NHL Thread: 2021-2022 Season

[thenoflyzone]

If the Oilers were playing in their regular division, McDavid might not have gotten to 100 points by now.

The Canadian division is weak, save for Toronto and the Oil.

Ottawa and the Habs look promising next year. The Jets are blahh....The flames and Canucks are garbage.

[logan5]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

The Canadian division is weak, save for Toronto and the Oil.

Ottawa and the Habs look promising next year. The Jets are blahh....The flames and Canucks are garbage.

Yeah, you gotta feel sorry for Calgary fans. Between 2009 and 2017 they missed the play-offs 7 out of 9 seasons, which should have meant lots of good young talent being drafted. While they did draft some good players, they have only managed to build a team strong enough to make the play-offs, but lose in the 1st round, with the peak being 18/19 when they finished with 107 points. They still have decent line-up despite this once in a lifetime season, but it's a team that isn't deep enough to win a SC.

Montreal is in the same boat. They may have a few good seasons, but they haven't done a deep enough of a rebuild to get them to elite status. Weber is 35, Petry is 33, Gallagher is 29, so is Toffoli. They may have enough talent to get into the play-offs for a few years, but that's about it, then they will have to start the long process of a rebuild all over again.

The 2 teams with the best young talent going forward are Ottawa and Vancouver, and are in a better position to become elite teams with a real shot at winning the SC, though Ottawa still has a few tough years ahead with the team still maturing.

The Canucks have added elite talent in the likes of Pettersson and Hughes, along with Boeser and Demko. And they are still adding talent with Hoglander already a top 6 player, and 6th in rookie scoring (where most ahead of him are 2 to 4 years older), and Podkolzin, who led his KHL team in play-off scoring this year.

If Toronto or Edmonton can't pull it off, Vancouver is the next best chance for a Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup in a a couple of years.

[megadude]

I agree that CMD woudn't have this many points if he were playing the entire league. Regardless, I'm sure he'd still be leading the league though.

Playing weaker teams is one thing, but just the style of play of those teams could also be a factor. I liken it to the Big XII confernce in college football. The conference is known for high octane offenses with pedestrian defenses for many, many years now. You just look at Oklahoma or Texas Tech over the years and that tells you all you need to know. Playing QB for TT pretty much guarantees you'll put up monster stats and it's been that way for probably two decades now.

[Jaws]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

If the Oilers were playing in their regular division, McDavid might not have gotten to 100 points by now.

The Canadian division is weak, save for Toronto and the Oil.

Ottawa and the Habs look promising next year. The Jets are blahh....The flames and Canucks are garbage.

McDavid would have been feasting on SJ and Anaheim had this been a regular season, and I think Ottawa is better than those two teams. Also, because the Canadian teams have seen so much of each other, the opposing teams have the book on how to stop the guy. It hasn't really worked so well. Other than Drai, the next closest player, Marner, isn't within 30 pts of him. Slam dunk Hart winner.

[craner]

Lets see if I can choke this out:
g o o i l e r s

[Coldrsx]

Don't worry, it gets easier the more you say it

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

If the Oilers were playing in their regular division, McDavid might not have gotten to 100 points by now.

The Canadian division is weak, save for Toronto and the Oil.

Team goals for averages are the same across all divisions, effectively. This argument doesn't hold much water if you switch out a few games against Toronto and Montreal and replace them with San Jose and Anaheim.

[Denscity]

Vancouver have 7 games in 10 days lol!

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Team goals for averages are the same across all divisions, effectively. This argument doesn't hold much water if you switch out a few games against Toronto and Montreal and replace them with San Jose and Anaheim.

In all the divisions except the North, the top 3 teams have over 70 points (in the West and central, top 3 are over 75). Not the case in the North, not even close.

In the East division, the Rangers failed to qualify with 60 points. The Jets qualified a few days ago with less than that. The Habs currently have less than that and will qualify as well.

Definition of weak right there.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

In all the divisions except the North, the top 3 teams have over 70 points (in the West and central, top 3 are over 75). Not the case in the North, nor will we get there with the few games remaining.

Sure, but it's very difficult to compare divisions when they've all been in their own bubbles. Vegas or Carolina might have the most points but we don't know how the divisions compare, and we don't know if teams like Vancouver and Ottawa are as bad as Detroit or Columbus. The Canadian division isn't the best division by any stretch of the imagination but we truly will never know for sure.

In your example, maybe the Rangers are so bad because the playoff teams in that division are so good. There'll be no definitive way of comparing until the final four, and even then it'll be a parity crapshoot as hockey typically is. If a Canadian team comes out and sweeps their final four opponent will this change the narrative?

