The underdog keeps jumping on top of the bodies it leaves behind.
Montreal, a team only the most wishful thinking die hard Habs fans thought could get anywhere, beat Las Vegas 4-2. It’s an incredible story, it’s hard to believe anyone got this year’s bracket 100% right and very few would put down this Cup match up.
It’s the team in last vs the team in first. As much of a surprise it is to see Montreal here, Tampa Bay has been the expected finalist from the jump. The Islanders fought hard against Tampa and got close, a tremendous effort. Montreal vs Islanders would have been amazing. One team who last won the Cup in 1993 and the other in 1983.
Every single round, no one thought Montreal would win. They swept Winnipeg in Round 2. Now against Tampa, the odds haven’t changed. The hands down favorite is Tampa and rightfully so. I don’t think Tampa will run them over, these playoffs have proved that. It’s going to be a hard series that I think will go 6 games. Goal tending will be clutch. If Carey Price can keep his magic going, this series will forever be etched in the history books. I’d like to se Montreal keep Tampa from being back to back champions.
I completely lost track of time and missed writing about the second round which completed last night.
Las Vegas beat Colorado 4-2. I thought this one would go seven games but something fell apart inside Colorado. Looked like the killer instinct came through only for Vegas.
NY Islanders beat Boston 4-2. Another series I thought was going seven games, the Islanders successfully smothered Boston. Outside of their killer first line, Boston doesn’t have as much offensive options. Islanders played to that weakness and is a good indicator that Barry Trotz out coached Bruce Cassidy.
Tampa Bay beat Carolina 4-1. This was a solid beating. Carolina came in with a lot of wind in their sails and Tampa didn’t think much of it. I was thinking six game series and Tampa was in no mood. They are riding a serious Defending Stanley Cup Champions wave that doesn’t look like it’s going to stop.
Montreal beat Winnipeg 4-0. Montreal is the Cinderella story of the season and crushing Winnipeg sends the message: everyone stop underestimating us. With the only sweep of this round, Montreal gets the biggest break between games. It’s also sorely needed, the team played an insane amount of games to end the regular season and into a late start, rapid fire post-season schedule for the North division.
We now have the final four.
I’m rooting for the Islanders. It’s been a long time since they’ve won the Cup and it’s the most local team to me. A Canadian team hasn’t won in ages either, so the underdog story for them is the strongest. No one thought they would make it through the first round against Toronto but here they are. So they say the same thing about beating Vegas. It certainly won’t be easy, but I think Montreal has a good chance. With a good amount of time to rest and prepare, Montreal will be ready. Vegas can’t let their guard down or they are going to get into trouble. I can see this going 6 games.
In comparison, the Islanders are better matched up against Tampa Bay. This series should be incredibly intense. I know Trotz is going to come up with every game plan imaginable for this series and he’s going to need that extra edge to get his team the win. This will not be an easy round for either team. At least 6 games, I wouldn’t be surprised to go 7.
I’d say the betting odds are for a Vegas/Tampa Bay Finals but as of now I’m leaning towards Vegas/Islanders.
The Rangers’ season ended more than a week ago and the regular season was extended for a few teams to make up for missed games due to covid stops. The Playoffs started this past Saturday with Capitals v Bruins while some Canadian teams were still finishing their season.
I didn’t write anything until now because the end of the Rangers’ season hit a brick wall and I waited for the fallout from that to happen to get a better perspective of what’s possible going forward.
With a week to go in the season, the owner of the team, Jim Dolan, fired GM Jeff Gorton and team president John Davidson. It was a shock to everyone. It also put a direct target on coach Quinn. After the season ended with the Rangers beating Boston, stopping a brutal 5-game losing streak, Quinn was let go too. Not surprising. Along with him was the release of all coaching staff except for the goalie coach, Benoit Allaire.
It was a weird and strenuous season, and that goes for every team. The Metro division is the most stacked so the odds of making it into the playoffs was a reasonable goal, but still a long shot. There are still depth issues on the team and there are a lot of rookies that are still finding their game. There’s a lot of potential we got to see this year and a lot still left to be wrung out. And that’s what the new GM. Chris Drury will be focused on this off-season. Getting the right staff and moving the right pieces to find the missing players to get to the playoffs. Drury is an accomplished former NHL player and he’s been with the organization for many years. I think everyone feels positive that these decisions are in the hands of a capable person. He also has to deal with major looming cap issues, so money is going to be an issue for the foreseeable future. A lot of smart moves need to be made or the rebuild is going to go from a wavering point to a full stop.
