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2019-2020 NHL Thread

The idea that the problem isn't the talent only holds water when you have a bunch of guys who have a solid and recent track record of high quality performances. When that's in place and the results aren't coming, that's when you start pointing the finger firmly at other areas. The Habs don't have that. They have all of 4 guys on the roster who have multiple 20+ goal seasons - and one of those is a defenceman. Outside of Weber and Petry, their defencemen are either close to replacement level or highly inexperienced. And Price's has been up and down for a coupel years now, and has sort of settled in the middle this season - his GAA and Sv% this season are virtually identical to what you'd get if you combine his two previous seasons. It may not be just a talent issue in Montreal, but there is definitely a talent issue.
 
Heroic Shrimp said:
Except that Todd is granting the Canadiens many imaginary points (boosting their points % from .522 to .610!) and THEN using this non-fact to prove that they have talent.  He's literally drawing a real-life conclusion based on a fantasy scenario.

It's debatable whether or not the Leafs "ought" to have a better record than they do, but to have that opinion is a much more grounded stance.  At least, it's one leap of assumption and not two.
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I'm not sure I see it that way. Sure, pointing out specific losses as games you should have won because that team is bad is stupid because all teams lose games like that but I think it's just saying fundamentally the same thing. This team, who is more talented than their record indicates, has left a bunch of points on the table.

I don't know to what extent that's true for the Habs, to me their season looks like further proof that having a 10 million dollar goalie only makes sense if he's a Vezina candidate every year, but I think it's rooted in the same sort of "If we had ham we could make ham and eggs if we had some eggs" nonsense thinking thinking that informs the idea that the Leafs are a supremely talented bunch who should be at the top of the league.
 
But also, to follow that up, I want to make it clear that I think the whole idea is stupid. In a league with as much "parity" as exists now the truth is that what separates the teams who are realistically fighting for playoff spots and those that are just on the outside of that isn't "talent". For teams in the great mushy middle class of the NHL, which teams have "good" seasons and which don't is more likely going to be about luck, goaltending and the ups and downs of guys having unusually good/bad years than it is "talent" in any meaningful sense.

So is it kind of true about the Habs? Sure. But it's true of almost every team in the league and has been for 15 years so who gives a crap.
 
herman said:
CarltonTheBear said:
Carolina's 0-2-1 since the EBUG game. Other teams should clearly think twice before embarrassing the Leafs.
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We might have actually killed their playoff chances as both their goalies are borked
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4 straight losses now. They've announced Pesce is done for the year, and Vatanen had a setback in his recovery so who knows if he'll even end up playing for them. And with the Rangers surging Carolina's dropped to 10th in the East.

Granted the Blue Jackets (2-5-6) and Islanders (2-7-2) both apparently aren't interested in making the playoffs so the wild card spots are still very much up for grabs.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Granted the Blue Jackets (2-5-6) and Islanders (2-7-2) both apparently aren't interested in making the playoffs so the wild card spots are still very much up for grabs.
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There's just something so appealing about the Rangers being the team that pushes the Islanders out of the playoffs.
 
https://twitter.com/bradytrett/status/1236469399701172232
What is happening and can they be suspended for the playoffs
 
And Chara promptly gets dropped as he says makes a quip about Chara taking Maroon to the afterlife lol

Kuraly looked like he came off the bench for this brawl. Gonna assume the refs will say he was changing on after McAvoy came off even though okay had stopped for the goal call.
 
Heroic Shrimp said:
So, if Coronavirus shuts down attendance for a bunch of hockey games, what happens to the salary cap situation, based on HRR...?
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I think San Jose just announced at least 3 games with no fans this month.
 
Heroic Shrimp said:
So, if Coronavirus shuts down attendance for a bunch of hockey games, what happens to the salary cap situation, based on HRR...?
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I suppose that'll depend on where it hits and for how long (and assumes teams will be not moving any to neutral sites where they can recoup some lost revenue). 3 games in San Jose won't have much of an impact. 3 games across the league would have a noticeable impact, but not a devastating one. A long stretch with no attendance would probably lead to a significant cap impact - it's unlikely the league or PA would let it drop, but it could definitely stall.
 
bustaheims said:
Heroic Shrimp said:
So, if Coronavirus shuts down attendance for a bunch of hockey games, what happens to the salary cap situation, based on HRR...?
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I suppose that'll depend on where it hits and for how long (and assumes teams will be not moving any to neutral sites where they can recoup some lost revenue). 3 games in San Jose won't have much of an impact. 3 games across the league would have a noticeable impact, but not a devastating one. A long stretch with no attendance would probably lead to a significant cap impact - it's unlikely the league or PA would let it drop, but it could definitely stall.
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Yeah, I'm really talking and asking about a large number of games.  I'm presently feeling like in the end it's somewhere between likely and inevitable that many games are cancelled in many places.  The German pro league just shut down the rest of their season and playoffs outright.  I think it's only a matter of time before we get widespread NHL cancellation.  I hope I'm wrong.
 
The Wings have officially clinched 31st in the league. They could go 11-0 to finish the season and would still finish last.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
The Wings have officially clinched 31st in the league. They could go 11-0 to finish the season and would still finish last.
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They've been an impressive level of terrible this season.
 
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