League News: NHL Talk - (News n' Scores n' Stuff) - 2021-22 season, Vol. 3, Playoffs Edition

[ynotcaps]

He’s a freak. I don’t think he’s flawless in his own end and his (warranted) confidence with the puck gets him in trouble some times but he’s phenomenal.

Separately, and not to belabor the point I made before, but I’ve enjoyed playoff hockey a lot more since 2018. It’s been fun watching teams from other conferences and getting to watch players regularly that I don’t always get to watch. Before 2018 I couldn’t stomach watching playoff hockey after the Caps flames out. Now? Sucks for a bit but I still watch hockey the next night and enjoy it.

100%. It's nice to be able to enjoy the game itself without the skew of intense emotion. But I also haev to admit to having a man-crush on the Avs. I'd never cheat on the Caps, but if I were to...

 

[TRASHCAT]

Its hard to not root for sakic

maybe ill go to the parade since i couldnt go to the dc one

 

[max21]

Congratulations Colorado, glad Tampa didn’t 3 peat… but we were still the only team you didn’t get a point off this year!

 

[usiel]

Congratulations Colorado, glad Tampa didn’t 3 peat… but we were still the only team you didn’t get a point off this year!

Its the small things that matter...

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

He’s a freak. I don’t think he’s flawless in his own end and his (warranted) confidence with the puck gets him in trouble some times but he’s phenomenal.

Separately, and not to belabor the point I made before, but I’ve enjoyed playoff hockey a lot more since 2018. It’s been fun watching teams from other conferences and getting to watch players regularly that I don’t always get to watch. Before 2018 I couldn’t stomach watching playoff hockey after the Caps flamed out. Now? Sucks for a bit but I still watch hockey the next night and enjoy it.

You know what, me as well. Most of the time after a Caps elimination I could barely turn it back on in time to catch some of the Finals.

Now, I can enjoy the rest of the rounds…

 

[kicksavedave]

BURKY!
View attachment 562341

Burky raises the Cup before Rantanan, Kuemper, Nichuskin, or Makar

Apparently Burt broke his ankle and shattered his thumb in four places during these playoffs. Tough go for the kid but he scored a big one in Game 1. That whole series might have looked a lot different if TB had stolen one of the first two games.

 

[trick9]

The Golden Burt, Bolts killer.

Anyone else see a scenario where we miss out on Miller, Kadri and Trocheck and sign Burt back instead?

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

The Golden Burt, Bolts killer.

Anyone else see a scenario where we miss out on Miller, Kadri and Trocheck and sign Burt back instead?

Not really. Burt doesn’t fit their profile nor does he feel like a Lavi guy and if everyone is healthy there’s no clear spot for him unless they bump Oshie down.

Let’s also not forget that even though he put up points this year in the regular season he was healthy scratched in multiple series this playoff run.

I think Burt gets paid somewhere like Buffalo, New Jersey, Philly, Nashville, etc. He’ll get paid by someone looking to get over the hump who has had trouble scoring goals and who will be patient with him and tolerate those long stretches where he disappears because they don’t have the depth not to.

Or, he signs in Pittsburgh.

 

[StrikingDistance]

Best finals since before Covid. Would have been better with Point playing.

I expect both teams to return to the finals at some point, maybe against each other.

Agree, but it's the only legit PO's since Covid began. Bolts vs Habs (price) last year was a joke and the one before where they were locked-up in their hotels with no fans? lol Hope they enjoy their 2 tim covid cups.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

Would have been an even better series if Point was healthy. What the Lightning did without their 1C was impressive. I don’t think there’s a chance that Colorado wins the Cup if the situation was flipped and MacKinnon was injured and Point was healthy. I get that Colorado was missing some secondary pieces but losing Point and his speed was a killer… Tampa’s scoring depth was non-existent.

 

[trick9]

Would have been an even better series if Point was healthy. What the Lightning did without their 1C was impressive. I don’t think there’s a chance that Colorado wins the Cup if the situation was flipped and MacKinnon was injured and Point was healthy. I get that Colorado was missing some secondary pieces but losing Point and his speed was a killer… Tampa’s scoring depth was non-existent.

