2020-21 NHL Season

[Badger]

Your first place Pittsburgh Penguins!

[The Dowager Mod]

I will think of you guys when the Islanders bounce them in 6 games. 

[JGibson]

The 2021 NHL Playoffs are now officially here.

1st Round Matchups:
East: #1 Penguins v. #4 Islanders, #2 Capitals v. #3 Bruins
North: #1 Maple Leafs v. #4 Canadiens, #2 Oilers v. #3 Jets
Central: #1 Hurricanes v. #4 Predators, #2 Panthers v. #3 Lightning
West: #1 Avalanche v. #4 Blues, #2 Golden Knights v. #3 Wild



Bracket:
https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1393048422014459905

[JGibson]

My Blues got swept by the Avs tonight.

[The Dowager Mod]

 

I will think of you guys when the Islanders bounce them in 6 games. 

[KaiserDave]

Cheering for the Canadiens since the Rangers are out

Good stuff folks

[JGibson]

Canadiens come back from a 3-1 series hole to knock out the Maple Leafs in 7.

[Crane]

Your first place Pittsburgh Penguins!

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Your first place Pittsburgh Penguins!

Ouch again. 

[KaiserDave]

I will be keeping my current sig until the Canadiens are eliminated

But they keep winning!

[Smash255]

This Isles/Bruins series has given me at least 10 heart attacks so far.

[JGibson]

The final 4 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is here: Canadiens v. Golden Knights and Lightning (defending champs) v. Islanders. 


Winners go to the Final. 

[Donerail]

The good people of Long Island are celebrating their Game 7-forcing overtime win by throwing half-full cans of Bud Light at their own team(??)

[JGibson]

We have one of the two Stanley Cup Finals participants confirmed, as the Montréal Canadiens won Game 6 3-2 in OT. We await the winner of defending Cup champions Tampa Bay v. New York Islanders in Game 7 for the other spot.

[JGibson]

The Stanley Cup Final matchup is set: Defending Cup champs Tampa Bay Lightning against the Montréal Canadiens for the right to hoist the Lord Stanley trophy. If the Canadiens win, then it would be the first time since the 1993 Final that a Canadian-based team won it all (Canadiens).

[The Dowager Mod]

Go Habs!

[Lechasseur]

Go Habs!

[Poirot]

First time the Canadiens win the Clarence Campbell trophy, which usually goes to the western conference finalist. Campbell suspended Maurice Richard in 1955 and caused the Forum riot when he showed up.

There will probably be pressure on Quebec public health to allow more people to the games. It's 3,500 people right now but there are more people packed around the building anyway.

I imagine Tampa Bay is clear favorite. They are defending champ so have the experience in finals. The Canadiens will have to neutralize the best offensive players of their opponents again, but this team has many. The Canadiens have a great run of not allowing goals during penalty killing, but Tampa has very good power play, so tough to maintain that level of penalty killing. Sometimes the Canadiens can have the edge in goal but maybe not this series. I found Vasilevskiy's record against the Canadiens, 11-1-2 with a save percentage of .939. History is not good. The Canadiens need the help of the hockey gods again in this series.

[bagelman]

For some reason I really wanted the NY Islanders to win. I'm not a Florida fan, a fan of repeats, or a fan of Tampa Bay at the moment after the recent super bowl, so Go Habs.

[JGibson]

Blue Jackets goalie Matīss Kivlenieks died at the age of 24 due to chest trauma resulting from an errant fireworks blast.

TSN:

A medical examiner in Michigan says an autopsy has determined that Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks died of chest trauma from an errant fireworks mortar blast, and not a fall as authorities previously reported.


The fire department and EMTs got to the private home shortly after 10 p.m. and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Meier said. The Oakland County Medical Examiner’s office reported preliminary autopsy results Monday afternoon.

Prior to the autopsy, police said Kivlenieks was believed to have slipped and hit his head on concrete while running from a malfunctioning firework.

[DINGO Joe]

Blue Jackets goalie Matīss Kivlenieks died at the age of 24 due to chest trauma resulting from an errant fireworks blast.

TSN:

A medical examiner in Michigan says an autopsy has determined that Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks died of chest trauma from an errant fireworks mortar blast, and not a fall as authorities previously reported.


The fire department and EMTs got to the private home shortly after 10 p.m. and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Meier said. The Oakland County Medical Examiner’s office reported preliminary autopsy results Monday afternoon.

Prior to the autopsy, police said Kivlenieks was believed to have slipped and hit his head on concrete while running from a malfunctioning firework.

You kind of undersold the story and he was apparently in a hot tub when the fireworks mortar toppled over and began shooting at the crowd.  Apparently he got up and ran with the crowd when he was struck.

[Suburbia]

Tampa Bay Lighting are Back to Back Stanley Cup Champions...

[JGibson]

Tampa Bay Lighting are Back to Back Stanley Cup Champions...

And Patrick Maroon gets his three-peat (2019 Blues, 2020 and 2021 Lightning).

[JGibson]

Also, this is the final game to ever air on NBC, as ESPN/ABC/ESPN+ and TBS/TNT will take over NHL rights the next season.

[bagelman]

Ugh, glad I didn't watch that noise.