The most damning thing about Coach Quinn this year was the lack of adjustment during games. The same plays, the same problems, no adaptations to fix them. Just different line ups that didn’t really work.
So now Gerard Gallant is the current front runner for a head coach. It’s public that he’s going to be interviewed. Landing a new, appropriate head coach is the first step (anyone who thinks Torts is coming back is nuts. He’d be an awful fit.) Then he gets to pick his staff. He did wonders with Vegas so it’s easy to see why he’s the favorite. We really need a face-off coach. I’ll leave it at that.
The playoffs end in July, which leads us right to the Seattle expansion draft. Nothing can really be done roster-wise until Seattle’s selections are finalized. Then everyone knows what pieces they have to work with. Then the regular draft. The Rangers need a fantastic veteran center and defenseman. That’s the minimum. I think there will be an aggressive play for both.
So, all of that is months away. I always observe this level of stuff from afar as I have no idea what the right choices are to make. Time will tell. I engage with the team when the team comes back together for training season (Sept).
That leaves the playoffs. The safe front runners to get to the Finals: Vegas, Colorado, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Capitals.
Florida could upset Tampa Bay. Islanders could make a serious run this year. Bruins look fiesty. Pittsburg had a tremendous end of the season but they almost always look good going into the playoffs and the past few seasons they got obliterated in the first round. The decade-old core of that team is still together and they are fantastic. But they aren’t as good as they used to be. And competition has caught up with them. When the screws are turned to kick in the Playoff Push Thrusters by the competition, Pittsburg struggles to hold their opponents off.
Edmonton has basically slapped around everyone in the North. The question is, do they have the depth to make it past the 3rd round? Two amazing players can’t fend off an entire team for a series.
It’s going to be an excellent and hard fought two months.
This will probably be the weirdest NHL season in the history of the league. On top of normal player absences due to injury, Covid protocol for infections are another layer. It’s been hitting every team, removing players from the roster for days at a time, even postponing a few games that will be scheduled later. New Jersey and Buffalo, for example will have brutally stacked schedules to catch up on total games played. The rest of the season is going to be an endurance race and that’s not even talking about the crush of playoff hockey.
Injury and covid absences have strained the Rangers for a few stretches. Panarin, in particular, was out for a stretch along with Chytil, and Trouba at the same time. Right now, Igor Shesterkin has been out for 2 weeks putting a strain on the team’s goaltending (unreliable, to say the least). Panarin was also sidelined for weeks by allegations out of Russia from something that allegedly happened 10 years ago.
The record shows the struggles of the season. Cold goal-scoring veterans, missing players, spotty goaltending. It’s led to a max win streak of 3 games. A handful of 2 games in a row which doesn’t count as a streak. They frequently lose multiple games in a row. I think I said this last time, but they haven’t been playing up to the team’s potential. Struggling to stay close to, not even over, .500 is absurd with the talent on this team.
When they do, it’s amazing stuff. In the video above you can see the clinic they put on the Flyers this week. The game before that, they lost in overtime in a game where they came back from a quick 2 goal deficit. It looked like a horrific game, they rally in the second, and end up not pulling it off. Then they go to Washington where they lose a close game they dominated for 54 minutes. Yesterday they got revenge on the Caps for that loss.
When the whole team shows up, I think they can beat anyone. They just haven’t been able to sustain good luck and momentum. It looks like Mika Zibanejad is emerging from his puzzling point-scoring coma. Kreider has stepped up to try and fill that void but it isn’t enough. Panarin is back and doing everything he can. Pavel Buchnevich is finally hitting his potential. It looks like there is a lot of upside coming but I temper my expectations after so many disappointing losses.
Is it a coaching issue? Maybe? Many fans think Quinn needs to go, citing the destruction of the Flyers as proof (he and the other 2 coaches were out for Covid protocols and the Hartford Wolfpack guys stepped in and up to fill in for 3 games now). That’s not a big enough sample size for me to say the guy needs to go but struggling this much into year 3 of a rebuild where so many player picks have gone right does raise an eyebrow to the idea.
