It's time for The NHL Playoffs! - Page 18

fumei · #**256** 05-24-2018, 05:11 PM

I do not know who I will be rooting for. One part of me wants it to be Vegas, simply for the fairy-tale aspect of it. Fairy-tale, but one that also reflects that they deserve to be there; they worked hard for it.

On the other hand, I do in fact want Ovechkin to hoist the Cup. Regardless of what you may think of him personally, there is no denying that he IS one of the great players of our time. He may not get another chance. So yeah, I think he deserves to win his name on the cup.

On the OTHER hand (the third one...the Motie one for those who are SF fans), there are literally hundreds of players who may "deserve" to hoist the cup and never did.

So there ya go.

I will mostly be rooting for the games themselves. I hope they are worthy of the Stanley Cup Finals. Monday can not come fast enough.

And yeah, catdaddy, I would leave off making - ahem, "easy" predictions. Just kidding.

jpd · #**257** 05-24-2018, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fumei

I do not know who I will be rooting for.

On the other hand, I do in fact want Ovechkin to hoist the Cup.

So there ya go.

I will mostly be rooting for the games themselves. I hope they are worthy of the Stanley Cup Finals. Monday can not come fast enough.

And yeah, catdaddy, I would leave off making - ahem, "easy" predictions. Just kidding.

We will be treated to the *fastest show on ice*...

catdaddy · #**258** 05-24-2018, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fumei

I do not know who I will be rooting for. One part of me wants it to be Vegas, simply for the fairy-tale aspect of it. Fairy-tale, but one that also reflects that they deserve to be there; they worked hard for it.

On the other hand, I do in fact want Ovechkin to hoist the Cup. Regardless of what you may think of him personally, there is no denying that he IS one of the great players of our time. He may not get another chance. So yeah, I think he deserves to win his name on the cup.

On the OTHER hand (the third one...the Motie one for those who are SF fans), there are literally hundreds of players who may "deserve" to hoist the cup and never did.

So there ya go.

I will mostly be rooting for the games themselves. I hope they are worthy of the Stanley Cup Finals. Monday can not come fast enough.

And yeah, catdaddy, I would leave off making - ahem, "easy" predictions. Just kidding.

Well that was another serving of crow that I richly deserve!

I do want to say for the record that I admire Ovechkin very much as a player and as a person (from some very complimentary things I've read about how he conducts himself off the ice). I hope one day he does get his name on the Cup, but I'd prefer it would not be with this particular group of Capitals players. There are some on that roster that I do not like.

I'd really like to see Fleury get the Conn Smythe after spending most of his career in Sid's (and Geno's) shadow(s).

fumei · #**259** 05-24-2018, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catdaddy

I'd really like to see Fleury get the Conn Smythe after spending most of his career in Sid's (and Geno's) shadow(s).

+++++1 for that! I would as well.

Dru Edwards · #**260** 05-28-2018, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AX17609

Congratulations to the WASHINGTON CAPITALS!

Yep, Congrats to the Capitals. Hard to believe they made it to the Finals just a year after so many people were saying "trade Ovechkin".

I'll be rooting for Vegas in this one although part of me does want Ovechkin to win at least one Cup in his career ... just not now.

fumei · #**261** 05-28-2018, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Yep, Congrats to the Capitals. Hard to believe they made it to the Finals just a year after so many people were saying "trade Ovechkin".

I'll be rooting for Vegas in this one although part of me does want Ovechkin to win at least one Cup in his career ... just not now.

I have come down on the other side. I think I will be rooting for the Caps...but only after a Game 7. I want Vegas to give them a serious scary run right to the end.

An Ovechkin one-timer in a Game 7 overtime. That would be exciting. I want Ovechkin to win his cup; and I suspect it will be this year or never. So I will root for the Caps, but just barely.

OldGuitarGuy · #**262** 05-28-2018, 11:21 AM

Gotta go with the Pens West. I want to see Marc-Andre Fleury lift the cup a fourth time.......sure Ovechkin is the greatest goal-scorer of this generation, but Sydney Crosby is the complete package. Love those pens but since they're out, good luck Golden Knights.

fumei · #**263** 05-28-2018, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldGuitarGuy

Gotta go with the Pens West. I want to see Marc-Andre Fleury lift the cup a fourth time.......sure Ovechkin is the greatest goal-scorer of this generation, but Sydney Crosby is the complete package. Love those pens but since they're out, good luck Golden Knights.

Yeah, I gotta soft spot for Fleury, and that is what makes me lean towards Vegas (Pens-West..that made me laugh). And if it was not for wanting Ovechkin ("the greatest goal-scorer of this generation" - your words...which I agree with) to get a Cup I would be rooting for Vegas for sure.

