Around the NHL Thread - Found the Missing #16

[CraigsList]

Was hoping the Coyotes would be able to sneak into the playoffs, even if it meant playing us.

Kuemper gets injured, stick to his eye and the Oilers also sh***ing the bed against the Avs doesn't give the Coyotes the likelihood of making the playoffs.

 

[Mr Snrub]

I don't like our matchup against Colorado, I'll be honest with you guys.

 

[super6646]

I don't like our matchup against Colorado, I'll be honest with you guys.

Better than Dallas. And if we can’t beat a wild card team... well thats too bad then. Still, I doubt Colorado beats us in the 1st round.

 

[Dack]

Why? Were 3-0 against then and dominated 2 of the 3 games it doesn't get much more favorable than that.

I'd rank the teams like this 1st being most want to play and 4th being least

Coyotes
Avs
Wild
Stars

 

[Corpus X]

I don't like our matchup against Colorado, I'll be honest with you guys.

 

[DFF]

I don't like our matchup against Colorado, I'll be honest with you guys.

They have a better 1st line center...that's about it

 

[MonyontheMoney]

4 out of 7 games at home when we have Tkachuk - Backlund - Frolik to matchup against the big three. I’ll take that all day, since that Avs lineup lacks some serious depth.

Grubauer is hot, but that’s about the only thing that gives me any concern.

 

[tmurfin]

We’ll see how Grubauer holds up under playoff pressure. And their top line is worrisome of course, but we let the 3M line handle them and that bottom end depth and D core? Not scared of them at all, we should be able to run a train on their depth. That being said, playoffs, anything can happen.

This flames team has had an insanely amazing season. And for some reason I’ve yet to come to grips with it, I still feel like we’re this fringe team hoping to dog fight our way out of the 1st round. When in reality, the stats say we can go skill for skill and come out on top most nights. Hopefully a playoff wins helps steer me true

 

[crackdown44]

I like how we match up against Colorado. Their first line/Grubauer will steal some games but I think over a 7 game series our depth should prevail pretty easily

 

[The Gnome]

I also really like how we match up to Colorado. We have one line to shut down, and I believe the 3M line can do just that. Our depth scoring will be crucial in this series, luckily we have that.

 

[FlamerForLife]

Grubauer was hot for the Caps down the stretch last season and the blew his shot in the first 2 games against Columbus, so there's no guarantee he stays hot come playoff time. Their first line is obviously insanely scary but matching 3M against them should hopefully do the job.

 

[DCDM]

I like how we match up against Colorado. Their first line/Grubauer will steal some games but I think over a 7 game series our depth should prevail pretty easily

Agreed with this, although I'm not even sure Grubauer will be that big a factor. Both their goalies run pretty hot/cold and if we catch either of them on an off night, I'm not sure the Avs have the scoring necessary to keep up.

Should be a really fun series either way though. I'd much rather watch a potentially high-offense series against Colorado than have to endure a defensive slugfest against either of Arizona or Minnesota.

 

[crackdown44]

Agreed with this, although I'm not even sure Grubauer will be that big a factor. Both their goalies run pretty hot/cold and if we catch either of them on an off night, I'm not sure the Avs have the scoring necessary to keep up.

Should be a really fun series either way though. I'd much rather watch a potentially high-offense series against Colorado than have to endure a defensive slugfest against either of Arizona or Minnesota.

One thing is they will be getting Makar as soon as he’s eliminated or wins the NCAA tourney. I think it wraps us this weekend so he will play game 1 or 2 at the latest

I know D-men don’t usually step in and make a huge impact but I’m really looking forward to watching him

 

[Muffin]

One thing is they will be getting Makar as soon as he’s eliminated or wins the NCAA tourney. I think it wraps us this weekend so he will play game 1 or 2 at the latest

I know D-men don’t usually step in and make a huge impact but I’m really looking forward to watching him

The Frozen Four is next weekend, the earliest Makar draws in would be game 3 or 4. Most Avs fans don't even want Makar to play this year, playing even in 1 game this season would burn a year off his contract AND make him expansion draft eligible.

 

[crackdown44]

The Frozen Four is next weekend, the earliest Makar draws in would be game 3 or 4. Most Avs fans don't even want Makar to play this year, playing even in 1 game this season would burn a year off his contract AND make him expansion draft eligible.

I may be mistaken but I’m fairly certain it would not make him expansion eligible. It would burn a year off of his ELC but I believe the threshold is 11 regular season games to be eligible for the expansion draft

 

[Kranix]

I don't like our matchup against Colorado, I'll be honest with you guys.

I like it better than playing Dallas, who they still might end up playing...

 

[Muffin]

I may be mistaken but I’m fairly certain it would not make him expansion eligible. It would burn a year off of his ELC but I believe the threshold is 11 regular season games to be eligible for the expansion draft

Since Makar is 20 he only needs to play 1 game. Quinn Hughes being 19 is still exempt.

 

[crackdown44]

Since Makar is 20 he only needs to play 1 game. Quinn Hughes being 19 is still exempt.

So essentially it’s because he has a late birthday? I know that Poehling who just signed in Montreal is ineligible even though he is also 20 and drafted in 2017 like Makar.

