Random NHL comments/thoughts

[slothfacekilla]

Teams really can't help themselves can they

[Toddwert]

On 5/8/2025 at 12:17 AM, lordstanley said:

Grizzlies is a touchy subject for me, sorry.

it is a Big Country

[lordstanley]

16 hours ago, Toddwert said:

it is a Big Country

A woman, who happens to be an alum of my daughter's former high school, made a documentary Finding Big Country to see what Reeves is up to these days. Sounds like a pretty good guy, even if he was dismal as the franchise's first ever pick. He's retired to a farm somewhere in Oklahoma I believe. The real subject of Vancouver fans' ire to this day is Steve Francis who slagged the city and refused to play here when drafted #2 overall, and Michael Heisley who moved them to Memphis. Vancouver wasn't really meant to have an NBA team though anyways, it seemed to have happened by accident in the first place.  

https://findingbigcountry.com/

https://findingbigcountry.com/we-the-west/

Edited Tuesday at 04:55 PM by lordstanley

[lordstanley]

19 hours ago, slothfacekilla said:

Teams really can't help themselves can they

I thought sure taking the Oilers to Game 7 of the SCF would have been riding off into the sunset moment. How much desire can the guy still have for a new challenge at the age of 69.

[slothfacekilla]

And there it is, Holland to GM the Kings lol

[Hongbit]

14 minutes ago, slothfacekilla said:

And there it is, Holland to GM the Kings lol

I don’t quite understand it but this is a team that underachieved.  Darcy Kuemper quietly played like a top 5 goaltender in the league and Quintin Byfield was electric the last part of the season as a 2nd line Center.   They can roll out 4 quality lines and a solid defensive group.    They had the roster to make it to Conference final.    They need a new voice and a better system than the one Jim Hiller brought in this year.   He has a history with Kenny so hopefully his first move isn’t to retain him as head coach.  

 

Edited Wednesday at 08:03 PM by Hongbit

[buddha]

On 5/7/2025 at 11:18 PM, lordstanley said:

This could be the Leafs' year. Gulp.

ever since you posted this the leafs have fallen apart.

good work, my friend.  good work.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

On 5/12/2025 at 4:13 PM, Hongbit said:

Strong Kenny Holland rumors coming out of LA for their open GM job.  

Also strong Dan Cleary coming out of retirement rumors too.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

I feel bad for Quinton Byfield. He's only 22 so he'll likely be sent down to the AHL affiliate for some more seasoning until he's 24 or asked to sit in the press box. After all, this is a men's league and kid's aren't the answer.

[lordstanley]

12 hours ago, buddha said:

ever since you posted this the leafs have fallen apart.

good work, my friend.  good work.

Last night was beautiful. Leafs fans were too stunned and beaten down to even boo much, they just walked out midway through the 3rd. 

[Shinzaki]

They're gonna need to blow that team up

[lordstanley]

On 5/11/2025 at 8:07 AM, lordstanley said:

Skinner was a clown on this but losing but some of the worst team defense you will ever see. Bringing it into the zone 1 on 4 with 7 seconds to go shouldn’t be dangerous for you. 
 

 

And of course Skinner then goes out and posts back to back shutouts to close out a 5-game series win. Just like everyone would have predicted.

[lordstanley]

6 minutes ago, Shinzaki said:

They're gonna need to blow that team up

Matthews has 3 goals in past 21 playoff games. 

[buddha]

18 minutes ago, Shinzaki said:

They're gonna need to blow that team up

1) they havent lost yet.

2) they say that after each time they lose and they havent done it.

you dont just get rid of a guy like matthews.  he's a generational offensive talent.

the leafs continually remind me of the 90s wings.  great offensive regular season team who was too soft and was constantly bounced early in the playoffs.  its not a perfect analogy because yzerman was much tougher than matthews and had had some playoff "success" in the 80s (albeit against the ol' weak norris division), but there are some striking similarities.  it took the wings getting konstantinov/larianov/fetisov to make fedorov play tougher and shanahan adding actual toughness before they could get over the hump.

a generational all-world defenseman didnt hurt either.

the leafs need their scotty bowman and brendan shanahan (the player, not the exec).  the rumors that they were going to deal marner for rantanan would have been a good playoff trade for them.  but part of me thinks that's just another way for the fan base to demonize marner.

Edited Thursday at 03:56 PM by buddha

[lordstanley]

45 minutes ago, buddha said:

1) they havent lost yet.

2) they say that after each time they lose and they havent done it.

you dont just get rid of a guy like matthews.  he's a generational offensive talent.

the leafs continually remind me of the 90s wings.  great offensive regular season team who was too soft and was constantly bounced early in the playoffs.  its not a perfect analogy because yzerman was much tougher than matthews and had had some playoff "success" in the 80s (albeit against the ol' weak norris division), but there are some striking similarities.  it took the wings getting konstantinov/larianov/fetisov to make fedorov play tougher and shanahan adding actual toughness before they could get over the hump.

a generational all-world defenseman didnt hurt either.

the leafs need their scotty bowman and brendan shanahan (the player, not the exec).  the rumors that they were going to deal marner for rantanan would have been a good playoff trade for them.  but part of me thinks that's just another way for the fan base to demonize marner.

The Wings’ years of playoff disappointments were shorter though. Playoff streak started in 1992 and they won a series. By 1995 they were in the SCF, another conference final in 1996 then the Cup in 1997. And those regular seasons were great - #1 overall in 1995 and 1996. In contrast, this is the Leafs’ 9th straight year in the playoffs starting in 2017 and only have two first-round series wins to show for it. Their regular seasons have been good or very good but not great - two division titles, started on the road in the 1st round five of those nine years, never higher than #4 overall in the t regular season.  I agree though about keeping Matthews and that they need to be less soft - Marchand would have helped. 

[lordstanley]

Two higher ranked teams - Washington and Winnipeg - down 3-1 in their series will try to stay alive tonight. This is my favorite time of year on HFBoards because invariably a fan of a team facing a big deficit will pull out the “Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor” line. And then without a fail a bunch of Swedes or Finns will jump in to say how stupid are Americans and Canadians for not knowing it was the Japanese. Europeans really need to become better educated in classic film history. 

 

[slothfacekilla]

I thought Matthew Knies would be the Leafs' Shannahan type dude to help put them over the hump but I guess he can't force Matthews to show up in the playoffs!

That Stolarz injury really hurt them too.

[lordstanley]

23 minutes ago, slothfacekilla said:

I thought Matthew Knies would be the Leafs' Shannahan type dude to help put them over the hump but I guess he can't force Matthews to show up in the playoffs!

That Stolarz injury really hurt them too.

I've also heard rumours of a stomach bug or food poisoning - that's the theory of my daughter's boyfriend too - but that may just be wishful thinking from fans who can't accept their team is collapsing again for no good reason.

[lordstanley]

Ovie eliminated last night. The Capitals have only made it past the 2nd round once in Ovechkin's 20 year career, that being the Cup year of 2018.

[lordstanley]

Such a rough day for Mark Scheifele. His dies last night, then he is sitting in penalty box as Stars score OT winner to knock them out. He had to take the penalty though, it was a breakaway. 

[lordstanley]

 

Regular season points and NHL overall rank of 5 teams left in playoffs. 

Toronto - 108, #4

Dallas - 106, #5

Edmonton - 101, #9

Carolina - 99, #10

Florida - 98, #11

[lordstanley]

 

[Dan Gilmore]

If he could extend that class to taking away the captaincy from that goon Benn, I’d respect him more. 

[gehringer_2]

Well, the Leafs held out for 23 minutes before completing the collapse.