8 ARMS TO HOLD THE STANLEY CUP THE NHL 2021-2022 SEASON THREAD (INCLUDING LIGHTNING HANGOVER AND KRACKEN SHENANIGANS. HOCKEY IS THE BEST)

It's hard comparing across sports, so I don't know how they'd compare to the Russell Celtics, Jordan Bulls, Ruth-Gehrig Yankees, Brady Patriots, etc. But I remember them as so much better than everyone, and a perfectly balanced team: goaltending and defense, scoring, very deep.

The '76-77 team:

https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/MTL/1977.html

- 60-8-12
- 12-2 in the playoffs (beating the Bruins and Islanders, dominant teams on either side of their Cups)
- a goalie with a 2.14 GAA
- a guy with 60 goals, another with 56, six others who scored 20+ (a benchmark at the time)
- 9 HOF'ers? Possible that one or two got in primarily because they were on this team
- Scott Bowman as coach (so 10 HOF'ers)

i have no idea why this was called a goal

Hey, we'll take it 😁

Ref explanation: "After review, the puck was already shot before the play was whistled down. Therefore, it was a continuous motion. We have a goal on the ice." pic.twitter.com/dr2rsTD44R

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 23, 2022

lol vegas

big game in dallas for the lolden knights

Auston! (Finally.)

vegas still alive but basically needs a miracle

Had not heard of the Stars’ Jason Robertson before and it turns out he has 40 goals this season. Huh.

Going to throw my fandom behind the Oilers and Panthers in the playoffs.

penguins are cratering at just the right time

kinda hope the caps pass them simply because i'd rather see them brutalized in the first round by the panthers than the rangers (1996 notwithstanding)

that said, the first round is going to have so many amazing matchups -- TOR-TB! MIN-STL! CAR-BOS! -- and i desperately hope we get BATTLE OF ALBERTA in round two

I watched less hockey this year than since I started watching hockey.

these playoffs, then, are for you, a person with no particular rooting interests other than to see certain eastern conference teams crash and burn. it's gonna be good hockey

i mean, watching the playoffs when your team is in it is basically torture even when your best player doesn't have a fucked-up thumb

^ totally agree with all that

rip vegas

kinda rough losing three straight key games in the shootout, but also: lol

couldn't score one shootout goal, in seventeen tries

panthers just cursed themselves by winning the president’s trophy

they get to raise a banner though

Expect #NHL teams to inquire about hiring Joel Quenneville as their Head Coach. Hear he wants back behind the bench and there is expected to be significant interest in hiring the future Hall of Famer. Q will need to meet with Commissioner Gary Bettman to be reinstated.

— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) May 1, 2022

do not want

$5 says vegas hires him

Flyers. They'll literally ditch a coach with cancer if they think it will help them win.

wild atmosphere/intensity at the games tonight

are the leafs finally gonna do it

rags-pens going to a third OT, and Pittsburgh’s down to their third-string goalie. 138 combined shots on goal so far.

that whole leafs curse was the biggest crock of shit i've heard in a long time. they have to be the most deluded fan base in the league. i have nothing against toronto or the leafs, but i hope they don't get past the first round just for laughs

i dunno about ‘curse’ but the leafs blowing a 4-1 lead in the third period of game seven vs the bruins in 2013 was some harrowing shit

Losing to the Habs after being up 3-1 last year was also rough, a sign that they might be in their heads a bit too much

oh no, my home ice

well we've got a bunch of series now <3

god cale makar is so good

Yeah, his goal from the other night was tremendous.

Seems like a lot of third-string goalies in use already.

<3 secondary scoring <3

I mean I hate the Pens on a genocidal level but I gotta admit as a vehicle for teaching Rangers fans about heartbreak and loss they're not half bad.

the puck always finds joe pavelsky

welp, abbotsford won't be getting the calder cup. hockey season is pretty much over for me. i might catch a game here and there once we're closer to the NHL finals, though. this sucks because i was planning on going to abby for a game. curse bakersfield!

pretty sure bakersfield has already been cursed by being in bakersfield

these playoffs are hardcore

marchand calling deangelo a racist was honestly great

can’t believe this is only the first round

marchand is the worst but i guess ~maybe~ props

worst hockey player you know makes a great point

Islanders fired Trotz? That seems dumb. I would take him on the Flyers any day though I don't think they are a Trotz away from anything.

Uh, that does not seem like a good idea. I thought Trotz (a likely hall of fame coach) did well to get a winning record out of a group that sustained a 12 game winless streak this season during a large Covid outbreak. Seemed like the players all really respected and liked him too.

lou is 79 and the minimal success he’s had in the salary-cap era has come from scrappy teams that overachieved. he did nothing at the trade deadline except extend old guys. maybe he should look in the mirror

good period imo

an embarrassment of riches

most important panthers goal in 25 years

seriously

need one more

there you go

huge

I was at the game. That goal was a huge bummer.

silky

Johnny Gaudreau scores on the penalty shot👀 pic.twitter.com/JYeCO0VfZl

— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) May 10, 2022