THE BUSTED WINDOW OF CONTENTION WON'T STAY OPEN: THE NHL 2023-2024 SEASON THRED (INC KNIGHTS HANGOVER & PANIC MOVES. HOCKEY IS THE BEST)

Salary caps suck

lol

We have placed defenseman Tony DeAngelo on unconditional waivers.

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) July 14, 2023

happy retirement to Thomas Greiss

did not expect Jarry to sign with the Pens long term - he was not good the few times I saw him play this year

my understanding is that they had limited options and considered him the least-bad one. certainly the fans aren’t thrilled about it

Oppenheimer is the 2nd consecutive Christopher Nolan movie to feature a prominent cameo by former New York Rangers forward Sean Avery. this is very strange and important to me.

— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) July 18, 2023

Loled at this

Can confirm Phil Kessel's day with the Stanley Cup was today.

And once again, he had it in Toronto.

What a legend.

— Nick Alberga (@thegoldenmuzzy) July 19, 2023

VGK Phil Kessel keeps it relatively quiet (except for the birthday party 🙂) after his 3rd Cup victory. BTW, there were no hot dogs. (Toronto, ON). #StanleyCup @GoldenKnights @NHL @HockeyHallFame pic.twitter.com/DBNBkgfOOu

— Philip Pritchard (@keeperofthecup) July 19, 2023

3 cups since 2016, wonder if that's the most in the time period

pat maroon won three in a row from 2019-2021 with the blues and lightning

https://theathletic.com/4716841/2023/07/25/patrice-bergeron-retirement-bruins/

Bergeron, done

RIP Perfection

Not to drag you into this cesspool, but there's now a hockey Immaculate Grid:

https://www.immaculategrid.com/hockey

I got 6/9 on today's Original Six-only grid...which was kind of a miracle.

Start flinging Sutters in there and see what happens

wanna see how many days in a row i can use jagr

today's grid really points out the ridiculousness of ~winnipeg jets franchise history~

no one cares about the sanctity of coyotes/thrashers records! give the old jets back to the new jets

seems like a lot of money/term for tom wilson, but when you find a guy who can score some goals *and* injure opponents you need to lock that down

Last week I looked at the 10 worst contracts in hockey.
Tom Wilson's new deal would've ranked fifth.https://t.co/2e7gUHw28i pic.twitter.com/B3qUxsfzr3

— dom 📈 (@domluszczyszyn) August 4, 2023

*points at thread title like Buck Turgidson*

https://thesouloftheplot.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/hellseethebigboard_drstrangelove1.png

I think only a caps fan could love tom wilson so probably all for the better for us lowercase folks

pretty pleased by this trade for the penguins

- brought in a 100-point right-handed defenseman
- dumped two of hextall’s worst acquisitions (granlund, petry)
- gained $3m in cap space?!?!

incredible for the habs too

so i guess that means the sharks lose? :(

Good trade on the books for PIT, but they are still incredibly old and top heavy (as befitting a 3-time champion refusing to tear it down).

oh, absolutely. but if you're gonna go for one last ride there's no point in doing it halfheartedly

btw sid turns 36 today ffs

Rip Rick Jeanneret

https://theathletic.com/4786304/2023/08/17/rick-jeanneret-nhl-obituary/

aww

MAY DAY

Ah, that sucks, always kinda felt like the Sabres were my second team

classic babcock

loooooool babcock out

do kind of hate bissonette being proved right tho

Biz is a major league chode, but this was one helluva scoop by him. CBJ is a super young team, Babs thought he could pull his old stunts with them, and instantly lost their trust. The team will be better off without him, and I don't think he'll ever coach in the NHL again. He's a bully.

Babcock departs with the fourth-best win percentage in Blue Jackets franchise history.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F6Zif8JW4AAO8ph.jpg:small

Sheesh.

