NHL 2017 -Official Discussion Thread

[SilverEagle]

Yeah Chicago is shocking, never seen them play so shitty in playoffs. The Leafs winning two close games they barely scrapped by in, not that surprising. What I can't believe is that Babcock is actually making something out of Kadri, amazing. He can hit and play defense now, wtf?

I don't know man. The Caps being taken to OT in all three games and losing two is pretty damn big. Chicago just seemed off to me all year. Kinda reminded me of the Pens between Cup years of the Sid-Geno era.

[StCapps]

Yeah Chicago is shocking, never seen them play so shitty in playoffs. The Leafs winning two close games they barely scrapped by in, not that surprising. What I can't believe is that Babcock is actually making something out of Kadri, amazing. He can hit and play defense now, wtf?

I don't know man. The Caps being taken to OT in all three games and losing two is pretty damn big. Chicago just seemed off to me all year. Kinda reminded me of the Pens between Sid and Geno's Cup years.

The Caps are known chokers, The Blackhawks are the opposite. The Hawks choking in the first round was far less easy to see coming for those reasons. The Blackhawks are better the Capitals, I don't care what the regular season records say or how they've played thus far in the first round, that's still clearly true.

[SilverEagle]

Yeah Chicago is shocking, never seen them play so shitty in playoffs. The Leafs winning two close games they barely scrapped by in, not that surprising. What I can't believe is that Babcock is actually making something out of Kadri, amazing. He can hit and play defense now, wtf?

I don't know man. The Caps being taken to OT in all three games and losing two is pretty damn big. Chicago just seemed off to me all year. Kinda reminded me of the Pens between Sid and Geno's Cup years.

The Caps are known chokers, The Blackhawks are the opposite. The Presidents Trophy doesn't mean dick.

Yeah I know the Presidents Trophy doesn't mean dick, look at what I said earlier today. Yes the Caps are known chokers but this early on against a seemingly away over matched opponent in the first round is David Carradine level of choking. Like I said the Blackhawks this year remind me of the Pens 2010-2015.

[Smitty-48]

The Leafs are better than people are giving them credit for, yeah, their defense is paper thin, but they have been one of the top offensive teams all year, the Leafs have four lines that can score, and four lines that can score is a dangerous animal, any way you slice it, Washington will shut down one or two lines, but then the other two lines come to life, in Washington, the Bozak and Boyle lines struck, Washington reacted to that, but then the Matthews and Kadri lines woke up, it's hard to check the Leafs, because it's a four headed hydra on the front end. I actually think they have the deepest forward group in the league.

[StCapps]

Yeah I know the Presidents Trophy doesn't mean dick, look at what I said earlier today. Yes the Caps are known chokers but this early on against a seemingly away over matched opponent in the first round is a new level of choking. Like I said the Blackhawks this year remind me of the Pens 2010-2015.

Nah the Blackhawks don't have a goalie who always seems to find a way to fuck up in the playoffs except that one year he won the cup. That's a massive difference, The Pens choked so many times during those years because of terrible goaltending from Marc Andre Fleury, the Blackhawks problem right now is they have scored 2 goals in 3 games, it's not even close to the same dynamic. The Hawks stars are gripping their sticks, Fleury can't stop a beach ball in the playoffs most of the time.

[Smitty-48]

It's not Holtby, Holtby hasn't been lights out, but he hasn't been a bag of toys neither, right now, the problem in Washington is that they are waiting for Ovie and Backstrom to win the games for them, while the Leafs are just rolling four lines, when any one of those lines can be dangerous, so offensively, it's one Washington line against four Leaf lines, and eventually, one of the Leafs lines has gotten to Holtby.

The Caps can turn it around, but if they keep sitting back and waiting for Ovie and Backstrom to win it all for them, they could be in trouble.

[SilverEagle]

Yeah I know the Presidents Trophy doesn't mean dick, look at what I said earlier today. Yes the Caps are known chokers but this early on against a seemingly away over matched opponent in the first round is a new level of choking. Like I said the Blackhawks this year remind me of the Pens 2010-2015.

Nah the Blackhawks don't have a goalie who always seems to find a way to fuck up in the playoffs except that one year he won the cup. That's a massive difference, The Pens choked so many times during those years because of terrible goaltending from Marc Andre Fleury, the Blackhawks problem right now is they have scored 2 goals in 3 games, it's not even close to the same dynamic. The Hawks stars are gripping their sticks, Fleury can't stop a beach ball in the playoffs most of the time.

While Fleury is not blameless the Pens D was shitty during those years and left him out to dry waaay to much.

[Smitty-48]

Holtby had no chance on that winning goal last night, the Leafs have been using that move on the power play all year, the high tip in the slot, they scored on Fleury with the same set play, last week, to make the playoffs, Jake Gardiner to Connor Brown, high tip, if you leave the middle open to the Leaf player on the power play, you're asking for trouble, because the way Babcock has it set up, any forward can make that play, sometimes it's Kadri, sometimes it's Bozak, sometimes its Brown, sometimes it's Matthews, the strength of the Leafs power play has been that it is interchangeable, that high tip slot play is their go to play, anybody who can get to the middle gets to the middle, and then everybody shoots for their stick.

It's been a top three power play all year, for long stretches it was number one, it finished number two overall, like I say, the Leafs defense may be cobbled together from odds and ends, but offensively, they are actually a powerhouse, there's not enough depth on the back end to go deep and contend, but there is so much depth on the front end, that when they are on, they can beat anybody on any given night, it's been like that since game one.

The Babcock system right now, is to just get the puck out, by commitee, just flip it up the ice if you have to, make it a 50/50 play, and then let the forward lines go to work, and so far, they've been able to duck the Washington heavy game down low for the most part, and then play the game in Washington's end, where the Leafs speed and skill has taken over, this is the Babcock "work with what you have, and make the most of it" factor.

[StCapps]

While Fleury is not blameless the Pens D was shitty during those years and left him out to dry waaay to much.

Yeah but Fleury was the bigger problem when it came to the Pens choking, even if the Pens had a dope defense during those years it wouldn't have helped them. Fleury was that bad, he couldn't stop anything. You simply cannot trust Marc Andre Fleury in the playoffs, ever since he won the Cup, so pray for the quick return of Matt Murray if you know what's good for you.

[SilverEagle]

While Fleury is not blameless the Pens D was shitty during those years and left him out to dry waaay to much.

Yeah but Fleury was the bigger problem when it came to the Pens choking, even if the Pens had a dope defense during those years it wouldn't have helped them. Fleury was that bad, he couldn't stop anything. You simply cannot trust Marc Andre Fleury in the playoffs, ever since he won the Cup, so pray for the quick return of Matt Murray if you know what's good for you.

I'm not so much worried about Fleury right now. We have four lines that can score and honestly if Murray is available I would continue to roll with Fleury until the wheels fall off.