Uhh.. Bourque ran our goalie Kristers at the 9minute mark, he made no effort to slow down or avoid Kristers... now I know you will disagree with me on that obviously because your a Habs fan but that is the example that comes to my head. Their were plenty of plays that were to me clear penalties that they let go.

The Bolts ultimately could not kill off the penalty and lost, I stand by what I say though as I felt that call was not consistent with how they called that period. And as I said in the next post I agree with you, I don't understand why Paquette was getting all the ice time, it was his 6th NHL game we had guys benched who have played all year, very weird to me.
- stammerman

I was watching the game with an NHL referee and he said they missed the call on Bourque. He also said they had no choice to make the call on Paquette, but that Bournival could have gotten one as well in the corner... But as he said, refs are human, and the speed of the game is such and playoffs are so intense that they all miss calls, but not anymore than in regular season... they are just way more scrutinized in the playoffs. In all, refs or no refs, Montreal outplayed TB in all 4 games. Besides maybe 2 or 3 period total, Lightning weren't skating. They were coasting through the neutral zone. Filpulla played hurt, and it showed. It was obvious he could barely stickhandle the puck.

Paquette was very solid most of the series. He played with heart and his game seems built for the playoffs. I can't blame Paquette for anything. Should Stamkos have been on the ice? Maybe. But STamkos was invisible most game

Uhh.. Bourque ran our goalie Kristers at the 9minute mark, he made no effort to slow down or avoid Kristers... now I know you will disagree with me on that obviously because your a Habs fan but that is the example that comes to my head. Their were plenty of plays that were to me clear penalties that they let go.

The Bolts ultimately could not kill off the penalty and lost, I stand by what I say though as I felt that call was not consistent with how they called that period. And as I said in the next post I agree with you, I don't understand why Paquette was getting all the ice time, it was his 6th NHL game we had guys benched who have played all year, very weird to me.
- stammerman

He's actually pretty unbiased as far as Habs fans go.

Calder Trophy Finalists: MacKinnon, Palat, Johnson.

If I had it my way, Palat would take it. But that's not likely. MacKinnon will win it, and its not like he doesn't deserve it

Calder Trophy Finalists: MacKinnon, Palat, Johnson.

If I had it my way, Palat would take it. But that's not likely. MacKinnon will win it, and its not like he doesn't deserve it
- RileyB77

Agreed, he will win it for sure. Still pretty impressive for TB to have two guys as finalists.

Agreed, he will win it for sure. Still pretty impressive for TB to have two guys as finalists.
- hscesq

Yup. Damn proud Palat may have reached mackinnons point totals had he not missed time, but he did miss time, so he didn't. and maybe he wouldn't have. still a great accomplishment and they should be pumped

wheres that (frank)er that said palat would barely make the NHL and brett Connolly was a far more superior prospect???

Do you think Kucherov stays up / moves down? hard to imagine he goes back down, but paquette came out of nowhere...and he played damn good hockey in his stint with the bolts

is it possible? but I think the bolts will be younger next year than they were this year. difference will be the young guys have more experience . theres a lot of more rookies that are going to try to impress at camp, and likely will.

drouin, erne, namestnikov, paquette, Connolly, panik, kucherov, brown(I feel he solidified a spot) will all be competing for 1 or 2 spots next season. holy (frank)

im aware many will go back to Q or AHL, but still a lot of capable young rooks for 1or 2 spots. I guess what im saying is its nice to have. even after all our top prospects graduated this year, we still have damn good talent coming up. its not just a 1 and done, the cupboards are still full.

as for Callahan, he seems to really really like the guys here. the people you work with really do have a massive say in how you feel about your job. its a sport, but its still his job. that with the combination of less tax in tampa may do it, or may not.

Uhh.. Bourque ran our goalie Kristers at the 9minute mark, he made no effort to slow down or avoid Kristers... now I know you will disagree with me on that obviously because your a Habs fan but that is the example that comes to my head. Their were plenty of plays that were to me clear penalties that they let go.

The Bolts ultimately could not kill off the penalty and lost, I stand by what I say though as I felt that call was not consistent with how they called that period. And as I said in the next post I agree with you, I don't understand why Paquette was getting all the ice time, it was his 6th NHL game we had guys benched who have played all year, very weird to me.
- stammerman

fair enough. it's certainly not cut and dry.

Calder Trophy Finalists: MacKinnon, Palat, Johnson.

If I had it my way, Palat would take it. But that's not likely. MacKinnon will win it, and its not like he doesn't deserve it
- RileyB77

i think Palat's age works against him too. this award tends to favour the teenagers. and in truth, it is more impressive for a teenager to produce at that level than a guy like Palat who has 2 pro seasons under his belt. but Palat is some player. what a steal.

i think Palat's age works against him too. this award tends to favour the teenagers. and in truth, it is more impressive for a teenager to produce at that level than a guy like Palat who has 2 pro seasons under his belt. but Palat is some player. what a steal.
- DoubleDown

True. But Coopers response to that argument was . "1st overall vs 7th rd, 2 picks away from draft being over"

Palat barely got drafted. Johnson didn't even make the draft. It's just a tribute to such a great scouting staff and GM.

i think Palat's age works against him too. this award tends to favour the teenagers. and in truth, it is more impressive for a teenager to produce at that level than a guy like Palat who has 2 pro seasons under his belt. but Palat is some player. what a steal.
- DoubleDown

Johnson was a UFA signing out of the WHL. Mackinnon was given plenty of PP time, no PK time and easier assignments. Johnson and Palat kicked as shorthanded!

