Hockey Trash Talk & BS thread

Do you guys really want to start the "which country has done the stupidest shit in the last couple years" discussion ?

Cause yeah...

 

You're right. How about them Canucks.

 

Lol was talking about hockey fan crowd size, USA USA lol

 

The Flower sits

 

vive les habs!

 

Booooo

 

best out of 3 now.

 

I know I keep bringing it up but my love for Fleury is affected by how fans/media protect him from blame. He was ordinary at best for both losses this series, along with a couple other games this series (especially the Minn series.) They basically have #1b in Lehner, it's a no-brainer and it paid off.

 

Certainly Fleury lost game 3 for Vegas. With that said, he is still a premier goalie at the ripe age of 36 and there is not a goalie, nay, a player currently in the playoffs with a better playoff pedigree. You can say the same about protecting a player from blame about Crosby, McDavid, Matthews, Price, Vasilevskiy and down the line. It's not just exclusive to a certain fan base.

 

He still won 2 of 3 Cups from the bench and had numerous poor playoff performances during Sid and Geno's prime years. Not blaming him for any of the losses but somehow just because of the situation and his likable personality, he has become untouchable for blame. I have never seen anything like that before, with any athlete. Funny thing is, what he did with the puck at the end of his last game, has happened numerous times in his career and even cost Canada a Gold when he played for them at World Juniors, doing something similar. He's always been a big save/ big mistake guy. Forever. It's literally the reason he got benched vs Ottawa during our Cup run and exactly why Deboer benched him. People just need to accept it. He gets hot and is untouchable but he's prone to breakdown and make mistakes. And when that happens, going to a guy like Lehner (when you have the ridiculous luxury of having that) is 100% the correct move.

 

I agree Lehrner needed to start after game 3. Still, there is not a player in the playoffs at this point who has contributed more to raising the Cup, multiple times. If there is, please let me know who. By the way, I have seen plenty of players put on a pedestal higher than Fleury who have accomplished far less, and that's keeping in mind that Pittsburgh is a rabid sports town. Let's start in the NHL itself with McDavid. What has he accomplished if championships are the goal of every pro player? And how about Price? Maybe since you are here you only hear from this fan base. It happens everywhere, especially in towns rabid about sports.

 

Fair points. The guy is in his later 30s and has had a great career, I will never deny that. I'm a huge fan of the guy. I have multiple jerseys, collect his cards, have a big picture of him hanging in my living room. He's HOF material. But none of that changes the reality that he can get derailed and has proven that. He's a high risk / high reward goalie.

Price certainly gets hyped up but he also hasn't had the benefit of playing for Pittsburgh and Vegas. I think Price is way better than his accomplishments (and lack of championships) show. I would say that Price is probably a better goalie than MAF overall, but it's splitting hairs. But he also get's tagged as the 'best goalie in the world' which is also annoying but I can sometimes let it slide because he plays in Montreal and he still gets blasted by their media on a regular basis.

 

In the end, it's all about the Cup run and the NHL has certainly proven that this year, as every #1 seed is gone and a team with a losing record during the regular season is 2 games away from the Finals. LOL. I think players measure their careers that way. You can argue that during their playing careers, the Canadian's style has benefitted Price over Fleury to have better stats. Fleury may be high risk/high reward, but in the end he has name on the Cup 3 times so far and may get another. So it appears the high reward outweighs his high risk. Price? He has zero. And isn't that how most sports teams operate, at least the winners? They take the risk, make the trades/deals to "go for it," even if it means a few down years? After all, steady but unproductive means nothing in pro sports. By the way, would you have his paraphernalia if he wasn't a multiple Cup winner?

 

Well in most years, NHL playoffs are a much different game than the regular season. Which is probably why you see all of the high-flying offenses on their couches. I certainly don't think Montreal as a team has help Price much, as many of those regular seasons he was getting shelled and caused him to unravel a bit too. But I will say that the Pens have never been the most structured defensive team, which I know was not easy for MAF either. But prime Sid/Geno can erase those bad goals or mistakes because they were able to take over a game, series etc. But then you still had series when they got shut down and the run was over. And like I said earlier, MAF having 2 of those Cups mostly on the bench. Sure he's on there and deserves to be, but still. Like if Vegas goes on to win the Cup with Lehner, this would be exactly like out first run with Murray. Sure he helped but he also needed replaced for the team to move on. And that's just it, he will be held up as a 4-time Cup winner, even if 3 were on the bench. I have a text convo with friends and they all were pissed that he got benched last night and now this morning the narrative has switched to "well they would've still won with MAF in there." Lol.

 

As I have mentioned before, the fact that nobody has filled the void left by Fleury since his departure may be a reason he is seen like he is, in addition to his great disposition. Let's just wait and see how Boston fans sing Brady's praises even more a few years from now if they don't sniff the playoffs or have success in them after his departure. It's really only natural for fans who have an emotional tie to their team. As I once told you, I was in favor of exposing Fleury in the expansion draft. I thought his age and contract warranted it and it seemed, at the time, that Murray was the next success story. LOL. It goes to show that a player like Fleury comes around only every so often - one with his longevity, pedigree and playoff success.

 

One of the reasons Fleury gets so much positivity in Vegas is how negative most folks look at Lehner now. His recovery season in New York took his personal stock sky high. Now though he runs his mouth about how unfair league policies are and, supposedly, is just a general dick to his team mates and the local media about what's going on now. As long as Fleury stays a guy the locals and his team mates like day to day, he'll look great against a guy like that.

No judging on Lehner, but like when Timmy Thomas wouldn't go to the White House, strong opinions can turn people on your team and outside your team against you especially if you're a cranky bastard on the best days.

 

Ya you are right. It's tough to move on from a guy like that. I honestly still think Murray could've been a good No.1 here but I would not have paid him 6mil/year, (like his market value was and what Ott paid him) so it is what it is. Had he signed for 4mil then I like our chances with him, the way we played this year. Pens were so much more responsible this year and Murray never had that, since our last Cup. But that's how it goes sometimes. I know it won't happen but if they find a way to get Gibson, which for some reason keeps getting thrown around as a rumor, then that will be problem solved. That's a perfect example of a guy with no hardware and is a fantastic goalie. But the situation keeps him from succeeding. He comes here and we play defensively like we did this year, get decent offense, that would be perfect.

 

Ya I mean, I'm not exactly a Lehner fan, whereas I am a huge MAF fan. But it is what it is. MAF has a past of unraveling in playoffs and has benefit from some pretty good situations, in his career. Still a HOF goalie, but it was not an asinine move to go to Lehner last night. The one year here in Pittsburgh we went out and got Vokoun as insurance and had to go to him. he played fantastic in playoffs but our offense didn't show up. Then of course we all know about the Murray stuff. So there is history there with MAF, is all I'm saying.

 

I'm worried about Lehner over any sort of long run. If shit goes south a game, get ready for him to go from nice guy to what we saw in the middle of the season when he wasn't getting playing time. You don't want a guy to self implode on a personal level in the middle of the Cup Finals should they get there.

 

Well again, they have an incredible tandem. So each one has their own strengths/weaknesses. So in my opinion goaltending shouldn't be a problem on that team, if Debour can make the switch when needed. They have a luxury that most teams don't. If Lehner falls, then I see no problem putting MAF back in. And aside from last night and maybe 1 or 2 other games, Vegas has controlled the play quite a bit. All they need is for these guys to not blow the game, for the most part. Last night was a bit of an exception lol.