2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs thread

[Nicomo]

Glad Tortorella blew it. Now I want Boston out so we don’t have to see rat face hoisting the Cup again. 

Idk I guess SJ winning it all would be the least objectionable for me at this point. 

[glenwo2]

1 hour ago, Nicomo said:

Glad Tortorella blew it. Now I want Boston out so we don’t have to see rat face hoisting the Cup again. 

Idk I guess SJ winning it all would be the least objectionable for me at this point. 

Sucks that they lost in OT in Colorado. 

It's insane that both Western Conference Teams have Game 7's while the East is all but set.

But to be quite frank, I don't care much for anyone in the East.    

 

Whomever wins there,  I LOSE as a fan 'cause I hate both teams.

 

The West have two teams I wouldn't mind rooting for :   The Sharks and the Blues.

 

Do NOT want the Avs to make it all the way after STEALING a #4 Overall pick from Ottawa. 

 

And I want the Blues to beat Dallas 'cause that would Prevent the RAGS from getting ANOTHER 1st rounder!!

 

 

[aclc79]

STL has never won the Cup, even though they made it to the Finals a few times after the 1967 expansion by winning the expansion division, getting swept every time by an original 6 team.  A sentimental pick, maybe, but they have a good chance.

[Devilsfan118]

I'm rooting for St. Louis for sure, both to keep the Rags from getting another pick and because I love the underdog story.

From dead last in the league to Stanley Cup winner would be a tremendous story.

Edited May 7, 2019 by Devilsfan118

[Nicomo]

8 minutes ago, Devilsfan118 said:

I'm rooting for St. Louis for sure, both to keep the Rags from getting another pick and because I love the underdog story.

From dead last in the league to Stanley Cup winner would be a tremendous story.

Pretty sure they’re also the team that’s existed the longest without winning a Cup. I guess I’d be cool with them. Don’t have a problem with anyone on the team or anything. Always kind of liked their jerseys too. 

I’d say SJ or STL. Either of the teams left that hasn’t won it. 

[CommonDreads]

I think the team I'm rooting for the rest of the way is San Jose. Would love to see Thornton finally get his cup, it would be a shame if arguably the greatest pure playmaker in NHL history never wins a Cup.

[thecoffeecake]

Never like to see new cup winners, so on top of my nostalgic desire to see Dallas and Colorado in a WCF, I want to see them eliminate any potential first timers. With no Canadian teams or local rivals on top of that, I could live with any of those 4 teams winning it, if that happens. 

[Lateralous]

14 hours ago, SterioDesign said:

It was always going to be a dumb gamble to take for Colombus but there was a slim chance that it would be worth it if they could either win the cup or re-sign their guys.

Well... they dodged a huge bullet by making the playoffs by like 1 point... They didn't make it past the 2nd round.

Now let's see what happens on July 1st... but if the reports were true that Panarin and Bob were walking for sure. Even if they can re-sign Duchene. Huge failure and that will cripple them big time to let 2 top players walk like that for nothing.

Ouch. 

 

 

Eh, I don't see as that dumb of a gamble for a team that has had such little success in their entire history.  Two of their better players were signaling that they were probably leaving so they could either take a shot like they did or just go back and sell their fans on the perpetual rebuild.  In the end, I think the biggest bullet they will dodge is not being the ones who sign Bob to a long term/high salary contract.   I would also argue that they are keeping their best player in Seth Jones.  If this little run keeps Duchene around, I think they're in pretty good shape going forward with the core they have.  As crazy as it seems, their fan interest should also be at an all time high going into next year.   

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

14 hours ago, SterioDesign said:

It was always going to be a dumb gamble to take for Colombus but there was a slim chance that it would be worth it if they could either win the cup or re-sign their guys.

Well... they dodged a huge bullet by making the playoffs by like 1 point... They didn't make it past the 2nd round.

Now let's see what happens on July 1st... but if the reports were true that Panarin and Bob were walking for sure. Even if they can re-sign Duchene. Huge failure and that will cripple them big time to let 2 top players walk like that for nothing.

Ouch. 

I know it's kinda your thing to take a "one-size-fits-all" primer to these kinds of situations, and of course Columbus will take their share of criticism over this in other circles...in a results-oriented business, they didn't get it done, and losing in the second round probably isn't enough to fully mollify the Blue Jacket faithful.  Even though the franchise won its first-ever playoff series and did it in monumental fashion, losing three straight games to go out in six in the second round has to feel a little hollow.

