[SCF] Vegas Golden Knights (P1) vs. Florida Panthers (WC2) | Golden Knights win 2023 Stanley Cup

[Barnstorm]

33 minutes ago, aqua59 said:

Florida has the Radko Gudus factor. Gotta root for Luongo to grab a ring too. 

Did you say…

 

[viking mama]

31 minutes ago, RUPERTKBD said:

Cats in 6....they've just got this "team of destiny" thing going on.

 

Reminiscent of the '93 Habs....

True revenge upon the Bruins who laughed at the President’s trophy Canucks going out in the 1st round to the LAKings in 2012…would be for the Panthers to win the Cup after taking out this season’s President’s trophy winners.
 

Karma is a b!$@h…especially after Chara has dredged-up some unconfirmed anti-Canuck story/rumour,  more than a decade after the fact. Why, dude?!
 

^Classless move that makes him look like an unworthy champion… & should FLA wins, apparently those hockey-gods agree.   

[Kevin Biestra]

21 minutes ago, *Buzzsaw* said:

I think the series should be close, but I am picking Panthers to prevail.

 

The one thing which could change the equation is playoff experience.

 

Vegas has more... and more Cup winners.  I also think they have more maturity and discipline.

 

But being a bunch of jerks hasn't stopped other teams from winning the Cup.

 

We always seem to run into the jerk teams in the final.  Boston was a bunch of dicks and the Rangers too with Lays Chips Baldy.

 

The Islanders were a pretty classy team but my god Billy Smith was a vicious bastard in that series.  I remember at the end of the fourth game he slashed Smyl in the face for literally no reason...just for being near the crease and no call.  Smyl had to just stand there with blood dripping down his face to avoid putting his team shorthanded when they needed to come back (the exact opposite of Jamie Benn in this last series).

 

Edited May 30, 2023 by Kevin Biestra

[Kevin Biestra]

42 minutes ago, aqua59 said:

Florida has the Radko Gudus factor. Gotta root for Luongo to grab a ring too. 

 

Yeah it's pretty rare I cheer for a team because of their coach or executive staff.  Only time in the last decade or so was Vigneault coaching the Rangers.  I guess I was kind of cheering for Bowness in Dallas as well.

 

But this may be the first time I've cheered for some random middle management vice president.

[Nucker 67]

Panthers in 7. Tkachuk and Bob won't be denied.

[King Heffy]

1 minute ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

Yeah it's pretty rare I cheer for a team because of their coach or executive staff.  Only time in the last decade or so was Vigneault coaching the Rangers.  I guess I was kind of cheering for Bowness in Dallas as well.

 

But this may be the first time I've cheered for some random middle management vice president.

I have no issue admitting that I was cheering for Rod the Bod.

[NewbieCanuckFan]

7 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

We always seem to run into the jerk teams in the final.  Boston was a bunch of dicks and the Rangers too with Lays Chips Baldy.

 

The Islanders were a pretty classy team but my god Billy Smith was a vicious bastard in that series.  I remember at the end of the fourth game he slashed Smyl in the face for literally no reason...just for being in the crease and no call.  Smyl had to just stand there with blood dripping down his face to avoid putting his team shorthanded when they needed to come back (the exact opposite of Jamie Benn in this last series).

And yet somehow, *we* ended up looking like the bad guy.  Guys like Ron McLean likely had a part in that.

[Kevin Biestra]

4 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

And yet somehow, *we* ended up looking like the bad guy.  Guys like Ron McLean likely had a part in that.

 

Ron had a part in doing that to us in 2011.  We also had a team that was harder to cheer for if they weren't your team to begin with.  Nobody in any other city was going to like Kesler or Burrows.  I doubt I would have if they hadn't been on my team.  The 1982 and 1994 teams had fighters and enforcers but not many pests or rats.  That and they were Goliath this time instead of David.

 

I think the 1982 and 1994 teams were fairly universally liked by everyone but their opponent cities in the playoffs.

[Elias Pettersson]

32 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

I dunno.  They are also reminiscent of the Anaheim Ducks' first run with Giguere, the 1987 Flyers and even the 1982 Canucks a little bit.  These miracle goalies can get you to the final but it's usually the stronger team that wins the final once it actually starts.

The 1987 Flyers lost to the greatest team ever. The 1982 Canucks lost to the second greatest team ever. I don’t think Vegas is in the same solar system as the 80’s Oilers and the 80’s Islanders. 
 

Brodeur in 2003 won the Vezina and almost won the Hart trophy too. He was definitely the better goalie that year than Giguere. 

[NewbieCanuckFan]

43 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

I dunno.  They are also reminiscent of the Anaheim Ducks' first run with Giguere, the 1987 Flyers and even the 1982 Canucks a little bit.  These miracle goalies can get you to the final but it's usually the stronger team that wins the final once it actually starts.

Bob is kind of hard to evaluate.  Tough to discount the fact he's won a couple Vezina's in his past so it's not just a case of him chanelling Jacques Plante for a short period of time.  

 

I'll be honest though as I haven't followed his career THAT closely.   I defer to your expertise on the matter.

[Kevin Biestra]

2 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said:

The 1987 Flyers lost to the greatest team ever. The 1982 Canucks lost to the second greatest team ever. I don’t think Vegas is in the same solar system as the 80’s Oilers and the 80’s Islanders. 
 

