2013-14 NHL thread

[jesmu84]

Even before OT begins, this game killed me. I'm dead.

[LloydMooresLegs]

Knew we needed one more to win.  Have to do it in OT.  Arrrrggghhhh!!

[ChicosBailBonds]

Great series.  Wish my Ducks were still in it, but had a feeling whomever won that series would go to the Cup.  My son is thrilled.  Guess I know where I'll be a few nights this week...at Staples.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Another great game tonight. Heard some King's fans chanting their oh so clever "Crawford" after their first goal. Nice to see Patrick Kane shut the morons up.

Looks like the Kings fans will have a chance to do the clever "Lundqvist" 

[MDMU04]

What a phenomenal series of hockey. Just fantastic all around. Hawks came out on the wrong end, it's tough to spot a team like the Kings 2 games and expect to come back and win. Looking forward to more playoff matchups with these guys for years to come.

The Rangers are going to have their hands full.

[ChicosBailBonds]

What a phenomenal series of hockey. Just fantastic all around. Hawks came out on the wrong end, it's tough to spot a team like the Kings 2 games and expect to come back and win. Looking forward to more playoff matchups with these guys for years to come.

The Rangers are going to have their hands full.

Kings in 6.  Eastern Conference smaller, slower all year long.  The West was just better.  Anything can happen, but I'll say Kings in 6.

Much to Lenny's chagrin, the #1, #2 and #5 teams in the season ending power rankings were left standing going into tonight.

#1 vs #5 for the Cup, but the top two teams finished it off tonight. 

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

That ruined my entire summer. Not even an exaggeration, time to sleep for about 15 hours.

[LloydMooresLegs]

That's Hawkey, baby.

[Lennys Tap]

Much to Lenny's chagrin, the #1, #2 and #5 teams in the season ending power rankings were left standing going into tonight.

9/10 seed versus a 12 seed for the Cup. And they both had to play multiple series giving up home ice advantage to do it. Next time a 9 or 10 seed plays a 12 for the NCAA championship? Never. Maybe there are bigger crapshoots in sports (I'm not prone to constant, obnoxious hyperbole like you) but the NCAA tournament isn't one of them.

[MDMU04]

#1 vs #5 for the Cup, but the top two teams finished it off tonight. 

Nothing in hockey is ever certain, but the Stanley Cup might as well have been given out at the United Center last night.

[MU82]

Winning goal -- long shot, deflected in slot by teammate, ricochets into net off defenseman's shoulder -- shows why hockey is so unpredictable.

One might even call it a crapshoot!

[Lennys Tap]

Winning goal -- long shot, deflected in slot by teammate, ricochets into net off defenseman's shoulder -- shows why hockey is so unpredictable.

One might even call it a crapshoot!

Bingo

[ChicosBailBonds]

9/10 seed versus a 12 seed for the Cup. And they both had to play multiple series giving up home ice advantage to do it. Next time a 9 or 10 seed plays a 12 for the NCAA championship? Never. Maybe there are bigger crapshoots in sports (I'm not prone to constant, obnoxious hyperbole like you) but the NCAA tournament isn't one of them.

Your math is still way off.  Considering there are only two of each seed in the NHL, but four of each seed in the NCAA tournament...and of course you keep forgetting the one and done.  The Kings wouldn't even have gotten to round two in the NCAA tournament format, but because it is a best of 7, they will likely hoist the Cup in about two weeks.  The seeds in the NHL are based on records, not by a committee deciding who the best teams are. 

You are prone to as much hyperbole as anyone.

I feel bad for the Blackhawk fans that lost, but honestly I got a little chuckle last night knowing you would be bummed. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

Winning goal -- long shot, deflected in slot by teammate, ricochets into net off defenseman's shoulder -- shows why hockey is so unpredictable.

One might even call it a crapshoot!

Oh, definitely....hockey has a lot of strange bounces, like basketball.  It's a great sport.  This is why when fans say they are the best and have no deficiencies they should be careful, the puck can bounce funny.  Thing is, however, it's one thing for the puck to bounce funny in one game, but over 7 games things tend to even out a bit more and usually the better team wins.  Not a one and done scenario. 

This year, not so unpredictable.  #1 team in the power ratings playing for the Cup starting Wednesday.  Should be fun, I'll definitely enjoy it.  Game 5 is my anniversary and my wife is a big Kings fan.  Looking forward to a nice evening with her at the game.

