Official NHL 2015-2016 Thread

[KevShmev]

Thanks for the well wishes on the Blues hard-earned and long overdue first round win.

I am sure someone will quote Clint Eastwood and say deserve's got nothing to do with it, but this team deserved to have a little luck goes it way for once (the double post last night). This team has too much talent to lose in the first round again.

  I guess nobody like a dynasty anymore 

Nobody likes a dynasty except fans of that particular team and the media.

I do have a question though for either of you guys. I have only watched portions of the last two games, but WTF is up with Backes? Is he injured or something, because there seems to be long stretches where he's not even on the ice, and then when he is, he is still invisible. He has always been one of my favorite "non Bruins" players.

Honestly, I think his style of play has caught up to him and it's tough to maintain for him. He has his moments still but in large I think his best playing days are behind him which is one reason I highly doubt he's resigned after this season.

This.  I like Backes, but when I see the Blues go through stretches where they look awful (like many of the 2nd periods against Chicago), I wondered where the on-ice leadership was.  Granted, not every captain has to be a rah rah guy, and it is often better to lead by example, but I'd be fine with a new captain next year who has a bit more fire in his belly.

Anyway, we are still playing this year...

[Jarlaxle]

It will be interesting to see what he gets on the open market.

He's still a good leader and respected. But man, he's had several concussions and is one hit from never playing again. I guess they all are technically but more so for those guys who have had multiple concussions.

I like Backes...but honestly I'd be upset if they re-signed him because I think we have some good young players coming up and/or would rather them spend the $$ on a player with less miles and more upside.

And with the increases in NHL salaries these days, Backes will probably sign for $5+ mil to play 3rd or 4th line minutes. I don't think any contender will sign him unless he's willing to take a serious pay cut. He'll probably end up in Columbus or Phoenix (And yes, I'm aware they changed their name. However, they will always be the Phoenix Coyotes. They get to live with that mistake forever)

The only way Backes stays with the Blues is if they win the cup and he takes a 2-3 year deal at $2.5 mil per. But there's many stupid teams (read: Edmonton) who will offer him $5-6 mil for 5 years. If Backes wants to deal with the nonsense of Edmonton he will be paid handsomely. That being said, I could see him going to the NYR or BOS who have a track record of paying players at the end of their careers to keep their team afloat.

Speaking of the Rangers, they are in trouble. The Eric Staal trade was horrendous, Lundqvist is starting to degrade (although this could be because their defence is no good), and they are just getting old and slow in an increasingly faster league. With no prospects worth mentioning in the system, it could be a hard few years in the future.

[DragonAttack]

Wings fan here:  Now that they're out, and the 'Hawks (much respect for them)....hoping for a Caps-Blues finals.  Good for the league, a great matchup, and much needed for their long suffering fans.

[jingle.boy]

Wings fan here:  Now that they're out, and the 'Hawks (much respect for them)....hoping for a Caps-Blues finals.  Good for the league, a great matchup, and much needed for their long suffering fans.

Great for the hardcore/true fans of the league.  Horrendous for the business of the league.  NBC will shit bricks if this is the final.  Hell, they're probably already shitting bricks.  I know CBC is.

[KevShmev]

Screw the NHL and NBC, but I don't see the issue with the East. Okay, TB isn't exactly a ratings booster, but the other three teams are a NY team and the teams with probably the two biggest stars (Crosby and Ovechkin) to casual fans, so I don't see Washington, Pittsburgh or the Islanders making the finals as some ratings killer.  Not that I give two craps about ratings anyway.  The NHL can choke on them for all I care.

[jingle.boy]

Screw the NHL and NBC, but I don't see the issue with the East. Okay, TB isn't exactly a ratings booster, but the other three teams are a NY team and the teams with probably the two biggest stars (Crosby and Ovechkin) to casual fans, so I don't see Washington, Pittsburgh or the Islanders making the finals as some ratings killer.  Not that I give two craps about ratings anyway.  The NHL can choke on them for all I care.

Way to root for the success of the "business".      

You have a very pessimistic/derogatory view of the "business" of sports.  Without the "business", there is no professional sports leagues, and in turn, no games.  The two kinda go hand-in-hand, don't they?  I can understand being frustrated with the politics of sports, but it's a necessary evil to get the entertainment of the games, no?

