2023-24 NHL Season Thread.

[Rivenda]

So anyone seen the Blues? Said it again and will say it again, this is a crazy playoff season. Expect the unexpected...
I'm gonna go for LA vs Caps. Just because they're underdogs, seems it's their year..

[Armourboy]

I think it's not fair to the team to give up just now. Yeah, we lost the first two and played awful, but I trust in Trotz that he will get our defense to show up in the two home games. Radulov has done an amazing job so far, and I'm pretty optimistic that he will pick up his game. Let us win the next one and the world will look a bit better. Will still be a hard series, harder than necessary, but I'm far from saying that it's over.

Radulov amazing? Are you serious? Every media person out there is roasting his but for how awful and worthless he has been. Brandon Yip, you know the guy playing on our 4th line that got put on wires by Colorado has more points than he has SOG. I can understand you wanting to be up beat about it, but other than drawing one penalty the other night he has been 100% worthless. No defense at all, just lolligags around until the puck goes the other way, does nothing in the offensive zone but skate around the boards until he loses the puck and then goes and sits on the bench. He's living up to the old stereotype of European players in every way possible.

[Deleted]

I wouldn't call LA underdogs, they were almost third in the western conference at the end of the season, but just blew that spot (thank god, cos they play a lot better when they are away) in the last two games vs San Jose. It's not surprising Vancouver wasn't happy about getting them this season. St. Louis thought they would be joke aswell... See where they ended up after two home games.

Btw, let's say two equally seeded teams (5th from west vs 5th from east, or 8th vs 8th) meet in NHL Finals, who gets the extra home game advantage? Do they just decide that with a coin toss or something?

[Zeoni]

Likely who had more points, if its still tied there it would be who has less overtime losses. That's the way they determine who is seeded when teams have the same amount of points so I'd assume that's how it's going to work.

[Deleted]

Fun fact btw, LA won their first five away games in playoffs. The last time it happened, both two teams won Stanley's Cup. Edmonton had similar run in year 1987 and few years ago it was Tampa Bay (2004). Is LA taking it this year?

[Armourboy]

Fun fact btw, LA won their first five away games in playoffs. The last time it happened, both two teams won Stanley's Cup. Edmonton had similar run in year 1987 and few years ago it was Tampa Bay (2004). Is LA taking it this year?

With the way this year has gone they are just as likely as anyone else imo

[conscript]

I talked a lot of trash about the Pacific, but here they are with two teams in the final four in the West, both up 2-0 on Central teams that should be way better than them. LA looked absolutely unreal last night.

[AceofHarts]

I talked a lot of trash about the Pacific, but here they are with two teams in the final four in the West, both up 2-0 on Central teams that should be way better than them. LA looked absolutely unreal last night.

at the same time both Central teams are not playing up to the normal standards.
ST Louis went 0 for 9 on the power play last night. thats fucking pathetic. i mean the refs were LITERALLY handing them Power Plays.

[conscript]

Kovy is out for game 2 against the Flyers. Can't decide if that is a good or bad thing for the Devils since he was miserable in the first game.

[Aeriedk]

that's a damn disgrace but I'll let it slide since you're an Eastern conference fan.

edit:He doesn't make anyone around him better,

Sure I'm bias, my team is the Lightning and I think Stammer is a great player but I firmly believe you spewed a bunch of bullshit. Last season, No Malkin, No Crosby if I remember correctly. Hmm they placed 4th and were beaten in 7 games by the lightning, this year they have Malkin and Crosby, placed 4th lost in 6 to the Flyers. You know what that says, The Penguins are fine without them, maybe better off but its not like the go from first to worst. The lightning on the other hand pretty much do. And speaking of him not making anyone around him better, lets take a look at Vinny when he was out with a broken hand, Purcell steps up and being on the ice with Stamkos and Marty made him better. Assist? Its pretty hard to get them when you are fed the puck. You know what Stamkos does when he scores, he tells the coach to give him less ice time so others get more. You know what though being on the ice a lot is the cost of being great. Oh and I'm rooting for the Yotes btw I think Mike Smith should be a Vezina candidate, I hope they rep the west for the cup.

---------- Post added 2012-05-01 at 12:29 PM ----------

The reason I bring up the playoffs is what is your objective of the regular season? To make the playoffs. Tampa Bay failed to meet their objective with Stamkos, thus had he not been on the team, they would of had the same regular season result, no post season. When you can take a player out of the system, and the results are the same, that is not the definition of MVP.

