OT : NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs

keener75

Who is going to hoist the cup this year? Tampa Bay has to be the favorite with 62 wins in 82 games to take home the Presidents Trophy. No weaknesses in that lineup. The West looks wide open. Calgary, Nashville, Winnipeg, Vegas, San Jose, St Louis are all built for the two month grind that it takes to win the Cup.

I love this time of year! NHL Playoffs are kicking off, the Masters start tomorrow, MLB is just underway and NBA Playoffs are right around the corner.

Go Jets Go!!

dmchicago

Hardest championship to win.

Battleborn

I would hope my Knights make another run, however, I don't think they get out of the second round. Defense has been pretty sketchy this year.

thetrim

Lightning. No doubt.

lwrehm

Preds Fan here, but I don't think it will be their year. Even with dropping game 1, I'm still thinking Lightning.

EggNorth

Go Bruins! If that does not work, go Leafs. At least one of my teams will make it to the 2nd round.

frazzdaddy

Nice to finally be back after 10 years, although it will most likely be a short run.

Go Canes!

NDG

still BUZZIN from the Jackets win last night . . . put my girls to bed and Jackets down 3 in the first period . . . to comeback and win 4-3 against that TB team is seriously unfathomable. This city is excited, games here in columbus are going get wild. GO JACKETS !!

fishlessman

havent seen the duck boats parading in boston for a couple months....here we go BRUINS...here we go

Jonnysouth

Would love to see a deep push by Calgary first and then St. Louis. If The Cup can’t go to either of them then I’d love to see it go North of the border to Toronto or Winnipeg. Love playoff hockey!!

hvhunter

Though I'm not a Caps fan, in my Bracket Challenge I have them and Calgary in the final, with the Caps winning again.

CigarCityEgger

Hopefully the Bolts wake up. 62 regular season wins is nice, but this is a brand new season. Should be a good one tonight!

CigarCityEgger

Gotta hand it to Columbus, they are certainly taking Tampa behind the woodshed this series.

Battleborn

What a game between VGK & SJS. Since great games all around so far.

NDG

CBJ is blowing my mind - even Tortorella seems shocked - GO JACKETS !! Plus Buckeye football spring game is today. After a long crap winter, life is good here in Columbus.

keener75

Columbus could have a real chance of a HUGE upset with Kucherov suspended for game 3!

Battleborn

Granted I am pretty new to hockey, but Mark Stone had the best game I have ever seen tonight.

CigarCityEgger

Lightning down 0-3, and I don’t see them winning tomorrow night. We just have Cooper a huge extension but his playoff record has not been too great. We’ll see what happens...

fishlessman

a blast from the past, old time hock between the 6. i miss the blood in the ice

On April 2, 1969, 50 years ago, Toronto and Boston also were playing in a Stanley Cup series. The Bruins, just coming into a kind if dynasty after 40 years of futility, were shredding the Leafs, 6-0, on their way to a 10-1 final score, in the first game of the series. With 18:03 left in the second period, Boston star Bobby Orr, who was passing through hockey demigod status on his way to full-blown hockey divinity, wound up for a rush along the right boards. A rookie defenseman named Pat Quinn lined Orr up and laid him out, cold, with a sledgehammer of an elbow.

The old Boston Garden went completely insane. The league’s director of officials was in attendance and is said to have whispered a silent prayer for Orr to get up, lest nobody get out of the building alive. On his way to the penalty box, Quinn was surrounded by angry fans and even got in a scuffle with a Boston cop. He broke a pane of the ringside glass and showered fans with shrapnel. Finally, they rousted Quinn to the locker room and when he came out—God knowers why—for the third period, he got hit in the head with a bus driver’s change maker. The Bruins, however, decided to run the score up as best they could and, ultimately, that enraged the Maple Leafs even more than the Garden fans had. In the third period, Maple Leaf Forbes Kennedy, playing in what would be his last NHL game, went completely, utterly berserk.

First, he went after goalie Gerry Cheevers. The crowd, still in meltdown over the Quinn hit, responded by showering Kennedy with beer and god knows what else. Kennedy proceeded to skate to the Boston bench and attempt to fight the entire roster. He was swinging at anything that moved. Unfortunately, one thing that was moving at the time was a linesman named George Ashley, whom Kennedy flattened. Just when things were calming down, Kennedy and Boston’s John McKenzie began an outright brawlThe upshot was that Forbes Kennedy, in his last game, set an NHL record that may never be matched: eight penalties called at once, including four minor penalties, two fighting majors, a 10-minute misconduct, and a game misconduct. (Later, he would be fined $1000 for jacking up Ashley.) After the game, Quinn walked into a Boston pub to get some beers for the team and somehow came out alive. Meanwhile, as Orr was leaving the hospital, a man came out of the shadows and offered to “take care” of Pat Quinn. Orr declined the button man’s offer, saying he’d take care of that himself. It’s hard to imagine what would happen to Quinn or Kennedy in these more enlightened times. The NHL might have to build a dungeon.

NorthPilot06

Holy smokes, Tampa Bay...shocker by CBJ. My Pens went down in four too.

Good matchups all around, awesome to see the energy of playoff season.

frazzdaddy

My canes looked good. Sux to lose Andrei, but you drop gloves with a guy like Ovi that never fights you might not like what you get. Great playoffs so far. Holy crap Tampa Bay.

keener75

@fishlessman That is a crazy story! I remember reading about that in Bobby Orr's book. Different times for sure. Pat Quinn was a legend too!

Tampa Bay - ouch!

@Battleborn Mark Stone was a great addition at the deadline for VGK and then they turn around and sign him for 8 more years. George McPhee has made a mockery of the expansion process. First year expansion team goes to the Finals last year! Unbelievable!

CigarCityEgger

Gotta hand it to Columbus, they took control in Game 1 and never looked back. Sad day here in the Bay Area with everyone just in disbelief. Playoff hockey is crazy

fishlessman

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/2425307#Comment_2425307

it was all different back then, the old gardens had a smaller rink, allmost round in the corners, hard to trap the puck in the corner like the new rinks without hard checking, hitting, fighting etc. non of this finesse passing game in the old gardens that everyones used too now.

Battleborn

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/2425307#Comment_2425307

Stone was a huge pick up. His line right now is one od'd the best in the league and should be for a couple more years.

fishlessman

pastrnak scoring again....tuuuuukaaaahh

fishlessman

thank you toronto, thankyou for the memories

Toronto Maple Leafs. The Toronto Maple Leafs drafted Rask in the first round, 21st overall, in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. However, before playing a regular season game for Toronto, he was traded to the Boston Bruins

keener75

Yeah John Ferguson basically wrecked the Leafs in the early 2000's but Rask for Raycroft was the worst trade in Maple Leaf history!

Boston also had a doozy when they traded Joe Thornton in his prime to the Sharks for three scrubs.

The best move the Leafs ever made was hiring Shanahan to run hockey operations.

frazzdaddy

let's go Canes!!

EggNorth

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/2425462#Comment_2425462

Over the years , Toronto did a good job building a great team .... Boston.

fishlessman

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/2425635#Comment_2425635

boston smells blood and its at home, the fans like blood