NHL

[Eco]

6 hours ago, Viva la FCB said:

Thatcher the snatcher baby. We have outplayed Vegas for 1 game of this series and were playing game 7. What more can i say.

Demko was stopped 90 of 91 shots in the 2 games he's played...massive. 

[Viva la FCB+]

2 hours ago, Eco said:

Demko was stopped 90 of 91 shots in the 2 games he's played...massive. 

Yep. Biggest reason were playing tonight! I cant wait to clench my butt for 2 and half more hours!

[Viva la FCB+]

Well we had a good run, not much to complain about the boys looked gassed other then Demkogod. Vegas was the better team for game 7 and in the series so it is what it is.

 

Dallas Vegas WCF. I hope they beat each other into a pulp and TB wins it all

[Viva la FCB+]

Either of you guys or anyone else watching the finals? You just get the feeling the Lightning are gonna run with it at this point, Dallas is a good story but TB is just too deep of a team. Games have been good to watch from a neutral anyways. 

 

Also I havent looked back at my bracket but im sure its a trainwreck... pretty sure I had Washington winning the cup 

Edited September 24, 2020 by Viva la FCB

[Spike]

55 minutes ago, Viva la FCB said:

Either of you guys or anyone else watching the finals? You just get the feeling the Lightning are gonna run with it at this point, Dallas is a good story but TB is just too deep of a team. Games have been good to watch from a neutral anyways. 

 

Also I havent looked back at my bracket but im sure its a trainwreck... pretty sure I had Washington winning the cup 

I always lose interest after round 1. That is where all action is, everyone is hyped up and going hard on the ice; by the end of round 1 the teams are already worn out. Though I have been watching, Tampa have depth that can score, Dallas has depth that can score, but the main difference is that Tampa's stars are producing but Dallas' aren't. Seguin is a joke, and Benn is finished. A one legged Stamkos is more reliable. Dallas have have a top five defensive core but defence only prevents losing, rarely do they win cups (except in the dead puck era). Dallas also lacks the monster d-man to absorb all the really hard minutes; players like Keith, Doughty, Carlsson, Pietrangelo, Chara, Letang (winners the last ten years)

Have you noticed how often the players are falling over? The ice must be in really bad shape.

On another note, if one googles 'nhl stanley cup winners' Adam Burish is listed as the winner for 2010

[Viva la FCB+]

1 hour ago, Spike said:

I always lose interest after round 1. That is where all action is, everyone is hyped up and going hard on the ice; by the end of round 1 the teams are already worn out. Though I have been watching, Tampa have depth that can score, Dallas has depth that can score, but the main difference is that Tampa's stars are producing but Dallas' aren't. Seguin is a joke, and Benn is finished. A one legged Stamkos is more reliable. Dallas have have a top five defensive core but defence only prevents losing, rarely do they win cups (except in the dead puck era). Dallas also lacks the monster d-man to absorb all the really hard minutes; players like Keith, Doughty, Carlsson, Pietrangelo, Chara, Letang (winners the last ten years)

Have you noticed how often the players are falling over? The ice must be in really bad shape.

On another note, if one googles 'nhl stanley cup winners' Adam Burish is listed as the winner for 2010

Definitely round 1 has always historically been the most exciting, even the playin rounds kind of extended that excitement this time around with both 12 seeded teams getting through. Seguin this whole playoffs just cant do anything offensively to save his life its kind of amazing theyve made it this far with him doing so little. Benn looks tired at this point and their defensive star duo of Heiskanen and Klingberg havent been producing offensively here either... I think Heiskanen is that d player your talking about but hes still young well see. Everythings catching up with Dallas it seems but yeah this TB team is god damn deep. Hedman is an absolute stud and locked on for Conne Smythe, Point and Kuch have been money and theyve gotten the depth chipping in here and there.

The ice has seemed kind of rough and speaking of that why the fuck are they playing back to backs friday sat yet again so fucking dumb.

