Official 2017-2018 NHL Thread v. Break the Ice

[pg1067]

WTF??

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nhl/lightning-enforcing-dress-code-for-capitals-fans/ar-AAx1UwJ?li=BBnb7Kz

It's not uncommon for teams to have a dress code for "seats against the glass, or in the . . . luxury suites."  This has happened more than once to Dodgers fans at Chase Field in Phoenix (for REGULAR SEASON games).

[TAC]

Huh? I guess I've never heard of it. Seems fucking petty.

[pg1067]

Seems fucking petty.

I don't disagree -- especially since it's probably not enforced very often during the regular season.

[jingle.boy]

Huh? I guess I've never heard of it. Seems fucking petty.

this... All the fucking power to the ballsiest of people that go in to the opposing team's 'lion den'.  You see those 2 Nashville fans wearing yellow in the "Sea of White" on Monday?

[Anguyen92]

It's not like there will be any Capitals fans there in the first place unless they live in Florida, according to this statement below in that link.  I understand the Lightning's intentions to try to build a great home atmosphere for the team, but I don't think this is the greatest approach to make it happen.

Tickets for Capitals fans are already limited, since Tampa Bay will not allow anyone who doesn't reside in Florida to purchase a ticket through the team site or Ticketmaster.

“Orders by residents outside of Florida will be canceled without notice and refunds given,” the team said.

[Accelerando]

We did this some time ago during a playoff series with the Rangers, and I have Rangers fans back home in Orlando that loathe Tampa Bay for it. To be fair, we're not the first franchise in all of sports to have done this.

[jingle.boy]

We did this some time ago during a playoff series with the Rangers, and I have Rangers fans back home in Orlando that loathe Tampa Bay for it. To be fair, we're not the first franchise in all of sports to have done this.

Just because you're not the only one or first one doesn't make it right/ok.   

I think this is a douche move by any organization.  Wouldn't you love to see European Football teams try something like this?  "No singing or chanting for the visiting team allowed; all will be ejected".

[gmillerdrake]

BS penalty call on Jets let’s the Preds back into the game and fires up that annoying crowd.

[Accelerando]

We did this some time ago during a playoff series with the Rangers, and I have Rangers fans back home in Orlando that loathe Tampa Bay for it. To be fair, we're not the first franchise in all of sports to have done this.

Just because you're not the only one or first one doesn't make it right/ok.   

I think this is a douche move by any organization.  Wouldn't you love to see European Football teams try something like this?  "No singing or chanting for the visiting team allowed; all will be ejected".

I’m not saying it’s right/ok, im just saying we’re not the only ones who’ve done it!

That being said, I hate Ovechkin and the Caps so im ok with it

[TAC]

That being said, I hate Ovechkin and the Caps so im ok with it

OK, well I'm with you there.

[KevShmev]

Jets get their first PP with 8:28 left.

Come on, Jets, finish this.

[Anguyen92]

Jets get their first PP with 8:28 left.

Come on, Jets, finish this.

They made that one count pretty quickly.

[KevShmev]

Freaking Stastny. We couldn't buy playoff goals out of him when he was here.  Now he can't stop scoring them for the Jets.  Such is the plight of Blues fans. 

[gmillerdrake]

Freaking Stastny. We couldn't buy playoff goals out of him when he was here.  Now he can't stop scoring them for the Jets.  Such is the plight of Blues fans. 

I know. It’s just the way it is. He vanished in the playoffs for us. Freaking stud for the Jets.

[gmillerdrake]

The fact that the Preds lost at home in front of those annoying a$$ fans means the world to me. I can’t remember the last time I was THIS happy for a team to lose and this happy for a team outside of the Blues to win 

The Jets take three of four games AT the Preds. That’s crazy.

[KevShmev]

Love seeing them lose on home ice.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Welp my bracket, as well as many other people, is now officially fucked. Also, anyone here have Vegas and Winnipeg in the Western Conference Finals at the beginning of the season?

[jingle.boy]

Just glad there's still a Canadian team in the hunt.

Welp my bracket, as well as many other people, is now officially fucked. Also, anyone here have Vegas and Winnipeg in the Western Conference Finals at the beginning of the season?

I'll bet most didn't have either of them making the playoffs!

[Snow Dog]

Just glad there's still a Canadian team in the hunt.