Playing no one but the same 7 teams 8 times is really weird too. It’s a very small sample size of talent and any low-performing team is going to get trounced by the same teams and skew point totals. The Rangers have to get past Philadelphia and Boston to make the playoffs. With the way Philly has been playing lately (serious goal tending issues) moving one step up the ranks is feasible. It’s going to take a serious run in wins to get over Boston and keep them back. Pittsburgh just hit a gnarly injury patch to their roster so a lot of players will need to step up to keep them from sliding. Currently, they are 10 points about the Rangers and that’s a mountain to climb with 26/27 games remaining. If they hit the skids, it is possible but I think that’s a moonshot. No one in the East division is going to catch up to the Islanders or Capitals who are tied with 44 points.
If they make the playoffs, it’ll be a redemption story for the Rangers that will go down in the books.
A 5-0 win. The Rangers played the exact opposite of game 1. Fast, aggressive, communication, great passing. Alexandar Georgiev planted his flag into the ice in minute one and had the entire crease on lockdown. His fifth career shutout; his second against the Islanders.
Whatever coach Quinn told them and however practice went after that, it worked. This was the team everyone was expecting. Putting in Phillip Di Giuseppe turned out to be smart, putting Tony DeAngelo in a time out for throwing a temper tantrum and getting a stupid unsportsmanlike penalty in game one…could pay off. It’s up to DeAngelo to get it through his head that he needs to be an adult. Quinn ain’t having that noise this season. He was benched last season for discipline reasons too, enough of the nonsense.
Discipline made the difference in this game. The Islanders got way more penalties. They were the ones who struggled to get any kind of control. The Rangers took the lead right away and it made a big difference. You could see the confidence. Kakko even got a sweet goal!
I didn’t think the Rangers were going to win last night. Islanders were better last season, the team is going to be very rusty from not playing in 5 months, and new players means they need to learn how to play as a team.
But losing 4-0 is about as bad as you can get.
The same problems are still holding this team down. Incredibly slow to start. They looked slow. The first period was a disaster. Bad passing. Little coordination. Shesterkin let a soft one go in. Penalties are out of control. Too many many on the ice? Bush league. Tony DeAngelo gets a double minor because he throws a tantrum like a child. You got caught holding, get in the box and don’t cry about it.
I expect Coach Quinn to jump down some throats over that terrible game. There’s no excuse for it with this level of talent. It’s back at it tomorrow night, game 2 with the Islanders.
The wait is finally over! The season started yesterday and the Rangers play the Islanders for the first time today at MSG. I’m so excited and the hype for the new teammates is off the charts.
This is going to be a wild and weird season. Shortened to 56 games and each division is only playing teams in their division to cut down on risky travel. The first week is going to be rough because no has played a hockey game in ages (those that didn’t make the playoff qualifier last year haven’t played in 10 months and everyone else it’s been 4-6 months).
The Rangers have massive potential. The draft picks from years ago are now coming in so the future of this team is being put to the test now. I’ve been waiting for K’Andre Miller for over 2 years now and it looks like he’s ready to become an all star. Number 1 draft pick Lafreniere also gets his debut and it’s needless to say a lot of eyes are on him too.
This squad is young. Just about every player who was on the team for the Stanley Cup against LA in 2014 is no longer with the team. There are a handful of vets that need to help shepherd these new guys. It’s going to be rough. Mistakes will be made. The potential high side is off the charts. The first line is simply monstrous, easily one of the strongest in the league.
But how is the defense? It’s going to be put to the test every night. The Metro division is stacked with killers and every one them is going to be played 8 times. There’s little room for error, every game counts with 26 fewer games in the season. This team has to stop more shots on goal and win faceoffs. Those were abysmal stats last year and both make it harder than necessary to win games.
Henrik Lundqvist time with the New York Rangers is over. Since 2005 he has been the landmark of the team, playing in New York for his entire professional career. He holds almost every goalie record for the team and his career stats in the league are all near the top. This is been a possibility for a year now and it’s a sad day. He is a legend.
The last year of his contract has been bought out so he now a free agent. He can be signed by any team that needs him or he could retire. It’s impossible to say what will happen. He does still want to play and there will be a lot of goalies on the market this off season (I think it’s like 8 with Hank included) so it’s all up in the air. It’ll be really weird to see him on another team.
Ideally, he’d end his career by retiring with the Rangers, with the final trophy for his collection, the Stanley Cup. So this feels like a let down. The front office has decided that he isn’t worth his salary any longer (one of the highest paid goalies in the league) and Shesterkin and Georgiev can guard the net together. Shesterkin is the future, Georgiev is getting better and better and you can’t have Hank be a backup while paying him starter money. The COVID shutdown put the squeeze on the salary cap so there’s little choice. It makes sense but it’s a hard pill to swallow.