Trying to diminish McDavid's (or anybody else's accolates) this season is just so weak. 100 points in just over 50 games is insane no matter the opponent. Easy Hart trophy winner.

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by JHikka

100 points in just over 50 games is insane no matter the opponent.

Well, no.

Not trying to diminish what McDavid accomplished. He's a monster of a player, no denying it. Simply stating that he probably had it easier this year than in previous years getting to 100 points.

Playing 8 or 9 games against Ottawa (early on in the season, when they were garbage), the Habs, Vancouver and Calgary will do that.

Also, what Jaws said is correct. Playing only against 6 other teams, you learn how to play better against these same opponents night after night.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

Well, no.

Not trying to diminish what McDavid accomplished. He's a monster of a player, no denying it. Simply stating that he probably had it easier this year than in previous years getting to 100 points.

Playing 8 or 9 games against Ottawa (early on in the season, when they were garbage), the Habs, Vancouver and Calgary will do that.

We'll agree to disagree then. I'm guessing people haven't seen some of the trash teams in the US this season.

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

Also, what Jaws said is correct. Playing only against 6 other teams, you learn how to play better against these same opponents night after night.

This would surely work the other way too, no? Or perhaps McDavid is simply that good and it doesn't matter who he's playing against.

[Denscity]

Montreal finally decides to win a game so the Canucks and Calgary are now officially eliminated from the playoffs.

[Coldrsx]

Edmonton decides to play 19 different line combinations to see how things are looking.

[OTL]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Don't worry, it gets easier the more you say it

No, no it doesn't

[craner]

Originally Posted by Denscity

Montreal finally decides to win a game so the Canucks and Calgary are now officially eliminated from the playoffs.

Well they didn’t win but they got the single point they needed.

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by craner

Well they didn’t win but they got the single point they needed.

Yes an OTL sounds like. The bare minimum lol. No momentum going into the playoffs.

[OTL]

Originally Posted by Denscity

Yes an OTL sounds like. The bare minimum lol. No momentum going into the playoffs.

What does that even mean? I suppose if your precious Canucks made the playoffs, your fangirl pompoms would be shaken in our faces more often then they usually are, which is obnoxious enough considering almost every post you make in threads has the continuing theme of 'everything is the best in BC; literally everything ever!'

[khabibulin]

Originally Posted by logan5

Yeah, you gotta feel sorry for Calgary fans. Between 2009 and 2017 they missed the play-offs 7 out of 9 seasons, which should have meant lots of good young talent being drafted.

How about the last decade of suffering for Nucks fans? Since making it to the Cup final in 2011, the Nucks have missed the playoffs 6 times, and only won one playoff round (and that was in last years weird covid interrupted season).

That is their worst 10 year record since entering the league in 1971, where they also missed the playoffs 6 times (in a much smaller league) but won zero playoff rounds between 1971 and 1980.

In fact, the Nucks have only won 17 playoff rounds in their 50 year history.

Almost as bad as the Oilers last 15 years. Since making it to the Cup final in 2006, they missed the playoffs in 13 of those 15 years, only winning 1 round during that time. (Almost as bad as the Leafs in that same time period with zero playoff rounds won since 2006).

So you must add Vancouver and Edmonton and Toronto fans to those that you must feel for.

[khabibulin]

Originally Posted by Darkoshvilli

They're calling up some plug from laval to keep the streak alive. (instead of playing an actual nhler in Frolik but hes not french so...)

No Quebec-born player will suit up for the Montreal Canadiens tonight, a first in team's long history - CBC - Mon., May 10, 2021, 6:39 p.m.


There has been a Quebec-born player in the lineup of every game the Montreal Canadiens have played since the club first took to the ice on Jan. 4, 1910. Until Monday night.

Coach Dominique Ducharme announced earlier in the day that Paul Byron would play against the Edmonton Oilers instead of Alex Belzile, of Saint-Éloi, Que.

With Victoriaville-born Phillip Danault out with a concussion and Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts' Jonathan Drouin gone indefinitely for unstated personal reasons, Belzile is the only other Quebec-born player eligible to play.

Belzile was a last-minute insertion into the lineup on Saturday as speculation mounted over whether that game, against the Maple Leafs, would be the first with only imports. It was the 29-year-old's first-ever regular season game in the NHL.

Though Belzile picked up an assist, he was scratched Monday when Byron, who's from Ottawa, was cleared to play after recovering from a lower-body injury.