The 2018/19 NHL Thread!

[gunnar hendershow]

First time in the expansion era that no division champion won their first round series. If I'm taking a stab at it -- Boston/NYI and St.Louis/San Jose for our conference finals, just as we all predicted back in October.

My gut says we get a Boston/St. Louis Cup Final. Binnington has completely transformed the Blues. To think 3 months ago people were going "Well time to blow it up and trade Tarasenko" and now people are going "Can they win it all?"

[Plubby]

Avs over Canes in 6 for the finals  

[Ruki]

I want it to be Carolina or Columbus from the east and St. Louis from the west! 

[The Buscher]

Brutal loss for the Islanders.  The sooner they get out of Barclays Center forever, the better.

[SeanDMan]

I think we can ALL agree that a Stanley Cup final between the Avalanche and Hurricanes (both #8 seeds) would be a natural disaster.

[The Buscher]

Ah well, this Isles/Canes series has been a massive disappointment but it was a fun season.

Can’t really complain, thought they were gonna be dogshit without Tavares.  At least they’ve got something to build on.

[Gabriel]

I'm just really happy to see Carolina is probably headed through to the Conference Finals. They've been a fun story this season, and it's cool to see Hamilton and Ferland getting a long playoff run.

[gunnar hendershow]

I'm down for all wild cards in the conference finals. Make it happen.

[Ruki]

The jerks are going to win it all!

 

Really hoping Columbus can pull off the comeback. I would hate for Boston to make it to the conference finals/cup finals/win the cup.

[gunnar hendershow]

2 hours ago, Ruki said:

The jerks are going to win it all!

 

Really hoping Columbus can pull off the comeback. I would hate for Boston to make it to the conference finals/cup finals/win the cup.

Carolina is so beat up, I'm worried how they'll play against Boston or Columbus. San Jose is starting to feel like the team out of the west. The top line for Dallas is lethal but I don't know about them matching up with the Sharks in a 7 game series. St. Louis' offense has looked very weak recently.

[Gabriel]

I'm hoping the Blues or Stars can advance in the west. Colorado would be nice, if only for the Flames to be able to say that they got beat out by a Cup Finalist, but the Sharks don't seem ready to let them get through.

Carolina or Columbus would be good out of the east. I find myself unable to cheer for the Bruins, the Hurricanes would be a great feel-good story, and Columbus getting to the Finals before possibly being demolished in the off-season would be good for the franchise. Even with a Cup win, I don't think Panarin or Bob stick around, and that Jarmo put all his chips on the table by not moving them at the deadline was a hell of a gamble that would be fun to see pay off.

[gunnar hendershow]

1 hour ago, Gabriel said:

I'm hoping the Blues or Stars can advance in the west. Colorado would be nice, if only for the Flames to be able to say that they got beat out by a Cup Finalist, but the Sharks don't seem ready to let them get through.

Carolina or Columbus would be good out of the east. I find myself unable to cheer for the Bruins, the Hurricanes would be a great feel-good story, and Columbus getting to the Finals before possibly being demolished in the off-season would be good for the franchise. Even with a Cup win, I don't think Panarin or Bob stick around, and that Jarmo put all his chips on the table by not moving them at the deadline was a hell of a gamble that would be fun to see pay off.

Columbus has a lot of very good young pieces and if they can convince Duchene to at least stick around they won't be seeing too big of a drop off. But losing him, Panarin, and Bob would definitely set them back. The latter two seem as good as gone, but you never know what they do with Duchene since they gave up a bit to get him just a few months ago.

[The Buscher]

Wouldn't mind three of the teams remaining winning it all.  Which means a Bruins championship is guaranteed.

I don't even hate the Bruins like I do other Boston teams - but come on, that city has won enough to last their fans a lifetime.

[Gabriel]

I'm hoping for a St Louis Vs Carolina final. Binnington Vs The Bunch of Jerks would be a lot of fun.

[MDK]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/ice-hockey/48215849

Quote

For the first time in 25 years, Great Britain's men's team will be rubbing shoulders with the sport's elite at the Ice Hockey World Championship.

Britain sealed their place in this year's tournament - which starts in Slovakia on Friday - with a dramatic overtime win against Hungary in Budapest last year.

After years in the international doldrums, Britain will come up against giants of the sport - the likes of 26-time world champions Canada, the mighty United States and Olympic silver medallists Germany.

Canada and Olympic champions Russia will start as favourites, closely followed by Sweden and the USA.

At 22 in the world, Pete Russell's GB side are the lowest-ranked team in the championship and will be hoping to win one game, so what chance have they got in Slovakia?

 

[MDK]

So a World Cup of Ice Hockey and nobody cares about it?

[Gabriel]

41 minutes ago, MDK said:

So a World Cup of Ice Hockey and nobody cares about it?

The World Championships happen every year and are considered a fairly prestigious tournament. They tend to get downplayed a bit because they take place during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but if the NHL doesn't go to the Olympics anymore, their organized World Cup of Hockey event will probably be considered the pinnacle of international hockey, but the World Championships are a close number two.

[gunnar hendershow]

The Jerks are dead 😞

[Ruki]

On 05/05/2019 at 07:00, Ruki said:

The jerks are going to win it all!

 

Really hoping Columbus can pull off the comeback. I would hate for Boston to make it to the conference finals/cup finals/win the cup.

*SIGH*

[Malenko]

Rask's been amazing the last few games. I don't mean this last one necessarily because Carolina didn't challenge him way too much tonight, but the previous ones and the Blue Jackets series. It looks like Tuukka Rask from like 5 years ago. The sharks usually score a lot though so it wouldn't be easy for him to keep it going, I guess. Well, that's assuming they go through. The Blues could still win the whole thing.