[PST] Preliminary Round/Division semi-final: Lightning vs. Panthers---Bolts win series 4-2

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I find it hard to believe he faked an injury for an entire year
Was his actual hip surgery also embellished?

Nope, he definitely had hip surgery. The Lightning definitely kept him out of the lineup for months after he was ready. I don't think Kucherov faked anything, I think he could have returned months ago but took the extra time to benefit his team cap wise. I get that by the rules they could play it that way but let's be honest here, the competition is hardly fair and the Lightning circumvented the cap to take a run at a repeat. Like how many passionate hockey fans whose favourite team is not TB going to recognize their accomplishment if they win the Cup this year? I won't. Cheating is cheating.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by 1_Flames_Fan

I think the NHL should investigate Tampa for cap circumvention. If I was Florida or their fans I'd be pissed right off.

They did...for both Kucherov and Stamkos.

He(NK) had surgery on Dec.29....its normally a 5 month timeline to be start skating again. He started skating at 4 months or so.

The Bolts have done nothing wrong here.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Nope, he definitely had hip surgery. The Lightning definitely kept him out of the lineup for months after he was ready. I don't think Kucherov faked anything, I think he could have returned months ago but took the extra time to benefit his team cap wise. I get that by the rules they could play it that way but let's be honest here, the competition is hardly fair and the Lightning circumvented the cap to take a run at a repeat. Like how many passionate hockey fans whose favourite team is not TB going to recognize their accomplishment if they win the Cup this year? I won't. Cheating is cheating.

Ok on what basis do you think he could have returned months earlier? What is the expected recovery time for the surgery he had and general ranges? Is there proof his recovery was abnormally long?

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Nope, he definitely had hip surgery. The Lightning definitely kept him out of the lineup for months after he was ready. I don't think Kucherov faked anything, I think he could have returned months ago but took the extra time to benefit his team cap wise. I get that by the rules they could play it that way but let's be honest here, the competition is hardly fair and the Lightning circumvented the cap to take a run at a repeat. Like how many passionate hockey fans whose favourite team is not TB going to recognize their accomplishment if they win the Cup this year? I won't. Cheating is cheating.

Patently false.

He "might" have been ready mid-April but there is no way to know that.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Ok on what basis do you think he could have returned months earlier? What is the expected recovery time for the surgery he had and general ranges? Is there proof his recovery was abnormally long?

Normal recovery time for his surgery is 4-6 months.

He was actually a bit ahead of the curve because he is young and in such good shape.

This conspiracy is hilarious to me.

[InternationalVillager]

Just came into the thread to acknowledge the best player in the league/MVP and his 4 points.

Nikita Kucherov.

LFG.

After his 128 point season, Kucherov worked to tailor his game to elevate his teammates more. As a winger, he has an immense impact on the game.

[dino7c]

Bottom line Tampa is a better team

Crossbar away from being a sweep

[tvp2003]

Just watched the hit on Sergachev and the slash on Kuch.


I'm guessing Sergachev will be gone for the rest of this series -- possibly more. Shoulder/collarbone type injuries take some time to heal.


As for Kucherov, I'm sure he'll be back next game, unless the Lightning want to keep him out since they're up 3-1. Wasn't a vicious slash at all, but Kucherov looked like he got shot.


Any chance the put in Spencer Knight for game 5? Just to shake things up facing elimination?

[Samonadreau]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Bottom line Tampa is a better team

Crossbar away from being a sweep

Bottom line Vasilevski is a better than Bob

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Samonadreau

Bottom line Vasilevski is a better than Bob

Yes, amoung other things

I know we are on Florida puck but the reality is Tampa is just better. Proof is on the ice

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by flambers

Agreed, it will be a huge issue going forward with teams placing all sorts of players on the LTIR especially with a flat cap

Only to have them perfectly healthy for the 1st game of the playoffs

Its a loophole, no clue how they fix it

Simple: minimum length requirement for a player to count against your cap in the reg. season to be eligible for the playoffs.

If a player is LTIRetired or totally done until next year, you get their full LTIR. But, if you want to use them in the playoffs, they have to count against the cap for a certain period whether they play or not.

At least the number of days from TDL-end of season (but not necessarily those specific days). Or more ideally every 2 days on cap in regular season earns you 1 game of playoff eligibility. 56 days for all 28 possible games; a little less than 30% of the season. Kucherov would have counted 2.85M against the cap in this scenario.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Holy stick work in this series.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Samonadreau

Bottom line Vasilevski is a better than Bob

Is there any argument that the TB D corps is also better? Especially with no Ekblad?

