NHL Thread: Can Lidstrom Unretire? Please?

quovadis13 · April 2012

For everyone saying that we need the 3-2-1-0 point system to fix the standings, if they were used this year not a whole lot would be different. All 16 teams would still be in the playoffs, but Pittsburgh and New York and St. Louis and Vancouver would have swapped. Also, the playoff teams would have been decided about a week ago and only a few seedings would have come down to the last day.

Edit: They also put up a crazy 5-4-3-2-1-0 system which is just madness

Burtletoy · April 2012

quovadis13 wrote: »

Edit: They also put up a crazy 5-4-3-2-1-0 system which is just madness

win in regulation, win in overtime, win in shootout, lose in shootout, lose in overtime, lose in regulation ?

kilroydos · April 2012

Living in St. Louis, I can't express how happy I am that there are no shootouts in the playoffs. For all of the amazing stats for the STL goalies this year, the record in shootouts was atrocious because they don't have the kinds of shooters that do well in solo situations.

I think my marriage would fail if it were to come down to a Bruins-Blues final. We went to the game between those teams this year, Boston won, and I was this close to getting the silent treatment. I can't imagine what my native STL wife would do in a series for the Cup.

quovadis13 · April 2012

kilroydos wrote: »

Living in St. Louis, I can't express how happy I am that there are no shootouts in the playoffs. For all of the amazing stats for the STL goalies this year, the record in shootouts was atrocious because they don't have the kinds of shooters that do well in solo situations.

I think my marriage would fail if it were to come down to a Bruins-Blues final. We went to the game between those teams this year, Boston won, and I was this close to getting the silent treatment. I can't imagine what my native STL wife would do in a series for the Cup.

Well, for the sake of your marriage, you should be glad Bobby Orr isn't still around

SammyF · April 2012

FIRST ROUND WEST

LAK vs VAN -- Canucks in 6
SJS vs STL -- Blues in 5
CHI vs PHX -- Hawks in 7
DET vs NSH -- Preds in 6

FIRST ROUND EAST
OTT vs NYR -- Sens in 6
WSH vs BOS -- Bruins in 5
NJD vs FLA -- Devils in 5
PHI vs PIT -- Pens in 7

SEMIS WEST

CHI vs VAN -- Canucks in 6
NSH vs STL -- Preds in 7

SEMIS EAST
OTT vs BOS -- Bruins in 5
NJD vs PIT -- Pens in 7

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
NSH vs VAN -- Preds in 7

EASTERN CONFERNCE FINALS
PIT vs BOS -- Bruins in 6

Boston keeps the cup after beating the Predators in 5.

###

edit -- Other predictions from the off season:

1. Tim Thomas doesn't skip shaking hands with President Obama this time around.
2. Todd McClellan is fired from San Jose.
3. Dale Hunter is also fired from Washington; Ron Wilson gets his second tenure behind the Cap's bench.
4. Despite nearly winning the President's trophy, conventional wisdom is that John Tortorella's on the hot seat after another first round playoffs exit.

kilroydos · April 2012

quovadis13 wrote: »

kilroydos wrote: »

Living in St. Louis, I can't express how happy I am that there are no shootouts in the playoffs. For all of the amazing stats for the STL goalies this year, the record in shootouts was atrocious because they don't have the kinds of shooters that do well in solo situations.

I think my marriage would fail if it were to come down to a Bruins-Blues final. We went to the game between those teams this year, Boston won, and I was this close to getting the silent treatment. I can't imagine what my native STL wife would do in a series for the Cup.

Well, for the sake of your marriage, you should be glad Bobby Orr isn't still around

At the game this year, they replayed the highlights of that Stanley Cup, culminating in that moment. I have no idea why they did that, but it was great to see amongst 15,000 Blues fans. =)

Jragghen · April 2012

Super homer on the Pittsburgh front (despite them being the favorites) in that I honestly have serious reservations about beating Philly in the first round (assuming they beat Philly, I expect they've got the east, but seriously, Philly just seems to have our number

). It's seriously hilarious how many of the lineups are worst-case for the better seeds in the East (Sens beat Rangers 3-1 in the season, Caps beat Bruins 3-1, Devils/Panthers split 2-2, Philly beat Pitt 4-2). Almost all of this is pulled out of my ass since I don't have TV and as such don't get to watch games like...anytime anymore.

