Speculation: Colorado or Vegas

[IceNeophyte]

Good to see you already penciled in the Avs winning that series...

I dont know for sure that the Avs win that series. By losing to the Avs, I mean the Knights, today. It is the only way the Knights face zona instead of Chi-zilla.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

I dont know for sure that the Avs win that series. By losing to the Avs, I mean the Knights, today. It is the only we the Knights face zona instead of Chi-zilla.

Avs have always given the Hawks problems...Rather face Vegas even though neither match is ideal...

 

[IceNeophyte]

Avs have always given the Hawks problems...Rather face Vegas even though neither match is ideal...

Of course you would rather face Vegas, the Avs are scary good and completely healthy. The Hawks scare me too, as a Vegas fan. Even when Vegas wins, it's always an alley fight.

 

[Kaners Bald Spot]

Of course you would rather face Vegas, the Avs are scary good and completely healthy. The Hawks scare me too, as a Vegas fan. Even when Vegas wins, it's always an alley fight.

The Hawks have one win against Vegas since they entered the league.
The Avs always beat up on the Hawks, even when they were bad and the Hawks were good.

 

[CupInSIX]

I dont know for sure that the Avs win that series. By losing to the Avs, I mean the Knights, today. It is the only way the Knights face zona instead of Chi-zilla.

Playoff Kessel can be almost as scary as Kane though.

Plus Arizona's speed and goaltending...I give them the edge.

 

[jls24]

I posed this question in a game thread but I'll reword it a bit here.

With the Avs/VGK we'll be facing a much deeper team. Do we split up the Toews line and spread out our 2-way players against teams where we don't just have to focus on 2 guys?

Something like:

Cat-Toews-Kubs
Saad-Dach-Kane
Carp-Strome-Cags
Highmore-Kampf-Nylander

I'm not really sure what to do with the bottom 6. Maybe Highmore instead of Carp to 3rd line. Maybe don't touch it, maybe give Kurashev a shot.

 

[IceNeophyte]

The Hawks have one win against Vegas since they entered the league.
The Avs always beat up on the Hawks, even when they were bad and the Hawks were good.

Again, despite the record, Vegas has rarely if ever rolled over Chicago. Every game could have gone either way.

 

[BobbyJet]

I posed this question in a game thread but I'll reword it a bit here.

With the Avs/VGK we'll be facing a much deeper team. Do we split up the Toews line and spread out our 2-way players against teams where we don't just have to focus on 2 guys?

Something like:

Cat-Toews-Kubs
Saad-Dach-Kane
Carp-Strome-Cags
Highmore-Kampf-Nylander

I'm not really sure what to do with the bottom 6. Maybe Highmore instead of Carp to 3rd line. Maybe don't touch it, maybe give Kurashev a shot.

I'd give Nyles the first game and if no improvement I wouldn't mind seeing Kurashev in for a game to see what he can do. We can't afford to have passengers.

If anyone deserves to move up it's Highmore but one must keep chemistry in mind.

 

[theaub]

Also I apologize in advance but my answer is

You know they say that all teams are created equal, but you look at us and you look at the Colorado Avalanche and you can see that statement is not true. See, normally if you go one on one with another team, you got a 50/50 chance of winning. But we're genetic freaks and we're not normal! So you got a 25%, AT BEST, at beat me. Then you add the Las Vegas Golden Knights to the mix, your chances of winning drastic go down. See the 3 way, at NHL Bubble Playoffs, you got a 33 1/3 chance of winning, but we, we got a 66 and 2/3 chance of winning, because the Las Vegas Golden Knights KNOW they can't beat us and they're not even gonna try!

So Colorado Avalanche, you take your 33 1/3 chance, minus my 25% chance and you got an 8 1/3 chance of winning at NHL Bubble Playoffs. But then you take my 75% chance of winning, if we was to go one on one, and then add 66 2/3 per cents, we got 141 2/3 chance of winning at NHL Bubble Playoffs. See Joe, the numbers don't lie, and they spell disaster for you at NHL Bubble Playoffs.

 

[BobbyJet]

Avs have always given the Hawks problems...Rather face Vegas even though neither match is ideal...

It's a tough call.

 

[IceNeophyte]

Also I apologize in advance but my answer is

You know they say that all teams are created equal, but you look at us and you look at the Colorado Avalanche and you can see that statement is not true. See, normally if you go one on one with another team, you got a 50/50 chance of winning. But we're genetic freaks and we're not normal! So you got a 25%, AT BEST, at beat me. Then you add the Las Vegas Golden Knights to the mix, your chances of winning drastic go down. See the 3 way, at NHL Bubble Playoffs, you got a 33 1/3 chance of winning, but we, we got a 66 and 2/3 chance of winning, because the Las Vegas Golden Knights KNOW they can't beat us and they're not even gonna try!

So Colorado Avalanche, you take your 33 1/3 chance, minus my 25% chance and you got an 8 1/3 chance of winning at NHL Bubble Playoffs. But then you take my 75% chance of winning, if we was to go one on one, and then add 66 2/3 per cents, we got 141 2/3 chance of winning at NHL Bubble Playoffs. See Joe, the numbers don't lie, and they spell disaster for you at NHL Bubble Playoffs.

Good day, sir, im looking for a math tutor for my daughter and wondered if you are available. I need someone who can think outside the box, actual understanding of math is of no importance.

 

[featherhawk]

I posed this question in a game thread but I'll reword it a bit here.

With the Avs/VGK we'll be facing a much deeper team. Do we split up the Toews line and spread out our 2-way players against teams where we don't just have to focus on 2 guys?

