2024 NHL Thread

[Amazin69]

TNT post-game said that it's time to put Nikishin in there, if he can move. The kid (Scott Somebody) they have in his place was just getting abused.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

TNT post-game said that it's time to put Nikishin in there, if he can move. The kid (Scott Somebody) they have in his place was just getting abused.

Scott Morrow (-3). He replaced Jalen Chatfield who got hurt 2 games ago. That's who they need to get back.

Nikishin is their top prospect & has a bright future. But he has just been riding w/the team for the most part during the postseason. He just came from Russia. He did play in game 5 vs the Caps as Chatfield's original replacement. It was more or less a test drive and he showed promise & inexperience. Some good plays, passes & good speed. But also bad turnovers.

We're hoping Jalen is ready Thursday. But I don't think Rod has enough confidence in the rookie D's at this point. Stakes are too high & the opponent is too good. But if Chatty is still unable to go, they just need to rooks to grow up fast.

[Amazin69]

The problem with the Cats is that you can't hide 3D against their checkers; they have too many good lines.

And if you try to get by with only playing 2 D pairs…well, catch Jim Hiller on the golf course and ask how that worked out.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

The problem with the Cats is that you can't hide 3D against their checkers; they have too many good lines.

And if you try to get by with only playing 2 D pairs…well, catch Jim Hiller on the golf course and ask how that worked out.

I know. They are the deepest team in the league. Their 3rd & 4th line has been carrying them. I think they had 2 goals. & one from a D.

Carolina is just going to have to eliminate the mistakes. Stay out of the box. Stop turning over the puck. Stop letting skaters roam unchecked in their defensive zone. At least make the Panthers sweat a little.

[Amazin69]

On the plus side, at least we know the Cats can beat Edmon****, and that's really all I care about at this point.

(Yes, yes, far too parochial. My sympathies.)

[Cobra Mgr]

I don't care who they say owns the Hurricanes, Florida is their daddy.

[Cobra Mgr]

Nothing short of humiliating.

Maybe the Loafs weren't as bad as we made them out to be.

[Amazin69]

BRIAN BOUCHER: This a shell of what we've seen from them in the first two rounds, and for most of the regular season. This is not even close to what we're used to seeing from the Hurricanes on a nightly basis.

Fermez-la bouche, Bouche! (Except for the part where he's, y'know, right. Sadly.)

[Cobra Mgr]

I don't think the Canes are playing their best (Cpt Obvious). But I think the series would be 2-0 Florida even if the Canes were on their game. What we are seeing is Carolina's weaknesses under a magnifying glass. Things we knew from the get go. We just allowed the 1st two rounds to cause us temporary amnesia.

Andersen is a streaky GT who isn't a mistake eraser. Bobo is.

Svechnikov is a streaky forward who is like that infamous little girl. When he's good, he's great. When he's bad he is pathetic.

Carolina's strength is 60 minutes of relentless heck from all lines. The deeper you get in the playoffs, everybody is 60 minutes of heck from all lines. That is where talent comes in and the Canes don't have that star. That is what they tried to address w/Ratanen but he never gave the Canes a shot or his best. They wanted to keep Guentzel but the owner wanted to save a couple bucks.

Like I said, Florida plays like Carolina w/better talent. What can the Canes do? You can't come up w/a different style when you've been doing this all year and you built your team to play this way. The Panthers are the best in the NHL and they are the worst possible matchup for Carolina.

[Cobra Mgr]

It's bad enough the Canes are w/o 2 defensemen. But to have a vet D like Orlov screwing up like he is is insurmountable.

[Cobra Mgr]

Finally

[Amazin69]

Congratulations to Rod Brind'amour, now 1-11 in Conference Final games.

I'm not calling out Strand of Love (it's what the surname means) as incompetent…I think he's great. But the failure to find a way to steal even one game from a better team in any of three series was really disappointing and made me wonder if there was a "heart" problem somewhere in the room.

Well, not any more. Congratulations. Perhaps now the Caniacs have a Strand of Hope, however thin.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

TNT post-game said that it's time to put Nikishin in there, if he can move. The kid (Scott Somebody) they have in his place was just getting abused.

Nikishin's pass set up the 1st & winning goal.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

Congratulations to Rod Brind'amour, now 1-11 in Conference Final games.

I'm not calling out Strand of Love (it's what the surname means) as incompetent…I think he's great. But the failure to find a way to steal even one game from a better team in any of three series was really disappointing and made me wonder if there was a "heart" problem somewhere in the room.

