Puck_Pun

"Skunked"? Does he smell?

Congratulations to the Habs for winning the *checks notes* Western conference championship? That can't be right.

what

Hoo boy this was quite the game. What was with people throwing stuff on the ice at the end? Even the commentators were confused by it. Typical NY nonsense? Shutterbug wasn't impressed Any news on Coochie? After leaving in the first there was no real news as to his condition. I guess they'll put out a press release at some point On the game itself, TB had opportunities but didn't quite land them. I'll echo the general sentiment above, this was more a TB loss than a NY win. I'm really looking forwards to game seven, this will be very interesting- either TB will rally and smash them like in game 5 or it'll be a close one. For the sake of my entertainment I'm hoping for the latter

Hmm well this series is getting fun, huh? Habs continue to frustrate Vegas' offence and make the most of the opportunities they have. It's amazing we're in a situation where it's possible the Habs will make the finals. And then lose... right?

Well that was brutal. TB just kept pressing and NY simply collapsed, giving TB their best playoff margin. I was impressed with TB's special teams- PP was effective and the PK was aggressive, limiting shot opportunities. Everything went right for them this game, and it showed in the score

Also, are we sure Toronto's home ground isn't on a burial ground of some sort?

Certainly a stolen game, Vegas were the better team but with a couple of lapses that cost them dearly. Fleury had a bad day at the office, especially with that one misplay of the puck. Looking forward to game 4

They started strong but eesh after that first penalty Vegas just dominated. I wasn't expecting a habs win but I'd prefer it to be a little less one sided

A representative sample, or proof positive twitter users are insufferable wankers?

This is a matchup I didn't see coming at the beginning of all this, but here we are. This will be fascinating to see happen

Yes and no. What makes a good team is a lot of parts working together well- a coaching team (don't ignore the other coaches!) with a good game plan, a leadership core, good defence, depth to last the distance and be able to respond to what other teams are doing, and lastly a winning culture. These all work together and being hyper fixated on any one to the detriment of the others will only be a short term salve. It's the good GMs who manage to keep an eye on the big picture and understand how changing individual parts influence the whole. So a coach can walk into a team that has been under utilised for various reasons, or work with the GM to work out where things need to change, but of course as you said, they're not miracle workers. I don't think even the best coach in the world could have coached the sharks into the play-offs this season considering their ageing core, to give an example. A good coach is an important part of the mix, but one that still needs to work with the other parts.

Heh, I was just going to post that one

I've said before that the format this year was got garbage and I stand by it. Just as in the 'are you cheering for the leafs' thread I said that the leafs doing well in the regular season means little when it comes to playing in what is an on the whole weak division. That said... man, the Canadiens doing well should *still* be considered one of those weird things that happen in the play-offs. Favourites to win the cup sometimes end up getting swept in round one, and dark horses sometimes surprise people. I don't see them getting past round three... however I thought the same about their chances against the jets.

Lottery has been done, here's the top picks

And when he got back he was baited with taunts of "Collar McBroken" But yeah, he's a true natural talent. It would be good if he did eventually hold the cup

I heard about this in a sharks group with the members split on whether he'd be a good idea to bring to SJ. Honestly I'd be open to it, he'll be an improvement. Hell, a copy of Football: it's a Funny Old Game would be a step up

What exactly does the President of a hockey club do?

Ehh, most sports "journalism" is hot garbage at best and is designed to make the local population feel good and smart. Of course the commentators in every city outside Vegas would predict the team would be middling.