NHL Thread: 2021-2022 Season

[LakeLocker]

Originally Posted by Darkoshvilli

If Ottawa played every game like they do at the bell center they'd be cup contenders. Its pretty cute. Its their little stanley cup.

Winning the cup is one thing, levitating past being the worst team in the league is a high few people can every appreciate.


EDIT: FUCK YEAH!!!!!!! They just won their way out of the bottom.

I literally planned my honeymoon around going to an NHL game(it was either Winnipeg or Ottawa). I think this choice will work out nicely.

Still deciding if I should make a Quebec Senators Jersey for some quality trolling.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Not only was Babcock not the issue but Dubas is even further from being the issue.

I certainly wouldn’t exonerate Dubas in all of this. He has made some very questionable decisions (not acquiring a decent backup goalie, starving the team of quality D, massively overpaying for Nylander).

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by acottawa

I certainly wouldn’t exonerate Dubas in all of this. He has made some very questionable decisions (not acquiring a decent backup goalie, starving the team of quality D, massively overpaying for Nylander).

Dubas starved the team of quality D? He's been the GM for two years, and since then he's added Muzzin (top pairing D on LA's cup winning teams), Barrie (60 point defenseman for Colorado), transitioned Dermott from a prospect into a full-time NHL player, and drafted Rasmus Sandin who had one of the best AHL seasons from a teenage defenseman in history last year. Those guys replaced Connor Carrick, Roman Polak, and Ron Hainsey, the latter two of which could barely skate by the end of their time with Babcock.

You know you don't just go and pick a Drew Doughty off a tree right? not only do they take years to develop, once they do teams aren't exactly jumping to get rid of them in a trade. To call into question two years of management because you didn't acquire the rarest commodity in the sport is asinine.

This is aside from the whole fact that the future of the league is transitioning away from looking at the roster in such black and white as "d man play defense and forwards play offense." The prototypical stay-at-home defenseman barely exists anymore. There aren't players like Pronger, Chelios, Stevens, etc. floating around the league. The idea that defenseman aren't just there for defending, they're there for a different kind of defending is the way things are going. Fluidity in roles as you transition from possessing the puck to defending in your own end is something management is striving for with this team and the way it's constructed. Something that Keefe has bought into as well during his time with Dubas on the Marlies.

I don't think the Leafs are going to pull a Mike Sullivan-type reversal and go on a tear to win the cup like the Penguins did, but at least we have someone willing to drive the car the way it was designed for. It will be fun to watch either way.

[LakeLocker]

Originally Posted by acottawa

I certainly wouldn’t exonerate Dubas in all of this. He has made some very questionable decisions (not acquiring a decent backup goalie, starving the team of quality D, massively overpaying for Nylander).

I honestly think league analytics are breaking down.

If everybody is playing the same game everyone looses or wins equally. With the salary cap creating a musical chairs effect(where winning means you are loosing players to increased salary demands) the best strategy is to always be within 2 points of the wild card. That way if you think you have a shot at the cup you can go for a run, if not you can tank depressing salaries and potentially winning the draft lottery. You can't decide at the beginning of a season(or at the end of the previous playoffs) that you want to go all out on contract negotiations and make this year the all or nothing season.

A winning team needs to be tanking on the anlytics with a roster of brute heavy warriors. The leafs have done virtually the opposite of this upon every turn.

[Calgarian]

This is the worst stretch of hockey the Flames have played in years! 6 losses in a row, 3 of them shutouts. Johnny cokehead better sort his shit out soon!

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

This is the worst stretch of hockey the Flames have played in years! 6 losses in a row, 3 of them shutouts. Johnny cokehead better sort his shit out soon!

Saw that the Flames have now gone 348 consecutive minutes without a lead. The Leafs hit 400 before Babcock was fired. Might be time soon in Calgary as well.

Not going to get too excited yet since a lot of teams come out buzzing after a coaching change, but that first win under Keefe last night was very vindicating. Basically did exactly what we've all been waiting for for years and took the leash off the team and let a bunch of skilled players do what they do best. Only one icing in the first period and like 3 stretch passes all game. Almost brought a tear to my eye.

