Everything Else

Fascinating And Meaningless, All At The Same Time

By 1393

Once you get past the Predators’, or more to the point their fans’, constant bed-wetting over the refs (and really a lot of people’s), or the heavier amounts of bullshit we saw last night when the game got out of reach, there is something of a fascinating clash of styles going on here. And also an excellent example of how in hockey there really is only so much you can control, and it’s rarely enough to ensure things swing your way.

I guess you could call it that… except it’s probably not the Penguins plan to get throttled for huge swaths of the game and then pray that Matt Murray can bail them out of it. If it is… well bully for them.

Everything Else

Diamonds… And Dust

By 1807

Well, the Hawks news creature briefly woke up from its springtime slumber to give us this little nugget today. Apparently the Hawks are trying to goad/threaten/beg, I’m really not sure which, the Vegas Golden Gods (I never said I was a golden god) into taking Trevor van Riemdsdyk off their hands. And they’ll do it by getting them to take Marcus Kruger along with him. Somehow, if the Knights don’t promise to take Kruger in a trade, the Hawks will then trade TVR to someone else who will… protect him? The nuts and bolts of this are a little fuzzy.

This is the NHL, and you can always find a dumbass GM who thinks your player is a hell of a lot better than he actually is, especially when you’re not that far removed from championship glow as the Hawks still just barely are. But this one is hard to figure.

Everything Else

Well That’s One Way To Do It

By 1575

When I said I couldn’t quite get a handle on this series, I wasn’t saying I expected to see the weirdest Final game of my lifetime (and feel free to correct me on this one). We may never see a team that has won three rounds to get here go 37 minutes(!) without a shot again. And we’re even less likely to see any team come close to that and still win. That was an all-timer. But I suppose in a building where less than a week ago an entire crowd was going apeshit over a puck that went on top of the net and not in it, anything is possible.

I actually had some flashbacks to the 2010 series against the Predators watching last night, and even some of the one in ’15. You’ll recall seven years ago in the first three games the Preds simply sat on the boards at the points in the Hawks’ zone, essentially trapping there instead of in the neutral zone. They dared the Hawks to go up the middle or try and find the time for flips out to center, and it took Brian Campbell’s return and a wake-up from Quenneville (and a small, boneheaded play from Martin Erat that I certainly don’t think about every single day) for the Hawks to crack it.

It was some of the same stuff last night.

Everything Else

So We Sailed Up To The Sun

By 1398

Since the matchup was set, I’ve had a hard time getting a hold on this series. Which probably means we’re in for a good one, which the NHL could use. It’s been a while since there was a classic Final. Hawks-Bruins is probably the last one, and even that lost some of its luster when all of Patrice Bergeron’s organs fell into his feet. Rangers-Kings was awful, Hawks-Lightning was tightly contested but the games theselves weren’t really much for the neutral (the last three games were all 2-1 or 2-0). I honestly don’t remember any of the Sharks-Penguins games from last year except for maybe Donskoi’s OT winner. Hopefully, we get a little better here.

It’s also hard to fully judge these two teams as banged up as they are. While the Penguins are basically only a Letang short of a full lineup, there are so many guys who look like they are carrying something or have missed time that you don’t know exactly what you’re getting. The Preds don’t have Johansen and Fiala, which is a real problem.

Everything Else

Quite Rightly

By 1631

Of what was on offer, Penguins-Predators is by far the most palatable matchup, and will probably provide the best hockey. And it will look really odd on high definition televisions, which I’m here for. And it also probably provides the most talking points. I’ll try and get through them all, if I can remember them.

-This postseason has seen the most discussion of “styles” that I can remember, whether it was how boring the Senators were to whether or not the Penguins have somehow cracked a “counter-attacking” style against the Caps and a few other things. I suppose the one downside–there are assuredly others that I want to ignore–of a lot of hockey writers being soccer fans was making connections between a team like Leiceister City winning the Premier League and a hockey team trying to do the same thing.

The problem with this thinking is it’s a lot easier to sag back in soccer and still be a good defensive team than it is in hockey. If you’re causing all the shots to come from 25-30 yards in soccer, that’s fine and if someone crashes one in that’s more just bad luck. In hockey goals from points shots that are screened or deflected are far more common, so it’s best to just not give them up at all.

Both Ottawa and Pittsburgh are in the bottom half of playoff teams when it comes to scoring chances against per game, so both have needed strong goalie performances to get where they are. Same with high-danger chances. They’ve been ok, but hardly great. Meanwhile, the Predators have been highly effective in limiting the types of chances teams get, which is probably the big advantage in this upcoming Final.

Everything Else

Get It Over With

By 1738

It’s startling on how the feelings can change about a Game 7 in just one round. Just a couple weeks ago, we were all eagerly anticipating the Game 7 between the Capitals and Penguins, the culmination of a Mega Powers matchup that we’d been looking forward to since about November. Now tonight we have a Game 7 of a series that we pretty much just want to die and go away forever.

The constant argument over the Senators is an excellent example of how basically all sports coverage refuses to seen any nuance in any subject. The past couple weeks, or even months, have been one side screaming how boring the Senators are to watch at times, and the other screaming back that it’s not their job to be entertaining but to win.

Both of these things can be true.

