2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs

[SneakyQuick]

This thread should serve as a place to track the 2022 playoffs

 

[SneakyQuick]

The east is stacked. Personally I favor the panthers Huberdeau and Barkov are ridiculously good. They haven’t played their game yet but i think Florida (who had the best regular season record) will go all the way to to the cup finals series and probably wins it . Who dares to Challenge this ?

 

[Bucky]

I was just happy to see Toronto bounced with their dystopian Covaids rules. Do feel bad for the fans though, I saw a middle aged guy rocking a "losers since" #67 Jersey. Lol.

 

[SneakyQuick]

The amount of memes floating around on the internet mocking the leafs is truly astounding. Still overall I’d have to say I have grown to like and appreciate hockey a lot more Im the last few years. Sure the nhl did there blm routine to a degree but it never seemed as enthusiastic as the nfl or Major League Baseball. Honestly it’s gotten to the point where it’s the only pro sport outside of motor sports I can stomach

 

[Don Wassall]

Edmonton and Calgary battling it out is good to see, great for Canadian hockey and that country's self-esteem as it's been 29 years since a Canadian team won the Cup.

As far as the Maple Leafs losing in the first round year after year, both the Capitals and Penguins have now bowed out in the first round of the playoffs four straight years after being Cup winners. The Penguins totally blew their series, having a 3 to 1 lead in games over the Rangers, and then blowing two goal leads in Games 5 and 6, and blowing the lead in Game 7 with less than six minutes left. Disgusting. It should mean the end of their "Big 3" of Crosby, Malkin and Letang as Malkin and Letang are about to become free agents. Frankly, both are way over-rated at this point in their long careers; their skills have declined but both still commit a mind-blowing amount of turnovers, dumb penalties and other head-scratching plays. They provided a lot of great memories, being key components of three Stanley Cup winning teams, but it was already past time to break up the old gang and try to retool to build another contender before Crosby retires.

 

[SneakyQuick]

Well put. The funny thing is that the leafs would sell out the stands even if the seats faced backwards. Their big players matthews, Tavares, etc simply didn’t do enough when it mattered. I think it’s a coaching issue but I guess you could make a case that the team itself isn’t deep enough.

I agree though. It would be nice to see a Canadian team go deep. The Habs did so well last year on Carey price’s heroic efforts it fell just short

 

[Phall]

Apparently, the Avalanche have a Lebanese center named Nazem Kadri who enjoys soaking up the attention from his non-white identity. He collided with a St Louis player on ice, ruling that player out with injury for the rest of the year. Allegedly, some people said some naughty words to him online, so he is now traveling with "increased police presence" for his "safety."

I don't have much allegiance to any playoff team and an embarrassingly-low awareness of current NHL stars. However, I'll root against Colorado going forward. Any other prominent non-whites still playing that I should brace my rooting interests against?

 

[SneakyQuick]

Nope. And frankly the avalanche are a pretty white bunch. I think Tampa may three-peat for the cup much as it pains me to say it. I’d prefer pretty much anyone else but it is what it is.

my advice would be to watch a game or two and decide for yourself.
It’s as lily white a televised sport as you’re gong to find even if a sizable chunk of our folks come from the old country (and Canada )

 

[Don Wassall]

Apparently, the Avalanche have a Lebanese center named Nazem Kadri who enjoys soaking up the attention from his non-white identity. He collided with a St Louis player on ice, ruling that player out with injury for the rest of the year. Allegedly, some people said some naughty words to him online, so he is now traveling with "increased police presence" for his "safety."

I don't have much allegiance to any playoff team and an embarrassingly-low awareness of current NHL stars. However, I'll root against Colorado going forward. Any other prominent non-whites still playing that I should brace my rooting interests against?

