Official '19-'20 NHL Thread - v. Hedman is a cupman.

[gmillerdrake]

John Casey backing up Fuhr is one of the few I can think of, and still, St. Lou didn't get to the finals. 

Gee...I wonder why we had to rely on our backup?

To no fault of his. I've re-watched that brutal 'Steve Yzyerman' game a few times over the past couple years and Casey played incredible. Shoot.....it could have been 4-0 Redwings in the first period if not for the saves he was making.

The Blues missed out on several golden chances to win that game prior to the goal that ripped the hear out of every StL fan.

[pg1067]

All right, I take everything back from what I last said about the Canucks/Vegas series.    Canucks look good today.  Having Tyler Toffoli back in their line-up can make a difference.  Not surprised.  We got a good series in the making now.

Damn...I forgot the Kings traded him.   

Isn't Tanner Pearson also in Vancouver?

Few teams have ever gone deep into the playoffs with their backup goalie.  John Casey backing up Fuhr is one of the few I can think of, and still, St. Lou didn't get to the finals.  I can't think of a single Cup finalist team that did so without their #1 goalie

How quickly we forget.  2016 Matt Murray says hello.

[SchecterShredder]

Few teams have ever gone deep into the playoffs with their backup goalie.  John Casey backing up Fuhr is one of the few I can think of, and still, St. Lou didn't get to the finals.  I can't think of a single Cup finalist team that did so without their #1 goalie

How quickly we forget.  2016 Matt Murray says hello.
[/quote]

Didn't Matt Murray start in the playoffs from the get go that season?

[Nick]

Few teams have ever gone deep into the playoffs with their backup goalie.  John Casey backing up Fuhr is one of the few I can think of, and still, St. Lou didn't get to the finals.  I can't think of a single Cup finalist team that did so without their #1 goalie

For the 2010 Flyers you could argue over who their #1 goalie was, and even if you called it Boucher as he had slightly more time than two other guys during the season, they rotated him with Leighton in the playoffs anyway, with Leighton getting slightly more minutes there. So I'd say they got within two wins of the cup without a solid #1 goalie. I'm not saying I recommend that, but I think it's applicable to your point.

During season TOI was split between three guys, 1,742, 1,683, and 1,449, while in playoffs it was 655 and 757. `

[Anguyen92]

All right, I take everything back from what I last said about the Canucks/Vegas series.    Canucks look good today.  Having Tyler Toffoli back in their line-up can make a difference.  Not surprised.  We got a good series in the making now.

Damn...I forgot the Kings traded him.   

Isn't Tanner Pearson also in Vancouver?

Yep......  After Pearson didn't quite pan out well for the Penguins in the initial trade for Carl Hagelin (which also didn't quite pan out well for Kings where they didn't get great value for him at the trade deadline in 2019) to Kings, he got traded to Vancouver.

[gmillerdrake]

Tarasenko’s last shoulder surgery was unsuccessful and did not ‘work’. He goes under the knife again next week......re-evaluated in 5 months. It’s likely his career is over. Brutal.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Tarasenko’s last shoulder surgery was unsuccessful and did not ‘work’. He goes under the knife again next week......re-evaluated in 5 months. It’s likely his career is over. Brutal.

That is some devastating news for Blues fans. He is one of the best players in St. Louis and a locker room leader. They most likely don't rally to win the cup last year without his leadership and talent. My heart goes out to you guys. Even after a Stanley Cup victory, you can't catch a break.

[pg1067]

Few teams have ever gone deep into the playoffs with their backup goalie.  John Casey backing up Fuhr is one of the few I can think of, and still, St. Lou didn't get to the finals.  I can't think of a single Cup finalist team that did so without their #1 goalie

How quickly we forget.  2016 Matt Murray says hello.

Didn't Matt Murray start in the playoffs from the get go that season?

No.

Marc-Andre Fleury was the #1 goalie for the Penguins in 2015-16, playing in and starting 58 games before going down with a concussion in a game against Nashville on 3/31/2016.  Murray and Jeff Zatkoff split time as Fleury's backup, and Murray started four of the Pens' final five regular season games, while Zatkoff started the final regular season game.  Zatkoff was the starting goalie in the Pens' first two playoff games against the Rangers before Murray took over and started the remaining games against the Rangers, all six games in the second-round series against Washington, and the first four games in the ECF against Tampa.  Murray was pulled in favor of Fleury after the second period in the game 4 loss.  Fleury then started game 5, which the Pens lost, and it was all Murray from there on out.

