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2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs


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Relax Skippy.

My side of the argument is that the NHL playoffs are easily the most physically grueling playoff test in pro sports.

Football- three or four games and there is a champ.

Baseball is a grind but simply is not on the physical scale of hockey where large men hit you over and over.

Baseball: like chipmunks arguing.

lacrosse: very violent but very short playoffs.

Rugby: same

Nobody but nobody else gets hammered that hard for that long.

And the best team wins every time.

Not the team that wins the regular season, where there is much floating and coasting.

The best team at the time of the playoffs wins the Cup.

That's a tautology. What makes the best the best? It's not always the most talented or the hardest working. It's a combination of talent and hard work and, yes, luck. It's not diminishing anyone's achievements to acknowledge the out-sized role luck plays in playoff success.

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What makes the best the best?

The team that plays the best over the course of the long grind of the playoff season.

It is different in an Olympic tournament or world championships or world junior championship. These are short sharp tournaments with a few winner-take-all games where a bounce can make the difference. The Memorial Cup has three teams that have been through a Stanley Cup type long grind to get there, then there is a frenzy of one game eliminations.

But not the NHL.

4x7 games against increasingly tough competition......

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The team that plays the best over the course of the long grind of the playoff season.

And a team that plays the best is often the team that has the best luck.

It is different in an Olympic tournament or world championships or world junior championship. These are short sharp tournaments with a few winner-take-all games where a bounce can make the difference. The Memorial Cup has three teams that have been through a Stanley Cup type long grind to get there, then there is a frenzy of one game eliminations.
But not the NHL.
4x7 games against increasingly tough competition......

Luck has a bigger influence on small sample sizes it's true, but that's not the same thing as saying, as you seem to be, that it's a non-factor. LA doesn't win the cup last year without a ton of luck (and you need to be lucky to come back from down 3 games to none and to win three OT games in the last 8 games of the playoffs). They don't miss the playoffs this season without a ton of bad luck.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So we are all into the 2nd round, a bit less exciting for sure, normally is anyway.

Have to say the first round wasnt as good as I thought it would be.

The Jets games were the best , Detroit and Tampa for me were yawners. (Bias alert, I find all Wings games boring)

Sens/Mtl were a ton of fun to watch, result was never in doubt but there ya go.

So...who you got?

Rangers...in 7

T Bay in 5 (and wow is that a surprise )

Anaheim in 5 or 6 I doubt if the Flames can win more than once.

Blackhawks in 6

I see the Ducks winning it all. They appear bigger , faster and stronger than anyone out there. Especially anyone from the East

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I'll take the Hawks to win.

They are really really good defensively as a team, as well as having some great individual defensemen . Montreal has a similar style except for one thing: the Hawks have several people who can score goals as well as defend.

Anaheim has yet to face an opponent that puts heavy pressure on their defence and particularly their goalie. That would change with the Hawks. Confession: mancrush on J Toews. What a player.

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Detroit and Tampa for me were yawners. (Bias alert, I find all Wings games boring)

As a Wings fan, I can understand why you feel that way about the Wings games. Datsyuk can be exciting, but otherwise Babs has them play a boring style of hockey. We seen it at the Olympics. We had the most exciting players in the game, playing as boring of hockey as possible.

Whoever Babcock ends up coaching, be ready to watch grinder hockey.

I originally picked the Hawks to win, but question if they can get it done with their goal-tending. The Ducks look awesome.

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As a Wings fan, I can understand why you feel that way about the Wings games. Datsyuk can be exciting, but otherwise Babs has them play a boring style of hockey.

It is weird because I recognize just how well Babs gets effort from his guys, and they are good, and I am a Leaf fan soooooo....i just find it hard to get excited about the Wings.

We seen it at the Olympics. We had the most exciting players in the game, playing as boring of hockey as possible.

And here is where we differ.

Boring? I think maybe the US Can game was, and thats because the CDN's shut them down time and time again, no offence was generated to make it exciting, at least for them

Whoever Babcock ends up coaching, be ready to watch grinder hockey.

Think it will be the Leafs? I hope so but doubts have crept in with all the teams in play for him. Maybe he wants a nice sunny climate to ply his trade, maybe Mrs Babs wants shorts and T's in February. That puts Canada out of the running.

I originally picked the Hawks to win, but question if they can get it done with their goal-tending. The Ducks look awesome.

The Hawks goaltending is stellar, they won with him before, no reason he cant do it again. He is afterall near tying the record for most playoff shutouts in Hawks history
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I've heard that the 3 most probable destinations for Babcock, in order of highest probability to lowest is Edmonton, Buffalo, Toronto.

If that was the only list available I'm sure Mrs. Babcock would reverse the order. I can see why a coach would want to be part of a young and talented group, but nobody wants to live in Edmonton.

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If that was the only list available I'm sure Mrs. Babcock would reverse the order. I can see why a coach would want to be part of a young and talented group, but nobody wants to live in Edmonton.

He's lived in Detroit which is much, much worse. After living there Edmonton will seem like Palm Springs

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He's lived in Detroit which is much, much worse. After living there Edmonton will seem like Palm Springs

Detroit is still preferred over several Canadian cities and Buffalo according to NHL player agents and contract trade clauses. The greater Detroit area offers a lot more than Edmonton.

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Detroit is still preferred over several Canadian cities and Buffalo according to NHL player agents and contract trade clauses. The greater Detroit area offers a lot more than Edmonton.

That preference is largely due to the organization and not the cities themselves. I've spent a lot of time in Detroit and live in Edmonton. The choice is obvious to me.

