2019-2020 NHL season thread

They dominated the Canucks, simple as Markstrom is outplaying Binnington by a wide margin. The pass by Hughes in OT was insane.

 

Tom Dundon pays Rod Brind'Amour's fine.

 

Bet he doesn’t pay him in the summer

 

Probably should have clarified I was unable to watch. So, back-to-back poor performances by Binnington, no? Or just Markstrom being better of the two?

 

Binnington hasn’t played well, especially in game one. Markstrom has been really good.

 

Wouldn't be surprised in the least. Then when Dundon has to settle for some crap - in part, because word is getting out that he is penny wise and pound foolish - he can look right in the mirror.

Ron Francis set up the foundation. Don Waddell made a tweak or two and a couple of underrated, under-the-radar moves. But Ron Brind'Amour has been the catalyst to this team's resurgence.

 

Tlusky is the man there. One of the smartest organizations in the league

 

Love this picture.

 

Rice will be correct about a Capitals sweep if they continue to show that sort of effort and inattention to detail. I'm already declaring the season over, because I don't believe Rierden is capable of making any adjustments. He got bent over sans lube by Brind'Amour last year, and Barry Trotz is coming in for sloppy seconds now. Caps may find a way to push it to six, but they won't win.

My wish list for the offseason, because even if this team miraculously wins four out of five against the Isles, it is not talented nor disciplined enough to win a second series:

* Rierden gone. Cut your losses. He's pathetically overwhelmed. Leonsis hasn't screwed many things up in his ownership tenure but he badly whiffed in the Trotz/Rierden fiasco. Hire an adult to coach a veteran team whose window is quickly closing. There's one more deep run in the next three years in the Ovi-Backstrom core, but they need help.

* A big ticket trade to acquire some decent defensive help. I love everything Kempny did during the Cup run, but he's a sixth/seventh defenseman now who caught fire for one half of a season. He cannot be a top-pairing D. You can build around Carlson, Orlov and Fehervary. Give Lucas Johansen an extended tryout. Trade Jensen for draft picks. Don't even entertain re-signing Gudas. Siegenthaler's ceiling is what it is, and where he is now -- third pairing D prone to mistakes with little offensive upside. Kuznetsov is the guy I'd try to trade, because he's the only one who can command value.

* A veteran netminder to back up Samsonov. The net should be his 65 percent of the time, but you need a solid, veteran guy to push him and pick up the slack if he falters. Pheonix Copley isn't that guy. Holtby has fallen off a damn cliff. He is prone to bouts of brilliance but also prone to allowing soft goals and making crippling puckhandling mistakes. You can't sign him long term, not for the money he wants. Will never forget "the save" and his contributions to the Cup run, and I'll always be a fan, but the Caps need to move on.

* Throwing support behind the Canucks, because they're fun to watch and Jay Beagle is my dude.

 

Tukka Rask just opted out of the bubble

 

Tula Rask has opted out. He made a comment the other day after the game that the lack of fans made it feel strange. Maybe he never fully got his head into it which is understandable. Halak is a solid backup, will be interesting to watch now.

edit: announcement came about 90 minutes before game time. The machinations behind the scene must be interesting.

 

They said on the broadcast (if I heard it right) that of the Bruins' last 82 playoff games, Rask played 80 of them. Halak the other two. The current backup has never played an NHL game.