OK...Here we Go! The NHL's 2018 Playoff Match-Ups for the Stanley Cup!!!

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Stick-meisters:
Being originally from East Lansing, MI....my team from eons ago has always been the Red Wings, but having moved to Virginia in 07 - 12, the Mrs. and I started 'rooting' for the Caps (and saw many a game at the Verizon Center too), because you gotta support the team that's nearest to your city/location (we finally retired & moved back to DeRidder, LA (only pro hockey close is the Stars...& a long drive)

But the Caps do it to me all the time...early exits for the Playoffs...and now playing the Pens...sich...you gotta be kidding me. But seriously, it's a little too early to tell (and I'm not getting out my crystal ball

just yet), if Washington doesn't 'flame-out' in this series...I'll take the Caps in 7 games.

"Rock the Red!"

PS The

started 'outta-the-gates like a bat-outta-hell' and simply 'shocked' (and took the bite outta the Sharks), into submission for Game 1...impressive!

 

[davent]

The story i'd like to see (not that i'll be watching) is Fleury not allowing Pittsburgh to make it three in a row.
dave

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Oh Yes...(Caps in 6...Wash wins series 4-2 [2-1 OT]),...and it's about time...'Yeah Baby'!

"Rock the Red!"

“Hockey...The Coolest Game on Earth (Because It’s the Cup)”!! NHL Official Slogan

 

[Heron]

Well, at least Boston and Pittsburgh are gone.

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Congrats...you have to 'give it up' for Winnipeg and the Jets!

Tough loss for Nashville (it was their game 'to lose'),...they were certainly 'stunned' by the Jets play and completely 'knocked-off their game'.

Just in my opinion (as an elder goalie), I don't know if it was the right move, but it may of been 'hasty' to pull (chase), 'Peks' Rinne only after giving-up 2 goals (were they really 'that soft'?).

“Hockey...The Coolest Game on Earth (Because It’s the Cup)”!! NHL Official Slogan

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

All right hockey fans...let the games begin. Here are the match-ups, schedule & TV coverage times for the 2018 NHL Conference (3rd round), Finals (and it's awesome at least one Canadian team is represented)!

Works Cited: 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs

BTW...the Mrs. and I are still

'ing' for the Caps in the Finals.

"Rock the Red!"

"Every Game, Every Night, Because It's the Cup"!!! NBC & NBCSN Slogan

 

[Heron]

Go Jets!

 

[elswood]

My hockey watching usually ends with the Leaf's season so pretty early but I think Winnipeg vs Vegas is going to be a heck of a series! I'll be tuning in for sure.

 

[Tatuued1]

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

All right hockey fans...the Eastern Conference representative is yet to be decided (Game 7...8:00pm [ET] tonight...Wash [Rock the Red] vs. Tampa Bay on NBCSN & CBC), but the NHL has announced the schedule for the Stanley
Cup Final.

Whether the Vegas Golden Knights meet the Tampa Bay Lightning or Washington Capitals, they'll have plenty of rest, as the final won't start until 28 May 18.

Here's a look at the entire schedule.

Game 1: Monday May 28 8:00 p.m. Vegas vs. Tampa Bay or Washington on NBC/CBC/TVA/SN
Game 2: Wednesday May 30 8:00 p.m. Vegas vs. Tampa Bay or Washington on NBC/CBC/TVA/SN
Game 3: Saturday June 2 8:00 p.m. Tampa Bay or Washington vs. Vegas or on NBC/CBC/TVA/SN
Game 4: Monday June 4 8:00 p.m. Tampa Bay or Washington vs. Vegas on NBC/CBC/TVA/SN
Game 5 (if necessary): Thursday June 7 8:00 p.m. Vegas vs. Tampa Bay or Washington on NBC/CBC/TVA/SN
Game 6 (if necessary): Sunday June 10 8:00 p.m. Tampa Bay or Washington vs. Vegas on NBC/CBC/TVA/SN
Game 7* (if necessary): Wednesday June 13 8:00 p.m. Vegas vs. Tampa Bay or Washington on NBC/CBC/TVA/SN

"Every Game, Every Night, Because It's the Cup"!!! NBC & NBCSN Slogan

 

[jdp93]

CAPS! CAPS! CAPS! CAPS! CAPS!

 

[davent]

This is part of what killed it all for me, delay, delay, delay, how long can they drag it all out. Is there anyone left watching other then diehard fans of the two teams.

It's finally warmed up and nice outside, the days are long, we've been cooped up inside for months, no way in the world i'd be inside in front of a tv set, enough.

I'd love to see Vegas win, Cinderella story extraordinaire!
dave

 

[Moorhsum]

In a very informal bracket I'm in Vegas takes it all. As far as the East teams go I fell out early. At least Pittsburgh is out.

 

[davent]

The houses that George built playing for the Stanley Cup, good for the resume!

