27 YEARS SINCE A CANADIAN TEAM WON THE CUP WILL THIS BE THE YEAR (no): THE NHL 2019-2020 THREAD (INCLUDING BLUES HANGOVER AND OFFSEASON SHENANIGANS. HOCKEY IS THE BEST)

The Oilers are also still Bad

Go Flyers. Maybe they found their goaltender finally (lol).

i think this is the year the penguins really start turning into the blackhawks

and it's all jack johnson's fault

happy 63rd to gary rissling, who posted 23 goals, 30 assists and 1006 penalty minutes in 221 career games

https://www.gamewornauctions.net/images/products/secondary/55347.jpg

Pretty amazing story about Joe Murphy, who I'm old enough to remember as the #1 overall pick in the 1986 NHL draft:

https://www.freep.com/in-depth/sports/columnists/jeff-seidel/2019/08/08/joe-murphy-homeless-detroit-red-wings/1878370001/

pk and lindsey vonn are engaged

As one chapter ends, another begins.

Thank you, Nik. pic.twitter.com/G2vNzBMDAx

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 3, 2019

Past time tbh, though I don't like seeing him go.

Gary Bettman, Brian Gionta, Neal Henderson, Tim Thomas and Krissy Wendell will be enshrined into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame as the Class of 2019, it was announced today by USA Hockey.

Bettman? BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

USA Hockey Still a joke

The NHL this afternoon will announce a 2-year partnership with Green Day that could also bring with it a new anthem similar to what the NFL had with Hank Williams on "Monday Night Football." https://t.co/OXDnYhHvBO

— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) September 30, 2019

oy vey ist mir

- maskless goalie insanity
- so quiet pre-faceoff without music blasting
- holy shit the civil defense ad at 5:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhY_OaEj7jg

wow, the clean white boards

agreed, the defence is very civil

when did they stop using the Barenaked Ladies song?

the best players in history are playing right now

and the players that will be better than those players are alive today

tru, although that doesn't necessarily make the game better

suddenly the oilers and sabres are . . . good? the schedule hasn't exactly been difficult, but still

They were good this time last year too

penguins with a (very lucky) shortie in overtime tonight, which cannot have happened very often

indeed -- last done by the pens in 1996

christ look at these fucking numbers

https://i.imgur.com/MDYSijt.jpg

hard to picture paul coffey racking up 104 PIM tbh -- probably 52 desperate hooking penalties after abandoning his point

lmao gretz scored 205 points and even took 6 games off, incredible

60 years ago today, Jacques Plante changed the game. After taking a puck to the face, the Canadiens' goaltender wore a mask to finish a game against the Rangers. Plante would become the first netminder in NHL history to wear one regularly #Hockey365 #GoalieDay #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/x6RnHB5wz4

— Mike Commito (@mikecommito) November 1, 2019

10 straight wins for the Islanders, I am a happy person

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/sportsnet-don-cherry-cut-ties-nov-11-1.5355810

FLEURY, WHAT?? pic.twitter.com/Ur1IegBIu7

— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) November 20, 2019

babcock out

keefe has by all accounts done a great job with the marlies but has no NHL coaching experience and not a lot of NHL playing experience

babcock out

Yeah same. Problem seems to be elsewhere.

idk -- it's not babcock's fault they lack a backup goalie, but . . .

iirc red wings players weren't too sorry to see him depart. this was his fifth season, they never got out of the first round, and sometimes players just need a different voice. they should be better than they are by now

damn, fifth? seems more recent than that.

the babcock-mitch marner thing is incredible. what an utter prick

and now peters is out in calgary

not sure if for racism or losing

is that final yet? don't see how he can continue now that the story is corroborated

1) Never wish anything bad to the person but you get what you deserve Bill.After years making it to the NHL had experience with the worst coach ever by far.Kicking me and punching other player to the head during the game...

— Michal Jordan (@TheBigCzech23) November 26, 2019

The Dallas Stars have dismissed head coach Jim Montgomery.

GM Jim Nill issued this statement through the team:

“The Dallas Stars expect all of our employees to act with integrity and exhibit professional behavior while working for and representing our organization. This decision was made due to unprofessional conduct inconsistent with the core values and beliefs of the Dallas Stars and the National Hockey League.”

these coaches fall like dominoes

Sergei Zubov played 82 minutes in game 4 of Pens - Caps series in 1996. As he once told me, right after that he smoked 2 cigarettes at once https://t.co/GoMA3iFWNF

— Igor Eronko (@IgorEronko) December 18, 2019

Of all things, I'm reading a biography of Harold Ballard. What a life.

rip the habs

fwiw michel therrien is probably available

ffs

Connor McDavid. Absolutely ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/edUhMmFcmE

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) January 7, 2020

Rinne!

