2016-2017 NHL Season

[Jack Lambert]

It's been a pretty stark contrast between the NHL and NBA playoffs thus far. The NBA playoffs have been filled with a lot of blowouts. Look at the conference finals, they are absolutely pathetic. Granted, Leonard getting hurt has destroyed San Antonio's remote chances, but it's disgraceful when these are the supposed four "best" teams. The NBA seems to be very top-heavy in regards to their talent.

On the other hand, there have been some great games in the NHL playoffs. Look at the conference finals. Two series are tied at 2-2, and most of the games have been pretty thrilling. Most of the games in the NHL playoffs have been decided by 1 goal as well. I feel the product definitely makes for a better watch than the NBA has this year.

Anaheim and Nashville are starting Game 5 on NBC now if anybody's interested.

 

[celticdb15]

It's been a pretty stark contrast between the NHL and NBA playoffs thus far. The NBA playoffs have been filled with a lot of blowouts. Look at the conference finals, they are absolutely pathetic. Granted, Leonard getting hurt has destroyed San Antonio's remote chances, but it's disgraceful when these are the supposed four "best" teams. The NBA seems to be very top-heavy in regards to their talent.

On the other hand, there have been some great games in the NHL playoffs. Look at the conference finals. Two series are tied at 2-2, and most of the games have been pretty thrilling. Most of the games in the NHL playoffs have been decided by 1 goal as well. I feel the product definitely makes for a better watch than the NBA has this year.

Anaheim and Nashville are starting Game 5 on NBC now if anybody's interested.

NBA is a joke! Picked a helluva night to watch my 1st playoff game last night lol! That was fugly. Watching NHL right now, much more pleasing to the eye!

 

[Jack Lambert]

Definitely!! I thought it was a pretty good game, with Nashville coming out 3-1 winners in Anaheim. Very impressive considering their recent injuries. Rinne is on fire, and the Predators' defense is one of the best in the NHL, and the best remaining in the playoffs. Of course, Subban gets way more credit than he deserves, but Josi, Ellis, and Ekholm are all good players, and are the Predators' top 3 defensemen.

The NHL definitely has a lot more parity than the NBA, and it makes it a lot of fun to watch. As Don has said many times here, the Stanley Cup playoffs are truly the greatest test in sports. It's even hard to get to back-to-back finals. I believe the last team to do this was the Penguins and Red Wings in 2008 and 2009. The last team to repeat was the Red Wings in the late 90's. Look at the playoffs as well, with teams like Nashville able to get hot and knock off the Blackhawks, considered the Stanley Cup favorite. Or when the Kings won it as an 8 seed a few years back. It'd be a cold day in hell before an 8 upset a top seed in today's NBA, let alone win the championship.

Anyways, looking forward to the Penguins and Senators tomorrow! It's an even series, and the Penguins finally have some positive momentum in the series. I'm hoping they're able to get that win tomorrow. Murray played great in his return, and he'll need to be strong again tomorrow. I think the move to Murray energized the team, as they looked a lot better in Game 4. Go Pens!

 

[Don Wassall]

Nashville pulled out the win in Anaheim to go up 3-2 in the series with a chance to close it out at home on Monday. It was a tight game with both teams playing hard and physically pummeling each other. Nashville's intensity was something to behold.

I thought Mike Sullivan's switch to Matt Murray was the right move and it paid off. As successful as he's been, Sullivan would have taken a lot of heat if Murray had had a bad game as the Pittsburgh media has always inexplicably been in love with Fleury, and thus most Pittsburgh DWFs are also. Fleury has been a great story in the playoffs but Murray's fundamentals are much better and he is cool and calm in the net. The Penguins played with great intensity in Game 4 in Ottawa and they need to duplicate that effort this afternoon at home in Game 5.

 

[Jack Lambert]

The Penguins completely dominated Ottawa from puck drop today in a commanding 7-0 victory. Pittsburgh looked like last year's team with the way they dominated in the offensive zone, at one point keeping the puck in the Senator's zone for a full 2 minutes!! The defense looked good and didn't commit turnovers, and the Pens' forecheck never really let Ottawa get into a rhythm. Inserting Murray in the lineup was the right decision; that coupled with the speed guys like Rust, Rowney, Wilson, and Archibald have really helped the Penguins out. It's really seemed to energize the team the last few games. They skated circles around Ottawa today. The Penguins stars also looked good. Malkin had a few points, and Crosby and Kessel both scored as well. Murray looked great again, preserving the shutout in turning aside all 25 shots he faced. All in all, a great day to be a Pens fan!!

Despite the dominating win, Pittsburgh is going to have to be ready for a tough response from Ottawa in Game 6. They're going to again have to come out with that desperation that Ottawa will surely be playing with Tuesday. I'm hoping they're able to close it out on the road, but it will be Ottawa's best effort of the series.

