2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs

I’m excited about my Dallas Stars, but it is going to be tough, being in the same division as Chicago, St. Louis, as well as others, but I can hope. :-D

My Habs issues this season are well documented, no need to defend their poor efforts and injury misfortunes. As for the other six Canadian cities not making the playoffs… I couldn’t care less. Their inefficiency is nothing new considering the Montreal Canadiens were the only “Canadian team” in last year. I say “Canadian team” loosely, because isn’t every NHL team roster mostly Canadians?

I love your playoff pool Hoff, can’t wait to make my picks… at least I won’t have to pick from the heart this year  :|

@Young:

My Habs issues this season are well documented, no need to defend their poor efforts and injury misfortunes. As for the other six Canadian cities not making the playoffs… I couldn’t care less. Their inefficiency is nothing new considering the Montreal Canadiens were the only “Canadian team” in last year. I say “Canadian team” loosely, because isn’t every NHL team roster mostly Canadians?

I love your playoff pool Hoff, can’t wait to make my picks… at least I won’t have to pick from the heart this year  :|

I don’t have my finger to the pulse of all Canadians but I feel there is resentment toward Bettman and the league as a whole for pushing expansion and relocation into non-traditional markets in the US that have largely been failures or lackluster, and these have been at the expense of Canadian markets. I know Winnipeg 1.0 and Quebec were struggling mightily by the end due to the flat Canadian dollar but it seems like the league was all to eager to relocate teams from the north (including the North Stars) down south.
Meanwhile the Arizona Coyotes have been a welfare case for over three years I think, and are under the stewardship of the league.

@General:

I don’t have my finger to the pulse of all Canadians but I feel there is resentment toward Bettman and the league as a whole for pushing expansion and relocation into non-traditional markets in the US that have largely been failures or lackluster, and these have been at the expense of Canadian markets. I know Winnipeg 1.0 and Quebec were struggling mightily by the end due to the flat Canadian dollar but it seems like the league was all to eager to relocate teams from the north (including the North Stars) down south.
Meanwhile the Arizona Coyotes have been a welfare case for over three years I think, and are under the stewardship of the league.

I don’t really pay much attention to NHL politics (or even to the game itself), but the subject is hard to avoid when you open any Montreal newspaper, so occasionally a story about this topic will catch my eye – like this morning’s barrage of sportscaster opinions about whether the NHL will set up an expansion team in Las Vegas alone instead of both Las Vegas and Quebec City.  But anyway, I once heard speculation that Bettman’s thinking about teams in cities that aren’t hockey towns is based on the premise that the real money to be made comes from television broadcast rights, not from seat sales, and therefore that it’s not necessary to actually fill any local stadiums or arenas (which, I’ve heard, is the problem that the Glendale team’s been having for a while).

I personally don’t use GB as a scapegoat when my team located in Canada does poorly, and I don’t understand fans who use him as such to explain their own team’s failures. There will always be relocation and when Winnipeg and Quebec got dismantled, it was just a product of the financial landscape at that time. Before GB, the Atlanta Flames were moved to Calgary, and then later the Atlanta Thrashers were moved to Winnipeg… so if any fan base should be pissed with relocation and expansion, it’s Atlanta. Now of course all this opinion would go straight out the door if my Montreal Canadiens were ever to get moved to lets say… Hartford. The sour grapes of the typical Canadian hockey fan are grown on the vein planted by the management in their own organization for which they cheer for. Especially teams like Montreal and Toronto where money can and should buy the best coach, the best scouting staff, and the best training facilities. When GM after GM comes in and screws the organization worst than how it was when they got there, that’s not GB fault, and it’s certainly not Las Vegas’s fault.

Just to clarify: I was commenting on what General Veers was saying about the issue of franchise expansion and relocation, and about how Gary Bettman and the NHL relate to this issue.  General Veers mentioned Canadians, but he wasn’t talking about Les Canadiens and neither was I.  If someone were to ask me who or what I blame for the dismal performance of the Habs over the past few months, several things would come to mind but Gary Bettman wouldn’t be one of them.

On a somewhat related note, as a New Yorker I take little solace when elite colleges from all over the country recruit New York-area players and win with them while the city’s flagship team -St. John’s- is a very sad shadow of its former self.

But back to hockey, it looks like we’re getting a Rangers-Islanders collision course in the 1st round. Should be fun, and despite the constant spotlight on the Rangers, the pressure will be on the Isles to break their 21-year playoff series drought.

@General:

On a somewhat related note, as a New Yorker I take little solace when elite colleges from all over the country recruit New York-area players and win with them while the city’s flagship team -St. John’s- is a very sad shadow of its former self.

But back to hockey, it looks like we’re getting a Rangers-Islanders collision course in the 1st round. Should be fun, and despite the constant spotlight on the Rangers, the pressure will be on the Isles to break their 21-year playoff series drought.

