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Post by CentreHice on Jun 12, 2016 21:37:01 GMT -5
2-1 Pens, late.....Jones just robbed Kessel in a play very reminiscent of the 1971 Dryden save on Jim Pappin in Game 7.
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Post by CentreHice on Jun 12, 2016 21:46:13 GMT -5
The Sharks with just 1 shot on net in the third until Hornqvist gets the empty netter.
That's either a disgraceful performance....or a complete defensive game from the Pens.
And they end the game with just 2 shots in the third.
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Post by CentreHice on Jun 12, 2016 21:55:36 GMT -5
Bettman is a charter member of Equal Opportunity Booing. He's jeered everywhere, every time he presents the trophies....
The Conn Smythe goes to Crosby....arguable....
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Post by drkcloud on Jun 12, 2016 21:59:34 GMT -5
The most average championship team I can remember. This season was a real missed opportunity in Habbyland
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Post by blny on Jun 12, 2016 22:01:48 GMT -5
Bettman is a charter member of Equal Opportunity Booing. He's jeered everywhere, every time he presents the trophies.... The Conn Smythe goes to Crosby....arguable.... Agreed. Murray for me. Kessel through 3 rounds, but his finals were too quiet. |
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Post by blny on Jun 12, 2016 22:04:46 GMT -5
The most average championship team I can remember. This season was a real missed opportunity in Habbyland Speed, and commitment to the system. They might have a collection of 'no-names', but they're built to play the game Gainey thought the league was going to implement in 2005. Skate fast, play fast, think fast. In each of those areas, they were significantly faster than San Jose. They swarm like bees. The Sharks never could really overcome that. Jones, who would have made a great MVP in his own right, kept the Sharks in it. |
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Post by CentreHice on Jun 12, 2016 22:06:53 GMT -5
Since Jan. 15th, the Pens have lost two games in a row only ONCE....and that was vs. Tampa Bay in Round 3.
That's remarkable...
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Post by blny on Jun 12, 2016 22:10:07 GMT -5
Jacques Martin almost dropped the cup trying to hoist it ...
It will be interesting to see if they can maintain. They certainly caught lightning in a bottle this year.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2016 22:18:15 GMT -5
Glad to see Kessel get his cup. Always found Thornton to be smug.
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Post by drkcloud on Jun 12, 2016 22:22:16 GMT -5
The most average championship team I can remember. This season was a real missed opportunity in Habbyland Speed, and commitment to the system. They might have a collection of 'no-names', but they're built to play the game Gainey thought the league was going to implement in 2005. Skate fast, play fast, think fast. In each of those areas, they were significantly faster than San Jose. They swarm like bees. The Sharks never could really overcome that. Jones, who would have made a great MVP in his own right, kept the Sharks in it. I have to admit.... for the first time since 1978 I watched virtually none of it. Watered down product... No canadian teams... boring |
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Post by blny on Jun 12, 2016 23:17:45 GMT -5
Speed, and commitment to the system. They might have a collection of 'no-names', but they're built to play the game Gainey thought the league was going to implement in 2005. Skate fast, play fast, think fast. In each of those areas, they were significantly faster than San Jose. They swarm like bees. The Sharks never could really overcome that. Jones, who would have made a great MVP in his own right, kept the Sharks in it. I have to admit.... for the first time since 1978 I watched virtually none of it. Watered down product... No canadian teams... boring The final wasn't as good as I'd hoped, but there were good games/series. It's hard to be vested in it all when your team isn't in it. Still, I found entertainment in games. |
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Post by franko on Jun 13, 2016 5:55:03 GMT -5
I have to admit.... for the first time since 1978 I watched virtually none of it. Watered down product... No canadian teams... boring Saturday night I watched some of the Saskatchewan/BC CFL preseason game. I watched more of that game than I did NHL playoff hockey. no Habs, no hate, no interest. |
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Post by jkr on Jun 13, 2016 6:43:31 GMT -5
