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On April 22 2013 14:03 Sermokala wrote:
I don't think I can survive the wild collapsing like this down the stretch to one of the teams thats going to be in our new division next year.
NHL hockey has always been shit in MN. We can't really expect anything more. It seriously blows my mind that with the amount of quality there is here, we can't even play consistent hockey. We showed that we could play well for over a month and a half and yet we can't even win a game against Calgary. I think we have a couple problems though.
1) The defense has gotten lazy. We went from being one of the better defenses in the league to a very mediocre one. It's been quite a long time since we've kept an opponent to 1 or 2 goals (last time was the 7th, and the time before that was 23 March). There are tons of lazy passes, terrible giveaways, and attackers in the slot that aren't marked (just watch replays of our last two games against San Jose).
2) Backstrom's played 39 out of 45 games this season. We still have yet to get a backup at all. The dude's tired and it's really showing, especially since he's not the youngest goalie in the league. Harding still hasn't come back, Hackett's played like one game (where he lost), and Kuemper was decent, but these last two are still very much AHL goalies with little to no experience.
3) Puck control. In January and starting this month we keep seeing terrible puck control. Passes are lazy and consistently off the mark and we constantly turn it over unnecessarily.
4) Related to that, finishing skill. Several games in the past couple weeks have shown us games that the Wild outshoot their opponents significantly. Yet you keep hearing the commentators on TV talk about how the goalies just have "big" nights. But what do the Wild do? Not counting the Feb-March run of quality playing, ever goal they score is a slow, painful goal that involves multiple people attacking the net and banging away/getting lucky. When we shoot, it's like we're closing our eyes and just shooting in the direction of the net. There's no quality finishing coming from this team. It's almost like we're better off trying to scrap a goal in 5-on-5 than getting a breakaway; the fact that you can't be excited about a breakaway chance with this team shows how poor our finishing is. Watch any other team that actually averages more goals for than against and you'll see what I'm talking about. These teams have players that can snipe or can just aim a damn puck. But no, we here in MN just throw the puck toward the goalie and don't even try to aim the damn thing.
5) There is also NO speed on this team. When is the last time you actually saw a MN attacker do anything with his speed? There's no breakaway/counterattacking potential on this team. Every time we try to attack, we skate it into the offensive zone and the dial it back. No attempts to use speed to wheel around and try to get an advantageous angle. So many opportunities are given away like this, especially considering the poor passing quality as of late.
I still think that MN not making the playoffs will be the biggest failure in the entire league this year. We made the two biggest acquisitions of the offseason, we have plenty of talent to at least compete with the lower half of the playoff pool, and we also picked up Pominville. This team has plenty of quality to compare to teams like Detroit, Columbus, St. Louis, and San Jose. Koivu, Parise, Pominville, Heatley (injured), Cullen, Suter, Granlund Brodin, and Backstrom are all great players that a number of clubs would like to have, and we have several role players and backup line players that are quality as well and they've shown this; it's not like a two month stretch of playing (Feb-March) where you average over 3 goals a game and less than 2 goal/game given with significantly higher puck possession, shots/game, PP%, etc. is just a fluke. Ultimately, I think that this play is indicative of the coaching style. If you watch Yeo's interviews, you can tell that he's really into this idea of scoring chippy goals with the physical strength of this team. Unfortunately, that just doesn't work (when is the last time a contender was built around that without still having speed and finesse in their lineup) and our performances have shown it. It's unfortunate, but if this franchise keeps performing like this, well, there's a reason that high school/collegiate hockey has always been more popular than NHL hockey in MN.
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Yeah definitely not buying either of those teams as being locks for the finals. Chicago I think is the clear cut best in the west, but certainly beatable. Crawford/Emery aren't nearly as good as their numbers indicate. That's playing behind a good team.
Likewise, Marc Andre Cupwinz is mediocre, and so is that D. Plus, I find Boston way more intimidating because they really don't have a weakness. They might not have the insane offense that Pitt doesn, but they're just as scary.
