[SCF] Florida Panthers (EC-WC2) vs Vegas Golden Knights (WC-1)

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

I picked the Panthers over the Bruins it wasn't even a joke you knew it was going to happen with a former flame Tkachuk on the Panthers us missing the playoffs the Bruins having a historic season it was obviously going to be him to knock em out.

Here we are.

Being a Flames fan should come with a lifetime of free grief counselling lol.

I gave you credit earlier

You and Bax on CP...and I just meant your reasoning is funny. We are Frank Grimes


Some others may have told their dog their prediction of Florida over Boston but I'm not counting it if it's not in the series thread

It's just funny the cocky rockies are gonna go 2-2 on Panthers series

Wow, amazing

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

Radio DJ this morning in Ottawa

Paraphrasing:

"The NHL has done a terrible job at maintaining interest in the Stanley Cup Finals, I'm a hockey fan and I've lost interest. I couldn't imagine a casual fan even knowing the game is on tonight. They've been playing great high tempo hockey, but the scheduling ruined it".

I couldn't agree more.

Because the NHL is basically resigned to living in the shadow of the NBA, the league braintrust have gone along with schedule changes that diminish the profile of the league even more.

The obvious solution is to start the season a couple weeks earlier. But then the NHL owners will wring their hands about competing with college football or whatever else is going on in the American sports calendar in Sept and Oct. The league’s inferiority complex makes them their own worst enemy.

[OutOfTheCube]

It's a low interest Stanley Cup final as it is. One of the smallest / least-engaged fanbases in the league vs. one of the newest teams. As a fan of neither team I really don't care who wins at all, I'm just hoping for it to be over this weekend so we can get on with the off-season in earnest.

Even with the weird scheduling if this was a more premier match-up, I think engagement would still be decent.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Because the NHL is basically resigned to living in the shadow of the NBA, the league braintrust have gone along with schedule changes that diminish the profile of the league even more.

The obvious solution is to start the season a couple weeks earlier. But then the NHL owners will wring their hands about competing with college football or whatever else is going on in the American sports calendar in Sept and Oct. The league’s inferiority complex makes them their own worst enemy.

It's like they're afraid that people won't watch if something else is on at the same time. Their solution is to cater to the people who'd rather watch the other thing instead of the ones who'd rather watch hockey, and the overall product suffers for it.

I mean, I get the whole "wait for a bigger audience" thing... but if you need the "nothing else is on" crowd in order to bolster your numbers, maybe numbers shouldn't be your focus.

[jayswin]

Wrong strategy against the NBA, imo. If you care to not go up against them that needs to be a decision made the year prior and then schedule your season so you're completely avoiding the NBA finals.

This two step dance they're doing to get around their games is goofy and leaving too much time between games for the air to deflate each time. One day off between home games, two days off between venue changes.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Their solution is to cater to the people who'd rather watch the other thing instead of the ones who'd rather watch hockey, and the overall product suffers for it.

Exactly. They don’t have confidence in their product or their existing fans. Every decision is made based on how it will be received by casual American sports fans who rarely if ever watch the NHL.

[dino7c]

The series being a blowout so far doesn't help...who wants to watch a 7-2 game with no rooting interest

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Exactly. They don’t have confidence in their product or their existing fans. Every decision is made based on how it will be received by casual American sports fans who rarely if ever watch the NHL.

They act like an NHL player on the panel with Shaq was the greatest thing ever...The one where Shaq says "I don't watch hockey" and later asks a stupid question about home court advantage.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Exactly. They don’t have confidence in their product or their existing fans. Every decision is made based on how it will be received by casual American sports fans who rarely if ever watch the NHL.

Unfortunately, I do think they need to work around basketball. The NHL will straight up never compete with the NBA.

What the NHL should be doing is finishing earlier. They should compress the season to 70 games, shorten the pre-season, and have the playoffs run much earlier.

[SuperMatt18]

Is the other problem the playoffs just don't seem as entertaining this year. Especially after the first round.

Eastern Conference Semi Finals were both 5 game series, the conference finals were a sweep. And while the games in those series were competitive...the series as a whole weren't. Nothing exciting about teams winning in 5 or in a sweep.

And on the Western conference side Colorado losing hurt the whole bracket a bit I think. Seattle - Dallas isn't really an 'exciting" match up, neither was Dallas-Vegas. Vegas-Edmonton has some high profile names, but nobody likes Edmonton.

Overall I just think the playoffs have been a bit "meh" to start with. Upsets are always fun in round 1 but generally for rounds 2-4 the playoffs are better when the best teams win.

[dino7c]

Or just start the season earlier...I would rather watch hockey in September than June

forget casuals...hard cores don't really want to watch hockey right now

its 30 degrees out, I might catch 15 mins of the game between the kids sports and what not

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Or just start the season earlier...I would rather watch hockey in September than June

forget casuals...hard cores don't really want to watch hockey right now

its 30 degrees out, I might catch 15 mins of the game between the kids sports and what not

IMO The goal should always be for the NHL playoffs to be finished by June 1st. And the season should always aim to start around October 1st (lately it's been closer to the 11-15th).

Shifting just those two weeks probably fixes a lot of problems.

October 1 - June 1 should be the NHL regular season and playoffs. Training camp from September 10 - 30 or something like that. I feel like more time between the end of the playoffs, the draft, and free agency might promote more player movement and trades as well.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by blankall

Unfortunately, I do think they need to work around basketball. The NHL will straight up never compete with the NBA.

What the NHL should be doing is finishing earlier. They should compress the season to 70 games, shorten the pre-season, and have the playoffs run much earlier.

Contract 5 teams and then we are talking!

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Or just start the season earlier...I would rather watch hockey in September than June

forget casuals...hard cores don't really want to watch hockey right now

its 30 degrees out, I might catch 15 mins of the game between the kids sports and what not

Completely agree with this. I'm usually jonesing for hockey around September, and would love to be anticipating a mid September regular season as summer winds down.

[GioforPM]

Fla with the early goal against the flow of play. See if Bob can hold the lead.

[butterfly]

Tkachuk sure got Stone on that one.

[savemedrzaius]

That was a solid hit on Tkatuck. Would love to see a replay of that but nope, gotta go to commercial as quickly as possible.

[Fan in Exile]

So no 10 minute misconduct to Kolesar for body checking?

[GioforPM]

Huge hit on Tkachuk. Probably should have gone to the room.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Fan in Exile

So no 10 minute misconduct to Kolesar for body checking?

There have been no 10 minute misconducts called for any hit in this series.