kipwinger

I don't know. Brendan Smith's face is pretty derpy and punchable. A far cry from the renegade hardass that is Kyle Quincey...

Athanasiou got a broken jaw, couldn't eat solid food for weeks, lost almost 20 lbs., AND missed more games than Mantha. Yet he still managed to work hard every game once he returned. Being injured might excuse the results, but not the lack of effort. I don't see why people feel the need to constantly make excuses for the Mantha. He was used to streamrolling weaker competition in Juniors, and he learned bad habits, and hasn't unlearned them yet. It doesn't doom him to a career of mediocrity, but he doesn't get a free pass from criticism because he was drafted high and people like the fact that he's big. To date, Mantha has been soft, lazy, and moderately disappointing.

He "lost" everybody right up until he gets traded to Detroit for Anders Eriksson. Who's our current equivalent of Eriksson, by the way?

I'm not writing him off. I'm saying he doesn't drive offense. He's like Franzen in that way. Because he's soft and doesn't enjoy working hard, other people have to create offense for him to capitalize off of. Tons of very productive guys in the NHL are like that. But your point is taken. When 6'4, 200+ lb. guys like Mantha play against 16-18 year olds, they're super impressive.

Probably. If Dylark can make a plug like Zach Hyman look like a star, he should do wonders for Floaty McManthason.

Sounds like more excuse making. In the Rangers first two losses against Tampa, he gave up 12 goals. It's not like he was some brick wall against Tampa. it's not like he gave them a chance to win every night. He didn't. The Lightening thrashed him, and that has nothing to do with his offense, Game 7 aside. Here's the kicker. The same thing happens every year. He plays well against the lower seeds, and then turns to mush against tougher ones. People just make excuses for him because he's a classy player. Too bad that doesn't make him a better one eh?

He gave up 14 goals in the 4 games he lost to Tampa. He gave up 14 goals in the 4 games he lost to Los Angeles last year. Gave up 13 goals in the 4 games he lost to Boston the year before that. Gave up 15 goals in the four games he lost to NEW JERSEY the year before that. Jonathan Quick or Tim Thomas he ain't. That's all I'm saying. He's pretty pedestrian when it matters. His offense would have had to average 4 goals a game to win any of those games. Kinda hard to blame them.

What happened to all the "Victor Hedman is the next big thing" talk? After game three people were talking about how he was "elite" and a "Conn Smythe" front runner. Then, suddenly, all the Hedman chatter just kinda disappeared. Odd. Almost like the hockey media was manufacturing a narrative to sell the Lightening, while they were leading the series, before giving up on it. Almost.

Lol. Good one. How would that "destroy our forward depth"?

Babcock was overrated. Holland isn't. That's the difference.

"King Henrik" is about as intimidating as a pair of dress socks. Guy can't get it done in the playoffs. I'll count him out for next season right now. He is overblown.

This is awesome. This is Joel Quenneville's house. This is how nuts people went for the Cup last night.

Bad analogy. Apple completely fell apart during the period without Jobs. The product declined significantly, and the company was forced to restructure entirely. Ultimately Jobs was brought back, the company surged under his leadership, and he remained the primary creative force responsible for Apple's explosion in the modern era. In that role he remained, until death. The grass is not always greener.

Bologna. There is no "Bowman Affect". Chicago wins because they have superb talent (not drafted by a Bowman) and superb coaching (not hired by a Bowman). People just want to attach Bowman's name to it because they love hero worship. Everybody loves piling on to a legacy. Scotty Bowman's affect on the Chicago Blackhawks is negligible. They were trending up before Bowman came around, and they'd have been a winner without him. Take a look at the guys Dale Tallon is drafting down in Florida. Look familiar?

Cuz he big. He huge. He more than man. He big man.

Probably. Unless they go to the finals like 5 more times.

To tell the truth, I'm happy about this. I don't want a division rival winning the Cup. I didn't want the Stanley Cup in the south, getting gawked at by mildly bemused tourists and local swamp rats. I don't ever want to hear "The Stanley Cup gets a sun tan" ever again. *Puke*. I don't give a crap about "Stevie winning one", because he stopped mattering to me the second he started working for a rival organization. In short, NOTHING about Tampa winning the Cup would have felt good to me. I don't care about their players, coach, staff, GM, city, or state. Secondly, I don't feel threatened by this. At all. The new Chicago dynasty is (so far) more impressive than our dynasty from 97-08. So what? We still won 4 Cups in 11 years, had top end talent to watch, and made the playoffs every single year. It's still SUPER impressive. Just because the 80's Islanders weren't the 80's Oilers doesn't make them any less awesome. This just put a stamp on something we all already knew. We're no longer the league's model franchise. Oh well, doesn't make our run at the top any less impressive.

You too? You're rooting in favor of a Southern team? You're actively rooting for Gary Bettman's brain child? I never thought I'd see the day when you and Frankgrimes wanted one of Gary Bettman's southern teams to win the Stanley Cup over an original six franchise.

Was he taught to use his size like a pansy or was he just born like that? Damn this old nature vs. nurture argument.

I'm surprised you're rooting so hard for one of Bettman's southern experimental franchises. Again an original six team no less. I mean, do you really want southern expansion proved right? Would Don Cherry root for a team from (gasp) Florida over an original six team?

Nah, I'm not even that strong of a pun maker. I feel like this thread could really have gone super saiyan if Jimmy and BoS were around. When our powers combine...

I can't help it, I'm a neigh-sayer.

Nobody would care. Because one time, Babs and the Wings nearly beat a much better Chicago team before blowing the series and losing three straight games. So for the rest of eternity Chicago will be overrated, Babcock "outcoached" Quenneville, and the Wings aren't that far from contention. Somehow, playing above your head for a few games before totally falling apart is evidence of greatness in Detroit these days.

Time to put these horse puns out to pasture.

The best coach in sport.