2021 NHL Season

[Vic Boss 612]

IT BEGINS

[dr. b 492]

Wake me up when it's the conference finals  

 

Seriously tho: the Leafs won their first game. I only know this because Leafs chatter is inescapable round here. I guess I hope they have a good season, but that team killed any fandom left in me a long time ago. Last time I got back into watching hockey I decided to watch and cheer for the Jets instead.  By now I don't really know who any of the players are anymore. 

 

The Canucks got a decent team this year?

[Vic Boss 612]

On the rise. Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Toronto were all pretty close in win percentage last year.

[Vic Boss 612]

Whoa, Winnipeg traded Patrick Laine to Columbus

[dr. b 492]

I don't know anything about the guy the Jets got back but I guess he wanted out of Columbus just like Laine wanted out of Winnipeg? I wonder if either player will stick around with their new teams beyond this season... 

[Vic Boss 612]

Tyler Toffoli of the Montreal Canadiens has 9 goals so far this season. 8 are against the Canucks

[dr. b 492]

Bad goalies on the Canucks or just randomness?

 

also: Ottawa at the bottom of the North division standings at 1-8-1 -- you love to see it   

[Vic Boss 612]

Montreal has our number. We've played them 5 times out of 13 games and we're 1-4 with a combined score VAN 15, MTL 28. Tyler Toffoli might end up outscoring our entire team by the end of the year.

 

And yeah, Canucks beat Ottawa 3 straight by a combined score of 16-1, got us back to .500 and really saved the early season

 

3 game series against the Leafs coming up next.

 

If the NHL's not careful, they're gonna have to keep this division set-up in place (and add Seattle to it)

[dr. b 492]

I haven't been following the Leafs but I guess they're doing OK because my Leafs-fan-friends aren't crying everyday  

 

Just took a quick look at the standings and despite being in second place it doesn't look they're scoring a ton (eg compared to Edmonton, Vancouver, and Montreal). I kinda thought they were supposed to be a more powerful offensive team. Their goal differential is positive and they're winning games though. My Jets are right behind them  

[dr. b 492]

Are the Canucks going to survive the season?

 

 

[Vic Boss 612]

Awriiight, built ourselves up a nice little team just in time for a pandemic that can take enough wind away from great players to turn them into average ones

 

Though tbh they could cancel the rest of our season. Montreal's got 3 games in hand, a 6 point lead for the last playoff spot and they don't play each other any more this season. Unless Montreal falls of a cliff we're not making the playoffs

[dr. b 492]

Just took a look at the standings for the first time in weeks (maybe the first time this season for divisions other than the North) ... since when were the Panthers one of the best teams in the league!?  I barely recognize any of the names on the roster, though I'm sure that would be the case for many other teams as well at this point. If I sort it from youngest to oldest then I know a few of the names at the bottom of the list, that's it.

[Vic Boss 612]

I remember seeing a tweet earlier in the season that said "The NHL is just the North Division this year, I don't even know what's happening in the rest" and that's totally true, it's news to me that Florida's doing well at all

[dr. b 492]

The Panthers and Lightning are #2 and #4 in the league-wide standings  Also the Leafs are #3, I'm not used to seeing that. In recent years, #3 in the reverse standings would seem more appropriate... (that's the Sens right now! )

[Vic Boss 612]

Can't wait for the Leafs to win the Stanley Cup so I can say "Yeah, but it wasn't a real season" every time it comes up

[dr. b 492]

Leafs... win the Cup? That ain't happening any time soon. They always find a way to lose  

[Vic Boss 612]

Fucking weird, before the Canucks had 4-5 more games played than everyone else in the division, now because of the rona it's 4-5 games less.

 

Probably won't be able to make the playoffs unless Montreal goes on a significant losing streak and the Canucks do the opposite (and even then, the Canucks don't play them any more this year so they're not in control of their own destiny) in the last games of the season.

[Vic Boss 612]

>NHL

>"Will Connor McDavid get to 100 points in this 56 game season"

>3 games against Canucks

>9 Points in those 3 games

>2 of his last 4 games are against the Canucks

 

Outside shot at 110 the way this is going

[dr. b 492]

Wow, that's pretty damn impressive. #1 in assists and points, #2 in goals. #1 in hockey-ref's goals created stat (can't recall having heard of that one before). McDavid and his teammate Draisaitl are #1 and #2 in PPG. But I guess none of it matters much if they don't have some success in the playoffs.

[Vic Boss 612]

A few weeks ago where people were going nuts because he's been on a Point-Per-Period pace for like 15 games. Ridiculous.

[dr. b 492]

Wow! 1 PPG is still considered a benchmark of a good (very good? or at least very consistent?) player, right? Or has thinking on that changed in recent years? I'm so out of touch with hockey. But anyways, he's 1.85 PPG on the season so far according to hockey-ref. That seems pretty impressive to me.

[Vic Boss 612]

Yeah PPG, is still a benchmark for "this is a highly effective offensive player." He's on a 150 point pace if it was a full 82 game season, but it's likely he would've slowed down to maybe a 120ish point pace at some point because of how they have to pace themselves in long seasons. Last time someone did 150ish was Lemieux in 1996 (161) and then a few players would hit over 120 points here and there since then. IIRC both Eric Lindros and Sidney Crosby had a few season where they were on pace to hit over 130 but they both kept getting bonked in the head.

 

Crazy stuff, especially since Connor's only 24.

[Vic Boss 612]

Only took him one more game against the Canucks. 13 Points in 4 Games against the Canucks, 21 Points in 9 games against the Canucks all season. ;_;

[dr. b 492]

Games against the Canucks are good for what ails you  Just for funsies I checked Auston Matthews' splits. He's tagged the Canucks for 9 goals this season, but only 10 points overall. Guess he likes playing the Sens a bit better (9 goals, 16 points overall).

