I don't know what you thought of a team that was on pace for the Presidents' Trophy through most of the year, but Boston was not as deep. They've been doing some very good work with their farm system as of late, and Charlie McAvoy is a legitimate player (with like the most Bostonian name possible, too), but their core philosophy remains "have two of the best players of all time and see how far you can ride it out."

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Lol

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Bracket is still perfect. Need Pitt and Winnipeg to close out their series.

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Quit trolling. Your participation in this thread epitomizes how fucking annoying you are.

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

What’s the hatred for Vegas?

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The hatred is not for Vegas. The hatred is for the NHL handing them enough talent to be in the WCF.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Who is the David Nied of the Golden Knights?

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It makes the league look illegitimate that an expansion team can be this good, this fast. It's also annoying because the league has had a boner for Las Vegas for years and gave them the most favorable expansion draft anyone has ever gotten because they're so obsessed with being successful in warm-weather transplant markets (see also: the lengths they've gone to in order to keep Phoenix in the league, shooing away buyers who would move the team to Hamilton, Winnipeg, or Quebec City).

Look at how long the expansion class of '97 toiled, with Nashville being terrible for five years before settling into mediocrity for the next twelve, Minnesota squeezing out a third-round appearance in year three of the franchise based on maximum Jacques Lemaire trapping in the depths of the clutch-n-grab NHL but otherwise being bad, and Columbus being utterly awful for the majority of their existence and not winning a playoff game until 2014. And of course, the Atlanta Thrashers, who finally made the playoffs after missing their first six seasons, went 0-4, missed the next four, and then got evicted from their arena.

Is it good for teams to be so terrible upon entering the league that they get evicted? Well, no, but it's not much better to go to the third round right away. I do believe there is such a thing as too much, too soon: look no further than the Avalanche, who were moved out of Quebec City on the heels of the Lindros heist and immediately won the Stanley Cup. Then the team got bad and interest in the team flew off a cliff because not enough people in Denver truly grew with the team. The same could easily happen in Las Vegas. Then what.

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The Vegas thing is extremely annoying because the games have been great so far in the other matchups.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Truth be told, the talent isn't even that good: they top out at "player you'd like to have" with Neal and Marchessault, but .

As much as anything (like, for instance, being unbeatable at home because hockey players are intractable substance abusers), their success comes from the newest system trend in the NHL, which I like to think of as the dump and chase on meth. Get the puck, get it in, and bust your ass getting into the zone and then just keep shooting before the other team can set up six goalies on you. Don't try to play with any of the intuition or harmony that fancy teams like the Blackhawks (who ripped off the Red Wings, who ripped off the USSR) do, just fling, sprint, and chuck as artlessly as need be. (And then on defense, do the inverse: get back and set up your six goalies so that you're just blocking shots or forcing misses.) The Penguins innovated this when they started leaning hard on plug-and-play Scranton callups, but with the wrinkle that Crosby, Malkin, and Kessel are there to dial it down from strict north-south gunning and make real plays. The Knights are fully just Guys Doin' Shit. It's ugly. And I know that's weird to say about a high-speed game after we suffered through the dead puck era, but this speed-uber-alles NHL is ugly.

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Damn- CH is on fire. Why do you waste your NHL thoughts and knowledge on this forum? I hope you are writing on other places.

Anyways, I too find the frantic pace with which Vegas is winning with annoying. There is nothing aesthetic or pleasing about watching them compared to Winnipeg, Tampa, Pittsburgh, or Washington. And Vegas does not have the skill or pedigree to be where they are. Karlsson has had a unsustainable shooting percentage this season and overall the teams just smacks me of being a fraud. Plus, no fans of an expansion team should get this run in their first season. Too many long-suffering fanbases to see a first-year team have this kind of season.

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

From what I gather from reading my hockey site Deadspin.

1) Teams gave Vegas draft picks to take players away and Vegas has turned those players into valuable pieces of a good team.
2) Hockey fans think all teams besides the Original 6 should be in areas with moose where it snows 9 months a year and everyone hates life and just drinks all the time waiting for 3 nice months where they can go outside that starts after the Stanley Cup.
3) They all doubted the fans of Vegas who have shown up in huge numbers.
4) They were wrong that Vegas was a fluke because the opposing teams were always hung over.
5) Something about style of play which is a lie.
6) Jealousy of us Vegas fans.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Masterpiece of trolling, right down to "hockey site Deadspin."

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I was out on Friday night with a regular group of friends, all big Blackhawks fans. One of them was wearing a Golden Knights jersey. I think the logo is ugly, and the name is silly, but there you have it. People love a winner and a new story line.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I have no big issue with Vegas and if they are a good team or not. For now, its fun and the winning is cool. As with any warm weather hockey the answer will come when they are just a regular team having normal highs and lows. I am curious to see how much better they can survive than Phoenix after the novelty wears off.

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Elections have consequences.

I predict failure. But I don't care one way or another. It will be a fun place to travel to for a Hawks game.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

A major difference for the future attendance of Vegas will be all the tourists whether they are seeing their favorite team or are just in town and decide to catch a game. It will be higher than any other city.

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

That is my take.

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Elections have consequences.

I don't think anyone can do worse than Phoenix.

Arizona: let's subsidize a hockey team $25MM a year so that a strip mall doesn't go out of business
Also Arizona: teachers what are teachers we have no money I'm sorry

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CH,
I have been telling anyone and everyone the same thing....an expansion team making a deep cup run is bad. It means the system was stacked in their favor.

I don't hate Vegas getting a team. I hate Vegas getting an EXPANSION team.

There should be 28 teams total. 32, which we will soon have, is a diluted product.

I will disagree on the entertainment value of the current game. It's not that bad. There is some extent of truth to the Vegas team being a collection of decent players that are well coached and are playing some of their best. Still doesn't change the fact that expansion draft was too generous.

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Ryan Hartman is a healthy scratch for Nashville tonight. That trade will be a real heist if they lose this series.

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Enjoying this Caps Pens game.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

West Dundee will gladly take him back.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Who do the Golden Knights play next?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Let's go Crapitals!!!!

Great question tonight.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I kinda like Vegas. While I agree I don't really like their style of play, I do admire the tenacity and they play pretty tough. Most of vegas is transplants so they might always have out of town interest and if they are good and can stay good they might be able to build a fan base. Maybe not, I don't know.

Well said.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Buh Bye PITT!

WOO HOOO!!!!!!!

NO THREE-PEAT FOR YOU!!!

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Not a mult.