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12 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:


And double also.... Will Drew Doughty keep his mouth shut about what other players are thinking or doing and just focus on keeping his team going in the post season? Or will he Twitter or Instagram his team out of everything, leaving Edmonton with the last laugh (and MAYBE a meeting with fellow Albertans, the Flames) in Round 2?

We will see....

 

 

Unless something changes, it was announced that Doughty is done for the rest of the year, after having wrist surgery.

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4 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

 

 

 

Unless something changes, it was announced that Doughty is done for the rest of the year, after having wrist surgery.

 

I thought he might of still been out, but, ehhh, just ran with "Doughty is in".

I wonder if the Kings can simply do without him anyways? 🤔

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The Stars just needed one point to get the berth and they managed to lose 4-3 in OT against the dreadful Coyotes at home after leading by three after two periods. Sweet & Sour has a better taste wherever you go.

 

The most pathetic playoff qualification for decades? Maybe. And the Stars made everything to fail.

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7 hours ago, Math said:

The Stars just needed one point to get the berth and they managed to lose 4-3 in OT against the dreadful Coyotes at home after leading by three after two periods. Sweet & Sour has a better taste wherever you go.

 

The most pathetic playoff qualification for decades? Maybe. And the Stars made everything to fail.

 

Not a fan of "backing in", eh? 😄

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5 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

Not a fan of "backing in", eh? 😄

 

Yeah, I mean I understand that the goal is achieved and that sometimes **** happens when you shoot yourself in the foot but that was a constant pattern in this team throughout the whole season and I'm wondering if it's not part of the franchise's culture.

 

And Bowness' presser was not surprising but still baffling in the way he has to systematically put all the dirt under the rug and claiming that everything's allright in the best of the world. I know you have to give answers but he's really taking all his interlocutors as happy jackasses. He's still stuck between 1988 and 1995 and his overall winning record over five decades speaks for itself.

 

Tragically, the Stars can still be a pain in the ass for either Colorado or Calgary...

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9 hours ago, Math said:

the dreadful Coyotes

They are finishing well in their final week, though.  Played fairly well last Friday against the Caps.  OT home loss to Blues, then road warriors against Wild and Stars.  All playoff squads.  
 

🏌️‍The ‘yotes clearly want to feel good this Saturday come tee time ⛳️ 

Edited by SaucyJack
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Yeah... 8-1 for Montréal against the NHL #1 team and the second period is still not over. I guess the Presidents' trophy winner ECHL version is very concerned for its last game against the League's worst squad.

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5 minutes ago, FireDillabaugh said:

With Johansson in net.  You didn't seriously expect Florida to show up for the game, did you?

 

Of course not. But at least I was expecting the Panthers to show the bare minimum, like a 4-2 win for instance.

 

But hey, now Habs folks are convinced they are a top contender for th next season.

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Give it up one more time for those Arizona Coyotes.  Can Dallas Stars fans believe that they’ve avoided the Avs first round after Nashville went up 4-0 quickly and still led 4-1 with 6 minutes left in the 2nd period?  All Nashville needed was to go OT at the very worst but they lose it in a 5-4 shocker.

 

Of course, perhaps Dallas simply fell out of the snow bank and into a fire 🔥 flame.

 

What a way for the locals to say goodbye to their arena…known in part to perhaps the most incredible goal ever scored, in 2006, by one young Alexander Ovechkin, that left Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky mouth agape watching the replay.

 

COYOTES !  Ultimate spoilers to end the season!

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17 hours ago, SaucyJack said:

Can Dallas Stars fans believe that they’ve avoided the Avs first round after Nashville went up 4-0 quickly and still led 4-1 with 6 minutes left in the 2nd period?

 

Well I went to bed after Nashville's fourth goal after seven minutes.

 

Then I woke up this morning and I fell on a Coyotes' pic with a big "5-4" on top of it. I thought it was a fake. Then I looked on the NHL website, I thought it had been hacked by some russian spies. Then I watched the highlights and I thought this was a whole set up. Then I realized I was awake.

 

It would've taken the Avs because we would have more chances to push a game #5. Gaudreau & co. with Markström are scaring the **** out of me.

 

Edited by Math
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Ok, now.
Haven't posted any random anything for quite a while, and much has happened since I last did.
So, let's see where we are and at what capacity my brain ISN'T functioning ;) :

"Nice Offense... But What About the Defense?"

Yea, seems a few teams are going out of their way to stack their offenses in their attempts at winning the next Stanley Cup, but seemingly, are skimping on the defense.
Hey, I get it: Score more than the other guy and you win. But in the playoffs, I think we all know it is much more than scoring goals. In fact, it is the other teams' missions to shut down whatever any given team has going offensively, if they can of course, but the better teams, well, CAN!

