DCSaints_fan Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 1 hour ago, hail2skins said: I can't claim to be a huge hockey fan, but its hard for me to believe that a team which had 100+ points the three seasons prior to the Cup year's run was totally unexpected. Granted, from what I've heard, the Caps did have significant shifts in defensemen between 16-17 and 17-18, but still. The team has been fairly solid for much of the past decade. I think the historical chokes in the playoffs and particularly the inability to get past the Pens was what was in people's heads more than anything. Regular season means jack crap in the NHL, aside from getting into the playoffs. Take a look at the St. Louis Blues regular season vs. playoff record if you don't believe me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hail2skins Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 1 hour ago, DCSaints_fan said: Regular season means jack crap in the NHL, aside from getting into the playoffs. Take a look at the St. Louis Blues regular season vs. playoff record if you don't believe me. No argument that playoff upsets in the NHL are much more prevalent than those of the other major sports. My disagreement is with the notion that the 17-18 Caps, who had been one of the league's best (regular season wise, anyway) for much of the previous decade and with 20 of the core guys returning from the previous season, somehow came out of nowhere to unexpectedly win the Cup. Maybe, as Morneblane said, the defensive turnover was concerning to an extent. I don't know...…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 The Caps winning a cup last season was HARDLY a surprise. They had 2 presidents cups in like the past 3 seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsFanRob Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 I don’t feel so bad losing to the canes after watching two games of this series with the islanders. The islanders just SWEPT the penguins and the canes are giving them everything they can handle. Canes are hot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mournblade Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 Well well well the big bad Islanders and their genius coach down 2-0 to the lowly Hurricanes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redskin4ever Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 The Hurricanes are on track to sweep the Islanders. I will say though, watching this series is disappointing. The skill level on both of these teams is so low. They are both just hoping for ugly goals. Every once and a while you will see a good play, but there just isn't much skill. It's all about grinding and trying to get tough goals. Clearly that worked this year, but it's painful to watch 2 teams try that against each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mournblade Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 1 minute ago, Redskin4ever said: The Hurricanes are on track to sweep the Islanders. I will say though, watching this series is disappointing. The skill level on both of these teams is so low. They are both just hoping for ugly goals. Every once and a while you will see a good play, but there just isn't much skill. It's all about grinding and trying to get tough goals. Clearly that worked this year, but it's painful to watch 2 teams try that against each other. Makes our premature loss all the more painful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhead36 Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 That's Hockey. Its kinda like in 2012 when we had to grind our way to a win in 7 games over the defending champion Bruins and pushed the Rangers to 7 in the second round. Y'all remember the abomination that was Hunter Hockey? LOL. But it was fairly effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max21 Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 23 hours ago, ixcuincle said: I'm tired of hearing about "Caps West" San Jose. In fact, the Sharks have been a pesky thorn in our sides at Capital One Arena and especially at SAP Center where they had a long winning streak against the Caps until this year. This season was the first time the Caps beat "Caps West" at San Jose in a very long time. Even if you discount the Sharks dominance over Washington at SAP Center, the Sharks actually went to the Western Conference final multiple times before the Capitals with the Ovechkin core could even sniff one. In fact, they even made the Stanley Cup Final before the Caps did in 2018. To me, Caps West is SMASHVILLE. They have former Caps GM David Poille as well as Filip Forsberg. There isn't really any kind of link between San Jose and Washington which would warrant them being Caps West. Last point on Nashville being Caps West. Before their SC Final year against Pittsburgh, Nashville had NEVER gotten out of the second round. The Capitals between 1999 and 2018 only got out of the second round once. I thought we won in San Jose last year? I thought we swept them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsFanRob Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 I don’t want to take anything away from Carolina because they are a hardworking team but they have gotten some absolutely stupid bounces Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 I haven’t had a chance to watch any of the Canes/Isles series but Trotz was down 0-2 to a weak Columbus team last season so I wouldn’t count him out yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mournblade Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 So where are all the Barry Trotz apologists now? I love it. All those dewy eyed Islanders fans with their "we made it past the Penguins! The Caps got knocked out! We can win a Cup!" about to get their dreams smashed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TradeTheBeal! Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 Kudos to Trotz on a great season...but this can’t happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhead36 Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 Well maybe the Canes really just were that good. But I'm sticking with the theory that its just one of those years in hockey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 ****ing ridiculous that a **** team like Carolina is going to the conference finals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammajamma Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 14 minutes ago, Springfield said: ****ing ridiculous that a **** team like Carolina is going to the conference finals. To be fair, they were probably the hottest team in the months leading up to the playoffs. And they're only getting better. We should've beat them (which makes all of this that much harder), but they've earned it. They're ridiculous at creating scoring chances, and have been all year. Its just their goaltending has brought them down a notch. I wouldnt be surprised if they won the whole thing. Don't see Boston or CBJ matching up with their style Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redskin4ever Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 Carolina knows how to get the dirty goals. Those are the ones you need in the playoffs. Tonight, they had a nice passing play to get their 2nd goal and the nail in the coffin goal was a nice play. But otherwise, they just grind and get the dirty goals. Justin Williams the last 2 games has goals where he almost missed the puck and it just floated in the goal. They seem to make those plays. And they also know how to dominate the 2nd and 3rd periods. I guess most fans didn't realize how good they are, but they should now. Of course they get the dreaded layoff now. That wasn't good for the Islanders so we will see if the Hurricanes can stay hot after a week off. As for Trotz, he clearly had no answers for what the Hurricanes were doing. The only way he could have made a difference for the Caps this year is if maybe he could have lit a fire under Kuznetsov and Burakovsky who were invisible most of the playoffs. Maybe Trotz could have gotten more secondary scoring. It's hard to know for sure since he wasn't in DC. But he certainly didn't know how to handle the Hurricanes in the 2nd round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hersh Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 Some odd commentary tonight. Carolina is a really good team. They have caught a great draw but they are also playing excellent hockey AND getting the bounces now. They caught the Caps after winning a SC and the Caps didn't have the same drive. The Pens are on the downside of their run with Crosby and Tampa is a joke of a playoff team. The Islanders were a really good regular season team. Trotz took them a long with considering their lack of offensive fire power. No shame that they went out considering what they were last season. Be interesting to see if Carolina struggles after a long layoff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max21 Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 I’ve been to a caps canes game in Raleigh and their was visibly more caps fans than canes fans. The fans really came out of nowhere to make that place come alive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 9 hours ago, mammajamma said: To be fair, they were probably the hottest team in the months leading up to the playoffs. And they're only getting better. We should've beat them (which makes all of this that much harder), but they've earned it. They're ridiculous at creating scoring chances, and have been all year. Its just their goaltending has brought them down a notch. I wouldnt be surprised if they won the whole thing. Don't see Boston or CBJ matching up with their style I mean, hot or not, they lost to the Caps 4 times in the regular season. Then, to start it off, they lost the first 2 games of our series. That's 6 games in a row only to win 4 of the last 5. They don't have anyone. They don't have a goalie. They don't have any overpowering defensemen or any real notable d-men. They don't have any marquee forwards. Their only All Star player was largely invisible during the Caps/Canes series. It's a similar roster to the Isles except Trotz is a SC winning coach, which is alarming that Trotz got swept. I didn't get to see anything but like 10 minutes of the Isles/Canes series, so I can't judge how they played each other. I suppose there's solace in knowing that Reirden made it a better series agains the Canes than Trotz did. But seriously, how can such an unskilled team be heading to the conference finals? Add to that, who do