seattleblue wrote: ↑21 Dec 2025 12:08 pm
Before they lost yesterday, Columbus was .500 and all 15 other teams in the East had a better record.
out West, nine teams arrayed between +1 and -3 in terms of wins minus regulation losses, that is a huge outlier from what is normally seen. Blues have the most regulation wins of this group which is first tiebreaker.
The 8th place team is likely getting the Avs round 1 at this rate. Avs are +23, Dallas +17, Minnesota +13, Vegas +9, Anaheim +8, Kings +5, Oilers +4.
Man, I'd LOVE to squeak in this year, as long as we don't trade Binny. I'll take Colorado in the first round. All that pressure, ripe for a Boston/Tampa type exit.
Mackinnon and Makar wont let them fall flat. No way.
They don't have Kadri. That's the only thing that saved them in '22
Was that the only thing? The Blues didn’t exactly dominate play. FFS
You're absolutely right, but, Darcy Kuemper in that series had an .890 sv% vs Binny's .949. The only games we weren't in were 3 after the injury and 4 when Perron was more interested in revenge. Nate had 3 goals that entire series and they all came in Game 5. Makar had 3 assists total in the series. So yeah, I'll stand by my claim that without Kadri running Binny, the Blues upset them in Round 2.
I agree the Blues could’ve won if not for effing kadri but I wouldn’t have put money on it either.
That team was a notch short on talent (I wanted Army to add Giroux that deadline) and mid IQ. The final Avs goal was painful.
Even if the Blues somehow won game 6 despite being outshot something like 40-19, they were not going to win game 7 in Colorado.
We won game 2 ( our best game by far) & stole game 5.
I couldnt see Husso stealing game 7.
Binnington maybe, but not Husso
PPG wrote: ↑24 Dec 2025 11:16 am
Even if the Blues somehow won game 6 despite being outshot something like 40-19, they were not going to win game 7 in Colorado.
We won game 2 ( our best game by far) & stole game 5.
I couldnt see Husso stealing game 7.
Binnington maybe, but not Husso
If Binny doesn't get hurt, it doesn't go 7, blues likely win in 6.
You could very easily tell Binnington had entered his zone, and was going to be incredibly difficult to beat, while Colorado had no answer for their dump ins that he was stopping.
PPG wrote: ↑24 Dec 2025 11:16 am
Even if the Blues somehow won game 6 despite being outshot something like 40-19, they were not going to win game 7 in Colorado.
We won game 2 ( our best game by far) & stole game 5.
I couldnt see Husso stealing game 7.
Binnington maybe, but not Husso
If Binny doesn't get hurt, it doesn't go 7, blues likely win in 6.
You could very easily tell Binnington had entered his zone, and was going to be incredibly difficult to beat, while Colorado had no answer for their dump ins that he was stopping.
The Kings in 2012 G1 targeting Petro who was our best player by then belongs IMO with Kadri/Binnington in 2022. Petro came back and played but he was clearly damaged by the dirty hit. Kings were an 8 seeded juggernaut and wiped everybody but we had tied for the second most points in the league that regular season. the Darryl Sutter special. those Dustin Brown teams.
Were the teams that used these hits good enough to be champs? Clearly. They became champs. It's why Pierre says he likes teams/players that do it. (The 2019 Blues had precisely the right approach, didn't knock out anyone's essential top player though.) Even though the teams became champs you can question whether they were good enough to do it without the cheap targeting, because they themselves invited the question.
Kings repeated as champs and the 2013 series was about the best series I ever saw from a competition standpoint, so tough to lose that one. So Kings get more of a pass than the Avs who have yet to repeat or get close.
seattleblue wrote: ↑24 Dec 2025 14:16 pm
The Kings in 2012 G1 targeting Petro who was our best player by then belongs IMO with Kadri/Binnington in 2022. Petro came back and played but he was clearly damaged by the dirty hit. Kings were an 8 seeded juggernaut and wiped everybody but we had tied for the second most points in the league that regular season. the Darryl Sutter special. those Dustin Brown teams.
