The Official 2018-19 NHL hockey thread

gaby · Apr 17, 2019

Fully agree..after leading 3-0 in the first period in the first game.....tout s'est écroulé...zip zip zip.....et oui ils ont écrit une page d'histoire.....bravo gentlemen.......lollll. .....and first playoff series victory for Columbus....big big credit to TORTO for the way he coached his team and wins...:yo:

Autres favoris les Pens sont également partis en fumée......bravo also to Trotz ...what an incredible success with a very average team :yo:

Hopefully we still have 3 Canadian teams.....not sure about the Flames......MacKinnon is playing his best hockey.......but Jets look good and i still believe Leafs could do it......

gaby · Apr 17, 2019

McLELLAN hired as Head Coach of the Kings.......wow.....good fit with this bunch of old losers.....

EagerBeaver · Apr 17, 2019

Bruins Great Bourque Shamed For Crossing Stop & Shop Picket Line

https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2019/04/15/ray-bourque-stop-and-shop-strike

Bourque’s excuse sounds kind of lame. Personally I don’t shop at that Supermarket because the one local to my area is very dirty and poorly managed. I wonder though why Bourque couldn’t get his meds at a different store. These picketers have been very aggressive everywhere I have seen them and this type of public shaming was a totally predictable result of his actions.

Doc Holliday · Apr 17, 2019

Count me among the ones who weren't totally surprised by Tampa's ouster from these playoffs. I actually picked Columbus to surprise them but in 6 or 7 games. I was shocked by the fact they swept them, though. The reason why i wasn't totally surprised by Columbus' performance was because i knew that this was an extremely talented team which had been underperforming for about a month after the trade deadline. But they had started to find their game and chemistry again in the final couple of weeks of the regular season and let's not forget that the Jackets have two-time Vezina trophy winner & all-star goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky between the pipes. So much talent on that team. Such a complete team.

As for the Islanders beating the Penguins i'm not surprised at all and actually picked the Islanders to beat them in 6. However i didn't expect the Pens to be swept but i wasn't as surprised compared to the Tampa/Columbus sweep. That's what happens when you have too many aging superstars on a team: the younger & hungrier teams will eventually get the best of you.

I didn't expect Toronto to beat the Bruins (i actually picked the Bruins in 6 or 7) but this team is starting to make a believer out of me. The playoffs are always a totally different story than the regular season. The top players are playing like top players, the defence is playing way better than they've shown during the season & Freddy Andersen is playing his usual all-star calibre type of hockey. He was absolutely great in the first half of the season but then may have got tired later in this long season. However it seems like the old Freddy is back!

As for Kadri's suspension i was somewhat surprised but it wasn't totally unexpected. Kadri snapped when he saw his arch-rival Jake DeBrusk make a questionable hit on classy 40-year old Patrick Marleau and lost it. He was still pissed about the no-call on DeBrusk earlier on when he kneed him. The good part of the suspension is that it meant offensive whiz Tyler Ennis was re-inserted into the lineup and Babcock could then move William Nylander to his natural centre position. Nylander played centre his entire career prior to joining the Leafs and also played centre at the World Championships a few years ago when he was named the tournament's MVP.

Let's put it this way: if losing Kadri is the reason the Leafs can't beat Boston then the Leafs have no business playing Boston. With the arrival of John Tavares this season it meant Kadri became a role player as the third line centre. He's a heck of a good role player and often get the opposing team's top centre paired against him but it's also a role that other players can take on as well. I love the way the Leafs' fourth-line played the other night and i love what Tyler Ennis brings to the power play. He's got great hands!

As for the defence its success depends on its health. With Jake Gardiner & Travis Dermott back from injuries it means players like Ron Hainsey are back down in the pecking order & will see less ice time. Hainsey will also be more energized for penalty killing, where he's most effective. Jake Muzzin & Nikita Zaitsev have become a reliable shutdown pair during these playoffs and Morgan Rielly continues to play like a Norris trophy candidate. I'm no longer worried about the defence.

If the Leafs manage to pull out a win tonight then it'll be very tough for Boston to come back. But they have the type of team that is built to be able to do it so who knows. And boy does Zdeno Chara look old out there....along with David Backes.

EagerBeaver · Apr 18, 2019

Toronto - Boston is going 7. We will find out how far Toronto’s defense has come. They are going to be tested. I believe the winner will face the well rested NY Islanders, whom I would rather play than Columbus which awaits Washington-Carolina winner.

gaby · Apr 18, 2019

We never talk of CHARA BUT at 42 what a leader and inspiration he is for his teamates.....he is showing the way.....

gaby · Apr 19, 2019

Hiiiiiii.....Jets were leading 2-0 and lost 3-2 with 15 sec to play.....does not look good.....une défaite crève-coeur qui peut laisser des traces.

No_Church_InThe_Wild · Apr 19, 2019

Winnie had the opportunity to go up 3-0 and perhaps change the complexion of the game . Instead the jets forward missed from point blank . He unintentionally stopped the puck from going in the net on a freak play.
They where leading and cruising with almost 10 min to go when St.Louis turned the game around . Anyways credit to the Blues for the comeback.
But some losses hurt more than others and this was one of them. Game 6 is in St. Louis where the Blues will try and be the first team in the series to win at home .

No_Church_InThe_Wild · Apr 19, 2019

EagerBeaver said:
Toronto - Boston is going 7. We will find out how far Toronto’s defense has come. They are going to be tested. I believe the winner will face the well rested NY Islanders, whom I would rather play than Columbus which awaits Washington-Carolina winner.

I agree this series feels like it’s a best of 7 . It’s a back and forth series and every time a team has won they sort of dominated or the other was off there game . Anyways it’s advantage Boston now for sure . I really thought Toronto was gonna show up and win game 4 so I’m disappointed but it’s not over .

