Yeah the part about living expenses (like everyone doesn't have these) definitely undid his argument a bit. 7k per month on food? 5k on rent?

Easy win for the Rangers tonight over Philly - you could tell neither team really wanted to be out there, but it was nice to see Kakko hit the scoresheet and Georgiev continue his strong form. Let's start the playoffs already!

Carey Price makes his season debut tonight. Obvious Masterton winner this season.

The race for third in the Pacific really started to heat up tonight with Vancouver winning their sixth straight and Vegas going down to NJ. Canucks have a tough schedule (@min, @cgy & @edm) but technically hold their playoff destiny in their hands now with a game in hand on VGK and playing LA.

It’s really interesting in the west. Vancouver clinches if they win out, but that’s six more wins in a row. They would finish a point ahead of Vegas and own the tie-breaker over LA even if those two teams won all their remaining games as well (which is impossible because Vancouver and LA play each other).

That Canucks/Kings game on the 28th could be a playoff decider. Absolutely must watch.

Three consecutive shutouts for the Rangers, Igor had a tiny little blip there but he's back to his very best again at the perfect time. He could very easily win a playoff series by himself.

Vancouver's push hit a big roadblock tonight losing to Ottawa in a shootout (they had a bunch of good looks in the OT but kept double clutching on shots), while LA won against Anaheim.

Since Carey Price came back the Habs haven’t scored in 3 straight games. They’ve lost 3-0, 2-0 and 1-0.

What a dumpster fire. They made the FINALS last year.

I don’t know hockey too much but I put a futures bet on the Avalanche to win it all. I know they have the best shot but I feel every time I bet on them to win, they dominate and win 6-2 or some crazy shit.

Who’s the ‘real’ contenders this year besides them? My friend got a futures bet on the Panthers.

Apr 20, 2022 16:40:28 GMT RT said:

Since Carey Price came back the Habs haven’t scored in 3 straight games. They’ve lost 3-0, 2-0 and 1-0.

What a dumpster fire. They made the FINALS last year.

They got hot at the right time plus they had Weber. Still, their roster is weak.

Apr 20, 2022 17:10:52 GMT KING KID said:

I don’t know hockey too much but I put a futures bet on the Avalanche to win it all. I know they have the best shot but I feel every time I bet on them to win, they dominate and win 6-2 or some crazy shit.

Who’s the ‘real’ contenders this year besides them? My friend got a futures bet on the Panthers.

I'm going with the Panthers too. 11 game winning streak without Ekblad, two very capable starting goaltenders, only 6 losses at home, and one of if not the best crowds at home for the playoffs.

I do like the Leafs too. Their goaltending will depend on how far they go. My sleeper team is the Flames. They dominated the Rangers this season.

Apr 20, 2022 17:52:14 GMT Zappy said:

Apr 20, 2022 17:10:52 GMT KING KID said:

I don’t know hockey too much but I put a futures bet on the Avalanche to win it all. I know they have the best shot but I feel every time I bet on them to win, they dominate and win 6-2 or some crazy shit.

Who’s the ‘real’ contenders this year besides them? My friend got a futures bet on the Panthers.

I'm going with the Panthers too. 11 game winning streak without Ekblad, two very capable starting goaltenders, only 6 losses at home, and one of if not the best crowds at home for the playoffs.

I do like the Leafs too. Their goaltending will depend on how far they go. My sleeper team is the Flames. They dominated the Rangers this season.

Flames are fun too. 

I base a lot of my knowledge on hockey on games I bet on. I end up betting a lot on teams like the Flames, Avalanche and Kings who play the 10pmET games often. As for championship, I find it too hard to bet on Canadian teams to win it. 

The thing you have to remember about the NHL is that, much like the NBA, the rules change in the playoffs. Only it goes the other way. NBA calls every foul until the finals, NHL just stops calling penalties.

It’s a big reason why teams like the Leafs and Oilers struggle come playoff time. They have elite speed and scoring up front, but rely heavily on their stacked power play. When that goes away they’re totally exposed on defence and goaltending because they can’t out-score their problems anymore.

Fortunately the Leafs are way better defensively this year. If the goaltending holds up they should do well.

The Flames are built for the playoffs. They’re tough as fuck and don’t take shit from anyone. Their coach knows how playoff hockey works and has taught them how to drive their opponents into the ground early then hold a lead. They’re going to go far if they don’t choke.

