2024-2025 NHL Thread

[canadaguy]

McDavid and Drai have to step up and lead if they are going to have a shot.


Losing Hyman is showing up big right now. Still leading the playoffs for hits even having missed the last 4 games. He'd be all over the place if he was out there now.

 

[MC74]

Either Jim Nill is a fucking idiot, or he's on some serious hardcore drugs.

Elliotte Friedman: Jason Robertson's name is out there; could be moved to make room for a Granlund extension if Dumba or Lyubushkin can't be shipped out (SN 590)

 

[MC74]

The Carolina Hurricanes, not surprisingly, are ready to make a splash. They've got $30 million to spend and intend to inquire on pending UFA Mitch Marner, as many contending teams do, but their eggs are not all in that basket. The Canes are ready to take a run at several free agents and also are inquiring on the trade front.

-Pierre LeBrun.

 

[MC74]

There's the USA chants again.

 

[MC74]

Tkachuk draws first blood for the Panthers, and Edmonton is lucky they're only down 1-0. Florida has been by far, the better team here in the first.

 

[MC74]

Tkachuk again strikes on the PP. It's looking like a repeat of last game with the Oilers taking foolish & costly penalties.

 

[MC74]

Anton Lundell adds salt to the wounds of the Oilers, and all of a sudden, the Panthers are up 3-0. This is looking bad for Edmonton. Really fucking bad. Ugh.

 

[MC74]

And looking at the body language of the Oilers right now, they look just as frustrated as they do last game. This is a completely different team from what we've seen in the first 2 games of the series. It appears that the Panthers have completely broken them down. It's fucking painful to watch.

 

[MC74]

Nurse cutting the deficit down to one. The Oilers have a chance to get back in this thing.

 

[MC74]

TIE GAME! TIE GAME! TIE GAME! WE HAVE A TIED BAH GAWD GAME!

 

[canadaguy]

Fuckin boom

 

[MC74]

Whatever smelling salts they had in that dressing room, I need some of that for the mornings I don't have energy.

 

[MC74]

That should've been called a penalty. Hit from behind, Bouchard's face into the glass.

 

[MC74]

They fucking did it, the Oilers have comeback and taken the lead!

 

[MC74]

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!

 

[canadaguy]

Such a garbage play.

Good thing we have hockey in these cities where the ice is just slush

 

[MC74]

My stomach is in knots. I desperately need Edmonton to tie this series. Please don't let this comeback be in vain.

 

[MC74]

Drai!

 

[canadaguy]

Fuck yeah suck it Florida

 

[MC74]

Edmonton got by this one with the skin of their teeth, but the main thing is, a win's a win. They woke the fuck up after that awful first period and showed us that there's still some fight left yet.

The ideal scenario is them winning the cup in front of Florida's own fans.

 

[canadaguy]

My ideal is Oilers win it at home and the crowd boos bettman so hard he ceases to exist

 

[MC74]

My ideal is Oilers win it at home and the crowd boos bettman so hard he ceases to exist

Bettman presenting the cup to a Canadian team in Canada would for sure be the icing on the cake. If it weren't for that having to happen in game 7, I'd be on board for that. Being a Leafs fan, the stress of game 7s is just too much for my poor heart.

 

[Jon]

I just want the panthers to lose. Fuck them

 

[canadaguy]

So in the Stanley cup finals, teams were 37-0 when they had a 3-0 lead after the first period.


Until tonight

 

[MC74]

2-0 Panthers at the end of the first.

 

[MC74]

Marchand scores again to make it 3-0 Panthers.

 

[MC74]

McDavid cuts the deficit down to 2.

 

[MC74]

And so much for that. Reinhart returns fire and it's 4-2 Panthers.

 

[MC74]

Florida wins 5-2. Game 5 is in the books and the Panthers are officially one win away from being your 2025 Stanley Cup champions.

 

[MC74]

Elliotte Friedman noted on his 32 Thoughts podcast it's believed that Marner is most likely to be heading out West. Vegas & LA are the two teams to watch for, but as for the East, Carolina is the team that's interested in taking a swing at signing him. There's a rumor going arround that Marner's camp might be looking at signing a 4-year deal, but as far as his AAV goes, it's estimated it'll be around the $14M mark.

