GDT: The real semifinal. Round 3.

[Porous Five Hole]

On another note, this goalie Bob run is reminding me of the J.S. Giguere Ducks run when he won the Conn Smyth after losing the cup final.
Jiggy went 15-6, 1.62 GAA, .945 sv%, and 5 SO. 
Goals saved v expected wasn’t a thing yet, so hard to truly compare. But Bob is rocking a 10-2, 2.15 GAA, .935 sv% in a livelier puck era. Incredible. 

[Randall Flagg]

1 hour ago, thewookie1 said:

Quick interesting factoid; which Sabre does Eric Staal share his 1st Sabres goal game with?

Is it Matt Irwin? Lol

[...]

I mean, we got to see this filthy, filthy move from Barkov this series. So tasty. I hope the SCFs go more than four games.

 

[PerreaultForever]

6 hours ago, Thorny said:

Tyler Myers? 

Chris Drury? (Not in last 10, but)

Ya, I said last 10 to keep it in the era of total futility but Drury was pretty past his prime. Myers? Not sure he's worse, but then he wasn't here long enough to really say. We kind of broke him . 

[PerreaultForever]

5 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

Team success maybe. But that is kinda a given because most players that leave here to go other teams.

Individual success/production, not really. Eichel's stats/production is lower in Vegas than it was here, and honestly, the team isn't much (if any) better overall than before he was there.  Reinhart is doing well, but his production again, isn't much better than it was when he was here. Risto?  He is getting a lot less playing time in Philly than he did here.  The big issue is there weren't many players that were good here that left.  ROR?  Again, went to a better team but his production wasn't much better, it was the case of taking a good player and inserting him to a better team.  The list of the next highest producing players for the last decade or so that left is:  Evander Kane, Tyler Ennis, Johan Larsson, Marcus Foligno, Jake McCabe, Evan Rodriguez, Bogo, Sheary, Asplund, Scandella, Montour, Colin Miller.  That list is a who's Who of mostly players that were not that great to begin with.  

This team had some big problems the last 10-15 years. Bad managment, bad coaching, bad scouting, and a bad roster of players. A LOT went wrong here.

Absolutely, but don't measure everything by scoring stats. A lot of those guys (almost all) are or were playing better hockey in their roles on their teams then they did here. I'm seeing Reinhart get bolder and bolder as the playoffs progress following Tkachuk's leadership and example. Eichel is back checking for f's sake. He almost never did that here. 

Tyler Ennis might be the only one worse after Buffalo. Asplund hasn't been gone long enough to tell. The rest have been better. 

[That Aud Smell]

7 hours ago, SwampD said:

I think I have completely changed my opinion of Tkachuk with this playoffs. Always knew he was good, but always hated him.

We could be so lucky to have a player like him.

Did the guy who traded for Tkachuk win GM of the year yet?

Poor Calgary. We can talk about the ROR and Eichel trades, but the Tkachuk trade has gotta really sting.

[Getpucksdeep]

40 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

Did the guy who traded for Tkachuk win GM of the year yet?

Poor Calgary. We can talk about the ROR and Eichel trades, but the Tkachuk trade has gotta really sting.

Exactly.  And yesterday TSN/Sportsnet were saying he's the front runner for Toronto GM vacancy! Old boys club much? Also wasn't Bennett closely behind Reinhart that year and the Calgary pick?  Much lesser degree, but another piece.

[French Collection]

I find it interesting that Florida has 3 of the top 4 picks in the 2014 draft. Ekblad, Reinhart and Bennett.

[LTS]

8 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Happy for the Panthers. Just a shame that a crap NHL market might win a cup.

Florida has been in the league quite a long time now.  Vegas is new but the team is well supported. I think we can agree that Arizona is a crap market. After that... what makes a market crap?

It seems that Buffalo could be a crap market. They have a team that is setting records on not making the playoffs. How does that contribute to the betterment of the league?

Buffalo Sabres fans ran at an 82% capacity filling up KBC.  The only team worse was San Jose (79%) and tied with Chicago.  Neither of those team were in the hunt for the playoffs.  The Sabres were up 55% over last year, second highest jump in the league next to Ottawa (80%?).  It seems to tell me the fans are so rabid that they will show up for a bad team.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2023/04/17/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/nhl-attendance-regular-season.aspx

So what makes a market crap?

