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2021-22 Stanley Cup Finals: Tampa Bay Lightning (Wales Champion) at Colorado Avalanche (Campbell Champion) - (COL WINS 4-2)


TBL vs COL  

17 members have voted

  1. 1. Stanley Cup Champion: Beast of the East or Best of the West?

    • 1-- Bolts in 4. Defending Champs blow the hype right the hell up and disappoint many Western fans, and irritate odds makers!
    • 2-- Bolts in 5. Series doesn't quite live up to the hype as TB makes short work of the Avs, only giving up one game due to Bolts' team bus running late...
      0
    • 3-- Bolts in 6. Great series that sees a bit of everything, but the Lightning still show why they have been the best for the last three seasons...and why the Avs still need a bit more work.
    • 4-- Bolts in 7. Fantastic set that truly shows hockey can be a game of inches....and rulers and yardsticks favor the defending Champions who make it 3 in a row!
    • 5-- Avs in 4. Predators, Oilers....Lightning. Makes no difference to the powerful, hungry Avalanche. They sweep. New Champs.
      0
    • 6-- Avs in 5. TB tries but finally finds a team that matches and exceeds them at every turn. Vasy steals a game, but that's it.
      0
    • 7-- Avs in 6. Colorado grows by leaps n bounds even during this series, and dethrones the defending champions on their own ice!
    • 8-- Avs in 7. Epic set. New Champs crowned. Old Champs fall just shy of historical greatness. And all in front of the Denver home crowd!

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34 minutes ago, FireDillabaugh said:

If you're able to see tonight's episode of ESPN's The Point, or have access to ESPN+ and their replays, the interview of Stamkos by Emily Kaplan was very good.  Yeah, I know...Kaplan...  Lol.  But it was Stamkos that made it very good.  Spoken from the heart.  From a guy who might be playing his best hockey of his career right now.

 

I'll find that and have a listen, thanks.

Stammer is ALWAYS a good interview.
He is a mix of 'cookie cutter' answers with frankness and soul when he speaks....and he knows when to use each kind of answer to the appropriate forums.

Since his "score a bunch of goals only" period to today, he has taken the time, sometimes at the cost of people labeling him as 'washed up', to truly become a complete hockey player.
I count him as a very good 200 ft player and plays very well without the puck as he does with it.

He backchecks, he eliminates guys along the boards whenever possible, he inserts himself in scrums, BUT, he usually does it as peacemaker, although if he gets hot, doesn't mind getting his hands dirty.

He knows how to work officials, seems to have the full respect of the roster, coaching staff, FO and ownership, and is very good at deflecting criticism towards himself if it means giving a teammate some breathing room.

I have always been a big, big Vinnie Lecavalier fan, and I liked Dave Andreychuk as Captain as well, but Stamkos IMO, eclipses those two in all categories as the team's on-ice leader.

Hopefully, he can put the team on his back a bit to get through the injury bug here to continue to fight off a damned good Avalanche team tonight!

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Nice quick start by the Lightning.
Good to see Anthony Cirelli, primarily in a shut down role these playoffs, get a goal to put TB up 1-0.

Key here was the Bolts blitzing the Colorado defense and not giving Darcy ANY time to check the personal columns in the St. Pete Times....

Let's see how long TB can keep doing it before the Avs break out, but so far, they have defenders right in the jock straps of Colorado players.

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Pretty impressed with that Alex Newhook from the Avs. Well, he IS a first round selection so he SHOULD be impressive.

Good 33 pt rookie season, protects the puck very well, competes hard along the boards for a guy who isn't that big, and of course, showcases the kind of speed Colorado is known for.

Wouldn't surprise me if Newhook in about another season or two is mentioned right up there with the likes of MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Landeskog as ever present threats on the Avs.

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Hah!
Atta girl, Emily....go troll Coach Bednar some.

