CDawg
Active member
Don't worry. Next year will be different. Bring on the memes.
M
Mr. Chainsaw
Active member
Well I didn't have time to post around for the conference finals and to finish up the second round...
DeBoer pulling Ottinger is wild considering he already called the timeout. I understand needing a save, but the defense fell asleep on both goals, and had generally underachived this series. I really blame the Kings as they had that first-round series. Edmonton's been steamrolling along since then. DeBoer is gone, Ottinger's new contract kicks in next season and I'd think the Stars would rather have him than Deboer. Benn was terrible (why tf is he their captain again), and him and Marchment took way too many dumb penalties (along with others) throughtout the playoffs. Dallas had some great moments but not enough consistency, Rantanen can't carry them every game. I critized Skinner (goalie) earlier in the playoffs as he was playing terribly, but he has elevated his game to where it needs to be.
Canes fought well in game 5 but Florida is just too much. Marchand is showing his worth in the playoffs, all lines firing too. I don't think they're as good as last year's team but they got the job done. Bob is Bob and has been a big reason why that series still isn't going. Florida gets one and then strike fast for more. They play physical, and have enough skill to do some serious damage (Barkov's play yesterday for the go-ahead goal was filthy). Carolina I'm not sure what's gonna fix their problems. I don't think a new coach is going to work, could make some personnel changes but they really need some skill up front. Also what happened to all of their defensive prospects I've been hearing about last few years, are they still not NHL ready? Might be time to move on from some of the vets and get some guys that can shoot the puck.
So it's a rematch, honestly never thought it would've happened at the beginning of the playoffs. Even though they didn't really need him last few games, losing Hyman is gonna hurt the Oilers if that series gets to 6-7 games. The grind is gonna wear everyone down. However, they are just playing with all-out speed and precision that's hard for teams to contain them. I'm not sure that Florida can do it with their personnel over a 7 game series. If the Panthers somehow manage to take 1 away from the first 2 in Edmonton, and they exert their physical play to slow the Oilers down, they have a shot. If they lose both I don't think they're gonna have the same success as they did with the Leafs. They're not winning getting into barn-burners either, Edmonton's happy to go for 4-5-6+ goals a game if they let in a few less. Florida can't play that game against them.
Might try to do a more in-depth preview of the final, but someone else will probably do it better. One other thing I may go into, is that I don't feel like I've seen much playoff-level hockey this year. There's a lack of precision, discipline, and execution, across most of the series'. I understand some slow-down in the Final, but teams need to be kicking into extra gears, and I just don't think I've seen much of it. For Edmonton it was that Game 3 against the Kings, and for Florida their game 3 against Toronto. Others had some moments, but they fell off. Hard to really tell if it's the players, coaching, bounces not going both ways, don't know, but something seems a bit off.
DeBoer pulling Ottinger is wild considering he already called the timeout. I understand needing a save, but the defense fell asleep on both goals, and had generally underachived this series. I really blame the Kings as they had that first-round series. Edmonton's been steamrolling along since then. DeBoer is gone, Ottinger's new contract kicks in next season and I'd think the Stars would rather have him than Deboer. Benn was terrible (why tf is he their captain again), and him and Marchment took way too many dumb penalties (along with others) throughtout the playoffs. Dallas had some great moments but not enough consistency, Rantanen can't carry them every game. I critized Skinner (goalie) earlier in the playoffs as he was playing terribly, but he has elevated his game to where it needs to be.
Canes fought well in game 5 but Florida is just too much. Marchand is showing his worth in the playoffs, all lines firing too. I don't think they're as good as last year's team but they got the job done. Bob is Bob and has been a big reason why that series still isn't going. Florida gets one and then strike fast for more. They play physical, and have enough skill to do some serious damage (Barkov's play yesterday for the go-ahead goal was filthy). Carolina I'm not sure what's gonna fix their problems. I don't think a new coach is going to work, could make some personnel changes but they really need some skill up front. Also what happened to all of their defensive prospects I've been hearing about last few years, are they still not NHL ready? Might be time to move on from some of the vets and get some guys that can shoot the puck.
So it's a rematch, honestly never thought it would've happened at the beginning of the playoffs. Even though they didn't really need him last few games, losing Hyman is gonna hurt the Oilers if that series gets to 6-7 games. The grind is gonna wear everyone down. However, they are just playing with all-out speed and precision that's hard for teams to contain them. I'm not sure that Florida can do it with their personnel over a 7 game series. If the Panthers somehow manage to take 1 away from the first 2 in Edmonton, and they exert their physical play to slow the Oilers down, they have a shot. If they lose both I don't think they're gonna have the same success as they did with the Leafs. They're not winning getting into barn-burners either, Edmonton's happy to go for 4-5-6+ goals a game if they let in a few less. Florida can't play that game against them.