PEKKA RINNE SCORES! 🚨@PredsNHL | #NSHvsCHI pic.twitter.com/yDyGbMZY7j

— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) January 10, 2020

Tight

not sure claude julien is gonna last much longer despite the win tonight

it's not claude's fault
rebuild pls

you can have alex galchenyuk back anytime you want him

insanely quick trigger in vegas, which has fired gerard gallant

The Islanders are retiring a JT and a 91 next month, and neither have anything to do with John Tavares. (Perhaps the poetic justice was too much to ignore, though.)

alex ovechkin: pretty good

rip red wings

https://i.imgur.com/JgsCRcG.png

good lord the kings are bad

🏒⚪🔵 Ci sono voluti 18 rigori per decidere la sfida tra Davos ed Ambrì. A risolvere la contesa ci ha pensato Tedenby con questa magia #HCD #HCAP #NLA #Shootout pic.twitter.com/LynhTgDAMC

— Sport RSI (@RSIsport) February 13, 2020

good lord

leafs lose to their zamboni driver
https://old.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/f83hr6/full_david_ayres_post_game_interview/

Not much of fan, but I'm staying with friends who are, so I was watching tonight--pretty great (and embarrassing for the Leafs). He's 42, and evidently had a kidney transplant as Sick Kids many years ago.

Astounding

I thought there might be a parallel with baseball; less with a position player mopping up in relief than, say, both catchers going down and sending in a position player to finish the game. I thought that each team must have a skater or two who played some goal as a kid and could finish the game. But my friend assured me that goaltending is so radically different that no skater could ever do it.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fimg2.imagesbn.com%2Fp%2F9781599218069_p0_v2_s260x420.JPG&f=1&nofb=1

i have played goal in shitty pickup games and basically just sat there with my legs out hoping they shoot glove-side. because i cannot be beat glove side. but it is seriously exhausting -- the up and down, and being down on time takes a *lot*

aren’t we all https://t.co/lLH7ooFktR

— evan scott huber (@evanscotthuber) February 24, 2020

10 years ago

https://preview.redd.it/t2pf19za5pj41.png?width=640&height=388&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=03ffef6bbe71d65ba178a76306f51e2d20e4e2c6

Just finished my first season of very low-level, beginner-friendly men’s league after many many years of watching my kids play. So much fun and a great workout and I’m hooked. Sad that I have to wait for November for the league to start up again.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/edmonton-oilers-colby-cave-coma-1.5525003

a canadian team will not win the stanley cup this year

OR WILL THEY (THEY WON'T)

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/gary-bettman-newser-nhl-playoff-format-1.5585260

how about single elimination

you must be a leafs fan

why don't we just draw cards

This week marks the first time in the Toronto Maple Leafs' 102-year history that their season is still alive in June.

— Down Goes Brown (@DownGoesBrown) June 4, 2020

We are proud to announce the formation of the Hockey Diversity Alliance 🏒✊🏿 pic.twitter.com/TAucuYJxp2

— Wayne Simmonds (@Simmonds17) June 8, 2020

Love to see it

featuring a pair of former penguins greats

Introducing your Hockey Hall of Fame inductees for 2020

Full story: https://t.co/cc4hJXsp5n pic.twitter.com/XgpvPgmStc

— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) June 24, 2020

MARIAN HOSSA WILL BE YOUR MILLSTONE: THE NHL 2009-2010 THREAD (INCLUDING PITTSBURGH CUP HANGOVER OFFSEASON SHENANIGANS. HOCKEY IS THE BEST)

MARIAN HOSSA PREVENTED YOU FROM KEEPING DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN: THE NHL 2010-2011 THREAD (INCLUDING CHICAGO CUP HANGOVER OFFSEASON SHENANIGANS. HOCKEY IS THE BEST)

weird 2 me that doug wilson is in HHOF and not, like, Mike Richter (Roenick is cancelled iirc)

wilson won a norris, eight-time all-star, plus he gets credit as an executive

i think the hall struggles with how to rate goalies, and tbh i don't feel like richter was really on the level of some of his contemporaries (hasek, roy, cujo, belfour). his first comp on hockey-db is . . . former kings great kelly hrudey. plus his greatest moment was the 1996 world cup, and, you know

it's gonna be interesting to see what happens with fleury. never really a top-top goalie, never won a vezina, but he's won three cups, been occasionally brilliant, and is already fifth all-time in wins

And the sharks’ first captain

I think richter straddles the accomplishment/fame threshold.