The only difference being that Makar is born in October of ‘98 and Poehling in January of ‘99

Unfortunate rule if that’s the case, should be based on the year in which they were draft eligible imo

 

[Mr Snrub]

Colorado is a little less green than us in terms of postseason experience and I think that's the difference-maker. Obviously it's not like matching up against the Sharks or something, but their team is a little older, wiser, and more ready to push for a longer run. Flames this season basically fell backwards into first in the Pacific division and I don't think anyone on this team expected to have the season that we did. Just don't know that we are mentally prepared for a long playoff run, which is a far bigger factor than regular season success.

Let's also not forget that Bill Peters has NEVER coached an NHL playoff team and that's gonna be a HUGE X factor. I hate to be the pessimist here but I believe this series is gonna be a lot harder than most folks expect.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

I like it better than playing Dallas, who they still might end up playing...

It's pretty annoying, feels like we're gonna face some godmode goaltending in every round this year. Kuemper or Grubauer in the first round. MAF in the 2nd round (Go Sharks!!). Binnington or Bishop in the WCF. I love our team but we don't have that Stamkos type outside sniper who can make good goalies pay with a quick swing of the puck. Well, we do have Gio but we don't ever put him in a sniper position.

 

[Kranix]

It's pretty annoying, feels like we're gonna face some godmode goaltending in every round this year. Kuemper or Grubauer in the first round. MAF in the 2nd round (Go Sharks!!). Binnington or Bishop in the WCF. I love our team but we don't have that Stamkos type outside sniper who can make good goalies pay with a quick swing of the puck. Well, we do have Gio but we don't ever put him in a sniper position.

The real deal james neal

 

[FlamerForLife]

Colorado is a little less green than us in terms of postseason experience and I think that's the difference-maker. Obviously it's not like matching up against the Sharks or something, but their team is a little older, wiser, and more ready to push for a longer run. Flames this season basically fell backwards into first in the Pacific division and I don't think anyone on this team expected to have the season that we did. Just don't know that we are mentally prepared for a long playoff run, which is a far bigger factor than regular season success.

Let's also not forget that Bill Peters has NEVER coached an NHL playoff team and that's gonna be a HUGE X factor. I hate to be the pessimist here but I believe this series is gonna be a lot harder than most folks expect.

I don’t think anyone necessarily expects an “easy” series, imo there’s no such thing as an easy series, every team in the playoffs has a shot. But I think it’s more about being confident in our depth vs their depth.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Colorado is a little less green than us in terms of postseason experience and I think that's the difference-maker. Obviously it's not like matching up against the Sharks or something, but their team is a little older, wiser, and more ready to push for a longer run. Flames this season basically fell backwards into first in the Pacific division and I don't think anyone on this team expected to have the season that we did. Just don't know that we are mentally prepared for a long playoff run, which is a far bigger factor than regular season success.

So much falseness in this post.

Re: playoff experience

Ian Cole, Carl Soderberg and Derrick Brassard are the only Avs with any NHL playoff series wins under their belt. Maybe some other 4th line scrub but who cares. And Brassard is awful this year.

From our side there's Brodie, Backlund, Hamonic, Bennett, Gaudreau, Quine, Monahan, Smith, Frolik, and Neal have all experienced what it takes to win an NHL playoff round against better teams than these Avs. The latter three have particularily been on some deep runs. And I'd hardly call a swashbuckler like Giordano or a student-of-the-game like Tkachuk "green"

Re: Flames fell backwards into 1st

107 points with two cakewalk games to go(though resting our stars might cost us). 2nd best goal differential in the NHL and one of the best since the 2010 Blackhawks. 4 killer forward lines and 5 killer d pairs. Extremely underrated goaltending. Top 5 in CF% all year. This is a team that should have been contending for a cup the last four years but had some stumbles along the way, now they have ironed out the kinks.

re: I don't think anyone expected this kind of season

The 2017-18 Flames expected to have 100+ points and a divisional spot. Don't forget thise were the expectations going into LAST season. This year's team is where it belong. The only surprise is that Brodie is below 40pts (he has usually been good for 40+ as Gio's partner) while gio is above 70pts (he has usually played at a 60-ish point pace with Brodie) but those two things cancel each other out. Everyone on the roster knew this was a 100+ point core that had a miserable year last year for a plethora of reasons. But they had extremely high expectations and they're actually below mine due to that little four game skid.

 

[Mobiandi]

I think to get far in these playoffs, the Dome fans need to stay on Smith and Rittich's side. Knowing this team, we're probably going to concede an early first goal a lot at home.

Jeering our own goalies is part of the reason why their numbers are garbage at home. It messes with your confidence

 

[Bounces R Way]

The Avs are who I want in the first round. They play quite a bit more wide open than Dallas, Arizona, or Minnesota. Would be an fun exciting series. They have a great 1st line but after that I don't think there's all that much there. Soderberg is OK I guess. We also have a great shutdown line and both top 4 D pairings should be able to skate with them too. I'd give the Flames the edge in most depth positions. Special teams might have a big impact though. Goaltending is pretty similar with Smith and Varlamov being two big wildcard athletic goalies who are either great or awful and Rittich and Grubauer as young guys with some promising numbers in the NHL but aren't super proven. Grubauer also has a playoff SV% of .835.

Think we steamroll them in games 1 & 2 and then they get one back game 3.