What's new

2013 - 2014 NHL Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

Scott Merryfield

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 16, 1998
Messages
18,864
Location
Mich. & S. Carolina
Real Name
Scott Merryfield
I do not have any strong feelings - positive or negative - for the two franchises, either. The Canadiens rarely play the Rangers or the Kings in the playoffs, where rivalries are quite often born. I remember the Canadiens beating each of the clubs in the Cup Finals once (LA in '93 and NY in '79). Each team has one former Plymouth Whaler on their roster -- Justin Williams for LA and J.T. Miller for NY. I have always liked the way Lundqvist plays goal, but Quick is also very exciting, even though his style is unconventional. So, I do not have any rooting interest one way or the other in this matchup.
 

Walter C

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2006
Messages
2,409
Real Name
Walter
I will say the Kings in 7 games, because why not? Every other series they played, has gone 7 games. Though the Rangers played only 1 less playoff game, so it was not like either team steamrolled into the finals.
 

Ockeghem

Ockeghem
Senior HTF Member
Deceased Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2007
Messages
9,417
Real Name
Scott D. Atwell
Walter,The Kings have a chance (I think) to become the first-ever team to win four seven-game series in the NHL playoffs in the same year. The Bruins won three in 2011. I think your pick could very well be right.
 

Walter C

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2006
Messages
2,409
Real Name
Walter
Ockeghem said:
Walter,The Kings have a chance (I think) to become the first-ever team to win four seven-game series in the NHL playoffs in the same year. The Bruins won three in 2011. I think your pick could very well be right.
Yeah, I was wondering about that, if any team had played every single possible playoff game. I remember that B's playoff run in 2011, with the only one not going the distance, was a sweep against the Flyers.

For once, the Kings will have home ice advantage, not that it has really mattered much in hockey, in general.
 

Scott Merryfield

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 16, 1998
Messages
18,864
Location
Mich. & S. Carolina
Real Name
Scott Merryfield
Walter C said:
For once, the Kings will have home ice advantage, not that it has really mattered much in hockey, in general.
This is true, but it is always something that surprises me. Hockey is one of the few sports where home field (or ice in this case) has actual, tangible benefits -- last line change and not having to place your stick on the ice before the puck is dropped on faceoffs. And yet it just does not translate to a better home winning percentage than other sports where there are no actual rules that favor the home team.
 

Ockeghem

Ockeghem
Senior HTF Member
Deceased Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2007
Messages
9,417
Real Name
Scott D. Atwell
Scott,Agreed. One would think it would be a significant advantage. I once read (perhaps it was on this Forum) that home-ice seems to matter for game sevens. I suppose it has to do with feeding off of the crowd, as well as those items you mention above.Did you hear that Blashill (coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins) has been offered a new three-year deal to continue as their coach? I've heard him interviewed many times over the years. He seems like a really good guy, and he also seems to be able to get (I know it's a bit cliche) the most out of his players. The sports radio programs I listened to today echoed what the article suggests, in that he could one day be Babcock's successor.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/11032690/detroit-red-wings-ahl-coach-jeff-blashill-agree-3-year-deal
 

Carlo_M

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 31, 1997
Messages
13,385
Ockeghem said:
Scott,Agreed. One would think it would be a significant advantage. I once read (perhaps it was on this Forum) that home-ice seems to matter for game sevens.
Yeah, in that for this year, if you have home ice for game seven vs. the Kings...you will lose. :DNervous time for me...Go Kings Go!
 

Ockeghem

Ockeghem
Senior HTF Member
Deceased Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2007
Messages
9,417
Real Name
Scott D. Atwell
Carlo,Well, the Rangers don't have home ice, so you're golden this year! ;)
 

Carlo_M

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 31, 1997
Messages
13,385
Actually that's kind of a problem! This is the first series the Kings have home ice. And they're favored by the oddsmakers for the first time. I hope they can keep their intensity. It's been a heckuva first period so far!
 

Scott Merryfield

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 16, 1998
Messages
18,864
Location
Mich. & S. Carolina
Real Name
Scott Merryfield
Ockeghem said:
Did you hear that Blashill (coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins) has been offered a new three-year deal to continue as their coach? I've heard him interviewed many times over the years. He seems like a really good guy, and he also seems to be able to get (I know it's a bit cliche) the most out of his players. The sports radio programs I listened to today echoed what the article suggests, in that he could one day be Babcock's successor.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/11032690/detroit-red-wings-ahl-coach-jeff-blashill-agree-3-year-deal
That is good news, Scott. Unfortunately, the news is not so rosey on this side of the state for my Plymouth Whalers. The team announced their new GM, 61 year old Mark Craig, who has been away from the OHL since the late 1980's. This. combined with owner Pete Karmanos's comments that if attendance does not improve, he may sell the team for relocation, makes this look like a lame duck hire until the team is sold. My wife and I will be quite sad if this does happen, as attending Whalers games has been how we've spent our Saturday nights in the winter for many years now. They will definitely be in Plymouth for the 2014-15 season, but everything is up in the air after that.
Carlo Medina said:
Yeah, in that for this year, if you have home ice for game seven vs. the Kings...you will lose. :DNervous time for me...Go Kings Go!
I am envious of you, Carlo. I miss having that nervous feeling. I had a taste of it in Game 7 versus the Bruins this year (my wife thought I was having a nervous breakdown the entire 3rd period :lol: ), but I long for another Finals appearance. It's been 21 years since I experienced one for the Habs.
 

