NHL Hockey thread

[Valmy]

I have this bold prediction to make: Montréal will not be back in the finals this season.

[Grey Fox]

Homme de peu de foi, va!

[Barrister]

*bump*

So NHL playoffs...  Edmonton Oilers are now down 3 games to 2 against the LA Kings, in a series the Oilers were expected to dominate.

I have to admit I'm conflicted.  On the one hand I live in Edmonton, tons of people I know love the Oilers, and they would be very happy if they win this series.

On the other hand - I hate the Oilers.  Always have, ever since I was a kid.

[Grey Fox]

Who expected them to dominate the Kings? The Oilers are a 2 man team with no great goalie. Plus, when big McD gets rattled he wants to do everything by himself. Easy to counter.

Dumb hockey players signing LTCs with badly run teams.

[Jacob]

Who expected them to dominate the Kings?

Oilers fans, probably.

[HVC]

Toronto is preparing the parade route as we speak.

[Barrister]

And because you are all dying to know the latest Winnipeg Jets news...

Jets long-term coach Paul Maurice resigned mid-way through the season.  Jets promoted assistant coach Dave Lowry to be interim coach (he's also father of Jets player Adam Lowry).  It didn't really work, as the Jets missed the playoffs.  The Jets, in their typical Jets way, announced that Lowry could apply for the full time position - Lowry declined to do so.

So the Jets are looking for a new coach.  Media has been going through the usual collection of retreads to speculate - until Monday.  On Monday the NY Islanders fired coach Barry Trotz for missing the playoffs (despite making them each of the 3 years previously, and despite winning the Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals before that).

Could Barry Trotz be coming to Winnipeg?

Normally you'd dismiss talk of a high-profile candidate like that coming to lowly Winnipeg.  But there's an ace in the hole - Trotz's hometown is Dauphin, Manitoba.  He comes back to Manitoba every summer.  He brought the Cup back here when he won it with the Caps.  He got his start coaching with the University of Manitoba Bisons.  And apparently he closely follows the Jets.

[Valmy]

Congrats Montreal on winning the Shane Wright lottery.

I am so used to the Caps losing OT games in the playoffs I almost turned it off on Monday. I should have. Now I am all depressed. Hope for better things tonight.

[viper37]

Normally you'd dismiss talk of a high-profile candidate like that coming to lowly Winnipeg.  But there's an ace in the hole - Trotz's hometown is Dauphin, Manitoba.  He comes back to Manitoba every summer.  He brought the Cup back here when he won it with the Caps.  He got his start coaching with the University of Manitoba Bisons.  And apparently he closely follows the Jets.

That would be a nice catch

[viper37]

Congrats Montreal on winning the Shane Wright lottery.

Within two years, he will be center #1 in MTL.  Then, halfway through the season, he'll be benched, relegated to #2 center. By the time the training camp begins, he'll be #4 and will be exchanged before Christmas for some defenseman and a choice at the next draft.

This is the (Montreal) way.  It is known.

[viper37]

Now I am all depressed.

There's no reason to be depressed:
Sidney Crosby Has Turned Back the Clock

Crosby has shown no signs of slowing down, only getting better and elevating his play at the precise moment the Penguins needed him to. That's what Crosby does.

