NHL Playoffs

[Iconoclast]

I had Boston and Edmonton in the finals w the oilers winning. Guess I won't be winning that bracket challenge.

[bill5]

And so much for the Kraken. 

[Polychrest]

On 5/1/2023 at 4:46 PM, Iconoclast said:

The team with the best regular season record IN HISTORY loses game 7 to the last seed.

 

Florida is good.  When Comrade Goalie Bob is on one of his hot streaks (like he was at the end of the Boston series and during all five games against the Leafs), they are very good.  Last year, they won the President's Trophy (best regular-season record in the league), won their first-round playoff series, then got swept in four by Tampa Bay--the same Lightning team that was life and death to squeak past the Leafs in seven in their first round series.

The Panthers got better both on and off the ice during the off-season. Thanks to Flames coach Darryl Sutter being an old-school prick to his players 24/7, the Panthers were able to steal 2023 MVP finalist Matthew Tkachuk from Calgary.  Neither Boston nor Toronto could figure out how to neutralize his line.  And the Flames owner convinced amiable new-school coach Paul Maurice to end his early retirement and take the reins of his team.  The Leafs coaching staff never found a way to break through Maurice's high-energy defensive schemes.  I suspect head coach Sheldon Keefe is going to get fired for tactical and motivational failings.  Easier than firing players. 

If Carolina approaches the Panthers with the same we're-better-than-these-guys mindset that the Leafs displayed at the beginning of their series, they're in trouble.  They're in big trouble if Goalie Bob continues to play like Carey Price in his prime.

 

On 5/12/2023 at 8:01 PM, Iconoclast said:

Even if [Pietrangelo] barely hit him, it looked so deliberate that you should be suspended just for being such an idiot. I honestly can't remember the last time I saw a chop like that.

 

One more futile rant about awful NHL officiating:  I wish the refs would use the same rule book during the playoffs as they do in the regular season.  The holding, hooking and interference that gets called in the regular season is too often ignored in the playoffs--or it gets called randomly, as in some kind of NHL Hunger Games lottery, and it influences the outcome of games.  At the least, be consistent in what is called.  If a guy gets high-sticked in the face and blood begins to seep from a cut on his nose, the offender is supposed to get penalized an extra two minutes--unless, of course, the victim is a Leaf pest named Michael Bunting.  Blood is not blood in the eyes of some NHL refs.

 

Brutal late hits into the boards masquerading as "finishing checks" go unpunished.  If the target of such a hit a hit hasn't got possession of the puck, it's interference or roughing according to the rules of the game.  Call it.  The number of concussions inflicted in this year's playoffs so far is a blight on the league.  CTE isn't an exclusive monopoly of the NFL.

Slapshot-style clutch-and-grab is much less interesting than high-speed, high-skill, high-creativity hockey.  When the rules are enforced, the McDavids and the Draisaitls, the Matthews and the Marners of the NHL can create some of the most electrifying moments in sports.  The NHL should protect its best assets, especially during the league's prime time when people actually watch its product.

 

Yeah, I wanted the Leafs and the Oilers to meet in the final....

 

[bill5]

Good game between the Knights and Stars. I'm totally neutral about the teams, just like a good game.

[Iconoclast]

Well...not tonight it wasn't.

Congrats to Las Vegas. On paper this looks like a hum dinger of a final. I would think most money is on Florida, but you never know until the teams actually meet.

[Polychrest]

Not much action in this thread lately.  Maybe this tongue-in-cheek analysis explains why:  Sport about to be passed in popularity by world’s 5th best soccer league sees no reason to change

[bill5]

What a lame, snotty "article" by that hack. Did a hockey player hurt him as a child or something? 

 

Hockey has never been as popular as MLB, the NFL, or even the NBA (although I think that's a close race). So? Last I looked they will still drawing crowds.

[Iconoclast]

There were two expansion teams running deep into the playoffs. VGK is 1 game away from winning it all.

The biggest issue with hockey is very few have ever played the sport or even put on skates. It's a tough game to understand if you've never played it.

But personally, there's no better sport to watch in person. But then again...I still play, and all my kids played, so we have a different perspective.

[Iconoclast]

On a different subject...this might go down as the worst reffed series in years.

The referee's in game 1 and 2 totally emasculated the Panthers and I think they have no idea where the actual line is between stupid penalty and no-call. Vegas actually seemed like the more physical team the last couple games.

[Polychrest]

Just now, Iconoclast said:

On a different subject...this might go down as the worst reffed series in years.

The referee's in game 1 and 2 totally emasculated the Panthers and I think they have no idea where the actual line is between stupid penalty and no-call. Vegas actually seemed like the more physical team the last couple games.

 

Agree wholeheartedly.  I’d extend it to the entire playoffs this year, based on what I’ve seen—albeit a limited sample.  The usual double standard between what’s called in the regular season and the playoffs seems even more egregious this year.  It’s the arbitrary randomness of it all that offends me most.  Blatant fouls according to the rules go unnoticed or ignored, borderline Infractions are randomly called—too often when they’ll exert the most leverage on the outcome of the game.  This isn’t just a series of unfortunate events; it’s the NHL’s brand.

