WCF Vegas vs Winnipeg

[conundrumed]

17 minutes ago, Flyerfan52 said:

McPhee went down to the crossroads & sold his soul.

 

Check out the history of the song Crossroads. From Robert Johnson to Eric Clapton the song carries a curse.

Some great GMs like Chevy and Yzerman will be bridesmaids this year because only McPhee met Bettman at the crossroads.

[Heartbreaker]

I have been enjoying this series as well - as I knew that I would. 

 

Actually, I have been enjoying these playoffs immensely. Obviously sad the boys aren't in it, but just watching the series that we've seen - I don't believe that the team we had this year could compete with the likes of most of the teams that made it in the west. 

 

Hoping once again that this series goes the distance. I like both of these teams, and am thoroughly enjoying both storylines. 

 

If I had to pick, I'd say that one the whole, I like the Jets better, but I'd like LV to take the series. The reason is that I believe that the Jets will be a contender for the next several years, and LV - well, you only get to be a first year team once. 

 

Love. 

[Flyerfan52]

51 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

Some great GMs like Chevy and Yzerman will be bridesmaids this year because only McPhee met Bettman at the crossroads.

I was debating whether to mention who McPhee met with but figured mentioning the Gnome might be overkill.

[conundrumed]

6 minutes ago, Flyerfan52 said:

I was debating whether to mention who McPhee met with but figured mentioning the Gnome might be overkill.

What is this thing you mention, "overkill"?

[conundrumed]

Oh my....

[Flyerfan52]

I saw articles on both the CBC & Global sites that over zealous security gaurds were consficating posters & Jets and Canadian flags from Jets fans entering the arena. They tore up the posters & threw the flags in the garbage.

Said guards need to be reminded the biggest game in town is not the playoffs but rather the 24/7 year round tourism.

***********************************************************************************************

I also read about a group of Flames fans from Calgary driving down for game 4, After a pit stop to pick up Jets gear they drove non-stop to support the Jets.

Definately hockey fans that aren't blinded by allegiance to only 1 team but love hockey. I really wanted a win for them as much as for our crowds out here.

[conundrumed]

2 hours ago, Flyerfan52 said:

I saw articles on both the CBC & Global sites that over zealous security gaurds were consficating posters & Jets and Canadian flags from Jets fans entering the arena. They tore up the posters & threw the flags in the garbage.

Said guards need to be reminded the biggest game in town is not the playoffs but rather the 24/7 year round tourism.

***********************************************************************************************

I also read about a group of Flames fans from Calgary driving down for game 4, After a pit stop to pick up Jets gear they drove non-stop to support the Jets.

Definately hockey fans that aren't blinded by allegiance to only 1 team but love hockey. I really wanted a win for them as much as for our crowds out here.

Sure is a lot of good hockey to miss out on right now by pouting.

WHC, Memorial Cup, NHL...I don't have enough TVs, lol.

How do you not wanna watch a ton of really impressive players?

[DirtyDeeds]

On 5/18/2018 at 3:02 AM, Anie8706 said:

I’m disgusted but so intrigued by Vegas. Good story that makes my stomach churn inside out because they just somehow win. How do they do it? What sacrifice did they make and to which god(s).

Bill Foley - $500 million he is spending to bring the NHL to Las Vegas.

[conundrumed]

Common Jets...common?

No wait...

C'mon Jets!!!

[rocketdoctor]

Well Vegas I hope you go all the way.

 

Good run Jets.

[conundrumed]

The Jets will be back, no doubt...

 

 

[Flyerfan52]

46 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

The Jets will be back, no doubt...

 

 

Jets are in next year land & the cap says several RFAs & all the UFAs won't be back. This is where we find out if that pipeline has been trained enough to take those roles.

[Fins&FIre15]

Can we stop talking about how great of a story this is? What theyre doing is unbelievable and mad props to them, but no way in h*** should this EVER happen.

 

What a ****ing abomination. Its REAL fair to franchises like SJ and Washington who had 70 loss seasons to start out.

 

This league has officially become a joke.

