GDT: 2018-2019 Other Playoff Games Around the League

[goflyakite]

He had his team play a style that they needed in order to win. The sharks should learn a thing or two from that

Credit to him, I guess. The league should have never allowed a team to get to the Finals by playing like that, but it’s clear they don’t give a shit about player safety, so congratulations to him for figuring that out.

Also, credit to him absolutely working the officials in at least two straight series’. The Blues went from taking 4.7 penalties per game through the first three against Boston to 2.5 per game through the last four after complaining about the officiating. One penalty shy of literally cutting the rate of penalties in half.

Side note: it’s kind of funny that he took issue with his team getting called for 14 penalties over three games. I feel like that stat sounds familiar... oh, right! The Sharks received 14 penalties in the three games following the missed hand pass; a 100% increase from the first three games and compared to the consistent amount the Blues received throughout the entire series.

Not to mention game 7 of the finals had only one (automatic) penalty called, after games 1-6 averaged nearly 8 combined penalties per game (never dipping below 7). First off, is there another league that just seemingly flips a coin to decide how many, if any, penalties they’re going to call? Secondly, I wonder if that benefited the slower team who plays better 5-on-5, throws dirty hits every ten minutes, and illegally slows other players down, or the faster team who was struggling at even strength and has a deadly PP. I guess we’ll never know who it affected more.

Alas, I guess people will write these things and others like all the players that just so happened to get injured playing against the Blues, all off to coincidence. I’ll just call these playoffs the
Coincidental Cup Run .



The more I think about tonight’s outcome the more sick I feel. Time to go to bed.

 

[Pavelski2112]

Credit to him, I guess. The league should have never allowed a team to get to the Finals by playing like that, but it’s clear they don’t give a **** about player safety, so congratulations to him for figuring that out.

Also, credit to him absolutely working the officials in at least two straight series’. The Blues went from taking 4.7 penalties per game through the first three against Boston to 2.5 per game through the last four after complaining about the officiating. One penalty shy of literally cutting the rate of penalties in half.

Side note: it’s kind of funny that he took issue with his team getting called for 14 penalties over three games. I feel like that stat sounds familiar... oh, right! The Sharks received 14 penalties in the three games following the missed hand pass; a 100% increase from the first three games and compared to the consistent amount the Blues received throughout the entire series.

Not to mention game 7 of the finals had only one (automatic) penalty called, after games 1-6 averaged nearly 8 combined penalties per game (never dipping below 7). First off, is there another league that just seemingly flips a coin to decide how many, if any, penalties they’re going to call? Secondly, I wonder if that benefited the slower team who plays better 5-on-5, throws dirty hits every ten minutes, and illegally slows other players down, or the faster team who was struggling at even strength and has a deadly PP. I guess we’ll never know who it affected more.

Alas, I guess people will write these things and others like all the players that just so happened to get injured playing against the Blues, all off to coincidence. I’ll just call these playoffs the
Coincidental Cup Run .



The more I think about tonight’s outcome the more sick I feel. Time to go to bed.

This is the reason I'm far more mad at the league than at the Blues themselves. This whole postseason has been an absolute embarrassment in terms of consistency and dealing with bad calls.

I've said it before, but they tried to cover their own asses after each controversy and just made it worse every single time.

 

[Mafoofoo]

Blues notebook: Bettman confirms missed call on hand pass

Bettman and the rest can be happy their team got it. After I read this article, I knew the Sharks were probably screwed. Turned out to be correct.

F the NHL league office and F the people who said “ref Jose” cause the Sharks finally got a couple calls their way after 20 years.

Of course when that happens, the commissioner goes out of his way to say how unhappy he was of the outcome. Where was this head explosion when the Sharks have had SO many calls go against them in the past.

Can’t think of a more frustrating playoff run in terms of officiating and league involvement, whatever.. on to next season.

Shocked Bettman hasn't ordered we trade Meier to Vegas for future considerations and give up our next 3 drafts for the travesty.

 

[slocal]

So Couture ends up being the leading goalscorer for the playoffs. :/

Unfortunately, elbows were more impactful than goals.

 

[goflyakite]

This is the reason I'm far more mad at the league than at the Blues themselves. This whole postseason has been an absolute embarrassment in terms of consistency and dealing with bad calls.

I've said it before, but they tried to cover their own asses after each controversy and just made it worse every single time.

The way they were just sniping down officials every time they missed or made a bad call probably didn’t help with them correctly calling games either. It still led to missed and bad calls in the Finals anyway.



