The Rite of Spring (AKA 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs Thread)

[Ridleylash]

Speaking of Vegas, they lost to the Avs again and are down 0-2 in the series. Pete DeBoer went and whined about the Avs supposedly embellishing calls after the game, which is hilarious.

[mcj882000]

The last expansion team to pick 1st overall in their first draft was Atlanta in 1999, and that was only because Vancouver traded them Tampa Bay's 1st-overall pick for Atlanta's 2nd.

The last expansion team to be given the 1st pick without needing to trade for it is, AFAIK, Tampa Bay in 1992. (Though the Panthers & Ducks were given the 1st & 2nd picks in 1994, their 2nd draft, even though they finished 6th & 11th-worst in the previous season, and the draft lottery wasn't implemented until the next year.)

[Sport]

That Scheifele hit was pretty violent watching it live in real speed and after watching it a dozen times, I think he should get a game. It was right after he took a penalty out of frustration so he's already boiling, then Evans had already tucked the puck at that point, and Scheifele had slowed down  enough to stop himself yet chose to Raggedy Andy him. It didn't have to go like that. 

 

"Clean hit" guys are some of my least favorite people on the internet. 

 

13 hours ago, Cosmic said:

Another #1 pick will just make it more obvious when the Sabres fail. I wish they could just do it in obscurity, like that team whose name I can't think of right now.

 

Classic Sabres too because they get the good fortune of winning the lottery yet it's in the year without a consensus #1 in the year where junior, college, and international hockey hasn't been scouted or played anywhere close to the usual amount. Feels just as likely a guy taken late first round turns out to be the best player in this draft. 

 

I'm just celebrating not falling out of 5th in the draft. Never even entertained the idea of winning the lottery. It's never going to happen. Our ping pong balls are too heavy. 

[charger77]

5 minutes ago, Sport said:

Classic Sabres too because they get the good fortune of winning the lottery yet it's in the year without a consensus #1 in the year where junior, college, and international hockey hasn't been scouted or played anywhere close to the usual amount. Feels just as likely a guy taken late first round turns out to be the best player in this draft. 

 

Also if they go with Owen Power, he won't be a difference maker for a while, and I doubt that Eichel will be around when/if he becomes on. That team seems to be in a perpetual rebuild.

[See Red]

That Scheifele hit was dirty and I hope the goon running the DoPS suspends him.  Kudos to Nikolaj Ehlers for recognizing Evans was hurt and doing his best to protect him from the scrum of players.

 

 

[Crabcake]

Good lord that is scary to see Evans lying on the ice like that. I’m glad he kind of twitched/moved around while he was on the ground cause if he didn’t I might’ve been concerned that he was unconscious or worse. 

[Sport]

2 hours ago, See Red said:

That Scheifele hit was dirty and I hope the goon running the DoPS suspends him.  Kudos to Nikolaj Ehlers for recognizing Evans was hurt and doing his best to protect him from the scrum of players.

 

 

Lol I was so annoyed while watching it last night that the mob of players were seemingly more concerned about revenge/defending Scheifele than about stepping on the already injured Evans. Thank goodness for Ehlers for having a little common sense. 

[habsfan1]

 

[See Red]

1 hour ago, habsfan1 said:

 

 

Well deserved.  He could have easily kept skating full speed and prevented the goal with his stick.  Dumb and dirty.

[Brass]

Tuukka Rask keeping the Bruins in this game when three of their defensemen have decided to not play.
 

Can’t imagine the Bruins going too far, especially when they decided to throw money at keeping constantly injured Kevan Miller instead of actual depth.

[MDGP]

4 minutes ago, Brass said:

Tuukka Rask keeping the Bruins in this game when three of their defensemen have decided to not play.
 

Can’t imagine the Bruins going too far, especially when they decided to throw money at keeping constantly injured Kevan Miller instead of actual depth.

 

And instead of drafting a first round grade defenseman to help fix things, the boys club will draft Somerville's 564th ranked center and then be shocked when they never make it to the NHL.

[Brass]

Wow, the Bruins pulled that one out of their ass. Islanders (with an amazing crowd - love the enthusiasm) are going to come back with a vengeance - game four should be a banger. CANNOT WAIT.

[JerseyJimmy]

yeah, varlamov needs to go. the last thing a team mimicking the Y2K-era devils needs is a virtuoso of choking in front of the net.

[Cosmic]

14 hours ago, charger77 said:

 

Also if they go with Owen Power, he won't be a difference maker for a while, and I doubt that Eichel will be around when/if he becomes on. That team seems to be in a perpetual rebuild.

If Eichel and Reinhart are as certain to be gone as the media thinks, it could actually be good to have a #1 overall pick that doesn't play right away. If they're both traded, you can't avoid starting a new rebuild. Having a cheap, (hopefully) good player in 2024 or 2025 instead of 2021 will be much more useful in the big picture. If the goal is to convince the current good Sabres to not abandon ship, then yeah they need some immediate impact. Desperately.

 

The other scary thing about Power is he plays at Michigan... is the college loophole still in effect? It would be very Sabres to have the #1 overall pick choose homework over playing for them in the NHL, then slipping away to another team in three years for little to no return.

[speedy]

11 hours ago, Brass said:

Tuukka Rask keeping the Bruins in this game when three of their defensemen have decided to not play.
 

Can’t imagine the Bruins going too far, especially when they decided to throw money at keeping constantly injured Kevan Miller instead of actual depth.

 

I wouldn't classify myself as a Tuukka Hater, but I'm definitely not a Tuukka fan. With that said, he's carrying this team no doubt about it. I'm waiting for the inevitable Game 7 collapse, but for now I'll enjoy the ride.

 

Bruins playoffs are essentially over if Carlo is out long term. Cliffy Hockey is fun and all, but in reality he stinks. Lauzon stinks. I know it was Chara's decision to leave, but he ended up playing a role in Washington that we really could've used here. Can never have enough Defensemen, especially when your bottom 3 are traffic cones. 

 

 

10 hours ago, MDGP said:

 

And instead of drafting a first round grade defenseman to help fix things, the boys club will draft Somerville's 564th ranked center and then be shocked when they never make it to the NHL.

 

But.. but.. don't you want to here "SOMERVILLE'S OWN DAVE GARBANZO" from Jack Edwards every time the puck is remotely close to his stick!?

[Brass]

Yeah, we pretended Jimmy Hayes knew how to play hockey long enough and right now too many people are acting like Charlie Coyle is a top line forward. 

[Brass]

Ugh, what an ugly third period for Boston. It really hurts to see Barzal score against the Bruins, considering their scouting department thought Jake DeBrusk, Jakob Zboril, and Zach Senyshyn were better investments in the 2015 draft. Sigh.

 

Back to the Garden for Game 5. Great fan bases, evenly matched teams, fun to watch!

[ManillaToad]

Damn I wish NY hadn't blown game 3

[GDAWG]

So has there been any updates on travel in regards to Canada?

[Brass]

Another thing that perhaps @speedy or some other Bruins fans can shed light on; what is with the Bruins first line insistence on trying to score only "fancy" goals especially after scoring flukey ones? Marchand won game three on a simple shot on net from a weird angle. Last night, he's toe-dragging and only seemed like he was interested in knocking off the water bottle off the net-type goals. I feel like we've seen that numerous times before and IIRC it doomed the Bruins in their Cup Final against the Blues.