Bettman is a charter member of Equal Opportunity Booing. He's jeered everywhere, every time he presents the trophies.... The Conn Smythe goes to Crosby....arguable.... Agreed. Murray for me. Kessel through 3 rounds, but his finals were too quiet. Despite putting up almost a PPG in the playoffs, leading his team in scoring & getting glowing praise from his coach about his complete commitment Kessel gets passed over. He has a rep now & no matter how well he plays people will ignore the facts. I still can't believe he was passed over by the US World Cup team. Anyways, Kessel has the last laugh when it comes to media jerks like Steve Simmons. Wonder if he has anything to say today? |
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Post by jkr on Jun 13, 2016 6:49:14 GMT -5
Jacques Martin almost dropped the cup trying to hoist it ... It will be interesting to see if they can maintain. They certainly caught lightning in a bottle this year. Was thinking about it on the way to work today - a lot of key players acquired by recent trades. Just off the cuff I can think of Kessel, Bonino, Hagelin ( a complete line) Hornquist & Daley all brought in by Rutherford. Lovejoy, I think, was re-acquired & Dumoulin was part of the Staal trade with Carolina. Can't be that hard to make deals.  |
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Post by CentreHice on Jun 13, 2016 7:30:01 GMT -5
The only thing that stopped Kessel from winning the Conn Smythe was Martin Jones, who I thought had a legit shot at the trophy. Had the series gone 7, I think he might've won it…win or lose.
Kessel was outright robbed about 4 times in the past two games.
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One thing I noticed is that both Burns and Letang were praised for their offensive instincts, and often encouraged by the HNIC crew to use them. Letang's deep foray resulted in the eventual Cup winner in the second period. Healy, echoed by Friedman, even suggested that perhaps Letang had earned Conn Smythe consideration.
I wish the same treatment for Subban …from his coach and the media….
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Marleau…that guy never seems to raise his game.
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Post by jkr on Jun 13, 2016 7:46:45 GMT -5
The only thing that stopped Kessel from winning the Conn Smythe was Martin Jones, who I thought had a legit shot at the trophy. Had the series gone 7, I think he might've won it…win or lose. Kessel was outright robbed about 4 times in the past two games. =================================================== One thing I noticed is that both Burns and Letang were praised for their offensive instincts, and often encouraged by the HNIC crew to use them. Letang's deep foray resulted in the eventual Cup winner in the second period. Healy, echoed by Friedman, even suggested that perhaps Letang had earned Conn Smythe consideration. I wish the same treatment for Subban …from his coach and the media…. =================================================== Marleau…that guy never seems to raise his game. I watched on NBC. I really like Mike Emrick. It means listening to Pierre McGuire too but it's worth it to avoid Hughson, Healy & company. |
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Post by CentreHice on Jun 13, 2016 7:56:54 GMT -5
Was thinking about it on the way to work today - a lot of key players acquired by recent trades. Just off the cuff I can think of Kessel, Bonino, Hagelin ( a complete line) Hornquist & Daley all brought in by Rutherford. Lovejoy, I think, was re-acquired & Dumoulin was part of the Staal trade with Carolina. Can't be that hard to make deals. Rutherford was the puzzle-master this year. King Midas. Sullivan went under the Jack Adams radar, too. When he was hired on Dec. 12th, the Pens were 15-10-3. The first month couldn't have been too encouraging (5-6-4)…but they went on a 28-10-1 run to finish the regular season…never losing two consecutive games. Fleury was instrumental in that resurgence, and what's more interesting to me is that it all didn't just fall apart when Murray had to take over. Even Zatkoff held the fort when Murray was out for a bit at the end of the season and to start the playoffs. I think the Sharks' feeble Game 6 (esp. the third period) hurt Murray's Smythe hopes. But he was rock solid in these playoffs…so was Jones. |
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Post by franko on Jun 13, 2016 8:31:47 GMT -5
Marleau…that guy never seems to raise his game. maybe it's as raised as it gets. |
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Post by Boston_Habs on Jun 13, 2016 8:33:32 GMT -5
Pittsburgh played as entertaining a brand of hockey as you will see in a Cup final. I was pulling for the Sharks before the series started, but by the end I was rooting for the Pens. They were the better team.