Avs were missing Kadri for part of the series and he was having much better season than Point.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

Avs were missing Kadri for part of the series and he was having much better season than Point.

Missing your 1C is a lot different than missing your 2C, especially when your 2C is protected by a guy like MacKinnon. Point was their top line center and their main entry person on PP1. Kadri was terrific but he doesn’t do what Point does in all situations and he doesn’t take the match ups that Point takes.

 

[trick9]

Missing your 1C is a lot different than missing your 2C, especially when your 2C is protected by a guy like MacKinnon. Point was their top line center and their main entry person on PP1. Kadri was terrific but he doesn’t do what Point does in all situations and he doesn’t take the match ups that Point takes.

Each are still 4th or 5th best players on their teams.

Protected by MacKinnon? How? Avs top-line consistently start in the offensive zone against weaker competition too. Kadri doesn’t play in a sheltered role. He doesn’t have Nikita Kucherov next to him either.

Point is a big loss for sure but so is Kadri. Avs win this series even if both of them are in the line-up.

 

[um]

Agree, but it's the only legit PO's since Covid began. Bolts vs Habs (price) last year was a joke and the one before where they were locked-up in their hotels with no fans? lol Hope they enjoy their 2 tim covid cups.

Some people say the same as us winning against an expansion team.

All you can do is beat the teams you play. Its not Tampa's fault Vegas choked against Montreal and Dallas.

Avs were missing Kadri for part of the series and he was having much better season than Point.

Kadri is nowhere near Point, c'mon.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Point was a massive loss…only an Avs supporter would suggest he didn’t matter.


I don’t get the need to defend the Avs on this one lol…they probably win because of depth sure, but maybe it goes 7….

Agree, but it's the only legit PO's since Covid began. Bolts vs Habs (price) last year was a joke and the one before where they were locked-up in their hotels with no fans? lol Hope they enjoy their 2 tim covid cups.

This is a petty take…..a win is a win.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

Each are still 4th or 5th best players on their teams.

Protected by MacKinnon? How? Avs top-line consistently start in the offensive zone against weaker competition too. Kadri doesn’t play in a sheltered role. He doesn’t have Nikita Kucherov next to him either.

Point is a big loss for sure but so is Kadri. Avs win this series even if both of them are in the line-up.

Agree to disagree. Point is at times the best player on the Lightning not named Vasi. He has been enormously clutch for them over the past few postseasons. And he’s a straight up better player than Kadri. Kadri has had a great season riding behind better players and taking advantage of easier matchups.

Plus, you’re arguing something I didn’t pose an opinion on. I said there’s no chance the Avs win this series if the situations are reversed and MacK is injured and Point is healthy. If you think the Avs beat the Lightning straight up with everyone healthy that’s fine but that’s not what I was saying.

 

[Jags]

Agree, but it's the only legit PO's since Covid began. Bolts vs Habs (price) last year was a joke and the one before where they were locked-up in their hotels with no fans? lol Hope they enjoy their 2 tim covid cups.

Pffft. Like we wouldn't have been thrilled to win those Cups. The league sets the bar to win it and the team that wins it deserves the kudos. If we won those Cups and Ovi had 3 on his CV and other hockey fans told me that those 2 don't count, they could f*** right off...

 

[trick9]

Agree to disagree. Point is at times the best player on the Lightning not named Vasi. He has been enormously clutch for them over the past few postseasons. And he’s a straight up better player than Kadri. Kadri has had a great season riding behind better players and taking advantage of easier matchups.

Plus, you’re arguing something I didn’t pose an opinion on. I said there’s no chance the Avs win this series if the situations are reversed and MacK is injured and Point is healthy. If you think the Avs beat the Lightning straight up with everyone healthy that’s fine but that’s not what I was saying.

Point is a great player for sure but i don't really see any argument as to how he is better than Vasilevsky, Kucherov or Hedman. He's on par with Stamkos with maybe a slight edge to him because he's much more clutch than Stamkos. So like i said, 4th or 5th best player on the team.

It's not really even fair to compare him to MacKinnon who is heads down a better player and propably the best player on his own team, at worst the 2nd best. MacKinnon is equivalent to Kucherov, not Point. I can see the argument as to why Point is better than Kadri but don't really see how he was much better this season. Both are huge loss to their own teams. Avs take a bigger hit going from Kadri to either Newhook/Compher as opposed to Bolts being able to move Stamkos back to center and move their Selke -candidate in Cirelli up in the line-up.

