Offical 2021 Stanley Cup Playoff Thread

[Servant King]

There are so many factors that play into NHL success in the playoffs. It's a game of momentum, both within a single game itself and on the season. It's all about getting hot at the right time, goaltending, and playing cohesively as a team. And then you need luck, officiating, health, and more to go your way as well. A couple superstars a cup winning team does not make.

It took the penguins 7 years (longer than McDavid has been in the league) to get their second cup of the Crosby/Malkin era even with perennial playoff experience and generally good goaltending.

Two years ago Tampa came in smoking hot as the heavy favorite and got swept in the first round.

Conversely in 2012 (I think?) the LA Kings fired their coach midseason, barely snuck into the playoffs as the lowest seed, and proceeded to dominate everybody losing only 4 games through the whole playoffs, going undefeated on the road, without home ice advantage in any series.

Things just have to come together in the right way at the right time. That is why many say it is the hardest trophy to win in all of organized professional sports. It takes a little bit of everything, right down to good old fashioned puck luck.

Great posting all around! Not trying to be an obnoxious Kings fan (a contradiction in terms? )...Kings had one road loss that playoff year, Game 5 vs. NJ. Takes an on-fire goalie too, and Quick was exactly that in '12. No sport other than hockey is one single player so crucial to getting those 16 Ws.

 

[alaskanpiper]

Great posting all around! Not trying to be an obnoxious Kings fan (a contradiction in terms? )...Kings had one road loss that playoff year, Game 5 vs. NJ. Takes an on-fire goalie too, and Quick was exactly that in '12. No sport other than hockey is one single player so crucial to getting those 16 Ws.

You are correct, I forgot that last one! Memory is a little hazy after a decade

 

[Aomalley27]

John Forslund is a nice change of pace from Doc and Enzo. Unfortunately he’s joined by Pierre (and you can just hear him beating meat every time he mentions Crosby??). Guess I gotta mute and tune to the radio broadcast

 

[danimalia]

All good points, but Edmonton has barely even cracked the postseason with McDavid. I know that even the best Forwards are 1 of 9+ in their position group and play like a third of the game... But still... The last "generational" type talents before him, probably Crosby and Ovechkin, had all kinds of success even if winning the whole thing is a rarer occurrence. I don't know... Just kind of hard to figure for me. I certainly admire McD's game an awful lot. Maybe his time is coming.

 

[Aomalley27]

All good points, but Edmonton has barely even cracked the postseason with McDavid. I know that even the best Forwards are 1 of 9+ in their position group and play like a third of the game... But still... The last "generational" type talents before him, probably Crosby and Ovechkin, had all kinds of success even if winning the whole thing is a rarer occurrence. I don't know... Just kind of hard to figure for me. I certainly admire McD's game an awful lot. Maybe his time is coming.

Look at their D sets, pretty awful, and didn’t get addressed under Chiarelli. It’s been a continuous problem. Hell, they had 3 of four straight years with No 1 pick, and drafted Hall, Nugent-Hopkins, and yakupov. Not to mention picking up Eberle. All offense, all the time. They did go D in 2018 and 2019 draft, but so far, they’ve not produced a solid back line that can shut teams down.

 

[alaskanpiper]

John Forslund is a nice change of pace from Doc and Enzo. Unfortunately he’s joined by Pierre (and you can just hear him beating meat every time he mentions Crosby??). Guess I gotta mute and tune to the radio broadcast

Forslund annoys me too. “You see it” “power move!” Etc. Just too much nonsense.

I actually like Doc. You can tell he loves the game.

 

[alaskanpiper]

Look at their D sets, pretty awful, and didn’t get addressed under Chiarelli. It’s been a continuous problem. Hell, they had 3 of four straight years with No 1 pick, and drafted Hall, Nugent-Hopkins, and yakupov. Not to mention picking up Eberle. All offense, all the time. They did go D in 2018 and 2019 draft, but so far, they’ve not produced a solid back line that can shut teams down.

Yep.

 

[Aomalley27]

Yep.

And the Jets win in 3OT....!!!!!!!!

 

[Aomalley27]

Kyle Connor! With the stretch pass breakaway......?? Wins it!

 

[alaskanpiper]

And the Jets win in 3OT....!!!!!!!!
View attachment 81509

Yep. Watched every minute of it after Jarry decided to tally an assist on his own GA.

Effing demoralizing effort in the series for the oilers.

 

[mikethompson]

Effing demoralizing effort in the series for the oilers

I'd have to respectfully disagree with you there, save the collapse in game 3. Game 1 was a one goal game decided by a strange bounce, game 2 went to overtime, they built a 3 goal lead in the third in game 3 (but then fell apart), and in game 4, the second of a back to back elimination game, they took the Jets to 3 overtimes.

All the games were decided by one goal, and I thought for the most part Smith and Hellebuyk were evenly matched, facing similar number of shots.

I wish the Oilers had more than one defence line, but I've been saying that for years. Good grief Darnell Nurse was playing 6 minute shifts in overtime!

I also think that having fans in the arena might have been a difference maker as well, but we will never know. I wonder how it will work when the eventual winner of the north plays a team from the states in their building. Thousands of screaming fans yelling at you after playing to empty buildings all year will be a shock to say the least.

