The Last Stanley Cup Playoffs thread

[Carnifex]

And I'd been expecting the Kings/Oilers bout to go the full seven after the resilience LA has shown, yet Edmonton resolved the series in their favour last night! As for today I'm hoping the Panthers can take out the Boston trash later this evening!

 

[Carnifex]

Panthers have the lead as of now, c'mon kitties and polish off these terrible beans!

 

[JDR13]

A historic choke by the Bruins.

 

[JDR13]

The Colorado Avalanche choked too. The defending champs just got sent home by a second-year franchise.

 

[Carnifex]

Panthers vs Leaves, Edmonton against Vegas, the next round is looking spectacular!

 

[dteowner]

At least Boston and the Crapalanche are out.

 

[Lucky Day]

Historic President Cup Win
Historic President Cup Curse

I don't know if you guys noticed but there's lot's of talk of expansion lately. Without question Atlanta will have another team with great ownership and their own arena this time.
There are parties expressing interest in Houston and possibly Salt Lake City. If these pan out then only one more would make for an even 4 divisions and a 32 team bracket - although that's not actually necessary as was seen with the 24 team "Bubble Cup" or the "Play In" Round that the NBA just did. I could see a 4- 7 game Swiss Style tournament too where the bottom teams are eliminated to make an even bracket.

What I am getting it is in the long, 82 game season, teams virtually assured a a spot in the playoffs could coast nearing the end of the season like they started realizing around the 21 team league.
That and defense were the keys to the Oilers winning championships over the Islanders when after they started realizing overdoing it in the regular season (92 goals for Gretzky!) were leaving them too tired for the rest of the tournament.

I'm going to remind HFBoards that an extra round could mean shaving off a number of regular season games too (it's that's not going to happen but it should).
In the current Loser Point era of the NHL there's too much parity for teams to pace themselves and they have to treat the marathon that is the Regular Season like it was the first round of the playoffs and kill themselves to get in.

 

[JDR13]

A 32 team playoff bracket? No offense, but that sounds like a terrible idea. We already have teams with a losing record in the NFL playoffs. I don't want to see that in the NHL too.

Imo, the playoff system is already generous as it is with half the teams in the league getting in.

 

[Carnifex]

I honestly believe the last few rounds of expansion teams has been more than enough for the NHL. I'm not saying never again, I just think that, for now, things need to sort out on their collective own and these newest franchises must be given time to grow and adapt to the system which, in and of itself, is almost constantly in flux.

And boy howdy, what a beat-down the Devils gave the Rangers last night! That was one for the record books.

 

[Carnifex]

Two excellent games last night, well, one of them was good: Vegas over the Oilers and Hurricanes simply thrashed NJ. Hopefully the two games this evening will be even better!!

And once again, let us rejoice: no matter what, the wankers of the NHL (Penguins, Bruins, and Kings) are all absent, now. Take solace in this, friends!!~

 

[JDR13]

Terrible game from the Maple Leafs tonight. You can't blow a 2-0 lead like that on home ice especially when you're already down 0-1 in the series.

 

[Carnifex]

Nod, the definition of a choke, for sure. Hopefully the Leaves recover from this and put on a true game face for the next meeting.

The Stars are showing much back bone, they took it to Seattle last night.

 

[Carnifex]

NC put quite the beat-down on NJ last night. Tonight will be Edmonton at Vegas, I enjoy both squads so either way I'll be having a good time!

 

[Carnifex]

Holy beat-down, Batman! Currently it's the middle of the second period, Edmonton up four-zip vs. Vegas!

 

[JDR13]

I was surprised to see New Jersey drop the first two games to Carolina like that. Like Toronto, you can stick a fork in them if they don't win game 3.

 

[Beren]

Oilers trounce Vegas in game 2, now THAT's more like it!

 

[Carnifex]

Yeah man, I savored that butt whupping that Edmonton laid down on Vegas! Of course, that only led to them playing full def in the third, yet I can understand, you'd not want to squander such a lead.

Right now the Panthers and Leaves are toe to toe at two apiece, we've a real barnburner going on with this one!!

 

[Carnifex]

Oh, and to be fair, I should also point out that the Devils gave NC all they could handle and more today. -p

 

[JDR13]

The Maple Leafs had their chance tonight and couldn't fiinish. They're as good as done in this series. I guess after almost 20 years of not winning a playoff series, they were just happy to make it to the second round.

 

[Carnifex]

Yeah, barring a miracle, Toronto all but looks to be out of contention. I still hope they can pull something together, yet it's a slim, difficult road at present.

Seattle put quite the beating on Dallas last night, I've no pony in this one yet I do enjoy a solid mash-up.