2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Thread

[kylee 727]

i hate the Penguins but their jersey colors look about 1000x better than their former unis 

[kylee 727]

Ovechkin scores with just over a minute left! 

[GMRwings1983 8,793]

What a great night of games.  Same with last night's game on the West coast.  

[chaps80 1,591]

1 hour ago, kylee said:

Ovechkin scores with just over a minute left! 

Dig it. 

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

On 4/30/2018 at 2:31 PM, Dabura said:

The Wings hate right-shooting forwards. They've only recently warmed to right-shooting defensemen. I blame Samuelsson.

Which is weird considering they were once known for it. Yzerman, Shanny, McCarty, Maltby, Verbeek, Kocur, LaPointe, Whitney, Lang Sheppard, Hull, and Jason Williams in addition to Samuelsson. Holland does seem to not like them tho.

Edited May 2, 2018 by Neomaxizoomdweebie

[greenrebellion 415]

Ovie is playing with a ton of heart. I mean you can tell he really wants to beat the Pens almost as if his life depends on it. Say what you will about him, but the guy is a competitor.

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

23 hours ago, kylee said:

i hate the Penguins but their jersey colors look about 1000x better than their former unis 

Purdue colors never look good.

9 hours ago, greenrebellion said:

Ovie is playing with a ton of heart. I mean you can tell he really wants to beat the Pens almost as if his life depends on it. Say what you will about him, but the guy is a competitor.

If they had a few more guys with that kind of competitiveness, they would've gotten past the Pens before and probably won a Cup.

[kylee 727]

42 minutes ago, Neomaxizoomdweebie said:

Purdue colors never look good.

If they had a few more guys with that kind of competitiveness, they would've gotten past the Pens before and probably won a Cup.

Tell that to Drew Brees

 

[chaps80 1,591]

13 hours ago, greenrebellion said:

Ovie is playing with a ton of heart. I mean you can tell he really wants to beat the Pens almost as if his life depends on it. Say what you will about him, but the guy is a competitor.

If he’s gotta put the team on his back, he’s gotta do it. Too many failed playoff runs. Hammer down.

Caps will be short Wilson now. Pens are in a small hole, gotta shoot em a lifeline! Some things never change.

[xtrememachine1 795]

5 hours ago, chaps80 said:

Caps will be short Wilson now. Pens are in a small hole, gotta shoot em a lifeline! Some things never change.

I hope whomever takes his place in the lineup, scores the GWG tonight.  

[LeftWinger 4,935]

5 hours ago, chaps80 said:

If he’s gotta put the team on his back, he’s gotta do it. Too many failed playoff runs. Hammer down.

Caps will be short Wilson now. Pens are in a small hole, gotta shoot em a lifeline! Some things never change.

Yep, clean hit, principle point of contact was shoulder, but you had to figure eventually the NHL was going to massage the balls of Sid and The Divers. Meanwhile they allow him to chop off fingers and throw water bottles at players during play. I don't even know why I watch anymore.

[Dabura 12,206]

On 5/2/2018 at 12:35 AM, Neomaxizoomdweebie said:

Which is weird considering they were once known for it. Yzerman, Shanny, McCarty, Maltby, Verbeek, Kocur, LaPointe, Whitney, Lang Sheppard, Hull, and Jason Williams in addition to Samuelsson. Holland does seem to not like them tho.

I've been trying to understand it for several years now. Is it an actual organizational bias/preference? Is there some sort of perceived strategic advantage to icing a forward corps made up almost entirely of left-handed shooters? Brunner, Vanek, Frk, even Glendening...why are the exceedingly few right-shot forwards we've seen get regular minutes in recent years all bottom-six specialists? I want to understand.

[kliq 3,755]

Some of you are so ridiculously bias. If that same hit is on Zetterberg, 100% you change your tune.

[GMRwings1983 8,793]

5 hours ago, F.Michael said:

My issue with Wilson's hits is that he takes several strides, and lines up his target well in advance.

That used to be called "playing hockey"

 

[Mckinley25 677]

42 minutes ago, GMRwings1983 said:

That used to be called "playing hockey"

 

It used to be until players got so strong and fast that it was injuring other players.

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

16 hours ago, kylee said:

Tell that to Drew Brees

 

I hate you now. 

4 hours ago, Dabura said:

I've been trying to understand it for several years now. Is it an actual organizational bias/preference? Is there some sort of perceived strategic advantage to icing a forward corps made up almost entirely of left-handed shooters? Brunner, Vanek, Frk, even Glendening...why are the exceedingly few right-shot forwards we've seen get regular minutes in recent years all bottom-six specialists? I want to understand.

Lefty knows. Should a drafted Tippett! 

[kliq 3,755]

3 hours ago, GMRwings1983 said:

That used to be called "playing hockey"

 

Ask some of those guys who used to "play hockey" how they are doing now. It's not worth it.

I prefer to see skill over guys taking head shots.

3 hours ago, F.Michael said:

That might be, but IMHO we don't need guys trying to intentionally hurt their opponents.

Checking is one thing, but taking a run at a guy sumthin else.

100% agreed

3 hours ago, Mckinley25 said:

It used to be until players got so strong and fast that it was injuring other players.

