The Official 2013-2014 NHL Thread

CMontoya79 said:
Choke, that's what. Congrats wild on moving on. Sharks need to fire GM, coach, and vets. Reboot time. Time to build around the young guns.
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What I have been reading before the playoffs, that might happen.  I think the coach felt the pressure so he relieved Neimi.
Quick shutdown the offense last night.  Sharks needed to score more than 1 point.  Hard to blame your goalie on that.
 
I think goal is solid. I have no idea other than the sharks were out coached how you can go from scoring at will to being shut down. Also the commentators were saying thornton and marleau were tired. That is not the way to win.
 
Boyle is a UFA this summer, so he's gone.  They will probably move Thornton/Marleau or both.  Their contract extensions are not that bad as they both carry a cap hit of ~$6.6m.  They own Havlat for another two seasons at $5m.  That one hurts because he's broken all the time.  I'm on the fence about Niemi.  While a good goalie he suffered a lot of inconsistency the past two years.
 
Build around Pavelski, Couture (should be their next Captain, IMO), Burns, Vlassic, Hertl and Stalock.  Solid young core right there.
 
I would guess that Todd McLellan will be fired.  It's too bad really because I think he's a good coach and seems to be able to get his guys going, just not in the playoffs.  Sounds like the Canucks will part ways with Tortorella so maybe McLellan will end up there.
 
We've had many great players over the years. I just don't understand the constant playoff choke. It is what is, for now. The GM Doug Wilson has to go, how many more coaches and star players can you cycle through before you take the blame as GM???
 
My take on it, SJ is still a solid team.  I'm not so sure the GM needs to be shown the door but I do think things need to be revamped.  Your goaltending, I'd be iffy about.  When Niemi is on, he's rock solid, but when he's not he's a turn style.  I think you need someone more stable than that.  Perhaps that's Stalock, I dunno.  All I'm saying is as solid as Niemi can be I think he's also a weak link.  The youth is strong with SJ.  Couture, Pavelski, Hertl are solid and that kid Nieto was buzzing all over the place!  Thornton and Marleau are good but will never get you anywhere.  Those are the guys that were built for the regular season but not for the playoffs.  You need to hand over the reigns to the kids.  I'm not sure how the defense is but I remember when Stuart was here in L.A.  Other than a few nice games he was a pylon in the half season he was here.  I was glad to see him go and that was over 3-4 years ago.  You guys have solid regular seasons and have trouble in the playoffs...to me that kinda points to a leadership issue.  It might be from the players on the ice but it might also bleed from the GM down, I dunno.
 
Thanks, that means a lot coming from a kings fan. The GM Doug Wilson has blown it year after year. N
Thanks, that means a lot coming from a kings fan. The GM Doug Wilson has blown it year after year. No matter who the talent has been, and they have had great talent. Playoff failure, as a die hard I'm finally going to accept it, not hope for much and be blown away if they ever win it all. I'll probably cry, why lie. There's an article floating around stating Thornton and Marleau are not to blame and no drastic moves should be made. It focuses on Thornton. Maybe they're right. But typically. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.
 
I had it easy.  I had been a Kings fan for 10 years before they won the cup.  There were some lean times for sure.  But I remember the night they won it all very well.  Don't remember what happened after that due to many many alcoholic drinks.  Some KIngs fans hopped on board when Gretzky came.  Others since their inception in '67.  What I'm saying is that it took the Kings over 40 years to win it all.
 
Thornton and Marleau are kind of a catch 22.  Are you better with them or without them?  What can you get in a trade assuming you can trade them at all?  While I don't think nuking the whole team is the way to go, something needs to be done.  You can't go year after year after year with the same crew and expect different results.
 
Today's game, I could not help seeing how slow the Kings are.  Their advantage is Quick.  For whatever reason, the Ducks look exhausted in OT.
Nice win Kings!
 
The Kings aren't the fastest team.  They usually try to use their size and forecheck against the other team while the usually strong defense shuts down the opposition.  Great win, even though a large part of the game was dominated by Anaheim.  My word, I don't know if I can handle a whole series of this!  I mentioned it to a couple friends, I think this series might have as much of the bad blood/action of Boston/Montreal.  Obviously that rivalry is well renowned and goes back decades, but this might be the start of a west coast version of that.
 
How dare you mention two western teams with Boston and Montreal? :0 Have you no respect for tradition? :angry: Oh wait, you Westerners have no traditions. :laugh:
 
Doc
 
The mind games have begun. Habs' coach accuses Bruins of trying to get into Price's head and Julien of trying to get an advantage with the Refs. Well no shit.
 
Doc
 
Habs vs Bruins, game seven. My delicate constitution doesn't need this aggravation even though the chances of the B's playing two shitty games in a row are slim.
 
Doc
 
What a game 6 last night for the Hawks.  Crawford was unbelievable in the net.  I think this series belongs to him, he was great.  Kaner has had a great post season as well, and always clutch.  Bring on the next opponent!
 
The Wild were such a good team.  They were 3 -1-1 during the regular season against the Hawks
Blues were 3 - 2. and the Avs 4 -1.  
 
For the playoffs, Bickell turned it on, Toews is Mr. Clutch, and Crawford can have an excellent game and then he can have a off game.
Yesterday, the win belonged to Crawford.
 
Nimrod said:
Yesterday, the win belonged to Crawford.
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Can't agree more. He was just a beast in net last night. He would easily be the MVP of that series and if the Hawks make it to the SCF, he should be on the short list of Conn Smythe candidates.

It was a really fun series to watch. I was pleased that the refs got their crap together after the first round debacles (seemed like every series) and just did their jobs. The Hawks transition from defense to offense in their zone is soooo scary. SOOO quick out of their own end.

It's cool to see the Wild doing this well now. They will be scary good once kids like Granlund, Haula, Coyle, Nino and Brodin get a couple more seasons under their belt. They also have a couple of stud prospects on their AHL team too. They desperately need to solve their issues in net. Another Oprik type D would be a nice addition too (Gee, is he a UFA this summer?). I'm not sure how I feel about all the Vanek to Minny talk. While he's a 30+ goal guy, he's really streaky.

Congrats to the Hawks and their fans!
 
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