TIL modano never busted 100 pts in a season

haha same

it's a great day for hockey

He is so smol

secondary assist for his first point, just like he'd always dreamed

off to a great start

I don't know that I hate ESPN showing a little graphic with the puck carrier's name, but it's very video game-y. Were they doing this last season?

this is not how I expected the first Canucks game to go

guys the sharks are 0-10-1

they have scored 12 goals and allowed 55

Shorks

Back where they belong

20 goals against in the last two games

what if they never win a game

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/second-former-blackhawks-player-makes-210303411.html

Absolute fucking garbage organization. In a just world they'd have their 2010 Cup vacated, Bedard removed from the team and sent to Anaheim and lost their right to playoffs and Top 10 draft picks for the next decade. Hell, even better if the organization was dissolved entirely, right down to their racist ass logo, but I know that's not going to happen.

jvc otm

oilers in disarray

Unhinged

I want them to get desperate and offer their first born for Carter Hart.

appreciate when coaches get fired after a win

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/38896995/man-arrested-suspicion-manslaughter-adam-johnson-death

3 Canucks tied for the points lead, and Brock Boeser tied for the lead in goals.

This is not how I expected the first 16 Canucks games to go

went to the game against the Islanders last night, it was a blast

so today is native (american) heritage day, and marc-andré fleury, whose wife is first nations, wanted to wear a goalie mask designed by a native artist

and then the NHL said no
and then MAF was like, okay, i'll just pay the fine
and then the NHL said no, and also we will fine the hell out of the minnesota wild
and then MAF was like, okay, i'll just wear it in warmups
and the NHL still said no

and then it became a news story, and the NHL folded, and MAF is wearing it in the game tonight

i swear this league is run by the dumbest fucking people alive

Sure seems like it

Kane to the Wings rumors really solidifying, dunno how I feel about that.

Statement from the team: pic.twitter.com/1jqOm7pb5P

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) November 28, 2023

Who would think Corey Perry of all people would do such a thing?

Jeez is there any news on what Perry did? Maybe related but I’m amazed by how little coverage the Lucic thing has gotten.

If the rumors are true, wow.

Also, if the rumors are true, it's fitting that the slimiest club in hockey will freak over consensual adult sex but cover up rape all day long.

i can't imagine the rumors (that perry slept with bedard's mom) are true, and in any case i don't think the standard player's contract covers such events

but yeah it's rough when the chicago blackhawks are trying to take the moral high ground against you

* googles connor bedard mom furiously *

it's rough when the chicago blackhawks are trying to take the moral high ground against you

lmao exactly

Rumor debunked apparently. Bummer!

joe pavelski is such a beast

coyotes have won five games in a row, and those 5 games were against the last 5 teams to win the stanley cup (caps, blues, lightning, avalanche, knights)

there's playoff talk for them lately - really happy for their fans honestly! the team's been well-managed from a player standpoint and it's about time things begin to turn around

(From the isles broadcast, after the sharks made another big comeback tonight)

Brendan: The Sharks have come back from 4-0 to win 6-5 in ot

Butch: They have no quit in them

Thomas: They have no start in them either

nice

he's a good coach, but somehow eventually they all eventually stale

feel like mike sullivan's time with the penguins is approaching an end

would you guys help me out? Toronto native, lifetime casual hockey fan and I’m looking to better my understanding of the game. Sites? Podcasts? Where do you guys look? I’m into advanced stats as well. Cheers! 🍻

Well goaltending wasnt invented until 2003 or so

it's a sid-getting-buried saturday night

xp how dare you slander kelly hrudey

you've definitely come to the right site fF

Pens blow obv. this is about the reception i expected

i (srsly!) welcome your input here. this is hardly the place for analytics, tho. the athletic is pretty good

but as a pens fan . . . maybe go to bed and think really hard about how different the world was in 1967

i enjoy sean mcindoe's stuff on the athletic; he's a long-suffering (as if there were any other kind) leafs fan

sean mcindoe is the best

he's probably the main reason I subscribe to the athletic, but their hockey coverage is generally good.