 

[Don Wassall]

Very impressive how the Penguins have turned the series around. They've solved Ottawa's defensive scheme and now it's the Senators who have to make adjustments to their rigid system if they want to extend the series. Ottawa is getting pretty beat up too, something the Pens can identify with. A few of their players hobbled off the ice in Game 6, including Erik Karlsson, their great defenseman. Hopefully the Penguins close it out Tuesday.

 

[Don Wassall]

A bit off-topic, Sweden won the hockey world championship in Cologne, Germany, defeating Canada in a shootout. A lot of NHL stars whose teams are out of the playoffs took part. Sweden produces a lot of topnotch NHL players; all four of the teams left in the Stanley Cup playoffs have Swedes who play key roles on their team. Pretty impressive for a country of just 10 million people. And it's especially nice to see given that Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia suffer under the boot of feminist totalitarianism more than any other countries.

 

[Matra2]

A bit off-topic, Sweden won the hockey world championship in Cologne, Germany, defeating Canada in a shootout. A lot of NHL stars whose teams are out of the playoffs took part. Sweden produces a lot of topnotch NHL players; all four of the teams left in the Stanley Cup playoffs have Swedes who play key roles on their team. Pretty impressive for a country of just 10 million people. And it's especially nice to see given that Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia suffer under the boot of feminist totalitarianism more than any other countries.

It was a great tournament; it usually is. With NHLers not going to the next Olympics - so they say - the annual World Championships will probably become more important. The NHL's gimmicky World Cup last year was a flop. I don't think the New York Lawyers who run the NHL are capable of running a genuine international tournament so I don't think their World Cup will ever be as popular as best-on-best Olympic tournaments.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Nashville advances to the Stanley Cup Final with a win over Anaheim last night. I'll definitely cheering for the Eastern Conference team, which will hopefully be the Penguins after tonight. Predator Center Colton Scissons recorded a hat-trick. After the hat-trick was scored, which was the goal that gave Nashville the lead for good in a 6-3 win, the camera panned to a player on the bench. Was it Scissons? Nope. PK Subban, who wasn't involved in the play what so ever. Did Subban have a lot or make game-changing plays? Nope. Unless of course you count the time when he tripped Corey Perry (I believe) into Pekka Rinne, which took Rinne out of position for a couple of seconds and played a part in Anaheim getting the game-tying goal to make it 3-3. The camera never wasted time in making sure Subban got air time, from what I noticed.

If the Predators win the cup, you know who will be talked about as a HUGE reason why, even though it's nowhere near the truth. Subban will also have his face plastered all over various NHL promos as well. He's not even a Top-3 defenseman on the Predators. Did Subban help them get to where they are? Yes. Is he one of the primary reasons why they're in the finals? No.

 

[Matra2]

Penguins defeat Senators in double O/T. So the media narrative will revolve round Crosby v Subban.

 

[Don Wassall]

What an epic Game 7! I was a nervous wreck the entire game. The Penguins were very strong in Games 4, 5, 6 and 7 but still had to push themselves to the limit to eliminate a tough Ottawa team. Can't wait for the finals against Nashville. Go Pens!

 

[Don Wassall]

70% of televisions in the Pittsburgh market were watching Game 7 during the overtime last night. Some "niche" sport! If the corporate media promoted hockey the way they promote basketball and baseball, hockey would be America's second favorite sport.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Great win for the Pens in Game 7!! Like Don, I was really nervous throughout the game. Honestly, I was kind of thinking Ottawa was going to win the game on one of their lucky bounce goals, especially after the Pens failed to capitalize on a lot of chances. Very glad to see I was wrong, and it was awesome seeing Kunitz score his first two goals in over 2 months as well!

Very excited for the finals.... go Penguins!!!

I agree on Don's second post as well. The marketing for the NHL isn't very good. If it was better, I also think it could easily become the 2nd favorite sport, especially with a lot of people not happy with the NBA right now.

 

[Jack Lambert]

I've been busy with work and what not the last couple of weeks, so I haven't got a chance to post much.

To give an update on the Stanley Cup Final, the Penguins are currently up 2-1 after Nashville dominated the last two periods in Game 3, winning 5-1 at home. Pittsburgh won it's first two games at home, despite not looking impressive for long stretches. For instance, in Game 1, Pittsburgh was held 37 minutes without a shot, yet still managed to win 5-3. In Game 2, the Pens looked a little bit better, dominating the third period (which started with a 3 goal barrage in the first 3 1/2 minutes of play) in route to a 4-1 win.

