*** OFFICIAL *** HABS BANDWAGON - ALL ABOARD!!!!!

[Bigfoot]

Well looks like TB is gonna sweep and go back to back. Team is a juggernaut

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

Two asterisk cups... couldnt beat the Hawks tho lol

 

[ruprecht]

Buh bye Canadiens.

 

[Bust]

Two asterisk cups... couldnt beat the Hawks tho lol

Lightning worked around the cap rules to their advantage. Other teams need to abuse the holes in the rules as well.
18 million over the cap is a huge advantage.

Lightning GM on salary cap decision: Everything 'done according to the rules'

Nikita Kucherov spent the regular season on long-term injured reserve following December hip surgery.

theathletic.com

On Thursday night, Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton pointed out how Tampa Bay used the salary-cap rules to its advantage.

"We lost to a team that's $18 million over the cap or whatever they are," he said. "I wasn’t knocking the rules or anything. You realize how many weapons they have, and if you think about how many more players you could have with the money, you realize how much deeper you’d be."

 

[greg23]

Broom job Canada and their gift of a team automatically in the semi finals.

Can't wait until next year when back to normal 2-3 teams make the playoffs and all are out by round 2

 

[hawkinmontreal]

Sorry Grim, having played in Quebec as an American I can tell you they despise Americans having anything to do with hockey. So **** them.

Please remove your dislike, it affects my P2L ratio

Slow down there buddy, yes quebeckers can be ignorant but to say they despise Americans having anything to do with hockey is a stretch. I have played hockey throughout North America, Americans were not so inviting on the opposite either, Yes they love there French local players, but they embrace any player supporting a Habs jersey. They are extremely competitive , hockey is life for many in Quebec, Montreal, so as much as I dislike the Montreal Canadians and there fanbase I can say **** you for being so close minded about one encounter you had playing up here.

 

[hawkinmontreal]

Broom job Canada and their gift of a team automatically in the semi finals.

Can't wait until next year when back to normal 2-3 teams make the playoffs and all are out by round 2

They did smoke Vegas, so being a gift of a team is stretch as well. There arent many teams in the league who can go head to head with the Tampa Bay all stars. They took full advantage of the division setup and had a decent run, but everyone knew Tampa wasn’t losing this year.

 

[greg23]

They did smoke Vegas, so being a gift of a team is stretch as well. There arent many teams in the league who can go head to head with the Tampa Bay all stars. They took full advantage of the division setup and had a decent run, but everyone knew Tampa wasn’t losing this year.

By gift, I mean Canada was assured of a team in the final 4.

That division was pitiful this year and Montreal wasn't any good....but finished 4th and then had an out of character 13 game run.

 

[hawkinmontreal]

By gift, I mean Canada was assured of a team in the final 4.

That division was pitiful this year and Montreal wasn't any good....but finished 4th and then had an out of character 13 game run.

Gotcha, yeah the division was poor, made Toronto look better than they actual were, but by no means was it the NHL intentions as such, with Covid is was the only way to go. Next season the league will be back to normal.

 

[RacerX]

Two asterisk cups... couldnt beat the Hawks tho lol

Not sure any of our Cup winning teams could have hung with this TB team, their roster is beyond stacked and coaching is top notch.

 

[HSBOB]

Not sure any of our Cup winning teams could have hung with this TB team, their roster is beyond stacked and coaching is top notch.

Cooper's coaching a team with a Norris D-man,a Vezina worthy GT and 2 or 3 of the best offensive players on the planet. They were also able to bolster the rest of the team with 18 million worth of cap space overage.
Cirelli re-signed for 4.8M back on Dec 24th knowing what they'd do with Kooctherov's money and there was no way they afford that otherwise.
Cooper beat(or will beat) two incredibly sisters in Dallas and the Habs who didn't even have their HC for the series.

I'm not saying Tampa isn't a well constructed team(100 million bucks will do that)but they beat the Cats in a tough series w/o Ekblad and the Isle in a game 7 with their Captain and best offensive player 1-0. Any good HC wins with that roster.

They're very good........Covid level competition and the cap made em a dynasty IMO.

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

Not sure any of our Cup winning teams could have hung with this TB team, their roster is beyond stacked and coaching is top notch.

$18M over the cap

 

[ruprecht]

Slow down there buddy, yes quebeckers can be ignorant but to say they despise Americans having anything to do with hockey is a stretch. I have played hockey throughout North America, Americans were not so inviting on the opposite either, Yes they love there French local players, but they embrace any player supporting a Habs jersey. They are extremely competitive , hockey is life for many in Quebec, Montreal, so as much as I dislike the Montreal Canadians and there fanbase I can say **** you for being so close minded about one encounter you had playing up here.