Western Conference:
Vancouver over LA in 5
St. Louis over San Jose in 5
Phoenix over Chicago in 6
Detroit over Nashville in 7

Vancouver vs. Detroit- Vancouver in 6
St. Louis vs. Phoenix - St. Louis in 6

St Louis vs Vancouver - St. Louis in 7

Eastern Conference:
Ottawa over New York in 7
Boston over Washington in 6
New Jersey over Florida in 5
Pittsburgh over Philadelphia in 7

Boston vs. Ottawa - Boston in 6
Pittsburgh vs. New Jersey - Pittsburgh in 6

Pittsburgh vs. Boston - Pittsburgh in 5

SCF: Pittsburgh vs. St. Louis - Pittsburgh in 6

Jragghen · April 2012

Nightslyr wrote: »

LOL at people picking Washington over the Bruins. Pitt or NY over Boston later on? Sure. Washington? No way. They're too front loaded, their goaltending is up in the air, and they have a history of shrinking from the moment. Their only advantage over Boston is their PP. A remarkably similar Bruins team solved Montreal, Tampa, and Vancouver's PP last year.

As I noted in my last post, Boston and Washington met 4 times this season, and Washington won 3 of those. This could be a very chaotic year.

Squirrelmob · April 2012

Which playoff teams have the most impact for the free agent market? Preds and Devils?

Corvus · April 2012

Whoo, Playoffs!

Predictions, hope I got the seeds right:

Van over LA in 5
Blues over Sharks in 6
Coyotes over Hawks in 7
Preds over Wings in 7

Van over Preds in 6
Blues over Coyotes in 5

WCF Vancouver over St. Louis in 6

NYR over Sens in 6
Bruins over Caps in 4
Devils over Panthers in 6
Pens over Flyers in 7

NYR over Devils in 5
Pens over Bruins in 7

ECF Pens over NYR in 7

SCF Vancouver over Pens in 7

Matrias · April 2012

Did any of the top seeds actually get the opponent they wanted? Because I don't think they did.

Like Jragghen said, a lot of the lower seeds actually have good records against the top seeds.

Bruin-Caps and New York-Ottawa could be upsets. A Caps-Ottawa conference final would amuse the hell out of me.

The bottom 4 in the West also include Detroit, Chicago, SJ. Cup, Cup, Goose!

quovadis13 · April 2012

St. Louis is probably pretty psyched to get San Jose. They are 4-0 against them and only gave up 3 goals to them.

Matrias · April 2012

quovadis13 wrote: »

St. Louis is probably pretty psyched to get San Jose. They are 4-0 against them and only gave up 3 goals to them.

I don't think they will have an easy time, though. I wonder if the Blues have more to give for the playoffs - Hitchcock looks like he's getting all he can out of them.

I had hoped Toronto and at least one team from Alberta made the playoffs this year, but nope. Already turning their green-eyed bale to Western shores.

3v · April 2012

I'm going to be awfully smug when sharks get out of the first round. 8->

Jragghen · April 2012

Oh, there's nothing I'd want more than a Sharks/Pens final. But Sharks ain't making it that far.

Matrias · April 2012

I think they will do better than expected. I don't think that means they win.

SammyF · April 2012

Alex Ovechkin rediscovered how to play offense during the last month of the season, improving his goal production per game to somewhere above 0.75 gpg during the month of March (compared to less than of 0.50 for the rest of the season), and that's before Backstrom returned. Even Semin started playing like he's not a complete fuck muppet -- he put up five points in the last five games of the regular season. The storyline following the Capitals at the end of the season was whether or not they had the potential to even make the playoffs, but they really were playing some of the best hockey that they've managed to produce since Hunter took over the team. That "will they or won't they" storyline only kept dogging them because the Sabres were playing some of their best hockey at the end of the season, too.

So I can see why some might pick Washington to upset Boston. I would probably have picked them to win in 5 if Vokoun was healthy. I would have picked them to win in 7 if Neuvirth was healthy. If they have to start a goaltender who has only played 7 NHL games this year and dress a backup who hasn't played in an NHL game since 2009? They'll do well to avoid being annihilated.

Like, seriously. How do you pick a team to win four playoff games against Boston when it looks like they'll be starting a goaltender who has only won four games over the entire regular season?

Myiagros · April 2012

Boston will just run Holtby so they are stuck with whoever #4 is. And I thought everyone knew the trick to beating Washington in the playoffs by now? Cover Ovechkin, series over.

mr_mich · April 2012

I know that it's pretty common for the conference finals to feel like a more bitter entanglement than the SCF. This may be the first time though that I think so many teams' most suspenseful match will be in the first round...

Matrias · April 2012

LA's possession numbers scare the crap out of me. My only comfort is I think Van has lots more to give and LA doesn't.

SammyF · April 2012

Myiagros wrote: »

Boston will just run Holtby so they are stuck with whoever #4 is. And I thought everyone knew the trick to beating Washington in the playoffs by now? Cover Ovechkin, series over.

