Stanley Cup Finals Thread

ifmanis5

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Might as well start one since I wanted to post this story. Lightning officials are going the extra mile restricting Blackhawks fans ticket sales and even clothing restrictions. Seems pretty ridiculous and small-time to me.
 
LINK: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/madhouse-enforcer/Lightning-Ban-Blackhawks-Gear-at-Amalie-Arena-Stanley-Cup-Final-305698901.html
 
If (Chicago) fans try to sit in the restricted areas while wearing Blackhawks gear, they will be either asked to remove it or they will be switched to a seat in a different part of the arena, according to the Lightning.
 
 

Series Schedule:
 
Stanley Cup Final Schedule
Game Date Time (ET) TV Info
1  Wed., June 3   8 p.m. NBC, CBC
2  Sat., June 6   7:15 p.m. NBC, CBC
3  Mon., June 8   8 p.m. NBCSN, CBC
4  Wed., June 10   8 p.m. NBCSN, CBC
5*  Sat., June 13   8 p.m. NBC, CBC
6*  Mon., June 15   8 p.m. NBC, CBC
7*  Wed., June 17   8 p.m. NBC, CBC
 

tonyandpals

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They did this all playoffs (as stated in the article).  Didn't stop a plethora of Ranger fans from attending. Although I didn't see any road colors in the first few rows, so they seemed to be enforcing it.  Even if you go to buy on StubHub (https://www.stubhub.com/tampa-bay-lightning-tampa-amalie-arena-6-3-2015-9250619/), you'll see a warning on opposing team colors not allowed in the sections (Chase Club, VIP A+B against glass).  But, there is no zip restriction on StubHub. They just take your money.
 

Marbleheader

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I just don't understand why the NHL has the Stanley Cup Final concurrent with the NBA Finals when they start the season nearly a month ahead of the NBA. Stanley Cup games in mid-June is the equivalent of having the World Series on Thanksgiving. Just too long of a season.
 

ifmanis5

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Marbleheader said:
I just don't understand why the NHL has the Stanley Cup Final concurrent with the NBA Finals when they start the season nearly a month ahead of the NBA. Stanley Cup games in mid-June is the equivalent of having the World Series on Thanksgiving. Just too long of a season.
Agreed, it's gotten out of hand. Quick look at starting dates in prior years:
 
1955: April 3
1965: April 17
1975: May 15
1985: May 21
1995: June 17 (Lockout)
1996: June 4
2005: Lockout
2010: May 29
2015: June 3
 

johnmd20

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Marbleheader said:
I just don't understand why the NHL has the Stanley Cup Final concurrent with the NBA Finals when they start the season nearly a month ahead of the NBA. Stanley Cup games in mid-June is the equivalent of having the World Series on Thanksgiving. Just too long of a season.
 
They play on different days. What's the difference?
 
Pulling for Tampa here. Devastated Ranger fan switching off and hopping onto the Tampa bandwagon. Chicago has won too much recently.
 

LogansDad

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Marbleheader said:
I just don't understand why the NHL has the Stanley Cup Final concurrent with the NBA Finals when they start the season nearly a month ahead of the NBA. Stanley Cup games in mid-June is the equivalent of having the World Series on Thanksgiving. Just too long of a season.
WTF is this NBA you talk about?  Is it some kind of an attorney network or something?
 

BoSoxFink

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Well the big question I have is why are there 3 days in between game 7 of the last conference final series and the Stanley cup finals? Usually 1 day would suffice, even 2 at the most.
 

johnmd20

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BoSoxFink said:
Well the big question I have is why are there 3 days in between game 7 of the last conference final series and the Stanley cup finals? Usually 1 day would suffice, even 2 at the most.
 
Give the players a rest, perhaps? Easier to get things set up and scheduled between series, too?
 
Imagine if the series' didn't go 7 games? Then it would be like the NBA, with a month between the conf finals and the finals.
 

cshea

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Eh, they always have a few days off between the end of the conference finals and the Cup. Takes a few days logistically to get things together, plus they do a media day and all that. Overall, I don't think there's much time wasted on the NHL calendar. They play a fairly quick 82, then the playoff series generally go every-other night, barring arena availability or other conflicts. The NBA catches up since they play a quicker regular season. Basketball isn't as grueling a sport, seems like they can play more back-to-back's in their regular season. I admittedly haven't followed the NBA in like 10 years, so I may just be making this up, however.
 
