The other teams thread

Sorry, but I can't in all good conscience call Bobrovsky's performance 'boring ass crap'. It was a treat to watch him stone the shooters time and time again.
Yup.

Love watching Bob do his thing. Like back in the day when I'd go out of my way to watch Hašek in net.

And last night's game went exactly as I predicted with Bobrovsky dominating and McDickhead frustrated.

I think one screenshot sums the game up best:

McDickhead, with his face bandaged, looking up to the rafters after getting stoned by Bobrovsky yet again.

Florida has assembled one hell of a team, well-rounded and well-coached with no glaring weaknesses. And with Bob back there in net, Edmonton is gonna have their hands full.

Some of those saves were insane. All-in-all, I thought it was a very entertaining game; I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 
NHL needs to need to define a policy. I hope that they would have and that this was not some knee jerk response to the complaints of travel. Do this for every series based on x,xxx miles, then fine.
Call me cynical but I find it hard to believe this schedule is primarily about health and safety of the players. .
I suspect it’s more about arena availability and when ABC feels they might get the bigger ratings.

“Do this for every series…” is right.
 
What’s amazing to me is the Panthers blue line is mostly spare parts (other than Ekblad) but they’re the perfect set of spare parts that all fit together seamlessly. The more I watch them play the more I admire the Panthers organization. Scouting, coaching and of course Bill Zito the GM. He came over from Columbus in 2020 and basically went full NHL 24 more in building his team and all they’ve done is get better each year.
Amazing organization. Ending up with 3 of the top 4 picks in a draft class is quite a trick.
 
With the Panthers securing Game 1 of the Cup Finals, all they have to do is to keep up their efforts on offense, stymie the Edmonton scoring lines, and allow Bobrovsky to continue to hold down the fort with his stellar goaltending. If they don't deviate from their plan, then Florida will surely win the Cup.

Go Cats! Keep extending the Canadian Curse (AKA the McSorley Curse) since '93.
 
I suppose, if they were subjected to what we have to go through these days to fly.

In the 80's and 90's it seemed like I was up in the air every other weekend, with lots of cross-country trips, for both business and pleasure.

As much as I began to loathe airports, I used to look forward to flying first class. Of course, this was before the terrorist attacks when you could arrive at the airport 30 minutes before your flight.

I get that after a long, grueling season, and a long postseason, the travel must really suck...and giving them a few extra days ain't a bad idea...but once again, this is part of the business and they are traveling in style. Can you imagine what it was like back in the days of Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe? Shoot, back in the 60's they were still traveling by train back east. Now that had to suck.
Yep totally agree with you, it was far worse for players of the past in terms of the overall experience.

All I can really say, though, is as we move forward we evolve what we feel is safe, and often we do so too late. Example being, smoking used to be allowed on flights before later being banned due to risk (of fires) involved. It took numerous incidents and, allegedly, a flight crash killing 123 people to get to that decision. Historically we have always moved slowly when it comes to making changes which we believe benefit the safety or health of people.

NHL, and other sports, should be taking the health of their players seriously. But, to your point, who knows if that is truly the reason for the altered schedule.
 
What’s amazing to me is the Panthers blue line is mostly spare parts (other than Ekblad) but they’re the perfect set of spare parts that all fit together seamlessly. The more I watch them play the more I admire the Panthers organization. Scouting, coaching and of course Bill Zito the GM. He came over from Columbus in 2020 and basically went full NHL 24 mode in building his team and all they’ve done is get better each year.
It's funny how Columbus seems to supply other team's Stanley Cup winners including GM Zito, Bobrovsky, Gaborik, Carter...etc etc.

jom
 
Florida won the game, and give them (and Bob) ALL the credit for finding ways to do so, but the Oilers controlled a lot of that game. If this continues, the Oilers will win the series. They have too much firepower to be held down. Just like the Rangers - Panthers series, in which the Panthers controlled nearly all of the games. The Rangers were able to steal a couple thanks to Shesterkin (who played even better than Bob), but eventually the Panthers prevailed. That said, I think the Panthers found their legs in the 3rd and that should carryover into game 2.
 
It's funny how Columbus seems to supply other team's Stanley Cup winners including GM Zito, Bobrovsky, Gaborik, Carter...etc etc.

jom
Big thank you to CBJ!!! Lol... The thing that shocked me about last night's game was EDM going back to the Nurse-Ceci pairing. Is there something to FLA's lines that made Knoblauch move off the success they had "d" wise in rds 2&3? it was when they broke those 2 up that their d seemed much improved
 
Florida won the game, and give them (and Bob) ALL the credit for finding ways to do so, but the Oilers controlled a lot of that game. If this continues, the Oilers will win the series. They have too much firepower to be held down. Just like the Rangers - Panthers series, in which the Panthers controlled nearly all of the games. The Rangers were able to steal a couple thanks to Shesterkin (who played even better than Bob), but eventually the Panthers prevailed. That said, I think the Panthers found their legs in the 3rd and that should carryover into game 2.
Good take. Panthers are a far better team than what they displayed. They were also able to win because of elite goaltending no doubt, but also a very strong commitment to defending the net and clearing the zone. They won with a B- game for the team and an A+ game for the goalie. The equation can and will level out and they’ll be even better.

