The positives from 2015-2016

[Maelmoor]

Having a hard time reading all the negativity here around, so to balance it up, here comes the positive thread for the 2015-2016 season! Would be appreciate to keep that positive spirit here, there are fourty-six other active threads to complain and be negative in

So my highlights in no specific order:

Bishop
Too often we forget those dreadful nights with Grahame, Holmqvist, Burke or most of our goalies from the 90's in goal, how we all dreamt about a top goalie or even someone who could be decent. For next to nothing we got Bishop and he is one of the best goalies in the league, once again he proved that both during regular season and in the playoffs. Maybe it's his ability to bounce back that does impresses me most, in the rare occasions he isn't good you know that he will be back at his normal high standard the next game.

Organization
With Vinik and the rest of the organization we have such a great foundation for this club to build upon, once again maybe something you take for granted when you have it but think about how recently we had OK Hockey in charge..without a strong organization you will never become successful in the long run. We have that.

The Drouin Saga
Yes it was a pain to go through but how it was handled by Yzerman and the rest of the club was impressive, despite the difficult situation I think it could have not ended better and in the end it might be a valuable lesson for Drouin, who then showed that by playing good hockey you gain respect.

Kucherov
Not only did he continue to improve, he lead the team with his play, to raise to the occasion and find another gear in the playoffs is what a true winner only can do, already one of the best snipers in the league.

Team Character
It was a difficult season, trying to handle injuries, a deep run last season, the ongoing Stamkos contract focus and the Drouin saga. I think it all will make this team better, they got themselves together, they managed to do another deep run against all odds, that is something I appreciate.

Click to read more...

 

[ArmaHedman]

Vasy's performance especially when you consider he had some less than stellar performances during the regular season. Stepped up and played well in the biggest stage.

Hedman played really well during regular season and stepped it up a level in he playoffs (except Pens series). He continues to evolve into an elite defenseman.

 

[More 2004]

Carle One season closer to his contract being over.

 

[Todd1a]

Saw the drouin I think we knew he could become. Kucherov also proved he is super legit

 

[Stammertime91]

Carle One season closer to his contract being over.

This x infinity

 

[Volodya Krutov]

Definitely Drouin, Namestnikov's regular season, Sustr's improvement, Koekkoek's emergence.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Let's keep this on-topic. If you want to discuss the negatives and disappointments of this season feel free to create a new thread or use existing player threads or the off-season thread ("Now what we do?").

 

[LightningStrikes]

Obviously the biggest positive:

We reached the ECF and came one goal short of reaching the SCF in a 7-game series against the team that appears to be the next SC winners. All that without Stamkos, without Stralman (who arguably came back too soon) and without team MVP Bishop in the final games. Hell of an effort by this team. People keep mentioning the easy route we had (Detroit, Islanders) but forget we were down our 1C and 2D, lost Brown and Condra for several games and had the flu bug going through the room. The team prevailed and marched to game 7 of the ECF.


Others:


Killorn, Johnson, Palat - playoffs
After mediocre point production regular seasons by Killorn, Johnson and Palat they started to pick up where they left off in last season's playoffs with convincing performances in the post-season.

Drouin
Speaking of convincing, how about Drouin? After all the drama he seems happy, Cooper seems happy, the team seems happy with him, his production, his conduct. He's the top-6 forward we were missing going into the post-season and he has answered the bell and finished tied for 3rd on the team in both goal and point scoring in the playoffs.

Koekkoek
Drouin aside, the player I'm looking forward to the most for next season is Slater Koekkoek. During the season's time of highest competition the 22-year old played himself on to the roster, leaving veteran Carle and fellow youngster Nesterov behind him. This had of course to do with their underwhelming to horrible performances but he did look good in his last couple of games. He should be a regular on the team next season and I'm really looking forward to it!

Brown
Brown elevated his game, fought his way up the lineup from the 4th to the 3rd line. One of the team's most important players when it comes to retrieving or keeping the puck he's on par with Callahan and Marchessault for primary scoring points. Still way too many breakaway chances without a goal per game though. But has improved on all other aspects of the game, which was very refreshing to witness.

Boyle
When Filppula and Callahan couldn't deliver, Boyle stepped up and contributed offensively. He has again finished the regular season way above the 10-goal mark and contributed five goals in the playoffs - tied 3rd on the team! Not only one of our most important players defensively the 4th line center has established himself on our PP.

Sustr
I think Andrei Sustr deserves a mention here as well. The soft giant went from atrocious to meh to okay to really solid. Nothing flashy, not the kind of player that makes you go "WOW!" but he gets the job done and has really taken a huge step forward in his development. Is he ever going to be a top pairing defenseman? Not sure, maybe not. But he's a legit NHL bottom pairing guy who's able to play the mid pairing and log up to 20 minutes without looking out of place now, which is huge.

