The playoff push / tanking and scoreboard watching thread

[ChicagoBlues]

Sounds like I have a medical condition lol

If an expanded consciousness is a medical condition, then I, too, am afflicted.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Where did I ridicule any fan? I ridiculed Binnington's comment and that ridiculous Blues social media team post trying to sell fans on doing nothing at the TDL. I disagree with fans wanting to win, but I have not ridiculed them. They have ridiculed me for prioritizing the desire for long term success over short term.

And yes, you can get great players with later picks. Everyone loves to name 5-10 names out of the hundreds of late round picks every year. The odds are better to get better players by picking earlier. Name all the Benn, Kucherov's and Parayko's you want. they are the exception, not the rule.

Would you be on board if I advocated for trading away our entire draft for the next 10 years because I can name a half dozen great undrafted NHL players? Bobrovsky, Martin St. Louis, Mark Giordano. Who needs draft picks at all?

But love cures all.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Where did I ridicule any fan? I ridiculed Binnington's comment and that ridiculous Blues social media team post trying to sell fans on doing nothing at the TDL. I disagree with fans wanting to win, but I have not ridiculed them. They have ridiculed me for prioritizing the desire for long term success over short term.

And yes, you can get great players with later picks. Everyone loves to name 5-10 names out of the hundreds of late round picks every year. The odds are better to get better players by picking earlier. Name all the Benn, Kucherov's and Parayko's you want. they are the exception, not the rule.

Would you be on board if I advocated for trading away our entire draft for the next 10 years because I can name a half dozen great undrafted NHL players? Bobrovsky, Martin St. Louis, Mark Giordano. Who needs draft picks at all?

Nothing you wrote signaled Binnington. Montgomery has made positive comments about the locker room this past week, too. (So have I.) I thought Binnington was just echoing his coach. It reads like you’re ridiculing anyone who values the locker room development down the stretch as being irrelevant.

I won’t take your comment personally, but it was easy to read it that way after I posted favorably about Montgomery’s comments.

My broader point about cognitive dissonance in rooting against the players succeeding in the short term is the more important part.

 

[Majorityof1]

Nothing you wrote signaled Binnington. Montgomery has made positive comments about the locker room this past week, too. (So have I.) I thought Binnington was just echoing his coach. It reads like you’re ridiculing anyone who values the locker room development down the stretch as being irrelevant.

I won’t take your comment personally, but it was easy to read it that way after I posted favorably about Montgomery’s comments.

My broader point about cognitive dissonance in rooting against the players succeeding in the short term is the more important part.

I don't even remember you talking about Montgomery's comments. I was referring to the following video literally titled "Love is building in the Blues locker room" and pulling the quote from Binnington...



I don't care what you think of the sentiments, the execution is incredibly cheesy. The timing is ridiculous, releasing right after the TDL. Its a blatant attempt to manipulate the fan base. It worked on some.

As for the cognitive dissonance, that only exists for the short-sighted. It's just like in business, when you are in a growth phase, you may take losses to gain customers. Start off with low prices, taking big losses up front to convince customers to try your products. For someone thinking only about the immediate future, this might seem dissonant. Why would someone intentionally take a loss. But that loss up front can be recouped and then more down the line as you grow the business. Losing now is better for the team in the long run. So I am cheering for that. I don't expect the players to intentionally lose. but I still hope they do. No cognitive dissonance here. I think losing the last 18 games will give us more wins and more important wins in the future.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Love conquers all.

 

[BlueDream]

I don't even remember you talking about Montgomery's comments. I was referring to the following video literally titled "Love is building in the Blues locker room" and pulling the quote from Binnington...



I don't care what you think of the sentiments, the execution is incredibly cheesy. The timing is ridiculous, releasing right after the TDL. Its a blatant attempt to manipulate the fan base. It worked on some.

As for the cognitive dissonance, that only exists for the short-sighted. It's just like in business, when you are in a growth phase, you may take losses to gain customers. Start off with low prices, taking big losses up front to convince customers to try your products. For someone thinking only about the immediate future, this might seem dissonant. Why would someone intentionally take a loss. But that loss up front can be recouped and then more down the line as you grow the business. Losing now is better for the team in the long run. So I am cheering for that. I don't expect the players to intentionally lose. but I still hope they do. No cognitive dissonance here. I think losing the last 18 games will give us more wins and more important wins in the future.

But nobody is being manipulated. Even if the social media team posted absolutely nothing, the vast majority of fans (regardless of team or sport) care about seeing their favorite team win games NOW. That takes priority over literally anything else. Enjoying winning in the moment will always come first over future success for most people. And sure, a lot of this is because there are lots of casual fans, so the hardcore fans that are thinking about the future may be ‘smarter’ per se, but that doesn’t change the truth.

 

[Ranksu]

I don't even remember you talking about Montgomery's comments. I was referring to the following video literally titled "Love is building in the Blues locker room" and pulling the quote from Binnington...



I don't care what you think of the sentiments, the execution is incredibly cheesy. The timing is ridiculous, releasing right after the TDL. Its a blatant attempt to manipulate the fan base. It worked on some.

As for the cognitive dissonance, that only exists for the short-sighted. It's just like in business, when you are in a growth phase, you may take losses to gain customers. Start off with low prices, taking big losses up front to convince customers to try your products. For someone thinking only about the immediate future, this might seem dissonant. Why would someone intentionally take a loss. But that loss up front can be recouped and then more down the line as you grow the business. Losing now is better for the team in the long run. So I am cheering for that. I don't expect the players to intentionally lose. but I still hope they do. No cognitive dissonance here. I think losing the last 18 games will give us more wins and more important wins in the future.