Me too. I’m American, but it just feels wrong to not have had a Canadian Cup winner since Montreal in ‘93. I pulled for Edmonton, Calgary, and Ottawa, all of them, when they each had their chance in the Cup finals. All couldn’t finish. I’ve pulled for any Canadian team in the playoffs for the last decade at least, or more. Now I’m pulling for Winnipeg, and they’re looking great. Can this be the year?

[jingle.boy]

All of Canada hopes so.

[Snow Dog]

On another note, tonight’s game and result was perfect to watch, except for the fact that NBC insists on putting Pierre McGuire between the glass if he’s remotely available. God, that guy annoys me... But maybe that should go in the “Mildly Irritating” thread instead.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Just glad there's still a Canadian team in the hunt.

Me too. I’m American, but it just feels wrong to not have had a Canadian Cup winner since Montreal in ‘93. I pulled for Edmonton, Calgary, and Ottawa, all of them, when they each had their chance in the Cup finals. All couldn’t finish. I’ve pulled for any Canadian team in the playoffs for the last decade at least, or more. Now I’m pulling for Winnipeg, and they’re looking great. Can this be the year?

I hope not. I find it quite amusing that Canada hasn’t won the top championship in their own sport in 25 years. The troll in me would love to see that continue, and I found myself on the Vegas bandwagon big time this year. I just feel that the story of a first year franchise winning it all would be absolutely incredible. My pecking order for the final four basically goes as follows:

1: Vegas (I explained my reasoning above, but I also think it would be great redemption for Fleury, who I feel was the guy that Pittsburgh should have kept.)
2: Washington (I love Ovechkin.)
3: Winnipeg (I don’t hate them but I don’t want to see them win a title before my New York Jets do and I want the American Stanley Cup winning streak to continue.)
4: Tampa (They’ve won a cup already and they would basically be winning by taking a bunch of the Rangers best players. The only good thing would be that the draft pick we got for J.T. Miller would turn into a first round pick.)

[Dittomist]

Yeah, my bracket is officially toast. I thought that Nashville and Boston would be meeting in the finals for sure. I'm really happy for the Jets though and I'll be rooting for them to win the cup, because their fans have been suffering for a long time, and because Winnipeg is the only city in the entire world where Brian DePalma's amazing 1974 film Phantom of the Paradise was a hit (go watch it now!!!).

If you had told me in January that Paul Stastny would score 2 goals in a game 7, I would have been extremely happy.

Considering how well the Golden Knights have done, expectations are going to be unfairly high for Seattle's inaugural season. Unless the governor misspoke, the official team name is going to be the Seattle Totems.

[jingle.boy]

Just glad there's still a Canadian team in the hunt.

Me too. I’m American, but it just feels wrong to not have had a Canadian Cup winner since Montreal in ‘93. I pulled for Edmonton, Calgary, and Ottawa, all of them, when they each had their chance in the Cup finals. All couldn’t finish. I’ve pulled for any Canadian team in the playoffs for the last decade at least, or more. Now I’m pulling for Winnipeg, and they’re looking great. Can this be the year?

I hope not. I find it quite amusing that Canada hasn’t won the top championship in their own sport in 25 years. The troll in me would love to see that continue, and I found myself on the Vegas bandwagon big time this year. I just feel that the story of a first year franchise winning it all would be absolutely incredible.

I think your reasoning is flawed. It's still 'our' sport - Canadians make up the largest nationality of players in the NHL... I'd have to look it up, but I'd be surprised if there was any team in the NHL where another country had the largest number of players on the roster.  So, it isn't about "Canada" not winning the championship... as a country, we feel LOTS of pride when we are dominating the play from the winning teams (since '93, only 6 non-Canadians have won the Conn Smythe... and I think Leetch may have been the first non-Canadian EVER to win it - he was the first American, and I doubt there were many Europeans winning it pre '90s).  Also... all four teams remaining are coached by Canadians.   

It's simply a matter of pride and national unity to see success from Canadian franchises.  So, I give you a big.



Much as I'm sure how you felt towards anyone who wanted to see the Rangers lose in '94.   