Fleury reads like Osgood to me tbrr

wilson is also the highest-scoring defenseman in the history of an original-six team. (yeah it was the 80s, but still).

yeah, i can see the osgood comp. but i think he's likely to end up third all-time in wins, which, while not a great measure, is still historic.

luongo's obviously in; i guess henrik too?

osgood shd be in the HoF imo

not for any logical reason, he was just one of my favs growing up

the bar seems higher for goalies, fairly or not

in the last 20 years: Fuhr, Roy, Brodeur, Hasek, Belfour, and Rogie Vachon.

tough to compare across eras, too. grant fuhr's career save percentage was .887!

Tim Thomas and Carey Price should make it in, along with Lu and Lundqvist. I wonder about cases like Ryan Miller, Kiprusoff, or Pekka Rinne...

Fuhr won the Vezina with an .881 pctg...you couldn't keep a starting job with that now

you wouldn't be in the league with that now!

not so sure about tim thomas -- a few incredible seasons, but he didn't play very long and him being a dick won't help

Tim Thomas had a high short ceiling; I would also like to see osgood in as well just to keep it weird. Heinrik is 100% in. Price seems too brittle to have any real traction - I could see him getting in eventually. Idk if luongo is in first ballot even tho he’s a beloved weirdo

Curtis Joseph (choker) isn’t in and he’s’ 7 all time

Fleury not really a starter for two of his three Cups. He was also such a head case in the playoffs sometimes. I do love him for all time for his performance in the 2011-2012 Flyers-Pens series. Who knew you could make Bryzgalov look good?

I mean maybe fleury’s comp is Fhur in that he was on a bunch of stellar teams and racked up weeeeeeens but isn’t the Difference maker

He's impressed me way more in LV than he ever did in Pitt.

Absolutely

fleury also like fuhr in playing on teams that played little defense

what a weird career thomas had -- he wasn't a legit nhl player until he was 31!

luongo is absolutely first-ballot (and better than brodeur)

v. excited by 23 new answers in the nhl thread <3

I'm super-excited about the restart, though I worry about the players and think there is a very good chance everything gets shutdown again before they can finish.

you wouldn't be in the league with that now!

Jimmy Howard at .882 this year (so you're right)

luongo is absolutely first-ballot

YES <3

(and better than brodeur)

god I wish

Guess I meant that if goalies could get in the HOF at the same rate as other players, all those guys I listed would be deserving. Like Ryan Miller, or Ron Hextall, or Pekka Rinne, were probably better goalies than Hossa or Kevin Lowe were at their positions?

if you put luongo at the back of the system the devils played . . . well, he'd probably get bored. but also, yes, better imo

Luongo was somehow better facing 40 shots a game than 15

idk, hard to judge lowe without looking at the teams he was on. fully support hossa, though -- strong defensively in addition to all the points

Ftr I’m always a big hall guy so my observations are a thought exercise rather than saying so and so shouldn’t be in but so and so should be. Except jack morris

otm

Guess I meant that if goalies could get in the HOF at the same rate as other players, all those guys I listed would be deserving. Like Ryan Miller, or Ron Hextall, or Pekka Rinne, were probably better goalies than Hossa or Kevin Lowe were at their positions?

Not disagreeing (maybe) with your overall point, I'm not sure Miller, Hextall, or Rinne are the ones to make that argument. As a Flyers' fan, I know Hextall's game well and only his first few years were HOF worthy. His comparables on hockey reference are in the Bill Ranford/Dwayne Roloson class and only made one All-Star Game. His style is a point in his favor as his puck-handling was somewhat influential. Also, he holds the season record for PIMs for a goalie with 113.

*he* only made

the bar seems higher for goalies, fairly or not

― Wayne Grotski (symsymsym), Wednesday, June 24, 2020 6:49 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Also re: this i think it's more about pool/position size than selectivity (tho that factors in). there are 18 players/ team + 2 goalies, only one of which sees any PT in a usual circumstance, so we're down to 31 possibilities at any given point in time. Goalie qualifying thresholds:

"The goaltenders listed played a minimum of 500 NHL regular season games
and won over 250 NHL games or recorded 50 or more shutouts in the NHL."

So you need a goalie that plays 6 years min - that's the hard bar to cross. For example, 250/6 = 41.6 wins a year (yuck).

Per some light googling on the internet the average career of an NHL player is 5 years; assume the same for goalies.

