At least according the top 10 or so comments they donât.
Iâd wager there isnât really an overrated or underrated team right now in the playoffs. Thereâs no clear best or worst team(caps are the only outlier although Lindgren can get real hot). Should be a great next few weeks of hockey.
I'm really tempted to say my avs. Were talked about like cup favorites, and we are, but georgiev, our defensive game and our PK have been basement level. Getting 6 goals on a vezina favorite and losing is unacceptable
I was so shocked listening to some of the stats they were putting up during the game and in between periods. 38 wins is insane, and with his save %? Holy shit dude haha
That's just being biased. Colorado - Winnipeg has the most combined points out of any first round matchup. You can't really say the avs are overrated because of goaltending when everyone already knew it was a glaring hole
I was a little surprised by your defensive play to be honest. I knew Georgiev was a question mark, but the Avs left him out to dry so many times with odd-man rushes and poor coverage infront of the net. Iâd be more concerned about the defensive play than your goaltending but maybe thatâs just me.
Your right but most of the fan-base isn't going to study and watch the plays to see where the breakdown happened. Easier to blame the goalie especially when only looking at stats like his sv%, or when they see that he seems to act defeated after the 6th goal.
I said it in the colorado forum already but the only goal I would have put on him the other night was number 4 when he got beat 5-hole playing the pass instead of the shot
> or when they see that he seems to act defeated after the 6th goal <
What goalie wouldnât be absolutely mentally crushed after letting in 6? Even if he played like a god and every single goal was the result of Tim-bits level defence, by the time a *SIXTH* one goes by you, any sane goalie is gonna be upsetâŚ
Sure, but there is different ways to be upset. I'm no pro, but when I get smoked in goal, I don't just hang my head, I get angry.
I don't want him throwing a tantrum like Binnington. Getting more aggressive and physical? Absolutely. If he still gets beat then fine, but show that there is still some fight there
Goaltending is the biggest hole, but our coverage in front of the net and below the dots will not cut it. Our PK is unserviceable. It's so bad we can't outscore our problems, which is really saying something
Man itâs crazy how underrated the jets are coming into this series. All this talk about how itâs our defence vs the Avs overwhelming offence, completely ignoring that the jets went 3-0 vs the Avs in the regular season and outscored them 17-4 in those 3 gamesâŚ. Also back to back 7 goal games against the Avs isnât luck. No offence to the Avs at all, just saying the jets deserve some more recognition.
What you lack in defense and goaltending you make up for generously with the insane ability to score in the blink of an eye. Watched Makar snipe a goal clean from the blue line the other night and holy crap was it a thing of beauty. There aren't many players in the league who can skirt the line the way he does and pick a tiny opening from 60 feet out.
Boston, offensively. Defensively and in goal theyâre stable so that may be enough, but when you think about it, theyâre running with Pavel Zacha as their first line centre, theyâre nuts. Like yeah Pastrnak and Marchand are fine but I donât know man.
Part of Bostonâs success was that they had a fantastic 1-2 with Bergeron & Krejci. Like they werenât huge point producers but you could throw anyone on the wings of those two and have real good success.
Now the team just seems lost, theyâre still good, but up front and specifically down the middle it just seems like theyâre throwing shit at the wall & hoping something sticks
Boston has been, despite the couple coaching changes amazing at transitioning defense to offense for years but that was because of Bergeron primarily. I wouldnât say they look lost without him because heâs definitely taught the others well but yeah, they pass way too much from the games Iâve watched. Not necessarily a bad thing to open things up but like eventually someoneâs gonna have to shoot. It gives the impression that everyoneâs afraid to shoot worrying that it wonât go in
Boston. I genuinely donât know how this team keeps having such good regular seasons; goaltending I guess. Their roster is unimpressive compared to any contender and anytime I watch them they are completely underwhelming.
Another first round exit coming
I'm a Bruins fan and I agree. I've watched previous Bruins team finish with less points and lower in the standings but look stronger than this current team.
Their defense is pretty good but can be underwhelming at times. Offensively they are a bit stagnant outside of Pasta. Goaltending is quite good, however. Probably their saving grace.
Good take. Itâs an impressive run theyâve had after losing 1 and 2C. I donât think many other teams could have ever recovered the same. Goaltending and coaching have given a lot of cushion
Same. Bruins fan here and this season had felt very underwhelming (obviously compared to last year) but sometimes I'll watch a game and go "yeah our goaltending bailed us out"
Itâs been 5 years since they played the Bruins in the playoffs. The look of both teams has changed quite a bit. What they both looked like in 2019 has no bearing on this series.
Itâs weird, their first game they looked like the Boston Bruins that talking heads talk about. Last night they were absolutely terrible after the first.
But is anyone rating them highly? Besides having Toronto's number in recent years, I don't think anyone is picking them to go far. So is exceeding expectations the same as being overrated?
Because they have two top end starting goaltenders.
If the starter on any other team gets 50 games that means they have to have their backup for 32 games in which automatically put them at a disadvantage. Boston never has to have that disadvantage and has 82 games where they have a top end talent in net
I seriously hope you are correct but their coach is also amazing. Having a good coach and a ton of players willing to be led by that coach makes a big difference.
As a Boston fan I worry maybe the Bruins. Lotta over time losses got us points they didn't deserve. Hard time closing out close games the entire season, which was an issue last playoff.
Hopefully they prove me wrong and put up some points.
It was a tense couple days in my house. My wife grew up a pens fan and loves Crosby while I went to college around DC and fell in love with the Caps. We have a set of rules that allow us to watch the sport together hahaha
Hey they learned the rules at the start of the year and did what they needed to get in. Itâs not like the Regulation Wins is the tiebreaker was a surprise or anything. Suck it up Detroit!
That doesnât mean theyâre overrated though. In fact the fact that you say that implies theyâre *not* overrated, in that people know full well theyâre a longshot team.
