Hi, since JP isn't going to be making a round 2 writeup, he had asked me to make one in a similar format to his. I'll obviously be using my own sort of style, but for the most part it will follow the same sort of premise as his original writeup. A big thank you to JP who provided me with all the contacts I needed as well as conducting the questions for Chicago and doing extra stuff like making an outline/guideline and such to help me with the writeup. Dedicated to @Voltep and @NH4JP 's entertainment NEW YORK ISLANDERS Vs. FLORIDA PANTHERS REGULAR SEASON STATS NYI (42 - 34 - 6) Standings: 17th in NHL, 8th in the East, 4th in the Metropolitan Division, 90 points Offense: 21st (262 goals for) Defense: 13th (250 goals against) FLA (47 - 29 - 6) Standings: 10th in NHL, 5th in the East, 2nd in the Atlantic Division, 100 points Offense: 6th (311 goals for) Defense: 8th (239 goals against) Series Preview The Panthers and Islanders are very different teams when considering their regular seasons, but shared similar situations heading into round 1 and this series. Both teams headed into the post seasons on slumps, with the Islanders going into the playoffs 3 - 6 - 1 in their 10 final regular season games, and with the Panthers heading into the playoffs 4 - 3 - 3 in their 10 final regular season games. Both teams also ended their slumps and got hot at the right time. The Islanders defeated the top team in the East, the Bruins, in 5 games; While the Panthers swept the Senators, winning 2 very close games to start the series, then completely destroying the Senators in the closing two games, outscoring them 15 - 3 in those 2 games. FLA Top Players: @jeff0012 , @Voltep , @XxJusT4TheShoWxX , @x Braydenn , @Curb_Stomp123 , @KingClutch x 77 NYI Top Players: @jay6219 , @gaggan07 , @HazeeHype , @stay_at_homed , @McInnis_91 Press Conference Interview FLORIDA PANTHERS Welcome back for another interview, as mentioned in the previous interview, you guys were in a slump heading into the playoffs and many felt like you guys underachieved during the regular season. Did anything change or "click" in round 1? Specifically in games 3 and 4 when you guys really seemed to dominate. Hriiz: We definitely clicked as a team. Before the playoffs started I said that our team was on the same page and we showed that. Nothing was changed except better availability. Lines were set and we couldn't expect any better. Game 3 & 4 just shows the depth of our team. Show and Jeff are top guys in this league and showed their offensive talents. I wasn't surprised with how our team played and I'm sure we won't be stopping anytime soon. KingClutch: Honestly my line winning game 1 was a huge confidence booster for the team, and our 3rd line stealing game 2 was big for us as a group. Heading to game 3 we were very confident with Show and Jeff who had not even played a game yet, and like Hriiz said it just shows the depth of our roster. Some of your top talent in @jeff0012 and @Voltep underachieved statistically this season, with each scoring around 55 points with records barely above .500, however they really turned it on in round 1. Was this a very significant factor in the team's performance in round 1? Hriiz: Availability was rough for our team this year. Jeff was moved around the lineup a lot and we appreciate him doing it for us. Some games he carried. But in round 1 the availability was back where we wanted it and Jeff and Show were paired back together. Couldn't ask for more about how they played. Voltep had an up and down year but he had some internet issues during the season so it didn't help him out. He's back to where we want him and he will definitely help us throughout this playoff run. KingClutch: Jeff and Voltep both seemed to have up and down seasons, but with Jeff being able to play RW and C was big for us throughout the season which had him with different linemates, which at times he was on fire. This was a big factor to winning round 2, in game 4 when I paired them as a line they really clicked, and brought the brooms out with ease. Special teams are an interesting stat to look at heading into this series, both you guys and the Islanders have given up the fewest penalties in the post season and are the only 2 teams so far to not surrender a power play goal, do you think this will play a factor in this series? Hriiz: Special teams show if you're a top team or not. If you can capitalize on the opportunities you have, it'll help you very much. I think our PK is great and we know how to make the simple play. KC has string on his stick and sometimes it's impossible to get the puck off him. So yes, our PK and PP will play a big factor in this series. KingClutch: To be honest I don't pay much attention to special teams, but of course it should play a role. Against the Senators we were very disciplined, and being even strength allowed us to really dominate in time of possession. On paper the Islanders aren't the most dominant team and don't have any real big names aside from @jay6219 and @gaggan07 , however they've proven time and time again this season that they can be very dangerous when they get on a hot streak which they seem to be on right now coming out of the Bruins upset, does this make it harder to predict this team as well as make it difficult to plan your approach? Hriiz: Not at all. I'm not worried about how they play. It's about how we play. If we play as a team it shouldn't be a problem. We have home ice which gives us an advantage setting the lines. Our teams depth is great and we can rely on our 3rd line to win games. Islanders are a good team but I feel like our depth will win us this series. KingClutch: No. We're gonna come out hard like we did in round 1, our group has a lot of confidence and we are going to dominate. We aren't going to accept a loss, I am going to have an "Ovi guarantee" here, that we will advance to round 3. KingClutch later added, "If I lose this series I will change my name to KingChokelx77l" NEW YORK ISLANDERS Looking at your season so far, you guys have been very streaky throughout the season, what has been your biggest key when you guys are on a hot stretch and what would you say is the main reason you guys are unable to consistently play at this pace? toslick: To be honest players availability. When we're able to consistently run the same lines together we've been on hot streaks when we've had to mix and match it's really hurt us and we've lost a lot of games. You guys made a few changes leading up to the deadline such as bringing up @HazeeHype and acquiring @jay6219 . How monumental were these moves to the recent success of the team? toslick: Anytime you can bring a guy like Jay in it's monumental. Hazee was actually with us all season and we had to send him down for one week for cap issues but not a huge deal. Everyone overlooks Rich2k8 coming in but he's done a great job and allowed us to really have balanced lines as well. You guys were arguably the coldest team heading into