The results aren't the same. It is based on the value of the player to the team, not whether or not the team would make the playoffs without them. And if there was one player that was the most valuable to their team this year. I firmly believe it was Stamkos not only because I'm bias (because I am) but because the numbers prove it.

Edit: Everything aside. I am bias towards Stamkos, hes a great player, hes on my home team, and you know what I HATE Malkin, Crosby, and all of the hype that surrounds their club. If it isn't about them being so great (which they aren't - early playoff exit haha) its about them being hurt, hell when Crosby was hurt did you see the NHL twitter feed. Pure spam if a doctor even sneezed in Crosbys direction. Damn that was annoying. However in the end if I took my bias out, the numbers still point towards Stamkos because he contributed more to the teams success in the regular season, Malkin contributed but not as much and they would have been relatively in the same spot without him, the Lightning without Stamkos would have been likely to be receiving the 1st round pick this year.

[Darthvendor]

Alex Radulov, Andrei Kostitsyn violate Nashville Predators team rules; won’t play in Game 3 - Headline on yahoo sports.

[Garbles]

Alex Radulov, Andrei Kostitsyn violate Nashville Predators team rules; won’t play in Game 3 - Headline on yahoo sports.

Ha! At a bar at like 3am 45 minutes away from where your team is staying? lolz... fucking Radulov....

[Aeriedk]

Since I have been debating with some other posters on who should win the Hart trophy I decided to write why. Yes I am bias but at least this should prove that I do base by decision off numbers as well.



Goals - Malkin scored 50, Stamkos scored 60 I think Stamkos deserves a +1 for that, but I personally feel that Stamkos deserves a little more for that since it was a feat that he was able to accomplish in modern day hockey and being only the 20th player in NHL history to do it. Take note for those saying “Well Malkin could have done it if he didn’t miss 7 games.” Realistically he would have only scored 54 goals if he hadn’t missed those games.

Assist - Malkin had 59, and Stamkos had 37. This is an area that is highly debated or not debated enough sometimes. Should assist really carry the same weight as a goal? That’s like giving you a trophy for passing the puck? I play hockey getting the puck past the goal-tender isn’t nearly as easy as throwing it to the other players on the ice. However I’m not debating that at the moment but keep that in mind. +1 for Malkin

Points – Malkin 109, Stamkos 97 – 12 point difference. Ok Malkin should get a +1 here right? Wrong. However in the voting that’s the way the writers will look at it. Malkin already got a +1 for winning in assist, why should he get a +1 here? That’s like counting the assist twice, but to satisfy those that look purely at numbers +1 Malkin.

+/- - Malkin +18, Stamkos +7. For those that understand how the +/- works you know that the other players on the ice are a huge factor, including your goaltenders ability to stop the puck. Malkin is working with the powerhouse Pens and Fleury, where Stamkos is working with the struggling lightning and injured Garon and the oldest player in the league Roloson, I feel that a players value should be based on their skill and ability alone and not who they work with. Breaks Even

PIM – Malkin 70, Stamkos 66. Taking penalties as a star player is bad because not only is it less time your on the ice, but it puts your team on the PK. +1 Stamkos

SOG – Malkin 339, Stamkos 303. More shots on goal for less production? You could say that getting pucks on net is what its all about, but if you don’t score your wasting chances, I say its all about production. Breaks even – I’m not giving Malkin credit for throwing the puck on net. Make you shots count.

Scoring % - Malkin 14.7%, Stamkos 19.8%. Less shots on goal for more goals, easy enough. +1 Stamkos

PPG/PPA – Factored into G/A – Negated by previous stats.

SHG/SHA – Malkin 0, Stamkos 0. Breaks even.

Time on ice per point, Production - Malkin 14:28, Stamkos 18:37. +1 Malkin

At the end of it they break even. 3-3. What about unspoken stats, like experience? Malkin has 5 years of experience, where Stamkos has 3. Shouldn’t he be out-performing him? Yes +1 Stamkos. So here we sit 3-4. What about achieving a something historic? I give that a +1 Stamkos. Ok 3-5.

FAQ -

Shouldn’t Malkin get a +1 for making the playoffs? No the award is based on the regular season, not the playoffs if you want playoffs awards go play with the Conn Smythe.