[KevShmev]

You're probably right. I am just disgusted with the way the NHL is run these and all of the little things they do that suck ass.  Of course I want to see the league do well and whatnot, but I think getting fans with great games is the way to go, not by getting better ratings just because you have the big market teams playing in the finals. 

[SchecterShredder]

The only way Backes stays with the Blues is if they win the cup and he takes a 2-3 year deal at $2.5 mil per. But there's many stupid teams (read: Edmonton)
[/quote]

In defense of my home team, they purged all their terrible management last summer. This management team hasn't had the chance to make any stupid moves yet.

[jingle.boy]

You're probably right. I am just disgusted with the way the NHL is run these and all of the little things they do that suck ass.  Of course I want to see the league do well and whatnot, but I think getting fans with great games is the way to go, not by getting better ratings just because you have the big market teams playing in the finals.

I don't disagree with this. I just think that financial success comes with a balance of both (great hockey + bigger market teams = ratings/revenue).

[TAC]

You're probably right. I am just disgusted with the way the NHL is run these and all of the little things they do that suck ass.  Of course I want to see the league do well and whatnot, but I think getting fans with great games is the way to go, not by getting better ratings just because you have the big market teams playing in the finals.

I don't disagree with this. I just think that financial success comes with a balance of both (great hockey + bigger market teams = ratings/revenue).

Yeah, I'm just not sure what Kev is so upset about.

[gmillerdrake]

You're probably right. I am just disgusted with the way the NHL is run these and all of the little things they do that suck ass.  Of course I want to see the league do well and whatnot, but I think getting fans with great games is the way to go, not by getting better ratings just because you have the big market teams playing in the finals.

I don't disagree with this. I just think that financial success comes with a balance of both (great hockey + bigger market teams = ratings/revenue).

Yeah, I'm just not sure what Kev is so upset about.

Well in his defense I've been picking fights as well....I mean, we don't have the refs to bitch about for another couple days so somethings got to take it's place 

[TAC]

You guys are playing with house money now!

[DragonAttack]

What would be the best finals for business and NBC?  [said with a neutral tone]

Not sure what would boost TV ratings more than .1%.  And Bettman wants to expand again soon?!?

[Dark Castle]

Las Vegas is the perfect place to lock down, they have what Nascar? as far as PROFESSIONAL as fuqq leagues go. I think NHL's genius to be the first to tap that market.

[Hyperplex]

Since when does the second round start with one first round game left to play?!!? Isles/Lightning game one on now, Preds/Ducks gave seven later...seriously what the fuck?

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Since when does the second round start with one first round game left to play?!!? Isles/Lightning game one on now, Preds/Ducks gave seven later...seriously what the fuck?

Scheduling conflict at the arena.

[KevShmev]

You guys are playing with house money now!

I don't look at it that way.  The Blues had the 3rd most points in the league this year, so they should be playing in the 2nd round.  As much of a relief it is to finally see them win in the first round, it's not enough. I want to see 12 more wins.

Yeah, I'm just not sure what Kev is so upset about.

I'm not upset; I just think the way the NHL runs its league sucks.  Playoff hockey is awesome, despite it being the NHL.

[gmillerdrake]

I really can't believe the Preds beat the Ducks, on the road in a Game 7. Out of the teams that are left in the West that's the team I'm most scared of to play. I know the Blues need to get past Dallas, and the Preds past San Jose....but Peca Rinne has owned the Blues for stretches of games and I really don't like the prospect of potentially having to play them to get to the cup.

Plus, my brother in law lives in Nashville and is a Preds fan and lets just say we aren't getting along these days....it'd suck for the Blues to be eliminated by them for that fact alone.

[SchecterShredder]

I really can't believe the Preds beat the Ducks, on the road in a Game 7. Out of the teams that are left in the West that's the team I'm most scared of to play. I know the Blues need to get past Dallas, and the Preds past San Jose....but Peca Rinne has owned the Blues for stretches of games and I really don't like the prospect of potentially having to play them to get to the cup.

Plus, my brother in law lives in Nashville and is a Preds fan and lets just say we aren't getting along these days....it'd suck for the Blues to be eliminated by them for that fact alone.

