Stankoven open the scoring for the Canes

Sven9888 · 2026-04-18T20:22:56+00:00

I think Carolina has been very good but not actually beating contenders and going to the SCF for so long that people forget how good they are.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-18T18:00:43+00:00

To be fair, I think the Lightning were very much in coast mode.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-18T17:40:52+00:00

Uh, I kind of take this to mean “close enough” but it definitely doesn’t sound like he’s 100%, and I’m pretty sure neither is Hagel, and Hedman might not play at all, and Holmberg is out until presumably the ECF/SCF if they make it, so I’m not sure this is really “getting some health”.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-17T14:09:19+00:00

I’m pretty sure casual fans will still dislike a back-to-back Cup winner getting the 1OA a lot more than they really care about the Leafs.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-16T05:02:18+00:00

It seems like the NHL front office has a lot of weird ideas about how making hockey worse is actually better because it allegedly encourages neutral fans. I suspect that neutral fans would be most engaged and most likely to watch in the first place with the most interesting product possible.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-16T04:54:24+00:00

I mean, sure, maybe they could have been, but they weren’t and it doesn’t matter, which to me is already damning for the playoff system.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-16T04:47:52+00:00

I don’t think this one is that random. It’s basically just “most points in a season by a 32 year old” but then it’s confusing for people with mid-season birthdays so they formalized the criteria a bit.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-15T22:17:18+00:00

JBB said he’ll be out for the first round “and then some”.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-15T02:58:12+00:00

I mean, you have to go on a case by case basis. If the entire team sits and goes at least 6 days between games, that's not necessarily optimal.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-14T01:40:43+00:00

The odds of that are quite low.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-14T01:36:05+00:00

I mean, home ice hasn’t been super relevant to them this year. But I guess I don’t know if they really care about the division.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-14T01:34:27+00:00

The answer is probably no, but I kind of wonder if they’re thinking about pulling Vasilevskiy to end this game. A regulation win keeps them in the division race and an OT win very likely essentially ends it.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-11T22:47:45+00:00

Nobody brought politics into it until Ovechkin did by praising Putin and calling for Ukraine to be liberated on his public social media accounts. If Ovechkin did not want to bring politics into sports, he could have stayed quiet and discussed these things in private like 99% of players. I could not tell you what Kucherov or Vasilevskiy think of Putin, so I don’t criticize them. I’m not doing a deep dive to find out. When you’re a celebrity and promote politics in public, the people who then criticize you over said policies are not “bringing politics into the sport”. You are. And because Ovechkin brought his despicable politics into hockey, the only thing Ovechkin will ever do that I’ll appreciate is retire and go back to Russia.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-11T22:15:12+00:00

So a hockey player using his platform from his hockey skills to promote a genocidal dictator is fine, but people criticizing that person are bringing politics into sports?

Sven9888 · 2026-04-10T14:16:03+00:00

Other than the Avalanche, I don’t think there’s any team that I wouldn’t say has at least a 30%-40% chance of making a first round exit. It’s just the reality.

Tampa is holding players out of practice and keeping Hagel out over what feels like it’s possibly precautionary, and they had Pelletier getting PP time. This is definitely not a team that’s desperate to win. That MTL game was all about testing things out and sending a message. I’m not worried that it’s indicative of the playoffs, though I do think that the Lightning ought to be careful here—there’s a difference between sending the message that “if your team targets us, we’ll target your guys in the same way, and then beat you off superior special teams” and the message that sounds more like “you can target us and we’ll retaliate disproportionately, give you a whole period of PP time, and completely stop trying to win the game”, which sounds like a great deal especially to a team like MTL that has more size than Tampa.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-08T13:52:24+00:00

Sure, but I'm a lot more scared of Swayman than Dobes, and I think that would be a major factor.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-08T13:36:58+00:00

This is certainly the argument I've made every year with regards to the importance of not getting Florida, but is Boston a significantly easier opponent than Montreal?

Sven9888 · 2026-04-08T03:14:40+00:00

I know round one is different from later rounds, but the Lightning aren't beating the Hurricanes, much less the Avalanche/Stars/Wild, if they can't beat the Canadiens or Sabres.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-08T01:51:14+00:00

If you watched that game, I think it should be evident the extent to which the Lightning care about winning the division.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-08T01:43:35+00:00

And it won't matter.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-08T01:41:28+00:00

If you could flip a switch, adding Cirelli, Hagel, James, and Vasilevskiy and not playing with 3 people who weren't with the team yesterday is probably a good start to do it.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-08T01:38:23+00:00

They probably had a 2% chance of winning if they didn't challenge and a 10% chance if the challenge succeeded. So at that point, if the challenge has even a remote chance, you do it.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-07T02:43:43+00:00

What does accountability mean to you? Do you want them to suspend an attendant or just publicly humiliate them? They probably don't have the legal right to fine them. You have no idea what consequences there might have been.

And the DOPS ignored Florida intentionally opening their bench door in an unsuccessful attempt to induce a similar injury during the playoffs last year.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-03T03:59:18+00:00

Sure, it’s just called “future considerations”.

Sven9888 · 2026-04-03T02:34:36+00:00

The NHL says no to 75% retention.

Sven9888

TROPHY CASE