NHL (2020-2021) v. Draft, sign, & trade.

[jingle.boy]

And Ron Tugnut having a 73 save performance against the B's.

That was amazing. I remember watching that game on TV. They still replay it every now and then.

Yeah, that was a special performance.

As for things that scare me, I'm continually amazed that skate blades don't do more serious damage.  A 17-year old goalie for the Niagara Icedogs sliced an artery in his leg about a year and a half ago, and the pool of blood was almost the size of the crease.  He survived (thanks to a trainer squeezing the artery tight the entire ride to the hospital). 

[XeRocks81]

edit: nevermind read the score wrong, lol I wasn't watching the game

anyway, go Habs

[Anguyen92]

Jebus, from being one loss away from getting a first-round exit to 6 straight wins in a row for the Habs and being 3-0 against the Jets.  Despite certain rough patches in the last half of the season, they certainly happy that now is the time for things to click.

On another note, is there any announcements on how the Canadian Gov't is going to handle travel of teams coming in and out of Canada?  The NHL sorta needs an answer pretty darn soon.

[TAC]

Didn't they just announce approval today?

I'm watching the Avs/Knights game and it's on the bottom crawl.

[SchecterShredder]

Yeah, the Canadian gov is allowing an exemption for NHL travel.

[jingle.boy]

Jebus, from being one loss away from getting a first-round exit to 6 straight wins in a row for the Habs and being 3-0 against the Jets.  Despite certain rough patches in the last half of the season, they certainly happy that now is the time for things to click.

Not just that, but 2 of those elimination games went to OT (I seem to recall the Leafs hitting a post in Game 6?).  Now they really do look like the 2nd coming of the '95 Devils.  Price with a .938 save percentage isn't hurting them either.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Montreal was the last Canadian team to win the Cup so it would make sense for them to be the team to break the curse. Do I want to see that happen, no, but it would be an interesting case of symmetry.

[gmillerdrake]

Montreal was the last Canadian team to win the Cup so it would make sense for them to be the team to break the curse. Do I want to see that happen, no, but it would be an interesting case of symmetry.

SO many things would have to happen for ANY of the Canadian teams to win the cup this year. First one would be, the American teams don't show up......second would be a hot goaltender.

[SchecterShredder]

Montreal was the last Canadian team to win the Cup so it would make sense for them to be the team to break the curse. Do I want to see that happen, no, but it would be an interesting case of symmetry.

SO many things would have to happen for ANY of the Canadian teams to win the cup this year. First one would be, the American teams don't show up......second would be a hot goaltender.

So 1 of those 2 is already in place. Price is a beast right now. I still don't think they have the firepower to beat a Col, Bos, or TB, but it wouldn't surprise me either. If they can beat Toronto, they can probably beat any of the other eastern teams. Mind you, Toronto's top players didn't bother showing up, so maybe the Habs just got lucky on a hot goaltender.

I think the Avs are the team to beat these playoffs. They look like a complete squad. If it ends up being Vegas v. Montreal, I think the latter could pull the upset.

[jingle.boy]

I think the Avs are the team to beat these playoffs. They look like a complete squad. If it ends up being Vegas v. Montreal, I think the latter could pull the upset.

Not based on the last 7 periods of that series!  Vegas has bitch-slapped them since the end of Game 2.  Avs better get their heads out of their asses.

[SchecterShredder]

I think the Avs are the team to beat these playoffs. They look like a complete squad. If it ends up being Vegas v. Montreal, I think the latter could pull the upset.

Not based on the last 7 periods of that series!  Vegas has bitch-slapped them since the end of Game 2.  Avs better get their heads out of their asses.

Minor setback. A speedbump, shall we say.

[gmillerdrake]

I think the Avs are the team to beat these playoffs. They look like a complete squad. If it ends up being Vegas v. Montreal, I think the latter could pull the upset.

Not based on the last 7 periods of that series!  Vegas has bitch-slapped them since the end of Game 2.  Avs better get their heads out of their asses.

If not for that gift PP in OT the AVs could easily be down 2-1 instead of up 2-1. Vegas is no joke.



And I'm only teasing about a Canadian team being unable to win a cup this year. All it takes is the right group of guys buying in for one another and anything can happen. I 'think' the American teams remaining stack up better against the Canadian teams remaining....but, you have to play the games. Couple bounces, couple calls....hot goalie....someone gets hot and scores a bundle.....anything can happen.

