It's that time of year again. The return of the Stanley Cup playoffs pit 16 teams all fighting for that pivotal 16th win. This is my favorite time of year and this year is going to be another exciting one with the usual teams looking to keep The Cup south of the border again.
Key points:
The Penguins look to keep The Cup another year and Malkin returns.
Maple Leafs try to avoid disappointing their fans by losing in the first round again.
Ditto for the caps and their presidents trophy curse.
Connor McJesus gets to flash his speed in his first meaningul series.
Some West coast teams do their thing but probably will be represented by those bastards from Chicago.
Philly works on their golf game early again
Forums:
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Comments
As a long time Caps fan...oh never mind!
As a short time Caps fan...oh never mind!
I have my Pat Verbeek #17 sweatshirt on. And Lundqvist delivered a gem!
#LittleBallOfHate
Love this time of the year as well. It's the first round so Caps are still in! As an all around Washington sports fan it kills me even more since we are in a 25 year drought or so and the Caps are most legitimate current contender for a title (regular season results and expectations-wise). When your one chance loses it pains oh so much more.
The DC United would like a word....
'96
'97
'99
'04
Oh I think he meant in leagues that matter.
That's the kind of talk that leads to claims that tech doesn't have a national championship.
I wonder how many LAX championships DC has?
I was referring mostly to the "major sports" considered in the US. I will have to admit that I am not a soccer fan though.
MLS is getting there and I'd say within 10 years they'll be widely considered one of the major sports leagues in the US. Some would argue they've already surpassed the NHL in overall popularity.
That being said, those DCU titles came before the league really took off. Those titles are essentially like bragging that the Cleveland Indians won it all in those movies.
My buddy who follows the Browns says this. Nobody cares that your team won a championship before the Super Bowl was a thing
I figured you were referring to the big four, but wanted to throw that tidbit out there. DC United absolutely dominated the first several years of the MLS.
I believe the pro DC tennis club the Washington Castles, won a title too.
As longtime DC sports fan, I'm simply numb to all of their team failures at this point.
I'll preface this first by saying I am not a soccer fan but I don't think this holds much merit. Accomplishments for DC United? Sure, absolutely... but when the media/fans/sports reporters/analysts talk about struggling fan bases and how long they have dreaded a championship team, DC United is rarely brought up if ever. Most times if not all, they will say its the '91 Super Bowl for the skins. They mainly focus on the big sports in the USA like NHL, NFL, NBA, and MLB when talking about fan bases who are dreading a 'ship.
raising this beauty 4 times has to be considered the pinnacle of american sport (don't bash me, I was there for the first three finals including the first which was played in a Nor'easter in Foxboro...utter misery)
Minnesota wild with a heck of a goal late to force OT. #bonushockey
Found the Pens fan
My go to response to all Pens fans
Hey now buddy we can drop mitts and throw fisticuffs in a tilly if you want, ya hoser!
what about the Pens fan who got stabbed in the head with a screwdriver during the game but refused medical attention until AFTER the game was over. Now that's a fan....good thing they won.
C-A-P-S CAPS CAPS CAPS!!!!!
My Canes are also sparing me the anxiety of a playoff run (and also contending for a playoff spot). I'd wager the golf courses they play on beat the hell out of the courses the Flyers use, though.
*sigh*
I keep telling my family, we're a good goalie and a legitimate big bodied first liner away from being a very good team. I know those are 2 things that pretty much every team needs, but with the Canes, those are the differences between the current 8 year playoff drought and legitimately contending for the Cup again.
They have the line depth that can help you score no matter who is on the ice, but they just don't have that legitimate first line, which kills their forechecking nightly. More specifically, they need that one guy who can play alongside and take the heat off Skinner to let him work in space. Now, they did draft Gauthier last year, and he has the size and an elite level skillset that could make him this kind of guy, but he's only 19 and still playing in the WHL, so I wouldn't bank on him helping anytime soon.
Along with the depth, they're also in a very envious spot on defense. Make no mistake, the Carolina Hurricanes have the most envy enducing defensive core in the NHL, and there might be a decent gap between them and second. Faulk and Slavin are already two of the better defensive players in the league. Hanifin is still growing into his frame, but he's beginning to show why he was as highly regarded as he was when he was drafted 3rd overall a couple years ago. Pesce has given the team a bunch of solid minutes as well and has been rounding into a solid contributor. On top of all this, they have Jake Bean ready to come in next year after dominating the WHL towards the end of this season after coming off injury. The Canes have depth and skill for days on the defensive side of the ice, and it really wouldn't surprise me if you see them make a trade this offseason to swap one of their d-men for an elite forward. Rumors were swirling this past season they were in talks to get either MacKinnon or Duschene from Colorado, so I wouldn't be surprised to see something like that happen.
Just leaves me with the goalie. Just get a goalie who can make the routine save. That's all I ask. Please. Please.
Its been too damn long since Playoff hockey happened in Raleigh. Hopefully, the drought ends next year.
Can Award won you a Stanley Cup. I'd take him over the Maple Leafs goalie.
That Canes run was special. Awful that the fan base walked away so quickly during the inevitable down cycle that followed. Sadly, their TV revenue will hamstring them for a long time.
The fanbase was fine until it became very clear that management decided to sit on its laurels and bask in the 2006 glow from then to eternity rather than care to try and get back up. What followed that year was a series of terrible player management decisions that alienated fans and drove away paying customers.
