Playoff race/Scoreboard watching thread

[MoreOrr]

The run to make the Playoffs came just a little bit too late. Damn! I mean, I hate Montreal, but even more so I just wanted Columbus to make it. Columbus is the only team, at least at this moment, that will miss the Playoffs and not have a -GF/GA record (assuming they don't lose their last game).

 

[DankoCBJ]

Missing the playoffs sucks but lets look at the bigger picture here - this was a successful season that we can build upon.

Proud of this team!

 

[NotCommitted]

At least they went down in style and kept it tight until the end, playing 81 meaningful games out of 82. That's a huge improvement over the previous years. Feels a bit bad how it ended, and I'm not referring to Montreal clinching against B-tier Canes team but CBJ having that long skid just when they started looking like they were solidifying their spot in the playoffs and then a heroic winstreak just 1 game too late. This is way better than not having that win streak though... and being streaky sort of comes with the territory.

Overall a great season though and if there were still some lessons that needed to be learnt, ending a season this way can teach several.

 

[koteka]

Jarmo did a lot of good and he was a whiz when drafting forwards, but the Provorov trade, Severson trade and signing, and Elvis contract were not moves that make a team a playoff team. Provorov is not that great - his best skill is his durability. Severson is a crucial bone-headed soul-killing mistake waiting to happen, and Elvis is Elvis. Let’s hope some other team pays Provorov too much in free agency and we can make a move or two that makes our D and goalie situation move us up to about league average defense. We are 8th worst in Goals Against with 267. Minnesota is 16th best /17th worst with 239. Where would this team be if we gave up 28 fewer goals over the course of the season?

 

[JustPenalties]

At the end of the day, the hurricanes, as they should, are only looking out for themselves. They earned their spot to the playoffs weeks ago. They’re locked in on seeding. They did their job.

We didn’t. That’s what it comes down to. One team will be playing next week and the other gets to collect all the good feelings and attaboys/girls and virtual Twitter hugs. We did this to ourselves

Well to be honest in my opinion this is also just a bad look for the whole league to have games like this. You could also sense that in the studio where they were trying their best to make it sound like ”Carolina still has really competetive roster in this match” and blaa blaa. Nobody wants to say the truth and that pisses me off.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

but CBJ having that long skid just when they started looking like they were solidifying their spot in the playoffs

Yes yes yes to your whole post but unfortunately my heart right now is focused on this discouraging bit. It’s what made their frantic chase at the end extra exciting, but that was just so discouraging coming out of the stadium game. I know there were reasons and things, but man…

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Well to be honest in my opinion this is also just a bad look for the whole league to have games like this. You could also sense that in the studio where they were trying their best to make it sound like ”Carolina still has really competetive roster in this match” and blaa blaa. Nobody wants to say the truth and that pisses me off.

I get it. But this isn’t uncommon across any sport really. It sucks for us (and the league) to rest players, but that’s what Carolina earned the luxury to do.

 

[614 CBJ]

I hope the shoes on the other foot one day and Columbus puts the zamboni driver in net

f*** Brind'amour

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Jarmo did a lot of good and he was a whiz when drafting forwards, but the Provorov trade, Severson trade and signing, and Elvis contract were not moves that make a team a playoff team. Provorov is not that great - his best skill is his durability. Severson is a crucial bone-headed soul-killing mistake waiting to happen, and Elvis is Elvis. Let’s hope some other team pays Provorov too much in free agency and we can make a move or two that makes our D and goalie situation move us up to about league average defense. We are 8th worst in Goals Against with 267. Minnesota is 16th best /17th worst with 239. Where would this team be if we gave up 28 fewer goals over the course of the season?

We gave up 32 less than last season. (298 to 266) Rome wasn't built in a day but yes, there still need to be defensive changes. Going from 298 to 239 in 1 season is and was going to be an impossible task.

Instead of wondering what could have been this season, I'm going to choose to think about where we've come from and how we can continue to improve.

 

[koteka]

We gave up 32 less than last season. (298 to 266) Rome wasn't built in a day but yes, there still need to be defensive changes. Going from 298 to 239 in 1 season is and was going to be an impossible task.