[megadude]

I've heard the name Sheldon Keefe a few times over the past couple of years. When he was named as coach I looked him up to see where else he had been other than the Marlies. Noticed that he's from Brampton (cool, coaching hometown team!) and born same year as me. Then I read he was one of the "Brampton Boys" linked to David Frost...

Glad to see he outgrew that phase. He and the rest of them got up to some bad shit back in the day, on and off the ice.

I knew quite a few hockey bros and hung out with them on occasion. I heard all kinds of stories, many of them centered around these guys.

The most infamous, Mike Jefferson, aka Mike Danton, came over to my house once when we were 13, with some other bros, to play ball on my 8 foot net. I said when you dunk, don't hang on the net. Of course, the first time he dunked he just had to hang on it and bent it slightly. He also noticed the hot chick of our school (my neighbour across the street) and decided he had to now play shirtless to impress her. Of course, we were now afraid to guard him out of fear of touching his sweaty body.

Basically, he came from a messed up family apparently and the signs were there since he was young. When we saw a guy named Danton was being charged with murder for hire, we didn't really think much of it until we saw his mugshot and thought, hmmm, that looks like a bulked up version of Mike Jefferson. Then we clued in.

Looks like the Leafs got the good ol' coaching change boost. And hopefully we can ride this to the cup like the few teams that have done it before with mid-season coaching changes.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

Saw that the Flames have now gone 348 consecutive minutes without a lead. The Leafs hit 400 before Babcock was fired. Might be time soon in Calgary as well.
.

This is only Peters second season, and it's been a revolving door of coaches the last few years. The Players are the problem, not sure what the coach can do except scream at them every practice, that seemed to work for Hartley and Gulutzan for a short while lol.

[suburbanite]

Felt like he'd been there for longer. Probably wouldn't be a good look but that team also shouldn't have been swept in the first round last year. Do you start thinking about shipping out guys that were supposed to be part of the long-term plan?

It can be hard to tell if players aren't giving a shit because of individual problems or whether the coach has lost the room. Hoping ours was the latter.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

Do you start thinking about shipping out guys that were supposed to be part of the long-term plan?

This is the issue we need to consider, and it's a really tough one. We have Monahan signed for $6.375M and Gaudreau for $6.75, where can we get 2 players of that Calibre for less than $15M? Mitch Marner is one of the most comparable players to Johnny, and look at his salary.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Give it time. Gaudreau and Monahan are currently well below their shooting percentages for goals. It'll even out. You don't usually outshoot an opponent 4:3 and lose 5-0. If anything I'd be looking at goaltending and the defensive coverage.

[Coldrsx]

The Oilers with another win... tied for 2nd in the league with Boston at 35pts.

I have a playoff planning meeting today at the City.

[jawagord]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

The Oilers with another win... tied for 2nd in the league with Boston at 35pts.

I have a playoff planning meeting today at the City.

Make sure you map out a parade route, that's the way Toronto does it every year the Leafs have a fast start!

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by jawagord

Make sure you map out a parade route, that's the way Toronto does it every year the Leafs have a fast start!

Now we're working on refining the route after the logistical nightmare that was the Raptors parade. The city has been planning for decades and was still overwhelmed, let that be a warning to all you non-overzealous cities out there!

[WhipperSnapper]

Edmonton won't cheap out on barriers. The Ice District's square is a clusterfuck. I wonder who thought levels and steps would be a good idea? LOL

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Edmonton won't cheap out on barriers. The Ice District's square is a clusterfuck. I wonder who thought levels and steps would be a good idea? LOL

Some overzealous Landscape Architect seems to have had too much freedom of design. I'll hold out on calling it a clusterfuck for now though.

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Edmonton won't cheap out on barriers. The Ice District's square is a clusterfuck. I wonder who thought levels and steps would be a good idea? LOL

Because it is intended to be a gathering space, an outdoor skating rink, a place to sit and watch street-performers, movies etc.

[Calgarian]

Jesus, just saw this pic on Skyrise looking for pics of the plaza. Really underwhelmed with the construction quality on Rogers.

[Coldrsx]

https://twitter.com/JWMarriottEdm/st...87364241625090
@kmoorephotos

[Calgarian]

Ice district looks good, I can't un-see the shitty job the cladding contractors did on Rogers now though.