Hockey

[Desert Man]

LOL! Caps vs Lightning in EC, so half of my predictions is wrong. The Golden Knights are awaiting an opponent in the WC, and let's see if the defending conference champs (the Predators) will return or not. Here's the defending champions (the Pens) defeated so easily.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv6ajX1HbW4

[Stephane Dumas]

If the Caps beats the Lightning, it'll be their 2nd time they got to the Stanley Cup finals. They did it in 1998 as a Cinderella team and lost against Detroit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvl2lut-hwA

Edit: One more clip showing the Caps beating the Sabres in the Eastern conference final.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4d6qjVzASI

[Stephane Dumas]

It's the 1st time the Winnipeg Jets then they go to the Conference Finals, they'll face the Vegas Golden Knights.

[Flint1979]

I haven't followed hockey since the Dead Wings season ended.

[ET21]

It's the 1st time the Winnipeg Jets then they go to the Conference Finals, they'll face the Vegas Golden Knights.

Thank you for beating Nashville lol

[Stephane Dumas]

Vegas eleminated Winnipeg, no Canadian team for the Stanley Cup final this year.

[Buck87]

Vegas is the first expansion team to reach the Stanley Cup Final since the 1967-1968 St Louis Blues (which was a season when literally half of the league was expansion teams and the playoff structure guaranteed one of them would make it)

[oscar]

Vegas is the first expansion team to reach the Stanley Cup Final since the 1967-1968 St Louis Blues (which was a season when literally half of the league was expansion teams and the playoff structure guaranteed one of them would make it)

That reminds me of how the NFL responded in the 1990s when two expansion teams, the Carolina Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars, each reached (but lost) their respective conference championships in their second seasons. The lesson drawn from that was that the expansion draft and other rules for new franchises, while intended to make them competitive soon, perhaps overdid it. So the rules were changed to screw the next expansion franchises, the Houston Texans and the new Cleveland Browns.

[1995hoo]

Oddity of NHL history: There have been three times a team from the NHL made the Stanley Cup Finals in its first year–the Toronto Arenas in 1918 (the league's first year), the St. Louis Blues 50 years later in 1968 (due to the way the expansion was structured), and now the Golden Knights 50 years later in 2018. I won't be around in 2068 to see it happen again.

[Alps]

Oddity of NHL history: There have been three times a team from the NHL made the Stanley Cup Finals in its first year–the Toronto Arenas in 1918 (the league's first year), the St. Louis Blues 50 years later in 1968 (due to the way the expansion was structured), and now the Golden Knights 50 years later in 2018. I won't be around in 2068 to see it happen again.

How many teams will there be in 2068, is the question.

[MisterSG1]

Oddity of NHL history: There have been three times a team from the NHL made the Stanley Cup Finals in its first year–the Toronto Arenas in 1918 (the league's first year), the St. Louis Blues 50 years later in 1968 (due to the way the expansion was structured), and now the Golden Knights 50 years later in 2018. I won't be around in 2068 to see it happen again.

In the league's first year, it's technically the first year of it being called the National Hockey League, before then, in the NHA the previous year, the Montreal Wanderers, Montreal Canadiens, and Ottawa Senators were carried over into the new NHL.

And just an aside, the Stanley Cup Final does NOT become the NHL Final until 1927, the winner of the NHL faced the winner of the PCHA or WCHL. Essentially kind of like a World Series of Hockey. Hence this is how Seattle won a Stanley Cup in 1917 but has never officially been in the NHL. The Toronto Arenas faced the Vancouver Millionaires for the Stanley Cup Final. The other league won the Stanley Cup just three times, 1915 was the Vancouver Millionaires, 1917 was the Seattle Metropolitans, and 1925 was the Victoria Cougars.

This year has really been an amazing year for the Golden Knights, what the Arenas and Blues did really doesn't compare to what the Golden Knights have just accomplished. The Arenas competed against 3 other teams before facing off against Vancouver, and one of the Expansion Six were guaranteed to reach the cup final anyway in 1968 involving the St Louis Blues.

