Wilson scores a goal, gets a ridiculous goalie interference penalty that no other player in the league would get, good times
Cool, doesn't mean it's not bullshit. He got a square pass from Orlov, puck went in, Suter decked him and after puck was in it took out Dubnyk
Hagelin is expiring while Pearson's deal is slightly less expensive for 2 additional seasons. Not what I was expecting.
Weird deal, but Rutherford's history shows that he's pretty successful with the buy-low players. It seems like it could help a lot with bottom 6 scoring if a change in scenery gives him a jolt. Hagelin has slowed down considerably over the past couple of years. I just expected a team against the cap like the Pens to try and shed future salaries, not commit to them. I also don't know much about Pearson, other than he's having a down year.
Seems like a bad deal for Pitt, Pearson is one of those slow player that slowed down. They usually don’t recover.
More than half the teams make already make it so increasing the number would be ridiculous. It is funny that most of the recent NHL rule or format changes are terrible in practice: offside challenges, delay of game penalties, and the stupid playoff format.
Yeah, the team with the 2nd most points in the east last year having to play teams with the 1st and 3rd most points in the first 2 rounds was stupid.
If your team is good enough to win the cup the matchups shouldn’t matter. Does it really matter if you lose in the 1st or 2nd round? Owners with potential lost revenue are the people that should be mad about the format not the fans.
Yes, unless you believe that the best team always wins the cup and upsets, big or small, never happen. (Nobody if they're being completely honest with themselves believes this. ) Difficulty of the path to the finals matters.
matchups can mean everything in the playoffs, and having the best regular season should give you the easiest path potentially. the current system is a bunch of bullshit in a desperate attempt to create good matchups at the expense of balanced competition. hockey is rarely a sport where the best team just overpowers everyone they face.
at complaining about the Atlantic having it tough, division had 4 of the worst 7-8 teams in the league last year
Get 2x defending champion in the 2nd round Penguins got the top regular season team in the league for all their titles Atlantic has it tough
Holtby got an unexpected injury so this guy is our backup tonight http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=80347
The NHL isn't the NFL where teams play 40% of their schedule against 10% of the league. Teams only play division opponents 4 or 5 times per year and play teams in the other conference division 3 times. The lightning played ottawa and Buffalo 4 times and Pittsburgh 3 times last year. NHL scheduling is similar to the NBA, and the NBA uses a vastly superior playoff format. (Please don't make this into a Washington thing, nobody in this argument has an axe to grind against them and most were even happy to see Ovi get a cup)
That's 20 games vs shit teams, those points obviously add up. Atlantic is better this year and an argument can be made this year, certainly not last year. It isn't a Washington thing, it's just preposterous to make your argument when the last 3 champs and 2 of the last 3 president's trophies have came from the metro and had to play in the 2nd round.
Why is it preposterous? The format needing to stay shitty because it's BEEN shitty for years is not a hill anyone should die on.
I bitch every year about the format, was simply attacking your reasoning. Sick of playing Pittsburgh in the second round.