Montreal keeps shocking and impressing me. They really took over this series against Vegas. I did not expect that at all. Carey Price deserves a lot of credit. Good call on picking them! Game 7 tonight in Tampa should be the most exciting hockey game in recent years. So much on the line. Good luck to your Islanders! Game 5 was 8-0 Bolts, but Game 6 felt like the Isles took over. Something has to give tonight!
Unfortunately I was right about both series. Pretty poor showing by the Islanders for most of a game 7. Allons-y, Habs!
After eliminating a strong Boston team they just went 7 games against a soon to be dynasty TB Lightning Franchise (36-17) as defending champs and who will absolutely destroy the .500 Montreal Canadians (24-24). Islanders fans or not can't no NHL fan talk down on an NYI team who fell 1 game short of the Finals and lost to TB on the road by only 1 goal during a game 7. But yeah. I get it man. Losing hurts. That's why being a sports fan often times STINKS. Because every year there is only 1 happy fan base in comparison to 30+ miserable fan bases.
They have no chance man. TB Lightning = 36-17-3. Team Canada = 24-24-11. A .500 team has 0.00% chance of beating TB Lightning; N.Y Islanders were the only team who've came close and pushed them to their max.
I won’t know until it’s over. In the first time in a long time I’m not watching the Finals. 2022 or bust.
Yup. Exactly how I feel about NFL and NBA playoffs every year. Can't remember the last time I've watched a full NFL playoff game without the Jets in it (I skip most SBs out of frustration too) and I've maybe watched 1 full NBA playoff game after my Knicks were eliminated round one. Now thinking about it? We really shouldn't do this to ourselves. Watch the NHL Finals man. TB Lightning will sweep them or 4-1 them. And then heading into 2022? You'll know your Islanders just pushed the 2x defending NHL champions to 7 games during the ECF (hope for the immediate future). I haven't watched playoff hockey without the NY Rangers in it, ever. But your Islanders (with the help of our Jets players) had me glued to the TV and now I'm wishing the Rangers will make the playoffs 2022 in order to see the same excitement; Hats off to your Islanders man I didn't want to say it too much throughout the series but I live down here in Tampa Bay (Rangers fan) but I didn't think you guys had a shot not even a PRAYER against that team. I didn't think any team did. But your Islanders? They proved me wrong. They didn't quit. They showed the world they could FIGHT and it took a 1-0 TB win during a game 7 in order to ESCAPE your Islanders man enjoy 2021's Finals your Islanders will get their revenge 2022 playoffs.
You are a smarter man than I am, @statjeff22! The Islanders fought hard. When Tampa couldn't quite get that second goal, I just kept getting a feeling the Isles were going to tie it, but it just did not happen. I am sure Tampa Bay will be the Cup favorite over Montreal, but I am not quite counting them out. Price has been great. You never know, but I am leaning towards the Lightning repeating.
Yeah, I agree. I think this is nice for their fans too because they did not get to experience anything during their Bubble Cup run last year. Now they get to truly experience a Cup run with this group led by Stamkos.
I thought this was a pretty decent article about Trotz. And I will agree with it's take that as a Rangers fan I am happy the Icelanders didn't make it to the Cup (let alone win it). I grew up in the 80's when the Icelanders were a dynasty. It was hard to stomach as a Rangers fan. That said I think they have an excellent team that is pretty far ahead of my Blueshirts. https://bluelinestation.com/2021/06/26/new-york-rangers-now-isles-done-lets-talk-barry-trotz/
Yeah, that was good. Trotz is a good coach and he really does transform teams. I would argue that blowing the 2-0 lead to the Bolts in the 2018 ECF was actually a moment of redemption and showed character by that Capitals team and Trotz. Down 3-2, usually they would roll over and die, but instead they played their hearts out and won Games 6 and 7, both with Holtby shutouts of a really good Lightning team. Trotz was allowed to walk out of DC because they did not feel he could get the job done. Ironically, after they made that decision, he got the job done and won the Cup. They still let him walk. I have a friend who is a big Penguins fan and he wanted nothing to do with Trotz because he felt he couldn't win when it mattered. He was proven right when the Penguins knocked the Caps out in 2016 and 2017. Since then, Trotz turned the tables and has eliminated the Penguins 3 straight playoff series he has faced them. He made Nashville who they are. The Caps had no defense, and he transformed them overnight in 2015. He did the same with the Islanders in 2019. Saying Trotz can't win big games is unfair because winning the Cup is so hard. He has made it to at least the 2nd Round every year since 2015. Pretty impressive. Now after saying all of that, I think the Rangers are coming. The Isles are ahead of them, but not by much. That division is going to be really competitive in 2021-22.
Tampa DOMINATED Game 1 with a 5-1 win over Montreal. This series looks like it was over before it started. And I looked it up last night: If you count OTL's as losses, the Canadiens record was (24-32) this season. Somehow they are in the Cup Final.
I imagine that Edmonton, Montreal and Winnipeg are all out of the playoffs in a normal year. Panthers/Lightning/Hurricanes all have easier roads to the playoffs rather then the winning of Panthers/TB running into the Hurricanes in round two. I don't think that diminishes their run that much because they did beat the Knights but yeah it's pretty wild.
Yeah, you still have to play the games once you are in, and beating the Leafs, Jets, and Golden Knights is impressive. Carey Price has been great. And good point bringing up Tampa's road to the Cup. It was actually really tough this season with the Panthers, Hurricanes, and Islanders. I would say the Canadiens are clearly the worst of those 4 teams.
It's the same point, but I look at it like it's back in the old days, when a tie was a tie. They played 15 OT games, so their record really was 20-21-15 - a mediocre record for a mediocre team. St. Louis (19-20-17) and Nashville (21-23-12) were similar, and of course they both lost in the first round, which is what you would have expected from Montreal, too. Winnipeg wasn't much better (24-23-9), so the Habs really did have an easier path than anyone else.
Clearly I’m biased in my hatred for the Leafs, but you can throw that series win right in with the easy path. The Leafs record was only impressive because they only had to play those mediocre teams all season.
