i thought the first two rounds were pretty damn good
last two were snoozefest
I get the warrior attitude in hockey (and I prefer it much over soccer attitude of feigning injuries over the smallest contact), but I don't get the warrior to the extreme ends. Is there a positive reason to have multiple guys with broken bones or fractures and other random injuries play while you have a couple of healthy guys who can fill in. And your team gets blown out in a clinching game. Are your chances that much better with a crippled bunch of players.. even at the expense of not playing your depth.
Ekblad with broken foot and multiple shoulder dislocations, oblique injury. Gudas with high ankle sprain, Bennett injury, MT couldn't get up from bed before the previous game broken sternum.
The game is a team sport, right....? The league is supposedly with high parity and depth parity.
Ah well. Glad season is over we can move to the next stages
No one likes that little gutter ratgary only got jeers....no boos
careful what you wish for though its a slippery slope. I'm not denying what your saying doesn't make sense but players start taking off here and there and then you are going to get maintenance days like in the nba to prevent these late season injuries and keep guys fresh.
I thought I counted 4 goalies forgot about ThompsonI guess Quick has been the dressed backup.
They just had Thompson skate out there in his gear and pads for the cup celebration. They probably have a bunch of guys out there in their gear for the celebration that weren’t dressed, like all teams do.
I remember randomly spotting Scott Wedgewood dressed in the Tampa cup celebration in 2020. And he never played a game for the NHL Lightning. Not even sure he dressed at all that season for an NHL game or was more than a black ace.
I get the warrior attitude in hockey (and I prefer it much over soccer attitude of feigning injuries over the smallest contact), but I don't get the warrior to the extreme ends. Is there a positive reason to have multiple guys with broken bones or fractures and other random injuries play while you have a couple of healthy guys who can fill in. And your team gets blown out in a clinching game. Are your chances that much better with a crippled bunch of players.. even at the expense of not playing your depth.
Ekblad with broken foot and multiple shoulder dislocations, oblique injury. Gudas with high ankle sprain, Bennett injury, MT couldn't get up from bed before the previous game broken sternum.
The game is a team sport, right....? The league is supposedly with high parity and depth parity.
Ah well. Glad season is over we can move to the next stages
I actually got a warning when I made a comment like this in the NYR or CAR series, cant remember. I think I was quoting someone and whoever reported it or something thought I was referring to the person as fandouche.and where's motherf***ing fandouche with the odds on gary getting booed or not?
I think he either has Parkinson's or is taking a medication that has left him with Tardive Dyskinesia.No one likes that little gutter rat
Did you not see how bad the panther 4th line was last night. Team had zero depth. Broken bones guys much betterI get the warrior attitude in hockey (and I prefer it much over soccer attitude of feigning injuries over the smallest contact), but I don't get the warrior to the extreme ends. Is there a positive reason to have multiple guys with broken bones or fractures and other random injuries play while you have a couple of healthy guys who can fill in. And your team gets blown out in a clinching game. Are your chances that much better with a crippled bunch of players.. even at the expense of not playing your depth.
Ekblad with broken foot and multiple shoulder dislocations, oblique injury. Gudas with high ankle sprain, Bennett injury, MT couldn't get up from bed before the previous game broken sternum.
The game is a team sport, right....? The league is supposedly with high parity and depth parity.
Ah well. Glad season is over we can move to the next stages
First it’s inevitable that as teams get eliminated, there is less fan interest in what’s going on. When the Devils went out I really didn’t care about hockey that much.Agreed, watched a lot of games first 2 rounds, but I don't think I caught a single game after that.
100% way to advance to the playoffs is taking part of the "meaningless regular season stats" if we can find a way around that then sure sit the guysYeah. I would hate it if our top players sat 10 games and were fresh for the playoffs. Much rather have them get Ironman streaks and a bunch of meaningless regular season stats and be totally out of gas.
its always the case a lot of interest and buzz goes away hockey is a regional sport i had a passing interest once the devils were eliminated it doesn't help that hockey is probably the least interesting sport to bet on behind baseball so you can't even get into it that way either.First it’s inevitable that as teams get eliminated, there is less fan interest in what’s going on. When the Devils went out I really didn’t care about hockey that much.
Then there’s the saturation effect. It’s been a long season already at that point.
Add to that there wasn’t a competitive series in the final two rounds - granted the games were razor close between Carolina and Florida, but once the Canes went down 3 zip, that was gone too.
And what does the NHL do? At precisely that point, impose a 7 to 9 day break before the finals (partly so as not to conflict with the NBA but there are other options as to that) and then they play the finals games with 3 day breaks on travel days in between.
100% way to advance to the playoffs is taking part of the "meaningless regular season stats" if we can find a way around that then sure sit the guys
i'm not saying for them to play hurt but they have plenty of off days during the regular season i dont really think its asking much for grown men playing a sport getting paid millions and millions to actually show up and do their job when healthy.
First it’s inevitable that as teams get eliminated, there is less fan interest in what’s going on. When the Devils went out I really didn’t care about hockey that much.