the playoffs, going 3 - 6 - 1 in your 10 final games of the regular season. This tied in with the fact that you guys were the 8th seed facing off against the top team in the East pretty much sealed your exit before the series even started for many people. What did you guys start doing differently in your first round series to defeat the Bruins in 5 games? toslick: Honestly it came down to us having our lines play together all series. I believe we have 3 balanced lines. We've also had the luxury of playing teams top lines each night so when we get matched with a 2nd and 3rd line in the playoffs we're super confident. I also asked this question to the Panthers, but I thought it would be interesting to see the different takes on this. Special teams are an interesting stat to look at heading into this series, both you guys and the Panthers have given up the fewest penalties in the post season and are the only 2 teams so far to not surrender a power play goal, do you think this will play a factor in this series? toslick: Absolutely. Both teams have a lot of firepower and giving them an advantage will bite both teams in the ass for sure. Your depth scoring played a factor in round 1 and has been critical to your team making the playoffs, however with Florida's top line dominating as of late, will you be looking to your top players in @jay6219 , @HazeeHype , @McInnis_91 and @gaggan07 to maybe take it up a notch to match that and maybe steal a game or two? toslick: We truly and honestly believe any of our lines can win any game they play. We feel as if we match up much better with Florida than we did with Boston Similarly to the Islanders the Panthers were also a team that was cold heading into the post season, but then they started to click, out scoring Ottawa 15 - 3 in there final 2 games of the series. What is your approach to contain Florida's top offensive talent that has come alive as of late? Will you guys be using the same approach as you did last series or will you maybe try to play the Panthers a little differently than you played the Bruins? toslick: Honestly no, we play our game we win. We did that last series and won in 5 OFFENSIVE MATCHUP: ADVANTAGE FLORIDA Florida has the offensive advantage for me, they come into the series having scored 15 goals in their past 2 games and really showed what they're capable of when everyone is on the same page and clicking. If @jeff0012 and @Voltep continue to dominate and play as well as they did in round 1 along with the tremendous depth scoring that is provided by @KingClutch x 77 and @Hrizz , as well as the 3rd line who can produce. An unsung hero to me is @Lojikuhl who had a 44 point season as a dman without many people really noticing. Scoring on the back end is a huge asset for both of these teams as they combine for 6 defenseman with over 25 points. I think the Islanders are better offensively than the numbers say, they have depth and some skill that can do some damage when they're on a hot streak, and with the momentum with their 1st round series win they shouldn't be underestimated, but Florida no doubt has the advantage here. DEFENSIVE MATCHUP: EVEN Both teams have been fairly similar defensively this season and into the playoffs, with only 11 goals separating them in the GA category this season. Both teams have continued to be stable teams defensively as Florida only allowed Ottawa to find the back of the net 6 times during their 4 game series. Aside from their 8 - 1 blowout loss against Boston, the Islanders were able to hold them to only 1 or 2 goals in the remaining games, being able to do that against a powerhouse like Boston should prepare them against another great offensive team in Florida. Both the Islanders and the Panthers have had players that have dominated in the defensive categories this season, with depth dman @Local-463 having the 15th fewest giveaways in the league with a -9 differential. The islanders also had @Wild_Samoan24 who ranked for having the 29th fewest giveaways in the league along with his staggering +4 differential. @stay_at_homed has not only been a workhorse offensively, but he has been a workhorse defensively too, ranking 17th in the league with 89 takeaways, he has continued this into the post season where he is top 10 in the league with 11 takeaways and a +8 differential. @Lojikuhl leads the way for the Panthers as he ranked 7th in the league with 98 takeaways, depth dman @Brewskies247 is also a notable for Florida as he ranked for the 24th fewest giveaways in the league. Florida also added top dman @x Braydenn late this season who should be a big factor and can form a shutdown line with @Curb_Stomp123 . Both teams have been good defensively this season and have players in their depth pool who have done a great job of limiting chances for their opponents, this will be a huge key for both teams heading into this series. Both teams have had very stellar goaltending in the playoffs so far which should also be noted. VERDICT: FLORIDA IN 5 GAMES The Islanders shouldn't be underestimated. They're a solid team defensively and just upset the Bruins in 5 games, so we really shouldn't be too surprised if they do it again here. The Islanders are solid defensively and can provide offense when they're hot. However Florida is also coming in very hot after dominating the Senators, and they're among the top teams in the league when everyone is on top of their game and clicking. They match the Islanders defensively and really have a big advantage over the offensively which is why I believe they'll win this series. COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS Vs. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS REGULAR SEASON STATS: CBJ (55 - 23 - 4) Standings: 6th in NHL, 3rd in the East, 2nd in Metropolitan Division, 114 points Offense: 5th (313 goals for) Defense: 3rd (204 goals against) PIT (56 - 24 - 2) Standings: 5th in NHL, 2nd in the East, Metropolitan Division Champions, 114 points Offense: 7th (303 goals for) Defense: 5th (218 goals against) Series Preview Theoretically this should be a very fun and competitive series. Both teams were tied in points, and both teams rank very closely when it comes to offense and defense, though looking at the rosters, Pittsburgh has the more defensive team while Columbus definitely seems like they have more to offer offensively. Both these teams are very close and come into this series with very different stories in round 1. Pittsburgh won a 7 game series in which they battled from 3 - 0 down to complete a reverse sweep in a series that contained a lot of criticism surrounding the Penguins. The Blue Jackets come in after defeating the hottest team in the league in 5 games. On paper this should be a close series, however Columbus dominated during the season series, winning all 5 games, where they utterly dominated the Penguins on the stat board. Columbus outscored the Penguins 23 - 6 in these games, out shot them 81 - 34, and carried a TOA advantage