Brodeur in 2003 won the Vezina and almost won the Hart trophy too. He was definitely the better goalie that year than Giguere. 

 

No Vegas isn't the Oilers or Islanders dynasty.  But they are a team that has made it the semifinal four of the last six years and the final twice.  They somewhat quietly are a powerhouse of sorts.

 

Martin Brodeur and Giguere were about evenly matched in the 2003 playoffs from start to finish...but it felt like Giguere was doing more of his entire team's work for them.  Brodeur certainly had the better regular season, but Giguere was very good all year.

 

Bobrovsky has won two Vezinas yet his playoff history is so spotty that this does feel like he is still kind of "coming out of nowhere" like Jon Casey or Giguere or Dwayne Roloson.

[Kevin Biestra]

Just now, NewbieCanuckFan said:

Bob is kind of hard to evaluate.  Tough to discount the fact he's won a couple Vezina's in his past so it's not just a case of him chanelling Jacques Plante for a short period of time.  

 

I'll be honest though as I haven't followed his career THAT closely.   I defer to your expertise on the matter.

 

Yeah Bobrovsky is a weird one that way.  Prior to this season...his playoff history is pretty consistently poor.  So despite being a huge name goalie with a huge contract he still has this feeling of sort of Bobrovsky 3.0 coming out of nowhere.

 

There is no reason to think he can't keep playing great for up to seven more games.  But I have also seen these teams where their goalie develops superpowers for three rounds and then just turns into a well above average human for the final.

 

I mean...Roberto Luongo was a first ballot Hall of Famer and he was all over the place from game to game and series to series.

[Jaimito]

1 hour ago, Wise Guy said:

Knights in 5, you can  bet on it.

You can bet on anything. Don't think you will win much though. Good luck. 

[NewbieCanuckFan]

4 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

No Vegas isn't the Oilers or Islanders dynasty.  But they are a team that has made it the semifinal four of the last six years and the final twice.  They somewhat quietly are a powerhouse of sorts.

 

Martin Brodeur and Giguere were about evenly matched in the 2003 playoffs from start to finish...but it felt like Giguere was doing more of his entire team's work for them.  Brodeur certainly had the better regular season, but Giguere was very good all year.

 

Bobrovsky has won two Vezinas yet his playoff history is so spotty that this does feel like he is still kind of "coming out of nowhere" like Jon Casey or Giguere or Dwayne Roloson.

I *think* that's how Ken Dryden's career got started.  Al McAdam (not sure of the spelling) went with the hot hand going in the playoffs (even though Dryden was a rookie) in 1971.  Ended up winning the Cup (and Conn Smyth trophy).  McAdam was a 'rookie' of sorts as well (first season as head coach of the Habs.  But in Montreal, it's a really tough crowd.  Henri Richard didn't like the way the coach was handing out the icetime and got the coach basically demoted to the farm.  After winning the Cup!  But it's Montreal.  Back then,winning the Cup wasn't enough.

[King Heffy]

2 minutes ago, Jaimito said:

You can bet on anything. Don't think you will win much though. Good luck. 

You don't think the NHL will be letting Sutherland rig the finals as much as he can?  Guaranteed that dirtbag will place h is bets as soon as he finds out what games he gets to ruin.

[Elias Pettersson]

18 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

No Vegas isn't the Oilers or Islanders dynasty.  But they are a team that has made it the semifinal four of the last six years and the final twice.  They somewhat quietly are a powerhouse of sorts.

 

Martin Brodeur and Giguere were about evenly matched in the 2003 playoffs from start to finish...but it felt like Giguere was doing more of his entire team's work for them.  Brodeur certainly had the better regular season, but Giguere was very good all year.

 

Bobrovsky has won two Vezinas yet his playoff history is so spotty that this does feel like he is still kind of "coming out of nowhere" like Jon Casey or Giguere or Dwayne Roloson.

Actually my bad. 2003 was when Giguere stood on his head and won the Conn Smythe. Brodeur was also all world that year. 
 

2007 I think Anaheim had a better overall team and won the Cup in only 18 games. 
 

Vegas just doesn’t seem too overpowering to me. They won the first two games in overtime so this series was closer than some people think. I think Florida is going to take it in 5 games. Bob will definitely steal the show but I think Tkachuk will score some big goals too. 

Edited May 30, 2023 by Elias Pettersson

[AV's Coin]

Vegas wins will expose the sham the expansion process was and is. I wanna see Tkatchuk cry.

[Elias Pettersson]

12 minutes ago, Jaimito said:

You can bet on anything. Don't think you will win much though. Good luck. 

I always go red in Vegas. So my money is on Florida. Every time I go black I lose. 

[D-Money]

I keep waiting for Bobrovsky to suddenly realize he’s not that good anymore. This long break and the pressure of the Final might end up the catalyst for it. If that happens, Vegas will roll them.

 

Was going to guess Vegas in 5, but no one voted for the sweep, so what the heck? Vegas in 4!

 

(Ps. - Hope I’m totally wrong, and Lu gets his cup!)

[EdgarM]

Vegas in 6, Bob steals a game as does Tkachuk. Vegas's defense wins it as does their composure. All four lines can play defense and can score.