[conundrumed]

53 minutes ago, Fins&FIre15 said:

Can we stop talking about how great of a story this is? What theyre doing is unbelievable and mad props to them, but no way in h*** should this EVER happen.

 

What a ****ing abomination. Its REAL fair to franchises like SJ and Washington who had 70 loss seasons to start out.

 

This league has officially become a joke.

lol.

You're at least 10 yrs late on the joke part.

[conundrumed]

3 hours ago, Flyerfan52 said:

Jets are in next year land & the cap says several RFAs & all the UFAs won't be back. This is where we find out if that pipeline has been trained enough to take those roles.

Sorry bud.

Take heart that's a lot better than most could do.

Hard to imagine them not back in the thick of it next year.

[Flyerfan52]

15 hours ago, conundrumed said:

Sorry bud.

Take heart that's a lot better than most could do.

Hard to imagine them not back in the thick of it next year.

Thanks Bud.

 

BTW, with all those 10s of thousands downtown there wasn't a single act of destruction.

[conundrumed]

54 minutes ago, Flyerfan52 said:

Thanks Bud.

 

BTW, with all those 10s of thousands downtown there wasn't a single act of destruction.

Sounds like a new slogan,lol.

Winnipeg, At Least We're Not Vancouver.

 

That was a tough series, hard to bet against Vegas now.

I'm going for the East though, either Ovi and Stamkos I'll cheer on for a cup before anyone on Vegas..

[DirtyDeeds]

20 hours ago, Fins&FIre15 said:

Can we stop talking about how great of a story this is? What theyre doing is unbelievable and mad props to them, but no way in h*** should this EVER happen.

 

What a ****ing abomination. Its REAL fair to franchises like SJ and Washington who had 70 loss seasons to start out.

 

This league has officially become a joke.

Got to totally disagree with you here.

 

The new Franchises shouldn't have to languish in obscurity or with poor teams. You can not develop any sort of fan base that way. Especially in US where you have to work hard to bring in fans. You want new franchises to succeed not fail.

 

This has nothing to do with old franchises like SJ or Washington. That setup for expansion was a mistake that should have been setup better.

When you are a new franchise that is willing to pay 600-700 million you have to allow them to be competitive out of the gate.

 

Anything less would be a joke.

[cross16]

20 hours ago, DirtyDeeds said:

Got to totally disagree with you here.

 

The new Franchises shouldn't have to languish in obscurity or with poor teams. You can not develop any sort of fan base that way. Especially in US where you have to work hard to bring in fans. You want new franchises to succeed not fail.

 

This has nothing to do with old franchises like SJ or Washington. That setup for expansion was a mistake that should have been setup better.

When you are a new franchise that is willing to pay 600-700 million you have to allow them to be competitive out of the gate.

 

Anything less would be a joke.

 

I agree with this. I'm glad the NHL learned from previous mistakes. I think you have to give expansion franchises a shot and i'm glad the NHL did. What Vegas is doing should still not be doable I completely agree and it's a crazy story, but I think the NHL still got it right. Makes no sense why franchises and fans should suffer for years and wait to be any good. 

 

Either way, it was nothing the NHL did as a league. Vegas is where they are because so many GMs around the league thought they were smarter than they actually are. I mean my goodness, Florida literally handed Vegas 2/3 of it's top line for FREE! The expansion draft rules on their own should not have resulted in this. 

[Cowtownguy]

Shame to see the Jets go down. They did play a hard fought series against Nashville though. Vegas just seemed invincible. The Stanley Cup finals will be a little boring to me. I suppose New Jersey vs Minnesota would be worse.

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, Cowtownguy said:

Shame to see the Jets go down. They did play a hard fought series against Nashville though. Vegas just seemed invincible. The Stanley Cup finals will be a little boring to me. I suppose New Jersey vs Minnesota would be worse.

 

Personally, Vegas games tend to be anything but boring.  If it's the Caps, it will be a lot of hits and one-timer PP goals.

Vegas has the speed to catch the Caps watching on transition, though they are able to defend TBL.

