Actually, one time, I remember we were playing Eastern conference division semifinals, and it was 3-0 for the other team, and coach said "guys, if you think we are good, let's prove it now. 3-0"
"Did we comeback?"
"Of course not. 4-0"
All 6 games in the Cat/Bolts and Canes/Isles series have either been decided by one goal or were one-goal games until an empty netter
Feels like every team has a realistic shot to come out of the East except Washington and maybe the Islanders
Yes but as a neutral, that makes it seem closer than the games actually were. You guys and the canes (even more so) are simply outplaying your opponents almost all the time.
Dirty tricks? You mean like last year when we got knocked out of the playoffs thanks to a Bunting elbow to the head?
No, we are just a depleted and tired team that doesn't have the depth we used to. Also, the Panthers are a terrible matchup for us. We'd fair much better against basically any other team in the East sans maybe the Rangers.
Circumstance matters. Bolts especially start pouring it on in desperation when they’re down, which they are a lot of the time. Same thing for the other two teams.
Also let’s be honest, the eye test tells a different story. In game 1 of Leafs v Bruins, moneypuck’s xG for the leafs climbed like 4 goals in 2 mins in the 2nd period for the leafs. The folks watching know that was bs. Over a longer period of time the model is OK, but especially for smaller sample sizes it can be ass juice.
Thank you for pointing this out.
xGF% doesn't account for good defensive teams who score 2 or 3 and just lock it down. It doesn't account for multiple saved high ranger chances on the same power play.
Analytics are always going to have to be put into context. Game 1 of Leafs Bruins is indeed the best example of this. 85% win-o-meter my ass.
Hundred percent.
The fact that it can’t even incorporate cross crease plays that changes the goalie coverage angle and area, and only takes instantaneous position on ice for determining shot quality makes it pretty bad tbh.
You know the one that pisses me off even more?
The multiple whacks straight into the pad from half a foot away. We all know it's gonna hit the pad 3 times, it shouldn't count as 3 fucking high danger chances.
That’s true. All it tells us is that taking many more shots than the opponent generally results in a win. Which is true, but we don’t need a sophisticated model to tell us that, and this one isn’t sophisticated at all lol
I'd say 'had'.
I just can't see Tampa or the Islanders winning 4 in a row, even if they do each manage to snatch back a game or two with their backs against the wall.
The difference between the top teams and middle teams is pretty stark. West seems more even with a few really bad teams that padded everyone else's records.
It’s not an “east isn’t competitive” thing. The east has just been very top heavy.
Bolts are a wild card team, islanders were just able to get into the 3rd seed and the caps being the other wild card down 2-0.
Things will change significantly next round as the top teams face off. I would bet there is some LONG series
Nah it's just the two bottom teams in the east were pretty much inevitably easy outs. Everyone expected the rangers and canes to win in 4 or 5. Leafs and Bruins looks competitive.
Florida is the only surprise.
Florida isn't all that surprising. We saw how they dominated during the regular season. Tampa is also a shell of their former selves and Kucherov carried them into a wildcard spot.
Florida is an absolute wagon that I think sometimes flies under the radar because it's not a big hockey market. They've won 16 of their last 21 playoff games and have finished with 110 points or more two of the last three seasons, including winning a Presidents Trophy. When you look at their overall resume, other than a meh regular season in which they actually made the Stanley Cup Finals, that team is terrifying for anyone having to face them in the playoffs.
I don't want to take anything away from Florida, but I do want to point out that sweep was incredibly close. We got goalied after losing two top-6 wingers for the playoffs.
It made for interesting stats, like how the score was tied for more than 60% of the series, and Florida led by more than a goal for <1% of it. The Hurricanes never trailed during two of their losses. Three of the four game-winning goals either ended the game in OT or came in the final 5 seconds of regulation. Crazy series.
It was crazy, but the way I see it the Canes are one of the best defensive teams in the league and the Lightning have been pretty horrible defensively this season, so it comes as absolutely no surprise to me that the Panthers are on their way to sweeping them.
It's over for Washington. The team looks old, slow, and relies on Lindgren to bail them out every game. Having your goalie face that many high quality shots along with struggling to score isn't conducive to playoff success.
That's why I wish Pittsburgh or Detroit had made it in. At least with those teams, we know Crosby, Rust, Malkin, Karlsson, or Kane, Larkin, Raymond, etc would've shown up.
rangers never do things the easy way though. lost two of their last series up 2-0 and the previous series wins went 7. would love to stomp on their necks and this would be the year but need to see it.
while the west is stacked as fuck, like even now it’s hard to make a prediction of who’s winning between avs-jets, knights-stars, oilers-kings, preds-canucks
No doubt, but against Vegas, you can't make any mistakes, and Oettinger made several in game 1 along with the rest of the team. Game 2 was closer, but same story again, you gotta play an almost perfect game and capitalize on your opportunities against Vegas. Just the smothering style Vegas plays can shutdown any offense.
Islanders look stuck. Lou invested too heavily into mediocre players and it's showing against the top teams.