Only followed hockey from a very long distance since the last lockout so very much out of touch, how much of Washington's line up can McPhee still be given credit for?
dave

 

[Heron]

This is part of what killed it all for me, delay, delay, delay, how long can they drag it all out. Is there anyone left watching other then diehard fans of the two teams.

I agree. Both the NHL and NBA drag the playoffs on so long. Make the first round best of three, second round best of five, then conference finals and final best of seven. And no more than one day off between games in a series.

Go Washington! It's cool that the Knights made the final in their first year but I just can't cheer for a Vegas team.

 

[davent]

I agree. Both the NHL and NBA drag the playoffs on so long. Make the first round best of three, second round best of five, then conference finals and final best of seven. And no more than one day off between games in a series...

I like the sound of that as well but the owners are never going to give up the revenue.
dave

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Well, hockey fans...here's another 'side-of-the-coin' follow-up story about the Knights success.

Dan Wolken - USA Today Sports -24 May 18

"Why are [some] hockey fans bitter about the Golden Knights' run to Stanley Cup Final?

The Vegas Golden Knights making the Stanley Cup Final in their first year of existence is, bar none, the most remarkable long-shot achievement in the history of American professional sports.

Yet for many NHL fans, the reaction since the Golden Knights' series-clinching victory Sunday over the Winnipeg Jets hasn't been to celebrate a feel-good, logic-defying story that is resonating beyond the usual niche hockey market. Instead, a sect of hockey die-hards, traditionalists and bitter fans of older expansion teams have whined.

They are whining because the [new 2017] expansion draft rules made it easier for Vegas to put a quality team [which is quite true] on the ice this year than what the Nashville Predators and Atlanta Thrashers had to deal with in the late 1990s.

[Clubs will have two options for players they wish to protect in the Expansion Draft:
a) Seven forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender
b) Eight skaters (forwards/defensemen) and one goaltender

* All players who have currently effective and continuing "No Movement" clauses at the time of the Expansion Draft (and who to decline to waive such clauses) must be protected (and will be counted toward their club's applicable protection limits).

* All first- and second-year professionals, as well as all unsigned draft choices, will be exempt from selection (and will not be counted toward their club's applicable protection limits)].

They are whining because while teams in traditional hockey markets routinely evaluate players poorly, Vegas general manager George McPhee [former Capitals long-time GM] made savvy roster moves that resulted in a bunch of NHL journeymen all having career years. They are whining because Vegas’ new fan base hasn’t had to deal with the despair that sets in after years of losing.

And to those complainers, I offer a simple message: So what

Where is the sacred text declaring that when Golden Knights owner Bill Foley put up a $500 million expansion fee — money, by the way, that goes into the pockets of the other owners — that his team was obligated to be bad until some vague moment years in the future?

This is the NHL – a league that long ago tried to engineer competitive balance with the hardest salary cap in pro sports, designed to make rosters more even and ensure that smaller markets with smart general managers would have just as much chance to acquire stars as the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs.

This is the NHL – a league with a relatively small, niche fan base that struggles for oxygen against the NBA during the playoffs despite routinely having more unpredictable, competitive series.

This is the NHL – a product that isn’t always an easy sell in new markets, but promises that once people get hooked, they’re hooked for life.

And guess what? The entertainment capital of the U.S. is now a bona fide hockey town, which is unquestionably better business for the NHL given the recent history of expansion teams".

Read More: Bitter Hockey Fans to Vegas's Run to the Cup

Care to comment...or offer an opinion?

"Vegas hockey: miracle in the Sands". CBJ

 

[ouch]

As a long suffering Rangers fan (following them since 1966), I would like to add that seeing Vegas in the finals in their maiden year is absolute torture.

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

[...] the [new 2017] expansion draft rules made it easier for Vegas to put a quality team [which is quite true] on the ice this year [...]

In my opinion, the NHL should have changed the expansion rules eons ago. Just think...maybe it could be have made a difference in the 'stories' of many a expansion team back then.

Remember, on the other hand...future expansion teams (under the new rules), will be able to draft, sign & field quality players into a team able to repeat the Knight's success.

“Hockey...The Coolest Game on Earth”! Official NHL Slogan

 

[Doc4]

This is part of what killed it all for me, delay, delay, delay, how long can they drag it all out. Is there anyone left watching other then diehard fans of the two teams.

I agree. Both the NHL and NBA drag the playoffs on so long.

I remember "back in the day" the NHL playoffs were basically over and then it was the NBA playoffs ... I'd watch the one and then the other, later in the year. Now they're basically overlapping.

And they used to have a great system, where all the eastern conference teams played one night, and western conference the next night, and back and forth ... nobody got two nights off during a series. The NHL would announce the game nights for every series all together at the start of the playoffs.

*sigh*.