NHL Thread: Season 2018-2019

[jawagord]

Originally Posted by TownGuy

Standings don't really matter at this point to the Flames, Jets and Leafs. They're all good teams cemented in a playoff spot and will be judged on how they perform there.

Actually for the Flames and Jets finishing first means avoiding first round match-ups with the Knights and Blues respectively. The Leafs unfortunately are locked into a first round match-up with Boston, C'est la vie.

[TownGuy]

I meant in terms of Canadian bragging rights. And yes it is quite unfortunate the Leafs are matched up with the, tied for, 2nd best team in the league for no good reason.

[Andy6]

Calgary’s division has some pretty bad teams, though — 4 of them with sub-.500 records. Winnipeg’s division has no sub-.500 teams and only two with a negative goal differential (vs. five in the Pacific). So naturally Calgary will have racked up some extra points. :-)

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by TownGuy

I meant in terms of Canadian bragging rights. And yes it is quite unfortunate the Leafs are matched up with the, tied for, 2nd best team in the league for no good reason.

There are no Canadian bragging rights unless a team wins a cup. Nobody is going to ever remember who finished with the most regular season points amongst Canadian teams in the 18-19 season ten years from now, and making the second or third round hasn't been too difficult for Canadian teams.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by JHikka

There are no Canadian bragging rights unless a team wins a cup. Nobody is going to ever remember who finished with the most regular season points amongst Canadian teams in the 18-19 season ten years from now, and making the second or third round hasn't been too difficult for Canadian teams.

Yes, that will be the ultimate bragging right. I really don't see it this year with Tampa looking unbeatable.

The Jets played one of their best games last night vs. Nashville and have won 5 of 6, so maybe they're finally rounding into form. They haven't really hit their stride this year, even before losing Byfuglien and Morrissey to injury. Hellebuyck notching up consecutive shutouts after not managing one all season is probably the best news. At least the Jets will probably win the Central, giving them a new banner for the first time in 40 years.

[BlaineN]

Originally Posted by jawagord

Actually for the Flames and Jets finishing first means avoiding first round match-ups with the Knights and Blues respectively. The Leafs unfortunately are locked into a first round match-up with Boston, C'est la vie.

I'm not too happy about seeing my Leafs facing a Boston team that has been very strong lately. It's the Leafs own fault for squandering some games that they should have won earlier. Playoffs are a whole new season, so who knows maybe the Leafs will pick it up.

[BlaineN]

Originally Posted by Andy6

Calgary’s division has some pretty bad teams, though — 4 of them with sub-.500 records. Winnipeg’s division has no sub-.500 teams and only two with a negative goal differential (vs. five in the Pacific). So naturally Calgary will have racked up some extra points. :-)

In all fairness the Central Division isn't a whole lot better. Outside of the top 3 teams in each division, the ones in the central are only marginally better than the ones in the Pacific. Calgary has also beaten Winnipeg 3 or the 4 times they've met, which is a big part the difference. If Winnipeg wins those, they are quite a ways ahead of Calgary instead of behind.

I've been kind of down on the Flames this season, and I'm still skeptical about how they are going to do in the Playoffs, but after watching a few of their games, I can see why they are having success. I saw the game they lost to Winnipeg, and was actually impressed with Calgary. Even though they lost, they could have won also. Last night I watched the Cgy-Van game last night and Calgary outclassed them, even with Calgary's top line having a quiet night.

How will the Flames do in the playoffs? I'm still skeptical, as I don't think they're big and gritty enough but I guess time will tell.

[BlaineN]

Originally Posted by TownGuy

Standings don't really matter at this point to the Flames, Jets and Leafs. They're all good teams cemented in a playoff spot and will be judged on how they perform there.

That's exactly my thoughts too. Jets will compete, and the Leafs? I'm not sure what to think. Some nights they look like they could take it all, other nights, umm... Flames are a wild card. I don't expect them to do well, but that 4th line of theirs looks good. If the top line gets going, they could do some damage.

[ST1]

Originally Posted by Andy6

Calgary’s division has some pretty bad teams, though — 4 of them with sub-.500 records. Winnipeg’s division has no sub-.500 teams and only two with a negative goal differential (vs. five in the Pacific). So naturally Calgary will have racked up some extra points. :-)

I think Calgary has been the better of the two teams in the regular season and deservedly so. yes, the Pacific division is weaker in general, but consider the following,

-The Pacific teams have a better record against the Central division head to head. Only one team in Pacific has a losing record against the Central Division (LA is 7-11-2 against the Central) and only Winnipeg has a strong record against the Pacific (15-6-2).

-Calgary has taken the season series 3 of 4 against Winnipeg in head to head meetings.

One can make a fair argument that Calgary deserves to be where they are. Of course with the regular season is coming to a close and will soon mean nothing. A new season is about to start. Winnipeg has more experience in that department.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by ST1

I think Calgary has been the better of the two teams in the regular season and deservedly so. yes, the Pacific division is weaker in general, but consider the following,

-The Pacific teams have a better record against the Central division head to head. Only one team in Pacific has a losing record against the Central Division (LA is 7-11-2 against the Central) and only Winnipeg has a strong record against the Pacific (15-6-2).

-Calgary has taken the season series 3 of 4 against Winnipeg in head to head meetings.

One can make a fair argument that Calgary deserves to be where they are. Of course with the regular season is coming to a close and will soon mean nothing. A new season is about to start. Winnipeg has more experience in that department.