Here’s anecdote I think you’ll enjoy. In the 1952 film noir Macao, with Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell, there’s a scene in which the character played by William Bendix sits down in a hotel barbershop to get a shave and a haircut.  The barber is a Chinese woman, and Bendix speaks to her in a rather condescending tone when he gives her the specifications for his haircut, as if he’s assuming that she’s an ignorant peasant with a poor grasp of English.  The woman lathers up his face, and as she does so she asks casually, “So what team you like best – Yankees or Dodgers?”  Bendix spits out his cigar in surprise.  (If I’m not mistaken, the Dodgers were still based in Brooklyn at the time of the movie.)

That’s a nice tip of the hat to the “Golden Age” of New York baseball, spanning from 1947 to 1957 (ending when the Giants and Dodgers moved).

It’s been a rocky season for the Islanders in Brooklyn, since many of their fans in the Long Island suburbs needed to make the transition from driving to riding the train to get to games. A crowded train sure beats the prospect of having the team in Kansas City, Seattle, Vegas, etc. Also I’m sure the Toronto media has a John Tavares free agency countdown already (along with Steven Stamkos).

@Young:

I personally don’t use GB as a scapegoat when my team located in Canada does poorly, and I don’t understand fans who use him as such to explain their own team’s failures. There will always be relocation and when Winnipeg and Quebec got dismantled, it was just a product of the financial landscape at that time. Before GB, the Atlanta Flames were moved to Calgary, and then later the Atlanta Thrashers were moved to Winnipeg… so if any fan base should be pissed with relocation and expansion, it’s Atlanta. Now of course all this opinion would go straight out the door if my Montreal Canadiens were ever to get moved to lets say… Hartford. The sour grapes of the typical Canadian hockey fan are grown on the vein planted by the management in their own organization for which they cheer for. Especially teams like Montreal and Toronto where money can and should buy the best coach, the best scouting staff, and the best training facilities. When GM after GM comes in and screws the organization worst than how it was when they got there, that’s not GB fault, and it’s certainly not Las Vegas’s fault.

I wrote this because I thought the topic brought up was whether or not Canadians (not Canadiens) were resentful of Gary Bettman, but I would gladly get back to talking about hockey and predict that the Islanders get to the second round.

@General:

Also I’m sure the Toronto media has a John Tavares free agency countdown already (along with Steven Stamkos).

So is this a new topic, or should I just skip this one?

Well the playoffs haven’t started yet so we can talk about the teams that will go fishing/golfing once the season ends. The Leafs are well accustomed to that.

Besides, the ‘impending’ departures of Tavares and Stamkos adds even more pressure to their respective teams.

@General:

Well the playoffs haven’t started yet so we can talk about the teams that will go fishing/golfing once the season ends. The Leafs are well accustomed to that.

Besides, the ‘impending’ departures of Tavares and Stamkos adds even more pressure to their respective teams.

I agree with you that the Leafs suck, and we know all about pressure to sign star players up here… The Red Sox already out bid the Blue Jays for David Price, and the Yankees are hovering like vultures over the “impending” Jose Bautista departure.

Alright, enough distractions. We all know that besides the defending champions the team with the biggest bullseye is the Washington Capitals. If they don’t at least make the Finals it would bury Ovechkin even further in criticism. I have a hunch we could see Rangers-Caps in the 2nd round/division championship for yet another spring.

@General:

Alright, enough distractions. We all know that besides the defending champions the team with the biggest bullseye is the Washington Capitals. If they don’t at least make the Finals it would bury Ovechkin even further in criticism. I have a hunch we could see Rangers-Caps in the 2nd round/division championship for yet another spring.

I would completely sympathize with Capital fans if their team doesn’t at least get to the conference final this year. However, with that said… I think Ovechkin’s career numbers are at a point where they can stand on their own without needing team success to validate his worth (but then again, even Pavel Bure made it to game 7 of the cup final if I’m looking for comparisons).

@LHoffman:

@John:

I’m excited about my Dallas Stars, but it is going to be tough, being in the same division as Chicago, St. Louis, as well as others, but I can hope. :-D

I love the Central Division, but am kinda glad Detroit is no longer in that buzzsaw.

For sure, over decade ago when Dallas was good, they were Dallas Stars, main, nemesis, as well as Colorado, but Dallas and Colorado got worse as the years went by, until Dallas recently got better.

@John:

@LHoffman:

@John:

I’m excited about my Dallas Stars, but it is going to be tough, being in the same division as Chicago, St. Louis, as well as others, but I can hope. :-D

I love the Central Division, but am kinda glad Detroit is no longer in that buzzsaw.

For sure, over decade ago when Dallas was good, they were Dallas Stars, main, nemesis, as well as Colorado, but Dallas and Colorado got worse as the years went by, until Dallas recently got better.

Dallas has some great young fire power, but the only team IMO with a chance to get past Chicago in the west is Anaheim (and that’s a slim chance at that).

@LHoffman:

@John:

I’m excited about my Dallas Stars, but it is going to be tough, being in the same division as Chicago, St. Louis, as well as others, but I can hope. :-D

I love the Central Division, but am kinda glad Detroit is no longer in that buzzsaw.

Yeah, just when my Hawks started to kick their butt consistently, they get moved out of our division.

I recall being on the wrong side of those games for many years, and the NHL took our chance for payback away  :oops: