GDT: Around the League 2019-20 v25

[CupofOil]

I haven't watched one EC conference game all post season. The only teams I've watched are Dallas and Vegas. Even passing on that sometimes. I find it very hard to watch any full game. usually just channel surfing if I am even watching. But I'm watching no sports. Haven't watched 1 minute of the Raptors.

Been an eventful summer as far as getting things done. More active, more renos, more gardening, more home improvement. Life without sports is actually pretty damn good. Suddenly I have all this free time.

The day outside was gorgeous all day. Morning to night. Theres just no way, here in Edmonton I'm going to be missing these days and sitting inside watching sports or anything. Pretty predictably a summer playoffs was a pretty spectacularly dumb idea. Virtually nobody is watching on TV, and thats the only place you can watch. Why are they even doing this?

Sports will always be a big part of my life so I find that there's plenty of time for outside activities and watching sports (sometimes both at the same time), doing one doesn't take away from doing the other for me.
Outside activities have been a little limited for me anyway because I haven't had the interaction with people that I usually have during summer months so it's been a lot of lonely drives and walks.

The thing for me is that the novelty of the bubble wore off once the interesting teams were eliminated. It's hard enough watching a sports event without fans but once you lose a rooting interest for a team (for or against), it exposes the lack of atmosphere even further.
Also, there really hasn't been much competition outside of a few OT games here and there. Lots of blowouts and uneven play.

I commend the NHL for putting this thing together and I'm glad it did for the sake of the sport but I'm much more interested in the NBA playoffs, U.S. Open (an event that I usually attend but couldn't this year, obviously) and the upcoming football seasons (college and NFL), not to mention the NHL offseason and the potential craziness that might ensue. I think a lot of other fans, especially in Canada where there's no rooting interest, feel the same. I mean, Tampa vs. Islanders and Knights vs. Stars with no fan atmosphere? Bleh

 

[North]

Geoff Ward with one vote for best petering out.

Well, we know where Kelly Hrudey’s vote went.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Sports will always be a big part of my life so I find that there's plenty of time for outside activities and watching sports (sometimes both at the same time), doing one doesn't take away from doing the other for me.
Outside activities have been a little limited for me anyway because I haven't had the interaction with people that I usually have during summer months so it's been a lot of lonely drives and walks.

The thing for me is that the novelty of the bubble wore off once the interesting teams were eliminated. It's hard enough watching a sports event without fans but once you lose a rooting interest for a team (for or against), it exposes the lack of atmosphere even further.
Also, there really hasn't been much competition outside of a few OT games here and there. Lots of blowouts and uneven play.

I commend the NHL for putting this thing together and I'm glad it did for the sake of the sport but I'm much more interested in the NBA playoffs, U.S. Open (an event that I usually attend but couldn't this year, obviously) and the upcoming football seasons (college and NFL), not to mention the NHL offseason and the potential craziness that might ensue. I think a lot of other fans, especially in Canada where there's no rooting interest, feel the same. I mean, Tampa vs. Islanders and Knights vs. Stars with no fan atmosphere? Bleh

I'm once more at that precipice where I feel that watching sports is really nothing. That a person has seen every play, experienced every emotion, and that ultimately anything I've derived from it since the glory 80's is more miss than hit.

Albeit Germany winning the WC in 2014 was a near religious experience for me. A culmination of 15years of German development.

Being an Oilers fan since the 80's, just being honest, has been brutal. Time lost.

Meanwhile the name of our Edmonton football club has been ripped from us. Never to be heard again. But I'll say it Eskimos. Then I tune into the NHL playoffs and see the league sponsoring an anarchic faction. I then watch 3minutes of the raptors in 30 ending tonight and see the court, team, jerseys, warm up shirts all emblazoned with the same name of the same anarchic org and I realize that sports in NA is gone. Its been replaced by some non stop signaling. Like it is the commercial, and is the propaganda arm now. This is where I get off. Over and out.

Now I'm reading more books. until they are banned.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

I was far more interested in watching the Raptors OT game yesterday than the hockey game. Exciting finish but ultimately another snoozer. The NHL really could've had something special but they botched it with their participation trophy play-in round and nonsensical bracket. There hasn't been a single classic matchup so far and most of the series have been duds.

I can't wait for Raptors game 7, whereas tonight's game featuring whoever is a pass.

Just think, had the NHL done a normal playoffs, we would've gotten a BoA and a Battle of Pennsylvania.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

So you can review just about everything in the NHL these days, but not a blatantly blown icing call that went on to decide the game? Isles got screwed. Just like Boston. Just like Columbus. I'm sensing a pattern here...

 

[Aerchon]

I'm once more at that precipice where I feel that watching sports is really nothing. That a person has seen every play, experienced every emotion, and that ultimately anything I've derived from it since the glory 80's is more miss than hit.

Albeit Germany winning the WC in 2014 was a near religious experience for me. A culmination of 15years of German development.

Being an Oilers fan since the 80's, just being honest, has been brutal. Time lost.

Meanwhile the name of our Edmonton football club has been ripped from us. Never to be heard again. But I'll say it Eskimos. Then I tune into the NHL playoffs and see the league sponsoring an anarchic faction. I then watch 3minutes of the raptors in 30 ending tonight and see the court, team, jerseys, warm up shirts all emblazoned with the same name of the same anarchic org and I realize that sports in NA is gone. Its been replaced by some non stop signaling. Like it is the commercial, and is the propaganda arm now. This is where I get off. Over and out.

