NHL 2023-2024: Conference Finals. Stars/Oilers and Rangers/Panthers

[billboy73]

Hurricanes looking rough on this Canadian swing they are currently on.  Dropped 3 in a row, and have now allowed an NHL leading 7th short-handed goal after a tough loss in Calgary.  It's probably time to shake up the defensive pairings.  Pesce had a rough one in Edmonton and Burns is looking like a 39 year old now.


Watched a little of that wild Detroit game too, just to see how Patrick Kane looked on his debut.

[pg1067]

Well, the Kings did it.  They set the longest winning streak on the road to the start the season, with 11 wins, against the Habs.  Byfield with 2 goals, 3 pts.  Kopitar with 3 assists.  Doughty with a goal and an assist.  Top guys came to play today.

The thing of it is that, whereas the Kings absolutely dominated the game against Montreal at Staples a couple weeks ago, the Habs outplayed the Kings for most of the first two periods last night.  "Puck luck" goes along with playing well, and the Kings got a fair share of that last night.  If Drew Doughty isn't on the short list of early Norris candidates, then I'd hate to see the guys who are.  And Byfield's move on his first goal was a thing of beauty.  He's going to be a force to be reckoned with well before he hits 25.

The Kings are now second in the league in points percentage (1.522 PPG, which trails only the Rangers who have 1.542 PPG).  If the Kings can win out on this road trip, they'll get the mark for most consecutive road wins at any point in a season.  That quest will have the ultimate boss fight at the end, though, with the Rangers and (possibly) Jonathan Quick in net.

Also, I'll just leave this gem from the past here:  https://youtu.be/Cg-dKumr5Ys?si=yIbfB-jI8QcMmCWK

[Anguyen92]

That's a fine song, but can it beat this gem?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIhQoOC66vI

This song gained such an infamy that DownGoesBrown (who talks about history stuff from various outlets) did a dissection regarding the song.  https://www.vice.com/en/article/9kwxnd/dgb-grab-bag-new-penalty-signals-cherry-seventh-best-canadian-and-hrudey-on-duty

[pg1067]

That DGB breakdown is awesome.  The song not so much.  And that video....   

At least one of the TC line is in the HOF and two of them have their numbers hanging from the rafters at the Stapler.

By the way, Forgive My Misconduct was the b-side of this gem, courtesy of the Rangers:  https://youtu.be/p7MsohKuvA4?si=CK2nNgGyohsFusN0  Both songs were written by Alan Thicke.

[jingle.boy]

Any time I hear "down goes brown", I think of the classic line from Joe Bowen (long-time Leafs radio PBP commentator), and this classic early 90s fight between Rob Brown (Chi) and Sylvan Lefebvre (this is a great video, preceded with a quick Domi/Probert fight - I miss the Hebsie awards).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiPxTEG2Ax8 (42 seconds).

[axeman90210]

The Devils are finally stringing together a few wins, stayed up late to get a rare chance to watch them on TV in Seattle last night. Losing Dougie for a while hurts, but Simon Nemec has been excellent in his first few games up from the AHL.

[Kwyjibo]

Sixth straight win for the Oilers, including a typical Draisaitl goal. I like that. 

[billboy73]

Skinner has found his game, and McDavid looks healthy and has that points streak going.  They are playing some solid hockey and climbing the standings.

[Anguyen92]

They've only allowed 12 goals in the last 7 games in this streak.  Did them moving Paul Coffey to be an assistant coach for them help their defensemen?

[SchecterShredder]

They've only allowed 12 goals in the last 7 games in this streak.  Did them moving Paul Coffey to be an assistant coach for them help their defensemen?

A little maybe, but the goals against are a bit misleading. Skinner definitely had a good stretch with a starting tender caliber GAA and save %. The game Friday against the Wild, however, was another 0.85%. They still got the win, but 3 goals on something like the first 11 shots. One for sure was more defensive breakdown than anything (the Erikson Ek goal, if I recall), but the team can't expect any success if they can't get better defense/tending. They might muscle their way into the playoffs on the backs of their big guns, but no realistic fan in Edmonton right now thinks this team can win a playoff series with how they're playing.

At least one local reporter thinks Coffey has made an impact because he's a little more loose with the players than Dave Manson was. Maybe Manson knew he was on the hot seat with how the team started, so he was on edge all the time which eventually bled into the defensive play? Regardless, I'm glad they're playing better. There's still a long way to go until April, and that might be a good thing for the Oilers. They need to get some stuff sorted out or it'll be an early summer for these guys.

