The Regular Season is officially over and 7 teams are on the outside looking in. Detroit, Ottawa, Buffalo, New Jersey, Anaheim, LA & San Jose all enter the draft lottery and the rest of the league gets to play for the Stanley Cup.

In case you're not up to speed on how this special format will work, here's a quick rundown:

-24 teams enter the playoffs.
-Teams were ranked based on point percentage for games completed during the regular season.
-The top 4 teams in each conference (east and west) will play a Round Robin to determine their seeding (1-4)
-The remaining teams (5-12) will enter either a 5-game or 7-game series (some places seem to think a best of 5 is official but I don't know that it is).
-The winners of each "play-in" series will play the top teams from their conference in the 2nd round. This may also be dropped to a 5-game series.
-Regular 7-game playoff format from there.

(article in case my explanation is confusing: sports.yahoo.com/nhl-standings-24-teams-rank-224211646.html)

...

I'm going to leave this open to discussion since we don't quite know all the details yet, and the NHL is the first major North American league to release details on a return to play, but I also thought we could have a little fun and do predictions for the first round/play-ins since we already know what those match-ups will be.

...

Eastern Conference Top 4
(Boston, Tampa Bay, Washington, Philadelphia)
1.
2.
3.
4.

Play-ins
#5 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #12 Montreal Canadiens
Winner:
#6 Carolina Hurricanes vs. #11 New York Rangers
Winner:
#7 New York Islanders vs. #10 Florida Panthers
Winner:
#8 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. #9 Columbus Blue Jackets
Winner:

Western Conference Top 4
(St. Louis, Colorado, Vegas, Dallas)
1.
2.
3.
4.

Play-ins
#5 Edmonton Oilers vs. #12 Chicago Blackhawks
Winner:
#6 Nashville Predators vs. #11 Arizona Coyotes
Winner:
#7 Vancouver Canucks vs. #10 Minnesota Wild
Winner:
#8 Calgary Flames vs. #9 Winnipeg Jets
Winner:

Eastern Conference Top 4
(Boston, Tampa Bay, Washington, Philadelphia)
1. Washington
2. Philadelphia
3. Boston
4. Tampa Bay

Play-ins
#5 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #12 Montreal Canadiens
Winner: Montreal
#6 Carolina Hurricanes vs. #11 New York Rangers
Winner: Rangers
#7 New York Islanders vs. #10 Florida Panthers
Winner: Islanders
#8 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. #9 Columbus Blue Jackets
Winner: Toronto

Western Conference Top 4
(St. Louis, Colorado, Vegas, Dallas)
1. St. Louis
2. Dallas
3. Colorado
4. Vegas

Play-ins
#5 Edmonton Oilers vs. #12 Chicago Blackhawks
Winner: Edmonton
#6 Nashville Predators vs. #11 Arizona Coyotes
Winner: Arizona
#7 Vancouver Canucks vs. #10 Minnesota Wild
Winner: Vancouver
#8 Calgary Flames vs. #9 Winnipeg Jets
Winner: Winnipeg

They're starting to play sports again?!

May 27, 2020 17:44:02 GMT 🤯 said:

They're starting to play sports again?!

The NHLPA voted in favour of the NHL’s plan to have a playoffs this summer and award the Stanley Cup. The current plan is to begin games in late July. They will play in two to four host cities to minimize travel. They’re looking at Las Vegas currently because the arena is in close proximity to large hotels and restaurants that can easily isolate the players from the general public.

It’s likely that all the games will happen on US soil because Canada has more restrictions in place, specifically a rule that anyone crossing into Canada must self isolate for 2 weeks, no exceptions. Fans won’t be allowed to attend the games as of now and it’ll probably stay that way.

If this goes ahead (and likely it will) then the next regular season will be pushed to December and possibly be a shortened or condensed season.

For chaos sake then, I'm hoping for a second wave in July to disrupt.

The NHL and the players union have reached an agreement. It still needs to be approved by the Board of Governors but that shouldn’t be an issue.

Important dates:
-return to training camp July 13
-travel to hub cities July 26
-qualifying playoff rounds begin August 1

For chaos sake then, I'm hoping for a second wave in July to disrupt.

Insanity. While it makes more sense to play in Canada compared to the disaster that is the United States of Murica, I still can't believe these sports leagues.

I wonder if any NHL players will opt out. I doubt it.

Eastern Conference Top 4
1. Boston
2. Philadelphia
3. Tampa Bay
4. Washington

Play-ins
#5 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #12 Montreal Canadiens
Winner: Montreal
#6 Carolina Hurricanes vs. #11 New York Rangers
Winner: Carolina
#7 New York Islanders vs. #10 Florida Panthers
Winner: Florida
#8 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. #9 Columbus Blue Jackets
Winner: Toronto

Western Conference Top 4
1. St. Louis
2. Vegas
3. Colorado
4. Dallas

Play-ins
#5 Edmonton Oilers vs. #12 Chicago Blackhawks
Winner: Edmonton
#6 Nashville Predators vs. #11 Arizona Coyotes
Winner: Nashville
#7 Vancouver Canucks vs. #10 Minnesota Wild
Winner: Vancouver
#8 Calgary Flames vs. #9 Winnipeg Jets
Winner: Winnipeg

Well quite the day today with training camp starting tomorrow.

Some of the highlights...

-Max Domi hasn't decided if he's going to join the team. He's going to wait a week and figure it out from there. For those that don't know, Domi is diabetic and has celiac disease, putting him in the high risk group if he contracts COVID.

-After that story broke, another story broke that "multiple" players on the Habs tested positive. So Domi's decision is probably going to be made for him.