Unfortunately it only worked in favour of some teams. Cassidy called out the officiating after the missed trip that led to the Blues GWG and all he got in return was less power plays and a Marchand penalty for the exact same trip that wasn’t called against the Blues.

The Sharks brought up headshots and all they got were crickets.

Berube must be intimidating.

 

[slocal]

We don't need a play-by-play of the main boards, thanks.

 

[tiburon12]

How about schenn skating full speed down the ice and launching himself - literally jumping and leading with hands - into McAvoy (missed him).

found the video



#blueshockey

 

[goflyakite]

The Bruins board too negative for me right now but I did stop by and discovered this great stat...

Using the PIM/GP stat and dating back to at least 1987 (I was sorting by 16 wins to keep it simple), the 2019 Blues are only second to the 2015 Hawks for least penalized Cup winners. Yikes.

Absolutely ridiculous.

found the video



#blueshockey

I remember thinking the Blues might end up concussing themselves with hits like that. They were able to just do whatever the **** they wanted.

 

[Alwalys]

The way they were just sniping down officials every time they missed or made a bad call probably didn’t help with them correctly calling games either. It still led to missed and bad calls in the Finals anyway.



Unfortunately it only worked in favour of some teams. Cassidy called out the officiating after the missed trip that led to the Blues GWG and all he got in return was less power plays and a Marchand penalty for the exact same trip that wasn’t called against the Blues.

The Sharks brought up headshots and all they got were crickets.

Berube must be intimidating.

The league was just horrific this season from that aspect, talk about just folding and failing to protect the integrity of the officiating.

It was set up to fail.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

This feels worse than 2014. At least there was only 1 bad Stoll hit in that series, not 50. Hell, even Brown was clean for him.

The combination of overblowing the calls that went in the Sharks favor and completely ignoring the ample examples of calls going against them is the most upsetting thing. Between this and Parros not suspending a single thing this season, which included at least a dozen headshots and a player literally being bitten, I'm about done with this shit.

 

[STL Shark]

This feels worse than 2014. At least there was only 1 bad Stoll hit in that series, not 50. Hell, even Brown was clean for him.

The combination of overblowing the calls that went in the Sharks favor and completely ignoring the ample examples of calls going against them is the most upsetting thing. Between this and Parros not suspending a single thing this season, which included at least a dozen headshots and a player literally being bitten, I'm about done with this ****.

It’s also funny that you can see the clear bias because the Blues had two players suspended in the Cup final for hits that were as or less egregious than what happened against San Jose. Yet the Sharks aren’t an east coast original 6 team so the league doesn’t need to take care of our guys.

 

[JackSkellington]

Unless we stay healthy during a playoff run, do something for once on the damn pp, get lucky bounces and just play well the NHL/refs will never be on our side especially after the 5 min major against Vegas, the offside Colorado call and the hand pass.

We can play the same cheap shot our way to a cup but no way in hell we get away with it. We can just hope the NHL at least gives us a pity party like they gave the blues since they’ve gone 50 years or whatever without winning.

I’ve never been more f***ing sick of the NHL after these playoffs, if it continues like this you can pretty much pick the cup winner mid way thru the playoffs

 

[DeadGhost]

Not handing the cup to Steve Walkom first was pretty classless.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Unless we stay healthy during a playoff run, do something for once on the damn pp, get lucky bounces and just play well the NHL/refs will never be on our side especially after the 5 min major against Vegas, the offside Colorado call and the hand pass.

We can play the same cheap shot our way to a cup but no way in hell we get away with it. We can just hope the NHL at least gives us a pity party like they gave the blues since they’ve gone 50 years or whatever without winning.

I’ve never been more ****ing sick of the NHL after these playoffs, if it continues like this you can pretty much pick the cup winner mid way thru the playoffs

I am pretty mad too but I think we need to stop looking at ourselves as victims and do what we can to improve ourselves. Not giving a pass to the NHL here but you got to play the cards you are dealt.

I think we get called a lot for penalties against because of:
- PDB not complaining
- Our players not flopping around like fish out of the water
- etc.

I think we got called for physical penalties against because of:
- The team does not play a physical game in general. I am pretty sure the NHL views us as a 'finesse' team so engaging in physical play all of a sudden is basically a penalty.

We pretty much need to play a physically engaging game all year long to 'train' the NHL and refs. Maybe that helps.

