<<< NHL Playoff Thread >>>

[MrGoat]

Originally Posted by Phrank

Two Canadians die and end up in Hell. Satan decides to pay them a visit, so he walks into their room and sees them talking and laughing. Confused, he asks them why they're happy.

They tell him, "Well, we're so sick of the cold where we're from, and this place is nice and toasty."

Satan, annoyed, storms away and goes to Hell's boiler room, where he turns up the temperature.

He goes back to the Canadians' room, along the way being begged by all sorts of people to put the heating back down. He enters the room to see the Canadians having a barbecue. Furiously, he asks them what they're doing.

"Well, we can't pass up this wonderful weather without getting out the barbecue!"

Satan realizes he's been doing the wrong thing. He goes to the boiler room and turns it down until it's at a colder temperature than ever seen on earth.

He knows he's won now, so he goes back to the Canadians' room, only to see them jumping up and down in excitement. He shouts at them in fury, "WHY ARE YOU STILL HAPPY?!?!?!"

They look at him and shout at the same time, "Hell froze over! That means the Leafs won!"

Damn. Shots fired!! It hurts to be a part of this thread today btw.


Sent from my Apple privacy invasion product

[Phrank]

Originally Posted by MrGoat

Damn. Shots fired!! It hurts to be a part of this thread today btw.


Sent from my Apple privacy invasion product

I'm in Toronto, and just don't go down the, "Maybe this year" route any longer....it always ends in tears....

1967 last time Leafs won the Cup.....


...and I think this joke was written in 1975....

[MrGoat]

Originally Posted by Phrank

I'm in Toronto, and just don't go down the, "Maybe this year" route any longer....it always ends in tears....

1967 last time Leafs won the Cup.....

Well if it’s at all consoling, I’m rooting for the leafs now that they beat my boys.


Sent from my Apple privacy invasion product

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by MrGoat

Well if it’s at all consoling, I’m rooting for the leafs now that they beat my boys.


Sent from my Apple privacy invasion product

Tampa Bay Lightning is still the class of the league in how you put a team together during the Salary Cap years, how you keep it extremely competitive year after year, when you lose players to free agency every year, and have to find replacements and still stay under the Cap.

They're a pretty clean classy team with a great coach, but they are starting to age out, have a lot of injuries, and have played more games in the last few years than any other team.

Winning the Stanley Cup or being in the finals, takes roughly 2 extra months of grueling hockey, every other day and with travel thrown in. Most of the team considered contenders this year have had no where near the number of games accumulated over the last few years as the Lightning. Winning 4 best of 7 series is so tough to do.

In hockey, the off season, is where you rest and then rebuild your body to hit training camp running. If you make the Stanley Cup finals you have very little off season. So for the Lightning to be legit contenders year after year is a very tough thing to do. Every team that makes it this far is very banged up and a lot of the players are playing injured.

I think some of the players may be secretly glad they lost this series because they finally have an off season to rest.

[MrGoat]

Originally Posted by Blansky

Tampa Bay Lightning is still the class of the league in how you put a team together during the Salary Cap years, how you keep it extremely competitive year after year, when you lose players to free agency every year, and have to find replacements and still stay under the Cap.

They're a pretty clean classy team with a great coach, but they are starting to age out, have a lot of injuries, and have played more games in the last few years than any other team.

Winning the Stanley Cup or being in the finals, takes roughly 2 extra months of grueling hockey, every other day and with travel thrown in. Most of the team considered contenders this year have had no where near the number of games accumulated over the last few years as the Lightning. Winning 4 best of 7 series is so tough to do.

In hockey, the off season, is where you rest and then rebuild your body to hit training camp running. If you make the Stanley Cup finals you have very little off season. So for the Lightning to be legit contenders year after year is a very tough thing to do. Every team that makes it this far is very banged up and a lot of the players are playing injured.

I think some of the players may be secretly glad they lost this series because they finally have an off season to rest.

Thanks for the kind words for my boys. I am curious about the secretly wanting the season over sentiment.

I may pose the question to the few contacts I have in the organization. I see Jon around quite often.