But this is a pretty pointless thing to argue. Just wanted to point out that the Avs center depth without Kadri is hardly elite.

Some people say the same as us winning against an expansion team.

All you can do is beat the teams you play. Its not Tampa's fault Vegas choked against Montreal and Dallas.


Kadri is nowhere near Point, c'mon.

Really? Nowhere near? I can see the argument as to why Point was the better player this season (even though IMO Kadri had a much better season) but nowhere near him? Do share how Point was that much better than Kadri this season?

Point was a massive loss…only an Avs supporter would suggest he didn’t matter.


I don’t get the need to defend the Avs on this one lol…they probably win because of depth sure, but maybe it goes 7….


This is a petty take…..a win is a win.

Who suggested he didn't matter? I didn't.

 

[um]

Point is a great player for sure but i don't really see any argument as to how he is better than Vasilevsky, Kucherov or Hedman. He's on par with Stamkos with maybe a slight edge to him because he's much more clutch than Stamkos. So like i said, 4th or 5th best player on the team.

It's not really even fair to compare him to MacKinnon who is heads down a better player and propably the best player on his own team, at worst the 2nd best. MacKinnon is equivalent to Kucherov, not Point. I can see the argument as to why Point is better than Kadri but don't really see how he was much better this season. Both are huge loss to their own teams. Avs take a bigger hit going from Kadri to either Newhook/Compher as opposed to Bolts being able to move Stamkos back to center and move their Selke -candidate in Cirelli up in the line-up.

But this is a pretty pointless thing to argue. Just wanted to point out that the Avs center depth without Kadri is hardly elite.



Really? Nowhere near? I can see the argument as to why Point was the better player this season (even though IMO Kadri had a much better season) but nowhere near him? Do share how Point was that much better than Kadri this season?



Who suggested he didn't matter? I didn't.

Yes, nowhere near. One standout season for Kadri doesn’t change that.

 

[trick9]

Yes, nowhere near. One standout season for Kadri doesn’t change that.

We're talking about this season.

 

[g00n]

LOL @ talk about Cups not counting. Did several teams drop out of the league those years? No? Ok then it was the same NHL with everyone still playing for the Cup.

If you want to belittle the TB Cups it would be due to cap circumvention not COVID, but then you have to look at some previous Cups, too.

It's shady but that's the financial era we're in now. Another CBA might change it but everyone plays with the same CBA.

Cup is Cup.

 

[StrikingDistance]

Pffft. Like we wouldn't have been thrilled to win those Cups. The league sets the bar to win it and the team that wins it deserves the kudos. If we won those Cups and Ovi had 3 on his CV and other hockey fans told me that those 2 don't count, they could f*** right off...

Cool opinion brah. Did I say they didn’t count? RIF.

Yeah, everyone on lockdown in 2020 unable to attend games and then celebrate. Meh. I wouldn’t of cared.

 

[StrikingDistance]

Whatever helps y

Point was a massive loss…only an Avs supporter would suggest he didn’t matter.


I don’t get the need to defend the Avs on this one lol…they probably win because of depth sure, but maybe it goes 7….


This is a petty take…..a win is a win.

Whatever

LOL @ talk about Cups not counting. Did several teams drop out of the league those years? No? Ok then it was the same NHL with everyone still playing for the Cup.

If you want to belittle the TB Cups it would be due to cap circumvention not COVID, but then you have to look at some previous Cups, too.

It's shady but that's the financial era we're in now. Another CBA might change it but everyone plays with the same CBA.

Cup is Cup.

Whatever gets you through the day.

So the Bolts playing the Habs in the Finals was a quality SC match-up? Lol.

 

[twabby]

That's it? Great trade for the Kings. Minnesota's buyouts of Suter and Parise looking pretty questionable right about now.

 

[Langway]

He was a year away from UFA so not sure what all would be expected. Particularly knowing that Guerin was looking to move him I'd say that's as much as they could have hoped for. It's not Ottawa's pick at #7 but Faber is pretty well thought of.