GDT: 5/21/18 - 8:00PM EDT - #1A Tampa Bay @ #1M Washington [ECF GAME 6]

[Antiramie]

Because you're too inept to grasp the point. They're home. We aren't. You expect superstars to carry their team every round, they don't. If they did we would have 30 winners every year.

Eichel, McDavid, Karlsson, Thornton, Marleau, Matthews, Burns, Lundqvist, Rinne, Pavelski, Subban, Hall, Pastrnak, Giroux, Panarin, Ovechkin, Backstrom, and the list can go on and on don't have a cup. You can ignore it cause you know you're not making much sense or you can try to be a bit more honest with your assessment. The fanbases of these teams for these modern era players have prayed, wanted and willed their stars to perform when it mattered and.....


...they dont. Those stars have a combined zero cups. Your logic is, other teams stars show up, I point out they are at home and note Kucherov is one of the highest producing players since 2015 in the playoffs, you ignore it. Now I list these out, you'll probably dodge this as well.

At least follow some sort of logic cause the excrement flowing out isn't making any sense.

You keep rattling off his stats but refuse to acknowledge that he’s becoming just as notorious for being a no-show as he is for impacting games in a positive way. It’s why the NBC guys spent an entire segment raking him over the coals and talking about how detrimental his attitude/play can be for a team. I’m sure you invested a lot in the Kucherov jersey you still have on but try to take off the blinders for a a few minutes.

 

[Sky04]

Yeah. I'm not arguing with him wanting him gone. I'm arguing with you thinking that because you WANT him gone, it might actually happen, because you have so much emotional rage you assume Yzerman must have it too. But that's really not how Yzerman works. He went through way, way worse than this as a player, stuck it out, (while a bunch of emotional rage fans were saying the Wings should trade him because they'd never win with him... ... ...) and eventually he won three cups.

But this isn't a guy who's going to throw away a coach who's been to 3 ECFs in 4 years, and an SCF. We can disagree with Cooper's decisions all day long, but his seat won't heat up until we're taking steps back. That's not me arguing it should be that way. It's me saying that's the NHL, and that's Yzerman in particular. I'm not sure what he's ever done that makes you think he's going to suddenly get an itchy trigger finger.

That's flawed thinking as well, if Yzerman keeps providing Cooper with rosters like this and you don't take steps forwards, that's wasted potential. Cooper has a stacked roster, I'm not saying he's a bad coach but I beleive there are a handful of coaches who could do just as well with this roster, I'm ok with losing to a good team but not ok with losing how we played this series for the most part and especially a game like today, how does such a good roster play the majority of a series so flat? Cooper's had 4 periods to make an adjustment since the caps poured it onto him in the 3rd in game 5.

 

[Antiramie]

Yeah. I'm not arguing with him wanting him gone. I'm arguing with you thinking that because you WANT him gone, it might actually happen, because you have so much emotional rage you assume Yzerman must have it too. But that's really not how Yzerman works. He went through way, way worse than this as a player, stuck it out, (while a bunch of emotional rage fans were saying the Wings should trade him because they'd never win with him... ... ...) and eventually he won three cups.

But this isn't a guy who's going to throw away a coach who's been to 3 ECFs in 4 years, and an SCF. We can disagree with Cooper's decisions all day long, but his seat won't heat up until we're taking steps back. That's not me arguing it should be that way. It's me saying that's the NHL, and that's Yzerman in particular. I'm not sure what he's ever done that makes you think he's going to suddenly get an itchy trigger finger.

Maybe fans being appalled by us consistently getting massively outshot/outcoached/outplayed in every ECF and SCF would help get the ball rolling if Yzerman hasn’t picked up on all that with his giant brain yet.

 

[Sky04]

This series is way too reminicent of the 2016 Pens, except the Pens were better then the current Caps at attacking and the current Lightning are much better on paper then what we iced in 2016, yet we have the same problems and despite a "stacked defense" Vasi is constantly left out to dry and has to stand on his head for a win. Cooper and Bowness take equal blame in that, it's been said for years, their defensive system sucks and getting better players has marginally made that better.