ok sick i already subscribe there. GO LEAFS GOOO

the hockey guy on YouTube has good all around coverage for all 32 teams

yeah, i love hockey guy. i’ve watched a bunch of his league rundowns

thanks guys. May 2, 1967’s #1 was “A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You” by the Monkees. Sid is the best: he made this casual, no-look backhand pass off the boards to a guy behind him like it was nothing. hockey is the best when you see those flashes of natural talent

relatedly, i shot a UA commercial once w/Subban and i'm standing on the ice a bit shakily, he starts flitting his stick super-fast between my ankles, just barely grazing each time (i would've ate ice otherwise!). It was actually crazy to experience the otherworldly talent to even do that. Super fun dude, my favourite.

winning in philadelphia: step one

Kyler Murray reporting for work in Philly wearing a Penguins Sidney Crosby sweater pic.twitter.com/qjkne3ep8v

— Omar Ruiz (@OmarDRuiz) December 31, 2023

this cutter gauthier/flyers thing is a train wreck

Pretty weird but I've moved on already. Drysdale seems great (other than the injuries).

i think they did pretty well with the trade return. but it raises questions like 'why would a top prospect simply not want to play there?' and 'why would anyone, draftee or free agent, want to get involved with a fan base that sends its former players death threats?'

and while i've no idea if it had anything to do with gauthier's situation, i suspect there aren't too many players itching to work with torts at this point

I was not a fan of the Torts hiring at the time. They need(ed) a long term rebuild, and he tends to raise a team's floor in the short term but wear on his players in the long term. That still could be the case, but seeing him up close, my view is he asks things of players that any good coach should be asking (play hard, play smart, play D). He seems open and straight forward and doesn't play head games.

Rumors are that Gauthier was salty that the Flyers wanted him to go back to BC for a second year.

welcome to the Island, patrick roy

this canucks season is so enjoyable

what a jinx

did not expect Patrick Roy at all, but it was time for a change. Isles do have a more offense approach this year, but it seems to have come at the expense of 1) no longer being able to close out games in the third period 2) allowing way too many shots per game

brutal elbow to the face from brendan gallagher last night and he won’t even have an in-person meeting for it, meaning the suspension can be no more than five games

that guy is a real pos imho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0faZG1iFzeo

That now makes it 13 NHL head coaching changes since the end of last season: NYR, Calgary, Anaheim, Washington, Nashville, Columbus (twice), Edmonton, St. Louis, Ottawa, Minnesota, NYI and now LAK.

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) February 2, 2024

TmC has been on borrowed time for the last month

real shame that the oilers failed to match the 1993 penguins' NHL-record 17-game win streak

(tbf, they got goalied)

but

Since the Penguins’ 17-game winning streak in the 92-93 season is receiving much attention at the moment, a reminder: Mario Lemieux, in those 17 games, put up 27 goals, 24 assists and 51 points. And he did it only weeks after undergoing two months of cancer radiation treatments.

— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) February 7, 2024

I don't really follow hockey much anymore so don't post here much, but I was following it very much in 92-93 (good year for a Habs fan) and that Mario Lemieux season continues to be the most impressive thing I've ever seen in sports.

I was 13-14ish at the time and I don't think I realized just how crazy it was that he could do it, but as an adult, holy shit.

he's 58 now (born the same day as patrick roy!) but in the back of my mind i somehow keep vaguely expecting him to make another comeback

i know i've said this in several earlier threads but nevertheless the last time i saw anything more terrifying than mcdavid coming out of his own zone with the puck and a full head of steam was barry bonds circa 2001. and you can't walk mcdavid

i can understand why morgan rielly was upset about losing to a shitty team but crosschecking a guy in the head has nothing to do with Respect or The Code

The Code says you drop the gloves, at which point grieg either gets his ass kicked or ducks and runs. what rielly chose to do instead was throw a tantrum, so fuck him

even if they are on your team you can’t defend that kind of stuff

happy 52nd to jaromir jagr, whose number will be retired in pittsburgh on Sunday

https://theathletic.com/5263536/2024/02/12/jaromir-jagr-stories-pittsburgh-penguins

as i understand it, he's still occasionally playing for kladno (which he now owns) in czechia, so the hall of fame has no idea what to do with him

what a player

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwoh4HGmfdQ

A thread of my favorite Jaromir Jagr goals for the Penguins. To both celebrate his jersey retirement and educate the young among us, let's travel back down memory lane and have ourselves a nostalgic Sunday.