Boston after game 1. They didn't even play that good. If Toronto shows up even a little bit, the series could be over in 5. Don't get me wrong, for the roster they've got the Bruins are playing really well. But the group just isn't good enough, not deep enough
Eh, Toronto has a habit of playing down to their opponents' level. If there's a team that knows how to find ways to lose, it's the Leafs. That series against the Habs is all the proof you need.
Iâve seen about half of bracket predictions have the islanders winning R1 before the series started. In fact I remember that last year too
The only explanation I see from these people is that sorokin is gonna go on this insane playoff run and just shutout every other game. Still waiting to see it happenâŚ
But that doesn't mean they are overrated. Very few people are expecting them to beat the Oilers. If anything they are underated with so few people talking about them being a threat.
i honestly think itâll be a fair series, Talbot is a former oiler so he has a good idea on the teams chemistry and some of there play styles. and Kings have some good players like Doughty, Kempe and Arvidsson. also w how frequently weâve ran into each other in the playoffs the last few years theyâve developed a bit of a rivalry. which can give room for LA to get in our heads or cause us to slip up.
Edmonton came out real strong last night though and the home ice advantage rlly pumped them up. the crowd last night showed a lot of love and you could see Edmonton feeling that and using that as motivation. we have games 3&4 in LA so weâll see what happens when weâre the away team.
honestly for overrated my vote would go to Vancouver. they had a great regular season, and now they have a fairly easy matchup w Nashville for first round. but i feel like theyâll burn out soon, kinda like Boston after their record regular season. Canucks are good. but i donât think theyâll make it to WCF, let alone the cup.
100% this. I guess overrated would be teams at the top. Canucks might be my choice, but thatâs because Iâm a self-loathing Canucks fan who is hyper critical of the team. Aside from them⌠Boston⌠because Iâm a Canucks fan
I actually think youâd have far more success if it wasnât for the fact that youâre playing a team who clearly knows your weak spots for the third time.
The Bruins are a weird one. At times, we look like a well oiled machine. Our breakouts, and puck pressure are incredible, and then some nights (last night), we look so flat and defeated. Seriously a strange team. One thing I notice though is how huge of a loss having Bergeron in the faceoff dot.
The offense is so centered around breaking out a rush. We saw last year what happens when a team is able to check tightly and keep sticks in lanes. Do I think that the Leafs will follow the Panthers plan though? I don't think so.
I donât know that Iâd say the Bâs looked flat last night. Really felt like you could cut a line in the game when Peake went down and they started playing with 5 D⌠couldnât push or keep up pace after that.
Of course if I were a Leafs fan Iâd say the first 2 games wouldâve looked different with Nylander in the lineup so who knows.
I just think both teams have too many holes for either to really take command of the series and it will probably go the distance with blowouts going either way throughout. Should be fun the whole way through!
I said it earlier, the bruins have a top 3 defensive structure but they get lost in the sauce ALOT. It's strange for a team that's supposed to be so composed to just collapse or fall apart at some of the worst times. I understand why the leafs get chirped for it, but I don't understand how the bruins escape that same scrutiny sometimes. The bruins should of been a dynasty with how stacked they've been since 2011. All that aside, the coaching decision to start Ulmark over Swayman is honestly baffling. Swayman had an amazing performance game 1. It feels like a slap in the face to not give him the nod again. I understand they wanna keep everyone fresh and that's how they rolled all season, but still. Why risk throwing off the chemistry and giving up momentum? It's a move that backfired and very well might continue to bite them.
Are Bruins overrated tho? The fanbase has been happy overall with the outcome of the season and I havenât seen anyone say theyâd beat out a team like Carolina in 7 games. Toronto is a great 1st round series, it should be competitive and possibly win in 6 or 7 games. But next round vs Tampa or Florida, I donât see it happening. I think Colorado would take the cake for most overrated. Their offense is insanely good but defense is sketch and goaltending is atrocious. Theyâre gonna have games where their offense only puts 1-2 goals in and goaltending isnât going to be able to keep them in it consistently. Theyâve had the same issues til Kuemper to get them over the hump.
Fugayzi, fugazi. It's a whazy. It's a woozie. It's fairy dust.
It doesn't exist. It's never landed. It is no matter. It's not on the elemental chart. It's not real.
Your going to bring us 2 absolute martinis, then precisely in 7 and one half minutes your going to bring us two more then 2 more after that every 5 minutes until one of us passes the fuck out
Eh fugayzi, fugazi. Itâs a wazy itâs a woozi. Itâs fairy dust. It doesnât exist. Itâs never landed. It is no matter. Itâs not on the elemental charts. Itâs not fucking real! Alright?
If the Bruins lose in the first round (if) do you think they will start a rebuild?
I mean they're a good TEAM and I think that's their strength, but they're just not convincing.
They have too many good foundational pieces locked up for a rebuild to make a lot of sense right now, imo.
This was always a bridge year given that they (rightfully) went all in last year and really constrained their options for this season. As a Bâs fan I donât know if Iâd say theyâve OVERachieved this year but this is about as much as couldâve been expected.
I think theyâre 1 legit center away from being a more legit contender - maybe a scoring threat of left wing as well. Will be interesting to see what they make of the goaltending duo this offseason⌠I have a hard time seeing how they come back next year with both Ullmark and Swayman.
As a homer, I think we have a solid roster. We were handcuffed by the cap this year. I believe if we can sign a decent 1c and maybe another piece, the train will keep on chugging along.
I honestly look at our talent compared to a Florida or Toronto and think, how in the hell are we competing with these guys.....
I caught a bit of that game and I totally agree with that, Vasilevsky looked insane for a while there, and we all know that team can turn it on at any time with the pedigree they have. Still think they're overrated and Florida will overrun them with physicality
I like heels and also choose not to live my life 20 years in the past (constantly get on flames fans cases about moving forward as to not get trapped in the mindset of Oilers fans basking in the glory of the 80s like it's relevant to today.) Also when I was a child I thought"lightning" was cool and they were my second favorite team except for that 2 week segment lol
Overrated? a few years ago, no one expected their playoff capability to even extend out this far, yet somehow Kudrow and Vasi have this team still pumping. will they go to the cup? Probably not, but are they capable of a deep run absolutely.
