2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs Thread (Second Round is set, begins tomorrow)

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too early.  hoping for Isles to clinch a home ice series. tonight did not help.

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@HockeyDude: today's the day for the Isles fan to root for the Rangers.  Isles get 1st round home ice with a Rangers win and an Isles win tonight.  currently NYR 3, WAS 1 2nd period

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I watched the final period of the Panthers vs. Bruins game yesterday (for obvious reasons), and yeah, there was no one in the stands in South Florida, except for a bunch of New England snowbirds decked out in black and gold.

It's irritating to me as a hockey fan to see the nonsense in Florida while Quebec City fans of all people twittle their thumbs without a team and a hockey-ready arena sitting there.  And all the time the only city the NHL is getting serious about expanding to is ******* LAS VEGAS!  VEGAS! 

Quebec will get a team by the end of the decade.  that arena won't even be functional until Sept 2015.

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Where are my Fishstick fans?  Nice defense last night against Washington.  El Oh El. 

you really have nothing better to do than pick on a team that hasn't won a series (or had a lead in a series past Game 1, prior to today) since 1993?  worry about your own 1-1 series.

1 title in 75 yrs isn't much to relish in your own right.  my dad tells me the "1940!" chant was a fun thing back in the 80s...

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Where are my Fishstick fans?  Nice defense last night against Washington.  El Oh El. 

Up 2-1 now, btw you enjoy Sid the Kid lighting you guys up? Lets just agree that the Mets are playing great ball.

Mets are 10-3 and up 4 games on Washington; Islanders have a 2-1 series lead for the first time since 1993; Clippers begin their series in 15 minutes.  I have never had a busier April to worry about competitive teams.

that said, playoff hockey is a fcking panic attack.  at least in baseball/football, there's time to exhale after each play and regroup the emotions.  hockey is just a straight up exhausting panic attack.  I can't even contemplate what I'll do if it's Isles/Rangers next round.  I'll have to take 10x doses of diazepines just to look at the fcking screen.

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that said, playoff hockey is a fcking panic attack.  at least in baseball/football, there's time to exhale after each play and regroup the emotions.  hockey is just a straight up exhausting panic attack.  I can't even contemplate what I'll do if it's Isles/Rangers next round.  I'll have to take 10x doses of diazepines just to look at the fcking screen.

haha, I went to game 5 of Blackhawks-Blues last year and took some Molly before the game, which was probably the best decision I've ever made in my life as the game went to OT and I likely would have suffered a heart attack. Ended up having great conversations with surrounding Blues fans about grad school and whatnot; meanwhile people in Vancouver and Montreal are punching opposing fans and calling each other whores.

I figured you'd find my post.  unfortunately I can't fool with serotonin-dumping drugs such as MDMA, as I suffer from severe depression in the days following.  if I find a common humanity with Rangers fans it'll be on some other ground...

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1975 SCQF: Islanders comeback from 3-0 deficit to beat Penguins

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That Capitals/Islanders series is going to be the best playoff series of the year. A lot more fun to watch than whomever ends up in the final.

Nashville/Chicago has probably been a better series.  Isles and Capitals aren't very good, either Nash or Chicago could win the Cup.

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Nashville win the cup? Dear lord...

you've already seen Cups won in Tampa and Raleigh.  that bird had flown.

with the near-parity of the dollar things are headed your way again.  Winnipeg got another team and Quebec will within a few years.  that'll be 8, yes?

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sent the Barn out right

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sent the Barn out right

If the Isles advance, we'd get one more Long Island Expressway series, which will be quite interesting, but if the Capitals advance we have the NHL's best scorer (Alex Ovechkin) against their best goalie (Henrik Lundqvist). The NHL can't lose here.

I not quite hoping the Isles lose game 7, but I'm legitimately afraid of the spectacle of NYR celebrating on Coliseum ice.  this was the more suitable ending for the Barn.

that said, I assume the Rangers would prefer to face Wash, as they're familiar with them.  if the Isles do manage to take this series the supernatural threatens to makes its presence known.  a lucky break here or there for the Islanders and the series becomes more than just a Conference Semi, its meaning points beyond itself.  ghosts of Coliseum past awake from slumber, that sort of thing.  

those type series can become scary for the favorite, though they sometimes pull through anyway.

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also, with TB not playing well, the challenges to the Rangers look a bit weak in the East.  the two best teams left other than the NYR are Chicago and Anaheim.  I'd put Montreal fourth, Islanders fifth... but those ghosts, man...

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also, with TB not playing well, the challenges to the Rangers look a bit weak in the East.  the two best teams left other than the NYR are Chicago and Anaheim.  I'd put Montreal fourth, Islanders fifth... but those ghosts, man...

Montreal? Seriously?

hey, if Carey Price plays like Carey Price... but that's just the point.  the East is so thin.  the NYR could march into Chicago or Anaheim having played 15 or 16 postseason games.

that's what makes the Isles possibly scary.  the hockey Gods may have something up their sleeve with the Isles.  hard to see it for anything or anybody else, unless you feel the dearth of Canadian cups qualifies.

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Wild/Chicago is another good series.  Chicago has a tough road, esp. if it goes NSH/MIN/ANA/NYR.

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f-uckin Rangers man.  I thought I was done with hockey for the year.

intellectually I still think Anaheim or Chicago would beat them, but... just the extra anxiety, it sucks.

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how much do the New York Rangers suck?  in historical perspective