Pre-Game Talk: rags

[ElmCityGuy]

I hate that the playoff format forces this matchup in round 2. But if the canes prevail here they can beat anyone else left standing

I have wondered why they dont seed the teams 1-8 and play it out.. 1 vs 8.. 2 vs 7.. 3 vs 6.. 4 vs 5

Then remaining high plays lowest in round 2.

 

[Mr Misunderstood]

Beat the piss outta them.

 

[Tryamw]

Sorry, we aren’t Vegas and won’t so blatantly circumvent the cap.

We will just sit you on the bench and hope no one notices.

On the bench??? We don't have a suite?

 

[SoupNazi]

On the bench??? We don't have a suite?

They don’t give those to jerks, remember?

 

[Stickpucker]

Guys, got some great news: my lacerated spleen has miraculously healed and I will be activated off LTIR as a Canes Bandwagon Fan for the next round!

Can you refer Pesce and TDA to your doc?

 

[Stickpucker]

This is exactly why we went out and got Guentzel and Kuzy.

Kuzy helped seal games 1 and 5.

Time for Guentzel and Nachos to step up.

 

[Tryamw]

They don’t give those to jerks, remember?

But we are talking about @sabremike

 

[WreckingCrew]

Yeah, I have been too. They are talking smack about us (expected) and it's like they have no knowledge that we finished with 3 less points than their team did this season.

But...I guess what you do when your team is the best in the league. You get cocky.

They're calling our players soft and everything. It's hilarious.

They're literally underestimating Carolina and some think Rod will not be back next season as coach since his contract expires at the end of the year.

On a side note: I wonder if we'll dress Lemieux to keep Rempe in check?

I still find it hilarious how after the incidental Aho-Fox hit that left Fox injured, they couldn't stop yapping and harping about Aho needing to answer the bell...yet REPEATEDLY after Trouba and Rempe throw dirty/illegal hits, they don't need to answer the bell because "they did nothing wrong" or "they don't need to prove anything to XYZ". The mental gymnastics and cognitive dissonance are astounding!!! Of course we just got done dealing with Piles fans who insisted we were divers because Skjei had 1 slight embellishment and Slavin got slashed across the side of the knee where he has no padding, but then they repeatedly and blatantly flopped in EVERY SINGLE GAME afterwards and got rewarded with multiple PPs from them.

 

[AD Skinner]

I have wondered why they dont seed the teams 1-8 and play it out.. 1 vs 8.. 2 vs 7.. 3 vs 6.. 4 vs 5

Then remaining high plays lowest in round 2.

They did it that way for a while and I much preferred it. I think part of the reason they stopped was because of the realignment that moved Detroit and Columbus to the east, and because of the dumb bracket challenge they started hyping on tv/online

 

[ElmCityGuy]

They did it that way for a while and I much preferred it. I think part of the reason they stopped was because of the realignment that moved Detroit and Columbus to the east, and because of the dumb bracket challenge they started hyping on tv/online

Seems I remember it that way.. just didnt know why it changed.

 

[Lempo]

I have wondered why they dont seed the teams 1-8 and play it out.. 1 vs 8.. 2 vs 7.. 3 vs 6.. 4 vs 5

Then remaining high plays lowest in round 2.

I have let myself be told that the great idea was to promote in-division rivalries. I'm not sure if the math actually aligns, but anyways apparently it's more fun when we play New York in every playoffs.

"Rangers or Islanders?"
"Yes."

 

[Brad Meador]

I still find it hilarious how after the incidental Aho-Fox hit that left Fox injured, they couldn't stop yapping and harping about Aho needing to answer the bell...yet REPEATEDLY after Trouba and Rempe throw dirty/illegal hits, they don't need to answer the bell because "they did nothing wrong" or "they don't need to prove anything to XYZ". The mental gymnastics and cognitive dissonance are astounding!!! Of course we just got done dealing with Piles fans who insisted we were divers because Skjei had 1 slight embellishment and Slavin got slashed across the side of the knee where he has no padding, but then they repeatedly and blatantly flopped in EVERY SINGLE GAME afterwards and got rewarded with multiple PPs from them.

Yeah, I agree. In a way it sickens me that fans would talk like that (I know all fanbases have those fans) and even worse that they defend Rempe for his hits. I mean, the guy got suspended for several games in his first game in the NHL for an illegal hit and people are defending him.

It's why I wonder if Lemieux will play in the Ranger series because he won't take that. I'm not saying the Canes are soft because I know they're tough but we need someone on our team to answer the bell on Rempe if he head hunts and comes after our best players.

 

[VAcaniac]

Im kinda glad they swept and we took 5 games.

Feel like the sweeping team always starts off the next round rusty. And we get rest but not too much.

