The other teams thread

[DoubleMinor]

I'm checkin every oil game just to see if they lose and it's all I care about hockey right now so yeh.

Seems like at some point it gets to rooting for teams we like OR rooting against teams we dislike (or hate).
I don’t dislike Dallas. I’m hardly a fan. I do think the Stars are fun to watch. But I admit the appeal of this series is watching and hoping the Oilers lose. And to be honest, it wouldn’t bother me to see them lose in heartbreaking ways.

 

[DarkLeftHand]

This game is the perfect example of why the Kings were never “right there” vs. the Oilers. The pace is several steps above anything we saw in the 1st round matchup. And it’s not the foot speed the Kings can’t match. It’s the transition game. Both of these teams are elite puck moving teams. They break out of their zone with short and long accurate passing. The Kings can’t do a fraction of what they both do with regularity.

Will they be able to, with Doughty, Clarke, and Spence on the backend, next season..?

 

[symbology]

Will they be able to, with Doughty, Clarke, and Spence on the backend, next season..?

Not playing the same 1-3-1 that they have been playing with the same LHD, IMO.

This past year, the puck often ends up on the LHD's stick in the defensive zone. While the LHD this past year made a number of nice L O N G passes, not a single one of those players is able to skate the puck out of the zone with any confidence. It is the makeup of this team. It is the way Blake wanted it to work. The LHD stays up at the blue line as one of the "3". The recent LHD that were signed were signed to play that position. To try to stand up at the blueline and stop entries.

Problem is, the puck gets dumped in and the RHD goes back to get it. They get pressure and move the puck to the LHD. Or, the puck gets rung around the boards and the RW goes back along the boards to get the puck. The RW gets pressure (as Fiala mentioned in this exit interview) and then often passes the puck to the RHD that is deeper in the zone. That pressure continues to the RHD and they then move the puck to the LHD. The LHD on this team are more times than not asked to get the puck out of the zone, but they are the least capable players to accomplish that.

Teams know this is a weakness of this team and force the dumpin to those places where the LHD end up holding the bag, so to speak.

 

[Statue4Deano]

Will they be able to, with Doughty, Clarke, and Spence on the backend, next season..?

I don’t think so. The Kings need those 3 plus one more mobile puck mover. There’s a handful of free agent options and I think the Kings have a couple trade chips they can use to acquire one.

The days of pairing 3 Stay at Home next to 3 Mobile D are over. A team needs more skill on the blue line than what the Kings project to have. There’s a reason the Kings blue line is consistently one of the least productive in the NHL every season. It’s a deliberate choice by Blake and his coaches. That has to change if they want any chance at winning.

Next season is a big one for the development of Mikey Anderson. His game has to evolve. He has the tools to grow his game but the system has to put him in a place to use those skills.

 

[Pevsfreedom]

Next season is a big one for the development of Mikey Anderson. His game has to evolve. He has the tools to grow his game but the system has to put him in a place to use those skills.

Funny enough when we signed him I remember him being praised as such a great stay at home defenseman, which I think he is for the most part, but you're absolutely right in that he needs to add something to his game.

 

[05/29/93]

The Panthers / Rangers series is turning into a Panthers vs. Igor series, as the Rangers' goalie is the only reason this series is not over or 3-1 Panthers. It also reminds me of the 2014 SCF between the Kings and Rangers, in which the Kings outplayed the Rangers for large portions of those games, yet they were close and went to OT. The key difference was Quick outdueling Lundqvist, enabling the Kings to eventually find a winner in those OT games.

 

[hokiecat]

It’s a bit hard to watch Pavelski and Suter out there. They’re so clearly shells of the dominant players they used to be. Hanging on for dear life at times. Both players deserve to lift the Cup. So I won’t be too upset if Dallas wins it all.

Pavelski went from being a high producer to hanging on for dear life so quickly. Suter has been declining more gradually for a long while. Remember when he was Doughty-lite 5 or 6 years ago? Little Joe is a UFA this summer so Dallas can use that salary in a better way (like Tanev and/or Duchesne) but they still have Suter for another year.

 

[05/29/93]

Pavelski went from being a high producer to hanging on for dear life so quickly. Suter has been declining more gradually for a long while. Remember when he was Doughty-lite 5 or 6 years ago? Little Joe is a UFA this summer so Dallas can use that salary in a better way (like Tanev and/or Duchesne) but they still have Suter for another year.

If the Stars go all the way, I'd be shocked if Pavelski doesn't hang them up.

 

[dneprovec]

Dallas scored on first shot.And 2-0 on 3rd shot.And Skinner still sucks.
I think that our old friend Campbell would be better

 

[dneprovec]

f***.Complete opposite of last game
2-2

 

[hokiecat]

Suter is going out of his way to be the worst defenseman on the ice.Woof.

 

[Statue4Deano]

This series has been very entertaining as a fan of neither team.

 

[symbology]

This series has been very entertaining as a fan of neither team.

Not a fan of either, but I know I will feel better if a certain team was to lose.

 

[Statue4Deano]

Not a fan of either, but I know I will feel better if a certain team was to lose.

Stars in 5.

 

[symbology]

Drai the Diver.

 

[dneprovec]

Oilers scored on PK... Interesting,In WCF they are 100 % on PK and 0% on PP
And Draisaitl make 4-2 ...

 

[Statue4Deano]

2 goal lead is truly the worst lead in hockey. The Stars go up 2 and then the ice completely tilts to favor the Oilers. The Stars look shellshocked.

 

[Statue4Deano]

4-2 Oilers. This one is over folks. Unbelievable.

 

[Statue4Deano]

I know Heiskanen puts up a ton of points but I do not like his game at all. I mean sure if he were playing 2nd pairing minutes I’d love to have him on the Kings but he’s playing #1 minutes and his defense is about as good as Erik Karlsson. Ugly stuff.

 

[JC6388LAKings]

Boo, Deadmonton ties the series with Dallas. Come on, Stars, don't try to choke away the series like what Vancouver did a week prior. You're not the 'Nucks and your defense is better than them so don't just play uninspired hockey. You need to stifle the McOverrated and Crysaitl tandem as well as their secondary scorers meaningfully and not let them breeze by you so easily.

If Dallas loses the series with Deadmonton, then I'm going with Florida. And if Florida loses their series, and Deadmonton goes to the Finals, then I've no choice but to pull for NYR. That could be the worst case scenario for me if that were to happen; two teams I really hate (Deadmonton and NYR) which will make the Cup Finals unwatchable for me and if either one of them wins the Cup, it's still a lose-lose to me because it's obvious in Deadmonton's case that the media will fawn all over McOverrated and Crysaitl like what they did with Crosby and Malkin in the past and we'll never hear the end of it, but also in NYR's case, the [L]east Coast Media is going to jizz all over the Rags and acknowledge Quick's accomplishments just recently while ignoring his past accomplishments he achieved back in the West Coast and that just as well is going to make me puke (even though Shesterkin has been starting playoff games more than Quick did this year).