— Jesse Marshall (@jmarshfof) February 18, 2024

nice goal

CHARLIE MCAVOY WITH A BEAUTY TO WIN IT FOR THE BRUINS IN OVERTIME!#NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/aDEC5VAGqu

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) February 22, 2024

reading about how Auston Matthews was the fastest to reach 50 goals since Lemieux in '95-'96 reminded me how great Mario was, he did that after missing a season and a half (69 goals in 70 games!) then he retired again, and after three seasons he came back and scored 35 goals in 43 games.

tbf, the goalies matthews faces are much better and his average opponent is much faster than those in lemieux's era. and those mid-90s penguins teams were absolutely stacked with hall of famers and all-stars. and lemieux didn't have all of southern ontario calling him a loser for never leading his team past the second round

otoh, lemieux *also* had a league-leading 92 assists that year (matthews has 24). and there's the whole back surgery/cancer stuff. and that holding and interference were all but ignored 30 years ago

anyway matthews is super-impressive. somewhere i saw an 'era-adjusted' stat that gave him a slight edge over lemieux re: goal-scoring

52 now, ten in the last five games, six-game leafs win streak after blowing out the reigning champs on the road

waiting for leafs fans to panic that they're peaking too early

No, usually they peak right about Period 1 of Game 7 in the first round.

i take no pleasure in noting that the rangers have won 10 straight (for the first time in 51 years) and are now atop the league

Cackling uncontrollably, where is Bill Magill

Patrick Kane wins it in overtime in his return to Chicago.

No. Way. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/uWRyZiPMHs

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) February 26, 2024

rip the penguins' sidney crosby era : /

(tbf he's still awfully good, but he can't do it himself)

tom fitzgerald doesn't seem to understand that when you fire a new jersey devils coach this late in the season, you replace him with yourself

show some cultural awareness ffs

sorcery

Barkov JUGGLED the puck to assist on Reinhart's goal 😱 pic.twitter.com/OSko3aVSYv

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 5, 2024

that is awesome but seriously almost all NHL players -- even the shitty fourth-liners you wish would fuck off -- could (theoretically*) do that

these guys are the best ever and it is incredible <3

sometimes it's useful -- when you think to yourself, 'my team has games in hand; maybe they could go on a heater' -- to see said team blown out at home by another also-ran

anyway i feel like these playoffs could be really great? unless you're a leafs fan, i mean

btw we really need to go back to conference 1-8 playoff seeding rather than divisions imo

seems like not a huge price for Guentzel (wish the Canucks had got him)

love him but i'm not sure how much more you can get for a guy who is a pending free agent

wish that 'conditional first-round pick' was much more likely to happen tho

he's so smart/sneaky -- poster boy for color commentators talking about finding empty areas (that are nevertheless prime scoring areas)

and by far the greatest hockey player ever born in nebraska

Gonna be in Seattle for a few days, my pal who works for the Kraken hooked me up with tickets to see them play Buffalo. The Sabres are so bad but they're kind of my second team, so I will be rooting for them. The arena looks very nice, will be cool to see a pro game in person for the first time in a while.

pretty good

Less than a minute into the game, the home point streak continues. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/kIgt5BhS25

— NHL (@NHL) March 9, 2024

also dan m. please ask your pal if he can get me a job with the kraken. me and ron francis go way back

70+ points in 32 games is manic

cheeky

RUSLAN ISKHAKOV IS A MAGICIAN IN THE SHOOTOUT🪄🤯@AHLIslanders | #HFDvsBRI pic.twitter.com/2BX6a7mLl9

— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) March 10, 2024

Woop

I’ve heard his last name pronounced three different ways but he seems to be doing well in the ahl. Isles fans wanted him up this season but that was before they turned it around the last 5 games.

things are not going well for the detroit red wings

Nope, and especially after a very good run

red wings were doing so good like 2 weeks ago.

is it just me or do big winning streaks followed by big losing streaks have the real potential to get the head coach a contract extension by the middle and then fired by the end.

maybe i like claude giroux now

hell ya pic.twitter.com/0G1QeZmg81

— Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) March 15, 2024

that’s a great still

Sabres and Kraken put up four goals in the first six minutes, then Buffalo took control and it ended 5-2. Kraken home fans are loud but clearly lots are new to the game. Rink is super nice and easily walked to from downtown hotels. Overall a nicer experience than with similarly newb Chicago fans and Tomas Tatar should have stayed with the Wings.

rip chris simon, 52, and konstantin koltsov, 42, both by apparent suicide

have to suspect that CTE was a factor in the former, at least

Just saw the simon news :\

classic penguins game today: sid records 40th four-point game of career, team blows four-goal lead for just the third time in franchise history

oh and mackinnon’s home points streak is now at 34 games, tied for fourth-longest ever

the second eastern wild card -- and third in the metro -- are really coming down to who shits the bed least

currently lined up for a vegas-edmonton first-round series, which should be awesome

the kids are alright

ESPN gave us the reverse angle, this is so filthy from Nazar pic.twitter.com/pjURn4YUvk

— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) April 1, 2024

congrats to the flyers for winning a game

Utah Yotes! Move seems like it was handled with typical NHL grace and competence

Only just found out in French they call the power play “Supériorité numérique”. Listening to hockey in French is a trip.
https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supériorité_numérique

huh, in all my hockey years all i've ever heard was "avantage numérique".

Montreal broadcasters were saying superiorite last night, maybe it’s a habs thing

rip coyotes

26 seasons, nine playoff appearances, two legit playoff series wins. better than the blue jackets, at least

what should we call them in salt lake?

Pioneers (u heard it here first)

Salt Lake Salt Licks is too obvious to actually happen

flyers pull the goalie in a tie game seconds after they were eliminated from the playoffs, immediately let in an empty net goal that would clinch the playoff spot for the caps

Caps get in the playoffs despite a negative 37 goal differential

i actually sort of respect that flyers move lol

Are we sure Tortarella knew they had been eliminated when he pulled the goalie? (Wasn’t watching the game)

i'm guessing he didn't! but if he did, it would be tremendously funny

red wings scored a tying goal against montreal with 3 seconds left in their game, and detroit getting a point was enough to knock philly out. philly pulled the goalie seconds after the red wings goal, so Torts probably did not know.

Keystone cops coaching for a keystone cops franchise.

Wings missed their chance at the playoffs when they were dog shit for the first two weeks of March. Going thru on tie breakers and last second goals should never have been necessary.

Happy Trails Jeff Carter #gkg

Ryan and Ashley Smith of Smith Entertainment Group bought the team and its existing hockey assets for $1.2 billion from Alex Meruelo, sources told ESPN. Meruelo had owned the Coyotes since buying the franchise for $300 million 2019, but the league lost patience in his ability to find a long-term arena solution in Arizona and facilitated a sale.

meruelo only got $1B of it -- the other $200m was split amongst the other teams -- but that's a tidy profit from being an utter failure for five years

Reminds me of some MLS owners

Disappointed that Matthews missed his 70th. (Guessing that, analytically, he's not one of the Top 10 players in the league?)

i think he totally is

Total non-fan for most of the year, just curious. Glad to hear that.

lotta ways to look at it; here's one: https://www.hockeystatcards.com/all

he's an MVP finalist 3 of the last four years (including this year probably). He's arguably the best defender among the 4-5 forwards with massive scoring numbers.