Yeah, no, not really. Ovechkin hasn't scored a single goal against Boston all year, and Washington still managed to take 3 of 4. Also in last years two series, Ovechkin's goal production against New York was fairly similar to his goal production against Tampa Bay, and the team's goals-per-game was roughly the same between the two series.

What beat Washington last year was that they completely forgot how to play defense, and their goaltending collapsed. In the first round, Washington's defense allowed an average of 27 shots on goal in regulation and gave up fewer than 30 shots in regulation in every game except one: the game they lost. They also averaged just shy of 21 blocked shots per game and blocked at least 19 shots in every game except one: again, the game they lost, when they blocked only 11. The goals against average for all five games was 1.6

By contrast, Tampa posted two games with more than 30 shots on goal against the Caps. What's more, while the Caps ultimately gave up fewer shots per game, they were giving up more quality scoring chances, averaging a paltry 13.75 blocked shots per game. In game three, they blocked all of eight. The ultimate consequence was that Tampa averaged 4 goals per game, and regardless of who you have on your roster, any team in the league will beat the shit out of you if they average four goals a game with a range of 2 or less.

shalmelo · April 2012

3v wrote: »

I'm going to be awfully smug when sharks get out of the first round.

I think they've got a pretty decent shot, actually. St Louis had a very good regular season, but they've proven exactly dick in the playoffs. Say what you want about San Jose's inconsistency in the postseason, but it's not like they're lacking playoff experience.

quovadis13 · April 2012

Stanley Cup Odds:

Bovada wrote:

Pittsburgh Penguins 4/1
New York Rangers 11/2
Vancouver Canucks 11/2
St. Louis Blues 15/2
Boston Bruins 8/1
Detroit Red Wings 12/1
Nashville Predators 14/1
Philadelphia Flyers 14/1
Chicago Blackhawks 16/1
San Jose Sharks 18/1
Los Angeles Kings 20/1
New Jersey Devils 25/1
Washington Capitals 30/1
Florida Panthers 35/1
Ottawa Senators 40/1
Phoenix Coyotes 40/1

The link also has Conn Smythe odds and some prop bets too.

Burtletoy · April 2012

Preds at 14-1, eh?

Hmmmm....

enlightenedbum · April 2012

If I were a betting man, that's pretty tempting.

Finnan · April 2012

A bit late to post, but I've been mulling it over for a pool I'm running as well.

Vancouver over LA in 5
St. Louis over San Jose in 6
Chicago over Phoenix in 6
Detroit over Nashville in 7

Vancouver over Chicago in 6
Detroit over St. Louis in 7

WCF Vancouver over Detroit in 5

New York over Ottawa in 5
Boston over Washington in 6
New Jersey over Florida in 4
Pittsburgh over Philadelphia in 7

New York over New Jersey in 6
Pittsburgh over Boston in 7

ECF Pittsburgh over New York in 5

SCF Vancouver over Pittsburgh in 6

Me wanting Vancouver to win is probably blinding me to something, but lets give it a spin.

facetious · April 2012

Yeah the Preds are by FAR the best line.

I'm really confident about them coming out of the west, I don't see anyone I think would beat them there.

shalmelo · April 2012

facetious wrote: »

Yeah the Preds are by FAR the best line.

I'm really confident about them coming out of the west, I don't see anyone I think would beat them there.

I feel the same way, and I know ebum does too. Lotsa crazy Nashville love in the forums this season. We're not usually this groupthinky in here*, it's kind of creepy.

* - "here", meaning specifically the NHL thread. D&D as a whole is groupthinky as all hell.

quovadis13 · April 2012

Predators have to make it out of the first round before they can win the Cup. It is not unreasonable to say that Detroit's, Nashville's, Pittsburgh's and Philadelphia's toughest round in the playoffs might actually be their first round.

enlightenedbum · April 2012

Helm might play. Yay!

Jayricho · April 2012

Almost draft lottery time! I really hope the Leafs win, just to watch the entire hockey community go fucking insane.

TheSmacker · April 2012

Jayricho wrote: »

Almost draft lottery time! I really hope the Leafs win, just to watch the entire hockey community go fucking insane.

But if they do then Brian Burke won't be able to whine about the Penguins!

Jayricho · April 2012

Oilers win the lottery. Pick first again.

Lail · April 2012

Wow...Oilers get it again...

Corvus · April 2012

Oh dear CBJ.

3v · April 2012

Bullllshittttttt

Blendtec · April 2012

That doesn't sit right with me.

mr_mich · April 2012

I've missed a ton of Preds hockey apparently.

Schide · April 2012

Clearly it was rigged.

Matrias · April 2012

If it was rigged, you'd want to save CBJ, right?

Penny Arcade

NHL Thread: Can Lidstrom Unretire? Please?

Posts