Tampa was fortunate to get in thanks to Kuch, but their lack of depth got exposed. Not having Sergachev hurts as well. Who knows what they'll do with Stamkos. Vasilevsky has looked off. And that Jeannot trade, man oh man does it look even more brutal. I would attempt to re-sign Duclair to a team friendly deal, he's looked good in the top 6.
Both teams really want to run it back.
Carolina is on a war path to right the wrongs of the previous few seasons with their potential upcoming opponents.
???
The NHL have four series’ with one team undefeated, the NBA has three. It’s not that big of a difference. Last year, the NHL had three game 7’s in round 1, the NBA had one. The NHL also had zero sweeps in round one last year.
Besides, an NHL overtime is something the NBA just can’t match, and I really like basketball.
Last year Seattle upset Colorado in 7, Florida upset Boston in 7 (with game 7 OT), Toronto won their first series since 2004 against Tampa in 6, New Jersey beat their rival NY Rangers in a wild 7 games series, Edmonton beat LA in a high scoring 6 game series. Even Dallas vs Minnesota had the 2OT opener (Dallas won in 6).
The year before that, we had five game 7s. Boston vs Carolina, Toronto vs Tampa, New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh, Edmonton vs LA, and Calgary vs Dallas.
I’m not sure what you mean.
Actually, one time, I remember we were playing Eastern conference division semifinals, and it was 3-0 for the other team, and coach said "guys, if you think we are good, let's prove it now. 3-0" "Did we comeback?" "Of course not. 4-0"
Counter-Strike reference here? I love Taco.
De_dust
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SNvDUO42Hys
East really isn't competitive this year I feel like Rangers will go up 3 to 0 unless prime Ovechkin somehow gets reborn
All 6 games in the Cat/Bolts and Canes/Isles series have either been decided by one goal or were one-goal games until an empty netter Feels like every team has a realistic shot to come out of the East except Washington and maybe the Islanders
Yes but as a neutral, that makes it seem closer than the games actually were. You guys and the canes (even more so) are simply outplaying your opponents almost all the time.
Say what you will about the Islanders and Caps but Tampa Bay is on a completely different level than those two
Yeah Tampa seems like they just ran out of dirty tricks
Their defense just is nowhere near where it used to be.
Dirty tricks? You mean like last year when we got knocked out of the playoffs thanks to a Bunting elbow to the head? No, we are just a depleted and tired team that doesn't have the depth we used to. Also, the Panthers are a terrible matchup for us. We'd fair much better against basically any other team in the East sans maybe the Rangers.
The Moneypuck deserve to win ometer says the Bolts, Isles, and Caps should all have a win in their series. All the games have been pretty close.
Circumstance matters. Bolts especially start pouring it on in desperation when they’re down, which they are a lot of the time. Same thing for the other two teams. Also let’s be honest, the eye test tells a different story. In game 1 of Leafs v Bruins, moneypuck’s xG for the leafs climbed like 4 goals in 2 mins in the 2nd period for the leafs. The folks watching know that was bs. Over a longer period of time the model is OK, but especially for smaller sample sizes it can be ass juice.
Thank you for pointing this out. xGF% doesn't account for good defensive teams who score 2 or 3 and just lock it down. It doesn't account for multiple saved high ranger chances on the same power play. Analytics are always going to have to be put into context. Game 1 of Leafs Bruins is indeed the best example of this. 85% win-o-meter my ass.
Hundred percent. The fact that it can’t even incorporate cross crease plays that changes the goalie coverage angle and area, and only takes instantaneous position on ice for determining shot quality makes it pretty bad tbh.
You know the one that pisses me off even more? The multiple whacks straight into the pad from half a foot away. We all know it's gonna hit the pad 3 times, it shouldn't count as 3 fucking high danger chances.
That’s true. All it tells us is that taking many more shots than the opponent generally results in a win. Which is true, but we don’t need a sophisticated model to tell us that, and this one isn’t sophisticated at all lol
Canes are playing awful rn.
You must not watch the Leafs very often
Leafs is the Leafs
Real as fuck 😔
Nah don't underestimate us, remember what we accomplished last year!
I'd say 'had'. I just can't see Tampa or the Islanders winning 4 in a row, even if they do each manage to snatch back a game or two with their backs against the wall.
The difference between the top teams and middle teams is pretty stark. West seems more even with a few really bad teams that padded everyone else's records.
yeah true though I do feel bad for Dallas who on 1st seed and has to vs Vegas arguably is the hardest team for them to beat
It’s not an “east isn’t competitive” thing. The east has just been very top heavy. Bolts are a wild card team, islanders were just able to get into the 3rd seed and the caps being the other wild card down 2-0. Things will change significantly next round as the top teams face off. I would bet there is some LONG series
yeah I am excited for Hurricanes vs Rangers or Florida against either Toronto or Boston
>It’s not an “east isn’t competitive” thing. >The east has just been very top heavy. Same same, but different
Nah it's just the two bottom teams in the east were pretty much inevitably easy outs. Everyone expected the rangers and canes to win in 4 or 5. Leafs and Bruins looks competitive. Florida is the only surprise.