So like the result is that you're truly excellent (you talked me into luongo as 1st ballot) and play for 15-20 years or sort of dick around for 10-12 years due in part to competence (Sean Burke/Andy Moog) or lack of creativity (potvin? hrudey? to name two Kings)

Also Nabokov has 353 fucking career wins! Beezer has 374!

also per the internet:

2021:

Jagr (!!!)
Zetterberg
The Sedin twins, if you believe they ever existed. i don't think they're good enough but idc!

2022
Jagr (depending on which source you believe he's still getting paid somewhere and isn't eligible for HHOF until he really quits)
Luongo

the sedins are as real as you and me

Hextall deserves it for the penalty minutes record alone. But I take your point.

Looking at past HOF classes it is hard to find really undeserving skaters who are in. It just seems that a skater either needs to hit a certain points threshold or win one major award to have a good chance of getting in, while one Vezina or Conn Smythe or two-three years of having the top stats in the league is not enough for a goalie. But maybe that's OK!

It's easy for fanbases to turn on goalies when they slip into mediocrity too, we don't appreciate past excellence when a goalie is killing your team every night. Maybe goalies are just not as beloved.

Like all sports, championships have an out-sized influence on one's HOF candidacy. In Lowe's case, he has 6 Cups but never came close to winning a major award and never even made an AS game, both of which should be a bare minimum to get in the HOF.

there was a effectively wild advanced stats in other sports episode that kind of kicked around the idea of goalie fungibility and how their value is more abstract than we think and how they are overvalued. Pretty sure it's this one

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/effectively-wild-episode-1476-multisport-sabermetrics-exchange-hockey-and-cricket/

Hexy is the Fame part of Hall of Fame. Kevin Lowe has no Fame.

defensive defensemen are also let down by awards/the hall. it's not like the norris always goes to the highest-scoring guy, but the last one who wasn't even close was rod langway 35 years ago

that is not an argument for kevin lowe, who i don't recall being known as a shut-down defender

the selke is even weirder -- you have to be able to score a *bit*, but not too much. i would argue that crosby deserves legit selke consideration, but that's not happening

I am hoping Couturier wins this year; my favorite Flyer for years. His advanced stats are pretty amazing: over the last couple years he has had insane CF% while starting most of his possessions in the defensive zone. Every line they put him on does good things.

what a crazy draft lottery outcome

what happens to the draft now if they have to cancel the season again? why couldn't they have just waited to do the lottery until after this play-in round?

weird

Rigged

as a beneficiary of receiving lemieux and crosby i can't complain but . . .

fuck eugene melnyck tho

Looks like Bettman's got the fix in for the Pens again.

good man (why tho?)

gotta rig it for the big markets (like um pittsburgh)

Gotta keep them away from KC.

no i mean what this time?

have to say this seems like an incredibly awkward way to set up a draft

Don't mind me, I'm just a hater. But maybe the Flyers and Pens will meet up this playoffs.

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/29452716/nhl-use-fan-videos-team-specific-cheers

I don't know what the solution is, but this is dumb. Just pump in audio from EA NHL '92 and be done with it.

BRASS BONANZA AFTER EVERY GOAL

https://news.avclub.com/nbc-sued-for-anti-straight-discrimination-by-angry-ho-1844424157

oh boy

hope he doesn't sue about that url

jeremy honick

"anti straight discrimination"??? Lmfao

He scored one of my favorite goals of all time, but fuck Roenick. He's in the HOF of hockey jerks.

i'm kraken up

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Edn4-K5XgAEzYtF?format=png&name=large

funny name, don't like the logo

was looking forward to getting down to Seattle for a game some time but god knows when that will be now, sigh.

yikes

In a statement announcing that John Chayka quit as general manager and president of hockey operations, the #coyotes say they are "disappointed in his actions and his timing." pic.twitter.com/Pi7Aj5x27x

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) July 26, 2020

Watching Flyers-Pens. I love hockey.

watching MTL-TOR tonight: the leafs look... okay! the habs look... like they shouldn't be in the play-offs! bring on lafrenière

lotta bad ice, but that’s what you get playing three games a day in august

MTL-PIT game last night was so good, gotta say!

rude

Young, 6'4"+, defensemen who can skate are the best thing ever.

sure but can they ~move the puck~

jesus christ

Connor McDavid's second of the game is ridiculous pic.twitter.com/iiUElNEVN7

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) August 4, 2020

We are in love with this. 🧢#LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/TK0LVRbwfL

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) August 4, 2020

The way he takes the pass out of mid-air at nearly full speed is insane.

