2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round

[SwampD]

15 minutes ago, TrueBlueGED said:

Why is it any different than a forward? The objective is to generate more goals than you allow. As long as a player is a positive contribution to that objective, who cares? 

Wait, so it's okay to use +/- as an acceptable stat again? I can't keep this stuff straight.

[SwampD]

6 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

I don’t miss Kane’s “low IQ” decisions that hurt the team. Ugh ....

Down by four late in the third, his "low IQ" decision didn't hurt anything. And we did miss his 30 goals.

[North Buffalo]

1 hour ago, inkman said:

Is this English?

Just pickin at chu, wha you haven't learned "teenager"  ?

Edited April 17, 2019 by North Buffalo

[Zamboni]

10 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Down by four late in the third, his "low IQ" decision didn't hurt anything. And we did miss his 30 goals.

Agree to disagree

[Doohicksie]

19 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

I don’t miss Kane’s “low IQ” decisions that hurt the team. Ugh ....

He's a real competitor, isn't he?  (Well, except for the rest of the 3rd period spent in the dressing room.)

[Neo]

7 hours ago, WildCard said:

 

 

[TrueBlueGED]

8 hours ago, SwampD said:

Wait, so it's okay to use +/- as an acceptable stat again? I can't keep this stuff straight.

Nope. Just like weather isn't climate, +/- isn't what I'm talking about with goals. 

Edit: what I'm trying to say is the problem with +/- was never the concept of what it was trying to do, but with the measure itself. 

Edited April 17, 2019 by TrueBlueGED

[Brawndo]

14 hours ago, Neo said:

MAY DAY, MAY DAY! *

Followed by four consecutive 4-3 losses to Montreal and Patrick Roy, aka Dale Hawerchuk and Doug Bodger’s finest moments.  They 

left every last thing on the ice playing with a depleted roster.  Great year.  We Love You Sabres, personified.

 

* Had four tickets in the Golds/Gave them to a client.  Listened and nearly wept!

I was in SRO above the oranges, May entered the zone and entire section in front on me stood up and blocked my view. 

10 hours ago, OverPowerYou said:

I know this goes against all things Buffalo because we haven't won a Stanley cup, but I like to root for the small market teams. I want Columbus to win the eastern conference now 

A Columbus versus Vegas Cup Final would be perfect for the Sabres

9 hours ago, Neo said:

I’ve been in Tampa for 22 years.   When I arrived, I spent much of the game explaining “change on the fly” to people sitting next to me.  There’s been real growth.  This will STING.

Just arrived yesterday morning, I usually hear it for wearing Sabres Gear when I’m down here. Now I can respond with at least when the Sabres won the Presidents Trophy they made it to the second round. 

[CallawaySabres]

I still can't believe Vegas is a legitimate Cup contender again and we are stuck with....this

[sweetlou]

Biggest thing going for Vegas this year is that they have a legit top six now.

[shrader]

10 hours ago, WildCard said:

1995 Detroit Red Wings (62-13-7), 2018 Tampa Bay Lightning (62-16-4): Tied for the record for NHL wins in a regular season, lost in the WCF and 1st round respectively

 

I hate that these two are counted together.  I'm not going to bother looking up how many fake shoot out wins Tampa had, but those aren't the same as Detroit's 62.  Asterisk!*

*Just like our 10 game streak to start the 06-07 season.

[TrueBlueGED]

7 minutes ago, shrader said:

 

I hate that these two are counted together.  I'm not going to bother looking up how many fake shoot out wins Tampa had, but those aren't the same as Detroit's 62.  Asterisk!*

*Just like our 10 game streak to start the 06-07 season.

I think Tampa doing it in an era with a hard cap at least partially offsets the shootout effect in terms of impressiveness. 

[LTS]

There's so much focus on how bad Tampa failed.  However, if CBJ had this lineup all season how good would they have been?

They radically overhauled their roster for the playoffs, it was a gamble, and it paid off.  At least in Round 1.