Anywho...Chicago. There was some chatter today on twitter and the radio about just how good they are. Where do people rank them as a dynasty? Their run, using Quenneville's arrival as the starting point
 
2009: Lost Conference finals to Detroit in 5
2010: Won Stanley Cup
2011: Lost in 1st round (Game 7 in OT to Vancouver)
2012: Lost in 1st round (6 games to Phoenix)
2013: Won Stanley Cup
2014: Lost in game 7 of Conference finals to LA
2015: In Stanley Cup Finals
 
7 years, 5 Conference finals appearances. 2 or more Cups. Where do they rank historically?
 

Monbo Jumbo

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A few days to let some of these guys heal up seems like an okay idea.  The cup run is so grueling and guys get banged up. Isn't it better hockey the healthier teams are?
 

 
 
Oldest team in the playoffs vs youngest. 
 

TFP

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Correction. Oldest team in the playoffs vs the youngest. Still pretty cool though.
 

LogansDad

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I think this is going to be a great series, as long as Bishop plays moderately well.  Chicago appears to be a deeper and more well-rounded team, but Tampa can certainly be both explosive and play good defense.  
 
I also think there are a lot of interesting individual players to watch.  Stamkos is one of my favorite players in the league, and the young kids on Tampa are electric.  On the other side, Kane, Hossa, Sharp, Shaw are all a lot of fun to watch, but for my money, if I were starting the NHL over and had control of the first pick in the reorganization draft, you would have to argue pretty hard to not get me to pick Toews.  That guy is absolutely unbelievable.  
 

twothousandone

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They Blackhawks seem to have weathered the toughest storm for their lack of defensive depth -- I don't think Tampa Bay presents the risk of the Ducks physical play, and I don't see them as notably faster than the Blackhawks previous opponents. They can light the lamp, but I'm less worried than I was against Anaheim on the defenders wearing down.

The three real liabilities on defense among the forwards are Kane, Sharp and Bickell. (I'll give Teravainen a pass. He's been getting better.) Richards is decent, though he's slow. When it was Richards centering Kane and Bickell, I worried. And Anaheim made those guys pay early in the series. If Kane stays on the Toews line, with Hossa joining Richards and Bickell (or Sharp, if Bickell drops down) they get better defensive balance from the forwards, IMO. I don't know that the whole will be greater than the parts, because without Kane the second line is average.

I'll be watching Q's decision on that closely. He can (and probably will) change during the series, even during a game. Kane with Toews is just awesome. But it comes with a cost.

A few days to let some of these guys heal up seems like an okay idea.
Bickell and Kruger on Chicago clearly will benefit, probably Hossa and Hjalmarsson, too. Anyone know if anyone on Tampa looked to be fading as the Rangers series went on?
 

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I think your overall premise is generally sound but one quibble. The Lightning squad is FAST. They gave the Canadiens and Rangers fits and those teams are not slow.
 

j44thor

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NYCSox said:
I think your overall premise is generally sound but one quibble. The Lightning squad is FAST. They gave the Canadiens and Rangers fits and those teams are not slow.
 
Agreed, I can't remember seeing two teams this fast matchup in the finals in a long time.  TB can also play some sneaky good D as they displayed in game 7.  I still think CHI is just a tad deeper and will win in 6 but it should be a fun series and could easily go the other way.
 

Zososoxfan

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I would add that Tampa's D does an excellent job of transitioning to offense and breaking out of their own end. With their roster, getting the puck to their forwards as quickly as possible is very smart. One other thing you will likely hear a lot on the broadcasts is that TB only uses 11 forwards. This raises the quality of the forwards who do play and allows TB to keep their D fresher and presumably working harder throughout the game thru reduced minutes.
 

DJnVa

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johnmd20 said:
 
They play on different days. What's the difference?
 
 
He seemed to be talking "length of season" not "head to head games on TV".
 

johnmd20

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j44thor said:
 
Agreed, I can't remember seeing two teams this fast matchup in the finals in a long time.  TB can also play some sneaky good D as they displayed in game 7.  I still think CHI is just a tad deeper and will win in 6 but it should be a fun series and could easily go the other way.
 