It's good news for the Habs, since we will never play that "heavy game" like San Jose, LA, and St. Louis. Pittsburgh pushed the pace throughout and never let San Jose get the forecheck going. They blocked shots, had active sticks, and stuck to the adage "the best defense is a good offense". The Pens played with the puck just about the whole series, they were careful with it, made quick passes, valued possession, and got stellar goaltending.
If the Pens can win like that, so can we. But kudos to Sullivan for letting the team play to its strengths. I rarely saw the Pens simply fire the puck out of the zone, they used their skating and puck skills to play keep-away. Of course it helps to have guys that can finish like Kessel, but they played aggressive. I hope Therrien was watching.
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Post by CentreHice on Jun 13, 2016 8:49:01 GMT -5
If the Pens can win like that, so can we. But kudos to Sullivan for letting the team play to its strengths. I rarely saw the Pens simply fire the puck out of the zone, they used their skating and puck skills to play keep-away. Of course it helps to have guys that can finish like Kessel, but they played aggressive. I hope Therrien was watching. Ironic that Therrien was fired from Pittsburgh because Shero didn't like the direction….i.e. the team was not playing to its strengths. Bylsma comes in….boom. Same this year with Pittsburgh….Sullivan comes in….he gets the team playing to its strengths….boom! In short, I have no illusion that Therrien will adopt a new philosophy. So far in Montreal, Therrien's successes and shortcomings have ridden on Price's health. |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Jun 13, 2016 8:53:40 GMT -5
So far in Montreal, Therrien's successes and shortcomings have ridden on Price's health. I'd lump the entire organization in with the Price factor ... Cheers. |
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Post by blny on Jun 13, 2016 8:57:39 GMT -5
Jacques Martin almost dropped the cup trying to hoist it ... It will be interesting to see if they can maintain. They certainly caught lightning in a bottle this year. Was thinking about it on the way to work today - a lot of key players acquired by recent trades. Just off the cuff I can think of Kessel, Bonino, Hagelin ( a complete line) Hornquist & Daley all brought in by Rutherford. Lovejoy, I think, was re-acquired & Dumoulin was part of the Staal trade with Carolina. Can't be that hard to make deals. They got a lot of mileage from guys not known to be offensively gifted. How many big goals did Sheary score? He's never been a scorer at any level. The HBK line has one legitimate offensive weapon on it. Kessel. Bonino has historically been a secondary contributor and Hagelin has never shown much offensive flare. It takes goals from key contributors, and goals from unlikely sources, to win. Pittsburgh has speed across four lines, but the finish they got from unlikely sources will be hard to duplicate year after year. |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Jun 13, 2016 10:12:04 GMT -5
Since Jan. 15th, the Pens have lost two games in a row only ONCE....and that was vs. Tampa Bay in Round 3. That's remarkable... Good find, CH ... our club generally played well against the Penguins ... generally, that is ... Cheers. |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Jun 13, 2016 11:45:21 GMT -5
The Pens swarm mentality kept the Sharks without time and space the whole series (at least the bits and pieces I watched).
I was not convinced that Rutherford could build a winning team...I was wrong.
I did not think that mediocre defense could get it done...wrong again.
I was unsold on Sullivan being a championship level coach...clearly quite wrong, although I was buying in as I watched in admiration as he actually was doing active coaching behind the bench including a lot of time with his leader, Crosby. A refreshing change from the stoic, silent, rocking the fake tan standard to which we Habs fans are accustomed. Captain Kirk should help in that regard.
I was sure that the Pens could not win with Fleury in the net and that they would have to make a decision about Murray/Fleury before the expansion draft...finally got one right lol.