Were the teams that used these hits good enough to be champs? Clearly. They became champs. It's why Pierre says he likes teams/players that do it. (The 2019 Blues had precisely the right approach, didn't knock out anyone's essential top player though.) Even though the teams became champs you can question whether they were good enough to do it without the cheap targeting, because they themselves invited the question.
Kings repeated as champs and the 2013 series was about the best series I ever saw from a competition standpoint, so tough to lose that one. So Kings get more of a pass than the Avs who have yet to repeat or get close.
That Sharks series was very tough…especially the 1st half. The blues targeted Karl and Petro knocked out Pavs which was great. He was their heart
seattleblue wrote: ↑24 Dec 2025 14:16 pm
The Kings in 2012 G1 targeting Petro who was our best player by then belongs IMO with Kadri/Binnington in 2022. Petro came back and played but he was clearly damaged by the dirty hit. Kings were an 8 seeded juggernaut and wiped everybody but we had tied for the second most points in the league that regular season. the Darryl Sutter special. those Dustin Brown teams.
Were the teams that used these hits good enough to be champs? Clearly. They became champs. It's why Pierre says he likes teams/players that do it. (The 2019 Blues had precisely the right approach, didn't knock out anyone's essential top player though.) Even though the teams became champs you can question whether they were good enough to do it without the cheap targeting, because they themselves invited the question.
Kings repeated as champs and the 2013 series was about the best series I ever saw from a competition standpoint, so tough to lose that one. So Kings get more of a pass than the Avs who have yet to repeat or get close.
That Sharks series was very tough…especially the 1st half. The blues targeted Karl and Petro knocked out Pavs which was great. He was their heart
I was gonna say the same thing. We decimated that team physically to the point that game 5 and 6 weren’t even competitive.
seattleblue wrote: ↑21 Dec 2025 12:08 pm
Before they lost yesterday, Columbus was .500 and all 15 other teams in the East had a better record.
out West, nine teams arrayed between +1 and -3 in terms of wins minus regulation losses, that is a huge outlier from what is normally seen. Blues have the most regulation wins of this group which is first tiebreaker.
The 8th place team is likely getting the Avs round 1 at this rate. Avs are +23, Dallas +17, Minnesota +13, Vegas +9, Anaheim +8, Kings +5, Oilers +4.
Man, I'd LOVE to squeak in this year, as long as we don't trade Binny. I'll take Colorado in the first round. All that pressure, ripe for a Boston/Tampa type exit.
Mackinnon and Makar wont let them fall flat. No way.
They don't have Kadri. That's the only thing that saved them in '22
Blues gave Avs more of fight than the other three teams that year.
But the boldfaced is overstated. Avs went 16-4 in the playoffs. By comparison, that would be 131 points in the regular season.
Blues were outshot 226-154 in the series; Blues outshot them in exactly one game 32-31 (game two). My bad memory is that Avs outshot every team by period, minus the Blues.
Simply a dynamo.
It's hard to take the Avs shots on goal seriously though. Their game plan is as soon as they get in the offensive zone to get the puck on net to get a freeze so that they can get MacKinnon and Makar out on the ice for an offensive zone faceoff. I'd say at least 10 of their shots on goals are never expected to go in, they are simply to accomplish that.
Understand your point, but don't entirely agree as that scenario never happened every time.
Having said that, there is skill in defending your zone to gain puck, then exiting cleanly, then entering o-zone, then shooting, etc. Landeskog was a beast, same for Nichuskinin (spelling?), Rantanen, Toews, etc.
seattleblue wrote: ↑21 Dec 2025 12:08 pm
Before they lost yesterday, Columbus was .500 and all 15 other teams in the East had a better record.
out West, nine teams arrayed between +1 and -3 in terms of wins minus regulation losses, that is a huge outlier from what is normally seen. Blues have the most regulation wins of this group which is first tiebreaker.
The 8th place team is likely getting the Avs round 1 at this rate. Avs are +23, Dallas +17, Minnesota +13, Vegas +9, Anaheim +8, Kings +5, Oilers +4.
Man, I'd LOVE to squeak in this year, as long as we don't trade Binny. I'll take Colorado in the first round. All that pressure, ripe for a Boston/Tampa type exit.
Mackinnon and Makar wont let them fall flat. No way.