It was a little surprising, but not shocking given the Ducks recent stretch of game 7 results. I think the west representative is coming out of the central for sure. As good as the Preds or Sharks might look, I think either of those teams gets rolled by the Blues or Stars in the conference finals.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

I'm thinking the Blues make the finals. TBH I'm not convinced the Stars will go far. In fact if they didn't face arguably the worst team to make the playoffs I could have seen them making a first round exit.

[Hyperplex]

My sister-in-law's husband is a bleeding red Caps fan, and they are coming over Saturday night so he can watch the Caps game (she made him disconnect the cable at their house). If the Caps do win it all, he is going to be absolutely insufferable for the entire next year. He is the epitome of the Broseph Brobison sports crew, highfiving at every good play and talking smack to every single male in a 20 foot radius...something I've simply never done. Saturday should be interesting.

[millahh]

My sister-in-law's husband is a bleeding red Caps fan, and they are coming over Saturday night so he can watch the Caps game (she made him disconnect the cable at their house). If the Caps do win it all, he is going to be absolutely insufferable for the entire next year. He is the epitome of the Broseph Brobison sports crew, highfiving at every good play and talking smack to every single male in a 20 foot radius...something I've simply never done. Saturday should be interesting.

At the end of your first sentence, I thought his wife was being drastic and unreasonable.  By the time I finished reading your post, I now feel it was probably completely warranted.

[mikeyd23]

Caps vs Pens starts tonight! Should be a great series. I'd say the winner of this series will probably represent the East in the SC Final.

Lets Go Pens!

[Mr. Ister]

I'm not that worried about meeting the Predators in the conference final if both teams make it there.  Pekka Rinne's best days are behind him and the Blues know him well enough to use his aggressiveness and erraticism against him.  I think Dallas is the far bigger challenge.

[dparrott]

Ducks drown!!!      That's the best news to hear as a Kings fan.

Let's go Sharks!  Make the Predators the prey!

[Dark Castle]

Ducks drown!!!      That's the best news to hear as a Kings fan.

Let's go Sharks!  Make the Predators the prey!

It'll be tough, San Jose really struggles against Nashville's goaltending. Hoping they make it through though!

[Hyperplex]

And the Red Wings' new arena will be called.....

wait for it.....



Little Caesar's Arena: https://www.nhl.com/news/red-wings-new-building-named-little-caesars-arena/c-280502882

[gmillerdrake]

It'll be tough, San Jose really struggles against Nashville's goaltending.

They aren't the only ones....Rinne can be a S.O.B like that....

[Hyperplex]

My sister-in-law's husband is a bleeding red Caps fan, and they are coming over Saturday night so he can watch the Caps game (she made him disconnect the cable at their house). If the Caps do win it all, he is going to be absolutely insufferable for the entire next year. He is the epitome of the Broseph Brobison sports crew, highfiving at every good play and talking smack to every single male in a 20 foot radius...something I've simply never done. Saturday should be interesting.

At the end of your first sentence, I thought his wife was being drastic and unreasonable.  By the time I finished reading your post, I now feel it was probably completely warranted.

Yeah, kinda. A Caps game (regular season) was on a while back and he nearly took out our 3 year old cousin with his post-Ovechkin goal celebration.

[SchecterShredder]

And the Red Wings' new arena will be called.....

wait for it.....



Little Caesar's Arena: https://www.nhl.com/news/red-wings-new-building-named-little-caesars-arena/c-280502882

Bahahahaha. I'm shocked that Little Caesar's can even afford naming rights on an arena. They must be much bigger in the US than they are in Canada. Jobing.Com arena was pretty bad too though

[Hyperplex]

Mike Illitch, the owner of the Red Wings, founded and owns Little Caesar's.

[Hyperplex]

But I will be sorely disappointed if they don't nickname the area 'The Oven.'

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Anyway, teams I'm cheering for.

San Jose
St. Louis

Washington
New York

[KevShmev]

This Pens/Caps series is gonna be awesome.

I wasn't surprised at all that Nashville beat the Ducks last night. Bruce Boudreau is the best coach in the world at losing Game 7 at home.

[Destiny Of Chaos]

Penguins just scored two goals in the blink of an eye.