2024-2025 NHL season
- Thread starter snakejack
- Start date
Not this year. This is the best playoff built team they’ve had since 2002 & it wouldn’t surprise to see them represent the East in the Stanley Cup finals. They don’t have many holes in the lineup. They’re a complete, well-rounded team. I’ll be shocked if it doesn’t end Tuesday night.,Peut-être que oui....peut-être que non.....on les a vu choker plus d'une foisÀ suivre!
I think Doc is correct that Toronto has their strongest looking team in quite some time, in fact since I can remember. It's completely fair to call them chokers based on some past performances, but those Toronto teams had significantly worse defensive abilities and most of their choking was on the defensive end. The true test will be in the next playoff round against Florida. If Toronto gets past the Panthers, they are not going to be stopped.
Sullivan Fired!
www.espn.com
Yet another case of an NHL head coach being fired in order to take the fall for failures by the GM and the front office. We have seen this act before and we will see it again. It's an aging team in a small market and the chances the next coach will do any better are pretty slim. When a coach is asked to wave a magic wand with aging roster and no depth, and Magic doesn't happen, this is what happens. Psychologically, you get fans and media to think it was all the coach's fault. But the real fans know better.
It happens way more often in the NHL than it does in MLB, the NFL or the NBA. My own belief is that it's become part of NHL culture to blame head coaches for front office failures. And as a result the coaching mortality rate in the NHL is very very high.
I personally think Mike Sullivan is a high integrity high class guy, which is more than can be said for the punk who fired him, Kyle Dubas.
Two-time Cup winner Sullivan out as Pens coach
Mike Sullivan, who led the Pittsburgh Penguins to back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017, is out as the team's head coach, it was announced Monday.
It happens way more often in the NHL than it does in MLB, the NFL or the NBA. My own belief is that it's become part of NHL culture to blame head coaches for front office failures. And as a result the coaching mortality rate in the NHL is very very high.
I personally think Mike Sullivan is a high integrity high class guy, which is more than can be said for the punk who fired him, Kyle Dubas.
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Hellebuyck, Kuemper of Vasilevskiy? I think Hellebuyck should win easily:
www.espn.com
Vezina finalists: Hellebuyck, Kuemper, Vasilevskiy
Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets, Darcy Kuemper of the Los Angeles Kings and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning were named the 2024-25 Vezina Trophy finalists on Monday.
Mike Sullivan
Last week one of my NHL insiders texted me that the Rangers were waiting to see if Sullivan would get fired before looking at acquiring a new head coach. He told me that one of their top coaching targets would be Sullivan. I figured Joel Quenneville would be another target however i’m hearing that he’s more likely to sign with Anaheim where there will be less spotlight on him as compared to NY.
By the way i’d like to point out that Sullivan was already on borrowed time. He was close to getting fired a year ago before Kyle Dubas got hired & diring his dinner with Sidney Crosby the Kid begged Dubas to keep Sullivan as coach & also begged him to keep the old guard (Malkin, Letang, Crosby) together & gave him the go-ahead to acquire Erik Karlsson if he got the Penguims gig. Once Dubas told Crosby that they were on the same page Crosby then gabe ownership the green light to hire Kyle Dubas. Dubas was soon hired & after undergoing a GM search he decided to take over that role himself & brought in his Leafs assistant Jason Spezza to assist him. A lot of people thought he’d hire his long-time buddy Sheldon Keefe as head coach however Dubas had promised Crosby that he’d give Sullivan another chance.
I expect a lot of changes to happen with the Penguins this offseason. Ot wouldn’t surprise me if Crosby is the only player left from the old guard. This is a very old team & having missed the playoffs again it needs to start a major rebuild.
Last week one of my NHL insiders texted me that the Rangers were waiting to see if Sullivan would get fired before looking at acquiring a new head coach. He told me that one of their top coaching targets would be Sullivan. I figured Joel Quenneville would be another target however i’m hearing that he’s more likely to sign with Anaheim where there will be less spotlight on him as compared to NY.
By the way i’d like to point out that Sullivan was already on borrowed time. He was close to getting fired a year ago before Kyle Dubas got hired & diring his dinner with Sidney Crosby the Kid begged Dubas to keep Sullivan as coach & also begged him to keep the old guard (Malkin, Letang, Crosby) together & gave him the go-ahead to acquire Erik Karlsson if he got the Penguims gig. Once Dubas told Crosby that they were on the same page Crosby then gabe ownership the green light to hire Kyle Dubas. Dubas was soon hired & after undergoing a GM search he decided to take over that role himself & brought in his Leafs assistant Jason Spezza to assist him. A lot of people thought he’d hire his long-time buddy Sheldon Keefe as head coach however Dubas had promised Crosby that he’d give Sullivan another chance.
I expect a lot of changes to happen with the Penguins this offseason. Ot wouldn’t surprise me if Crosby is the only player left from the old guard. This is a very old team & having missed the playoffs again it needs to start a major rebuild.
Florida Retaliates Against Hagel!!!
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Lightning's Hagel exits after Ekblad's high hit
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel left Game 4 of the series against the Florida Panthers Monday after a high hit from defenseman Aaron Ekblad that wasn't penalized in the second period, and he was still being evaluated well into the third period.
Tocchet Quits- "Mind Somewhere Else"
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Tony Bennett once said that he left his heart in San Francisco. Where did Tocchet leave his?
Tocchet quits; Canucks 8th team seeking a coach
Rick Tocchet has stepped down as Canucks coach despite the team's attempts to re-sign him. Vancouver becomes the eighth NHL team looking to hire a new coach this offseason.
I am pretty sure that Toronto is going to show Ottawa who is boss in the Province of Ontario. The Battle of Ontario ends tonight.
I didnt watch the game but, Tanev got the 2nd star! In a 4-0 lost how a D-man can get the 2nd star?
I don’t count empty net goals. Even goalies have scored them! The true final score of the game was 2-0 Ottawa. It was an evenly played game all night long & Ottawa’s goalie was better than Toronto’s. That was the difference in the game. The Leafs had their chances on the pp but were shut out. Off to Ottawa for Thursday’s game!
Very misleading stat considering the last two goals were empty-netters.
The writing has been on the wall over the past two years & both parties will benefit from this. It was time. As for Kyle Dubas he pretty much inherited Ron Hextall’s team so now that a rebuild will be underway he’ll be able to shape the type of team that he wants. His hands were pretty much tied since he was hired due to promises he had made in order to get the job(s) he was hired for & keeping Mike Sullivan for one more season was part of the agreement. Sullivan was supposed to be fired two years ago by then GM Ron Hextall (who never liked Sullivan & had inherited from previous GM Jim Rutherford) but his job was saved when Hextall got fired instead. Usually when a new GM is hired he likely will want to bring along his own coach. That’s normal. But some coaches often have more than a year left on their contracts & that’s why we often see such coaches hanging on to their jobs for another season or so. Sullivan’s competency isn’t being questioned here. It’s just that the time has finally come for Dubas to hire his own coach & shape the rebuild his own way.
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