The Florida Panthers

[River Meadow]

What the heck is the point of this ??

We lost in the final, and so did Florida, that is the end of the story,

Who cares HOW you lose? It makes no difference,

We were outplayed by Tampa, just as bad as Florida was outplayed by Vegas,

At least Florida was able to score a goal in their elimination game

At least we made it competitive and didn't allow 9 goals against

 

[Riggins]

Weird thread. Florida beat Boston, Toronto and Carolina. We only made the playoffs because of the garbage Canadian division.

 

[pickles555]

At least we made it competitive and didn't allow 9 goals against

That's a loser mentality,

You feel better losing 1-0?

 

[River Meadow]

That's a loser mentality,

You feel better losing 1-0?

Yes I feel better that we were more competitive and gave a better fight, rather than completing falling off the rails.

We had a ton of heart from our BC boys especially.

 

[Garbageyuk]

Losing is losing,

Why would you feel better about losing 1-0? It makes no difference,

Both series were 5 games, there's no difference, and it doesn't matter

When you post a thread, you are inviting comments, both positive and negative,

If you can't handle negative comments, don't post a thread,

I handled your negative comment by responding to it and calling you out for whining. Your response is to continue to whine and add nothing at all to the discussion. Be my guest. I won’t be responding any further unless you have an actual point you haven’t stated already.

 

[Garbageyuk]

Weird thread. Florida beat Boston, Toronto and Carolina. We only made the playoffs because of the garbage Canadian division.

Weird post. We beat Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vegas. VGK are now the Cup champs with essentially the same team we beat, so we clearly weren’t just a product of circumstance like you’re trying to say. It’s too bad the team got dismantled by injuries and we couldn’t build on it.

 

[Garbageyuk]

That's a loser mentality,

You feel better losing 1-0?

This is hilariously ironic.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

It's such a bad take to build a team pivoting on a Goalie. Way too unpredictable.

What did u expect , he was gifted a generational talent goalie and used him like complete shit

 

[themilosh]

What did u expect , he was gifted a generational talent goalie and used him like complete shit

it really is an unforgiveable waste of a generational goalie. NYR claim similar for Lundqvist, but I feel they at least surrounded him with a legit chance to make runs (minus that punk Kreider).

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

Weird thread. Florida beat Boston, Toronto and Carolina. We only made the playoffs because of the garbage Canadian division.

Florida was shit. They only made the playoffs because Washington, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Ottwaa choked.

 

[the valiant effort]

The Habs’ 2020 Presidents’ Trophy was the stuff of legend

 

[Scintillating10]

Seeing what happened to the Panthers in the final makes me feel a lot better about the Habs run 2 years ago.

Both were 5 game series, but at least the Habs didn’t get utterly humiliated in historic fashion against the Lightning. That last game from this years final has to be one of the most pathetic displays I’ve ever seen in pro sports. That was a team trying to play for the Stanley Cup? Just brutal. Not to mention, the Habs beat this Vegas team in convincing fashion just 2 years ago. It’s essentially the same team. They have Eichel now, but lost Pacioretty, and guys like Martinez have declined severely.

The Habs got beat decisively in 2021, but we largely shut down the Bolts’ stars after game 1. Point and Kucherov both had 3 points in game 1, and then Kuch was held to 2 points the rest of the series, and Point was held scoreless. Hedman was held to 2 points in the series, and Stamkos and Sergachev each only managed 1 point in 5 games.

The difference was depth; the Habs just couldn’t match the depth, even though our stars could go blow for blow with their stars. The goaltending duel looks pretty lopsided statistically, and maybe it was one of the reasons we lost the series. Price had a rough couple first 2 games, but after that he was able to get his bearings and was steady the rest of the way. Very, very costly first 2 games though.

The Bolts depth guys - Palat, Johnson, Goodrow, and Coleman all had 4 points in the series. This was the biggest difference, imo. The Bolts had superior depth guys that were able to contribute. Combined with Vasilevsky’s stellar play, this gave them a huge advantage.

The last reason is our team was just out coached. This doesn’t really need an explanation.

All in all, this years final provided some perspective on our teams’ run from 2 years ago for me. It wasn’t the blowout everyone remembers it as. I’m thankful we got to watch it and it was a valiant effort by the team, which I think doesn’t get mentioned enough. Seeing the Panthers get absolutely humiliated gave me an increased satisfaction and appreciation for the 2021 Cup run. Wondering if anyone else feels the same.

I wonder what would happen if Islanders best Tampa out in Game 6 overtime. It was that close! We got a break in '86 and '93. we never had to face best team in league. In '93 Lemieux had cancer was not at his best. In '86, Smith shot puck into own net, eliminating Gretzky and Oilers

 

[Chili]

I wonder what would happen if Islanders best Tampa out in Game 6 overtime. It was that close! We got a break in '86 and '93. we never had to face best team in league. In '93 Lemieux had cancer was not at his best. In '86, Smith shot puck into own net, eliminating Gretzky and Oilers

Along the same lines, what if Boston had made it through to meet Vegas? Healthy, at minimum Boston would have been competitive. But that`s the playoffs and we often see upsets in the first couple of rounds. And how many cup winners have gone to game seven overtime in one of their series, like Pittsburgh and St. Louis recently? Could have been an interesting series two years ago Islanders and Habs, Tampa really was the best team that year. Even for the best teams, the playoffs are a lot about survival and the importance of depth.