Sent from my Apple privacy invasion product

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by MrGoat

Thanks for the kind words for my boys. I am curious about the secretly wanting the season over sentiment.

I may pose the question to the few contacts I have in the organization. I see Jon around quite often.


Sent from my Apple privacy invasion product

Nobody would ever admit it. And these guys are extremely competitive, but when you're playing injured and you have 3 more series left, and need 12 more wins and your body is broken down.....

Everyone wants to win the cup but some seasons the price is just too high. Tampa knew Toronto would be a test, but that just the first round. Each round gets tougher, meaner more competitive. And sometime you just know, your team is not playing well enough to go the distance. Tampa didn't look good down the stretch, blew a few leads in this series, and looked tired at times. And lost every overtime game. They also had injuries to key players.

In the next few days as they clean out their lockers, and do exit interviews you will probably hear the extent of some of the injuries.

[CalSRQ1]

Kills me the bolts lost this series when they outplayed their opponent - however congrats to the leafs and best of luck. Last evening was watching the Oilers game in an airport lounge when a fellow traveler tried to tell me that Pasternak is actually better than McDavid. So- I appreciated the reminder that while I’m still sore about losing to the leafs- the Boston fans are still the worst :)

Carolina is a sleeper in the east - and although somehow NYR have struggled against NJ, on paper the Rangers are just silly in the way they are stacked.

[MrGoat]

Originally Posted by Blansky

Nobody would ever admit it. And these guys are extremely competitive, but when you're playing injured and you have 3 more series left, and need 12 more wins and your body is broken down.....

Everyone wants to win the cup but some seasons the price is just too high. Tampa knew Toronto would be a test, but that just the first round. Each round gets tougher, meaner more competitive. And sometime you just know, your team is not playing well enough to go the distance. Tampa didn't look good down the stretch, blew a few leads in this series, and looked tired at times.

I get it. I’ve got great friends (they call me Coach of Lavi because I look like Peter Laviolette) that play for multiple different leagues a week during season. These guys are in their 40’s-60’s. Granted they’re not playing professional hockey, however, the amount of games they’re playing and the age difference between pro players and a, b,c league rec hockey may have some correlation?

I do understand that the rec league guys aren’t practicing much but they’re still playing a lot of hockey a week. At least many of the players I know.


Sent from my Apple privacy invasion product

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by MrGoat

I get it. I’ve got great friends (they call me Coach of Lavi because I look like Peter Laviolette) that play for multiple different leagues a week during season. These guys are in their 40’s-60’s. Granted they’re not playing professional hockey, however, the amount of games they’re playing and the age difference between pro players and a, b,c league rec hockey may have some correlation?

I do understand that the rec league guys aren’t practicing much but they’re still playing a lot of hockey a week. At least many of the players I know.


Sent from my Apple privacy invasion product

Yeah I played 3-4 times a week for the last 30-40 years. Sometimes tournaments were 5 games in 3 days. We played all year, no time off.

Lots of ex pros, ex Junior and College players in the beer leagues.

We're just as crazy as the pros.

[MrGoat]

Originally Posted by Blansky

Yeah I played 3-4 times a week for the last 30-40 years. Sometimes tournaments were 5 games in 3 days. We played all year, no time off.

Lots of ex pros, ex Junior and College players in the beer leagues.

We're just as crazy as the pros.

I agree. Maybe crazier!! Love my hockey friends!!
This is me taking some beer from the “Stanley Keg” after my boys won the championship.


Sent from my Apple privacy invasion product

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by MrGoat

I agree. Maybe crazier!! Love my hockey friends!!
This is me taking some beer from the “Stanley Keg” after my boys won the championship.

Cool cup. Looks like they even put player names on it.

[East Bay Rider]

I was going to say my beloved Bruins, since they broke and set a bunch of records this year, but since Ullmark won't stay in the blue paint we're just handing out wins.

[MrGoat]

Originally Posted by East Bay Rider

I was going to say my beloved Bruins, since they broke and set a bunch of records this year, but since Ullmark won't stay in the blue paint we're just handing out wins.