But sometimes, you really DO have to be willing take a step back, and actually try to look into these scenarios on a case-by-case basis, and not just go in auto-blast mode when teams lose certain UFA for nothing.  The BJs are a franchise that has had so little success...only four playoff appearances in their history prior to this season, with no series wins...but they had managed to make it in both 2016-17 and 2017-18...it's not that crazy to think that some GMs and franchises aren't interested in forever kicking the can down the road and hoping that whatever they manage to get for dealing off UFAs-to-be might pay off sometime down the line.  You know full well that due to a player's impending UFA status, that sometimes the return isn't going to be all that great...and it's even made worse when you don't have an obvious in-house replacement ready to start to make up for the jettisoned assets.  Look who backed up Bobrovsky this year...imagine Korpisalo having to be the #1 by default.  Or not having point-leader Panarin...do you think the BJs were getting anything back that could've approximated Panarin's lost production?  It would have been like waving the white flag before the first puck of the season had been dropped, and saying "Yeah, we know we've made the playoffs that last two seasons and have had some good moments, but we're just gonna pull the plug on this thing...maybe in 2-4 years we'll have something going again, maybe not."  Not a great message to send to your fanbase that has seen more than enough losing since the BJs began play in 2000. 

I'm not saying their situation was necessarily ideal, but sometimes yeah, you do push your chips to the middle of the table, especially when an alternative future isn't any more of a guarantee of success anytime soon.  The BJs had Panarin NOW.  They had Bobo NOW.  And other good players NOW.  The picture beyond 2018-19 was going to be murky no matter what.  Why not try to fortify what looks like your best shot to win anything in the near future?   

Now what I'll give you is that I do think it's better to take this path when a conference has no clear favorites and a team is trying to separate itself from the muck...in Columbus' case, it felt more like they were scrambling just to keep up with the "truer" favorites...their path to a SCF really had the potential to be seriously daunting, depending on who won what series.  I won't shed any tears for the BJs, but what's ironic AND sad in their case is that they really couldn't have asked for a much better second-round setup, and everything was lined up for them to really make a dent, compared to other scenarios.  Think about it:  the team everyone is terrified of in the Lightning, Columbus takes down handily and easily.  The defending SC Champs are then dispatched by Carolina.  And the always-dangerous Pens are knocked out by the Isles.  If you're a BJs fan, and someone says, "Hey, guess what?  You're going to go all in on trying to make the 2019 playoffs, though you know your window might very well end there (which it might have anyway no matter what).  You're going to make the playoffs, though barely.  You're then going to sweep the real juggernaut of 2018-19 in the first round, while some other teams take care of business as well...you're now in the second round, facing the Bruins, and if you win that series, you'll be facing the winner of the Carolina and Isles series."  Even though Boston was going to be a tough opponent, when you factor in every last thing for the BJs, I gotta think you'd sign up for that kind of an opportunity, over just punting the 2018-19 season altogether.  Consider the alternative:  probably not making the playoffs in 2018-19 and quite possibly not making them anytime soon after that. 

Sure, it sucks that their "window" (if it even be called that at this point) amounted to three straight playoff appearances and just one playoff victory...and on that count, maybe I'm being too hasty in assuming that it's already over for them, and that they'll be toast in 2019-20...teams often survive key UFA losses better than fans expect (see the 2018-19 Islanders).  And I can't even fully say that if I were in BJ's shoes, that I would've absolutely gone for it the way that they did.  But I can understand, when looking at the whole picture, why they decided to go the way that they did. 

Edited May 7, 2019 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[SterioDesign]

2 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

I know it's kinda your thing to take a "one-size-fits-all" primer to these kinds of situations, and of course Columbus will take their share of criticism over this in other circles...in a results-oriented business, they didn't get it done, and losing in the second round probably isn't enough to fully mollify the Blue Jacket faithful.  Even though the franchise won its first-ever playoff series and did it in monumental fashion, losing three straight games to go out in six in the second round has to feel a little hollow.

But sometimes, you really DO have to be willing take a step back, and actually try to look into these scenarios on a case-by-case basis, and not just go in auto-blast mode when teams lose certain UFA for nothing.  The BJs are a franchise that has had so little success...only four playoff appearances in their history prior to this season, with no series wins...but they had managed to make it in both 2016-17 and 2017-18...it's not that crazy to think that some GMs and franchises aren't interested in forever kicking the can down the road and hoping that whatever they manage to get for dealing off UFAs-to-be might pay off sometime down the line.  You know full well that due to a player's impending UFA status, that sometimes the return isn't going to be all that great...and it's even made worse when you don't have an obvious in-house replacement ready to start to make up for the jettisoned assets.  Look who backed up Bobrovsky this year...imagine Korpisalo having to be the #1 by default.  Or not having point-leader Panarin...do you think the BJs were getting anything back that could've approximated Panarin's lost production?  It would have been like waving the white flag before the first puck of the season had been dropped, and saying "Yeah, we know we've made the playoffs that last two seasons and have had some good moments, but we're just gonna pull the plug on this thing...maybe in 2-4 years we'll have something going again, maybe not."  Not a great message to send to your fanbase that has seen more than enough losing since the BJs began play in 2000. 

