Are the Flames and Lightning's failures proof that the top 2 teams should still buy at the deadline?

[DJJones]

Smith was our best player in that series. It’s the skaters who fell flat on their face. Smitty was a stud and i’d almost consider bringing him back next year honestly, though I recognize that it probably wouldn’t be the greatest idea.

It sucks that the rumoured Zucker deal fell through, I think having another legit scoring threat would have helped the Flames a lot.

Smith at under 3 million and rittich is fine. Upgrade at the deadline of necessary

 

[Stive Morgan]

Hockey, especially the playoffs, is a crapshoot sometimes. That what makes the league better than NBA in my opinion. How many times have we seen Golden State steamroll a team in the first round? Has there ever been a moment in the NBA playoffs where you were surprised or excited?

 

[Shaman464]

No, but with the Lightning they suffered from something the Wings had an issue with. They stopped playing meaningful games in November and by the time the playoffs roll around they get so use to bulldozing everyone, they coast. And surprise, when the second season starts, they have bad habits, and they end up getting bounced.

 

[KingPuckChoo]

proof that this playoffs is actual dog ****

source: i'm a biased pissed off drunk little ****

is **** the same word as ****? or are they two different words?

 

[HockeyGuy1964]

proof that this playoffs is actual dog ****

source: i'm a biased pissed off drunk little ****

Story checks out.

 

[weems]

I think parity is starting to really take effect and we will only see it more and more as we go forward.

 

[voxel]

Seems obvious now, but neither of these two teams were going to win the cup even with a few TDL adds.

 

[Helistin]

Think we will need a time machine to know for sure. Anyone have one?

 

[c9777666]

No, but with the Lightning they suffered from something the Wings had an issue with. They stopped playing meaningful games in November and by the time the playoffs roll around they get so use to bulldozing everyone, they coast. And surprise, when the second season starts, they have bad habits, and they end up getting bounced.

I get it from a Tampa perspective that they didn't have a lot of meaningful games after January.

Calgary had to fend off San Jose in their division, so you can't say the Flames were playing meaningless games.

 

[ccman68]

Didn’t Washington win the cup doing pretty much nothing? I don’t think any team needs to buy tbh.

Winning the cup is just getting hot at the right time and getting the right bounces. Team strength doesn’t actually matter much at all since all of the teams are so close in skill anyways.

 

[Shaman464]

I get it from a Tampa perspective that they didn't have a lot of meaningful games after January.

Calgary had to fend off San Jose in their division, so you can't say the Flames were playing meaningless games.

Calgary is Canadian. Canadian teams are cursed. Pretty sure the documentary Canadian Bacon has something to do with it.

 

[Alan Wake]

is **** the same word as ****? or are they two different words?

I leave that to the mind of the beholder, the more vulgar the more likely tho

 

[Alan Wake]

Calgary is Canadian. Canadian teams are cursed. Pretty sure the documentary Canadian Bacon has something to do with it.

May as well call Tampa an honorary canuck then we're beyond f***in cursed at this point, goddamn losers

 

[Shaman464]

May as well call Tampa an honorary canuck then we're beyond ****in cursed at this point, goddamn losers

The state of Florida has more Cups collectively in the last 25 years than all of Canada. Let that keep you warm at night.

 

[Yung Rotini]

I get it from a Tampa perspective that they didn't have a lot of meaningful games after January.

Calgary had to fend off San Jose in their division, so you can't say the Flames were playing meaningless games.

The division title was practically handed to Calgary just by how hard the Sharks collapsed down the stretch. The games were pretty much meaningless.

 

[Alan Wake]

The state of Florida has more Cups collectively in the last 25 years than all of Canada. Let that keep you warm at night.

It's also been 15 years since Tampa last won their cup!

 

[barbu]

I think parity is starting to really take effect and we will only see it more and more as we go forward.

It has actually been this way since post lock out.

The average regular season overall standing of the stanley cup winner since 2006 is 5.5, while the average rank of anyone in the playoff is around 8.5 (can change from one year to another with a stronger/weaker conference).

Even if you exclude the 2012 Kings as a massive outlier (and I don't think we should), it's still 4.8, which is closer to the average than the president trophy winner.

Admittedly, if the Predators, Sharks and Bruins all get ousted, this will be a special year.

 

[JPeeper]

What did Tampa need to add? If you replay that series ten times, they probably win nine of them.

Calgary has goaltending issues, not sure why they never addressed it.

Because we didn't have issues?

Flames had 0, zero, zilch goaltending problems in the playoffs.

 

[3074326]

The Lightning never adapted to what the Blue Jackets were doing. They didn't need anything at the deadline.

 

[El Travo]

I just think complacency did both teams in. They had nothing to play for by the end of the regular season and that mentality leaked into the Playoffs.

Teams that haven't faced adversity don't know how to overcome it when it finally comes knocking their front door in.

 

[TruKnyte]

It's also been 15 years since Tampa last won their cup!

15 years? Try 50 and counting.

 

[treple13]

I just think complacency did both teams in. They had nothing to play for by the end of the regular season and that mentality leaked into the Playoffs.

Teams that haven't faced adversity don't know how to overcome it when it finally comes knocking their front door in.

I don't really think that's the case with Calgary though. They played some pretty good playoff hockey down the stretch in terms of limiting shots and chances for the opposition.

One of the huge problems was the top line was never quite the same after the all-star break as they were before. Whatever caused that, I doubt it was complacency, since there was a lot of season to play for at that point.

 

[Sensators]

What did Tampa need to add? If you replay that series ten times, they probably win nine of them.

Calgary has goaltending issues, not sure why they never addressed it.

Neither of these series were overly effected by goaltending in my opinion. To say tampa wins that series 9 times out of 10 when they got swept and out played takes away from Columbus accomplishment. Hedman was injured and played poorly - Columbus deserved to win the series based off what was displayed by the two teams. This was not a Montreal beating Washington series.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

Neither of these series were overly effected by goaltending in my opinion. To say tampa wins that series 9 times out of 10 when they got swept and out played takes away from Columbus accomplishment. Hedman was injured and played poorly - Columbus deserved to win the series based off what was displayed by the two teams. This was not a Montreal beating Washington series.

So what could Tampa have possibly added that made any sense? I’m not saying Columbus didn’t earn that win, but there’s a reason underdogs usually lose.

 

[Langdon Alger]

I think confidence had a lot do with it. Hedman being injured was also completely unforeseen.

Seriously what did Tampa need to add?

Cody Ceci