TropicalFruitGirl26

9 minutes ago, Icechipper said:

Any ideas for a color scheme?

Is Mormon brown too dull?  

6 minutes ago, Mad Dog said:

And here we have it.  Torts stays.

 

https://fanrecap.com/confirmed-tortorella-remains-flyers-head-coach-amid-rumors/?utm_source=philadelphia-flyers&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=nhl-mk&fbclid=IwAR3ykchUFgbrbCoS_2v2JQkwVBKXqKc6Q5FnOQpTwnIbDVNVCCMcqgdwVNg_aem_AWQMYj7Z6QsZd0wyNUvwV74WToKEuKJaD7s_qKJU_3R4KCLYXTwzexWXUdoXmssgVpn7uqekqSDOGk-Y07hXIvZT

 

That is a GOOD thing.

I get it.
Torts has a shelf life. Eventually players will tire of his iron hand ways....but that time is not yet here.

This team simply is in NO position to piss n moan about coaching or how tough the rules are, etc.
When they become a galvanized unit....when they become competitive game in, game out...
When they become a team that knows what needs to be done to win games and win series in the playoffs, THEN they earn the right to complain a bit about how the coach might be a bit too 'hands on'.

And it is Torts' job to get them there, as he usually does, and he will obviously need more time to keep pushing these guys in the right direction...or driving guys OUT who don't pack the gear to play on the Flyers in a manner they need to in order to win.

On 4/10/2024 at 9:41 AM, Math said:

Having the Caps sneaking into the playoffs would be a big surprise. Kuemper completely melted down but the emergence of Lindgren and McMichael is huge. If they qualify, Carbery should be in the Jack-Adams discussion. 

I'm not at all a Caps fan, but of that group, I wouldn't mind seeing one of either Detroit or Philadelphia make it in, and Washington.
I honestly think Ovechkin in the playoffs would make for some must see games, and I'd be very interested to see what he can do at this stage of his career when the stage is biggest, and when the lights are brightest.

The fact that he and his team, should they get in, would likely be playing two Stanley Cup hopefuls in either the Rangers or Hurricanes, and that adds more intrigue.
And Lindgren in net bears a good watch as well!

Penguins had things go their way for 40 minutes, lead 4-1, but the Bolts come storming back (pun intended!) in the 3rd....three unanswered goals to tie the game at 4.

Stamkos with the equalizer, his second of the game, and for anyone out there thinking he is washed up (including the TB GM!), think again.
That man better get a new contract with the Lightning as he has quite a few more good years left in him!

Let's see if the Lightning can finish this comeback off.

8 minutes left. Should be a wild finish.

Nick Perbix, a decent sized defenseman for the Lightning, and a 6th round selection from their 2017 draft, was supposed to replace the departed Jan Rutta as Victor Hedman's "nondescript but quietly effective" defense partner.

While the guy isn't terrible, why does it always seem like when there is a massive turnover, a bad pinch in, or opposing players left alone in front of goalie, HE is on the ice!?
Also, his shot could use a bit more urgency.

I don't understand....this guy started out really nice, the kind of nice where you go..."hey, he is a decent young defender"....but now seems to be, "oh now...Nick's out there again...."

Maybe that is who he really is and why he was there in the 6th round where the Bolts found him in the draft?
Hmmm...... at just 25 years old, if the Lightning can perhaps package him in with a minor league player to a rebuilding team in need of solid, if unspectacular players, then they should probably do it, as I don't think he will be anywhere near the Bolts' best defenders, and Rutta was better......!!

Bolts look like they are still in brunch mode.

Pittsburgh just looks faster, more determined, and more desperate out there.
They lead 4-1 with a TON of momentum as the 2nd period wind down.

TB now has a PP opportunity.
They best come up with a goal here late in the frame if they want to take some of the spark the Penguins have built up!

Battle of the red hot teams this early afternoon...Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh.

Bolts seem to be getting the better of the physical play as Penguins are being hammered all over the ice.
However, Pittsburgh is ahead where it matters most right now, leading 1-0 on a Sidney Crosby goal that came about from a two on one rush.

TB has no shots on goal yet as I post this, nearly 8 minutes in.....a side effect of them concentrating on the physical play?
Maybe its time they changed course a bit and start putting shots towards Ned in goal for the Birds.....he's GOTTA be getting drowsy right about now...

1 minute ago, Math said:

I've just checked the penalty boxscore of the Devils-Rangers game, it's a very good work.

I don't doubt the Devils are one angry team after that Pittsburgh fiasco....but who in the blazes is left to be on the ice in that Rangers game after that year's worth of major penalties??  

