NHL 2015, Part 3: Stanley Cup and Offseason

[Bomber]

Re: NHL 2015, Part 3: Stanley Cup and Offseason

No more hockey.

[hockeyplayer1015]

Re: NHL 2015, Part 3: Stanley Cup and Offseason

So, word was that the Cup and handlers left their hotel at puck drop to start the game on the outskirts of the city. Due to traffic/etc, they were late-ish.

[Gurtholfin]

Re: NHL 2015, Part 3: Stanley Cup and Offseason

No more hockey.

Speak for yourself. I play tomorrow and Thursday... every week.

I don't get an offseason like the prima donnas we watched tonight.


I'm good with a break - especially when my team ends on top.

Time to get on with summer.

[trixR4kids]

Re: NHL 2015, Part 3: Stanley Cup and Offseason

Lolwot?

You argued that the Brewers shouldn't be in rebuild mode because despite the fact that they were barely above .500 last year and the rest of the division got stronger in the off season. So yeah, funny how you conveniently forgot about that.

I wasn't wrong about Toews, the stats disagree with you but like most things involving science and stats you'll probably just ignore it and pretend you're right ("black people get arrested for the same crimes as whites at a higher rate because they're more obvious about the crimes they commit, my friend told me so!") because you're a halfwit.

[pgb-ohio]

Re: NHL 2015, Part 3: Stanley Cup and Offseason

One Goal Achieved x 3.
Very Cool.

...dynasty or whatever you want to call it, it's been a heckuva run for the Hawks and has been a really fun ride.

Best team of the 2010's so far.
Best team in the salary cap era so far.
Before taking it any further, we need to see the years immediately ahead -- and digest it all.

Early summer for me has become a tradition of games that matter every other night with friends and family coming over to hang and watch and celebrate.
Hopefully we get another 6 years just like it!
Wouldn't that be great?

Yes. Yes it would.

I don't think this is the last that we'll see of Tampa.
I enjoyed the series against the Bruins more, but in some ways, the Lightning were a bigger pain to play against - in a good way.

Couldn't agree more. Have a ton of respect for Tampa. The way they play, their players, their coach, the works.

Could be that everything from the 2015 Cup Run, including the sheer emotion of it, is just too fresh for me to be objective. But right here and now, my feeling is that this was the toughest of the three Cups to win. Further, Anaheim 2015 and Tampa 2015 were the two toughest opponents over the six year period. Absolutely no disrespect to any of the other playoff opponents, of course.

[MinnesotaNorthStar]

Re: NHL 2015, Part 3: Stanley Cup and Offseason

So, if you replace two of the best players in the NHL with two of the other best players in the NHL, you'll get the same results? No s***.

[Gurtholfin]

Re: NHL 2015, Part 3: Stanley Cup and Offseason

You argued that the Brewers shouldn't be in rebuild mode because despite the fact that they were barely above .500 last year and the rest of the division got stronger in the off season. So yeah, funny how you conveniently forgot about that.

I wasn't wrong about Toews, the stats disagree with you but like most things involving science and stats you'll probably just ignore it and pretend you're right ("black people get arrested for the same crimes as whites at a higher rate because they're more obvious about the crimes they commit, my friend told me so!") because you're a halfwit.

Never change Trixie.

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: NHL 2015, Part 3: Stanley Cup and Offseason

So, if you replace two of the best players in the NHL with two of the other best players in the NHL, you'll get the same results? No s***.

Yeah, I don't get his argument. The two players he's replacing are still two of the best players in the World. So what the **** is the point?

[The Sicatoka]

Re: NHL 2015, Part 3: Stanley Cup and Offseason

Five years and six days ago, I asked a question.

Two Stanley Cups and another Olympic Gold later, I re-ask the question:

From June 10, 2010 @ 9:04 AM

{stand by, firestorm to follow}

In the last five years putting all this onto the resume:

- 2006 and 2007 World Junior Champion
- 2007 World Champion
- 2010 Olympic Champion, including top tournament forward
- 2010 Stanley Cup Champion (team captain) and Conn Smythe winner (playoff MVP)

Is Jonathan Toews the best forward on Earth today?