[gmillerdrake]

Tarasenko’s last shoulder surgery was unsuccessful and did not ‘work’. He goes under the knife again next week......re-evaluated in 5 months. It’s likely his career is over. Brutal.

That is some devastating news for Blues fans. He is one of the best players in St. Louis and a locker room leader. They most likely don't rally to win the cup last year without his leadership and talent. My heart goes out to you guys. Even after a Stanley Cup victory, you can't catch a break.

Also, he freaking scores a ton of goals. I forgot the exact stat but since 2014 he’s third in goals scored. His playoff goal/points totals are pretty high as well. Just a hard core competitor that wants nothing but to win. I can’t imagine if he does return to play that he ever regains that top tier level again.

[jingle.boy]

Fair rebuttals to my hypothesis - tho the Flyers example is more of a tandem pairing than a starter/backup).  And yes, I did forget the backdrop of Flower/Murray in ‘16. Also, I don’t subscribe to the notion that Grebauer was the #1 goal one for the Caps in ‘18.  I think it kinda proves my point - a backup is more likely to play a role in a prompt elimination, than take a team on a deep run.  Ergo, Colorado is fucked.

[hunnus2000]

Tarasenko’s last shoulder surgery was unsuccessful and did not ‘work’. He goes under the knife again next week......re-evaluated in 5 months. It’s likely his career is over. Brutal.

That is some devastating news for Blues fans. He is one of the best players in St. Louis and a locker room leader. They most likely don't rally to win the cup last year without his leadership and talent. My heart goes out to you guys. Even after a Stanley Cup victory, you can't catch a break.

Being a Stars fan, I can't bring myself to root for the Blues. However, if I had one wish in sports it's that nobody would ever get hurt especially to the point of a career ending injury. I feel for the athlete, I feel for their family and I feel for the fans and selfishly, when my team goes up against your team, I want both teams at full strength so there's no question about the end result.

[Anguyen92]

I concur.  Those are the kind of things you never want to wish for on a player (even if that player plays for a rival team).

On a different note, what the heck is going on in Arizona where the league is forcing the Coyotes to forfeit their 2nd round pick in 2020 and their 1st round pick in 2021?

https://media.nhl.com/public/news/14263

[SchecterShredder]

I concur.  Those are the kind of things you never want to wish for on a player (even if that player plays for a rival team).

On a different note, what the heck is going on in Arizona where the league is forcing the Coyotes to forfeit their 2nd round pick in 2020 and their 1st round pick in 2021?

https://media.nhl.com/public/news/14263

Sounds like the issue is incompetent management in Arizona. Fairly common knowledge that you can't conduct interviews and have draft prospects workout prior to draft week and the combine.

[Nick]

Enjoyed the Flyers game this afternoon, but really enjoying watching the Bruins this evening!

[TAC]

Seems Nick only pokes his head out of the ground when the Flyers win.

[TAC]

Bruins look awful. They're not in Tampa's league. Their young players are getting skated out of the building.

Chara..holy shit.

Bergeron wears the C next year.

[gmillerdrake]

Bruins look awful. They're not in Tampa's league. Their young players are getting skated out of the building.

Chara..holy shit.

Bergeron wears the C next year.

Tough to compete without your top goalie. I didn’t get to see much of the game tonight so I don’t know the specifics......but it’s safe to say Tampa has a chip on their shoulder from last year right now.

[TAC]

The Bruins wouldn't win a series against Tampa WITH Rask, nevermind Halak.

[Anguyen92]

How many times must we see this picture?  Is it that hard to keep the Stars down and protect a lead against this team?

Edit: Holy crap, this game is pretty wide open in the last half of the 3rd.

[jingle.boy]

Missed the first 1/2 of the Bruins/Lightning game, and by then! It was all but over. Man did Boston look bad. Left Vlader hung out to dry on all 3 of the goals against him. How many breakaways did TB have?  4 or 5 that I saw.

Nice to see the Avis regroup after giving up a 3 goal lead.

[Nick]

Seems Nick only pokes his head out of the ground when the Flyers win.

I'm just glad you don't have a similar policy for the Bruins, I'd hate to be without you till next season.

[TAC]

Nope. I man up after a loss. 

[jingle.boy]

Maybe nick can edit the thread title, since Kev pulled the ripcord on the forum.

[Nick]

Done.

And for the record, I haven't posted too much in general lately, but I'll give my thoughts on this round so far.