of +15 mins. It will be interesting to see if this will translate to the playoffs to be an easy series win for the Jackets, or if the Penguins will be able to play to their strengths and make this series very competitive. CBJ Top Players: @JClaus33 , @Trio_Bigmac- , @VEXEloQuence , @Fool x 90 , @Theos_l7l PIT Top Players: @JCoul-l41l , @KingKonz- , @NH4JP , @PteCyr , @x-RECKI-x Press Conference Interview COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS Welcome back for another interview. Heading into round 1 you mentioned that you felt the team needed to improve on their puck control and that you wanted to gain more zone time in games, you guys averaged 5:44 of TOA in your round 1 series along with averaging over 4 goals a game and for the most part had the offensive edge. Do you feel as though you guys improved in this area during this series? Especially considering you were facing a team that only lost 3 games in its final 26 game stretch, along with mentioning that you felt that the Devils had for the most part really controlled the play when you met in the regular season. Do you also think defeating a team that was as hot as the Devils gives you guys an advantage heading into this next series? JClaus33: Yeah I would say we really stepped it up this past series. From the games I saw, and the one game I played, it seemed as though the play was tilted in our favor, so that was nice to see. I think a lot of people jumped on the NJ hype train since they were so hot since the trade deadline, but we’ve basically been at the top of the east all season, and that was no fluke. With such a long layoff between series’ however, I don’t think we can really use that to our advantage at this point. We just have to be ready to beat Pittsburgh and hopefully keep the chemistry we’ve built all season. @Hot_Pocket_Handy is a guy you have had in your system with the Lake Erie Monsters since season 2. In place of Vex who was absent for this series he had an astounding 8 points. Is he someone who you think has improved and can be an impact player at the NHL level and will consider to keep in the lineup even once vex is back or is he just another AHL regular who is benefiting from playing with NHL level players? JClaus33: I really didn’t know what to expect when we lost Jayscott to his personal issues and had Hot Pocket come up, and then again when we lost And1rew5 to his own issues and had to have Debarrd come up. I thought theyd struggle and we would take a hit as a team, but honestly the line with HotPocket-Fool-Debarrd has been awesome since they came together. I think they are 6-0 or 7-0 or something crazy like that. I am really hoping they can keep it going through the playoffs because it’s been a really nice surprise Will @VEXEloQuence be returning to start this series? If not can you provide any sort of timeline for his return? JClaus33: I think youd have to ask him about that, I’m not totally sure to be quite honest. niner80rice: no comment. You guys went 5-0 against Pittsburgh in the season series, you have dominated Pittsburgh in every statistical category. Do you think you guys matchup very well against Pittsburgh and think the season series stats are any indication of how the series will go, or was this simply the result of a mismatch of lines and other factors that are eliminated in a playoff series? JClaus33: I think we do match up well vs them, but I think that is true for us vs any team. The difference for the playoffs vs the regular season is I can’t play every game vs them like I did during the season. As long as the other lines do their job I think we should be fine, but I’m not expecting a clean sweep like we had during the season. You guys faced @Bealski in round 1 who had been the best goalie in the league heading into the playoffs. What did you guys do to score on him and avoid any games from being stolen? In this series you will be facing @KingKonz- who is generally known as the best goalie on the system, knowing he has come up big for the Penguins so far this post season, will you guys use the same approach and playstyle in this series to prevent him from stealing games, or will you maybe try different things to maybe get some EA AIDS? JClaus33: hahahah, for facing Bealski I think we just tried to make sure we put pressure on them and made him face shots. He nearly stole the game I played, but we did enough to get some 1 on 1’s with him and as a goalie those can be a crapshoot. With Konz, having played all pro series with him, I would definitely say he’s the best goalie in the game, so to be honest you need to just hope he’s off his game. Otherwise you can dominate and still lose 2-1. That will be a test for us for sure, but not many goalies are going to have 30 shot shutouts, so just making sure we get shots on him, and you hope a few of them go in eventually. Overall I’d say we’re very confident in ourselves going into round 2, but we tied for 1st in the east, and Pittsburgh was one of the teams we tied with, theyre obviously no pushover of a team. We’ll just rely on the power of CBJ tbnk !! to carry us to victory PITTSBURGH PENGUINS You guys ended the regular season first in the Metropoilitan Division with 114 points. Facing adversity in losing key components in @frostx17 and @Shawntheboss_1 , what did you guys do to overcome this and still finish near the top of the standings? NeutralityEleven: We had a difficult stretch earlier this season where we faced a ton of adversity, and not just losing Frost and Shawn. We had a few guys miss time this year due to health and other assorted personal issues. You guys accomplished a great feat in completing a reverse sweep to win your first round series in 7 games, however many credit your victory to luck and goaltending as you guys won games where you maybe didn't match up in statistical categories such as TOA and shots, what is your response to these criticisms? NeutralityEleven: I give all the credit to the team for turning the series around. Obviously we didn't perform well enough early on, but we learned from our mistakes and played nearly perfect hockey in four games straight. Tampa had four chances to put us away and couldn't do it, so perhaps you should ask them about "luck and goaltending." We know what Konz can do and it was no mistake giving him that contract. Coming out of the first round you guys are at a TOA differential of -11:45, Columbus scored 65 more goals than the Tampa Bay Lightning. Is this an area you guys will pay extra attention to heading into this series? NeutralityEleven: Tampa and Columbus play two different types of hockey, and we are aware that the Blue Jackets are a far superior team offensively than the Lightning and will be preparing accordingly. You guys have gone from being the Metropolitan Division Champs to now being the underdog heading into the series, do you see it as an advantage being the underdog after being under pressure and under the microscope during the first round? NeutralityEleven: The only real advantage to our series is having home ice, which is something we earned this year by sticking to our goals in the regular season. Our guys really haven't paid attention to predictions or rankings thoughout the season, and we aren't going to be affected either way. I asked a similar question to the Blue Jackets, but I wanted your perspective on this as well. You guys went 0 - 5 against the Blue Jackets during the season series and were defeated fairly badly in 2 of those games and statistically were blown out of the water as far as shots and TOA go. Was this a result of a mismatch of lines and other factors that are eliminated in a playoff series or do you think your play style hasn't matched up well against Columbus so far this season? Will you try to play a different play style to contain the strong Jackets offense or will you guys try and return to what made you successful during the regular season? NeutralityEleven: It's honestly uncharted territory for us playing against other players in their lineup, and they won't be able to abuse the ECU system to their benefit in the playoffs. We will put our gameplan together and do our best to make this a competitive series by playing the way we have all year long. OFFENSIVE MATCHUP: ADVANTAGE COLUMBUS Pittsburgh's offense was pretty up and down in round 1, they had their moments, but also had games where they couldn't really get much going as well and they'll need to be more consistent this series. Columbus comes out of their round 1 series having scored 21 goals in 5 games so you know their high powered offense is going to come out strong this series. After being successful in finding ways to score against @Bealski , you know they'll be using the same sort of approach to get pucks past @KingKonz- . Top player @JCoul-l41l along with @x-RECKI-x played really well in round 1 and they'll need to continue to play well to compete with Columbus' surging offense. Some of Pittsburgh's better forwards like @Brofiooo and @Girgs28 along with some of their depth struggled to score in round 1 and will need to be better. DEFENSIVE MATCHUP: EVEN Both teams are very strong defensively, Pittsburgh struggled in this regard early in their round 1 series but really found themselves later on in the series. Columbus carries multiple forwards who excelled defensively this season, with @JClaus33 and @Fool x 90 ranking top 20 in the league in takeaways (Jclaus was actually 2nd in the league with 114 takeaways). Columbus' defenseman have also done well in this regard with @niner80rice ranking 22nd in the league in takeaways with an impressive +2 differential, they also have depth dman @Montoni007 who ranked for the 7th fewest takeaways in the league and a similarly good differential. If Pittsburgh still had @frostx17 and @Shawntheboss_1 I think I would give them the advantage here, but they're still very good defensively as a group and have great depth through their d core, and they have @KingKonz- who can shut it down through the few mishaps that due occur. VERDICT: COLUMBUS IN 6 GAMES This is maybe the hardest series to predict because it could go in many different directions. Although I usually don't put too much stock into a season series because of the conditions surrounding it. However Columbus did dominate the Penguins for the most part this season, and for the most part the Penguins had comparable lineups, so I could see Columbus having no problem steam rolling past the Penguins. However we can't dismiss the Penguins who are a very good team and can very well take this series to 6 or 7 games, I wouldn't be surprised with that scenario either. ST. LOUIS BLUES Vs. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS REGULAR SEASON STATS: STL (45 - 33 - 4) Standings: 14th in NHL, 7th in the West, 3rd in Central Division, 94 points Offense: 13th (280 goals for) Defense: 14th (254 goals against) CHI (59 - 17 - 6) Standings: 1st in NHL, 1st in the West, Central Division Champs, 124 points Offense: 15th (275 goals for) Defense: 1st (177 goals against) Series Preview The Blues and Hawks are two very similarly build teams, both teams carry elite depth through the middle with the Blues having @Primetimme and @Ayohh , Chicago matches this with the combo of @CCPiper and @Str8Syko__ . We saw glimpses of what this matchup would look like in the 5 game season series where the Blues narrowly edged out the Hawks 3 - 2, however when looking at the stats it is incredibly close with both teams having around the same amount of shots and TOA. St Louis comes out of round 1 eliminating the powerhouse Dallas Stars and should know what to expect from the other Western Conference juggernaut. STL Top Players: @Ayohh , @Primetimme , @Gwan , @zdball , @DTA Today CHI Top Players: @CCPiper , @Class_Act_27 , @P t P 10 , @Str8Syko__ , @V1P3R2106 Press Conference Interview ST. LOUIS BLUES Welcome back for another interview. Your depth performed exceptionally well against Dallas who is renowned for having the best depth in the league by far. Your 2nd and 3rd lines playing extremely well actually allowed you guys to play your top line against their bottom line which ended up being an easy win. Although you mentioned that you felt your depth was better than people thought heading into round 1, do you now have that much more confidence in them moving forward? ryofthebeholder: I have alot of confidence in this team. We knew what we were up against round 1 and stepped up to the challenge. We all know its not going to be getting any easier and will need to play our best hockey round 2. You guys averaged 7 mins of TOA and had a TOA differential of 7:58 in round 1. Being able to keep up with a powerhouse team like Dallas offensively, and even being noticeably better than them at many points in the series. While you guys ranked 13th in the league in goals which isn't bad by any means, were you guys doing anything differently in round 1 than you had in the regular season to be able to have the edge over Dallas? A team that ranked 1st in the league offensively and had scored 83 more goals than the Blues during the regular season. ryofthebeholder: I think we stuck to our game. We know our strengths and weaknesses well, as we've experienced winning and losing streaks this season. Your defense underachieved throughout the regular season as mentioned previously, coming into the playoffs you guys had allowed the 4th most goals among playoff teams. In the previous interview you said that you would look to limit Dallas' chances as much as possible. Do you think your defense did a good job with containing the Stars heavy offense and continued to improve in this regard, or is there still more to be desired? ryofthebeholder: Our defense did a great job, but our Center play was outstanding in our end to really put our dmen in a position to succeed. Wingers played their positions well defensively too, and this needs to continue with the weapons chicago has on the blue line. Something