On the positive side, Calvin Pickard looked pretty good yesterday. I hope he can get some games in. Campbell is a dumpster fire right now in the AHL, and won't be back up anytime soon.

[pg1067]

Well...the Kings road streak is over.  They looked tired the last period against the Islanders and all game against the Rangers.  They have only 2 games in the next 8 days (including today), so they can hopefully right the ship.  Other than Winnipeg on Wednesday all remaining December games are against division opponents.

[gmillerdrake]

Blues fire Berube!

Can't say I'm all that shocked...but, as with most instances like this....this isn't on him. The Blue's roster is full of has beens and some youngsters that simply have no heart. Looking at you Kyrou. Binnington's still an average goalie who got hot and won us a cup....thanks for that bro.....but, it's been tough to watch since. The first domino was allowing Petrangelo to sign with Vegas and leave. He was the stalwart back on D....still is for Vegas....and since then it's just been downhill.

Team is loaded with brutal contracts. From Krug to Schenn to Sadd, Leddy....Kyrou is NEVER going to be a superstar. We have this year and next to trade him or his full NTC kicks in. I'd get what I could while I can for him.

Anyway....

[jingle.boy]

Damn... that's too bad.  I mean, .500 hockey has to be considered pretty respectable given the expectations, no?  Sure, they've lost four in a row, but they were 13-10-1 a week ago.  Did they think they were going to contend for a Top 3 spot with Dallas/Colorado, and now Winnipeg finally playing to how they should given their talent?  Nashville has been good, and even Arizona has turned it on (though, they too are coming back to reality).  That was a pretty quick announcement - the game just ended a couple hours ago. 

[gmillerdrake]

Damn... that's too bad.  I mean, .500 hockey has to be considered pretty respectable given the expectations, no?  Sure, they've lost four in a row, but they were 13-10-1 a week ago.  Did they think they were going to contend for a Top 3 spot with Dallas/Colorado, and now Winnipeg finally playing to how they should given their talent?  Nashville has been good, and even Arizona has turned it on (though, they too are coming back to reality).  That was a pretty quick announcement - the game just ended a couple hours ago.

The interim Coach is Drew Bannister who's been coaching the AHL affiliate for the past three years. My guess is they're going to try to jump start their $8mil a year forward Kyrou with a different approach...maybe with a guy who is more attuned to the younger folk? Berube demanded more out of everyone) him....more defensive play....responsible play...etc etc. He's just not doing it. I'm hoping they're not going to cater to the player cuz I've heard he just doesn't 'work'....that he's lazy. I'm serious when I say trade him. I'll take two or three blue collar 2nd 3rd liners over him. Yeah...he's gonna net ya 25-30 goals a year and probably end up having a few 40 goal years but he was -38 last year and is hovering around even this year. It's an improvement but I've seen all I need to see. He'll never get over the hump and be an elite player. He'll always be a defensively soft and weak second tier player. And those players suck in my eyes. 

But this team has lots of issues. I know they weren't going to compete for the Cup anytime soon but it's just really lazy looking hockey with a bunch of players who are just going through the motions. Coach is usually the first to take the hit but the players definitely got him fired. The whole mantra this season was 'we're a playoff team' and I guess they're trying to make a move to keep that goal in mind

[jingle.boy]

It's ironic timing, because during the 2nd intermission of the Leafs broadcast, Darren Dreger was doing his "Insider" segment, and talked about the Blues - and the possibility of a change coming.

Literally 3 hours later, the hammer drops.  Guess Dregs is truly an "Insider".

[gmillerdrake]

Jeremy Rutherford, who covers the Blues for The Athletic fired some shots with his article this morning.

Rutherford: Blues’ roster, not Craig Berube’s coaching, is the root of team’s issues

He pointed and called out what everyone can see....this is a team full of bad contracts AND players simply not playing to their expectation. I know Jeremy personally and have had TONS of conversations with him. Doug Armstrong is a dick. He's a good GM but he's also arrogant and a narcissist. He told me that charity golf tournament this summer he was in a group with Armstrong and the conversation about Petrangelo leaving got brought up. At some point in that conversation Armstrong said "You want loyalty, get a dog" and started laughing.

