Stanley Cup Bracket 2018

[Por_sha911]

Game 1 between Bruins and Tampa isn't as much of a walk in the park for Tampa and (thankfully) Rask is bringing his game. This should be a good game.
I think that Tampa looked better in round one because they played a much lesser team. Anyone can look good against a low quality opponent. That isn't to say that Boston has sure thing.
The same holds true for the Caps and Pens.

[Buckterrier]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

GO (away) PENS

Good one Joe!

Urass is, (so far), on his game.
Brunes just scored again. We'll have to have a friendly wager IF the Pens & Broons meet for the conference title.

[flatbutt]

My my my Tampa has had a very bad day...at home no less!

[Por_sha911]

When the #1 line of the Bruins is scoring points, the opponent will be having a bad day. That said, they went blank for 3 games against the Leafs.

[2porscheguy]

Joe, you'll never believe it but I'm actually hoping on the Bruins bandwagon in this series!

Calgary Flames fans are still major Pissed Off at THE GOAL that was waved off in OT of game 6 of the 2004 Stanley Cup finals (Flames VS Lightning).....EVERYBODY KNOWS IT WAS IN!!! FLAMES SHOULD HAVE BEEN AWARDED THE CUP!!!


Go Bruins!

[Buckterrier]

NHL is become the NFL, they way they protect the QBs. I think Vegas got boned last night with the goalie interference in the 1st OT when the score only to have the goal disallowed. Then lose in the 2nd OT.
Oh well...


GO PENS

[Por_sha911]

In spite of the goalie interference call, the game was great. Both teams playing their hearts out (similar to the game one of the Pens/Caps)
I can enjoy a great game even when I don't have an interest in either team. If I wasn't a Bruins fan (Yeah, who would have guessed?) I probably wouldn't have watched the game 1 with Tampa when the gap got big. Blowouts are only fun if you are rooting for the winning side.
Lets see if the Caps can even it up shortly.

[flatbutt]

[quote=por_sha911;10019169
i can enjoy a great game even when i don't have an interest in either team. [/quote]

+1

[Por_sha911]

What's sad, Flat, is that it is sometimes in seasons when the game was one even the Bruins was playing. That long drought before 2010-11. Gosh I miss Tim Thomas.

In other news, what a game with the Caps/Pens. If the Caps got run over again it would have been lights out for them this year. THey roared back hard. The goal/no goal issue in the 3rd? I think that the officials think the white that the announcers were seeing was snow on the ice (that was my thoughts when they first showed the closeup) but, I might be looking at it through anyone-but-Crosby eyes... (how's that for truth in advertising?). Either way a good game and since not a one goal game it wasn't quite as key to the outcome. The sandwich to Dumoulin will be reviewed but it looked like clean hockey to me. What was missed was a trip to a Cap going to the net and a knee on knee going to a Pen.

[Buckterrier]

3 stars of the of Pens/caps game today...

1). nhl
2). ref
3). other ref

Good job nhl. YOU SUCK

GO PENS, REGARDLESS

[flatbutt]

Joe, agreed that it was a must win for the Caps. But Murray was not looking good. How he missed that opening shot from Ovie is a puzzle. I also agree that the no goal call was correct. Now they go to the (new-ish) Igloo and we'll see how the Caps do there.

[Buckterrier]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

How he missed that opening shot from Ovie is a puzzle.

I'll tell you how, book on Murray is high glove side. Where was the goal? High glove, nuff said.

I'm done, enjoy the playoffs boys.

[Por_sha911]

3 stars of the of Pens/caps game today...
1). nhl
2). ref
3). other ref

Its not like it was a one goal game or an OT goal.

[rfuerst911sc]

I am enjoying these playoffs , last nights Preds/Jets game another good one ending in 2OT .

[Hawkeye's-911T]

Hey Flat - I think Buck is onto something - Murray's glove doesn't seem to be 100%. We'll have to see whassup!

