Rangers looking to better their result from last year. Isles back in the playoff. Devils at home this time (and sadly, Ryanne Clowe may never suit up again according to reports). Around the league, Kane is back, and the Bruins GM is not.
Should be a great playoffs.
Metro and Central matchups look particularly awesome this year.
In the meantime, PLEASE move an East team out west. It pisses me off that you have a 50% chance in the East to make the playoffs vs 57% out West. Or if you cant do that, maybe do what the NBA is considering... top 16 teams make it regardless of geography.
In the meantime, PLEASE move an East team out west. It pisses me off that you have a 50% chance in the East to make the playoffs vs 57% out West. Or if you cant do that, maybe do what the NBA is considering... top 16 teams make it regardless of geography.
agree. hate this.
Neither will happen.
best logo and theme song in sports.
Brass Bonanza - ( New Window )
best logo and theme song in sports.
Brass Bonanza - ( New Window )
lol - well, the problem is Hartford is pretty dead. CT screwed up the Insurance Capital of the World over two decades ago so corporate seating isn't going to be in demand.
Would be nice to see them but I just don't see Hartford supporting the team.
Boston vs Hartford and Montreal vs Quebec were the biggest while every other combination was certainly more interesting than these Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes. Not that anybody appears to care in Phoenix about hockey.
You are looking to the past. You can't be arguing with a straight face that its no easier to make the playoffs with 13 competitors than with 15 vying for 8 finite slots.
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had no effect on the playoffs with, record wise, more teams with poor records in the East than West.
ou are looking to the past. You can't be arguing with a straight face that its no easier to make the playoffs with 13 competitors than with 15 vying for 8 finite slots.
Just stop already. You obviously can't tell the better teams in the basement are from the West whereas there are more doormats in the East. You're just doing division for odds and ignoring the rosters.
Agree on Seattle, is part of the issue that Vancouver can block it? They are 90 minutes i think apart?
Kansas City / Oklahoma City i think would also embrace the sport. I still wonder why they chose Colombus over Cleveland or Cincy.
30 teams is perfectly fine by the way... having divisions of 7 and 8 isnt a big deal as long as you have sufficient wild cards.
Personally - just admit the Miami market doesnt work already, move them to Seattle or OKC/KC... and move on.
Longer term i dont see NJ making it by the way with NYI in Brooklyn. 4 NHL teams within 90 minutes of each other... something's eventually got to give. Move NJ back to Hartford??
Just stop already. You obviously can't tell the better teams in the basement are from the West whereas there are more doormats in the East. You're just doing division for odds and ignoring the rosters.
LOL. You really are incredible. Yes looking to the future and noting that 50% odds of making the playoffs are tougher than 57% is "ignoring rosters"
And forgot how awesome Edmonton and Arizona are.
Sorry forgot -- Ignore the troll.
Boston vs Hartford and Montreal vs Quebec were the biggest while every other combination was certainly more interesting than these Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes. Not that anybody appears to care in Phoenix about hockey.
I'm a Canadiens fan, but one of the best hockey game I've been to was game 6 Adams Division Semis Whalers vs. Bruins in the mall. Whalers won in OT to force game 7 back in Boston.
the Whalers team was so stacked. Ron Francis, Kevin Dineen, Pat Verbeek, Ray Ferraro, Ulf Samuelsson, and the B's had the star power with Bourque, Neely, just a classic playoff game. Plus they had to stop the game several times because of all the fights in the stands.
I grew up in CT, and I used to go to Whalers games if i got free tickets, it was a fun atmosphere, but yeah, no way that city can support a team at this point.
Correct me if I'm mistaken but the East was significantly stronger than the West this year.
and I met Chris Pronger (along with other players), dude seemed like 7 feet tall.
Also got to see the Stanley cup up close.
otherwise it was hands down the most boring experience in my entire life, and I've sat through some boring shit.
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Just stop already. You obviously can't tell the better teams in the basement are from the West whereas there are more doormats in the East. You're just doing division for odds and ignoring the rosters.
LOL. You really are incredible. Yes looking to the future and noting that 50% odds of making the playoffs are tougher than 57% is "ignoring rosters"
And forgot how awesome Edmonton and Arizona are.
Sorry forgot -- Ignore the troll.
You're so clueless. It's funny how the dumbest people like yourself accuse others of trolling b/c they can't think. Look past the simple odds you moron. San Jose's roster is better many teams and they wouldn't have finished 3rd worst in the East while they were ranked 3rd worst in the West. Ignore yourself b/c your brain doesn't work.
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the NHL was hot in the Northeast back then with Hartford and Quebec. Lost a lot of rivalries when those two teams left.
Boston vs Hartford and Montreal vs Quebec were the biggest while every other combination was certainly more interesting than these Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes. Not that anybody appears to care in Phoenix about hockey.