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Post by blny on Jun 13, 2016 12:57:47 GMT -5
The Pens swarm mentality kept the Sharks without time and space the whole series (at least the bits and pieces I watched). I was not convinced that Rutherford could build a winning team...I was wrong. I did not think that mediocre defense could get it done...wrong again. I was unsold on Sullivan being a championship level coach...clearly quite wrong, although I was buying in as I watched in admiration as he actually was doing active coaching behind the bench including a lot of time with his leader, Crosby. A refreshing change from the stoic, silent, rocking the fake tan standard to which we Habs fans are accustomed. Captain Kirk should help in that regard. I was sure that the Pens could not win with Fleury in the net and that they would have to make a decision about Murray/Fleury before the expansion draft...finally got one right lol. When Daley went down I really thought they'd be screwed. Sullivan and his staff coached to the strengths and weaknesses of what they had. Anyone not named Letang clearly had a mandate to move the puck quick. Don't rag it, don't skate around with it, don't stop to think. Get it off your stick and up the ice asap. Whether they had a clear pass, or lobbed it out for a track meet, they never kept it long. Dumoulin really stepped up his game I thought. |
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Post by seventeen on Jun 13, 2016 13:37:44 GMT -5
I have to admit.... for the first time since 1978 I watched virtually none of it. Watered down product... No canadian teams... boring Saturday night I watched some of the Saskatchewan/BC CFL preseason game. I watched more of that game than I did NHL playoff hockey. no Habs, no hate, no interest. I consistently tuned in either the basketball game (whoever was playing) or the Jays game. I wonder if that's because I didn't find the games interesting because of the lack of Canadian content or because I'm just aging and hockey doesn't have the same allure it used to? I still like watching sports (ergo the baseball and basketball games, especially with Canadian teams involved), so I think hockey itself is losing its attraction. I equate it to Formula 1 where Mercedes is going to win unless some huge accident happens. Not interesting. US based teams are going to win the Stanley Cup, probably because of poor overall management of Cdn teams in the past and present and also because of the tax regimes giving southern US teams huge advantages. Why societies allow themselves to be screwed to subsidize the rich is beyond me. Ah, but that's a philosophical argument for another day. |
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Post by seventeen on Jun 13, 2016 13:59:15 GMT -5
The Pens swarm mentality kept the Sharks without time and space the whole series (at least the bits and pieces I watched). I was not convinced that Rutherford could build a winning team...I was wrong. I did not think that mediocre defense could get it done...wrong again. I was unsold on Sullivan being a championship level coach...clearly quite wrong, although I was buying in as I watched in admiration as he actually was doing active coaching behind the bench including a lot of time with his leader, Crosby. A refreshing change from the stoic, silent, rocking the fake tan standard to which we Habs fans are accustomed. Captain Kirk should help in that regard. I was sure that the Pens could not win with Fleury in the net and that they would have to make a decision about Murray/Fleury before the expansion draft...finally got one right lol. Don't be so hard on yourself NWT. Your reasoning in all areas is correct. Sometimes, the hockey gods, or fate, or whatever overturns all the probabilities in the world. 1) Rutherford is just a mediocre GM and will prove it in the future. Ray Shero laid the groundwork for much of this Pens team's success. That defense is better than we assumed (I knew little about Dumoulin, but he was a 2nd round pick so the potential was there. He improved at just the right time. Ben Lovejoy is a possession idiot, but it didn't hurt the Pens at all. Ian Cole is underrated, but who thought Justin Schultz would be at least adequate? 3) Sullivan indeed seems to be a pretty good coach. The secondary scoring also was higher than you'd expect. Conor Sheary went from .23 PPG to .43 PPG and Rust from .27 to .39. And we know it's more difficult to score in the playoffs. Dumoulin had .33 ppg in the playoffs while scoring at a .20 pace in the regular season. Can these guys duplicate that next year? Perhaps, but I doubt it. One of Rutherford's biggest breaks was having Fleury get injured, opening the door for Murray. If Sullivan has a bit less confidence in Murray and a bit more confidence in Fleury, does it pan out the same way? Questions of the ages. |
