***Official 2013-2014 NHL Season Thread***

[DaFace]

Go.

Playoff Bracket Challenge:
http://bracketchallenge.nhl.com/play...6618?locale=en
Password: chiefs

Scores and Schedules:
http://www.nhl.com/ice/scores.htm

[MMXcalibur]

Be interesting to see if Backes shakes hands with Seabrook and Keith.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Originally Posted by KCtotheSB

Be interesting to see if Backes shakes hands with Seabrook and Keith.

He should whack Seabrook in the ****ing cranium

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by KCtotheSB

Be interesting to see if Backes shakes hands with Seabrook and Keith.

"I can't believe I just shook that ****ing guys hand."

-Dino Ciccarelli

[kcpasco]

Yes but Miller was suppose to be elite. I did not see that elite goalie in 1 game this series.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

Jesus. So many possibilities considering how snakebit this organization is.

Late Chicago power play on a phantom call?

Seabrook scoring the winner?

Crazy bounce off the boards/glass on a dump in?

Blow a 3rd period lead?

Missed offsides call?

Damn.

I forgot, "allow 4 goals in the third period in a game you had dominated to that point."

[C3HIEF3S]

Good handshake between Backes and Seabrook

[Bearcat]

Sorry, guys... they definitely looked like a different team in the regular season. Tough draw for the first round, they probably take care of the Wild or Avalanche.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

I can't watch any more of this shit for awhile. Best of luck to those with trams left.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Sorry, guys... they definitely looked like a different team in the regular season. Tough draw for the first round, they probably take care of the Wild or Avalanche.

Well, these teams I've dedicated a lifetime to are saving me money.

No more financial support for the Chiefs and Blues until they quit shitting their pants in the playoffs.

Good luck Avs fans. If I can stomach watching hockey this spring, I'll be rooting for you.

[Anyong Bluth]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Sorry, guys... they definitely looked like a different team in the regular season. Tough draw for the first round, they probably take care of the Wild or Avalanche.

Ya, but they and Anaheim looked like a very different team the final month of the season. Tough time to be struggling on a cold streak as the playoffs opened. With the new format, drawing Chicago didn't do them any favors.

[OnTheWarpath15]

As always, great take by Bernie:

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colum...bc381fa2e.html

Instant reaction on the Blues' elimination by the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series.

* I feel bad for Blues fans. They're the most loyal in town. Generations of Blues fans have invested their emotions and dollars in a franchise that's been around since 1967 without winning a Stanley Cup. The fans deserve better.

* I had no problem with the Blues effort and commitment in this series ... until the third period of Game 6. To go into the third period of a 1-1 game with your season on the line and get outscored 4-0 over the final 20 minutes? Disgraceful. And it takes away from everything they put into this.

* Obviously, Ryan Miller didn't come up large for the Blues in this series. He wasn't able to steal a game, and his team needed that. Miller was awful in the 3rd period of Game 6, allowing four goals on 16 shots. Needless to say, Chicago's Corey Crawford won the battle of the goalies. The gamble by GM Doug Armstrong didn't pay off. I supported Armstrong's move, his willingness to go for it all by acquiring Miller. So I won't be hypocrite and phony and pretend otherwise. But the bottom line: the hopes, dreams, ambition (and trade pieces) that went into this deal were all for naught.

* That said, the people who want to scapegoat Miller and pin this entire series on him are being simplistic and unfair. They'e also conveniently ignoring a serious flaw that surfaced again in this series. (More on that in a minute.) Absolutely, the Blues needed more from Miller. I'm not excusing his play. But when you have a 2-0 series lead and don't win another game, it's a team-wide collapse. Everyone is accountable and responsible. The coaches and GM, too.

* Example: I'm watching Channel 5's post-game coverage and you'd think that Miller was the only player on the ice in Game 6. It's amazing, really. Not a single mention of anything else that factored into the loss. No-show offense, top forwards missing nets, the horrible PP, the Blues' high-priced defensemen fading into the twilight ... nothing but Miller. The piling on is underway.

* One more time: I'm not defending Miller. He was disappointing. But it's just wrong and stupid to ignore some hugely important factors that figured extensively in this latest postseason debacle.

* The Blues went 2 for 29 on the power play in this series including 0 for 6 in Game 6.

* After winning the first two games, the Blues scored only six goals in being swept out in the final four games. You can't beat a skilled, deep, firepower-loaded team like the Blackhawks by scoring six goals over the final four games - and that includes a couple of overtimes.

* The Blues missed the net with their shots 92 times in six games.

* In my opinion, the Blues lost Game 6 in the second period. They controlled the puck, owned the flow, and thoroughly outplayed the 'Hawks. The Blues had 17 shots on goal in the 2nd period. Several of the scoring chances were made to order. The Blues couldn't convert. Not once. They couldn't score. It was a repeat of scenes from earlier phases of previous games. The inability to finish is chronic, and was paramount in the Game 6 loss, and the series defeat. As soon as the Blackkhawks scored early in the third to take a 2-1 lead, it was over.

* The Blues' glaring lack of scoring punch is something I've been carping about for a couple of months, and unfortunately my point has been reaffirmed and validated. Let's recap:

- Over their final 39 games of the regular season the Blues averaged 2.13 goals per game, which ranked 28th among the 30 NHL teams over that time.

- The three previous postseasons ended the same way. In 2012 the Blues lost four in a row to Los Angeles and scored 6 goals in the four games. Last season the Kings came back to win four consecutive games to put the Blues away again; the Blues scored 6 goals in the four games. This year: four straight losses to the Blackhawks; 6 goals. Twelve postseason losses, 18 goals. That's 1.5 goals per game. And we want to make this all about the goaltending? Really?