Florida and New Jersey come to mind right away as team that look, at least on paper, like they could run through everybody by lighting up the scoreboard.
But upon closer inspection of their rosters, the defensive units, as a whole, look very suspect....

It's almost as if they are following the Toronto blueprint for success! High end offense, don't worry so much about the defense and then....oh wait, nevermind, bad example :ph34r: 

 

"Stealthy Good....Sneak Up On You. Like a Ninja"
Some teams may be better than people think this coming season. They made no splashy moves, got little fanfare for, well, just about nothing, and some even had people question their franchise's direction (understandably).....yet why do I get the sneaking feeling some of these teams will either be a playoff team or be in contention for a playoff spot?

The Islanders in the East are one such team. They had LOTS of players woefully underperform last season, they had that crazy nomadic schedule that took up a good chunk of their season, and I REALLY like the addition of Alex Romanov to their blueline.

I think people have forgotten all about the Isles in the Metro as they talk about the Rangers, the Canes, even the aforementioned Devils, and then you have teams like Pittsburgh and Washington still looking to get more mileage out of their aging cores.

But the Isles, like the ninja, and even without Barry Trotz (in fact, the Isles could be more deadly offensively now), may sneak up on more than just a few people and be right in the playoff mix....DESPITE having Zach Parise and Kyle Palmieri do their best to hamper the team!  :shifty:

The Blue Jackets may be another one.
Sure, they made the big deal getting Johnny Hockey over, but honestly....how many fans think Gaudreau will 'whither on the vine' in Columbus? And Patrik Laine will continue to just plug along unspectacularly? Probably lots.

But both Gaudreau and Laine could turn out to be one of the biggest one-two punches on a top line since, I dunno...Kane-Toews? The Sedins? Selanne-Kariya? Renberg-LeClair?
Yes, yes, pretty lofty, but it COULD happen!
The Jackets played pretty well many nights but missed the playoffs last season, perhaps the addition of Senor Hockey and a revitalized Laine is what they need to put them over the hump.

Plus they added the nastiness of Erik Gudbranson to the blue line who doesn't have to do much more than just be a menace, as the overall Columbus defense is pretty decent already, if unheralded.

 

Out West, I nominate one of the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, or Vancouver Canucks as teams who may do better than people realize.
The Wild, on paper, look so very ordinary, it isn't even funny. Heavily cap strapped (funny, not only is Zach Parise hampering the Islanders, he continues to hamper the Wild as well! Pretty impressive on his part), and working with some budget contracts, with many of their guys playing over their heads last season, likely to regress, and probably having to work in some very green talent from the AHL, it is understandable that some may think this is more or less a throw away season for Minnesota.

But don't tell that locker room that. Pride can take you a long way...even eclipsing talent sometimes, and I think those boys in Minnesota have a lot of pride, lots of drive, and the kind of "eff everyone else" about them, that they may stick their noses in playoff contention where they have no business being.

Nashville's addition of Ryan McDonagh could help take the heat off Roman Josi and other guys like Tanner Jeannot, Cody Glass, and Eeli Tolvanen could continue to make strides and further compliment the core of Forsberg, Granlund, Johanson, Duchene up front.

Also added to the Preds were Zach Sanford and Nino Niederreiter for some extra special checking fun!
In fact, the Preds could re-create two third of one of the GREATESTE Wild lines every by having Nino and Granlund on the same line!
Too much? Ok, sorry bout that.....

Vancouver played VERY well for Bruce Boudreau last season. They were ultimately done in a poor start under Travis Green prior to that and the fact that their defense, and overall team toughness were about as sturdy as store brand single ply toilet paper.

Not so sure they really addressed the 'soft' issue, but they did add Travis Dermott to the back end, Andrei Kuzmenko and Curtis Lazar to the forward units, and Brock Boeser, underperforming worse than any NY Islander player (ok, ok, he was sidelined much of the season with rib issues, but still), and given a whole season with Bruce behind the bench, and these guys could turn out to be players in the Pacific for a post season spot.....even if the overall team outside of Luke Schenn and JT Miller are softer than a load of laundry dosed with fresh Downey....

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"I Tank, You Tank, We ALL Tank, And Give Our Regards to Connor Bedard"

No one will admit to doing so, but cmon now....more than a few teams look like they are already putting out the least competitive players they can on the ice in order to try and be a lottery pick team, hoping beyond all hope, that Uncle Gary likes them enough to grant them the Numba Wan overall pick, which should be Connor Bedard.