Yep, every member of the team that wins it every season.


Sent from my Apple privacy invasion product

[Blansky]

When I lived in Santa Rosa CA from 2000 to 2021 there was a tournament every year called the Snoopy Tournament. It was numerous divisions starting at 40 years old and going up to 70+. It usually lasted a week.

Charles Schultz moved from Minnesota in the 1960s to Santa Rosa and there wasn't a good rink so he built his own called Snoopy's Home Ice and he decided to have a tournament every year. Usually there was around 50-60 teams that showed up.

There was even a team from Japan that came every year for 30 or so years that never won one game. Finally one year they got a win and that was it. They never came back.

These are some of medals that I won there. Pretty funny.

[MrGoat]

Originally Posted by Blansky

When I lived in Santa Rosa CA from 2000 to 2021 there was a tournament every year called the Snoopy Tournament. It was numerous divisions starting at 40 years old and going up to 70+. It usually lasted a week.

Charles Schultz moved from Minnesota in the 1960s to Santa Rosa and there wasn't a good rink so he built his own called Snoopy's Home Ice and he decided to have a tournament every year. Usually there was around 50-60 teams that showed up.

There was even a team from Japan that came every year for 30 or so years that never won one game. Finally one year they got a win and that was it. They never came back.

These are some of medals that I won there. Pretty funny.

That’s awesome!!


Sent from my Apple privacy invasion product

[Phrank]

Originally Posted by MrGoat

I agree. Maybe crazier!! Love my hockey friends!!
This is me taking some beer from the “Stanley Keg” after my boys won the championship.


Sent from my Apple privacy invasion product

As I mentioned in an earlier thread, when I was growing up, my father was the President of CCM, made all the skates, sticks, super tack skates, bikes you name it. So I grew up where my Dad's glove box in his car was filled with boxes of Gold Season Tickets for Maple Leaf Gardens Leaf games.

I met Phil and Tony Esposito, Bobby Hull, many, many other NHL players, I still have a signed copy of Paul Henderson's book on the Russia series, all the hockey greats when they'd go to Hockley Valley for "events" and I'd get to tag along.

I used to have a few Leaf's and other Jersey's but no idea where they went it was so long ago. Held the Stanley Cup a few times as well when I was a kid at some special events.

It would be nice once more in my lifetime for the Leafs to win the Cup ( I was 4 the last time lol), when the Blue Jays won the World Series, wow, what a party and the Raptors, but this town would *explode* if the Leafs finally won.

My fingers are crossed, but I will remain uninvested......

And here in East York Toronto, where I played and my son played hockey, they have the only officially licensed "Little Stanley Cup":

"The EYHA (East York Hockey Association) is the only minor hockey league allowed to present a Stanley Cup replica, and it was given special permission to do so by the National Hockey League by then league president Clarence Campbell back in 1954-55. East York’s Little Stanley Cup is a three-foot high replica of the real Stanley Cup."

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by Phrank

As I mentioned in an earlier thread, when I was growing up, my father was the President of CCM, made all the skates, sticks, super tack skates, bikes you name it. So I grew up where my Dad's glove box in his car was filled with boxes of Gold Season Tickets for Maple Leaf Gardens Leaf games.

I met Phil and Tony Esposito, Bobby Hull, many, many other NHL players, I still have a signed copy of Paul Henderson's book on the Russia series, all the hockey greats when they'd go to Hockley Valley for "events" and I'd get to tag along.

I used to have a few Leaf's and other Jersey's but no idea where they went it was so long ago. Held the Stanley Cup a few times as well when I was a kid at some special events.

It would be nice once more in my lifetime for the Leafs to win the Cup ( I was 4 the last time lol), when the Blue Jays won the World Series, wow, what a party and the Raptors, but this town would *explode* if the Leafs finally won.

My fingers are crossed, but I will remain uninvested......