 

[Antiramie]

Sure. I just think that's an entirely different conversation than, "If we lose, Yzerman's going to fire Cooper," which is a paraphrase of how this started.

You still don’t understand the difference between “is going to” and “should” no matter how many times I bring up that sentiment.

 

[Stammertime91]

You keep rattling off his stats but refuse to acknowledge that he’s becoming just as notorious for being a no-show as he is for impacting games in a positive way. It’s why the NBC guys spent an entire segment raking him over the coals and talking about how detrimental his attitude/play can be for a team. I’m sure you invested a lot in the Kucherov jersey you still have on but try to take off the blinders for a a few minutes.

I don't even own a Kucherov Jersey. I know you're really failing at keeping this level headed cause you decided to dig your heels deep in quicksand and it's not working out for you but you brought it on your own calling out our greatest playoff performer on the roster. I didn't rattle any stats either (except his 1st round which most people remember

). Please stop lying. I simply said he's the highest scoring player remaining in the playoffs and since 2015, he's in the top 5 among ALL players.

Your response went from ignoring players I listed that DIDN'T perform thia year and are home. Point, me. You then ignore players who are superstars, 40, 50, 60 goal scorers who have zero cups and have been in the league longer than him. You chose to ignore that as well since you couldn't intertwine your shoddy logic in there as well. Point, me. And lastly, your "evidence" of him being a lazy player is the NBC crews intermission segment.

The same intermission crew that rips us and discredits every win we get by saying "X" team gave the game to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

 

[LonLon Lei]

Just this guy's opinion though

So not as outplayed as some people here think...

I do believe this team is yet to play up to the potential and it's been like...why waste(=wait)????
Throw everything at them, man...

 

[Todd1a]

Oh my God let's please not start this. I'm not even much of a Cooper fan, but there are like three teams who've been more successful than us since Cooper's come on board. NHL coaches do not get fired in this situation.

We have to step down from the ledge. We're a good team who might possibly have run into a better team.

Cooper probably won’t be fired unless he misses the playoffs next season or get bounced in round one period and I’m not a big cooper fan. So those who want him gone are going to be disappointed.

 

[Stammertime91]

Just this guy's opinion though

So not as outplayed as some people here think...

I do believe this team is yet to play up to the potential and it's been like...why waste(=wait)????
Throw everything at them, man...

Too much respect. That's part of the problem. The open flow of the game early on suited us well. We allowed chances but we also had chances. We stay on our half, give them the blue line and fail to make basic hockey plays and it becomes game 1 and 2 again. Our right side and first backchecker contained Ovechkin. Pretty easily too. After that, figure out a plan to negate the 2nd but don't shell it up and expect to grind it out while they tee off for 60 minutes. Washington is better but we've made them look A LOT better by making it so hard on ourselves. Now it's like, wide open or play it tight and see more of the same? Cant make the wrong choice cause we waited to make that decision for game 7. I said back in game 1, we showed them way too much respect and it's burned us. We are a lethal team when we have the puck. When we dont, it's a tragedy waiting to happen. Should have gone with the game plan that makes us lethal, not the one that's a hot mess.

 

[T REX]

The Coop bashing can stop for now. He really needs to motivate these guys for 7.

 

[DFC]

You keep rattling off his stats but refuse to acknowledge that he’s becoming just as notorious for being a no-show as he is for impacting games in a positive way. It’s why the NBC guys spent an entire segment raking him over the coals and talking about how detrimental his attitude/play can be for a team. I’m sure you invested a lot in the Kucherov jersey you still have on but try to take off the blinders for a a few minutes.

The NBC guys speak with so much authority about a team they watch 8 times per year.

It's you with the blinders on because you're blind to how incredible this player has been for us up until exactly now.

Nobody's saying he's been good. We're just saying let's not start talking about getting rid of him, or not paying him like a superstar, because he's had a stretch of bad games. There are two guys who deserve the benefit of the doubt in a situation like this. One is Hedman and the other is Kucherov. Those two guys have proven more than anybody on the team in big games. You don't erase all that history because Kucherov is struggling (very) recently.