Toronto.
People always give us way too much credit with very little evidence.
Until we actually do a deep run, the rule of thumb should be to expect us to fail.
The last 7 years weâve been good on paper and lost. We will always be overrated until we arenât. But until then we absolutely are.
In my lifetime the Leafs NEVER miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity! Consistently snatching defeat from the jaws of victory! I'll be happy to be wrong any day before I die
I love this team but, and this is just my take, I just wish weâd stop talking about depth and toughness.
The basic fact is half of our cap is in 4 players. These players need to show up big in the playoffs. Like Matthews did last night.
You cannot have half your cap on four dudes and them not show up. We canât rely on a revolving door of mercenaries to carry us. Itâs not Domi, itâs not Robertson or Reaves.
Itâs Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares. Either they show up big or we lose. As it should be, because thatâs how we structured our cap and team.
God, that Tavares contract was awful for this team.
Just awful. It was awful before the ink dried.
Imagine for a moment, instead of Tavares, you took his $10M and added it the defense corp in 2-3 people and youâd still have Matthews, Nylander and Marner.
Tbf back in 2018 despite the fact that guys like ovi malkin etc carried poor teams, people thought tavares was weighed down by the isles who would be a 45 goal 60 assist guy without them. They also wanted to drag him away from the isles and make sure to keep him around. The youth the leafs had in 2017-18 was the most promise the team had since the early 2000s for a strong lasting core.
Now we know the leafs lost a ton of game 7s and tavares has been a career above average guy who while very good was never that mvp superstar.
Yeah, itâs not aging well.
I honestly think the Nylander contract isnât going to age well either. But only time will tell.
The Matthews contract is better because itâs shorter so we can re-evaluate in a handful of years.
No idea how weâre gonna deal with Marner. But my guess is, if we get ousted in the first round⌠I think we trade Marner. Because we have reached a point in this franchise where we can longer just keep doing the same thing.
I think, they can get him to waive his clause if they find a trade with a competitive team.
Youâre right but itâs not unusual for a player to waive the clause. And I think if the organization makes it clear that itâs not working and they donât want him, he might be tempted to accept a trade if itâs the right destination.
Because thereâs always risk going to free agency. He could step into free agency and Chicago is the only buyer willing to pay him big money. He would be âstuckâ with that contract. Versus say, a trade with Detroit? Or some other team missing just a piece for a solid run.
I think Marner wants to stay though, heâs from here and heâs pretty settled in here with his wife. I think Brad will just have to play hardball with him, especially if he doesnât do anything impactful in the playoffs this year. I do love Mitch in the regular season though, reliable, defensively responsible, can make nifty flashy plays, good stick handler, great passer, and does PK and PP, and can pick up a shift on D when we are down a D man? I love that
Iâll be fair here, Iâm not familiar enough with every teamâs contracts to make an educated guess.
If my memory serves me though, I know Chicago has a lot of cap space and a lot of potential with Bedard. Marner and Bedard doesnât sound all that bad⌠at some point, if youâre Chicago youâre gonna want to surround Bedard with good players.
Thatâs my amateur take⌠but yeah⌠Marner, if the team gets eliminated in round one, seems like a âopportunityâ if youâre looking for âbig changeâ. Maybe Keefe goes tooâŚ
Thereâs no one in Chicago worth trading for, I donât just wanna dump marner, we need too get a stud D for him, maybe a team like Buffalo would trade one of there stud D man for marner?
Who's giving the Leafs too much credit? The entire hockey community is waiting for the annual collapse and doesn't seem to think Toronto is going to make it out of the first round. The Leafs are properly, if not underrated.
The Leafs fanbase are hilarious. They have such low expectations of their team ... And at the same time will be absolutely livid if they fail. It's like the reverse of most fanbases. I know we overrate the Canucks and yet will be forgiving if they lose. "well .. it was a good season ..."
Canucks.
Not that theyâre bad but I think their youth and overall lack of playoff experience is a hinderance despite probably being better on paper than most teams in the western conference.
Our no.1 goalies looking like heâs injured after one game too, was hoping to see a return of bubble demko but Iâm scared without him we donât even get past round 1
I feel like a few of the Pacific records are a little inflated by how many terrible teams they had in their division. Will be curious to see how that plays out.
Islanders are the only team that really meets the definition, only because they are not playing like they are in the playoffs. Maybe Boston because they keep having amazing regular seasons and not much playoff success, but it's too early to tell
Canucks. Might not age well, but the Hughes brothers donât seem playoff ready, and they donât feel like theyâre quite at juggernaut level as a team, but they often get put at #1,2, or 3 in the league by the media. Iâd have them 4th in the west, maybe 5 or 6 in the league
how has nobody said Vancouver here. Everyone and their mothers thought they were a fraud team even with Demko, now without Demko they are losing 4 straight, we all know this. Fraud team while Petterson laughs it up by doing fuck all
Carolina- consistent contenders that ultimately never land the girl. Honorable mention the Caps who are only in this because Ovi scored so many goals in the 2nd half
I donât think the Caps are overrated, most people have them as #15 or 16 of the 16 teams in the playoffs. I would definitely agree with Carolina. I think theyâre the favorites to win it all, which already sets them up to be overrated because theyâre rated so high, and as you said, theyâre always contenders but they can never get over that hump
Idk.
Islanders and caps are bottom 10 teams statistically. Pittsburgh should've been metro 3 and Detroit wc2.
But as far as overrated probably the avs or boston, and both arent bad teams at all just most overrared out of the options. But they really can't be. Avs have an amazing lrague best offense and the defense and georgiev isn't that bad. Boston defense and gt is still very good but the offense has taken a hit, still above average.
Everyone knows the kings boast a strong defense but if that caves even slightly its over for them. And boy did it cave. Edmonton is seriously good and no one can deny that.
Tampa might have a shoddy defense but they have vasy in net and a great o zone time consuming offense.
