NHL 2021: I Pledge Allegiance to Gritty

[Jimjamesak]

This.

But Tampa can also **** off.

This.

Tampa acted so whiny and entitled that entire series and the refs just shrugged their shoulders. How Stamkos got nothing for firing a puck at the refs after the whistle is beyond me.

It wasn’t quite 2011 Vancouver level of schadenfreude, but it was still good to see Tampa lose.

[Spartanforlife4]

I didn’t realize there was so much Tampa hate. Maybe I’m blinded by the Stevie Y built roster, but this was a fairly neutral series for me.

Shame the Wings don’t have a true rival at the moment. Colorado died sometime after 03, Chicago is now in a different conference, and the Wings haven’t been good enough lately to build a divisional rivalry.

[aparch]

I didn’t realize there was so much Tampa hate. Maybe I’m blinded by the Stevie Y built roster, but this was a fairly neutral series for me.

Shame the Wings don’t have a true rival at the moment. Colorado died sometime after 03, Chicago is now in a different conference, and the Wings haven’t been good enough lately to build a divisional rivalry.

Am I one of the few who never saw the Hawks as a rival? Original Six, yes, but anything else? Meh. I think the Sharks were more of a rival in the late 2000s and early 2010s than the Blackhakws ever were. The Blackhawks, to me, always seemed like the Jan Brady to the Marsha Brady Red Wings. They always had middle sibling syndrome, from the Jeremy Piven "Detroit Sucks" era, and even up to 2013 when Kronwall deflected the GM7 OT winner past Howard, the Wings never played like the Blackhawks were a rival.

The Hawks, meanwhile, watched the Wings win four cups in a decade, play for five, and always fancied themselves to be just like the Wings.

I really can't say the Wings have any true rivals anymore either. I would have picked the Bruins because it seemed like that 2014 playoff first round was nasty, but it's tapered off since then (thanks to the Wings being terrible). I forgot the Lightning ended the Wings season back-to-back in 2015 and 2016, but the Wings went out on a whimper both times. Tampa only when Stevie Y was there, now, again, it doesn't really matter.

[Slap Shot]

I don't mind seeing another former Gopher (EJ) winning a Cup.

Speaking of which...

[The Sicatoka]

Why was Ovechkin playing in a professional soccer game recently?
And did no one know to defend him when he's set up "in his office"?
And does that goal count to his professional career total?

https://sports.yahoo.com/alex-ovechk...001650548.html

[The Sicatoka]

Speaking of which...

I do NOT want to know the goings-on preceding that photo.

[Kepler]

I do NOT want to know the goings-on preceding that photo.

You're on the Cup, but have you been in the Cup?

[The Sicatoka]

You're on the Cup, but have you been in the Cup?

< fingers in ears, eyes closed >

LAH-LAH-LAH ... CAN'T HEAR YOU ... LAH-LAH-LAH


... but I'd expect as much from a Gopher ...

[aparch]

You're on the Cup, but have you been in the Cup?

Does the Stanley Cup have to carry the mini cup to full term, or can it recycle?

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

I didn’t realize there was so much Tampa hate. Maybe I’m blinded by the Stevie Y built roster, but this was a fairly neutral series for me.

Shame the Wings don’t have a true rival at the moment. Colorado died sometime after 03, Chicago is now in a different conference, and the Wings haven’t been good enough lately to build a divisional rivalry.

Colorado died after 2008 once all the key players from the heyday of the rivalry had retired.

From a divisional perspective, once the Wings are consistently a playoff team again, I could see reigniting some of the old rivalry with the Leafs. There is a split of fans in Windsor and SW Ontario that obviously becomes more and more Leafy the closer you get to Toronto.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

If Joe Biden Supports the Colorado Avalanche, I Will Have No Choice but to Write In Stacey Abrams in 2024.

[Bronco]

If Joe Biden Supports the Colorado Avalanche, I Will Have No Choice but to Write In Stacey Abrams in 2024.

I mean we can just have Abrams in 2024 anyway...

[Kepler]

I mean we can just have Abrams in 2024 anyway...

Seriously.

[state of hockey]

Fiala to the Kings for Faber and a first.

[Slap Shot]

Fiala to the Kings for Faber and a first.

Nice!