that was mentioned in the last interview was your depth down the middle, with elites @Ayohh and @Primetimme taking hold of the top 2 lines, Chicago has a similar setup with @CCPiper and @Str8Syko__ down the middle. Although Dallas was the best offensive team this season they don't really come close to you guys or Chicago when it comes to C depth, will you guys maybe change your approach against Chicago or will you be playing the Hawks the same way you played the Stars? Are you confident in your top 2 lines to win head on with Chicago's top 2 lines or will you be making some changes such as overloading your top line to avoid the risk? ryofthebeholder: These C matchups are, in my opinion, fucking awesome. That being said, the way the series goes will dictate how we play matchups. I trust these guys to be in every game, no matter who they are playing. You guys won the season series 3 - 2, in what were some fun back and forth evenly matched games from my experience. You guys had the slight edge against the Hawks offensively when it comes to shots and TOA although it was pretty close for the most part, do you think this is any indication to how the series will go? ryofthebeholder: I do. I think were in for very similar games. They will be tight and down to the wire, I look forward to a great series. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS *JP came up with the questions for this interview since I'd already know all the answers to the questions I'm asking First off, I’d like to congratulate you on winning your second President’s trophy of the past three seasons. Anaheim’s last week’s slump added to your team’s red hot finish made you clinch it with a clutch W in the very last game of the season. The community is well aware that you won’t be satisfied until you lift the Lord’s Stanley Cup but still, how proud are you of your boys’ performances as well as your own managerial work this season? Scoootz: I appreciate the congratulations as our team GRINDED hard the last couple weeks. Honestly though, our success somewhat stemmed from pindy. You are correct in saying that my entire team knows that I wont be satisfied till we win the only trophy that matters, and I'm pretty confident going forward that this is my strongest roster ive had in all 3 seasons of LG PSN. My teams carried me all season, so I'm extremely proud of how they've played and been as available as they have been, its helped more than any regular player understands. CCPiper: I'm very proud of our team for fighting as we have throughout the season, all the way until the last game. We have gone through our fair share of ups and downs; I know for me personally I didn't play as well this season as I would've liked to. And I have seen many instances in this community where talented league (and club) teams fall apart because they go through a rough stretch and then the top players let their egos get the best of them. So I think I am most proud of our team for sticking together even whenever we weren't all playing as well as we would've liked to. As far as our management, I feel that Scoot is the best owner in the league despite the hate that he gets, and he deserves to win a Cup. Hopefully we can get it for him this season. You guys are coming up victorious of a ‘’5 games’’ first round series against Winnipeg. The series was headed to a game 7 until the Jets were caught using an illegal lineup in games 3 and 6. Per LG rules, both of these games had to be forfeited in your favor. How do you feel about your previous opponent's mismanagement that created this unfortunate situation which deprived us all of watching an exciting game seven? Despite this mess, are you satisfied of your team’s first round? Scoootz: Yeah, it was an interesting series to say the least. it was an honest mistake to someone who came in late and drove his team to a playoff seed, as for him missing the rule about prospects being ineligible. Its unfortunate but theres not much anyone can do it when its clear cut. I'm satisfied but dissatisfied at the same time. We had multiple games where we lost that could've EASILY gone the other way but didn't and that's just part of EA. But we moved on to the 2nd Round and that's all that really matters. CCPiper: I think it's unfortunate because it really was a good series up to that point, and it's always kind of dumb to see a series end because of forfeiting. That being said, I'm pretty satisfied with our performance in this round. Obviously you'd like to win every series 4-0, but I feel confident that our team would've been able to close it out in game 7. I think despite our third line (GOAT line) losing both games, they played very well in their games, and if they can continue to play like that in the playoffs we will be in good shape. You guys spent the whole series in Winnipeg’s defensive zone except when your third line was scheduled. Your first and your second lines completely dominated their opponents while your third line, if we disregard both forfeited games, went 0-2. Were these two ‘’losses’’ simply due to planned lineup mismatches? Are you satisfied with your third line or do you expect them to step up their game in the upcoming series against the Blues? How important will your 3rd line be vs the Blues? Scoootz: Yes our 1st and 2nd lines completely dominated, but our 3rd line actually played REALLY well. Yes they went 0-2 but the games were beyond close, and like I said previously a bounce the other way changes the game tremendously. 1 game was an OT loss, the other from what I recall was an unfortunate 1 goal loss in regulation. I honestly believe my 3rd line can win a game or 2 this series if I set them up to be able to. I have 100% faith in them to get whatever job I need them to get done. Everyone is just as important than the next player/goalie on our roster. CCPiper: Even though they did go 0-2 I feel that they played well in their games. If they continue to play that way going forward, that will hopefully translate to wins. Our third line is very enthusiastic about winning games, and I think they all practice together before games which is always a great thing to see from any line on your team. I am proud of our third line for fighting on throughout the season despite a lot of the criticism that they may get from the rest of the league. Goaltender @V1P3R2106 played an incredible first round. He compiled 3 stunning shutouts in his 4 games played. You can’t do better than that. Even if the Jets didn’t have much time on attack, they took shots on net when they could. How important was Viper to the successes of the Hawks in the first round? Will you depend on him to carry on the momentum and stay sharp in Round 2? Do you think he could be the difference maker vs St. Louis? Scoootz: Viper has been unreal for us pretty much all season, but has gone to a whole new level for playoffs. I don't depend on him to carry, I expect him to carry because he can. will he have to? probably not, but as of