And here in East York Toronto, where I played and my son played hockey, they have the only officially licensed "Little Stanley Cup":

"The EYHA (East York Hockey Association) is the only minor hockey league allowed to present a Stanley Cup replica, and it was given special permission to do so by the National Hockey League by then league president Clarence Campbell back in 1954-55. East York’s Little Stanley Cup is a three-foot high replica of the real Stanley Cup."

That’s cool.

The cup looks almost as tall as the kids.

[explorer16]

Let's get Kraken!!!

[brandrea]

Bruins are out. Curse of the regular season champs I guess …

Should be a good game tonight.

[Avs Fan]

Well, that didn't end well last night. Avs, the reigning Cup champs done in 7. At least now I can get to bed before 11.

[Yobber76]

I just looked at this thread this morning. Crazy playoff so far. I remember when the Leafs won the Cup! I have no dog in the hunt (who knows when the Blackhawks will return to even decent) but I'd like to see the Leafs do it.

If not them, then "Release the Kraken!!!!" (Cool colors)

[Dynamite_Kid19]

Man. Such exciting games/series. Nothing like playoff hockey.

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

[Blansky]

Crazy night. I thought Denver was in trouble with all the injuries and lost players from last year.

Boston started looking less dangerous in this series as well, and not a fan, so good to see them gone.

I think Toronto will have a lot of trouble from Florida, who will be a lot nastier to their star players than Tampa was. Marner and Nylander are going to be in for a rough ride.

Going to be an interesting playoff year.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Blansky

…
I think Toronto will have a lot of trouble from Florida, who will be a lot nastier to their star players than Tampa was. Marner and Nylander are going to be in for a rough ride...

Yes there’s that.

It should also be an interesting homecoming for Paul Maurice.

It’ll be a tight series me thinks.

[Chiboy]

Good thread! I’m a big Blackhawks fan, so this has been a lost (bunch of) year(s). So happy to see Marchand and the Bruins lose after a historic season. I was sure they’d win, so only watched a little of the game but saw period 1 and the last few minutes of period 3.

A bunch of Hawks live or used to live in my town in Chicagoland, so used to run into Quinneville and a couple others a lot. Q now has a place in Naples, and was going to play tennis with him this winter (we have mutual friends) but it never quite happened.

I’m rooting for the Rangers, primarily because Kaner and Penarin are there, but it’s not the same.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Chiboy

Good thread! I’m a big Blackhawks fan, so this has been a lost (bunch of) year(s). So happy to see Marchand and the Bruins lose after a historic season. I was sure they’d win, so only watched a little of the game but saw period 1 and the last few minutes of period 3.

A bunch of Hawks live or used to live in my town in Chicagoland, so used to run into Quinneville and a couple others a lot. Q now has a place in Naples, and was going to play tennis with him this winter (we have mutual friends) but it never quite happened.

I’m rooting for the Rangers, primarily because Kaner and Penarin are there, but it’s not the same.

I have to go with the Rangers tonight.

I’m not sure it’ll make a difference as the winner gets the Canes, and that’s just bad news all around.

[MrGoat]

I’m going to have to renege on my support of the Leafs.

I gotta stay true to my states teams and root for the Panthers. Not to mention actual Florida Panthers are incredibly majestic creatures and they’re being decimated at a sickening pace.

Sorry Brian!!

Sent from my Apple privacy invasion product

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by MrGoat

I’m going to have to renege on my support of the Leafs.

I gotta stay true to my states teams and root for the Panthers. Not to mention actual Florida Panthers are incredibly majestic creatures and they’re being decimated at a sickening pace.

Sorry Brian!!

Sent from my Apple privacy invasion product

No apologies necessary my friend. It’ll be a tight series and besides, we are used to leafs falling

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by brandrea

No apologies necessary my friend. It’ll be a tight series and besides, we are used to leafs falling

We also have to remember that Florida were the Presidents Trophy winners last year if I remember correctly and Tkachuk , the player they picked up is probably better than the two they lost.

Certainly a better playoff performer.

So these guys aren’t any slouches as a team.

[Dynamite_Kid19]

The Panthers with that 80s GAA, can they outscore their troubles enough against Toronto?

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk