# 2017 Playoffs Thread



## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

To spare myself some agony of being a Leafs fan since '93, I reserve my time/energy for them only when they make the Playoffs

Rookie sensation Auston Mathews scored his 40th goal last night to clench a post season appearance with just 1 game at hand

I was able to airplay HNIC to Apple TV free from the CBC Sports app. Hopefully this continues into the post season?


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

I'm Leafs fan for about 40 years , however in last several years watched just a few games, esp. this year when they were fighting for PO. Hope Leafs PO will also help profit my stocks RCI, BCE, KEG.UN, SRV.UN and BPF.UN


----------



## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

_*"GO HABS, GO!!!*_
(only 40?.... how about memories of being allowed to "stay up late" to watch the Rocket play on Sat. night ...early 60's??  )


----------



## dubmac (Jan 9, 2011)

I love watching the playoffs - here I am, 56, and still showing up in front of the TV like I was when I was 6!
My wife, on the other hand, calls herself a "playoff widow". 
Wonderful to see the Leafs back. They may not go far, but it's good to shake that curse off. I would love to see that cup back in Canada - anywhere - in Canada.


----------



## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

dubmac said:


> I love watching the playoffs - here I am, 56, and still showing up in front of the TV like I was when I was 6!
> My wife, on the other hand, calls herself a "playoff widow".
> Wonderful to see the Leafs back. They may not go far, but it's good to shake that curse off. I would love to see that cup back in Canada - anywhere - in Canada.


(anywhere....except hogtown....  )


----------



## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

jargey3000 said:


> _*"GO HABS, GO!!!*_
> (only 40?.... how about memories of being allowed to "stay up late" to watch the Rocket play on Sat. night ...early 60's??  )


I was always "Boom Boom" Geoffrion when I was playing road hockey in the summer. The Rocket was a ballerina on ice though. I am an Oilers fan though since LaFleur retired.


----------



## Emjay85 (Nov 9, 2014)

jargey3000 said:


> (anywhere....except hogtown....  )


or montreal.....


----------



## sags (May 15, 2010)

Last year there were 0 Canadian teams in the playoffs. This year there are 5.........:smug:

I will start rooting for the Leafs and all the Canadian teams as they work through the playoffs.

Bring the Cup back to Canada boys...........


----------



## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

sags said:


> Last year there were 0 Canadian teams in the playoffs. This year there are 5.........:smug:


And now there are 3 remaining with the Leafs facing elimination tonight

All 5 games settled by 1 goal and 4/5 in OT they've done very well against the top team so far

Rookie Austin Matthews continues to impress


----------



## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

Eder said:


> I was always "Boom Boom" Geoffrion when I was playing road hockey in the summer. The Rocket was a ballerina on ice though. I am an Oilers fan though since LaFleur retired.


2 of my favs were J C Tremblay ( he of the 'dipsy-doodling' moves) and the roadrunner Yvan Cournoyer...


----------



## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

Leafs lost in OT at home. Of the the golf course again 2 weeks late.


----------



## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

Ovechkin's dirty play resulted in Crosby's injury. Ovechkin knocked Crosby of his feet by wacking him with a stick from behind. Then a Washington D caught the falling Crosby on the head with his stick but Niskanen was just shielding himself. The D got a suspension because the refs screwed up. They got the wrong man. 

This is crazy. Crosby should be protected.


----------



## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Agree that the suspension went to the wrong guy.

I don't think Niskanen was shielding himself so much as laying a lick on Crosby. The problem looked to me that he had no time to react to Crosby's high speed, off balance fall.


Cheers


----------



## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

Agree that Niskanen was going for Crosby, as one would, but the only reason he connected to Crosby's head was that Crosby was falling from Ovechkins high stick to the head. Essentially Niskanen did what any player would have done. Ovechkin's cheap shot resulted in a potential major injury to the top hockey star and he got sweet nothing. NHL is screwed up.


----------



## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Ottawa just chased Marc-Andre out of goal in the 1st period. Making out for a good series. Pittsburgh is probably more Canadian then Ottawa so it's a win either way


----------



## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

It's tough when half of your D, including the best puck-moving guy has been injured. 

Still, if anyone thinks we should be supporting Crosby &Co... Wrong! We elected PM specifically to tell us which team we should be supporting and apparently it ain't Pens.


