It’s incredible how Perron never bought in here. He has been solid in STL for most of his career. What a great SCF.
OT - Stanley Cup Finals 2019 ......
- Thread starter goalieman
- Start date
CONGRATULATIONS to the St. Louis Blues ..... 2019 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS ..... THEY EARNED IT !!!!!!!!!!!
I am really happy for the Blues and their fans!!! This isn't just a hate Boston thing, I am genuinely happy for the Blues and their fans.
Binnington stole this one, he was fantastic. No problems with Ryan O'Reilly winning the Conn Smythe. He has been fantastic.
I am really happy.
Binnington stole this one, he was fantastic. No problems with Ryan O'Reilly winning the Conn Smythe. He has been fantastic.
I am really happy.
David played exceptionally well. A totally different player than the one who played for the Pens. His assist on that late goal was a beauty!
Man, Oskar Sundquist gets a ton of ice time. He has turned into a really good player. Would look good on the Pens.
Yeah, that’s the strangest thing about hockey. You’re not always rewarded for your best effort. That was one of the best games Boston has played in the entire series and they lost. However, I thought St. Louis was mostly the better team the other night and they lost. That’s just the capricious nature of the game - and why I absolutely LOVE it!
At the end of the day, St. Louis played with a lot of structure and poise. They weren’t always great but they were pretty consistent in how they attacked teams and I think that wears teams down as much as any “heavy hockey” anyone wants to play. It’s that you’re constantly getting an honest effort out of every single line of every D pairing for 60 minutes. That’s difficult to deal with.
At the end of the day, St. Louis played with a lot of structure and poise. They weren’t always great but they were pretty consistent in how they attacked teams and I think that wears teams down as much as any “heavy hockey” anyone wants to play. It’s that you’re constantly getting an honest effort out of every single line of every D pairing for 60 minutes. That’s difficult to deal with.
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I mean....it's great. For those who don't know, for 50 years, you had the "original 6" (which weren't but anyways...) Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, New York Rangers, Chicago and Boston compete as the NHL and for the Cup. That's right, only 6 teams. So all of those cups accumulated then, are somewhat suspect in my mind.
Then in 1967, the NHL doubled in size, 6 more teams entered the league. The Pens, the Flyers, the Blues, the California Golden Seals (which became defunct), the LA Kings, and the Minnesota North Stars (which moved to Dallas). The Flyers won 2 cups early on. The Golden Seals became the Cleveland Barons and then just died. The North Stars never won a cup, but as Dallas won in 1999. The Kings won 2 cups in the 20teens. And the Pens, are the most successful of the "second 6" winning 5 Cups. But the Blues never won anything, and really never played in the true Stanley Cup Finals until this year. So good on them!!!
Then in 1967, the NHL doubled in size, 6 more teams entered the league. The Pens, the Flyers, the Blues, the California Golden Seals (which became defunct), the LA Kings, and the Minnesota North Stars (which moved to Dallas). The Flyers won 2 cups early on. The Golden Seals became the Cleveland Barons and then just died. The North Stars never won a cup, but as Dallas won in 1999. The Kings won 2 cups in the 20teens. And the Pens, are the most successful of the "second 6" winning 5 Cups. But the Blues never won anything, and really never played in the true Stanley Cup Finals until this year. So good on them!!!
He is exactly that cheap but effective bottom six center we have been missing.
The Ryan Reaves trade.....it is emblematic of what has happened over the past two years where coach and GM was not exactly on the same page. Hopefully Jimmy found his mojo because the Petterson and McCann trades look pretty damn good.
I say that all the time. I think the Original Six thing is the most overrated thing in the world. Every league has some franchises that are older than other franchises. However, the NHL always tries to make it mean something more. The whole thing is very odd, TBH. Also, as you alluded to, it’s historically inaccurate.
St. Louis is every bit the hockey town that Boston is and this Cup will mean a helluva lot to that city.
Also, the NHL had the strangest expansion in pro sports history. They expanded by 100% and put all of the new teams in one conference and the Original Six teams comprised the other conference. Therefore, for years and years, every final was a sweep because one team was full of minor-league players and the other teams were full of All-Stars.
That famous picture of Bobby Orr scoring in overtime to win the 1970 Stanley Cup was against the Blues and it punctuated a sweep. That wasn’t a series as much as it was a coronation. It was a great photo of one of the greatest players last real sport. However, it is an overrated hockey moment.