Feel like this is destined to go 7. Can we win a game in NY?!

Necas has 8 goals and 18 assists in 53 career playoff games. YIKES

 

[Francis10]

Funny thing about round one in the Eastern Conference is that if they did the 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, and 4 vs 5 the series would have all been exactly the same.

1. NYR vs 8. WASH
2. CAR vs 7. NYI
3. FLA vs 6. TB
4. BOS vs 5. TO

In round 2 (If Boston closes out Toronto) it would be:

1. NYR vs 4. BOS
2. CAR vs 3. FLA

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

yea the east is so top heavy anything past the 2nd round was going to be against a legit contender.

actually in the league in general, not just the east. the league is very top heavy right now. It would take an upset by Nashville to mess up that up some. An upset of vegas over dallas doesnt change that though.

 

[3CanesInTheBox]

 

[chaz4hockey]

Yeah, I have been too. They are talking smack about us (expected) and it's like they have no knowledge that we finished with 3 less points than their team did this season.

But...I guess what you do when your team is the best in the league. You get cocky.

They're calling our players soft and everything. It's hilarious.

They're literally underestimating Carolina and some think Rod will not be back next season as coach since his contract expires at the end of the year.

On a side note: I wonder if we'll dress Lemieux to keep Rempe in check?

"have no knowledge that we finished with 3 less points than their team did this season."

What they fail to realize is that their President's Cup +3 point performance was based on 2 more shootout wins + 1 more 3 v 3 OT win (we had more regulation wins.).

Memo to Ranger fans, that's not how the Playoffs roll.

btw: if Chytll plays I'm thinking they will sit Rempe. Rempe probably comes in if we get ahead in the series as a motivator for them. He will take stupid penalties and we just need to cash in.

btw: I wouldn't play Pepe unless one of our forwards gets hurt.
btw2: playoff series often bring our different heroes in every series. I'm expecting a big series from 59 & 88 with more room to operate plus a return to statistical norms.

 

[Francis10]

Agreed. I think as well 59 and 88 are much better this series vs NYR. Also 37 needs to keep building on how he played in game 5 vs NYI. He was finally noticeable and using his size/speed to his advantage.

 

[ElmCityGuy]

Im kinda glad they swept and we took 5 games.

Feel like the sweeping team always starts off the next round rusty. And we get rest but not too much.

Feel like this is destined to go 7. Can we win a game in NY?!

Necas has 8 goals and 18 assists in 53 career playoff games. YIKES

I think the Rangers will be pumped for game 1 and win that game something like 5-1

The team that wins game 2 will win the series.

 

[Brad Meador]

"have no knowledge that we finished with 3 less points than their team did this season."

What they fail to realize is that their President's Cup +3 point performance was based on 2 more shootout wins + 1 more 3 v 3 OT win (we had more regulation wins.).

Memo to Ranger fans, that's not how the Playoffs roll.

btw: if Chytll plays I'm thinking they will sit Rempe. Rempe probably comes in if we get ahead in the series as a motivator for them. He will take stupid penalties and we just need to cash in.

btw: I wouldn't play Pepe unless one of our forwards gets hurt.
btw2: playoff series often bring our different heroes in every series. I'm expecting a big series from 59 & 88 with more room to operate plus a return to statistical norms.

Guentzel had a great series vs the Rangers when he was a Penguin. Now, some of that may have been playing with Crosby but if he can score 8 goals against them again I'll take that.

He was surprisingly quiet this round (thankfully we had secondary scoring back us up this round, which is what you need to be successful in the playoffs when your top guns go quiet).

Yes, he had 4 points, but one empty net goal. I don't know if taking Jarvis off his line with Aho disrupted that line since that line was hotter than a firecracker or if the Islanders just did a good job covering him.

Don't know about anybody else but I was very pleased with Kuznetsov this round. He had 4 points in 5 games, which is about his avg in the playoffs for his career.

Not bad for a 4th liner. Yes, one was a penalty shot but goals are goals and at the time that penalty shot goal was huge.

Also, that year the Rangers faced the Penguins Penguins took them 7 games with their 3rd goalie because Jarry got hurt and then their backup got hurt.

With us we played Raanta that series and he wasn't really that good at MSG at all.

I like our chances better this go around with Andersen and Kochetkov backing him up.

Also, Shesterkin is 5-4-0 vs the Hurricanes in his career and Andersen is 9-6-3 vs the Rangers.

If we play the Rangers these playoffs like we did during the season and last playoffs I like our chances now that we have a healthy Andersen and a capable backup.

Shesterkin has pretty good playoff numbers...but if the Devils beat him last year we can beat him this year.

Regardless will be a fun series. Hopefully we can win at MSG at least once if not twice this round. We have played better overall at MSG lately though.