Besides, they did an informal poll of the players favorite cities when travelling and for night life after the games and they said that every city was good except Detroit. This was reported on Hockey Night in Canada by Nick Kypreos so it has to be true.

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Besides, they did an informal poll of the players favorite cities when travelling and for night life after the games and they said that every city was good except Detroit. This was reported on Hockey Night in Canada by Nick Kypreos so it has to be true.

That's fine, but come contract time, the players pick Detroit over Edmonton, which is at the bottom of the list:

Bad news for the Edmonton Oilers, a report from ESPN’s Craig Custance, who asked ten agents which city their clients least wanted to play in. Edmontonton topped the list, followed by Winnipeg, Buffalo, Ottawa and Toronto.

http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2015/02/18/edmonton-oilers-the-team-nhl-players-least-want-to-join/

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That's fine, but come contract time, the players pick Detroit over Edmonton, which is at the bottom of the list:

Bad news for the Edmonton Oilers, a report from ESPN’s Craig Custance, who asked ten agents which city their clients least wanted to play in. Edmontonton topped the list, followed by Winnipeg, Buffalo, Ottawa and Toronto.

http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2015/02/18/edmonton-oilers-the-team-nhl-players-least-want-to-join/

Again...this has largely to due with the ability win. The Oilers (and the City of Edmonton) had no problem attracting superstars like Pronger, Peca and Spacek for their 2006 Cup run. Once they had a taste of the organization, they all ran. They knew what the city was like when they came....they just had no clue what the organization was like.

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He's lived in Detroit which is much, much worse. After living there Edmonton will seem like Palm Springs

Granted the city center is a scary place, but some of the Detroit burbs are quite nice and it is still close to civilization. Edmonton, is small, cold and isolated. I'm sure many of the small town boys just coming up don't mind it at all. However, pretty soon they have millions of dollars and a pretty wife that would much rather live in Toronto, Vancouver, LA, NY, Chicago, etc. The small town, small social scene factor played a role in why the Prongers had to get out so quickly.
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It is weird because I recognize just how well Babs gets effort from his guys, and they are good, and I am a Leaf fan soooooo....i just find it hard to get excited about the Wings.

And here is where we differ.

Boring? I think maybe the US Can game was, and thats because the CDN's shut them down time and time again, no offence was generated to make it exciting, at least for them

Babcock coaches for his players to play a very conservative style of hockey. Get it deep and grid it out in the offensive zone and try to slow down the other teams offence. Kinda boring if you are not a hardcore fan or especially if you're team isn't involved.

No matter how the game is played, if your team is in a big game and the score is close, it is exciting!! That's why the Olympics were so exciting.

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That preference is largely due to the organization and not the cities themselves. I've spent a lot of time in Detroit and live in Edmonton. The choice is obvious to me.

Besides, they did an informal poll of the players favorite cities when travelling and for night life after the games and they said that every city was good except Detroit. This was reported on Hockey Night in Canada by Nick Kypreos so it has to be true.

Detroit is a city of 2 tales. It's like the largest sub-division with a terrible city in the middle. If you like big city life, Detroit is not for you. It is like a bunch of small cities clustered in an area. Plus th further out you go, the nicer it is. Plus it has a very low cost of living. I would think that if my job was to travel all over to all of the big cities of NA, I wouldn't mind spending sometime in a quieter city.

Other teams are now allowed to talk to Babcock till the end of May:

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2015/05/detroit_red_wings_grant_coach.html

I cannot see him in Toronto. He wants to be the next Scotty Bowman. Scotty never went to any rebuilds.

I can See Babcock in Edmonton, Philly, Detroit or St. Louis.

Edited by DFCaper
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Granted the city center is a scary place, but some of the Detroit burbs are quite nice and it is still close to civilization. Edmonton, is small, cold and isolated.

City Center, Southgate, Romulus, Taylor, Inkster....a lot of places in and around Detroit are quite scary. Edmonton has a couple too but not nearly to the effect of Detroit.

I'm sure many of the small town boys just coming up don't mind it at all. However, pretty soon they have millions of dollars and a pretty wife that would much rather live in Toronto, Vancouver, LA, NY, Chicago, etc.

I wonder what the stat is on those wives of Canadian born players who want to be close to home. I know that was the reason why Sheldon Souray wanted to come to Edmonton. Of course he left because of Lowe/MacT.

All these things you bring up as factors are indeed factors in the final equation but I do believe that playing for a team that has a chance to win trumps all.

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Detroit is a city of 2 tales. It's like the largest sub-division with a terrible city in the middle. If you like big city life, Detroit is not for you. It is like a bunch of small cities clustered in an area. Plus th further out you go, the nicer it is. Plus it has a very low cost of living. I would think that if my job was to travel all over to all of the big cities of NA, I wouldn't mind spending sometime in a quieter city.

I try not to stay in Detroit when I go. I prefer to stay in Windsor and drive over when I have to.

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I know that was the reason why Sheldon Souray wanted to come to Edmonton. Of course he left because of Lowe/MacT.

He left for 2 reasons. One was to be closer to his estranged family in SoCal. The other was because he was poorly treated by the Oilers and particularly Tambellini

Babcock coaches for his players to play a very conservative style of hockey. Get it deep and grid it out in the offensive zone and try to slow down the other teams offence. Kinda boring if you are not a hardcore fan or especially if you're team isn't involved.

No matter how the game is played, if your team is in a big game and the score is close, it is exciting!! That's why the Olympics were so exciting.

The game the Canadian team played at the Sochi Olynpics was puck possession and hardcore defence. It's a style that wins.

The scores may have been close but Canada dominated every minute they played. It was the perfect strategy. And Babcock writes that song.

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