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The all-encompassing chase for Lord Stanley's Cup thread 2021!!!!

C-Man

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C-Man

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Well, the best playoff in professional sports is off and running. I thought we should perhaps make a separate thread. The Bolts-Panthers game the other night was as good a non-OT playoff hockey game that you'll ever see. Great writeup in The Atlantic where the reporter talked to a half-dozen or so SoFla fans who happened to be watching their first-ever game the other night.

https://theathletic.com/2595585/?fbpw=1&fbclid=IwAR2ovGkOQtEov7_5rWrGqQIGnVNepU034x9BgtSV0ZKgm_If8v5TqZdbjIY

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By Sean Gentille 6h ago 60 

Whatever Game 1 of Lightning-Panthers was — certainly one of the more unexpected crossover events in NHL history, potentially the best game of the Stanley Cup playoffs, probably the most anyone has ever discussed any game between those teams — it came with one unavoidable, extremely answerable question.

What if that was the first hockey game you’d ever watched? A returning MVP, an early disallowed goal, breakaways, scraps, dirty hits, four lead changes … “The NHL’s hottest new club is Lightning Panthers. It has everything.” This was the Jon Bois “why watch overtime playoff hockey” tweet, stretched over 60 minutes. If this game were a person, I’d marry it. I’d have married it on Sunday night.

So, naturally, this stuck with me, though the part about the Flames and Canucks — much like their game — is best ignored.

Some people didn’t have to imagine it. Here are a few of them. Some of their answers have been lightly edited for clarity.

Alex, 19, Tamarac, Fla.: First game watched, ever

All right, so how did you stumble on that? You knew the Heat had their spot locked up, so you were like “I’m gonna watch this because it’s on?”

Pretty much. They were starting random G-Leaguers, so I was like, “Eh, know what, I heard the Panthers are playing their first playoff game in a while, so why not?” And I’ve never been into hockey. The Panthers’ arena is behind this mall in South Florida.

The only reason anyone ever goes out there is for the (Sawgrass Mills) mall. I don’t know anyone who’s ever been to the stadium. I’ve seen Panthers tickets on the ground in the mall parking lot.

So that was literally the first hockey game you’ve sat down and watched?

Dude. It was my first hockey game. Ever. I’m watching it, like, “… Is this how they are normally? Is it this exciting? I might have to get into this.” I heard (that I couldn’t have picked a better game). I don’t even know the rules. “OK, if they’re tied at the end of regulation, do they go to OT?” I didn’t know anything that was happening, but I was so, so into it.

Was there any single moment where you were like, “Oh yeah, I’m locked in?”

The first (Aleksander Barkov) goal, I was like, “OK, I know this dude. I know the Barkov guy. He scored. He’s, like … Jimmy Butler, I guess?” And then I saw on Twitter, every time they scored a goal, people were talking about rats? What the hell does a rat have to do with a panther? I got some history, I’ve been Wikipedia-ing. So I’ll watch some highlights of that (1996 Eastern Conference finals). That’s pretty cool, with the rats, but I didn’t have a clue what that meant. I was like, “OK, a Panther eats a rat for lunch, I guess?”

I love this, because everyone has half a complex about hockey’s spot in the food chain, and they’re like “If someone could only see the game at its best, they’d be in.” I honestly feel bad for you, because that’s basically as good as a playoff game can get.

So (for the NBA) it’s like, 2016 Finals, Warriors-Cavs, LeBron’s comeback, all that — and this is the peak of hockey, I guess? I didn’t even realize there were that many Panthers fans. “Where do these people come from?” But I’m a fan now. I’m getting my Barkov jersey. I’m all the way in.

I just saw (Sam Bennett’s suspension). I don’t even know how good he is? Is he good?

It’s just not in my family. My dad, we watch sports together, my grandad was a basketball player growing up, so basketball has been the main thing in my family. And football, we always watch Dolphins games. But hockey just has never been a thing for me. Now, I’m turning everyone onto it. The game is gonna be on the big screen in the living room. I’m making everyone sit down and watch it, because that was exhilarating.

I’m hooked after that game. It’s always nice to have a hometown team to root for. I think I’m in. I’m going to see if I can get tickets. If there’s a Game 5, I think I’m there.

Lazaro Fernandez, 22, Miami: First game in attendance

I’m a huge Miami sports fan, so I’m at least familiar with all of our teams, but I’m not watching the Panthers every day or anything. We had a run three years ago or so that made me notice them. From there, what games I could watch, I watched, and it’s been ramping up since then.

To be honest, I didn’t realize (how crazy the game was) until I saw a couple tweets saying “The Fight For Florida is on fire.”