So, looking at this Shesterkin is not Lundqvist, whom owned us...until we beat him in the bubble.

 

[To Be Determined]

Funny thing about round one in the Eastern Conference is that if they did the 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, and 4 vs 5 the series would have all been exactly the same.

1. NYR vs 8. WASH
2. CAR vs 7. NYI
3. FLA vs 6. TB
4. BOS vs 5. TO

In round 2 (If Boston closes out Toronto) it would be:

1. NYR vs 4. BOS
2. CAR vs 3. FLA

one slight variation i'd include...

this all holds true for a straight 1-8, but if we go back to how it was before the current (horrible) format the division winners were given the top seeds even if a division runner up had more points. (god knows the 'real' markets always bitched about the southeast division winner getting a top 3 spot back then)

that would have given us this first round:

1. NYR vs. 8. WASH
2. FLA vs. 7. NYI
3. CAR vs. 6. TB
4. BOS vs. 5. TO

in this case, the second round looks the same. though i assume if Boston had known the choice was between the isles and the leafs they probably wouldn't have tanked against ottawa in game 82. that would have given us the bruins in the second round, along side cats/rags.

either way, i prefer both of these over the stupid format we have now.

 

[Brad Meador]

one slight variation i'd include...

this all holds true for a straight 1-8, but if we go back to how it was before the current (horrible) format the division winners were given the top seeds even if a division runner up had more points. (god knows the 'real' markets always bitched about the southeast division winner getting a top 3 spot back then)

that would have given us this first round:

1. NYR vs. 8. WASH
2. FLA vs. 7. NYI
3. CAR vs. 6. TB
4. BOS vs. 5. TO

in this case, the second round looks the same. though i assume if Boston had known the choice was between the isles and the leafs they probably wouldn't have tanked against ottawa in game 82. that would have given us the bruins in the second round, along side cats/rags.

either way, i prefer both of these over the stupid format we have now.

We need to go back to the old format. It just seems playoff hockey would be more exciting that way because if no upsets happen one year you have the two best teams in the conference battling it out in the final round before the Stanley Cup Finals.

If that were the case this Carolina vs Rangers series would end up being the ECF, which means two of the best teams in the east would be battling it out for conference superiority.

However, we all know an upset happens at least once a playoff year and one of the above mentioned teams would need to get through Boston and Florida.

 

[Chrispy]

We need to go back to the old format. It just seems playoff hockey would be more exciting that way because if no upsets happen one year you have the two best teams in the conference battling it out in the final round before the Stanley Cup Finals.

If that were the case this Carolina vs Rangers series would end up being the ECF, which means two of the best teams in the east would be battling it out for conference superiority.

However, we all know an upset happens at least once a playoff year and one of the above mentioned teams would need to get through Boston and Florida.

There are good years to make this argument.

A year where the top 4 seeds had 114, 111, 110, and 109 points is not one of them.

Someone is likely to have to defeat 2 of NYR, CAR, BOS, FLA to make the finals. What order or which specific teams isn't as relevant as the fact it's a ridiculous top 4 in the East this year.

If there's one team that should be arguing for conference seeding over division seeding this year, it's Winnipeg. #2 in the West and they get Colorado to start.

 

[Stickpucker]

Yeah, I agree. In a way it sickens me that fans would talk like that (I know all fanbases have those fans) and even worse that they defend Rempe for his hits. I mean, the guy got suspended for several games in his first game in the NHL for an illegal hit and people are defending him.

It's why I wonder if Lemieux will play in the Ranger series because he won't take that. I'm not saying the Canes are soft because I know they're tough but we need someone on our team to answer the bell on Rempe if he head hunts and comes after our best players.

Why answer the bell with Rempe?

Ignore him and go after one of their good players.

 

[To Be Determined]

just for fun, here's how it would look to ignore conferences and just stack them up 1-16, straight up and with division winners given top four:

straight up
1. Rangers vs. 16. Blues (in over the caps)
2. Stars vs. 15. Isles
3. Canes vs. 14. Vegas (that would be a brutal 1st round match up, damn)
4. Jets vs. 13. Lightning
5. Panthers vs. 12. Kings
6. Canucks vs. 11. Preds
7. Bruins vs. 10. Leafs (LOL - hockey gods love this)
8. Avs vs. 9. Oilers (brutal)

w/ division winners topping
1. Rangers vs. 16. Blues
2. Stars vs. 15. Isles
3. Panthers vs. 14. Vegas
4. Canucks vs. 13. Lightning
5. Canes vs. 12. Kings
6. Jets vs. 11. Preds
7. Bruins vs. 10. Leafs
8. Avs vs. 9. Oilers

I know it won't happen but i like these. they'd cry about travel, but considering the just gave us multiple three day layoffs against the isles, it is clearly doable.