playoffs: 2017-2018 WCF | Vegas Golden Knights (P1) v. Winnipeg Jets (C2)

[Fatfrancesa]

It is a great story line. It just reeks of being manufactured by changing the expansion draft to ensure a competent team. I guess they went a little overboard in ensuring that. You know hulk hogan always had great storylines too. I at one time believed that that was real too.

[ThirtyONE]

This is awesome. Their first home game is going to be wild.

[LONG LONG LONG TIME FAN]

Fantastic! Unbelievable! Great for hockey fans everywhere; well almost everywhere. hopefully it'll be Tampa Rangers as an opponent.

 

Go Rangers!!

[Bugg]

What gains fans is excellence not parity. The nhl looks like the wwe with Vegas not only going to finals but going without much resistance. Parity should be a curse word but this league thinks mediocrity is great for all. Nobody gets drawn to average anything.

 

A hard cap with do that. Not sure how or why the NHL thinks teams tearing to down every few years to get under the cap makes any sense. Basically had 2 lockouts to keep the Coyotes in business with a hard cap when we now know they could've simply moved to Vegas. heck, they could still move tomorrow to Seattle or Quebec but the owners don't want to give up expansion $. And would note the Pens for reasons known only to themselves and the NHL were basically allowed to bend said cap rules to take on Brassard. Vegas is now poised to now be a big market team. Wonder how the big market teams think that Bettman's love of parity is making them subsidize teams that under a more open cap would not be as competitive.

 

And further as the entirety of North America gets more homogenized in economics anyway, does the cap really make that much sense any more? Can't make it in AZ, MOVE. Or go out of business. What ever perceived benefit the Rangers or Kings might have is not nearly what it used to be. Factor in taxes in many of the "big " markets, might not be an advantage at all.

[LeetchFan]

The best part about Vegas is it essentially proves every FO as a complete fraud. These people make 6 and 7 figure salaries to put together competitive hockey clubs and more than that, they gave up EXTRA assets to be sure Vegas took who they all wanted them to take, and look at the outcome. It's fantastic.

All the players had 1 goal....no salary cap problems.....no FAs to worry about....a dream set-up.

 

In 10 years, articles will very likely be written about the attendance and financial problems of the LVK and they will all start off by talking about this fantastic run.

 

As I've said before, I think this sets the bar so high for the next 5 years it's going to be a disaster.

[Future]

They made smart choices at the draft and put together what is essentially a team with 4 good 2nd lines.

What?

 

Marchessault, Karlsson, and Tuch have more goals than the rest of the forwards combined.

[Future]

This Vegas phenomenon has me a thinking about luck a little bit. Am I the only one who believes that the stars aligned for them almost perfectly?

Sure, I know that whole team has played pretty much out of this world and they have a few guys who are having career years...but their rise came at the perfect time in the NHL...IMO. There are no real dominant teams at this moment to lay a roadblock up for Vegas. The fact that they're playing

the Winnipeg Jets in the semi final pretty much sums that up.

 

The Blackhawks 2010-2015 mini dynasty has either pretty much ended or is in transition.

The Kings mini dominant run, that we were so fortunate enough, to run into is all but over.

The Penguins were on top for 3 years, so it was a lot to ask for them to piece together another long run.

 

Maybe the Knights run ends if/when they meet Tampa in the Final, but until then

It's not luck, necessarily, b/c they're a good team, but there's no doubt they benefit from the fact that the league, in its entirety, is way down this year.

[josh]

We entered the season with a "team of 2nd lines" but lacked the effort.

This was the makeup of Ruff's teams in Buffalo, for the most part. No top guys, just a bunch of middle 6 guys outworking the other team, with team defense and strong goaltending.

Teams like this can spring up and have a good season, but I don't think its a recipe for long-term success.

[Gravesy]

What?

 

Marchessault, Karlsson, and Tuch have more goals than the rest of the forwards combined.

 

Marchessault and Karlsson have had incredible years, that doesn’t have a bearing on what they set out to do in the draft and what I said.

Gallant has been able to roll 4 lines all season long.

[Respecttheblue]

All the players had 1 goal....no salary cap problems.....no FAs to worry about....a dream set-up.

 

In 10 years, articles will very likely be written about the attendance and financial problems of the LVK and they will all start off by talking about this fantastic run.

 

As I've said before, I think this sets the bar so high for the next 5 years it's going to be a disaster.

 

lol, Then they disband the team and we each get to take back one player who was previously in our system ... cough ... Marchessault

but ... start the movement now ... Break Up the Knights!

[Future]

Marchessault and Karlsson have had incredible years, that doesn’t have a bearing on what they set out to do in the draft and what I said.

Gallant has been able to roll 4 lines all season long.

I don't really agree that he rolls 4 lines more than any other team, since they had 5 guys on the roster who all played less than 11:00 per night at 5v5 (NYR had 3, for comparison).

 

But calling them all 2nd lines is misleading, because half their forward group can't score. They're really all closer to 4th lines. Sure they made some good choices in the draft, but that's not reflected in their forward depth.

[Gravesy]

I don't really agree that he rolls 4 lines more than any other team, since they had 5 guys on the roster who all played less than 11:00 per night at 5v5 (NYR had 3, for comparison).

 

But calling them all 2nd lines is misleading, because half their forward group can't score. They're really all closer to 4th lines. Sure they made some good choices in the draft, but that's not reflected in their forward depth.

 

Weekes and Rupp pulled out some stats on NHL Tonight the other day that said differently. Maybe it was regarding the playoffs, which kind of makes sense considering they've hardly trailed at all.

Perhaps it's wrong to say 4 2nd lines. Maybe it's more precise to say they put together 4 lines with a focus on skating ability, putting together a team where any line can skate against any opposing line and maintain the speed Gallant is looking for.

[Future]

Weekes and Rupp pulled out some stats on NHL Tonight the other day that said differently. Maybe it was regarding the playoffs, which kind of makes sense considering they've hardly trailed at all.

Perhaps it's wrong to say 4 2nd lines. Maybe it's more precise to say they put together 4 lines with a focus on skating ability, putting together a team where any line can skate against any opposing line and maintain the speed Gallant is looking for.

I'm curious as to what those stats are because, at 5v5 in the playoffs, they're not at all rolling 4 lines. Reaves and Carrier are both under 8:00, and Nosek and Bellemare are under 10:00.

 

I can agree with the second half of that, the one thing they do well is play fast, that's up and down the lineup.