Playoff Bracket Thread

[Granada]

Many of the more seasoned fans will say that the more quality icetime with more responsibilities for a kid developing, the better. Dach, aside from the play-in, wasn't doing much in the top-2 and was pushed to the bottom pair.

At that point, in my opinion as he wasn't responding he should have been sent down to a lower league to have more quality icetime with more responsibility for the team in question. Playing top center in Rockford would have done him more good than playing 3rd line center for the 'hawks.

Of course, in retrospect. Giving him a chance over some retread or incoming overpaid UFA center needed to happen, but once he stopped working the team should have regrouped and rethought the plan for him moving forward.

Besides, it's not like he'd be the only player who came up, was overwhelmed, and then went down to work on his game.

Eh, somewhat disagree. I feel like Dach was progressing until he injured his wrist, and he shouldn't have been sent down before that. That's where everything changed. He wasn't lighting up the lamp every night, but he didn't look like a fish out of water at this level; and still doesn't.

I'm hoping Davidson retains him; and if he does, you keep him up and see if he can work his way out of this. Sending him down now would do more harm than good at this point. Let this year be make or break. Dach may never develop into a superstar, but he can still very well develop into a top-six player.

 

[Granada]

Wish the Rangers could have held that lead and went up 3-0. Zibanejad was puck-watching hard on that GWG.

 

[hawkinmontreal]

Colorado in the finals, no surprise. Edmonton can’t win with 2 players and horrid goalie.

 

[hawkinmontreal]

Wish the Rangers could have held that lead and went up 3-0. Zibanejad was puck-watching hard on that GWG.

It’s going to take everything in the tank for the Rangers to beat Tampa, and if they achieve that, the Avs will be there for a quick series and capture the cup.

 

[LordKOTL]

Colorado in the finals, no surprise. Edmonton can’t win with 2 players and horrid goalie.

Being a bastard, I think McDavid never wins the cup. Kinda like Hockey's Dan Marino.

 

[LordKOTL]

Eh, somewhat disagree. I feel like Dach was progressing until he injured his wrist, and he shouldn't have been sent down before that. That's where everything changed. He wasn't lighting up the lamp every night, but he didn't look like a fish out of water at this level; and still doesn't.

I'm hoping Davidson retains him; and if he does, you keep him up and see if he can work his way out of this. Sending him down now would do more harm than good at this point. Let this year be make or break. Dach may never develop into a superstar, but he can still very well develop into a top-six player.

One thing we do agree on:

Give Dach a year or two (max) show me deal. If he can't show some improvement then we cut ties with him.

 

[Granada]

It’s going to take everything in the tank for the Rangers to beat Tampa, and if they achieve that, the Avs will be there for a quick series and capture the cup.

Agree. Avs just look too powerful. Losing Kadri is indeed a big loss, but even without him, they're just too stacked. Only real question is their goalie now that Kuemper is out, but even then, you can win with a so-so goalie if you're stacked enough. JT Compher is playing huge now too -- you always need that depth scoring.

If Tampa wins, it may be a different story; but if the Rangers win, I think the Avs dispatch them fairly quickly.

How you feeling about all this offense in this year's playoffs? It's hard to say it isn't garbage hockey, but it is humorous. It's exactly what the league and ESPN want, considering more offense is evidently the only way to appeal to new American fans. I'm not huge into conspiracies normally, but I do think it was directed by the league to call more penalties in this year's playoffs -- there's just been way too many soft calls, blatant soft calls to boot. It can't be a coincidence that this is occurring during the first year that ESPN picked the sport up again.

Seeing the Oil blow it and get swept was pretty funny.

 

[Granada]

One thing we do agree on:

Give Dach a year or two (max) show me deal. If he can't show some improvement then we cut ties with him.

Yes, definitely agree there. It will not hurt at all to give him some more time, especially considering we'll be rebuilding anyway.

 

[hawkinmontreal]

Agree. Avs just look too powerful. Losing Kadri is indeed a big loss, but even without him, they're just too stacked. Only real question is their goalie now that Kuemper is out, but even then, you can win with a so-so goalie if you're stacked enough. JT Compher is playing huge now too -- you always need that depth scoring.