My takeaway from the way these playoffs went is actually more to do with the lack of depth scoring we had. Most of the teams we played against didnt beat our top-6. Our top-6 outside of Couture was fairly quiet but they kept the other teams top forwards quiet as well. We lost due to scoring from the bottom-6. Or how they got scored against. A lot of this is to do with PDB trying to ice a bottom-6 with players that match his vision for a bottom-6. I think it was @Lebanezer who at some time said that the problem is that even the players he ices are not suitable for the role he wants. They are just better than the more skilled players.

Also, look at how the Bruins were able to dig through their depth charts and bring up younger players when their starters started getting banged up. We never get any of our kids a chance. This team is still trying to win with its superstars and is stuck with what they consider 'role' players. They still overlook talent for toughness/grit and take away chances from the kids to show case themselves.

So yeah, I am beyond frustrated with how this season went. I blame the NHL a lot but the blame also lies with our GM and coach with the product they are putting on the ice.

 

[Lebanezer]

Lovable? The media is completely ignoring the actual play of the Blues to spin this ridiculous narrative. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with them? The Blues winning is not a feel good story.

 

[sharski]

This year was tough because this may have been the last realistic chance with this core... No idea what jumbo and pavs and EK65 will do

The officiating across all series, not just the sharks, was laughable... It's like if 2002 WCF game 6 Kings-Lakers happened for an entire playoffs

For reference, I literally stopped watching the NBA from that game until the We Believe team because of that infamous screwjob lol

 

[STL Shark]

I am pretty mad too but I think we need to stop looking at ourselves as victims and do what we can to improve ourselves. Not giving a pass to the NHL here but you got to play the cards you are dealt.

I think we get called a lot for penalties against because of:
- PDB not complaining
- Our players not flopping around like fish out of the water
- etc.

I think we got called for physical penalties against because of:
- The team does not play a physical game in general. I am pretty sure the NHL views us as a 'finesse' team so engaging in physical play all of a sudden is basically a penalty.

We pretty much need to play a physically engaging game all year long to 'train' the NHL and refs. Maybe that helps.

My takeaway from the way these playoffs went is actually more to do with the lack of depth scoring we had. Most of the teams we played against didnt beat our top-6. Our top-6 outside of Couture was fairly quiet but they kept the other teams top forwards quiet as well. We lost due to scoring from the bottom-6. Or how they got scored against. A lot of this is to do with PDB trying to ice a bottom-6 with players that match his vision for a bottom-6. I think it was @Lebanezer who at some time said that the problem is that even the players he ices are not suitable for the role he wants. They are just better than the more skilled players.

Also, look at how the Bruins were able to dig through their depth charts and bring up younger players when their starters started getting banged up. We never get any of our kids a chance. This team is still trying to win with its superstars and is stuck with what they consider 'role' players. They still overlook talent for toughness/grit and take away chances from the kids to show case themselves.

So yeah, I am beyond frustrated with how this season went. I blame the NHL a lot but the blame also lies with our GM and coach with the product they are putting on the ice.

It was probably the first time ever that our bottom 6 was not a true liability in a playoff run, but it was also nowhere near a strength like it was for the Blues or Bruins. They generally did not do anything egregious to cost us games, but they just did not do anything period. They provide no energy and no scoring. They are all fairly responsible, but it was just a very meh group this year in the bottom 6 (especially the 4th line). I would be fine getting a 4th line that just skates, grinds, hits, and can PK with guys like Tanev or Kassian. Having these finesse type guys like Melker in the 4th line that are net neutral doesn't do much for me and makes having a guy like Haley down there feel imperative to the coaching staff because of a lack of physical presence. I am over trying to go with a more skilled 4th line because as we saw this postseason, the league is going to let more physical teams run people at will and not do a thing about it. Find a physical presence that can also play some hockey and can provide energy and instill some fear in the opponent.

 

[Pavelski2112]

It was probably the first time ever that our bottom 6 was not a true liability in a playoff run, but it was also nowhere near a strength like it was for the Blues or Bruins. They generally did not do anything egregious to cost us games, but they just did not do anything period. They provide no energy and no scoring. They are all fairly responsible, but it was just a very meh group this year in the bottom 6 (especially the 4th line). I would be fine getting a 4th line that just skates, grinds, hits, and can PK with guys like Tanev or Kassian. Having these finesse type guys like Melker in the 4th line that are net neutral doesn't do much for me and makes having a guy like Haley down there feel imperative to the coaching staff because of a lack of physical presence. I am over trying to go with a more skilled 4th line because as we saw this postseason, the league is going to let more physical teams run people at will and not do a thing about it. Find a physical presence that can also play some hockey and can provide energy and instill some fear in the opponent.