 

[abo9]

What's the point of this thread? As Habs fans, I believe we got extremely lucky to have experienced such an unexpected run.

Unexpected? Yes, it was absolutely an unexpected run. Have you looked at where the Habs finished in the standings the last 6-7 years? Especially without an all star goalie?

Florida, though also an unexpected run, are at least expected to be competitive in the near future. Idk what us Habs fans have on their team to be pointing fingers or feel better lol.

Weird post. We beat Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vegas. VGK are now the Cup champs with essentially the same team we beat, so we clearly weren’t just a product of circumstance like you’re trying to say. It’s too bad the team got dismantled by injuries and we couldn’t build on it.

Here's something I don't understand. "we couldn't build on it" - on what exactly? It was an aging core, and the team built around one fundamental element that was obviously missing - a prime Carey Price.

And either the injuries were there before - so you couldn't build on them anyway, or the injuries acquired during the playoffs - their style of play was unsustainable in the long run, thus you couldn't build on it.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Florida was shit. They only made the playoffs because Washington, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Ottwaa choked.

Florida were better than the standings indicated. Last year they were number one in the league in advanced stats, this year they were fourth. I think they finished first in their division last year and squeaked in this season.

A better club than everyone thought they were.

 

[GrandBison]

Cooper won this cup playing Gourde against Danault, plain and simple. That was that easy to figure.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

Florida were better than the standings indicated. Last year they were number one in the league in advanced stats, this year they were fourth. I think they finished first in their division last year and squeaked in this season.

A better club than everyone thought they were.

They still made the playoffs because of other teams incompetence. If Sabres get Levi in nets 2 weeks earlier they make the playoffs. Washington with a real coach probably finishes ahead of them. Ottawa trades for a goaltender at the trade deadline they probably do to.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

They still made the playoffs because of other teams incompetence. If Sabres get Levi in nets 2 weeks earlier they make the playoffs. Washington with a real coach probably finishes ahead of them. Ottawa trades for a goaltender at the trade deadline they probably do to.

The Kings were a club that would barely make the playoffs but would do better once they got there.

Those are the kinds of teams you want to evade in the postseason.

 

[JianYang]

Whatever happened in this final doesn't change anything with respect to how I felt about the 21 habs, although I do agree that it was the depth guys of that 21 series who seemed to come up with the big defining plays when tampa needed them.

I also consider the tampa teams that won the cup in 20 and 21 to be the best cup winning teams in the last decade.

While I do agree Florida caught lightning in a bottle to a certain extent, at least a couple of their core guys still have alot of hockey left (theoretically) in barkov and Tkachuk.

Montreal's main peices were effectively retired after that final (along with the fumbling of the Danault situation). Edmundson has never been the same either as its been multiple back surgeries for him since.

Byron while not a core guy, also has never been the same and maybe played a handful of games since before retiring.

 

[donghabs98]

Florida just didn't want to give the Habs the nice draft pick - so annoying.

In hindsight, their 1st in 2024 would have been great. They could go on a 2021-22 Habs level regression due to injuries and undoubtable wear and tear from their run.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

What are you talking about we got totally pissed on during the tampa serie, we had a way weaker team than florida has now sure but this moral victory junk is awful , we literally got stomped and laughed at in the finals it wasn't even close ever.

 

[donghabs98]

There are no doubt parallels between both runs. Just like our finals appearance, this year's finals weren't that entertaining to watch. The skill difference was quite big and just like us in 2021, the panthers were running on empty by the finals.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Did the Vegas golden knights have a press conference where their best player was openly laughing at the other teams fanbase for celebrating after a win lol .

It was literally a free cup finals for Tampa the boys had the time of their lives just pissing on us in those finals

 

[WeThreeKings]

In hindsight, their 1st in 2024 would have been great. They could go on a 2021-22 Habs level regression due to injuries and undoubtable wear and tear from their run.

Well the Calgary/Florida picks have implication for us.. so hopefully both teams crumble.

 

[Garbageyuk]

Did the Vegas golden knights have a press conference where their best player was openly laughing at the other teams fanbase for celebrating after a win lol .

It was literally a free cup finals for Tampa the boys had the time of their lives just pissing on us in those finals

Yeah well, Kucherov is a huge douche, so yes that happened. However, he really wasn’t even that good in the series against us, neither was Point, Hedman, Stamkos, or Sergachev. All of them were shutdown (Kuch and Point after game 1). Like I said, it was the depth guys, coaching, and goaltending that made the difference. Good coaches usually get the most out of their role players, so it makes sense.