If Tampa wins, it may be a different story; but if the Rangers win, I think the Avs dispatch them fairly quickly.

How you feeling about all this offense in this year's playoffs? It's hard to say it isn't garbage hockey, but it is humorous. It's exactly what the league and ESPN want, considering more offense is evidently the only way to appeal to new American fans. I'm not huge into conspiracies normally, but I do think it was directed by the league to call more penalties in this year's playoffs -- there's just been way too many soft calls, blatant soft calls to boot. It can't be a coincidence that this is occurring during the first year that ESPN picked the sport up again.

Seeing the Oil blow it and get swept was pretty funny.

The Hawks were stacked and had Niemi, Colorado will do ok without Darcy.

 

[hawkinmontreal]

Agree. Avs just look too powerful. Losing Kadri is indeed a big loss, but even without him, they're just too stacked. Only real question is their goalie now that Kuemper is out, but even then, you can win with a so-so goalie if you're stacked enough. JT Compher is playing huge now too -- you always need that depth scoring.

If Tampa wins, it may be a different story; but if the Rangers win, I think the Avs dispatch them fairly quickly.

How you feeling about all this offense in this year's playoffs? It's hard to say it isn't garbage hockey, but it is humorous. It's exactly what the league and ESPN want, considering more offense is evidently the only way to appeal to new American fans. I'm not huge into conspiracies normally, but I do think it was directed by the league to call more penalties in this year's playoffs -- there's just been way too many soft calls, blatant soft calls to boot. It can't be a coincidence that this is occurring during the first year that ESPN picked the sport up again.

Seeing the Oil blow it and get swept was pretty funny.

I don’t think there Is a conspiracy, take Edmonton versus Colorado, both teams are loaded with goal scorers, Tampa, NY same both teams are loaded with goal,scorers, I just feel the old New Jersey Devils strategy when it comes to the playoffs have been laid to rest. Tampa can score at will, if you have any opportunity in competing with them you need to build your team the same way. I have found that the defensive side of the game has been lacking by all teams, it’s just run and gun. The refs have been calling some really soft penalties but the league in general just has more top end offensive talent that has been seen in a while.

 

[LordKOTL]

Yes, definitely agree there. It will not hurt at all to give him some more time, especially considering we'll be rebuilding anyway.

Yep, as long as it's not too much time. 1, 2 years max should be enough to see progress. I'm not expecting perfection, just progress. If he's supposed to still be one of our next centers I don't think it would be too much to ask him to hit 40% at the dot and hit 30 points on the year next season; both should be achievable if he works at it this summer. The way I see it though is if he doesn't show improvement by the start of the 2025 season I don't think he'll show improvement by 2026 or 2027. At that point he'd either be a de facto bust or he just won't progress with us. But if he does start progressing with a show-me deal, we should easily have money for him.

 

[Granada]

It's always been a pet-peeve of mine when a fighter gestures or tries to hype up the crowd even after losing the fight. That's what Hagel did last night, at least in my eyes. He certainly didn't win, maybe one could call it a draw, but I'd say he straight lost (he landed one punch and it was directly to the Vatrano's helmet). Not sure why Vatrano didn't just continue to pounce because he was in complete control of the fight early, but then he kept trying to get Hagel's jersey over his head; that's when Hagel snuck one.

Anyways, Systerkin didn't have a great game last night. Rangers are very lucky they have home-ice -- that may be the one thing that may save them/Systerkin. Still a tall order though now that Tampa has their rhythm now.

Ryan Lindgren is a beast, clearly hurt out there but still plays. Really impressive.

 

[Granada]

Rangers are in trouble now. They couldn't dump and chase to save their lives last night. Just seems like Tampa has them on lock down. Hope the Rangers have another comeback in them this year, but their luck may be running out. Losing a Game 5 like that -- blowing a one-goal lead then losing it with 2 minutes left in the game -- is usually a series changer.

Hagel has become quite the little punk ass. Talked smack to the Rangers bench after scoring the empty-netter. Thought that was interesting. He was always tenacious, but I don't really remember this "pest" side to his game before Tampa. It's a bit sad, in a way. I mean, pests are important, but I always thought he'd be more than that.

