2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Thread

[GMRwings1983 8,802]

17 hours ago, chaps80 said:

Jets and Caps better wake the hell up, or it's gonna be one boring Finals no one will care about. Vegas/Tampa. LOL

Yeah, because people in America really care about the Jets.  They haven't been important since they had Joe Namath at QB.  

[chaps80 1,591]

17 hours ago, F.Michael said:

While I'm not a fan of the Golden Showers I must give credit where it's due - they're a damn good team, and too bad it looks like the Jets are shot down in flames...Cue  Bon Scott, and AC/DC...

 

 

HUGE Bon Scott fan here.

[chaps80 1,591]

8 hours ago, GMRwings1983 said:

Yeah, because people in America really care about the Jets.  They haven't been important since they had Joe Namath at QB.  

Canadian fans do, and nearly everyone watches playoff hockey in Canada, even if they are casual fans and don't have a favorite team. The Jets lose this series, and that's pretty much the end of the playoffs for many viewers. Two teams in the lower US states playing for the Cup, will be limited interest, not just in Canada but parts of the US as well. Some fans do like the Vegas story season, while some think it's making the NHL look ridiculous. Which it is. $500 million bucks and a very favorable draft format and you have a Cup in your first season? Uncle Gary strikes again. Not enough that the Pens won back to back Cups the past two seasons in a league that talks about "parity". Since 2008-09, four teams have won every Cup. Chicago with three, Pittsburgh with three, LA with two, Boston with one. Parity sure is working. It's the same as it was when four teams won every Cup from 1995-2003.

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

1 hour ago, chaps80 said:

Canadian fans do, and nearly everyone watches playoff hockey in Canada, even if they are casual fans and don't have a favorite team. The Jets lose this series, and that's pretty much the end of the playoffs for many viewers. Two teams in the lower US states playing for the Cup, will be limited interest, not just in Canada but parts of the US as well. Some fans do like the Vegas story season, while some think it's making the NHL look ridiculous. Which it is. $500 million bucks and a very favorable draft format and you have a Cup in your first season? Uncle Gary strikes again. Not enough that the Pens won back to back Cups the past two seasons in a league that talks about "parity". Since 2008-09, four teams have won every Cup. Chicago with three, Pittsburgh with three, LA with two, Boston with one. Parity sure is working. It's the same as it was when four teams won every Cup from 1995-2003.

Really? I thought hockey was religion up north. I mean even non-football fans watch the Super Bowl in the US regardless of who is playing in it.

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

1 hour ago, chaps80 said:

Canadian fans do, and nearly everyone watches playoff hockey in Canada, even if they are casual fans and don't have a favorite team. The Jets lose this series, and that's pretty much the end of the playoffs for many viewers. Two teams in the lower US states playing for the Cup, will be limited interest, not just in Canada but parts of the US as well. Some fans do like the Vegas story season, while some think it's making the NHL look ridiculous. Which it is. $500 million bucks and a very favorable draft format and you have a Cup in your first season? Uncle Gary strikes again. Not enough that the Pens won back to back Cups the past two seasons in a league that talks about "parity". Since 2008-09, four teams have won every Cup. Chicago with three, Pittsburgh with three, LA with two, Boston with one. Parity sure is working. It's the same as it was when four teams won every Cup from 1995-2003.

Well you glossed over the fact that he was making an obvious joke, but lets digest...

Oh boo hoo, salty Canadians will stop watching if the last Canadian team is eliminated... Some hockey nation you are... here's an idea, maybe a Candian team should ice an actual championship team for once. There's absolutely nothing the league does that favors American teams over Canadian ones. If all the Canadian teams are out it's their own fault, not the leagues. I also find it somewhat humorous that the Jets have the most American players...

Vegas had a very favorable draft format? What planet are you on? I literally dont think anyone pegged them to even make the playoffs until the 2nf half of the season. Even in the first rounds of the playoffs experts were writing them off as a big fluke.

Fans think the Vegas situation is ridiculous? Then they are idiots. If Vegas wins the cup this year it will be one of the biggest underdog stories in sports history. A very cool thing for Vegas and hockey, that will grow the sport.

I have nothing against Canada, but you literally just sound like a salty Canadian/Jets fan. 

