TrueBlue4ever

Did anyone notice in Nashville that when the handshake line-up was occurring they were playing the guitar anthem from "Top Gun"? Swear to God. Not sure they were doing it for the Jets' benefit as much as it was a salute to the Preds for their season, but the irony was delicious.

I keep the title straight-laced and try to dress up the tagline, but please feel free to add your input. Loved the Knights of the Roulette Table as well, keep them coming! Team effort makes it better.

I may have a run of these types of quotes in the game previews as the world discovers just how good the Jets are this year.

Surprised at the negativity from the HNIC panel. Saying the Jets didn't play their best game and that Vegas was the better team in the 3rd period. Thought the Jets played textbook lockdown hockey in the final frame after their big start. They were never really in danger tonight, and played a solid defensive game (only 21 shots against) when they should have been tired after 7 tough games and a late flight.

Based on quality scoring chances, game one could have been about 8-2.

Fast enough for you, Floyd?

Monday, CBC, Sportsnet, NBCSN at 7:00 p.m. Tagline: "Sin City vs. River City" Storyline: After a quick start and workmanlike performance in a Game 1 win, the Jets look to continue feeding off of the whiteout and take a 2-0 lead into T-Mobile, as the rest of the NHL and the American media start to take notice of the whiteout pandemonium and the top team still remaining in the playoffs. Quote: “They're like a pack of wolves the way they keep coming at you" - Ken Hitchcock on the Jets Quote #2: “Who are these guys?" - Paul Newman and Robert Redford repeatedly in "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid" Fun facts: Marc-Andre Fleury only gave up 3 first period goals in his first 10 playoff games this year before giving up 3 against the Jets on Saturday.......the Jets playoff opponents so far had 101, 117, and 109 points in the regular season for a total of 327, the second highest total in NHL history for the first 3 rounds (LA in 2014 faced San Jose, Anaheim and Chicago and their total of 334 points....Saturday's appearance on NBC was the first time ever the Jets appeared on American network TV....the decibel meter in Bell-MTS Centre hit 112.4 on Thursday night at the viewing party as the Jets wrapped up their series against Nashville, with only about 7,000 fans in the building.....Winnipeg and Vegas are the first two rookie participants in the Western Conference Final since Anaheim and Minnesota in 2003.....with 8 years of combined residency in their respective cities, this is the youngest franchise match-up in the playoffs since Colorado (1st year) and Florida (2nd year) met in the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals....this is the first time either team has trailed in a playoff series this year.

As long as you and I know it's in good fun, no harm done. Go Jets go!

I'd respond, but I fear the mods would delete my post (however humorous and defusing) again and keep selected ones from my critics.

Thursday, CBC, Sportsnet, MSNBC at 7:00 p.m. Tagline: "Music City vs. River City" Storyline: Game 7, 'nuff said. Quote: “It doesn't matter where you are coming from. All that matters is where you are going" - Brian Tracy Quote #2: “There is no tomorrow! There is no tomorrow!" - Apollo Creed Fun facts: Nashville is still 0-8 when losing the first game of a series (I'll keep throwing this one out as long as I have to)........Winnipeg has played 2 prior game 7's in their NHL history dating back to 1.0 days; both times they lost after having never trailed in the series up to that point....... There have been 60 playoff games played in the last 5 years on 2 days' rest, the team that lost the game prior to the 2 days off won the next game 40 times (courtesy CBC, not independently fact-checked).......Since the introduction of the 7 game series for all rounds of the playoffs, no team has ever won the Stanley Cup without winning at least one overtime game, the closest any team got was the 2000 New Jersey Devils, who did not play an overtime game until they lost game 5 of the Finals against Dallas in extra time, and then they won the Cup in double overtime of game 6....the last team to win the Cup without winning (or even playing) in OT were the 1983 New York Islanders.......Andrei Vasilevsky (52) and Connor Hellebuyck (51) have joined the 50+ wins club this year (counting regular season and playoff games), there has never been a year when 3 goalies have all reached that mark - Pekka Rinne is at 49 wins right now (Brayden Holtby is the one other goalie with a shot to hit that mark - the Caps would need to win the Stanley Cup with him winning all the games for him to hit 50 on the nose).....Since the creation of the NHL in 1918, the #1 and #2 teams overall in the regular season have played a game 7 in the playoffs only 7 times (or 8, if you ignore the tiebreaker system the NHL has in place, see below), the underdog has won the 7th game only once: 1938: Boston (1) over New York Rangers (2) in the semi-finals (in double OT on a Mel Hill goal - his 3rd OT goal of the series) in the first ever game 7 in NHL history 1941: Boston (1) over Toronto (2) in the semi-finals 1954: Detroit (1) over Montreal (2) in the Cup final in OT (the second of only two game 7 OT winners in Cup finals history - 1950 being the first - as Tony Lestwick deflects a shot off of Doug Harvey's glove and into the net, making it the second-most infamous own goal by a defenseman in NHL playoff history - thanks Steve Smith) 1955: Detroit (1) over Montreal (2) in the Cup final again 1987: Edmonton (1) over Philadelphia (2) in the Cup final 1994: New York Rangers (1) over New Jersey (2) in the Conference Finals (In double OT - Matteau! Matteau! Matteau!) 2017: Pittsburgh (2) over Washington (1) in the Division Finals Special case - 2001: Colorado (1) over New Jersey (2 - technically 3rd because they had the same number of points as Detroit but fewer wins) in the Cup Final (Bourque finally wins one)