 

[LonLon Lei]

Too much respect. That's part of the problem. The open flow of the game early on suited us well. We allowed chances but we also had chances. We stay on our half, give them the blue line and fail to make basic hockey plays and it becomes game 1 and 2 again. Our right side and first backchecker contained Ovechkin. Pretty easily too. After that, figure out a plan to negate the 2nd but don't shell it up and expect to grind it out while they tee off for 60 minutes. Washington is better but we've made them look A LOT better by making it so hard on ourselves. Now it's like, wide open or play it tight and see more of the same? Cant make the wrong choice cause we waited to make that decision for game 7. I said back in game 1, we showed them way too much respect and it's burned us. We are a lethal team when we have the puck. When we dont, it's a tragedy waiting to happen. Should have gone with the game plan that makes us lethal, not the one that's a hot mess.

agree on giving them too much respect issue
They've been playing better than us fo sure, but it's still up to us if we play our game or not. You shouldn't just let your opponent decide and play passively, esp. at this stage.
If we're determined, we can still prove we can play better than them, if not the entire series.Now only one game left to do so.
Go Bolts!!!

 

[LonLon Lei]

The Coop bashing can stop for now. He really needs to motivate these guys for 7.

And the players themselves, for sure!!

 

[Antiramie]

The NBC guys speak with so much authority about a team they watch 8 times per year.

It's you with the blinders on because you're blind to how incredible this player has been for us up until exactly now.

Nobody's saying he's been good. We're just saying let's not start talking about getting rid of him, or not paying him like a superstar, because he's had a stretch of bad games. There are two guys who deserve the benefit of the doubt in a situation like this. One is Hedman and the other is Kucherov. Those two guys have proven more than anybody on the team in big games. You don't erase all that history because Kucherov is struggling (very) recently.

Stamkos was also a 60 goal scorer and he looks like a shell of his former self now. And the absolutely hilarious/ironic thing is that the same people on this board that use Kucherov’s yuge statistics/history as a barometer for how much heat he deserves throw all that out the window when anabashedly bashing Stamkos...like he wasn’t an absolute superstar recently.

If that’s not hypocrisy I don’t know what is.

 

[JoVel]

If we lose on Wednesday that will be 3x playoffs in a row where we were eliminated by a team that was DECISIVELY better than us. Not evenly matched series, but beat by a team that was EASILY better.

That seems to be a problem.

Wouldn't it be more of a problem if we were losing to teams worse than us?

 

[Stammertime91]

Stamkos was also a 60 goal scorer and he looks like a shell of his former self now. And the absolutely hilarious/ironic thing is that the same people on this board that use Kucherov’s yuge statistics/history as a barometer for how much heat he deserves throw all that out the window when anabashedly bashing Stamkos...like he wasn’t an absolute superstar recently.

You guys are ****ing hypocrites.

It's the fact that Stamkos isn't a playoff performer. The guy who has not performed up to par who really should is him. Games 1-3 were the only run of consecutive games I can say in his entire playoff career he looked elite. We went 1-2 during that time. The position we are in is not because of the lack of production from Kucherov who is in his first true postseason slump, it's the entire team playing like ass.

We have constantly hoped for Stamkos even in his younger days and the recent years to become a better player in the playoffs but he doesnt. Perfect example of what you first started spouting off with. Not every superstar shows up every shift, every game and every series. It doesn't happen. We finally get one that has done that in Kucherov bar 1.5 series and you're wanting to get rid of him. Ironic.

At this point, it's clear you don't even know what point you're trying to get across. All you're trying to let be known is how bad one player has been after a loss. The entire team has been bad. Previous years would have ended much sooner if Nikita Kucherov wasn't on this team. You either have a really short memory or you're a new fan which isn't a bad thing. If you are, welcome aboard!