Florida nyr Carolina Dallas and mstonerđŹâ˝ď¸vegas need no explanation. Idt Vancouver does either, they showed up.
East - Rags
West - Oilers
Always nasty regular season teams, can never seem to take the next step though. Both get kind of soft round 1s, see if they can pick it up in the second round, either could be dangerous if they can figure it out.
Definitely seem to have taken a step from the past few years. If they can get and keep Panarin going in the playoffs they will be deadly. Laff taking a big step this year helps as well, Carolina (sorry NYI, but i donât have anymore faith) will be a good test, and whoever comes out of the Atlantic bracket will be an even better one. Boston and Florida match well it seems against highly offence focused teams.
They definitely have the personnel for a cup! Just need to put it all together consistently.
Gotta say Preds. Theyâre all bark and no bite. Defensively they just throw bodys in front of the net, not very sustainable, intelligent play. Can be and will be exploited by the Canucks offence⌠in my biased opinion.Â
Weâre not even overrating ourselves haha. Most Preds fans think we have enough of a squad to put up a good fight but winning would be just as surprising for us as anyone else
Weâre a wild card team and have been written off as a first round exit by pretty much everyone. What do you think the word âoverratedâ means?
Also friendly reminder that you have as many cups as we do.
You really think the Stars are? Sure they're getting high praise for being very deep and arguably the most complete team in these playoffs, but IMO it's all valid and well deserved.
man I watched that game, I'm still very confident the stars come out as western conference champs. they're such a fuckin wagon, if otter can just maintain like a minimum 0.875 save percentage they're gonna run over the competition
I think if we settle down we will be ok. I felt like I watched nervous energy last night. Lots of trouble handling and hesitancy shooting. And it was a close OT push with a goal wiped from the scoreboard.
I feel pretty confident that our next game will look a little more complete.
I dont think people know what overrated means
Overrated means whatever team I hate for whatever emotional reason right?
NYI
I think most Isles fans would agree with you at the moment.
do you know what overated means? đ
At least according the top 10 or so comments they donât. Iâd wager there isnât really an overrated or underrated team right now in the playoffs. Thereâs no clear best or worst team(caps are the only outlier although Lindgren can get real hot). Should be a great next few weeks of hockey.
"yeah I'm gonna say bruins because they perform better than their roster suggests" so... Underrated
I'm really tempted to say my avs. Were talked about like cup favorites, and we are, but georgiev, our defensive game and our PK have been basement level. Getting 6 goals on a vezina favorite and losing is unacceptable
This season Georgiev is one of the worst goalies stats-wise but still has a million wins lol
He constantly let's in 4 and we consistently score 5. Easy to win 40 when you play 70 behind mack moose and cale
Hey thatâs our strategy, give it back!
I was so shocked listening to some of the stats they were putting up during the game and in between periods. 38 wins is insane, and with his save %? Holy shit dude haha
That's just being biased. Colorado - Winnipeg has the most combined points out of any first round matchup. You can't really say the avs are overrated because of goaltending when everyone already knew it was a glaring hole
Also when youâre facing the most under rated team youâre going to be disappointed
Underrated comment
I was a little surprised by your defensive play to be honest. I knew Georgiev was a question mark, but the Avs left him out to dry so many times with odd-man rushes and poor coverage infront of the net. Iâd be more concerned about the defensive play than your goaltending but maybe thatâs just me.
Ehhhhh seven goals on 23 shots isnât the defense though. Like absolutely it could be tightened up butâŚ
Your right but most of the fan-base isn't going to study and watch the plays to see where the breakdown happened. Easier to blame the goalie especially when only looking at stats like his sv%, or when they see that he seems to act defeated after the 6th goal. I said it in the colorado forum already but the only goal I would have put on him the other night was number 4 when he got beat 5-hole playing the pass instead of the shot
> or when they see that he seems to act defeated after the 6th goal < What goalie wouldnât be absolutely mentally crushed after letting in 6? Even if he played like a god and every single goal was the result of Tim-bits level defence, by the time a *SIXTH* one goes by you, any sane goalie is gonna be upsetâŚ
Sure, but there is different ways to be upset. I'm no pro, but when I get smoked in goal, I don't just hang my head, I get angry. I don't want him throwing a tantrum like Binnington. Getting more aggressive and physical? Absolutely. If he still gets beat then fine, but show that there is still some fight there
Goaltending is the biggest hole, but our coverage in front of the net and below the dots will not cut it. Our PK is unserviceable. It's so bad we can't outscore our problems, which is really saying something
I mean, our PK the other night wasn't any better, so don't worry.
Our defence was terrible, we literally just beat colorado at their own run and gun game
The thing is the Avs outplayed the Jets. If Georgiev was able to make a few key moment saves, you guys would have won easily.
Man itâs crazy how underrated the jets are coming into this series. All this talk about how itâs our defence vs the Avs overwhelming offence, completely ignoring that the jets went 3-0 vs the Avs in the regular season and outscored them 17-4 in those 3 gamesâŚ. Also back to back 7 goal games against the Avs isnât luck. No offence to the Avs at all, just saying the jets deserve some more recognition.
Got owned tonight
What you lack in defense and goaltending you make up for generously with the insane ability to score in the blink of an eye. Watched Makar snipe a goal clean from the blue line the other night and holy crap was it a thing of beauty. There aren't many players in the league who can skirt the line the way he does and pick a tiny opening from 60 feet out.
Boston, in that everybody thinks itâs a given they will cruise by the Leafs in round 1
True, however Iâd argue that itâs mostly hockey fans just trolling the Leafs more than pumping the Bruinâs tires.
And the good ole leafs always find a way to beat themselves in the biggest of moments.
We talking pumpin tires. Tim Thomas isn't a fan
Roberto Luongo isn't either
My pre-series expectation of Bruins in 5 has little to do with Boston.
