Around the NHL 2013-2014 Part II: The Playoff Edition

[The Zetterberg Era]

Huge break for the Hawks, they matchup very poorly with the Avs, should have a fairly easy go of things against the Wild. I hope I am wrong but this was a big break for them, they have by far the easiest second round opponent.

 

[Heaton]

Wow, I can't believe the Avalanche lost. But you can see the huge difference between teams that can play defense and those who can't.

 

[Roy S]

The Avalanche were overrated. I think Minnesota is a tougher matchup, but Chicago would have been a heavy favorite against either of those teams. The Kings are the best bet to knock them out if they can get past San Jose.

 

[SimplySolace]

So ****ing happy the Avs lost.

 

[WingedWheel1987]

So ****ing happy the Avs lost.

And the Sharks.

Feels good man.

I am a petty man.

 

[chances14]

Well since McLellan is as good as gone, would love to have him back with the wings. I miss having a competent powerplay

 

[Roy S]

The Vlasic injury did in the Sharks. With the exception of Demers, their other D blow. Boyle is a bottom pairing, PP specialist now and Stuart and Hannan are terrible.

 

[ThankYouBasedGod]

How long has Wilson been GM of the Sharks? How do they not blow it up now? Should be interesting too see what happens now. So happy to see this collapse.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

The Avalanche were overrated. I think Minnesota is a tougher matchup, but Chicago would have been a heavy favorite against either of those teams. The Kings are the best bet to knock them out if they can get past San Jose.

Chicago struggles with them because their forwards can actually out skate them. They actually have a similar problem with Edmonton of all teams. The Hawks D-man sink in because they have great recovery speed, well they cannot do it against the Avs and it showed time and again this season and really the year before they added a Top 5 player in the league in terms of skating.

It won't happen now, they need to cash when Suter is off the ice and they should manage that. Was surprised at how little St. Louis went high glove, hopefully Minny goes there all series. Honestly Crawford might have the worst glove hand in the NHL, certainly does of the 30 #1 starters in the league.

Think we are looking at Kings vs. Bruins. We will see what happens.

 

[Heaton]

Well since McLellan is as good as gone, would love to have him back with the wings. I miss having a competent powerplay

considering their complete collapse the past few years offensively, I don't think he's the answer.

 

[Crymson]

McLellan is toast.

Well since McLellan is as good as gone, would love to have him back with the wings. I miss having a competent powerplay

Does not compute. The Red Wings had the #1 power play in the league in the season after he left, then #9 the season after that, and #5 in the season after that.

 

[ThankYouBasedGod]

Well it looks like Bryzgalov is going too be the starter for Minny now so they have absolutely no chance anyways.

 

[Zetterbergs Beard]

I'm guzzling the Sharks' and their fans' tears This may be the ultimate climax in the sad, sad story that was the Sharks this generation.

Why not the Avs? Because they've been eliminated by the Wild, maybe?

This has been a great first round. It's too bad those Detroit guys got slaughtered so early, though

 

[ThankYouBasedGod]

McLellan is toast.



Does not compute. The Red Wings had the #1 power play in the league in the season after he left, then #9 the season after that, and #5 in the season after that.

Exactly. It's not the coaches, it's the players on the ice. We don't have the same guys on the points that we did when our PP was actually good.

 

[Heaton]

yep, Lidstrom and rafalski = good pp, not Todd McLellan

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

In my opinion Babcock listened to McLellan, I think it was him because he became a little more rigid in terms of lines and roles after McLellan left. I think that part of McLellan was huge and hasn't been the same since, he respected and listened to McLellan a little better at least it appears that way from the outside.

Our PP would also change tactics and personnel under McLellan when it hit snags, which I did like. Though I will admit he has fallen into this trap himself here lately, was not impressed with the game plan on the Sharks PP tonight and trying basically the same units. I still think he was a very good assistant, I also would expect him to get scooped up in another NHL gig anyway should he be available. However, Bill Peters or Todd McLellan is not a tough choice and should be made immediately if McLellan fails to land another NHL gig and is interested in the job when contacted.

 

[Reality Check]

It's days like this where despite the current Holland bashing, you appreciate what was actually accomplished under his watch.

As opposed to what could have been(San Jose).

 

[14ari13]

So Sharks lose 3-0 lead.
Wild advances.

 

[Roy S]

Being a Sharks fan would suck. They've had a lot of really good teams for the last 10 seasons and they've never even made a Cup final (let alone actually win one). McLellan is obviously gone. They have to revamp their D core. Do they have any buyouts left?

 

[Cyborg Yzerberg]

Minnesota winning should to the surprise of no one, both teams had comparable puck possession numbers. Colorado rode a hot Varlamov and had a lot of luck. They'll come back to Earth a bit next year. San Jose on the other hand, yeesh.

 

[Hendricks433]

I grew up in Detroit and just moved to San Jose back in September. It's good to see this collapse up close and personal.

 

[Konnan511]

Literally every single team I wanted to come out of round 1 either lost or is losing.

Yep. Same here.

 

[Ricelund]

It's days like this where despite the current Holland bashing, you appreciate what was actually accomplished under his watch.

As opposed to what could have been(San Jose).

Yep. Vancouver too.

 

[Winger98]

I'm curious what San Jose and Vancouver are going to do. Both clubs recently locked into new contracts to their core, and the guys they'd probably like to move either don't have much value or have some sort of NTC/NMC.

I think both teams should look to add this summer. Their best players are aging, and neither are likely to be in this position soon if they start unloading key players in an effort to rebuild. They should look into a 2-3 year arms race of addressing immediate needs as best they can and putting a run on before their best players are entirely tapped out.

 

[SoupNazi]

Lol Sharks.

Lol Roy.