Running Stanley Cup Playoff Thread

There will be teams out there that are neither up-and-coming nor ready to challenge for a championship that I'm sure would be quick to hire a guy like Boudreau! Even a team falling into those two criteria might, as Boudreau showed he has the ability to change his system and get regular season results. Maybe he needs to be somewhere where the pressure isn't so damn high, like it is in DC with Ovechkin and the expectations that they WILL win a Cup.

The Caps' playoff flameouts do reflect badly on Boudreau. But they did the same for Ron Wilson and Terry Murray and those guys keep getting jobs. Hell, even Jim Schoenfeld got another shot! Boudreau will be a consideration for any open position if the Caps let him go.

 

If (and when) and the Red WIngs are eliminated, I'm rooting 100 percent for the Lightning because of Stevie Y. He has done a masterful job as GM, couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

 

More than just that ... Guy Boucher is getting it done with these guys. And Stevie Y. going out and getting Roloson to stabilize the situation in goal was a master stroke. Obvious, given their issues at the time, but still good work.

This team is no accident, but as Michael might as well have admitted, the Southeast Division is viewed as the Caps and a bunch of nobodies. With what many would think was nothing to play for, they went to Raleigh and kept the Whalercanes out of the postseason in the regular-season finale.

Bolts won the Cup in 2004, and the Whalercanes in 2006. Laugh about the markets all you want if you're from an Original Six area, but these guys can play, too.

 

It's total bullshit that people think the Southeast is the weakest division in hockey. Tampa and Carolina are legit. Atlanta has some pieces. Florida is Florida. Not sure that franchise can be saved. It was a hell of a lot better than the Northwest was this year.

From reading Tarik's tweets, it seems that Boudreau will be retained.

 

Sharks are playing great, heavy hitting hockey right now with a goalie who's done it before, Niemi. I got my first taste of Stanley Cup playoff hockey last week and I loved it. The Sharks are built to play against a trap, they are mostly a dump and chase, forechecking team and if that's what the Bolts want them to do, the Sharks with their big forwards, Clowe, Thornton and Heatley, will dominate. The Canucks won the President's trophy but they seem more finesse than tough and Luongo is sketchy (more hype than substance?)

 

I like watching Devin Setoguchi play. I'm on the Sharks bandwagon the rest of the way.

 

The Southeast is given no positive pub because Sunrise is where hockey has gone to die, the folks in Atlanta don't care - no surprise there given the way they've long treated the Falcons, Hawks and Braves - and Tampa's crazy ownership situation. Peter Karmanos almost drove his organizational train onto a dirt road moving out of Hartford quickly into a no-win situation in Greensboro, and Washington looked like another team until Boudreau took over.

Still, Cosmo ... agree with your first statement. It's total crap. Caps and Bolts are legit. Whalercanes have some serious pieces, and Atlanta is getting there. Sunrise? Well ... there was that appearance in the finals many years ago, eh?

 

The southeast may not be the worst now but it has been for a few years prior.

 

Huh? He started for Team Canada at the Olympics last year. Don't you think Canada has enough alternatives if they really thought Roberto Luongo couldn't cut it?

 

If they are counting on Niemi's experience as a Cup-winning goalie, they better be prepared to score a shit-ton of goals in the Final.

 

Agreed. The Blackhawks won the Cup last year in spite of Niemi, not because of him. You don't let a Cup-winning goaltender walk if you won the title even in part because of him.