On May 07 2021 08:56 QuanticHawk wrote: yeah, this entire thing is the most NHL debacle ever lol
welp need a bandwagon team for playoffs
I'm not that invested in NHL but watching McDrai play is absolutely beautiful, so Oilers it is
So my first Bandwagon crashed and burned. New bandwagon are either Jets because they blew Oilers out of the water or Avalanche because my man Grubauer (Die Mauer 2.0) will lead them to the title
Colorado and Tampa both play really fun hockey. I also love watching Makar play. Him and Fox are going to be the next generation of top dmen. He is such an incredibly fluid skater.
On May 30 2021 05:04 JimmiC wrote: NBA does such a better job scheduling their playoff games they have 4 today and none over lap, the NHL has 2 and tehy are only 30 mins apart =-(
NBA does a lot of things much better than the NHL... Don't get me wrong, I love hockey, but there are certain things the NHL is unwilling to change that will always make it feel bush league compared to other organizations.
On May 30 2021 05:04 JimmiC wrote: NBA does such a better job scheduling their playoff games they have 4 today and none over lap, the NHL has 2 and tehy are only 30 mins apart =-(
NBA does a lot of things much better than the NHL... Don't get me wrong, I love hockey, but there are certain things the NHL is unwilling to change that will always make it feel bush league compared to other organizations.
Yeah Sterns greatest move was shipping Betman to the NHL, he is awful. I mean the whole clutching and grabbing era was basically fixed by just calling penalties that already existed and how long did that take and how many dumbbideas were being tossed around. (Removing red line was good too but minor IMO compared to simply calling obvious interference, holding and hooking).
Playoff hockey is so amazing there is no reason that the NBA should be so much more popular given that pre bettman they were pretty close. Not that regular season is bad but I can't see any sports fan not getting hooked after watching an awesome playoff series.
I can't be more happy then beating the Leaf in a 7 games... with 3 win in a row.
God dam I love that.
All hail Price !
------------ On another note, dam I loved to see the Knights getting beat the shit out after they decided to bench Fleury ! what a dum ass move. Coach shouldn't be allowed to be behind the bench after this kind of dum ass call.
bwhahaa the memes are real "28 goalies" got me good xD This year's playoffs are already times better than the weird last year's one. COL in 5 BOS in 7 WPG in 6 TBL in 4
I agree on your take of the playoffs and your series predictions, other than I do think car will take a game or two and it wouldn't shock me if wpg swept the Habs.
On May 30 2021 05:04 JimmiC wrote: NBA does such a better job scheduling their playoff games they have 4 today and none over lap, the NHL has 2 and tehy are only 30 mins apart =-(
NBA does a lot of things much better than the NHL... Don't get me wrong, I love hockey, but there are certain things the NHL is unwilling to change that will always make it feel bush league compared to other organizations.
Yeah Sterns greatest move was shipping Betman to the NHL, he is awful. I mean the whole clutching and grabbing era was basically fixed by just calling penalties that already existed and how long did that take and how many dumbbideas were being tossed around. (Removing red line was good too but minor IMO compared to simply calling obvious interference, holding and hooking).
Playoff hockey is so amazing there is no reason that the NBA should be so much more popular given that pre bettman they were pretty close. Not that regular season is bad but I can't see any sports fan not getting hooked after watching an awesome playoff series.
I don't know if anyone listens to Michael Lewis' "Against the Rules" podcast, but it is excellent. In the first series (about referees) he visits the NBA Replay Centre and discusses the efforts made by the NBA to make officiating more objective and reliable. Unlike the NHL, they understood that fans can't have faith in a product if they can't have confidence in how the rules are applied.
The case is made that NBA referees might be the most scrutinized workforce in the entire country. Every call and non-call they make is reported on and provided to the officials and the teams after each game. Every call and non-call for the last few minutes of tight games is published by the NBA for everyone to see.
And surprise - NBA refs have gotten a lot better. They are objectively very good at their jobs now and the data supports this.
But the problem is that this kind of approach goes very much against the "good-old-boys" mentality that still drives the NHL. Referees often come from a handful of towns or families. They approach it like it's their divine duty to "control the game" as opposed to apply the rulebook.
