2022 Stanley Cup playoffs thread

I don’t watch the Leafs at all, but I know they have plenty of big names. What are they missing? What’s the Achilles heel?

 

The Leafs’ roster is as strong as it’s ever been but it’s just a bit unbalanced. Hypothetically if you were to replace a centre of Matthews’ calibre with a defenceman of Hedman’s calibre, I think the Leafs win the Cup.

With the exception of last year against Montreal I don’t think the Leafs were favoured to win any series they’ve been in during the Matthews era. They’ve faced Washington, Boston, Boston, and Tampa. No shame in losing to any of them. (I don’t count the bubble year, that was just too much of an outlier.)

They were seven minutes away from winning this series in Game 6 until they took two high sticking penalties in 18 seconds and gave up the tying goal while down two men. They dominated overtime in that game but just couldn’t get one.

Most people in Toronto don’t want to hear this, but I think they’re fine.

 

It looks like Tristan Jarry is going to start in goal for the Penguins tonight. That just screams desperation to me. Maybe he looked great in practices, but the guy hasn't played since April 14 and he likely isn't fully healthy. This is also a guy who imploded the last time he took the ice in the playoffs. Of course, he's better than Domingue. I admire Sullivan's guts for making the move, but it could easily blow up in his face.

Crosby practiced with the team yesterday. They are keeping the door open to him playing today, which I find concerning. The Penguins haven't confirmed anything, but it was reported that he had a concussion. Sitting him Game 6 wasn't just precautionary move. Nobody should be playing a contact sport four days after suffering a concussion, even a mild one. The risk is even higher for Crosby, who has suffered multiple concussions already in his career. There was genuine concern about his long-term health and career after he missed most of the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons due to concussions. He seemingly suffered from Second Impact Syndrome in 2011, meaning he returned to play without allowing a concussion to heal and suffered a second blow to the head, which led to even worse symptoms. SIS is dangerous and can be deadly. I'd hate to see the Penguins lose a series they had nearly wrapped up because of a dirty hit by the Rangers, but I hate seeing Crosby put himself at risk even more. Unless the report that he had a concussion was wrong, he should not be playing tonight.

 

Actually, it was reported by local media in Pittsburgh and ESPN that he had a concussion. The team never confirmed it, but NHL teams aren't exactly forthcoming with injury information.

Of course, it was over 10 years ago that he was allowed to return to quickly from a concussion and ended up with Second Impact Syndrome, but I'm not sure I trust any professional league in a contact sport to properly protect its athletes from concussions. There is plenty of evidence that, like the NFL, the NHL cannot be trusted when it comes to player safety.

 

Is any team actually going to confirm that? No, they are going to go with the "upper-body injury" crap and keep it to themselves. Even if they aren't going to let him play, they aren't going to tell the Rangers about it. That said, multiple sources confirmed that it was a concussion. Perhaps they got it wrong, but concern is they didn't and the team is going to let him go out there anyway.

 

That was my point. The NHL injury designations are incredibly vague, so it is silly to say the team hadn't confirmed it when it is unlikely they would do so regardless of the injury.

It is possible that it was a headache that was evaluated for a concussion, but I imagine there had to be significant symptoms for them to keep him out the rest of Game 5 and sit him in Game 6. The most likely scenario is that he had a mild concussion and the symptoms have subsided. If that is the case, even if he is symptom-free, he shouldn't be on the ice tonight.

Also, how much can we trust an elite athlete to be honest about his symptoms? Most of them won't do it. Think about the culture of a pro locker room and the mentality of an athlete. The example that comes to mind is Ben Roethlisberger missing a big game against the Ravens years ago because he admitted he had concussion symptoms. His own teammate, Hines Ward, criticized him for it, adding that he had hidden his own concussion symptoms more than once in the past.