right now theres no other goalie id rather have playing for us. This series will be a good one and an interesting one. its going to come down to matching and unfortunately availability. whoever can setup the correct line combos will probably win. As for difference makers, all 17 players on each roster have the chance at being difference makers but the goalies are definitely going to be a battle of battles. CCPiper: I think Viper has been very important to our success not only during the first round, but throughout the entire season. Viper, like the rest of our team, has done a great job fighting through the tough moments (and carrying us through some of them as well). Even in this series, despite us playing very well in our games and maintaining a lot of pressure in WPG's end, my line only won game 2 by a score of 1-0. We didn't even score until midway through the third period, so it would've been very easy for Viper (or any goalie) to give up a goal and completely swing the momentum in their direction. But Viper gave us all the time that we needed to score and win the game. He is on top of his game as of late, and I am very confident in his play going into the next round. The red hot St. Louis Blues just beat the Dallas Stars, the most offensive team in the league, in 6 games. They’ve shown the world that they are not to be underestimated anymore. Both of your teams rely on a couple highly skilled, thumbs gifted, elites players supported by a quite good depth to bring home the W’s. In that regard, what will you need to do better, or differently, than your opponent in order to stand out and put this series in the bag? How confident are you to win it all? Scoootz: to be frank, St Louis never really scared me or made me feel threatened in any way. I honestly believe that my "elites" are a million times stronger. As for what I may do better or differently, I'm gonna let you and the league find that out because I don't exactly want to express my plans for lines and such prior to the series. I'm confident in my roster to win when we need to. CCPiper: When you get to this stage of the season, every team is a contender and everybody has a good amount of talent on their team. This series is no exception. It pretty much just comes down to how well we can play and do our own jobs. We know that their top players will come out and play well, so everybody on our team just needs to be ready to go out and play a couple of strong games for their line. We still control our own fate - if we play to the level that we're all capable of, we will be able to win this series *I will not be giving my predictions on the series or say who I believe has the offensive and defensive advantage, instead I will simply give you a preview of what you can expect from this series OFFENSIVE MATCHUP: The Hawks offense underachieved for many people as they ranked 15th in the league for goals for, but you still can't deny the offensive threats along with depth this team provides. The Blues ranked similarly as they scored 5 more goals than the Hawks this season. Both teams carry the best C depth in the league as we know, however Chicago does have a clear advantage when it comes to wingers that cover the top 2 lines such as @Class_Act_27 , @Foote , @JayProulx , and @HurrichaneScoot . However St Louis does have offense from the wings in @DTA Today and depth players like @Halakness that have stepped up and had great seasons. Both teams have very good scoring from the back end as they combine for 5 dmen with 30+ points. DEFENSIVE MATCHUP: It seems like a no brainer to give Chicago the defensive edge in this series as they were the best defensive team this season and have continued it into the playoffs, their defensive game not only stems from the defensemen, but with @CCPiper and @Str8Syko__ who are among the best defensive forwards in the game. Meanwhile the Blues have under achieved defensively this season as they ranked 14th in the league. However you cannot deny the weapons the Blues have on the blue line with elite dman @Gwan who leads the team in takeaways (36th in the league). @ryofthebeholder has been very stable defensively with a GA/TA differential of -3. Another notable for St Louis is depth dman @VanishingPoint92 who has the fewest giveaways in the league. The Blues defense has definitely picked it up in the playoffs as they limited the Stars to 2.5 goals per game in the final 4 games of their series, statistically nothing spectacular, but a pretty good feat against a team that averaged nearly 4.5 goals a game all season, and they should be ready to face the threats Chicago has to offer. Another thing to note is that the Blues have 4 players in the top 15 for takeaways to start the post season. However they have a tough task to match up with the best defensive team in the league. VERDICT: I won't be giving my predictions here since I'm involved in this series, but I will say that I do believe it will be very competitive as we've seen the games be during the regular season. The matchups between the top 2 lines should be the closest matchups in the playoffs, the 3rd lines could dictate who wins this series based on how they perform. Both these teams could also have the best head to head game 7 lineups, and if that happens it will surely be a very fun game to watch. ARIZONA COYOTES Vs. ANAHEIM DUCKS REGULAR SEASON STATS: ARI (47 - 25 - 10) Standings: 9th in NHL, 5th in the West, 3rd in the Pacific Division, 104 points Offense: 2nd (346 goals for) Defense: 19th (282 goals against) ANA (59 - 19 - 4) Standings: 2nd in NHL, 2nd in the West, Pacific Division Champs, 122 points Offense: 11th (292 goals for) Defense: 2nd (191 goals against) Series Preview Both these teams come into the series coming off of very close round 1 series matchups, with Anaheim defeating the Canucks in 6 games after going down 2 - 0 in the series to start. Arizona was on the other end of this as they were down 3 - 1 against the Oilers and won 3 straight to advance and continue to be the best story this season. Both these. On paper the Anaheim Ducks are the far more dominant team as they ended the season just short of a Presidents Trophy with 122 points, they carry a very strong defensive team and an offensive lineup that can score consistently every night. Arizona can't be underestimated as they carry the 2nd best offense in the league with many threats, they aren't quite as dominant on the defensive side but have shown that they can shut it down when they need to. ARI Top Players: @schroyer69 , @JCpens22 , @Kraz18 , @Moranaconda , @vhigh ANA Top Players: @vxWoytkiw8xv , @SCHN3ID3RR-24 , @Carmstrong95 , @deadlykush204 , @Clarkeskog Press Conference Interview ARIZONA COYOTES First off I'd like to congratulate you guys on your 7 game series win over the Oilers, regardless of what happens in this series I think you guys have definitely been the best management group this season with the Arizona turn around. In your previous interview you said that