i’ve watched it like two dozen times already

there are some guys that could do the puck juggling — they all have crazy hand-eye

maybe one or two other guys could roof that backhand

absolutely no one else could do all of it at that speed

Sebastian Aho. WOOOOW. Enjoy every angle of this highlight-reel goal from Aho, who strips the puck from Trouba and walks DeAngelo for a goal that puts the Hurricanes up 3-1 on the Rangers in game three. pic.twitter.com/YfGH9VeYVm

— Brett Finger (@brett_finger) August 5, 2020

I can see the fix is in again to get the Pens the #1 pick.

lol

pens have a) never won a best-of-five series, and b) never beaten the habs in a playoff series. neither of these facts were supposed to be relevant this year but here we are.

also not sure i can recall a pittsburgh athlete as hated by his/her own fans as jack johnson. it’s rough

i defended jack johnson for a season or 2, possibly out of pity for his personal life and terrible family ripping him off, but damn.

good luck pittsburgh (seriously)

Some knowledgeable Canadian hockey fans I interact with online couldn't believe the Penguins signed Jack Johnson to that contract. He might have been overpaid at half that cap hit.

it was a terrible signing, and its been both disastrous and uncharacteristic of the current regime that he's still there and still in the lineup. apparently a very nice guy, tho!

It hurts me to acknowledge that Rutherford has otherwise made some shrewd moves. I will go to my grave not understanding how acquiring Phil Kessel worked.

oh, leafs

Columbus is a team I wouldn't choose for the Flyers to play. They could just run out of steam, but I think they will be a tough out.

awooooo

liking the coyotes even though my heart is full of lobsters

does your heart ever just go

🦞 🦞
🦞 🦞 🦞

🦞 #isles         🦞

🦞 🦞

　　　 🦞 🦞

🦞

— x-New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) August 7, 2020

idgi

I can see the fix is in again to get the Pens the #1 pick.

― Mom jokes are his way of showing affection (to your mom) (PBKR), Thursday, August 6, 2020 9:11 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

happy birthday, sid

For whatever reason there is an Islanders win meme this year related to the old Nickelodeon sketch, "Court dismissed, bring in the dancing lobsters."

Michael F, are you on the Island?

I live in Boston but I grew up in Queens (Flushing) so my teams have always been orange and blue (Isles/Mets). My parents are out on the island now, thorough.

I've been on the Island since '01 and have been to lots of games at the Colosseum. During those years I always hated the Rangers but never the Islanders.

The Coliseum was definitely a cool place to see a game. I vivid recall the symphony of car horns doing the let’s go islanders chant in the parking lot during some early ‘90s games.

My former company had season tickets in the corner on the end the Islanders attacked twice and there was a famous crusty Islander fan nicknamed "goldilocks" who had season tickets just below. Every game he wore a gold foil wig and a Rangers jersey that he had embroidered "S-U-C-K-S" in the Rangers' font just below the franchise name.

edmonton’s gonna get the top pick for the fifth time in 11 years; i wanna see PBKR complain about *that*

bettman must be choked about these results

Are Ontario golf courses open? Asking for a friends

Lol, mookie. I don't hate the Oil like I do the Pens. Western Conference might as well be the KHL.

We (oilers) can get the #1 pick in perpetuity and we'll still stink

it is pretty remarkable. at least they can't take nail yakupov this time

Just a combination of a shit organisation and a too loyal fanbase (theres no consequence to them sucking, fans will still be loyal and show up, buy merch etc.)

whoa

maffew what have you done

thanks for the notice, i am in bed

that was so epic that they almost have to get blown out on sunday

huh how about that

that was so epic that they almost have to get blown out on sunday

― mookieproof, Friday, August 7, 2020 11:13 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

This would be so on-brand for the Leafs.

quinn hughes is my best friend

That might be the best/most fortuitous period of Flyers hockey I've seen in 25 years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYEUNA6192g

i mean . . . yes it's all macho bullshit but it was very well understood macho bullshit and the world might have become a better place had some flyer killed claude lemieux then and there

20yo shayne corson with the initial move

Classic.

Glad it was that and not the 1989 playoffs where Hextall leaves the crease to decapitate Chelios in retaliation for the hit on Brian Propp games earlier.

I'm definitely not pining for the days of goons, but miss the craziness once in a while. Last gasp was probably that Flyers-Senators game in 03-04 with 419 PIMs (NHL record for a single game).

