Series Talk: Stanley Cup Playoffs 2024

[Grigowski]

Is New York being slept on right now? Undefeated so far these playoffs

Carolina with that 2 powerplay-goals against basically killed themselve yesterday.... I have never seen such a poor PK in the playoffs.

The Rangers won the presidents trophy. So no, no one i sleeping on them. Washington was just no match for them or anyone in Round 1. Carolina, if they can stop this dumb penalties, will give them a run for the money.

Florida-Rangers is still my final in the east.

 

[henchman21]

Is New York being slept on right now? Undefeated so far these playoffs but I dont see many picking them to win it all. Seems Florida, Edmonton and Dallas getting the love.

IMO they are the 2nd best team in the East and if Florida has some injuries, wouldn’t shock me to see the Rags beat Florida. Rags will dismantle Carolina with ease. Lavi may not be the flashiest coach, but damn does he get results.

 

[niwotsblessing]

 

[chet1926]

Cassidy is f*** head.

He was complaining in the postgame about how they didn’t have a lot of time to prepare with all the guys coming back from injury.

You dumb f***, do you not realize how much of an advantage you had being that much over the cap?

I didn't watch the presser but are you f***ing me.

You manipulated the salary cap to be what 16M over, and you manipulated your 1st round opponent by purposely throwing a home game to Anaheim the last game of the season.

And you have the balls to say the team didn't have enough time to prepare? Sorry, not sorry, the fake injuries and LTIR ploy didn't pay off this time.

f*** right off, maybe if they just played instead of looking for every possible way to cheat/manipulate the system maybe things would work out better for them.

They got what they deserved Dallas out played them.

 

[Pokecheque]

IMO they are the 2nd best team in the East and if Florida has some injuries, wouldn’t shock me to see the Rags beat Florida. Rags will dismantle Carolina with ease. Lavi may not be the flashiest coach, but damn does he get results.

If Carolina had the firepower they'd destroy the Rangers at even strength. But year in, year out, they eventually run into a team that absolutely annihilates them on special teams. Last year IIRC that was Tampa, this year it'll be the Rangers.

Also, Freddie let in the softest of soft goals that stood as the game-winner. If it's a goalie duel, once again the Canes got no shot.

 

[henchman21]

If Carolina had the firepower they'd destroy the Rangers at even strength. But year in, year out, they eventually run into a team that absolutely annihilates them on special teams. Last year IIRC that was Tampa, this year it'll be the Rangers.

Also, Freddie let in the softest of soft goals that stood as the game-winner. If it's a goalie duel, once again the Canes got no shot.

That’s like saying if Edmonton had defense or Toronto had depth.

Carolina is a collection of good players but nobody elite. The system also doesn’t lend itself to a guy just taking over a game.

 

[Pokecheque]

That’s like saying if Edmonton had defense or Toronto had depth.

Carolina is a collection of good players but nobody elite. The system also doesn’t lend itself to a guy just taking over a game.

"Firepower" is just another way of saying they don't have a gamebreaker. That's been their Achilles' heel for a while now. If they had another Mr. Game 7, maybe they could get away with it, but he's long since gone.

I've thought for a while now that Dundon will eventually run the Canes into the ground, I think Step One already happened (the Kotkaniemi offer sheet), Step Two will be letting Rod the Bod walk.

 

[Pokecheque]

Going back to the "President's Trophy Curse":



So the argument definitely can be made that it's not really worth getting, but that doesn't mean there's a curse. It just doesn't give you a massive advantage in the postseason.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

There is no President's Trophy curse. Rather win one than not.

Hockey is just full of randomness, unlike some major sports. A much weaker team can get a result even if they are outplayed. It´s one of the things that keeps me interested, it´s such a bore to watch Real Madrid or some team like that win everything constantly.

 

[henchman21]

President's Trophy means Regular Season Champs Banner.

 

[S E P H]

I do think a lot of Vegas' "looking awful" is due to them going through the short Cup-winning offseason akin to the Avs last year.

HOWEVER, in seven years they were able to take their entire team and make it look so slow. Hertl, though is a great player, is not someone who increases their speed. Stone is already too damaged and was never really a strong skater. Eichel was never a fast skater himself. In all of their top 9, there are 3-4 players who I would classify as players who can skate and actually get around as Marchessault, Karlsson, Stephenson, and Amadio. Guess what? there is a chance they might lose 1-2 of those blokes due to the Hertl contract.

Then if you look at their defence, it doesn't get any better with Pietrangelo, Martinez, and McNabb all being slow skaters. Hanifin at least looked great.

 

[Pokecheque]

There is no President's Trophy curse. Rather win one than not.