Plus all those east bottom seeds are scary. The Rangers suck offensively, but they've got Hank and a good defense, and have proven before that they will win a lot of those grind it out type of games that are common in the playoffs. Ottawa has been king of those games this year, and that was without half of their team playing. Now, Karlsson apparently ate all of Barry Bonds' HGH, and Spezza might be back too. And people sleep on the Isles, but they've got an under the radar good D, they've been getting consistently good goaltending, and they got John Fuckin Tavares.
Shit, even Toronto, who i'd peg as probably one of the weakest playoff teams in the east, they can definitely lift one off of someone if their offense continues to produce, and Reimer/Scrivens continue to play well enough to mask defensive gaffs/Carlyle being a chucklefuck.
also, out west, CBJ is getting very underrated. They play pretty good defensive hockey as a team, have a respectable blueline, and Bobs has been playing his balls off this year. Plus, they've got a lot of solid but not great forwards, and Gabby, despite his shit play in NY this year, has been looking good and has two recent 40g seasons under his belt.
Hell, out of all the possible west 8 seeds (short of St. Louis choking and slipping), I would think they have the best shot of beating the Hawks just based on how their team is built. It is a lot easier to get the upset as a good opportunistic defensive team than anything else.
Minny, I really don't feel that it is a catastrophy if they missed (I think Philly, Nash, or NJ are way bigger misses). Even with those signings, they were not a great team this year. They lacked depth. Dudes like Heater (who almost assuredly gets bought out if he gets healthy) and maybe even Seto aren't as good as thought. The west also has a lot of other good teams too. Shit even their top forwards weren't that hot (Parise has no business getting that check and turning in a sub ppg season)
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I don't think you understand just how big hockey is here in Minnesota. Minnesota has 5 Division 1 hockey teams in the state for 5.3 million people. For texas to be as about football as Minnesota is about hockey they would need 26 division 1 football teams. They have 12 division 1 football teams.
We have a foot of snow on the grown right now and its nearing the end of april. We might get even more snow and my local lake you can still play hockey on and will probably still be able to play hockey on for another good month at this rate.
Minnesota not making it to the playoffs is a huge problem for our self esteem.
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I am strictly speaking on how bad it is for a roster of that calibur to miss, not anything to do with the fan base.
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Honestly CBS has a good shot at taking a few games off CHI, but not the series. They have no real playoff experience and everyone agrees that playoff hockey is different than regular season hockey. Id almost rather play the Blues over CBS considering CHI shut out the Blues in STL every game this season. VAN, ANA, and CBS are the 3 teams that i see giving CHI the hardest time, but I can also reasonably see CHI coming out of the West. The East on the other hand is such a mess I could see MTL PIT or BOS coming out without much problems. The question becomes who goes into the playoffs with the best momentum and wants it the most
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On April 22 2013 23:34 QuanticHawk wrote:
Yeah definitely not buying either of those teams as being locks for the finals. Chicago I think is the clear cut best in the west, but certainly beatable. Crawford/Emery aren't nearly as good as their numbers indicate. That's playing behind a good team.
Likewise, Marc Andre Cupwinz is mediocre, and so is that D. Plus, I find Boston way more intimidating because they really don't have a weakness. They might not have the insane offense that Pitt doesn, but they're just as scary.
Plus all those east bottom seeds are scary. The Rangers suck offensively, but they've got Hank and a good defense, and have proven before that they will win a lot of those grind it out type of games that are common in the playoffs. Ottawa has been king of those games this year, and that was without half of their team playing. Now, Karlsson apparently ate all of Barry Bonds' HGH, and Spezza might be back too. And people sleep on the Isles, but they've got an under the radar good D, they've been getting consistently good goaltending, and they got John Fuckin Tavares.
Shit, even Toronto, who i'd peg as probably one of the weakest playoff teams in the east, they can definitely lift one off of someone if their offense continues to produce, and Reimer/Scrivens continue to play well enough to mask defensive gaffs/Carlyle being a chucklefuck.
also, out west, CBJ is getting very underrated. They play pretty good defensive hockey as a team, have a respectable blueline, and Bobs has been playing his balls off this year. Plus, they've got a lot of solid but not great forwards, and Gabby, despite his shit play in NY this year, has been looking good and has two recent 40g seasons under his belt.