Then there’s the saturation effect. It’s been a long season already at that point.
Add to that there wasn’t a competitive series in the final two rounds - granted the games were razor close between Carolina and Florida, but once the Canes went down 3 zip, that was gone too.
And what does the NHL do? At precisely that point, impose a 7 to 9 day break before the finals (partly so as not to conflict with the NBA but there are other options as to that) and then they play the finals games with 3 day breaks on travel days in between.
Eh it's VERY rare where you have seasons like this that the Devils are clearly in the playoffs by March. Most of the league has to assume they'll be on the bubble and can't load management shit aside from goalie games. The NBA, everyone pretty much knows who the 50-win teams are, and they can pretty much name their final win total because talent rules all there while hockey the best teams can't just roll out the sticks and win whenever they want.Yeah. I would hate it if our top players sat 10 games and were fresh for the playoffs. Much rather have them get Ironman streaks and a bunch of meaningless regular season stats and be totally out of gas.
Eh it's VERY rare where you have seasons like this that the Devils are clearly in the playoffs by March. Most of the league has to assume they'll be on the bubble and can't load management shit aside from goalie games. The NBA, everyone pretty much knows who the 50-win teams are, and they can pretty much name their final win total because talent rules all there while hockey the best teams can't just roll out the sticks and win whenever they want.
As I said, the talent difference and what it means in the NBA on a nightly basis is different than the NHL. You don't have the same degree of randomness or bounces in games with 100 points where again, the best talent tends to win than you do 3-2 hockey games - ask basically every team in the East the Panthers played this postseason.I mean, NBA teams do it, are really giving that much going with fresher players even if your stats don’t play 82?
I could form an NBA team with my kids and wife. The two dogs on the bench. Let me pick the refs and we will win on some nights. Talent disparity is less important in the NBA than any league outside of how it impacts the whistle as I see it. As a very casual fan I attend a bunch of games every year since my kids love it. It's stunning how bad the reffing is and how biased and inconsistent it can be and how blatant the refs are about it. Maybe pass interference in the NFL is close. Almost every player in the NBA is really talented. LeBron is ancient. I'm sure he gets avocados from the same place that Brady gets them but plenty of guys can play better than him at this point. He's a streaky shooter and if he doesn't get the whistle he pouts. Jose Alvarado can go off on his threes and the Pelicans can beat Djokic and the Nuggets but that only happens because the refs allow the New Orleans backup center to really lay the body on Djokic who once he knew he wasn't getting any calls just sort of settled for passing with nothing down low. How the NBA brass can sell that product to fans with a straight face is beyond me. I'd love to get a connected sports betting real insider to spill the beans on the NBA. I'm guessing like Canseco it would be more reality than the media would want to admit.As I said, the talent difference and what it means in the NBA on a nightly basis is different than the NHL. You don't have the same degree of randomness or bounces in games with 100 points where again, the best talent tends to win than you do 3-2 hockey games - ask basically every team in the East the Panthers played this postseason.
Plus while clearly there's a physical element to playing the NHL that doesn't exist in the NBA, to be fair NBA players DO play 35-40 minutes a night when they do play while top NHL players play 17-22. Not to mention you really can't sit too many people in a league where you have three healthy scratches on a twenty-man roster compared to the NBA where you can literally sit your whole starting lineup.
I think the point is that the Panthers didn't have guys who could fill in. That said, there are definitely times teams should think about giving other guys a chance. I'll never forget Rupp looking like a mini-Lindros out there against Anaheim and it's because he hadn't played in 6 weeks and he was playing against guys ground down from 2 months of the playoffs. I'll also never forget the Devils in 2012 being completely at the end of their rope, with Henrique looking like the only player who was anywhere close to their regular season form. I wonder what that sort of thing does to a player's long-term health, as that team obviously never made the playoffs again.
Did you not see how bad the panther 4th line was last night. Team had zero depth. Broken bones guys much better
Kovy specifically.I wonder what that sort of thing does to a player's long-term health, as that team obviously never made the playoffs again.
I could form an NBA team with my kids and wife. The two dogs on the bench. Let me pick the refs and we will win on some nights. Talent disparity is less important in the NBA than any league outside of how it impacts the whistle as I see it. As a very casual fan I attend a bunch of games every year since my kids love it. It's stunning how bad the reffing is and how biased and inconsistent it can be and how blatant the refs are about it. Maybe pass interference in the NFL is close. Almost every player in the NBA is really talented. LeBron is ancient. I'm sure he gets avocados from the same place that Brady gets them but plenty of guys can play better than him at this point. He's a streaky shooter and if he doesn't get the whistle he pouts. Jose Alvarado can go off on his threes and the Pelicans can beat Djokic and the Nuggets but that only happens because the refs allow the New Orleans backup center to really lay the body on Djokic who once he knew he wasn't getting any calls just sort of settled for passing with nothing down low. How the NBA brass can sell that product to fans with a straight face is beyond me. I'd love to get a connected sports betting real insider to spill the beans on the NBA. I'm guessing like Canseco it would be more reality than the media would want to admit.