2019-2020 NHL Thread

[ninersdd]

Seemed like the ice was tilted, but the Yotes find a way to survive.

[Fitzy0220]

2 hours ago, 1insaneguy said:

Yes, but there really is an obvious disconnect between Reirden and the players. Almost every game since December, it seems like they've been playing with a lack of urgency. Reirden seems to laugh off pretty much everything that the star players do. It's clear he has no idea how to motivate them. 

Aye but IF you're a professional player, winning the game should be your motivation not what the coach says. Coach gives a rah rah speech about A, B and C but the players continually do X, Y and Z. why is it on the Coach and not the Players. Use the Pens as my example

- Murray ain't been the same since Fleury went to Vegas (ie no real threat to lose his job). There were rumors abound how Murray hasn't been able to get over the loss of his dad and how Murray has become complacent. Well during the Home / Home (back in Nov) with the islanders, during the 2nd game (at Barclays) broadcast, Pens announcer Steve Mears was telling a story about how Coach Sullivan had a heart to heart talk with Murray and how the main subject of the conversation was how complacency is your enemy!  Game 3 of the Qualifying Round vs MTL, NBCSN Announcers made the statement that the book is out on Murray, shoot high (glove). If it's true that Murray has become complacent (with helping the team win 2 Cups at such a young age). What's the Coach supposed to do. No Coach is gonna bench a 2x Cup Champ, that would be like career suicide
- Malkin hasn't been the same in over 2 years.  Malkin has led the team in PIMs the last 2 years. Lazy, uninspired, overly emotional, tries to be too fancy. Pens controlling the play in the oppositions end, Bam Malkin takes a lazy (hooking, tripping, holding, roughing) penalty
- PP has sucked since Tocchet left to take the Head Coaching job in Arizona. I liked Mark Recchi as a player but his PP system has been beyond atroscious but at what point do the players need to hold themselves accountable. C'mon you mean to tell me the coaches have to tell them (like they are children) to stop overly passing for overly passing sake and just put the damn puck on net. It kills me to see other teams PP getting these dirty, garbage goals while the Pens are trying to be too cute and fancy

[habsfan1]

Tim Thomas won a ring for Tukka Rask. Rask never won a Cup as the starting goaltender. With his announcement today to leave the NHL (at least for now), Halak is now the Bruins starting goalie in the playoffs. Now's his chance to show what he can do, with a Cup Contending team in front of him.

 

The Bruins won today with Halak. I'm expecting Price vs Halak in the East Final, we'll see if we traded the right goalie.

[AustinFromBoston]

The Hockey Gods would give us a Bruins - Canadians ECF. LOL 

[Dalcowboyfan92]

Just end this farce guys, it's clear you don't want to be here.

 

Don't worry, the Isles will be more than happy to sweep your sorry behinds out of Toronto.

[AustinFromBoston]

Seems like Bruins made the right choice losing all their qualifying games. 

 

Bruce Cassidy out there with his 4D Chessboard. 

[ninersdd]

 

[AustinFromBoston]

I feel like The West is far more of a crap shoot than the East.

Other than Chicago, Arizona. I could see just about any of the other teams making The Finals. 

 

With the East. It will probably be Philly, Tampa, or Boston. Maybe the Isles as a dark horse. 

 

[Chromatic]

23 hours ago, habsfan1 said:

I'm expecting Price vs Halak in the East Final, we'll see if we traded the right goalie.

That's not really a fair test. The lineup in front of Halak is significantly stronger than the one in front of Price.

[chcarlson23]

1 hour ago, AustinFromBoston said:

I feel like The West is far more of a crap shoot than the East.

Other than Chicago, Arizona. I could see just about any of the other teams making The Finals. 

 

With the East. It will probably be Philly, Tampa, or Boston. Maybe the Isles as a dark horse. 

 

I feel like crap-shoot is not the right phrase there. Vegas, Colorado, Dallas, Calgary, and Vancouver all look really strong right now. It’s more of a toss up. 

[habsfan1]

21 minutes ago, Chromatic said:

That's not really a fair test. The lineup in front of Halak is significantly stronger than the one in front of Price.

 

To be fair to both, I'm thinking more along the lines of how each goalie performs under pressure in big games. If the chances are one-sided, true maybe a comparisson wouldn't be fair.

 

Price has a history of winning when fans want Habs to tank and losing when fans want Habs to win. But he's going the be "the guy", every playoff appearence is an oppurtunity to prove he's the one the team can rely on and rise above his past of mediocrity. Regardless of the final score, I want to see how each goalie does.

 

The Habs have a few players who stepped up in these playoffs. The Bruins may have more experience and a deeper lineup. But I think this current roster can put up a solid fight against the Bruins, that if they keep up their momentum, it won't be all Bruins if they face each other.

[AustinFromBoston]

Probably a good thing Vegas lost today. Avoids a potentially long layoff for them.

[FCMacbeth]

36 minutes ago, AustinFromBoston said:

Probably a good thing Vegas lost today. Avoids a potentially long layoff for them.

Funny you should say that, because I'm rooting for the Knights to win since the Rangers and the Leafs failed me hard.

[AustinFromBoston]

10 minutes ago, Friedrich Stuart Macbeth said:

Funny you should say that, because I'm rooting for the Knights to win since the Rangers and the Leafs failed me hard.

Rangers at least got Lafreniere, so did they really fail? 

[FCMacbeth]

1 hour ago, AustinFromBoston said:

Rangers at least got Lafreniere, so did they really fail? 

Well, that's for the qualifying rounds. But hey, a first round pick for failure is nothing to be upset about.

[Cujo]

6 hours ago, AustinFromBoston said:

I feel like The West is far more of a crap shoot than the East.

Other than Chicago, Arizona. I could see just about any of the other teams making The Finals.

 

Such amazing analysis! Gotta be a difficult call to make when those teams are down in their series 0-2 or 0-3

[Kevin W.]

Jack Edwards is a gutless homer jackwagon who makes me excited for the Bruins to end the season empty-handed yet again.

Edwards is one of the single biggest reasons why I hate Boston sports teams.

 

[CS85]

Blackhawks not getting swept feels like a win for Bowman, as it gives him a new list of names who have “Blackhawks playoff success” that he can re-acquire for prospects in a few years. 

[speedy]

10 hours ago, Kevin W. said:

Jack Edwards is a gutless homer jackwagon who makes me excited for the Bruins to end the season empty-handed yet again.

Edwards is one of the single biggest reasons why I hate Boston sports teams.

 

 

Plenty of reasons to hate Boston sports, but hating them because of an announcer 90% of the fan base also hates is a lame one.

 

Andy Brinkley is one of the best color guys in hockey - calls it like it is, doesn't mince words, I think he's great. Edwards on the other hand is a blowhard who gets off on saying outlandish crap at the expense of quality broadcasting. He's a dolt, and I choose the national broadcast over NESN whenever given the opportunity. 

 

[The_Admiral]

This seems to be part of a pattern for Svechnikov: last year he goaded Ovechkin, betting that the Capitals' best player wouldn't take himself off the ice by punching a yappy little brat in the mouth. He lost the bet. He seems to be uniquely bad at engaging physically imposing superstar players. What a strange trait. They should write a dance routine about it.