[dr. b 492]

We got some playoffs going on now. (It was news to me )

 

Because of how the divisions were rearranged this year, this could lead to some Cup Finals match ups that normally would not be possible. That's interesting. Imagine the Leafs finally making it to the Cup Finals, only to be devastated by the Bruins yet again  

 

It's also cool that a Canadian team will for sure make it to the Semifinals (and then probably get whooped by the Avs or Golden Knights )

 

I have almost zero interest in the right-hand side of the bracket. Carolina, Nashville, Florida, Tampa ==   But I would cheer for the Caps if they make it out of their division. I like Ovi.

[Vic Boss 612]

They actually re-seed the whole field once they hit the final four IIRC, so the North Division champions aren't guaranteed to play the Western division champions. It's a really really interesting set-up.

 

I do hope we at least see EDM/TOR and PIT/WSH. My dad's a huge sports fan but he's barely watched any sports this year because all of these different set-ups and no crowds made it feel like it wasn't "real" sports to him and I kinda get that right now because I honestly have no idea what happened outside of the North Division this year.

[dr. b 492]

Oh, I didn’t know about the re-seeding. That could be an interesting wrinkle. 

[Vic Boss 612]

Also because of the covid protocols, the Canucks still have two regular season games to play even though the playoffs have already started

[dr. b 492]

Why are they even bothering with those games..? The Canucks and Flames aren't even in the playoff picture. Unless there are draft implications, regular season games are pointless now  

[Vic Boss 612]

Probably official record/draft implications.

 

They had to play 7 games in I think 10 nights just to make up for that 2 week stretch they missed because of covid protocol, I kind of wonder if they would've done that to obvious playoff teams like the Lightning or the Maple Leafs or if they just thought they could get away with it because the Canucks weren't going anywhere

[dr. b 492]

They might have treated some playoff teams differently, but it looks like the Canucks had games against a couple playoff teams in this final busy stretch... so maybe the league wouldn’t have treated the other teams differently? I guess it helps that a chunk of these seemingly meaningless games were against the Flames. Neither team was playoff bound. Most of these guys are probably hitting a beach or golf course tomorrow

[Vic Boss 612]

The playoff bracket in the North has been pretty much set for awhile too, like the only thing that would've really mattered was if Edmonton won all of their games or lost all of their games and potentially shifted a spot or two, but probably was an easy gamble to make

[dr. b 492]

Ugh, the clip of the knee to the head of Tavares was not easy to watch. Brutal. Hope he’s alright. 

[Vic Boss 612]

Man, what a freak accident. High speed Muay-Thai knee to the face with little chance of avoiding it

[dr. b 492]

On 5/18/2021 at 7:25 PM, Vic Boss said:

EDM/TOR and PIT/WSH?

EDM and WSH down, PIT up against elimination

 

I hope the Isles knock out the Pens, but I will of course cheer for either team over the damn Bruins.

 

I'm happy for the Jets  Didn't watch any of the games, but it looks like they were mostly close ones. They didn't win many regular season games vs. the Oilers, so it's cool to see them turn around and sweep them in the playoffs.

[Vic Boss 612]

[dr. b 492]

Just two more first round series left to finish: G. Knights / Wild going to game 7 (c'mon Minnesota!) and Leafs lead Habs 3-2. 

 

The Avs and Jets are going to be well rested by the time the second round series get going.

[dr. b 492]

Thanks for nothing, Minnesota

[dr. b 492]

Leafs gonna blow game 7, I can see it coming a mile away

 

Bruins up 1-0 on the Isles  

[dr. b 492]

On 5/30/2021 at 5:39 PM, little birdy said:

Leafs gonna blow game 7, I can see it coming a mile away

[Vic Boss 612]

[dr. b 492]

Habs are up 3-0 on the Jets

[Vic Boss 612]

Ayyyyy, maybe Carey Price finally gonna go on a Cup run that officializes him as one of the GOATs

 

Speaking of GOATs, I was just looking at the all-time wins list and Fleury is third all-time at 492, what the fuck

[dr. b 492]

Fleury was a Vezina finalist this year and won the award (well, co-won it with his teammate) for fewest goals allowed in the regular season. At age 36. That's pretty impressive! I wouldn't have expected Fleury to stick in the league quite this long, or to continue to be this effective this late in his career.

[Vic Boss 612]

It's weird because he's never won the Vezina, but he's knocking on the door of the greatest goalies of all time.

 

Only two guys ahead of him in wins:

 

Martin Brodeur, 3 Stanley Cups (same as Fleury), 4 Vezinas, 691 Wins (Definitely not hunting down that one)

Patrick Roy, 4 Stanley Cups, 3 Vezinas, 551 Wins (That one's in reach)

[Rulkster 47]

I don't know if I can bring myself to cheer for the habs. Like I want the cup to come back to the north but not like this.

[dr. b 492]

The Habs throughout history are the team with the most experience winning Cups, so if a team is going to do it then it's probably them!

I'm just happy the Isles knocked out the damn Bruins. I'd be happy to see any of the four remaining teams win the Cup.

[Vic Boss 612]

Oh shiiiiiiiet, MTL tryin to bring him the first Canadian Stanley Cup and Canadien Stanley Cup since '93

 

Apparently some of the Canadian teams want to keep the North Division for next year. Just add Seattle to the group and let's fucking go

[dr. b 492]

The Habs booked their ticket to the Cup Finals. Isles/Bolts tied 3-3, so it's a coin toss who the Habs will be facing off against.

[Vic Boss 612]

Might have to watch the Cup finals this year.