[Fins&FIre15]

On 5/21/2018 at 2:37 PM, DirtyDeeds said:

Got to totally disagree with you here.

 

The new Franchises shouldn't have to languish in obscurity or with poor teams. You can not develop any sort of fan base that way. Especially in US where you have to work hard to bring in fans. You want new franchises to succeed not fail.

 

This has nothing to do with old franchises like SJ or Washington. That setup for expansion was a mistake that should have been setup better.

When you are a new franchise that is willing to pay 600-700 million you have to allow them to be competitive out of the gate.

 

Anything less would be a joke.

 

You do make very good points here, but I still have some issues with the level of talent that they received for free.

 

Prior to this time, every other expansion franchise came in in pairs, splitting the quality of available players in half.

 

Aside from teams being able to protect less than other years, the salary cap also played a part in who teams chose to protect, resulting in the likes of neal and fluery being selected. Not to mention the plethora of picks and assets vegas got (and still have) from teams in order to prevent their players from being selected in the draft.

 

It's human nature to overcompensate for past mistakes, and that's what I believe happened here. I'm all for an expansion team being competitive from the get go, but imo they got way too much.

[DirtyDeeds]

On 5/23/2018 at 4:12 PM, Fins&FIre15 said:

 

You do make very good points here, but I still have some issues with the level of talent that they received for free. 500 million dollars

 

Prior to this time, every other expansion franchise came in in pairs, splitting the quality of available players in half.

 

Aside from teams being able to protect less than other years, the salary cap also played a part in who teams chose to protect, resulting in the likes of neal and fluery being selected.

So it is Vegas's fault that teams were willing to spend draft picks to save some of their players?? How do you figure that???

 

It's human nature to overcompensate for past mistakes, and that's what I believe happened here. I'm all for an expansion team being competitive from the get go, but imo they got way too much.

They are simply a very well coached, fast and motivated  team with a goalie who is playing lights out... nothing more. I expect they will give the Caps all they can handle and more because most nights that coach has them playing an almost flawless game..

[Fins&FIre15]

3 hours ago, DirtyDeeds said:

They are simply a very well coached, fast and motivated  team with a goalie who is playing lights out... nothing more. I expect they will give the Caps all they can handle and more because most nights that coach has them playing an almost flawless game..

 

So teams who pay 500 million or more on new arenas/upgrades should get to take a top 9 player from every team? Ok, valid point.

 

Not blaming vegas, blaming the format, which is garbage.

 

Say what you want, but an expansion team should never be put in a position to make the finals in year one, sorry if you disagree.

 

 

[cross16]

8 hours ago, Fins&FIre15 said:

 

Say what you want, but an expansion team should never be put in a position to make the finals in year one, sorry if you disagree.

 

 

But who put them there? The expansion draft rules or the side deals becuase I think that is your more important question. I don't disagree that the Vegas story shouldn't be happening and thus why it's being considered one of the best sports stories of all times, but I don't think the expansion draft rules alone account for this. Vegas picked up most of it's talent, IMO, via the side deals and that isn't the nHL that's on GMs who cut them. Columbus basically wanted Vegas to take Karlsson, Florida threw Marchessault in a trade as a throw in, St Louis protected Ryan Reeves instead of David Perron, and instead of just letting them take Matt Dumba the Wild give up Haula and Alex Tuch.

 

And at the end of the day there is an incredible amount of randomness here that no one saw coming. Nothing in Karlsson's background ever suggests he could score 40 goals and the fact he's got one of the highest shooting % in league history suggests this probably won't happen again. MAF was a good but not great goalie the last few years and now suddenly he looks like a Hall of famer playing better than he every has. Derek Engelland has never been more than a solid 3rd pairing dman, and now he is a 1st pairing guy?

 

There is a lot of luck, or randomness, involved in what Vegas is doing so again pointing to the expansion draft and saying the league gave them too much talent I don't agree with. I think the league did it's job and gave Vegas a good base to work with and McPhee worked a little magic, they got some luck and here we are enjoying one of the coolest sports stories of all time.