Until Donskoi came back, it absolutely was. The third line was either good or invisible, but the 4th line contributed basically nothing until Donskoi came back to carry that line on his shoulders.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Until Donskoi came back, it absolutely was. The third line was either good or invisible, but the 4th line contributed basically nothing until Donskoi came back to carry that line on his shoulders.

Exactly.

And I have said this before, Jumbo was a liability as 3C in the playoffs. May be it was just a combination of age and a long regular season catching up to him but we either need to have him play as 4C or just have him play home games so as to minimize his usage during the regular season.

Haley: 0 pts in 11 games
Melker: 2 pts in 20 games
Goodrow: 2 pts in 20 games

That is not acceptable for a 4th line level. Honestly, even Donskoi did not produce as much since he only had 3 pts in 12 games but its considerably better than the 3 above and acceptable as a 4th liner.

From the 3rd line we had acceptable contributions from Jumbo and Labanc but they tapered off after the Vegas series. I know people are high on Labanc for his creativity but 4 of his 9 points came in 1 game. Sorensen had 5 points in 18 games which would be ok if he bought the energy and physicality in his role. But he did not do that either.

The bottom-6 overall performed pretty poorly these playoffs.

 

[Pavelski2112]

Exactly.

And I have said this before, Jumbo was a liability as 3C in the playoffs. May be it was just a combination of age and a long regular season catching up to him but we either need to have him play as 4C or just have him play home games so as to minimize his usage during the regular season.

Haley: 0 pts in 11 games
Melker: 2 pts in 20 games
Goodrow: 2 pts in 20 games

That is not acceptable for a 4th line level. Honestly, even Donskoi did not produce as much since he only had 3 pts in 12 games but its considerably better than the 3 above and acceptable as a 4th liner.

From the 3rd line we had acceptable contributions from Jumbo and Labanc but they tapered off after the Vegas series. I know people are high on Labanc for his creativity but 4 of his 9 points came in 1 game. Sorensen had 5 points in 18 games which would be ok if he bought the energy and physicality in his role. But he did not do that either.

The bottom-6 overall performed pretty poorly these playoffs.

I'd argue that if Sorenson was any good at all these playoffs, that 3rd line would've been fantastic (or at least far better) from start to finish. Jumbo, especially at this age, needs a guy like that to get in deep and cause havoc and make space. But yea, I agree that sometimes his line was just not good at all for stretches. Too many streaky guys playing together.

Donskoi wasn't on the scoreboard much, but his skill level elevated that line to where it wasn't getting hemmed in our own zone every shift.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

I'd argue that if Sorenson was any good at all these playoffs, that 3rd line would've been fantastic (or at least far better) from start to finish. Jumbo, especially at this age, needs a guy like that to get in deep and cause havoc and make space. But yea, I agree that sometimes his line was just not good at all for stretches. Too many streaky guys playing together.

Donskoi wasn't on the scoreboard much, but his skill level elevated that line to where it wasn't getting hemmed in our own zone every shift.

Yeah. And he elevated the play of Melker and Goodrow who have just not been that great in the post-season. That is saying a lot.

I want the coaches to take almost a reverse approach this season. Give the Ch-twins, True, etc. a real shot at a NHL roster spot. Have an open mind about the bottom-6. Don't load up on plugs because they bring 'energy' and 'intangibles'. Sadly, I don't see the latter happening. The Blues winning with their thuggery may give PDB even more confidence that the 'energy' and 'grit' is what is missing from our team. Honestly, I would rather have had lost in the 1st round than lose in the WCF if I knew it got PDB fired. The drawback would have been that I doubt EK65 gave us a 2nd look if we had a 1st round exit.

 

[FacePlate]

Yeah. And he elevated the play of Melker and Goodrow who have just not been that great in the post-season. That is saying a lot.

I want the coaches to take almost a reverse approach this season. Give the Ch-twins, True, etc. a real shot at a NHL roster spot. Have an open mind about the bottom-6. Don't load up on plugs because they bring 'energy' and 'intangibles'. Sadly, I don't see the latter happening. The Blues winning with their thuggery may give PDB even more confidence that the 'energy' and 'grit' is what is missing from our team. Honestly, I would rather have had lost in the 1st round than lose in the WCF if I knew it got PDB fired. The drawback would have been that I doubt EK65 gave us a 2nd look if we had a 1st round exit.

You know reading all of these posts makes me think back to multiple games in both the Colorado and St Louis series where Melker either had a breakaway or was alone in front of the net and basically put a weak shot into the logo of the goaltender. These are the kind of goals that cup winning teams get. The Goodrow goal to win the Vegas series is that kind of goal. Everyone saying it is 100% right. Our top 6 can go toe to toe with just about anyone, but coming up even in that battle means your bottom 6 has to win you games...Have we ever had a bottom 6 that could do that?