Some of us have actual jobs and are more concerned with paying bills than the outcome of a random hockey game, but I'll get right on that for you, my Highness.

Full credit to the ingenious people at the street party and their signs.

Monday, CBC, NBCSN at 8:30 p.m. Tagline: "Keystone Province vs Volunteer State" Storyline: After silencing the "Sea of Pee", the Jets return home to "White Noise" to try to clinch their first ever conference final appearance. Quote: “We’re going to go there, we’re going to win a game, we’re going to come back here. It’s that simple,” - P.K. Subban, guaranteeing a game 6 victory. Quote #2: “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes" - Benjamin Franklin Fun facts: Winnipeg has scored 4 goals in a period 3 times through 10 playoff games. They scored 4 or more 7 times in the regular season (including 5 in a period 5 times)........Nashville was 9-9 in road games following a home loss this year in the regular season (1-0 in the playoffs)......Jets were 5-1-1 at home following a road win (the only loss was to Nashville), they are also 1-0 in the playoffs.......Pekka Rinne has been pulled 3 times in 11 playoff games, after being pulled only twice in 59 regular season games (not counting the last game of the year, which he only played the first 40 minutes of a win and was taken out to rest, rather than the usual "pulled for playing badly".

Saturday, CBC, MSNBC at 8:30 p.m. Tagline: "Jack Daniels vs. Crown Royal" Storyline: The series returns to Smashville all tied at 2, after the Predators's trap game shuts down the Jets' offence. Quote: “No one said that it'd be easy, they just promised it would be worth it" - Anonymous (Why would someone not take credit for that quote? It's awesome.) Quote #2: “Adversity doesn't build character, it reveals it" - James Lane Allen, American novelist Fun fact: Nashville is still 0-8 when losing the first game of a series. teams winning game 5 of a series win the series 72.8% of the time.

Roslovic gives them another option on the power play, Armia gives them another option on the penalty kill. If Perrault is back, then he slots into the 2nd PP unit with Little, Connor, Ehlers and Myers (you could even sub in Trouba, Enstrom, Morrissey or Chariot and run 3 forwards/2 defence instead of their usual 4/1), so I think If Perrault is back Roslo becomes expendable on the man advantage and is easier to pull out than Armia. Plus Maurice has been sheik ding the rookie a bit in the playoffs so far (only a bit over 8 minutes of ice time yesterday), so I think Armia puts the coach at ease more.

League wants a double-header on TV without overlap, so Winnipeg becomes a Mountain time zone team for the night (at least it's not Pacific).

