Around the League: All Playoff Talk

[RDubya]

Dude had 2 huge goals and I could be wrong but believe he assisted (or directly contributed) to the winning OT goal. Dude was 1st or 2nd star IMO (Murray being the other)

What a game and awesome to see Bonino win it after being one of the over-the-glass guys

Yeah he definitely made that OT winner happen

 

[mallory67]

Dang Phil the Thrill propelling the penguins to round 3. Makes me miss him with the leafs a lil

Relax ... not like we were going to win the Cup this year (or next, or the next) with Kessel..
Phil is fun to watch ... and love how he personally killed off Ovechkin!!!

 

[burpsalot]

Dang Phil the Thrill propelling the penguins to round 3. Makes me miss him with the leafs a lil

Hah, not one iota.

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

We should have put a clause in the trade that if the Pens win the cup they have to foot the full 8 million dollar bill for the rest of the contract

Hmmm, maybe not that but they should have answered the condition on the 1st to us relying on them making the playoffs with a stubborn "ok, but if you win the cup in Kessels first year, we get your 2016 first AND your 2017 first!"

I think they could have actually got that pretty easily. Wish Lou had been negotiating the Kessel deal

 

[Semantics]

Been saying since 2011 that the two biggest things were holding the Pens back: a) their goaltender, and b) their coach. Most Pens fans agreed on b), but didn't want to admit that Fleury is anti-clutch, and has been ever since that WJC goal.

 

[LeafsMonster]

What a story it would have been if the caps won. Great comeback spoiled by a loss anyway. Kind of like the lowry buzzer beater for the raps.

As good as this series was, I was kind of disappointed. I wanted the best players to be the best players. Sid was nonexistent and malkin was invisible. Same with kuznetsov and ovi half the time was great the other half barely noticeable. Kessel has been great though. Him and oshie were fun to watch.

Bishop vs murray. That could be fun.

 

[Bullseye]

Been saying since 2011 that the two biggest things were holding the Pens back: a) their goaltender, and b) their coach. Most Pens fans agreed on b), but didn't want to admit that Fleury is anti-clutch, and has been ever since that WJC goal.

I agree with you but his Stanley Cup win against Detroit was clutch so it pushed those thought away from him for a few years. Now it's clear Fleury is not an elite clutch goalie as you say. Phil Kessel with 3 pts. Crosby with none. Go figure.

 

[Canada4Gold]

Hmmm, maybe not that but they should have answered the condition on the 1st to us relying on them making the playoffs with a stubborn "ok, but if you win the cup in Kessels first year, we get your 2016 first AND your 2017 first!"

I think they could have actually got that pretty easily. Wish Lou had been negotiating the Kessel deal

I wish there was some add on in case they got to the conference finals but when you look at it the further they get the less we gave up as well, since we gave them their 2nd in the trade too. No matter when they lost in the playoffs the trade was alway just an increase of 30 spots in the draft.

and my idea was more of a joke since retention has to be the same for the entire length of the contract so suddenly retaining nothing is no longer possible.

 

[Semantics]

I agree with you but his Stanley Cup win against Detroit was clutch so it pushed those thought away from him for a few years. Now it's clear Fleury is not an elite clutch goalie as you say. Phil Kessel with 3 pts. Crosby with none. Go figure.

I don't even think he was very good that year. Games 6/7 vs Detroit were good performances, but he let in 5 goals on 21 shots and got pulled in game 5. Overall he had a poor sv% during that run, only .908 which is well below average for a goalie in the regular season let alone playoffs.

 

[burpsalot]

I wish there was some add on in case they got to the conference finals but when you look at it the further they get the less we gave up as well, since we gave them their 2nd in the trade too. No matter when they lost in the playoffs the trade was alway just an increase of 30 spots in the draft.

and my idea was more of a joke since retention has to be the same for the entire length of the contract so suddenly retaining nothing is no longer possible.

Exactly. I wasn't going to get worked up whether we picked 24, 27 or 30. Once they made the playoffs I was happy.

 

[Menzinger]

Pens take the Bolts in 6.

 

[Mats13]

The Pens are going to the Cup final. Looks like we'll pick 1,30,31,60. Has any team ever done that before?

On a side note, poor Ovi . Takes the blame for his team being full of chokers. He outplayed Malkin and Crosby in this series, what more could he have done?

 

[Canada4Gold]

The Pens are going to the Cup final. Looks like we'll pick 1,30,31,60. Has any team ever done that before?

On a side note, poor Ovi . Takes the blame for his team being full of chokers. He outplayed Malkin and Crosby in this series, what more could he have done?

We're not picking 60. The Caps just lost. That pick is now locked into 56

 

[The_Chosen_One]

The Pens are going to the Cup final. Looks like we'll pick 1,30,31,60. Has any team ever done that before?

On a side note, poor Ovi . Takes the blame for his team being full of chokers. He outplayed Malkin and Crosby in this series, what more could he have done?

Maybe he's better off demanding a trade to Toronto and bring the cup back home.

We're not picking 60. The Caps just lost. That pick is now locked into 56

I wouldn't mind seeing the Sharks in the finals. Then we'll have an additional 3rd rounder in 2018.

 

[ConnorTO]

as sad as it sounds

i never seen that kessel the way he reacted after scoring those goals

ive never seen kessel that plays like a confident monster with that last goal

he is looking like his prime

 

[weems]

I think TB is going to give Pitt's D more problems then Washington. TB plays a more north-south, aggressive forecheck style and that should really give certain players on the Pens D issues. Everyone will be on the Pens but I wouldnt be one bit shocked to see TB take this series.

 

[Damisoph]

Love seeing Phil come through in the clutch to help Pitt. It sucks re: our second 1st rounder but whatever

 

[Anthrax442]

Most of my friends are Caps wagoners, so I'm glad they will shuddup about Ovechokin for at least another 11 months.

 

[Mad Brills*]

Good for phil, but what's his purpose on a tanking team?

 

[egd27]

pens are winning the cup. they'll definitely roll past tampa, and i can confidently say that they'll roll past one of dallas/blues/sharks/preds as well.

**** our luck. at least edmonton ****ed their pitts mid-round pick by dealing for griffin reinhart.

Seriously ? You're complaining about our luck?

Talk about a short memory.

 

[Morguee]

Kessel is a great playoff player. No doubt. Feel happy for him.

Wanted Caps to win but oh well.

For some reason that return for Kessel is bothering me a lot more now. Is this feeling normal?

Rationalize it this way. The trade also included the 1st overall - kind of. If Kessel was on the team and went on one of his scoring streaks he probably would have dragged the Leafs out of the basement and into a solid 3(5th) overall.

 

[BayStreetBully]

I am now fully cheering for Kessel to win the cup. Great player who didn't fit well with our team or our rebuild. I wish him all the best.

 

[yubbers]

Happy for ma boy Phil

Glad he's getting the appreciation he deserves

 

[Mad Brills*]

Rationalize it this way. The trade also included the 1st overall - kind of. If Kessel was on the team and went on one of his scoring streaks he probably would have dragged the Leafs out of the basement and into a solid 3(5th) overall.

Ding ding ding.


Matthews will be more valuable than kessel.

 

[BayStreetBully]

Rationalize it this way. The trade also included the 1st overall - kind of. If Kessel was on the team and went on one of his scoring streaks he probably would have dragged the Leafs out of the basement and into a solid 3(5th) overall.

Matthews rationalizes a lot of things. It also rationalizes losing out on Seguin. If we'd had Seguin, we probably wouldn't have gotten Matthews. All is now well.