The $$$ was there with Petro to stay. All he wanted was the full No Movement Clause. Petro is a big family man, his wife is from St. Louis and one of his kids has health issues. Dude just wanted the  security....that's all. Armstrong would not give a full No Movement to him because he's NEVER done that....some sort of badge of honor that he seems to point out anytime contract talks happen.

Anyway, point is....good for JR to lob this headline out there because yeah....the coach is the first to get it in scenario's like this but this mess is all on DA and his poor vision and choices.

[romdrums]

That's now the second time a coach has been fired this year after losing to the Red Wings. Minnesota's head coach got canned a few weeks ago after losing 4-1 to the Red Wings.

The Red Wings needed that win last night. They've been reeling after the shit show with the Sens on Saturday. I still don't understand how Mathieu Joseph can cross-check Larkin in the neck and only get 2 minutes for roughing. What a fucking joke. I'm also pissed at the Red Wings for not being more vocal about the play. That's your captain that was unconscious on the ice after a brutal and unnecessary hit, and nothing? The head coach is praising the officiating for how they handled that whole ordeal? WTF? Joseph should've gotten a 5 minute major and a match penalty. Using the stick above the shoulders has to be taken out of the game ASAP. Wings should've handled it NY Rangers style, blasting the league, and calling out George Parros and the DPoS (typo intentional) for the inconsistency and "wheel of justice" style of dishing out fines and suspensions. Lastly, fuck the Tkachuks.

[jingle.boy]

@Gary and St. Louis ... Calgary wants a say in having some bad contracts.  Huberdeau could go down as the worst contract ever if this is the kind of player he is.  Kadri was always punching way above his weight class in Colorado, and that's a brutal overpayment as well.

@Rom.... we must've watched a different play.  There was no cross-check to the neck whatsoever.  For starters, Joseph only had one hand on his stick, and it's clearly a punch/shove to Larkin - his stick never comes close to Larkin's head.  https://youtu.be/Sv8ANsUPWjk?t=170  It's unfortunate that as he's going down, Larkin ends up getting a fist in the jaw from #27/Kelly as well.  I mean, it was a freak accident - I suspect it was Kelly's fist that knocked him out, but it could have also been his face hitting the ice.  Thank god for face shields, or it's Kevin Stevens all over again (just thinking about that incident makes me cringe).  As opposed to Perron, who went full goon mode just hitting anyone (Zub), who just happened to be standing there.

Meanwhile, great win by the Leafs last night - completely dominating the Rangers (where's Count been, btw??) in the 1st.  Though, to be fair, that was as much bad play by NYR... just watch the first goal, and Willie goes through all 5 Rangers like a hot knife thru soft butter, then dishing off to Matthews.  NYR showed up strong in the 2nd, but the Leafs held the line, and got a nice regulation time win.  1 point behind the Panthers, with 2 games in hand.

The Oilers are back in the hunt.  This is the team we all expected.  Man, they even had a DECENT start, they'd be right there with Vancouver for 2nd in the West.

[gmillerdrake]

@Gary and St. Louis ... Calgary wants a say in having some bad contracts.  Huberdeau could go down as the worst contract ever if this is the kind of player he is.  Kadri was always punching way above his weight class in Colorado, and that's a brutal overpayment as well.

Yeah.....I'm sure other teams are saddled with some crap contracts also...as you've pointed out. It's great for the players that they're collective 'power' as players is getting them these contracts but it's as if once those are signed the 'fire' and 'desire' leave the player. They know they're good and taken care of and unless you have a true competitors spirit to actually want to win.....it's just a 'job' and they just go about getting a check and just 'play' with no real zeal.

[TAC]

Seems Calgary has to overpay to get players.

[Anguyen92]

It sucks that Craig Berube got fired due to underwhelming players not delivering, but I keep hearing the phrase, "Coaches get hired to get fired," when it comes to that position in that league. He'll be fine.  If he wants, he can probably find a new coaching job somewhere else.  You get a short leash and if the players the GMs are plugging in the roster isn't playing up to par and it leads to bad results, the coach are always the first ones out.  It's easier to replace the coach than a GM.  The only exception in recent memory was the Penguins firing Ron Hextall and Brian Burke, but kept Mike Sullivan as their coach.  Sullivan seems to have won the power struggle there.

Actually, I lied.  The Senators fired Pierre Dorion and kept DJ Smith, but they feel they need to see what they have in DJ Smith as a coach before the new owners really want to make the choice to bring in their guy.