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> It's tough when half of your D, including the best puck-moving guy has been injured.


 True! Pens got unlucky.... There is only one Canadian team (Leafs) , if not Leafs , I want Predetors to win


----------



## scorpion_ca (Nov 3, 2014)

What's wrong with the Ottawa? Shouldn't we support Canadian team as a Canadian?


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

scorpion_ca said:


> What's wrong with the Ottawa? Shouldn't we support Canadian team as a Canadian?


Ask Rangers fans if they gonna support Islanders ....
Tell me that we also need to support Habs


----------



## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

scorpion_ca said:


> What's wrong with the Ottawa? Shouldn't we support Canadian team as a Canadian?


Supporting anything based on "he is from my cave" is silly, but more so when we are talking about the team with the least number of Canadian players (or thereabouts). I support Ottawa about as much I support the pit into which all them taxes disappear.

Support Pens cause they have the most talented player of this generation, try to play rather than fight and don't have any goons like Phaneuf.


----------



## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

Heckuva win by Ottawa last night. Keep it up!!!!!!!!


----------



## RBull (Jan 20, 2013)

^yeah, even though your team took my Rangers out! 

Although it's also hard not to support our local boy Crosby in this series. 

However national pride wins out and I'd like to see Ottawa win. Doing it in Canada's 150th would be sweet.


----------



## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

mordko said:


> scorpion_ca said:
> 
> 
> > *What's wrong with the Ottawa? *
> ...


LOL ... perhaps you can get TSN to fix their roster list?

TSN lists the Pens with 16 Canadians and the Sens with 21 Canadians.


Cheers


*PS*

The Pens were well down of the list in the 2013-2014 season as well.
http://www.cbc.ca/sports-content/hockeynightincanada/bio/infographics/most-canadian-nhl-team/


----------



## scorpion_ca (Nov 3, 2014)

mordko said:


> Supporting anything based on "he is from my cave" is silly,


I wouldn't call it silly...I think it's called patriotism.


----------



## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

scorpion_ca said:


> I wouldn't call it silly...I think it's called patriotism.


The latter usually goes hand in hand with the former. Yet the most appropriate term is probably "evolutionary atavism". 

Once upon a time being patriotic to your cave helped protohumans to survive and procreate. These days we express patriotism by drinking a lot of beer in support of foreign celebrities knocking out each others brains while nominally representing some place or other. 

Such patriotism was most evident during Montreal and Vancouver riots, so you are suppoting the right team - that is assuming you wish for the downtown Ottawa to be devasted.


----------



## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

Eclectic12 said:


> LOL ... perhaps you can get TSN to fix their roster list?
> 
> TSN lists the Pens with 16 Canadians and the Sens with 21 Canadians.
> 
> ...


OK; my bad. Got it wrong.


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> The latter usually goes hand in hand with the former.


 True!



> TSN lists the Pens with 16 Canadians and the Sens with 21 Canadians.


 To tell the truth, even though Sens has majoriry of Canadaian players , the best players in all departments are foreign players: G(Anderson) - USA, D - Karlson (Sweden), F - Bobby Ryan (US)


----------



## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

^True. And the key players for Pens include Crosby, Letang (sadly injured), Kunitz, Fleury, Murray, Schultz... Also non-Canadians Malkin, Kessel and Cullen. 

To be honest, the Pens aren't playing all that well; not even in the series vs Washington. Letang is too much of a loss.


----------



## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

mordko said:


> gibor365 said:
> 
> 
> > ... To tell the truth, even though Sens has majoriry of Canadaian players , the best players in all departments are foreign players ...
> ...


Then that should have been the criteria, n'est pas?


Cheers


----------



## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

mordko said:


> ... To be honest, the Pens aren't playing all that well; not even in the series vs Washington. Letang is too much of a loss.


While I agree Letang is a big loss, there's be a lot of goal posts so it is not that the Pens aren't getting chances.

Cheers


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> Also non-Canadians Malkin, Kessel and Cullen.