Flyers should beat Montreal, but I have a feeling it is going be a tough series.

so is Toronto, Pittsburgh, or Edmonton winning this thing

minnesota imo

would like nashville or winnipeg to get it

Canucks fans will never stop whining if Minnesota wins

As long as its not the Pens or Rangers.

can't be the oilers again surely

if we accept that the fix is in and it'll go to the market most in need of a boost, it's probably florida (ugh)

winnipeg would be great. for me the only unacceptable answers are rangers/leafs

Panthers would be the anti-fix pick.

God, Rangers fans will be planning the parade. You would think a fanbase that went 54 years without a Cup would have some perspective, but having to live/work amongst them - no.

prefer to think of them as ‘the team that’s won one cup in 80 years’

Will this Cup have full legitimacy in your (everyone's) eyes y/n?

For me it'll definitely be asterisked, and a bit less than fully legit.

there are so many cup champs whose key to success was "we had a hot goalie with giant pads", 2020 is fine imo

depends, for me. if chicago wins it despite not actually deserving to be in the playoffs, that would be bad. however i can't see myself complaining about, for instance, tampa.

but to a certain extent i feel like it's a truer test than ever. never before have we had playoff teams this healthy. there's no 'we played like shit for four months but caught fire in march' momentum. neutral ice means the western teams aren't being screwed by all the extra travel. absolutely it's a weird situation, but a truly great team (unlike, say, the penguins or oilers) should be able to rise to the occasion.

let’s set some records

Am enjoying listening to the Blue Jackets radio guy who does the broadcast solo. Seems like the game will never end.

seth jones has played 53:20 ffs

This is crazy considering they hadn't played in 4 months before a week or so ago.

i don’t think i’ve ever seen this quality of play for this long. these guys are amazing

Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones played 65 minutes, 6 seconds, the most by any player since the NHL began tracking individual ice time in 1997-98.

Imagine trying to explain this tweet to the January version of yourself. https://t.co/WPhR6S1eeh

— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) August 12, 2020

and they've gotta get out there and go again tomorrow afternoon. brutal. awesome.

Tom Wilson is a player who makes me wish for the time of heavyweights.

as in so he'd get smashed more?

As in, where's a Schultz, McSorley, or Brashear to punish him. Of course if no one could end Claude Lemiuex in the golden days of heavyweights I guess Wilson's too much to ask.

I'm getting 2011-2012 MA Fleury vibes from Holtby. He doesn't seem right at all.

Isles <3

Did not expect that comeback after the first half

Isles could be a tough out. Not sure their D is quite good enough, but their forwards scare me. They also got healthy during the break.

Flyers weren't remotely at their best, but found a way to win.

And if you haven't seen Price's stick save on Laughton, it's one of the best saves ever.

Carey Price is absolutely ridiculous. He gets a piece of the shot with his stick when the net was wide open.

Are you actually kidding me!? #Habs #Flyers pic.twitter.com/i0pA1GXCp7

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) August 13, 2020

*bmx bike skids into frame*

The best save is still richter on bure

that save/game made me cry

https://youtu.be/ulUFtK2xLnY

that leetch won the conn smythe is still baffling to me

here's another great save on bure, pavel's reaction is fantastic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyeJOBUI7qY

94 conn smythe should have gone to the post

I can't stand Torts, but you have to hand it to him; his teams play hard, don't give up, and are very resilient.

Wow, Flyers forgot to set their alarms for Gm 2.

beautiful goal by horvat

he's been on another level last few games

well that was a stressful game

islanders forecheck is really quite something

They look great so far! Especially since they were slumping and injured at the pause.

carolina uniforms are so bad that i almost want to root against them

I like the solid red ones way better

Flyers strangling teams with D and winning on soft goals by opposing goaltenders is something new.

Was it wrong to tell my wife that the Flyers getting a good, young goaltender was the sports equivalent of dating a supermodel? Y/N

Every TV shot of Caps coach Todd Reirden seems to be him glaring angrily into space with his arms crossed

whelp somebody activated ovi. he's looked like he's miserable being there til now.

a bloodied gallagher and the habs live to fight another day! and some excellent late night stuff from the canucks!

that canucks game last night was so fun

Sort of shocked that Niskanen only got 1 gm for the crosscheck on Gallagher's face.

i don't think niskanen exactly *meant* to hit him in the face, but . . . hey, that's what he did. and it's not like he hasn't done it before

tbf any time the puck is in the zone for more than seven seconds, everyone starts crosschecking each other and it's never called. whenever announcers talk admiringly about how the net-front presence guys take a beating, it's somehow never mentioned that the beatings are like 75% illegal

lol AV

Alain Vigneault took it up a notch in French: “I don’t know if he aggravated his injury through force of speaking to us and the officials. I’m not a doctor, I can’t say. What I can say is I commented on what I saw. I saw a guy who got up and his jaw didn’t stop moving for 5 min.”

— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) August 21, 2020

LOL

his adrenaline was PUMPING at that point

I hated AV when he was with the Rangers but I kind of love him now. Wish Giroux had some of his fire.

despite him coaching some of my least favorite teams i kind of love him since

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxfeFXdwqmA

mookie otm about the cross-checking and non calls, it's something that has long annoyed me

when a flyers goalie steals a playoff game we know the end times are truly upon us

lol, I know. I feel like I'm a fan of the 2000 devils.

lmao at Derek Grant patting Nick Suzuki on top of the head in retaliation for Suzuki's head pat on Hart late in Gm 5. Athletes are so petty.

DEREK GRANT REALLY PATTED NICK SUZUKI ON THE HELMET 😂 pic.twitter.com/9q37Rq8awP

— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) August 22, 2020

this is fleury’s agent! yikes

pic.twitter.com/FarthdT0eX

— Allan Walsh (@walsha) August 22, 2020

AV's gonna ritually disembowel someone at the period break (one hopes)

Someone needs to go by Giroux and do a welfare check. He may have passed away two weeks ago and no one knew.

I had a bad feeling about the Flyers' ability to handle the Islanders' forecheck. Bad feeling confirmed.

Lol that fourth goal

tbf it is an amazing forecheck

but it's also the kind of thing you theoretically have coaches to solve

pens/rutherford just made a mind-bogglingly bad trade

basically traded their highest draft pick in 13 years + their second-best prospect for a third-line winger who isn't even cheap

Don't like Kapanen or don't like giving up picks/prospects?

xp, ah, both.

i would not be nuking picks or prospects rn if i were the pens

Anyway, Sami Kapanen was one of my all-time favorite Flyers after he played defense in the 2004 run to ECF, so will be sad to watch his son score on the Flyers at every opportunity.

malkin is 34 and crosby and letang are 33 and i get that rutherford has a green light -- for another season or two -- to continue torching picks/prospects. but i'd rather use the first-rounder as the cost of being able to dump jack johnson than being able to acquire kasperi kapanen

in other news, i was not expecting this from the dallas stars

I don’t think *anyone* picked Dallas to win, would be great to see

I am finding I don't enjoy the ups and downs of playoff hockey like I did when I was younger. Shit sucks!

lol otm

and a three-goal lead in the first is a disaster waiting to happen

Yeah, you could see it coming a mile away after the Islanders scored their first goal.

playoff hockey is much much better when you don't care

i didn't even watch the pens-caps series 2016-18 because i hate the caps so much and it was just too intense

Wow!

flyers showing some spunk

i hate spunk

Mookie, why you have to do me dirty like that.

it is my nature

sorry-ish

Going to prolong my anguish regardless.

see! i am innocent

I was pretty sure Couturier wasn't going to play (and he is not), so I wasn't to positive about this game, but Oscar Lindblom is playing in his first game since Dec. 7 and two months since his last cancer treatment and I am hyped as fuck.

Of course I've got Flyers-Devils Gm.7 ECF 2000 Lindros vibes and the ghost of Scott Stevens.

I've really liked AV as a coach but his challenges in this series have been suicidal.

gotta take some shots, so to speak, when you're being outshot 2-1

He's 0-3 on challenges and none of them have even been close.

gotta be aware of the long change in the odd-numbered overtimes

good luck

Pure agony

o no

bzzzzt

GAME SEVEN

27 years since an (Islander) team got to the ECF, really thought they were going to get it tonight.

Yeah.

Flyers have won all their games this series in OT. I'm pretty much good regardless of the outcome of Game 7 because they've shown me some fight in Games 5 and 6.

xp fuck you for even hinting at the existence of david volek

Islanders radio guys are terrific though, pure adrenaline and emotion.

Hahaha I remember being on the couch with my father during the Volek goal, one of the favorite sports moments. Almost made up for the Dale hunter hit. It’s been 27 years of nothing close since.

*my favorite

ffffyyyyy

:)

Did not expect to have three game sevens after they all went 3-1.

rip canadia

prop(p)s to the flyers for coming back from 3-1, but that was bad

Let's go Isles! Dominated the game tonight. Really glad to have the 27 year itch scratched.

Chris King (on the right) may be an acquired taste, but he's been pretty much like this every night on the radio for decades, even during meaningless games when the Isles are getting blown out. Love it. (Greg Picker is also great).