[Lennys Tap]

Oh, definitely....hockey has a lot of strange bounces, like basketball.  It's a great sport.  This is why when fans say they are the best and have no deficiencies they should be careful, the puck can bounce funny.  Thing is, however, it's one thing for the puck to bounce funny in one game, but over 7 games things tend to even out a bit more and usually the better team wins.  Not a one and done scenario. 

This year, not so unpredictable.  #1 team in the power ratings playing for the Cup starting Wednesday.  Should be fun, I'll definitely enjoy it.  Game 5 is my anniversary and my wife is a big Kings fan.  Looking forward to a nice evening with her at the game.

The team you call #1 was the UNDERDOG in Vegas in all 3 series in which they played, a 10-1 longshot to win the Cup before it started. You should have won millions parlaying them over the Sharks, Ducks and Hawks. Vegas was just giving it away. Reminds me of UW being ranked #2 by Pomeroy no matter how many times they lost.

Oddest thing is your wife and son rooting against the team you love and the one that used to pay your bills.

[barfolomew]

That outcome will sting for a while, but it was a tremendous series.
Something tells me that won't be the last 7-game playoff series between the Kings and Hawks in the next several years.

Enjoy those ugly Conference Champion hats, King fans.
I hope the Cup Champion hats are even uglier.

[MU B2002]

Oh, definitely....hockey has a lot of strange bounces, like basketball.  It's a great sport.  This is why when fans say they are the best and have no deficiencies they should be careful, the puck can bounce funny.  Thing is, however, it's one thing for the puck to bounce funny in one game, but over 7 games things tend to even out a bit more and usually the better team wins.  Not a one and done scenario. 

This year, not so unpredictable.  #1 team in the power ratings playing for the Cup starting Wednesday.  Should be fun, I'll definitely enjoy it.  Game 5 is my anniversary and my wife is a big Kings fan.  Looking forward to a nice evening with her at the game.

Which Power Ratings are you referring to?  I scoured the interwebs and just about every list I found that came out prior to the playoffs or near the end of the season had the Bs up on top and Kings no higher than 3rd.


http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=708207
http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/powerRankings
http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/powerrankings
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2028249-nhl-power-rankings-br-experts-week-26-poll
http://nypost.com/2014/03/26/nhl-power-rankings-bruins-look-like-team-to-beat/

[ChicosBailBonds]

LOL

http://deadspin.com/blackhawks-twitter-account-tells-mexican-president-to-f-1584615115

[ChicosBailBonds]

Which Power Ratings are you referring to?  I scoured the interwebs and just about every list I found that came out prior to the playoffs or near the end of the season had the Bs up on top and Kings no higher than 3rd.


http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=708207
http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/powerRankings
http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/powerrankings
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2028249-nhl-power-rankings-br-experts-week-26-poll
http://nypost.com/2014/03/26/nhl-power-rankings-bruins-look-like-team-to-beat/

Score Adjusted Fenwick....think of it as the Bill James version of hockey stats.  It is an advanced stat that the nerds came up with a few years ago and the nerds swear by it...no wonder.  The top team in Score Adjusted Fenwick in the last six years has won or gone to the Stanley Cup 5 times.   I'd call that a pretty damn good indicator.  The only time it failed was last year, when it predicted the Kings would win it all....by the way, the Blackhawks were #2 last year in Fenwick and they did win it all.  This year, the Kings finished #1 again with a 56.17 and the Blackhawks second with a 55.82, and here the Kings are in the Cup final. 

Team        Score-Adjusted Fenwick            Result
2007-08    Red Wings              58.8%     Stanley Cup
2008-09    Red Wings              56.6%     Stanley Cup Finals
2009-10    Blackhawks             58.8%     Stanley Cup
2011-12    Kings                     57.5%     Stanley Cup
2013-14    Kings                     56.17%   Stanley Cup Finals (maybe winner)

[MU82]

Oh, definitely....hockey has a lot of strange bounces, like basketball. 

Hmmm ... I'm trying to remember the last time a team reached the NBA Finals or NCAA title game when the winning basket was scored on a 50-foot shot that deflected off a defensive player's shoulder and into the hoop.

Just having fun with ya, Chicos. Plenty of room in sports for all kinds of crapshoots!

My kids are big Blackhawks fans, so they would call last night's shoot especially crappy, but that's life in the NHL.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Hmmm ... I'm trying to remember the last time a team reached the NBA Finals or NCAA title game when the winning basket was scored on a 50-foot shot that deflected off a defensive player's shoulder and into the hoop.

Just having fun with ya, Chicos. Plenty of room in sports for all kinds of crapshoots!

My kids are big Blackhawks fans, so they would call last night's shoot especially crappy, but that's life in the NHL.