 Malkin is my favorite Russian player after Alex Mogilny.... also like Radulov,too bad he's playing for Habs and no real Leafs fan cheers neither for habs nor for ottawa .
btw , the best Leafs players aren't Canadians eighter... Andeson - Dannish, Mattews - US, Nylander - Sweden, Zaitzev - Russia....The best Canadians prefer playing in US


----------



## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

Yes, Malkin is very talented. Radolov is more of a power forward like Ovechkin; not a fan. Don't like some of the attitude from Kuznetzov but he is good, better than Matthews even accounting for the age difference. My favourite Russian players are Larionov and Datzyuk. They are gone though while Americans and Canadians have a whole bunch of strong youngsters in the pipeline.


----------



## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

I guess I rather see Ottawa win because they are the underdog. It's the 25th anniversary of the current iteration of the team and they haven't won.

Pittsburgh is arguably more Canadian with Captain Canada. I like seeing talent from all countries though. Phil Kessel is an interesting character to watch, beating himself up on the beach, awkward as hell in every single interview, yet consistently produces goals. He's one of very few players on an active ironman streak. But Pittsburgh just won it last year so it's not so exciting to see them win every year imo

Like when Raymond Bourque won his first cup after 22 years in his final game, it's more memorable. Maybe that will be Ovechkin someday


----------



## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

Like it how they put Kessel and Malkin together. Two primadonnas, they deserve each other  Kessel can shoot but what the heck with not playing in the corners?


----------



## bgc_fan (Apr 5, 2009)

It may be Ottawa's year. There are some interesting coincidences in the Senator's history. 1997 they made the playoffs for the first time, 2007 they made it to the Stanley Cup finals, so maybe 2017 is the year they win?

Maclean's had a comparison of the remaining teams and how Canadian they are. It is mainly for fun: http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/justin-trudeau-was-right-you-should-cheer-for-the-senators/


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

mordko said:


> Yes, Malkin is very talented. Radolov is more of a power forward like Ovechkin; not a fan. Don't like some of the attitude from Kuznetzov but he is good, better than Matthews even accounting for the age difference. My favourite Russian players are Larionov and Datzyuk. They are gone though while Americans and Canadians have a whole bunch of strong youngsters in the pipeline.


Radulov goal with one hand the most beautiful so far imho. Also like Tarasenko from Blues, excellent player and former captain of my home team Sibir.


> Don't like some of the attitude from Kuznetzov but he is good


 agree.
Mogilny, again imho, was the most intelligent player I've ever seen...



> Pittsburgh is arguably more Canadian with Captain Canada.


 Ducks also have Canadian fanous captain and bunch of top Canadian players.

This season I like watching Nashville, complete underdog, but paying very exciting hockey.... too bad Bartuzo broke Fiala .... and looks like this is the most international team


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

On Sat Canada playing Russia in semifinal World... US lost 0:2 to Finland, Canada beat Germany 2:1,Russia beat Czechs 3:0


----------



## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

gibor365 said:


> ... To tell the truth, even though Sens has majoriry of Canadaian players , the best players in all departments are foreign players: G(Anderson) - USA, D - Karlson (Sweden), F - Bobby Ryan (US)


Not far off the Maple Leafs ... G - Frederik Andersen (Denmark), D - Morgan Reilly (Canada), F - Auston Matthews (USA) in the playoffs.

In the regular season, D becomes Zaitsev (Russia).


TSN's Maple Leaf roster list has thirteen Canadians


Cheers


----------



## nobleea (Oct 11, 2013)

A Pens-Preds final would be highly entertaining hockey.
A Ducks-Sens final would be a snooze fest.

Can't help but cheer for the Preds right now. Great organization, great city that has supported their team, fun to watch.


----------



## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

bgc_fan said:


> ... Maclean's had a comparison of the remaining teams and how Canadian they are ...


Interesting article ... though like previous years, I suspect fans made up minds long ago whether they would cheer for the Sens or pick another team or drop out of watching when their team was eliminated.


Cheers


----------



## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

gibor365 said:


> On Sat Canada playing Russia in semifinal World... US lost 0:2 to Finland, Canada beat Germany 2:1,Russia beat Czechs 3:0


Yes ... it should be entertaining.




nobleea said:


> ... A Ducks-Sens final would be a snooze fest ...


The Ducks-Preds looked similar in their back/forth in the neutral zone so I am not so sure this would be true. We may find out ... or not.