Something like:

Cat-Toews-Kubs
Saad-Dach-Kane
Carp-Strome-Cags
Highmore-Kampf-Nylander

I'm not really sure what to do with the bottom 6. Maybe Highmore instead of Carp to 3rd line. Maybe don't touch it, maybe give Kurashev a shot.

Kubalik-Toews-Saad
Nylander-Dach-Kane
Cat-Kurashev-Strome
Cagguila-Kampf-Carpenter

Highmore although scoring two games in a row shows nothing and he should absolutely be shown the press box for his PIM at the end of the first period of last game

 

[BobbyJet]

Kubalik-Toews-Saad
Nylander-Dach-Kane
Cat-Kurashev-Strome
Cagguila-Kampf-Carpenter

Highmore although scoring two games in a row shows nothing and he should absolutely be shown the press box for his PIM at the end of the first period of last game

Really? The penalty was a bad mistake and hopefully he has learned a lesson but I'd say his 2 key goals in this series more than makes up for it.

 

[Kevin Musto]

Really? The penalty was a bad mistake and hopefully he has learned a lesson but I'd say his 2 key goals in this series more than makes up for it.

Highmore's goals weren't "key goals"

The first one he scored after a turnover that led to a goal against.

The second one he scored before a turnover that led to a goal against.

Hawks didn't profit from his goals. Highmore was neutral.

 

[Mrfenn92]

Highmore's goals weren't "key goals"

The first one he scored after a turnover that led to a goal against.

The second one he scored before a turnover that led to a goal against.

Hawks didn't profit from his goals. Highmore was neutral.

His two goals were more important then stromes

 

[clydesdale line]

I like to use data to back up my arguments.

LOL you are faaaaaaar from @JaegerDice in that department.

 

[Kaners Bald Spot]

LOL you are faaaaaaar from @JaegerDice in that department.

Sometimes I try to use my memory and it fails me.

 

[BobbyJet]

Highmore's goals weren't "key goals"

The first one he scored after a turnover that led to a goal against.

The second one he scored before a turnover that led to a goal against.

Hawks didn't profit from his goals. Highmore was neutral.

In playoff hockey, unless it's a blowout which is rare, all goals are key in my view.... especially from a 4th liner. I think that is obvious. Highmore works hard - wish I could say that about every Hawk player.

 

[JaegerDice]

I feel like the Avs are essentially just a significantly better version of the same challenge the Blackhawks just faced.

Elite top-end talent, lots of speed, questionable depth and goaltending.

The biggest difference is Colorado is better defensively than Edmonton.

Vegas is an altogether deeper team across the board, with less game-breaking talent but better goaltending. They're much more structured though, and I feel like they could do a better job of shutting the Blackhawks down.

I'd rather get the Avs. More fire-wagon hockey.

 

[wahsnairb]

I feel like the Avs are essentially just a significantly better version of the same challenge the Blackhawks just faced.

Elite top-end talent, lots of speed, questionable depth and goaltending.

The biggest difference is Colorado is better defensively than Edmonton.

Vegas is an altogether deeper team across the board, with less game-breaking talent but better goaltending. They're much more structured though, and I feel like they could do a better job of shutting the Blackhawks down.

I'd rather get the Avs. More fire-wagon hockey.

Yeah, I agree with this.

Like I said earlier, Colorado I think might be the better team between the two but we match up way better against them/their style of hockey would be way easier for us to beat.

 

[pvr]

The Hawks played a bunch of game 3 on the PP, that helped them keep that game close enough to pull it off. Didn't the Oilers commit 8 minor penalties in game 3? The game 4 penalties were a correction for game 3. They're incredibly lucky(or unlucky) to have advanced past Edmonton.

At the same time the Hawks went 1-8 on the PP in game 3 and you could argue that they deserved to lose because of that.

The best way to throw the Hawks off their game is to give them PPs.

 

[JaegerDice]

I think the numbers are representative. Even when you take score effects into account (ie, holding back when you have the lead rather than continuing to push for offense), the Oilers were getting more shots and chances through their lineup over the course of this series outside of game 1. They just weren't capitalizing on them as much as the Blackhawks did on the fewer chances they got.

The Blackhawks through 4 games, had a higher sh%. They have the 3rd highest of any team in the playoffs, while Edmonton is 9th. Does that even out over 7 games? Who knows.

There are things shot and attempts numbers don't show though. I think the perceived 'dominance' of the Blackhawks 5v5 is because they just won more puck battles than the Oilers did throughout the series. Those didn't always translate into shots and chances, but it did make the Blackhawks feel relentless and pressuring.

 

[JaegerDice]

Mark Spector: Blackhawks 'were better team, by a country-mile' in best-of-five series - Sportsnet.ca

It wasn't a country mile but Spector is right. Oilers can't live on 2 players and a PP.

Spector is the Steve Simmons of Western Canada. You can basically just write off everything he says, he's always wrong and hilariously confident in his wrongness.

 

[Styles]

Looks like Lehner is getting the nod today. I’d imagine that means he will be the starter. Watch us have to face him in round 1.

 

[JaegerDice]

We struggle against teams who play a tight all full team defense and forecheck well, so both teams will be insanely tough.

But we also dont handle physicality well, so VGK is even worse.

I want the Avs. Let our guys quickly understand that they're the ones to fight in our division for years to come. Let's get this rivalry started for real.

Blackhawks handle physicality very well. It's speed that the Blackhawks have always struggled with, even at the height of their powers.