Lets not forget Marchand licking two players on the face which is arguably worse than punching them. Total disrespect for an opponent and borderline mental.
The road to the Stanley Cup finals for Tampa or the Leafs will be a whole lot easier if that upset happens potentially!
Lost all 3 home games of the series, in OT, has any team ever done that? Unreal! A Canadian team hasn’t won the Cup since 1993. I hope the drought continues for another 30yrs!
The Bolts looked old and tired for a lot of that series, the Leaf skilled players were better than theirs, I am not a Lightning fan but I sure wanted them to eliminate the Leafs and quiet things down around here!
Tampa had them down in the final minute in game 3 and only played 9 bad minutes in game 4. National media in the states saying Tampa outplayed them. No Cernak and Hedman and Point were both slowed by injury. And lets ignore the high stick and the blown goal call that cost Tampa game 3. Tampa will be fine. Sorry you have to live with those nutjobs.
LOL when was the last time "Canada" won a cup what 30 years ago? Not going to win it this year either.
I was fortunate to be able to attend the game tonight what a great atmosphere. It was apparent early on the refs were going to swallow their whistles. I'm fine with them not trying to affect the outcome but they need to call the blatant high stick with 10 seconds to go. Tough way to end the season.
I don't want "Canada" to win the cup if it is the Leafs, as a Habs fan the rivalry is like Florida/Georgia and I don't think many of us were cheering for the Mutts to win a NC!
Die hard Bolts fan but we blew our chances giving up leads in games 3 and 4. Were there some bad calls? Sure but that happens. Give the Bolts/Vasy a 3 goal lead in the 3rd period previously and they knew how to choke out the game, that didn't happen this year. Cernak was a massive part of that and his absence was worthy of a similar cheap shot on Bunting. I'm not so positive about the future, Hedman isn't the same guy and others will follow.
I don't watch Tampa much but from what I saw I must agree with you, it is BS that a guy who injured one of your best players is back in the lineup after a short suspension and I don't know how much is due to injury or age but Hedman is a shadow of himself, that was a poor play off for him! Like any sport age catches up fast with guys and it certainly looks like a few key players have lost a step in the last year, the series was still there for the taking but you just can't lose all 3 games at home!
I agree about game 4, but game 3 we earned a two goal lead and it was stolen from us. Replay then stole it further when the whistle was clearly after the puck crossed the line. The debacle in game 2 was with no Hedman or Cernak. I really dont understand why the officials are so cowardly in late moments. I dont know why the situation room was to cowardly to give Point that goal in game two, and the refusal to call a blatant high stick late that would give Tampa a PP to win the game was also just cowardly so game 4 collapse not withstanding, Tampa should at least be tied 3-3 at worst. As for the future, I think Hedman is still THAT guy and a two month longer offseason may help him get healthy. He hasnt been healthy all season. Perbix looks like the real deal and a very solid #4 Dman...It looks like Raddysh may be finally coming along and he 8s a real offensive threat on the back end. Bogo and Cole are easily replaced imo. And the School bus line probably needs to all go. (Love Pat but...) Kuch, Point, Cirelli, Hagel, Paul, Colton, are all still pretty young. Killer had a career season (need to get him to take a hometown discount.) Stammer had a really strong healthy season, Vassy will probably study film and fix a couple things that may be exposed weakness... Some promising offense in Syracuse: Barré-Boulet was the best C/W in the AHL (finished 1 pt away from the top spot in the in total points AHL). Rifors was a top 20 pts guy in the AHL too. Raddysh was the 3rd leading pts guy among D men in the AHL. So the short term window isnt closed IMO. But JBB does have to start looking at rebuilding the prospect pool.
Heddy was hurt all season. Likely a carryover from last years playoff run many have speculated. The one blessing is that for the first time in years we get a full offseason for guys to really heal. People forget that Tampa had very short offseasons due to the way the split covid year worked out. No NHL team has ever had to deal with such short offseasons. Hedman and Stammer are getting older, but look at Ovi, he's much older. When healthy they are still elite.
