Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Gamethread
- Thread starter soxhop411
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You know, the Bruins not being in really sucks.... but there are some really solid matchups this year. Should be some fun playoff action.
Hate to being reduced to rooting for other teams, but I think I'm pulling for an (unlikely to happen) Ottawa - Winnipeg SCF. I harbor no ill will toward the Sens. They didn't knock the Bs out, the Bs knocked themselves out.
Agreed with Ferm. Ottawa is too good of a story not to root for. There's no one on the team worth hating - and it would absolutely KILL Toronto and Montreal fan bases to see Ottawa win.
The frustrating part about Ottawa is I highly doubt they go anywhere. Hammond's 27, had a .905 sv% in Binghamton over these past 2 years, and a .906 sv% over four years at Bowling Green from ages 21-25. He SUCKS, Mike.
Not that the B's would have advanced but I'd rather the B's got the chance, obviously.
In the Sens' favor, Mika Zibanejad is a god.
Not that the B's would have advanced but I'd rather the B's got the chance, obviously.
In the Sens' favor, Mika Zibanejad is a god.
Unfortunately looks like Rangers will at least get to the 2nd round; don't see Pens putting up much of a fight. It would be fitting the Sens lose quickly to Canadiens after their run, but gotta root hard for them. For other series, hope the best teams who can potentially knock out Canadiens/Rangers in round 2 win their 1st round series.
I don't think the Habs are quite as good as they're perceived. Obviously they're the favorites for this series, but they are heavily reliant on Carey Price being lights out. If Price has a rough couple of games at any point they're probably out of the playoffs.
It's definitely not just Hammond's ridiculous hot streak that has gotten them into the playoffs, though. A lot of the improvement came from the lineup and ice time allocation changes after MacLean was fired in December.
I mean, I agree that Hammond will almost certainly cool off at some point, but if he turns out to be for real, stranger things have happened. Tim Thomas had a similarly unimpressive career until his age 29 season in Providence, for example. His NHL breakout didn't happen until he was 33.
PedroSpecialK said:
It's definitely not just Hammond's ridiculous hot streak that has gotten them into the playoffs, though. A lot of the improvement came from the lineup and ice time allocation changes after MacLean was fired in December.
I mean, I agree that Hammond will almost certainly cool off at some point, but if he turns out to be for real, stranger things have happened. Tim Thomas had a similarly unimpressive career until his age 29 season in Providence, for example. His NHL breakout didn't happen until he was 33.
Is anybody really perceiving the Habs as a really good team if you take out Price? Two months ago I might have said this team has other skills, but they're basically The Carey Price Show at this point. Quite a few people in Montreal are picking the Sens, although I think it's a whole different ballgame in the playoffs when you probably don't want to take the risks Ottawa have been taking to squeak in. Plus the Hamburglar turning into a pumpkin factor.
For them to progress on, it's going to take Price being healthy and good (which I'm not too concerned about) but also big performances from Gallagher, Eller, Galchenyuk, Subban and Pacioretty (I think he plays Game 1) and more of a focus on possession than the dump and chase style Therrien usually likes to play. Gallagher getting in front of the net will be key too.
But they're in real trouble if they face TB no matter how you slice it. I think TB's just better.
For them to progress on, it's going to take Price being healthy and good (which I'm not too concerned about) but also big performances from Gallagher, Eller, Galchenyuk, Subban and Pacioretty (I think he plays Game 1) and more of a focus on possession than the dump and chase style Therrien usually likes to play. Gallagher getting in front of the net will be key too.
But they're in real trouble if they face TB no matter how you slice it. I think TB's just better.
Possession wise, the Habs are among the worst in the league and are sandwiched between Edmonton and Arizona with a 48.4% CF in all situations. Their PDO was 101.7. They get outshot nightly. They should suck. Price wins Vezina and the Hart, so here we are. Of course, Montreal is the only team in the NHL that has been able to defy lousy possession numbers over the course of 2 seasons. Everyone else (Colorado, Toronto, Philly) has crashed. Not Montreal.
DrewDawg said:
They haven't won a playoff series since that same year. Their last playoff series win ended on that Volek OT goal against the Penguins. I was at my sister's college gradution during that game. My sister is 44 now.
A truly amazing stat.
johnmd20 said:
It's just amazing to look at the scoring numbers from the NHL back in the early 80s.
