2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs - Round 4 - Hawks vs Lightning

[anotheridiot]

what a trip. Was worried for a while, police escort, bad weather, took a while to get the hardware on the ice. Really got to liking Tampa, until they started with disclosing all the injuries.

 

[JBM73]

what a trip. Was worried for a while, police escort, bad weather, took a while to get the hardware on the ice. Really got to liking Tampa, until they started with disclosing all the injuries.

The non-stop cheap shots were a sign of a team that was mentally beaten well before Keith scored goal #1. As to the injuries, it was pretty obvious those guys were hurt. But, no sympathy here. Bunch of cowardly pussies.

 

[anotheridiot]

The non-stop cheap shots were a sign of a team that was mentally beaten well before Keith scored goal #1. As to the injuries, it was pretty obvious those guys were hurt. But, no sympathy here. Bunch of cowardly pussies.

I am pretty sure that Russian is gonna take Bishops job sooner than later, so for the coach to not play the healthy guy that was playing well and allowing Bishop to stay in goal was all on him. Those are the stones that Q has grown over the years, its not personal, its the cup.

 

[averagejoe]

Really got to liking Tampa, until they started with disclosing all the injuries.

As to the injuries, it was pretty obvious those guys were hurt. But, no sympathy here.

Saw that Tyler Johnson played most of the series with a broken wrist. And Ben Bishop played nearly 4 games with a torn groin. Bolts still played the Hawks very tough. Maybe even out-played the Hawks?!

Crawford played outstanding in goal during the Cup series. Yet Bishop had a better save percentage (by a mere 3/100's) and also had a better goals-against average. Bishop has my respect doing that with a torn groin. Same for Johnson. I wouldn't be surprised if Nikita Kucherov played with a concussion after crashing into the post in game 5.

I'm ecstatic for the Hawks. But the Lightning have my respect. If Tampa plays like this next season, it wouldn't surprise me if they win the whole thing in 2016.

 

[averagejoe]

Funny. From a Korean newspaper...

 

[averagejoe]

After the win in game 6, the NHL Network showed a video about the Hawks being a dynasty. Sounded like it was being narrated by one of the ESPN NFL guys. But I digress. It was an awesome segment that I can't seem to find anywhere.

The gist of the video focuses on how the Hawks have been able to continue winning despite the hard salary cap era. Something that other hockey dynasties (Montreal, Islanders, Edmonton & Detroit) have NOT had to deal with. Here's a similar quote from NHL.com:

"Dynasty is a pretty strong word, but I'll tell you what, in today's era with the free agency and how hard it is to keep star players around and the money that's being thrown out there, if it's not a dynasty, it's pretty darn good anyway," said Larry Robinson, a Hall of Fame defenseman and six-time Stanley Cup champion with the Canadiens. "It's a pretty darn good job of keeping everybody in the same place and winning games."

Robinson raises an important point by mentioning free agency. The Blackhawks are the first team in any of the four major sports to win a championship three times in an era with a hard salary cap.

The Red Wings could spend more than every team when they won their three titles in six seasons. Free agency, and money in general, weren't considerations when the Oilers, Islanders and Canadiens went on their historic runs.

"We were like, 'Boy, we could stay here forever and keep this thing going,'" Trottier said. "The trend now is free agency, movement, the salary cap, and Chicago has been capable of keeping it together."