P.S.  I'm personally very tired of the Vegas storyline.  I'm so ready for this fairy-tale ending to end (despite the fact they have 11 Canadians on the roster at the moment - and coached by a Canadian)

[gmillerdrake]

Not to take away anything from the Kings or Sharks.....but Vegas hasn’t really played a complete team yet. The Jets are complete....from top to bottom and are going to be the toughest team they’ve faced yet.

I think the Jets may beat them in 5 games....most likely six.

[mikeyd23]

I think the Jets beat Vegas, and that Tampa beats the Caps.

[jingle.boy]

Not to take away anything from the Kings or Sharks.....but Vegas hasn’t really played a complete team yet. The Jets are complete....from top to bottom and are going to be the toughest team they’ve faced yet.

I think the Jets may beat them in 5 games....most likely six.

I'll agree with you re: Kings.  I think the Sharks were more "complete" - but Jones didn't steal one.  Hellebucyk has proven he can steal a game (or more).  I think he was the MVP last night, and despite the 5-1 score, he stole that victory (and he definitely stole Game 1).  Nashville had plenty of chances, but Hella was a stone wall.

The Jets very much dominated Nashville... the Preds only strong game was Game 6 - the other two victories were both by 1 goal (and gm 2 in double OT); Jets victories were by 3 and 4 goals.

On paper, the Jets should handle this... but that's why they play the games.  I really don't understand playoff seeding - Vegas was the #2 seed for round's 1 and 2, but now Winnipeg is higher seeded?  Don't get me wrong, I like that the Jets have home ice advantage, but don't understand the logic of re-seeding happens in round 3, but not round 2. 

[romdrums]

Nice win by the Jets!  Here's hoping for a Caps-Jets final.

Interesting note, this year's conference finals features 3 teams that used to be in the Southeast Division, and an expansion team.  That's amazing.

[Nick]

Dammit Leafs.

5-3 first round.

I think the Nashville-Jets series is going to be amazing, even better than Caps/Preds, and think those series will be the toughest to call, that said...

Preds
Sharks
Lightning
Caps

7-5 through the first two rounds.

I'll take the Jets and Capitals.

Sure, I think the Knights will win at this point, but I want them to win, and if picking against them is helping, then I'll take the hit.

[pg1067]

Me too. I’m American, but it just feels wrong to not have had a Canadian Cup winner since Montreal in ‘93.

I feel the same way, but I have a friend -- a fellow Kings fan -- who insists that it's karma for the Habs supposedly "cheating" their way to a win in game 2 of the 1993 SCF against the Kings.  She's a big Marty McSorley fan, and whenever the subject comes up, I remind her that it's McSorley's fault that the Kings lost game 2 (it's his fault for using an illegal stick and if that penalty isn't called, Kings take first two games on the road, and the series plays out very differently).  She, on the other hand, buys into the notion that the Habs somehow surreptitiously looked at the Kings' stick rack to find out who was using illegal sticks and then, when the opportunity presented itself, the Habs used their "illegally" obtained knowledge.  My response, among other things, is that, even if that happened (and there's no real evidence it did), it's still McSorley's fault for using the illegal stick.

Anyway, go Caps; go Jets!  Vegas winning would be an amazing story and might be good for the sport as a whole, but I don't want to see it.  Beyond that, since I have no rooting interest in any of the remaining teams, I default to teams that haven't won it all and, in particular, the Canadian team.

[TheCountOfNYC]

I really don't understand playoff seeding - Vegas was the #2 seed for round's 1 and 2, but now Winnipeg is higher seeded?  Don't get me wrong, I like that the Jets have home ice advantage, but don't understand the logic of re-seeding happens in round 3, but not round 2. 

The Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Finals determine home ice advantage by record instead of seeding. Since Winnipeg had the better regular season record (second best in the league), they get home ice. Round 2 is determined by division, so the winner of 1 vs 4 will play the winner of 2 vs 3. For example, had New Jersey had beaten Tampa, they would have played Boston because they got sorted into the Atlantic Division seeding of the playoffs due to them being the lower wildcard and Tampa being the better division winner. It’s very confusing and I hate it. I wish they would go back to the original format. It makes a lot more sense that way.

[pg1067]

I wish they would go back to the original format. It makes a lot more sense that way.