- In the postseason series that eliminated the Blues over the last three years, they've gone 4 for 63 on the PP. (Yes, I said 4 for 63.) And in the 12 losses in those series: 2 for 41. I don't know what coach Ken Hitchcock and his staff are teaching on the power play, but as the kids would say: epic fail.

* Accordingly, it's way past time for Armstrong and Blues owner Tom Stillman to invest in this team's offense and find a scorer or two. They Blues have spent a fortune on defensemen, and have made two major trades for goaltenders _ Jaroslav Halak, then Miller. But the team's No. 1 flaw remains: the inability to convert scoring chances. Goals are especially at a premium in playoff hockey. And in their 21 postseason games over the last three seasons the Blues have scored 44 goals, or 2.09 per game. You can't go deep into the tournament with such a limited offense. This is on Armstrong. And Hitchcock had better push to add a scorer.

* Congrats to the Blackhawks. Their championship pedigree carried them through an 0-2 start to the series. Over the final four games, the Blackhawks' top players -- led by Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews -- performed like champs with the series and season on the line. The Blues' top players didn't come through. That's why the Blues are 8-13 over the last three postseasons. That's why the Blues have lost eight consecutive postseason road games. And that's why the 'Hawks are 41-23 with two Stanley Cups over the last four-plus seasons. That includes a 17-14 postseason road record. It's why I picked the Blackhawks to win this one in six.

* As Elton John sang: "I guess that's why they call it the blues."

Thanks for reading ...

-Bernie

[Pushead2]

Originally Posted by Anyong Bluth

Ya, but they and Anaheim looked like a very different team the final month of the season. Tough time to be struggling on a cold streak as the playoffs opened. With the new format, drawing Chicago didn't do them any favors.

The Ducks finished their last 10: 7-2-1.

[Pushead2]

No Perrault for the Ducks tonight is huge. They just lost a HUGE forechecker.

[Jerm]

2 for 29 on the PP...Jesus Christ...

[Anyong Bluth]

Originally Posted by Pushead2

The Ducks finished their last 10: 7-2-1.

Fair enough, I was more focused on the Blues, but both teams are discussed below. With respect to the Blues Hawks series - NBC Sports Radio had their NHL guys on even before the series started and the majority opinion seemed resolute on their confidence in Chicago moving forward.

Obviously, people will have different opinions and see things skewed based upon what team their a fan of. Just like during today's game and discussion of luck for the Hawks, the inverse feeling could be said of Chicago fans with the outcome of games 1 & 2.

It's not a put down of the Blues or their season, but they weren't playing the same- here is a look at the total time St. Louis led for each game:

1. 7:26
2. 44:53
3. 00:00
4. 4:42
5. 00:00
6. 00:00


Down 0-2, of course there's worry and doubts, but after they pulled even I had little question that they would take the series.

I'm still up in the air with the whole division shakeup, but more so with the format change in the playoffs.

On Friday, April 4, 2014, the Anaheim Ducks dropped a 5-2 decision to the Nashville Predators. The following day, the St Louis Blues suffered an embarrassing 4-0 drubbing, courtesy of the Colorado Avalanche. St Louis then dropped a 4-2 decision to a Chicago team which was minus Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, on Sunday. Anaheim then dropped a Sunday evening contest to the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2.

These are supposedly the top two teams in the NHL's Western conference, but recently both have struggled.

In the last 10 games, Anaheim is a rather shaky 5-4-1, while St Louis is just 5-5. Neither squad has looked anywhere near championship-caliber. These are two teams fighting it out for the best record in the conference, and both also still have a shot at finishing the season with the best record in the NHL. That should provide plenty of incentive to play well, but such has not been the case.

Much has been written about teams getting "hot" at the right time, and making a great playoff run. I have never liked this narrative, because it implies that an element of dumb luck was involved. There are still some who think the Los Angeles Kings were lucky to win the Stanley Cup in 2012. In reality, anyone who took an objective look at how the team played during the last month of the season, would be able to plainly see that we were all witness to the coming of age of a new Western Conference superpower. Instead, many media types chose to focus on their having been the eighth seeded team in the West, and thus the team did not really get the credit they so richly deserved.

Consider this, in the past, many teams have started the season on a roll, and then ridden that hot start, to a top three or four seed come playoff time. At season's end, all that is looked at is their overall record. Virtually every season, there are some highly seeded teams which have not played truly good hockey in the weeks, or in some cases, months leading up to the postseason, then everyone is "shocked" when they falter in the playoffs. Fact of the matter is, how a team plays in the final month of the season is so much more important than how they may have played in the first month of the season.

As for teams which "get hot at the right time", it usually does not happen by accident. The regular season is all about fine-tuning the team, and working on the areas of weakness so that when the time comes, the team has as few liabilities as possible, and is functioning well as a unit. Teams which do not address glaring weaknesses, and instead just remain content with an acceptable regular season record, often struggle during the postseason.

Good teams know how to find a good rhythm when it really matters:

The regular season is about winning individual games against different teams each night. Postseason is about beating teams which have the ability to focus solely on your team, and your strengths and weaknesses, without worrying about which team they will play in the next game. It is much more of a mental struggle, and requires a completely different mindset. Being hard to beat in the regular season, does not always translate to being hard to beat in the postseason.

Anaheim and St. Louis have been very good all season long. In stretches, they have been excellent. Both are well deserving of their high seeding, but looking at the big picture, has either team been playing consistently well in recent weeks ?

Both teams have about 11 days to get it together.

Granted, the Blues have been missing Alex Steen, and the Ducks lost Sheldon Souray, Cam Fowler, and most recently, Tim Jackman, but injuries are part of the game and other players need to step up. The Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Detroit Red Wings are definitely not shedding any tears for the Blues or Ducks when it comes to injury problems.