But Ovechkin IS one of the greatest goal-scorer of this generation. He deserves a Cup hoist. Fleury has had one. So I am, somewhat reluctantly hoping Ovechkin gets to do it. I want to see his face.

Sid is the complete package, way more than Ovechkin. He too has had his major time in the sun (Stanley Cup AND Olympic gold). Give Ovechkin his moment.

catdaddy · #**264** 05-29-2018, 06:27 AM

Well that was entertaining! From the Vegas-style pregame extravaganza to the empty net goal with 2 seconds left on the clock the game met my expectations for the beginning of a great series (except for Tom Wilson's late hit on Marchesseau). Congrats to The Golden Knights on a hard fought 6-4 win!

fazool · #**265** 05-29-2018, 06:35 AM

That was the most intense and hard played game I can remember seeing. Ten goals !?! There were eight goals in under fifty minutes of play - that was crazy.

Being a never-won team, I was appalled that a brand new expansion team is given so much advantage they can be competitive and even make the playoffs in their first year. It seems thyat they had something unfair in their drafting.

But now, I actually want them to win just because of the absurdity of it all.

I want to shock everyone at NHL HQ and all the owners.

And I never want to hear "rebuilding season" again. Because if a team can build, gel and win in one season, then there is never aneed for a rebuilding season ever. And you can literally go from non-existent to the best of everyone in one season.

jpd · #**266** 05-29-2018, 06:52 AM

WHAT A GAME ONE!

pf400 · #**267** 05-29-2018, 07:30 AM

Dirty hockey, refs apparently told to let the violence happen to entertain the American fans. No thanks.

jpd · #**268** 05-29-2018, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pf400

Dirty hockey, refs apparently told to let the violence happen to entertain the American fans. No thanks.

It was *horrendous* officiating...that is unquestioned!

catdaddy · #**269** 05-29-2018, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fazool

That was the most intense and hard played game I can remember seeing. Ten goals !?! There were eight goals in under fifty minutes of play - that was crazy.

Being a never-won team, I was appalled that a brand new expansion team is given so much advantage they can be competitive and even make the playoffs in their first year. It seems thyat they had something unfair in their drafting.

But now, I actually want them to win just because of the absurdity of it all.

I want to shock everyone at NHL HQ and all the owners.

And I never want to hear "rebuilding season" again. Because if a team can build, gel and win in one season, then there is never aneed for a rebuilding season ever. And you can literally go from non-existent to the best of everyone in one season.

I will concede that Vegas had perhaps the best situation that any expansion team in professional sports has ever had for its draft. Even so the Golden Knights roster was not hailed as a sure-fire winner by anyone after the draft was completed. This was a team most experts felt would not make the playoffs given its talent.

Vegas GM George McPhee did a phenomenal job of leveraging his situation. Simply looking at the way he maneuvered Minnesota into giving him 2 players (Erik Haula and Alex Tuch) instead of 1 at the draft was pure genius. He made trades after the draft for players such as Ryan Reeves and Tomas Tatar who've had a big impact in the playoffs. And perhaps best of all he hired Gerard Gallant as his head coach. A great coach who had gotten a raw deal with The Florida Panthers a year before.

Keeping the drafting protocol the same, but having a different GM and head coach would likely not result in anything resembling what we've seen with the Golden Knights this year. It was the brilliant work of the GM and head coach and the hard work by this group of players that is the root of their success, not a gifting by the NHL through the draft.

fumei · #**270** 05-29-2018, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catdaddy

I will concede that Vegas had perhaps the best situation that any expansion team in professional sports has ever had for its draft. Even so the Golden Knights roster was not hailed as a sure-fire winner by anyone after the draft was completed. This was a team most experts felt would not make the playoffs given its talent.

Vegas GM George McPhee did a phenomenal job of leveraging his situation. Simply looking at the way he maneuvered Minnesota into giving him 2 players (Erik Haula and Alex Tuch) instead of 1 at the draft was pure genius. He made trades after the draft for players such as Ryan Reeves and Tomas Tatar who've had a big impact in the playoffs. And perhaps best of all he hired Gerard Gallant as his head coach. A great coach who had gotten a raw deal with The Florida Panthers a year before.

Keeping the drafting protocol the same, but having a different GM and head coach would likely not result in anything resembling what we've seen with the Golden Knights this year. It was the brilliant work of the GM and head coach and the hard work by this group of players that is the root of their success, not a gifting by the NHL through the draft.

I would agree with that last bit. It was good coaching and players willing to WORK that got Vegas to where they are. They deserve it.

While I still wish for a Washington win, I think that the years of frustration is eating at them. They have something to lose. Vegas has NOTHING to lose and are just playing as hard as they can. I am going to make a catdaddy-type prediction. Vegas in 6.

As for the officiating...it was not great.

As for the craziness of the opening show...heck it is Las Vegas. They could not help themselves. I laughed out loud.