NHL Regular Season 2016-17

I was big on Chicago and Washington too, while the Hawks are finished I think the Caps will figure this round out, at least. As chaotic as the NHL playoffs are having the two top seeds get bounced in the first round would be nuts.

My bracket is about busted too. Picked MIN, CHI, WSH, BOS, SJS, MTL, CBJ, and CGY. :D

I remember thinking the same thing last year after coming out of the first round… crap I am finished. Obviously that turned out not to be the case in the end. Partially because I was only one of about two people to pick a decent number of Sharks. Just depends how things shake out. Building a lot of points in the first two rounds is key, but if your team loses most of its guys and can’t keep distance with a few good producers, you can still lose.

I am kicking myself for not going with my gut and picking more Nashville guys. I have 4 but I almost took Rinne and Johansen too.

It’s only the first round still, but I am never picking Evgeny Kuznetsov again. Guy has been a total flop in the playoffs.

@SS:

:x axis roll not looking good ! “Kaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnneeeeeeeee come back” !!!

Sad end to a very good season.  Just goes to show you how hard the NHL playoffs are.

@axis_roll:

@SS:

:x axis roll not looking good ! “Kaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnneeeeeeeee come back” !!!

Sad end to a very good season.  Just goes to show you how hard the NHL playoffs are.

And to win after you’ve won a few CUPS.

@LHoffman:

I get the sense that the Sharks are now angry enough to smack down the Oilers in the next couple games.

Crap.

Habs … you had one job.

Signed,
An Islanders Fan

P.S. - Sorry YG

Hank got his mojo back at the perfect time, no doubt going against the world’s #1 got his competitive juices flowing. Zuccarello is the straw that stirs the Rangers drink, he took quite a few penalties but was in on a lot of plays.

Selfishly I’d rather the Rangers take on the Senators since they just dealt with the Bruins-redux after Julien’s makeover. Montreal HAS to resign Radulov right? And Pacioretty has some soul searching to do this summer.

@LHoffman:

@LHoffman:

I get the sense that the Sharks are now angry enough to smack down the Oilers in the next couple games.

Crap.

Hahahahahahahaha…. happy days here in E-town!!!  :-) :-) :-)

Canada is having an uncharacteristic amount of success.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are the only tournament in the hockey world that Canada collectively walks around with a chip on its shoulder about.

I don’t want to see that go away.  :roll:

@LHoffman:

Canada is having an uncharacteristic amount of success.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are the only tournament in the hockey world that Canada collectively walks around with a chip on its shoulder about.

I don’t want to see that go away.  :roll:

No chip here.  The only other Canadian team I will occasionally root for is Ottawa.  Otherwise, my number two team after the Oilers is The Capitals.  I have an inexplicable soft spot for the Predators, too.  Here’s hoping for a Capitals-Oilers final (ain’t gonna happen, I know, but I can dream  :-)).

@StuckTojo:

No chip here.  The only other Canadian team I will occasionally root for is Ottawa.  Otherwise, my number two team after the Oilers is The Capitals.  I have an inexplicable soft spot for the Predators, too.  Here’s hoping for a Capitals-Oilers final (ain’t gonna happen, I know, but I can dream  :-)).

Eh, the way EDM (Cam Talbot) is playing now, they certainly could. I feel like that could be bad for them though. Too soon, if you know what I mean. Same would be true of Toronto.

I would have liked to see Montreal win, only because I like Carey Price and Max Pacioretty.

But at this point, I will be happy with any team except Pittsburgh. Nashville would be really cool though.

Benoit Allaire has to be one of the best goaltending coaches in the business, since he coached Hank since his NHL debut and molded the likes of Cam Talbot and now Antti Raanta, who should also see a payday in free agency.

The baby Leafs had a great series but we get to see the matchup everyone wanted; a heavyweight throwdown between the Caps and Penguins.

@General:

Benoit Allaire has to be one of the best goaltending coaches in the business, since he coached Hank since his NHL debut and molded the likes of Cam Talbot and now Antti Raanta, who should also see a payday in free agency.

True dat.  :wink:

Very good point about the Gomez trade, since he and Chris Drury were dead weight dragging the club down. In fact those two signings were indicative of the dark ages of the Rangers from 1998-2004 that were characterized by throwing money at free agents past their primes. Once those two were gone the team was able to go younger.

McDonaugh is not quite on the upper echelon of defensemen occupied by the likes of Karlsson and Weber, but he’s right at the top of the second tier. It’s apparent that time off to end the season did him some good since he played extremely well.

@Young:

I’m cashing in my emotional investment on the Habs, and all sports for that matter… FYI, I earned one penny on the dollar.

Final Thoughts: The Ryan McDonagh trade for Scott Gomez put that organization back a whole decade and counting.

Oh no. Don’t jump! You have friends here!

But I know what you mean. I did the same thing with college sports teams. Ohio State football has been more of a disappointment than a return on emotional investment, on the whole. So sometime back after 2006 when they lost two national championships, I kinda just detached and am happy if they do well, but don’t really hope and yearn for it like I used to.

I must say that I it has helped a lot. I can enjoy it more now if I just don’t care as much. There were some rough years for the Wings too, where I went through the same thing (like being the No. 1 seed and losing to Edmonton back around… hey, 2006). But their slow decline for 10 years after that helped ease the transition.

Don’t want to derail the hockey talk but Ohio State’s track record since 2002 is still pretty good, especially compared to their neighbors up north. Granted it would not look as rosy if it weren’t for the most delayed pass interference call in American gridiron history at the Fiesta Bowl waaaaay back when.