[SchecterShredder]

I think the Avs are the team to beat these playoffs. They look like a complete squad. If it ends up being Vegas v. Montreal, I think the latter could pull the upset.

Not based on the last 7 periods of that series!  Vegas has bitch-slapped them since the end of Game 2.  Avs better get their heads out of their asses.

If not for that gift PP in OT the AVs could easily be down 2-1 instead of up 2-1. Vegas is no joke.



And I'm only teasing about a Canadian team being unable to win a cup this year. All it takes is the right group of guys buying in for one another and anything can happen. I 'think' the American teams remaining stack up better against the Canadian teams remaining....but, you have to play the games. Couple bounces, couple calls....hot goalie....someone gets hot and scores a bundle.....anything can happen.

It's most likely the winner is an american team, not just because of the 3 to 1 advantage in numbers going into the next round. Honestly, had someone told me at the start of the season that Montreal would likely be in a conference final I'd have told them to pound sand....only in less kind terms.

[jingle.boy]

Yup... Montreal is proof of that.  They got dominated by the Leafs for 2 straight games, and their only victory after Game 4 was a close nail-biter, with the Leafs mentally down from losing Tavares.  The Leafs coasted in Game 5; the Habs got a massive emotional boost from having fans in attendance at long last; then the Leafs had the yips and Campbell let in his one-and-only bad goal.

They've gotten a bit of luck on their side - twice now getting an opponent's top-3 player off the ice for the bulk of the series, gel'd as a team to play suffocating defense, and have a hot goalie.  They can't count on all those things falling into place for four rounds.

[gmillerdrake]

Not based on the last 7 periods of that series!  Vegas has bitch-slapped them since the end of Game 2.  Avs better get their heads out of their asses.

I just realized that Vegas/AVs played last night....checked the highlights.......     I would say that momentum is definitely in favor of the Knights right now.

[TAC]

The refs are letting EVERYTHING go tonight! Holy crap!

[King Postwhore]

B's dominating but down 2. A very frustrating game.

[TAC]

Is the Tuukka Rask Era over in Boston?

[KevShmev]

That 3rd period was nuts. The Bruins came at the Islanders for that entire 3rd period like a pack of wasps whose nest had been swatted.  I thought for sure they were going to tie it up.  That series is going 7.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Congratulations to the Montreal Canadiens for sneaking into the playoffs and taking care of business in the weakest division in hockey this year. Enjoy the sweep, and I’m sorry in advance for the beating either Colorado or Vegas is going to hand you.

[jingle.boy]

They put their shit together, and took advantage of the tough breaks the Leafs and Jets had to deal with.  The latter two couldn’t find their game when they needed it, and the bottom of the lineup didn’t step up.

I’d hardly call the North the weakest Division tho. Each division had their share of shit-kicker teams. The Avs and Knights had the 3 Cali teams to beat up; Carolina and TB had Detroit and the Jackets; and let’s not forget the easy Ws everyone in the East had against Buffalo. Vancouver was in pretty good shape until the whole team was ravaged by COVID. 

Hard to say which was the weakest Division .... the bottom four in the West were the worst bottom four of all divisions.  I mean, we’re the Wild REALLY that good, or were the Cali teams and AZ just that bad?

[Anguyen92]

Well, there were periods were Coyotes and Kings looked like, with enough oomph to it, they could have contended for that 4th spot and then they went into the buzzsaws that is Golden Knights and Avs.  I will argue in the case of the Wild that they probably would have fared well against teams like Canucks, Jets, and Flames and maybe the Oilers.  I'm not convinced that either of Canucks or Flames gets into the top 3 in the Pacific next season.  I'm thinking it will probably be Golden Knights, Oilers, and Kraken if they built a solid team.

The Sharks were bad (except when they faced the Kings for some reason.  Kings went 2-5-1 against the Sharks.  At least, two of those games the Kings were actually hammering the Sharks on shots and couldn't beat Martin Jones enough to win those games.  F***).  Ducks were terrible as well.  Kings had small moments of looking like they were going to be something and then they went back into being their 2018-2020 form of crappiness.