It was the scoring, it was the intensity, it was the non-stop fights. I’ve seen enough hockey games to tell my girlfriend, “This doesn’t usually happen, where they’re fighting every couple minutes.” I know we had a couple games near the end of the regular season with the Lightning, and those were intense already. That definitely carried over to the series. So that for sure (made me say) “This might be the first round of the playoffs, but they’re playing with a lot of intensity and a lot on the line.”

(The environment) was amazing. I knew going into it that it was a playoff game, and it was going to be next-level stuff, but just the atmosphere was great. Everyone was really into the game. Whenever we scored a goal, it was deafening. And you could see the rally towels being waved. It was really, really fun — and it’s interesting now seeing any games, whether it’s baseball, football, baseball, after (COVID-19), getting back into the building and just being able to cheer on your team. Especially a good team? It’s pretty next-level.

There’s no doubt (that I’m hooked). I will be following the Panthers. Regardless, too — I’m a Dolphins fan. I couldn’t care less about the quality of the team. But after yesterday, after seeing it live and the intensity they played with? Yeah, that’s my team right there. I got a hat and everything. I want to get myself a hockey jersey, but I’ve got to warm myself up to spending, like, $200. But I know who I’m going for: Barkov.

I was curious about (hockey). I said, “This is something that isn’t popular with Hispanic people. Let me look into it. Let me see what’s up with it.” And it is a very white sport — but that curiosity was what led me to it. It’s not something that’s commonplace in my culture, so I wanted to reach out and say, “What’s up with this? What’s this?” And I love it. Hockey is a great frickin’ sport. I told my dad that I went to a game, and now he wants to go to a game. And his friend wants to go to a game. And we’re not white! (laughs)

I’m telling you, if you have more games like that, you’re not gonna be a No. 5 sport for long. It was on fire, back and forth. It was incredible. So if they have more games like that — maybe it doesn’t happen, but wow.

It reminded me of the shot Ray Allen hit in 2013. That shit marked me forever. I remember leaving my house and going outside because I was so pissed, and coming back because I couldn’t give up on my team. And then he nails the shot.

Same thing with hockey. There’s no doubt that I’m going to follow the Panthers every single game this playoff, then go to a couple games next year.

@dewontheleaves, 24, Miami: First playoff game on TV

Everything about it was great. The players were so chippy, it was so aggressive, it was so tense. You could feel that Florida rivalry. I knew nothing about Tampa Bay, and by the end of it, I was like “I really want to crush these guys.”

Over the course of the season, I kept tuning in, watching my feed and SportsCenter and everything, and they just kept outperforming expectations. Everyone was like, “The Panthers are legit this year. The Panthers are a team to watch.” And I knew nothing about hockey, and then suddenly, I have a bunch of friends on Twitter that I’m DMing, like, “Hey, what does offside mean? Can you tell me some of these rules?” And over the course of the season, I became a big fan. I love our guys. I think Barkov has been fantastic this season. He made a fan out of me this season, and that game yesterday, ooh, everything about it. I was DMing my friend like, “Is it always like this? Are they always this intense? Because sign me up for seven games of this, man!”

I got my whole family (involved), who’d never watched hockey either. We’re a basketball household. And by the end of it, we were all cheering for our Panthers. We were heartbroken at the end there.

I’ll tell you this, as a hardcore basketball fan and a casual fan of football and a lot of the other big Miami sports, I think hockey for a long time just hasn’t had a huge presence in our city. And this season has done a lot to get Florida viewers engaged and watching. This is our most successful season in a while, and we’ve been in the media spotlight more than we were in years past. It felt like they did a great job of getting local fans to pay attention to their teams — because I’ll be honest with you, prior to this season I could maybe name one guy on the roster.

They’ve made more of an effort on their social media pages. I noticed that a lot of the big hockey teams keep the engagement going with that constant presence on social media, and I thought the Panthers were kind of lacking in that until this season. So they’ve stepped up in that regard. It definitely made a fan out of me. If I can get a ticket to one of these games, shoot, you know I’ll be there.

Some of those confrontations on the ice — on the Panthers subreddit, the top comment was “(Radko Gudas) is playing like a true Florida Man.” And I’m texting my friend, like, “Damn, are they always this aggressive out there?” That was definitely the moment for me. “Wow, this is worth watching.”

I’d try to tune into a couple games in the past, and it never really did it for me. But the energy level, and having names to the faces of all those guys that were putting it all out there really made it for me. I watched a Penguins game last year with a friend of mine, but I didn’t recognize anyone. I didn’t have a stake in any of the teams. Now that I know who these guys are, there’s more storylines to follow and more things to get invested in.

Trust me, I’ve bought in. They truly made a fan out of me. When I saw your message this morning, I couldn’t help but think, “Wow, I wonder if a bunch of people had the same reaction that I did.”

I’m invested now. I’ve got to see who wins the Stanley Cup now. I’m hoping it’s us, but I’m down for good games either way.

