Around The NHL Discussion 2021-22 Part IV Into the Playoffs Edition

[Brian39]

I don't think Calgary will take as long to move on. That could be a brisk one. Dallas and Edmonton are night and day when it comes to defense and goaltending

They are also very different offensively. Edmonton scored 52 more goals than Dallas this year. That gap was 7 times the gap in goals against between Edmonton and Dallas.

Edmonton is bad defensively when they don't have the puck and their goaltending falls somewhere between fine and bad. But they control the puck so much more than Dallas does and we just saw Connor McDavid put on arguably the most dominant single-game forward performance of the last 5 years. They aren't deep offensively, but they are deeper than Dallas and their top line is better than Dallas as well.

Calgary is absolutely going to have an easier time scoring against Edmonton than they dis against Dallas, but they are also going to have a much harder time keeping the puck out of their own net. Markstrom allowed 4+ in 3 of his 4 games against Edmonton this year.

I'm picking Calgary, but I don't think it is a short series.

 

[Frenzy31]

I feel much more animosity between us and Colorado than I do with anyone outside of Chicago. Part of it is because we're both good teams at the same time but the other factor is its Kroenke's team. That part is one sided because Colorado doesn't have a way to reciprocate that but it's a very real piece of hatred for a lot of our fanbase, myself included.

I think the sweet spot is home and home with everyone outside of the division, leaving 34 games left which is 4-5 games against divisional opposition. I think having too many games inside the division waters it down a bit for the players and the fans. You could tell the players were tired of playing the same teams over and over and as a fan it was extremely stale for me.

That Nashville Rivalry is pretty darn good and the Dallas started to pick up some steam with Benn vs. Pie.... They are not Chicago by any sense of the imagination, but they aren't really boring either and there were story lines. Minn. is a hard team to hate. But Nashville isn't. We need more time to really develop them.

Too really develop a rivalry, you almost have to have very even teams going into the games. Where it could go 1 way or the other.

Honestly, I hated losing Detroit when they move East. That was another huge rivalry in the 90s.

 

[PocketNines]

They are also very different offensively. Edmonton scored 52 more goals than Dallas this year. That gap was 7 times the gap in goals against between Edmonton and Dallas.

Edmonton is bad defensively when they don't have the puck and their goaltending falls somewhere between fine and bad. But they control the puck so much more than Dallas does and we just saw Connor McDavid put on arguably the most dominant single-game forward performance of the last 5 years. They aren't deep offensively, but they are deeper than Dallas and their top line is better than Dallas as well.

Calgary is absolutely going to have an easier time scoring against Edmonton than they dis against Dallas, but they are also going to have a much harder time keeping the puck out of their own net. Markstrom allowed 4+ in 3 of his 4 games against Edmonton this year.

I'm picking Calgary, but I don't think it is a short series.

Calgary is a miles better team than LA. It would be strange if McDavid couldn't be effective against the lowly Kings. Oilers defense is pitiful and it's a stroke of pure luck they got a draw like they did in round 1. A very undeserving round 2 team.

 

[Allens Five Hole]

That Nashville Rivalry is pretty darn good and the Dallas started to pick up some steam with Benn vs. Pie.... They are not Chicago by any sense of the imagination, but they aren't really boring either and there were story lines. Minn. is a hard team to hate. But Nashville isn't. We need more time to really develop them.

Too really develop a rivalry, you almost have to have very even teams going into the games. Where it could go 1 way or the other.

Honestly, I hated losing Detroit when they move East. That was another huge rivalry in the 90s.

You're definitely not wrong about Nashville as I know a few people in my friends/family group that cannot stand the chants they do. That stuff doesn't really bother me but I see why it gets folks riled up.

In addition to being evenly matched, I think there has to be that specific event that sparks the flame. I think, for instance, in the Minnesota series if Spurgeon had broken Buch's ankle we would be singing a totally different tune about how we feel about the Wild.

Last year, we had that spark with COL when Kadri dished out his cheap shot on Faulk. It carried over into this year with Binner looking to take scalps back in October during one of our matchups. I am super excited to watch this series unfold.

 

[Brian39]

Calgary is a miles better team than LA. It would be strange if McDavid couldn't be effective against the lowly Kings. Oilers defense is pitiful and it's a stroke of pure luck they got a draw like they did in round 1. A very undeserving round 2 team.

The Kings allowed the 10th fewest goals overall and 8th fewest at 5 on 5 this season. Kopitar and Danault are 2 of the best 15-20 shutdown centers in the league. They were far from a "lowly' team defensively and McDavid had more points against the Flames than he did the Kings this year (playing both 4 times). It is ridiculous to act like anything less than his 14 points against the Kings would have been some strange occurrence and that Calgary will obviously prevent him from taking over a couple games.

