The NHL Thread

So...NHL's been hit so hard by COVID they're pulling out of the Olympics in Beijing and are taking an early Christmas break starting today, to resume Monday.

So it goes.

The Kraken are playing like a typical expansion team (i.e., not Vegas), but one of their fans saved the life of a Canucks employee: https://www.nhl.com/kraken/news/seattle-kraken-fan-nadia-popovici-profile-canucks-red-hamilton/c-329389720

Sens owner Eugene Melnyk has died at 62 from an unspecified illness. https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/33619056/ottawa-senators-owner-eugene-melnyk-62-dies-illness

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Guy Lafleur also died on April 22. Age 70, lung cancer.

Edited by megarockman on Apr 28th 2022 at 12:05:31 PM

OK, moving on from sad news (unless you're the Vegas Golden Knights, who will miss the playoffs for the first time in their 5 years of existence), all 16 teams in this year's playoffs are set. Exact positions are still TBD pending games tonight and tomorrow, but we know thus:

Eastern
Atlantic
1) Florida Panthers vs. WC-2) Washington Capitals/Pittsburgh Penguins (Pens are 1 pt up but Caps have an extra game left)
2) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. 3) Tampa Bay Lightning/Boston Bruins (Lightning 3 pts up, each have two games left)

Metropolitan
1) Carolina Hurricanes vs. WC-1) Boston/Tampa Bay
2) New York Rangers vs. 3) Pittsburgh/Washington

Western
Central
1) Colorado Avalanche vs. WC-2) Dallas Stars/Nashville Predators (Stars are up 1 pt but Preds have one extra game and have clinched regulation wins tiebreak 35-30)
2/3) Minnesota Wild vs. St. Louis Blues (matchup set, home ice TBD; currently tied in points, Wild have one extra game but Blues clinched regulation wins tiebreaker)

Pacific
1) Calgary Flames vs WC-1) Nashville/Dallas
2) Edmonton Oilers vs. 3) Los Angeles Kings

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As a Rangers fan, dropping the last three games (including last night to last-place Montreal) does not instill much confidence going into the playoffs. Still, before the season I said to myself that if the get to the second round I'll be happy, so that's as much as I'll allow for myself. Tuesday night against Carolina told me the team has pieces but hasn't gelled right yet.

It was a very somber end of season for Montreal. Not just because it was an awful season, but also the deaths of Mike Bossy and Guy Lafleur in the past month.

Game 1: Shesterkin faces 83 shots, makes 79 saves.
Game 2: Shesterkin faces 41 shots, makes 39 saves.

Even accounting for the fact that Game 1 went to triple overtime, I am getting Lundqvist vibes. Which isn't necessarily a good thing, seeing as how he never won a Cup.

OK, now that I'm done grieving over the Rangers finally running out of luck juice after two and a half games in the ECF, it'll be Colorado and Tampa Bay playing for the Cup — Game 1 on Wednesday. Colorado's looked like a steamroller for most of the playoffs sweeping Nashville and Edmonton en route (with a six-game tangle with St. Louis and Nazem Kadri getting racist death threats sandwiched in there), but Tampa's going for the first three-peat since the 80's dynasty Islanders and have shown repeatedly they don't go away, not with Vasilevskiy doing his usual thing.

At this pointing, I'm thinking Colorado in six. Vasilevskiy is better than Kuemper, but I think the Avs have edges across the rest of the lineup and the Avs have already gone through the "just happy to be here" phase the past couple of years.

Edited by megarockman on Jun 13th 2022 at 3:25:13 PM

Personally, I have to make my prediction that Tampa Bay will win because there is no god and that team refuses to let Urinating Tree get away with mocking them after getting swept by the Blue Jackets a few years ago.

Only if UT picks Colorado to win.

EDIT: Actually, wait for UT to pick Tampa for the jinx, only for Tampa to go "oh OK!" and sweep the Avs because Kuemper and Mackinnon collide and get injured in the second period of Game 1 or something.

Edited by megarockman on Jun 13th 2022 at 3:45:35 PM

Damn, I should have put money down on my prediction.

Congratulations to the Avalanche!

UT's curse of his pick always losing strikes again! I'm glad he picked the Lightning, that basically ensured their loss. :D

Why aren't the early '80s Islanders better remembered among sports dynasties? They're the last major pro sports team to win four straight titles, and they play in New York.

One, the Rangers have the stronger media presence in New York, being about double the Islanders' age and located much closer to the heart of the city in Manhattan.

Two, the 80's other dynasty of the Oilers and Wayne Gretzky are far better known among the general public than the likes of Mike Bossy or Bryan Trottier.