Edited May 20, 2018 by ChristopherReevesLegs

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

Canadian based franchises make up just under 25% of the league. Yet, they haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1993. In fact they have only 5? Finals appearances since then. Statistically speaking a Canadian team should win the Cup every 4 to 5 years and have a team in the Finals every 2 to 3. And yet we need to put more franchises in Canada? Why? If they aren't winning now, how does adding more teams change that?

As much as purists hate having teams in places like Arizona, Miami and Carolina and want to relocate them, Carolina and Florida have more finals appearances since their inceptions than Montreal, Toronto, and Winnipeg. And Arizona has just as many- 0. Florida has just as many Finals appearances as Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton (1) since their expansion. Only Vancouver (2) has more in that time. And Carolina has more Finals appearances (2) than every Canadian franchise since they moved to Raleigh. And 1 Stanley Cup to Canada's 0.

In 16 seasons, the Nordiques missed the playoffs 7 times, made the Conference Finals only twice, and never once made it to the Cup finals. Why do they deserve another team over the "non-hockey" markets?

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

49 minutes ago, Neomaxizoomdweebie said:

Canadian based franchises make up just under 25% of the league. Yet, they haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1993. In fact they have only 5? Finals appearances since then. Statistically speaking a Canadian team should win the Cup every 4 to 5 years and have a team in the Finals every 2 to 3. And yet we need to put more franchises in Canada? Why? If they aren't winning now, how does adding more teams change that?

As much as purists hate having teams in places like Arizona, Miami and Carolina and want to relocate them, Carolina and Florida have more finals appearances since their inceptions than Montreal, Toronto, and Winnipeg. And Arizona has just as many- 0. Florida has just as many Finals appearances as Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton (1) since their expansion. Only Vancouver (2) has more in that time. And Carolina has more Finals appearances (2) than every Canadian franchise since they moved to Raleigh. And 1 Stanley Cup to Canada's 0.

In 16 seasons, the Nordiques missed the playoffs 7 times, made the Conference Finals only twice, and never once made it to the Cup finals. Why do they deserve another team over the "non-hockey" markets?

Theres about 5 million Canadians (and change) per each Canadian team.

Theres about 13 million Americans (and change) per each American team.

Hurr durrr, I wonder why the league wants to expand into America, hmmmmm real brainteaser this one is

 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2018 by ChristopherReevesLegs

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

13 minutes ago, F.Michael said:

Atlanta was granted not one, but two expansion teams, and supposedly the're a 'big American market'...Phoenix is also considered a large market...How could they possibly be in the red?

Take a wild guess where the Avs played the season prior before they won the Cup in 1996?

IMHO - it's all too easy to point out the financial woes of smaller markets in Canada, but with the changes made over the years any market with a solid fan base can succeed.

Wins, and losses seem to effect attendance here in the States more so than they do in Canada (as in Canadian based NHL franchises have a much better consistency with their home attendance during rough times than their American counterparts)...Back in the 1990's - both Winnipeg, and QC had  roughly 90% capacity in their respective arenas...Can the same be said today for many American based NHL franchises?

In America weve seen Minnesota, Hartford, and Atlanta go defucunt. With Minnesota returning.

In Canada weve seen QC and Winnipeg defucunting, with Winnipeg returning. 

Based on the ratios of teams to fans its still in favor of the states. Simply put, Canada has no more markets to expand into, and America has many. I don't get why this is so hard to unnderstand. Sure canadian fans are more loyal, but there arnt enough of them to make the math work... America still has huge open markets and dollars to capture. 

Sure Joe-Bob down the street will buy lemonade at your stand everyday, but its smarter to sell one glass once a month to every single person in the town. Its called scaling and its business 101

.

[marcaractac 3,963]

16 hours ago, chaps80 said:

Canadian fans do, and nearly everyone watches playoff hockey in Canada, even if they are casual fans and don't have a favorite team. The Jets lose this series, and that's pretty much the end of the playoffs for many viewers. Two teams in the lower US states playing for the Cup, will be limited interest, not just in Canada but parts of the US as well. Some fans do like the Vegas story season, while some think it's making the NHL look ridiculous. Which it is. $500 million bucks and a very favorable draft format and you have a Cup in your first season? Uncle Gary strikes again. Not enough that the Pens won back to back Cups the past two seasons in a league that talks about "parity". Since 2008-09, four teams have won every Cup. Chicago with three, Pittsburgh with three, LA with two, Boston with one. Parity sure is working. It's the same as it was when four teams won every Cup from 1995-2003.