Emily: "What restrictions does Kadri have?"
Bednar: "What? Repeat question.."
Emily: "What restrictions does Kadri have?"
Bednar:"None"
Emily: "None??"
Bednar: "None"
Emily: "100%??"
Bednar: "He doesn't have anything"  (as he smirks...and Emily thanks him and slinks away!) 😆

Good stuff!

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4 minutes ago, FireDillabaugh said:

Huge save by Kuemper on Nash.  Not an interference by Helm.  Poor call there.  But, not surprised.  The league wants a 2-2 series.

 

Yep. Not interference.
A crosscheck...and pinned him to the ice...in the slot area.
That gets called every time.

No ref conspiracies there.

Cirelli get tripped, hooked down after the PP was over, no call there either.

I can live with that.

Hopefully the officials are consistent and don't call something outrageous that decides the game.

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5 minutes ago, FireDillabaugh said:

He looks much better on his skates tonight.  Still think there's some kind of lower body injury there that's been keeping him from being the player he usually is.  Just hasn't looked himself very much, until tonight.  If he's starting to get healthy, it's definitely bad news for the Avs.

 

Wouldn't surprise me if Hedman is banged up either.
Wouldn't be the first time he has had to play through something that wasn't revealed until after the playoffs.

Fortunately for the Lightning, a 75% Hedman is still better than many 100% defensemen in the league.

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I think one very underrated aspect of the Colorado Avalanche are their stick handling and hand-eye co-ordination...as a TEAM.

I mean, almost to a man, they can be counted on to flag down pucks and navigate through traffic making plays and keep-ins that really shouldn't be possible on a consistent basis.

They can fly, they can score.....everybody knows that, but not many point out the team dexterity these guys have. And I believe that is what really makes them more dangerous as that inflates their other areas of offense to a lethal degree.

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13 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

one very underrated aspect of the Colorado Avalanche are their stick handling and hand-eye co-ordination...as a TEAM.


When Tampa Bay had power plays late in the 2nd period (when I tuned in late) it seemed the Avs gave them lots of space.  But as much as the Bolts passed the biscuit around, a Colorado stick check would inevitably thwart the creation of a dangerous chance.

 

I don’t particularly like that style of PK though; Bolts will burn through that eventually given so much space.

 

I don’t know about the League’s desires, but here in USA I am sure that ABC television network is happy to see a close contest after games 2 & 3.

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Just now, SaucyJack said:


When Tampa Bay had power plays late in the 2nd period (when I tuned in late) it seemed the Avs gave them lots of space.  But as much as the Bolts passed the biscuit around, a Colorado stick check would inevitably thwart the creation of a dangerous chance.

 

I don’t particularly like that style of PK though; Bolts will burn through that eventually given so much space.

 

I don’t know about the League’s desires, but here in USA I am sure that ABC television network is happy to see a close contest after games 2 & 3.

 

Spot on with the Colorado PK observation. That is the sort of thing I was talking about.

And the keep-ins too. Wide open spot to clear a puck for TB, and suddenly an Avs stick or player is there to reclaim the puck INSIDE the zone and on they continue with the zone pressure. It really is uncanny.

As for the networks...screw them.
If the series is close, that is good for us fans and the sport in general.
I've long stopped giving a crap what any of these networks "want" or "like".
They have enough say in what goes on as it is with regards to times and dates....and then on top of that, oftentimes put half arsed announcers in charge of the action.

Close series, sure.
But for the fans and the sport, not the networks.

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Who is this play by play guy on ABC anyways?

I think I will start calling him Captain Obv....no wait, I will promote him... COLONEL Obvious.

"Cirelli down, he may be injured"
"Again, this crowd quiet, after a Colorado goal"

And a few others I am missing now.
Jeebus, not sure what I would do without that kind of insight.
Thank you, ABC, for holding my poor frail hands through this complex sport known as ice hockey. :ph34r: 

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3 minutes ago, FD19372 said:

Sturm ties it up for the Avs, 5 on 5

If this were a game of “horse” it would still be 2-1.  (Didn’t call that deflection off of his teammate. 😁)

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