Not sure that's the case here. Kadri is definitely a hard-hitting, borderline dirty player, but the attention on his background was foisted on him by the media, especially (and predictably) by ESPN, which inexplicably given how much the network has always downplayed hockey now has the main TV deal with the NHL. I watched the post-game ESPN crew of four (three Whites and Anson Carter) egg on Kadri to talk about the alleged "race-based" threats being made against him. It was obvious it wasn't something he wanted to talk about. If it holds true to form it's nothing more than a few anonymous Twitter threats, possibly by some POCs or leftists as they love to perpetrate race hoaxes and then watch the fake news media hysterically jumping to conclusions. Kadri is being booed by the St. Louis fans, just as the Colorado fans are booing David Perron because of his involvement in a few on-ice incidents in the series.

There's a sprinkling of Black (often half-Black), Middle Eastern (like half-Iranian Mika Zibanejad of the Rangers) and other exotic types in the league, but few if any other than perhaps Evander Kane are the hyper-sensitive, race baiting type. Most of the Black players are in fact well-spoken.

The Avalanche look like they're about to knock off the Blues in five games, leading to a probable conference final against Edmonton, who are up 3-1 in games over Calgary. Nathan MacKinnon vs. Connor McDavid, should be a great series though it feels like we're moving inexorably toward a Stanley Cup final of Colorado against Tampa. The two-time defending champs trying to make it three in a row for the first times since the Islanders of the early 1980s vs. what has looked all season like the best team in the league.

 

[Don Wassall]

I may have written the Blues off too soon. When I wrote the above post they were trailing Colorado on the road 3-0 late in the second period. But they tied it in the third 3-3 only to see Nathan MacKinnon score a simply spectacular goal, going end to end, with just a few minutes left. But the Blues tied it at the end of regulation and just won it early in overtime. Just an awesome game to watch, we'll see now if they can tie the series at home in Game 6.

 

[Flint]

Don I hope the Penguins rebuild is not as painful and long as the Red Wings has been.

I was hoping the Leafs would have made a run, Toronto may be the Capitol of hockey in the west, Damn shame they have sucked for so long.

Like everything else in this opposite world we live in, Florida and Carolina have good hockey teams, Canada not so much. They should require players to play for the team nearest where they learned the sport!

 

[Don Wassall]

The Penguins need to let Malkin and Letang leave as free agents but I have my doubts that they will. Malkin in particular is a shell of what he used to be and Letang is an over-rated turnover machine. But they re-signed over the hill Jeff Carter to a contract extension, and just re-signed Bryan Rust to a long-term deal, so they may be satisfied to continue to be good enough to make the playoffs but not be a serious Cup contender by keeping Malkin and Letang for several more years. But maybe they won't, the season just ended.

It's a shame how the Red Wings have fallen for so long into bottom feeding status.

 

[white is right]

Don I hope the Penguins rebuild is not as painful and long as the Red Wings has been.

I was hoping the Leafs would have made a run, Toronto may be the Capitol of hockey in the west, Damn shame they have sucked for so long.

Like everything else in this opposite world we live in, Florida and Carolina have good hockey teams, Canada not so much. They should require players to play for the team nearest where they learned the sport!

This is what perpetually kept the Canadiens as cup contenders as they had the French Canadian player pool largely to their selves. I think once the league ventured out of traditional hockey markets the common draft was adopted. It's only fairly recently that a Matthews type have been developed in non traditional hockey markets. The NHL would have died in non traditional markets if the sun belt teams had to rely on the original 6's leftovers.

 

[SneakyQuick]

Lots of white kids in south Florida play hockey now. The sport is growing a lot in the sunbelt even if it will never be as big as it is in cold weather states and Canada.

