Playoffs 2017: Canadian Edition

Rangers and Blues advance today.

Fini pour le bleu blanc rouge. That was a sad party here un mtl. No luck getting habs fans on the sens train for the next series

Edmonton joins the round two party with a 3-1 win to advance. The last two series could both end tonight as the Leafs and Bruins face elimination at home.

Just 2 Canadian teams left.

Here's a decent preview of the Sens-Rangers:
https://www.nhl.com/news/new-york-rangers-ottawa-senators-series-preview/c-289056220

Something to keep in mind. Ottawa lost 2 of their 3 home games and swept the 3 games in Boston. So much for match ups. Maybe it's Guy's insistence to pretend that Phaneuf-Ceci is a 2nd pairing. Or maybe Cassidy was plain out coached. Or maybe we got lucky with the parade of penalties. Who knows.

Rangers roll 4 lines but they don't have a dominant top line like the Bruins.

wprager wrote:Just 2 Canadian teams left.

Here's a decent preview of the Sens-Rangers:
https://www.nhl.com/news/new-york-rangers-ottawa-senators-series-preview/c-289056220

Something to keep in mind. Ottawa lost 2 of their 3 home games and swept the 3 games in Boston.  So much for match ups.  Maybe it's Guy's insistence to pretend that Phaneuf-Ceci is a 2nd pairing. Or maybe Cassidy was plain out coached. Or maybe we got lucky with the parade of penalties. Who knows.

Rangers roll 4 lines but they don't have a dominant top line like the Bruins.

Ottawa/Boston series:

5/6 games were OT games. All six were one-goal games. Boston was missing a key top six forward (Krejci) and 3 of their 4 top d-men (Krug, Miller, McQuaid) and relied heavily on 40 year old Big Z. Ottawa missed some huge chances to bury the Bruins whether blowing PP chances, hitting the post, missing the net, or getting robbed by Rask and no lead was safe in the series. The Sens power play hovered around 15% but came through when needed. Boston's top line (Bergeron, Marchand, Pastrnak combined for 50% of Boston's team offense - 5 of 10 goals). Ottawa was 1-2 at home, 3-0 on the road.

Montreal/New York series:

Typical Montreal. All hype, no finish. Carey Price played well, but not well enough to win a series that Lundqvist stole. Habs had no secondary scoring and were limited to 11 goals. Rangers had (one of?) the best road records in the regular season and carried that into the Bell Center going 2-1 in round 1, led by heroic former Ottawa Senator Mika Zibanegod and fellow countryman Mats Zuccarello. 8 different goal scorers for NYR in round 1 including 3 from Zuccarello and 2 from Grabner, Nash, Fast and Skjei. No top line in New York.

Ottawa Keys to Victory:
- Stay out of the penalty box
- Convert on scoring chances
- Control tempo of the game
- Take care of the front of the net
- Depth scoring needed
- Match Rangers intensity

I'll copy this to the series preview thread.

It sounds like dung is going to hit the fan in Montreal this off-season:

- Radulov will sign wherever the money is. Washington? Vegas?
- Galchenyuk is pissed off because of his demotion. Evasive in season-end interviews.
- Weber/Subban deal blew up in their faces.
- Price's future is already being questioned
- Fans calling for the heads of Pacioretty and Plekanec
- Markov could retire or go to a contender

Things not going well. I can see the franchise taking one last run this coming season and blowing it up if they don't go deep into the playoffs

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:It sounds like dung is going to hit the fan in Montreal this off-season:

- Radulov will sign wherever the money is. Washington? Vegas?
- Galchenyuk is pissed off because of his demotion. Evasive in season-end interviews.
- Weber/Subban deal blew up in their faces.
- Price's future is already being questioned
- Fans calling for the heads of Pacioretty and Plekanec
- Markov could retire or go to a contender

Things not going well. I can see the franchise taking one last run this coming season and blowing it up if they don't go deep into the playoffs

It's delischious.
Im loving all the negativity, some fans are even calling to trade price.

Speaking of which, would you do Price for Rinne?

Flo The Action wrote:

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:It sounds like dung is going to hit the fan in Montreal this off-season:

- Radulov will sign wherever the money is. Washington? Vegas?
- Galchenyuk is pissed off because of his demotion. Evasive in season-end interviews.
- Weber/Subban deal blew up in their faces.
- Price's future is already being questioned
- Fans calling for the heads of Pacioretty and Plekanec
- Markov could retire or go to a contender

Things not going well. I can see the franchise taking one last run this coming season and blowing it up if they don't go deep into the playoffs

It's delischious.
Im loving all the negativity, some fans are even calling to trade price.

I heard that their talk radio call in shows were littered with "trade Price" demands. Outstanding, Habs fans. I hope they get their wish. 

wprager wrote:Speaking of which,  would you do Price for Rinne?  