They don't have Kadri. That's the only thing that saved them in '22
Was that the only thing? The Blues didn’t exactly dominate play. FFS
You're absolutely right, but, Darcy Kuemper in that series had an .890 sv% vs Binny's .949. The only games we weren't in were 3 after the injury and 4 when Perron was more interested in revenge. Nate had 3 goals that entire series and they all came in Game 5. Makar had 3 assists total in the series. So yeah, I'll stand by my claim that without Kadri running Binny, the Blues upset them in Round 2.
I agree the Blues could’ve won if not for effing kadri but I wouldn’t have put money on it either.
That team was a notch short on talent (I wanted Army to add Giroux that deadline) and mid IQ. The final Avs goal was painful.
Yep, game 1 fell the Avs way but by game 2, it was clear the Blues and Binner figured the Av's out. It wasn't just his epic save percentage. Avs forecheck was subverted by Binner's puck handling. And then the terrorists won...
seattleblue wrote: ↑21 Dec 2025 12:08 pm
Before they lost yesterday, Columbus was .500 and all 15 other teams in the East had a better record.
out West, nine teams arrayed between +1 and -3 in terms of wins minus regulation losses, that is a huge outlier from what is normally seen. Blues have the most regulation wins of this group which is first tiebreaker.
The 8th place team is likely getting the Avs round 1 at this rate. Avs are +23, Dallas +17, Minnesota +13, Vegas +9, Anaheim +8, Kings +5, Oilers +4.
Man, I'd LOVE to squeak in this year, as long as we don't trade Binny. I'll take Colorado in the first round. All that pressure, ripe for a Boston/Tampa type exit.
Mackinnon and Makar wont let them fall flat. No way.
They don't have Kadri. That's the only thing that saved them in '22
Blues gave Avs more of fight than the other three teams that year.
But the boldfaced is overstated. Avs went 16-4 in the playoffs. By comparison, that would be 131 points in the regular season.
Blues were outshot 226-154 in the series; Blues outshot them in exactly one game 32-31 (game two). My bad memory is that Avs outshot every team by period, minus the Blues.
Simply a dynamo.
It's hard to take the Avs shots on goal seriously though. Their game plan is as soon as they get in the offensive zone to get the puck on net to get a freeze so that they can get MacKinnon and Makar out on the ice for an offensive zone faceoff. I'd say at least 10 of their shots on goals are never expected to go in, they are simply to accomplish that.
Understand your point, but don't entirely agree as that scenario never happened every time.
Having said that, there is skill in defending your zone to gain puck, then exiting cleanly, then entering o-zone, then shooting, etc. Landeskog was a beast, same for Nichuskinin (spelling?), Rantanen, Toews, etc.
oh I don't disagree, I'm just saying their shot total gets padded because they want Mac and Makar to get as many offensive zone starts as they possibly can and quite frankly I don't blame them.
seattleblue wrote: ↑24 Dec 2025 14:16 pm
The Kings in 2012 G1 targeting Petro who was our best player by then belongs IMO with Kadri/Binnington in 2022. Petro came back and played but he was clearly damaged by the dirty hit. Kings were an 8 seeded juggernaut and wiped everybody but we had tied for the second most points in the league that regular season. the Darryl Sutter special. those Dustin Brown teams.
Were the teams that used these hits good enough to be champs? Clearly. They became champs. It's why Pierre says he likes teams/players that do it. (The 2019 Blues had precisely the right approach, didn't knock out anyone's essential top player though.) Even though the teams became champs you can question whether they were good enough to do it without the cheap targeting, because they themselves invited the question.
Kings repeated as champs and the 2013 series was about the best series I ever saw from a competition standpoint, so tough to lose that one. So Kings get more of a pass than the Avs who have yet to repeat or get close.
That Sharks series was very tough…especially the 1st half. The blues targeted Karl and Petro knocked out Pavs which was great. He was their heart
As I think you know, Petro delivered the final push but Pavelski was already hanging on by a thread. Their guys that got injured had come in on the heels of two undeserved wins in seven game series and were already beat up, then Berube's squad mashed them for the first four games. I was at Game 1 which we lost but I came away oddly feeling optimistic about the series because I had seen every check get finished for the entire game, it was just unsustainable for the Sharks.