But really just biding my time for the first controversial play by Tkachuk/Bennett to send Spector into a black hole.
 
Good take. Panthers are a far better team than what they displayed. They were also able to win because of elite goaltending no doubt, but also a very strong commitment to defending the net and clearing the zone. They won with a B- game for the team and an A+ game for the goalie. The equation can and will level out and they’ll be even better.

But really just biding my time for the first controversial play by Tkachuk/Bennett to send Spector into a black hole.
This is a good recap of Game 1.
Florida had a lengthy layoff before the Finals started. It was understandable (and expected) that the Panthers would not have their A game.
I expect FL to be better.

I keep hearing the term coaches/players use about being “connected”. I have noticed throughout the playoffs that FL actually IS. They are gonna be tough to beat.

However, as with every EDM series this year it’s probably going to be decided by Special Teams. Last night FL did not lose that battle.

I think it was said in the telecast last night that EDM has been out scored 12-4 at five-on-five through the playoffs.
FL just needs to keep the Special Teams battle close.
 
This is a good recap of Game 1.
Florida had a lengthy layoff before the Finals started. It was understandable (and expected) that the Panthers would not have their A game.
I expect FL to be better.

I keep hearing the term coaches/players use about being “connected”. I have noticed throughout the playoffs that FL actually IS. They are gonna be tough to beat.

However, as with every EDM series this year it’s probably going to be decided by Special Teams. Last night FL did not lose that battle.

I think it was said in the telecast last night that EDM has been out scored 12-4 at five-on-five through the playoffs.
FL just needs to keep the Special Teams battle close.
Yes, Florida is AMAZING at "playing connected". I was discussing that with my wife during the game-- Florida actually plays as a unit and does all the stuff that Jim Fox and others say that the Kings should be doing. There's always a recipient or 2 available for a pass, another guy covers if the D jumps up to get a puck along the half boards, etc. They are fun to watch.

Florida is doing exactly what I expected in this series. Edmonton got the easy path to the Finals and should be exposed in this series. Florida already took out the Tampa Bay PP and the Rangers PP on the way to the Finals so Edmonton's PP should not be a large step up from the teams they've already defeated.

Nurse-Ceci and Skinner getting exposed like they have all playoffs long and last spring as well.
 
Saturday’s Oilers-Panthers NHL Stanley Cup Final Game 1 averaged 3.1 million viewers on ABC, per Nielsen fast-nationals — up 13% from Panthers-Golden Knights on TNT, TBS and truTV last year (2.75M), but down 26% from the previous Game 1 on ABC, Lightning-Avalanche two years ago (4.20M).

The Stanley Cup Final ended with its smallest Game 5 audience in nearly three decades.

Tuesday’s Panthers-Golden Knights NHL Stanley Cup Final Game 5 averaged a 1.4 rating and 2.72 million viewers across TNT (2.47M) and TruTV (253K), marking the smallest audience for a Game 5 of the Cup Final in 29 years — since Canucks-Rangers on ESPN in 1994 (2.41M)
 
Yes I get that it's streaming now instead of cable,but what a surprise 😁. Edmonton apparently is more popular than Vegas
Shifting to the Western Conference, Sunday’s Stars-Oilers Game 6 averaged a combined 1.0 and 1.98 million across TNT and truTV — up 19% and 25% respectively from Golden Knights-Stars on ESPN last year (0.8, 1.58M). Edmonton’s win was the most-watched WCF Game 6 in nine years, since the Blackhawks-Ducks series in 2015.
 
Yes, Florida is AMAZING at "playing connected". I was discussing that with my wife during the game-- Florida actually plays as a unit and does all the stuff that Jim Fox and others say that the Kings should be doing. There's always a recipient or 2 available for a pass, another guy covers if the D jumps up to get a puck along the half boards, etc. They are fun to watch.

Florida is doing exactly what I expected in this series. Edmonton got the easy path to the Finals and should be exposed in this series. Florida already took out the Tampa Bay PP and the Rangers PP on the way to the Finals so Edmonton's PP should not be a large step up from the teams they've already defeated.

Nurse-Ceci and Skinner getting exposed like they have all playoffs long and last spring as well.
I think this is good.
Florida is indeed strong with positioning and giving themselves options and outlets. Part of the connected thing is FL is really engaged, playing on their toes instead of their heels. They are reading and reacting as opposed to waiting and watching.

I’ve watched most of the games during the playoffs (benefit of being retired and a dvr) and I have really liked watching the Panthers. Not a fan necessarily but I do respect any team that plays the game well.
I don’t care much for Bennett as he’s a bit of a cheap shot/head hunter. But I do think that team is fun to watch.
All that said, in this series I am a HUGE Panthers fan for the obvious reason of course. GPG 🤣
 
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