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

The point about the size and speed of players made a lot of sense to me, and I'm sure a skill team like the Leafs is hurt worst of all.

championship teams need both size and skill really

Yeah the Leafs failings are purely mental anyway.

I'll defer to the hockey people here (I can think of a baseball guy who would scoff at the idea that the problem is in their heads; I don't discount such factors myself), but I'll mention the Polo Grounds again, and another obvious parallel is the way they've had to adjust golf courses to the reality that guys now routinely hit 350 yards off the tee. With golf, I don't think you have to necessarily lengthen the course, you can also punish errant drives more severely.

Oh I 100% agree that rinks need to be re-sized.

it's not like players exactly cruise during the regular season, but the playoffs have a different level of intensity. everyone is trying to finish every check all the time, and at the same time the refereeing becomes more timid (i.e., bad) because the stakes are higher

i agree that bigger rinks would be better, but an even cheaper way to improve play would be to actually call the penalties that allow worse players to neutralize better players

that doesn't let the leafs or oilers off the hook, though -- colorado is just as skilled and doing just fine

One other option in golf: you simply take what used to be a par 5 and change it to a par 4. I don't know if it ever happens that cleanly, but I was watching a tournament on TV recently, and they were playing a par 4 that I'm pretty sure was some ungodly distance of at least 550 yards, maybe even 600.

well . . . par is meaningless. make them all par 7 and give everyone double eagles and the results will be the same. golfers are playing against each other, not a made-up number of strokes

Right--good point.

It probably matters a little in terms of the record book--lowest score ever at the Masters and such--but in terms of winning or losing, no.

how much bigger are we talking, though? the bigger the hockey rink, the more you introduce pacing into the game. i'm not necessarily opposed to a bigger rink, but i would be cautious as to how big, because one of the defining features of hockey is its speed and why i love the sport. while i enjoy european hockey, it's a much less subdued version of the sport, for the most part.

more subdued*

jesus that was a brutal hit

Vile. That might be a series suspension.

hope vegas can win a couple and extend that series because that was Good Playoff Hockey tonight

(also <3 MAF)

this, btw, is real class

This fantastic photo of Nikolaj Ehlers doing what he can to protect Jake Evans has been floating around various social media outlets without any credit to the photographer.

David Lipnowski/Getty Images pic.twitter.com/ltWa1Iblb2

— Seth Rorabaugh (@SethRorabaugh) June 3, 2021

Was that hit really as dirty as it sounds? Because it sounded truly wretched.

about the only good thing you can say is that he kept his elbow in. but the point of contact was evans’ head and he literally skated 200 feet to deliver the hit. and he was too late to stop the goal anyway

mike commodore has already come out with ‘scheifele stopped striding at the top of the circles and evans should have had his head up’ but i thought we’d reached the point where people realized that just because you *can* give helpless opponent a severe brain injury doesn’t mean you *have* to

Isles/Bruins series has been pretty evenly-matched so far. Did not expect to see an 8-goal period happen with TBL-CAR.

My Jets bandwagonning looks to be short lived.

the time has come for me to officially renounce my post of May 25th

I feel like as soon as I start seriously paying attention to the Habs they are going to start losing, so staying away for now

i don't dislike the jets. i've enjoyed watching all these canadian teams play against each other in general.

right now, i'm more concerned that the knights are winning, fleury be damned.

Jets are not even mounting much of a fight so far.

poor tukka

I think Tukka has been good this series in general, and is pretty adept at being able to block out all the Boston media/fan complaining. Did not realize how banged up the Bruins' D was, but was very surprised to see Isles get three power play goals.

Also, wow Habs--7 wins in a row.

funny how now the canadiens will now wait for the american teams to finish up their series

as every single canucks fan is saying right now, we really should have kept tyler toffoli

toffoli was good in the canucks. we lost so many good players this season, it's frustrating. we'll see how that blue line does next season

the habs get some time off and the knights-avs series is intense, so hopefully they go into the semifinals with a bit of an edge

honestly very very curious about how the MTL-COL/LV series will play out

COL/LV will be beat up
MTL is confident and will be rested

COL/LV seem like the better teams - but so did the Jets and Leafs

more importantly, the Habs this year are - in the words of their GM - "enigmatic." Not clear to me that the opposing coaches will have an easy time cracking the code of how to beat them since they themselves have only been playing this way for like a week!

Islanders <3 <3 <3

Bruins kind of disappeared tonight.

:( RIP MTL-BOS final

so in the semis we've got two four-seeds, a three-seed, and whoever wins the west

not sorry to see the bruins get fucked but . . . i don't think the habs or isles are really worthy. tampa is good but i am against them. so i guess i'm for the west winner (even though montreal is my second choice)

btw that was quite a shot by mark stone last night eh?

bit of advice for goalies: before you join the nhl, have a name that's long and multisyllabic, like vasilevskiy or hellebuyck, not an easily chantable, two-syllable name like TUUUU-KKKKAAAA or JAAAA-RRRRYYYY.

this is some game

never win the president’s trophy

it does seem cursed

three conference finals appearances in four years. that's almost an appearance every year since it was founded in 2017.

bettman must be grinning from ear to ear

sad that we (presumably) won’t have trophies for the third-round winners to touch/not touch

go Habs imo

never mind!

forget the Cup; i’m pretty sure the habs have never won the campbell bowl

The #StanleyCup Semifinals are set.

In addition to a spot in the Stanley Cup Final, the winner of the @GoldenKnights vs. @CanadiensMTL series will claim the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, while the @NYIslanders and @TBLightning will battle for the Prince of Wales Trophy. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/l8tMHf1yaz

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) June 11, 2021

isles, man

Great defensive game by them, capitalized on the surprising amount of Tampa giveaways/turnovers.

i caught the last period and i was pretty impressed by the isles

come on, habs. you're our country's only hope

In support of the @CanadiensMTL's pursuit of the Stanley Cup, as Canada’s last remaining team in the 2021 @NHL playoffs, the Canadian Horseshoe Falls will be illuminated tonight in Red, White and Blue from 9:30 to 10:00pm., the night before the team begins its next series. pic.twitter.com/BzwmRgbCoc

— Niagara Parks (@NiagaraParks) June 13, 2021

the game is pretty physical so far. i feel like it's on the edge of turning nasty

Hold on nowpic.twitter.com/T2mYhwJCzP

— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) June 15, 2021

three goals from defencemen tonight

It's 115 degrees in Las Vegas tonight -- the hottest game-time temperature in @NHL history, per an announcement inside @TMobileArena. @GoldenKnights @NHLNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) June 17, 2021

hottest gametime temperature SO FAR