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Stanley Cup Final: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Nashville Predators

Nik the Trik said:
"Hey, do you want a series that goes 6 or 7 but every game is terrible and one-sided? Have I got a series for you!"

I just turned this on.  Man, what a bowser.
 
Nik the Trik said:
"Hey, do you want a series that goes 6 or 7 but every game is terrible and one-sided? Have I got a series for you!"

Hey, parts of game 4 were alright!

Ok, the 1st period was alright!

Parts of the 1st period were alright!
 
Nashville is the new standard...

To say that the Stanley Cup Final has been a smashing success in Nashville would be an understatement.

The Predators' run through the Stanley Cup Playoffs...has set television ratings records in the Nashville market. Game 4 had a 28.0 rating, the highest-rated Predators game ever on the NBC networks, topping the 22.5 for Game 1 of the Final. Nationally, NBC had a 4.14 rating, surpassing all games in the Stanley Cup Final last season.



Source:  NHL.com
 
And...

NBC?s Pittsburgh Penguins at the Nashville Predators Stanley Cup Finals hockey competition dominated Monday night in early ratings, in the demo, total viewers and adults 25-54. Fast-affiliate ratings have the hockey game at a 1.8 demo rating and about 5.5M viewers, but those stats are not time zone-adjusted and subject to revision for live sporting events. More reliably, the hockey match climbed 33% increase compared to same game last year in metered-market household ratings, which are time zone-adjusted.

But, in fast nationals, Bachelorette took first half hour in both metrics, with Stanley Cup appearing to take over the demo at 8:30 PM, adding total viewers to its win column at 9:30 PM.

NBC won the night in total viewers (5.484M) and in the demo 1.8.  ABC finished second (1.2, 4.66M).



http://deadline.com/2017/06/bachelorette-wins-night-stanley-cup-finals-up-33-percent-tv-ratings-1202108078/
 
I know this is probably just a case of me growing into the crotchety old man I've always been but I just can't for the life of me believe people trying to generate controversy and buzz around what Subban and Crosby got into last game. I'm not pro-violence in the league and I'm not someone who likes the occasional gatekeeper aspect of hockey fans but for us old timers "controversial violence" in the playoffs used to be Wendel Clark caving half of Marty McSorley's face in. Now it's Crosby giving a couple of pretty gentle shots to a guy grabbing onto his leg.

Kids today, rassum frassum.
 
I don't care who's playing, there's nothing like a Saturday night match up in the Cup finals. There's something about Saturday night that just means "hockey" -- I guess it's the tradition of HNIC, but no matter what it is I get extra psyched. Yessiree, there is nothing so good as playoff hockey on a Saturday nighpffffffffffffffffffffffffffttttt
 
You know, if you think about it, the whole thing of each guy grabbing the cup and skating around with it is kind of a crummy thing to do if the cup is won in the other team's rink.
 
Congratulations Pittsburgh Penguins, 2017 Stanley Cup Champs!  This is the Pittsburgh franchise's fifth Stanley Cup overall.

And to Sidney Crosby on winning his third career Cup and on being named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as MVP.

Congratulations are also in order for the Nashville Predators and more specifically their fans  & (country music) celebrities, who turned Music City during the Stanley Cup Finals into an event to remember. Broadway Ave. was alit with everything the city of Nashville could offer in terms of support for their team, and an enthusiasm for the game of hockey here not seen since. Whoa, Nashville!
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Good for Phil. Screw this guy:

[tweet]874122215763042304[/tweet]
www.twitter.com/byterryjones/status/874122215763042304

Why would Terry Jones out in Edmonton care about Kessel one way or another? 
 
Fleury is too good:
https://www.nhl.com/news/penguins-goalies-pass-the-torch-after-stanley-cup-win/c-289891730
 
It's a good thing the refs didn't blow a play dead on a puck that was not remotely covered that immediately would have given Nashville a 1-goal lead.  At least Pittsburgh didn't win by a single goal.

Best referees in the world.
 
Although most of you didn't seem to enjoy the final, I did. Series highlights for me: Nashville crowd, Malkin/Kessel dynamic, Crosby the pro, NSH D, NSH team game opposed to PIT individuals, Cullen, Murray (2 Stanley Cups as a rookie), back to back, Crosby's legacy strengthened, guys battling through injuries and of course the end of the final game with the Stanley cup presentation and celebration.

I watched a lot of the playoffs and the changes I would like to see include: more penalties, offside review parameters being set (if "x" amount of time passes after an offside the goal is not reviewable and a skate off the ice but on or behind the line is NOT offside), harsher suspensions, protection of superstars, every-other-day games for the final.

I am still not entirely sure how PIT won back to back with the D they have. I always thought of guys like Niedamyer, Pronger, Lidstrom, Keith/Seabrook as being massive reasons teams won but PIT has broke the mold for sure.Maybe the Leafs don't need a new 1A and 1B D to take the next step?
 
cabber24 said:
I am still not entirely sure how PIT won back to back with the D they have. I always thought of guys like Niedamyer, Pronger, Lidstrom, Keith/Seabrook as being massive reasons teams won but PIT has broke the mold for sure.Maybe the Leafs don't need a new 1A and 1B D to take the next step?

The Pens are an outlier, who have 2 of the top 5 forwards in the league on their roster - and had an excellent #1 defenceman for last year's Cup run. They're not exactly a model that can be followed, nor does their success downplay the Leafs' need to improve their blueline.
 
The Penguins leveraged their tremendous forward depth and well above average goaltending into covering up for their lack of defense. Tactically, they went with high event strategies, giving up more chances against to gain more opportunities, since their forwards were of a class that could capitalize more often than not.

Their weak defense was tasked with playing aggressively at the offensive blueline to make up for their lack of speed and skill, which a) minimized time for the opponents, b) gave their forwards time to lend support.

Our current build is similar, but a tier or two below in parts.
 
https://twitter.com/JeffVeillette/status/874335419567149057
https://twitter.com/JeffVeillette/status/874339789952225280
www.twitter.com/JeffVeillette/status/874335419567149057
www.twitter.com/JeffVeillette/status/874339789952225280
 
cabber24 said:
I am still not entirely sure how PIT won back to back with the D they have. I always thought of guys like Niedamyer, Pronger, Lidstrom, Keith/Seabrook as being massive reasons teams won but PIT has broke the mold for sure.Maybe the Leafs don't need a new 1A and 1B D to take the next step?

I feel like we go through some version of this every year. Pittsburgh(as well as Tampa and Carolina) won their cups without a superstar on defense. New Jersey and Anaheim won theirs without a top tier centre(Getzlaf eventually became one but wasn't at the time). Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit and LA all won cups without elite goaltending and so on.

Flawed teams can win cups and, in fairness, with increasing parity every year a flawed team will win the cup. But you shouldn't aim for those flaws and you can't ignore the strengths of the team that paper over those flaws. Are the Leafs likely to have Crosby and Malkin down the middle? No, so we can't be the Penguins and we shouldn't aim for it.

You can't just measure things by successes. Far more teams have been undone by a bad or mediocre defense in the playoffs than have won in spite of it. You have to play the percentages and they're pretty good that you need top quality defensemen to win.
 

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