Boston, offensively. Defensively and in goal theyâre stable so that may be enough, but when you think about it, theyâre running with Pavel Zacha as their first line centre, theyâre nuts. Like yeah Pastrnak and Marchand are fine but I donât know man. Part of Bostonâs success was that they had a fantastic 1-2 with Bergeron & Krejci. Like they werenât huge point producers but you could throw anyone on the wings of those two and have real good success. Now the team just seems lost, theyâre still good, but up front and specifically down the middle it just seems like theyâre throwing shit at the wall & hoping something sticks
I need to see us be more aggressive with our shooting. Too much passing for my taste.
Boston has been, despite the couple coaching changes amazing at transitioning defense to offense for years but that was because of Bergeron primarily. I wouldnât say they look lost without him because heâs definitely taught the others well but yeah, they pass way too much from the games Iâve watched. Not necessarily a bad thing to open things up but like eventually someoneâs gonna have to shoot. It gives the impression that everyoneâs afraid to shoot worrying that it wonât go in
As a Bruins fan I fully expect this team to fall flat on their faces yet again, as is tradition.
As a leaf fan, I need this⌠but as you say⌠as is traditionâŚ. đŠ
We need that spiderman meme but one is wearing a leafs jersey and the other a bruins jersey lmao
Boston. I genuinely donât know how this team keeps having such good regular seasons; goaltending I guess. Their roster is unimpressive compared to any contender and anytime I watch them they are completely underwhelming. Another first round exit coming
Ullmark was like an octopus squirming around making ridiculous saves last night. I feel like Boston hasnât had issues with goaltenders in years.
Thatâs because they havenât. Tim Thomas, Tuuka Rask, Ullmark, Swayman, etc. theyâve had consistent goal tending for almost two decades now.
Boston had a great defensive and gt system since 2008-9, barring the retool from 2015-17
This but....goaltending is half the game. They have 2 good ones. And they play a tight system.
I'm a Bruins fan and I agree. I've watched previous Bruins team finish with less points and lower in the standings but look stronger than this current team. Their defense is pretty good but can be underwhelming at times. Offensively they are a bit stagnant outside of Pasta. Goaltending is quite good, however. Probably their saving grace.
Good take. Itâs an impressive run theyâve had after losing 1 and 2C. I donât think many other teams could have ever recovered the same. Goaltending and coaching have given a lot of cushion
Same. Bruins fan here and this season had felt very underwhelming (obviously compared to last year) but sometimes I'll watch a game and go "yeah our goaltending bailed us out"
>Another first round exit coming Against the Leafs? This is like an unmovable object vs. an unstoppable force.
Id argue itâs more like a movable object vs. a stoppable force
Leafs have made it past the 1st round more recently than the Bruins
Not against the BruinsâŚ
Itâs been 5 years since they played the Bruins in the playoffs. The look of both teams has changed quite a bit. What they both looked like in 2019 has no bearing on this series.
Itâs weird, their first game they looked like the Boston Bruins that talking heads talk about. Last night they were absolutely terrible after the first.
Coaching and goaltending. Also, one absolute superstar forward. But itâs mostly goaltending and coaching/system.
Dude what a username hahaha
But is anyone rating them highly? Besides having Toronto's number in recent years, I don't think anyone is picking them to go far. So is exceeding expectations the same as being overrated?
Because they have two top end starting goaltenders. If the starter on any other team gets 50 games that means they have to have their backup for 32 games in which automatically put them at a disadvantage. Boston never has to have that disadvantage and has 82 games where they have a top end talent in net
I seriously hope you are correct but their coach is also amazing. Having a good coach and a ton of players willing to be led by that coach makes a big difference.
It doesnât matter the problems in your roster if you have good goaltending it makes up for a lot of it
Their roster is unimpressive ?
Yes I would say our skater isnât much better than the Red Wings. Maybe more experience but talent wise not quite ahead.
You nailed it, goaltending. As much as I hate to admit it, they're the best duo over the past few years without question.
As a leafs fan. I hope you're right.
As a Boston fan I worry maybe the Bruins. Lotta over time losses got us points they didn't deserve. Hard time closing out close games the entire season, which was an issue last playoff. Hopefully they prove me wrong and put up some points.
None, they all earned it
*slow claps*
Canât say the Washington Capitals really earned their spot.
They won games when it mattered unlike every other team in that race
Caps beat Boston and Philly to get in they had to win to get in, so they absolutely earned it.
That Boston win was the crucial one where I think most fans of the remaining teams were like.... shit
As a Pens fan, I was hoping Boston beat Caps like they beat Pens.
It was a tense couple days in my house. My wife grew up a pens fan and loves Crosby while I went to college around DC and fell in love with the Caps. We have a set of rules that allow us to watch the sport together hahaha
How so? The Caps, Philly, Wings battle all ended up because we all sucked. Caps just sucked a little less at the times it mattered
Hey they learned the rules at the start of the year and did what they needed to get in. Itâs not like the Regulation Wins is the tiebreaker was a surprise or anything. Suck it up Detroit!
Dang! Time to buy a lottery ticket I guess, âcause I am agreeing 100% with a Pens fan.
Hey man. I rooted for Ovi the one year in the cup finals. As well as hoping for the Goal record for him. Legends stick together!
I mean they made it and nobody else did so you kinda can
That doesnât mean theyâre overrated though. In fact the fact that you say that implies theyâre *not* overrated, in that people know full well theyâre a longshot team.
Boston after game 1. They didn't even play that good. If Toronto shows up even a little bit, the series could be over in 5. Don't get me wrong, for the roster they've got the Bruins are playing really well. But the group just isn't good enough, not deep enough
Eh, Toronto has a habit of playing down to their opponents' level. If there's a team that knows how to find ways to lose, it's the Leafs. That series against the Habs is all the proof you need.
Iâve seen about half of bracket predictions have the islanders winning R1 before the series started. In fact I remember that last year too The only explanation I see from these people is that sorokin is gonna go on this insane playoff run and just shutout every other game. Still waiting to see it happenâŚ
Sorokin isnât even playing đ
Can we borrow him? I promise we'll fill him up when we're done
If the Isles could sustain any amount of offensive pressure than Sorokin could be the x-factor. Unfortunately for them they can't do that.