The 80-81 Winnipeg Jets went 9-57-14 and scored 246 goals, last in the league. That would be 5th in the NHL this season. Of course, they also allowed 400 goals. Montreal allowed a league-low 232 goals. 23 teams allowed less than that this season.
Crazy.
Predictions:
East:
MTL/OTT- Habs in 7. Ottawa gives them fits, but Price bails Habs out again and Hammond continues to regress.
TB/DET- TB in 6- Very tough. Two of the top 3 possession teams in the league here, should be a doozy. In the end, Detroit's shaky goaltending sinks the Wings.
NYR/PIT- Rangers in 5. Just seems like the Pens are in disarray.
WSH/NYI- Going with the upset, Isles in 6.
West:
STL/MIN- Blues in 7. Blues are on the upswing up this year headed into the playoffs. How long can Dubnyk keep his play up?
NSH/CHI- Hawks in 6. Don't think the Preds have the horses to run with Chicago this year. A hot Rinne could change things.
ANA/WPG- Ducks in 7. I'm not a fan of this Ducks team, but I don't think the Jets can overcome Getzlaf/Perry.
VAN/CGY- 'Nucks in 7. Flames miracle season comes to an end.
Semi's:
East:
MTL/TB- TB in 6. Tampa has the speed to match the Habs and the scoring depth to beat Price.
NYR-NYI- Isles in 7. Just a hunch. Don't love the Rangers scoring depth and they were a mediocre possession team a year, despite the Presidents trophy. Rangers are similar to Montreal, mediocre is most areas, got some luck (101.6 PDO). They should regress at some point.
STL/CHI- Hawks in 7. Coin flip.
ANA/VAN- Ducks in 6.
Conference Finals + Cup:
TB/NYI- Tampa in 7. Hell of a series here.
CHI/ANA- Hawks in 5. I really don't think Anaheim is very good, they just have an easy path here. Overwhelmed by the Hawks.
TB/CHI- Chicago in 6. I love Tampa, think they're a bit too young and inexperienced to over come Chicago. Hawks win #3.
East:
MTL/OTT- Habs in 7. Ottawa gives them fits, but Price bails Habs out again and Hammond continues to regress.
TB/DET- TB in 6- Very tough. Two of the top 3 possession teams in the league here, should be a doozy. In the end, Detroit's shaky goaltending sinks the Wings.
NYR/PIT- Rangers in 5. Just seems like the Pens are in disarray.
WSH/NYI- Going with the upset, Isles in 6.
West:
STL/MIN- Blues in 7. Blues are on the upswing up this year headed into the playoffs. How long can Dubnyk keep his play up?
NSH/CHI- Hawks in 6. Don't think the Preds have the horses to run with Chicago this year. A hot Rinne could change things.
ANA/WPG- Ducks in 7. I'm not a fan of this Ducks team, but I don't think the Jets can overcome Getzlaf/Perry.
VAN/CGY- 'Nucks in 7. Flames miracle season comes to an end.
Semi's:
East:
MTL/TB- TB in 6. Tampa has the speed to match the Habs and the scoring depth to beat Price.
NYR-NYI- Isles in 7. Just a hunch. Don't love the Rangers scoring depth and they were a mediocre possession team a year, despite the Presidents trophy. Rangers are similar to Montreal, mediocre is most areas, got some luck (101.6 PDO). They should regress at some point.
STL/CHI- Hawks in 7. Coin flip.
ANA/VAN- Ducks in 6.
Conference Finals + Cup:
TB/NYI- Tampa in 7. Hell of a series here.
CHI/ANA- Hawks in 5. I really don't think Anaheim is very good, they just have an easy path here. Overwhelmed by the Hawks.
TB/CHI- Chicago in 6. I love Tampa, think they're a bit too young and inexperienced to over come Chicago. Hawks win #3.
Man, 5 minutes in, and its easy to see that this Montreal vs Ottawa series is going to be awesome.
Wonder whether there was a prop bet of both Markov and Ottawa getting the first goal of this series.
PK 2-hand chop right into Pageau's face. PK whines on the way to the box, the Habs fans whine and then they reverse the call.
Montreal typical.
Montreal typical.
lol PK. And enough with the jumping after every call against you too. They should have given him another 2 on top of that for being an ass.
Fucking blatant attempt to injure from Subban. Fucking puck is nowhere near the play and he slashes Stone right on the wrist where there's no padding at all. You can fucking tell they had this shit planned out before the game too.
PK Subban, league leader in diving fines, is in the tunnel complaining because Stone is back and OK to play.
Awesome.
Awesome.