Other than that, I may have to do my research, but off the top of my head, other than St Louis, in the modern NHL, the quickest trip from founding to Stanley Cup Final I believe was the Florida Panthers. Founded in the 1993-94 season, they would compete for the cup against Colorado in 1996 who incidentally were in their first year of the NHL as they were the relocated Quebec Nordiques (so this doesn't count for Colorado) Florida would lose the series and they've yet to win a playoff series yet...rats

[Stephane Dumas]

The winner of the Eastern Conference between Tampa and Washington will be known in Game 7 tomorrow (May 23).

[1995hoo]

OH HELL YES!!!!!!

[Alps]

OH FUCK NO.

[1995hoo]

Been waiting a long time for this night to come.

CAPITALS IN THE STANLEY CUP FINALS. 

[Jmiles32]

Been waiting a long time for this night to come.

CAPITALS IN THE STANLEY CUP FINALS. 

As a fan for the past ten years I never thought I'd ever get to see this. LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!

[1995hoo]

Heh. I've been a fan for 34 years now.

[texaskdog]

Oddity of NHL history: There have been three times a team from the NHL made the Stanley Cup Finals in its first year—the Toronto Arenas in 1918 (the league’s first year), the St. Louis Blues 50 years later in 1968 (due to the way the expansion was structured), and now the Golden Knights 50 years later in 2018. I won’t be around in 2068 to see it happen again.

How many teams will there be in 2068, is the question.

I would be 99 yikes

[Henry]

Vegas is the first expansion team to reach the Stanley Cup Final since the 1967-1968 St Louis Blues (which was a season when literally half of the league was expansion teams and the playoff structure guaranteed one of them would make it)

That reminds me of how the NFL responded in the 1990s when two expansion teams, the Carolina Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars, each reached (but lost) their respective conference championships in their second seasons. The lesson drawn from that was that the expansion draft and other rules for new franchises, while intended to make them competitive soon, perhaps overdid it. So the rules were changed to screw the next expansion franchises, the Houston Texans and the new Cleveland Browns.

The soonest that an expansion team has reached the playoffs in the NBA is the 1966-67 Chicago Bulls, which was their inaugural season (and back then, the league was a third the size it is now). For MLB, it was the 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks, who qualified in only their second season (and two years later, they won the World Series by beating, of all teams, the New York Yankees!).

Oddity of NHL history: There have been three times a team from the NHL made the Stanley Cup Finals in its first year—the Toronto Arenas in 1918 (the league’s first year), the St. Louis Blues 50 years later in 1968 (due to the way the expansion was structured), and now the Golden Knights 50 years later in 2018. I won’t be around in 2068 to see it happen again.

How many teams will there be in 2068, is the question.

I would be 99 yikes

Shit, I will be 98!

[ET21]

Vegas in 6

[dvferyance]

Vegas is the first expansion team to reach the Stanley Cup Final since the 1967-1968 St Louis Blues (which was a season when literally half of the league was expansion teams and the playoff structure guaranteed one of them would make it)

That reminds me of how the NFL responded in the 1990s when two expansion teams, the Carolina Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars, each reached (but lost) their respective conference championships in their second seasons. The lesson drawn from that was that the expansion draft and other rules for new franchises, while intended to make them competitive soon, perhaps overdid it. So the rules were changed to screw the next expansion franchises, the Houston Texans and the new Cleveland Browns.

The soonest that an expansion team has reached the playoffs in the NBA is the 1966-67 Chicago Bulls, which was their inaugural season (and back then, the league was a third the size it is now). For MLB, it was the 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks, who qualified in only their second season (and two years later, they won the World Series by beating, of all teams, the New York Yankees!).

Oddity of NHL history: There have been three times a team from the NHL made the Stanley Cup Finals in its first year–the Toronto Arenas in 1918 (the league's first year), the St. Louis Blues 50 years later in 1968 (due to the way the expansion was structured), and now the Golden Knights 50 years later in 2018. I won't be around in 2068 to see it happen again.

How many teams will there be in 2068, is the question.

I would be 99 yikes

Shit, I will be 98!

Just 86 for me so I could make it.

[1995hoo]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kurumi]

Should change thread name to HOCKEY, right? :-)

[Bruce]

It took 101 years for the other Washington to finally win Lord Stanley's Cup.

[Alps]

I am extremely disappointed that the crybaby Russian who makes others fight his fights and wears a ridiculous giant diaper every game gets to enjoy this. I would have been so much happier if they waited until he retired.