GDT: 2018 Stanley Cup discussion

[Lempo]

Vegas are 12-3 in playoffs- which alternative universe I am living in, how the **** ?!

I hear the POTUS is naming a taskforce to find out what the hell is going on.

 

[HisIceness]

Hello yes I would like Marc-Andre Fleury in a Hurricanes sweater thanks.

 

[Tryamw]

I hear the POTUS is naming a taskforce to find out what the hell is going on.

Easier odds are explained by the House always wins......

 

[Canes]

But the Knights don't deserve it. Winnipeg was easily the stronger team on paper. It's only because of MAF, it's not like goalies are part of the team or anything. Fire Paul Maurice.

Oh, and can't forget the NHL allowed Vegas to obstruct the new 1950s Canadiens all the way to the Stanley Cup finals.

- Winnipeg fans

 

[HisIceness]

1993 and counting folks

I know it will end someday but the fact that it has gone a quarter of a century now makes me laugh.

NBC must be thrilled.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Was born in October 1993, never seen it happen.

My life is so great.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Imagine if the SEC hadn’t won a football title since 1993.

That’s how much this triggers Canadians.

 

[SaskCanesFan]

Imagine if the SEC hadn’t won a football title since 1993.

That’s how much this triggers Canadians.

See personally I couldn't care less, and would be happy to see the streak extended indefinitely. Never got the whole point of cheering for a Canadian team, lots of Canadians win the Cup every year as is.

 

[HisIceness]

Imagine if the SEC hadn’t won a football title since 1993.

That’s how much this triggers Canadians.

Lots of bitterness and anger from our good buddies to the North.

Actually, I think Canadian Hockey fans as a whole are handling this a lot better than SEC fans would in such a drought. But those 10-20% who are not, oh man the salt could supply all the restaurants for years.

It's hilarious though how Bettman gets so much shit for this. The man is not responsible for teams like the Leafs, Habs, Canucks and Oilers not being able to win a Cup in recent years. Maybe those teams should better manage their products.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

New expansion rules definitely helped? They forced teams to protect guys they normally wouldn’t have, which left more than one team feeling obligated to make a trade to protect the guy they wanted to?

Yeah, the rules definitely helped to keep them from being a bottom dweller and doormat for years like some previous expansion teams were, but I don't think it was set up to make them this good. The NHL was very upfront about setting it up so that VGN could be competitive. Teams protected a few guys who had NMC, but many of them (Jordan Staal for instance) teams would have protected anyhow. In the end, teams were able to protect their 8-9 best skaters, their best goalie, and even more because some of their best players (Slavin and Aho for instance) were young players who were exempt from the draft.

In hindsight, McPhee was brilliant to use this opportunity to "help" other teams out with bad contracts / cap concerns to get better players and picks along the way. The rules were set up to make the team competitive and not a bottom dweller, but that's not what got them to the SCF. Canes are going to lose something that hurts the next draft, but so be it.

This team reminds me a lot of the 05/06 Canes. Everybody at the start of the season predicted the Canes would be a bottom 5 team in the NHL. They had a lot of guys that other teams didn't want (Whitney was bought out, Stillman said Canes were his only offer, etc..), they never quit, they had a few guys break-out, they played with a bit of a chip on their shoulder, and more importantly, played for each other. That's what I see with VGN.

I guess the good news if they win, people may no longer be saying "05/06 Canes were the weakest team to win the cup."

 

[Lempo]

I only demand the goddamn XD rules in the official legalese form to be public the next time around. The whole thing was ruined for me by us the audience getting only a journalist-sieved second-hand approximations of select pieces of them. The "surprises" wouldn't have been such at all had there been a growdsourced scrutiny by us internet sloths.

 

[Ole Gil]

Yeah, the rules definitely helped to keep them from being a bottom dweller and doormat for years like some previous expansion teams were, but I don't think it was set up to make them this good. The NHL was very upfront about setting it up so that VGN could be competitive. Teams protected a few guys who had NMC, but many of them (Jordan Staal for instance) teams would have protected anyhow. In the end, teams were able to protect their 8-9 best skaters, their best goalie, and even more because some of their best players (Slavin and Aho for instance) were young players who were exempt from the draft.

In hindsight, McPhee was brilliant to use this opportunity to "help" other teams out with bad contracts / cap concerns to get better players and picks along the way. The rules were set up to make the team competitive and not a bottom dweller, but that's not what got them to the SCF. Canes are going to lose something that hurts the next draft, but so be it.

This team reminds me a lot of the 05/06 Canes. Everybody at the start of the season predicted the Canes would be a bottom 5 team in the NHL. They had a lot of guys that other teams didn't want (Whitney was bought out, Stillman said Canes were his only offer, etc..), they never quit, they had a few guys break-out, they played with a bit of a chip on their shoulder, and more importantly, played for each other. That's what I see with VGN.