If Vegas makes the finals, that will be enough of a story to keep fans tuning in. Apparently the Jets/Vegas series has been doing extremely well in ratings. 

 

The biggest crime of these playoffs is how the two top teams met in the second round. That should never, ever happen. 

Edited May 20, 2018 by marcaractac

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

16 hours ago, F.Michael said:

So you're gonna compare 90% capacity in Canadian markets to what now?

Sorry - I'm apparently not very business savvy, but the NHL is not he NFL - as in butts in the seats generate revenue which the NHL cannot dismiss.

More peeps in the seats = more $$$ at the end of the season...Am I missing something?

The idea you present works great if those in the USA are buying the product, but they're not...Canadians buy in hook-line-sinker.

In theory you're not wrong, but in reality ever more markets are buying the product. I think youre vastly underestimating the size and potential of the U.S. market. Sure Atlanta failed, and Arizona looks weak, but for each of these failures theres also major success stories. The growth of the sport in California has been tremendous. Vegas has skyrocketed into popularity (I was there a week ago and the city is golden knights obessed). Texas has done well enough that the league has pegged Houston for the next expansion after Seattle. Kansas has appeared as a blip on the radar...

Theres good reason the league is not choosing QC to expand into. Canada is a saturated market. A QC team wouldnt create a ton of new Canadian fans, it would simply steal a bunch of Montreal fans. Aka market cannibalizing. Canada is already hockey crazy, theres no new markets to capture.

America has hundreds of millions of potential fans that havent discovered that hockey is the best sport on earth yet. Canada doesnt even have a 100 million people...

 

Edited May 20, 2018 by ChristopherReevesLegs

[NerveDamage 4,176]

Vegas to the SC Final

[NerveDamage 4,176]

1 minute ago, Jonas Mahonas said:

Jets are a classy team with classy fans.

Definitely

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

10 minutes ago, F.Michael said:

Watching the NBC feed...Street view just outside the arena has litter scattered all over the place...Filthy Canadians!

 

I hear ya, and I agree that the potential is much greater here in the States...Just that I hate to see 'traditional' markets get the shaft in favor of a market that may not do well.

I like to think about it from an owners perspective as well... if i owned Toronto, Detroit, or Ottawa would I want a new team going into Hamilton? f*** no, and Id fight to keep the league out. Same with QC from Montreals perspective.

Do any owners give a monkeys ass if a team goes into Vegas or Seattle? Not at all. In fact if Im vancouver I might encourage it with seattle bc it will likely bring on a new rivalry that can boost sales. 

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

20 minutes ago, ChristopherReevesLegs said:

In theory you're not wrong, but in reality ever more markets are buying the product. I think youre vastly underestimating the size and potential of the U.S. market. Sure Atlanta failed, and Arizona looks weak, but for each of these failures theres also major success stories. The growth of the sport in California has been tremendous. Vegas has skyrocketed into popularity (I was there a week ago and the city is golden knights obessed). Texas has done well enough that the league has pegged Houston for the next expansion after Seattle. Kansas has appeared as a blip on the radar...

Theres good reason the league is not choosing QC to expand into. Canada is a saturated market. A QC team wouldnt create a ton of new Canadian fans, it would simply steal a bunch of Montreal fans. Aka market cannibalizing. Canada is already hockey crazy, theres no new markets to capture.

America has hundreds of millions of potential fans that havent discovered that hockey is the best sport on earth yet. Canada doesnt even have a 100 million people...

 

I never took one business class in college, and I understand this. To use the Wal-Mart model, if they only built stores where they were already known and successful, they never would have expanded north of the Mason-Dixon Line or west of the Mississippi River. They would have continued to build stores across the street from other stores, competing against themselves. That's not growth, its shuffling money around. To grow their company, they expanded into the Northeast, Midwest, and western US; then into Canada, Mexico, and overseas. That's real growth.