Nashville returned the favor in Game 3, having only lost 1 game at home throughout these playoffs. Nashville is simply hockey crazy right now! I heard yesterday there were 30,000+ watching the game on big screen televisions in Nashville! That's amazing! I'm glad to see the city this hockey crazy, but of course I'm cheering for the Penguins to win. Nashville has been the better team for most of this series, and I think if Pittsburgh is going to win, they're going to need to find another gear to play with. Mike Sullivan and Matt Murray are usually great after a loss. I am hoping that rings true in Game 4; if the Penguins steal one on the road, I think they'll win the series. Of course, the Predators who's been getting nearly all the attention by the media is P.K. Subban. He made a "guarantee" the Predators would win Game 3, which isn't exactly going out on a limb; the Predators are a great home team and were much more desperate than Pittsburgh last night, and it showed. In addition I saw a stat where teams who win Games 1&2 at home since 1998 are 2-8 in Game 3. If the Predators come back and win the series, you know who the media will be talking about the most.

However, Crosby, Malkin, and Kessel are all going to have to start playing better; they've simply disappeared at times during the Finals this year. Kessel hasn't looked good in awhile; it's fair to wonder whether he might be hurt. The Penguins power play has also been atrociously bad; Pittsburgh only has something like 3 shots on 10(!) power plays! Too much passing and not enough movement are killing Pittsburgh - they simply need to be more selfish and take shots, rather then passing the puck sometimes. Rookie sensations Jake Guentzal and Matt Murray (he still technically is a rookie) have been the Pens' best players thus far. No offense to either of them, as they've been playing great, but either Crosby or Malkin is going to have to step up and take control one of these games. I'm not too worried yet; it took Pittsburgh until Game 4 to finally start playing better in the Ottawa series (they lost Game 3 then by the same 5-1 margin); if they get blown out again on Monday, then I think it's time to start worrying.

 

[Don Wassall]

The Penguins started off great last night but as soon as Nashville went ahead they couldn't get any momentum back. I agree about their star players, especially Crosby and Kessel. Malkin is playing as hard as he can and continues to get points. I expect Mike Sullivan to shake up the lines for Game 4 as Malkin and Kessel aren't clicking together right now and Bryan Rust will probably be moved to a different line. Sid is still playing like he has after-effects from the concussion he suffered against Washington. He was flat-out bad last night. I wouldn't mind seeing Olli Maatta and Ron Hainsey benched. Maatta is a painfully slow skater and Hainsey isn't much better.

They do always come back strong after an off-game and need to win Game 4. They were much in better in Game 2 after being outplayed in Game 1 (but still taking advantage of their opportunities to score in that game, which is the bottom line). If so, they'll have a chance to win the Cup in Pittsburgh for the first time.

 

[Don Wassall]

From a media report:

More people watched Monday night's Game 4 between the Penguins and Predators than watched any game of the Stanley Cup Final last season, NBC Sports announced Tuesday.

The broadcast on NBC averaged 5.7 million viewers, up 34 percent from Game 4 last season. Pittsburgh led all U.S. markets with a 30.9 rating. The 28.0 rating in Nashville was the largest in that market's history.

 

[Matra2]

Those are decent ratings for relatively small cities without much national 'reach' (ie influence).

After a slow start hockey actually seems to be working in Nashville, unlike so many other places in the south. I'm quite surprised by that. Even the Titans NFL team doesn't seem all that big in Nashville - relative to other NFL markets - probably due to the region's historical emphasis on college sports.

Pittsburgh has been a sweet spot for hockey for decades now, so it's good to see long term fans being rewarded with a consistently good team.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Even though Game 5 is still going on, all I can say is WOW! Pittsburgh is up 6-0 in the third period, and they came out flying tonight. This game is easily their best of the series, and one of the best of the playoffs. Crosby, Malkin, and Kessel have all played great tonight, as have Schultz and Hainsey. Pittsburgh was full of fight and energy; they've been disrupting the Predators in their own zone, have been finishing their checks, and dominated puck possession for stretches when the game was still close.

Game 6 should be a great one! Let's go Penguins - finish this off on Sunday! If Pittsburgh can play like they have tonight, they'll have a great chance to close it out Sunday. Nashville has been simply unstoppable at home during these playoffs, and Pittsburgh hasn't looked too good away from home. Rinne has also been playing great at home, but not so good in Pittsburgh.

 

[Don Wassall]

The Penguins went on the attack from the drop of the puck and were unstoppable, crushing Nashville 6-0. They cruised through the third period otherwise the score would have been even more lopsided. That's the formula they need to keep following in Game 6. They have been laying back too much in the playoffs going back to the Columbus and Washington series, content to counterattack and try to take advantage of their superior ability to finish. Just a dominant performance, hope they can finish it off on the road on Sunday night.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Crosby roughing up Subban was a microcosm of the whole game - I'm glad Crosby showed some fight and shut him up.