I am surprised the Sens haven't had as many bad calls/bad reviews to over come like Edmonton. Only reason I can figure is that TPTB expect the West to win no matter who their opponent is.


Cheers


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

Eclectic12 said:


> Not far off the Maple Leafs ... G - Frederik Andersen (Denmark), D - Morgan Reilly (Canada), F - Auston Matthews (USA) in the playoffs.
> 
> In the regular season, D becomes Zaitsev (Russia).
> 
> ...


In PO Zaitzev played injured


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> Can't help but cheer for the Preds right now. Great organization, great city that has supported their team, fun to watch.


 Have noidea about city,but team looks very interesting and exiting


----------



## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

Hard to get too excited about a tourney in which most teams are represented by their fourth strongest lineups. For whatever reason Russia is the only country which takes the world championship seriously. Last time the actual Team Canada played Russia it was 7-3, so...


----------



## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

Ottawa needs to do more to win the series. Apparently injuring just one Pittsburgh player per game isn't gonna do it.


----------



## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

I would like to know what the hack the league and officials are doing. Wasn't a concussion-inducing elbow to the head supposed to be a no-no? http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2017/05/19...-who-didnt-return-for-start-of-second-period/ Apparently it doesn't warrant even 2 minutes.


----------



## like_to_retire (Oct 9, 2016)

mordko said:


> ................ Apparently it doesn't warrant even 2 minutes.


Just like no penalty was assessed when Sidney Crosby severed Senators Marc Methot's finger last month.

ltr


----------



## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

Yes, there should have been a slashing penalty on Crosby. And on every player about 5 times per game. 

The Ryan hit is a little different because NHL was pretending that it was bothered by the Ryan-style knocking out of player brains with targeted hits to the head.


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

mordko said:


> Hard to get too excited about a tourney in which most teams are represented by their fourth strongest lineups. For whatever reason Russia is the only country which takes the world championship seriously. Last time the actual Team Canada played Russia it was 7-3, so...


Not true! Every European nation takes it seriously... After elimitation in PO, Swedish, German and others players flew to France/Germany to defend their national teams.
Too bad that NHL is too greedy, it would be interesting even one in couple of years to see really best teams playing on World championship.... like it is in football (the real one), when all national leagues stop even when national teams are playing friendly games


----------



## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

^ False. I just checked Team Sweden's roster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_IIHF_World_Championship_rosters#Sweden

Very clear that the vast majority of their best players didn't bother (e.g Sedins, Filip Forsberg, Carl Hagelin, Patric Hornqvist, Karlsson, Stralman). Several of these are no longer in the play-offs. All teams use the tourney to check out their youth - with the obvious exception of Russia. Occasionally its different but not this year as we've had World Cup of Hockey.

Having an annual international tournament makes it kinda meaningless. Football does the right thing- they have it every 4 years. And Basketball. 

And NHL has a good product it's just a shame they don't give a **** for the players. Must have sucked for the Russians to lose to our 5th best line-up.


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

mordko said:


> Last time the actual Team Canada played Russia it was 7-3, so...


 False! It was 5:3 2016 in Toronto


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> Very clear that the vast majority of their best players didn't bother (e.g Sedins, Filip Forsberg, Carl Hagelin, Patric Hornqvist, Karlsson, Stralman).


 How they can "bother" if almost all of them now playing in PO?! And best Swedeish goalia Lunquist went to play just after Rangers lost. And it's very tough for players after 82 games season and PO games and elimination from Stanley ....to flyto Europe and play again



> Having an annual international tournament makes it kinda meaningless. Football does the right thing- they have it every 4 years. And Basketball.


 That what I was telling "at least in couple of years".... NHL can make agreement with IIHF that every 2 or 4 years, there will be pause in NHL that all best players can play each other.... Instead NHL trying to do everything that even to Olympic games NHL players won't allow to go...


btw, Malkin is leading NHL PO in points and assists


----------



## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

Gotta love Russian commentators. "Our team scored 2 beautiful goals. Canadians responded with 4 lucky bounces".


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

mordko said:


> Gotta love Russian commentators. "Our team scored 2 beautiful goals. Canadians responded with 4 lucky bounces".