Game 5, too. But it is worth mentioning, when that D breaks down, it breaks down in buckets. Bishop isn't that good. He's just big. He did shut out the Rangers twice but that was more because of the defense, the lack of chances for the Rangers in both Game 5 and 7 was stunning.
 

twothousandone

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I think your overall premise is generally sound but one quibble. The Lightning squad is FAST. They gave the Canadiens and Rangers fits and those teams are not slow.
When I started typing, I meant it as I didn't see Tampa's speed exploiting the Hawks lack of depth. Third period, OT, games 6 & 7 -- if Chicago's D held up against the Anaheim hits, I can't see how chasing Tampa will create more fatigue.

Then I thought about what many are saying about the Lightning -- and you said -- that they are fast. No doubt, they are fast. But Nashville with Laviolette's style (and Forsberg's smooth skills), Jason Zucker on Minnesota, even MacKinnion didn't create much trouble during the season (he had one nice rush early in the year). Cogliano's brief success wasn't due to speed.

So, while I should have acknowledged Tampa is faster than the others, I think the Blackhawks speed is underrated. They were so fast in 2010 that they made San Jose look like lumbering giants, and I think this team is faster than that team was. (They aren't faster than 2013 because they don't have Leddy.) Keith is fast -- so are Kane and Sharp.

At points during the Eastern Conference final, the Lightning looked crazy good. I could be wrong (and putting way too much faith in Duncan Keith & Co.), but their speed doesn't worry me.
 

j44thor

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twothousandone said:
When I started typing, I meant it as I didn't see Tampa's speed exploiting the Hawks lack of depth. Third period, OT, games 6 & 7 -- if Chicago's D held up against the Anaheim hits, I can't see how chasing Tampa will create more fatigue.

Then I thought about what many are saying about the Lightning -- and you said -- that they are fast. No doubt, they are fast. But Nashville with Laviolette's style (and Forsberg's smooth skills), Jason Zucker on Minnesota, even MacKinnion didn't create much trouble during the season (he had one nice rush early in the year). Cogliano's brief success wasn't due to speed.

So, while I should have acknowledged Tampa is faster than the others, I think the Blackhawks speed is underrated. They were so fast in 2010 that they made San Jose look like lumbering giants, and I think this team is faster than that team was. (They aren't faster than 2013 because they don't have Leddy.) Keith is fast -- so are Kane and Sharp.

At points during the Eastern Conference final, the Lightning looked crazy good. I could be wrong (and putting way too much faith in Duncan Keith & Co.), but their speed doesn't worry me.
 
Big difference is you are listing individual players on teams.  TB has two lines that are very fast.  The bottom 6 are more in the grinding mold but you need 4 quality D to keep up with Stamkos line and the Tyler Johnson line.  It will be interesting to see if they keep Stamkos at wing or move him back to C and try to bring more balance to the line up.
 
One potential huge advantage for CHI will be at the dot.  
 
Regardless this is one series I'm very excited for.  Sucks that Boston will have to find a way to contend with not only MON but now TB for the foreseeable future.  This team is not only scary good but very, very young.  If they don't win it all this year it is just a matter of time.
 

brienc

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I'll never get past that whole beating up the 60 year old cab driver for 20 cents thing with Kane. It's just beyond the pale for me.
 

The Napkin

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Boy he really sold that one. Impressive he was able to skate back to the bench through the pain.
 

hitatater

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It's impressive seeing the difference between these two PPs: TB moves the puck, moves the defense, while the 'Hawks have trouble even getting into the O zone, and can't find any shots.
 
Good hockey!
 

hitatater

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Right on cue, TB goes on the PP:  it looks to me like TB doesn't retain 'stationary' points, but have someone in the center with skaters rotating to the points. 
 
Lots of movement.
 

Soxfan in Fla

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This is what happens when you decide to play defense up 1 goal the entire 3rd period. What a shitty finish.
 
M

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This is what happens when you decide to play defense up 1 goal the entire 3rd period. What a shitty finish.
 
They at least had that one breakaway, where Crawford came like 20 feet out from the crease, Tim Thomas style.
 
Maybe it wasn't a strategic shift so much as Chicago being awesome.
 

Soxfan in Fla

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That was their first shot on goal the entire period. I'm listening to Lightning players this morning commenting on not playing the 3rd period the way they played the 1st 2.
 

j44thor

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Did Tyler Johnson play last night? Palat was the only one on that line that seemed to show up, they will have to be much better if they are going to make this a series.

Once Chicago figured out their breakout it was a different game, will be interesting to see what adjustments Cooper makes to neutralize that.
 

McDrew

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Can we at least acknowledge that Killorn's goal was pretty? 
\
 
There are better angles, I'll find them.