Three, the NHL doesn't quite have as secure a presence in the US conscience as the other sports, even before soccer started challenging it in the 90's. Part of the reason for Bettman's push for the NHL to expand to nontraditional markets beyond Washington and Los Angeles was to keep the sport in the public mind as the center of US population shifted south and west the past several decades.

Four, possible the name has a role in this as well — anything anyone in the rest of North America knows about Edmonton is the oil industry and Gretzky, while New York by itself is known for a ton of different things even just in the sports world (those damn Yankees). The Islanders end up in a small-fish-in-big-pond situation.

Edited by megarockman on Jun 28th 2022 at 9:28:13 AM

Phil Kessel just became the first player ever to play 1,000 consecutive NHL games.

What's really amazing is that he did it in less than 12 parsecs.

Oh you!

Alexander Ovechkin has overtaken Gordie Howe as the second highest goal scorer in NHL history.

Bobby Hull has died.

Well, hey, it's spring, which means the Leafs should be out soon.

I kid, but seriously, it's playoff time, woo! Well, almost — couple of make-up games to do first, including one which decides the Central. But anyway, let's see if anyone can stop the record-breaking Bruin juggernaut:

Atlantic
A1) Boston Bruins vs. WC2) Florida Panthers
A2) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. A3) Tampa Bay Lightning

Metropolitan
M1) Carolina Hurricanes vs. WC1) New York Islanders
M2) New Jersey Devils vs. M3) New York Rangers

Central
C1) Dallas Stars or Colorado Avalanche* vs. WC1) Seattle Kraken
C2) Colorado Avalanche or Dallas Stars vs. C3) Minnesota Wild
*Colorado gets first seed if they get at least a point tonight against Nashville.

Pacific
P1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. WC2) Winnipeg Jets
P2) Edmonton Oilers vs. P3) Los Angeles Kings

Welcome to the playoff party, Seattle.

EDIT: Colorado won, so they get the top seed in the Central.

EDIT 2: Looks like UrinatingTree put out his Hater's Guide. Ah, fuck, he picked the Oilers and Rangers for the Cup Final.

Edited by megarockman on Apr 17th 2023 at 6:16:30 AM

1. Congrats to the Leafs on winning their first playoff round in almost two decades!

2. The Bruins are going to face endless ridicule and scorn for squandering a 65-win season by blowing a 3-1 series lead. (Does this mean the 2018-19 Lightning are off the hook?)

3. My team (the Kraken) made me proud for winning their first ever playoff round against none other than the defending champs!

This opening round has been bonkers!

Edited by JustinnZ on May 1st 2023 at 12:46:03 PM

1. When they won in Game 4 in OT after being down 4-1 going into the 3rd I started thinking maybe this year is different for the Leafs. Never mind that I thought they were toast when Tampa won Game 5...

2. UrinatingTree certainly thought so. And he points out that unlike Tampa Boston's core is old and on the way out the door save for Pastranak, so Boston going to the Cup Final the next three years is even more unbelievable.

3. Welcome to the party!

4. And there's still Rangers-Devils Game 7 tonight. Oh, God, I'm gonna need some Xanax or something.

Edited by megarockman on May 1st 2023 at 8:12:45 AM

I think the Lighting's collapse was worse because they failed to even win a single playoff game, against a team that had never won a playoff series no less. On the bright side, they did win the next two Cups. Also, the Bruins' last Cup was a year after they blew a 3-0 lead, so maybe a humiliating defeat will be a good luck charm. Hell, Virginia won the NCAA men's basketball title a year after losing the first ever 16-over-1 upset, so maybe Purdue can look forward to winning the title next year.

Couple other things:

1. Every team besides the Sabres has won a playoff series since the last time the Sabres even made the playoffs.

2. The Kraken-Avs series was the first since Leafs-Sens in '04 in which there were seven games but the same team scored first in every game.

Whelp, another year, another disappointment for me. I don't even know why I bother a lot of times...

1. Game over, Kraken. I can't help but feel proud of what this team has done in season 2. I am more than grateful for their superb turnaround campaign. Dethroning the defending champs on their first ever playoff series will certainly be Seattle's highlight in their young history.

2. This year's final four (Florida, Carolina, Dallas, & Vegas) is certainly intriguing. How much longer can the Panthers ride their magic carpet? I honestly want to see Florida go all the way for the funsies.

Outside of Dallas, none of the teams in the top four have ever won the Cup. This is definitely an interesting playoff.

Correction: Carolina won their first and only Cup in 2006.