The Bolts will/have to be a helluva lot better tonight - an early start here out west. If they prevail over the "Bostoon Beasties" - things will get real interesting in a hurry.

The Vegas Knights are in tough with the Hosers & I'm still giving them (the Hosers) the edge if 'Jumbo' is fit enough to play & have any impact on tonight's tilt.

The 2nd round is starting to live up to the hype. The brewskis are iced down & ready - game(s) on!!

Cheers
JB

[derek murray]

Jets vs. Preds... refs put their whistles in their pockets and let the boys play... I'm surprised a penalty wasn't called when P.K. Subban got shot by an elephant gun.

[Por_sha911]

Jets / Preds was an awesome game.
The Bruins did well but the Bolts did better. Tuuka has some awesome saves and one totally massively bad play that was probably the game. Krug did some bonehead penalties. Something is up with Bergeron-not doing well in faceoffs.
There isn't a series that is boring hockey.

[1990C4S]

Someone from from this thread asked me to comment, and I will try to do so occasionally.

I do want to say that I have dropped off PP as a 'poster' because I felt the 'tone' and 'civility' were not conducive to adult conversations, it reminds me of the political debates. This thread is the exception...

Secondarily, I was recently promoted and sent to a new (secret) location which had two effects: First I do not have time to comment, and secondly I lost my access to Canadian TV. Watching less hockey made me less knowledgeable (current season at a minimum) and therefore less likely to chime in.

Having said that, I will add these comments:

Vegas - The NHL will never give a sweetheart expansion deal like that again, but it is great PR. Want a new team to succeed? Make them good. And Vegas is very good, great drafting, great coaching (yea, Florida, you got that one wrong), and great goaltending. I can see them in the final.

Winnipeg - The new NHL team, big, fast and dominating. No one can play a game that Winnipeg can't push back against. Byfuglien tends to make the opposition keep their head up. Or stay away from the puck. I want to see them play Vegas.

Boston - Their big line is good enough to take them to the final, provided Rask can match their play, most nights he does not. I would like to see Cassidy match lines rather think he can roll over whoever is on the ice, but they do have a solid lineup, just not solid enough to roll four without thinking about who Tampa has on the ice.

Tampa - Stamkos and Kucherov get going or the Lightning go home. I don't see their bit players carrying them to four wins.

Pittsburgh - No goalie right now, no Malkin. Round 3 is very unlikely. The power play is anemic without Malkin, makes no sense, but I saw it with my own eyes.

Lastly, there are two NHL seasons; the regular pretty boy season where good players like Nylander and Matthews can be the stars. Then there's the playoffs where great players step up. Too many good players in Toronto, not enough great players.

[Hawkeye's-911T]

Vegas - The NHL will never give a sweetheart expansion deal like that again, but it is great PR. Want a new team to succeed? Make them good.

Hey 1990 - good point.

The Vegas GM - George McPhee (& Co.) did a masterful job of working the rules & procedures set out by Bettman & crew for the draft to stock the franchise
& to enhance their chances for success. It might be noted here with a degree of cynicism, the need (as alluded to by 1990) for the franchise to succeed in the very near future may have
been predicated on impending NFL expansion plans.

For their 500 million Vegas got to choose 1 player from each team's list of unprotected players (as you are all aware)but it was the back-room negotiating
& deal making by McPhee & his staff (all within accepted guidelines) with the other organizations to not select certain unprotected players.

They added an additional no. of skaters in trades with teams whose players they'd agreed not to choose & in the process acquired a $h1tload of draft picks.

They parlayed this into a team that looks to be a (hell!! is already) contender for quite awhile as they used this strategy often & will no doubt take this surplus of players to trade for the future.

Again, to 1990's point - Seattle most certainly will not get this kind of deal. Afterall, the Canuckles need someone to kick the crap out of!!

After last night - Vegas is making me a believer. Jet vs Knights in a conference final.....Whodathunk???

Cheers
JB

[Por_sha911]

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

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.

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.