The Flyers have made some inexplicable moves to be a "contender" (Ok, ok....it's Chuck in Charge and he can do 'inexplicable' without even trying), the Winnipeg Jets have done absolutely NOTHING with their lineup, and may, in fact, still trade off some big name players, the Montreal Canadiens will just be awful, even though they may NOT be trying to be that, Arizona is Arizona, they can add to their dozen first rounders they have already, and the Chicago Blackhawks have been the most boldfaced about it and selling off everything that isn't nailed down (and they aren't done yet people!) in order to ice the very best ECHL team they possibly can!

All that may smack NHL Parity right in the face, as some of those teams may simply NOT be fun to watch as they fumble, bumble, bungle, and fogle their way the Bedard sweepstakes.

Only one will get it....the rest will look like dunces after going through all that trouble only to end up picking second or third overall....then ending up with a bust pick. :bigteeth: 

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Not that surprising. His agent thinks he's the next Vasilevsky while he may be the next Carter Hart...

 

With Robertson probably getting his longterm deal around $8.5M AAV, this lets around $3M in cap space to re-sign Öttinger. At that point, there's no other option than bridging him and let him the next 2 to 3 years to prove he's the first option. However, the Stars' plan is quite blurry. They let Klingberg go, then signed Marchment at $4M AAV and piling up third-pair Dmen dudes knowing that both Robertson and Öttinger were RFAs. And again, the Suter signing looks even worse right now, both on and off the ice.

 

 

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On 8/4/2022 at 1:50 PM, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Ok, now.
Haven't posted any random anything for quite a while, and much has happened since I last did.
So, let's see where we are and at what capacity my brain ISN'T functioning ;) :

"Nice Offense... But What About the Defense?"

Yea, seems a few teams are going out of their way to stack their offenses in their attempts at winning the next Stanley Cup, but seemingly, are skimping on the defense.
Hey, I get it: Score more than the other guy and you win. But in the playoffs, I think we all know it is much more than scoring goals. In fact, it is the other teams' missions to shut down whatever any given team has going offensively, if they can of course, but the better teams, well, CAN!

Florida and New Jersey come to mind right away as team that look, at least on paper, like they could run through everybody by lighting up the scoreboard.
But upon closer inspection of their rosters, the defensive units, as a whole, look very suspect....

It's almost as if they are following the Toronto blueprint for success! High end offense, don't worry so much about the defense and then....oh wait, nevermind, bad example :ph34r: 

 

"Stealthy Good....Sneak Up On You. Like a Ninja"
Some teams may be better than people think this coming season. They made no splashy moves, got little fanfare for, well, just about nothing, and some even had people question their franchise's direction (understandably).....yet why do I get the sneaking feeling some of these teams will either be a playoff team or be in contention for a playoff spot?

The Islanders in the East are one such team. They had LOTS of players woefully underperform last season, they had that crazy nomadic schedule that took up a good chunk of their season, and I REALLY like the addition of Alex Romanov to their blueline.

I think people have forgotten all about the Isles in the Metro as they talk about the Rangers, the Canes, even the aforementioned Devils, and then you have teams like Pittsburgh and Washington still looking to get more mileage out of their aging cores.

But the Isles, like the ninja, and even without Barry Trotz (in fact, the Isles could be more deadly offensively now), may sneak up on more than just a few people and be right in the playoff mix....DESPITE having Zach Parise and Kyle Palmieri do their best to hamper the team!  :shifty:

The Blue Jackets may be another one.
Sure, they made the big deal getting Johnny Hockey over, but honestly....how many fans think Gaudreau will 'whither on the vine' in Columbus? And Patrik Laine will continue to just plug along unspectacularly? Probably lots.

But both Gaudreau and Laine could turn out to be one of the biggest one-two punches on a top line since, I dunno...Kane-Toews? The Sedins? Selanne-Kariya? Renberg-LeClair?
Yes, yes, pretty lofty, but it COULD happen!
The Jackets played pretty well many nights but missed the playoffs last season, perhaps the addition of Senor Hockey and a revitalized Laine is what they need to put them over the hump.

Plus they added the nastiness of Erik Gudbranson to the blue line who doesn't have to do much more than just be a menace, as the overall Columbus defense is pretty decent already, if unheralded.

 

Out West, I nominate one of the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, or Vancouver Canucks as teams who may do better than people realize.
The Wild, on paper, look so very ordinary, it isn't even funny. Heavily cap strapped (funny, not only is Zach Parise hampering the Islanders, he continues to hamper the Wild as well! Pretty impressive on his part), and working with some budget contracts, with many of their guys playing over their heads last season, likely to regress, and probably having to work in some very green talent from the AHL, it is understandable that some may think this is more or less a throw away season for Minnesota.