[romdrums]

@Rom.... we must've watched a different play.  There was no cross-check to the neck whatsoever.  For starters, Joseph only had one hand on his stick, and it's clearly a punch/shove to Larkin - his stick never comes close to Larkin's head.  https://youtu.be/Sv8ANsUPWjk?t=170  It's unfortunate that as he's going down, Larkin ends up getting a fist in the jaw from #27/Kelly as well.  I mean, it was a freak accident - I suspect it was Kelly's fist that knocked him out, but it could have also been his face hitting the ice.  Thank god for face shields, or it's Kevin Stevens all over again (just thinking about that incident makes me cringe).  As opposed to Perron, who went full goon mode just hitting anyone (Zub), who just happened to be standing there.

I agree with you on Perron. I don't mind his intent to stand up for his captain, but he crossed a line and deserves the suspension.

With Larkin though, it wasn't a freak accident. Joseph has gone after him before, as the clip shows. Joseph shouldn't have his hands that high to begin with. Why aim for his neck? That's careless, and he should've gotten a 5 minute major like they originally called. I know the net front gets crowded and pushy. IF you want to put the stick into his numbers, that's fine. Should be penalized, but hey, it's still a hockey play. What Joseph did was different, he aimed for the neck. The DPoS should have reviewed that play and taken further action.

[jingle.boy]

I don't think you're viewing the play objectively.  I understand there's a history, and Joseph wasn't doing anything that isn't done 10x a night in front of the net, or in a post-whistle scrum.  Perhaps a little more aggressive than a run-of-the-mill netfront battle, but I don't see it anywhere near as malicious as you do.  I'm no apologist for the DPOS - they're inconsistent as fuck - but I don't think there's anything to review from Joseph here.

[gmillerdrake]

I don't think you're viewing the play objectively.  I understand there's a history, and Joseph wasn't doing anything that isn't done 10x a night in front of the net, or in a post-whistle scrum.  Perhaps a little more aggressive than a run-of-the-mill netfront battle, but I don't see it anywhere near as malicious as you do.  I'm no apologist for the DPOS - their inconsistent as fuck - but I don't think there's anything to review from Joseph here.

I agree. Slow motion can make it look way more malicious than it was. All that happened in a fraction of a second....it was just all coincidental. No matter the history.

Now the Perron crap was brutal. No matter what you can't do that to a fellow player. Dude could have shattered every bone in that guys jaw.

[romdrums]

Jeremy Rutherford, who covers the Blues for The Athletic fired some shots with his article this morning.

Rutherford: Blues’ roster, not Craig Berube’s coaching, is the root of team’s issues

He pointed and called out what everyone can see....this is a team full of bad contracts AND players simply not playing to their expectation. I know Jeremy personally and have had TONS of conversations with him. Doug Armstrong is a dick. He's a good GM but he's also arrogant and a narcissist. He told me that charity golf tournament this summer he was in a group with Armstrong and the conversation about Petrangelo leaving got brought up. At some point in that conversation Armstrong said "You want loyalty, get a dog" and started laughing.

The $$$ was there with Petro to stay. All he wanted was the full No Movement Clause. Petro is a big family man, his wife is from St. Louis and one of his kids has health issues. Dude just wanted the  security....that's all. Armstrong would not give a full No Movement to him because he's NEVER done that....some sort of badge of honor that he seems to point out anytime contract talks happen.

Anyway, point is....good for JR to lob this headline out there because yeah....the coach is the first to get it in scenario's like this but this mess is all on DA and his poor vision and choices.

Yeah, it sucks that Berube is taking the fall for Armstrong's mistakes. Doing Pietrangelo dirty like that is especially egregious. I noticed that ex-Blues Robby Fabbri, Jake Walman and Ville Husso played well last night for the Wings!

[gmillerdrake]

Jeremy Rutherford, who covers the Blues for The Athletic fired some shots with his article this morning.

Rutherford: Blues’ roster, not Craig Berube’s coaching, is the root of team’s issues

He pointed and called out what everyone can see....this is a team full of bad contracts AND players simply not playing to their expectation. I know Jeremy personally and have had TONS of conversations with him. Doug Armstrong is a dick. He's a good GM but he's also arrogant and a narcissist. He told me that charity golf tournament this summer he was in a group with Armstrong and the conversation about Petrangelo leaving got brought up. At some point in that conversation Armstrong said "You want loyalty, get a dog" and started laughing.

