2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs

[Don Wassall]

I'd like to see the Oilers win it. Connor McDavid needs it for his legacy and he's an incredible talent. Scored 100 assists this season (as did Nikita Kucherov, throwbacks to the high scoring days of the '80s and '90s). German-born Leon Draisaitl is another offensive beast. McDavid had another 5 assists last night in Edmonton's 7-4 win over LA.

Would also be cool to see a Canadian team finally win the Cup. It's been 31 years now, hard to believe. . .

 

[SneakyQuick]

If it can’t be the Cats I’d like to see Winnipeg. The whiteout is amazing - great fanbase.

 

[SneakyQuick]

The Panthers with a massive overtime win against a very tough rival in the Tampa bay lightning. The goaltending on both sides was incredible. Sergei Bobrovsky from the country that dare not compete in the Olympics had a save tonight that was as good as any I have ever seen.


Whether or not you’re a hockey fan I highly recommend trying to watch the stanley cup playoffs. It’s really the best post season of any major sport in America

 

[wile]

If it can’t be the Cats I’d like to see Winnipeg. The whiteout is amazing - great fanbase.

Don't know much about hockey but isn't Winnipeg where they threaten to trade players to if they are not performing?

 

[Don Wassall]

The Panthers with a massive overtime win against a very tough rival in the Tampa bay lightning. The goaltending on both sides was incredible. Sergei Bobrovsky from the country that dare not compete in the Olympics had a save tonight that was as good as any I have ever seen.


Whether or not you’re a hockey fan I highly recommend trying to watch the stanley cup playoffs. It’s really the best post season of any major sport in America

Bobrovsky and Vasilevskiy were both superb. Nothing beats Stanley Cup playoff hockey for intensity and the sheer ultra-grind it is for the champion team to prevail.

Here's the spectacular save by "Bob":

 

[SneakyQuick]

Bobrovsky and Vasilevskiy were both superb. Nothing beats Stanley Cup playoff hockey for intensity and the sheer ultra-grind it is for the champion team to prevail.

Here's the spectacular save by "Bob":

The commentary on the view of the game I watched remarked on the athleticism needed to do that. And boy are they correct.

 

[Don Wassall]

The Bruins beat the Maple Leafs in Toronto in Game 3 and go up 2 games to 1. Brad Marchand score the go ahead goal on a perfectly placed shot then had an empty netter to clinch the win. He's now tied with Cam Neely for most playoff goals all-time by a Bruins player. Toronto fans have to be worried that their team will once again have an early playoff exit, while Boston fans can't feel comfortable either given their first round loss last year to the Panthers following one of the very best regular seasons in league history.

Marchand is one of those guys you hate when he's not on your team as he's great at annoying and provoking opponents, but he's undeniably a helluva player and very often a clutch one as well.

Auston Matthews was invisible in this one, I still have yet to see him do anything in a playoff game.

 

[SneakyQuick]

The Bruins beat the Maple Leafs in Toronto in Game 3 and go up 2 games to 1. Brad Marchand score the go ahead goal on a perfectly placed shot then had an empty netter to clinch the win. He's now tied with Cam Neely for most playoff goals all-time by a Bruins player. Toronto fans have to be worried that their team will once again have an early playoff exit, while Boston fans can't feel comfortable either given their first round loss last year to the Panthers following one of the very best regular seasons in league history.

Marchand is one of those guys you hate when he's not on your team as he's great at annoying and provoking opponents, but he's undeniably a helluva player and very often a clutch one as well.

Auston Matthews was invisible in this one, I still have yet to see him do anything in a playoff game.

Austin Matthews is not a clutch playoff player though he was involved in all three leaf goals in game two.

I expect bruins in 5, or 6 at the outside. The leafs are simply not disciplined enough. So many silly errors and too much money spent on marner, Matthews and Tavares

 

[Don Wassall]

Austin Matthews is not a clutch playoff player though he was involved in all three leaf goals in game two.

I expect bruins in 5, or 6 at the outside. The leafs are simply not disciplined enough. So many silly errors and too much money spent on marner, Matthews and Tavares

My sample size is small, mostly part of round one last year and then the round two playoff exit and then game three tonight, so maybe I've been too hard on Matthews, but it would be nice to see him actually do something. At any rate it was a well played, quite intense game, the best one I've seen so far early on in the playoffs.

 

[Don Wassall]

The Rangers sweep the Capitals in four, while the Panthers are about to eliminate the proud Lightning in five in the Battle of Florida. The Panthers will likely play the Hurricanes, who are up 3-1 in games against the Islanders. Boston has a stranglehold over the Maple Leafs 3 games to 1. The best teams in the East all appear to be advancing, setting up compelling semifinal matchups.

 

[NikoDuke]

My two teams Rangers & Leafs are proceeding on different paths. NYR swept the Caps and the Leafs are on the cusp of elimination once again.

This is interesting as the NHL has a caste system like the NFL but, it's not based on race but on size. And the Leafs and Rangers are also different in this regard. Players under 6ft, especially defenseman are being eliminated from the league similarly to Whites in skill positions are in the NFL. And similar to Whites in the NFL being some of the best players, "smaller" players in the NHL are some of the best players. And yet, like Whites are often overlooked regardless of their production.

In fact, there are further parallels between the NFL & NHL as most GMs and coaches think and sound like NFL. NHL teams are usually led by very simple thinkers similar to all the geniuses in NFL management.

So the Leafs have gone full on caste and are bearing the results.. thus, my last hope are the Rangers..

 

[Don Wassall]

The Maple Leafs haven't seriously challenged for the Stanley Cup going on close to 60 years now. I feel bad the way they are eliminated in the first round every year (second round last year, whoopee!), for their fans at least.