I mean, how can a hockey fan have any kind of faith in what they're watching when we never know what the rules are at any given time and how they will be applied? It's always a total crapshoot. The refs figure that they are "letting them play" by calling an even number penalties (regardless of which team is actively performing far more infractions) and figuring out which rules to apply in the moment. This becomes even more egregious with automatic penalties like delay of game as, in the playoffs, you have players hacking and grabbing each other, making for a shit on-ice product, and then the only penalties that happen are when a dude misses the top of the glass by half-an-inch on a clearing (as an aside, this is a dumb penalty and should be treated like icing where players are unable to change). Refs spend more time looking for an opportunity for a make-up call than actually looking for penalties.
The NHL loves parity and their approach to playoff hockey is to dumb everything down so that the best players are your 3rd liners. A team "built for the playoffs" is a low-skill, clutching and grabbing team that can ride the opposition like a dogsled knowing that rules are subjective and NHL refs don't make calls in the playoffs. And my problem is it leads to shittier hockey.
I really think the NHL needs to take its officiating seriously if it's ever going to feel like a legitimate, professional sports league. It's just bush league at this point.
On May 30 2021 05:04 JimmiC wrote: NBA does such a better job scheduling their playoff games they have 4 today and none over lap, the NHL has 2 and tehy are only 30 mins apart =-(
NBA does a lot of things much better than the NHL... Don't get me wrong, I love hockey, but there are certain things the NHL is unwilling to change that will always make it feel bush league compared to other organizations.
Yeah Sterns greatest move was shipping Betman to the NHL, he is awful. I mean the whole clutching and grabbing era was basically fixed by just calling penalties that already existed and how long did that take and how many dumbbideas were being tossed around. (Removing red line was good too but minor IMO compared to simply calling obvious interference, holding and hooking).
Playoff hockey is so amazing there is no reason that the NBA should be so much more popular given that pre bettman they were pretty close. Not that regular season is bad but I can't see any sports fan not getting hooked after watching an awesome playoff series.
I don't know if anyone listens to Michael Lewis' "Against the Rules" podcast, but it is excellent. In the first series (about referees) he visits the NBA Replay Centre and discusses the efforts made by the NBA to make officiating more objective and reliable. Unlike the NHL, they understood that fans can't have faith in a product if they can't have confidence in how the rules are applied.
The case is made that NBA referees might be the most scrutinized workforce in the entire country. Every call and non-call they make is reported on and provided to the officials and the teams after each game. Every call and non-call for the last few minutes of tight games is published by the NBA for everyone to see.
And surprise - NBA refs have gotten a lot better. They are objectively very good at their jobs now and the data supports this.
But the problem is that this kind of approach goes very much against the "good-old-boys" mentality that still drives the NHL. Referees often come from a handful of towns or families. They approach it like it's their divine duty to "control the game" as opposed to apply the rulebook.
I mean, how can a hockey fan have any kind of faith in what they're watching when we never know what the rules are at any given time and how they will be applied? It's always a total crapshoot. The refs figure that they are "letting them play" by calling an even number penalties (regardless of which team is actively performing far more infractions) and figuring out which rules to apply in the moment. This becomes even more egregious with automatic penalties like delay of game as, in the playoffs, you have players hacking and grabbing each other, making for a shit on-ice product, and then the only penalties that happen are when a dude misses the top of the glass by half-an-inch on a clearing (as an aside, this is a dumb penalty and should be treated like icing where players are unable to change). Refs spend more time looking for an opportunity for a make-up call than actually looking for penalties.
The NHL loves parity and their approach to playoff hockey is to dumb everything down so that the best players are your 3rd liners. A team "built for the playoffs" is a low-skill, clutching and grabbing team that can ride the opposition like a dogsled knowing that rules are subjective and NHL refs don't make calls in the playoffs. And my problem is it leads to shittier hockey.
I really think the NHL needs to take its officiating seriously if it's ever going to feel like a legitimate, professional sports league. It's just bush league at this point.
I don't but I might now! Otherwise I just agree with everything you say and since we can't wrote reddit style plus one's I'll just send you a
Also all these leafs memes are cracking me up, I just saw a leafs symbol and stanely cup picture with the caption "socially distancing since 1967" 🤣