I fully agree that the Oilers are a deeply flawed team and that it is embarrassing how poorly they have spent the money allocated to the D and goaltending. But that doesn't mean that the best player in the world with a supporting cast of Draisatl, Kane, Nugent-Hopkins, and Hyman can't do enough to get the series deep.

 

[PocketNines]

I fully agree that the Oilers are a deeply flawed team and that it is embarrassing how poorly they have spent the money allocated to the D and goaltending. But that doesn't mean that the best player in the world with a supporting cast of Draisatl, Kane, Nugent-Hopkins, and Hyman can't do enough to get the series deep.

I just disagree on this, I do think it means that.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

It’s looking like Malkin is finally going to leave Pittsburgh, based off all the reports the past few days.

Absolute perfect timing for us with Minnesota going into a ridiculous cap crunch for the next three years. The Guerin factor (ala Fluery), and the ability to play next to a Russian superstar in Kaprizov would’ve definitely led me to believe that they’d be on the top of his list. I really don’t think they’d be able to afford him now though without gutting even more of their depth this offseason.

Unless he’s going full ring chaser mode, I can’t see Colorado doing it either(Kadri replacement), unless he takes a one year deal with them. Thankfully they have to pay MacKinnon after next season.

 

[mk80]

Looks like we're going to have Trotz back in the Central

 

[MissouriMook]

Bobrovsky is going to be the reason the Panthers get bounced in Round 2.

 

[Allens Five Hole]

Looks like we're going to have Trotz back in the Central

I'm just glad he's not going to Vegas. That would be a scary squad with his style of coaching, IMO.

Winnipeg will be much improved just by getting this hire. I expect the Central to be a bloodbath next year as well with COL, STL, WIN the favorites. MIN, DAL, NSH won't be walkovers either.

 

[fishsandwichpatrol]

Big yikes from the 'yotes if true

 

[BlueDream]

I cannot imagine watching an NHL game with a college logo at center ice. For every home game they have.

This is gonna be bonkers.

 

[MissouriMook]

This whole situation is an embarrassment to the league. The league, the city and the team all have some level of complicity in this but the league didn't have to allow it. I'm not sure what power the league or commissioner holds over this, but I would rather see them be forced to move (or dissolve the franchise and disperse the players) rather than staying in Arizona under these circumstances.

 

[Majorityof1]

This whole situation is an embarrassment to the league. The league, the city and the team all have some level of complicity in this but the league didn't have to allow it. I'm not sure what power the league or commissioner holds over this, but I would rather see them be forced to move (or dissolve the franchise and disperse the players) rather than staying in Arizona under these circumstances.

How would you disperse the players? Some teams would get boned out of that. Hey Chicago, here is Chychrun. Hey, St. Louis, you get your choice of cap dumps Ladd or Ericksson. Do you release them all to free agency? Then its some players who get screwed vs others who may get a benefit. What happens to the salary cap? You keep the same number of high paid players but have one less team to divide the salary.

I'm not ruling it out as a possibility. It just presents an interesting conundrum of how the league could go about disolving a franchise fairly.

 

[MissouriMook]

How would you disperse the players? Some teams would get boned out of that. Hey Chicago, here is Chychrun. Hey, St. Louis, you get your choice of cap dumps Ladd or Ericksson. Do you release them all to free agency? Then its some players who get screwed vs others who may get a benefit. What happens to the salary cap? You keep the same number of high paid players but have one less team to divide the salary.

I'm not ruling it out as a possibility. It just presents an interesting conundrum of how the league could go about disolving a franchise fairly.

I don’t know that there is a truly fair way to do it, but the league has contracted before and managed it. I would expect that it would have to involve some sort of lottery system similar to the draft lottery but involving all teams and not just the non-playoff teams.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

I don’t know that there is a truly fair way to do it, but the league has contracted before and managed it. I would expect that it would have to involve some sort of lottery system similar to the draft lottery but involving all teams and not just the non-playoff teams.

No need to. Just move them. There are markets that would love them.

 

[mk80]

Former Blue Ian Cole with the series opening OT GWG in Carolina

2-0 early on for the Flames

 

[AjaxManifesto]

Former Blue Ian Cole with the series opening GWG in Carolina

2-0 early on for the Flames

Saw that...makes you think: What if a Blues D man did that in the Game 1 OT? The Avs goalie played more than half the game asleep. We might have snuck one in there. The compete level was lousy.

 

[Allens Five Hole]

Anyone else think Mike Smith looks like the villain from Dennis the Menace...? Just me..?

 

[TheDizee]

Battle of Alberta is a legit cripple fight

 

[PJJJP]

I hope the Flames win. I can't really stand oilers fans

 

[mk80]

No goaltending tonight for either team in Calgary

 

[DoubleK81]

Jesus, this BoA game is a gong show. 6-5 through two. I love it.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Jesus the BoA has been a train wreck so far

 

[AjaxManifesto]

BoA is devoid of defense

Gang fight with machine guns