salt lake team will be called 'utah', may not have a nickname until year two

at least one of mcdavid, mackinnon, kucherov and matthews *won't* be an mvp finalist but i really don't know who

crazy that there were two 100-assist seasons the same year. I think MacKinnon will win the Hart and McD will be second but the choice between Kucherov and Matthews for third is practically impossible

Hellebuyck and my guy Quinn Hughes also putting in MVP-worthy years. Fun season!

yeah there are certainly arguments for quinn hughes (and panarin too)

barring mackinnon going apeshit tonight, kucherov will win the scoring race and i believe he's scored or assisted on over 50% of tampa's goals. plus there's a pretty big gap between him and anyone else on the lightning, so i think i'd vote for him

otoh mcdavid/matthews/kucherov have already won harts, so yeah probably mackinnon. i won't be mad

barring mackinnon going apeshit tonight

well he needs four points in two periods

man the leafs are just a vehicle for pain

you love to see it

i attended the MTL-TOR WPHL game in Montreal today, breaking another attendance record. really fun! (except for the ending, boo!!)

nice

leafs . . . resilient! (strong attempt to blow it with idiotic late penalties tho)

islanders blow three-goal playoff lead for the first time in franchise history, get utterly dominated over the last 30 minutes, half the team gets misconducts for cheap-shotting people with under a minute left

lotta goals in the central this year

The Leafs are only the #2 hockey story in St. Marys (I assume they're at least that), where the Junior B Lincolns are trying to win the Sutherland Cup for the first time since 1976. They're in a round-robin with Fort Erie and Letterkenny Listowel right now, 1-1 so far--I think that's the final stage.

isles giving up three goals and the lead in the final 2 minutes was a low point of the year, and unfortunately also indicative of the season they’ve had. so many blown 3rd period leads. I wanted to get myself a game misconduct by the end, too.

a rare game in which both teams pulled the goalie

xp clemenza how far south/west of you do people start turning into detroit sports fans? or do you actually have to cross into michigan for that?

let's finally go to overtime (in florida)

(xpost) St. Marys is almost exactly halfways between Toronto and Detroit (just slightly closer to Toronto); a friend and I have July tickets to see the Dodgers in Detroit. I know my neighbor across the street is a big Tigers fan. To answer your question, my guess is there are many Tigers and Red Wings fans here (especially as London, which is 40 minutes away, used to field a Tigers farm team).

And two guys I bowl with hate the Leafs; one of them told me tonight he takes more pleasure from the Leafs losing, especially 7th games, than he does from his team, the Oilers, winning. Which is...weird!

This truly is the best time of the year

xp intersting thanks! i mean i knew that a *lot* of canada hates the leafs, but not that the hatred loomed quite so close

is there any possible way the kings win this in OT

No

otm

gah, can't believe i lost faith and turned it off in the second. GKG

rip bob cole

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b63sDrzPt9c

Aw :(

Damn

was not expecting bob to outplay vasilevskiy

TBL has been a little suspect this year, feels like they have lost a step

i think the islanders won every single faceoff in overtime

o the leafs

i don't even know what they should do! they could use better defense and goaltending i guess . . . but they have an astonishing forward group that just seems to not win playoff games

they've already got max domi and ryan reaves -- that's a lot of grit! are they supposed to trade nylander for cal clutterbuck or something?

running into the bruins in the first round doesn’t help

BROCK BOESER

what a fucking game

canucks did absolutely nothing all game, saved by the post on an empty net, and come out with the win

6+ periods, 32 SOG, 60 shots against, 2 wins

nobody realizes it, but you don't need to take shots to win

it's a bold strategy but you cannot argue with success

caps swept, zero points on six shots for ovi

appreciate it, but fuck the rangers too

is there any possible way the kings leafs win this in OT

My first thought when I read your question was, "Depends which is more painful--getting swept in five or losing in seven?" So I guess losing in seven must be worse.

they're still gonna lose but i respect the effort

if only the isles did not have *two* games where they gave up 2 goals 8-9 seconds apart…oof.

