I think Sully lost the room in Pittsburgh, I know he lost EK65. Sid would always back Sully up, but you have to wonder if it was just lip service. Dubas made some good signings and has a cache of draft picks for the future. It would be a good story if Sid and Malkin rode off into the sunset with one last Cup.
Part of the problem with the Rangers is Drury traded a lot of good players away. Just two years ago they had won the Presidents Trophy, now they’re just a shadow of what they used to be.

The Pens punched their ticket to the playoffs by beating the Devils. Pens have first year head coach Dan Muse, who used to be a Ranger assistant, and a Jack Adams candidate this year.

I'm with you on the Celebrini kid. I watched him against the Ducks, 2 goals and an assist, and he's got over a 100 points as a teenager. Only 6 players have scored over 100 points as a teenager, The Great One, Mario, Sid, Jimmy Carson, Dale Hawerchuk and Celebrini. That's hockey royalty.

It's Tort's 16th head coaching job,

[quote poster=commander1972; 54010; 1058600]well Vegas has a new coach, lmao [/quote

Yep, Cassidy out and Torts is in.

The NHL Playoffs are almost upon us. The hardest trophy to win in all of sports, the Stanley Cup, is up for grabs in about two weeks. It looks like the Panthers try for three Cups in a row are swirling around the drain as they are last in the Atlantic division. Last in the Metro division are the NY Rangers with serious questions concerning ownership, Dolan is a real dipsh!t, the questionable trades made by their GM, and the system their coach is using. Surprises in the east are the Sabres, the Pens and the Blue Jackets. All have a shot at the playoffs with the Sabres in first place in the Atlantic.
Out west it's the usual suspects vying for a playoff spot. Colorado, Dallas, Edmonton, Minnesota and Las Vegas. The big surprise in the west are the Ducks, who lead the Pacific division.
I feel sorry for Maple Leaf fans as another year of futility passes them by. It's been a long wait since 1967, but there's always next year.
Special shoutout to VicRattlehead, who was so excited back in October for his NY Rangers. Too bad Vic, I feel for you.

So how can the Rangers improve? According to an article in Blueshirt Banter they need to follow (gasp) the Penguins model. The Pens were picked before the season started to finish dead last in the Metro division. Their core was old and they had signed some jouny men and some kids to round out the roster. They fired Mike Sullivan, his system just wasn't working anymore and he had started to lose the room. They hired Dan Muse, who just happened to have been on the Ranger's staff. Muse brought in a different system that the players responded to. Geno Malkin looks like he's 25 again, Sidney Crosby continues to put up numbers and some of the players they signed and traded for are also chipping in, Anthony Mantha comes to mind. The youngsters have contributed also, and they can roll 4 lines all night. their fourth line is a pain to play against and they're chipping in offensively. Their defense is better than it was last year with Karlsson looking like the Eric of old. The only question mark they have seems to be goaltending, and even that has improved. Right now the Pens are cruisng along in second place in the Metro with 14 games to go until the playoffs.
The Rangers, on the other hand are dead last in the Metro with a bunch of question marks. Just two years ago they had won the President's trophy as the best team during the regular season, but since then they've traded Trouba, Kreider, Kakko, Chytil, and Panerin. And those are the ones I remember off the top of my head. Maybe Drury needs Mentoring by Dubas. Or new ownership.

Your Rangers should have kept Muse, he's got the Pens rolling. Sullivan is a good coach, but he doesn't have much to work with.

Detroit would be a good fit if Bread Man got back on a line with Kane. Incidentally Vic, your Rangers goal differential sucks, -27 last time I checked. You’re not going to win many games with that kind of differential.

What about the Ducks? Drury has already traded Kreider and Trouba to them, why not Panarin?

Very true, but he was 6 foot 9 inched!