That is exactly the model the NHL is following. Move into virgin markets and bring in new customers. Sometimes those new markets fail, just like some new Wal-Mart stores fail. But, the NHL has grown from 6 to 31 teams in 50 seasons. Only 6 of those expansion teams were ever Canadian based, the rest in US markets. There hasn't been expansion in Canada since 1992. 7 teams (Seattle will make 8) have been added in the US since then. The league is a business. Money is the ultimate goal. If there was more to be made in Canada, the NHL would put more teams there. They would have no reason not to. They haven't because the market is tapped.

ECON101

[kickazz 5,459]

Lol bye Canada

1 hour ago, F.Michael said:

I hear ya, and I agree that the potential is much greater here in the States...Just that I hate to see 'traditional' markets get the shaft in favor of a market that may not do well.

Which traditional markets? 

[chaps80 1,591]

22 hours ago, ChristopherReevesLegs said:

Well you glossed over the fact that he was making an obvious joke, but lets digest...

Oh boo hoo, salty Canadians will stop watching if the last Canadian team is eliminated... Some hockey nation you are... here's an idea, maybe a Candian team should ice an actual championship team for once. There's absolutely nothing the league does that favors American teams over Canadian ones. If all the Canadian teams are out it's their own fault, not the leagues. I also find it somewhat humorous that the Jets have the most American players...

Vegas had a very favorable draft format? What planet are you on? I literally dont think anyone pegged them to even make the playoffs until the 2nf half of the season. Even in the first rounds of the playoffs experts were writing them off as a big fluke.

Fans think the Vegas situation is ridiculous? Then they are idiots. If Vegas wins the cup this year it will be one of the biggest underdog stories in sports history. A very cool thing for Vegas and hockey, that will grow the sport.

I have nothing against Canada, but you literally just sound like a salty Canadian/Jets fan. 

Not just because of the last Canadian team. Just not a lot of people care about a team in Nevada and a team in Florida playing in the Final. 

They had a favourable draft format. Each team could protect 11 players from their rosters. Gee, thanks Gary. At least in the last expansion they could protect 15 players. Vegas would NOT be where they are had they used that same format. They got players teams wanted to and would have kept had those 4 extra slots have been open. Take away Marchy, Karlsson, Theodore, etc. maybe even Fleury, had the Pens chosen the alternate 2 goalie 10 skater format. The problem I have with drafts like that is those are other teams players, many they have drafted and developed themselves, which is crucial in the cap era. Some rich ******* throws $500 million bucks at the league and gets to take one player from each team? Why? He had no issue signing Shipshayev or whatever his name was, he can go find more of his own players. 

An underdog story? Hahaha More like a welcome gift from the NHL.  I’m not being salty, the whole thing is an embarrassment to the league. But you go ahead and enjoy it. Wonder what the draft rules for Seattle will be? 7 total skaters and no goalie that can be protected? 

[chaps80 1,591]

As for the Quebec/Colorado move that people have brought up. Quebec was a team that got moved while being a solid goalie away from a Cup. And look what happened the very next season. Who made the Lindros deal that brought in Forsberg? Drafted Sakic and guys like Foote? Quebec. Another gift to a US market. No one can honestly blame Quebec for wanting a franchise again after theirs was snatched when on the brink of a Cup run. They have the fans, they have the arena. They’d actually be able to support a franchise without league bailouts like Arizona, but Arizona is Gary’s pet project and he can’t allow himself to admit defeat when it’s been a lost cause for years. That’s a problem.

[kylee 727]

And there you go. The Vegas Golden Knights expansion team, with no captain, 6 alternate captains make it to th Cup final in their first year as a franchise. Looking back I thought they’d be a playoff team but everything is going right for them this season, including Fluery playing out of his mind. It’s going to be a weird celebration when the Golden Knights win the Cup and their fans have to wonder what icing is (kidding). Serious though, I’ve watched quite a few VGK games in the playoffs and the electricity just doesn’t seem to be there or just isn’t translating on TV

[Dabura 12,228]

Kinda wishing I'd put money on my preseason prediction that Vegas would make the SCF.

What. a. story.

[Dabura 12,228]

15 minutes ago, chaps80 said:

An underdog story? Hahaha More like a welcome gift from the NHL.

