He's magically healed for Game 1 of the playoffs.

That loophole needs to be fixed.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Ruptured spleen is technically a hole. An image reported the hole as fixed. They eke out an 8th seed without him and now bring him back rusty and out of game action shape. What loophole would you see as a problem here?

While we are looking for loopholes and reporting of injuries, Nylander, illness or injury? It can't be a coach doghouse decision can it?

Stone played 22 shifts and enjoyed the most time on ice for Vegas forwards after Eichel. This suggests he is not rusty and out of game shape. Another possibility: he has been healthy for some time, and Vegas is guilty of circumventing the cap.

Rules are rules.
They didn't do anything wrong according to said rules.

Does the issue need to be fixed? Yes. But this has been going on for years with other clubs.

I may be mistaken, but I think if the NHL has suspicion about a player's injury, they can have 3rd party verify if it's legit.
I remember this coming up a few years ago with the Lightning and it was deemed legit.

Nylander is injured.

Stone didn’t look rusty to me.

I am not saying that he wasn’t injured. What I am saying is that it’s the same as Kucherov a few years ago. Goes on LTIR. Team is able to go over cap with out him. Player is magically healed for game 1 of the playoffs

My suggestion… if you go on LTIR and can’t come back for game 82… you shouldn’t be eligible for game 1 of the playoffs. Maybe you have to miss a minimum of 2 playoff games or something.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Got it. Cap and roster rules. Would think if Stone and Kucherov are one offs, then the matter does not make it to the commissioner's desk. If the LTIR is routinely abused by playoff bound teams and injured stars are being "rested" as opposed to "recovering" then the rule could be changed.

No he did not look rusty to me either. Is it a secret how to prepare skating and passing and puck handling at game speed without the benefit of being in a game so as to not show the rust that is routinely referred to for all players after prolonged absence?

Kuch was particularly egregious. He was ready about a month before the playoffs started but they couldn't activate him because they were way over the cap. Stone probably wasn't ready until the last week of the season, but again, they couldn't activate him because they purposely went over the cap.

It's bullshit and it needs to stop or there should be some sort of penalty. Like I said, maybe you have to sit out a minimum number of games once the playoffs start.

There are certainly other examples but these two were the most egregious because of their high salary cap hit.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

I swear people were complaining about Vegas doing this in the past too. I need to search around and refresh my brain on which player etc….

I can’t remember. Did they do that with Eichel last year?

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

My memory is fuzzy but I swear as soon as Stone went down people were basically saying Vegas at it again sort of thing.

either way, this is up to the owners and league if they want to stop it from happening. Make some modifications to the rule to dissuade it from happening.

Full commitment tonight. Wow. They taking the body every chance. 30+ blocked shots! 80 attempts and only 16 got through so far. Anything that does, Saros all over.

I get it. But this has been going on for a while and lots of teams have tweaked.

As a fan, I don’t particularly care, because for the next 4 weeks these first two rounds are the best hockey you will see, anywhere. 6-9 hours every night. And as the 4th rated major North American pro sport (lowest average attendance, lowest TV revenue), this is why the league and GMs continue to look the other way. They now have a major contract with both ESPN and TNT/TBS, and they need to maximize. The salary cap born out of several lockouts is pretty restrictive to try and facilitate parity, which is generally a good thing. But there really doesn’t seem to be a strong appetite to close this loophole to help the haves when the most cameras are on.

Yes! Way to steal a game on the road. I can’t wait for Friday night.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Matthews disappears, Samsonov lets in a softie, PP 0-5, Leafs lose, back to normal...lol

Garner answers on the ice last night after answering off the ice before the game. Let's see if the Team acquires the "us against the world " bonding chip on the shoulder. I sense that attitude creeping into their play and in their support for their goalie.

Maybe I am wrong. Matthews maybe disappeared from the scoring sheet last night, but he has definitely played a solid 200 ft game in all three. I think the light bulb to winning playoff hockey is now on and understood in that locker room.

Same shit year after year. Power play is 1/11 in the series. Bruins PP is 5/10.

That's why we're losing. That's it... no other reason.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Duh! 10 v 11 is what I take away. The refs are not the problem then.

Penalty kill: sucks due to what? Scheme? Intensity and want to sell out with blocks? Puck luck in the crease? If your goalie is not your best defenseman on the kill, then avoid the penalties. The refs seem to be willing to not nickel dime their calls.

Power play: From what I saw last night they were in position hacking at the puck near the crease on more than one occasion and either the hot goalie or bad puck luck prevented goals. Keep hacking away.

Not yet time for the negative vibes Moriarity! So who do you want to see in the 2nd round?

When did I complain about the refs?

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

You didn't. I just wanted to put it to rest and move to solutions within the control of your team to effect.

I have already said. Score on the PP, stop their PP. This isn't rocket science. They are down 5-1 in PP goals in 3 games.

Was Matthews tackled with no call? Sure. Is Marchand getting away with murder? Definitely.

Does any of that matter when your PP can't score? Nope.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Sorry. Please delete my Duh! from original post. I see how it was not in order. Your team can turn it around even though the negative scrutiny can't be avoided. The PP will get some loose pucks near the goal, keep hacking on them.

That and Boston's first goal can't go in, just brutal on Samsonov.

No excuse but Sammy might have been distracted by the Marchand/Bertuzzi nonsense that was going on at the blueline. The refs should have called that. The play should have been dead. Penalties for both. Of course all of this was about 15 seconds after Matthews was tackled behind Bostons net.

But… agreed, Sammy need to make that save.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

The officiating was pretty bad last night, mostly to Toronto's benefit. If the refs are going to hand you all those opportunities you better figure out how to capitalize on a few of them.

 
Replying to thread / last...

It's a good time to be NY fan.... Rangers through to second round :-)

On paper, no surprises versus the Caps. Even the sweep. Games were still pretty competitive I thought.