2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs

EAST

One seed Montreal Canadiens vs Eight seed Ottawa Senators
Two seed Tampa Bay Lightning vs Seven seed Detroit Red Wings
Three seed NY Rangers vs Six seed Pittsburgh Penguins
Four seed Washington Capitols vs Five seed NY Islanders


WEST

One seed Anaheim Ducks vs Eight seed Winnipeg Jets
Two seed Vancouver Canucks vs Seven seed Calgary Flames
Three seed StLouis Blues vs Six seed Minnesota Wild
Four seed Nashville Predators vs Five seed Chicago Blackhawks

So, the Ducks are the toast of the town here, since the Kings didn't make the playoffs. I'll be pulling for them. It seems very strange only having one California team to watch after the past decade of fairly consistent appearances by all three teams.

Max Pacioretty out for at least one game for Montreal, against the hottest team in the league coming into the playoffs in Ottawa...
Is it a one seed curse?

Lets do some picking.
1 point for correct series winner picked, 2 points for the winner and total games played in the series.
1 additional point for picking the winner of a Conference.
2 additional points for picking the Stanley Cup Winner.

Here are my picks for the first round:
Western Conference:
Anaheim over Winnipeg in six
Calgary over Vancouver in seven
St Louis over Minnesota in six
Nashville over Chicago in seven

Eastern Conference:
Montreal over Ottawa in six
Tampa Bay over Detroit in six
NY Rangers over Pittsburgh in five
Washington over NY Islanders in six

Notes:
Chicago got Kane back so they could go on a run, if Crosby/Malkin/Fleury were just faking it and turn it on in the playoffs the Rangers could be in trouble.

Okay

Here are my picks for the first round:
Western Conference:
Anaheim over Winnipeg in five
Vancouver over Calgary in seven
St Louis over Minnesota in six
Chicago over Nashville in six

Eastern Conference:
Montreal over Ottawa in seven
Tampa Bay over Detroit in five
NY Rangers over Pittsburgh in five
Washington over NY Islanders in six


Do I get any extra points for a prediction that there will be one mind bogglingly ugly game before the Montreal/Ottawa series is over?

Given how Subban moroned-out on the ice, and how Dave Cameron decided he just couldn't leave that alone and had to find a way to out-moron Subban after the game?

I think you should get a penalty for even bothering to predict it. It's like predicting that the 2016 Presidential campaign will be between a Republican and a Democrat.

Oh, and my predictions. Sorry I'm a bit late, the thread appeared only about an hour before the games. I've only seen the results of Ottawa-Montreal so far.

Montreal v Ottawa - Montreal in 7. Won one or not won one, I'm still picking more out of loyalty than any confidence.
Tampa v Detroit - Detroit in 6, actually. Even a declining Detroit is a formidable team, and it seems like one of the likelier upsets.
Rangers v Penguins - Rangers in 5. The Penguins are a shadow of their former selves, the Rangers are still a formidable SCF-level team.
Washington v Islanders - Isles in 7. Capitals should be better on paper, but while both team have excellent forwards, I'll take Halak over Holtby.

Anaheim vs Winnipeg - Anaheim in 6. I'm sorry Winnipeg, and I think you might be a bigger stumbling block than most anticipate...but it's not your time yet.
Vancouver vs Calgary - Calgary in 7, because history has shown that betting on the Nucks is never a good idea. They're note QUITE as choke-prone as the Sharks, but almost.
St Louis vs Minessota - Minnesota in 7. They would have seeded much higher if not for their bad start of the year. Solid team.
Chicago vs Nashville - Chicago in 5. Because it's Chicago. Kane is back. They'd have to stop playing to lose this one.

Oda Nobunaga said:

Given how Subban moroned-out on the ice, and how Dave Cameron decided he just couldn't leave that alone and had to find a way to out-moron Subban after the game?

I think you should get a penalty for even bothering to predict it. It's like predicting that the 2016 Presidential campaign will be between a Republican and a Democrat.

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Well, there is the possibility that every game will be close, which imposes a limit on stupidity. But if one gets out of hand, like a three goal lead, it will be a disaster. Somebody is likely to lumberjack Suban. If he had been on the ice at the end of this one they'd still be fighting.

One can only hope that after Cameron ran his mouth off like THAT, the League is going to give some very pointed instructions to officials about crap and the letting pass thereof.

(And a suspension to Subban. Just because Cameron's little outburst was absolutely freaking wrong doesn't mean that he was wrong to say Subban should be suspended).

EDIT: per news report, no suspension for Subban (though there is a possibility it may change overnight). Oh joy.

Oda Nobunaga said:

One can only hope that after Cameron ran his mouth off like THAT, the League is going to give some very pointed instructions to officials about crap and the letting pass thereof.