Now I'm reading more books. until they are banned.

This is a great post. Lots that I feel similar. Also strangly enough have been reading more than any other forms of entertainment.

On sports/Oilers I almost agree with 100%. On the other stuff maybe I am reading into it wrongly but there is so much wrong with the messages being driven into people's heads and even more so the medium being used. I find it incredibly strange that free speech/thinking is being beaten down and preferential treatment/overt sensitivity is actually being promoted. I think this could actually make things substantially worse.

It's a scarey world being developed where common sense and integrity are being back seated for whoever can spin a media message to promote their agenda.

Everyone is special and no one is. Everyone/most has faced abuse and it needs to stop but it's not a competition to put one form of abuse over another. We all need to focus on being better. Any message that subverts that basic ideal is demented.

 

[joestevens29]

I was far more interested in watching the Raptors OT game yesterday than the hockey game. Exciting finish but ultimately another snoozer. The NHL really could've had something special but they botched it with their participation trophy play-in round and nonsensical bracket. There hasn't been a single classic matchup so far and most of the series have been duds.

I can't wait for Raptors game 7, whereas tonight's game featuring whoever is a pass.

Just think, had the NHL done a normal playoffs, we would've gotten a BoA and a Battle of Pennsylvania.

I really don't see what the play in has to do with anything at this point. The same quality of teams are playing that were there last year.

 

[CycloneSweep]

I really don't see what the play in has to do with anything at this point. The same quality of teams are playing that were there last year.

Bingo.
If the league wants more interesting teams to go further in the playoffs, those interesting teams should just play better hockey

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Bingo.
If the league wants more interesting teams to go further in the playoffs, those interesting teams should just play better hockey

It's about creating exciting matchups. Say what you will about the current formula but it has created some excellent rivalries.

The matchups in these playoffs have been devoid of excitement and drama. My most anticipated series was probably Tampa/Columbus and that was because of last year.

It was simply to give popular markets a chance to compete and now that they've been dispatched, the fans have tuned out.

 

[Mez]

To me the biggest issue with these playoffs is the 4 month break before the playoffs. Teams lost their rhythm and some teams that should have moved forward lost in the play-ins/first round due to this. with that being said, i usually lose interest around the conference finals unless there is a team I like or hate(basically any Canadian team)

 

[Mr Positive]

It's about creating exciting matchups. Say what you will about the current formula but it has created some excellent rivalries.

The matchups in these playoffs have been devoid of excitement and drama. My most anticipated series was probably Tampa/Columbus and that was because of last year.

It was simply to give popular markets a chance to compete and now that they've been dispatched, the fans have tuned out.

I think in hindsight this was the case. These low teams did get swept aside basically, but not before knocking out teams like the Oilers and Penguins.

I very much believe that Montreal and Chicago had an information advantage. With all that time in between the shutdown and the playoffs, they could pour over footage and develop strategies to an unprecedented degree.

So why couldn't we do that? We did, but teams that low are more unpredictable. The players that really sunk us were not the advertised players. They were players who emerged in that series. Kane was supposed to be the dragon slayer but wasn't, and perhaps we did scout him to death and shut him down. Same with the often advertised Debrincat, who was very quiet. No one really knew what Kubalik and Dach were about, and the footage couldn't have predicted their impact.

The same kind of phenomenon happened to Pittsburgh. Habs reg season stars like Tatar and Domi didn't really do much, but Suzuki emerged as a star, as well as Kotkaneimi, Armia. Drouin was quiet in the season, but a top performer in the playoffs.

But it seems as the playoffs went on, the more things settled down for teams. Vegas and Philly got a big benefit from scouting our play-in series imo

 

[bellagiobob]

 

[Mav3rick07]

What I like most about Lehner is how he stands up and doesn’t drop into butterfly every shot like every other goalie.

 

[bellagiobob]

 

[bellagiobob]

Pretty hard to take this seriously when underwear boy actually recd a 1st place vote.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Everytime some rough stuff happens on the ice, the camera pans to Reaves.

Who the f*** cares if hes paying attention.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Everytime some rough stuff happens on the ice, the camera pans to Reaves.

Who the f*** cares if hes paying attention.

CBC have made him into a star.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Pretty hard to take this seriously when underwear boy actually recd a 1st place vote.

This trophy has been a joke for a long time now.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Are the Stars and Knights still on a boycott because I am sure neither team has shown up yet.

 

[BlackDogg]

This trophy has been a joke for a long time now.

Drai got a vote so he must be overall better than Connor.

 

[BlackDogg]

Real goal fest again.

 

[HugentNopkins]

I hate these two teams so much. I honestly hope they both miss the playoffs next time around so I don't have to watch them ever again.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

I watched more exciting grass growing competitions. In fact the World Sock Drawer Organizing Championships are far more thrilling than this shit the NHL is passing off as “hockey”.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

Pretty hard to take this seriously when underwear boy actually recd a 1st place vote.

Here's a trophy that he'd get all of the 1st place votes for.

 

[RandomGuy79]

I watched more exciting grass growing competitions. In fact the World Sock Drawer Organizing Championships are far more thrilling than this shit the NHL is passing off as “hockey”.

We've had 4 goals in 8 periods. That's like a half goal per period. It's practically the 80s again.