Former Wild player Conor Dewar doing a real good job for the Maple Leafs being a disruptive force on the PK.

TB has one of the best PP units in the league and Dewar is leading the way in making them look pretty pedestrian.
Minnesota sure gonna miss that kind of determined play from him.

Reaves after running over Hedman along the end boards: "How you like that....you can't do that."

Hedman after scoring the opening goal a short while later: "How you like that.... not only can't you do that, but your 5 minutes a game are UP, pal.." 

Lightning and Maple Leafs currently engaged in a game where Toronto is looking to officially secure a playoff berth.
Ryan Reaves has been ultra physical for Toronto so far...interesting to see if TB goes down that rabbit hole with him, or simply play their brand of hockey and beat Toronto on the scoreboard.

I wouldn't mind seeing someone blow up Reaves though....Bolts have some bodies that could certainly do that...

9 hours ago, SaucyJack said:

With recent lackluster results from Philly and Washington, grittiness by Detroit against some good clubs, and some resurgence by others, the pre-playoffs race amongst 5 teams for 2 slots is getting a bit more interesting.

 

Moneypuck as of this morning:

 

 

Hey, I am all for a to-the-wire finish.

Although, this does remind me of the Western Conference some years ago where a bunch of teams (the Minnesota Wild were one of them) had the opportunity to 'grab the ball and run with it'...but NO ONE could seem to get ahold of a good streak, and things ended up with someone 'backing into' the post season as the final seed.

It was fun for Detroit while it lasted.... after that initial fantastic first period, it has been all Florida Panthers and only Alex Lyon's super human saves has kept the Cats off the board...until the 3rd.

Florida takes a 2-1 lead in the final frame, with just 4 and a half to play after putting TONS of shots on Lyon and even more shot attempts, which ended up either blocked or deflected elsewhere.

Florida's Alexander Barkov went off for his team.

But wait...as I finish this, the Wings get a PP on a tripping penalty called on Florida, and lookee there....whatever Florida's captain can do, the Detroit captain can do as well.
Dylan Larkin scores on the PP for the tie score.
Under 4 to play.

Great game!

Early Saturday afternoon, and the Detroit Red Wings are already giving the Florida Panthers all they can handle.

Panthers should be gearing up and fine tuning to make a long playoff run, while Detroit is fighting for their playoff lives, but at the moment, leading 1-0, the Wings look like they might be too much for Florida.

Sure, 60-minute game and all that, but if I am Florida (and based on Paul Maurice's reaction to some of his team's games recently), I try to figure out ways to lock down that defensive zone and be mindful of taking less penalties against ANYONE....because if they play like that in the post season, they will eaten alive by whomever they play!

Alright now...so, what is going on with regards to playoff races around the NHL?

Well for starters, in the East, what looked like would only be one team or the other (one from the Atlantic, one from the Metro) that takes the top spot has now turned into a legit 4 team race for that.
The NY Rangers, the surging Carolina Hurricanes, the Florida Panthers, and the Boston Bruins can all make a run at grabbing the top spot in the East and having home ice throughout.
If ya snooze, ya lose.....so we will see which three teams snooze while the 4th grabs home ice!

Staying in the East, the Leafs looked sorta locked into their third spot position in the Atlantic, meaning, they will visit the loser of the Atlantic division in Round 1 of the playoffs.....so Leafs at Panthers, or Leafs at Bruins is looking likely.

The Flyers in the Metro, meanwhile, aren't as locked in as Toronto and must play their arses off if they want to hold onto the third spot they currently hold.
Teams chasing them, the Washington Capitals, New Jersey Devils, and especially, the NY Islanders, have all hit some skids however.
Doesn't mean The Fly can relax, but it does mean the pressure isn't as great as it was about a week or so ago.

The Lightning seem to have a pretty good hold on the first wild card....they have an outside chance of possibly catching the Leafs, but not likely.
The Detroit Red Wings are trying to hang onto that last WC spot, but they must fend off whatever Metro teams don't catch Philadelphia, but are good enough to catch THEM!
Crazy stuff!

Out West, there is a FANTASTIC three team tumble for the Central Division between Winnipeg, Colorado, and Dallas. Any one of those three can end up with the division lead and host a wild card team, and any three could be second or third and play each other in a perfect display of why the current playoff format is so flawed:
Any meetings between any of the Jets, Stars, or Avs should be reserved for LATER rounds in the playoffs...not Round 1...as a good, deserving team will not make it past the opening stanza and people will say, "Meh...they sucked, they couldn't get past the first round".
Bullshockey!