EagerBeaver · Apr 19, 2019

It looks like Toronto will at least have a chance to close out Boston in 6 at home. Freddie Anderson is hot. Usually a .966 save .% will not get beat. I don’t think the Leafs will want to go back to Boston for a game 7 and rely on Freddie to save .966 % of shots in order to win by 1. It’s very precarious, and a do or die situation.

A few years back Toronto had a game 7 with Boston and were up 4-0 and lost. I couldn’t believe it. But their defense sucked at that time and I don’t see it happening again.

Sol Tee Nutz · Apr 20, 2019

Flames are out, go Winn and TO.

gaby · Apr 20, 2019

Leafs played a perfect game.....MATTHEWS PLUS ANDERSEN did the job...should do it tomorrow....we don't want them to play une 7ème game in Boston.

Yes dommage bye bye Flames BUT their best players were not the best...Gaudreau and Monahan were very silent...alors que MacKinnon---Rantonen--Landeskog played the same level of hockey que all season long....impressive.

Doc Holliday · Apr 20, 2019

EagerBeaver said:
A few years back Toronto had a game 7 with Boston and were up 4-0 and lost. I couldn’t believe it. But their defense sucked at that time and I don’t see it happening again.

The score of that game was actually 4-1 halfway in the third period. But the Bruins came back and tied it in the final seconds before winning it in OT. One thing people forget is that Toronto showed guts and determination in that series by coming back from a 3 games to 1 deficit in order to tie the series and play a game 7. Boston was at the time criticized heavily and looked at as 'choke masters' by letting the Leafs come back.

That same year Boston had the same thing done to them by Chicago (losing a big lead in the third), who ended up by winning the Stanley Cup.

EagerBeaver · Apr 20, 2019

I have grown impressed with Freddie Anderson, primarily because he is a horse, but also because he appears capable of getting hot and carrying a team. When TO signed him I thought they made a huge mistake, but he has developed. His greatest attribute is durability. Over the last 3 seasons he has faced more shots on goal than any goalie by a large margin. Every SOG means body movement and explosion and a possible injury. For him to face all those shots and never really get hurt with the nagging injuries plaguing other goalies is most impressive. How do you say horse in French? This is exactly how I like my goalies, tough and durable.

Toronto has a golden oppprtunity in front of them if they close Boston out. Of the 4 possible opponents in the east the only one that concerns you a lot is the Caps, the defending Champs, who have way more experience. In the west, the only teams that scare me are Winnipeg and Nashville. We will see what happens but the Leafs have a shot, certainly to at least make the finals.

No_Church_InThe_Wild · Apr 20, 2019

Sadly I only watched the first period of the Leafs game because of a previous engagement. But in those first 20 minutes Toronto surely looked like the better team. They where sharp from the get go and so I was pretty confident that they’d win it if they kept that intensity and level of play for the remainder of the game which they eventually did. Later I watched the highlights and found out that there was a goalie interference that went there way, so it seems that they got a bit of s break aswell. So far they have showed that they are capable of playing great defence as a collective unit. I just wished that they could be more consistent. I mean why couldn’t they come out with the same intensity in game 4 as in game 5 ? In any case they will now get a chance to close it out in front of there home crowd. Won’t be easy eliminating a proud Boston team. Also in this series the team that has lost has come out and won the next game pretty convincingly so let’s see if that trend continues.

Sol Tee Nutz · Apr 20, 2019

EagerBeaver said:
Every SOG means body movement and explosion and a possible injury.

The same happens to me after a SOG

No_Church_InThe_Wild · Apr 20, 2019

Doc Holliday said:
The score of that game was actually 4-1 halfway in the third period. But the Bruins came back and tied it in the final seconds before winning it in OT. One thing people forget is that Toronto showed guts and determination in that series by coming back from a 3 games to 1 deficit in order to tie the series and play a game 7. Boston was at the time criticized heavily and looked at as 'choke masters' by letting the Leafs come back.

That same year Boston had the same thing done to them by Chicago (losing a big lead in the third), who ended up by winning the Stanley Cup.

Yes that was s great series. I had forgotten that the Leafs where actually down 3-1 and came back and tied it up.
But I do remember game 7 quite vividly. If you where a neutral hockey fan the ending to that game was most dramatic and exciting. On the other hand if you where a Leafs fan it must have been quite shocking and just brutal the way that the game was lost.
And till this day it serves as a reminder once more that it’s never over no matter the lead or the deficit and that you have to play until the end.

P.s By the way I stopped watching that game when they where up by three thinking that it was over only to find out later about the monumental collapse.

No_Church_InThe_Wild · Apr 20, 2019

Sol Tee Nutz said:
The same happens to me after a SOG

Lol Didn’t know you played hockey STN

EagerBeaver · Apr 20, 2019

No_Church_InThe_Wild said:
Yes that was s great series. I had forgotten that the Leafs where actually down 3-1 and came back and tied it up.
But I do remember game 7 quite vividly.

It was actually 6 years ago. Fortunately for Toronto fans, guys like James Reimer are long gone:

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/bruins-eliminate-leafs-in-game-7-shocker-1.1386432

Most of the players on Toronto at that time are no longer on the team (except Kadri), guys like Phaneouf, Kessel (who won a couple of Cups since then) etc. Randy Carlyle, who said the Leafs "just ran out of gas." That usually is the problem in late collapses in any sport.

Reimer said it was "one of the top 5 lows" of his life. I wonder what the other 4 were? When one of his girlfriends broke up with him?

jalimon · Apr 20, 2019

Sol Tee Nutz said:
The same happens to me after a SOG

Haha!

Same here but I do not recall getting injured after a SOG.

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