Lundqvist has more highlights than you can shake a hockey stick at. His number will absolutely be retired at Madison Square Garden. With this whole mess he’s not going to get the proper public send off he deserves and that’s gross. I don’t think the organization will let that stand though. I think when he does decided to retire from the NHL and we can pack stadiums again, they’ll throw the ceremony The King rightfully deserves.
It’s the middle of September and the Finals are starting.
The West Conference Champions, the Dallas Stars versus the East Conference Champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning.
It’s been non-stop games since the beginning of August. Dallas beat Las Vegas 4-1 in a series that they controlled pretty handily. That was a surprise to me, I thought Las Vegas was in better shape. Dallas has been an underdog in these playoffs, proving in every round that they had what it takes to win.
Tampa Bay won 4-2 over the Islanders. It could have been a sweep but the Isles managed to fight back some. I thought it would have been closer, going into this round the Isles looked strong. It was not an easy series for either team. Long, physical games were the norm.
Safe to say the best team has won so far. Dallas is going to have the immediate edge, they are healthier and played few games getting a longer break going into the finals. Tampa Bay hasn’t gotten a meaningful break in this meat grinder.
It’s been 20 years since Dallas has made it to the Cup Championship games and 5 for Tampa. Tampa has seen great success in recent seasons only to get cut short (last season was embarrassing getting shoved out of the playoffs in a first-round sweep as a first seed team). They have a ton of pressure to win on them. I’m not sure if they can sustain the play necessary to win this last grind. Right now I’m leaning toward Dallas to win and for some reason, I think it’ll be done in 5 games. 6 wouldn’t surprise me though. If Tampa Bay wins the first game tonight, that will be a big signal to their mental and physical focus. Tonight will set the standard of play.
And now we’re in September with the Final Four! Weird to say that as we are at the traditional point of the year when the NHL starts their training for the coming season in October.
The second round in the East ended more or less how I thought it would. Tampa vs Islanders should be excellent. NY has been on a tear, and Tampa knocked Boston out in 5 games. They’ll have about a week off when Game 1 starts and that may or may not be in their favor. A lot more rest (NY gets a day off) but they could be rusty. That may not be a factor for long. I’m not sure who will win it could go either way and I wouldn’t be surprised if it goes 7 games. I think I’d rather see NY win as the haven’t won the Cup since 1984 (the end of the dynasty team) and this is their longest Playoff run since the mid 90s. That’s a long drought!
The betting odds are in Las Vegas’ favor. Strong year (which isn’t that relevant with the COVID shut down of 4 months, the playoffs are basically a new season) and strong playoff games. Dallas is the underdog and have been proving their worth over the last month of play. Vegas is on their third playoff run in three years of existence which is nuts. Last year ended in a Round 1 controversial loss and it feels like they are on the cusp of making history again, they are that good. I think Dallas has their work cut out for them, but they can do it.
Vancouver knocking out the defending champions, St. Louis Blues, is probably the most surprising result of the first round. The remaining series should all be close contests and it may come down to a war of attrition with such an aggressive playing schedule. The biggest break is if you finish a series in 5 or less games, then you could get 4 days off in a row. Round two starts today with Colorado and Dallas. Dallas beat Calgary on Thursday (2 days ago) and Colorado 3 days ago. Vancouver is only getting a day off, like Dallas whereas Vegas got 4 days (beat Chicago in 5 games). Now everyone remaining will play a game every other day. That is a grind.
I thought Philly would beat Montreal easily but they put up a major fight and the Islanders are now firing on all cylinders (which is amazing because when the season stopped in March they were a train wreck). This should be a battle. I’m leaning towards Philly still but the Isles could easily take it if Philly lets too many turnovers happen.
I had no idea how Vancouver was this year, I never see their games. Vegas has been my West coast favorite so if Vancouver can keep their roll going (tremendous Game 6 win against the Blues) Vegas is not going to skate through.
I think Colorado is long overdue to get to the Championship so I think they’ll best Dallas.
Tampa Bay is playing with venom in their veins from last season (and many other recent failed cup runs) so they are my favorite over Boston. Boston has seemed a little listless until recently so they’re going to have to come correct at minute one or they’re going to be digging themselves out of a hole the entire season.