What's clear is that CBJ was prepped and ready to play and executed their game perfectly. They were relentless.  It'll be interesting to see how far they go.  It'll be even more interesting to see what happens to that team after this season.  Of course, winning the Cup will make people more forgiving, but if they see players walk away from the team it could be an epic collapse that awaits.

It's one way to live.

[LGR4GM]

4 minutes ago, LTS said:

There's so much focus on how bad Tampa failed.  However, if CBJ had this lineup all season how good would they have been?

They radically overhauled their roster for the playoffs, it was a gamble, and it paid off.  At least in Round 1.

What's clear is that CBJ was prepped and ready to play and executed their game perfectly. They were relentless.  It'll be interesting to see how far they go.  It'll be even more interesting to see what happens to that team after this season.  Of course, winning the Cup will make people more forgiving, but if they see players walk away from the team it could be an epic collapse that awaits.

It's one way to live.

Reminds me of an LA team back in 2012. They added a ton and then went to town in the playoffs. 

[TrueBlueGED]

3 minutes ago, LTS said:

There's so much focus on how bad Tampa failed.  However, if CBJ had this lineup all season how good would they have been?

They radically overhauled their roster for the playoffs, it was a gamble, and it paid off.  At least in Round 1.

What's clear is that CBJ was prepped and ready to play and executed their game perfectly. They were relentless.  It'll be interesting to see how far they go.  It'll be even more interesting to see what happens to that team after this season.  Of course, winning the Cup will make people more forgiving, but if they see players walk away from the team it could be an epic collapse that awaits.

It's one way to live.

It also doesn't hurt that Bobrovsky went from below average in the regular season to a stud against Tampa. Which is at least a little ironic, as his career history is mostly the opposite of that. 

[LGR4GM]

57 minutes ago, CallawaySabres said:

I still can't believe Vegas is a legitimate Cup contender again and we are stuck with....this

If it makes you feel better their prospect pool is completely ***** after the trades they made. They traded Brannstrom and Suzuki. They traded their 2018 first rounder (Joey Veleno). Some teams might have been able to absorb that loss but when you only have 2 drafts and have traded what looks to be 3 future NHL players... idk, doesn't sound like a recipe for long term success to me. 

Now if they are smart, they will hit on their picks this draft. They have their 1st and potentially 3 seconds. I am confused though on if they re-traded some of those seconds or not. I think they traded 1 to Montreal and 1 to Detroit. 

Edited April 17, 2019 by LGR4GM

[Hoss]

8 hours ago, Zamboni said:

I don’t miss Kane’s “low IQ” decisions that hurt the team. Ugh ....

They were down 5-0.

6 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

If it makes you feel better their prospect pool is completely ***** after the trades they made. They traded Brannstrom and Suzuki. They traded their 2018 first rounder (Joey Veleno). Some teams might have been able to absorb that loss but when you only have 2 drafts and have traded what looks to be 3 future NHL players... idk, doesn't sound like a recipe for long term success to me. 

Now if they are smart, they will hit on their picks this draft. They have their 1st and potentially 3 seconds. I am confused though on if they re-traded some of those seconds or not. I think they traded 1 to Montreal and 1 to Detroit. 

I love listening to you whine about Vegas’ prospect pool. It legitimately does not matter if you’re consistently contending for cups. There’s no reason to think they can’t just keep going. The Sabres really have destroyed the way we all think about this game.

Edited April 17, 2019 by Hoss

[LGR4GM]

3 minutes ago, Hoss said:

They were down 5-0.

I love listening to you whine about Vegas’ prospect pool. It legitimately does not matter if you’re consistently contending for cups. There’s no reason to think they can’t just keep going. The Sabres really have destroyed the way we all think about this game.

I have every reason to believe they won't "keep going". 

Also I think you are wrong. The Sabres inability to create a prospect pool has really destroyed the way we all think about the game. 

[Hoss]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I have every reason to believe they won't "keep going". 

Also I think you are wrong. The Sabres inability to create a prospect pool has really destroyed the way we all think about the game. 

The only reason the Sabres prospect pool hasn’t been consistently elite is because their best young players have skipped the prospect level in their careers. Our pool has been highly regarded at various points over the last few years.