Jeesus that video is terrible. Feels like they live on some wonderland. Zero reality.

 

[Spear]

Love conquers all.

2019 had GLORIA!

2025 has:

 

[bleedblue1223]

Dallas beat Vancouver in regulation.

 

[TheDizee]

dallas whooped that canuck ass tonight, damn

 

[TheDizee]

Keep a eye on Minnesota. They are free falling and if it continues this week, they could be on the edge of losing a WC spot now. A second WC spot may be opening up in the coming weeks, the Wild cannot score at all and their schedule, while being home game heavy, is brutal

 

[ds774622]

Keep a eye on Minnesota. They are free falling and if it continues this week, they could be on the edge of losing a WC spot now. A second WC spot may be opening up in the coming weeks, the Wild cannot score at all and their schedule, while being home game heavy, is brutal

I think you're on to something. Blues are off until Thursday and 7 points behind MIN. Their game in hand is played on Tuesday at home against COL, then they continue their homestand against NYR, STL, and LAK.

Let's make some assumptions based on how each teams are trending. Let's say MIN loses to COL and beats NYR on Thursday, while we beat PIT. If we can salvage the last game of our series with MIN on Saturday, then beat the Ducks (while MIN loses to LAK), we could be only 3 points back of MIN in about a week. Obviously a relatively best-case-scenario that I'm laying out here. It's very helpful if we can do our part to really drag MIN back into the wild card fight.

VAN and CGY also play on Wednesday, so hoping for just a regulation win for either.

 

[Brian39]

All in all, not a bad weekend for the playoff push. We took 3 of 4 possible points on a road back-to-back. Playing a rested LA team in LA on the 2nd half of a back to back is pretty damn close to a scheduled loss, so I will absolutely take the point.

Bummer that Calgary got 2 of a possible 2 points with a 1-0 win, but it's one game.

Vancouver got 2 of 4 points and at least those 2 points came in regulation against Minnesota.

I wouldn't say that Minnesota is truly a target yet, but we've appeared in their rearview mirror. They also lost on Sunday and have officially been passed by the Avalanche. They play the Avs on Tuesday to kick off a pretty brutal 3 week stretch where the play Colorado, NY Rangers, St. Louis, LA, Seattle, Buffalo, Dallas, Vegas, Washington, New Jersey, and New Jersey. All but 2 of those games are at home and there is only 1 back to back, but that is a lot of good teams in a 3 week span. There is some reason to believe that both Wild Card spots could be up for grabs.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Yeah, Wild would need a pretty crazy collapse, but since Kaprizov has been out, since 1/27, they are tied for 20th with a .500 point %, along with Calgary. We are 8th with a .633 point % in that same span. They are absolutely vulnerable. Not only do they have a tough stretch, they are not the same team without Kaprizov. Boldy, Rossi, and Zucc are good too, but after that there isn't much offensively, so they really rely on Kaprizov scoring at crazy levels to cover for the lack of scoring depth.

 

[TruBlueFan1970]

Yeah, Wild would need a pretty crazy collapse, but since Kaprizov has been out, since 1/27, they are tied for 20th with a .500 point %, along with Calgary. We are 8th with a .633 point % in that same span. They are absolutely vulnerable. Not only do they have a tough stretch, they are not the same team without Kaprizov. Boldy, Rossi, and Zucc are good too, but after that there isn't much offensively, so they really rely on Kaprizov scoring at crazy levels to cover for the lack of scoring depth.

Gonna be a fun ride. Really need the Habs to surprise VAN tomorrow night, making their third and final game in hand against Calgary this week. And yes, would help if Minny collapses. That’s a long way to fall, but anything is possible.

 

[Brian39]

Would have been nice of Toronto to not blow a 3 goal lead to give Utah a point last night, but at least it was just 1 point instead of Utah snagging the 2nd point in OT. We control our own destiny in regards to Utah. Even if they win their game in hand to tie us in points, we hold the tiebreaker, so 'outplaying them in the last 18 games' is truly the only thing we have to do to hold of Utah. Frankly, I don't think we'll catch the teams ahead of us if we don't out-earn Utah, so them snagging 1 point doesn't concern me too much. I'd have liked an extra point of breathing room, but if anyone in our battle is going to snag points I'd prefer for it to be them over Vancouver/Calgary.

There are a few meaningful games to us tonight.

We want the Avs to beat Minnesota and Montreal to beat Vancouver. Even if you're still on the tank train, Minnesota and Colorado are irrelevant to that so let's root against the team we could theoretically catch for a playoff spot. Montreal beating Vancouver helps the playoff push AND the potential tank since the Habs are currently behind us in the league standings. I want both to end in regulation.

We should all want the Isles to beat the Kings, because it would be nice for the Kings to fall a bit closer to that Wild Card mix and the Isles snagging points could help our draft position. Hopefully a regulation win, but if the Kings do win then at least give the Isles a point.

I'm rooting for the Jets to beat the Rangers in OT to help get us that Stars/Avs round 1 matchup while still giving the Rangers a point in the standings for potential draft purposes. If you're all-in for tanking still then I guess root for the Rangers to win.

The Caps and Ducks feels largely irrelevant because I don't think the Ducks have the roster to pass us. But I guess root for Washington if you're all-in for playoffs and the Ducks if you're all-in for the tank. Probably meaningless either way though.