The Florida Panthers (A1) defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning (WC1) 4 games to 1

[WaitingForThatCab]

Well playing Toronto was not in the cards but there's a reason we were upset that Boston threw away the division lead like that.

To be fair, it has obviously worked out pretty well for Boston.

 

[Spirits]

Tampa fans quiet.

 

[bossram]

I never said it wasn't inferior to Florida.

You were surprised Cooper couldn't get more out of the roster and said the team wasn't bad. Implying that you thought the the team was good enough to at least make it difficult for Florida.

But they were drastically inferior to Florida and that played itself out.

 

[MarotteMarauder]

Point is, I don't see Tampa being done just yet, if they can find those underappreciated guys in free agency that fits what Cooper wants out of his players. It will be a tight cap and some hard trades may be needed, but a team with Hedman, Point, Kuch, Hagel, Sergachev and Vasilevskiy is still a very good core.
Then you guys like Cirelli, Paul and others who are good pieces for the mid 6.

The Lightning have not won a playoff series since 2022.
The Blackhawks never won another series after 2015 Cup. That roster (at that time) was WAAAAAAAY superior to Lightning. Compare Keith, Kane, Toews, Hossa, Sharp, Seabrook, Saad, Teravainen, Hjalmarsson, Oduya, Kruger, Crawford, Danault, Shaw, Hartman and Bickell to Lightning of today, pfffft.

NEVER won another series.
Lightning are done, I'm not sure they realize it yet.

 

[Sheppy]

John Cooper getting the smoke from the constantly offended gang because he said "skirt" in his post game.

 

[Beezeral]

John Cooper getting the smoke from the constantly offended gang because he said "skirt" in his post game.

He's also getting crushed for his comments alone. Crying about officiating after getting dominated all series is a bad look. Especially when you are complaining about one pretty obvious call and another that was closer but still the right call.

 

[Rschmitz]

The Lightning have not won a playoff series since 2022.
The Blackhawks never won another series after 2015 Cup. That roster (at that time) was WAAAAAAAY superior to Lightning. Compare Keith, Kane, Toews, Hossa, Sharp, Seabrook, Saad, Teravainen, Hjalmarsson, Oduya, Kruger, Crawford, Danault, Shaw, Hartman and Bickell to Lightning of today, pfffft.

NEVER won another series.
Lightning are done, I'm not sure they realize it yet.

Our current roster is better than the team that lost in 7 in the ECF's in 2011 and better than the 2015 team that was up 2-1 at one point to Chicago in the Cup finals.

Ya'll can think whatever you want though

Tampa fans quiet.

...we just lost in 5 in the opening round. What's to say?

 

[Dread Clawz]

Makes me sick to my stomach that the Benning regime was so awful at evaluating talent that they gave him up for....Adam Clendening. How good would he look behind Quinn Hughes?

Hughes-Forsling-Hronek would be the best top 3 in the league probably

 

[Cats2TheCup]

This game came down to the goalies.

One ran away from his net multiple times last night.

The other one stayed to protect.

Guess which team won

 

[Chaos2k7]

John Cooper getting the smoke from the constantly offended gang because he said "skirt" in his post game.

Honestly that's a pretty stupid thing to say nowadays. The outrage should have been expected, but it was heat of the moment.

 

[Pierre Larouche]

Yep, that 8 yr run of 6 ECF's, 4 SCF's, 2 "Cups", and 3-peat attempt at the end of 8yr playoff run. Was more than any NHL fan could ask for, unbelievable memories!!! Nothing great last forever, and time to pass torch for now and see what Lightning do now.

Truly amazing Lightning stayed this competitive: after such cap-scraps to keep that success together. Cap ony goign uo like 2 million over 3-4 yr while Lightning were attemtping 3-peat was terrible cap timing. It happens, one takes some -vs- losing some.... Still was worse cap growth any multiple winning "Cup" winning teams dealt with by a long-shot. GM made some great cost -vs- value moves that keep Lightning compeditive last 2-3 years, but missed the mark on some that have stung team.

My name is Taylor Jeannot.

 

[MarotteMarauder]

Our current roster is better than the team that lost in 7 in the ECF's in 2011 and better than the 2015 team that was up 2-1 at one point to Chicago in the Cup finals.

Ya'll can think whatever you want though

The point is that Chicago HAD THE BETTER roster and after 2015 never won ANOTHER series.