Bobby Hull, Iafrate and MacInnis second and third. They clocked Hull’s slapshot at 118 mph!
Hull was a compact bull of a man, he could skate like the wind and his shot was deadly. They asked Cheevers’ wife if she ever worried about her husband playing goal for Boston. She replied:”Only when Bobby Hull had the puck.”
One year Hull had his jaw broken, the doctors wired up his jaw and put on a Bears’ football helmet and when out and played.
Hull didn’t fight much, mainly because his opponents had more sense than to challenge him, but Brad Park challenged him once. Luckily for Park the linesman jumped in before Hull could unload on him.

Winning the President’s Trophy is the kiss of death. Rarely does the winner lift the Stanley Cup.

Vic, who had the hardest shot you’ve ever seen?

I was a kid in Chicago when Phil’s brother, Tony, played for the Blackhawks as a goalie. In 1971 Tony led the Hawks to the Cup final against Montreal. The Canadians were a formidable team with Frank and Peter Mohavolich and Henri Richard. The series came down to a game 7. It was played at the old Chicago stadium which didn’t have air conditioning and it was a warm April day. The Hawks took a 2-0 lead, but the Canadians battled back to tie. It was so warm in the stadium that steam was coming off the ice. Henri Richard took a shot which Tony Esposito lost in the “fog”. Montreal won the series and lifted the cup. The city of Chicago went into mourning.

Orr redefined the role of a defenseman, he was a brilliant skater. Wayne is the greatest hockey player, but even he would tell that if Mario didn’t have his career shortened by back injuries and battling cancer, that he would have surpassed all of Wayne’s records.
As for Phil he scored mostly on rebounds.

Islanders 5 Rangers 0 shut out at home again. Rangers are now 0-6-1 at MSG.

Vic, your Rangers are 0-5-1 at home. Sullivan says you need more net front presence. Meanwhile Chris Kreider seems to be doing well with the Ducks. I think it’s going to take more than the Breadman shaving his head to turn things around.

Another home loss Vic, this time to the lowly Sharks, the Sharks.

Well Vic’s Rangers lost another home game, but at least they scored a goal. Wild 3 Rangers 1.

Vic, your Rangers have lost 3 home games all via shutout.

Anything above 9 would work.

Maintain a .985??? Holy crapola Vic, get back on your meds you're delusional.

The Rangers looked slow, Pens had some jump. Both goalies played well, but the Rangers made one mistake that cost them a goal that held up.

Pens at the Rangers. Should be interesting to see, Mike Sullivan coaching against his old team. And the Pens have a coach who used to be a Rangers assistant coach.

Today is Jean Ratelle's 85th birthday. Ratelle centered a line with Rod Gilbert and Vic Hadfield. The line was known as the GAG line or goal a game. They led the Rangers to the Stanley Cup finals in 1972, but lost to the Bobby Orr led Boston Bruins.

Hockey players are a tough breed, I'm pretty sure he'll be back. The question is will he play like his old self.

With the start of the NHL a little more than a week away the Panthers lost their captain, Alexander Barkov, to a knee injury. With Matthew Tkachuck already out with a lower body injury, the quest of a three peat received a major blow with Barkov's injury.

Considering he played against a team with no defense.

As a fan I’d like to see Crosby retire as a Pen, but hockey is a business, like all sports, so they’ll probably end up trading him. Ultimately I think they should let Sid make the call, he’s earned that much.

[quote poster=VicRattlehead; 53693; 1055211]Indeed. Schedule's a little weird, it's about 60% road in the first half, obviously flipped in the second half.

I don't think they're actually as bad as they looked last year. The big key is Zibanejad. If he can find something like 80-85% of his past game, then suddenly Center flips from weakness to strength. I think the Gavrikov signing will give htem maybe the top D pair in the League between him and Fox. They got an absolute haul for Miller (who will fit Carolina's system and suddenly look better but was a disaster here), if Morrow pans out then they might challenge for the division.

Ultimately, they still can't beat Florida.

