2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs

@Young:

WOW, 5-0 for LA against Chicago, and a 7 spot for Anaheim… I think tonight has changed my approach towards the upcoming pool.

LA seems to do very well in the postseason when they are mostly unremarkable during the regular season. They are still an excellent team and can handle anyone in the league. Can never count them out.

I am glad they will be in the playoffs this year… it is much more fun populating all the Pool boxes when you have good teams and a surplus of superstar players.

Watching the Wings-Habs last night I went from Oh crap, not again despair to, hey, we got this! to OMG… not again.

Detroit’s defense is abysmal. DeKeyser was a liability. Ericsson is below average. Kronwall is just not a number one caliber. Kyle Quincey cares more about his beard than playing defense with any aptitude. Fortunately Brendan Smith was scratched or it probably would’ve been worse.

Mike Green at least shoots the puck. Alexey Marchenko made some unfortunate rookie mistakes, but he shows promise. Heck, Brad Richards playing point on the powerplay was one of their best defensemen! If these guys squeak into the playoffs, it will be one and done. Not proud of it.

In other news… How have I not realized until now how dirty a d-bag Duncan Keith is? What a colossal idiot:
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/03/chicago-blackhawks-duncan-keith-another-high-sticking-intent-to-injure

That is beyond irresponsibility. It is fully deliberate and there is an established pattern of this ass-hattery. And talk about selfish play… getting suspended does no favors to a Chicago team that is wallowing in mediocrity of late with multiple star players out of commission. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/rosenblog/ct-blackhawks-duncan-keith-ejection-rosenbloom-20160330-column.html

I hope he gets rest of the season, plus two playoff games.

@Young:

I hate my Habs playing the role of spoiler, first… it’s the worst position to be in and definitely not something to be proud of, second… it sticks daggers in the hearts of hockey fans who just want to see their team get in, so why would anyone cheer for their team to be spoilers (well maybe if we’re spoiling the Bruins chances, that would be worth cheering for).

Ha. I don’t begrudge the Canadiens for playing well and winning. I would expect nothing less. A win is not worth having if the other team simply lays down.

What irks me is the Red Wings not being able to pull it out and shut it down after scoring three consecutive goals to give them the lead. They only have themselves to blame for that. The Red Wings’ greatest failing is not a lack of talent (well defensively perhaps) but a lack of both resiliency and killer instinct. I saw flashes of both last night in the second period, but it wasn’t consistent in a single game and isn’t consistent over the course of the season. This is what will be their undoing in the playoffs, should they get in.

I am not really sure who the culprits are, if any individuals can even be fingered. The defensive corps is not good and they are the weakest link. And I would like to think that the younger guys like Larkin, Athanasiou, Marchenko, Sheahan, Abdelkader and Glendening are not part of the problem, even though Larkin, Athanasiou and Marchenko all make inexperience related mistakes occasionally. Mantha is a guy I really want to succeed, but I cannot help but see his AHL issues with lack of hustle transferring to his NHL play… the guy would be a force if he gave it 100% up and down the ice every shift. But the limited amount I have seen him, it doesn’t appear to be the case. I can’t fault Datsyuk either, since he is excellent night in and night out. Zetterberg is consistently solid, but I feel like he isn’t leading the charge that well. Nor is the coaching staff. I guess I am frustrated with Blashill more than anything right now. Not for his coaching entirely, but for the seeming lack of attention given to defensive problems. He acknowledges them routinely but we haven’t seen the turnaround in performance like the renaissance that has happened on the powerplay in the last month.

The whole thing is just frustrating. Anyway. That’s my rant.

@General:

NHL should send a message to a repeat offender like Keith by giving him the rest of the season AND the first round of the playoffs.

That would be great. However, it seems they weight 1 playoff game equivalent to between 3 and 5 regular season games. That said, I have a hard time believing that they will come down with a potentially 7 playoff game ban for Keith, a star, one of the leagues best, on the face-of-the-league team.

I do agree that some serious message needs to be sent though. This isn’t the first time, the second time or the third time this has happened. The guy is clearly an unremorseful repeat offender with a pattern for this and other forms of beyond the line violence. Here is some more stick work action from Keith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGfhjojSbcw

It annoyed me that even Joel Quenville is not condemning Keith’s actions. I understand that he is his coach, but come on. This is completely indefensible crap. Whatever messages the league has sent up until now clearly have not had an effect here. When does it become part of his organization’s responsibility to condemn and bear some account for Keith’s actions? Everyone was quick to jump on the Blackhawks organization for not voluntarily distancing themselves from Patrick Kane during the offseason rape-accusation circus that followed him around…… which turned out to not even be true… but who is calling for the organization to condemn Keith’s clear and present violence on the ice? I mean, swinging a stick at guy’s faces is not minor-penalty idiocy. This is Marty McSorley-level stuff. This is concussion, facial laceration, eye damage, dental damage, nose breaking kind of crap.

It’s not even competitive, down and dirty play. It is intent to injure borne out of childish selfishness and unchecked anger at being slighted in any way.

It’s on dudes! Wings squeak in and Boston collapses like a hollow shell of their former selves.

Looks like an exciting playoff ahead of us. My pick sheet is almost finalized for the Pool. Will be sending later tonight hopefully.

Good luck.

Deadline for pool picks is (today) Wednesday the 13th… sometime around 7:00 EST if you can swing that. Already have a couple of yours.

@General:

Picked a few Penguins figuring they were due to beat the Rangers, but I would love to be wrong in this case. The only edge the Rangers have is between the pipes, but backup goalies have a habit of looking legendary against the uptight Rangers in the playoffs.

This series is a hard one for me to figure out. I lean toward the Penguins, as most other people have been, but Pittsburgh having to rely on an almost completely untested goalie throws a big if into the mix. I still haven’t seen a real update on Fleury’s status other than that he was practicing in full gear yesterday.

The Rangers have pretty decent depth and if Lundqvist plays at the top of his game and their big guys can really squeeze the game a bit, I can easily see New York grinding out this series and advancing.

As with most of these series, it could easily go one way or the other. There is no way to predict with certainty when there is personal confidence and random bounces involved.

In other news… Zach Parise has now been listed as “Out Indefinitely” http://sports.yahoo.com/news/wild-star-parise-indefinitely-upper-body-injury-161109296–nhl.html

Know what you are getting into if you intend to pick him. Guess he is going to miss at least the first two games. Aggravated herniated disc.

I don’t see how Minnesota wins without him. And without Vanek.

@Young:

@LHoffman:

Deadline for pool picks is (today) Wednesday the 13th… sometime around 7:00 EST if you can swing that. Already have a couple of yours.

I didn’t get the sheets… try cliffsidebunker@outlook.com.

Sorry YG, using your old email.

I resent to the new one.

I am conflicted and not sure what to do about my picks. Been so busy with everyone else’s and work stuff that I haven’t had time for my own.

@Young:

@LHoffman:

I am conflicted and not sure what to do about my picks. Been so busy with everyone else’s and work stuff that I haven’t had time for my own.

I’m sure you’ll get yours in just before the Conference Finals like you do every year :-D

(Just kidding Commish, I know you’re busy)

HA! HA! A wise guy, huh?