(OT) Lord, Stanley!
The Pittsburgh š§ Penguins just took a 1-0 lead in their first round, beating the NY Rangers in 3 overtimes 4-3.
It only took them 83 shots on goal (I think NY had 67) to get the game winner on a deflection. Not a fan of either team, but what a game!
Who does everyone have in yet another Wing-less Stanley Cup Playoff season? I know this may be considered blasphemy on my part, but I'm rooting for the Toronto Maple Leafs to f I n a l l y lift Lord Stanley's Cup.
I'd rather see Calgary win it (being Canadian I'm kinda biased), because the only bad thing about having Toronto win the cup, is having to listen to all my Toronto Leafs fans gloat all year.
All year? They will gloat about it for the next 30 if they have to!
Cal-gary
Bill Barilko disappeared that summer
He was on a fishing trip
The last goal he ever scored
Won the Leafs the cup
They didn't win another 'til nineteen sixty-two
The year he was discovered
It's my fifty mission cap !
UGH, tough loss. I was convinced there was no way the Rangers would win after the Chytil waved off goal, which I think you could have a case for that going either way. They played a great first 20, then was lucky to get out of the 2nd tied. I was a bundle of nerves, ready to puke through the entire overtime, all fucking three of them!
Shesty played out of his fucking mind, despite the loss. Can't wait til Thursday night!
I will say, my Spring's have been a lot more stress free but a lot less fun the last 5 years!
As for who do I think will win it all? I have Colorado beating Toronto but then again, I went o-fer the last time I filled out a bracket, in 2019.
I thought it was a shit call, disallowing that goal.... Dumoulin was riding him into the goalie, 9 times out of 10 when the defenseman has contact with the shooter, that's not called.
I saw an overhead, that I hadnāt seen before posting this, of Kakko driving to the net, skates turned to take him above then crease, outside the crease when Dumoulin initially made contact. It was a bad call.
Completely agree...goal should have counted IMO. He MAY have made contact anyway, but fact is that when he did make contact, the D was riding him hard. Couldn't believe they waived it off.
As a Penguins fan, I was very happy it was overturned!
That being said, after the call came in, I said it felt like a make-up call for the lack of calls in the first period. There were a lot of high hard hits to the head (Marino, Rakell) that went uncalled or in the case of the Rakell hit was just a single minor.
Taking a goal off the board is a hell of a make up call. I thought letting go of all of the stick work Crosby had going on were the makeup calls.
As a Pens fan, yeah, I couldn't believe they overturned that goal. That was a very questionable call. The Pens broadcasters were guessing that, they made the decision that contact would have been made even if Dumoulin wasn't there, which (a) is questionable in its own right, and (b) seems immaterial to the actual sequence of events, which was: Dumoulin bumps Chytil, Chytil bumps DeSmith. But this is the NHL after all, trying to make sense of rules, discipline hearings, etc. is a fool's errand.
With that said I feel a lot better about Pittsburgh's chances after last night, and I would have said that even with a 4-3 regulation loss. After the past few months I wasn't sure they could skate with NYR. Seems like maybe they can now
Kings. My west coast representatives (Vancouver, San Jose, in that order) did not make the playoffs. It is always more interesting when SJ is in the playoffs, as they are wild (if shambolic).
Hard to believe it's been eight years since the Kings won a Cup.
I have a picture with the cup in Jeff Carterās kitchen about 12 hours after they won it.
On your last paragraph: I'm hoping that Tampa gets bounced early and Stevie puts in a call to Jon Cooper. I know he's been a massive success, but maybe he wants to come to Detroit with his old GM and restore this team.
But, there are a lot of good coaching candidates; gotta grab someone experienced and not another project like Blash.
Would be tough to lure Cooper out of Tampa. He has a great thing going down there with the team that's built, and there's nothing saying they can't continue to win more. I don't see Tampa's proverbial window closing in the near-term. They also draw extremely well from the fans. Seems odd for a Florida-based team, but the Lightning routinely pack the arena and I believe have had one of the best overall attendance averages in the league over the last few years. So no one could really try to sell him on "Why are you coaching in Florida? No one down there cares."
Granted, winning does a lot to help that. But the Lightning's owner, Jeff Vinik, has done a ton with revitalizing the area right around Amalie Arena, and making it a place where people actually want to live, work, hang out. When I was growing up in Tampa, that area was largely a bunch of dumpy industrial warehouses and old ship yards. No one hung out there unless you got lost on your way to Ybor City. Now there's apartment buildings, bars, condos and restaurants everywhere. USF moved its medical school right there, too. So people will always be right around it to go see a hockey game. Young people, especially.
The TL;DR version of what I'm saying: unless Cooper has some specific tie to Detroit or he's just dying for a new challenge, I'm not sure how interested he'd be in going back to square one. Even if that square one is with the Red Wings. Vinik will pony up to keep him if that's what it comes to. But I sure as hell wouldn't blame the Red Wings for calling him just to see what he says.
He did go to law school in Lansing and his first coaching job was at Lansing Catholic high school.
Yeah but living and working in Lansing may have just made him decide he's done with the state of Michigan forever.
