Does anyone find it boring with the same result as last year?

[Gizmoskevich]

Yeah but it’s not just signing free agents, no tax states also have an advantage making trades. When players have NTC, they often willing to waive to go to Florida, Texas or Nevada (no tax states)

Maybe someone should tell Nashville and Seattle about this secret then so they can also be dynasties.

 

[Jumptheshark]

To also cater to the fans of teams in non-taxed states, all Florida, Texas and Nevada fans but pay an extra $3 per game to help pay for the poor struggling teams in NY, Toronto and Boston so they can re-sign depth players.

Edmonton is in Canada and there taxes are nasty.

Both TB and Florida have a goalie who can steal games and that makes the world of difference

 

[Golden_Jet]

Not boring at all to me,
Also it’s not the same 4 teams OP.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Two great teams going at it. Looking forward to it.

 

[Miro4Norris]

superstar, you mean? Barkov's the only one they have

Barky, Tkachuk, Reinhart, Bobrovski > AM, Marner, Nylander. Even Bennett, Marchand and Jones are superstars compared to them when we talk about playoff Hockey

 

[avocadosmoothie]

Barky, Tkachuk, Reinhart, Marchand, Bobrovski > AM, Marner, Nylander. Even Bennett and Jones are superstars compared to them when we talk about playoff Hockey

yeah we're not talking about "playoff hockey superstars", i'm talking about superstars in the prototypical sense of the word.

Barkov is the only superstar

 

[Miro4Norris]

yeah we're not talking about "playoff hockey superstars", i'm talking about superstars in the prototypical sense of the word.

Barkov is the only superstar

I get what you mean. But to be a real superstar you need to be a superstar in playoffs too. But that’s just my opinion.

Anyways, i think Reinhart’s and Tkachuk’s recent success in regular season is pretty much equal to Mitch and Willy if not better.
Possibly Selke, 57 goal season, 109&104 PTS seasons.. So what makes them less superstars?

 

[the_fan]

Maybe someone should tell Nashville and Seattle about this secret then so they can also be dynasties.

I mean obviously some players want to win and want to go to contender. So when they’re waiving their NTC, they rather waive it for Florida teams rather than let’s say Carolina, Colorado, NY etc…

 

[Golden_Jet]

I mean obviously some players want to win and want to go to contender. So when they’re waiving their NTC, they rather waive it for Florida teams rather than let’s say Carolina, Colorado, NY etc…

Ya when their winning , they’ll waive to go there, when they were crap for years, they weren’t waiving to go there.

 

[PuckG]

If the Oilers close RD3 out, EDM vs FLA is as good a story as it gets as an Oilers fan. The chance at redemption and playing the clear best to win is a great storyline. Both teams seem distinctly the best in their conferences and it’ll be fast and physical hockey.

Beyond that, the EDM vs TOR is the only thing as exciting based on the absolute shit show it would be amongst fans, but from an on-ice standpoint - EDM vs FLA can’t be beat.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

Yeah but it’s not just signing free agents, no tax states also have an advantage making trades. When players have NTC, they often willing to waive to go to Florida, Texas or Nevada (no tax states)

Sure - because it's like getting a raise when getting traded to a no-tax state. But like I said - the impact for most markets is between 2.5-7.5%. If you're making $8M are you going to go someplace you don't want to go for $200K? (If Buffalo was in a no-tax state - do you think that players would want to go there to take a little more $'s home? I sure don't.)

I think that the real impact of NTC's seems to be guys not wanting to play in Canada - which I assume is more related to media related pressure than $'s.

 

[the_fan]

Sure - because it's like getting a raise when getting traded to a no-tax state. But like I said - the impact for most markets is between 2.5-7.5%. If you're making $8M are you going to go someplace you don't want to go for $200K? (If Buffalo was in a no-tax state - do you think that players would want to go there to take a little more $'s home?)

I think that the real impact of NTC's seems to be guys not wanting to play in Canada - which I assume is more related to media related pressure than $'s.

Either way I’m just not a big fan of the salary cap in sports. Give the teams freedom to do what they want to do, also allow teams to keep a winning team together instead of having to get rid of players because of the salary cap (other than Florida)

 

[Fataldogg]

They didn’t though. Last year they played the Canucks in the second round.