Carlo_M

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 31, 1997
Messages
13,385
You wouldn't have been envious of my emotions midway through the first period when the Rangers seemed to have six men on the ice at all times...

Unfortunately it looks like the Rangers didn't get the memo: the Kings love to go down by 2 goals and come back to win. If they get 2, you gotta stretch it to 3 or 4. If you let up, and think that 2 goals is safe (especially when they were scored so early) it will come back to bite you.

Of course, I don't think the Rangers fully let up, I think the Kings took a while to get acclimated to the speed of the Rangers. And the Rangers were very ballsy in that shorthanded goal: they clearly had a mindset of scoring, not just killing the penalty like most teams who are shorthanded focus on, and that completely surprised the Kings which led to the breakaway shorthanded goal.

That said, Lundqvist was a beast. I don't know what more he could have done to keep Rangers in the game. Quick didn't have to make as many saves but was truly only beaten once (on a breakaway off a bad turnover) and the other goal was a bad luck bounce off of Voynov's skate after Quick denied the shorthanded chance initially. As Sutter said in the post game interview, he may not have had to make many saves in the third period, but the ones he made were of the A+ variety.

Looking forward to Game 2! I have a feeling this series is going to go the distance.
 

Carlo_M

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 31, 1997
Messages
13,385
One more thought: I watch all the major US sports (football, baseball, basketball, even soccer) and I have to say I find hockey goal celebrations to be the best among all of the post-score antics. Football has gotten so over-the-top that the league has to make rules against showing the other team up. Baseball, the home run admiration from the plate gets your teammate plunked the next at-bat. Basketball you can get T for being disrespectful after a major dunk (deservedly so). And soccer, well they border on the bizarre at times.

I find hockey post-goal celebrations to be truly joyous, and unique to each player, moments where there's the quick initial celebratory motion, and then a group one with your on-ice teammates. I've not seen one be disrespectful or over the top. And my favorite celebration in all of sports is to see the gloves fly up when a team wins the Stanley Cup. It's even sweeter if it's your favorite team. :)
 

Scott Merryfield

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 16, 1998
Messages
18,864
Location
Mich. & S. Carolina
Real Name
Scott Merryfield
Carlo, if I was a Kings fan, the one thing that would really scare me about the Rangers is Lundqvist. You will not find another goalie who is better.

As for the celebrations, I agree. While there are certainly exceptions, overall I think hockey players are probably the most down to earth of all professional athletes.
 

Carlo_M

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 31, 1997
Messages
13,385
You don't have to tell me, Scott. Kings fans don't need to look any further than our 2012 Cup run to know what a difference a hot netminder playing at the top of his game can do for a team. Don't get me wrong, the rest of the team was great in 2012, but Quick basically stoned the opposition for four series to seal that championship.
 

Scott Merryfield

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 16, 1998
Messages
18,864
Location
Mich. & S. Carolina
Real Name
Scott Merryfield
Ockeghem said:
I remember discussing this possibility after the Penguins were swept by the Bruins last year. Bylsma compiled a 252-117-32 record while coaching the Pens.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/11042111/pittsburgh-penguins-fire-coach-dan-bylsma-hire-gm-jim-rutherford
The hiring of Rutherford really surprised me. I figured that, at his age, he was just retiring when he stepped down in Carolina. Rutherford had been working for Karmanos for a very long time -- 20 years in NHL with Hartford/Carolina, plus he was the GM with my local Plymouth Whalers of the OHL before that (they were called the Junior Red Wings back then).
 

Walter Kittel

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 28, 1998
Messages
9,770
One more thought: I watch all the major US sports (football, baseball, basketball, even soccer) and I have to say I find hockey goal celebrations to be the best among all of the post-score antics. Football has gotten so over-the-top that the league has to make rules against showing the other team up. Baseball, the home run admiration from the plate gets your teammate plunked the next at-bat. Basketball you can get T for being disrespectful after a major dunk (deservedly so). And soccer, well they border on the bizarre at times.
I find hockey post-goal celebrations to be truly joyous, and unique to each player, moments where there's the quick initial celebratory motion, and then a group one with your on-ice teammates. I've not seen one be disrespectful or over the top. And my favorite celebration in all of sports is to see the gloves fly up when a team wins the Stanley Cup. It's even sweeter if it's your favorite team.
I would agree with all of that. For my money, the handshake line is one of the very best examples of sportsmanship you will find in all of sporting. (There are the rare exceptions to even this tradition, of course.) Easily my favorite celebratory tradition in pro sports.
- Walter.
 

davidmatychuk

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2012
Messages
2,142
Location
Vancouver, B.C.
Real Name
David Matychuk
Walter Kittel said:
I would agree with all of that. For my money, the handshake line is one of the very best examples of sportsmanship you will find in all of sporting. (There are the rare exceptions to even this tradition, of course.) Easily my favorite celebratory tradition in pro sports.
- Walter.
That's the Canadian way.
 

Scott Merryfield

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 16, 1998
Messages
18,864
Location
Mich. & S. Carolina
Real Name
Scott Merryfield
Walter Kittel said:
I would agree with all of that. For my money, the handshake line is one of the very best examples of sportsmanship you will find in all of sporting. (There are the rare exceptions to even this tradition, of course.) Easily my favorite celebratory tradition in pro sports.
- Walter.
Milan Lucic disagrees. :lol:

BnuWIUoCYAIWiSc.jpg
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Forum statistics

Threads
356,810
Messages
5,123,579
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
1
Top