[jingle.boy]

Well, there were periods were Coyotes and Kings looked like, with enough oomph to it, they could have contended for that 4th spot and then they went into the buzzsaws that is Golden Knights and Avs.  I will argue in the case of the Wild that they probably would have fared well against teams like Canucks, Jets, and Flames and maybe the Oilers.  I'm not convinced that either of Canucks or Flames gets into the top 3 in the Pacific next season.  I'm thinking it will probably be Golden Knights, Oilers, and Kraken if they built a solid team.

The Sharks were bad (except when they faced the Kings for some reason.  Kings went 2-5-1 against the Sharks.  At least, two of those games the Kings were actually hammering the Sharks on shots and couldn't beat Martin Jones enough to win those games.  F***).  Ducks were terrible as well.  Kings had small moments of looking like they were going to be something and then they went back into being their 2018-2020 form of crappiness.

I think that the Canucks might contend for that 3rd spot.  I think they'll lose Holtby to the expansion draft, or trade him before hand (Edmonton maybe??).  I think those bottom four teams benefited from a beat-down Blues lineup at times - especially the Coyotes.

It's semantics though ... I think all four divisions had their powerhouses (Wpg could've been, if not for their huge end-of-season slump), and their shit-kickers ... sandwiched between with some average/adequate lineups.  As for Montreal taking the North, they're reaping the benefits of clicking at the right time, and their opponents under-performing.  Montreal is definitely punching out of their weight-class, and very likely to get their clock cleaned by the Avs or Knights.  Who knows though - they might actually be the second coming of the '12 Kings!

[KevShmev]

Congratulations to the Montreal Canadiens for sneaking into the playoffs and taking care of business in the weakest division in hockey this year. Enjoy the sweep, and I’m sorry in advance for the beating either Colorado or Vegas is going to hand you.

Never say never.  The winner of Avs/Vegas should thrash Montreal, but sports history is filled with losing teams that should have won a game or series.  A hot goalie like Price can be the wild card that flips everything.

[KevShmev]

Fleury just completely shit the bed on that goal.  What a lackluster attempt. 

[jingle.boy]

Tampa looks like Juggernaught.

Bonehead save attempt by Flower with 1.8 seconds to go.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Huge win for Vegas, and now they have a chance to close out Colorado at home.

[crazy climber dude]

Vegas showing a lot of grit.

[KevShmev]

Not that I want to see the Vegas fans get a Cup this quickly, but I will rejoice if they knock Kroenke's team out.  Avs gagged that away big time last night.

[gmillerdrake]

Not that I want to see the Vegas fans get a Cup this quickly, but I will rejoice if they knock Kroenke's team out.  Avs gagged that away big time last night.

Yep. It won't break my heart if they happen to win it.....I just detest their coach but I can live with seeing Petrangelo winning another cup. Speaking of which....he's playing incredible which isn't surprising. It's that back end of the contract that's going to hurt but the first few years he will be and is worth every penny.

[pg1067]

A friend and I were texting back and forth about the COL/VEG game.  Basically trading expletives toward the end.  I wasn't watching the end of regulation or OT because my wife wanted to watch American Ninja Warrior, so I was following the game on the ESPN app.  Before I knew OT had even started, the game was final.  I'm so pissed that Colorado is gagging away this series.  Vegas winning the whole thing would be THE worst possible scenario (almost on par with Anaheim winning in '07).

[jingle.boy]

Especially with the chance that the Avs had just 10 seconds in.  Saves are very easy to make when you shoot the puck right into the logo on the 'tender's jersey. 

[Anguyen92]

Man, I don't want to root for Montreal to beat the Golden Knights if it comes to that, but I hate the Golden Knights more at the moment, so there we go.

[romdrums]

Especially with the chance that the Avs had just 10 seconds in.  Saves are very easy to make when you shoot the puck right into the logo on the 'tender's jersey. 

See Red Wings v. Ducks, 2003 first round series.

[gmillerdrake]

Especially with the chance that the Avs had just 10 seconds in.  Saves are very easy to make when you shoot the puck right into the logo on the 'tender's jersey. 

That game could have easily been 7-2 Colorado. From a handful of great saves by Fleury to a handful where Colorado just fired it into the breadbasket. Same could be said for Vegas though....they choked a couple scoring chances as well.

Bottom line is....you have to play the games and execute. Things happen in the game for both teams and it's how you respond that matters. And Vegas has responded in kind every since that weak penalty call on them that gave the AVs the PP and essentially the win in Game 2. It's been impressive.