while your defensive game has improved you felt that you needed more consistency defensively. You guys ended the series with an average of 3.71 goals against per game (26 goals allowed all series), however 20 of these goals were allowed in the first 4 games of the series, while you guys only allowed 6 goals in the final 3 games. Were you guys able to settle down and find stability defensively as the series went on or is the consistency still an area of concern? And what would you say you guys do differently when you're playing well defensively compared to when you're not? vhigh: Thank you, it was a hard fought series! First off, I would like to thank Edmonton for a great series! It will be one remembered in LG and definitely by me, for a very long time! Oso and the Oilers played very well and I couldn't be more honored to have shared the ice with the high caliber team they put together! Thank you for the compliment, that means the world to us that you would say that! We didn't play defensively the way we wanted to early on, but credit the Oilers as they are a very good team and forced us out of our comfort zone early. We were lucky enough to recover in game 5 and carry that momentum through games 6 and 7 and pull of the comeback! Our goaltending was the biggest reason we did so though. Without the play of Twist in those final 3 games, we aren't having this conversation right now! After we were down 3-1, we never lost confidence and with the veteran leadership and calmness of Schroyer and the calm cool and collected play of Dannyk and Larkin down the middle, we were able to recover. Moranaconda: Well first off thank you for the compliment it really means a lot. When it comes to our defensive performance like I said last week I don't think I will ever be satisfied.. I think we did a pretty good job against Edmonton when the chips were on the line. I thought the entire series except for 2 games our boys did better in our own end. There was an 8-1 game and a 4-0 game which really killed our defensive stats that's for sure. But defense is always a work in progress, it's a living breathing thing I think and the only way to be better is to have every single guy on the ice trusting and knowing what his teammates are going to do and if just one piece of that 6 man unit is out of sync the entire thing falls apart. I think we have been in sync here and there but for the most part we have to trust our teammates more and not take so many chances whether it's going for unnecessary hits or just being out of position or chasing loose pucks that you should just leave alone. All in all it is always going to be a work in progress and like I said I don't think we will ever be satisfied with our play in our own end. Over the regular season your team quietly dominated the league offensively without getting much credit for this, scoring 346 goals which was good for 2nd in the league. However your offense had been very up and down during your first round series, averaging 2.71 goals a game and at a TOA differential of -10:19. Some of your top players in @schroyer69 , @JCpens22 , and @Kraz18 were barely above a point a game. Do you think your offense was a bit slower to start than you would've liked or would you say this is just a result of your top players playing in some very defensively tight games in this series? vhigh: We did get off to a slow start offensively in the series, but there were a couple of reasons for that. First being that Edmonton is that good. Let's give them credit where it is due. But also, we didn't play defensively the way needed to to create offense often enough. The other big reason was that Penguin2013 for the Oilers stood on his goddamn head ALL SERIES LONG!!! For the longest time it felt like we weren't going to score regardless of how well we were playing. Thank god we broke through enough times to squeak by. As far as Schroy, Pens and Kraz have "slow starts offensively", I'm not really going to comment too much. These guys have done it well all season and I fell that they are fine and will pick it back up against Anaheim. Moranaconda: Well honestly I think the previously mentioned 2 bad games are really going to skew the stat lines for sure. But in all honesty I think we have to be better at playing as a unit. Things have been changed up a little here to try and get more of a balance across the boards in the playoffs. As each 5 man unit took care of business each winning 1 game a piece in round 1 then we were able to finish the series off in game 7 with our top unit. But I have to tell you it was no easy task from start to finish as Edmonton was more than game for the entire series and sometimes the bounces and hard work are what wins a series and we were able to get the job done with a planned lucky bounce. haha But when it comes to the team as a whole offensively it is just like defensively for me, I don't think I will ever be satisfied with how we are playing. You guys don't have any distinct star goaltenders, but your starter @Nhltwister has already faced 64 shots witch is 2nd most among goaltenders so far in the post season (faced 6th most shots during the regular season). How important and underrated has this been to your general success and your series win over Edmonton? vhigh: Twist is THE reason that we are in round 2 of the playoffs. Our team definitely picked it up and played very well in games 5-7 but without those games by Twist, especially game 7 (BY FAR BEST PERFORMANCE OF THE SEASON FOR HIM) were won between the pipes. True, we all had some game saving plays, but Twist stood on his effect by head! I don't think he is underrated totally, because in this league, you have to go out and earn it! He is finally starting to do that and I'm excited to see him against the leagues best goalie head to head in this next series. Moranaconda: Honestly we don't win that series without Twist... He has been rock solid for us down the stretch and has been getting better and better the bigger the situation. I mean that Game 7 was as big a stage as it get's in the playoffs (other than the obvious SCF Game 7) and he played by far his best game of the season in that game. We felt horrible for the guy because he has been right on the door step of a shutout all season long and we just haven't been able to secure one for him.. In that game 7 we had to restart after the 1st period due to a lag out and we played and entire game of 3 periods after that in which we won 1-0 but since they had scored in that 1st period it was actually 1-1 and that entire 3 period shutout game does not count as a shutout... I felt awful for him but he can rest easy knowing we would not have won that game without him. I am very proud of Twist this season and he is really starting to find his game and get a little recognition for it and that's great! Going back to something you guys said last interview, you both have played extremely well in your rookie seasons and have continued to play extremely well