Kgbeast

I think Leafs are fine. They just need to focus more on hard checking especially in the d-zone. I would say, their loss is all on coaching. The players played very well. If some Tavares can not score, it is not all on him, it is also on the goalie he shoots at and the other team players that put sticks in his lanes. On the other side, we always knew that Leafs pretty weak defensively and that is not going to work in playoff hockey.

I enjoyed this as well. Real effort from both teams. Some soft goals on both ends through out the series, but more spectacular and plentiful are the saves. This had me on the edge of my chair every game. Even if CBJ lost, I would have come here to write the same. Probably one of the more intense series so far.

It is not like Tampa just threw the money at Vasy because they could. Perhaps he was ready to walk if they did not give him that. How much grief the club would risk to catch if their starter is Domingo, and for whatever reason incapable of stopping a beachball? 8M us going rate for goalies of this statue, they paid 1.5 over for a security of having the best chance not to become in last year Panthers shoes... A team that can score a dozen goals a game, but give up a dozen+1. Tampa still can get there now, but at least there will be no kangaroo court over them letting go a solid goalie. Plus if Vasy would have left by now, them signing Point would have become that much harder, who knows what else would have started to slide. The club is in time of a delicate balance and they have to do everything they can not to disturb that.

The Graf insistence on 2-piece goes beyond fit. Actually fit would not be a problem in all plastic boot as that can be molded to whatever shape with modern methods. Graf's thing is also about that different parts of the boot need to have different stiffness and flex, which is not possible if the whole thing is made of one material. Bauer not into monocoque stuff either. Seems like CCM does it to be competitive with Bauer under assumption that it has something more cutting edge. Not sure if they themselves believe into monocoque thing. I have not really heard any convincing argument for monocoque construction, just some waffle about the energy transfer which is rather questionable. But hey, heart wants what heart wants.

He did very good. I am curious to see if him and Bennington will get their chins so high that they will stop seing the puck. I am also curious how Bobrovski will do after scoring the huge payday.

Now that they wiffed on getting Gusev, they are total favorites to make the bottom 3. While they are ok as far as skill go, they are a little more spoiled a little older than back in 2015. Dubinsky is now very bad, no glue guys like Hartnell, Calvert, Gagner. Will be interesting to see if they sink all the way to the bottom or find a will power to move past being pouty that no body wants to play there. IMO Tortz is a right coach for them. He is bad for the developed egos, but great to drill a peasant squad that needs a continuous spanking. If they find themselves playing with a chip on their shoulders, trying to prove everyone wrong, they can do well just like inaugural VGK did. Especially, that all stats are against them and they will be underestimated by other clubs. All they need is good goaltending, if they get that, there is a chance they will be that dark horse that can sneak passed and surprise everyone.

UpYes, Columbus will remain a revolving door club for high end talent that they might get for at least another 5 years. Merzlikins has signed 1 year contract. If he turns out to be great, he us gone next year. Columbus also have a good shot at signing Gusev... probably 2 year. I doubt he will sign an extension. It is quite remarkable that they are a very good performing club with probably top 10 fanbase. I have started following them because of Bobrovsky, but I have grown to love their team and Tortz, so I am staying on their bandwagon. If they sign Gusev, between him and Nyquist, they would be pretty close to getting that skill upfront they have just lost. I will be watching Rangers though as well for sure.

Not sure what is your beef with Columbus. When I said that they make splash is because they have 3 top UFAs on the Market. Their name mentioned, their uniforms are in highlights. Also, they hardly need a rebuild as they have been making playoffs 3 years in the row and even after loss of Bobrovski who you thought was not all that anyway, Panarin who is ok, and Duchene who have not had much success in NHL, they still pretty strong team and have an opportunity to make the playoffs again if the Merzlikins can be the goalie they are expecting. As for GM gamble .. you have to take shots like that to increase fan base and raise profile of the club. I think they did that. Loosing Duckair and Abramov is well worth it (although I think Abramov can be something special). As for picks... It is even more of a gamble. Plus now that Duchene is gone, they will get one back.

Columbus might not a well publicised NHL destination during a regular season, but it surely makes a spalsh this off season leading the top of discussions. I think Panarin did good, by picking NYC. He surely was the man in Columbus, but missing an opportunity to be the man in NYC could not be missed. Plus his rocket of a soon to be wife, would hate to get stuck in Columbus or Miami even if it means extra 10mil at the end. Bread chose wisely. Bobrovsky, is my favorite goalie and is a thing to watch in the game. Going to Panthers however I am not sure about. Playing for empty seats in the team that does not fare greatly against other teams in the conference, is a sign that he just went to the higher bidder. We'll see. Duchene going to Preds... This shows some love for country music. I do not see that much else can come out of this as I do not see Preds playing his kind of game. I will not be surprised if he has a "bad season". Columbus looked like a team where he has finally found his groove and if Merzlikins ends up being the next Marty Brodeur they expect him to be, they would have been a team to crack the two series in the postseason. Well, this is just the way I see it.

Game is too fast, easy to miss a lot. It needs to accepted that the officiating is not going to ever be accurate and the people in the stands and in front of the TV will always see more. Additional reviews and challenges will just slow down already slow progressing game. It is norm that it takes 2+ hours to watch 1 hour of play. I would hate to extend that to 3+ as a norm. Officiating needs to be accepted as being part of the game. Some blown calls for you some against. Call it luck... Just like broken sticks. I think they should scrap the reviews except for disciplinary (major vs minor) and all goals. The rest should be if they cought it they cought it, if not then "it happened the way it happened because it would not have happened in any other way".

They do have war room (Toronto) which is basically that. That however is only applicable in reviewable situations. So this will require to add more situations on the reviewable list.

Coaches challenges are fine also, just make sure your asses penalty for every crap challenge. All misconduct calls though need to be reviewable by refs.

Seems like they might need to consider adding a couple of things to "reviewable" list. Game winners like this can not be allowed. Just imagine goal like this ending game 7 of Stanley Cup final? Which is a possibility, I might add.

I think the moves did plenty of good. 10 games on national TV including Canada is important for establishing their brand. Locally in Columbus some major recognition of hockey happened as well. Their commercial value has grown a fold or two over, which will give them some capital for bonuses and development. Merzlinkis can be an interesting goalie and can be better than Bob in goal for them. So Bobrovski departure is probably not as impactful. Loosing Panarin and Duchene would be bad, but they did fine before without either one. With nearly $40m in cap space they can pull from this and other pro leagues. CBJ goalie pool is pretty good and they can trade one for good picks and get back in the draft game. All and all, I do not think they have lost anything this season. The commercial success was worth the effort and was desperately needed for this club, more so than some draft opportunities that they may or may not miss. CBJ has to dabble at the top of the division next season to maintain the success, if they slide to the bottom, that will undo everything. On paper as of now, they should be able to make playoffs again or at least be close to that. At the moment they are looking at loosing some key people from the front office and one of the coaches that might be their bigger problem for near future.

It appears that Bobrovski has put his residence in Columbus up for sale. It is time for him to flip a page, and he is doing it fast.