Why didn’t Malkin get a +1 for his +/-? The Way the +/- is for every time a goal is scored while your on the ice you get a +1, for every time your scored against you get a -1. All this says is that Malkins team was much better defensively than the Lightning, and they have an all-star goaltender. If Stamkos was a part of the Pens his +/- would likely be the same or better as Malkins, just as if Malkin was a part of the Lightning his would be likely the same as Stamkos’

Shouldn’t Malkin get a +1 for more SOG? No that is like saying Stamkos should get a +1 for having a higher TOI.

You skipped games played, why? The numbers remain the same regardless of games played. Stamkos still scored more, and Malkin still assisted more, its irrelevant.

Summary:
In the end they pretty much tied 3-3. When we add unspoken stats I see a clear victory by Stamkos (but I don’t expect PHWA to do their research). So you see I look past my heart and into the statistics. They can be twisted towards anyone but I tried to keep my bias out of this.

Take note I don't want to argue about it. Debating is enjoyable. Theres my reasoning, it isn't just bias so don't jump straight to that conclusion.

-Best Aerie

[draynay]

dafuq did I just read? a 4 PIM differential is a bonus for Stamkos in Hart Trophy consideration why? thats two penalties, four minutes... if it was like, 60 minutes difference maybe I could see some advantage to his team

being younger didn't help Mario beat out Gretzky in '89 and he outscored him by 31 points, I fail to see how that is at all relevant, and the making history bit is nice and vague

both their teams had deficiencies, for the Penguins, their captain and best player was out for 60 games, for the Lightning... they're the Lightning

one player was able to help his team overcome its shortcomings, to say that 4 penalty minutes difference is a decisive advantage while 13 wins and 24 points in the standings is irrelevant seems like a somewhat narrow and confusing view

[Juno86]

I'm not even gonna try and debate with the Stamkos fan because that is such straight out, HUGE bias, its incredible. I'm a total Leafs homer, but even I'm in shock at that.

@Nashville - Really Radulov and Kostsisyn? Really? Do you guys not realize your in the playoffs or something?

[Zeoni]

I honestly don't see how you give Stamkos +1 for 4 less penalty minutes, I mean really? 2 penalties is such a small margin Your bias is out of control buddy. Stamkos won't win Hart and it's not because Malkin is "more popular". This is the NHL, not High School. Can you pull up the stat that shows how many plays St. Loius made out of nothing and got the puck to Stamkos for him to score in an easy position? Stamkos is a great player but he's not the MVP of the league. Just because you hate a player, doesn't mean they don't deserve the trophy. The whole assists argument is retarded as well. What does an assist result in? Yep, you guessed it. The puck in the back of the net. At that skill level, it doesn't matter if player A scores because he never would have scored without player B's assist.

I'm coming from a neutral perspective almost. I probably lean more towards Tampa because I love Marty St Loius. You said it yourself, he scores a lot because he gets fed the puck. I'm sorry if you don't agree with the people who vote on the award but Malkin's gonna win the award. He didn't have people feeding him the puck all year, making big plays so he could score.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IpdcG8a5Qk

Is this why you hate Malkin?

[BicycleMafioso]

Since I have been debating with some other posters on who should win the Hart trophy I decided to write why. Yes I am bias but at least this should prove that I do base by decision off numbers as well.

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/YZVMy.png[IMG]

That image is the perfect argument for not giving Stamkos the nod.
The only thing I'd give him a nod for, is GWG.
Malkin blisters him in most other categories, save the obvious goal-one, where he is close enough for Stamkos' advantage there not to really matter all too much for Hart.

Malkin is more than well-deserved winner. Stamkos? Maybe a nominee. Maybe.

[Irony]

Even I know my argument of "Players who don't make the playoffs, shouldn't be a nominee." can be seen as far fetched, but we've all got opinions. Saying Stamkos deserves the award more than Malkin/Quick/Lundqvist, is just being blinded by fanboyism.

Even if Tampa had made the playoffs, I still think Quick/Lundqvist/Malkin should of been the nominees.

[Rennadrel]

Whelp, time for the Flyers to beat up on the Devils. Kovalcheque is out, which augers well for the Flyers.

[Greeney]

Alex Radulov, Andrei Kostitsyn violate Nashville Predators team rules; won’t play in Game 3 - Headline on yahoo sports.

Sidney Crosby takes a poop. - Headline on NHL.com

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

----
Aerieadk - I wish there was a reputation thing here so I could +rep that post. Agree or disagree, definitely got to appreciate the effort put into it.