But don't tell that locker room that. Pride can take you a long way...even eclipsing talent sometimes, and I think those boys in Minnesota have a lot of pride, lots of drive, and the kind of "eff everyone else" about them, that they may stick their noses in playoff contention where they have no business being.

Nashville's addition of Ryan McDonagh could help take the heat off Roman Josi and other guys like Tanner Jeannot, Cody Glass, and Eeli Tolvanen could continue to make strides and further compliment the core of Forsberg, Granlund, Johanson, Duchene up front.

Also added to the Preds were Zach Sanford and Nino Niederreiter for some extra special checking fun!
In fact, the Preds could re-create two third of one of the GREATESTE Wild lines every by having Nino and Granlund on the same line!
Too much? Ok, sorry bout that.....

Vancouver played VERY well for Bruce Boudreau last season. They were ultimately done in a poor start under Travis Green prior to that and the fact that their defense, and overall team toughness were about as sturdy as store brand single ply toilet paper.

Not so sure they really addressed the 'soft' issue, but they did add Travis Dermott to the back end, Andrei Kuzmenko and Curtis Lazar to the forward units, and Brock Boeser, underperforming worse than any NY Islander player (ok, ok, he was sidelined much of the season with rib issues, but still), and given a whole season with Bruce behind the bench, and these guys could turn out to be players in the Pacific for a post season spot.....even if the overall team outside of Luke Schenn and JT Miller are softer than a load of laundry dosed with fresh Downey....

Totally agree about Columbus and Vancouver...Gaudreau will help Laine for sure because that's what Gaudreau does he makes others better so maybe they won't be the next whatever but they should at the very least have earned to be the next 1st line and 1st power play line too for the entire season.

 

As for Gudbranson...too many teams overlook real toughness and leadership such as what Lucic and Gudbrandson bring to teams...I think Columbus fleeced Calgary twice in row and having more real toughness will benefit Gaudreau and others...I'm thinking Columbus at least makes the playoffs this year and they'll probably make more moves now too that they have Gaudreau...

 

Florida will surely improve their defence somehow since teams with players like Gaudreau and Tkachuk are always within their playoff window.

 

Vancouver will improve again this year because coaches like Boudreau and Sutter have that effect on teams just steady improving year after year.

 

I think Minnesota and the Islanders will continue to be playoff teams but still won't be able to get very far post season. New Jersey will make moves to improve but still won't be enough to make playoffs yet since the East is so tough...

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On 8/4/2022 at 12:50 PM, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

The Blue Jackets may be another one.
Sure, they made the big deal getting Johnny Hockey over, but honestly....how many fans think Gaudreau will 'whither on the vine' in Columbus? And Patrik Laine will continue to just plug along unspectacularly? Probably lots.

But both Gaudreau and Laine could turn out to be one of the biggest one-two punches on a top line since, I dunno...Kane-Toews? The Sedins? Selanne-Kariya? Renberg-LeClair?
Yes, yes, pretty lofty, but it COULD happen!
The Jackets played pretty well many nights but missed the playoffs last season, perhaps the addition of Senor Hockey and a revitalized Laine is what they need to put them over the hump.

 


Plus they added the nastiness of Erik Gudbranson to the blue line who doesn't have to do much more than just be a menace, as the overall Columbus defense is pretty decent already, if unheralded.

 

 

-I think that Columbus' blue line looks incredibly "meh" after Zach Werenski.

-Jarmo Kekelainen is a very good GM, imo, but unless Johnny Gaudreau insisted on bringing Erik Gudbranson as a package deal, then I don't know what he was thinking. That's instantly regrettable term and AAV for a big depth defenseman who's injured a lot, is scored on a lot, and who will be entering the decline phase of his career. If Columbus thinks they've found their hard-matchup guy who can take a lot of defensive zone starts, they're in for a rough ride.

 

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13 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

 

-I think that Columbus' blue line looks incredibly "meh" after Zach Werenski.

-Jarmo Kekelainen is a very good GM, imo, but unless Johnny Gaudreau insisted on bringing Erik Gudbranson as a package deal, then I don't know what he was thinking. That's instantly regrettable term and AAV for a big depth defenseman who's injured a lot, is scored on a lot, and who will be entering the decline phase of his career. If Columbus thinks they've found their hard-matchup guy who can take a lot of defensive zone starts, they're in for a rough ride.

 

At the very least when not injured Gudbrandson will protect Johnny Hockey...besides Lucic and Reaves and Chara Gudbrandson can hold his own and best the rest of the contenders...I'm sure Columbus isn't done trading either too...

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