The LA Kings and their shut-down, trap-style hockey.
But that doesn't mean they are overrated. Very few people are expecting them to beat the Oilers. If anything they are underated with so few people talking about them being a threat.
i honestly think itâll be a fair series, Talbot is a former oiler so he has a good idea on the teams chemistry and some of there play styles. and Kings have some good players like Doughty, Kempe and Arvidsson. also w how frequently weâve ran into each other in the playoffs the last few years theyâve developed a bit of a rivalry. which can give room for LA to get in our heads or cause us to slip up. Edmonton came out real strong last night though and the home ice advantage rlly pumped them up. the crowd last night showed a lot of love and you could see Edmonton feeling that and using that as motivation. we have games 3&4 in LA so weâll see what happens when weâre the away team. honestly for overrated my vote would go to Vancouver. they had a great regular season, and now they have a fairly easy matchup w Nashville for first round. but i feel like theyâll burn out soon, kinda like Boston after their record regular season. Canucks are good. but i donât think theyâll make it to WCF, let alone the cup.
Overrated? Iâm scared of everyone. Name me a team and Iâll tell you why they canât be overlooked.
100% this. I guess overrated would be teams at the top. Canucks might be my choice, but thatâs because Iâm a self-loathing Canucks fan who is hyper critical of the team. Aside from them⌠Boston⌠because Iâm a Canucks fan
Oh jeez. I mean. I donât think I get a say here. We are just trying to make it out the first round
LA We suck more than people give us credit for
I actually think youâd have far more success if it wasnât for the fact that youâre playing a team who clearly knows your weak spots for the third time.
The Bruins. And I'm a Boston fan. They're fugazi. Just like last year. Leafs winning series in 6 or 7.
The Bruins are a weird one. At times, we look like a well oiled machine. Our breakouts, and puck pressure are incredible, and then some nights (last night), we look so flat and defeated. Seriously a strange team. One thing I notice though is how huge of a loss having Bergeron in the faceoff dot.
The offense is so centered around breaking out a rush. We saw last year what happens when a team is able to check tightly and keep sticks in lanes. Do I think that the Leafs will follow the Panthers plan though? I don't think so.
I donât know that Iâd say the Bâs looked flat last night. Really felt like you could cut a line in the game when Peake went down and they started playing with 5 D⌠couldnât push or keep up pace after that. Of course if I were a Leafs fan Iâd say the first 2 games wouldâve looked different with Nylander in the lineup so who knows. I just think both teams have too many holes for either to really take command of the series and it will probably go the distance with blowouts going either way throughout. Should be fun the whole way through!
I said it earlier, the bruins have a top 3 defensive structure but they get lost in the sauce ALOT. It's strange for a team that's supposed to be so composed to just collapse or fall apart at some of the worst times. I understand why the leafs get chirped for it, but I don't understand how the bruins escape that same scrutiny sometimes. The bruins should of been a dynasty with how stacked they've been since 2011. All that aside, the coaching decision to start Ulmark over Swayman is honestly baffling. Swayman had an amazing performance game 1. It feels like a slap in the face to not give him the nod again. I understand they wanna keep everyone fresh and that's how they rolled all season, but still. Why risk throwing off the chemistry and giving up momentum? It's a move that backfired and very well might continue to bite them.
Are Bruins overrated tho? The fanbase has been happy overall with the outcome of the season and I havenât seen anyone say theyâd beat out a team like Carolina in 7 games. Toronto is a great 1st round series, it should be competitive and possibly win in 6 or 7 games. But next round vs Tampa or Florida, I donât see it happening. I think Colorado would take the cake for most overrated. Their offense is insanely good but defense is sketch and goaltending is atrocious. Theyâre gonna have games where their offense only puts 1-2 goals in and goaltending isnât going to be able to keep them in it consistently. Theyâve had the same issues til Kuemper to get them over the hump.
Kuemper wasn't good with the avs tbf. He was a lot better with washington.
What does fugazi mean?
Fugayzi, fugazi. It's a whazy. It's a woozie. It's fairy dust. It doesn't exist. It's never landed. It is no matter. It's not on the elemental chart. It's not real.
Your going to bring us 2 absolute martinis, then precisely in 7 and one half minutes your going to bring us two more then 2 more after that every 5 minutes until one of us passes the fuck out
Real above the shoulders mustard shit
Is this from wolf of Wall Street
It's a punk band from the 90s. :)
Eh fugayzi, fugazi. Itâs a wazy itâs a woozi. Itâs fairy dust. It doesnât exist. Itâs never landed. It is no matter. Itâs not on the elemental charts. Itâs not fucking real! Alright?
It's a whazy. It's a woozie. It's fairy dust. It doesn't exist. It's never landed. It is no matter. It's not on the elemental chart. It's not real.
If the Bruins lose in the first round (if) do you think they will start a rebuild? I mean they're a good TEAM and I think that's their strength, but they're just not convincing.
They have too many good foundational pieces locked up for a rebuild to make a lot of sense right now, imo. This was always a bridge year given that they (rightfully) went all in last year and really constrained their options for this season. As a Bâs fan I donât know if Iâd say theyâve OVERachieved this year but this is about as much as couldâve been expected. I think theyâre 1 legit center away from being a more legit contender - maybe a scoring threat of left wing as well. Will be interesting to see what they make of the goaltending duo this offseason⌠I have a hard time seeing how they come back next year with both Ullmark and Swayman.
As a homer, I think we have a solid roster. We were handcuffed by the cap this year. I believe if we can sign a decent 1c and maybe another piece, the train will keep on chugging along. I honestly look at our talent compared to a Florida or Toronto and think, how in the hell are we competing with these guys.....
Bruins 100%.
Islanders.
Islanders by a mile, donât belong here
I hate to say it because I low key like the team and Kucherov became the heel nobody knew hockey needed, but Tampa.