It absolutely is an underdog story.

Everyone looked over their roster before the season began and concluded they'd be lucky to make the playoffs this season.

[chaps80 1,591]

2 minutes ago, Dabura said:

Kinda wishing I'd put money on my preseason prediction that Vegas would make the SCF.

What. a. story.

Many in Vegas did. Wouldn’t be surprised to see some gambling establishments near bankruptcy afterwards, depending on the amount bet. Say some high roller bet a million cause that’s nothing to him, he’s collecting $500 million off it, that’s ONE bet. Lots of deep pockets in Vegas that made similar bets I’m sure.  

[Xitium 272]

13 minutes ago, chaps80 said:

An underdog story? Hahaha More like a welcome gift from the NHL.  I’m not being salty, the whole thing is an embarrassment to the league. But you go ahead and enjoy it. Wonder what the draft rules for Seattle will be? 7 total skaters and no goalie that can be protected? 

 

Its already been announced that Seattle draft would be the same that Vegas got and that Vegas will be protected.

There should definitely be an embarrassment, but that is on the other GMs, not on the expansion draft. GMs gave out NTCs, NMCs and were forced to protect players they probably would not have. 

1) The Florida Panthers traded Reilly Smith in exchange for Vegas selecting Jonathan Marchessault and a fourth-round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Florida wanted to lose Smith’s contract, but didn’t want Demers to be claimed.

2) The Pittsburgh Penguins traded their second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Vegas selecting Marc-Andre Fleury.

3) The Minnesota Wild traded Alex Tuch in exchange for Vegas selecting Erik Haula and a conditional third-round pick in the 2017 or 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Minnesota wanted to protect Dumba.

4) The Columbus Blue Jackets traded their first-round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, a second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and David Clarkson in exchange for Vegas selecting William Karlsson. Columbus wanted to protect Korpisalo and Anderson.

[chaps80 1,591]

Just now, Dabura said:

It absolutely is an underdog story.

Everyone looked over their roster before the season began and concluded they'd be lucky to make the playoffs this season.

I don’t see how. They got a great roster out of the draft. Not only Cup winning vets, but some great young players, and other young guys due to break out anytime, like Karlsson, and did he ever. They also got lucky with Subban when Fleury went down, but that was just a waiver pickup that happened to work out after Boston gave up on him. Got a bunch of assets from teams too that they used some of to beef up what they already had. 

I dunno how some can’t see that this expansion draft would NEVER fail with how tight the league is cap wise and the amount of protection slots given to each team. Making the playoffs was the goal at the very least. 

7 minutes ago, Xitium said:

Its already been announced that Seattle draft would be the same that Vegas got and that Vegas will be protected.

There should definitely be an embarrassment, but that is on the other GMs, not on the expansion draft. GMs gave out NTCs, NMCs and were forced to protect players they probably would not have. 

1) The Florida Panthers traded Reilly Smith in exchange for Vegas selecting Jonathan Marchessault and a fourth-round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Florida wanted to lose Smith’s contract, but didn’t want Demers to be claimed.

2) The Pittsburgh Penguins traded their second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Vegas selecting Marc-Andre Fleury.

3) The Minnesota Wild traded Alex Tuch in exchange for Vegas selecting Erik Haula and a conditional third-round pick in the 2017 or 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Minnesota wanted to protect Dumba.

4) The Columbus Blue Jackets traded their first-round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, a second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and David Clarkson in exchange for Vegas selecting William Karlsson. Columbus wanted to protect Korpisalo and Anderson.

That’s not just other GMs faults when they’re hands are forced by 11 protection slots. Had they had the extra four, none of what you posted would matter. 

I didn’t know the Pens gave anything up to Vegas for them to take Fleury. I thought he was the goalie they wanted all along. Why would they have to give them a 2nd? 

[chaps80 1,591]

So if Vegas wins the Cup, they’re still protected in the Seattle expansion? 

HAHAHAHHA 

[Xitium 272]

5 minutes ago, chaps80 said:

I didn’t know the Pens gave anything up to Vegas for them to take Fleury. I thought he was the goalie they wanted all along. Why would they have to give them a 2nd? 

 

I dont know, voodoo. The same can be said for Marchessault.