If you knew that you couldn't sign Price and you could get someone like Rinne, I think you have to pull the trigger. But if you think you can keep him, no. Why would anyone trade a top 3 goalie for a 4-7 goalie?

spader wrote:

Flo The Action wrote:

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:It sounds like dung is going to hit the fan in Montreal this off-season:

- Radulov will sign wherever the money is. Washington? Vegas?
- Galchenyuk is pissed off because of his demotion. Evasive in season-end interviews.
- Weber/Subban deal blew up in their faces.
- Price's future is already being questioned
- Fans calling for the heads of Pacioretty and Plekanec
- Markov could retire or go to a contender

Things not going well. I can see the franchise taking one last run this coming season and blowing it up if they don't go deep into the playoffs

It's delischious.
Im loving all the negativity, some fans are even calling to trade price.

I heard that their talk radio call in shows were littered with "trade Price" demands. Outstanding, Habs fans. I hope they get their wish. 

They're certainly amongst the most passionate and dumbest fan bases in the NHL. Right up there with the Leafs.

If they trade Price they may as well go full rebuild and run with Fuchale. As it stands now:

1) Markov will end up in Washington or Pittsburgh
2) Galchenyuk will be traded. My guess is to LA for a salary dump Euro player (Gaborik) or a D-man (Martinez)
3) Radulov will not re-sign or the Habs will pay $7M+ long-term for him
4) They will keep Price but will not re-sign him until mid-way through the season

I agree about Galchenyuk. He was supposed to be the 1LC when he was initially drafted. That was 5 years ago and in that time frame he was relegated to 4th line winger on the USA junior team, not selected to represent Team NA in the inaugural WCoH, and moved to the wing by the new coach. So, five years after his draft he is nowhere near that 1LC position for which he was taken, and it's not like they have a very good 2LC to fill in for now (like Turris in Ottawa, for example).

Of course I still think the first move they have to do involves finding a better GM. They need to overhaul their amateur scouting, too. Bergevin took over in May 2012, so he started with the 2012 draft. These are his picks:

2012: Galchenyuk, Collberg, Thrower, Bozon, Vail, Hudon, Nystrom
- Galchenyuk the only one with NHL games; the others all busts
2013: McCarron, de la Rose, Fucale, Lehkonen, Crisp, Andrighetto, Reway, Gregoire
- personally, I don't think McCarron can play in the NHL, so Lehkonen is the only bright spot
- de la Rose and Andrighetto have a bunch of NHL games but not sure if they will get any more
2014: Scherbak, Lernout, Koberstein, Audette, Hawkey (great name!), Evans
- 1 NHL game across all those picks

It's pointless looking at 2015/2016, although their top prospect, Sergachev, comes from the 2016 draft year.

wprager wrote:I agree about Galchenyuk.  He was supposed to be the 1LC when he was initially drafted.  That was 5 years ago and in that time frame he was relegated to 4th line winger on the USA junior team, not selected to represent Team NA in the inaugural WCoH, and moved to the wing by the new coach.  So, five years after his draft he is nowhere near that 1LC position for which he was taken, and it's not like they have a very good 2LC to fill in for now (like Turris in Ottawa, for example).  

Of course I still think the first move they have to do involves finding a better GM.  They need to overhaul their amateur scouting, too.  Bergevin took over in May 2012, so he started with the 2012 draft.  These are his picks:

2012: Galchenyuk, Collberg, Thrower, Bozon, Vail, Hudon, Nystrom
- Galchenyuk the only one with NHL games; the others all busts
2013: McCarron, de la Rose,  Fucale, Lehkonen, Crisp, Andrighetto, Reway, Gregoire
- personally, I don't think McCarron can play in the NHL, so Lehkonen is the only bright spot
- de la Rose and Andrighetto have a bunch of NHL games but not sure if they will get any more
2014: Scherbak, Lernout, Koberstein, Audette, Hawkey (great name!), Evans
- 1 NHL game across all those picks

It's pointless looking at 2015/2016, although their top prospect, Sergachev, comes from the 2016 draft year.

Couldn't agree more. After Price their strongest player is the Bell Center. The crowd/fans are so difficult to play against, but when they turn they become the team's biggest detriment.

I can also see Plekanec being let go, but honestly, they're screwed. They will never get out of the Weber contract, Shaw and Gallagher are signed long-term, and Pacioretty has a contract the team would be stupid to let go. If Price is as good as they say he is, they need to play a more offensive game. Take Radulov out of the mix, and Markov, and the team is left with essentially nothing.

Almost time. Let's see if Nashville is for real and Jake Allen comes back down to Earth.

Both Nashville and Edmonton blew 3-1 leads but won the game.

PK put on a show with a goal and two helpers. They were all over the Blues for long stretches.

It was the Larsson and Draisaitl show in Anaheim. Larsson with his first career playoff 2 goal game, and Draisaitl with 3 assists to go with his empty netter. McDavid held to a single assist.

I wonder if everyone still thinks the Hall/Larsson trade was brutal? They look quite good.

What about the Subban/Weber trade?