Everything Else

This One’s Easy

By 2409

We only know one half of the participants in the Stanley Cup Final, which will start Monday (and starting it on a holiday seems a bit weird to me but at this point I’m beyond studying it too hard). The NHL only needs to know half though, because they can once again, finally, put the most deserving player in the position of face of the league.

It is time for the hockey world to come to terms with PK Subban.

Everything Else

And It Was All Yellow

By 1576

Does the fact the Predators just ran through the Western Conference make their sweep against the Hawks easier to stomach? I suppose a little. Had they biffed it to St. Louis, things would probably feel a little different.

I’ll say this for Sam…in our playoff preview podcast, he didn’t think it would take more than 15 games for the Hawks to make it through the West. He was close; he just had the wrong team. As we discussed in that podcast way back when, the playoffs were never more shallow than they were this year. Perhaps that’s why the Hawks getting bounced in 4 stung a bit more. It was only until this series where the Predators were truly tested and even then, it’s still Anaheim. Not exactly a core known for going out on their shields.

To be fair, the Ducks deserved a better fate in last night’s tilt and were done in by an in-over-his head Jonathan Bernier. Bernier did his team no favors by putting them in two two-goal deficits. Not helping matters was allowing a very soft goal in the first two minutes of the game which allowed the Preds and their fans to continue to work themselves into a frenzy.

To their credit, the Ducks were able to fight back finally only to see the lead handed right back to the Predators on one of their first shots on goal since Anaheim tied it. You can only do so much with 20,000 strong slobbering all over themselves. Or Filip Forsberg clearing attempt that took fourteen crazy bounces before heading towards an empty net to seal your fate.

Sometimes, there’s no stopping what is meant to be.

Make no mistake, the Predators have lived a charmed life in this postseason (minus their injuries to key players) and their first empty net goal of the night was another perfect example. Starting with Rinne diving back to save a puck that was headed towards his empty cage in Game 3 versus the Hawks and continuing through tonight, it’s all come up Nashville thus far. That’s not to say they don’t work hard or didn’t deserve to make this far. They certainly do. There was no team more worthy in the West this spring.

You could make an argument for Anaheim but they are literally too stupid to insult. Besides, you reap what you sow when you lose a Game 5 on home ice in a tied series.

–A Pittsburgh/Nashville Final would definitely be the most interesting of options left for the 500 people in other markets who still give a crap. I’m not sure the Predators could keep up with the Penguins, what with their battered offensive lineup…but the Penguins aren’t exactly a beacon of good health these days either. Which is sort of what Sam was saying the other day. This playoffs, more than any I can directly recall, have become this war of attrition where teams are digging through forwards 14, 15 and 16 on the depth chart to fill out lineups.

I don’t think this has become a trend yet – just last year the Sharks and Penguins had everyone who mattered playing in the Final. But it bears watching as we move forward.

–One thing Hawk (or Chicago, in general) fans can learn from Predator fans is how to truly enjoy the moment. Of all the excitement in this postseason, there hasn’t been much consternation about this upcoming offseason and the contract extensions that await Ryan Johansen and Viktor Arvidsson. One thing that’s always bugged me when the Hawks were making their deep runs was the impending doom that followed any success.

“Uh oh, Bryan Bickell scored again. Add another million to his cap hit.”

“Brandon Saad is so good. The Hawks are going to have to pay up.”

“Will someone send an offer sheet to Jonathan Toews or Patrick Kane?”

Like, who cares, Scooby? Meanwhile, the Hawks are playing meaningful, exciting games in the summer. As if there was nothing else worth discussing. I truly think this is more of a Chicago fandom type exercise than something strictly related to hockey and Hawk fans. The reason I believe this to be true – In October, I saw Sam’s head spin a full 360 degrees like Regan Macneil when someone had the audacity to ask him about next year’s Cub lineup on the eve of Game 6 of the NLCS.

–Seems like enough for now. Hopefully the Penguins finish off the James Bond villian-led Senators tonight in homage to Roger Moore (skypoint) tonight and we can get one step closer to the off season.

 

Everything Else

The NHL Is Out To Lunch, And So Is YCP

By 17904

Man, am I fucking sick of writing posts like this. But the NHL, it’s rock-stupid/ignorant players, the league’s insistence on pretty much letting them be that, and the supposed-watchdog organization riding shotgun seem pretty fucking insistent that I and many others have to keep doing so.

To recap the news, though you probably know it already, Ryan Getzlaf got caught calling someone a “cocksucker,” a homophobic slur whether you like it or not, the NHL fined him the change he found between his couch cushions, he came out after Game 5 and delivered the most insincere, backhanded apology one could muster, one so lacking in any emotion or regret even Jay Cutler thought it was patronizing, and You Can Play released a statement that was so soft and passionless it’s a wonder the paper it was printing on didn’t actually piss down its leg. So a good weekend for all around.

Everything Else

Attrition And Panic

By 1547

It probably isn’t the best way to watch the NHL playoffs in the context of a larger meaning. Life has no meaning, eat Arby’s. We all know this. But when the Hawks are done for this long you can’t help but let your mind wander.

Before this Penguins-Senators series, while I was wary of my prediction skills in saying that then Pens should win relatively easily, the comparison of the two teams’ rosters wouldn’t lead to any other conclusion. But the thing is this isn’t really the Penguins’ complete roster.