I am with you, it feels wrong but as an Auston Matthews fan and what heās accomplished this year, Iād like to see the Leafs win. Iāll also be rooting for the Panthers as itād be cool to see Thornton and Giroux finally win.
I'm rooting for anyone but Toronto.
A Calgary-Toronto final would be pretty sweet.
Toronto's exit from the playoffs is usually the kickoff to summer. We gotta have a summer!!
I lived in Vancouver for a few years and I never got the impression anyone in Canada outside of Toronto actually liked Toronto.
Leafs or Oilers (had the pleasure of watching McDavid in Erie for 3 seasons) but realistically my money would be on the ..... gulp....Aves
The Leafs have always been my second favorite team, after the Wings. I grew up watching Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. I drove to Maple Leaf Gardens, as a teenager, to watch a Leafs vs. Wings game, and it is still one of my all time favorite sports memories.
Rooting hard for the Leafs.
I was solely a Red Wings fan when I was a kid (Howe-Delvecchio-Sawchuk era) and actively hated the Leafs for beating the Red Wings in the finals two years in a row in the early '60s.
In the years since, I've become a Toronto fan, if for no other reason than I've always loved their uniforms and logo, and can relate to Leafs fans' frustrations at going so long without a Cup victory.
Go Caps!!! Took a game on top seed Florduh last night.
Alas, it won't last... It's really fun to watch an 8-seed play above their heads with a hot goalie - it's so fun that we remember it much more than it actually happens.
CAPS took a 1-0 lead over Florida. regular season Bobrovsky is better than playoff Bobrovsky. at least that's the way it was when he played for Columbus.
Well being a Tampa native I think you know what my answer would be, but truthfully even if they bow out in the first round, I canāt be mad. Two cups in two years, and I think theyāve missed the ECF only twice in the last seven seasons or so. I got to see them win in person last year (I know, I know, cool story bro) so Iāve been incredibly fortunate to ride this gravy train for a while. I know itāll stop before too long.
I donāt have any particular allegiances to any other teams, but Iād be happy to see Canada finally get over the hump and win the Cup. I think I was 3-4 years old the last time a Canadian team won.
I guess the only team that I wouldnāt want to see win is Pittsburgh. I donāt need to see Crosby hoist the Cup for a fourth time.
Canes mostly because i moved to Raleigh last year. I also have a soft spot for the Avs (blasphemy, i know, as a Wings fan) so curious about how far they can go. Avs look scary good right now
Sort of like Memphis - Golden State last night. Great back and forth drama and effort but I wasn't emotionally crushed either way when it ended as all my pro teams were eliminated months ago : (
Can't imagine the massive fan celebrations if the Leafs finally pulled it off, eh?.
Tigers are right on schedule for joining the early elimination club. Detroit FC anyone?
Red Wings not in it so .... anyone but TB or Penguins
No Avs either!
Leafs or Oilers. McDavid deserves something for as long as he has been there.
He's so damn good! I have no idea what Mike Smith was doing putting that puck anywhere but on the boards, that directly led the the G1 GWG.
Smith's puck moving abilities have always been far inflated. He has the physical ability to do it but is always prone to making bad decisions.
The pace of play and intensity in game 1 Oilers-Kings was the next level you love to see in the playoffs. Kind of have a soft spot for the Alberta teams. Enjoy the Canuck broadcasters and the offensive style is fun to watch. Suter on the bench for the Flames is fun to see.
I really hope we get a Flames/Oilers 2nd round match up. The hatred and intensity those two teams play each other with is possibly the most in all of sports.
I thought the LA/Edminton game was thrilling, personally, particularly against the backdrop of that night's slate of 5+ to 0 blowouts. I'm mainlining as much playoff hockey as I can at this point.
Anyone but the Leafs or Pens
Penguins remain one of my least favorite teams in all of sports, mainly due to their cheap-shottery in the 2009. (OK, to be honest I don't remember any specifics EXCEPT for Talbot whacking the hell out of Pavel Datsyuk's injured foot in Game 5, and then becoming the hero in games 6 and 7).
I usually like the Caps, but they're in an awkward spot with their star being such a Putinist. I won't hate, but won't support like I usually do.
Otherwise, I root for Canadian teams (except Toronto) and against southern ones.
Not a Crosby fan myself. Great player but he is a little dirty and flies under the radar because of some of the major names associated with being dirty players like Marchand and Wilson. After he hacked Methot's finger off basically, it seemed like nobody batted an eye because he was the star of the Penguins, it had increased my disdain for him.
Needless to say I reveled when they let Andre-Fleury go to VGK for nothing and he had great success !
I am also on the Hurricanes bandwagon. Moved to Raleigh 15 years ago and adopted them as my second favorite team. They are a fun and refreshing team to watch with not many stars but a nice blend of good players. If not them, I would root for one of the Canadian teams (but not Toronto).
Iām also pulling for Toronto and somewhat Calgary. but not as much as Iām rooting against Colorado, Nashville (for personal reasons and an ugly logo) and Pittsburg. Anyone else winning would be fine
Go Avalanche
Damn the NHL playoffs are fun. I donāt really have an issue with any team winning, they all have a cool story or great players that I like to watch. Canāt wait til the Wings are back to making them on the reg.