Post by Nordiques - Chris on Aug 7, 2020 23:53:17 GMT -5
Wanted to add a few bonus thoughts to this super competitive Cup run while I still remember. Again, I know I got several in the trophy but do truly believe this was the toughest yet, and not just saying that.
- There were so many teams that had a legitimate shot at the Cup.
- With so many 1 goal games I was personally involved in, not to mention OT games, or all 4 series going the distance - 4 effen heart rate elevating Game 7s
- First round: Sharks (3rd overall team!) - home team won every game!
- Second round: Canucks (1st overall!) - Joe's ahhh-maaaazing President Trophy winning season - road team won every game!
*I think it was in this series I tweaked my defensive pairings - I flipped my 2 deadline acquisitions - I acquired Keith for my 2nd pairing but put him on 3rd pairing with Slavin and bumped Ryan Murray up on 2nd pairing with Ekblad - Ekblad and Keith pairing were struggling. Murray seemed to like that slot.
- Third Round: Preds (4th overall) - I lost Game and again thought I was in trouble.
*I think this was the series where I flipped Braydon Point to top line centre and put Toews as 3rd line centre. Seemed to spark the offense.
- Finals - Leafs (5th overall in regular season, but trade deadline acquisitions made them, to my eye, the team to beat): Lost 1st game. Won next 3. Eug stormed back to tie it up. I fired up the old flux capacitor and ran 2800 simulations of my own. lol, jj - fired up the GM Editor to make some minor tweaks. Maybe something clicked, but most likely, got extremely lucky.
- Minor Disappointment: if there was a disappointment it was Vasilevskiy, but I think his numbers are more of a reflection of the super tough opponents we faced, with high octane offenses; still tough to see that over 3GAA ; )
- Unsung hero: Ryan Murray - 17 pts in playoffs, but his steady defensive play was key in my eyes
- Runner Up unsung heroes: 3rd line wingers Parise & Reilly Smith - know it's a weak overall stat, but both led team in plus/minus and really stepped up when Toews got moved to centre them.
- MVP: Ryan O'Reilly led the team with 30 pts but more importantly a possession driver throughout the playoffs, even when Toews and some other guys were slumping.
Runner Up: tough one, but Brayden Point was a real dangerous offensive catalyst when he moved up to center 1st line - I tried him there in regular season and the line didn't click.
- departing UFAs: will be tough to see Wheeler, Parise, and Keith all go, but cool to get these key cogs Cups.
On other teams:
- was super surprising to see a relatively early exit from the playoffs by Monty - though the West had some really strong, deep rosters, I really thought the Habs and Leafs had the 2 most talented rosters in the league bar none.
- was happy to pick up Keith & Ryan Murray at deadline, was admittedly bummed to have missed out on both Letang and then Gio - of course, it worked out
Any other interesting points from the playoffs/season?
Any trades you regretted or wish you had made?
Like, Eug, happy to get a break from the GM Editor - looking forward to the break, but also will be an intriguing offseason as it progresses - interesting, good draft class, some good FAs, what teams are retooling or rebuilding...
Let's do that hockey offseason...
Oh, thanks again fellas, for the congrats for the Cup win - really appreciate it!
(In true Canadian fashion, sorry to have won another one, lol)
- There were so many teams that had a legitimate shot at the Cup.
- With so many 1 goal games I was personally involved in, not to mention OT games, or all 4 series going the distance - 4 effen heart rate elevating Game 7s
- First round: Sharks (3rd overall team!) - home team won every game!
- Second round: Canucks (1st overall!) - Joe's ahhh-maaaazing President Trophy winning season - road team won every game!
*I think it was in this series I tweaked my defensive pairings - I flipped my 2 deadline acquisitions - I acquired Keith for my 2nd pairing but put him on 3rd pairing with Slavin and bumped Ryan Murray up on 2nd pairing with Ekblad - Ekblad and Keith pairing were struggling. Murray seemed to like that slot.
- Third Round: Preds (4th overall) - I lost Game and again thought I was in trouble.
*I think this was the series where I flipped Braydon Point to top line centre and put Toews as 3rd line centre. Seemed to spark the offense.
- Finals - Leafs (5th overall in regular season, but trade deadline acquisitions made them, to my eye, the team to beat): Lost 1st game. Won next 3. Eug stormed back to tie it up. I fired up the old flux capacitor and ran 2800 simulations of my own. lol, jj - fired up the GM Editor to make some minor tweaks. Maybe something clicked, but most likely, got extremely lucky.
- Minor Disappointment: if there was a disappointment it was Vasilevskiy, but I think his numbers are more of a reflection of the super tough opponents we faced, with high octane offenses; still tough to see that over 3GAA ; )
- Unsung hero: Ryan Murray - 17 pts in playoffs, but his steady defensive play was key in my eyes
- Runner Up unsung heroes: 3rd line wingers Parise & Reilly Smith - know it's a weak overall stat, but both led team in plus/minus and really stepped up when Toews got moved to centre them.
- MVP: Ryan O'Reilly led the team with 30 pts but more importantly a possession driver throughout the playoffs, even when Toews and some other guys were slumping.
Runner Up: tough one, but Brayden Point was a real dangerous offensive catalyst when he moved up to center 1st line - I tried him there in regular season and the line didn't click.
- departing UFAs: will be tough to see Wheeler, Parise, and Keith all go, but cool to get these key cogs Cups.
On other teams:
- was super surprising to see a relatively early exit from the playoffs by Monty - though the West had some really strong, deep rosters, I really thought the Habs and Leafs had the 2 most talented rosters in the league bar none.
- was happy to pick up Keith & Ryan Murray at deadline, was admittedly bummed to have missed out on both Letang and then Gio - of course, it worked out
Any other interesting points from the playoffs/season?
Any trades you regretted or wish you had made?
Like, Eug, happy to get a break from the GM Editor - looking forward to the break, but also will be an intriguing offseason as it progresses - interesting, good draft class, some good FAs, what teams are retooling or rebuilding...
Let's do that hockey offseason...
Oh, thanks again fellas, for the congrats for the Cup win - really appreciate it!
(In true Canadian fashion, sorry to have won another one, lol)