You're right. I forgot. For some reason I felt like they played Vegas. Still, its just one different opponent in back to back years. They still played the Kings in the 1st, Stars in the 3rd, and potentially the Panthers in the 4th.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

Either way I’m just not a big fan of the salary cap in sports. Give the teams freedom to do what they want to do, also allow teams to keep a winning team together instead of having to get rid of players because of the salary cap (other than Florida)

I 100% get it. But as a grognard that's been around a long time - it really sucked back in the day to see a Stanley Cup final with either FLA/COL or WAS/DET where one team had TRIPLE the salary of the other. Current cap is much better when 32 teams have a legit chance to compete over the longer term.

 

[the_fan]

I 100% get it. But as a grognard that's been around a long time - it really sucked back in the day to see a Stanley Cup final with either FLA/COL or WAS/DET where one team had TRIPLE the salary of the other. Current cap is much better when 32 teams have a legit chance to compete over the longer term.

I’d be ok with the salary cap if they could figure out a way to make things equal for both tax states and no tax states.

 

[CycloneSweep]

It just shows you how good Edmonton and Florida is.
The west is usually a blood bath that shakes up all the time. The east is predictable.

 

[Summer Rose]

Not really, no.

Come SCF time I just want to watch the best two teams go at it and don't really care who it is if it can't be my team, I'd say. Now, if it starts happening more than twice in a row, perhaps it would start to get stale. I don't know which number I'd put on it. Maybe four. Either way, two in a row isn't enough for me to find it boring yet.

I'd have to find out what it would be like if it even went three in a row of the same two teams, and since I've started watching playoff hockey (2002 was my first year) it's never happened. We had Pittsburgh vs. Detroit twice in a row and I didn't mind it then either.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

I’d be ok with the salary cap if they could figure out a way to make things equal for both tax states and no tax states.

The cap has existed for almost 22 years, and only 3 teams that don't pay state income taxes have won the Cup (4 Cups total). And two of them sucked for the first half of the cap era, which is how they built their teams. The third exploited a LTIR loophole to go into the playoffs way over the cap.

During the cap era, we've also seen California teams win 3 times, Chicago win 3 times, and DC and Boston each win once, so high taxes doesn't seem to stop teams from winning.

 

[Alexei Yashvalev]

The boring part is so many blowout games.

 

[NYI365]

I for one am hoping to see Corey Perry v Brad Marchand in the Battle of the Rats

 

[the_fan]

The cap has existed for almost 22 years, and only 3 teams that don't pay state income taxes have won the Cup (4 Cups total). And two of them sucked for the first half of the cap era, which is how they built their teams. The third exploited a LTIR loophole to go into the playoffs way over the cap.

During the cap era, we've also seen California teams win 3 times, Chicago win 3 times, and DC and Boston each win once, so high taxes doesn't seem to stop teams from winning.

Pre salary cap we had different teams winning as well. No team won more than 2 cups in a row since those Oilers and Islanders years. We’ve had couple of teams winning 2 in a row pre cap like the Pens and Wings just like we’ve had couple of teams winning 2 in a row post cap like Tampa and Pens again.

Right now the biggest issue with the salary cap is not only the state tax factor, but teams circumventing the cap to gain even more advantage in the playoffs. The only thing the salary cap has done is allow not so rich owners keep their teams and those are the bottom feeding teams who would be at the bottom of the standings even without a cap. Salary cap hasn’t created any parity at all

 

[jigglysquishy]

We've had three repeat battles in 40 years. It's a rare treat and you love to see it.

 

[Summer Rose]

Pre salary cap we had different teams winning as well. No team won more than 2 cups in a row since those Oilers and Islanders years. We’ve had couple of teams winning 2 in a row pre cap like the Pens and Wings just like we’ve had couple of teams winning 2 in a row post cap like Tampa and Pens again.

Right now the biggest issue with the salary cap is not only the state tax factor, but teams circumventing the cap to gain even more advantage in the playoffs. The only thing the salary cap has done is allow not so rich owners keep their teams and those are the bottom feeding teams who would be at the bottom of the standings even without a cap. Salary cap hasn’t created any parity at all

I disagree with the bolded. I would say it has created some parity, but perhaps not nearly as much parity as some people think it has. In any case, parity was never the original intention of the salary cap.

 

[the_fan]

I disagree with the bolded. I would say it has created some parity, but perhaps not nearly as much parity as some people think it has. In any case, parity was never the original intention of the salary cap.

Fair enough

 

[Devilsfan118]

but probably not as hilarious as watching the scarlet knights try to play football.