[Viva la FCB+]

So we'll see how this affects the truncated season here but Vancouver has been shut down likely for a couple weeks. Its now crested 16 players on the covid protocal list + staff, putting the total number above 20. The Brazil variant is among the positive tests as well. Vancouver the city itself has been struggling recently with numbers surging which was pretty much inevitable but Whistler has been seemingly the hotspot and eventually making its way down the valley and into downtown. 

[Mpache]

1 minute ago, Viva la FCB said:

So we'll see how this affects the truncated season here but Vancouver has been shut down likely for a couple weeks. Its now crested 16 players on the covid protocal list + staff, putting the total number above 20. The Brazil variant is among the positive tests as well. Vancouver the city itself has been struggling recently with numbers surging which was pretty much inevitable but Whistler has been seemingly the hotspot and eventually making its way down the valley and into downtown. 

I thought it was just Ontario with the third wave. Awful stuff.

I'm still blaming Doug Ford though.

[Viva la FCB+]

32 minutes ago, Mpache said:

I thought it was just Ontario with the third wave. Awful stuff.

I'm still blaming Doug Ford though.

Dont get me wrong by our numbers "surging" I mean weve crested the 1000 cases mark for 3 straight days... still nothing compared to you guys and Quebec, previously I want to say we never crested 7-800. Whistler has had alot of out of province travel as one of the problems, reportedly Ontario and Quebec residents have been traveling there, but its also the problem of the industry up there being made up of foreign travelers... their there to party and mingle. 

[Mpache]

1 hour ago, Viva la FCB said:

Dont get me wrong by our numbers "surging" I mean weve crested the 1000 cases mark for 3 straight days... still nothing compared to you guys and Quebec, previously I want to say we never crested 7-800. Whistler has had alot of out of province travel as one of the problems, reportedly Ontario and Quebec residents have been traveling there, but its also the problem of the industry up there being made up of foreign travelers... their there to party and mingle. 

If you had bigger cities and not had the whole province basically be rural outside of Vancouver, you would be as bad as us and Quebec.

Here in Ontario the only reason cases are surging is because the idiot that is Doug Ford opened up everything 2 weeks too early. That pretty much initiated the third wave.

[Viva la FCB+]

27 minutes ago, Mpache said:

If you had bigger cities and not had the whole province basically be rural outside of Vancouver, you would be as bad as us and Quebec.

Here in Ontario the only reason cases are surging is because the idiot that is Doug Ford opened up everything 2 weeks too early. That pretty much initiated the third wave.

Not entirely true alot of our cases have been from cities outside of Vancouver but in general our population over the province is much more spread out though, yes. Vancouver for the most part has been fine up until this point though. Its not really surprising ive been trying to avoid going downtown as much as I can ive been maybe twice since the pandemic started and both times im kind of left flabbergasted at the amount of people period and people in crowded places, restaurants, bars etc hanging out as if life is completely normal. All it takes is something like that to make it into the city and bam theyre now fucked. 

Our health officier has been under fire recently for being too lenient and I get it, alot like Ford these people are under a tonne of pressure to stay open or reopen because at the end of the day its all about money.  

Edited April 5, 2021 by Viva la FCB

[Spike]

This isn’t hockey talk.

[Viva la FCB+]

1 minute ago, Spike said:

This isn’t hockey talk.

It started out as such! Canucks are doomed. 

[Spike]

1 minute ago, Viva la FCB said:

It started out as such! Canucks are doomed. 

When were they not? I like a lot of the young Canucks but I never bought the hype. The only two team I think that has 100% surprised me is the BHawks and Buffalo for opposite reasons.

[Viva la FCB+]

10 minutes ago, Spike said:

When were they not? I like a lot of the young Canucks but I never bought the hype. The only two team I think that has 100% surprised me is the BHawks and Buffalo for opposite reasons.

Well, really doomed with the covid outbreak. But youre not wrong, the young core is good but the ageing overpriced vets are preventing us from being a real competitive team. Things just broke perfectly for the run last year, even though we made it to 7 against Vegas it wasnt close and was pretty clear we have a ways to go. The city and alot of the fanbase definitely got hyped up though. Its going to take a couple years to clear the books and deadweight and see how a couple of our remaining prospects turn out before we can fill out the roster and make a competitive team. 