 

That article I linked is from a Canadian satire site.  It may be lame in execution, but it does speak to a reality that Canadians know: our national game, at least the NHL version of it, doesn’t have the same grip on our collective consciousness it used to.  The truth is in the numbers.  Sportsnet bought exclusive Canadian rights to NHL broadcasts half a decade ago.  They paid a huge sum.  Their ratings and advertising revenue never reached their projections, leading to massive cost-cutting and staff layoffs.  A finals matchup between two charisma-challenged US sunbelt teams doesn’t help.  Canadians are watching the Blue Jays instead.

 

I played hockey as a kid.  It was compulsory in my neighbourhood.  The most exciting sports events I’ve ever attended have been Stanley Cup playoff games.  I still love the sport, but not so much the current version on display in Gary Bettman’s league.  Ugly goals, ugly calls, ugly games.

[bill5]

Did not see Game 4 but read about it, wth with the brawl at the end? 

[Iconoclast]

Sometimes...you just gotta let the boys have a little brawl. 

Panthers sending a message for game 5 and their fans are disappointed by the reffing. That last tripping call Stone drew...right after he'd obviously slashed the stick out of a Panther players hand was frustrating. I could see the slash being a no-call, but then the trip should have been a no call too.

Giving Tkachuk 36 penalty minutes in the first two games? Letting Stone do whatever he wants?

But then I start watching the NBA and I realize...it's the same damn thing. The refs can call a couple little fouls early in a game and make a star sit out minutes with foul trouble.  NBA refs are just as flexible.

[MAJUSCULE]

I mostly turned my attention to the QMJHL playoffs and the Memorial Cup after Edmonton's elimination. I've watched some NHL games here and there, but as someone who cheers for a bunch of teams in a bunch of leagues, I tend to pivot away fairly quickly. Helps keep the mood light after tough losses to get excited about something else.

 

So, shoutout to our guy Patrick Roy for capping off his time with les Remparts on a treble. Cte gars là, ctun gagnant. James Malatesta won the MVP for both the Q playoffs and the Mem Cup, incredible performance for him. CBJ may have found a fifth-round diamond in the rough there. William Rousseau was spectacular in net throughout and now joins his grandfather and great-uncle on the Memorial Cup. Success is short-lived in the junior ranks, however, as several players were dealt away within days and others will move on to the pros or Canadian university hockey. But winning is the goal, and winning is what they did, reeling off a two-month winning streak, only losing two games in the Q final to Halifax (who will be an absolute juggernaut next year) and a meaningless game to a desperate Peterborough team in the Mem round robin. Nevermind dominating Seattle, the media favourite, 5-0 in the final.

 

To tie it back to the NHL, I was actually surprised at the consistency of reffing from the junior games I was watching. Much, much better and impartial than the NHL refs I've gotten used to. I might be worried about sounding like crybaby Oilers fan but I know pretty much every team feels the same way, and justifiably so. I have to think it starts at the top with Stephen Walkom, not sure we'll see much change in the standard (or lack thereof) until there's a change there. The players are the best in the world and the refs are supposed to be as well. It's baffling how bad they've been.

 

And segue from there...

 

The NHL has so many problems it doesn't know even where to start. I know many of the owners love Gary Bettman because he's made them a lot of money. I'm of course not in any place to tell billionaires how to think about making money, but they've struggled to compete in their most direct comparison. The NHL and NBA were more or less on equal footing during the Gretzky-Jordan years. Take a quick look at franchise valuations, player contracts, media deals, etc. The NBA now dwarfs the NHL. They run a very similar schedule, share many arenas, and yet the NBA's growth over the last two decades shows that David Stern and Adam Silver have lapped Gary Bettman in terms of fueling the growth of their sport both within their markets and internationally. There are all kinds of reasons for this, but I firmly believe that marketing (both league-wide and its media partners), cap structure, and the stubborness of Bettman, Bill Daly, Colin Campbell, and their soldiers play a much, much larger part than whether or not potential fans have experience playing the game. That's not to discount the idea that getting more kids playing will lead to more fans, that's obvious. But I think league leadership is a much bigger stumbling block to growing the game than whether or not someone knows what it feels like to line up for a draw and take a couple slashes to the back of the legs. Just my fiftieth of a loonie.

[MAJUSCULE]

Bettman barely got booed... I'll hold my tongue. 

 

Happy for a few of the players, Zach Whitecloud, Laurent Brossoit, Phil Kessel. Marchessault winning the Conn Smythe is another victory for les Remparts.  

 

Any interest in a permanent general hockey thread? There've been threads here and there over the years but not always consistent traffic. We may have a few more regular contributors here now, and maybe if it's a permanent general thread, it'll help keep things rolling and open to more than just NHL posts.

[Polychrest]

16 hours ago, MAJUSCULE said:

Any interest in a permanent general hockey thread?

Sure.  This one has been fun this playoff season.  Thanks to bill5 for launching it and being our honorary Geoff Grace.

[Iconoclast]

I complained about the reffing..but I don't thing it would have made a difference. VGK was clearly a better team in that matchup and it's now coming out that a lot of the Panther's stars were playing very hurt. Ekblad broke a foot in game 1. Tkachuk had a broken sternum. Both had to clear concussion protocols at one point. Gudas had a high ankle sprain (I don't even know how you play at all with one of those).

The first round had so many upsets. I ran a bracket challenge for my beer league team and it was really a crapshoot. Literally...I did a totally random one as a joke and it would have gotten second place. I don't think anyone picked FLA to be in the finals, let alone make it past Boston.