Bishop
Huge is the best word to describe Bishop though. He's my pick for season MVP, easily. He's arguably the best goaltender in the entire league right now and the biggest reason we even made it to the playoffs, let alone the ECF. Injuries once again ended his season early, which is a concern though. Still, what a performance, what a beast! *cue Big Ben bells*

Kucherov
I was sporting a Kucherov avatar for most of this and last year and I couldn't be more happy to see him finally get mentioned in top forward lists from fans and experts around the league. IMO one of the smartest players out there, armed with ridiculous vision and one of the quickest releases in the game he'll do great things alongside Drouin. The biggest thing this season though: He showed he can perform without Johnson and Palat. While they had a rather underwhelming seasons, Kucherov fought his way to the top of the team's scoring list and got league-wide attention and recognition as one of the game's best players right now.

 

[Hoek]

A lot of it was Bishop of course, but being 5th ranked in goals against this season (an improvement from 12th), was really positive. Now if we can get some of the goals back to go with it.

 

[Leonardo87]

The PK was huge for Tampa this year, helped them win games, especially in the playoffs.

 

[Lord Stan 2020]

The PK was huge for Tampa this year, helped them win games, especially in the playoffs.

A+ penalty kill so that is on the whole group honorable mention is needed for those who continued to improve this as we lost our most valuable or probably best pk player for 2 months. So those who stepped up get the A+ grade for the playoffs

A bishop
B+ kucherov
B drouin palat johnson killorn brown boyle after injuries stamkos for his run to playoffs
HONOR B - to sustr nothing bad to say about the kid he had his moments but in playoffs and end of last year he shocked me happy for him muchhhhh brighter future ahead than expected shoot id have thought he had two more years in nhl tops before last season now he probably has a half decent career so hat is off

C grade to cooper for doing some right things yes he did wrong things but at least he tried

will give koekoek a C nothing spectacular nothing wrong blatantly lol but has issues speed is god though gonna be fun watching him this year as he learns it the game.

Not sure got any more C grades most are passing some we know nesterov needs work carle stepped up a bit so nothing bad to say about him just hope hes gone soon

it was a team effort they went through hell and back the stepped up highly to the task am proud of them

Hope is just a tidbit of how high this team can go. Is a lot of very good stuff here very little hugely bad as a team we have an C except playoffs I give them an A on the playoffs much better than hoped after the year and the injuries really enjoyed this year

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Carle One season closer to his contract being over.

hahaha

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Another one saying that the PK this year was unbelievable.

Aside from what the rest you already said... I thought Killorn was incredible in the playoffs

 

[CupsOverCash]

Everything this year was pretty good besides our PP and our secondary scoring. Improve those two and this team will take another step.

 

[These Are The Days]

kuucchhh!!!

 

[MattM92]

Everything this year was pretty good besides our PP and our secondary scoring. Improve those two and this team will take another step.

This. Our two biggest weaknesses. If we had a PP like the 2011 playoffs, it would have carried us to a Cup.

 

[dechire]

Honestly this season was pretty terrible in general but they managed to come together and make a great playoff run. None of us would have expected that a few months ago and it says a lot about how much talent and heart is on this team.

There are all the obvious stars that stepped up this year but I want to make special mention of Boyle who was one of our best players in the playoffs. He may not be in the spotlight very often but he's a huge part of this team

 

[Volodya Krutov]

A part of the ****show displayed during the regular season was done on purpose IMO. They were kinda sandbagging to save energy and kept cards close to their chest. We had close to zero forecheck all season long. Once in the playoffs it was a very different team. Sure Pittsburgh made us look bad but look the other teams they're facing are getting annihilated.

 

[The Gongshow]

Kuch, Drouin, Koekkoek, Bishop, Hedman, Vasi. This team will be aaaaaalllllright

 

[DFC]

A part of the ****show displayed during the regular season was done on purpose IMO. They were kinda sandbagging to save energy and kept cards close to their chest. We had close to zero forecheck all season long. Once in the playoffs it was a very different team. Sure Pittsburgh made us look bad but look the other teams they're facing are getting annihilated.

This. Pittsburgh made us look further away than we really are. We COULD have won that series with a couple of good bounces. Who knows what happens if Drouin keeps his back skate down in Game 6?

No other team can say that. We're clearly not the best team in the league right now, but we're in the conversation for 2nd. Our next step might well be the final step.

 

[MattM92]

This. Pittsburgh made us look further away than we really are. We COULD have won that series with a couple of good bounces. Who knows what happens if Drouin keeps his back skate down in Game 6?

No other team can say that. We're clearly not the best team in the league right now, but we're in the conversation for 2nd. Our next step might well be the final step.

I think Pittsburgh caught some magic. Their roster isn't sustainable. We are definitely firmly the 2nd best team in the league this year, and the margin isn't all that big.