I'm thrilled to have a guest commentator: 1990 makes a cameo appearance!
I tend to agree that Vegas got the sweetheart deal but if Bettman wants to sell another franchise I think he will have to go with a modified version of what Vegas got. Keep in mind that part of the Vegas success was the wheeling dealing and not just the draft pics.
Rask: I have not been thrilled (gosh I miss Tim Thomas!). I did run across an interesting opinion from a credible source:
https://www.nhl.com/news/tuukka-rask-standing-tall-for-bruins-coaches-room/c-298376046?tid=297171350
Quote:
On the other side, when you're talking about Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak, how their game was in Game 2, well it was a struggle. Two of the three goals that beat Rask, that line had the puck and they turned it over.
Marchand passed the puck back to Bergeron, but he passed it behind him. That set up the chance and Ondrej Palat scored to give the Lightning a 3-1 lead.
On Johnson's goal, Pastrnak gave the puck away in the Bruins' attacking zone, Palat flipped it out, Brayden Point chased it down and Johnson scored.
On both giveaways, they're passing the puck back instead of going forward. It almost seems like they're trying to serve Bergeron instead of throwing pucks at the net. They're making back passes and those are getting intercepted, and away the Lightning go.
The Bruins were credited with 13 giveaways in Game 2. Those stats aren't always the best, but 13 giveaways on the final stat sheet is an indication of a problem for the Bruins, especially when six were credited to Pastrnak, Marchand, Charlie McAvoy and Zdeno Chara.
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I wish I could totally agree. Rask blew an easy save in Game 2. To win the cup, you have to get ALL of those and most of the impossible saves to boot. That said, a great D makes the goalie look great and a strong offense keeps the puck 200 feet away from trouble. If the B's want to win, all three will need to be better. That said, all the teams are showing some weaknesses. In theory, the Jets have the best setup with talent and speed but they still have to execute.
Heck, look at Laine: after the first game in round one he has been a dud this playoffs.
I still say that the goalie is your key to a cup. The flower is a strong contender. Rinne is right there. If Rask can step up just a bit we have a good chance. Holtby, Murray, Vasilevskiy, Hellebuyck, Jones-I'm not seeing it but then again, I have a bias.