THE END
IS KNIES

fanbases that deserve better: winnipeg, buffalo

otm

leafs have held boston to four shots halfway through regulation but are not winning

i love their commitment to the bit

Boston can’t blow another 3-1 lead can they?

god bless the leafs for ramping up the heartbreak

(totally rooting for them, of course)

WILLY & THE
GREAT WOLL

Tonight I became a leaf’s sympathizer

what a moment for the vancouver canucks

Watched that game and had my opinion reenforced the kings are crud

I was in Cambridge this morning, so I was able to catch about an hour of call-in sports out of Toronto. Weird: a lot of it was about Nylander, or how much pressure was on the Bruins, or whether Matthews at 75% was a plus or a minus, etc., etc., but the whole time, you felt this, yes, invisible elephant in the room, that every caller and all the hosts knew exactly what's going to happen tonight.

Even I'm on edge, and I'm as bandwagon as it gets. I played tennis this afternoon with a paramedic in town who'll be working tonight; suggested he stay close to the phone if the Leafs fall behind by more than a goal.

i think it helps that they're kind of playing with house money -- no one expected them to win the last two, especially without matthews

worst-case scenario is, of course, they have a three-goal lead halfway through the third, and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdvoDFTcTLw

that was the most soul-crushing sports thing i've ever seen

Still remember a teacher I was working with at the time telling me about his grandson, five or six at the time and just becoming a fan, crying uncontrollably. Hooked for life, no doubt. Was thinking today about my own odd connection to the Leafs: born in Toronto, lived there till we moved 30 miles away in the summer of '67, a month or two after the last Cup (which I wasn't fan enough to remember--I became a fan for the next three or four years, till that got pushed aside for baseball around '71).

Boston can’t blow another 3-1 lead can they?

Well, Leafs are certainly the team to show them how it's accomplished

Baseball anxiety I can handle; hockey, much tougher.

otm

Toronto's played tough so far. Whatever happens, I don't think they've at least avoided the stupefaction that accompanied some of their recent disappointments.

(eliminate that "don't")

here we go

lol

who names their child 'hampus'

The Leafs didn't fall apart when they lost the lead, so that's something. Not sure I should subject myself to the overtime. Genuine sympathy for the real fans who live and die with them.

I was going to say the same thing

Re: hampus

this has all the makings of a four-overtime game

which means it will probably end within the first five minutes

will there be an odd number of penalties called? i say no

HOCKEY IS THE BEST

well fuck

at least they made it nearly as painful as possible

Sigh. That was a beautiful goal, and also kind of fluky to get such a perfect carom. But the announcer called it a hometown goal, that the puck was intentionally placed to get exactly that carom, so I'll defer to him. Sorry to all the Leafs fans here. I was all set to send a gloating email to those guys I bowl with.

That was 100% a set play

MAPLE LEAFS
MODEL OF
CONSISTENCY

i'm gonna need the rangers to lose a fucking game

(not that i don't appreciate pittsburgh's own vincent trocheck)

End of bos/fla game 2 is tiresome

good luck vancouver

xp yeah it's absurd but also those are two teams i don't mind getting punched

this Canucks team is unbelievable

god bless them

wow, bruins didn't even bother cheap-shotting ppl much in the third tonight

symsy how are you doing

(fwiw i wrote that before the goal, sorry)

that was another intense one. canucks are not capable of playing a normal playoff game

the McD breakaway goal was a beauty. too bad he's allowed to high stick canucks with impunity.

oilers are such a one-line team, but their best line can still dominate half the game. hard to see it working against colorado or dallas.

was having steve nash flashbacks when quinn hughes was sent to the bench for bleeding from the uncalled high stick

From the glory days:

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ron-ellis-who-played-over-1-000-games-with-maple-leafs-dead-at-79-1.6883241

well at least the fucking rangers finally lost a game

after multiple slow motion/freeze-frame looks at that hit the other night, a new angle shows sam bennett absolutely sucker-punched brad marchand

