The Official 2017-18 NHL thread

[EagerBeaver]

For those of you who picked against Vegas to get this far, you underestimated the coaching prowess of Gallant, and the singing power of Elvis. Vegas may not have to go back to Vegas but Elvis is still singing anyway, and this one is for all the fans suspicious of Vegas's chances:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxOBOhRECoo

 

[Titilleur]

I'm sorry... When Mike Bossy came into the NHL, Dave Schultz was not on the Flyers roster anymore and he was only two seasons before retirement.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Possibly it was another goon on the Flyers........but I remember Gillies going after him.

 

[EagerBeaver]

It's over - Vegas, the "Golden Misfits", has defeated the Sharks in 6. It's simply incredible what Vegas has done this year. This is a first year expansion team and they are in the Western Conference finals. This is the best coaching job in the history of the NHL. Gallant has taken a team of other team's rejects and has them playing championship calibre defense. Karlsson more than tripled his point production from each of the last 2 years. It's historical.

 

[sharkman]

It's over - Vegas, the "Golden Misfits", has defeated the Sharks in 6. It's simply incredible what Vegas has done this year. This is a first year expansion team and they are in the Western Conference finals. This is the best coaching job in the history of the NHL. Gallant has taken a team of other team's rejects and has them playing championship calibre defense. Karlsson more than tripled his point production from each of the last 2 years. It's historical.

.....The "Miracle Mets" of Hockey!

 

[tiga]

Vegas Baby!

Best story in hockey!

 

[Titilleur]

Possibly it was another goon on the Flyers........but I remember Gillies going after him.

See it on hockeyfights.com

Gillies did not really have the upper hand on Schultz.

 

[Titilleur]

.....The "Miracle Mets" of Hockey!

Calm down a bit, please... Those Mets were not an expansion team and they had Jerry Koosman and Tom Seaver on their rotation... Not really "reject" material.

 

[Oz-Man]

Karlsson more than tripled his point production from each of the last 2 years.

What Vegas has done is really impressive . Why couldn't the Habs have acquired this centre? This indicates that centres are available. It's knowing when they are about to have breakout seasons, like Karlsson, that is important (and difficult). As well as Vegas has done, they will continue to be the underdogs in these playoffs. I think they like that role.

 

[sharkman]

... I can remember a time in the late 1970s, probably before some of you were born, when Mike Bossy, a very talented 50 goal a year scorer for the NY Islanders Cup champions of 1980-1983, would regularly be bullied by the Philadelphia Flyers. They would send guys like Dave Schultz out to harass and bully him and it largely worked because Bossy was not a fighter and seemed to abhor violence. So what happened that changed all that is Clark Gillies, who was the toughest player on the Islanders, one game went after Schultz and broke his jaw and after that the Flyers were very hesitant to bully Bossy. That is sort of when everything changed for the Islanders.

Nowadays that kind of thing never happens. And guys like Nick Fotiu, a long time goon with the NY Rangers, don't even make an NHL roster. NHL teams just cannot keep a player on the roster whose only talent is to throw a punch.

See it on hockeyfights.com

Gillies did not really have the upper hand on Schultz.

Well one Habs player that got the upper hand on the "Hammer Schultz" was none other than the "Big Bird"!...fast forward to around 2:26 min

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZmRWz_Dyk0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_mciNbnfWI

 

[Titilleur]

What Vegas has done is really impressive . Why couldn't the Habs have acquired this centre? This indicates that centres are available. It's knowing when they are about to have breakout seasons, like Karlsson, that is important (and difficult). As well as Vegas has done, they will continue to be the underdogs in these playoffs. I think they like that role.

The Habitants want a BIG bruising centre... Karlsson does not fit this mold. Anyway, no avalaible centre would be good in MTL. The Centre Molson is a black hole for good player. There are too many coaches in the stands.

 

[Titilleur]

Well one Habs player that got the upper hand on the "Hammer Schultz" was none other than the "Big Bird"!...fast forward to around 2:26 min

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZmRWz_Dyk0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_mciNbnfWI

When you take a deeper look at Schultz, you notice that he was usuallly going after players smaller than himself... Because of Big Bird and Serge Savard, fleet Canadiens forward could do their things.

The one Flyer who was crazy dangerous was Don Saleski... He was not fighting a lot because almost everyone was scared of him... He was bigger and nastyer than Schultz.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Let's not forget that Dave Schultz is the NHL record holder for penalty minutes in one season (483), a record that will never be broken.

Calm down a bit, please... Those Mets were not an expansion team and they had Jerry Koosman and Tom Seaver on their rotation... Not really "reject" material.

The 1969 Mets also had a very young Nolan Ryan in the bullpen and he pitched well in the 1969 World Series. Also not exactly reject material. They did not have very good position players though, although they were (like the Golden Knights) exceptionally strong on defense. Cleon Jones was the Mets' best hitter and I think 1969 was his best year but he was a slightly above average player at best for his career.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Gallant: "We Deserve To Be Here"

http://www.espn.com/nhl/recap?gameId=401031467

 

[tiga]

Well one Habs player that got the upper hand on the "Hammer Schultz" was none other than the "Big Bird"!...fast forward to around 2:26 min

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZmRWz_Dyk0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_mciNbnfWI

That fight marked the end of an era for the Broadstreet bullies and hockey in general.

 

[gaby]

Sharks played with no conviction-determination.....snif snif....too bad ....Pavelsky-Couture were invisible....am happy for Vegas et surtout for Fleury with his 4th so....best goaly in these playoffs......hope he will play Pens for the Cup...that would be great.

 

[gaby]

Backstrom out tonight.....plus Wilson...won't be easy for a such important game....enjoy.

 

[Titilleur]

That fight marked the end of an era for the Broadstreet bullies and hockey in general.

Not really... You are talking about a fight that happen in 1974. That era continued until the NHL-WHA merger...

The Broadstreet bullies were not bullies only because of Schultz... They had Saleski, the Watsons, Kelly, Holmgren, Dupont, Wilson, Bridgeman... Plenty of hot-headed mustachios players that earned them their bullies tag.

 

[tiga]

I knew someone would say that...perhaps End of Era is too strong...
Goons kept on playing for many years, but that fight proved the limits of having too much of those type of players, and intimidation as a system. The Flyers never won a cup after 1975.
That fight just proved talent trumped brutes.

But your argument about the WHA merger in 1979 probably was the last nail, bringing talented players and teams like Bossy and the Islanders then Gretzky and the Oilers.

On a side note Mike Bossy hated playing junior hockey during the tough guy goon galore years.

 

[gaby]

Wow...what an evening....Caps finally did it on a beautiful goal by Kuzny sur une belle passe de Ovi in ot. Comme on dit les Caps étaient dus....1ère victoire sur les Pens en séries depuis 1994....je croyais vraiment en leur chance.....vs TBay should be a good one.

And what about the Preds..wow..4-0....comme on dit aussi..tes meilleurs doivent être les meilleurs..et Forsberg-Rinne en ont fait la démonstration.....un 7ème match...les Preds ont le momentum....devraient l'emporter chez eux.