CN - The Final

The Napkin

The Napkin

wise ass al kaprielian
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SoSH Member
Jul 13, 2002
28,659
right here
Tampa Bay Lightning (3) vs. Montreal Canadiens (4)

Game 1: Mon. June 28: Canadiens at Lightning, 8 p.m. ET (NBCSN / Peacock)
Game 2: Wed. June 30: Canadiens at Lightning, 8 p.m. ET (NBCSN / Peacock)
Game 3: Fri. July 2: Lightning at Canadiens, 8 p.m. ET (NBC / Peacock)
Game 4: Mon. July 5: Lightning at Canadiens, 8 p.m. ET (NBC / Peacock)
*Game 5: Wed. July 7: Canadiens at Lightning, 8 p.m. ET (NBC / Peacock)
*Game 6: Fri. July 9: Lightning at Canadiens, 8 p.m. ET (NBC / Peacock)
*Game 7: Sun. July 11: Canadiens at Lightning, 7 p.m. ET (NBC / Peacock)
 
LogansDad

LogansDad

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
29,786
Alamogordo
I'm torn. I seriously considered sitting this one out completely. But I think it has the potential to be a really fun and compelling series.

I just wish both teams could lose.
 
Mighty Joe Young

Mighty Joe Young

The North remembers
SoSH Member
Sep 14, 2002
8,458
Halifax, Nova Scotia , Canada
As a life long Leafs fan I can’t cheer for the Habs .. I just can’t. There’s this thing in Canada where the hockey establishment likes to suggest we have to cheer for the remaining Canadian team. I think that’s rubbish. For me, and just about every hockey fan I know, team loyalties trump nationalism. We all grew up as Leafs or Habs or Bruins or Edmonton fans. It didn’t matter what country the team was in.

On the other hand Tampa Bay is playing with a huge advantage (the salary cap shenanigans). Aside from that Montreal games are generally pretty boring as a neutral observer.

Decisions , decisions ..

go Red Sox , go Liverpool

When’s opening night for the NHL?
 
Silverdude2167

Silverdude2167

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SoSH Member
Oct 9, 2006
4,716
Amstredam
TB will go back to being another team in a few years, the Habs will always be the Habs...so even with the cap bullshit go Bolts...

I say this while also enjoying the thought of the cup winning team missing the playoffs next year because they actually suck and had the easiest road to the cup imaginable, thus showing how fake the win and season was...but still go TB.
 
McDrew

McDrew

Set Adrift on Memory Bliss
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Apr 11, 2006
4,075
Portland, OR
I can't root for either team, but I do feel some positivity about Carey Price having a chance to win a cup.
 
cshea

cshea

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Nov 15, 2006
36,239
306, row 14
Bolts all the way. I learned my lesson from kinda, sorta wanting Montreal to beat Taranna in round 1 for the Taranna schadenfreude. I will never make that mistake again.
 
burstnbloom

burstnbloom

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SoSH Member
Jul 12, 2005
2,761
cshea said:
Bolts all the way. I learned my lesson from kinda, sorta wanting Montreal to beat Taranna in round 1 for the Taranna schadenfreude. I will never make that mistake again.
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I think the best case scenario for all in involved is happening. Toronto gets embarrassed yet again. The Habs make the finals ensuring Bergevin is GM for life. He is validated in his decision making by signing a bunch of shitty players and doesn't realize how much good fortune they've had and signs a bunch of 36 yo grit every year and wonders why it doesn't work again. The bolts need to embarrass them in 4 or 5 though. I need a 5-1 win tonight for Tampa and maybe 6-2 on Wednesday. That way the habs fans have to suffer through the rest of the series without hope and go back to mediocrity next year in a division where they are the 5th best team.

Then we get to shrug off Tampa winning because they are at $100m on the cap, throw a figurative asterisk on it in our addled minds just like we did with the bubble cup last year. Cap hell finally catches up with that team in the next year or two.

We good. Tampa in 5, lets go.
 
scotian1

scotian1

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Jul 19, 2005
16,383
Kingston, Nova Scotia
There is a tendancy still to underestimate the Habitants from Montreal. Their top 4 defencemen are excellent and their forwards are playing their defensive system to a tee. The two young forwards Suzuki and Caufield are a threat everytime they are on thei ice. Price is playng like he did several years ago and they have been awesome killing penalties. Tampa and many fans had better take them seriously and this is coming from someone who is not a fan of theirs.
 