How about your boys? [/quot

Pens are in rebuild mode. They still have Crosby,who's been as good as ever even if he's slowed down a tad. Malkin has really dropped off production wise and their defense and goalies can best be described as almost non-existant. But this is what happens when you win cups like they did in 2016 and 2017. Rutherford traded draft picks for veterans and pretty soon you're wondering why the team is so slow. Sullivan did a good job when he first took over, but his system is meant for a team with speed and let's face it the Pens have really slowed down. Ownership is pretty much hands off, these are the same guys that own the Red Sox, they leave the GM Dubas to run the team. Toronto dumped Dubas for a reason, but GM's and coaches get recycled all the time.

You're right about Florida,

Well they did get a new coach, Mike Sullivan, who did a pretty good job with the Pens. Season starts October 7th with the Pens at your Rangers.

You forgot the NHL.

Cat didn't say it, Thom,as Jefferson did.

Marner traded to Vegas, signs 8 year deal for 96 million.

Marchand, Ekblad resign with Florida.

Looks like Marner is going to be a free agent July 1st. Interesting to see who picks him up.

If I was Marchand I’d sign with Florida, but there was some talk he’d resign with Boston.



Speculation is McDavid might be thinking about going back to his hometown, Toronto. But that’s a year off if it happens.

Marchand is in the running for a big payday also. McDavid is in the last year of his contract, it's going to be interesting if he resigns or decides to go elsewhere.

Florida wins game 6 and clinches the Stanley Cup. Final score Florida 5 Edmonton 1. Edmonton had some jump in the first period, but trailed 2-0 after one. Edmonton never closed the gap as Sam Reinhardt scored 4 goals. Sam Bennett takes the Conn Smythe as the MVP of the playoffs. Hockey starts again in October.

Game 5 Florida 5 Edmonton 2. Florida controlled the game pretty much from start to finish. Edmonton didn’t score until the third period. McDavid gets his first goal, Marchand scores 2 for Florida. Florida leads series 3-2. Back to Florida for game 6.

Game 4 Edmonton comes back after being down 3-0 in the first period to win in overtime 5-4 . Edmonton was ahead 4-3 in the third period with 19 seconds left Florida tied it at 4 to force overtime. Game 5 in Edmonton Saturday, series tied 2-2.

Hey Vic, your Rangers traded Krieder to the Ducks.

No overtime needed for game 3. Florida 6 Edmonton 1. Florida scored early and often. Edmonton lost all sense of discipline in the 3rd period and ended up gifting Florida several power plays. Mc David wasn’t a factor in this game. Let’s see if Edmonton can regroup for game 4, if not it’s going to be a short series.

Game 2, another overtime battle. Edmonton ties the game with about 17 seconds left on a goal by Cory Perry. The first overtime ends still tied. In the second overtime Brad the Rat Marchand gets a breakaway and scores on Skinner’s five hole and the series is tied 1-1. That was Marchand’s second goal, he scored the other one on a short handed breakaway.
Back to Florida for games 3 and 4.

Yep, Florida needs to do something about McDavid and Draisaitil when they are on the ice together, or else it's going to be a short series.

I noticed McDavid grabbed the Clarence S. Campbell bowl after winning the series with Dallas. I'm sure he's trying to channel his inner Sidney Crosby, in 2009 Crosby grabbed the Prince of Wales trophy for winning the east and going to the finals against Detroit who they lost to in 2008. Crosby and the Pens went on to win the cup in 2009, and many believe it's because he touched the Prince of Wales trophy, which used to be a no no. McDavid has done everything except win a cup, Edmonton fans are freaked out he touched the Campbell bowl, we'll see who wins out.

Sorry Vic, your Rangers didn't make it. Repeat of the finals from last year in which Florida won 4-3. I give Florida a slight edge because of their goalie, but Edmonton has proved they can come from behind and win a series.

Rangers get Mike Sullivan as coach!!!

Looks like Torts isn’t in the running after all. How can the Rangers turn away from a proven winner? (🤪)