Might try to do a more in-depth preview of the final, but someone else will probably do it better. One other thing I may go into, is that I don't feel like I've seen much playoff-level hockey this year. There's a lack of precision, discipline, and execution, across most of the series'. I understand some slow-down in the Final, but teams need to be kicking into extra gears, and I just don't think I've seen much of it. For Edmonton it was that Game 3 against the Kings, and for Florida their game 3 against Toronto. Others had some moments, but they fell off. Hard to really tell if it's the players, coaching, bounces not going both ways, don't know, but something seems a bit off.
M
Mr. Chainsaw
Active member
Should be a good series. I'm leaning towards Edmonton, they seem to be more locked in and clinical these playoffs up and down the lineup. No Hyman is going to be rough though. Florida also can't afford to take games off, Edmonton's been ruthless in punishing mistakes.
M
Mr. Chainsaw
Active member
What a first two games, not really much else that's happened in the playoffs compares. Seems like as the games go on, Florida is more comfortable playing their game. Edmonton seems to start strong but they've been waivering into the later periods. Skinner's gotta have one of those against Marchand, got the save on him in OT but that 2OT winner is bad to let in. I actually think Florida's been the better team in both games. Edmonton's going to have to dig a bit further, some of their depth guys have to step up like Florida's have to stay in it.
M
Mr. Chainsaw
Active member
Congrats to the Panthers on back-to-back Cup wins, incredible. They completely steamrolled the Oilers. Game 4 was nuts, need some fluke goals to win games sometimes, especially after the beatdown in Game 3. Unfortunately for Edmonton they also needed some 5-on-5 goals too. Game 5 both teams were very slow out of the gate, but Marchand flying through on his two goals was crazy. Seems like it didn't matter who was in net for the Oilers, Florida just kept going. That forecheck is relentless, and the boardplay was so damn good too. I'm really surprised Edmonton didn't try cherry-picking a bit like they did last year to stretch the D, they were missing those blue line breakaways from last year. They seemed to start well the last few games, then just fizzled out. They really needed to make the most of their limited chances, and they were either blocked, saved, or just mistimed.
Reinhart what a night for him, 4 goals. Bennett deserves the Conn Smythe, 13 of 15 goals on the road is unbelieveable and he stepped up big when it was needed. Barkov and Tkachuk also woke up as the series went on and by then it's just too much depth for Edmonton to handle. Bob was solid again and has proven that he was worth that $70 mil price tag all those years ago.
Not sure where the Oilers go from here. They're gonna have some cap issues this and next year. Not having Hyman really was a big blow to the team, that's basically a Bennett-like player just out of the lineup, lots of grit, good goal-scorer, big difference-maker. Bouchard is gonna need a payout this year, McDavid next year (if he stays), and that's not going to leave a whole lot of room to fix their depth and goaltending issues. I think Knoblauch is a fine coach, he didn't really had much to work with when the going got tough. Florida will have some decisions to make as well, but they have some time to worry about that.
Overall pretty good series, lots of overtime, lots of history made, sick goals, TV coverage was good but the Oiler's bias again was annoying. Florida seems like the place to be for hockey, who would've thought that 10 years ago?
Reinhart what a night for him, 4 goals. Bennett deserves the Conn Smythe, 13 of 15 goals on the road is unbelieveable and he stepped up big when it was needed. Barkov and Tkachuk also woke up as the series went on and by then it's just too much depth for Edmonton to handle. Bob was solid again and has proven that he was worth that $70 mil price tag all those years ago.
Not sure where the Oilers go from here. They're gonna have some cap issues this and next year. Not having Hyman really was a big blow to the team, that's basically a Bennett-like player just out of the lineup, lots of grit, good goal-scorer, big difference-maker. Bouchard is gonna need a payout this year, McDavid next year (if he stays), and that's not going to leave a whole lot of room to fix their depth and goaltending issues. I think Knoblauch is a fine coach, he didn't really had much to work with when the going got tough. Florida will have some decisions to make as well, but they have some time to worry about that.
Overall pretty good series, lots of overtime, lots of history made, sick goals, TV coverage was good but the Oiler's bias again was annoying. Florida seems like the place to be for hockey, who would've thought that 10 years ago?
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