2015-16 NHL Season

[Jack Lambert]

The Penguins knock off the President's Cup winning Capitals in six hard-fought games and now face Tampa in the Eastern Conference final. Let's go Pens!!!

The West has two game 7s -- St. Louis-Dallas should be as exciting as the St.-Louis-Chicago Game 7 was in the previous round. San Jose-Nashville also face a decisive game.

What a game!! Holtby and Murray played amazing! I'm glad that Murray's been running away with the job; I really don't trust Fluery, the last time he played great in the playoffs was when they won the Cup in 2009. The Penguins showed tremendous resolve after they blew a 3 goal lead, and gave Washington about five minutes of power play, including two 5 on 3 situations. They looked great in OT, and Bonino eventually got the series winning goal. Go Pens!!

 

[Flint]

I like the Pens for the Cup this year especially if they can knock off Tampa.

 

[Don Wassall]

The Blues have now knocked out the defending champion Blackhawks and Dallas, both in seven games. Reminds me of the Kings prevailing in seven against three very tough opponents in a row in the Western Conference when they won their second Stanley Cup in three years in 2014.

The Penguins have beaten the Rangers, who eliminated them in the playoffs the previous two years, and what was supposed to be the best ever Capitals team, one that was built to be playoff tough. A Blues-Penguins final would be great to see.

 

[Don Wassall]

Just as the Blues routed the Stars in Game 7 last night, San Jose crushed Nashville tonight. So the Western Conference final will be between two teams that have notably underachieved in the playoffs in recent years and neither has ever won the Stanley Cup.

In the East, it's the Penguins, who have flamed out in the playoffs every year since winning the Cup in '09, vs. Tampa, who is trying to make it back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup final.

Two really good matchups, but the playoffs are great every year. Let's go Pens!

 

[Matra2]

The San Jose Sharks have put their playoff choking reputation behind them.

I'd like to see St Louis win it all. They've been around forever, have always had a loyal fan base, but have never won the Cup.

Poor Ovechkin. He's running out of time.

 

[Matra2]

Game 7 between Pittsburgh and Tampa. For the sake of hockey I'd like to see the Penguins win and play San Jose in the final. If it's an all "sunshine" final between relatively new teams from California and Florida most people outside of those markets will tune it out. Besides Pittsburgh is the second best hockey market (next to Buffalo) in the US with TV ratings equivalent to Canadian cities. They deserve to see their team in the final again.

 

[Don Wassall]

I didn't want to post on the Tampa-Pitt series for fear of jinxing the Pens. What a performance by Pittsburgh all series (except for Game 4), and all through the playoffs so far.

Tampa's young goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy was outstanding in relief of Ben Bishop, who severely pulled a leg muscle early in Game 1. The Penguins dominated time of possession, scoring chances and shots on goal in the series. Without Vasilevskiy the series would have been over in 5 games.

I won't bore readers with all the details of the Penguins turnaround, but they were a walking dead team in December that looked to be a cinch to miss the playoffs. Their playoff run has been a joy to watch after six straight years of underachieving since winning the Cup in '09.

A lot of great storylines for the final. San Jose has never made it to a Stanley Cup final before despite having many very strong teams over the past decade, while Thornton and Marleau both will play in a final for the first time after long and distinguished careers. For Pittsburgh, Crosby, Malkin, and Letang get an opportunity to win a second Cup after being called underachievers, chokers and other unflattering names for the past half-dozen years. Fleury, maybe the worst playoff goalie ever, will stay on the bench unless young rookie Matt Murray is injured or implodes.

Two more weeks of Stanley Cup playoffs! Woohoo!!

 

[Matra2]

I hate to be picky here but it's time to get rid of the playoff beard:

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/n...eries-of-his-stanley-cup-beard-232740579.html

Aesthetically, it is pretty awful.

 

[celticdb15]

Penguins up 2-0 in in 1st period!! Can't believe Crosby is in his 11th season. Basically been watching this guy since I was 13. I'd like to see Pittsburgh take this but it won't be easy San Jose is tough and I'll be cheering for Pavelski. Pens look faster so far though.

