Posted on 05/27/2018 1:48:49 PM PDT by airborne
Vegas Golden Knights vs. Washington Capitals
Golden Knights: 12-3 (defeated Los Angeles Kings 4-0 in first round, San Jose Sharks 4-2 in second round, Winnipeg Jets 4-1 in third round)
Capitals: 12-7 (defeated Columbus Blue Jackets 4-2 in first round, Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 in second round, Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in third round)
Season series: VGK 2-0-0; WSH 0-2-0
(Excerpt) Read more at nhl.com ...
Give some cred to the Jets! They lasted the longest and that team and their fans have heart!!!!!
The decision was absolutely asinine, insane, and any other pejorative term you can come up with. It set the Panthers back a decade.
And, lo and behold, the fledgling Golden Knights—in their first season, and coached by the discarded Gallant—have made, and are likely to win, the Stanley Cup Finals.
That could be the Panthers there instead, fighting for the Cup.
Firing Gerard Gallant was quite possibly the biggest coaching personnel blunder in sports history—certainly the biggest in NHL history...
Nosebleed seats $780! Parking not included.
Go Caps!!!!
I think the Arizona Diamondbacks made the playoffs in their first season of major league baseball, but didn’t win the world series until 2001.
I’m wrong. Just checked. The Diamondbacks made the playoffs in their second season.
I believe the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup was 1993. Ouch!
It simply the genius of management. Who do we draft? Why, THESE GUYS. Ovie wins the Cup....you heard it here first.
Amen. NO ONE gives up their body like Alex.
Welcome to the team!
I don’t think it’s an embarrassment. Indeed, it surely raises the price that an owner would pay for a new franchise.
For the Vegas draft, teams could protect only one goalie and either (8 skaters) or (7 forwards and 3 defensemen).
The previous few expansion drafts have allowed protecting 1-2 goalies and 10-14 skaters.
From what I’ve read, Seattle will get essentially the same deal Vegas did (unless of course they get a relocated franchise instead of an expansion team).
Defensive systems have been around for a long time. What's interesting now is that they've actually become less important than ever before. Teams don't play "defensive systems" as much as they play "possession hockey" these days.
Starting around ten years ago, possession metrics became a very big part of scouting and coaching in hockey. The rationale was that the best way to play defense is to keep possession of the puck and keep it in the offensive zone as much as possible. This major transformation was solidified with the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, when Canada employed it to perfection to win the gold medal. They spent much of the tournament putting a line of Jonathan Toews, Jeff Carter and Patrick Marleau out there against the top lines of the opposing teams. These guys aren't defensive stars by any measure, but they shut down the opposition simply by maintaining possession for long stretches of time in the offensive zone.
No more artistry or skill? That's ludicrous. Just a sample of the kinds of skill and coordination NHL players have these days:
Rackell's ridiculous deflection goal
Ridiculous saucer pass on 2-on-1
Kovalchuk one-timer off the crossbar (he consistently aimed to score goals this way)
I can see why some of this is hard to appreciate. The game simply moves too fast to capture this as it actually occurs. The second link I posted above is a perfect example of this. The defenseman coming back to defend the 2-on-1 plays it perfectly, diving and stretching to cover the passing lane between the passer and the shooter. But the guy carrying the puck into the zone passes it right over him to his linemate streaking down the middle of the ice.
What's most ridiculous about that play is that the announcers didn't even realize how magnificent the pass was!
Fleury! Fleury! Fleury!
Please put me on the ping list.
What makes this one so beautiful is that it was planned and executed perfectly -- from the positioning of the defenseman to the faceoff win to the deliberate shot wide of the goal to the perfect deflection off the crossbar on the far side of the goal.
Love your post. Also please don’t forget the goalie skill and athleticism. These guys are leaded down with pads and pounds and pounds of sweat, and they fly, split, and use unearthly hand eye coordination, these top goalies. They are a joy to watch.
I wish I was experienced enough as a fan to understand team defense strategies. I have to have them explained to me. And I still don’t see them. But I love the game more than any other team sport ever.
Fleury! Fleury! Fleury!
It's also worth noting that conducting an expansion draft in the salary cap era gives another huge advantage to the drafting team: The other teams are willing to trade the new team draft picks in exchange for agreeing to take a specific player. This is exactly what happened with Marc-Andre Fleury. Las Vegas didn't just pick him because he was available. Pittsburgh gave LV a second round pick in the 2020 draft to take him off Pittsburgh's hands!
What?? How?? Perfection. Thanks.
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