 

[LordKOTL]

Rangers are in trouble now. They couldn't dump and chase to save their lives last night. Just seems like Tampa has them on lock down. Hope the Rangers have another comeback in them this year, but their luck may be running out. Losing a Game 5 like that -- blowing a one-goal lead then losing it with 2 minutes left in the game -- is usually a series changer.

Hagel has become quite the little punk ass. Talked smack to the Rangers bench after scoring the empty-netter. Thought that was interesting. He was always tenacious, but I don't really remember this "pest" side to his game before Tampa. It's a bit sad, in a way. I mean, pests are important, but I always thought he'd be more than that.

Hagel can always be more than a pest and still be a pest.

 

[Granada]

Hagel can always be more than a pest and still be a pest.

Well, maybe. He's been relegated to a defensive third liner. I always thought he'd be a stud 3rd liner, meaning, he could chip in offensively as well; but he hasn't done that this entire playoffs. I guess my point is, he hasn't looked like that, at least not yet. He's pretty much been an average third liner this year. It's his first year in Tampa, so again, maybe he gets better (who knows, maybe he does next round assuming TB advances); but he hasn't shown it yet in his entire time with Tampa. I guess you're saying he can be a "stud pest," but again, the "stud" has been missing so far.

Not sure if the pest thing is his frustration at not being productive or if it's a new phase in his development. Either way, it is somewhat weird and surprising to see. It's not necessarily a bad thing, unless that's all he ends up being.

 

[Tater]

Hagel has become quite the little punk ass. Talked smack to the Rangers bench after scoring the empty-netter. Thought that was interesting. He was always tenacious, but I don't really remember this "pest" side to his game before Tampa. It's a bit sad, in a way. I mean, pests are important, but I always thought he'd be more than that.

Corey Perry must have rubbed off on him. Maybe they are roommates.

 

[hawkinmontreal]

Can we see Colorado beating Tampa, I just don’t want this Tampa winning 3 in a row. It’s not that I don’t dislike Tampa, they seem to do everything right, a model franchise with skill top to bottom, coaching, management, player development, however I am tired of hearing about how successful they are, how good they are, I honestly would like to see the Avs take them down.

 

[Granada]

2 out of 4, I'll take it. Got to go with my surviving teams for Round 3:

Avs
Rangers

The Rangers came back from 3-1 series deficits, in back-to-back series. Historically, there's like a 90% of being eliminated for teams down 3-1 in general, and they overcame the deficit twice in the same year. That's crazy.

Got to go with the lone team I've had since the beginning: Avs. Definitely prefer them over the Lightning.

Don't know what it is about Panarin. He looked much better earlier in this year's playoffs, but this round, he was blah again. It just seems like, when the chips are down, you still can't count on this guy to carry the team like a superstar should.

Hagel had a solid Game 6. Although he didn't score, he had many A+ chances.

I wanted the Rangers to win, but on the plus side, it was fun seeing Trouba lose.

 

[Granada]

Can we see Colorado beating Tampa, I just don’t want this Tampa winning 3 in a row. It’s not that I don’t dislike Tampa, they seem to do everything right, a model franchise with skill top to bottom, coaching, management, player development, however I am tired of hearing about how successful they are, how good they are, I honestly would like to see the Avs take them down.

Definitely don't want to see them win again, especially after all their cap BS from last year and I really don't like Kucherov. Great player, sure, but huge tool. On the flip side, I've always liked McKinnon and the game he plays; and Makar, what else can you say about this dude? If anyone deserves a Cup at a young age, it's Makar.

 

[Granada]

One thing we do agree on:

Give Dach a year or two (max) show me deal. If he can't show some improvement then we cut ties with him.

Just to circle back to this, Kappo Kakko was a healthy scratch for Game 6. He was picked 2nd before Dach. Guess it's -- I don't know, comforting? -- to know that the Hawks aren't the only team to have problems with their top draft pick.

Dach for Kakko straight up? That's totally a Bowman move, lol. But it did cross my mind when I saw Kakko scratched. Maybe throw Kaner in there too for ???? (not super serious, just having fun)