🚨 New angle just dropped of Sam Bennett punching Marchand in the face 🚨 pic.twitter.com/fL8dNXWeR7

— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) May 12, 2024

otoh, marchand punches people an awful lot (if mostly after the whistle), so i can't say i feel too bad

at any rate this whole thing barely fired up the bruins for one period before they got completely outclassed

also

BROCK BOESER

― mookieproof, Sunday, April 28, 2024 8:03 PM (two weeks ago)

fuuuuck marchand forevs

this sort of stuff needs to be run out of the game. HOWEVER maybe marchand's nose will be straight after that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2eZiRrqes8

canucks still incapable of playing a normal game

intersting article on goalie positioning (athletic/nyt; sorry, not sure how to make an athletic gift link):

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5493020/2024/05/15/nhl-goalies-lundqvist-rvh

actually, maybe try this https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5493020/2024/05/15/nhl-goalies-lundqvist-rvh/?source=emp_shared_article

disappointing

Canes really got all our hopes up for a second

no one should so badly blow a 3-1 third-period lead (leafs excluded) at home but carolina is a team explicitly built to *not* do that

oh yeah they’ll be thinking about that for awhile during the offseason

omg

picked a pretty good game to go to!

Canucks overcame some truly atrocious reffing

good luck sym

pucks to the net, boys

rip

those last few minutes...

what a fun team. I hope all the Oilers die in a fire

possible cup winners ranked:

preferred: edmonton
manageable: dallas
if we must: florida
never in this life or any other: rangers

agree

no time, no space

let's gooooooo

i'm tired

you can sleep now

i did!

boo

lafreniere's second goal today was a beauty

and then trouba (shocking, i know) threw a flying elbow to the head and only got two for it. that guy is a menace

kreider and zibinejad finally on the scoresheet, but alas, to no avail ;_;

took a while but lafreniere has become a beast

Both series could go either way. Come on Panthers.

dallas has 10 shots through 40 minutes

that's not gonna cut it

https://imokuareok.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/mk3.gif

I cant believe u knobs are rooting for florida over nyc

i have never forgiven adam graves

Points at darius kasparitis like turgidson

- in my division
- hated them for 45 years
- dolan
- deeply enjoy noting that they've won one cup in 84 years
- if only the canucks had hit fewer posts and more twine 30 years ago
- fuck mark messier and his mark messier award for people mark likes, like flying elbow artiste jacob trouba
- also i live here

i do respect the fans for 'potvin sucks' although i wonder how many know the stories

i don't like florida as a concept, or any of the tkachuks, and i have not forgotten the 1996 eastern (prince of wales?) conference finals, but . . . priorities

that's right

let’s go!

tbh people who are not *from* NYC* but are yankees/rangers/knicks/nyfg fans are suspect to me

yes i am looking at you james earl mod

(all jets fans are suspect for other reasons)

Its about denying the state of florida anything!

let’s all welcome back Canada to the Stanley cup finals

that first McDavid goal

Let's fuckin go oil

expected goals tonight: dallas 3.37, edmonton 1.01

sometimes a goalie steals a game, and sometimes that goalie turns out to be stuart skinner

i hadn't noticed, but defector pointed out that the edmonton crowd's initial response to macdavid's goal was to gasp before they started cheering

understandable

here's a record that will never be broken: overtime playoff wins

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GOtz4ysWYAArCaR?format=png&name=360x360

kind of rude to take a whole week off before Game 1 of the cup finals

so dumb

guessing they'd have liked to start thursday, but the NBA's own week off beat them to it. have to play saturday because that's HNIC

also there are a bunch of two-day breaks (that would still be there if it were dallas vs florida, so it's not about flight distance)

;_;

Dogshit

The capitals have bought capfriendly, and looks like they want to make it a completely different site / remove all that salary cap info that fans love.

rip canada, among others

well good for yous

that was fun!