What's your thought?

[pete6835]

I really don't want one of these teams to win their first Stanley Cup, fuck them.

Washington - 0
St. Louis - 0
San Jose - 0
Nashville - 0

I don't want the ice ducks to win their 4th, and fuck Dallas with their Brett Hull crease bullshit.
Pitts - 3
Tampa - 1
Dallas - 1

The only answer is Tampa Bay getting their 2nd.

Thoughts?

 

[pete6835]

Wash Gone
St. Louis - 0
San Jose - 0
Nashville - 0


Pitts - 3
Tampa - 1
Dallas - 1

 

[Kings4OT]

Tampa or the Preds, what a stupid fucking list....did you make this one?

 

[PuckinUgly57]

When LA doesn't win it, I really don't care who wins it as long as it isn't SJ, Anaheim or Washington. SJ and Anaheim it's obvious to connect the dots, but people ask me "why Washington?" - my answer is because they tried to buy a Stanley Cup in the early 2000s/late 90s with atrocious contracts, such as not only trading for Jagr who still had 2 (I think) years left on his deal but inking him to an 8 year/$88 million deal which didn't pan out.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that was going to happen but Ted Leonsis insisted on doing things like that, which in turn other players used as comps, which led to the lockout of 2004-05. People point to teams like Destroit and Colorado, but while they did dish out big deals or acquire big names, they actually *won* stuff because they already had pieces in place.

It was obvious after the 1998 run for Washington that they were scrappy, not skilled, and that doesn't favor a team's chances going far. So because we can't draft well, what do we do? Try and buy FAs to win but that rarely works too (remember the early 2000s NY Rangers teams? Lindros, Bure, Holik, etc. - tons of money, zero chemistry).

On top of that, not an Ovechkin fan because of his showboating, but to his credit that has subsided in recent years. But it pissed me off seeing him slamming himself into the boards and jumping around like a circus monkey after scoring his 54th goal of the season or something 5 years into the league and already having massive goal totals to his name. I don't like players like that at all - just go about your business, have some class, act like you've been there and keep this game honorable and different from the idiots in the NFL and NBA.

Yes, he is talented, I also think he was the NHL's equivalent of Terrell Owens earlier in his career. Lots of skill, me first attitude, no team awards ever to show for it and obnoxious behavior. I smiled a bit seeing the Caps eat it last night, the only person I felt bad for was Williams.

That said, I wouldn't mind seeing Nashville get it although I think the Blues are looking pretty good for a SCF appearance.

 

[pete6835]

what a stupid fucking list....did you make this one?

I just pulled the teams from a hat, I pulled from the bottom.

 

[pete6835]

Wash Gone
St. Louis - 0
San Jose - 0
Nashville - 0


Pitts - 3
Tampa - 1
Dallas Gone

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Dallas got lit up, that was one of the biggest Game 7 ass kickings I have ever seen. Dallas never recovered from that Lehtonen softie in the first and proof again the platoon goaltending method doesn't win in the POs, especially when you have 2 average goalies.

Pre-series prognosis said the defense would do them in and goaltending and sure enough it did.

 

[histkng23]

Once the Kings got eliminated was just rooting for any team playing the Ducks, so Nashville became my defacto favorite team. While I am still pulling for Nashville, I don't have a big heart in this year's race.

I don't want San Jose to win, just on the notion that I don't want Thornton, Marleau, and Burns to lift the cup ever.

Don't want Pittsburgh to win either, because much like Puck's opinion on Ovie, I feel the same way towards Malkin. Think he can be a punk at times, and feel his celebrations can be borderline showboating. While I did feel that Crosby was being a whiny bitch for a few years a while back, he seems to have toned that down some the last year or so.

Wouldn't mind seeing Tampa get it, as their game can be entertaining to watch. The finals last year between them & Chicago, was a good series in just the pace at which each game was played at.