Tampa is on the same trajectory, with a lesser lineup.

 

[Bozo Nicholson]

Tampa fans quiet.

Yaaaaaaay! Hooooooooray!

Our defense is ass and we got obliterated. But it’s all good boys, we made it to the dance!

Make some noise! Wooooooo!

 

[Stelio Kontos]

The Lightning have not won a playoff series since 2022.
The Blackhawks never won another series after 2015 Cup. That roster (at that time) was WAAAAAAAY superior to Lightning. Compare Keith, Kane, Toews, Hossa, Sharp, Seabrook, Saad, Teravainen, Hjalmarsson, Oduya, Kruger, Crawford, Danault, Shaw, Hartman and Bickell to Lightning of today, pfffft.

NEVER won another series.
Lightning are done, I'm not sure they realize it yet.

Nvm

 

[bobholly39]

The Lightning have not won a playoff series since 2022.
The Blackhawks never won another series after 2015 Cup. That roster (at that time) was WAAAAAAAY superior to Lightning. Compare Keith, Kane, Toews, Hossa, Sharp, Seabrook, Saad, Teravainen, Hjalmarsson, Oduya, Kruger, Crawford, Danault, Shaw, Hartman and Bickell to Lightning of today, pfffft.

NEVER won another series.
Lightning are done, I'm not sure they realize it yet.

yeah lots of similarities. And I kept thinking Chicago would bounce back and was shocked they didn't....and I was sure Tampa had more in them too, but it's 2 years in a row of disappointments now, so maybe not...

Chicago wins cup in 2015 (3rd in 6 years)
2016 - round 1 tough loss in 7 games. Ok cool....can't win them all, will bounce back next year...
2017 - swept in round 1
2018+ Chicago hasn't made the playoffs since (outside of play-ins in 2020 covid year)


Tampa Cup in 2021
2022 Finals loss - 3rd final in a row, amazing
2023 - round 1 loss in 6 games. Ok cool....can't win them all, will bounce back next year....
2024 - not a sweep, but out in 5 games in round 1

If Tampa continues on the same path as Chicago - it would mean they're about to miss the playoffs for the next few years

They still have some tremendous players though. Kucherov was great this season, Hedman bounced back, Point, etc. I was disappointed with Vasi though, that's 2 years in a row he's barely average. I could see Tampa bounce back next year still, but time will tell.

 

[Stickpucker]

Surprised this series wasn't closer.

Congrats to the cats.

 

[John Price]

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

Smart move for Tampa, if true. Going to be several very disappointed fanbases in other cities.

 

[CupsOverCash]

The point is that Chicago HAD THE BETTER roster and after 2015 never won ANOTHER series.

Tampa is on the same trajectory, with a lesser lineup.

It's debatable I think that they had a way better roster than tampa currently does even. A little better maybe because it has some names your recognize more than ours is not being way better and it's not a good point because so many factors go into it than your comparison. The league is not the same now either different teams with different levels of talent. It's closer now than when the Blackhawks were here because talent is much more spread out. A team gets hot they can go. Key elements remain the same. The cap certainly does make it tough. But look at how that effects everyone and it's about attention to detail more than ever tho. How tight it got. Let's just slow our roll on comparing teams and league from 2015 to today.

 

[CupsOverCash]

 

[drktmplr12]

This is leadership

 

[AssaultPK]

He's also getting crushed for his comments alone. Crying about officiating after getting dominated all series is a bad look. Especially when you are complaining about one pretty obvious call and another that was closer but still the right call.

Yeah he keeps the heat on himself and off of his own guys. He's been doing it for years and he is a genius, you are just sitting there eating it up. Exactly what he wants tbh

 

[TheGoldenJet]

They've definitely lost some good two way players over the years.

My main concern about Vasily is his back. While the final stats may show he didn't have a great postseason this year, it wasn't due to him playing bad. He was equally as impressive as Bob for most of the games It was the rebounds/his players in front of him not getting the puck cleared.

Goalies can benefit from defensive talent in front of them, but IMO he's still a very good/great goalie when healthy

Back injuries for a goalie are the death knell.

I think Vasi’s days as an elite starter are done.

 

[Ratsreign]

The inner Goldie while making the call

 

[viper0220]

Cooper apologizes for comments made after Lightning eliminated from playoffs | NHL.com

'If you could just reach back and grab the words back, I would have,' Tampa Bay coach says

www.nhl.com