[PromoTheRobot]

10 minutes ago, LTS said:

Florida has been in the league quite a long time now.  Vegas is new but the team is well supported. I think we can agree that Arizona is a crap market. After that... what makes a market crap?

It seems that Buffalo could be a crap market. They have a team that is setting records on not making the playoffs. How does that contribute to the betterment of the league?

Buffalo Sabres fans ran at an 82% capacity filling up KBC.  The only team worse was San Jose (79%) and tied with Chicago.  Neither of those team were in the hunt for the playoffs.  The Sabres were up 55% over last year, second highest jump in the league next to Ottawa (80%?).  It seems to tell me the fans are so rabid that they will show up for a bad team.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2023/04/17/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/nhl-attendance-regular-season.aspx

So what makes a market crap?

 

Florida was notorious for being half empty for games. I was able to buy a ticket for $20 resale when the Sabres played their back on April 4.

[LTS]

2 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

Florida was notorious for being half empty for games. I was able to buy a ticket for $20 resale when the Sabres played their back on April 4.

Can you please tie your point to my question?  The best I can infer at the moment is that it's cheap to go see a Panthers game. 

I mean, I'm not sure if you saw KBC at on a Wed. night in December this year.  It wasn't exactly full. 

And of the two teams, one of them is in the Stanley Cup Finals.  So, one of them is more relevant for hockey right now.

 

[PromoTheRobot]

5 minutes ago, LTS said:

Can you please tie your point to my question?  The best I can infer at the moment is that it's cheap to go see a Panthers game. 

I mean, I'm not sure if you saw KBC at on a Wed. night in December this year.  It wasn't exactly full. 

And of the two teams, one of them is in the Stanley Cup Finals.  So, one of them is more relevant for hockey right now.

 

Yes the Sabres have been piss poor of late. But Florida had only been decent while their team is dominant, and even then, games rarely sell out and tickets are available at a discount.

Then again, what sports team in South Florida gets big crowds? The Heat maybe?

Edited May 25, 2023 by PromoTheRobot

[That Aud Smell]

49 minutes ago, LTS said:

So what makes a market crap?

Like SCOTUS Justice Potter once observed on a different subject: "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of sports markets that I understand to be embraced in this category ... but I know it when I see it."

28 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Florida had only been decent while their team is dominant, and even then, games rarely sell out and tickets are available at a discount.

Then again, what sports team in South Florida gets big crowds? The Heat maybe?

South Florida in general is a bad sports town. The Heat and The U probably get the most dedicated support.

[Pimlach]

3 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

Did the guy who traded for Tkachuk win GM of the year yet?

Poor Calgary. We can talk about the ROR and Eichel trades, but the Tkachuk trade has gotta really sting.

No but the guy who traded Tkachuk got fired.  
 

Calgary expected to play the same style game with Huberdeau in place of Tkachuk. 

[SwampD]

1 hour ago, LTS said:

Florida has been in the league quite a long time now.  Vegas is new but the team is well supported. I think we can agree that Arizona is a crap market. After that... what makes a market crap?

It seems that Buffalo could be a crap market. They have a team that is setting records on not making the playoffs. How does that contribute to the betterment of the league?

Buffalo Sabres fans ran at an 82% capacity filling up KBC.  The only team worse was San Jose (79%) and tied with Chicago.  Neither of those team were in the hunt for the playoffs.  The Sabres were up 55% over last year, second highest jump in the league next to Ottawa (80%?).  It seems to tell me the fans are so rabid that they will show up for a bad team.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2023/04/17/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/nhl-attendance-regular-season.aspx

So what makes a market crap?

87% for last year’s Presidents’ Trophy winner seems kinda lame to me. Their empty arena during games have been well documented on this site and others.

I don’t know about crap, but their fanbase may be the smallest, at least, according to social media presence (and isn’t that really everything these days😀.)

 

 

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, LTS said:

Florida has been in the league quite a long time now.  Vegas is new but the team is well supported. I think we can agree that Arizona is a crap market. After that... what makes a market crap?

It seems that Buffalo could be a crap market. They have a team that is setting records on not making the playoffs. How does that contribute to the betterment of the league?

Buffalo Sabres fans ran at an 82% capacity filling up KBC.  The only team worse was San Jose (79%) and tied with Chicago.  Neither of those team were in the hunt for the playoffs.  The Sabres were up 55% over last year, second highest jump in the league next to Ottawa (80%?).  It seems to tell me the fans are so rabid that they will show up for a bad team.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2023/04/17/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/nhl-attendance-regular-season.aspx

So what makes a market crap?