Hell, out of all the possible west 8 seeds (short of St. Louis choking and slipping), I would think they have the best shot of beating the Hawks just based on how their team is built. It is a lot easier to get the upset as a good opportunistic defensive team than anything else.
Minny, I really don't feel that it is a catastrophy if they missed (I think Philly, Nash, or NJ are way bigger misses). Even with those signings, they were not a great team this year. They lacked depth. Dudes like Heater (who almost assuredly gets bought out if he gets healthy) and maybe even Seto aren't as good as thought. The west also has a lot of other good teams too. Shit even their top forwards weren't that hot (Parise has no business getting that check and turning in a sub ppg season)
Never said they were locks for making it to the finals. As for Emery goes. I've always been very critical of the guy since the Senators days (they got lucky making it to the finals) and I wouldn't read much into his numbers either. In either case, having a good team playing in front of you goes a long way and remember what I said about Tomas? Yeah, I'd be playing him over MAF.
The only bottom seed in the East would be the Islanders and Ottawa on a depleted line-up.
As for Toronto the team was supposed to be built for playoff hockey. I'm still very skeptical of the way they've been playing for months but at least we have some grit. In any case, if you cannot make it to the round of 16. You really suck. Just like if you cannot make it to the playoffs in the Eastern Conference of the NBA. Well shit. You really need to reconsider your options on the hardwood floor.
On April 23 2013 00:51 Ferrose wrote:+ Show Spoiler +I hope they all keep their word 
It's begun. This city is about to get a lot loonier when it was already loony to begin with.
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I hope the leafs go 0-4 in the playoffs. That would make this year all the more worth it. (Then I don't have to listen to my leaf fan friends talk about it anymore)
Nucks for the Cup
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On April 23 2013 01:53 Shelke14 wrote:
I hope the leafs go 0-4 in the playoffs. That would make this year all the more worth it. (Then I don't have to listen to my leaf fan friends talk about it anymore)
Nucks for the Cup
Ha. Only team in the East that could probably do that is the Bruins. BD If we get the Habs, I like our chances.
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On April 23 2013 00:51 Ferrose wrote:+ Show Spoiler +I hope they all keep their word
Oh the Old Rod N Gun from my home town of Grand Bend Ontario!
It's funny I haven't seen too many of those signs crop up this year. They usually only put them up when the leafs are sure to miss the playoffs.
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On April 23 2013 01:53 Shelke14 wrote:
I hope the leafs go 0-4 in the playoffs. That would make this year all the more worth it. (Then I don't have to listen to my leaf fan friends talk about it anymore)
Nucks for the Cup
shitman you are optimist ! nucks always seem to fall in the playoffs.
totally hate toronto so, im down with you man.
go habs go!!
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with habs recent games, my hopes have gone down a lot. I really they show up for the last 3 games cause it's been painful to watch their mediocre play lately. People are blaming Price but he's far than the only one to blame. Defense and Offense is atrocious. Why do they have to suck everytime during season's end 
Oh well, go habs go anyway. Hope they can recover quickly.
Montreal vs Toronto is gonna happen i am pretty sure about it. Hopefully the hatred will motivate players ffs
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On April 23 2013 02:44 monx wrote:with habs recent games, my hopes have gone down a lot. I really they show up for the last 3 games cause it's been painful to watch their mediocre play lately. People are blaming Price but he's far than the only one to blame. Defense and Offense is atrocious. Why do they have to suck everytime during season's end Oh well, go habs go anyway. Hope they can recover quickly. Montreal vs Toronto is gonna happen i am pretty sure about it. Hopefully the hatred will motivate players ffs
The Habs are still small, but it's nice to see Markov back and you guys have Prust now, but if I'm the Leafs. I'd be licking my chops to face the Habs in round one. The one thing you're right about is Carey Price is hardly to blame for their recent woes.