 

[Don Wassall]

Penguins could have easily won last night to go up 3-0 in the series but ended up losing in OT. Matt Murray let in a couple softies, and Kris Letang was brutally bad. He's the most inconsistent hockey player I've ever seen, fantastic at times but prone to making lots of bad decisions at others. And Evgeni Malkin remains invisible on the score sheet. But San Jose has lots of underachievers as well in the series. Pitt continues to heavily outshoot the Sharks, but Martin Jones has been solid and has kept his team in each game.

 

[Jack Lambert]

I've been meaning to post on the playoffs more, but I've been busy. I've still somehow managed to catch most of the Penguins games, but very busy besides that. Pittsburgh had an impressive win in San Jose in Game 4 (with Malkin finally getting his goal, and also an assist!), setting up a potential Stanley Cup clinching game in Pittsburgh tonight. Throughout the series, Pittsburgh has been faster than San Jose has this series, and has played some stifling defense for the most part against the Sharks. It's been a great series thus far, with all of the games (besides Game 4), being decided by one goal.

It should be a great Game 5 tonight. San Jose will be desperate, with their backs against the wall, but if Pittsburgh keeps playing like they have been (playing fast and with that stifling defense against Thornton, Marleau, and co.) and doesn't let the moment get to them, hopefully they'll be hoisting the Cup tonight. Go Penguins!!

 

[Don Wassall]

Let's go Pens!! Let's go Pens!!

I've tried not to dislike the Sharks, but after the way San Jose's LaRaza-connected police chief let his forces sit back and allowed the anti-Trump thugs and terrorists to attack Trump supporters with impunity, well, enough said.

Hope the Penguins put the toothless Sharks out of their misery tonight and become the first Pittsburgh team in 56 years to clinch at home, since Bill Mazeroski's famous homerun to end the 1960 World Series. Since then the Steelers have won 6 Super Bowls at neutral sites, the Pirates won 2 more World Series, both on the road at Baltimore, and the Penguins won their first three Stanley Cups on the road (at Minnesota, Chicago and Detroit).

Let's go Pens!!!

 

[Ambrose]

Here's one for the Pens. San Jose is no place for hockey anyway. On the ice, the Pens just have too much up front so I think SJ will make enough mistakes to lose.

 

[BeyondFedUp]

Unfortunately, the Pens have to wait another game, or two. But they WILL win this thing. If there was ever a game where I didn't have a dog in the fight (my Kings out in the first round) and wanted one team to kill the other it's this series. The San Jose Mayor AND Police Chief are utter scum for what they literally did by allowing Trump supporters to be assaulted and some scarred for life physically and emotionally is grounds for utter disdain for the city that elected them. I hope now that the Pens win it on San Jose's ice and send that city home crying. Filet the Sharks!!

 

[Jack Lambert]

Unfortunately, the Pens have to wait another game, or two. But they WILL win this thing. If there was ever a game where I didn't have a dog in the fight (my Kings out in the first round) and wanted one team to kill the other it's this series. The San Jose Mayor AND Police Chief are utter scum for what they literally did by allowing Trump supporters to be assaulted and some scarred for life physically and emotionally is grounds for utter disdain for the city that elected them. I hope now that the Pens win it on San Jose's ice and send that city home crying. Filet the Sharks!!

I'm hoping so too! Jones played the game of his life, and San Jose still barely one. The Penguins didn't come out very strong and Murray gave up three goals in his first 7 shots faced, and unfortunately, that was enough to do the Penguins in. I don't think Jones can play another game like that Sunday night. Murray is 5-0 coming off of a loss in the playoffs, so I'm hoping Pittsburgh will be hoisting the cup in San Jose Sunday night. I think Pittsburgh will come out fighting in Game 6, and will win this thing. The Sharks did win, but besides the stretch at the start of the game, the Penguins dominated them the rest of the game. Go Pens!!