I'm a Canadiens fan, but one of the best hockey game I've been to was game 6 Adams Division Semis Whalers vs. Bruins in the mall. Whalers won in OT to force game 7 back in Boston.
the Whalers team was so stacked. Ron Francis, Kevin Dineen, Pat Verbeek, Ray Ferraro, Ulf Samuelsson, and the B's had the star power with Bourque, Neely, just a classic playoff game. Plus they had to stop the game several times because of all the fights in the stands.
I grew up in CT, and I used to go to Whalers games if i got free tickets, it was a fun atmosphere, but yeah, no way that city can support a team at this point.
That was a great series. Good stuff.
Was at the 1986 playoff game when Dineen scored in OT against the Habs. They had a great run. I remember the following year the Whale was stacked with many of the players you mentioned. They poised for a great run until they met Quebec who turned the series into an absolute hockey war and paid the Whale back for the previous year.
Of course, those Whalers came back to haunt us when the Penguins took Francis and Ulfie and beat the 92 Rangers. UGH
Great rivalries back then though.
Never thought about Portland. You could right about Portland and KC. Some of these cities are hot. Just look at Nashville. I believe UBS is moving a huge portion there along with many companies due to the tax structure. Meanwhile in Florida & Carolina, the game is an afterthought.
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and KC would also be good choices for an Arizona relocation. As long as they stay in the West, they should be fine pending expansion.
Never thought about Portland. You could right about Portland and KC. Some of these cities are hot. Just look at Nashville. I believe UBS is moving a huge portion there along with many companies due to the tax structure. Meanwhile in Florida & Carolina, the game is an afterthought.
I've always thought that the Hurricanes draw well in Raleigh. The Triangle is a very hot area, and the Canes have done pretty well since they moved, though the last few years have been tough on the ice.
They drew more fans in number than the Penguins, Rangers, Bruins, etc.
granted much of that is explained by capacity differences, but it's a little more than an afterthought.
Panthers, Hurricanes, Coyotes, even Columbus - all bad marketing decisions IMO
I've always thought that the Hurricanes draw well in Raleigh. The Triangle is a very hot area, and the Canes have done pretty well since they moved, though the last few years have been tough on the ice.
I believe there attendance was among the lowest in the league. I agree, the triangle is hot with corporations popping up everywhere yet it appears to work for football and basketball while the hockey is kinda like Atlanta. They go if the team is really good yet ignore them otherwise.
They drew more fans in number than the Penguins, Rangers, Bruins, etc.
granted much of that is explained by capacity differences, but it's a little more than an afterthought.
Panthers, Hurricanes, Coyotes, even Columbus - all bad marketing decisions IMO
Like Raleigh, I've heard Columbus is actually a pretty good hockey market. The Jackets obviously have issues on the ice (still haven't won a playoff series in ~14 seasons), but I haven't heard anything bad about their finances or lack of support.
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sold 98% capacity, but they have a big building.
They drew more fans in number than the Penguins, Rangers, Bruins, etc.
granted much of that is explained by capacity differences, but it's a little more than an afterthought.
Panthers, Hurricanes, Coyotes, even Columbus - all bad marketing decisions IMO
Like Raleigh, I've heard Columbus is actually a pretty good hockey market. The Jackets obviously have issues on the ice (still haven't won a playoff series in ~14 seasons), but I haven't heard anything bad about their finances or lack of support.
from a capacity standpoint Columbus filled 85% of their building. that's relocation bad.
only teams selling less tickets (as a percent of their capacity) were the Coyotes, Panthers, and Hurricanes.
and the Bluejackets were a borderline playoff contender.
They drew more fans in number than the Penguins, Rangers, Bruins, etc.
granted much of that is explained by capacity differences, but it's a little more than an afterthought.
Panthers, Hurricanes, Coyotes, even Columbus - all bad marketing decisions IMO
Tampa is a strange town. It's a growing city and then it's like somebody pulls the plug for the weekend and whole place I quiet. They embrace a team as quickly as they drop it. too. I remember the Bucs went from a "walk up to the gate for a ticket" to a 25 year waiting list with no tickets available and now back to get any ticket you want.
maybe it's the on-ice success and they are a fair weather fan base, but right now they draw well.
after a couple years of sucking maybe things will change, but unless they royally mess this up, they have a 5 year window (with or without Stamkos) they should be contenders.
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I think it'd be awesome for the sport and embraced by the city. I don't understand why the NHL is so set on Vegas (okay, I do, it's the arena situation, but still, I prefer Seattle).
Agree on Seattle, is part of the issue that Vancouver can block it? They are 90 minutes i think apart?
Kansas City / Oklahoma City i think would also embrace the sport. I still wonder why they chose Colombus over Cleveland or Cincy.
30 teams is perfectly fine by the way... having divisions of 7 and 8 isnt a big deal as long as you have sufficient wild cards.