Friedman also reported that while the Leafs have made attempts to talk to Marner, the latter has completely shut them out. It's not just a break-up between the two parties. It's a messy divorce.

 

[MC74]

Alex Pietrangelo might be out for the entire season, so looks like Vegas will conveniently have lots of cap space to work with.

 

[MC74]

A sloppy turnover leads to Reinhart drawing first blood.

 

[MC74]

Here we go again, Edmonton getting outscored in the first....

 

[MC74]

Reinhart with his second of the game. All Florida needs to do is shut it down from here and that's all she wrote.

 

[MC74]

10 minutes remaining and the Oilers have yet to score a goal. If the Panthers win, I think the break the league record for the most wins when leading the game or something like that. The last team to hold that was like, the 1980s Oilers.

 

[MC74]

Edmonton pulls the goalie with like 7 minutes left. Panthers add one more to seal this once & for all. The Florida Panthers have successfully repeated as Stanley Cup Champions.

 

[MC74]

Panthers fans chanting "Na na na na, na na na na, heeeey goodbye!" at the Oilers. Real fucking classy, but also deserved with that disgraceful performance.

 

[MC74]

Bettman is one smug son of a bitch. He's enjoying every second of this.

 

[MC74]

Smugly said this proves hockey can work in the southern sunshine market. The arrogance of Bettman.... @Jon

 

[Jon]

Smugly said this proves hockey can work in the southern sunshine market. The arrogance of Bettman.... @Jon

Yeah, we all knew this is exactly what he wanted. He's allowed them to become a super team. Cap doesn't matter to them. Discipline doesn't matter to them. Referees are told to let them get away with it. It doesn't matter that Edmonton is a more skilled team in every way. It's hard to win when literally everything is stacked against you so the commissioner can prove a point.

The Panthers didn't win the Cup back to back. Bettman gave it to them so he could push his southern hockey agenda. Fuck him. Fuck the Panthers.

 

[MC74]

Yeah, we all knew this is exactly what he wanted. He's allowed them to become a super team. Cap doesn't matter to them. Discipline doesn't matter to them. Referees are told to let them get away with it. It doesn't matter that Edmonton is a more skilled team in every way. It's hard to win when literally everything is stacked against you so the commissioner can prove a point.

The Panthers didn't win the Cup back to back. Bettman gave it to them so he could push his southern hockey agenda. Fuck him. Fuck the Panthers.

Except Edmonton isn't, and tonight proved it once again. The Oilers don't measure up to the Panthers and imo, the first two games aside, they looked worse off than they did last year, which to me was shocking because I thought they were better going into this series.

For better or worse, the Panthers are going to set the example of what the ideal playoff team looks like. They're the kind of team that's going to influence how teams are constructed, and much like we've seen with the Tom Wilson effect, it could very well break their rivals.

 

[Jon]

Except Edmonton isn't, and tonight proved it once again. The Oilers don't measure up to the Panthers and imo, the first two games aside, they looked worse off than they did last year, which to me was shocking because I thought they were better going into this series.

For better or worse, the Panthers are going to set the example of what the ideal playoff team looks like. They're the kind of team that's going to influence how teams are constructed, and much like we've seen with the Tom Wilson effect, it could very well break their rivals.

I'm not sure about that. Talent-wise, Edmonton has it. They are a good young team. It's hard to play to capacity when EVERYTHING is stacked against you. We saw that with every team Florida played in the playoffs. And it was pretty clear that it started with a Bennett dirty elbow early in every series that went unpenalized and unpunished. Teams don't play hard after that when the deck is stacked against them.

Could Edmonton have played better? Of course! But they were not as bad a team as they looked in this series. Which leads to your second point. You can't repeat what the Panthers have done. High paid scoring vets mixed with playing dirty and never having your players suffer consequences for it? It's not a sustainable model. I mean on what planet should they be able to fit Marchand, Bobrovsky, Bennett, Tkachuck, Verhaghe, Reinhart and Barkov under the cap? What other team can have that many cap heavy players under the cap? There are none. Edmonton did it right. Vets plus rookies you drafted and developed. Any other time, and Edmonton wins this series. But not when the commissioner is actively forcing the win in a certain direction.

Of course this is all my opinion. But Florida pisses me off and I cannot stand Bettman destroying the integrity of the game I love.