I don’t recall recent champions having highly regarded pools at any point in recent years.

[LGR4GM]

I should add, that I think adding Stone was both smart and dumb. Smart because he is really good but dumb in the sense that I think it will hurt them long term. This is probably their last cup run for a little bit. Next year they will have some cap issues to deal with, they don't have a lot of young players to fill the holes on cheap deals. 

6 minutes ago, Hoss said:

The only reason the Sabres prospect pool hasn’t been consistently elite is because their best young players have skipped the prospect level in their careers. Our pool has been highly regarded at various points over the last few years.

I don’t recall recent champions having highly regarded pools at any point in recent years.

Vegas has no pool at all. That's the problem. 

Also, your pool isn't your top guys only. Buffalo's pool has been bad because they failed to have guys like Bryson and Olofsson for years. 

Edited April 17, 2019 by LGR4GM

[#freejame]

5 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I should add, that I think adding Stone was both smart and dumb. Smart because he is really good but dumb in the sense that I think it will hurt them long term. This is probably their last cup run for a little bit. Next year they will have some cap issues to deal with, they don't have a lot of young players to fill the holes on cheap deals. 

Vegas has no pool at all. That's the problem. 

Who cares? People said hockey couldn’t work in Vegas so GMGM and the front office made a team that people couldn’t take their eyes off of. They established their market and look like a viable franchise for the long term. That was likely ownerships main concern and is now gone.

They’ve made it to the Cup once and look very strong this playoffs. If they win a cup it’s the best of both worlds but success in the short term was needed for there to be a long term.  

Losing a franchise is a greater problem than not having a prospect pool because you’re too busy winning conferences, and potentially, cups.  

[shrader]

Just now, #freejame said:

Who cares? People said hockey couldn’t work in Vegas so GMGM and the front office made a team that people couldn’t take their eyes off of. They established their market and look like a viable franchise for the long term. That was likely ownerships main concern and is now gone.

They’ve made it to the Cup once and look very strong this playoffs. If they win a cup it’s the best of both worlds but success in the short term was needed for there to be a long term.  

Losing a franchise is a greater problem than not having a prospect pool because you’re too busy winning conferences, and potentially, cups.  

Two years does not make a franchise.  Fans responding to a winner is nothing new.  The true test is when they struggle, and they will.  Personally, I think that market will do well attendance-wise no matter what the sport.  They'll give away tickets just like they do with everything else out there if they have to.  Whether or not a fanbase develops seems moot to me.  They'll thrive with or without, just like the Raiders will.

[LGR4GM]

10 minutes ago, #freejame said:

Who cares? People said hockey couldn’t work in Vegas so GMGM and the front office made a team that people couldn’t take their eyes off of. They established their market and look like a viable franchise for the long term. That was likely ownerships main concern and is now gone.

They’ve made it to the Cup once and look very strong this playoffs. If they win a cup it’s the best of both worlds but success in the short term was needed for there to be a long term.  

Losing a franchise is a greater problem than not having a prospect pool because you’re too busy winning conferences, and potentially, cups.  

They aren't going to be viable long term (as a cup contender). They are going to be a bubble team. Might be as early as next year. 

They won't win the cup. 

Edited April 17, 2019 by LGR4GM

[#freejame]

1 minute ago, LGR4GM said:

They aren't going to be viable long term. They are going to be a bubble team. Might be as early as next year. 

They won't win the cup. 

So you are certain Vegas will struggle financially as a franchise? You’ve seen the future and know they won’t win this cup? They play in arguably the worst division in hockey and have quality goaltending and depth. So long as Fleury is there they will likely continue to make the playoffs. 

[LGR4GM]

2 minutes ago, #freejame said:

So you are certain Vegas will struggle financially as a franchise? You’ve seen the future and know they won’t win this cup? They play in arguably the worst division in hockey and have quality goaltending and depth. So long as Fleury is there they will likely continue to make the playoffs. 

They aren't going to be a cup contender long term. I clarified my response. 

They don't have depth, that's what I am saying. 

They will not win the cup this season. Yes, I am calling my shot.