burstnbloom

burstnbloom

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SoSH Member
Jul 12, 2005
2,761
scotian1 said:
There is a tendancy still to underestimate the Habitants from Montreal. Their top 4 defencemen are excellent and their forwards are playing their defensive system to a tee. The two young forwards Suzuki and Caufield are a threat everytime they are on thei ice. Price is playng like he did several years ago and they have been awesome killing penalties. Tampa and many fans had better take them seriously and this is coming from someone who is not a fan of theirs.
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I don't think that's really true. They have a middle third roster and have played "ok" this playoff season. They were largely outplayed by Toronto but had some good fortune, they jets are not a good team and Vegas laid down and died for them. I'm still not sure what happened in that series. But the fact remains that the habs have been hugely fortunate in the playoffs to date. They have two lines with positive xG in the playoffs (lehkonen, Danault, Gallagher and (caulfied, Suzuki, Toffoli) and the Lightning have all four winning their matchups significantly over their opponents. They also have a goalie who is playing significantly better their the Canadien's goalie, despite the hype (Vas - 22.8 GSAE, Price 12.1). The habs are packing it in and shutting it down but so are the lightning at a similar rate. They have given up 2.03 GA/G and the habs have given up 2.11 GA/G. The bolts are also scoring WAY more (3.18 GF/G to 2.45 GF/G for Montreal.) Montreal's opponents so far have scored 2.48, 2.21 and 2.74 per game. Sure they have a lot to say about that, but the bolts are just objectively better offensively than anyone they've faced so far.

I don't think the habs are a bad team by any stretch of the imagination. They are a solid middle third team, probably high middle third, playing one of the top two best teams in hockey. I don't expect this will be close.

...but I said the same thing last series. Hope to all the hockey gods that I'm right this time.
 
cshea

cshea

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
36,239
306, row 14
Montreal is 8-2 in 1 goal games and 5-1 in OT. Those sorts of runs in coin flip games are pretty unsustainable over the long haul, but the long haul for them is now a 7 game series. Tampa, on the other hand, is 6-4 in 1 goal games and 0-3 in OT.

Both teams have surprisingly struggled but have gotten excellent goal tending. In all situations, Price has allowed 37 goals against in the post season against an xGA of 46.75. Vasi has actually bailed out Tampa more, only allowing 37 goals against with an xGA of 48.94.

Both teams have kinda been mediocre this postseason. Playoff hockey is funny and stupid.

The real culprit in this disaster of a Stanley Cup Final is the Colorado Avalanche. Absolute gag job. +9 goal differential in 10 games, still lost.
 
cshea

cshea

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SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
36,239
306, row 14
Noisemakers in the final. Contract this garbage team.

(After they beat the shit out of the team from the north)
 
Ale Xander

Ale Xander

Hamilton
SoSH Member
Oct 31, 2013
73,248
The Napkin said:
Tampa Bay Lightning (3) vs. Montreal Canadiens (4)

Game 1: Mon. June 28: Canadiens at Lightning, 8 p.m. ET (NBCSN / Peacock)
Game 2: Wed. June 30: Canadiens at Lightning, 8 p.m. ET (NBCSN / Peacock)
Game 3: Fri. July 2: Lightning at Canadiens, 8 p.m. ET (NBC / Peacock)
Game 4: Mon. July 5: Lightning at Canadiens, 8 p.m. ET (NBC / Peacock)
*Game 5: Wed. July 7: Canadiens at Lightning, 8 p.m. ET (NBC / Peacock)
*Game 6: Fri. July 9: Lightning at Canadiens, 8 p.m. ET (NBC / Peacock)
*Game 7: Sun. July 11: Canadiens at Lightning, 7 p.m. ET (NBC / Peacock)
Click to expand...
What's CN?
 
PedroSpecialK

PedroSpecialK

Comes at you like a tornado of hair and the NHL sa
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2004
27,169
Cambridge, MA
I cannot overstate how much I love ~3 minutes of full PP1 for Tampa during garbage time

Stamkos ends the streak.
 
burstnbloom

burstnbloom

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 12, 2005
2,761
burstnbloom said:
I think the best case scenario for all in involved is happening. Toronto gets embarrassed yet again. The Habs make the finals ensuring Bergevin is GM for life. He is validated in his decision making by signing a bunch of shitty players and doesn't realize how much good fortune they've had and signs a bunch of 36 yo grit every year and wonders why it doesn't work again. The bolts need to embarrass them in 4 or 5 though. I need a 5-1 win tonight for Tampa and maybe 6-2 on Wednesday. That way the habs fans have to suffer through the rest of the series without hope and go back to mediocrity next year in a division where they are the 5th best team.

Then we get to shrug off Tampa winning because they are at $100m on the cap, throw a figurative asterisk on it in our addled minds just like we did with the bubble cup last year. Cap hell finally catches up with that team in the next year or two.

We good. Tampa in 5, lets go.
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Excellent
 
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