-The Winnipeg Jets released their team roster and Bryan Little isn't on it. That's a blow for them.

-Kyle Dubas said that Auston Matthews is good to go, so it doesn't sound like COVID was a problem for him. Hopefully that's the case for all players that test positive. The last thing we need is athletes having their lungs affected by this stupid disease.

...

I've been watching the MLS return tournament this weekend and Toronto & DC were supposed to play today, but a player tested positive and they postponed the game until tomorrow so they can test everyone else. And a woman posted on twitter today that an NBA player invited her "into the bubble" and she joked that there's no way this season is happening. I feel like the NHL will be no different, with games being canceled/moved, players having to isolate away from their team, breaking the bubble, etc etc.

This is going to be a shit show.

WE BACK BABY.

Exhibition games start today. Leafs/Habs live from an empty Scotiabank Arena.

I wasn't fully on board until the news yesterday that everyone in the bubbles tested negative. That's fucking awesome news.

LET'S GOOOOOOOOO WOOOOOOOOO HOCKEEYYYYYYYYYY IN AUUUUUGUUUUUUUSSSST

I watched one period of the Jets game! Holy moly!

Pittsburgh over Montreal
Carolina over NYR - but I secretly want to pick the Rangers to win
Florida over NYI - Will anyone even watch these games?
Columbus over Toronto

Edmonton over Chicago
Arizona over Nashville
Minnesota over Vancouver - another series nobody cares about
WINNIPEG JETS TO WIN THE STANLEY CUP

Ugh, don't get me started on the Jets game... only Canucks fan in a house full of Jets fans.

Man, did the NHL do a great job at making empty arenas look so gorgeous.  Looks better than the NBA's bubble sites.

Aug 1, 2020 19:32:08 GMT CM Punk'd said:

Man, did the NHL do a great job at making empty arenas look so gorgeous.  Looks better than the NBA's bubble sites.

Definitely agree. They have done a great job. Simple solutions make it look so nice. No sound effects from a video game, no cardboard cutouts, no computer generated crowds.

Apparently Shesterkin was "unfit to play" which is the new lingo for saying upper or lower body injury. Not a fan it sounds like someone who is unfit to play is a bum.

Extremely physical game between the Rangers and Hurricanes today especially the first 10 minutes. Lots of open ice hits and a fight. Lemieux was missed.

Rangers need to get their shit together offensively or they are done. Lundqvist was excellent in net. Gave his team a chance.

Aug 2, 2020 0:47:33 GMT Zappy said:

Apparently Shesterkin was "unfit to play" which is the new lingo for saying upper or lower body injury. Not a fan it sounds like someone who is unfit to play is a bum.

Extremely physical game between the Rangers and Hurricanes today especially the first 10 minutes. Lots of open ice hits and a fight. Lemieux was missed.

Rangers need to get their shit together offensively or they are done. Lundqvist was excellent in net. Gave his team a chance.

That new lingo also applies to the Corona.

So, both #12 seeds won their first games today. For a Best-of-Five, that's pretty big.

Aug 2, 2020 0:50:44 GMT CM Punk'd said:

Aug 2, 2020 0:47:33 GMT Zappy said:

Apparently Shesterkin was "unfit to play" which is the new lingo for saying upper or lower body injury. Not a fan it sounds like someone who is unfit to play is a bum.

Extremely physical game between the Rangers and Hurricanes today especially the first 10 minutes. Lots of open ice hits and a fight. Lemieux was missed.

Rangers need to get their shit together offensively or they are done. Lundqvist was excellent in net. Gave his team a chance.

That new lingo also applies to the Corona.

Right, but it is obvious that it is not related when the player is in the arena watching from the stands.  Apparently, the NHLPA does not want to disclose any injury so everything is labelled "unfit to play".

The Leafs evened their series, but lose Muzzin after a pretty bad check. In fact, he had to be carried out in a stretcher.  Hope he's OK.

Typical Toronto Leafing. Up 3-0, and blew the game.

Aug 7, 2020 3:24:17 GMT CM Punk'd said:

Typical Toronto Leafing. Up 3-0, and blew the game.

I'm done sticking up for Dubas. He needs to do something drastic during the offseason. This has happened so many times over the past 3 years.

I honestly said when Columbus made it 3-1 that they were going to come back and win because it's happened dozens of times. My wife was like "so I guess you're mad now," and I said I wasn't because I knew it was coming. I felt nothing. Nobody watching this team since 2017 should be surprised or angry or upset. This is who they are.

Cody Ceci scores, Nick Robertson gets his first goal, and William Nylander drives the nail in the coffin. Then they just stop everything and let Columbus come at them. Why? What team does that? And why does it keep happening?

Fs in the forum for the Penguins.

Let's go first overall pick! GO JETS GO!

EDIT: OH SHIT!!!  I DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING!!!  I quit after they were down 3-0.  I didn't think they were that capable of coming back like that.

I'm still in disbelief.

Now Sunday is going to be 10x more heartbreaking if they lose. They better fucking win.

Had a nice little parlay for yesterday that got fucked up by Pittsburgh losing.

Islanders, Maple Leafs, Celtics and Penguins.

I’m honestly getting fed up with my parlays losing because of one fucking game. I thought for sure Pitt would win the series and they fucking cost me another $100.

Great comeback Leafs! Feels great to finally be on the other side of these!

Sammy! You're still kicking it? I can't believe it.

Hey Foos , been awhile! Recently got an email from the forum and reminded me this place still exists.  :stupidl:

Nervous heading into tonight ... GO LEAFS!