2019-2020 NHL Thread

[Sport]

The President's Trophy isn't cursed. It's just almost always won by accident while other just as good teams were maneuvering the end of their regular seasons to set themselves up best for the playoffs. Also I'm pretty sure the cup winner has come out of the #1 overall seed more often than any other seed. Someone less lazy than I am look that up. 

 

The Lightning's problems last year were that they didn't play meaningful games for the last 2 months of the season, were pretty f******* arrogant going into the first round, and then had to turn it on against a team who'd been in playoff mode for 6 weeks. Also, as it turns out, that Blue Jackets team was a lot better than anyone gave them credit for, myself included. They were mostly healthy (unlike this season) and were uniquely suited to shut Tampa down. Plus they just shot the f*** out of the puck. We couldn't miss for four straight games. I've never seen anything like it. 

[Ridleylash]

18 minutes ago, Sport said:

The President's Trophy isn't cursed.

Caps fans might disagree with you there, considering they always bow out in the first or second round when they win the President's Trophy.

 

Quote

The Lightning's problems last year were that they didn't play meaningful games for the last 2 months of the season, were pretty f******* arrogant going into the first round, and then had to turn it on against a team who'd been in playoff mode for 6 weeks. Also, as it turns out, that Blue Jackets team was a lot better than anyone gave them credit for, myself included. They were mostly healthy (unlike this season) and were uniquely suited to shut Tampa down. Plus they just shot the f*** out of the puck. We couldn't miss for four straight games. I've never seen anything like it. 

Yeah, Tampa played way too hard through the entire regular season, wasted all their gas on that and thought they could coast through the playoffs without having to ramp up the intensity to any degree since everybody was already calling them the Cup champions; they were swiftly and viciously reminded that playoff hockey is a very different animal from regular season hockey, an animal which that team was not built to handle in any way.

 

You don't win a Cup by having a back end that can't outmuscle the opposing team; goals are harder to come by in the playoffs anyways, so putting all the eggs in the offensive basket isn't a great idea. Columbus flat-out devoured Tampa's offense and took advantage of the not-as-good defense.

[mcj882000]

This could probably go in the anti-thread but I don't feel like digging it up, so... 

Typical NHL attitude - "Something neat happened that got us a bunch of mainstream attention? KILL IT!"

[monkeypower]

You know, I do kind of see where the NHL would be coming from.

 

The EBUG is such a weird scenario specific to hockey and only hockey. No other sport has a "fan" designated to fill in in case of injury, like there's no EBUK(icker) or EBUQB in football and there's no EBU-Late innings reliever or EBUPH in baseball. Related to that, I could see them taking a bit of an issue with what possible underlying message there is. Like if the NHL is the highest level of professional hockey, what does it say when an accountant and a zamboni driver are successfully able to play goalie "well"? 

 

And both Ayers and Foster both ended up being good stories, but what about if either guy got absolutely lit up or injured? Then it's a whole different ball of wax.

 

I don't know what a possible fix would be though because of the nature of goalies. I guess maybe having a player have to go in net?

[Ridleylash]

11 minutes ago, monkeypower said:

I don't know what a possible fix would be though because of the nature of goalies. I guess maybe having a player have to go in net?

If I had to guess, it'd probably be more like they'll just make it so each team has to carry a third goaltender of their own, rather then have a single emergency backup that can go to either team. Also covers their asses in case (somehow) both teams get dropped to a third goaltender in the same game.

 

And putting a player not used to playing a goaltender position in the net wouldn't work well.

[IceCap]

5 hours ago, monkeypower said:

You know, I do kind of see where the NHL would be coming from.

 

The EBUG is such a weird scenario specific to hockey and only hockey. No other sport has a "fan" designated to fill in in case of injury

Which is why it's awesome and why the NHL is dumb to suggest killing it.

[Ridleylash]

https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/news/new-york-islanders-will-play-all-home-games-in-2020-21-season-at-nassau-coliseum/

 

The Isles are leaving Barclay's behind after this regular season; any home playoff games will be at Nassau, and 2020-21 will be all Nassau as well. Which is good, because Barclay's has been nothing short of a complete and utter disaster for the Isles.

[Sport]

Last night was fun, but even with that great comeback win the Blue Jackets are the most Gary Bettman "but they're in a playoff spot!" team I've ever seen. They are the what the NHL wanted when they invented the loser point and one of the best examples I can remember of how the NHL could take something simple like the standings and require an advanced degree in Statistics for laypersons to decipher. 

 

 

The only team in this bunch with a negative goal differential, the only team with a true losing record, have played 3 more games than everyone else for what feels like the entire season. They're in the hunt, but they're not really in the hunt. It's like when the Sabres fan I know has been saying "we're only 6 points out of the playoffs" for the last 7 years. 