Seems like a positive development to me given the sport has a much better culture

 

[Phall]

Not sure that's the case here. Kadri is definitely a hard-hitting, borderline dirty player, but the attention on his background was foisted on him by the media, especially (and predictably) by ESPN, which inexplicably given how much the network has always downplayed hockey now has the main TV deal with the NHL. I watched the post-game ESPN crew of four (three Whites and Anson Carter) egg on Kadri to talk about the alleged "race-based" threats being made against him. It was obvious it wasn't something he wanted to talk about. If it holds true to form it's nothing more than a few anonymous Twitter threats, possibly by some POCs or leftists as they love to perpetrate race hoaxes and then watch the fake news media hysterically jumping to conclusions. Kadri is being booed by the St. Louis fans, just as the Colorado fans are booing David Perron because of his involvement in a few on-ice incidents in the series.

There's a sprinkling of Black (often half-Black), Middle Eastern (like half-Iranian Mika Zibanejad of the Rangers) and other exotic types in the league, but few if any other than perhaps Evander Kane are the hyper-sensitive, race baiting type. Most of the Black players are in fact well-spoken.

The Avalanche look like they're about to knock off the Blues in five games, leading to a probable conference final against Edmonton, who are up 3-1 in games over Calgary. Nathan MacKinnon vs. Connor McDavid, should be a great series though it feels like we're moving inexorably toward a Stanley Cup final of Colorado against Tampa. The two-time defending champs trying to make it three in a row for the first times since the Islanders of the early 1980s vs. what has looked all season like the best team in the league.

Thanks for the added context. For what it's worth, the CBS Sports online site had no qualms parroting ESPN's narrative and posting selective quotes (that's where I saw the story).

I wish the Red Wings weren't so lousy.

 

[Freethinker]

The Rangers are attempting another comeback as they won game 6 at home to force game 7. They’ll have to beat a Carolina team that has yet to lose at home in the playoffs.

I’m a casual Rangers fan and this playoff run has been exciting so far. They have a pretty young team with a necessary sprinkling of useful veterans. They’ve also got yet another franchise goaltender, with Igor Shesterkin who’s an “evil” Russian. The Rangers have been spoiled in that regard with Mike Richter, Henrik Lundqvist and now the young Russian, yet it’s only led to one Cup. Maybe that will change as the Rangers should be a good team for years to come.

 

[SneakyQuick]

Not a rangers fan at all but shesterkin is awfully good. In fact arguably the evil Russians have the best goaltending choices of any country.


Tampa, New York, Florida, Washington all have incredibly good, yet evil, Russians as goaltenders.


yet another reason to like hockey.

 

[Don Wassall]

Shesterkin looked average at best for a lot of the Rangers-Penguins series but the Pens choked away their 3-1 games lead due to NY taking advantage of their many flaws. Carolina has won every game at home and lost every game on the road through 13 games over two series so far, an NHL playoff record. The Rangers will have to end that streak tonight to move on, but they do seem to have a lot of resiliency and the ability to overcome deficits during games so I'm looking forward to Game 7.

 

[SneakyQuick]

Shesterkin has looked really good in this series. In my view I think he is improving. No shot the rangers are still in this series without him

 

[Freethinker]

Rangers pulled it out!! Pretty dominate effort against the previously undefeated at home Hurricanes.

I don’t expect the Rangers to beat the Lightning but they’re playing with house money at this point….

 

[Don Wassall]

House money is right, the Rangers are definitely the wild card among the four remaining teams.

 

[Phall]

Should I renew my friendship with an old college jew by becoming a Rangers fan this week? (not mutually exclusive btw)

 

[SneakyQuick]

I’m so torn. I really don’t want to see the lightning strike thrice but the idea of the rangers in the cup finals is also pretty nauseating.

mainly I’m hoping the oilers or the avs can pull it out

 

[Don Wassall]

The Avalanche win Game 1, 8 to 6. The goals were coming fast and furiously for a while, five in five minutes at one point. The Oilers were behind 7-3 but pulled within a goal before Colorado scored an empty netter to clinch it. An entertaining game to watch, both teams have some great offensive talent.

 

[SneakyQuick]

And the first game in the east is off to a great start. Tied at 1 after one. Amazing goaltending