they have to play? They get to draw the Colombus Tortarella douchebags or the Boston Marchand cheapshots. Just a horrible draw for me to have any interest in. I don't want Carolina to win, but I hate both Colombus and Boston. Further, are there any teams left worth rooting for? Maybe Colorado cause they have Gruby and Nate McKinnon? At least McKinnon plays exciting hockey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonArtest15 Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 Give me San Jose...Thornton deserves it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 3 minutes ago, RonArtest15 said: Give me San Jose...Thornton deserves it. I suppose so. I'd put them to be the favorite. They always seem to goon it up when I watch them play the Caps though, so... Other hand, my dad spent the last 15 years in San Francisco bay area prior to moving back to this area so I suppose there's that. I've actually been to a few Sharks games in SJ myself. Another thing. Didn't realize that Marcus Johannsen was on the Bruins. Must be awkward for him being on the team after Marchand tried to end his career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hersh Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 43 minutes ago, Springfield said: I mean, hot or not, they lost to the Caps 4 times in the regular season. Then, to start it off, they lost the first 2 games of our series. That's 6 games in a row only to win 4 of the last 5. They don't have anyone. They don't have a goalie. They don't have any overpowering defensemen or any real notable d-men. They don't have any marquee forwards. Their only All Star player was largely invisible during the Caps/Canes series. It's a similar roster to the Isles except Trotz is a SC winning coach, which is alarming that Trotz got swept. I didn't get to see anything but like 10 minutes of the Isles/Canes series, so I can't judge how they played each other. I suppose there's solace in knowing that Reirden made it a better series agains the Canes than Trotz did. But seriously, how can such an unskilled team be heading to the conference finals? It’s absurd to call them such an unskilled team. Not really sure why you are so upset about it but they were the faster and hungrier team. They aren’t as skilled as the Caps but they have more talent than the Islanders. Trotz did as much as he could with the Islanders based on their current roster. As for the Caps, secondary scoring was largely invisible while the Canes got it. Reirden deserves criticism for not playing 8-92-43 to try and shake up the second line but it’s not entirely on him that Vrana had zero goals and Kuzy had one goal. I think the 2nd line had 2 goals in the series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonArtest15 Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 29 minutes ago, Springfield said: I suppose so. I'd put them to be the favorite. They always seem to goon it up when I watch them play the Caps though, so... Other hand, my dad spent the last 15 years in San Francisco bay area prior to moving back to this area so I suppose there's that. I've actually been to a few Sharks games in SJ myself. Another thing. Didn't realize that Marcus Johannsen was on the Bruins. Must be awkward for him being on the team after Marchand tried to end his career. Goonery is part of the game....I love it. Doesn't bother me one bit as a fan whether the Caps are on the giving or receiving end of it. That being said, Thornton has had a LEGENDARY career. One of the best to ever lace 'em up. Having a Cup win would further cement his legacy. Like to see guys who have been grinding for a while (Bourque and Ovechkin come to mind) finally get to hoist up the trophy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 1 minute ago, Hersh said: It’s absurd to call them such an unskilled team. Not really sure why you are so upset about it but they were the faster and hungrier team. They aren’t as skilled as the Caps but they have more talent than the Islanders. Trotz did as much as he could with the Islanders based on their current roster. As for the Caps, secondary scoring was largely invisible while the Canes got it. Reirden deserves criticism for not playing 8-92-43 to try and shake up the second line but it’s not entirely on him that Vrana had zero goals and Kuzy had one goal. I think the 2nd line had 2 goals in the series. I mean, sure they're skilled. When compared to me, everyone is skilled. But seriously, they won on hustle. It's probably coaching. They forechecked hard and put pucks on net from literally everywhere. I assume they did the same thing to the Isles. I can recall when the Caps tried that strategy which a vastly superior roster under Boudreau and it backfired horribly. I disagree that they were any faster, they simply went at the puck harder and we had little to no adjustment for that strategy. Apparently, Trotz had no answer either. I'd figure we could just have beaten them up, but that didn't happen either. I'm not really bitter. I'm simply unimpressed by their play. I enjoy skill and finesse and style and transition and passing and the things that make the sport beautiful. I don't think this type of style wins a cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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