Thursday, CBC, SN at 8:30 p.m. Tagline: "Whiteout vs. Yellow Snow" Storyline: After an epic comeback, Jets try to take a stranglehold on the heavyweight series. Quote: “Our fans are huge. It’s real too. Our crowd noise is from the crowd. It’s not from speakers, or music, or live bands, or whatever. That’s people making noise and that goes right through your body.” - Blake Wheeler Quote #2: “I mean, I’m not going to comment on the officiating, but..... (starts a one minute tirade on the officiating)" - PK Subban Fun facts aplenty: The 7 goals ties an all-time Jets playoff record for one game......First ever Jets game to be played in May......First comeback from 3 goals down by any team in the playoffs this year (0-28 prior to last night), first Jets comeback from that much since the Toronto 5-4 OT win in October 2016 (Laine's first hat-trick), and first 3 goal comeback win in regulation in the playoffs since Calgary in 2015.....Hellebuyck won his 50th game of the season (regular season and playoffs combined) last night, the 31st time that has ever happened.....there are 4 other goalies (Rinne, Vasileysky, Holtby, and Rask) who could reach that mark this year, there has never been a season where more than 2 have done it in the same year, at most, 4 could all reach that mark this year when it's all said and done if the playoffs play out a certain way...he is the 6th American goalie to hit that mark, joining Barrasso, Richter (who holds the American record with 58 wins), Thomas, Quick, and Bishop.....Bernie Parent and Martin Brodeur hold the all-time record with 59 wins in one year, playoffs included.....Brodeur hit 50 wins a record 4 times, no one else did it more than twice Poster that needs to happen behind the Predators bench for the next game: Separated at birth -

Well there goes my fun fact for the next game.

Yes, thanks much. I'm aware of how the comic book series resolved the storyline, so much of that fits. Would be a bit surprised if at least Gamora wasn't brought back , given her role in Guardians (if they are making further movies). I guess Nebula would step into that role on the team. Also, I know in the comics that Hawkeye is killed, nit sure if that will occur in the upcoming movie. Interesting that the entire "original 6" Avengers (assuming Hawkeye did) survived while most of the new crew disappears, wondered if there would be a "sacrifice" like you suggest where the old guard dies to save and bring back the new crew (so they can make more movies like you say).

Clarification needed (and I saw the movie twice over the weekend) - AND THIS WILL EXPLICITLY DISCUSS A PLOT POINT, SO DON"T CONTINUE READING IF YOU WANT TO BE SURPRISED********YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED: The Infinity gaunlet looks fried on Thanos' hand after, you know....., but with the stones intact. He then teleports (or transports, or bifrosts. or whatever you call it) to another part of the universe. The first time I thought he left the now destroyed gauntlet behind, the second time not so sure, was looking for it on his hand, did not see clearly, but no evidence it was still on earth. So 2 questions - 1) Was it destroyed (thinking no if he was able to transport, unless he could do that without the gauntlet anyway), and more importantly 2) Did it go with him or is it still on earth after Thanos left it behind (if it was broken, no need to take it in his mind). It is key to know this for the next movie, if my plot prediction (discussed below) is correct. Overall, I liked it. Quite the gut punch at the end for sure, but I am not as stunned as others were. Maybe too jaded by the knowledge that comic books never really kill their characters for good, and the easy out this storyline can take (also knowing how the comic book series did so) which I will elaborate on below. It seems clear *****AGAIN DISCUSSING KEY PLOT POINT, TURN AWAY NOW OR READ AT YOUR PERIL******* I WILL BE VERY DETAILED HERE, SO READING MORE WILL DEFINITELY SPOIL THINGS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET, I CAN"T GIVE ANY BETTER WARNING THAN THAT************STOP NOW, OR WITHHOLD ALL WHINING THAT I RUINED IT FOR YOU*******: that Dr. Strange, having seen all possible outcomes and knowing that this outcome was the only way to win, was always prepared to give up the time stone rather than destroy it (neither option is really protecting it, which was his duty, unless of course he knew he could get it back later, and had to get it up short term to ultimately protect it long-term), was always prepared to let Quill intervene to ruin things when they had the chance to take the gauntlet off, and must have known that Thanos would use the time stone to alter the future to re-collect the mind stone when it seemed lost. So he saw the ultimate outcome of the conclusion of this movie, saying it was the only way. But that is not winning, obviously (at least short-term). Also, one has to wonder if it is possible for him to see into the future beyond his own death? I would think not, so he must know he can be resurrected, and therefore I'm not really worried about who died, it's likely all temporary (as proved possible already by Thanos in getting back the mind stone). It begs the question, since the time stone could have been destroyed beforehand to prevent the reversal of time and the re-creation of the mind stone, and Strange did not choose that option, then does he know that Thanos can actually never be beaten, and that he would have continued on his quest to wipe out half the universe until he succeeded, so the only way to "win" was to let Thanos think he succeeded, and then reverse time quietly while Thanos sits alone in his corner of the universe satisfied that he has restored balance, rather than killing Thanos or destroying the stones? Hence my original question about the state of the gauntlet (since the forge is operational and has a mould of it already, and Thor has a bifrost axe to transport him back there). If Thanos still has it and the stones, that makes things a bit more tricky than if it was left on Earth, but the ultimate solution of re-build and reverse time seems obvious for the second movie to have that happy ending. Plus, from Marvel's marketing and distribution standpoint, after clearing $1.3 billion on Black Panther, and having all the original actors' (Downey, Hemsworth and Evans I believe)contracts expiring, the choice of who lived and who died seems entirely opposite to what the studio would need on a go-forward basis to keep milking this cash cow into Phase 4. Who wants to bet that Avengers 4 is titled Infinity Wars: Resurrection (especially since the studio hid the name of Avengers 4 prior to release of this movie because it itself was a spoiler)? Any thoughts?

