Carolina are...

[George Zipp]

The least impressive conference finalist I can recall in any sport.

The east was really down this year. TB was good but having to play FLA in rd one killed them. The Leafs had Fla on the ropes and opened the door and let them off. The rest of the conference, meh. Washington might be the worst playoff one seed I can recall. NJ, Ottawa. Goofs. Without looking it up I can’t tell you the other eastern playoff teams.

[mph6689new]

Carolina is so unimpressive. Not sure what happens to them in this round, they just turn to dust. 0 and 15? Is that real?

[MiamiLaw]

+12 goal differential is most through 3 games of any conference final ever

[smegma]

in trouble.

[icon]

How in the world is this a conference finalist?

That blind backhand pass at center ice that ended up in their own net was the spark that set off the Florida fireworks. Just one of innumerable stupid Carolina plays in this series.

That plus a big talent gap in this series leads to 15 straight losses in the ECFs. That's hard to do. I'd say that franchise needs close to a house cleaning. Regular season success means nothing when you have this level of ineptitude in the playoffs.

[TheJackBurton]

How in the world is this a conference finalist?

That blind backhand pass at center ice that ended up in their own net was the spark that set off the Florida fireworks. Just one of innumerable stupid Carolina plays in this series.

That plus a big talent gap in this series leads to 15 straight losses in the ECFs. That's hard to do. I'd say that franchise needs close to a house cleaning. Regular season success means nothing when you have this level of ineptitude in the playoffs.

Well the part that really makes no sense is the past 3-4 years they have sailed through the first 2 rounds, including a sweep or two.

Yet whenever they get to the ECF they just get the tight cheeks and completely forget how to play the game.

It's mind boggling.

Since they just extended Brind'amour he isn't going anywhere, but they have to have a somewhat busy off season. They need to make changes they may not be ready to make whether they like it or not.

[bluetunehead]

..getting swept?

If they do, does Brinda’mour get the ax?

This is his 4th conference final with the ‘Canes and he has yet to win a game in any of them. But, hey, they have some really cute post-win rituals during the regular season.

Carolina keeps ignoring the obvious. When BriseBois took over for Stevie Y, he made the adjustments Yzerman hadn’t. Carolina needs their own version of BriseBois.

They took big swings for guys with strong playoff track records (Guentzel and Rantanen) in the last two years but neither move has panned out for different reasons.

[O.O]

toast

[DawgDad]

Perhaps the only thing that could slow down the Panthers right now is a long layoff.

[George Zipp]

Perhaps the only thing that could slow down the Panthers right now is a long layoff.

I'll go way out on a limb and say this dumb series of the 85 Bears playing the 2015 Rams is going to end tomorrow night.

If the Stars Oilers ends in 6 it will end next Saturday. If it goes 7 it ends next Monday June 2. I poked around and i don't think they have announced the finals schedule yet (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), so it seems that the finals won't start until June 5-7, depending mostly on TV. I would think a Thursday Saturday makes most sense. Probably dealing with scheduling with the NBA so the respective finals aren't being played on the same night.

So yeah, about 10-12 days off for the Cats assuming the inevitable sweep. That's a lot of down time. Don't think it will matter a bit to that group, but we shall see.

[TheHighHat]

Perhaps the only thing that could slow down the Panthers right now is a long layoff.

It's setting up exactly like 2023.
The Panthers had a longggg layoff after sweeping the Canes and before playing the Knights.

[TheHighHat]

I'm amazed every year that the Canes trade for a scoring winger instead of the gaping hole in their lineup:
2nd line center

Staal is 36 and only produces 30 something points a year. He still gets the most ice time at center after Aho.
Kotkaniemi is pushing 25 but just can't be counted on to create offense. 5 more years left on that mistake.
Roslovic was forced to play some center this year even though he is better suited as a 3RW

The Devils didn't have much of a chance without J. Hughes.
I knew that the Caps overachieved this year, but I was taken aback at how quickly the Canes took them out.
Andersen and Svechnikov were great in the first 2 rounds, but that shine has worn off.

Now the Canes also need major help on their former strength from a few years back:
Defensemen

Burns should/might hang them up.
Orlov might not get a contract offer after last night's abomination.
Slavin and Chatfield will be in charge of babysitting Nikishin and Morrow next year.
You can live with the 2 little guys (Gostisbehere & Walker) that make up the 3rd pair in the regular season, but they are exposed and punished once the playoffs start.

[MiamiLaw]

We can all say how weak the Canes are but they did beat a good Washington team rather easily. I think the Panthers are just overwhelming them. They don’t have any time and they’re making mistakes. They are also trying to play the tough guy game which is, frankly, absurd with the two roster.

Let me tell you guys though, Stankoven is a hell of a player. Amazing hands. He easily stood out last night among Carolina players.

[netboy65]

The least impressive conference finalist I can recall in any sport.

The east was really down this year. TB was good but having to play FLA in rd one killed them. The Leafs had Fla on the ropes and opened the door and let them off. The rest of the conference, meh. Washington might be the worst playoff one seed I can recall. NJ, Ottawa. Goofs. Without looking it up I can’t tell you the other eastern playoff teams.

Took me a hot minute too! Isles and Mont though

[George Zipp]

The least impressive conference finalist I can recall in any sport.

The east was really down this year. TB was good but having to play FLA in rd one killed them. The Leafs had Fla on the ropes and opened the door and let them off. The rest of the conference, meh. Washington might be the worst playoff one seed I can recall. NJ, Ottawa. Goofs. Without looking it up I can’t tell you the other eastern playoff teams.

Took me a hot minute too! Isles and Mont though

Yeah, but did you piece it together on your own or did you google it? Thanks. Two more completely unmemorable 2024 Eastern Conf. playoff teams.

[DawgDad]

I'm amazed every year that the Canes trade for a scoring winger instead of the gaping hole in their lineup:
2nd line center

Staal is 36 and only produces 30 something points a year. He still gets the most ice time at center after Aho.
Kotkaniemi is pushing 25 but just can't be counted on to create offense. 5 more years left on that mistake.
Roslovic was forced to play some center this year even though he is better suited as a 3RW

The Devils didn't have much of a chance without J. Hughes.
I knew that the Caps overachieved this year, but I was taken aback at how quickly the Canes took them out.
Andersen and Svechnikov were great in the first 2 rounds, but that shine has worn off.

Now the Canes also need major help on their former strength from a few years back:
Defensemen

Burns should/might hang them up.
Orlov might not get a contract offer after last night's abomination.
Slavin and Chatfield will be in charge of babysitting Nikishin and Morrow next year.
You can live with the 2 little guys (Gostisbehere & Walker) that make up the 3rd pair in the regular season, but they are exposed and punished once the playoffs start.

Good analysis. They have a mix of very young players with talent and very old players with only a couple of guys like Aho in the middle. Decent shape on draft picks. The young guys should have career runway to learn from these experiences and fight on but they do need to retool as you point out.

It's very disappointing to fans to keep running into a brick wall but they need to maintain perspective. This is the third round of the playoffs, the Final Four in a 32 team league. It's very hard just to get here, a few wrong moves and they may not be back for a decade or more.