 

[MC74]

I'm not sure about that. Talent-wise, Edmonton has it. They are a good young team. It's hard to play to capacity when EVERYTHING is stacked against you. We saw that with every team Florida played in the playoffs. And it was pretty clear that it started with a Bennett dirty elbow early in every series that went unpenalized and unpunished. Teams don't play hard after that when the deck is stacked against them.

We can't discount how effective the Panthers are in wearing down the opposition either. They play a style of hockey that's very reminiscent to the 1970s Philadelphia Flyers. They bully you around, they finish their check. It's a style of hockey that grinds you down, but they're also a skilled team in their own right. They have players who are solid defensively, and the goaltending to back it up.

That's not to say I disagree with how shitty it is that they're allowed to get away with just about everything. It's no secret that the league has shown favoratism towards them, but we can't forget how talented they are either. It's just a bloody shame that a team with the talent they have feel they need to resort to such dirty tactics.

Could Edmonton have played better? Of course! But they were not as bad a team as they looked in this series.

That point I do have to disagree with. As the series progressed, you could tell the frustration was setting in with the Oilers. It started with game 3 when they got demolished, let their emotions get the better of them, and got goaded into taking bad penalty after bad penalty. I think that was the turning point in the series where the team lost its edge. They won game 4, but even then, they were an inch away from losing that one too, so that one is more debatable. Other than that, not even close to being the same team they were the first two games.

Which leads to your second point. You can't repeat what the Panthers have done. High paid scoring vets mixed with playing dirty and never having your players suffer consequences for it? It's not a sustainable model. I mean on what planet should they be able to fit Marchand, Bobrovsky, Bennett, Tkachuck, Verhaghe, Reinhart and Barkov under the cap? What other team can have that many cap heavy players under the cap? There are none. Edmonton did it right. Vets plus rookies you drafted and developed. Any other time, and Edmonton wins this series. But not when the commissioner is actively forcing the win in a certain direction.

Of course this is all my opinion. But Florida pisses me off and I cannot stand Bettman destroying the integrity of the game I love.

Well, I meant that more of a sense of how it's going to affect team construction, hence why I mentioned Wilson. There's a possibility teams will lean more towards prioritizing physicality, prefering old-school heuristics over what the game has evolved into nowadays. GMs see how successful that style of hockey has been for the Panthers and thus want to try replicating it for themselves. But you may also see GMs making the same mistake as what happened when Wilson broke the Metro divison, bringing in grinders/goons in order to counter the Panthers, but ultimately players who are actually more detrimental to the team/sport. That's the part I don't like. We need to crack down on the goonery, not encourage it.

 

[MC74]

 

[MC74]

Florida's 94 goals scored in this postseason sets the highest recorded by a team since the 1990/1991 Mario Lemieux/Ron Francis Pittsburgh Penguins.

EDIT: Actually, one goal below them.

 

[MC74]

Sam Bennett to remain with the Panthers. At least there won't be a bidding war over his dumb ass.

 

[Jon]

Sam Bennett to remain with the Panthers. At least there won't be a bidding war over his dumb ass.

That asshole needs to be taken out with a headshot every fucking game he plays.

 

[canadaguy]

Smugly said this proves hockey can work in the southern sunshine market. The arrogance of Bettman.... @Jon

Yeah all they have to do is hire the son of the director of hockey operations for the entire league as their assistant gm and then presto. Bonus points for exploiting the salary cap with IR shenanigans. Being in a no tax state also helps.

The only reason Florida even has "fans" is because they are winning. If they go back to being shit that place will be fucking empty again and all those "fans" won't even be able to name any players.

 

[canadaguy]

Fucking go back to basketball Bettman you piece of shit

 

[MC74]

Yeah all they have to do is hire the son of the director of hockey operations for the entire league as their assistant gm and then presto. Bonus points for exploiting the salary cap with IR shenanigans. Being in a no tax state also helps.

Definitely factors in as to why they're allowed to get off with a lot of dirty shit too, no question about it.

The only reason Florida even has "fans" is because they are winning. If they go back to being shit that place will be fucking empty again and all those "fans" won't even be able to name any players.

Mark my words, that's exactly what will happen when the success dries up. You'll see those attendance numbers go down. People are on the wagon now because they're winning. Those are fair weather fans, not true die-hards.