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Stanley Cup Playoffs - 2014


Aura

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Rangers needed to capitalize on Philly's first period fuck-ups. 

 

Tonight will be pretty rad, hopefully Allison doesn't need the TV.

 

I watch a ton of sports on my laptop at: http://gofirstrow.eu/  

It's a great free cite, once you get over the fact that it can be kind of fickle at times... oh, and the fact that you have to close all sorts of pop up screens.

Actually, the only thing I pay for anymore is the MLB.com package, which gives unlimited live and archived access to every MLB game.

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I'm not a big hockey guy, but I do enjoy watching.  Just noticed that Montreal was the only Canadian team to make the playoffs.  Not much representation there.  1/7th of the contingent, when 16/30 teams overall make the playoffs.  Toronto and Vancouver were both essentially .500 teams and the rest of them were basement dwellers.  Has this been the norm in recent years?  If so, what is driving it?  Small market teams (Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Ottawa) having a hard time competing financially for the top players in the league?  Have player salaries escalated out of control like in baseball, basketball and football with free agency or the like?  Just curious what the back story is, or if it was just a down year for the Canadian teams.

Edited by Wmcmanus
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I'm not a big hockey guy, but I do enjoy watching.  Just noticed that Montreal was the only Canadian team to make the playoffs.  Not much representation there.  1/7th of the contingent, when 16/30 teams overall make the playoffs.  Toronto and Vancouver were both essentially .500 teams and the rest of them were basement dwellers.  Has this been the norm in recent years?  If so, what is driving it?  Small market teams (Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Ottawa) having a hard time competing financially for the top players in the league?  Have player salaries escalated out of control like in baseball, basketball and football with free agency or the like?  Just curious what the back story is, or if it was just a down year for the Canadian teams.

Toronto doesn't make the playoffs because their fans will sell out the arena no matter what.  Montreal is generally really tough.  

 

In general the NHL is divided into haves and have nots, like most other sports.  If you can afford to skirt the salary cap rules, have good management and coaching, you can put together a perenial team.  That's about 8 teams in the NHL.  Then there are another 16 teams on the bubble every year. who compete for the other 8 spots into the playoffs.  Then there are the 6 teams that for a number of reasons just can't compete.  The islanders, jets, panthers, jets/thrashers, bills, and lately the oilers fit this category.

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