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Post by seventeen on Jun 13, 2016 14:04:36 GMT -5
When Daley went down I really thought they'd be screwed. Sullivan and his staff coached to the strengths and weaknesses of what they had. Anyone not named Letang clearly had a mandate to move the puck quick. Don't rag it, don't skate around with it, don't stop to think. Get it off your stick and up the ice asap. Whether they had a clear pass, or lobbed it out for a track meet, they never kept it long. Dumoulin really stepped up his game I thought. I read an interesting stat in a story a week or so ago. There was an advanced stat about the Pens regarding opportunities for second shots (or rebounds). These are high probability scoring chances and the Pens were the best in the league at limiting them. I don't know what particular strategy they used to accomplish that, but you may recall the large number of great saves Jones had to make, especially on second chance rebounds, compared to the number that Murray had to make. I'm sure some assistant coaches league wide are reviewing tape right now, working at ways to circumvent whatever the Pens were doing. BTW, the Habs were 5th or 6th worst in the league at eliminating those types of chances. Which might help explain the relatively low save percentage of our goalies (combined with the relative lack of talent at that position). |
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Post by CentreHice on Jun 13, 2016 14:07:00 GMT -5
One of Rutherford's biggest breaks was having Fleury get injured, opening the door for Murray. If Sullivan has a bit less confidence in Murray and a bit more confidence in Fleury, does it pan out the same way? Questions of the ages. But Fleury was instrumental in their turnaround this season. If he'd have stayed healthy, the Pens could've won the Cup just as well, IMO….he won it once before, playing all the way through. |
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Post by jkr on Jun 13, 2016 14:36:54 GMT -5
The Pens swarm mentality kept the Sharks without time and space the whole series (at least the bits and pieces I watched). I was not convinced that Rutherford could build a winning team...I was wrong. I did not think that mediocre defense could get it done...wrong again. I was unsold on Sullivan being a championship level coach...clearly quite wrong, although I was buying in as I watched in admiration as he actually was doing active coaching behind the bench including a lot of time with his leader, Crosby. A refreshing change from the stoic, silent, rocking the fake tan standard to which we Habs fans are accustomed. Captain Kirk should help in that regard. I was sure that the Pens could not win with Fleury in the net and that they would have to make a decision about Murray/Fleury before the expansion draft...finally got one right lol. Don't be so hard on yourself NWT. Your reasoning in all areas is correct. Sometimes, the hockey gods, or fate, or whatever overturns all the probabilities in the world. 1) Rutherford is just a mediocre GM and will prove it in the future. Ray Shero laid the groundwork for much of this Pens team's success. That defense is better than we assumed (I knew little about Dumoulin, but he was a 2nd round pick so the potential was there. He improved at just the right time. Ben Lovejoy is a possession idiot, but it didn't hurt the Pens at all. Ian Cole is underrated, but who thought Justin Schultz would be at least adequate? 3) Sullivan indeed seems to be a pretty good coach. The secondary scoring also was higher than you'd expect. Conor Sheary went from .23 PPG to .43 PPG and Rust from .27 to .39. And we know it's more difficult to score in the playoffs. Dumoulin had .33 ppg in the playoffs while scoring at a .20 pace in the regular season. Can these guys duplicate that next year? Perhaps, but I doubt it. One of Rutherford's biggest breaks was having Fleury get injured, opening the door for Murray. If Sullivan has a bit less confidence in Murray and a bit more confidence in Fleury, does it pan out the same way? Questions of the ages. Rutherford can't be that bad. You just don't luck in to two Cups. The entire Kessel line as well as guys like Hornqvist and Daley were acquired in Rutherford trades. I questioned his hiring too but you can't argue with the results. |
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