Tuesday, CBC, SN at 7:00 p.m. Tagline: "Country Music Hall of Fame at Human Rights Museum" Storyline: Jets return to the "White House" with home advantage now in their grasp in a series that is starting to look as skilled and as nasty as advertised. Celebrity Quote: “Life is like a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use." Peanuts creator, and Minnesota born-hockey fan Charles M. Schultz Quote #2: “Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way." Baseball pitcher Satchel Paige. Recycled fun fact: Connor Hellebuyck is 7-0-1 with 2 shutouts and a .949 save percentage in the next game played after giving up 5 or more goals. Fun fact #2: Sunday's game was the longest game ever played in Winnipeg Jets history, either 1.0 or the Atlanta days.

Sunday, CBC, SN at 7:00 p.m. Tagline: "Carrie Underwood vs Chris Jericho" Storyline: After "stealing" home ice advantage (editor's note: the "stole the game" narrative is up for debate, IMO), the Jets try to double their all-time second round wins total and take a sizeable advantage back home. Quote: “I don't feel as overwhelmed as the stats will tell me I should at all.....They put an awful lot of pucks to the net from all over the ice. I’m not worried about those stats. There certainly weren’t a lot of odd-man rushes or things like that of a real high-risk nature" - Paul Maurice after the game, on the idea that the lopsided shot totals suggested that the Jets were dominated all night. Quote #2: “If I’m being honest, that’s the best game we’ve probably played in the playoffs. The bounces didn’t go our way and that’s one we’re okay [with]. There’s no question how well we played tonight. We’re fine in here. That’s probably the best I’ve felt being minus-3 in a game.” - PK Subban Fun fact: Rinne vs Hellebuyck is the first meeting between two Vezina finalists in the playoffs since Tim Thomas vs. Roberto Luongo in the 2011 Cup Finals. Fun fact #2: Nashville is 0-8 in their playoff history when losing game 1.

Makes sense. Mustard belongs on a hot dog.