Colin Ortega, 21, Miami: First game watched, ever

I’m a big basketball fan. A big Heat fan. So last night, they clinched their spots in the playoffs, and I was like “Eh, I don’t need to watch them today.” And I heard a lot of people talking about the Florida Panthers making the playoffs. So I was like, why not? The Panthers are good this year, apparently. And that game was awesome. It was electric.

I just really liked that it was non-stop action. It’s back and forth. They do not stop. I’m definitely still a little confused about penalties and all that stuff, but that didn’t deter me at all. I was just like, “OK, whatever, that happened” and kept watching. I went into it with an open mind, like “Oh, this is pretty fun. This is cool.”

A big thing, especially here for South Florida fans, they go all-in when our teams are good — and they show no interest when they’re not.

I had somebody tweet at me from Tampa, saying “This happened to us in 2015, and now we’re huge Lightning fans.” Maybe that’s what happens to me.

(Photo: Eliot J. Schechter / NHLI via Getty Images)

 

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NorthLoop
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Allez allez allez allllllez! Allez Montreal!

Brisketexan
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I may have to make up my best facsimile of Reuben’s deli’s Montreal smoked meat poutine for one of my finals-watching sessions.

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C-Man

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Vasilevskiy is a monster. I see nothing so far that makes me think the Lightning aren’t ready to win this again. Tampa/Colorado would be a whale of a series but that’s getting way ahead of ourselves.

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GopherRock

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PENGUINS VS. ISLANDERS  (Series tied 1-1) 

Game 1: Islanders 4, Penguins 3 (OT)
Game 2: Penguins 2, Islanders 1
Thursday, May 20: Penguins at Islanders, 7 p.m. ET (NBCSN)
Saturday, May 22: Penguins at Islanders, 3 p.m. ET (NBC)
Monday, May 24: Islanders at Penguins TBD
*Wednesday, May 26: Penguins at Islanders TBD
*Friday, May 28: Islanders at Penguins TBD

CAPITALS VS. BRUINS (Series tied 1-1) 

Game 1: Capitals 3, Bruins 2 (OT)
Game 2: Bruins 4, Capitals 3 (OT)
Wednesday, May 19: Capitals at Bruins, 6:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN)
Friday, May 21: Capitals at Bruins, 6:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN)
Sunday, May 23: Bruins at Capitals, 7 p.m. ET (USA Network)
*Tuesday, May 25: Capitals at Bruins TBD
*Thursday, May 27: Bruins at Capitals TBD

HURRICANES VS. PREDATORS (CAR leads 1-0) 

Game 1: Hurricanes 5, Predators 2
Wednesday, May 19: Predators at Hurricanes, 8 p.m. ET (CNBC)
Friday, May 21: Hurricanes at Predators, 7 p.m. ET (USA Network)
Sunday, May 23: Hurricanes at Predators, 2:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN)
*Tuesday, May 25: Predators at Hurricanes TBD
*Thursday, May 27: Hurricanes at Predators TBD
*Saturday, May 29: Predators at Hurricanes TBD

PANTHERS VS. LIGHTNING (TB leads 2-0) –

Game 1: Lightning 5, Panthers 4
Game 2: Lightning 3, Panthers 1
Thursday, May 20: Panthers at Lightning, 6:30 p.m. ET (USA Network)
Saturday, May 22: Panthers at Lightning, 12:30 p.m. ET (CNBC)
*Monday, May 24: Lightning at Panthers TBD
*Wednesday, May 26: Panthers at Lightning TBD
*Friday, May 28: Lightning at Panthers TBD

MAPLE LEAFS VS. CANADIENS 

Thursday, May 20: Canadiens at Maple Leafs, 7:30 p.m. ET (NHL Network)
Saturday, May 22: Canadiens at Maple Leafs, 7 p.m. ET (CNBC)
Monday, May 24: Maple Leafs at Canadiens, 7 p.m. ET
Tuesday, May 25: Maple Leafs at Canadiens TBD
*Thursday, May 27: Canadiens at Maple Leafs TBD
*Saturday, May 29: Maple Leafs at Canadiens TBD
*Monday, May 31: Canadiens at Maple Leafs TBD

OILERS VS. JETS 

Wednesday, May 19: Jets at Oilers, 9 p.m. ET (NBCSN)
Friday, May 21: Jets at Oilers, 9 p.m. ET (NBCSN)
Sunday, May 23: Oilers at Jets, 7:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN)
Monday, May 24: Oilers at Jets, 9:45 p.m. ET
*Wednesday, May 26: Jets at Oilers TBD
*Friday, May 28: Oilers at Jets TBD
*Sunday, May 30: Jets at Oilers TBD

AVALANCHE VS. BLUES (COL leads 1-0) 