Hockey is just full of randomness, unlike some major sports. A much weaker team can get a result even if they are outplayed. It´s one of the things that keeps me interested, it´s such a bore to watch Real Madrid or some team like that win everything constantly.

Avs in 2022 let up near the end of the year there and didn't go all out to snag the Prez, which I have no problem with whatsoever. It's not worth going all out for 80-82 games to secure. But if you can get it without breaking your team, then do it.

President's Trophy means Regular Season Champs Banner.

TWO banners if you're Nashville.

 

[Muffin]

 

[henchman21]

This riot is going to be epic.

 

[GeoRox89]

This riot is going to be epic.

Pretty sure that’s at Scott Road. That’s just like a standard Tuesday afternoon level of behaviour out of Surrey

 

[henchman21]

Pretty sure that’s at Scott Road. That’s just like a standard Tuesday afternoon level of behaviour out of Surrey

It’ll be even better after game 4. No cars are safe.

 

[HugeMetalFan]

Going back to the "President's Trophy Curse":



So the argument definitely can be made that it's not really worth getting, but that doesn't mean there's a curse. It just doesn't give you a massive advantage in the postseason.

Maybe this is a common knowledge but it has occurred to me just recently - the Stanley Cup winning team is not necessarily the best team in the league. I find that absolutely bewildering.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

Maybe this is a common knowledge but it has occurred to me just recently - the Stanley Cup winning team is not necessarily the best team in the league. I find that absolutely bewildering.

Well, yea. When the Avs won, the real best team in the league was the nine twenty-goal scorer Blues.

 

[Chiarelli]

winning a cup is a marathon not a sprint this includes regular season and offseason too

 

[Pokecheque]

Maybe this is a common knowledge but it has occurred to me just recently - the Stanley Cup winning team is not necessarily the best team in the league. I find that absolutely bewildering.

Yeah. Hockey is unique in that they have a playoffs that is so very different than the regular season, more so than any other professional sport. It's also a game that's so prone to random bounces and fluke occurrences. And in no other sport can you get goalie'd like you can in hockey.

More often than not it's a good/great team that gets hot at exactly the right time and doesn't have a ton of bad luck with injuries.

 

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

Going back to the "President's Trophy Curse":



So the argument definitely can be made that it's not really worth getting, but that doesn't mean there's a curse. It just doesn't give you a massive advantage in the postseason.

Teams pushing way too hard to win home ice and burning themselves out over a long season is a real problem.

On the other hand I'm not sure how many cup winners are on the road for three or four series. Probably few if any (maybe the Kings?).

Unless you're a top 6ish team in the regular season your odds of winning the cup can't be good?

 

[dahrougem2]

I do think a lot of Vegas' "looking awful" is due to them going through the short Cup-winning offseason akin to the Avs last year.

HOWEVER, in seven years they were able to take their entire team and make it look so slow. Hertl, though is a great player, is not someone who increases their speed. Stone is already too damaged and was never really a strong skater. Eichel was never a fast skater himself. In all of their top 9, there are 3-4 players who I would classify as players who can skate and actually get around as Marchessault, Karlsson, Stephenson, and Amadio. Guess what? there is a chance they might lose 1-2 of those blokes due to the Hertl contract.

Then if you look at their defence, it doesn't get any better with Pietrangelo, Martinez, and McNabb all being slow skaters. Hanifin at least looked great.

I think Eichel is a tremendous skater even if it looks funny at times.

 

[S E P H]

I think Eichel is a tremendous skater even if it looks funny at times.

I never said he's bad, all I wrote is that he's not fast and I truly do not believe he is fast, but that isn't his game. His entire game is always slowing the game down to his level and making nice flick passes or accurate shots (which he's beastly at).

 

[EdAVSfan]

Yeah. Hockey is unique in that they have a playoffs that is so very different than the regular season, more so than any other professional sport. It's also a game that's so prone to random bounces and fluke occurrences. And in no other sport can you get goalie'd like you can in hockey.

More often than not it's a good/great team that gets hot at exactly the right time and doesn't have a ton of bad luck with injuries.

And to add to this, you’re ultimately facing against only 4 teams of the 31 available. So being able to beat those 4 specific isn’t the same as beating them all.
And then add the fact that you could be facing 4 teams who aren’t at their peak at the specific time you face them. When we won our cup, both Draisaitl and Point were legitimately on one leg/foot.

 

[dahrougem2]

I never said he's bad, all I wrote is that he's not fast and I truly do not believe he is fast, but that isn't his game. His entire game is always slowing the game down to his level and making nice flick passes or accurate shots (which he's beastly at).

I think he plays that way intentionally. When he needs to ramp up the speed, though, he can fly.