And with all due respect to Barkov and Huberdeau, I probably take Point, Kucherov, Stamkos, Palat and Killorn over the Fla forward group.

[flambers]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Normal recovery time for his surgery is 4-6 months.

He was actually a bit ahead of the curve because he is young and in such good shape.

This conspiracy is hilarious to me.

Yet there are lots articles questioning this type of thing

https://editorinleaf.com/2021/05/17/...afs-tampa-cap/


"The playoffs have no salary cap, so there is nothing from stopping you from sitting $10 million on the LTIR and then adding to your lineup. Both Lightning stars were too injured to play last week, but are fine now that there is no cap to worry about."

"The league needs standards that equalize this, and they need to shut the loophole that saw Nikita Kucherov magically stay injured until his nine million dollar salary didn’t matter. The best team in the NHL is basically playing with a stacked deck and though nothing can be done about it now, the loophole should at least be closed to prevent this situation from happening again in the future."

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by flambers

Yet there are lots articles questioning this type of thing

https://editorinleaf.com/2021/05/17/...afs-tampa-cap/


"The playoffs have no salary cap, so there is nothing from stopping you from sitting $10 million on the LTIR and then adding to your lineup. Both Lightning stars were too injured to play last week, but are fine now that there is no cap to worry about."

"The league needs standards that equalize this, and they need to shut the loophole that saw Nikita Kucherov magically stay injured until his nine million dollar salary didn’t matter. The best team in the NHL is basically playing with a stacked deck and though nothing can be done about it now, the loophole should at least be closed to prevent this situation from happening again in the future."

See...this is where the whole thing gets lost and the conspiracy falls apart.

Yes, there very much something stopping teams from doing this.

They are called physicians. Physicians that are employed by the league. If they decree a player medically cleared to play, then that player can play. Period.

That's how the whole thing works. Just like teams cannot hide players on LTIR without a doctor declaring a player unfit to play, a team cannot take an injured player and declare them fit to play without the same consent.

So what we would be looking at otherwise is this..

1st....Kucherov was somehow magically the fastest hip surgery healer in modern medicine to be ready to go by mid March (2.5 months when normally it is 4-6) as has been claimed.

2nd...he would have apparently not needed any substantial time to get, at least, up to normal skating speed/strength, and be able to jump right in to the grind of mid season hockey.

3rd...you would need a physician under threat of license revocation to say the player couldn't play when in fact he could. Literally put their career on the line to falsify diagnosis for someone/team to not have their best player on the roster.

4th...you would need the player himself to agree to not be playing when he was ready to play, which flies in the face of all logic when dealing with professional athletes.

5th...the league itself would have to be party to the deception and ignore it for.......some reason?


Honestly, add that all up and then make the conclusion that this was anything but above board.

[Heavy Jack]

If you miss a regular season start to finish due to injury of any kind you are now no longer eligible to participate in the corresponding playoffs of the regular season missed regardless of health status at any point of the playoffs. Loophole closed; teams would be wary of loading up in the off-season and stacking the deck once the playoffs begin and their marquee players are back in the fold.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Heavy Jack

If you miss a regular season start to finish due to injury of any kind you are now no longer eligible to participate in the corresponding playoffs of the regular season missed regardless of health status at any point of the playoffs. Loophole closed; teams would be wary of loading up in the off-season and stacking the deck once the playoffs begin and their marquee players are back in the fold.

That’s a hefty rule to address one instance that probably isn’t even based on a team intentionally circumventing cap. And what do you do if they dress Kucherov for the last day of the season and play him for 5 minutes?

[flambers]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Honestly, add that all up and then make the conclusion that this was anything but above board.

Obviously due to the amount of articles out there.

Not everyone agrees

Remember the lighting had two players on LTIR that magically appeared for game 1 of the playoffs.

This type of thing has been happening for awhile now.

Its a grey zone, GMs are sure love it as its a tool they can use

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Samonadreau

Bottom line Vasilevski is a better than Bob

Tampa is far superior in the net and on the blueline and that's difficult to overcome. The Panthers are a good team but they are a mess defensively and that should be their offseason priority.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Tampa is far superior in the net and on the blueline and that's difficult to overcome. The Panthers are a good team but they are a mess defensively and that should be their offseason priority.

They also play a high risk/reward attacking style that doesn’t mesh with bad goaltending and defencemen. So many odd man rushes against.