The thing is, there were 6 previous games played in this series.  Let's not forget in game 5, the Kings hit the post in OT.  Yes, the game can be changed by a couple of inches. 

In a NBA game, each and every shot if it is off by an inch, can be a miss.  Can't just focus on the winning shot, there were 60+ other minutes played and 6 other games played.  All of sports is a crapshoot to some extent, but whenever you have a 7 game series it is less of a crapshoot than a one and done scenario where one off night, you're toast.

[Lennys Tap]

The thing is, there were 6 previous games played in this series.  Let's not forget in game 5, the Kings hit the post in OT.  Yes, the game can be changed by a couple of inches. 

In a NBA game, each and every shot if it is off by an inch, can be a miss.  Can't just focus on the winning shot, there were 60+ other minutes played and 6 other games played.  All of sports is a crapshoot to some extent, but whenever you have a 7 game series it is less of a crapshoot than a one and done scenario where one off night, you're toast.

You don't understand math. If a game is 50/50, a coin flip, flipping that coin 7, or 9 or 11 or any number of times doesn't change the odds at all. Best of 7000 yields the exact same odds as one flip. In games where their is a prohibitive favorite a longer series does help the better team. But when a team that finishes 25th of 30 in the NHL but is supposedly better than your 2nd place Ducks by 3 places the whole league must be a crapshoot/coin flip.

[MU B2002]

Score Adjusted Fenwick....think of it as the Bill James version of hockey stats.  It is an advanced stat that the nerds came up with a few years ago and the nerds swear by it...no wonder.  The top team in Score Adjusted Fenwick in the last six years has won or gone to the Stanley Cup 5 times.   I'd call that a pretty damn good indicator.  The only time it failed was last year, when it predicted the Kings would win it all....by the way, the Blackhawks were #2 last year in Fenwick and they did win it all.  This year, the Kings finished #1 again with a 56.17 and the Blackhawks second with a 55.82, and here the Kings are in the Cup final. 

Team        Score-Adjusted Fenwick            Result
2007-08    Red Wings              58.8%     Stanley Cup
2008-09    Red Wings              56.6%     Stanley Cup Finals
2009-10    Blackhawks             58.8%     Stanley Cup
2011-12    Kings                     57.5%     Stanley Cup
2013-14    Kings                     56.17%   Stanley Cup Finals (maybe winner)

Well, there you go.  Thanks.  What were the Pens ranked in 08-09 when they beat the Wings?

[MU82]

The thing is, there were 6 previous games played in this series.  Let's not forget in game 5, the Kings hit the post in OT.  Yes, the game can be changed by a couple of inches. 

In a NBA game, each and every shot if it is off by an inch, can be a miss.  Can't just focus on the winning shot, there were 60+ other minutes played and 6 other games played.  All of sports is a crapshoot to some extent, but whenever you have a 7 game series it is less of a crapshoot than a one and done scenario where one off night, you're toast.

I'm not talking about the whole game-of-inches thing. Every game is a game of inches. An NFL team makes a huge first down by an inch. A hockey player hits the crossbar with a shot. An NBA player has a shot bounce off the rim 3 times before going in. A line drive barely hits the outside of the chalk, giving the batter a walk-off double. We all get that.

I'm talking about a conference-finals-winning play that deflects off one player's stick, deflects off another player's shoulder and somehow eludes the huge, padded goalie to find the net.

And the crazy thing is, that happens in hockey 2, 5, 10 times -- or more -- in a 7-game series.

There is no game with a bigger luck factor (or bad-luck factor for the Blackhawks last night) than hockey.

[ChicosBailBonds]

The team you call #1 was the UNDERDOG in Vegas in all 3 series in which they played, a 10-1 longshot to win the Cup before it started. You should have won millions parlaying them over the Sharks, Ducks and Hawks. Vegas was just giving it away. Reminds me of UW being ranked #2 by Pomeroy no matter how many times they lost.

Oddest thing is your wife and son rooting against the team you love and the one that used to pay your bills.

OH no, Vegas?  LOL.   For the millionth time, the odds are to move a betting line....PERIOD.

I grew up a Kings fan, it's all we had out here for hockey.  Same for my wife.  For my son, when I handled the LA Kings relationship for my company I got him on the bench a few times, locker room, zamboni, skate arounds with the team, etc.  He was too young when I worked for the Ducks, so that is where his memories are.   So nothing odd about it at all. 

What else outrages you or makes you feel odd without knowing one scintilla of the background story?  I'm happy to share.