How did Winnipeg play 4 regular season games vs. Calgary? Isn't it 3 games against conference rivals?

[DavefromSt.Vital]

Originally Posted by Andy6

How did Winnipeg play 4 regular season games vs. Calgary? Isn't it 3 games against conference rivals?

Correct, it is generally three games against teams from the other division within the conference.

Calgary won the first two, Winnipeg won the most recent and final one.

[roccerfeller]

Originally Posted by BlaineN

In all fairness the Central Division isn't a whole lot better. Outside of the top 3 teams in each division, the ones in the central are only marginally better than the ones in the Pacific. Calgary has also beaten Winnipeg 3 or the 4 times they've met, which is a big part the difference. If Winnipeg wins those, they are quite a ways ahead of Calgary instead of behind.

I've been kind of down on the Flames this season, and I'm still skeptical about how they are going to do in the Playoffs, but after watching a few of their games, I can see why they are having success. I saw the game they lost to Winnipeg, and was actually impressed with Calgary. Even though they lost, they could have won also. Last night I watched the Cgy-Van game last night and Calgary outclassed them, even with Calgary's top line having a quiet night.

How will the Flames do in the playoffs? I'm still skeptical, as I don't think they're big and gritty enough but I guess time will tell.

Originally Posted by ST1

I think Calgary has been the better of the two teams in the regular season and deservedly so. yes, the Pacific division is weaker in general, but consider the following,

-The Pacific teams have a better record against the Central division head to head. Only one team in Pacific has a losing record against the Central Division (LA is 7-11-2 against the Central) and only Winnipeg has a strong record against the Pacific (15-6-2).

-Calgary has taken the season series 3 of 4 against Winnipeg in head to head meetings.

One can make a fair argument that Calgary deserves to be where they are. Of course with the regular season is coming to a close and will soon mean nothing. A new season is about to start. Winnipeg has more experience in that department.

They only meet 3 times a year max. They aren't in the same division ... Where did this 4 game narrative come from?

You could say the same about the second game for the jets. Jets looked the stronger team but flames are probably the best at scoring goals this year outside of tampa. They took momentum with those, despite the score the Jets played well. Only the first game was really a blowout. They are a force. And it was a depleted flames team against a depleted jets team.

Last year I don't recall if the jets beat Nashville in regular season but they beat them in the playoffs. Regular season games give insight but playoffs are another animal entirely. For all we know one of the wildcard teams could take it all the way

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by DavefromSt.Vital

Correct, it is generally three games against teams from the other division within the conference.

Calgary won the first two, Winnipeg won the most recent and final one.

i think Calgary’s alleged point total may need to be audited!

[BlaineN]

Okay, okay everyone calm down lol. Yes, it was three games between the Flames and Jets. For some reason I had in mind that it was 4.

Anywho... I wanted to point out that I thought Calgary was deserving of the lead in the Western Conference. I'm not sure how they'll fare in the playoffs, it's a whole new season, and as ST1 pointed out, teams Like the Jets have more experience. so do the Sharks and Predators....and the Golden Knights for that matter. If there's an upset in the making it's probably the Flames.

[Calgarian]

Once playoffs start, what happened in the regular season is entirely irrelevant.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Once playoffs start, what happened in the regular season is entirely irrelevant.

Yes, because NHL playoff hockey is not the same as NHL regular season hockey and the rules/officiating change overnight.

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Once playoffs start, what happened in the regular season is entirely irrelevant.

Most Leafs fans should hope this is true. It's been painful to watch.

Any of the 4 teams in the hunt for the wildcard spot shouldn't be too big an issue for Calgary. I'd probably want Colorado the least given the potential for the top line to take over a couple games. Pulling for the Coyotes to make it with their hot goaltending going into the playoffs.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

Most Leafs fans should hope this is true. It's been painful to watch.

Any of the 4 teams in the hunt for the wildcard spot shouldn't be too big an issue for Calgary. I'd probably want Colorado the least given the potential for the top line to take over a couple games. Pulling for the Coyotes to make it with their hot goaltending going into the playoffs.

The atmosphere in Toronto during a playoff run would be tough to beat, all Canadian cities get excited, but Toronto probably has more pent up frustration than any other city. Fans here will probably be excited but cautious for at least the first round, the Flames haven't had much post season success since 2004, and aside from that one run, all the way back to the championship in '89.

[suburbanite]

The atmosphere feels a lot heavier this year with most people predicting another first round exit.

Now if they ever made it to the finals, than we would see some anarchy.

[ST1]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

Most Leafs fans should hope this is true. It's been painful to watch.

Any of the 4 teams in the hunt for the wildcard spot shouldn't be too big an issue for Calgary. I'd probably want Colorado the least given the potential for the top line to take over a couple games. Pulling for the Coyotes to make it with their hot goaltending going into the playoffs.

Calgary has sucked against Dallas the last couple of seasons, they don't match up well against them for some reason, so hopefully it's not them. Arizona seems like the best choice, but who knows, all it takes is a hot goaltender in the first round and anything can happen. To your point, if Colorado gets goaltending they could upset some teams.

I'm not sure who to hope for, in the end the Flames will need to step up and play playoff hockey whoever it is. Not to sounds like a guy jumping off the bandwagon, but I'm still a little unsure about them.
From a longterm standpoint, I like the look of the Flames. They've got some great players, but this is new to many of them.