I’ll of course be rooting for the best franchise of all time, the Red Wings, but who are you guys rooting for or expecting to win?
I grew up near DC and have a lot of friends in/from the Vancouver-Victoria area, so I continue to hope, as I do every year, for a Washington-Vancouver at-least-one-of-them-can’t-screw-it-up-this-time! Stanley Cup final.
Well, as usual, my two teams, the Leafs and the Flyers, were awful so they’re not in it. My H is from Montreal and is a life-long Habs fan so I suppose I’ll cheer for them, although I love the Sens Cinderella story this season. And the son of friends plays for the Pens, so I always cheer for him. I love this time of year although I do hope that at some point before I die, the Leafs rebuild and are contenders again. Here’s hoping for Connor McDavid.
My preferences for what’ll happen this season:
- Wings win.
- (This is normally where Columbus winning goes but you know...)
- Most other teams win and it's entertaining.
- Nuclear apocalypse.
- Chicago or Pittsburgh win.
All righty then…the best team isn’t in the playoffs…We, the royalty of the Kings, not happy with the outcome.Shoulda woulda couldr.
…sorry a bit of tantrum. I’m good now. I guess we will pull for the ducks.
The only thing that makes it even slightly bearable that the Sharks aren’t in the playoffs is that the Kings, that historiic dynasty of all time, are right there on the golf course next to them. The night the Flames (Go Calgary!) eliminated LA was a day of celebration in the Fang household, and, really, in the households of all Sharks fans.
I’m only rooting for Canadian teams now. Fortunately Vancouver is facing another Canadian team so I don’t have to root for them. The only reason I would have considered rooting for any team that contains Corey Perry would have been if the Ducks faced the Kings; happily, that ghastly possibility is not before me, thanks to those admirable players from Alberta. Go Jets!
Any Rangers fans here? Is Dan Boyle still injured? If the Rangers win a cup, would he get a ring?
Well, as a fan of the worst team in hockey (yes, that would be the Sabres), I’ll be rooting equally for our hometown team, the Rangers (my eldest son’s favorite) and the Blackhawks (my daughter’s home-away-from-home team.)
Let’s Go Rangers!
Sorry, bevhills. You’re entitled to a bit of a tantrum. Must be very disappointing and it doesn’t happen often that a team goes from winning the Cup to not making the playoffs the following year.
Thank you alwaysamom. There is pain in the Ellebud household.
And CardinalFang: Just so you know…for many years the Kings didn’t make the playoffs. They have gotten better.I remember one of friends, a hockey fanatic, who called the Kings the Queens. Yes, he was VERY wrong to say that. .And lest you don’t know…you NorthernCalifornia person…the team headquarters is in Hermosa beach…
(I really wish that you could see my face about now…I am I hope sounding pompously obnoxious…But unfortunately I lived in Northern California when I was a child. Hated it…I remember one of my teachers would have a temper tantrum once a week about Southern California. It was a thrilling day when I presented the teacher with sign out sheet with the name of my new school.
Caps Caps Caps! May go out to Kettler to see practice this week or next. S2 and I are hoping to watch playoffs together this spring (which would mean the Caps are playing past May 17th…).
My favorite OHL team played their last game this year. They were sold. It was very sad so now all I have left is my Wings.
They mustn’t let me down 
Wow I’ve been waiting for this thread to happen!
Like runnersmom above, my longtime team, Sabres, are the worst, but I’ll be rooting for my other team, the Rangers woot!
Of course I’ll be watching the Blackhawks as well as they’re my other half’s team…good thing they’re not in the same conference otherwise there might be trouble!
We’re in Ottawa this week and I’ve managed to get tickets to Sunday night’s game as an early birthday present for my H. Shhhh, don’t tell him! 
He’s actually going to the game tonight in Montreal but the Sunday one will be a surprise.
- Playoffs fallout: the Bruins fired GM Chiarelli. Say they're keeping the coach, though I'm not sure that will be true when they hire the new GM. I see why: some relatively low performing players, mostly 3rd and 4th line, were signed to relatively expensive contracts, but I don't think this is a good move. Why? First, I think Chiarelli has done a good job bringing in players with potential, from Reilly Smith last year (and Louie Ericksson, Carl Soderberg) to David Postrnak and a few others this year. I think the team's failure this season was down to these major factors, some of which are at least partly the GM but some are well here's my list:
a) the top line failed. They thought someone would step up to replace Oginla but that absolutely didn’t happen. I think a major reason for that is the generally lousy play of Milan Lucic. I think you could count his really good games on your fingers. That made it hard to move anyone up and succeed. David Krejci was hurt for a while but Bruins fans think Lucic is a great player and he was more 3rd to 2nd line at best quality this year.
b) the second line was screwed up by the 1st line’s failure. They moved Marchand up and that denuded the 2nd line, so they moved him back and tried moving other wings up and down and that only meant neither line could settle in. Bergeron’s numbers were ok, as were Marchand’s.
c) the defense was in what we might call transition. The blunt truth is Chara has slowed a lot. And Seidenberg either didn’t recover well from last year’s injury, had a bad year or whatever but he wasn’t consistent. Bruins fans blame the trade of Boychuk but the team was caught between slow D and a few faster, smaller D and trying to integrate younger players means less consistency. I think this was a major problem but I don’t see that it’s anyone’s fault - especially considering the contract Boychuk eventually signed - because when your main guy on D gets old the team suffers. I lived through this with the eternally great Nik Lidstrom as he faded. And Chris Chelios before that (and Ray Borque), all becoming shadows of their former selves.
- I always root for the Wings but I'd love to see the Canadians win because I grew up a fan. Otherwise, I root for the team that hasn't won for the longest time.
Thanks for giving me the rundown, Lerg. I heard something briefly on the radio this morning but haven’t had time to check it out.
I have a few others I’m cheering for, too. I’d LOVE to see Minnesota pull out an upset (I’m pro-Wild not anti-SLB).
lergnom, I heard about Chiarelli this morning. He may end up in Toronto if Babcock (wisely) decides to stay in Detroit instead of heading to the center of the hockey universe. The Leafs fired 20 people on Monday and there may be more to come. Shanahan is finally getting to do what he was brought in to do. I can’t say that I was sorry to see the Bruins out, especially when it meant that the Senators were in. Walking around Ottawa today was such fun. It seemed that all the stores have banners up, every second person you see walking on the street has a Sens jersey on, and most cars have those window flags. Lots of excitement here! Let’s hope that the Hamburglar continues to be hot!
it’s great that so many Canadian teams are in.
OK, I checked, and Dan Boyle is uninjured. Now I’m rooting for the Rangers.
Rumor has it that Todd McClellan is leaving San Jose by mutual consent. He should be unemployed for, oh, ten or fifteen seconds.