Their former GM Kyle Dubas was hired by the Penguins to be their new GM after the total fail of Ron Hextall, to great fanfare. But his first season was a disappointment. Then again he's hamstrung by the Penguins organization's endless love affair with Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Mike Sullivan long after they should have moved on. Too many no trade contracts and Sullivan inexplicably has become the first NHL coach for life despite seven straight seasons of playoff failures and failures to even make the playoffs. It really irks me, as I've made obvious. Stale doesn't begin to describe the situation. The Leafs seem to be stuck in their own endless rut, a lot of talent but year after year it translates to nothing when it counts.

 

[SneakyQuick]

Barry Zito has done a great job as GM for the Panthers. The lightning are a tough veteran team lead by an excellent coach but their time is past. Florida belongs to the Panthers!!!!!

 

[NikoDuke]

The Maple Leafs haven't seriously challenged for the Stanley Cup going on close to 60 years now. I feel bad the way they are eliminated in the first round every year (second round last year, whoopee!), for their fans at least.

Their former GM Kyle Dubas was hired by the Penguins to be their new GM after the total fail of Ron Hextall, to great fanfare. But his first season was a disappointment. Then again he's hamstrung by the Penguins organization's endless love affair with Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Mike Sullivan long after they should have moved on. Too many no trade contracts and Sullivan inexplicably has become the first NHL coach for life despite seven straight seasons of playoff failures and failures to even make the playoffs. It really irks me, as I've made obvious. Stale doesn't begin to describe the situation. The Leafs seem to be stuck in their own endless rut, a lot of talent but year after year it translates to nothing

Dubas is a kid of privilege who came up in a hockey family as was seen as a wunderkind. Unfortunately, he hasn't lived up to that but, he is an outside of the box thinker relative to many of his peers.. Sullivan should've been moved on from years ago but, any organization that hires Brian Burke ( one of the biggest frauds in pro sports) ends up in disarray..

And Leafs can't get out of their zone because they don't have 1 defenseman with any semblance of game IQ..

 

[NikoDuke]

Barry Zito has done a great job as GM for the Panthers. The lightning are a tough veteran team lead by an excellent coach but their time is past. Florida belongs to the Panthers!!!!!

Also helps that their goalie gets hot at the right time! Congrats on eliminating TB.

 

[SneakyQuick]

Also helps that their goalie gets hot at the right time! Congrats on eliminating TB.

Bobrovsky is outstanding but if you look at the whole team the improvements have largely been ziti’s picks. Matthew Tkachuk has been absolutely transformational for the team for instance.

They are a ton of fun to follow

 

[Don Wassall]

The Oilers knock off the Kings for the third straight year, now we'll see if they can finally win the Western Conference and make it to the Stanley Cup final during the McDavid era. Two more series to go to accomplish that. Any team that wants to beat them will have to limit the penalties they take as Edmonton's power play is a virtually unstoppable super-weapon.

The Stars lost the first two games at home to defending Cup champion Vegas but have since won three in a row. Tonight's game was tight and intense throughout and Game 6 should be can't miss viewing, as should Game 6 between Boston and Toronto tomorrow night. Both series may well end up going seven.

 

[sprintstar]

The Vancouver Canucks are up 3-2 over Nashville going into tonight's game. I find it hard to root for the Canucks anymore as their roster has all but 4 Canadian born players and 1 American player born in the US to Canadian parents(has dual citizenship). Having said that JT Miller is a very good player and is clutch as they can be.

 

[Don Wassall]

The Vancouver Canucks are up 3-2 over Nashville going into tonight's game. I find it hard to root for the Canucks anymore as their roster has all but 4 Canadian born players and 1 American player born in the US to Canadian parents(has dual citizenship). Having said that JT Miller is a very good player and is clutch as they can be.

The Canucks coach Rick Tocchet is Canadian and is one of my all-time favorite players. He was a terrific power forward who reached the 40 goal mark three different times and who helped the Penguins win the Cup in '92 during a long playing career before becoming a coach and was also one of the toughest fighters the NHL has ever seen.

The Canucks score with 90 seconds left and beat Nashville 1-0 in Game 6 on the road to advance to an all-Canadian semifinal matchup in the Western Conference against Edmonton. Toronto is the other Canadian team still standing and they play Boston in Game 7 tomorrow. If Boston loses it'll be the second year in a row they'll have coughed up a 3-1 first round series lead. If the Maple Leafs lose it'll be yet another early playoff exit for them, so should be an exciting game to watch.

I couldn't find many highlights from Tocchet's playing career. This grainy video shows some of his fights and a few playing highlights. Watch with the sound off:

 

[Tannehill17]

Bobrovsky is outstanding but if you look at the whole team the improvements have largely been ziti’s picks. Matthew Tkachuk has been absolutely transformational for the team for instance.

They are a ton of fun to follow

There's such a huge disparity in how our hockey team is run vs how our football team is run. The Panthers are owned by Vinnie Viola, a west point graduate who actually holds people accountable to bring respectability back to a franchise that had been run into the ground by the previous owners of the team. The Dolphins however, are owned by the clueless Stephen Ross who has made many a DEI hire in Brian Flores and Chris Grier and in the case of the latter, has been employed by the organization for 20 years despite not having any playoff wins to show for it. While the Panthers didn't win the cup last year, they at least hold their employees accountable. There's a reason more and more people are starting to support the Panthers with their entertainment dollar over the Dolphins even though football is still king in the state of Florida.

 

[SneakyQuick]

Vinny Viola also founded Virtu (etf market maker) which has almost never had a down day in many years. He knows how to hire well.

The Panthers are becoming more and more followed every day. The new practice facility in Fort Lauderdale helps give exposure too.

The lightning and the panthers have done a lot to popularize hockey here in the sunshine state. You love to see it!!!