Personally - just admit the Miami market doesnt work already, move them to Seattle or OKC/KC... and move on.
Longer term i dont see NJ making it by the way with NYI in Brooklyn. 4 NHL teams within 90 minutes of each other... something's eventually got to give. Move NJ back to Hartford??
NJ can support a team better than Hartford can. The issue with the Devils is just building that fan loyalty.
However, as someone who grew up in central NJ, went to Rutgers, lives in Jersey City and works in Manhattan, before this season I have never once ever seen an Islanders fan anywhere outside of Manhattan - but I know a ton of Devils fans.
Hypothetically, I wonder if the Devils would fare better by being farther south in the state.
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In comment 12323198 Sonic Youth said:
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I think it'd be awesome for the sport and embraced by the city. I don't understand why the NHL is so set on Vegas (okay, I do, it's the arena situation, but still, I prefer Seattle).
Agree on Seattle, is part of the issue that Vancouver can block it? They are 90 minutes i think apart?
Kansas City / Oklahoma City i think would also embrace the sport. I still wonder why they chose Colombus over Cleveland or Cincy.
30 teams is perfectly fine by the way... having divisions of 7 and 8 isnt a big deal as long as you have sufficient wild cards.
Personally - just admit the Miami market doesnt work already, move them to Seattle or OKC/KC... and move on.
Longer term i dont see NJ making it by the way with NYI in Brooklyn. 4 NHL teams within 90 minutes of each other... something's eventually got to give. Move NJ back to Hartford??
NJ can support a team better than Hartford can. The issue with the Devils is just building that fan loyalty.
However, as someone who grew up in central NJ, went to Rutgers, lives in Jersey City and works in Manhattan, before this season I have never once ever seen an Islanders fan anywhere outside of Manhattan - but I know a ton of Devils fans.
Hypothetically, I wonder if the Devils would fare better by being farther south in the state.
Wouldn't that put them too close to the Flyers' market?
maybe it's the on-ice success and they are a fair weather fan base, but right now they draw well.
after a couple years of sucking maybe things will change, but unless they royally mess this up, they have a 5 year window (with or without Stamkos) they should be contenders.
I used to go to a game or two a year from ~2006-2012 and the crowds were always very impressive.
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In comment 12323211 MetsAreBack said:
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In comment 12323198 Sonic Youth said:
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I think it'd be awesome for the sport and embraced by the city. I don't understand why the NHL is so set on Vegas (okay, I do, it's the arena situation, but still, I prefer Seattle).
Agree on Seattle, is part of the issue that Vancouver can block it? They are 90 minutes i think apart?
Kansas City / Oklahoma City i think would also embrace the sport. I still wonder why they chose Colombus over Cleveland or Cincy.
30 teams is perfectly fine by the way... having divisions of 7 and 8 isnt a big deal as long as you have sufficient wild cards.
Personally - just admit the Miami market doesnt work already, move them to Seattle or OKC/KC... and move on.
Longer term i dont see NJ making it by the way with NYI in Brooklyn. 4 NHL teams within 90 minutes of each other... something's eventually got to give. Move NJ back to Hartford??
NJ can support a team better than Hartford can. The issue with the Devils is just building that fan loyalty.
However, as someone who grew up in central NJ, went to Rutgers, lives in Jersey City and works in Manhattan, before this season I have never once ever seen an Islanders fan anywhere outside of Manhattan - but I know a ton of Devils fans.
Hypothetically, I wonder if the Devils would fare better by being farther south in the state.
Wouldn't that put them too close to the Flyers' market?
I don't really think so. Central NJ is pretty much the heart of Devils territory. Where they are located now is primarily Rangers fans. You don't start getting Flyers fans until way farther south, south of roughly LBI.
Pretty tough break to benefit from an atrocious goalie mistake, miss on the point blank chance anyway, then get tripped into the iron post and miss the last 55 minutes of the game with concussion i'm assuming. (yet again i have to wonder why the NHL takes player safety so casually... unpadded iron in the middle of play??)
TBL now 6-7 at home this postseason. Good thing they instituted all those restrictive resale rules... Hawks dominated most of the TV sightline seats last night anyway.
the one thing missing, as I've said a few times is the bad blood. it seems severely lacking.
no face washes in front of the net scrums, not the usual pushing and shoving and while there is some good hitting, not like we've seen early in the playoffs.
I'm not an advocate of cheap shots by any stretch, but I do like rough/edgy play
Stamkos is absolutely snakebit
Crawford didn't have to do anything, he shot it right into his pad. Any elevation and the puck is in
yeah, on replay it was more obvious real time I couldn't see how Stamkos didn't score, I just mean snakebit because he can't score and it's not for lack of chances, he's missing goals he normally scores on. It's in his head, that's what I mean by snakebit.
and he hasn't scored either I don't think.