Actually I don't really like Canadian commentators... they are sooooo indiffirent, like they don't care who is winning , who is loosing.... is it political corectness issue?! I like emotional commentators, Spanish, Russian, Arabs... they are very emotional ...


----------



## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

gibor365 said:


> In PO Zaitzev played injured


 ... which probably explains why he disappeared ...




mordko said:


> I would like to know what the hack the league and officials are doing. Wasn't a concussion-inducing elbow to the head supposed to be a no-no? ...
> Apparently it doesn't warrant even 2 minutes.


If you want more examples, pick just about any of the Western team games. 

The Preds had a player who was hit in the head by an Anaheim player. He played two shifts or so, scored the winning goal *then* was sent off the ice for the concussion protocol. No penalty on the hit to the head.

It was bad enough that I was surprised that when the five minute penalty was called. 





gibor365 said:


> mordko said:
> 
> 
> > ... I just checked Team Sweden's roster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_IIHF_World_Championship_rosters#Sweden
> ...


+1 ... the Sedins are the only ones on the list that I recognise as being out of the PO's. and are not at the tournament (i.e. 2 out of 7).

Forsberg is Nashville (in the Finals),
Haglin is Pittsburgh (one win away from the Finals), 
Hornqvist is Pittsburgh (one win away from the Finals), 
Karlsson is Ottawa (two wins away from the Finals),


Cheers


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

Eclectic12 said:


> ... which probably explains why he disappeared ...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


and regarding Sedins, article from last year


> Other than that Stanley Cup thingy, the Sedins haven’t much left to prove to anyone, which is why the soon-to-be 36-year-olds are at ease with the strong possibility that *this World Cup will be the last time they play for their country.*


http://vancouversun.com/sports/hock...din-twins-global-hockey-journey-nears-its-end

so, very likely they weren't even invited.....

btw, big respect to Sweden, without their best players, they won World Cup .... big surprise, I was sure Canada will win.... imho maybe Canada deserves it, paying for your country should be higher priority than palying for US team in NHL


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> If you want more examples, pick just about any of the Western team games.


 Yeap, this is nuts. 3 key players of Predetors include captain are injured... and how many are skating with undisclosed injures?!


----------



## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

gibor365 said:


> ... btw, big respect to Sweden, without their best players, they won World Cup ...


+1 ... though with so many who were available going, I'd qualify the "without their best players" a bit.




gibor365 said:


> ... big surprise, I was sure Canada will win ...


It's only four years ago Sweden won gold so I am not sure why it would be a huge surprise. They are fourth on the list for number of Golds won.




gibor365 said:


> ... imho maybe Canada deserves it, paying for your country should be higher priority than palying for US team in NHL


Problem is neither group (IIHF nor NHL) are going to move their schedule where the one paying the gold will set the availability. :frown:


Cheers


----------



## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

gibor365 said:


> Yeap, this is nuts. 3 key players of Predetors include captain are injured... and how many are skating with undisclosed injures?!


Having to go from Gibson to Bernier in goal didn't help the Ducks either. Or losing Rakell.


If the Final gets called the way the Western games were (which is what happened the last time Ottawa was in the Final), the Eastern team is likely to be obliterated in five games or so.


Cheers


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

Eclectic12 said:


> +1 ... though with so many who were available going, I'd qualify the "without their best players" a bit.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Regarding Sweden, yeah, many we available, but if you add to roster even mordko mentioned playesr


> Forsberg is Nashville (in the Finals),
> Haglin is Pittsburgh (one win away from the Finals),
> Hornqvist is Pittsburgh (one win away from the Finals),
> Karlsson is Ottawa (two wins away from the Finals),


 it would be much stronger.... as Sweden has much shorter "bench" of top players than Canada....



> Problem is neither group (IIHF nor NHL) are going to move their schedule


 if you ask me , this is NHL problem.... IIHF , long time ago , compromised and moved world cup to May (that at least some NHL players would be able to play). IIHF cannot move Hockey World Cup to July ... it would be nuts ...
Also, i have impression that NHL deliberately trying to subottage all IIHF tourmanent, they always trying to prevent NHL players even going to Olympics... all they care , it's not sport, but money


----------



## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

I don't see a problem. Sure, there is a tourney called world championship, which isn't followed this side of the ocean. There are other hockey tournaments like Schpengler cup. So? Leading players come in an odd season when they feel like having something to prove or during a strike. Otherwise youngsters or the third echelon get a bit of exposure to international hockey. US just uses the tourney to check out young players - makes sense. 