I guess the good news if they win, people may no longer be saying "05/06 Canes were the weakest team to win the cup."

The 05/06 Canes is such a great comparison, because what they did right was coupled with everybody else failing.

For all the talk of expansion draft structure, and exposing players. McPhee took William Karlsson coming off 15 goals in his last 160 games, and Gallant turned him into a 43 goal scorer. That's the most extreme example, but across the board you had guys who based on their previous use should have been a part of Vegas missing the playoffs by 10+ points in a Hurricane-like season, but instead McPhee/Gallant just capitalized on an abundance of mistakes and untapped potential.

This wasn't given to them in anyway. They were set up for failure, but they just did better than every other GM/Coach in the league.

 

[Bunch of Jurcos]

I believe that the Vegas model is actually pretty favorable to what Carolina could be. They play really tough defense and their forward group had a bunch of 2nd and 3rd liners until the top line broke out all throughout their lineup. I don't know where we're going to get Flower from but apparently neither does Canes management.

 

[Svechhammer]

I believe that the Vegas model is actually pretty favorable to what Carolina could be. They play really tough defense and their forward group had a bunch of 2nd and 3rd liners until the top line broke out all throughout their lineup. I don't know where we're going to get Flower from but apparently neither does Canes management.

Once we get rolling, I think we could be better, especially if we draft Svech and Necas continues to be the guy we expect. I think we quietly are poised to rocket up the standings next year after sandbagging a bit this season with Necas playing overseas. Everyone still thinks we have these huge issues on offense, and I'm willing to bet the two young kids are going to completely change that starting next year. What used to be a weakness is going to be a strength, and paired with our defense, we could be ready to legitimately break out soon. At that point, we could have a roster that would allow for even average goaltending to have us run far in the playoffs.

Maybe I'm drinking the kool aid a little much, but I really think we could be close. The lottery win completely changed our future outlook and handed us the opportunity to get the exact player we need.

 

[MinJaBen]

The Caps have really looked good this game. Tampa doesn't play well when the Caps are able to sustain the aggressive physical play like they are doing tonight.

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

Should be an interesting game seven.

I’m still hoping Vegas stomps whoever wins it though.

 

[A Star is Burns]

I think the Caps have outplayed them more often than not in this series. They were clearly the better team in the wins, were better the majority of the game 4 loss, and for the last two periods of game 5. It's a credit to Tampa's talent to still be in it.

 

[SlavinAway]

Should be an interesting game seven.

I’m still hoping Vegas stomps whoever wins it though.

I think Vegas will. Caps definitely won’t be able to physically outplay VGK like they just did to Tampa in game 6.

 

[Oogie Boogie]

Still pulling for Washington to win it all.

 

[The Faulker 27]

Still pulling for Washington to win it all.

I want to see OV hoisting the cup.

 

[Sens1Canes2]

I don’t understand. There are significant numbers of people arguing that the Caps’ second goal shouldn’t have happened, that the play should have been blown down for icing. Coburn touched the puck before it crossed the red line, but they’re still arguing because “he was first to the faceoff dot.” Not doing a ton for the whole Southern hockey fan narrative.

 

[Joe McGrath]

I don’t understand. There are significant numbers of people arguing that the Caps’ second goal shouldn’t have happened, that the play should have been blown down for icing. Coburn touched the puck before it crossed the red line, but they’re still arguing because “he was first to the faceoff dot.” Not doing a ton for the whole Southern hockey fan narrative.

There’s legitimate confusion on that rule because I’ve seen icing called on plays like that, and I’ve thought “why the hell was that icing?”

And it’s not like that’s some old rule you have ingrained from your proper hockey watching upbringing above the Mason-Dixon Line, so I don’t know what you’re bringing up the southern narrative for.

 

[Joe McGrath]

I want to see OV hoisting the cup.

My only hesitation to this is I worry about him going to the KHL early. I want him to score 800 goals more than I want to see him win a cup. If he could Jagr it up and score 900 that would be even better.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I don’t understand. There are significant numbers of people arguing that the Caps’ second goal shouldn’t have happened, that the play should have been blown down for icing. Coburn touched the puck before it crossed the red line, but they’re still arguing because “he was first to the faceoff dot.” Not doing a ton for the whole Southern hockey fan narrative.

It's every fan base these days. In one of the Caps games early on, a goal was overturned because Connolly (I think) was ruled off sides. A large number of caps fans argued about it because they clearly didn't understand the rule as it was 100% the correct call.

 

[Joe McGrath]

It's every fan base these days. In one of the Caps games early on, a goal was overturned because Connolly (I think) was ruled off sides. A large number of caps fans argued about it because they clearly didn't understand the rule as it was 100% the correct call.

It’s every fan base, and it always has been.