 

[Antiramie]

It's the fact that Stamkos isn't a playoff performer. The guy who has not performed up to par who really should is him. Games 1-3 were the only run of consecutive games I can say in his entire playoff career he looked elite. We went 1-2 during that time. The position we are in is not because of the lack of production from Kucherov who is in his first true postseason slump, it's the entire team playing like ass.

We have constantly hoped for Stamkos even in his younger days and the recent years to become a better player in the playoffs but he doesnt. Perfect example of what you first started spouting off with. Not every superstar shows up every shift, every game and every series. It doesn't happen. We finally get one that has done that in Kucherov bar 1.5 series and you're wanting to get rid of him. Ironic.

At this point, it's clear you don't even know what point you're trying to get across. All you're trying to let be known is how bad one player has been after a loss. The entire team has been bad. Previous years would have ended much sooner if Nikita Kucherov wasn't on this team. You either have a really short memory or you're a new fan which isn't a bad thing. If you are, welcome aboard!

Stamkos has one less point than Kucherov this postseason. So please explain how he deserves so much hate and Kucherov is invincible.

 

[LonLon Lei]

Lightning's Cooper: Golden Knights aren’t Cinderella


Yet we want to create our own drama, no??

 

[Maelmoor]

We have the whole summer to evaluate things, for now the focus should be game 7, we are just win from the cup final! To me it's 50-50 if we make it, will be a tough one!

 

[LightningStrikes]

So do we have home ice against Vegas?

 

[LonLon Lei]

So do we have home ice against Vegas?

I've read we do.

 

[Bozo Nicholson]

I don't even own a Kucherov Jersey. I know you're really failing at keeping this level headed cause you decided to dig your heels deep in quicksand and it's not working out for you but you brought it on your own calling out our greatest playoff performer on the roster. I didn't rattle any stats either (except his 1st round which most people remember

). Please stop lying. I simply said he's the highest scoring player remaining in the playoffs and since 2015, he's in the top 5 among ALL players.

Your response went from ignoring players I listed that DIDN'T perform thia year and are home. Point, me. You then ignore players who are superstars, 40, 50, 60 goal scorers who have zero cups and have been in the league longer than him. You chose to ignore that as well since you couldn't intertwine your shoddy logic in there as well. Point, me. And lastly, your "evidence" of him being a lazy player is the NBC crews intermission segment.

The same intermission crew that rips us and discredits every win we get by saying "X" team gave the game to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Moar liek

 

[LonLon Lei]

Still wanna ask @Steazy Doo if this is we got em right an where we want an...

 

[SF91]

So you basically just admitted that Kucherov’s past success has made him forever infallible. He has been the embodiment of not shooting and hustling yet you refuse to put him in the same group as all the other players you called out. Despite what you may think, winners don’t rest on their laurels.

When some say Kuch doesn't hustle, you have to remember he is short and small framed. The more he "hustles" the more likely he gets hurt and we dont have this thread to begin with because we are at home ducking our thumb. He is if not #1, top 3 in league in the cerebral game. 100 pts scorer, makes everyone else better (TyJo (who should thank him every day for that contract), the recent Stammer, Miller, Palat, and on and on). Did he get physically dominated last night and made some really un Kucherov type plays- Yes. Do I always hold my breath when that first line is on the ice defensively- Yes. Would we be IN the playoffs without him- Nope.

 

[SF91]

...It's been eleven games since he was our best player in a series.

And he's right: There's no great player in the modern era who hasn't had a bad series or two. Kucherov is TWENTY-FOUR. He's been 3rd in NHL scoring two years in a row. He's the rare player who's a ppg in the playoffs over a solid sample size. These guys don't grow on trees. But they do have bad games, and slumps, and prolonged slumps.

Our last two trips to the ECF and beyond and this guy was in the conversation for the Conn Smyth both times, probably a frontrunner once. Now he's had two bad series and he's not a top player in the league? I'm not sure what you think top players look like.

Exactly. Vasy was getting roasted on this forum game 1 & 2. Then he becomes the savior after we actually score enough and early to build a gap to hold on to victories. Can't win every series 4-0 fellow fans.