(And a suspension to Subban. Just because Cameron's little outburst was absolutely freaking wrong doesn't mean that he was wrong to say Subban should be suspended).

EDIT: per news report, no suspension for Subban (though there is a possibility it may change overnight). Oh joy.

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I see absolutely no way that determination has been made yet, so I find that report dubious at best.

I also see no way they can not suspend him, really, but I've been way off on that before.

I think it's because a multi-stage process. First the NHL has to decide to consider suplemental discipline for a case ; if they do there is a hearing (in-person if they're considering 5+ games) then they have to decide whether or not to actually impose any, and if so how much.

So the whole process taken together can take a while (usually a day or two). But that's IF the NHL decide to consider a case for additional discipline. Word from multiple sports journalist is that in this case they're disinclined to do so.

Oda Nobunaga said:

I think it's because a multi-stage process. First the NHL has to decide to consider suplemental discipline for a case ; if they do there is a hearing (in-person if they're considering 5+ games) then they have to decide whether or not to actually impose any, and if so how much.

So the whole process taken together can take a while (usually a day or two). But that's IF the NHL decide to consider a case for additional discipline. Word from multiple sports journalist is that in this case they're disinclined to do so.

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Clearly they are brain dead. That was a gross, intentional hack that either caused an injury or certainly could have...and it is almost certainly going to lead to frontier justice if they just let it go.

That's about the long and short of it. Should have been at least a game or two off the ice.

Their 'give up less than 2 goal' goalie better not be giving up 4 all series.

The guy wasn't hurt too bad it seems... he played some more. Penalize him and be done with it.

I think PK can take care of himself ... but I like these kind of series to watch. Less than 30 seconds to get things going .

Dang Nashville... they should have held on to that one.

dgfred said:

Their 'give up less than 2 goal' goalie better not be giving up 4 all series.

The guy wasn't hurt too bad it seems... he played some more. Penalize him and be done with it.

I think PK can take care of himself ... but I like these kind of series to watch. Less than 30 seconds to get things going .

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He played. Mostly one handed. He wasn't in any way effective. And no amount of Subban being able to 'take care of himself' can counter the effects of a good lumberjacking to the achilles, which is what he should probably be expecting. If the league doesn't punish dirty play, it still gets punished, usually by something dirtier.

It will certainly be a series to watch though.

Looks like the Predators made the fatal mistake of relaxing against a team that knows as much about winning playoff games as any team in the contest. Bad move.

Did the Islanders just pummel the Caps? I was watching the other game so didn't see it.

Vancouver isn't gritty enough. They'll get by the Flames on skill and experience, but that team will never get far in the playoffs as built.

He played one-handed? Didn't they have anybody else if he WAS hurt???

Lumberjacking PK will not do them much good IMO... but they may try.
I think he set the tone... and any retaliating will hurt the Sens.

dgfred said:

He played one-handed? Didn't they have anybody else if he WAS hurt???

Lumberjacking PK will not do them much good IMO... but they may try.
I think he set the tone... and any retaliating will hurt the Sens.

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He'd get iced, go out for a shift, and head back to the bench the first time anyone made any kind of contact for more ice. By the third period I think he was finally convinced that he just couldn't play...or maybe they just told him no forcefully enough.

Catching a defenseman in the heel behind the play isn't really hard if you are willing to be dirty enough, and I'm sure the Sens have someone on the roster they could spare for a couple games...better than Montreal can do without Subban anyway. But in that kind of war of attrition Montreal will be at an advantage for sure, because they have much better depth.

this just out... it fractured. He should not have come back in... and I apologize.

dgfred said:

this just out... it fractured. He should not have come back in... and I apologize.

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No apology needed. For clarity, did you see the actual play? I did, and I can't really see any defense for it. Stick overhead brought down in a two hander chop to the wrist, from an angle where the guy can't even see you...that's intent to injure unless you maybe buy into "I was aiming for his glove, not the bare wrist."

Subban had already talked the refs out of calling him for high sticking when he 'played' a puck that was a fully extended stick length above his head and then hit a guy (not very hard) on the way down. The only explanation I could see for that one was if he got them to buy into 'play stopped when I touched the puck so hitting dude in the head doesn't count'...which I don't really think is correct, but in the heat of the moment might sound reasonable...maybe...somehow...

Nah, it was a legit call, and I still think that (even by current NHL standards) a one-game time out would have been reasonable. (Keeping in mind that Gryba got all of two games for his dirty sheananigans two years ago, which were worse than this).

Of course if I were actually running the show, Gryba and Subban (and a metric heck-ton of other players) would be getting somewhat lengthier suspension very regularly.

Timsup2nothin said:

Do I get any extra points for a prediction that there will be one mind bogglingly ugly game before the Montreal/Ottawa series is over?

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A good prediction indeed!