That famous picture of Bobby Orr scoring in overtime to win the 1970 Stanley Cup was against the Blues and it punctuated a sweep. That wasn’t a series as much as it was a coronation. It was a great photo of one of the greatest players last real sport. However, it is an overrated hockey moment.
Exactly, those 3 years, the first three of the "second 6" expansion, the "West" entry in the Finals was nothing more than the Washington Generals to the Globetrotters. The "west" made was made up of the 6 expansion teams. So whoever made it out of the Original 6, essentially won the cup before even the finals.Also, the NHL had the strangest expansion in pro sports history. They expanded by 100% and put all of the new teams in one conference and the Original Six teams comprised the other conference. Therefore, for years and years, every final was a sweep because one team was full of minor-league players and the other teams were full of All-Stars.
That famous picture of Bobby Orr scoring in overtime to win the 1970 Stanley Cup was against the Blues and it punctuated a sweep. That wasn’t a series as much as it was a coronation. It was a great photo of one of the greatest players last real sport. However, it is an overrated hockey moment.
And as far as the "original 6", the NHL also had the Montreal Maroons, an Ottawa entry, rumors of a Pittsburgh entry way back then.......
But it has been 50 years now. The Bruins are an "original 6" franchise, hell the Rangers, the Rangers are a better example, but they aren't more of an established franchise like the Penguins are. Few people hate the Rangers outside of the metro NYC area. Many fans hate the Pens, the Pens have won 5 cups in the last 30 years, that is tops in the NHL regardless of original 6 or expansion. (well tied with Edmonton).
When you do the "Mt Rushmore" of each franchise, the Pens are likely the only franchise to have 3 of the top 10 players all time on their 4 "Mt Rushmore"
That’s the thing that’s so weird about the NHL though. By constantly harping on the Original Six thing, you then inherently imply that a franchise that is 52 years/old is an “expansion team.” That’s completely absurd!
That would be like the Cincinnati Reds playing the Houston Astros in the World Series and everyone treating it like an established team versus an expansion team.
That would be like the Cincinnati Reds playing the Houston Astros in the World Series and everyone treating it like an established team versus an expansion team.
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That trade was foolish. Originally it looked ok but then Reeves was dumped only months later.
I would like to see GMJR make some more moves and really shake the roster up. They really need to do some thinking about what they want their MO to be. I don't think we can rely on team speed anymore. We need a nice mix of talent, speed, and grinders that have the desire needed to win in the playoffs. Watching St. Louis and the investment every player made to win that cup, reminded me of the Penguins run to the cup in 2016, mostly in the level of committtment each team had. Watching the Pens bow out to a lesser team like the NYI showed me that the team got complacent a bit, after back to back cups and then an emotional 2nd round loss to the eventual cup winning Caps.
The Pens just didn't play with the level of committment needed to win in the playoffs this year. I am hoping that whatever direction the Pens plan to go, they bring in players who are hungry and it rubs off on those who are already here. Those guys who already have two or three cups, know what it takes to win it, but, they could use a little reminder about the desire and committment it takes to pull it off.
I was very hard on Binnington earlier in the series. Honestly, I thought Rask pretty dramatically outplayed him for most of this series.
Rask was just so solid and Binnington, frankly, was up-and-down. He allowed a lot of shaky goals in that series. Honestly, he allowed several shaky goals over the past few series.
However, I have to say the last night Binnington was the best player on the ice and was the primary reason the Blues won Game 7.
I still don’t know if I believe in him for the long term. I think St. Louis is going to pay him a lot of money this off-season and that feels like it could be a mistake to me — depending on the term/money. However, what real alternative do they have?
He just led that team to their first Stanley Cup ever and he’s 25 years-old. You pretty much have to pay him and hope like hell that he’s not just a one-year wonder.
I would not put money on either team going this far again next year. I think the way St. Louis plays is a really hard style to play and it’s difficult to replicate success with it. I also think that Boston will suffer a massive hangover because going that far and being that good and then losing at home in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final — it’s hard to come back from that.
Vancouver was never the same when it happened to them back in 2011 and they were awesome! Honestly, Detroit was never the same after Pittsburgh beat them either. Both of those teams were substantially better than this Boston team.