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I like the habs, I hope Price really steps it up here because it will show that he is ready for Team Canada should he get the call! (Price and Luo will be the definite starters with Fleury being the third back up).
If we take the standings for what they are right now. I'm loving the fact of a Hab vs Leaf round one, you couldn't dream of a better story line than that. The NYI should be extremely happy about being able to vs Washington because I don't think Ovi and co will be able to keep up to the standard as of late. Ottawa is just too hurt, if they were full strength then I would put more money on them being able to get out of the first round but the worst opponent to get with the state of their team is Boston.
In the West. I would rather see Van get SJ first round because I think SJ is a weaker team than the Blues but that is just me, either way I think the nucks can beat either of those teams in six games but it will be a lot closer if we play the Blues. Chicago better hope Columbus is able to keep 8th seed and the Wings dont sneak in. While Columbus has the potential to take some games off of Chicago, there is no way they will win four games vs them. Minny is just such an weird story because they should be a very strong 6-7th seed team but they feel so much weaker than that and Ana will probably stomp them.
All in all. Pitts vs Nucks final, I end up having to take out a fucking loan just to get tickets in rogers arena.
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On April 22 2013 23:43 Sermokala wrote:
I don't think you understand just how big hockey is here in Minnesota. Minnesota has 5 Division 1 hockey teams in the state for 5.3 million people. For texas to be as about football as Minnesota is about hockey they would need 26 division 1 football teams. They have 12 division 1 football teams.
We have a foot of snow on the grown right now and its nearing the end of april. We might get even more snow and my local lake you can still play hockey on and will probably still be able to play hockey on for another good month at this rate.
Minnesota not making it to the playoffs is a huge problem for our self esteem.
Not to mention the fact that our state high school hockey tournament is one of the biggest high school sport tournaments in the entire country.
On the topic of Minnesota's roster, yea, it's not like we're a star-studded team, but how do you explain two months (Feb-March) of awesome performance? It wasn't like last year where we were first after 20-some games but had a negative goal difference; we fucking dominated Feb-March, with every measurable statistic showing great play that would have easily carried us to the division title, but then we suddenly just crash and burn.
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Columbus have 0 chance of taking out Chicago in the first round. Maybe they can win one game. Chicago is just so much better in every area except for goaltending (where they still have two solid goalies) and have so much more experience with proven playoff performers as well. Who does Columbus have that can up their game in the playoffs? Maybe Jack Johnson and Prospal?
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Bobs is coming in on fiyaaaa, they play good team defense and they have a couple decent offensive weapons. Chicago is lightyears better but columbus isnt at eam you should sleep on
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im getting ready for playoff's pool and i really dont know who to pick yet, feels like there are so many good players and teams I cant even tell which teams (particularly in the east) will make it past the 1st round.
pens that's for sure
habs vs toronto? hmmm cant really tell besides TO beat the crap out of us last couple games. I also expect TO to fail like in every playoff they enter(but im bias)
bruins vs NYR? can't really tell, if i had to put money on a team to beat the pens it would be NYR, while bruins, no matter how much you hate them still remain a pretty solid playoff team.
My big ? is capitals and NYI, both have great potential and players
while the ranking in west division seems much more indicative, top3 will pass for sure, and i expect LA to beat Sanjose.
nucks seemed on point yesterday
and ducks are solid as well
they are all 3 "stanley cup" teams.
the 4 remaining teams are kinda shacky which is why i don't expect them to pass through 1st round.
As defs I already picked : letang, subban and voynov.
as attck : picked dupuis since he's usually productive in playoff + if crosby comes back they usually play together. I don't know for the rest
keep in mind topnet pool includes salary cap for a team so I just can't go wild on every good player.
can you guys hulp me?
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No way would I get Montreal players. Wouldn't be surprised at all if they got trashed in the first round.
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Montreal is like Vancouver, if their goalie shows up they will look good. If their goalie plays just mediocre or worse, they lose in 5.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7fTmVNFBqFs/T2JWzVigJOI/AAAAAAAAAiM/dONVJjCpBgU/s400/free-beer-during-all-maple-leaf-playoff-games.jpg)
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