NHL puts up a great show and seeing the top players compete for national teams every year is redundant. That would remove a lot of the excitement from major tournaments when they do play. Besides, Canada should let other teams have a pretend win every now and then; otherwise hockey in Europe could lose popularity over time.


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

All media is now very busy discussing Hockey player Ryan Getzlaf who fined $10,000 for using homophobic slur
Apparently he said during the game “f*cking c*ck sucker”... All Liberal media is telling us that this punishment is very soft... What a joke! If he would say "amazing penis sucker" - I suppose it would be OK?!


----------



## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

^^^

Maybe it is the media you are following?

Didn't hear anything about it on either sports show last night. 

One sports web site for their NHL section eighteen other articles listed before the last one on the page about Getzlaf. The articles range from the Sens, Kovalchuk's possible return to the NHL, the Memorial Cup as well as Bill White's death. While another I frequent has about twenty five articles on it's NHL page without mention of Getzlaf.


Cheers


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

^^^ I don't follow anything .. Just did some other search on google and found 10 article about Getzlaf-homofob


----------



## scorpion_ca (Nov 3, 2014)

Getzlaf Potty Mouth

https://www.gofundme.com/3t8p508


----------



## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

gibor365 said:


> ^^^ I don't follow anything .. Just did some other search on google and found 10 article about Getzlaf-homofob


Then it's not "all media is now very busy discussing" when your Google search is pulling the articles to the top, n'est pas?

Otherwise using the same methodology - all media is now very busy discussing army ants. :rolleyes2:


Cheers


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

In any case , jorney of Canadian teams to Stenley cup is finished . If not Leafs, no one of Canadian team will bring cup back 

In finals, I;m not sure for whom to cheer, I like Predetors style of game and I like underdogs, on the other hand , in Penguins plays our guy (and it's not Sydney)


----------



## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

Whoever wins the Stanley Cup will be brought back to Canada for the simple reason that players bring it to their home towns.

I haven't seen Nashville but I like Subban as a player and Montreal being pissed off would be a bonus. Still, I like the way Penguins play and Crosby is awesome. And if they win having lost their top D, half of the other D and with Crosby playing through concussion.... would be quite special.


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

Predetors also lost some key players like Fiala and captain Fisher


----------



## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

gibor365 said:


> ... In finals, I;m not sure for whom to cheer, I like Predetors style of game and I like underdogs, on the other hand , in Penguins plays our guy (and it's not Sydney)


No conflict/indecision for me ... Preds all the way for Fischer and Subban. :biggrin:


Cheers


----------



## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Where I am all the games are blacked out from streaming services due to the exclusive network deals. Even if I pay the $5.99 NHL Live it's still blacked out.

Tried to VPN my phone to Mexico but it reported my GPS location. Tried to VPN my phone to Canada to stream CBC Sports but same deal. Tried to bundle in a sports network with my comcast deal but it was like talking to a primitive robot.. yet somehow lowered my bill and sped up the internet instead

So I have to VPN my PC to Mexico to watch NHL Live that I paid for. No fancy multi cam options of anything. Commercials are blank screen and the hosts are randomly cut off mid sentence


----------



## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

I'm watching live streaming that game NBC Sports. Carolina 1 Maple Laughs zilch haha.

btw isn't the name Blue Jackets racist? Should change it to Fluffy Bunnies I think or I tear the cenotaph in Rock Creek down!.


----------



## bgc_fan (Apr 5, 2009)

Eder said:


> btw isn't the name Blue Jackets racist?


I'll bite, why is it racist?


----------



## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Well it actually streamed from the NHL app today without a Mexican VPN hack. Quality was a lot smoother maybe 60fps through the TV app with some more options

$5.99 for 5 games not bad. CBC sports and HNIC w racist Cherry was more entertaining though


----------



## bgc_fan (Apr 5, 2009)

Next up is the second phase lottery pick. This year was a mess of things when either the Oilers, Leafs, or Penguins are eligible for the overall top pick.