Exactly. Despite what some may think, the athlete of today is so much stronger, faster, and quicker then the athlete of 20+ years ago.

When you look at the damage caused by the inferior athlete of that era, just imagine what kind of damage a Scott Stevens type would do now if rules didn't evolve.

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

1 hour ago, F.Michael said:

Paul Kariya still doesn't recall what took place several hours after the Scott Stevens hit.

Don't get me wrong - I still enjoy the physical play - the nastiness - spontaneous scraps, but there's a line that players like Wilson, Cooke, Marchment, etc cross that the league needs to address. 

Bryan Marchment? Is he still playing?

[chaps80 1,591]

13 hours ago, xtrememachine1 said:

I hope whomever takes his place in the lineup, scores the GWG tonight.  

Smith-Pelly, i believe. 

Don't get me wrong, the hit was suspension worthy, but three games for a top line forward in the middle of a playoff series? That doesn't happen often, then again when a guy gets away with a head hit early in the series, he might want to keep his nose clean instead of ending a young players season. What makes it funny is the irony. The Pens have been getting away with s*** for years. Crosby slashing Methot's finger in half, simple accident of course. Malkin's hit on Z in '09, no suspension. I'm so tired of that team and their entitled whiny attitudes and entitled whiny fanbase that likes to throw tantrums and things on the ice during play when they get denied a goal that was never a goal to start with. Just give em the Cup, again...

[chaps80 1,591]

13 hours ago, LeftWinger said:

Yep, clean hit, principle point of contact was shoulder, but you had to figure eventually the NHL was going to massage the balls of Sid and The Divers. Meanwhile they allow him to chop off fingers and throw water bottles at players during play. I don't even know why I watch anymore.

Hahaha I forgot the water bottle incident. It just slipped out of his hand..

Man, I really wanted the Sens to finish them off on their own ice in Game 7!! Craig Anderson almost made it happen. He wanted that one badly.

Come on Caps, under ten to go. Only down by one. Need some Ovie here.

 

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

10 minutes ago, chaps80 said:

Smith-Pelly, i believe. 

Don't get me wrong, the hit was suspension worthy, but three games for a top line forward in the middle of a playoff series? That doesn't happen often, then again when a guy gets away with a head hit early in the series, he might want to keep his nose clean instead of ending a young players season. What makes it funny is the irony. The Pens have been getting away with s*** for years. Crosby slashing Methot's finger in half, simple accident of course. Malkin's hit on Z in '09, no suspension. I'm so tired of that team and their entitled whiny attitudes and entitled whiny fanbase that likes to throw tantrums and things on the ice during play when they get denied a goal that was never a goal to start with. Just give em the Cup, again...

They're the NHL equivalent of Millenials.

[chaps80 1,591]

1 minute ago, Neomaxizoomdweebie said:

They're the NHL equivalent of Millenials.

Cause most of their fanbase are millenials who jumped on the Crosby wagon a decade ago. 

The league is still screwed up, even with the cap. There is def more parity, but having a team currently 11 (looks like 10 now) playoff wins away from a three peat? Three peats haven't happened since the Isles four straight in the early 80's. Chicago winning 3 in 5 years, LA with 2 in 4. 

Yep. Empty netter seals a Pens win. Tie series. lol

[xtrememachine1 795]

53 minutes ago, chaps80 said:

The league is still screwed up, even with the cap. There is def more parity, but having a team currently 11 (looks like 10 now) playoff wins away from a three peat? Three peats haven't happened since the Isles four straight in the early 80's. Chicago winning 3 in 5 years, LA with 2 in 4. 

The cap is kind of the problem.  Because of the cap, you can't really build a team through trades or free agency anymore.  You have to draft well.  Seeing as how the Pens were the worst team in the league for a number of years and acquired several high draft picks going into the cap era, it played out perfectly in their favor.  Chicago experienced success the same way.  Meanwhile, the rest of the league is stuck half way between trying to be competitive and drafting for the future.  You basically need to tank at the right time aka when generational talent like Crosby and Ovechkin come into the league, do that for a few years and then ride that out for 10-15 years.  Edmonton would have had the same success as Pittsburgh except they didn't have good players to choose from until McDavid came along.

[chaps80 1,591]

16 hours ago, xtrememachine1 said:

The cap is kind of the problem.  Because of the cap, you can't really build a team through trades or free agency anymore.  You have to draft well.  Seeing as how the Pens were the worst team in the league for a number of years and acquired several high draft picks going into the cap era, it played out perfectly in their favor.  Chicago experienced success the same way.  Meanwhile, the rest of the league is stuck half way between trying to be competitive and drafting for the future.  You basically need to tank at the right time aka when generational talent like Crosby and Ovechkin come into the league, do that for a few years and then ride that out for 10-15 years.  Edmonton would have had the same success as Pittsburgh except they didn't have good players to choose from until McDavid came along.

This is true. Edmonton could have done something had they loaded up right while McDavid was still on an ELC. They tried, sort of, but it didn't work. Bad signings, bad trades like the Hall one. Missed the playoffs after making it to the semis last season. McDavid's $12 million a year deal kicks in now, wasted opportunity. 

[kylee 727]

Brad Marchand can't stop licking people, and I thought I Couldn't like him any less.