2013 - 2014 NHL Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Ockeghem]

Scott and Aaron,

One of the nicest things I have ever seen in High School sports occurred the night of that game. The losing team knelt down to pray and the winning team joined them. The losing team (in the middle here) was the team that had lost Ryan Fischer the morning of the game. It was a very poignant sight.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Scott and Aaron,

One of the nicest things I have ever seen in High School sports occurred the night of that game. The losing team knelt down to pray and the winning team joined them. The losing team (in the middle here) was the team that had lost Ryan Fischer the morning of the game. It was a very poignant sight.

Scott, to put that event in even greater context, the winning team - Catholic Central --- lost a football player to a similar heart condition this past season, so the school had gone through some rough times and definitely could sympathize with Ryan Fisher's teammates. A colleague of mine has a son that was a teammate of the football player.

 

[Ockeghem]

Scott,I seem to recall having heard this, but I had forgotten it. Thanks. I've been hearing things lately that suggest kids around 14-18 years of age (High School) may start having tests done on their hearts so a problem like what Ryan Fischer had may be caught in time. I think that this is a very good idea.

Somewhat related --

A friend of ours (eighteen years old) who had just started college this past fall was playing volleyball one evening. She collapsed, but thankfully a defibrillator had been installed on campus with the past week(!) and she was revived. She was then put into an induced coma while the doctors tried to figure out what had happened to her. Her story ends well though, as she can now drive again and has been cleared to resume playing for her team.

 

[Ockeghem]

Aaron,The B's are playing some mighty fine hockey right now. Like the article says, I hope they're not peaking too soon. My gut feeling is that they're not.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400485247

And don't look now, but the Bruins are two points away from tying for the lead in total points.

 

[Ockeghem]

Would someone please tell me what just happened in the Senators - Canadiens game? How I wish that game had been televised! My word!

Okay, the way the scores were being updated on ESPN gave me the impression that the Canadiens erased a three-goal deficit in the span of about five minutes. Still, Descharnais scored with one second left in regulation to send it into overtime!

http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400485249

 

[Richard Travale]

one helluva comeback is what happened. And the tying goal with 0.3 seconds on the clock. Frankie Boullion putting in the winner was beautiful. The Sens just fell apart in a Canuck-esque fashion.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Would someone please tell me what just happened in the Senators - Canadiens game? How I wish that game had been televised! My word!

Okay, the way the scores were being updated on ESPN gave me the impression that the Canadiens erased a three-goal deficit in the span of about five minutes. Still, Descharnais scored with one second left in regulation to send it into overtime!

http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400485249

We were at a St. Paddy's Day party at a friend's house, and they had the game on for me until Ottawa went up 4-1. I was shocked when I looked in the newspaper this morning and saw the Habs came back! Hopefully this, along with Price's return, jump starts the team. They have been terrible since returning from the Olympic break.

 

[Ockeghem]

The Bruins are playing relatively well these days. But the majority of their remaining games are on the road.

Scott,Tonight, we get to see a preview of one of this year's Stanley Cup Finals teams (St. Louis @ Chicago). In case you don't already know this, that game is on NBCSN (8 p.m.). I will be glued to it.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Scott,

The Blues have been playing great since acquiring Ryan Miller. With the way that team plays defense, they are going to be tough to beat in the playoffs.

The Habs looked pretty good last night, and are still clinging to 2nd place in the division. Vanek finally scored his first goal since getting traded to the Canadiens, and decided to turn it into a hat trick, ruining Patrick Roy's return to Montreal. They have a big game against the Leafs this weekend. While first place is out of reach, it would be nice to get the #3 seed.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I am trying to make sense out of the NHL's new division pairings and playoff seeding. I already know that the top three teams from each division qualify for the playoffs, plus two wildcard teams from each conference. I just assumed the league would seed the division winners in each conference as #1 and #2, with the remaining six teams in each division then seeded by record.


However, it looks like the seeding has more of a division bias. If I am reading this correctly, the division winners are the #1 and #2 seeds, and play the two wildcard teams in the opening round. However, the 2nd and 3rd place teams play each other within the same division regardless of record. So, based on today's standings in the East:

Atlantic:
Boston 99 pts.
Tampa 83
Montreal 83

Metropolitan:
Pitts 94
Philly 79
Rangers 78

Wildcard:
Toronto 80
Columbus 76

The first round would be (home ice advantage in bold):
Boston vs. Columbus
Pittsburgh vs. Toronto
Tampa vs. Montreal
Philly vs. Rangers

I had assumed the seeding from #3 - #6 would be based on record, which would have been:
Boston vs. Columbus
Pittsburgh vs. Toronto
Tampa vs. Rangers
Montreal vs. Philly

So, based on the NHL seeding, a team with a better record (in this case Montreal) would not get home ice advantage over a worse team (Philly). The division winners are not affected, but the 3rd place division team can get screwed.

 

[Walter C]

Yeah, I can't make much sense of the current playoff format myself. And I wonder how it will work out in the 2nd round? Unless they resort to the bracket style, like they do in the NBA.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

That is weird, but not as weird as the new play-in setup for March Madness. . .

 

[Ockeghem]

The Bruins shut out the Avalanche (a 94-point team thus far) on the road, and in so doing they clinched a playoff spot. I was quite surprised though to learn that it was Johnson (and not Rask) in the net. They're playing well, but have a challenging schedule coming up.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Scott, I think the only question for the Bruins is whether they finish as the #1 or #2 seed in the conference, regardless of their schedule. Big game between the Habs and Leafs starting right now on CBC. Go Habs!

 

[Ockeghem]

Begrudgingly, congratulations Scott.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Begrudgingly, congratulations Scott.

Well, the Habs did not play very well, but Reimer was once again awful in net for the Leafs. Toronto is really missing Bernier, and his absence may cost the team a playoff berth.

We have another Montreal - Boston game Monday night on NBCSports. Hopefully the Canadiens are sharper than they have been the past two games.

 

[Ockeghem]

The Bruins have the Canadiens and then the Blackhawks. Both games will be tests for them.

 

[Ockeghem]

Scott,

There is an NHL game on tonight at 7:30 (NBCSN). Whom will you be rooting for in that one please?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Scott,There is an NHL game on tonight at 7:30 (NBCSN). Whom will you be rooting for in that one please?

I think you know.

 

[Ockeghem]

Scott,

Congratulations. That was quite a game tonight. The goal posts helped both goalies a couple of times. I thought Boston threw just about everything they could at Montreal. The Habs played a good game. It was brutal at times! I don't know if the two teams will match up in the playoffs again, but it sure would be fun if they did.

I heard during the game that this rivalry by next year will have played more games against each other than any other two teams. Right now, the Blackhawks - Red Wings are slightly ahead, but due to the realignment the Bruins and Habs will move ahead sometime during next season.