Florida, as good as they’ve been this season, remind me a lot of the Leafs in past years except they have great goaltending (the Leafs never did once Andersen fell off a cliff). They’re very good at swinging momentum in their favour but if an opponent gets inside their heads they could be screwed. I don’t like their chances against a team like Boston or Carolina. I’ll probably be wrong and they’ll go to the finals but I wouldn’t be surprised if they get upset.

I think if you're betting on a team to win the Cup you have to look in the West because the East playoffs are going to be such a meat grinder. In addition to the aforementioned Calgary, I think Minnesota seem like a good smokey considering Colorado keep falling in the second round.

Guy LaFleur has passed away. He’d been battling cancer for nearly 3 years.

He was a legend. One of the most exciting players to watch. Way ahead of his time in skill and style. And he spent his remaining years trying to further cancer research through donations and fundraising.

RIP Flower.

Stone Cold Steve Auston returns tonight and thank god. I shut Thursday’s game off after it was 5-1 and the Leafs need to rebound tonight. Florida tonight, Washington tomorrow. Statement game(s) time.

You blew it against your likely first round opponent on Thursday. You better fucking shake it off. The last two first round exits were completely unacceptable and now you’re back to facing legit contenders again when you have to win. You did this. Fucking FIX IT.

THE PLAYOFFS HAVENT EVEN STARTED AND I FEEL A BLINDY ALL CAPS RANT COMING. I CANT DEAL.

If you want a feel good moment from last night, Boko Imama scored his first NHL goal:

reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/uamfa5/boko_imama_scores_his_first_nhl_goal/

It’s an extra special goal as he just made his NHL debut on Friday after spending 5 seasons in the AHL. Imama made the news back in January when a player on an opposing team was suspended for 30 games for making racist gestures towards Imama. He made monkey gestures at him and tried to argue he was “flexing” (he wasn’t).

Imama has been very outspoken about racism in hockey throughout his career and has been a big reason that the Hockey Diversity Alliance exists.

I hope the Coyotes do right by him and sign him next year if he continues to play this hard. Would be a great 3rd/4th liner on a team like that.

Guy LaFleur tribute tonight in Montreal. No ads on the boards, just his name and number. Very cool.

The Vegas Golden Knights are almost out of the playoffs thanks to the Sharks. They had to win tonight to keep the tie-breaker over Dallas, but now even if they beat Dallas this week they’re still a point shy. Dallas only has to win 1 more game to clinch the 2nd wild card.

San Jose was down 4-3, pulled the goalie and tied the game 4-4 with no time left on the clock, then won in overtime. Not only were Sharks players talking shit all week about how they wanted to spoil Vegas’ playoff chances, but this is the first time in 12 games the Sharks have beaten Vegas.

Vegas/SJ just became one of the biggest rivalries in the league. Their games next season will be must watch.

AU6T0N MATTHEWS IS A TORONTO MAPLE LEAF

Kinda feel bad for the Canucks. They were up 3-0 on Seattle (and won 5-2) in a must-win game but still got eliminated because Dallas won the shootout against Vegas tonight.

Vegas stays alive by getting a point tonight but they’re the only team that can still catch Dallas and are 4 points behind. Looks like the Stars have it wrapped up barring some sort of miracle.

Jack Eichel has still not played a playoff game.

Also our first playoff match up is locked in: Edmonton will face Los Angeles in round one.

Jack Eichel is still playoff-less

It's pretty wild that three of the four semi-finalists from last season have missed the playoffs entirely.

Rangers are avoiding injuries in these final few games which is the main thing, but they've now lost three straight for the first time all season. Hopefully they can beat the Capitals on the weekend to avoid going into the playoffs cold, and because I'd rather play Pittsburgh.

I hate the NHL playoff format. Leafs and Lightning play against each other in the first round. Two 50 win teams should not play against each other in the first round.

Apr 30, 2022 5:59:34 GMT toxicboy1980 said:

I hate the NHL playoff format. Leafs and Lightning play against each other in the first round. Two 50 win teams should not play against each other in the first round.

Agreed. It’s awful. The 2 and 3 seeds get absolutely fucked every year.

Why can’t they just seed the two wild card teams as 7 and 8 and make the first round like every other sport? We’d have:

Panthers/Capitals
Hurricanes/Penguins
Leafs/Bruins
Lightning/Rangers

Avalanche/Predators
Wild/Stars
Flames/Kings
Blues/Oilers

That seems like a way more fair 1st round to me. Why are teams with 100+ points playing each other?