I'm not saying their situation was necessarily ideal, but sometimes yeah, you do push your chips to the middle of the table, especially when an alternative future isn't any more of a guarantee of success anytime soon.  The BJs had Panarin NOW.  They had Bobo NOW.  And other good players NOW.  The picture beyond 2018-19 was going to be murky no matter what.  Why not try to fortify what looks like your best shot to win anything in the near future?   

Now what I'll give you is that I do think it's better to take this path when a conference has no clear favorites and a team is trying to separate itself from the muck...in Columbus' case, it felt more like they were scrambling just to keep up with the "truer" favorites...their path to a SCF really had the potential to be seriously daunting, depending on who won what series.  I won't shed any tears for the BJs, but what's ironic AND sad in their case is that they really couldn't have asked for a much better second-round setup, and everything was lined up for them to really make a dent, compared to other scenarios.  Think about it:  the team everyone is terrified of in the Lightning, Columbus takes down handily and easily.  The defending SC Champs are then dispatched by Carolina.  And the always-dangerous Pens are knocked out by the Isles.  If you're a BJs fan, and someone says, "Hey, guess what?  You're going to go all in on trying to make the 2019 playoffs, though you know your window might very well end there (which it might have anyway no matter what).  You're going to make the playoffs, though barely.  You're then going to sweep the real juggernaut of 2018-19 in the first round, while some other teams take care of business as well...you're now in the second round, facing the Bruins, and if you win that series, you'll be facing the winner of the Carolina and Isles series."  Even though Boston was going to be a tough opponent, when you factor in every last thing for the BJs, I gotta think you'd sign up for that kind of an opportunity, over just punting the 2018-19 season altogether.  Consider the alternative:  probably not making the playoffs in 2018-19 and quite possibly not making them anytime soon after that. 

Sure, it sucks that their "window" (if it even be called that at this point) amounted to three straight playoff appearances and just one playoff victory...and on that count, maybe I'm being too hasty in assuming that it's already over for them, and that they'll be toast in 2019-20...teams often survive key UFA losses better than fans expect (see the 2018-19 Islanders).  And I can't even fully say that if I were in BJ's shoes, that I would've absolutely gone for it the way that they did.  But I can understand, when looking at the whole picture, why they decided to go the way that they did. 

Well first i'm not the one seeing things as black and white. I'm the one saying a GM has to find a way to not put himself in a bad situation. And like you said it's all about a case-by-case and it's very very complicated. And I get why you'd think that i'm the one like that cause well i only talk about situations where i felt it was a bad move by the GM. 

Who's really black and white are the ones saying blindly "if a team has a slight chance at a run, sacrifice everything for that one chance".

In theory gambling isn't bad. If you're well off, your house is almost paid, your kids are almost done school, you have 2 cars, your wife is making good money, you saved money for quite awhile and you have some investments here and there. Sure go right ahead and gamble your next 6 paychecks and your car. Even if you lose you're not fvcked and without a car to go to work.

But if you barely get by every month, you don't have a stable position at your job and you know they may cut some positions soon, no money saved, etc etc Don't go and gamble your next 6 paycheck and your car. Cause you'll be beyond fvcked after.

It's all about assessing your situation. Try to gauge what your chances are, what you need to sacrifice to give yourself the best chance. Weight the pros an cons. And then see if it's worth it.

We're not talking about the Bolts who are loaded with talent, who can afford to lose a player or 2 and stay relevant. We're talking about a team with no playoffs success with absolutely no guarantee to make the playoffs or make a run should sacrifice their 2 top players and (maybe their 3rd best even) for a slim chance at a run. I personally do not believe it's a smart gamble cause their chances were not that good and what they knew they'd lose was huge. If your chances are not great you might a well retool and continue to build instead of making a leap of faith who could destroy you for years. Colombus should have dealt with Panarin and Bob long ago when they knew they were not coming back. (well according to reports) and continue rebuilding until they can be really solid. This is a huge step back if they lose both for nothing. And hell they barely made the playoff this year so it could have been really bad

Now, understand that you're always judging these situations in hindsight trying to find explanations as to why it could make sense and reverse engineering things in order to make a point. You can't look at those things that way cause when the decisions was made... the GM doesnt have those details. 

What i usually do is point out systematic problems before they happen and why it's a bad idea in that particular situation and what will likely be the results of that. And if we're honest here. For anything we ever debated. The results always went in my favour and every time it's something i called BEFORE it happened so it's not like it's in hindsight

 

 

 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

The last two paragraphs are not accurate at all, but so be it.  Lots of stuff we can talk about (and we’ve had some good conversations), but hockey in general just isn’t one of them.