[Ridleylash]

21 minutes ago, Sport said:

Last night was fun, but even with that great comeback win the Blue Jackets are the most Gary Bettman "but they're in a playoff spot!" team I've ever seen. They are the what the NHL wanted when they invented the loser point and one of the best examples I can remember of how the NHL could take something simple like the standings and require an advanced degree in Statistics for laypersons to decipher. 

 

 

The only team in this bunch with a negative goal differential, the only team with a true losing record, have played 3 more games than everyone else for what feels like the entire season. They're in the hunt, but they're not really in the hunt. It's like when the Sabres fan I know has been saying "we're only 6 points out of the playoffs" for the last 7 years. 

Calgary's third in the Pacific with a worse goal differential (by one point, but still). The Jackets also suffer from basically having every single form of smiting thrown at them all season, and they're still holding that second wild card, so I'd more say it's a product of the team's determination and system then just the loser point. They just play a really defensively-focused system, which often pushes games into extra time.

 

Boston was a far more egregious example of the loser point, considering those 12 extra time losses were basically the only thing cushioning their lead in the division for a while when the team was playing like crap.

[JayMac]

I don't expect for the Flyers to make much noise in the playoffs (provided they do continue to play well) but this team is fun. The players, whether younger or older, have bought into Vigneault's system. It is nice to see relevant hockey in the city of brotherly love again.

[Ridleylash]

1 minute ago, JayMac said:

I don't expect for the Flyers to make much noise in the playoffs (provided they do continue to play well) but this team is fun. The players, whether younger or older, have bought into Vigneault's system. It is nice to see relevant hockey in the city of brotherly love again.

They're probably the best team in the Metro, really. I wouldn't be surprised if they overtook Washington and won the division; they already have a better goal differential and a far better record in their last 10 games.

[Glover]

If Carolina can sneak into the playoffs I don't see much success. Last year they were very fortunate to not have suffered many injuries. This year they're down two of their best defensemen and their starting goaltending tandem. We will need Nedeljkovic to pull a 2006 Cam Ward until Mrazek is able to return, and even then Mrazek has been shaky at best this year. 

[mcj882000]

On 2/26/2020 at 1:16 PM, mcj882000 said:

This could probably go in the anti-thread but I don't feel like digging it up, so... 

Typical NHL attitude - "Something neat happened that got us a bunch of mainstream attention? KILL IT!"

update: it appears cooler heads have, apparently, prevailed: 

 

[GDAWG]

I usually don't pay much attention to the NHL, but I have paid attention to the last two Stanley Cup Finals, because the last two had teams who had never been to the Stanley Cup or won one.  I hope this is the case this year as well.

[habsfan1]

I hope Boychuk is okay.

[FiddySicks]

On 2/25/2020 at 2:26 PM, AustinFromBoston said:

It would have been a damn good story for Jumbo Joe to be traded back to his own team & finally win a Cup with them. 

 

:wanking motion:

[dont care]

14 hours ago, habsfan1 said:

I hope Boychuk is okay.

How many times are we going to see people break their face before full face visors become a requirement?

[JackieMoon]

On 3/2/2020 at 8:51 AM, Sport said:

Last night was fun, but even with that great comeback win the Blue Jackets are the most Gary Bettman "but they're in a playoff spot!" team I've ever seen. They are the what the NHL wanted when they invented the loser point and one of the best examples I can remember of how the NHL could take something simple like the standings and require an advanced degree in Statistics for laypersons to decipher. 

 

 

The only team in this bunch with a negative goal differential, the only team with a true losing record, have played 3 more games than everyone else for what feels like the entire season. They're in the hunt, but they're not really in the hunt. It's like when the Sabres fan I know has been saying "we're only 6 points out of the playoffs" for the last 7 years. 

I am a huge Jackets fan, but the NHL Standings System is a joke. Award a team a point just because they lost in Overtime. A win is a win and a loss is a loss. It's time to scrap this crap and go to Winning Percentage like in baseball and basketball (I even hate basketball). These guys get paid lots of money, if they can't handle a loss then well.

 

I want to see a team tank one year. Lose all 82 games in OT. Make the playoffs, then win the Cup!

[JayMac]

45 minutes ago, sohiosportsfreak said:

I am a huge Jackets fan, but the NHL Standings System is a joke. Award a team a point just because they lost in Overtime. A win is a win and a loss is a loss. It's time to scrap this crap and go to Winning Percentage like in baseball and basketball (I even hate basketball). These guys get paid lots of money, if they can't handle a loss then well.

 

I want to see a team tank one year. Lose all 82 games in OT. Make the playoffs, then win the Cup!

Well 82 points would almost never get you in the playoffs unless you expand the playoff field to 18 or 20 total teams. But, I agree with you in that I wish that they would get rid of the loser point. Ideally, they should go back to ties. However, if they want a clear winner and loser, then just go with strictly wins and losses.

[JackieMoon]

If the NHL would go to W-L. Redo the playoff format to be 1 and 2 division winners, 3-8 wildcards. Move the All Star game back to East-West.

 

That would make things a lot better IMHO.