 

[pete6835]

Wash Gone
St. Louis - 0
San Jose - 0
Nashville Gone


Pitts - 3
Tampa - 1
Dallas Gone

 

[Psych3man]

Love reading everyone's opinions... My favorite hate team in the East is Penguins because of their periodic tanking on purpose to get #1 or very high draft picks. The Kings have been in the league 50 years and have NEVER had the #1 pick since their first year of existence. Check out this history:
2006 #1 Jordan Staal
2005 #1 Sidney Crosby
2004 #2 Evgeni Malkin
2003 #1 Marc-Andre Fleury
How about that? 3 of 4 #1s overall and the other is #2 overall. And these are world-class athletes, not the schmucks the Oilers draft.
Plus they completely gutted their team to get Lemieux #1 in '84. The previous year they were good enough to draft Bob Errey at #15 in '83. The next year they gutted everyone to finish first. Same thing again 10 years later to get Fleury.
Fuck them!

 

[smackdown380]

Dallas got lit up, that was one of the biggest Game 7 ass kickings I have ever seen. Dallas never recovered from that Lehtonen softie in the first and proof again the platoon goaltending method doesn't win in the POs, especially when you have 2 average goalies.

Pre-series prognosis said the defense would do them in and goaltending and sure enough it did.

Yup, Dallas never had the D or goaltending. They tried to win games by outscoring the opponent. Anyways your statement about Lehtonen letting in the softie brought me back to this tweet:

 

[Kings4OT]

Let-one-in never had a shot as a netminder

 

[CaptHowdy00]

Of the teams that are left, I would not mind the Blues taking it. They're the only team from the 67 expansion left that has not won the Cup.

No I don't want the Sharks to win it either. I really don't care who from the East takes it. But of it has to be a West team, I would prefer the Blues.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

My money is on a Blues/Penguins SCF.

While I really hated the Blues during both Kings Cup runs, they haven't bugged me as much in recent years because their fan base finally STFU when they realized they were not true contenders. Prior to 2012 and 2014 these guys were "rolling in their jizz" as Wup used to say but it was obvious they had apparent holes in their team. Their fans would refer to them as LA East but they were always a step below LA in every position - Doughty > Pietrangelo, Quick > Elliott/Allan/Halak, Carter > Steen, etc. They were almost there but just a little short.

The current Blues team however, and I said this somewhere during this POs, reminds me a lot of the 2012 Cup team - depth, physical, 4 strong down the middle, solid defense, legitimate T6, timely scoring, good B6 and solid goaltending. I haven't looked but I think their PP is actually better than that 2012 Kings playoff team, luckily the Kings did not need to rely on it or they would have been screwed (thanks Kompon - the Kings won in spite of that guy, not because of him).

That said, if these two make it there is should be one hell of an entertaining series because the Blues are the pounding physical team with an emphasis on defense while the Penguins are a transition team that scores on the fly. Different styles, but my money would be on the Blues in a 7 game series.

Plus I can't see SJ win it.

=)~~

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

SJ in the finals against winner of tonight's game. I actually don't dislike SJ as much as a lot of people. Their fanbase has been very lowkey tortured amongst the best of them. They just don't get credit because of their success in other sports in the bay area. That being said, whenever some team wins it, the lowest common denominator "fans" come out and make you hate that team forever (As I'm sure happened with LA bandwagoners too).

 

[pete6835]

Wash Gone
St. Louis Gone
San Jose - 0
Nashville Gone


Pitts - 3
Tampa Gone
Dallas Gone

ugh

 

[Kings4OT]

hockey sucks

 

[Psych3man]

hockey sucks

LOL

 

[smackdown380]

So basically SJ wins the cup, Jones > Murray

 

[PuckinUgly57]

I just cannot get myself to pull for the Sharks. That first period was a thing of beauty by the Penguins, they ran circles around SJ. SJ did come out and play their game in the second, but I'm hoping the Penguins win this is 6.

Gotta say, did not expect this SCF. The Blues really shat the bed in the WCFs. It was interesting hearing the media say the Blues went 7 with Chicago and Dallas and could not sustain the physicality in the WCF, running out of gas. This was the furthest they went in 15 years, and didn't have extended PO runs the previous 4 years so I'm not buying the out of gas theory. I'm saying they aren't built to play that way, although they certainly fooled me this season. I seriously thought this was their year the way they handled Dallas and Chicago.

That makes the 2014 Kings team so remarkable, because they not only played almost a full extra season between 2012-2014 with all the POs games but they had three Game 7s on the road, won them all, played their brand of hockey for the most part and were rewarded in meeting a Rangers team that wasn't better than any of the teams the Kings defeated to get there.