Definitely agree on the last part. Staal actually had a few interesting things to say about Buffalo on his exit though. He was mentioning Covid as a real reason for them being as bad as they are. I hadnt really put much thought into it before but the fatigue is a real thing, he had some quote about after "recovering" youre still  only at about 85 or 90% thats pretty tough to do unless your the TB Lightning but if your an average team goodluck competeting the entire year like that. 

[Mpache]

Have a lot of these Hockey players gotten COVID before, or is this the first team with a significant one?

NBA has had all their outbreaks and not many games are postponed now as opposed to back in January/February.

[Spike]

7 minutes ago, Viva la FCB said:

Well, really doomed with the covid outbreak. But youre not wrong, the young core is good but the ageing overpriced vets are preventing us from being a real competitive team. Things just broke perfectly for the run last year, even though we made it to 7 against Vegas it wasnt close and was pretty clear we have a ways to go. The city and alot of the fanbase definitely got hyped up though. Its going to take a couple years to clear the books and deadweight and see how a couple of our remaining prospects turn out before we can fill out the roster and make a competitive team. 

Definitely agree on the last part. Staal actually had a few interesting things to say about Buffalo on his exit though. He was mentioning Covid as a real reason for them being as bad as they are. I hadnt really put much thought into it before but the fatigue is a real thing, he had some quote about after "recovering" youre still  only at about 85 or 90% thats pretty tough to do unless your the TB Lightning but if your an average team goodluck competeting the entire year like that. 

Pettersen has to be the real deal, a bonafide franchise player. I'm not convinced by Boeser (a definite top six guy but not on a level like Pettersen) and Hughes has unreal point production but that doesn't mean a whole lot when he gets scored on every other play, reminds me a lot of a tiny Brent Burns. I'm sure Hughes and Pettersen will be the two that carry the Canucks for a long while.

[Spike]

7 minutes ago, Viva la FCB said:

Well, really doomed with the covid outbreak. But youre not wrong, the young core is good but the ageing overpriced vets are preventing us from being a real competitive team. Things just broke perfectly for the run last year, even though we made it to 7 against Vegas it wasnt close and was pretty clear we have a ways to go. The city and alot of the fanbase definitely got hyped up though. Its going to take a couple years to clear the books and deadweight and see how a couple of our remaining prospects turn out before we can fill out the roster and make a competitive team. 

Definitely agree on the last part. Staal actually had a few interesting things to say about Buffalo on his exit though. He was mentioning Covid as a real reason for them being as bad as they are. I hadnt really put much thought into it before but the fatigue is a real thing, he had some quote about after "recovering" youre still  only at about 85 or 90% thats pretty tough to do unless your the TB Lightning but if your an average team goodluck competeting the entire year like that. 

Pettersen has to be the real deal, a bonafide franchise player. I'm not convinced by Boeser (a definite top six guy but not on a level like Pettersen) and Hughes has unreal point production but that doesn't mean a whole lot when he gets scored on every other play, reminds me a lot of a tiny Brent Burns. I'm sure Hughes and Pettersen will be the two that carry the Canucks for a long while.

[Viva la FCB+]

23 minutes ago, Spike said:

Pettersen has to be the real deal, a bonafide franchise player. I'm not convinced by Boeser (a definite top six guy but not on a level like Pettersen) and Hughes has unreal point production but that doesn't mean a whole lot when he gets scored on every other play, reminds me a lot of a tiny Brent Burns. I'm sure Hughes and Pettersen will be the two that carry the Canucks for a long while.

So Boeser has convinced me more this season tbh. Hes looked more like his rookie season again, among other things his shot was back. We'll see but I am more confident in him again.

Petterson didnt look great this season in the short chunk before he was out injured, the points where there but he just didnt look the same Id tend to think maybe he was playing injured for awhile (the injury still hasnt been disclosed) but Im fairly confident in him rebounding here.

