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2024-25 NHL Misc. Thread

Sigh. If we let the idiots who vote on these things wait until there's a Cup winner, the Vezina would go to the guy with his name on the Cup 95% of the time, even if you issued strict instructions that you're voting on the regular season performances. I'm not sure what everybody wants out of these awards, which is why I'm largely checked out on them
 
We can now say goodbye to Colorado and St Louis ... two teams that got agonizingly close to Game 7 wins on the road.

Avalanche ...
Man, that one is gonna linger. Not just losing to Dallas ... again ... but getting gutted like that by a guy you ditched. Carolina still takes the lion's share of the heat from the way the various Rantanen trades went down but when you digest that Dallas signed him to an extension for basically what the Avs were offering in the first place AND that he ended up on your mortal rival? Well, that's going to take some therapy to process. Then he runs you out of Round 1 basically on his own. There ain't no therapy for that.

And make no mistake. This is dead in the middle of win now, no excuses mode for the Avs. Somebody's got some 'splainin' to do. Somehow or another they traded a star winger and managed not to address their now 4 year hole at 2nd line center. They lost to Pete Freaking DeBoer again, which displays a lack of technical mastery. That goalie they immediately signed to huge contract kind of fell apart when it mattered. Even getting their Captain back after three years wasn't enough to get over the hump against a rival missing its two best players. They don't pick until the 4th round in the draft this summer and have no Cap space to speak of. They also have no prospect pipeline to speak of either. They're stuck in a loop having to build a third forward line and a third defense pair out of twigs and berries. Colorado is still a contender, but the vibes honestly couldn't be worse.

St Louis ...
I'll give Doug Armstrong credit. He's leaving them with a bit of a wonky roster, but he went out and made the kind of coaching hire that could ensure the Blues are competitive for a long time if they stick to their guns. A very Doug Armstrong way to go into retirement. Their core forward group is kind of shallow but relatively young and Jimmy Snuggerud being a plug and play addition really helps. The D is old and getting clunky and nobody trusts Bennington in anything other than a big game, but hey ... they don't suck and should be able to be on the fringes of competitive for the foreseeable. And that's a good thing because the prospect pool is a puddle, they have very few picks and almost no Cap space this summer. So, I hope Blues fans like this team because you're going to see it again next year. Should be good enough to finish somewhere between 6th and 10th in the West.
 
Jets pulled that out without their number one center in Scheifele and for most of that Game 7 they did it without their top D man in Morrissey too...that takes a team effort. The Jets need that extra gate revenue for that franchise so I am pretty happy they pulled it out because that fan base really embraces the playoff hockey and the atmosphere looks pretty cool, they were standing all of overtime which reminded me a bit of our very own Cup Final Game 7 win when it seemed like we stood all game...I know I did!
 
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