2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Rnd 3

[...]

11 minutes ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Wow, Carolina with zero chance... And they're at home 

It'll be quite the party atmosphere in Sunrise.

[...]

18 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Their late 90s sweaters were so much better 

I’m actually not a fan of the way colors have trended THIS blindingly bright in recent years. Sort of a clap back to all the darker stuff earlier. The neon green of Dallas is too much and this may be blasphemous after begging for Royal for so long but like…our Royal blues are essential glow in the dark. I also don’t see why we need to have a near identical shade to St. Louis 

Overall I agree with this except for the Sabres' part. I think the colors are right for our sweaters; always liked the original color combo. It is curious that the Sabres took basically the same exact color scheme as the Blues three years later.

[shrader]

That is an incredible camera angle. 

[Wyldnwoody44]

Correct call 

[...]

Samson out after a hit to the knee. I'd call it a dirty hit but at this point it's difficult to call any hit on a Panther "dirty".

[Wyldnwoody44]

2 minutes ago, ... said:

Samson out after a hit to the knee. I'd call it a dirty hit but at this point it's difficult to call any hit on a Panther "dirty".

It was a little sneaky by Aho, I hope his smug face gets caved in. 

[SJSabres Fan]

Did Paul Maurice just say the players run the bench??  One can only dream!!

[Wyldnwoody44]

Jarvis got rocked 

[Pimlach]

Carolina getting knocked all over the ice. They are not physically strong enough for Florida.

Brind’Amour is gonna hate that. 

[Taro T]

5 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Carolina getting knocked all over the ice. They are not physically strong enough for Florida.

Brind’Amour is gonna hate that. 

Good.  Let him quit in disgust and get then get his final TRUE revenge over Lindy Ruff by replacing him as the Sabres HC.

[DarthEbriate]

High-volume shots and puck possession Carolina team (2nd overall in shots all year, 23 shots behind Edmonton)... 10 shots with 10 minutes remaining in regulation in what could be their final home game of the season....  That's probably not going to cut it. 

[Pimlach]

2 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Good.  Let him quit in disgust and get then get his final TRUE revenge over Lindy Ruff by replacing him as the Sabres HC.

B-b-but Terry realllly likes Lindy.  He knows him.  

Edited 20 hours ago by Pimlach

[spndnchz]

Powned 

[SabresBillsFan]

1 hour ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Wow, Carolina with zero chance... And they're at home 

The problem with Carolina is they are basically a one line team. Plus it seems like they ain’t built to come back after getting down a couple of goals. Plus let’s face it Freddy Anderson isn’t better than Bob!

[...]

[PerreaultForever]

I can't cheer for Florida but man do I like how they play. That was textbook perfect hard nosed hockey. 

Terry? Are you watching???

[Gatorman0519]

Love Floridas game. That’s playoff hockey. We could only dream of a Buffalo team like that. 

[Pimlach]

8 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

I can't cheer for Florida but man do I like how they play. That was textbook perfect hard nosed hockey. 

Terry? Are you watching???

Cheer for Florida, and then spend the month of February down there.  Go rogue, get wild. 

[Jorcus]

On 5/21/2025 at 3:49 PM, PerreaultForever said:

Mostly I think that's cause they give almost every top player a NMC. Once you pay your top guys you have to ride with them unless they agree to move. Leafs supposedly had a deal to move Marner to Carolina but he said no as an example. 

It does show you how hard it is to move up though. Once buried in the basement you need to make a lot of correct moves and you most definitely need good goaltending. Ottawa for example does not get in without that hot run Ullmark had. 

There's exceptions though so nothing is certain. Washington has defied the rebuild scenario with a quick turnaround and Dallas seems to be able to draft well despite finishing high. Tampa stayed relevant although that might still be ending. The biggest surprise is probably that Edmonton stayed top 4. Crap goaltending and reduced depth but here we are again and Corey Perry gets one more crack at it. 

I agree that the NHL is not a parity league and NMC clauses have something to do with it. I would also add that because players are drafted at age 18 there is a much greater risk that the pick you make in the front of the draft will not turn out to be a very good player. You also have to wait 3 to 5 years to find out what they are. Another issue is that high end players can last a long time in the NHL. Most very good players can remain effective in their 30's. It takes awhile for father time to catch up to these teams for the next group to cycle though and take over. 

I wanted to discuss Washington. Things went well in the regular season for  them but once again they flamed out in the playoffs. They seem to exist in this place of high mediocrity. It was mentioned on the radio the other day that only once since Ovi has been on the team that they have made it past the 2nd round of the playoffs. Of course they Won the cup 2018 but that was the only time they made it to the conference finals. Had they not gotten over that hump in 2018 what would have happened to Ovi? I would guess a free agency walk to another contender. It's interesting to look back at that when Toronto parts ways with Marner. 

Washington had a lot of things go well this year. The had one of the best second lines in hockey with the McMichael and Protas who came through for them in the draft. Dylan Strom finally is living up to his high draft pick status after the Blackhawks let him go for nothing and Chychrun is healthy enough to show what he can do. I just wonder if Washington goes back to being a Pumpkin. Ovi can still shoot but he is getting very slow. Will the goaltending hold up like it did last year. A lot of players had a career years but I think they would have to regress. On the plus side they have been good at managing the cap space so they won't lose anyone. I think they are too good regress out of the playoffs but I would not be surprised to see them fall back in the standings. 

Edited 6 hours ago by Jorcus

[Brawndo]

The last team the Hurricanes beat in an ECF Game was the Sabres 

[DarthEbriate]

21 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

The last team the Hurricanes beat in an ECF Game was the Sabres 

Which means...   the Sabres are better than Florida!

All we have to do is make the playoffs and ECF and face the Panthers and we're good to go.

[Kristian]

13 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

I can't cheer for Florida but man do I like how they play. That was textbook perfect hard nosed hockey. 

Terry? Are you watching???

No.

[Wyldnwoody44]

Hoping Sammy isn't too injured. 

[jahnyc]

If by some miracle the Sabres make the playoffs next season, I can't see this roster as currently configured as having the ability to play a physical style or match the physical style of a playoff opponent.  This team is not built for playoff hockey (or even regular season success).

[shrader]

1 hour ago, DarthEbriate said:

Which means...   the Sabres are better than Florida!

All we have to do is make the playoffs and ECF and face the Panthers and we're good to go.

I'd love to understand the reasoning of the logic you're running with here.  Is it rock/paper/scissors or something, Florida beats Carolina beats Buffalo beats Florida?