Put the Sabres teams of the last decade in Florida, Tampa, Dallas, Az, Anaheim, Carolina, and  those franchises would have folded. 
 

It’s amazing that Buffalo draws anything given the Pegula Era of hockey.  

[ddaryl]

15 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Put the Sabres teams of the last decade in Florida, Tampa, Dallas, Az, Anaheim, Carolina, and  those franchises would have folded. 
 

It’s amazing that Buffalo draws anything given the Pegula Era of hockey.  

Equally surprising about the Bills 17 years of futility.

 

Its safe to say Buffalo is not a city of fairweather fans.

Edited May 25, 2023 by ddaryl

[Doohickie]

39 minutes ago, SwampD said:

87% for last year’s Presidents’ Trophy winner seems kinda lame to me. Their empty arena during games have been well documented on this site and others.

I don’t know about crap, but their fanbase may be the smallest, at least, according to social media presence (and isn’t that really everything these days😀.)

 

 

Social media following is a crap metric.

[LGR4GM]

NHL should probably figure out their atrocious seeding mechanics for the playoffs if we are going to watch sweeps in the conference finals. 

[Doohickie]

22 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

NHL should probably figure out their atrocious seeding mechanics for the playoffs if we are going to watch sweeps in the conference finals. 

That's an odd take, especially regarding the Eastern Conference.  How could you say that the Panthers sweep of the Canes, a team that finished 21 ahead of Florida, is due to seeding?

 

[shrader]

5 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

Did the guy who traded for Tkachuk win GM of the year yet?

Poor Calgary. We can talk about the ROR and Eichel trades, but the Tkachuk trade has gotta really sting.

What was he supposed to do though?  Tkachuk forced his way out.  That Calgary team also finished with 1 more point than Florida.  It's funny how a little thing like that can get one guy fired and paint the other as a GM of the year.

[That Aud Smell]

15 minutes ago, shrader said:

What was he supposed to do though?  Tkachuk forced his way out.  That Calgary team also finished with 1 more point than Florida.  It's funny how a little thing like that can get one guy fired and paint the other as a GM of the year.

Ah. I see. Well then.

[DarthEbriate]

1 hour ago, Doohickie said:

That's an odd take, especially regarding the Eastern Conference.  How could you say that the Panthers sweep of the Canes, a team that finished 21 ahead of Florida, is due to seeding?

Yes, this year Florida is the #8 and is riding Bobrovsky and Tkaclutch. If the East had been seeded 1-8, they would have faced: BOS #1, CAR #2, and TOR #4 (provided Toronto had beaten the Rangers and TBL [who they did beat in Rd 1]). Same matchups. A #8 on a run breaks all seedings in any setup.

In the West, if seeded 1-8: VGK-WPG (was the real matchup, VGK rolled in 5); EDM-SEA (that would've been fun Rd 1); COL v. MIN; and DAL v. LA. Maybe things turn out differently with EDM/SEA-COL in round 2, but VGK should still get through WPG and DAL/LA if they play like they have.

The issue with seedings is within the division level. The Sabres would have had to get through nasties like BOS, TBL, and TOR year after year. Last year, Florida did not. This year, they did.

[SwampD]

20 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

Yes, this year Florida is the #8 and is riding Bobrovsky and Tkaclutch. If the East had been seeded 1-8, they would have faced: BOS #1, CAR #2, and TOR #4 (provided Toronto had beaten the Rangers and TBL [who they did beat in Rd 1]). Same matchups. A #8 on a run breaks all seedings in any setup.

In the West, if seeded 1-8: VGK-WPG (was the real matchup, VGK rolled in 5); EDM-SEA (that would've been fun Rd 1); COL v. MIN; and DAL v. LA. Maybe things turn out differently with EDM/SEA-COL in round 2, but VGK should still get through WPG and DAL/LA if they play like they have.

The issue with seedings is within the division level. The Sabres would have had to get through nasties like BOS, TBL, and TOR year after year. Last year, Florida did not. This year, they did.

It's kinda hard to say that four one goal games (two overtime games (actually 3+), a 1-0 shutout, and another decided with 5 seconds left) was a mismatched series.

[thewookie1]

12 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

Is it Matt Irwin? Lol

Dylan Cozens, he also scored his 1st career goal in that same game against Washington