GDT: 3/14/19 - 7:30PM EDT - Tampa Bay @ Detroit
- Thread starter TheDaysOf 04
- Start date
LightningStrikes
Champa Bay Lightning
- Nov 24, 2009
- 26,134
- 9,885
!!!
These Are The Days
Oh no! We suck again!!
AlphaCatalyst
Elite Fan
TeslaCoilFan
Slightly Elite Fan
God King Fudge
Championship Swag
- Oct 13, 2017
- 6,308
- 6,793
Trash team. Let's get Stamkos a couple and Kuch 3-4 points boys.
I love how focused this team is on the postseason.
They couldn't care less about right now. They have a chip on their shoulder and they're ready to show some folks what they can do. I'm excited.
I love how focused this team is on the postseason.
They couldn't care less about right now. They have a chip on their shoulder and they're ready to show some folks what they can do. I'm excited.
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These Are The Days
Oh no! We suck again!!
You ever give their current victory song a listen and how Coop makes them say "no excuses, play like a champion" after one of his Wedding Crashers rituals? It gives quite a look at their current mindset. I think the regular season is merely an extension of how pissed off they are. If this team has been saving another gear we don't know about it's gonna take one of the bigger upsets you're going to see to stop them.
Assuming they play the song after every victory they have legitimately heard the words "you're either with me or against me" "get the f*** out of my way" "f*** everything else" "stop chasing that bitch" "win win win win" 53 times
Or maybe I'm wrong and they're just having fun. Cooper did once say he likes his teams to have swagger
CupsOverCash
Registered User
- Jun 16, 2009
- 16,364
- 7,097
I'm sure they feel like they didn't leave everything out on the ice in that Wash series. If we do make it past the first two rounds, I'm hoping we play Wash or Pit. I think this team would play super motivated. Dont think either team would be able to match that intensity because both teams have won cups recently. This team needs to be the most hungry of the bunch if they want to get the best out of themselves. Which I dont see that being a issue. Just hope we dont get outcoached again. If not we should be fine. Cant wait for the playoffs to start.
God King Fudge
Championship Swag
- Oct 13, 2017
- 6,308
- 6,793
I think you're right. They're definitely focused in on one thing. Hedman saying "We have 11 games here before the fun starts" just shows it. They've been talking that talk all season. Being so close the last few seasons and going out with questionable efforts has to weigh on them. Also seeing the teams they've lost to being the ones to move on and lift the Cup has to absolutely kill them. Maybe it's one thing if you lose to Washington or PIT and they don't take the Cup, but to take them to 7 and then watch them take the Cup eventually has to sting a bit more.
Seeing them do what they've done in the second half of the season gives me so much hope for this postseason. They've definitely backed off a bit but it isn't like last year where they just totally checked out after January. Their schedule is tough the last few weeks and I think it serves as a nice tuneup
Toronto, Boston twice, Washington 3 times. Carolina, MTL and St. Louis will all play hard fighting for playoff spots or playoff positioning. Tonight and the OTT game on 4/1 are the only soft games left.
I'm hyped. Gonna be a long wait for the show to start.
DrMartinVanNostrand
Kramerica Industries
Just so it's clear - I agree with the general sentiment, but I'm going to play a little devil's advocate on the bolded part.
It was clear that they lost a little something in the last 40% of the season last year. We all saw it and bitched about it. If it weren't for Florida winning on the final day of the season in Boston, we would've choked away the Atlantic #1 seed, faced a much tougher first round opponent and, if we had advanced, been dealing with the Bruins having the home-ice advantage (NJ had zero chance of beating Boston the same way they had zero chance of beating us, no need to sugarcoat that).
That being said, since we did get away with it, was that really the thing that ultimately hurt us? We went 8-2 in the first two rounds of the playoffs. If there was any hangover effect of playing garbage hockey to end the season, it didn't show up in the results at all. It's not the reason we lost against Washington; we know the reasons and I have no need to elaborate on them. So while it's been nice and good to see the Lightning continuing to churn out results and keep moving forward in a way they weren't last year, I'm not sure it really indicates much of anything at all as far as what we can expect moving forward about a month from now. And, odds are, even though Pittsburgh is less of a possibility by the day (thank goodness), we're going to have a tougher first round draw than we did last year, almost by default, because New Jersey was one of the worst playoff teams in recent memory last year; Taylor Hall won the Hart last year and he deserved it frankly because he carried that team to the playoffs almost by himself. It was comical how bad his surrounding cast was, and cute the way Devils fans talked about "3-0-0 in the regular season!" like that had any bearing at all on how a playoff matchup would play out. They never had a prayer against us or Boston. Whether it's Columbus or Carolina, they can give themselvesat least a mildly better shout this time around (Montréal, not so much, but at least their goaltending situation, unlike that of the Devils, isn't a mess).
--
I will say this much (and I hope I haven't said it before here so that I'm not repeating myself) - this regular season has been a thankful one for many reasons, not the least of which is that I haven't had to spend even a moment worrying about "will they/won't they" make the playoffs. Laugh all you want now at that idea, but we went into 2015-'16 and 2016-'17 probably the same way we entered this season and, in the former, it was a struggle for a long time, and in the latter we missed it entirely. These first 70 games have been very care-free for me, no real highs and lows knowing obviously that our season will be defined from the middle of April-onward. It's been a nice breeze thus far. So much so that, once Game 1 of the playoffs begins, it's gonna be a serious jolt, at least to me, of "oh shit, now it really matters". Can't wait for it.
(And, as an added bonus, I might be back home in Tampa Bay by the time Game 1 of the first round rolls around. Even better.)
DistantThunderRep
Registered User
- Mar 8, 2018
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Stormbreaker
Registered User
- Apr 2, 2012
- 16,843
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This is a game where, in years past, we could easily lose because our heads won't be in the game. I still think our heads won't be in it, but we get away with that this year pretty easily.
OurlordAndSaviorKuch
Number one Bull$hit
BeingTheThunder
Registered User
Kuch, Stammer, and Pointer all continue to march to the 40 goal mark tonight... there are individual achievments to be reached here in these "meaningless games". Don't be fooled into thinking the boys don't care or will sleepwalk through these remaining games....I promise you, they won't.
TampaJay
Registered User
- Jan 16, 2016
- 779
- 151
This afternoon I was in line at a convenience store behind a guy who had the Lightning logo tattooed on the back of each of his calves. I felt embarrassed by my comparative lack of dedication.
These Are The Days
Oh no! We suck again!!
@Phobia Catalyst
Special song request that any variation of pi expressed in music be used as one of our victory songs tonight if in the event of said victory
Special song request that any variation of pi expressed in music be used as one of our victory songs tonight if in the event of said victory
OurlordAndSaviorKuch
Number one Bull$hit
Stormbreaker
Registered User
- Apr 2, 2012
- 16,843
- 9,946
