• Moderators, please send me a PM if you are unable to access mod permissions. Thanks, Habsy.

2025-26 NHL Miscellaneous Thread

TheBigKahuna said:
Part of me knows that former Canes are going to be our Achilles heel in any matchup.
Click to expand...
So … Alex Lyons if they play Buffalo, Hanifin if they play Vegas, nobody if they play Montreal or Anaheim and Burns, Drury, Necas and Roy if they play Colorado.

So in terms of these playoffs, really just Necas, then … one assumes :0)
 
Last edited:
jeffbear said:
I mean, yes. This is true. But it’s impossible to have watched that team this season and thought “you know what, this is a really well coached team.” Their systems were a mess and they made basic stuff look difficult to impossible. People talk about their goalie play a lot, but they ask far too much from their goaltenders because of their structural and system issues.
Click to expand...
RNH has spent his entire 15 year career with the Oilers. The new guy will be the 10th head coach he’s played for,
 
There's some buzz about Montreal potentially challenging the curve of Tage Thompson's stick during a game, and the article's author was wondering why coaches didn't do it more often...

I remember the Canes challenging Ilya Kovalchuk's stick one time during a game, he was assessed a penalty and the stick was confiscated, and then he proceeded to score right out of the box after serving the penalty. I don't think they challenged another stick after that.
 
The old reason sticks weren’t challenged was because a lot of players were using illegal sticks. It was kind of a mutually assured destruction type thing. Not sure that’s the case any more.
 
Punzil said:
There's some buzz about Montreal potentially challenging the curve of Tage Thompson's stick during a game, and the article's author was wondering why coaches didn't do it more often...

I remember the Canes challenging Ilya Kovalchuk's stick one time during a game, he was assessed a penalty and the stick was confiscated, and then he proceeded to score right out of the box after serving the penalty. I don't think they challenged another stick after that.
Click to expand...
I know that happened in Hartford with Jagr, but I had never heard that it happened twice. Pierre McGuire out coaching himself. Jagr skated nice and slow by Pierre after he'd won the game. It wasn't out of the box tho' it was later in OT.
 
Back in the day, sticks were shipped to players who then worked their curves to how they liked them. These new high tech composite sticks are shipped with exacting specifications, including their curves.

Someone else would have to comment on whether or not you can alter the curves of today's sticks easily. I suspect its harder than it was with sticks of the past.
 
bagopux said:
The old reason sticks weren’t challenged was because a lot of players were using illegal sticks. It was kind of a mutually assured destruction type thing. Not sure that’s the case any more.
Click to expand...
I suspect that the old reason is still the current reason. If you challenge a stick in a game, much less a freaking playoff game, then you best be 100% certain that none of your own guys has an illegal stick. Besides, I suspect those reports were just another example of the Montreal hockey media doing some phycological warefare on behalf of “their” team. Wouldn’t be the first time they tried to get in a player’s head.
 
OK, so … Thursday’s games. One series wrapped, and the other certainly feels like a wrap.

Vegas bombed the Ducks 5-1 in a game that never seemed close after Marner’s circus shot got the scoring started. That got the Knights going and it was 3-0 at the end of the first and you could see it all slipping away from Anaheim. The tale of the game was in net where Carter Hart, who has been decent for Vegas at best, stood on his head and Lucas Dostal, who had a great season all things considered, suddenly couldn’t stop a beach ball. The Ducks’ defense is a high wire act at best, and they’re hopeless without the goalie kind of steal a few. That hasn’t really happened for them in this series, which … fair enough … is Dostal’s first playoff exposure.

In the East, Montreal took Game 5 by the scruff of its neck after a wild 1st period that ended 3-2 Buffalo with multiple pinball goals. Yeah, the Canadiens evened it up early and then ran away with the 6-3 final. 75% on the old Deserve-to-win O’meter for Montreal, as Buffalo’s system deficiencies are starting to bit them squarely in the ass. They just don’t have any kind of structure to fall back on when things are tough. Instead, they’re just praying for a big save or for a slapshot to drop … none of which is happening. Maybe they can get some puck luck in Game 6, but I kind of feel like they got that early in Game 5 and they couldn’t get it to hold up.
 
Post Mortem time for the Ducks …

Honestly, big year for Anaheim. They had multiple young players arrive at the same time, saw Cutter Gauthier and Jackson LaCombe grow into legit star players and made the playoffs for the first time since the Getzlaf/Perry days. Quenneville installed a similar version of his jailbreak system from his days with the Panthers and the Ducks thrived … on offense. They kind of sucked on defense, which is something they’re going to have to fix. Dostal had a great year for them in net but he was under siege so often that the numbers don’t tell the whole story. The poor kid deserves combat pay. So, do you dial back the pace or do you get better defenders? Hard to say.

Cap … Anaheim has $40+ million in Cap space. Woof. They’ve also recently become the better So Cal destination, for those so inclined

Contracts … some of that Cap space is gonna go to re-signing Gauthier and their other young star Leo Carlsson, both of whom are RFAs. They will also need to re-build their defense group as Trouba, Gudas and John Carlson are all out of contract. Trouba probably has enough gas for a 3rd pairing role on a cheap deal, but Gudas is cooked and Carlson can no longer defend anybody. I feel like mistakes might be made there. They badly need mobility in the back end, so re-signing more than one of those three would actively make them worse. Hopefully Gudas retires and slinks back to Europe anyway. Go injure guys on your own continent.

Next Steps … big question time for Pat Verbeek. He’s got even more young prospects in his system, but has a playoff team on his hands with a veteran coach who’s clock is ticking. Does he stay the course and work those kids in as they mature or does he package some of them up in deals for better veterans? Or maybe a bit of both. They also need to figure out what they’re doing with Mason McTavish, who wears an A for them but was healthy scratched a couple of times and otherwise parked on the 4th line in the playoffs. This dude is 23 years old, but they feel like dog years. I’m guessing they tag a couple of prospects to keep and otherwise cobble together some deals on D this summer. They don't have a 1st round draft pick, but what good are those 2nd and 3rd rounders doing you with the cupboard already packed? I’d be surprised if the Ducks don’t make some trades this summer. They might also do something stupid like over-paying for Rasmus Andersen.
 
bagopux said:
The old reason sticks weren’t challenged was because a lot of players were using illegal sticks. It was kind of a mutually assured destruction type thing. Not sure that’s the case any more.
Click to expand...

You still can. They heat them up with a torch just like 'the old days' then adjust the curve.
 
Curious if you all have the same thought?

When I hear VGK, I think Marner and Eichel and to some extent, Stone. Legit stars of the game. Sane with COL and MacKinnon and Makar and now, Necas. Suzuki and Caufield don’t ring
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top