Well, not any more. Congratulations. Perhaps now the Caniacs have a Strand of Hope, however thin.

This series has been more about Bobrovsky. I think the game has been even except a couple of snowball periods. Canes just can't get one past Bobo. As I said before, he is a mistake eraser. Canes don't have that in goal.

I also think the 0-11 was blown out of proportion. It's another case of "lies, damn lies & statistics". The 1st sweep, Canes were in their 1st playoff in almost a decade. They were expected to just be happy to be there. Then they ran into a vastly superior & veteran Bruins team. The next sweep was 4 1 goal losses. 1st 2 were OT losses, 5 OT's total. Game 3 was 1-0 loss. And the last, the winning goal was w/:05 left.

So "0-11" got headlines. But in this world were people want 10 second hot takes & too lazy to look into stuff, it made the situation worse than it really is. And as I said coming into this series, Carolina was supposed to take a step back this season. I thought just making it to the postseason was the ceiling. I would have still liked a better showing. But I know where this team is weak & strong & Florida was the worst matchup they could have in the NHL.

So I don't think it is a matter of heart. I think it is a matter of, well, luck & timing to be honest. Canes have run into great teams who were/are on top of their game. And Carolina just hasn't been good enough to create their own luck.

[Amazin69]

Yeah, "Bunch of Jerks" was the other feel-good story of 2018-2019, right behind "Gloria!". I came thisclose to ordering a tee shirt. I wasn't that surprised by the sweep.

(Besides, if the Bruins don't advance to the finals, we don't get to see Cam Neely throw the water bottle, which was such lovely punctuation.)

It's just that double-digits is the sort of thing that makes folks take notice, even if it is now as transitory as the 0-fer-12 that started Willie Mays's career.

[Amazin69]

So apparently, the Kings fired Rob Blake 3 weeks ago, when we got eliminated. Huh.

I think it's arguable Blakey deserved it for the P-L Dubois trade, but that was last year. This past season he made surprisingly-good FA signings with Foegele and Edmondson, got Kuemper in return for dumping P-LD, and brought in Kuzmenko at the deadline, resulting in record amounts of home wins and points. I don't see cause now.

Of course, this may have more to do with the part where Ken Holland's contract had run out in Edmon****, so Robitaille is thinking, "If you can't beat them, steal their GM". But has Holland really had such success up north? I mean, McDirty and Draisaitl and RNH were all there when he got there. His big addition was signing Zach "Buster" Hyman in FA…in 2021.

This past season, Holland got hosed on the Foegele-Arvidsson "swap", and his signing of Jeff Skinner was a bust that got the Oilers into cap hell and enabled St. Louis to play offer-sheet games and pinch Holloway and Broberg. He's done well enough by picking up "bad boys" on waivers (Evander Kane, Corey Perry), but is that a sustainable model going forward?

Also, Holland is 69 years old. Is this a long-term plan?

(BTW, if…Satan forbid…the Unspeakable happens, would Holland get a ring? His name on the Cup? I mean, he is working for another team at this point.)

[Cobra Mgr]

I need someone to explain when cross checking is illegal. Cause every time I see it called, it looks the same as the other 30 times I saw it in the game.

[Cobra Mgr]

Ah well............Good season, Canes. You exceeded my expectations.

Here's hoping they find some way to pick up a top 10 goalie. Or a top 10 scorer.

And let's hope Kotkaniemi is skating elsewhere next season. If you aren't going to help me, don't hurt me. Waste of a roster spot.

[Amazin69]

So now my Order of Preference for the Cup has come to this.

1. Mikko Rantanen (whom I don't actually dislike, but who has made many non-fans) and pals
2. Matt Tkachuk and The Little Ball of Hate and Sucker-Punch Sam Bennett (go see what Steve Dangle had to say about the concussion he gave Anthony Stolarz in Game 1 of Cats-Leafs). A far dirtier team than Bob and Barkov and Seth Jones deserve to be associated with.

3. A reign of natural disasters of Biblical proportions, ending with Thanos arriving to snap us away.

4. The Unmentionable. Worst-case scenario. Go **** yourself now and forever, McDickless.

(I can't believe we hired Ken Holland, even if Holland had nothing to do with "McJesus" going to Alberta. Just "ewww" by association, that's all.)

[Cobra Mgr]

Once the Canes are eliminated, I pull for any Canada team remaining.

Except for Montreal