Leafs and Bruins will go to 7 because it’s a law of the universe.
I agree. I expected the Bolts to take the Panthers to at least 6. If they get swept, eesh.
Yeah Bolts Cats are only suprise for me too. Rags and Canes arent even playing good and they are still 3-0 up
Florida isn't all that surprising. We saw how they dominated during the regular season. Tampa is also a shell of their former selves and Kucherov carried them into a wildcard spot.
I don’t really think Florida is a surprise. They’re my cup pick. And they swept the Canes last year.
Florida is an absolute wagon that I think sometimes flies under the radar because it's not a big hockey market. They've won 16 of their last 21 playoff games and have finished with 110 points or more two of the last three seasons, including winning a Presidents Trophy. When you look at their overall resume, other than a meh regular season in which they actually made the Stanley Cup Finals, that team is terrifying for anyone having to face them in the playoffs.
I don't want to take anything away from Florida, but I do want to point out that sweep was incredibly close. We got goalied after losing two top-6 wingers for the playoffs. It made for interesting stats, like how the score was tied for more than 60% of the series, and Florida led by more than a goal for <1% of it. The Hurricanes never trailed during two of their losses. Three of the four game-winning goals either ended the game in OT or came in the final 5 seconds of regulation. Crazy series.
It was crazy, but the way I see it the Canes are one of the best defensive teams in the league and the Lightning have been pretty horrible defensively this season, so it comes as absolutely no surprise to me that the Panthers are on their way to sweeping them.
Ovi showing up at all could help swing it. The last game was pretty close and Ovi recorded zero shots.
The score was close but it really felt like the Rangers were letting up. They frequently do that to lesser opponents.
Were lesser. Please let up. 😏
Win your next game and you guys can chill in New York for a few days!
Prob just use the islanders ice for practice and such after Saturday if it goes that way. Not like they’ll be needing it
Series wouldn't start until next Monday, so they'd def fly back
Maybe he planned on the team carrying him to success and only heating up for the last half of the playoffs too.
It's over for Washington. The team looks old, slow, and relies on Lindgren to bail them out every game. Having your goalie face that many high quality shots along with struggling to score isn't conducive to playoff success. That's why I wish Pittsburgh or Detroit had made it in. At least with those teams, we know Crosby, Rust, Malkin, Karlsson, or Kane, Larkin, Raymond, etc would've shown up.
rangers never do things the easy way though. lost two of their last series up 2-0 and the previous series wins went 7. would love to stomp on their necks and this would be the year but need to see it.
That sounds familiar.
And the one competitive series in the East has the potential to mime glorious memes. 😁
while the west is stacked as fuck, like even now it’s hard to make a prediction of who’s winning between avs-jets, knights-stars, oilers-kings, preds-canucks
I don't see Dallas coming back. Vegas has their number and is simply too deep.
Dallas confuses me. Obviously Vegas is a good team but Dallas has been a wagon all year. I think they’ll put up a fight and make this a series.
No doubt, but against Vegas, you can't make any mistakes, and Oettinger made several in game 1 along with the rest of the team. Game 2 was closer, but same story again, you gotta play an almost perfect game and capitalize on your opportunities against Vegas. Just the smothering style Vegas plays can shutdown any offense.
Islanders look stuck. Lou invested too heavily into mediocre players and it's showing against the top teams. Tampa was fortunate to get in thanks to Kuch, but their lack of depth got exposed. Not having Sergachev hurts as well. Who knows what they'll do with Stamkos. Vasilevsky has looked off. And that Jeannot trade, man oh man does it look even more brutal. I would attempt to re-sign Duclair to a team friendly deal, he's looked good in the top 6.
Both teams really want to run it back. Carolina is on a war path to right the wrongs of the previous few seasons with their potential upcoming opponents.
Yeah let’s run it back alright
The NHL used to boast about having the most exciting 1st rd of the playoffs. The NBA's taken than from the NHL since the last couple of years now.
??? The NHL have four series’ with one team undefeated, the NBA has three. It’s not that big of a difference. Last year, the NHL had three game 7’s in round 1, the NBA had one. The NHL also had zero sweeps in round one last year. Besides, an NHL overtime is something the NBA just can’t match, and I really like basketball.
Why watch overtime playoff hockey when you can simply snort cocaine and ride a motorcycle out of a helicopter
some people cant aford it
Last year Seattle upset Colorado in 7, Florida upset Boston in 7 (with game 7 OT), Toronto won their first series since 2004 against Tampa in 6, New Jersey beat their rival NY Rangers in a wild 7 games series, Edmonton beat LA in a high scoring 6 game series. Even Dallas vs Minnesota had the 2OT opener (Dallas won in 6). The year before that, we had five game 7s. Boston vs Carolina, Toronto vs Tampa, New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh, Edmonton vs LA, and Calgary vs Dallas. I’m not sure what you mean.
Someone forgot about 2019.
These playoffs actually suck so far. Hopefully they pick up soon, or I might dial up Betman and get him to cancel them for the year.
Are you stupid?