The Pacific Division sees Vancouver continue to lead and not likely to be caught by Edmonton for the division....and VAN also leads the aforementioned Central teams for the top overall Western slot.
Edmonton likely ends up in 2nd, hosting either the Kings or Knights in Round 1.

The Nashville Predators, meanwhile, have a seeming iron grip on that first wild card with no signs of slowing down.
All WC teams are being pursued by St. Louis, Minnesota, and Calgary as the outside dark horse (VERY dark horse!), but honestly, it doesn't look like any of those three are gonna catch Vegas, LA...and certainly not Nashville.

In that regard, the West teams look like they are set as to who will make it in, only changes being, what positions they finish in, while the East still has teams that need to be decided on who is actually in or out!

Exciting stuff down the stretch!

@IllaZilla
I love canines!
She is a cutie there!

Very sorry for your loss. I know that awful feeling all too well.

Didn't get to watch this game live as I was busy with other things, but did record it and watched it as I am up late tonight:

-- Minnesota had some really, really bad bounces work against them....both in the manner the Kings score at least 4 of their goals, and in the manner in which the puck just would NOT bounce in favor of the Wild when they got their chances.
I mean, those weird bounces, redirect friendly fire, and tips that altered the puck just enough to where Fleury had no shot to make a save seemed the order of the day!

-- Having said that, the Wild also were to blame for this poor performance as they simply allowed too many rushes into their zone, didn't cover properly once the Kings established the offensive zone (seriously...leaving the likes of a Kevin Fiala all alone between the circles is downright bungling at its worst!), and did a terrible job on simple basic clears.

You think the Wild missed the stabilizing presence of one Mr. Jonas Brodin? 
You bet they did!

Maybe the Kings still win the game with Brodin playing for the Wild, but I bet the game would NOT be a 6-0 blowout.
Minnesota looked completely defeated by the second period even though they showed a modicum of pride and fight in the 3rd, but by then of course, things were academic and the Kings simply were happy to keep Minnesota at bay while they collected the 2 pts and the win.

Do the Wild "burn the tape" so to speak of this game, as it is sometimes suggested teams do when they crap the bed in a game?
Well, yes and no.
I mean, there are portions of the game where I think if the Wild players see it on video, they could see just how disjointed they were and what happens when you leave snipers unmolested......if they can see that, be embarrassed by that, and work to not let that happen again, then something could be gained from this horrid loss.

The rest?
A collection of good bounces for the Kings, bad bounces for the Wild.....enabled by the aforementioned poor play by Minnesota.....yea, just trash the rest.

Back to St. Paul, start prep for the St. Louis Blues, FFS....

22 minutes ago, Icechipper said:

Are teams targeting Brodin and Spurgeon? Crosschecks hard on hips, knees and shoulders.

I haven't seen any hard evidence that teams are particularly going after those players with intent to injure, although I can see how it can be viewed that way.

I think we all know Jared was a sponge for punishment, given his size and the position he plays on the team.
As you know, most D-men expect to get smashed in corners, they brace for it, try to avoid it of course, if possible, but it is usually inevitable.
Spurge isn't particularly big, so throughout his career just more susceptible, IMO, to the grueling position he plays.

Brodin?
Hmm...for years he was always that 'quiet guy' no one really noticed.
But now he has come more to the forefront as the Wild's BEST defensive defenseman, and maybe, just maybe, because of that, teams go at him a bit harder, like they would, say...ohhh, I dunno...a Drew Doughty in LA, an Mikhail Sergachev in TB, or an Esa Lindell in Dallas....guys that teams know, if you slow them down, you slow down that team's ability to defend at their best.

Still don't think teams are intentionally trying to injure Brodin, but he definitely is on more teams' radars in recent seasons, and he suffers the side effects more now of being higher profile in the Wild's defensive scheme.

That fall and leg bend he took against Anaheim after that hit was just plain nasty though.....

We see this time and time again with these former enforcer types....doesn't bode well for a young guy like the current 'hockey monster', Matt Rempe.

I feel bad for that young man because it seems all people care about him is his ability to do what guys like Simon and others did beforehand...not seemingly giving a damned about his hockey ability....and, to keep his place in the NHL, Rempe now has to continue to take the punishment until he no longer can...in which case, no one will give a crap about him after that.

Chris Simon is a good example of an old school type of player who could possibly make it in today's NHL (minus some of the 'too much' stuff he pulled on and off the ice and between whistles), because he could actually play the game a bit and would be a perfect fit for some team's bottom six, or maybe even as a space maker on a top six role, in 2024.