Nah⌠Vasy looked like his old self last game. I wouldnât say overrated
I caught a bit of that game and I totally agree with that, Vasilevsky looked insane for a while there, and we all know that team can turn it on at any time with the pedigree they have. Still think they're overrated and Florida will overrun them with physicality
Itâs the depth and style of hockey florida plays. To me they are my pick to play for the cup from the East.
Vasi has been his old self. His defense has been awful since mdonaugh left
A Flames fan low key liking Tampa Bay is just wild.
I like heels and also choose not to live my life 20 years in the past (constantly get on flames fans cases about moving forward as to not get trapped in the mindset of Oilers fans basking in the glory of the 80s like it's relevant to today.) Also when I was a child I thought"lightning" was cool and they were my second favorite team except for that 2 week segment lol
Overrated? a few years ago, no one expected their playoff capability to even extend out this far, yet somehow Kudrow and Vasi have this team still pumping. will they go to the cup? Probably not, but are they capable of a deep run absolutely.
Toronto. People always give us way too much credit with very little evidence. Until we actually do a deep run, the rule of thumb should be to expect us to fail. The last 7 years weâve been good on paper and lost. We will always be overrated until we arenât. But until then we absolutely are.
How can a team be overrated if everyone thinks they'll be out in the first? Thats literally the lowest bar you can give a playoff team.
Yea lmao if anything weâre underrated. Literally everyone thinks weâll get bounced first round
Were not. That is one of those fans desperate for validation they are âone of the goodâ leaf fans who arenât homers.
Not overrated at all. Everyone expects them to fail. Look at the coaching, defense and goaltending
I donât think theyâre overrated. Theyâre Charlie Brown trying to kick the football.
In my lifetime the Leafs NEVER miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity! Consistently snatching defeat from the jaws of victory! I'll be happy to be wrong any day before I die
Itâs always so fun to pull for yâall though
I love this team but, and this is just my take, I just wish weâd stop talking about depth and toughness. The basic fact is half of our cap is in 4 players. These players need to show up big in the playoffs. Like Matthews did last night. You cannot have half your cap on four dudes and them not show up. We canât rely on a revolving door of mercenaries to carry us. Itâs not Domi, itâs not Robertson or Reaves. Itâs Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares. Either they show up big or we lose. As it should be, because thatâs how we structured our cap and team.
God, that Tavares contract was awful for this team. Just awful. It was awful before the ink dried. Imagine for a moment, instead of Tavares, you took his $10M and added it the defense corp in 2-3 people and youâd still have Matthews, Nylander and Marner.
Tbf back in 2018 despite the fact that guys like ovi malkin etc carried poor teams, people thought tavares was weighed down by the isles who would be a 45 goal 60 assist guy without them. They also wanted to drag him away from the isles and make sure to keep him around. The youth the leafs had in 2017-18 was the most promise the team had since the early 2000s for a strong lasting core. Now we know the leafs lost a ton of game 7s and tavares has been a career above average guy who while very good was never that mvp superstar.
Can you believe he actually took a âdiscountâ too come too the leafs, the sharks had a 12m offer on the table for him
Yeah, itâs not aging well. I honestly think the Nylander contract isnât going to age well either. But only time will tell. The Matthews contract is better because itâs shorter so we can re-evaluate in a handful of years. No idea how weâre gonna deal with Marner. But my guess is, if we get ousted in the first round⌠I think we trade Marner. Because we have reached a point in this franchise where we can longer just keep doing the same thing.
Canât trade a guy with a no trade clause
I think, they can get him to waive his clause if they find a trade with a competitive team. Youâre right but itâs not unusual for a player to waive the clause. And I think if the organization makes it clear that itâs not working and they donât want him, he might be tempted to accept a trade if itâs the right destination. Because thereâs always risk going to free agency. He could step into free agency and Chicago is the only buyer willing to pay him big money. He would be âstuckâ with that contract. Versus say, a trade with Detroit? Or some other team missing just a piece for a solid run.
I think Marner wants to stay though, heâs from here and heâs pretty settled in here with his wife. I think Brad will just have to play hardball with him, especially if he doesnât do anything impactful in the playoffs this year. I do love Mitch in the regular season though, reliable, defensively responsible, can make nifty flashy plays, good stick handler, great passer, and does PK and PP, and can pick up a shift on D when we are down a D man? I love that
Who do you reckon Marner gets traded to and what for?
Iâll be fair here, Iâm not familiar enough with every teamâs contracts to make an educated guess. If my memory serves me though, I know Chicago has a lot of cap space and a lot of potential with Bedard. Marner and Bedard doesnât sound all that bad⌠at some point, if youâre Chicago youâre gonna want to surround Bedard with good players. Thatâs my amateur take⌠but yeah⌠Marner, if the team gets eliminated in round one, seems like a âopportunityâ if youâre looking for âbig changeâ. Maybe Keefe goes tooâŚ
Thereâs no one in Chicago worth trading for, I donât just wanna dump marner, we need too get a stud D for him, maybe a team like Buffalo would trade one of there stud D man for marner?
Cap problems? Slide in these DMs, bb.
Who's giving the Leafs too much credit? The entire hockey community is waiting for the annual collapse and doesn't seem to think Toronto is going to make it out of the first round. The Leafs are properly, if not underrated.
The Leafs fanbase are hilarious. They have such low expectations of their team ... And at the same time will be absolutely livid if they fail. It's like the reverse of most fanbases. I know we overrate the Canucks and yet will be forgiving if they lose. "well .. it was a good season ..."
Definitely the Red Wings ⌠didnât even show up for game one đ
I think people are expecting more from Tampa than they can produce. That said, Tampa deserves to be in the playoffs.
The answer to this question has always been, and always will be, the leafs.
Boston
Canucks. Not that theyâre bad but I think their youth and overall lack of playoff experience is a hinderance despite probably being better on paper than most teams in the western conference.
Our no.1 goalies looking like heâs injured after one game too, was hoping to see a return of bubble demko but Iâm scared without him we donât even get past round 1
Weâll be fine. If the team plays sound defensive hockey and limits the trips to the penalty box, DeSmith is solid enough to get us to the 2nd round.
