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)

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