Hughes was a bit of a mess for large stretches. The beginning of the season im willing to throw out as the whole team looked like a mess defensively, the structure seemingly got alot tighter once they had some time off and time to practice but youre right as a whole Hughes defensively has left a whole lot to be desired while still putting up almost a point a game offensively. He seems like a smart player and kid Id bet he figures out the balance here.

Basically our pillars are Boeser, Hughes, and Petterson. Throw in Demko and Horvat and I think anyone and everyone else is expendable and you build on that core.

 

I honestly havent had the time to watch much from other teams this season with the truncated schedules its alot to keep up with. Hows Chicago done this well? even without Toews for that matter. 

[Spike]

3 minutes ago, Viva la FCB said:

So Boeser has convinced me more this season tbh. Hes looked more like his rookie season again, among other things his shot was back. We'll see but I am more confident in him again.

Petterson didnt look great this season in the short chunk before he was out injured, the points where there but he just didnt look the same Id tend to think maybe he was playing injured for awhile (the injury still hasnt been disclosed) but Im fairly confident in him rebounding here.

Hughes was a bit of a mess for large stretches. The beginning of the season im willing to throw out as the whole team looked like a mess defensively, the structure seemingly got alot tighter once they had some time off and time to practice but youre right as a whole Hughes defensively has left a whole lot to be desired while still putting up almost a point a game offensively. He seems like a smart player and kid Id bet he figures out the balance here.

Basically our pillars are Boeser, Hughes, and Petterson. Throw in Demko and Horvat and I think anyone and everyone else is expendable and you build on that core.

 

I honestly havent had the time to watch much from other teams this season with the truncated schedules its alot to keep up with. Hows Chicago done this well? even without Toews for that matter. 

Chicago has outperformed all my expectations.  I'll break it down player by player.

• Patrick Kane - second best player in the league and gets better with age. It's really freaky
• Kubalik a 2nd/3rd line forward that has hugely upped his game and has added assists to his goals
• DeBrincat was snakebitten but has gone back to his sniper self. an easy 30/40 goal season player if he doesn't drop off hugely again
• dach is back and i forgot how huge he is. potential #1 centre but he is still young
• strome is turning into a well rounded, if unremarkable #2 or #3 centre, he has upside
• janmark was a steal, could have twice as many goals if he could score on shorthanded 1v1s, he seems to get one a game only to miss
• boqvist, mitchell, and beaudin are three young dmen that if they develop properly will be a core. boqvist has a wicked shot but the latter two are a little more well rounded
• lankinen is a huge goalie out of nowhere, but he is finnish so you'll either get three shutouts in a row or he'll be blown up 5-0 on the first five shots
• keith has looked better, i know you don't like him and think he is dirty but he very rarely commits penalties, in vancouver his career is defined by an elbow but that is uncharacteristic really. hugely reliable and calming. still very good.
• kurashev, hagel, and suter are rookies that could have huge upside especially as depth forwards. super fast, super hard working, and they all chip in points. exactly the sort of players you want on a third line, maybe even pushing for the second. 
• soderberg is just a great veteran to have
• murphy and zadorov are big bodied dmen that can chip in some points and goals every now and then

basically I have only positive things to say about nearly every player. sad that seabrook retired, and the rumour around chicago is that toews has ALS. Unless it's a flash in the pan and everything is actually shit with a gold coat of paint, BHawks are transitioning into a nice new core. The only thing I'm scared of is transitioning from Kane, he isn't replaceable.

[Viva la FCB+]

6 minutes ago, Spike said:

Chicago has outperformed all my expectations.  I'll break it down player by player.

