capcrunch98

Even in another lost season, beating down the blowhards from Boston always feels so good. Nice game today.

We're gonna shove that Presidents Trophy right up Florida's ass. All kidding aside, this is gonna be a tough series and I wouldn't bet $10 on us pulling it off. But it's possible - anyone who saw the underdog Caps knock off the defending champion Bruins in 2012 (or the Habs pull off the upset of the century against us in 2010) knows that. Can't believe we haven't played the Cats since November. We were arguably the best team in hockey at that point, then we had a meltdown in the third period and we were basically in a tailspin until March when we found our game again.

No, not 100%. A #1 or #2 gets bounced in the first round every year, oftentimes more than one. Anyone who has been watching the Caps over the past month (not just flipping channels) can see they are capable of beating anyone. Obviously whoever they play will be favored to win, and if Ovi is out and/or neither of our goalies goes on a run, it'll be a short ride. But saying it's guaranteed they'll lose in the first round after one stinker of a game in which they were missing their best player is nonsense. Statements like that are why I really need to avoid message boards the day after a loss.

A #1 or #2 is gonna lose in the first round - it happens almost every year. I could see it being Florida. They remind me of the 2010 Caps.

Absolutely their biggest win of the season. For them to be able to go into the barn of the best team in hockey and pull that out was huge. It's pretty much written into the NHL rulebook that at least one #1 or #2 seed gets knocked out in the first round each year. The Caps just reminded everyone they have the skill to pull it off.

Great ass whopping last night, and it couldn't have happened to a better team. Although it shows you how much the game has changed - can you imagine a Caps-Philly game 20 years ago with one team up 9-2? It would've been Wrestlemania out on the ice.

Absolutely, and a healthy Vitek too. Everyone who was dumping on this team a month ago somehow thought that missing two top-6 forwards shouldn't make a difference in a team's performance, including it's power play.

Very sad to hear. Considering all the issues he was battling for so long, I'm surprised he made it to his 60s. Inside the ring, his charisma and talents were second to none. RIP Razor.

Yes, I'm a STH so I go to most home games, and I watch all the road games. I'm not happy with how they're playing now, but I'm not hitting the panic button for a team that's 3 points out of first place. I agree with you about the PP (said so in my initial post). The optimist in me says they've got the talent and firepower to fix it, although I've been saying that for 3 months. The goalie situation is also a problem. Again - like the PP I don't think it's a lack of talent, but at what point do you stop assuming it'll correct itself? And the lack of depth scoring is disappointing (as it has been for awhile). At the same time, there's no denying the skill level of this club, we've shown for long stretches of this season that we can beat anyone, I love how some of the young guys are getting a chance to play, we've been missing 3 top-6 forwards (Backstrom, Oshie, and Mantha) for a most of the season, and now we're down a few of our top defensemen. I'm staying optimistic, although I don't blame others who aren't. Don't blame you for thinking that, but everyone was also saying that this time 4 years ago. I know it was a different team and a different time, but we still have the skill level of that club IMO.

I wouldn't go that far. They lost a close game on the road to a hot team, while missing three of their top d-men. They haven't played well for the past month, yet they're still only a few points out of first place - which is a testament to how much they dominated the first 2 months of the season. Honestly, despite the skid, this team looks better now than they did in Jan/Feb 2018, they're just not getting the breaks. PP sucks, though. Completely agree. And as a hockey fan, I would never pay a dollar for ESPN on principle alone. That network has never taken this sport seriously, even when they had the primary TV rights. If it's not men's college basketball, football, or NBA (with never-ending butt sniffing for Lebron), they don't give a crap.

In other good news, Islanders just had an 11 game losing streak. Maybe we can finally let the Trotz thing go. Great coach, and he likely would've done better then Rierden in the 2019 and 2020 playoffs (although that's not saying much). But the dude still puts his pants on one leg at a time, and still uses Lysol when he takes a dump. He's not infallible. In fact, he almost got fired just a few months before we won it all in 2018.

When it comes to playing spoiler, nothing beats the O's knocking out the blowhard Red Sox on the last day in 2011. But taking 2/3 this week was nice.

Do you mean regular season? They should be fine considering the talent on this club. Playoffs? They'll be exposed as old and slow unless young guys like McMichael, Lapierre, Fehervary, and Alexeyev can step up in a significant way, and the vets can stay healthy.

Yup. There are only three good things to being this bad and playing out the string in a season that was over by mid-May: *Paying $7 for nosebleeder seats on the secondary market and sitting 5 rows behind the dugout because there's nobody there and even the ushers don't care anymore. *Looking forward to a top pick in next year's draft. *Playing spoiler to pompous blowhard teams like the Yankees and Nationals, who were expecting an easy series and a clean sweep.