Johnson was a UFA signing out of the WHL. Mackinnon was given plenty of PP time, no PK time and easier assignments. Johnson and Palat kicked as shorthanded!
- Artyukhin76

and tougher quality of competition by far, but hes 18, hes the big name, he had a lot of points, he will get it

Dear Michael Stuart,

Sorry for your Bolts. Being swept sucks. It always does. For everyone. I wanted to thank you however for the quality of your blogs, and the use of stats and twitter. It is one of the good blogs on this site.

At the beginning, I thought missing Palat would hurt the Bolts more. Turns out the one-bad-goal-a-game by Lindback was just a momentum killer each time. It was a series of bad luck. Bishop's injury just before the playoffs, Stamkos' stick breaking when alone in front of Price, Palat's stick getting caught in the net... It's probably better that it ends in four. We'll take care of Montreal in round 2.
- Alpamayo91

Even from a Habs POV it seems Tampa couldn't catch a break, before that fluke goal yesterday.

I think some people are overlooking the impact not having Bishop played.

He was putting up Vezina caliber numbers for the majority of the year. And Lindback was an afterthought for a reason.

How do you think Montreal would've done with Budaj all series?

Either way, TB has a bright future.

right, but like i said, that's something that will always, always be called, especially given that it gave TBay possession. if Montreal comes away with the puck there, maybe it's not called. what if Tampa had used that possession to score with Bournival behind the play? seems like everyone would have been OK with that.
- DoubleDown

Again, the issue is NOT with that call. It was the RIGHT call. Again, the issue is there were NUMEROUS other calls that should have been called that went uncalled.

I think some people are overlooking the impact not having Bishop played.

He was putting up Vezina caliber numbers for the majority of the year. And Lindback was an afterthought for a reason.

How do you think Montreal would've done with Budaj all series?

Either way, TB has a bright future.
- FLdevilsFAN

Missing Bishop had a huge impact. The bolts play loose and free which means more possession when he is backstopping and played much more tight with lindback in net which I think led to mistakes which led to more hab chances. When the bolts in the third said (frank) it amd wemt for it people finally saw the bolts we saw most of the year.

Again, the issue is NOT with that call. It was the RIGHT call. Again, the issue is there were NUMEROUS other calls that should have been called that went uncalled.
- uf1910

WHICH CALLS WERE CALLS THAT WENT UNCALLED OVER THIS GAME THAT HAD MANY RIGHT CALLS GO UNCALLED EVEN THOUGH THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN CALLED ?? CALLED? CALL

what did they let go in the third that was worse or more blatant? and how can anyone justify what Paquette did? it was one of the most foolish things you'll ever see on a hockey rink. the refs are going to let things go and let the teams play but they're not going to let you make them look like fools. this goes to the point i made earlier about Paquette being on the ice in that situation. i think that's on Cooper, TBH.
- DoubleDown

Who is justifying what Paquette did? Noone is arguing the validity of the call at least from what I see. However, what they are questioning is the validity of that call given everything else they let go

i think Palat's age works against him too. this award tends to favour the teenagers. and in truth, it is more impressive for a teenager to produce at that level than a guy like Palat who has 2 pro seasons under his belt. but Palat is some player. what a steal.
- DoubleDown

The only reason age should factor in a discussion is consideration for future growth. Sure, what Mac has and is doing as an 18 year old is quite impressive, but the award is supposed to be based on the best rookie season, not the best rookie season by an under-20 year old. Palat played unsheltered minutes against top-line opponents and played in all situations with numerous different line combos. This isn't to take anything away from what MacKinnon has been able to do and I didn't watch enough of the Aves games to see how he was played and with whom, but Palat did not receive any bit of sheltering with how he was used

WHICH CALLS WERE CALLS THAT WENT UNCALLED OVER THIS GAME THAT HAD MANY RIGHT CALLS GO UNCALLED EVEN THOUGH THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN CALLED ?? CALLED? CALL
- RileyB77

What?

What?
- uf1910

nothing. lots of uncalled calls callec all

How was Filppula in the playoffs?

How was Filppula in the playoffs?
- Muskoka88

Playing injured but thanks for your concern

Thanks to the good guys at BP...here is why the Paquette penalty should have gone uncalled

http://giant.gfycat.com/SmartFlamboyantBonobo.gif

Well, we lost. We got swept. Oh well.

Lets keep this in perspective here. After that miraculous run of '11 to the ECF, we went into rebuild mode. We had to, the vets were getting old and broken (and retiring), there weren't a ton of kids ready to play and the team didn't have much direction.

This is the third year into the rebuild and we went from 28th overall to capturing the 3rd seed in the East. That's a damned good improvement.

As for the playoffs, we were just out of gas. Dealing with Vinny being gone, Stammer's injury, Marty's hissy-fit... and then Big Ben gets banged up before the playoffs. It was just too much.

But that's fine. Next year we'll have the services of one Jonathan Drouin. We've found a heck of a 4th line center in Cedric Paquette. Slater Koekkoek may push for a call-up next year. Andrej Sustr is starting to look like a real NHLer.... the list of positives go on.

16 teams make the playoffs. Only 1 wins the Cup. It wasn't going to be us this year even with Bishop, but the fire this loss has ignited and the experience gained on hockey's biggest stage will be invaluable.

Stevie Y's plan is going well, let's not forget where we were before he joined this franchise, and where we are now.