I can't think of another guy right now that I'd start a team with; not Crosby, not Ovechkin.

I ask that question not about shots, or skating, or other cybermetrics; I ask that question from the point of view of who else has that will to win and backs it up with skills ... and by winning.

[trixR4kids]

Re: NHL 2015, Part 3: Stanley Cup and Offseason

So, if you replace two of the best players in the NHL with two of the other best players in the NHL, you'll get the same results? No s***.

Well apparently this is a revelation to some people who think Toews is just so clutch and better than Crosby/Getzlaf/Bergeron because he's played on a better team.

[Gurtholfin]

Re: NHL 2015, Part 3: Stanley Cup and Offseason

Yeah, I don't get his argument. The two players he's replacing are still two of the best players in the World. So what the **** is the point?

The reason it's an asinine position to take - from a guy who routinely takes asinine positions - is that it assumes that these are all interchangeable parts. That you can plug a player in a slot and if they have similar or better attributes, you will automatically get similar or better results.

That is a fallacy as it doesn't take into account intangibles such as team chemistry, leadership qualities, the will to win, the ability to function under duress, the size of one's nuts, etc...

It's the video game GM mode mentality. "Well I did it in NHL 12 and I won a Cup with the Bruins coz I traded blah blah blah..."


Same mentality exists within fan bases. "A much cheaper player from the AHL could fill Shaw's role."

Maybe... most likely not. Shaw is where he is, not because of his skill set, but because of his considerable intangibles. There are thousands of guys in the world who are not in the NHL who have better attributes than Andrew Shaw. But only Andrew Shaw does exactly what Andrew Shaw does and fits the chemistry of this Chicago Blackhawks team. While maybe not unique in the world, he fits this group at this time.


To say that 10 different centers of similar or greater talent could be substituted for Toews and that the Hawks would get the same results discounts the 8 (or so) years that he has put in and the leadership that he has shown and the chemistry that he has helped to foster within this group.

As I said, an asinine position to take from a guy who likes to stir the pot... or is just an idiot.

[WeAreNDHockey]

Re: NHL 2015, Part 3: Stanley Cup and Offseason

Well apparently this is a revelation to some people who think Toews is just so clutch and better than Crosby/Getzlaf/Bergeron because he's played on a better team.

Serious question but are you an accountant or someone who works with numbers and such as absolutes? How else is it you arrive at the conclusion that players are just different parts to be plugged into the equation? Sort of like 3 + 7 + 11 = 21 and 7X3 = 21. There is so much more to Toews game (or Crosby or Stamkos or any other great player) that just the raw numbers they put up.

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: NHL 2015, Part 3: Stanley Cup and Offseason

Well apparently this is a revelation to some people who think Toews is just so clutch and better than Crosby/Getzlaf/Bergeron because he's played on a better team.

Having see team sports at the youth level to the pro level for many many years I call BS. Team sports aren't just about having the best players it's also about having the right players. You can't put that into your formula though cause it's not math.

[icehawk]

Having see team sports at the youth level to the pro level for many many years I call BS. Team sports aren't just about having the best players it's also about having the right players. You can't put that into your formula though cause it's not math.

1980 Olympic team comes to mind.

[FreshFish]

Re: NHL 2015, Part 3: Stanley Cup and Offseason

Team sports aren't just about having the best players it's also about having the right players.

I've seen some teams with great individual players on them that, when put under pressure, lose their composure, while other teams have that person with that hard-to-measure skill of keeping everyone else on an even keel. Some teams are just so much better than the sum total of their individual players.

I was impressed by the way the 'Hawks could absorb the Lightning pressure without getting rattled, and how they could remain focused without getting frustrated even when so many chances just didn't quite go in.