The final minute of regulation from the studio as the #Isles advance to the conference finals for the first time in 27 years! pic.twitter.com/HZZoA4qxnH

— Greg Picker (@GregPickerHere) September 6, 2020

so now my options are the isles or a bunch of bullshit sunbelt cities that don't deserve hockey. and maf isn't even playing for vegas

One of my best friends is beside himself with glee, as it was half his lifetime ago the last time the Isles were in the Conf Finals.

That warms my heart

i have decided the isles are my rooting interest bc i hate dallas (holdover late 90's red wings fan hatred + im from south texas so i reflexively hate all things dallas sports) and the cup being in tampa again or vegas sounds like the pits

Let's go Islanders, win it for Pat Lafontaine

okay then

Yikes

we should probably just be grateful that they shit the bed last year

19:51

rick bowness leading a team to the stanley cup finals is really trashing the idea that having a smart coach matters

Happy for the Stars, if only because absolutely no one gave them a chance to win the last two series.

puck-over-the-glass PPG in overtime, naturally

they should really only call that when the player is conceivably delaying the game

Isles got some fight left. Going to be really tough to win 2 more, but enjoying this tonight.

one of my besties couldn't even bring himself to watch it on his big tv, would only watch on the corner of his phone. msged me every 5 minutes shitting.

he is jubilant rn. hope they pull off the miracle.

weird that we don't have any lightning fans on this here board

Varly's victory slide already classic

SLIDING INTO GAME 6 LIKE… pic.twitter.com/iUSsC2UC3Y

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) September 16, 2020

I'm rooting for the Isles. Fuck all sunbelt expansion teams.

they should really only call that when the player is conceivably delaying the game

refs gathering around the ipad, zooming in to get a good look at the player's eyes to suss out intent while the cheeky soundguy plays "anticipation" over the pa.

i'm not necessarily against puck-over-the-glass being a penalty. i just object to the fact that the refs can and will choose to let more egregious things slide depending on the game situation, but this silly thing is called because it's black-and-white.

(tbf, both these last two games had penalties called with under six to go in the third, and i'm surprised beauvillier got a double minor, so good for them)

if you think Whitecloud intended to hit that puck into the stands, I don't know what to tell ya xp

https://grantland.com/the-triangle/is-the-puck-over-glass-rule-the-dumbest-regulation-in-sports/

Like most dumb problems, the solution for this one is easy: Treat any puck shot into the stands the same as icing — which, it should be pointed out, usually involves shooting the puck out of your own zone to relieve the pressure and is therefore essentially the exact same thing. You have a faceoff in the defensive zone, the defending team doesn’t get to change lines, and off we go. No worrying about whether the puck clipped the glass, no trying to triangulate whether it might have crossed into neutral airspace over the bench, and no trying to explain to new fans why shooting the puck over there is treated differently from shooting it over there.

And if you’re really worried about an outbreak of players shooting pucks into the stands (which, again, has never been a significant issue before), then you can let the referees hand out penalties for really obvious cases. They could make the call using their own judgment. There’s even a precedent for that: Virtually every other penalty in the rulebook.

I've been living in Canada for 8 years and I didn't understand this rule till just now

we should be handing out pamphlets at the airport

it wouldn't break my heart if they treated it like icing.

where the main punishment is you stay on the ice tired.

I guess I always assumed part of the penalty was for endangering spectators by putting the puck over the glass

if defenders have time to wind up a slapshot, they're probably not going to use/miss the glass -- it's weaker stuff. plus there are nets now.

pretty sure the whole thing was a chickenshit way to get more power plays/increase scoring without the refs having to bear the burden of making judgment calls

i want to say let's go all night, but tampa is just better and let's get it over with

christ i hate corey perry

pavelski, fine, but fuck that guy

eight shots through two periods

No results found for hockey "nascar of the far north".

Pretty crazy they won almost entirely without Stamkos (though he did score a pivotal goal).

yeah i can't argue with them at all. they never even faced elimination

They deserved to win, although with a couple lucky breaks and bounces, the Isles could definitely have taken it to 7 games. The last second TBL goal in Game 2 (plus all that NYI power play time) and Nelson missing on the OT breakaway in Game 6 loom large in my head. Still pretty happy with this season though.

king henrik deposed

what a moment

Jack Johnson on waivers for purposes of buyout

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) October 5, 2020

jack johnson on waivers as a chrysalis becomes a butterfly

Lundqvist to Caps it’s probably time for a new thred

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING ARE THE CHAMPS 2020-2022 THE NHL 2020-2021 SEASON THREAD (INCLUDING LIGHTNING HANGOVER AND OFFSEASON SHENANIGANS. HOCKEY IS THE BEST)