in the playoffs as you both have combined for 8 points and have done equal work in the defensive zone (@Moranaconda ranks top 5 in the playoffs in takeaways and @vhigh isn't too far behind) so far and have gone 2 - 0. Last series you said you wouldn't be splitting up the talent for increased depth, but with the defense still struggling at times will you be at least considering it some what to match up with Anaheim defensively? As they ranked 2nd in the league defensively and were only slightly worse than Edmonton offensively. vhigh: I will not say anything personnel related here as it is strategy, but I can say that there is no reason for huge changes. It was very close and we almost lost to Edmonton, but we didn't. We won. We are facing an opponent that plays a very well rounded game and has some very talented scorers, but they play a defensive game. This will be a series that chemistry between line mates will matter. I think that Anaheim got such great goaltending and have the highest paid defenseman in the league, who is worth it, and don't really get the offensive credit that they deserve. It doesn't matter what other people see or think, we know how good this Ducks offense is and we will not expect anything less than an all out attack by them!! They are deep everywhere and we will have to be as well if we want to move on again! Moranaconda: Well we did go 2-1 just for the record just so we don't get credit for not losing a game as we did lose one.. haha but like we have continued to say we like continuity and that is something you always want especially on the back end. That being said you never know what might happen in the playoffs as any combination is possible so stay tuned. You guys went 1 - 4 against Anaheim in the season series, however this doesn't tell the story at all as every one of those games with the exception of 1 game was decided by only 1 goal. Other stats such as TOA and shots are also very similar. What would you say you guys learned the most from those games that will help you in this series? vhigh: We played a VERY even season series with Anaheim this season but lost every game except the last one. We know we can play with them and we do expect to win, but we will have to play mistake free hockey for most of this series to have a chance... that is one of the best things that the Ducks do. They make few mistakes and we will need to capitalize on the few mistakes they make. I believe in the Yotes and we will see what happens. All I can really say is, tune in to this one!! It should be a very fun series to play and watch! (Though I may have trouble watching since Anaheim likes to play close games and that stresses me out to watch!! Lol) Last thing I want to say is, thank you to you AND NH4JP for giving us the opportunity to answer questions! You guys have done a hell of a job and I look forward to reading all of the interviews! #Yotes #Ducks #Yucks (Carm and Allstar know what's up!!) #PlayoffHockey!!!! Moranaconda: Well we know that it is going to be our toughest challenge yet and the task is far greater than any we have had thus far in the season. But that being said I think this matchup is going to be highly entertaining as we always joke with each other (Ducks & Yotes Management) after every single one of our games "another 1 god dam these games are tight" but that's what you want in the playoffs is the best matchups possible as that is what makes it entertaining to watch. Hopefully this just adds some fuel to a freshly budding rivalry between our 2 teams as we are in the same division and here we are meeting in the playoffs for the first time in the history of the league, hopefully there will be many more meetings to come on into the future! I wish the Ducks nothing but the best and may the best team win! Once again i do want to thank Edmonton for an amazing series as they gave it there all and unfortunately for them came up just short in the dying minutes of double overtime.. They were extremely good and basically out played us statistically the entire series. But as Oso said we are the Cinderella story and luckily for us the clock still has not reached midnight. Haha ANAHEIM DUCKS *I was not able to obtain any answers from Anaheim OFFENSIVE MATCHUP: ADVANTAGE ARIZONA Its hard to not give Arizona the advantage here, scoring the 2nd most goals in the league their offense can't be dismissed. Despite their top players not producing as well as they would've liked to have in round 1, the Coyotes still managed to keep up offensively, and if the trio of @JCpens22 , @schroyer69 , and @Kraz18 starts to dominate again they'll only be that much more dominant. Arizona also gets some very good offensive output from the backend, with @Moranaconda , @vhigh , and @B37Will having 30+ point seasons, and have continued to produce in the playoffs, with @Moranaconda leading the team with 5 points. Anaheim shouldn't be quick to dismiss however, they don't have anyone who had a superstar caliber season, but they have tremendous depth, with 9 players with over 40 points, they also get very good scoring from their defenseman, we all know the effect @vxWoytkiw8xv can have, they also have 3 other dmen with over 30 points. DEFENSIVE MATCHUP: ADVANTAGE ANAHEIM Anaheim is clearly the better defensive team, only allowing 191 goals this season. Anaheim's defensive game kept the team in the round 1 series as the offense struggled to score against @xCr0sbyXx87 . Behind Anaheim's good defensive unit they have star goalie @SCHN3ID3RR-24 who has dominated this season, and has continued to play very well, even Arizona's heavy offense will find it difficult to score this series. Arizona has been every up and down defensively this season, they showed it last series when they started the series giving up much too many goals, and ending it playing well defensively. They have @schroyer69 who is a natural defenseman who understands the defensive aspect of the game. Arizona's top dmen have been excellent, as @Moranaconda and @B37Will both ranked top 6 in the league in takeaways and both carried positive TA/GA differentials which is also impressive. @Nhltwister has also been very good for the Coyotes but they'll need to play a tighter defensive game and relieve the fire power he faces every night. VERDICT: ANAHEIM IN 6 I'm sure everyone would love to see Arizona win this series, and while its not being ruled out I feel as though Anaheim is just too good. They are good enough defensively to contain Arizona's offense and are have enough to offer offensively to provide enough goal support. After being shutdown by @xCr0sbyXx87 in the first few games they found ways to score 3 to 4 goals in the closing games of their series and they'll likely use this against @Nhltwister . Arizona will need to do as much as they can offensively and they'll need their defensive game to be more consistent as a unit, I don't see them going down easily, but I don't see them winning the series either. Thanks for reading.