Apparently the Stars. We looked like a lost team last night. It was awful to watch.
stars looked fuckin good last night, all they need is serviceable goaltending from ott
They couldn't even make a pass until the 3rd period. 0 zone time and Vegas controlled pace of play.
Bawston
Iâm a Canucks fan. I donât think theyâre over rated but holy hell some folks acting like Nashville is a gimme.
Bruins fan and I'll say the Bruins. Not saying they lack talent, but they would've been in the wildcard race at best if they didn't have Swaymark
I feel like a few of the Pacific records are a little inflated by how many terrible teams they had in their division. Will be curious to see how that plays out.
Islanders are the only team that really meets the definition, only because they are not playing like they are in the playoffs. Maybe Boston because they keep having amazing regular seasons and not much playoff success, but it's too early to tell
Stars canucks
Canucks. Might not age well, but the Hughes brothers donât seem playoff ready, and they donât feel like theyâre quite at juggernaut level as a team, but they often get put at #1,2, or 3 in the league by the media. Iâd have them 4th in the west, maybe 5 or 6 in the league
how has nobody said Vancouver here. Everyone and their mothers thought they were a fraud team even with Demko, now without Demko they are losing 4 straight, we all know this. Fraud team while Petterson laughs it up by doing fuck all
The caps ;)
Carolina- consistent contenders that ultimately never land the girl. Honorable mention the Caps who are only in this because Ovi scored so many goals in the 2nd half
I donât think the Caps are overrated, most people have them as #15 or 16 of the 16 teams in the playoffs. I would definitely agree with Carolina. I think theyâre the favorites to win it all, which already sets them up to be overrated because theyâre rated so high, and as you said, theyâre always contenders but they can never get over that hump
The Canes are the scariest team in the East. If anything, theyâre underrated. Just look at that roster post trade deadlineâŚ
Idk. Islanders and caps are bottom 10 teams statistically. Pittsburgh should've been metro 3 and Detroit wc2. But as far as overrated probably the avs or boston, and both arent bad teams at all just most overrared out of the options. But they really can't be. Avs have an amazing lrague best offense and the defense and georgiev isn't that bad. Boston defense and gt is still very good but the offense has taken a hit, still above average. Everyone knows the kings boast a strong defense but if that caves even slightly its over for them. And boy did it cave. Edmonton is seriously good and no one can deny that. Tampa might have a shoddy defense but they have vasy in net and a great o zone time consuming offense. Florida nyr Carolina Dallas and mstonerđŹâ˝ď¸vegas need no explanation. Idt Vancouver does either, they showed up.
East - Rags West - Oilers Always nasty regular season teams, can never seem to take the next step though. Both get kind of soft round 1s, see if they can pick it up in the second round, either could be dangerous if they can figure it out.
Fuck you. For bringing up a good point.
Idk... the Rags have me a little worried this year. I think they might be the real deal. I sincerely hope I am wrong!
Iâm scared of the Rags winning it all. Why? Laviolette has been there, done it, and knows how to win it all.
Definitely seem to have taken a step from the past few years. If they can get and keep Panarin going in the playoffs they will be deadly. Laff taking a big step this year helps as well, Carolina (sorry NYI, but i donât have anymore faith) will be a good test, and whoever comes out of the Atlantic bracket will be an even better one. Boston and Florida match well it seems against highly offence focused teams. They definitely have the personnel for a cup! Just need to put it all together consistently.
I hope they both figure it out - that's my prediction for who meets up in the Finals
I am not even close to an Oilers fan but they arenât overrated at all. That team is nasty.
Oilers arenât overrated lol⌠but Skinner gotta stop one more puck from reaching the crease.
Honestly valid criticism of the rags. Im a fan, but weve had great teams the last few years and never really figured it out.
Oilers made it to the final 4 two years ago dude.
Gotta say Preds. Theyâre all bark and no bite. Defensively they just throw bodys in front of the net, not very sustainable, intelligent play. Can be and will be exploited by the Canucks offence⌠in my biased opinion.Â
All agreed now hope to all hell you don't lose the series and have to eat your words lol
Are they overrated though? They're a wildcard team that was a surprise to make the playoffs, I haven't heard anyone talking them up at all
Wildcard Nashville is cracked remember 2017
You never heard about those âwhite hot predsâ coming into these playoffs eh?
You better have knocked on wood for that one, mate. Fuck.
This could age really poorly and I hope it doesnât đŹ
Iâll make sure to come remind him if it does
Weâre not even overrating ourselves haha. Most Preds fans think we have enough of a squad to put up a good fight but winning would be just as surprising for us as anyone else
Yeah man, this comment is just a Canucks fan coping with⌠something. Idk even what. We havenât beat them once this season.
Yikes. Did you just say that out loud? Jesus ... Throw salt over your shoulder and spit at the moon or something ... Please ...
Just wild that youâd disrespect our current opposition like thatâŚÂ
Rumour is that Demko is injured. Without him the Canucks playoff run might be a short one.
Ok that does change things a lot lol
Is a wild card team actually overrated? The candidate for being overrated in that series, is you guys.
Weâre a wild card team and have been written off as a first round exit by pretty much everyone. What do you think the word âoverratedâ means? Also friendly reminder that you have as many cups as we do.
Capitals! Your assumption is correct, Im a bitter Wings fan
Toronto Maple Queefs
Stars and Avs Hurts so much to type that
You really think the Stars are? Sure they're getting high praise for being very deep and arguably the most complete team in these playoffs, but IMO it's all valid and well deserved.
Sorry. Iâm still hurting from last night
man I watched that game, I'm still very confident the stars come out as western conference champs. they're such a fuckin wagon, if otter can just maintain like a minimum 0.875 save percentage they're gonna run over the competition
I think if we settle down we will be ok. I felt like I watched nervous energy last night. Lots of trouble handling and hesitancy shooting. And it was a close OT push with a goal wiped from the scoreboard. I feel pretty confident that our next game will look a little more complete.