We've now got the worst record in baseball, and I don't see any reason that will change over the last month of the season. Even in the 2000's it was never this bad. The only reason I go to games now is because it's been a rite of summer for my buddies over the past 20 years. Even the charm of Camden Yards has worn off for me in the midst of the stinkfest over the past few years.

You missed some fun summers from late-2011 through 2016, but other than that you've made a wise decision. They're in a tough spot: they can't spend like the Yankees, Red Sox, or even Blow Jays, and they don't have the front office genius of the Rays. So all they can really do is suck royally for a decade, enjoy a competitive window of about 5 years when all their high picks break out into good players (hopefully), and then go back to a long painful rebuild once said good players leave for greener pastures and bigger contracts. Wash, rinse, and repeat. Based on that timeline, we're about 2 - 3 years away from being watchable again. We'll see you then.

Yup, before he became the poster child of the dangers of guaranteed long-term contracts in pro sports, he was something special and helped give us some memorable seasons. By all accounts he was a class act off the field and in the locker room. I still see plenty of #19 shirts/jerseys when I go to O's games. Yes, most of these are probably cases of the fan not having any other merch to wear, or maybe a few of them lost a bet. But it speaks to how popular he was at one point. I think he should have retired long ago when it was obvious to everyone on the planet that he had completely lost it, but it's easy for me to sit here in my office chair and tell him to walk away from all the extra money that the Orioles were dumb enough to give him. Glad he's gone, but also glad for the good years he gave us.

And for all their huffing and puffing about what a "dirty" player Willy is, they go out and get a guy who has just as bad of a record. Whatever, if they want to waste a roster spot on an aging goon who is going to play 6 minutes per night, let them.

So over the past week, we lost only Dillon from last season's roster (which was pretty good until the playoffs started) but in return we got much-needed cap space and a 2nd round pick. I'm fine with that.

I'll give credit to GMBM for being able to swing the deal to unload Dillon. A week ago we were hoping Seattle would take him for nothing. Instead, we get two 2nd round picks for him. As I read the article I kept waiting to hear that there were strings attached (like us covering some salary). I can't believe another GM values him that highly, but I know Winnipeg needs help on the blueline. I agree with others that Dillon is a solid defenseman, but he's replaceable with cheaper in-house prospects. And he looked awful in the Bruins series.

895 just isn't gonna happen at this point; 1 1/2 seasons lost to lockouts really screwed him, and the 40 or so games lost to COVID was probably the nail in the coffin. And as we saw at the end of the season, even he's not exempt from getting injured and missing significant time, and it's reasonable to think this could continue as he gets older. But he should be able to reach the 800 club, which is remarkable. 802 would put him second, and it would be pretty indisputable that he is truly the greatest goal scorer of all time when adjusted for the era he played in.

9 mil, in a year where the cap will likely not go up much (if at all) would be enough to compete for the best FA on the market, or two very solid players. The Chara and Lundqvist signings show that players want to come here. Not saying it would make them a contender, but I could see how management and ownership would think so. But it's all a moot point anyways. Ovi is way too invested in the community and the team to leave on such a low note without having the sendoff he's earned. At the very least, he'll be back for 1 or 2 more years, hopefully longer.

Generally agree with you guys on this, although if Ovi goes you're talking about an assload of salary cap space. I haven't even kept up with what UFAs are out there, but with $9 million they could definitely get some immediate help. I have no doubt ownership would prefer to bring in one or two big names to soften the blow of their franchise legend leaving, to help keep this team's championship window open, and of course to keep selling out the arena.

Ouch, thanks for reminding me of why I don't visit this thread as much anymore!

The problem is this core group just doesn't have the extra gear needed to get it done in the playoffs, and with the exception of a magical 7-week run in 2018 in which just about everything went right for them, they really never did. For the past 13 years, they've put up great regular seasons based almost exclusively on superior talent. But when the playoffs come around, and with it the added pressure, the lack of skating room due to tighter defenses and harder forechecks, and having to deal with the other team's A-game each night, this team has generally fallen flat. And 13 years is a pretty damn big sample size. I don't expect anything from this club next year, or the year after. They already shot their "trade a top young player and high draft picks" wad on Mantha. Hopefully he works out. They don't have the cap space to go after one of the big fish in free agency. They probably wouldn't trade a guy like Carlson or Wilson, even though they could each bring in a nice return. Kuzy's trade value is in the toilet right now, so they're better off keeping him and hoping he can bounce back next year and maybe sell high on him before he does something stupid again. Our best hope is that the few young prospects we have can make an impact, we again do well in the regular season on account of our skill, being a year older doesn't affect our vets too much, and we catch fire in the playoffs. Is it possible? Yes. But I'm not betting on it.