The Chase For The Real Stanley Cup: 2024 Cup Playoffs Thread
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Soldier
not redeemed with gold but with His Blood
The Avs were 0-3 at home in this series. If a team couldn’t even find a way to win one game at home, they didnt deserve to win and advance further. Ultimately the better team(Dallas) deserved to win and move on to the next round. Logic was respected and justice prevailed .
The Avs obviously missed the presence of Valeri Nichushkin too. They could’ve used his scoring and offense against a veteran, stingy Dallas team that didn’t give them any time, space and room. They needed him to help them break through the defensive wall of the Stars.
As a group, the Stars are a smart, effective and suffocating defensive-minded and oriented team, and they have a very good goalie (Oettinger) in net. Avs have speed to burn but the Stars have plenty of speed to burn as well. Outside of elite talent(McKinnon and Rantanen) on offense the Stars were equal to the Avs or better than them. Stars are more balanced and better built for the long grind(and the ups and downs) of the playoffs. They are built from the backend. (Defense and goaltender)
Stars have quality and experienced veterans and young players in their prime as well. It’s a good mix.
And when it comes to offense, the Dallas Stars are no slouches themselves, they were the 3rd highest scoring team in the entire league this season (298 goals scored )just behind the Colorado Avalanche (304 goals) and my Toronto Maple Leafs(303 goals).
The Battle of the Titans in the 2nd round is over. I believe Dallas will easily beat either Edmonton or Vancouver in the WCF.
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The Nichushkin suspension killed Colorado. Dude led the NHL in playoff goals (still tied for the lead) and got suspended two hours before game four. That was impossible to recover from.
Soldier
not redeemed with gold but with His Blood
Yeah his suspension killed the morale, spirit and hopes of the Avalanche. What a depressing news to learn, just two hours before an important playoff game. That was the defining series changing moment. The series was lose after learning this news.
If i recall correctly, He was suspended for selfish/stupid reasons as well. Unrelated to hockey.
IsThatBrothaMouzone?
Superstar
All the local radio folks were talking about how Dallas road would be tougher at the start then get easier. Facing the last 2 cup champions back to back is rough but could help them moving forward.
Vegas is so tough on D that playing the Avs felt easier to them I bet.
Soldier
not redeemed with gold but with His Blood
Both Dallas’s opponents in the first two rounds, the Vegas Golden Knights and the Colorado Avalanche, compete hard and are tough to beat. The western conference was much tougher and competitive than the east this year. It’s cyclical though. When you look closer at recent NHL history, you see that From 2010 to 2015, the west was the best. Then From 2016 to 2021 the east was definitely the stronger conference. Now since 2022, it’s the west again.
The Avs play with a more free wheeling, open style. They play at an intense pace, are aggressive and love to take risks on offense and trade scoring chances with other teams, but they allow many scoring chances in their own zone as well. Fortunately they can afford to take risks and play open because they have decent enough goaltending. When the last line of defense (goalie) saves you from your own mistakes often enough….
They were the highest scoring team in the league this season but they were 16th in goals allowed against. The NHL has 32 franchises/teams. They were classified 16th out of 32. 15 teams who were better than them at preventing goals and 16 teams who were worse than them at preventing goals. They were average defensively but elite offensively.
They are definitely more offensive minded than Vegas. Their game is built around elite speed and elite transition game(moving the puck from their own zone (defensive)to the enemy zone (offensive )
They are also simply the class of the league when they use their high-end explosive speed to overwhelm and overpower teams. Their fast and mobile defense led by Cale Makar is elite at puck moving and generating offense from the backend. The way they move the puck from defense to offense is crazy. Their zone entries, forechecks and territorial gains are Crisp, effective, simple clean, powerful and quick. They easily initiate offense raids, create odd-man rushes and quickly outnumber the opposing players when they enter the offensive zone, they make quick and effective offensive zone entries, maintain forecheck and apply constant pressure. They easily and quickly gain territory, keep the puck in the zone and overwhelm the opposition with speed, forecheck and skill. They can do all of these things because they have elite offensive flair/instincts/anticipation/mobility/speed/skating ability. Their speed and their aggressive style of play force the other teams to take penalties. And they are great in the power play.
You are correct in your observation that in general Vegas was a tougher challenge than Colorado. When I saw that they got Vegas as opponent in the first round, I thought it was unfair. You worked very hard to finish first in the west and your reward is a date with the defending champs in round 1. And Vegas is a big, tough, talented, mean, defensively sound, experienced and deep team. When they took a commanding 2-0 lead, winning both games in Dallas convincingly, I was like they might sweep the top seed in the west. But the Stars(the best road team in the league with the most road wins IIRC) won both games 3/4 and eventually won the series.
In the WCF, the Stars will have the clear advantage in all areas of the game, except elite offensive talent when it comes to forwards(Jason Robertson and Tyler Seguin are nice but they ain’t Connor McDavid/Leon Draisaitl(Oilers) or Elias Pettersen(Canucks)
The Stars don’t have a generational elite talent on offense like McDavid but they are still very deep offensively and can roll four scoring lines without problems. Very few of their forwards are soft and weak with defensive deficiencies.
In the east the ECF is a battle between the Florida Panthers/NY Rangers. Two teams with top 10 defenses….both teams are good at preventing goals. The Panthers allowed the second fewest goals in the league this season…the Rangers were 7th best in the league at preventing goals.
If the stars make it to the finals, they will face a tough task there. Both teams are very strong and have a lot of speed. Both teams have strong goaltending (Bobrovsky for panthers and shesterkin got rangers) so the significant advantage the Stars have in net when they face most teams is canceled out( Jake Oettinger is superior to most goalies in the league. He has poise, he’s huge in height and size so he covers the net well, he’s calm under pressure, good positing, good technique, good mobility and quick reflexes)
The panthers are a very good, deep team and have elite defense/clutch goaltending. They went to the finals last year but lost to Vegas in 5. The Rangers are one of the league’s most teams in the last 3-4 years, it’s their 2nd ECF in the last 3 seasons. Also, this year they won the president’s trophy because they are the top seed in the entire league(with the most wins and points and the best win/loss record in the league) and have home-ice advantage throughout the entire playoffs.
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Fell asleep
after the first OT. Woke up to the classic Theo Fleury celebration. 
the GOAT American city is on fire right now. Kodak Scheffler, Mavs, Stars. 
@Codeine Bryant we prayed for times like this.
Soldier
not redeemed with gold but with His Blood
Fell asleep
And the Texas rangers won the World Series last October. They are still the Defending MLB champs.
It’s just the overrated, underachieving and corporate Cowboys killing the vibes with their annual playoff choking. The Mavericks, Stars, and Rangers are thriving and winning. I feel bad for NFL only fans though. They just Aren’t emotionally invested in the other three teams. In their eyes, only a Cowboys SuperBowl championship would give them joy, happiness and contentment. The other three teams winning don’t mean much to them. They would immediately trade all three teams (Mavs/Stars/Rangers) together just for the chance to see the cowboys play in the NFC championship game or in the Superbowl.
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IIVI
Superstar
Who ya'll got taking this whole thing now? Dallas? They just seem too deep and stacked with talent.
Every line-up they put out there last night just seemed better during 2OT.
Every line-up they put out there last night just seemed better during 2OT.
Wish it could've been the Avs for a potential repeat of 96 but congrats to the Stars for advancing. I see Canucks up 3-2. Is McDavid still #1 player? Let's see if he can help his team avoid elimination. Don't know anything about the Rangers but hopefully it's a good series.
DANKTHRONE
Pro
fukk Skinner that absolute bum. Season is over tonight 