As a direct correlation to that, if we (hopefully) sign EK, that kind of bottom 6 has to come from within. God knows we're not getting many top 6ers from the draft....

 

[C77]

Hits to the head on Braun, Hertl, Grzelcyk, Johansson...the brutal Schenn boarding on Nordstrom. How was that not a 5 minute major? Could have bloody paralyzed him.

The Blues crossed the line by intentionally attempting to injure their opponents on a regular basis and the so-called "hockey media" won't even talk about it. There is a difference between "wearing down an opponent" over 7 games and routinely aiming for kill shots.

What's the point of the game when you can throw out a 4th liner to intentionally injure a talented opposing player and there is no significant repercussion? So what, you lose the 4th liner to a 1 game suspension...the other guy..maybe a Top 4 defenseman is done for the series. It's pretty disgraceful but what do you expect from guys like Berube and Ott?

 

[STL Shark]

Exactly.

And I have said this before, Jumbo was a liability as 3C in the playoffs. May be it was just a combination of age and a long regular season catching up to him but we either need to have him play as 4C or just have him play home games so as to minimize his usage during the regular season.

Haley: 0 pts in 11 games
Melker: 2 pts in 20 games
Goodrow: 2 pts in 20 games

That is not acceptable for a 4th line level. Honestly, even Donskoi did not produce as much since he only had 3 pts in 12 games but its considerably better than the 3 above and acceptable as a 4th liner.

From the 3rd line we had acceptable contributions from Jumbo and Labanc but they tapered off after the Vegas series. I know people are high on Labanc for his creativity but 4 of his 9 points came in 1 game. Sorensen had 5 points in 18 games which would be ok if he bought the energy and physicality in his role. But he did not do that either.

The bottom-6 overall performed pretty poorly these playoffs.

More of an argument of how they performed in the playoffs versus their skill level. My point is that this was not a bottom 6 with guys like Spaling, Zubrus, Wingels, Sheppard, Brown, etc. that we have iced in basically every playoff year prior to this one where we knew they were going to get dominated and you had to rely on the top guys to score. Sure, Haley was not good but the rest of the group in the bottom 6 are guys that on paper should have been fine (or even advantageous in regard to the 3rd line). They just did not put up points or perform how they should due to their many of the guys' skillsets not being made for teams like Vegas or STL who are big and physical (which is the issue).

Outside of Haley, the bottom 6 was not littered with guys that you held your breath every time they were on the ice because they stunk. They were just very meh and did not bring a ton to the table either positively or negatively for the most part. Melker for example is not a bad hockey player. However, he does not really fit the role of what the 4th line should be against the Blues or Vegas in terms of bringing energy and physical play. He was usually always in proper position and stuff and could PK, but he is just very average at everything and not a difference maker. I want a 4th line of guys that make a difference as opposed to just not being bad. For the longest time, we just had a bad 4th line. Now we need to go from "not bad" to good.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

You know reading all of these posts makes me think back to multiple games in both the Colorado and St Louis series where Melker either had a breakaway or was alone in front of the net and basically put a weak shot into the logo of the goaltender. These are the kind of goals that cup winning teams get. The Goodrow goal to win the Vegas series is that kind of goal. Everyone saying it is 100% right. Our top 6 can go toe to toe with just about anyone, but coming up even in that battle means your bottom 6 has to win you games...Have we ever had a bottom 6 that could do that?

As a direct correlation to that, if we (hopefully) sign EK, that kind of bottom 6 has to come from within. God knows we're not getting many top 6ers from the draft....

Yep.

Among the current crop of prospects we are looking at Chekhovich and Chmeleveski who have a decent chance to be top-6 players. If they can play in the bottom-6 this season, it would help considerable. Players like Blichfield and Gregor are longshots for those role but atleast they have the offensive skill to make us think they could contribute.

Couture, Hertl, Kane, Meier are not going anywhere for a few years. We can throw Labanc into the mix as well if he is re-signed. That is 5 out of 6 in the top-6.

We can potentially sign a UFA for that spot like Nyquist. Or a smaller piece even that is complimentary to Meier-Hertl and cheaper. Personally, I do not want Pavs back in the top-6. That leaves the bottom-6 open for spots IF PDB and DW pull their heads out of their ass. I am blaming DW for the state of the bottom-6 as well because he bought Haley back and he is the one who is giving PDB the options to ice such player and signing his paycheck.