Let's be clear about something right off the hop: Sidney Crosby never left. 
Sure, a few shiny new toys named Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews dramatically burst onto the scene in recent years to tear up the record books and absorb all the media attention for their nightly showcases of on-ice wizardry. But Crosby has only continued to chug along at his typically elite clip throughout this, quietly scoring at his highest per-game rate this season since 2018-19 with an impressive 84 points in 69 games despite starting the year on the injured reserve. 
Crosby's place among the NHL's elite was never in doubt. He may no longer be the league's consensus top player as he was during his prime, but he's certainly keeping himself, at the very least, in the vicinity of the conversation -- even at 34 years old. 
What he's managed to do through the first four games of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, however, should thrust him right back into the middle of it. 
The Penguins rode into the playoffs this year on a cloud of dour pessimism. 
The depleted group that fought injuries and health scares all year long dropped 11 of its final 17 games to cap off the season, nine of which came in regulation, all while their starting goaltender succumbed to yet another serious ailment at the worst possible moment before one of their franchise pillars earned himself a four-game suspension. 
Ceding home-ice advantage to the rival New York Rangers and their Vezina-favorite puck-stopper was merely the icing on this very sad cake, plunging expectations among the Pittsburgh fanbase to a season-low. 
Then Crosby re-entered the fray, as he's want to do, and has proceeded to drag them back up into the stratosphere.  
No one should be surprised. And yet, we still are. 
Crosby has turned back the clock through four games of postseason action thus far. The pride of Cole Harbour has carried the Penguins to an improbable 3-1 series lead against the higher-seeded Rangers, with Crosby's nine points in four games landing him just one point shy of the league lead, while his seven assists pace the field. 
Vintage Crosby is a transcendent player -- good enough to plaster over other would-be fatal roster flaws such as relying on third-stringer Louis Domingue, minutes removed from devouring a full meal, as your goaltending savior. 
Credit to Domingue, of course, whose .906 save percentage through four appearances and three starts is better than anyone could've expected. But few teams would be able to weather the losses the Penguins have been dealt and still sit poised to knock off the 110-point Rangers in five games. 
A team with Sidney Crosby can. That's what he brings at the height of his powers. 

But it hasn't just been box-score gold that Crosby has spun. No, Crosby's underlying numbers illustrate a player who, while carrying the second-largest even-strength workload of any Penguins forward, has completely and utterly dominated the opposition in every facet of the game whenever he's stepped on the ice. 
In over 73 minutes of even-strength ice time to this point in the series, Crosby's ridiculous 73.26 percent scoring-chance share is exceeded only by his otherworldly 76.67 percent expected-goals share. 
Those are some gaudy numbers. But math can be confusing, so it's important to break down just what exactly they mean. 
Despite drawing the toughest matchups his opponent can possibly throw at him, Crosby's play has tilted the ice in Pittsburgh's favor when it comes to scoring chance generation and the possession game for roughly 75 percent of his overall even-strength usage. And considering how Crosby has logged more even-strength minutes than all but one of his fellow forwards, the Penguins essentially control the two most vital facets of play for a staggering chunk of each contest -- earning the series lead to show for it. 
Factor in all situations outside of five-on-five, and Crosby's workload only grows to his heaviest in well over a decade. But he's shown no signs of slowing down in spite of this, only getting better and elevating his play at the precise moment the Penguins needed him to. 
He's once again given the Pittsburgh faithful a hero. The same hero they've relied on for the past 15 years and counting. 
That's what Crosby does. When the odds are the longest, and when onlookers have counted him out, Sid the Kid finds a way to reach new levels that few thought possible. 
These playoffs have showcased exactly that. And the most terrifying part is, he's only getting started. Again. 

See, Valmy?  All is good. 

[Grey Fox]

Viper is a Debby Downer but he is right. No center thrives in Montreal. This is the way.

First time in my life they have the 1st overall choice. I'm pretty hyped.

[Valmy]

Yeah I hope I get to suffer the curse of the Pens one more time. Right now we have the Panthers being all #1 seed at us.

Hey look a goal! Stupid hope...flowing through me. THIS IS OUR YEAR AGAIN! THIS VERSION OF THE CAPS WILL DO IT ONE MORE TIME!!!! IT IS THEIR DESTINY!!!!1111111

[Valmy]

Well that was the most 2022 Caps thing ever. Our goal tending is trash.

Just horrid. I fucking hate Florida. Screw those guys and their fake fairweather fans.

[HVC]

I'm surprised there aren't any Ukrainian flags at the Florida home games.  You'd think it'd be. A great way to taunt the caps.