 

[mikethompson]

On the plus side, I won't have to return that meer to Tim

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

John Forslund is a nice change of pace from Doc and Enzo. Unfortunately he’s joined by Pierre (and you can just hear him beating meat every time he mentions Crosby??). Guess I gotta mute and tune to the radio broadcast

John was the usual Hurricanes TV guy but has been making appearances in other markets recently. He is good and usually not biased.

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

Forslund annoys me too. “You see it” “power move!” Etc. Just too much nonsense.

I actually like Doc. You can tell he loves the game.

TRUE! Oh snap - he has some other annoying sayings he uses all the time. Not enough espresso yet to recall them.

 

[alaskanpiper]

I'd have to respectfully disagree with you there, save the collapse in game 3. Game 1 was a one goal game decided by a strange bounce, game 2 went to overtime, they built a 3 goal lead in the third in game 3 (but then fell apart), and in game 4, the second of a back to back elimination game, they took the Jets to 3 overtimes.

All the games were decided by one goal, and I thought for the most part Smith and Hellebuyk were evenly matched, facing similar number of shots.

I wish the Oilers had more than one defence line, but I've been saying that for years. Good grief Darnell Nurse was playing 6 minute shifts in overtime!

I also think that having fans in the arena might have been a difference maker as well, but we will never know. I wonder how it will work when the eventual winner of the north plays a team from the states in their building. Thousands of screaming fans yelling at you after playing to empty buildings all year will be a shock to

You are right, demoralizing is the wrong word, I suppose frustrating would have been a better choice. I just couldn’t help but imagine them thinking to themselves “Jesus Christ, what the hell are we supposed to do?”

Been wondering the same re: playing teams from the states. With everything in a bubble its hard to tell if what you are watching is truly comparable haha.

 

[mikethompson]

playing teams from the states.

I really don't know what the plan is there. I think maybe the NHL brass is expecting open borders by then. I heard something about an American city 'hosting' the winner of the North division, but nothing lately.

 

[STP]

There are so many factors that play into NHL success in the playoffs. It's a game of momentum, both within a single game itself and on the season. It's all about getting hot at the right time, goaltending, and playing cohesively as a team. And then you need luck, officiating, health, and more to go your way as well. A couple superstars a cup winning team does not make.

It took the penguins 7 years (longer than McDavid has been in the league) to get their second cup of the Crosby/Malkin era even with perennial playoff experience and generally good goaltending.

Two years ago Tampa came in smoking hot as the heavy favorite and got swept in the first round.

Conversely in 2012 (I think?) the LA Kings fired their coach midseason, barely snuck into the playoffs as the lowest seed, and proceeded to dominate everybody losing only 4 games through the whole playoffs, going undefeated on the road, without home ice advantage in any series.

Things just have to come together in the right way at the right time. That is why many say it is the hardest trophy to win in all of organized professional sports. It takes a little bit of everything, right down to good old fashioned puck luck.

This can be said with all sports… momentum, getting hot, playing cohesively, officiating, health, luck, etc. It took nearly as long for the Penguins to win their first cup with Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, as well as Recchi, Cullen, Coffey, Stevens, Trottier, Errey, Mullen, Barrasso, etc. The team with the best talent doesn’t always win. This is not necessarily a bad thing as people generally like to root for the underdog… unless your team is the favorite ? While I love hockey, I don’t find the sport to be unique as far as winning and losing. As far as the Penguins, and all of the reasons listed above, they simply aren’t playing well?

 

[alaskanpiper]

This can be said with all sports… momentum, getting hot, playing cohesively, officiating, health, luck, etc. It took nearly as long for the Penguins to win their first cup with Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, as well as Recchi, Cullen, Coffey, Stevens, Trottier, Errey, Mullen, Barrasso, etc. The team with the best talent doesn’t always win. This is not necessarily a bad thing as people generally like to root for the underdog… unless your team is the favorite ? While I love hockey, I don’t find the sport to be unique as far as winning and losing. As far as the Penguins, and all of the reasons listed above, they simply aren’t playing well?

Yes, those factors play into every sport to some extent for sure.

And no, they are not, particularly at the top. While Malkin did have a good game 5, the performance by the rest of our core group in this series has left much to be desired. The penguins seem to have this odd pattern of a couple years of dominant playoff runs followed by several years of lackluster playoff performance, then dominance again. I don't know if it's just complacency due to previous success or what, but our less renowned players certainly seem to be the only ones playing like they are truly hungry for a deep run right now. Guys like Tanev, Bleuger, Gaudreau, Kapanen, etc. are playing their asses off. Can't say the same for Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel, Letang, etc.

Quite honestly, I think the winner of this series, whoever it is, is going to get mowed down by Boston in the next round regardless.

 

[alaskanpiper]

Huge win for the Caniacs tonight. Leafs too. I have a softspot for the leafs simply because of their perennially tortured fan base.

Fingers crossed my Pens wake up tomorrow ?

 

[mikethompson]

I have a softspot for the leafs simply because of their perennially tortured fan base.

You wouldn't if you lived around them.