20 Comments
User's avatar
Denis Beaudoing's avatar

Great review ! DeBoer and his Coaches did a helluva job . This team is tight …. Warts and alll ! On to the Great White North ! Sorry NOT Sorry , but I must admit I do like me a little of Sad MacKinnon 😄

Expand full comment
Andrew S.'s avatar

I'll take my credit for suggesting PDB would make adjustments to mitigate his weak blue line 😁

Mikko looks like that brute force game breaker we needed and hoped for. Jamie used to be able to do things like that but yeah... Aging...

I thought Bichsel looked largely fantastic with respect to expectations of the rare playoff rookie.

Expand full comment
Bob Hora's avatar

Bichsel and Petrovic were outstanding for what they are - one's a rookie with almost no NHL experience, and one's called up again from the AHL to all of a sudden play against a top 5 team in the NHL in the playoffs. Neither stood out in a bad way, and they contributed some good physicality (well, almost all the physicality, not some)....Harley was amazing, and Lindell I feel was an anchor....what team wouldn't want a Heiskenan, Harley, Lindell, Bichsel as four of their defensemen? Blue sky ahead.

and hey, what's wrong with pasture raised bacon lol...

Expand full comment
Andrew's avatar

Ceci and Boosh as a third pairing...rotation with Lil Nilsy

Expand full comment
Bob Hora's avatar

forgot about Lil Nilsy! He was on a pretty good trajectory before getting hurt. I think he would be good for a third pairing...

Expand full comment
Tim's avatar

Leave it to the Central to have 2 epic game 7's on consecutive nights on the same weekend. Unreal.

Expand full comment
Michael Strawn's avatar

The big winner this weekend was the NHL. Could not have asked for a better showcase for your game.

Expand full comment
Aaron Knodell's avatar

What a series, thrilled to be eating crow on this one. Dallas played this closer than I thought (I didn't think they'd win the xG battle even once and they did it 3-4 times depending on which model/adjustments you use).

I think the craziest thing is they did it without shutting MacKinnon down and with Blackwood playing decently overall. Oettinger got better as the series went along though and the last three games were rough for Blackwood. Some fortunate sequencing in the first four games helped Dallas stay in it long enough for Blackwood to pumpkin-ize. It felt like Colorado got more of the bounces (they made their own luck too), but they all came in just a couple of games.

Insane to see Rantanen come alive in games 5-7. Incredible performance. The Rantanen trade alone might be enough to get Nill a three-peat as GM of the year. Still can't believe what I saw in game 7!

Expand full comment
Bolts Breakdown's avatar

No doubt...crazy acquisition.

Expand full comment
Johnny Ward's avatar

I was one of the readers that said we didn’t have a McKinnon on the Stars for Rantanen to feed off of. Well maybe McKinnon was holding Mikko back rather than pushing him. My big question is where do you put Miro and Robo when they return? Do you sit Petrovic and who does Miro play with? As for Robo I haven’t a clue where he will slot back in. I doubt that either guy will be playing the minutes that they were before their injuries.

Now the Stars can’t let Hellybuck get in their heads. The Blues proved he is not invincible as they sent him to the showers 3 times. Go Stars

Expand full comment
Andrew's avatar

Miro should be paired with BigChel for years and years

Expand full comment
Michael Strawn's avatar

I'm almost certain Robo will take Granlund's place with Mikko and Hintz.

Expand full comment
Pat's avatar

That would be a terrible mistake:

Granlund-Hintz-Rantanen

Robertson-Duchene-Seguin

Benn-Wyatt-Dadonov

Marchment-Steel-Bourque

Expand full comment
D. Y.'s avatar

Agree with Denis…players interviewed stated that the team is very tight. PDB referred to same in post-game interview. TEAM….does NOT an ‘I’ in it….heard a couple of ‘we ain’t goin’ home’ quotes from a few years back…..fond memories.

Expand full comment
Andrew's avatar

Great point about Tommy being at the top of the list of dmen at 4.8...ahead of Werenski, Makar, Hughes... WOW!!!

But I still so many people confused thinking Miro is our best defenseman, amazing 🤣 .

Oh well, let em think whatever they want...the fact is any GM would take Tommy over Miro, starting mid-season last year.

Expand full comment
David Castillo's avatar

So wait a minute. You're saying Evolving-Hockey's model is validation, correct? Because I want this on record before we go any further.

Expand full comment
Andrew's avatar

Yeah, well...great job with that HUGE nugget of truth!!!

Expand full comment
David Castillo's avatar

So if you accept these WAR numbers as truth, then what would you say if I told you that Miro Heiskanen's WAR numbers (adjusted for minutes) are slightly higher?

Expand full comment
Pat's avatar

You do know you will not get any validation…

Expand full comment
honk's avatar

I loved the points but I won't lie. I'm not sure if I understand the key and door references 😅

Expand full comment