• Patrick Kane - second best player in the league and gets better with age. It's really freaky
• Kubalik a 2nd/3rd line forward that has hugely upped his game and has added assists to his goals
• DeBrincat was snakebitten but has gone back to his sniper self. an easy 30/40 goal season player if he doesn't drop off hugely again
• dach is back and i forgot how huge he is. potential #1 centre but he is still young
• strome is turning into a well rounded, if unremarkable #2 or #3 centre, he has upside
• janmark was a steal, could have twice as many goals if he could score on shorthanded 1v1s, he seems to get one a game only to miss
• boqvist, mitchell, and beaudin are three young dmen that if they develop properly will be a core. boqvist has a wicked shot but the latter two are a little more well rounded
• lankinen is a huge goalie out of nowhere, but he is finnish so you'll either get three shutouts in a row or he'll be blown up 5-0 on the first five shots
• keith has looked better, i know you don't like him and think he is dirty but he very rarely commits penalties, in vancouver his career is defined by an elbow but that is uncharacteristic really. hugely reliable and calming. still very good.
• kurashev, hagel, and suter are rookies that could have huge upside especially as depth forwards. super fast, super hard working, and they all chip in points. exactly the sort of players you want on a third line, maybe even pushing for the second. 
• soderberg is just a great veteran to have
• murphy and zadorov are big bodied dmen that can chip in some points and goals every now and then

basically I have only positive things to say about nearly every player. sad that seabrook retired, and the rumour around chicago is that toews has ALS. Unless it's a flash in the pan and everything is actually shit with a gold coat of paint, BHawks are transitioning into a nice new core. The only thing I'm scared of is transitioning from Kane, he isn't replaceable.

Thats really sad to hear, you know something was out of the ordinary with how that came out of nowhere. Hopefully its not as bad as that. 

[Spike]

1 minute ago, Viva la FCB said:

Thats really sad to hear, you know something was out of the ordinary with how that came out of nowhere. Hopefully its not as bad as that. 

It is terrible but the mortality rate is so high, it is something I can't really accept, especially for his early 30s. Hopefully just a rumour, I was suspecting a mild form of cancer like testicular.

[Spike]

I was thinking for a while and I think the NHL should have pushed Erik Karlsson as the face of the league five or six years ago. He is a pretty boy with long hair, [was] an exciting player, speaks english, seems fun and full of life, and the same applies to a guy like Brent Burns (hipster pretty boy, wild beard and hair, scores a lot of goals, a smile to kill a camera). Instead they go for Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid whose personalities are summed up as 'I really like hockey'. Ovechkin and Malkin are too weird and Russian to market, Toews is too grumpy and looks like a brown egg, Kane has never showed an emotion in his life (Mr too cool for school), Draisatl looks like Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List,  Auston Matthews personality is summed up as having a bad moustache, Drew Doughty says too many stupid things, Tavares is possibly the most boring person in the world, and Victor Hedman looks like a Norwegian black metal church burner.

Just my thoughts @Viva la FCB

[Viva la FCB+]

5 minutes ago, Spike said:

I was thinking for a while and I think the NHL should have pushed Erik Karlsson as the face of the league five or six years ago. He is a pretty boy with long hair, [was] an exciting player, speaks english, seems fun and full of life, and the same applies to a guy like Brent Burns (hipster pretty boy, wild beard and hair, scores a lot of goals, a smile to kill a camera). Instead they go for Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid whose personalities are summed up as 'I really like hockey'. Ovechkin and Malkin are too weird and Russian to market, Toews is too grumpy and looks like a brown egg, Kane has never showed an emotion in his life (Mr too cool for school), Draisatl looks like Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List,  Auston Matthews personality is summed up as having a bad moustache, Drew Doughty says too many stupid things, Tavares is possibly the most boring person in the world, and Victor Hedman looks like a Norwegian black metal church burner.

Just my thoughts @Viva la FCB

I do remember seeing a bunch of ads pushed with Brent Burns but maybe im thinking of other companies not the NHL and Karlsson is defintely just a missed opportunity. Sid's also gotten more comfortable and gives more thoughtful answers to interviews then he used to but your right hes fairly private. Marketing him and to more of an extent Mcjesus I think is just a must, regardless of Mcjesus having the personality of a soap dish hes the best player in the world his highlights grow your game regardless. If Ovie was Canadian or American it would be the easiest slam dunk ever. Just a shame there isnt more guys like that. By far our best personality on the nucks is Nate Schmidt, hes only joined this season and he needs to be the first one having a mic shoved in his face every time imo but there still rare birds. 

[Spike]

@Viva la FCB thoughts on adam gaudette?