 

[Jack Lambert]

Pittsburgh wins the Stanley Cup!! They came out strong in Game 6, and had a great 3rd period. Congrats to Jones and the Sharks on a tough series. Great to see the Stanley Cup going back to Pittsburgh!! Go Penguins!

 

[Don Wassall]

 

[BeyondFedUp]

I'm personally glad they won it IN San Jose. Sent the fans home crying and hopefully the scumbag Mayor and Chief of Police are huge Sharks fans. Hope they go out on a ledge and don't come back.

 

[Rebajlo]

Don -

'Tis extraordinary how important a change of head coach can be...

Congratulations!

 

[Matra2]

Phil Kessel was laughed out of Toronto. (One media writer was even stalking Toronto hot dog carts to find out if Kessel was eating junk food). I guess Kessel gets the last laugh now. A few years ago the same thing happened to Czech player Kaberle. Toronto fans wanted him out. So he was traded to Boston in February 2011 then won the Stanley Cup there a few months later.

 

[Don Wassall]

Don -

'Tis extraordinary how important a change of head coach can be...

Congratulations!

Mike Sullivan did a tremendous job. He's an alpha personality who got the team to play hard and with discipline, two things they previously were not known for to put it mildly. GM Jim Rutherford had the Midas Touch starting with trades going back to last summer and then during the season. That gave them depth they'd never come close to having before during the Crosby-Malkin era.

The Penguins looked like a good bet to not make the playoffs halfway through the season, and even if they did they looked certain to have a first round exit. But after Sullivan was hired they ended up being the best team in the league the last couple months of the regular season and then got even better during the grind of the playoffs. When the Penguins won the Cup in '09, the Red Wings were the defending champs and looked like a good bet to repeat, but there were no doubts about this year's Penguins being the best. If Martin Jones hadn't been spectacular the Sharks would have lost in four games.

Interesting too how over and over the Penguins' speed was mentioned as the key to their success. I guess if they put on skates White men can be fast. Take off those skates however, and those same players magically become unathletic and lumbering with stiff hips.

 

[Flint]

Hockey players only have straight line speed. When they get to the boards they slow down quickly.

Congrats to the Pens, I mentioned before that I like their chances and it turned out to be correct. I was hoping they would clinch at home so we could get to see pics of a drunken Don passed out in the Golden Triangle or jumping into the Monongahela. I guess we'll have to wait until next year.

 

[Jack Lambert]

It's looking like the NHL is trying another foray into the Southwest, this time: Las Vegas. I feel bad for Quebec, who got the short end of the stick again on trying to get an NHL team back.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/16203078/nhl-settles-las-vegas-quebec-city-expansion

 

[Jack Lambert]

I'm a little late with this, but hey, late's better than never! Your 2016 Stanley Cup Champions: The Pittsburgh Penguins!!

 

[Don Wassall]

The NHL is smart in being the first pro sports league to move into the Las Vegas market. There's a lot of very wealthy people there who will insure the success of the team -- as 14,000 season tickets already sold indicates.

The league's Southern strategy is succeeding for the most part. The southern teams tend to be in the bottom half of the league in local TV ratings and attendance, but are building fervent bases of support over time. During the playoffs, the fans cheering on the Lightning, Predators, Ducks and Kings were as rabid as anywhere else.

Auston Matthews, the first overall draft pick this weekend, grew up in the Phoenix area (and has a Mexican mother, which will please the usual suspects). According to SI, the total number of youth and adult hockey players in Florida has grown by 42% over the past decade and by 75% in California. This fall, Arizona State will field a Division I hockey team for the first time. A lot of former NHLers retiring in the Sun Belt is also spurring on the growth of the sport.

There's really no reason hockey can't be successful anywhere in the U.S. American kids for the most part play in indoor rinks no matter what part of the country they live in.

Even the NHL Draft this weekend was impressive. A lot of people in the arena in Buffalo, each first round pick was made, not by the commissioner ala Goodell and a procession of black former players, but by the team's brass. Each kid picked was there with his family, who after hugging them went on stage and shook hands with his new bosses and then put on the team jersey. A well done and dignified spectacle, but of course there was no interest in it outside of the hockey media.