Predators won the season series 3-1-1. CBC, SN 360 at 7:00 p.m. Tagline: "Catfish vs Goldeye" Storyline: The series everyone in the media wanted, and the one many prognosticators say will determine the Stanley Cup finalist, if not the champion. Quote: “If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best" - Donald Cerrone, American boxer (paraphrased by Ric Flair: "If you want to be the man, you gotta beat the man") Quote #2: "OK, hear me out: We cancel the playoffs and just let the Jets and Predators play a two-month best-of-31 series for the Cup." - Sean McIndoe on twitter after Winnipeg beat Nashville 5-4 at home March 25, Season review: Game 1: Nashville wins 5-3 at home Nov. 20, their 7th win in 8 games, and climb to 12-6-2, within one point of 12-5-3 Winnipeg. Rinne and Hellebuyck are the goalies. 3 goals by Nashville in the 2nd period decided the game, Jets trailed 5-1 before two late cosmetic goals made it appear closer. Game 2: Winnipeg wins 6-4 on the road on December 19, maybe their biggest win of the year, the one that gives hope that this team can go all the way. After giving up 2 goals in the final minute of the first to trail 2-1, the Jets roared back with 2 Nic Ehlers goals to lead 4-3 after 2. Nashville tied it up early in the 3rd before Branden Tanev won it with 86 seconds left. Hellebuyck and Rinne were the goalies, Jets climbed to 20-10-5 and moved to within a point of both Nashville and St. Louis for top spot in the Central, while stopping the Preds 8 game undefeated streak. Game 3: Nashville wins 6-5 in Winnipeg on February 27 in the game that would ultimately decide the President's Trophy. A scoreless first period gave way to old time 1980's hockey in the second, as the teams poured in 6 goals in the last half of the period. Back and forth play had the Jets up 4-3 going into the final stanza, and it looked promising when trade deadline pick-up Paul Stastny scored with 10 minutes left. But the joy was short-lived as Nashville tied it up within the next 4 minutes, before Nashville's own deadline acquisition Ryan Hartman broke their hearts with a last minute goal. Hellebuyck and Rinne again between the pipes, Roman Josi had 5 assists. It was the only time all year the Jets would lose a game in regulation when leading after 2. Predators won their 5th straight (en route to a 10 game winning streak) and moved to 39-14-9 while Winnipeg fell to 37-17-9. Game 4: Nashville wins 3-1 at home on March 13 as a tired Jets squad wrapped up a 6 game road trip. 3 goals in the first 9 minutes against Michael Hutchinson (2 of them shorthanded) settled the game early, but Hellebuyck shut out the Preds the rest of the way in relief. Only Kyle Connor could beat Rinne on this night. Nashville jumped to 45-14-10 and into a tie for the league lead, while Winnipeg fell to 41-19-10. Little did we know then that the Jets would only lose once more to close out the regular season. Game 5: Winnipeg wins 5-4 in a shootout to clinch a playoff spot on March 25. Down 2-0 after 1 (including a last second goal against), Winnipeg roared back in the second to tie it at 3 before exiting the second down by a goal. It was Winnipeg's turn to turn a 3rd period deficit into a win when Blake Wheeler tied it one minute in. Mark Scheifele scored the only goal in the shootout against Juuse Saros while Hellebuyck stopped all 3 of his shootout foes. Jets climbed to 46-19-10 with win 5 of what would be a 6 for 6 home stand, while Nashville fell to 48-16-10. Fun fact: With 114 points, Winnipeg set an NHL record for most points in a season by a team that did not lead their division (or their conference, for that matter) in points. In fact, only 2 teams in NHL history have had more points in a regular season and not had home advantage in a series - Philadelphia had 118 when they went up against 127 point juggernaut Montreal in the 1976 Stanley Cup finals, and 115 point Montreal lost to 117 point Calgary in the 1989 Cup finals . The 231 combined points for these teams is the 6th highest total all-time for playoff opponents (behind the 2 aforementioned pairings, Montreal (129)-Boston (113) in the '78 Final, Montreal (132) - NYI (106) in the '77 semi-final, and that same Montreal team against Boston (106) in the '77 Cup Final. Fun fact #2: Since the original expansion in 1967-68, the #1 and #2 regular season teams have met a total of 14 times, but only 7 since the league went to a full 4 round playoff series in 1980. The #1 team has won 10 of 14, but the #2 team has won the last 2. No meeting had ever occurred earlier than the Conference Finals before last year, but the Jets-Preds meeting is the second straight year the #1 and #2 teams have met in Round 2, after Pittsburgh and Washington did it for the first time ever just last season: Mtl (1) 4-2 over Bos (2), 1969 semi-finals Bos(2) 4-0 over Chi (1), 1970 semi-finals Bos (1) 4-2 over NYR (2), 1972 Finals Phi (2) 4-2 over Bos (1), 1974 Finals Phi (1) 4-2 over Buf (2), 1975 Finals Mtl (1) 4-0 over Phi (2), 1976 Finals Mtl (1) 4-2 over Bos (2), 1978 Finals Edm (1) 4-1 over NYI (2), 1984 Finals Edm (1) 4-1 over Phi (2), 1985 Finals Edm (1) 4-3 over Phi (2), 1987 Finals Cal (1) 4-2 over Mtl (2), 1989 Finals NYR (1) 4-3 over NJ (2), 1994 Conf. Finals (In double OT!) Col (2) 4-2 over Det (1), 1996 Conf. Finals Pit (2) 4-3 over Was (1), 2017 Division Finals

In the end, the Pens were too much, but boy the refs did not do the Flyers any favours. at 5-4 Pens in the 3rd, Voracek gets slew-footed by Guetzel and they call him for embellishment. 4 on 4 instead of a power play (which would have become a 5 on 3 once Letang takes a penalty). Then Letang obviously trips Couturier, forcing a turnover to Guetzel, should have been 2 minutes but ends up a goal and 6-4, game over,