The $$$ was there with Petro to stay. All he wanted was the full No Movement Clause. Petro is a big family man, his wife is from St. Louis and one of his kids has health issues. Dude just wanted the  security....that's all. Armstrong would not give a full No Movement to him because he's NEVER done that....some sort of badge of honor that he seems to point out anytime contract talks happen.

Anyway, point is....good for JR to lob this headline out there because yeah....the coach is the first to get it in scenario's like this but this mess is all on DA and his poor vision and choices.

Yeah, it sucks that Berube is taking the fall for Armstrong's mistakes. Doing Pietrangelo dirty like that is especially egregious. I noticed that ex-Blues Robby Fabbri, Jake Walman and Ville Husso played well last night for the Wings!

There are a lot of ex blues that play well when we play them    It's an unwritten law.

[Nick]

I'm over here feeling bad that the Wings are down 1-0 to the Canes until they show that the Leafs are currently losing to... the Blue Jackets... 5-0. HOW?!?

[jingle.boy]

Especially after whipping the Rangers 2 nights ago. Thankfully I’m out of town, and can’t even watch the game if I wanted to.

[Anguyen92]

Wait a minute, the Leafs actually scored 5 unanswered goals in the 3rd to erase a 5-0 deficit?  Jebus, Columbus.  First you blew a 3-0 lead against the Kings and now you blow a 5-0 lead against the Leafs?

[jingle.boy]

But they couldn’t complete the comeback. Oh well.  1 point is pretty amazing after sucking so bad in the first 2 periods.

[Kwyjibo]

Oilers had 57 shots but just scored 4 goals and still lost the game, that's not very effective. Skinner wasn't looking good again and so their winning streak is at an end.

[gmillerdrake]

So Jordan Kyrou was asked yesterday moring:

Reporter: "What's your relationship with Berube"
Kyrou: " I've got no comment, he's not my coach anymore"

Berube was openly rough on Kyrou, called his work ethic out and consistently challenged him to become a better two way player. Despite being 'pretty good'....Kyrou is still floundering in that 'good but not great' tier with no signs of really taking the next step. He's getting a paid $8mil a year and has 5 goals right now. When he was given that contract there were several veteren players....including O'Reily and Schenn who were utterly pissed because he just doesn't work real hard.

So, he says that in that interview and by mid afternoon 'X' , FB....Instagram.....all blew up and was giving him a hard time because on the surface it looks like he dissed Berube....who StL fans LOVE and were pissed that was fired. And players like Kyrou are the reason he was fired. So the no remorse aspect of it fired the fans up.

Blues played Ottowa last night and Kyrou started. As the starting line up was announced he was boo'd when he was announced. And, in the game everytime he touched the puck he was boo'd. Fans were pissed and let him know.

FF to the media after the game and he's being interviewed, clarified his statement...but...became visibly upset/emotional. Talked about how he loves playing in StL and realized he upset the fans that he loves....on and on.

I have been and am a big Kyrou detractor. I think he's lazy and really didn't earn that contract....but....I know the hope from the team was that eventually we'd be getting a steal at $8mil a year for him. I'd still trade him because I don't think he has the drive to be the gamechanger they'd hoped for. BUT....I felt pretty bad seeing that....a young 25 year old kid going raw emotion. My hope is that this instance unlocked something in him that no training or drills could.
 

[Anguyen92]

So another coach bites the dust in their tenure.  DJ Smith has been fired from the Ottawa Senators and from what I've been reading.  It's a long time coming honestly.  If he's not getting the team better results when the team on paper has been the best it's been in a long while, it's a pretty obvious move.  The Sens already fired their GM.  On top of that, Daniel Alfredsson has been promoted to being Assistant Coach now and Jacques Martin will be interim coach.

[jingle.boy]

Long overdue.  He was a decent Asst in Toronto, parlayed that into a HC for a team that was rebuilding, but never got them over even the smallest of humps.  AFAIC, the Sens are the biggest under-achievers in the league so far this year.  Nearly EVERYONE had them as taking another step forward and seriously contending for a WC spot.  Some pundits even had them 3rd in the Atlantic.  Right now, the only hunt they're in is for a lottery pick.  They've fully max'd their cap to the point that one of their brighter young players has to sit the year because they couldn't sign him as an RFA - shit, they couldn't have even afforded him on a league-min contract.

[ProfessorPeart]

I spent years watching Patrick Kane do some crazy stuff. This Bedard kid appears to be on another level entirely. This 'Michigan' goal that he pulled off, wow.