Who is betting on Penguins winning that one? Alexis Lafreniere ending up in Pittsburgh would just feed more conspiracy theories given that Crosby will probably reaching retirement as Lafreniere starts to get into his own.


----------



## sags (May 15, 2010)

And..............the Leafs are gone.

Let the excuses begin. Poor coaching. Jake Muzzin's injury. Bad ice. Bad referees. The sun came up in the morning.


----------



## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Don't worry @sags chances are a Cdn team or a Cdn player or an Earthling will win in Toronto this year


----------



## Money172375 (Jun 29, 2018)

sags said:


> And..............the Leafs are gone.
> 
> Let the excuses begin. Poor coaching. Jake Muzzin's injury. Bad ice. Bad referees. The sun came up in the morning.


They’re really needs to be an in-depth “study” or look at the reasons this team has been mediocre or worse, for 50 years. I think there there would be some good lessons for any teams, organizations or corporations. Hasn’t any sports reporter taken at a stab at such a book.....behind the scenes.......investigate the Way NASA does after an accident. I think it would be a fascinating read.

i think one point often overlooked is the simple fact of playing in Toronto. Other than maybe Montreal, I don’t think there’s any other hockey team that is idolized by its fans. My friend once owned a restaurant near the gardens. Let me tell you......during the late 80s and 90s, the players never paid for a meal, a drink (which they consumed well past the legal serving time). I bet they never paid for their morning coffee or their dry cleaning or their car washes. All the “pampering” makes them soft....in my opinion. Even after a bad game, I bet they’d get a pat on the back the next morning if they ran into a fan.


----------



## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

That's it sell the Leafs to Seatle

Vegas is doing great. Just start fresh with an expansion team. Toronto is barely even Canada itself and apparently the least Canadian of Canadian teams



> The reigning Stanley Cup champions [Blues] have 17 Canadians on the roster which is as much as the Vancouver Cancuks and Winnipeg Jets have combined.


Alright let's just cheer for Vegas then


----------



## bgc_fan (Apr 5, 2009)

Money172375 said:


> They’re really needs to be an in-depth “study” or look at the reasons this team has been mediocre or worse, for 50 years. I think there there would be some good lessons for any teams, organizations or corporations.


Part of it is probably culture. The other part is that it really is difficult to win the cup if you don't have the right building blocks. But now that a large portion of the salary cap is stuck on their forwards, they're going to have issues addressing the defense, which is their weak spot... then again, considering they got shut-out, maybe offense isn't so hot. I remember an article somewhere saying that Toronto is a tough place to play and that players see better success upon leaving.



m3s said:


> Vegas is doing great. Just start fresh with an expansion team.


Vegas didn't start fresh a la Ottawa, or even Florida. They had a different set of expansion draft rules that were really favourable, which allowed the GM to make some great deals. Of course getting Fleury made a huge difference. Most people thought he was done, but turned out to be a key component. And then they made subsequent trades to bolster their line-ups. Let's see how the Seattle Krakens turn out.


----------



## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

No brainer as Don Cherry would say....leave the Euro puffs...fill the roster with as many players as Mrs Sutter can spit out...regular season is for ballerinas...playoffs is for old time hockey


----------



## bgc_fan (Apr 5, 2009)

Eder said:


> No brainer as Don Cherry would say....leave the Euro puffs...fill the roster with as many players as Mrs Sutter can spit out...regular season is for ballerinas...playoffs is for old time hockey


That's interesting, I count 16 Canadians (including the captain and one assistant), 7 Americans (one assistant), 2 Finns, 2 Russian, 6 Swedes, 1 Swiss, 1 Czech and 1 Dane. Toronto Maple Leafs - Wikipedia

The top three point producers during the series were a Canadian, American and Swede.


----------



## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

St Louis 8 of 10 top points were Canadian...Oh...I guess they won the cup.


----------



## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Vegas has 20 Cdn, 7 US, 3 Swede and a Czech. St Louis has 19 Cdn but had the most last year and won. Sounds like the winning formula


----------



## bgc_fan (Apr 5, 2009)

Maybe I missed it, but is St Louis in the playoffs this year?

Edit: Never mind, I see they're playing Vancouver, I saw that they lost the last game.

I guess we'll see.


----------