 

[Don Wassall]

Crosby roughing up Subban was a microcosm of the whole game - I'm glad Crosby showed some fight and shut him up.

Subban was booed big time by the Pittsburgh crowd last night. He had been booed earlier in the series, but Subban's (most likely made up) story about Crosby taunting him about his bad breath made Subban even more disliked.

Subban gets booed regularly around the league. It's only a matter of time until his unpopularity is blamed on "White racism."

BTW, Subban and other Predators had been roughing up Crosby all series, as did Ottawa and Washington. In the scrum in the video, Crosby reacted after Subban grabbed his leg and wouldn't let go. I was glad to see Mike Milbury strongly defending Crosby's banging Subban's head after the game, noting how it pales in comparison to the abuse Sid routinely takes which isn't penalized.

 

[Jack Lambert]

I agree with your analysis, Don. Subban has been doing cheap stuff like that to the other teams they've been playing in the playoffs as well. I'm just glad somebody finally hit back at him. So far, I've been fairly happy with the analysts not drawing the "racist" card in regards to what Subban has been doing. He's just a goon that opposing fans love to hate.

Crosby's been roughed up a ton these playoffs - I think it was the Ottawa series where a Senator sat on him for a period of time, and still no call! It's the opposite of the NBA, the star NHL players (especially Crosby, who's the face of the NHL) aren't given the same "protection" and weak calls players like Durant, Curry, and LeBron get.

Also, Ron Hainsey hasn't exactly been playing the best during this series, and has been rightfully called out by a lot of the fans, including two on CF . However, he had a great play, which gave him a goal last night. He had a great move between two Predators, which was pretty awesome. The highlight of his goal begins around the 7:05 mark.

 

[Don Wassall]

I made the mistake of seeing what, if anything, BSPN has in the way of coverage of the finals, and as usual it's right out of the communist playbook. Here are the first three headlines of their hockey section:

Crosby remains center of attention -- and controversy

Crosby pushes Subban's head into ice

Should Crosby be more sensitive about head injuries? Trey Wingo is confused as to why Sidney Crosby would slam P.K. Subban's head into the ice, considering his extensive history with concussions

So Crosby's "controversial" but not Subban? And it's only until one gets to the fourth headline down that there's actual coverage of last night's game, and even that in the first paragraph again mentions Crosby banging Subban's head (because today's talking point must be repeated to DWFs over and over until they are all reciting it without even thinking about it) and also the lie that he threw a gatorade bottle on the ice (Crosby was gesturing at the ref after Chris Kunitz was slashed and nothing was called and the bottle accidentally slipped as the camera shot of it shows; it wasn't a deliberate act).

 

[Jack Lambert]

That's simply ridiculous. Subban is the guy that's been starting everything; regular NHL fans can see it (as evidenced by their booing of him), but the media would never report on the story honestly. Unfortunately, because of his race, the media refuses to cover Subban like they would a white player who does similar things. He's been anointed as the "face" of Nashville by the media. They show him on TV every chance they get. Their biased coverage (both of Subban and a lot people who don't like the Penguins) is very annoying, and makes me want Pittsburgh to win this series even more so than their Cup last year.


One last highlight. Perhaps the biggest goal of the night was Malkin's. It made it 3-0 with less than 15 seconds left in the first, a real knock-out punch to the Predators. Phil Kessel made a tremendous play in holding on to the puck to set up the goal. It was great seeing Kessel playing well again last night after being largely invisible since Game 2 of the Ottawa series. I enjoyed seeing Pittsburgh's "Big 3" (Crosby, Malkin, and Kessel) each having stellar games last night.

 

[Don Wassall]

Something else that's become annoying is the way the media anoints Nashville's fans as the loudest and craziest but hardly mentions the Penguins fans. Yes, the Predator fans are very loud and entertaining and are enjoying the hell out of their team's first deep playoff run which is great to see, but hockey fans during the playoffs are crazy everywhere. PPG Paints Arena was rocking last night, and in addition to the 18,500 who paid an average of some $200 a ticket plus parking, refreshments, etc., there were 15,000 or so watching for free right outside the arena. The whole city of Pittsburgh is behind the Penguins as they have sold out close to 500 straight home games and annually have the highest local TV ratings of any team in the league. I'm hoping in a few days Pittsburgh will again have hundreds of thousands of fans lining the streets as the players ride by with the Stanley Cup.

And watching the playoffs, it's obvious yet again, at least to me, that the NHL could easily jump past the NBA and even MLB as the country's second most popular league if given media coverage even close to what those two leagues get. There's nothing like the extended excitement of the Stanley Cup playoffs.