[Nicomo]

6 hours ago, Lateralous said:

Eh, I don't see as that dumb of a gamble for a team that has had such little success in their entire history.  Two of their better players were signaling that they were probably leaving so they could either take a shot like they did or just go back and sell their fans on the perpetual rebuild.  In the end, I think the biggest bullet they will dodge is not being the ones who sign Bob to a long term/high salary contract.   I would also argue that they are keeping their best player in Seth Jones.  If this little run keeps Duchene around, I think they're in pretty good shape going forward with the core they have.  As crazy as it seems, their fan interest should also be at an all time high going into next year.   

You think Jones is better than Panarin? Interesting. I’d say the latter is by far their best player. 

[jagknife]

Blues take the lead late in the first on a (currently) Dunn goal. Maroon might have gotten a tip.

I want the Blues to win it all, and the Avs to take Game 7 tomorrow.

To hell with the Bruins, and screw Carolina.

[jagknife]

Bennington with an atrocious play in net after he gets his stick bumped out of his hands. He seems to give up on the play waiting for a call. Like half effort or something. I really cant describe what the freaking hell that was.

Zucc ties it, by the way, after Perron tries to send the puck behind the net, it goes off the ref and Zucc pots it.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

12 minutes ago, jagknife said:

Blues take the lead late in the first on a (currently) Dunn goal. Maroon might have gotten a tip.

I want the Blues to win it all, and the Avs to take Game 7 tomorrow.

To hell with the Bruins, and screw Carolina.

I’m kinda indifferent in general, but there has been some exciting (and surprising) playoff hockey this season...and serious kudos to the Blues for turning their season around.  Not so long ago that we were wondering if Shero would be able to somehow pry Tarasenko away from St. Louis.

Edited May 8, 2019 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[glenwo2]

There are two fanbases aside from the Blues and Stars that are watching right now.

 

The Devils and the Rags.

 

Stars win,  Rags get another 1st rounder.

Blues win, they don't.  

 

 

[Lateralous]

43 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

You think Jones is better than Panarin? Interesting. I’d say the latter is by far their best player. 

Yeah, I would take Jones.  I would do it in an instant when you factor in position and the expected contract for Panarin compared to the deal Jones is on going forward.  

[MadDog2020]

6 minutes ago, Lateralous said:

Yeah, I would take Jones.  I would do it in an instant when you factor in position and the expected contract for Panarin compared to the deal Jones is on going forward.  

Jones is a future Norris winner, multiple times probably. I roll with Jones all day, every day.

Edited May 8, 2019 by MadDog2020

[Satans Hockey]

I hate the Rangers and all but I really don't care if they get another low first rounder or not.

[MadDog2020]

1 minute ago, Satans Hockey said:

I hate the Rangers and all but I really don't care if they get another low first rounder or not.

I would prefer they didn’t though.... they have two firsts already I think.

Edited May 8, 2019 by MadDog2020

[NJDevils1214]

9 minutes ago, Satans Hockey said:

I hate the Rangers and all but I really don't care if they get another low first rounder or not.

If you hate the Rangers why would you not care if they get another first round pick? By proxy you should hate anything positive happening to/for them, especially if it could negatively affect you/your team.

[Nicomo]

21 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

Jones is a future Norris winner, multiple times probably. I roll with Jones all day, every day.

 

26 minutes ago, Lateralous said:

Yeah, I would take Jones.  I would do it in an instant when you factor in position and the expected contract for Panarin compared to the deal Jones is on going forward.  

I was purely going off who their best player is right now. Not so much what they will be or contracts, etc. I think Panarin is definitely better atm. Guy is a legit superstar, and probably a top 10 player in the league. 

[Satans Hockey]

3 minutes ago, NJDevils1214 said:

If you hate the Rangers why would you not care if they get another first round pick? By proxy you should hate anything positive happening to/for them, especially if it could negatively affect you/your team.

Outside of the top few picks I find everything about the draft to be an absolute bore. The Rangers will find a way to suck with or without another pick, im not worried about it. 

[SterioDesign]

1 hour ago, glenwo2 said:

There are two fanbases aside from the Blues and Stars that are watching right now.

The Devils and the Rags.

Stars win,  Rags get another 1st rounder.

Blues win, they don't.  

If what i keep hearing about Rangers fans is true. They are probably not watching cause they have no idea there's a first round pick in play here. Or what a first round pick is... 

[Lateralous]

The Blues have been absolutely peppering the Stars for the last two periods but can't grab the lead.  Watch the Stars come down and get one good chance and score.