"Original format"

You mean Smythe/Norris/Patrick/Adams 1 v. Smythe/Norris/Patrick/Adams 4 and Smythe/Norris/Patrick/Adams 2 v. Smythe/Norris/Patrick/Adams 3, with the winners of the Smythe and Norris Divisions playing in the Campbell Conference Finals and the winners of the Patrick and Adams Divisions playing in the Wales Conference Finals?  I agree...I'd love to go back to that, although it's pretty darn close to what we have now!  Or did you mean the 1-16 format that was in place before that, and after the NHL expanded the playoffs from 12 to 16 teams?

I really don't understand playoff seeding - Vegas was the #2 seed for round's 1 and 2, but now Winnipeg is higher seeded?  Don't get me wrong, I like that the Jets have home ice advantage, but don't understand the logic of re-seeding happens in round 3, but not round 2. 

Where'd you get the idea that Vegas was the #2 seed?  Vegas was the #1 seed in the Pacific Division, and Nashville was the #1 seed in the Central Division.  Because Nashville had a better record than Vegas, Nashville played the Western Conference wild card team with the worse record (Colorado), and Vegas played the wild card team with the better record (the Kings).  The #2 and #3 seeds in each division played each other in the first round.  Because both Nashville and Vegas won in the first round, they had home ice against the winners of the 2 v. 3 series.  In the conference finals, the team with the better record gets home ice (Winnipeg > Vegas and TB > Washington)

[DragonAttack]

We're looking forward to Game 2 of the 'bolts-Caps.  We'll be in Tampa on Sunday, cruising to Cuba on Monday.  We plan on going to a nearby pub, or sitting in the hotel lobby, wearing our Red Wings gear (me with my Yzerman jersey, the wife with her red tee).  Much respect for Tampa Bay and its GM (obviously, though I despise the Southern teams), but so pulling for the Caps.

(hoping to go to a Cup Final game for once in my life in DC)

[Snow Dog]

Me too. I’m American, but it just feels wrong to not have had a Canadian Cup winner since Montreal in ‘93.

I feel the same way, but I have a friend -- a fellow Kings fan -- who insists that it's karma for the Habs supposedly "cheating" their way to a win in game 2 of the 1993 SCF against the Kings.  She's a big Marty McSorley fan, and whenever the subject comes up, I remind her that it's McSorley's fault that the Kings lost game 2 (it's his fault for using an illegal stick and if that penalty isn't called, Kings take first two games on the road, and the series plays out very differently).  She, on the other hand, buys into the notion that the Habs somehow surreptitiously looked at the Kings' stick rack to find out who was using illegal sticks and then, when the opportunity presented itself, the Habs used their "illegally" obtained knowledge.  My response, among other things, is that, even if that happened (and there's no real evidence it did), it's still McSorley's fault for using the illegal stick.

Exactly.

Besides, the Kings have won the Cup twice now.  She can let the grudge go any time...

[jingle.boy]

Me too. I’m American, but it just feels wrong to not have had a Canadian Cup winner since Montreal in ‘93.

I feel the same way, but I have a friend -- a fellow Kings fan -- who insists that it's karma for the Habs supposedly "cheating" their way to a win in game 2 of the 1993 SCF against the Kings.  She's a big Marty McSorley fan, and whenever the subject comes up, I remind her that it's McSorley's fault that the Kings lost game 2 (it's his fault for using an illegal stick and if that penalty isn't called, Kings take first two games on the road, and the series plays out very differently).  She, on the other hand, buys into the notion that the Habs somehow surreptitiously looked at the Kings' stick rack to find out who was using illegal sticks and then, when the opportunity presented itself, the Habs used their "illegally" obtained knowledge.  My response, among other things, is that, even if that happened (and there's no real evidence it did), it's still McSorley's fault for using the illegal stick.

Please also remind her the Kings probably didn't shouldn't have even made a Game 7 vs the Leafs in the semi-final - let alone getting to the Cup Final.  Gretz had a high-stick that drew blood on Gilmour in the Game 6 OT, and didn't even get a minor penalty, let alone the 5-and-a-game that a bloody high-stick earned everyone back in those days.  Gretz then scores the OT winner, and has the game of his career in #7.

So, remind her of that the next time she brings up being "cheated".

No, Canada (especially Toronto) has not gotten over the missed opportunity to see a modern day Toronto-Montreal Cup final.  It'll surely never happen in my lifetime.