Starting with the Flyers I don't think they were as bad in game one as the score and commentary would suggest, or as good in game two as the commentary suggests. That said if they start firing on all cylinders again I don't see them being stopped before maybe the finals. Question is can they get the top end moving again consistently. Not worried about depth, defense, or goal-tending. Islanders are a great team, but we have them beat if we're at our best, same with Bruins and Tampa right now.

Speaking of which, Tampa is hungry. They beat back the absolute shitshow that was last years postseason, got a quick punch against them when the Bruins took game 1, but got woken up and are not looking back. Bruins might muster enough to sneak another game in, but I have Tampa taking it in six at most.

Out west I think the Knights will steady and beat the Cannucks without too much issue. Cannucks won game 2 and showed some life, but I think this year the Knights just have the stronger team. If things keep looking up for Vancouver and they meet again in a year or two likely a different outcome.

How fun is this Stars / Avalanche series?!? I'm just sad the Avs are beat up and we don't have the best of the best of each going at it. I think if they were at full strength they could dictate the outcome, but now as long as the Stars play their best they have the series in hand. Still likely to be the toughest series to call, and I think it goes 7 games either way.

[jingle.boy]

I think Boston will bounce back - they certainly aren't as bad as they played last night.  Tampa is just much deeper than the Bruins.  After the top-6, the Bs are pretty thin up front.  Same with the D - third pairing definitely goes to the Lightning.  Chara is looking very much like a 42-year old.

I hope the Flyers can make a series out of it.  I fear that Trotz can/will out-coach Vigneault.

Vegas should win out at this point.  I don't see the Canucks continuing to over-perform as they have.  They'll go as far as Markstrom takes them.

Avs... yeah, shame Grebauer is injured.  If Francouz can be even a B+ goalie, they might have a chance, but I think Dallas moves on.

[chknptpie]

I think Boston will bounce back - they certainly aren't as bad as they played last night.  Tampa is just much deeper than the Bruins.  After the top-6, the Bs are pretty thin up front.  Same with the D - third pairing definitely goes to the Lightning.  Chara is looking very much like a 42-year old.

I hope the Flyers can make a series out of it.  I fear that Trotz can/will out-coach Vigneault.

Vegas should win out at this point.  I don't see the Canucks continuing to over-perform as they have.  They'll go as far as Markstrom takes them.

Avs... yeah, shame Grebauer is injured.  If Francouz can be even a B+ goalie, they might have a chance, but I think Dallas moves on.

Avs lost a veteran defender too... so that D is pretty screwed up against a team that can score.

[Anguyen92]

No games today make me a sad guy, but I can understand why that's the case, and that's all I'm going to say regarding that.

[gmillerdrake]

No games today make me a sad guy, but I can understand why that's the case, and that's all I'm going to say regarding that.

Yeah. Um. I’ve not fully commented on this as to respect those that may agree with the decision.

[Nick]

Looks like hockey is set to resume tomorrow most likely, so my question is which teams benefit from the extra break?

Islanders - Although I absolutely think the Flyers have the higher potential the Islanders have been more consistent. With two extra days off we'll still see the same Islanders. Flyers were putting some good things together in game 2 and would have been definitely been best served going straight to game 3 the next day.

Bruins - After such a wallop the extra days to study and change some things up helps them regroup.

Knights / Canucks - Don't see a big impact here.

Avs / Stars - Same, unless the two days make a difference in Avs players returning. Both teams have some extra time to figure out how to stop the scoring pace of the other team.

[jingle.boy]

Solid victory by the Isles and Lightning.  Isle have a solid gameplan under Trotz.  I think they're going to be hard for Philly to beat.  Halak should've had that second goal, and the third was just some solid (bad) luck.

Knights look like they'll roll over the Canucks.  That first goal by Tuch was gorgeous.

[Anguyen92]

Series over.

Well, you called it.

[TAC]

Ironically that was BY FAR the best game the Bruins played in the bubble. Halak was amazing in this game.

Victor Hedman owned this series though.

[King Postwhore]

Again the top line dissapeared when it mattered. Goal scoring is what lost this series. Not goaltending.

[gmillerdrake]

Maroon with a nice screen but Halak did everything he could to keep Boston in that game. Joe nailed it......top scorers didn’t show up for Boston.

[Anguyen92]

On a side note, when I saw the Avs go up 5-0, I'm feeling like that lead is nothing early, the Stars will find a way to slowly crawl back.  It's 5-2 in late 2nd.  This W is not certain yet for the Avs.

Edit: Ehhh, 6-2.  I still think the Stars can make a comeback.