just to be sure, you want 62 wins?

TBL: Yup.

djinn: Consider it done.

TBL: Excellent. This will be a season for the ages.

 

And it was. Their wish granted, the Lightning won exactly 62 games and they will be a team that will be talked about for years after this season. 

 

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1 hour ago, infrared41 said:

 

I think I read that it was .932. Anyway... Something that's kind of gotten lost in all this are the two great saves Bobrovsky made towards the end of the 2nd period in game one. He lets in either of those goals and it's 4-1 TB headed to the 3rd and we're probably looking at a completely different series. I think those two saves were the turning point - if a series can have a turning point with less than 2/3 of the first game being played. 

 

In any case, I think that was where he went from the shaky playoff goalie we all knew and feared to the goalie that played a large role in winning the series. 

 

I believe he went 81/86 over the last eleven periods. ANd yeah, a fourth goal would have been a backbreaker.

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

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14 minutes ago, the admiral said:

 

I believe he went 81/86 over the last eleven periods. ANd yeah, a fourth goal would have been a backbreaker.

 

Going .500 on the Power Play for the series didn’t hurt matters either. Just an incredible team effort by the Blue Jackets. I still can’t believe they did this. 

 

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Meanwhile, as for the swept Penguins, this has echoes of the 2017 Blackhawks sweep, where it feels like the end of something big. There's even the parallel of finally losing to their congenitally derpy rival the year before, and winning the Cup a third time the year before that. I don't think the Penguins are going to plummet, but it is starting to feel like the conference could pass them by: the Islanders have more talent due up from those back-to-back lottery picks, the Blue Jackets may be able to use this upset to secure a few of their expirings though it is much too early to say, the Leafs are on the cusp of being a power or are there already, the Devils and Sabres have to make the leap eventually, and we all know that the Hurricanes are the greatest team ever assembled in the history of sports as per people who knowingly type in all lowercase online. I've never had the antipathy for the Penguins and their fans that a lot of people have, partly because I really like Pittsburgh as a city and as a Hawks fan I can empathize with the existential crises their organization has had and has overcome, so I'm sad that they may be winding down. 

 

On the other hand, I don't think this signals the end of anything at all for the Lightning, and so I am much less sad for them. Because of their three-headed monster of a hyper-elite scouting department, an extremely low-pressure milieu, and 1%er-friendly tax laws, they can keep turning out teams like this one until virtually the end of time. Like the '90s Red Wings, they'll keep drafting 40-goal seventh-rounders, everyone will sign under market value to go there or stay there, and the good times will roll until they decide not to anymore. Compare this with the Jets, where Wheeler and Byfuglien are about to age out of their primes (and in Byfuglien's case, the attrition will be absolutely unforgiving), they're staring down a vicious cap crunch, and every summer can be the one where an important Canadian player has a full-scale nervous breakdown over being noticed at a steakhouse and demands a trade to the New South over it. This is basically their last whack at it. Next year's Lightning? They'll probably win 63.

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

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