April Fools joke. I wonder how many Oilers fans had a heart attack reading that?No surprise. No wonder no Canadian based team has won the Cup since the Habs in 1993. Is the fix in?
"“The Oilers have been playing very well lately, and we respect that,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. “But if these teams want a higher salary cap next season, we’re going to need more home playoff dates in places like Los Angeles.”"
Connor McDavid suspended six games for “unnecessary” hit on Kings defenseman (msn.com)
New ownership(the Fenway group) cleans house. I assume they didn't fire the coaching staff to allow the new GM to make that decision. It will be interesting to see how they proceed. Do they try and compete with Crosby and Malkin in their older years, or do they tear down and rebuild. Time for Garry Bettman to arrange another first overall draft pick for the Penguins.On the heels of their first missed playoffs in 17 years, Pittsburgh is cleaning house. How Hextall had a job in the first place is beyond me. And Burke is way past his prime.
Penguins fire President of Hockey Operations Brian Burke, GM Ron Hextall | TSN
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced on Friday that they are firing president of hockey operations Brian Burke, general manager Ron Hextall, and assistant general manager Chris Pryor.www.tsn.ca
Never take ESPN seriously when it comes to NHL.So I just finished reading a playoff preview on ESPN’s website. Kristen Shilton previewed the East and Ryan Clark previewed the West. In his “bold predictions”, Clark said Connor McDavid will win the Conn Smythe. But he also says that the Kings will win at least 2 rounds. Well the Kings play the Oilers in the first round, so how exactly will McDavid win
the Conn Smythe if his team is eliminated in the first round?
Incidentally, Shilton predicts that the Leafs will SWEEP the Lightning, and Florida will beat Boston in the first round.
bruins in 5 isles in 7 nj in 7 tampa in 7. jets in 6 avs in 6 dallas in 6 Kings in 7.Never take ESPN seriously when it comes to NHL.
KD's 1st round playoff predictions (these you can take seriously)
EASTERN CONFERENCE
#1 Boston vs WC#2 Florida. At the beginning of this season I thought Florida would contend for 1st in the East. But their defense has been a letdown, Ekblad in particular. And besides the Tkachuk line their offense has been subpar as well. Bobrovsky isn't a very good goaltender either. I can't see any path for them to beat the Bruins but they could sneak in a couple of wins. Bruins 4-2
#2 Carolina vs WC#1 New York Islanders. This series could be a defensive battle, both teams know how to play in their own end. Islanders also play a physical game and will give the Canes all they can handle. I think this series goes the distance but the better team, Carolina, should prevail.
#3 New Jersey vs #6 New York Rangers. The Devils are no doubt an exciting up and coming team led by emerging star Jack Hughes. But I don't think they will be able to handle the Rangers who went on a deep playoff run last year and are battle tested. The Rags in 6.
#4 Toronto vs. #5 Tampa Bay. The Leafs never do anything easy. But I think they learned from last years defeat and added key players like Acciari, O'Reilly and Lafferty at the deadline. I also expect that AM34 will be a beast. Leafs in 6.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
#1 Vegas vs WC#2 Winnipeg. This has upset written all over it. Vegas is lacking a proven netminder and while they get Mark Stone back, he's been out for an extended period and won't be close to 100%. Jets have firepower and one of t he best goalies in the world. I'm calling Jets in 7.
#2 Colorado vs WC#1 Seattle. The Avalanche are defending SC champions and are coming into the playoffs in very fine form. Although Makar's health is somewhat of a concern. I'm sure the Kraken will give them all they can handle as they will be playing loose. But they just don't have the talent level to compete over an entire series. Avs should win in 5 but at least two wins will be in OT.
#3 Dallas vs #6 Minnesota. I like the Stars a lot and I think they would be my favorites to come out of the Western conference if I had to make the call now. I think Minny will get Kaprizov back but I don't see how they stack up against a deep squad like Dallas. Stars will dispose of them in 5.
#4 Edmonton vs #5 Los Angeles. I certainly did not see the Kings performing this well but they are a sneaky good team who could surprise. They had the 4th best PP% in the league. Of course the Oilers were #1. This should be a pretty high scoring series But in the end I have to go with McDavid, Draisaitl & Co. The acquisition of Ekholm will also be key to their victory. Oilers in 7.
I'm looking forward to the Kings/Oilers series.This should be a pretty high scoring series But in the end I have to go with McDavid, Draisaitl & Co. The acquisition of Ekholm will also be key to their victory. Oilers in 7.
I stayed up for most of the game last night flipping back and forth between that and Dallas-Min. Very entertaining and close battles. Kings with an impressive comeback in OT. Dallas didn't look as sharp as I thought they would be but did dominate in the 3rd period. Minnesota goalie Gustavsson is impressive. I bet nobody knew that he had the 2nd best GAA of any qualifying goalie this past season.I'm looking forward to the Kings/Oilers series.
The Oilers are the first team in almost 30 years to have three separate players who have all scored 100+ points on the season: McDavid, Draissitl and Nugent-Hopkins.
The Kings traded at the deadline to improve their goaltending immensely.
We're very fortunate to have opportunity to watch Connor McDavid in his prime.
This one would be worth staying up late to watch.
i thought it was a good hit, just lke the mcabe hit last night.,Thoughts on this Dumba hit on Pavelski?
Did you watch the video of the hit I posted? You can clearly see Dumba make a conscious decision to lunge into Pavelski knowing that he had already released the puck.It was gratifying to watch Winnipeg control the game against Vegas last night - that looks promising.
In the third period when Vegas had to mount a comeback they only got 2 shots on net the whole period. Well played, Jets. Looking forward to more.
The Matt Dumba hit on Pavelski: there was no head contact. It wasn't particularly late; Pavelski had just unloaded the puck so it wasn't interference.
After calling a major the refs looked at the video replay and decided there was no penalty at all; it's hard to argue with that.