Rask was just so solid and Binnington, frankly, was up-and-down. He allowed a lot of shaky goals in that series. Honestly, he allowed several shaky goals over the past few series.
However, I have to say the last night Binnington was the best player on the ice and was the primary reason the Blues won Game 7.
I still don’t know if I believe in him for the long term. I think St. Louis is going to pay him a lot of money this off-season and that feels like it could be a mistake to me — depending on the term/money. However, what real alternative do they have?
He just led that team to their first Stanley Cup ever and he’s 25 years-old. You pretty much have to pay him and hope like hell that he’s not just a one-year wonder.
I would not put money on either team going this far again next year. I think the way St. Louis plays is a really hard style to play and it’s difficult to replicate success with it. I also think that Boston will suffer a massive hangover because going that far and being that good and then losing at home in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final — it’s hard to come back from that.
Vancouver was never the same when it happened to them back in 2011 and they were awesome! Honestly, Detroit was never the same after Pittsburgh beat them either. Both of those teams were substantially better than this Boston team.
We are now in the annual part of the offseason where everyone assures everyone else that the Stanley Cup Final runner-up is here to stay and will definitely be back in the Final for many years to come.
Don’t you believe it.
We hear the exact same thing every single year and it’s rarely true. The Sharks would definitely be back, the Predators would be back, the Golden Knights would be back, etc. Those are all good teams but being a good team and making it all the way back to the Final are two entirely different things.
It is possible for Boston to get back here again, but any seasoned fan of the sport well understands that it is brutally difficult under even the best of circumstances to make it all the way to the Final and the Bruins will never have a more wide-open road to the Cup than they had this year, and they couldn’t get it done.
That realization is going to haunt them for a long time and it’s going to be difficult for them to get over that fact.
Toronto is getting better and Tampa Bay isn’t going anywhere. With a few tweaks here and there, Pittsburgh and Washington could remain formidable. And who knows what will happen with Columbus, Carolina, NY Islanders, etc.?
Also, the New Jersey Devils are about to have one hell of a 1-2 punch down the middle and they’re not going to stay bad forever.
Boston has a lot of good young players and they’ll be right in the thick of things for a long time. However, all I heard/read today was how the B’s will be a fixture in the Final for years to come and I couldn’t disagree with that prediction.
Don’t you believe it.
We hear the exact same thing every single year and it’s rarely true. The Sharks would definitely be back, the Predators would be back, the Golden Knights would be back, etc. Those are all good teams but being a good team and making it all the way back to the Final are two entirely different things.
It is possible for Boston to get back here again, but any seasoned fan of the sport well understands that it is brutally difficult under even the best of circumstances to make it all the way to the Final and the Bruins will never have a more wide-open road to the Cup than they had this year, and they couldn’t get it done.
That realization is going to haunt them for a long time and it’s going to be difficult for them to get over that fact.
Toronto is getting better and Tampa Bay isn’t going anywhere. With a few tweaks here and there, Pittsburgh and Washington could remain formidable. And who knows what will happen with Columbus, Carolina, NY Islanders, etc.?
Also, the New Jersey Devils are about to have one hell of a 1-2 punch down the middle and they’re not going to stay bad forever.
Boston has a lot of good young players and they’ll be right in the thick of things for a long time. However, all I heard/read today was how the B’s will be a fixture in the Final for years to come and I couldn’t disagree with that prediction.
I’ll never forget in 2013 Crosby was sporting a broken jaw from an Orpik slap shot and Chara was punching him in the head so eff Boston.
Oh yeah, no doubt. The Stanley Cup is it’s own thing. The handshake, the postgame celebration, etc. All of it is just incredible!
Rarely do I agree with everything you say but this is entirely correct. In 2009 the Pens looked unstoppable and Chicago while a contender was no way a favorite. Hell those Detroit teams that matched up against the Pens took an absolute nose dive and they’ve been on the mat since. The beauty of the NHL is that you can be last in January and make noise in the playoffs. And in 3 years Binnington broke Murray and other rookie playoff goaltender records. The dude went 24-5-1 in the regular season. You couldn’t script a better record. So again like you said to claim any one team would be a fixture is silly.
Here's a question to you. As a Kris Letang aficionado, if you could have one of Alex Pietrangelo or Colton Parayko, which one would you take. I am thinking the latter.
The best part about the Stanley Cup presentation is that the team captain is awarded the trophy not the owner.