True, but I am guy who appreciates the defensive side of hockey and am still pissed off that our defense ever got as bad as it did. We lost guys who could really play defense and replaced them with Adam freaking Boqvist and unheralded and undersized Nick Blankenburg. Then we pancicked and brought in Severson and Provorov because our tiny defensemen weren’t staying healthy.

The decline of the defense started many years ago. 2017-2020 we weren’t drafting defense in the first 3 rounds (other than one left D in Knazko) and we are feeling the impact of that now. Our best defenseman drafted in those 4 drafts was Tim Berni. I am glad we finally have a leadership team in place that seems to realized drafting right defensemen might be a worthwhile endeavor because finding good NHL caliber right D is not so easy.

 

[Jive Pawnbroker]

I think that this season should prove to management that the team is headed in the right direction. With some changes here and there (on the blue line and in net), they can take another step forward next season if those changes pan out.

In hindsight, it would have been nice to have made the goalie change sooner but oh well. Waddell gave Elvis and Tarasov every opportunity to take the reins but neither proved that they are capable of that. It will be interesting to see what transpires on the goalie front this offseason.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

True, but I am guy who appreciates the defensive side of hockey and am still pissed off that our defense ever got as bad as it did. We lost guys who could really play defense and replaced them with Adam freaking Boqvist and unheralded and undersized Nick Blankenburg. Then we pancicked and brought in Severson and Provorov because our tiny defensemen weren’t staying healthy.

The decline of the defense started many years ago. 2017-2020 we weren’t drafting defense in the first 3 rounds (other than one left D in Knazko) and we are feeling the impact of that now. Our best defenseman drafted in those 4 drafts was Tim Berni. I am glad we finally have a leadership team in place that seems to realized drafting right defensemen might be a worthwhile endeavor because finding good NHL caliber right D is not so easy.

You aren't wrong and those were all Jarmo moves. GMDW really didn't get to make any moves last summer and now has seen things and will allow him to really take shape this summer.

I think he's really trying to rebuild the prospect pool with the recent signings and Fabbro has been a solid acquisition I hop we can keep as a 2nd pair in a reshaped d corps.

We are going to wind up eating a bag of cash to move Severson with the length of his term left but its clear he's in the doghouse. I know he has a NTC but it seems for the best to go if he wants to contribute somewhere in the NHL. I'm still torn on Provorov. I think he has some value but probably more than he's worth at this point.

I think finding a legit top pair shutdown guy to pair with Werenski along with having Fabbro pair with Mateychuk could be a good improvement and then fixing the depth guys on the 3rd pair. NJ really improved their D when they got guy like Pesce, Dillon, and Kovacevic.

 

[Xoggz22]

Hell of a ride, boys! Thank you for the effort, enjoyment, ups and downs all year. It's the most entertained I have been with CBJ hockey in quite some time. Now let's push it next year and take another step. See you in the fall!

 

[EpiK Sandwich]

Feel bad that today doesn't matter for playoffs but I have to say for a team that was counted out before the season started, they sure gave it their all. Future looks bright for the CBJ!

 

[LJ7]

The decline of the defense started many years ago. 2017-2020 we weren’t drafting defense in the first 3 rounds (other than one left D in Knazko) and we are feeling the impact of that now. Our best defenseman drafted in those 4 drafts was Tim Berni. I am glad we finally have a leadership team in place that seems to realized drafting right defensemen might be a worthwhile endeavor because finding good NHL caliber right D is not so easy.

This + not paying up to keep Gavrikov was a recipe for disaster on the blue line. Fast forward to now and we see Jack Johnson playing in the most important must-win games of the season, getting walked every single shift.

Kunin was tough but not as individually important/disasterous as having one of our 3 D pairs be JJ-Gudbranson. That was genuine malpractice and was disrespectful to the players who played their heart and soul out all season trying to make the postseason. It was a result of the drafting stretch you mentioned but also a horrible personnel decision by the current coaching/FO. It hurts seeing such a good roster otherwise have to deal with that pairing on the ice when it mattered most, actual bush league shit. I need to see a pretty good offseason play out in order to regain trust in the group (coaching and FO) that collectively allowed that to happen.

 

[Rob Sense]

Coming in peace...CBJ has a gutsy team. I watched several games down the stretch and this team will be a serious handful in the coming years. If Greaves is the real thing then it is likely to happen next year.