Firstly, **** you too then. Secondly, I loathe the Canadiens and their fanbase. So **** them again. Hope they never win another Cup.

 

[ruprecht]

Also lol at one encounter. That's rich

 

[hawkinmontreal]

Also lol at one encounter. That's rich

First and foremost I will agree that I hope the Canadians never win again as well, that’s something we can agree on, however, some of the best players whoever played the game are from Montreal, including CC who, if not for his stellar performance versus Tampa and Boston the Hawks do not win.
I am just curious, why was it so bad for you playing up here? and pardon me if you have been up here more times than I suggested.

 

[Raskolnikov]

They did smoke Vegas, so being a gift of a team is stretch as well. There arent many teams in the league who can go head to head with the Tampa Bay all stars. They took full advantage of the division setup and had a decent run, but everyone knew Tampa wasn’t losing this year.

The Islanders pushed them to a thin margin. A 4th place team in their division.

Avs and Bruins and Captitals had the depth to match-up with lightning but Kucherov is on another level.

When Kucherov was questionable for a couple games Barzal became best player on the ice and they nearly stole it.

 

[Raskolnikov]

I think one reason stands out more than the lax salary cap in the the Lightning repeat asterisk.

A constant right of passage in the NHL for Stanley Cup Champions is to take 82 "best shots" the following year. Teams only play you 4 times and instead of the usual tough games against divisional opponents and teams fighting for their lives you get punched in the mouth 82 times. Historically this has made repeats rare in the NHL.

Skill teams already seem to prevail in shortened seasons, so not only did the Lightning get gifted 2 shortened seasons to capitalize on, they had their peak year extended in salary and then didn't take more than a handful of shots at the champ as teams had other priorities stuck in 7 team bubbles.

It was more strategic to try to survive your 8 games against the Lightning than to test yourself against the champs. Sure enough...this is as healthy as the Lightning have been in 5 years. They have all their parts and the few teams that can match up to their bottom 6 depth while slowing down their power play just didn't make it to the dance.

 

[HSBOB]

I think one reason stands out more than the lax salary cap in the the Lightning repeat asterisk.

A constant right of passage in the NHL for Stanley Cup Champions is to take 82 "best shots" the following year. Teams only play you 4 times and instead of the usual tough games against divisional opponents and teams fighting for their lives you get punched in the mouth 82 times. Historically this has made repeats rare in the NHL.

Skill teams already seem to prevail in shortened seasons, so not only did the Lightning get gifted 2 shortened seasons to capitalize on, they had their peak year extended in salary and then didn't take more than a handful of shots at the champ as teams had other priorities stuck in 7 team bubbles.

It was more strategic to try to survive your 8 games against the Lightning than to test yourself against the champs. Sure enough...this is as healthy as the Lightning have been in 5 years. They have all their parts and the few teams that can match up to their bottom 6 depth while slowing down their power play just didn't make it to the dance.

Second consecutive season where LV and the Avs allowed the weakest of sisters to advance to the finals.....embarressing!

Tampa also saw 28.5% of their regular season games against the Hawks and BJ's.......LOFL!!!!!

Ekblad had 11gls/22pts in his first 35 games before his injury,he sees MASSIVE 5 on 5 minutes against opponesnt's top lines and he's Fla's best PK guy too.....that hurt!
Beat the Isle 1-0 in a game seven and Lee's their best offensive player and captain......that hurt too!

At least we now know what 100 million bucks buys a team.

 

[Raskolnikov]

Second consecutive season where LV and the Avs allowed the weakest of sisters to advance to the finals.....embarressing!

Tampa also saw 28.5% of their regular season games against the Hawks and BJ's.......LOFL!!!!!

Ekblad had 11gls/22pts in his first 35 games before his injury,he sees MASSIVE 5 on 5 minutes against opponesnt's top lines and he's Fla's best PK guy too.....that hurt!
Beat the Isle 1-0 in a game seven and Lee's their best offensive player and captain......that hurt too!

At least we now know what 100 million bucks buys a team.

I dont know why you wouldn't include the Red Wings in your lols. Better make it 42.5% games against trash.

 

[HSBOB]

I dont know why you wouldn't include the Red Wings in your lols. Better make it 42.5% games against trash.

I'll have to credit that omission to hittin' the pipe this morning(LOL).......good catch and YIKES......DOUBLE YIKES!