Game 1: Avalanche 4, Blues 1
Wednesday, May 19: Blues at Avalanche, 10:30 p.m. ET (CNBC)
Friday, May 21: Avalanche at Blues, 9:30 p.m. ET (USA Network)
Sunday, May 23: Avalanche at Blues, 5 p.m. ET (NBCSN)
*Tuesday, May 25: Blues at Avalanche TBD
*Thursday, May 27: Avalanche at Blues TBD
*Saturday, May 29: Blues at Avalanche TBD

GOLDEN KNIGHTS VS. WILD (Series tied 1-1) 

Game 1: Wild 1, Golden Knights 0 (OT)
Game 2: Golden Knights 3, Wild 1
Thursday, May 20: Golden Knights at Wild, 9:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN)
Saturday, May 22: Golden Knights at Wild, 8 p.m. ET (NBC)
Monday, May 24: Wild at Golden Knights TBD
*Wednesday, May 26: Golden Knights at Wild TBD
*Friday, May 28: Golden Knights TBD

  • Hook 'Em 2
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Beau Vine

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23 hours ago, C-Man said:

Well, the best playoff in professional sports is off and running. I thought we should perhaps make a separate thread.

The regular NHL thread is getting overwhelmed with people discussing the Vancouver-Calgary games.  

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jetsfan76

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10 hours ago, C-Man said:

I never got an answer in the NHL thread -- why does Toronto-Montreal not start until Thursday night? Something to do with Vancouver having to finish the regular season?

Vancouver had crazy covid protocol about 2 months ago. A bunch of games were postponed, so I assume it's that. Plus, possibly something about a June 1 deadline for an answer to crossing the border?

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C-Man

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Vancouver had crazy covid protocol about 2 months ago. A bunch of games were postponed, so I assume it's that. Plus, possibly something about a June 1 deadline for an answer to crossing the border?

Yeah, I know why Vancouver is still playing. But all four playoff spots were nailed down in the division and none had games with the Canucks. It’s just odd, especially if Winnipeg/Edmonton does not go long.
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Beau Vine

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20 hours ago, C-Man said:

I never got an answer in the NHL thread -- why does Toronto-Montreal not start until Thursday night? Something to do with Vancouver having to finish the regular season?

Yes.  Why they felt that two already-eliminated teams needed to finish the season in front of no fans is the real question.

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C-Man

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12 hours ago, jetsfan76 said:

Down 4 - 1, Jets tie it up. OT baby!

I haven't seen a playoff game flip like that since the Sharks used a bullshit 5-minute major to come back and beat Vegas a few years ago.

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PittsburghTiger

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3 minutes ago, shadow_operative2.0 said:

I know jack-&-shit about non-Stars hockey, but Winnipeg just tied Vancouver in early third on NBCSN. 

 

And this happened a few minutes ago. 

 

Coming in I did not think the Penguins had a deep run in them. Tonight just reiterated that thought. I’d be very surprised if the Pens win Game 6

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C-Man

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I know jack-&-shit about non-Stars hockey, but Edmonton just tied Winnipeg in early 2nd on NBCSN. 
 
And this happened a few minutes ago. 

I heard a clip of the Isles’ winning goal with the home team announcer — God, it was awful. “Dude” was screaming like a little girl. Amateur hour.
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cactusflinthead

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5 hours ago, Longboard Horn said:

That was the tightest sweep I've ever seen. Haha, fuck you Mike Smith! Also, would be surprised if Connor McDavid goes to Seattle. His vibe and body language showed that he doesn't trust anyone on the Oilers anymore. 

I don't think Eichel trusts Buffalo at all. The ownership there is stunningly bad.

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C-Man

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That was a fun game no doubt. I'll always pull for Dave Tippett's teams. Loved him when he was with the Stars. But the Oilers are missing something. Drasaitl or McDavid should've won that game somewhere. McDavid, of course, was responsible for the turnover that led to the breakaway series-clincher.

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Longhorn_Fan68

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3 minutes ago, C-Man said:

That was a fun game no doubt. I'll always pull for Dave Tippett's teams. Loved him when he was with the Stars. But the Oilers are missing something. Drasaitl or McDavid should've won that game somewhere. McDavid, of course, was responsible for the turnover that led to the breakaway series-clincher.

The Oil are too offensive-minded. That strategy works fine in the regular season, but playoffs are a whole different animal. If you can't defend, you won't win. Look at the Stars last season. They were dogshit offensively all season, but won a lot of 1-goal games. That prepped them well for the playoff run they had. The Oilers didn't have any of that. They were relying on outscoring everyone, which they clearly could not do.

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C-Man

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What are everybody's thoughts on Kadri's 8-game suspension? It was a bad, bad hit -- and he's got a track record of bad behavior. Compare that to Tom Wilson's $5K fine and things seem out-of-kilter.

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