Those close to Rempe should take heed, counsel him properly, and encourage him to try to play more, fight less, although I understand that is part of his NHL DNA.
Otherwise, he could be yet another Boogaard, Rypien, or Simon in the making.

Jonas Brodin down with injury....means the main component of stability on that blue line will not be available, possibly, for the remainder of the season, pending what is found.

Jonas Brodin To Have MRI, Avoided ACL Injury (prohockeyrumors.com)

I suppose the good news is, according to that link, is he doesn't have an ACL tear which could have repercussions beyond this season, but still, it isn't sounding very good for him to finish out this season.

And frankly, given the state the Wild are in and their less than likely chance to make the post season, I would actually be on board to 'shut him down' for the rest of the season, get him patched up, rehabbed, whatever needs to be done, so he is fresh and strong for next season and not have whatever lingering injury nagging him for the next few years.

Likely means Goligoski will once again have to lace them up (put down that popcorn tray, Gogs, you are needed now), but perhaps if the Wild really do look like they are slipping away from the wild card spot, with the few remaining games, we may see callups en masse to see what they can do.

Big loss in Brodin, but at this point, I care more about his health than the Wild's playoff chances as he should continue to be a big part of this team moving onward.

3 hours ago, Icechipper said:

 Wild sign Rasmus Kumpulainen of Finland. He's 18, 6-1, 200 lbs.

Wild looked around the league....saw lots of teams had a 'Rasmus'....went out and got their own. 

Well well now...
Big win indeed!

Don't look now, but these Sabres are just 3 pts out of the final wild card spot....with the Islanders, Captials, and Wings ahead of them...and NEITHER of those teams being a lock for anything!

Definitely could be an interesting stretch of games for Buffalo as the season winds down!

Very possible the Panthers could be in the Finals again.
I've always maintained that last year's run shouldn't have been viewed as 'lucky', or that the team had a Cinderella run, as most people tend to think.

Panthers underachieved last season, then finally got their act together for the playoffs and it took them to the Finals.
This season's team, IMO, is even better than last year's, and they have been playing during the regular season like they should.
Of course, that doesn't guarantee success in the playoffs, but right now, hard to bet against them going far or even winning it all.

As for Bettman's "nightmare"...yea, yea...I get it...ratings, non traditional market, and the attendance at Panther games is very, very underwhelming, but the team making it to the Finals should never, ever be viewed as a worst case scenario.
Bettman wanted a team in Broward County, he gets a team in Broward County....same with the desert in Arizona, Music City, TN, and the Carolinas, and anywhere else some people think a team shouldn't be due to being non traditional markets.

Since the teams ARE there....why would the commissioner's office not want success for them?
Why continue the arse backwards, archaic thinking of the old ways of just northern cities or popular cities, or original six cities and other such similar nonsense?
I could care less if the Panthers get disappointed again and lose in the playoffs.....because, of course, they are a division rival of my team.
And I could say the same about the Bruins and Leafs in the East....and the Avalanche, Stars, and Blues in the West.
But even if I don't care for the team, if they are good enough to get to the Finals, then they deserve respect, promotion, and acknowledgement for doing so, just as much as if it were the Blackhawks, Red Wings, Penguins, or Leafs doing the same.

All teams in every city currently should be counted on to be just as important as the other.
And if they aren't (like some mentioned), then the commish needs to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

Other than that, tough chit for the media and fans who think certain teams shouldn't be in the Finals due to some outdated reason.
Some complain about the league as a whole not getting the same amount of respect as some other leagues like the MLB and especially the NFL.

Well, it is backwards thinking that keeps the NHL as the infamous 'red headed stepchild'....and that will only change when the league treats, pushes, and promotes all their teams the same...regardless of how the team actually performs, or how well their merch sells.... ala the NFL, who, in the interest of business, will have you believe that the NY Jets at the Arizona Cardinals is MUST SEE TV....even if both teams are terribly unexciting and have long histories of crappy seasons.
And people eat it up.

NHL should take notes....... just sayin....

The Canucks may have had some puck luck this season...hell, they are having some in this game against WPG...but they are also pretty damned good too!

Some in the media questioned why they "stood pat" on deadline day....well, why mess with a winning formula?
Besides....they already got their guys (Lindholm and Monahan) well before the deadline, and even signed Pettersson to a new contract to keep him happy and on board.

They really didn't need to do much at the deadline.

If the 'Nucks fail in the postseason, then the front office can examine what needs to be fixed then....but right now, they are doing pretty well.

And leading the J-e-t-s, Jets, Jets, Jets 3-0 at the end of 1.