You are right, Cam Ward won the Cup for us. That was an incredible run. However, almost immediately after the team thought they could lean on him and proceeded to gut the defensive core. Jim Rutherford's idea defensive player was a puck moving defenseman who succeeded more in putting the puck in the net rather than keeping the puck out of our own. Enter a string of bad defensive decisions where you saw players like Joe Corvo (twice), David Tanabe (for his second go-around) and in one of the worst ever signings, Tomas Kaberle brought in to 'solve' the issues we had. On top of that, we never managed to bring in a competent backup goalie, so for about 5-8 years straight you had Cam Ward standing on an island for 70 games a season making about 40 saves a night, all the while the team was struggling to get wins. Yes, they brought in Tim Gleason, but he was the anomaly on the whole thing
On top of those issues, the team failed to place the players around Eric Staal to let him grow into the superstar he really should have been. Andrew Ladd was immediately let go the following season, and he turned into a star for Chicago and Winnipeg. Justin Williams was punted and immediately became a star for LA. Matt Cullen was allowed to walk, and he went on to become a major contributor elsewhere. It eventually got so bad that players like Chad LaRose, who probably should have been a career AHL player, and likely would have never cracked the 3rd line anywhere else, ended up playing winger for Staal for multiple seasons. Their grand answer for the whole thing ended up to bring in Semin, and in his contract year you saw the Staal-Semin line produce as one of the top lines in the NHL. Unfortunately, once he got his contract extension, Semin regressed to the "don't give a shit" player he became in Washington leading him to eventually be a nightly healthy scratch before eventually being released.
And don't even get me started on the debacle that became the coaching staff. They made a huge mistake in firing Laviolette almost immediately after the Cup, and an even bigger one in bringing back Maurice. That did the typical Maurice thing of peaking early and then completely collapsing upon itself. I thought Kirk Muller was a good hire, but it was clear it just wasn't the right spot with the right ownership to get it done. I think we finally have it right with Bill Peters, but he has a bad habit of playing around with line combinations a little too much, but then again we've seen worse.
So as fans you sit here and watch teams like Pittsburgh, Washington, Anaheim, Chicago and the Rangers all build up strong teams building around a young core, in Carolina we saw an annual string of the GM giving away prospects and draft picks for the deadline move that finished with a 9th or 10th place standing in the East and agonizingly close to the playoffs instead of in it. In reality, the whole thing should have been blown up and a legitimate rebuild put on the table back around 2010 or 2011, but this cycle was allowed to continue until 2015, by which time even the die hard fans said 'fuck it'. It certainly didn't help that ticket prices continued to grow annually through the entire downturn and it eventually got to the point where it just wasn't worth a $100 per ticket night on the town just to watch your team get its ass kicked while at the same time knowing half the arena would be filled by the opponent's fans.
And all of this is not even mentioning the financial issues that Peter Karmanos has, and the essential scumbag he has been exposed to be during his time here.
Long story short, the whole debacle that is the Hurricanes fanbase right now is a complete failure on the ownership and management of the team. They thought they could essentially cash in their retirement after the Cup win. It would have been different if they could have given the impression they cared about contending, but long ago they failed at even doing that. Now, the fans are starting to come back, and a couple years down the line you'll see the arena start to fill again, but they're essentially having to completely regain the trust of the local fans, because while they're still here, apathy set in years ago. But this is nothing new to the NHL, you've seen it in many places in the past. Just ask Chicago, Washington, and Pittsburgh about their attendance problems throughout the late 90s and early 2000s for similar reasons.
Yea, every fan base outside of Canada is pretty fickle if the team is losing. Hockey just isn't a big enough draw, I don't think it's fair to say it's just Carolina that does it.
Also, as a Pens fan, I love Jim Rutherford.
The longer Rutherford stays the better the odds the future will be mortgaged for an immediate boost. In Pitt this makes sense because the franchise is built to win now, but you better hope he's gone before Sid and Malkin start to decline or it could get ugly down the line. Half the problems with the Canes before he was forced to resign was that our prospect pool was impressively poor, something that Francis has done a magicians job in improving. He's also not the best judge of talent in the draft, but it sounds like that's not his call up there, which is a good thing for the Pens. Our drafts during the JR tenure have had a string of 1st round busts that I'm not sure is matched. So all in all, a win for both the Pens and Canes to have JR up there and not down here anymore.
Yea, I know he's not in charge of the drafts really. I've known for awhile that in 5 or 6 years this core of Sid, Geno, Letang, and Kessel will decline to the point of Cups not being realistic for awhile regardless of who's in charge. I'm all for going all-in right now, and if it weren't for a lot of unfortunate injuries in the last 7 years we'd have more Cups.
IMHO I don't think Maple leafs fans should be disappointed with this season, no matter the outcome of their playoffs. I am a huge caps fan and would consider a loss to the Maple Laughers would be catastrophic to this city and fan base and would be mocked by the media/other fan bases til the start of next season. Sure toronto has many first round exits in their past but with where they were in past recent seasons and how Matthews and the other rookies have lifted the team and fan base this year, I would consider this season a success for them no matter what. Again, coming from a caps fan and just my .02
I agree with you.
My boss, who is a Canadian that grew up on the outskirts of Toronto, is a huge hockey buff (but ironically, not a Leafs fan). We were talking about the series yesterday before the game last night, and he said that the Maple Leafs have a young team with nothing to lose and that made them dangerous. Game 1 turned out to be exactly that.
I think this year was a "happy to be back in the playoffs" type for Leafs fans, and the real expectations will be for the next few years.
Haven't followed hockey much till now like always I'll pull for the capitols as usual but what round should we be looking for the choke this year? These last few years chokes have been rough
The Leafs are playing really well. Might be a round 1 exit for the 'ol Crapitals
This games got me nervous the cowbells my lord I haven't heard such a racket since the South Africa World Cup and those horns
Ovi had a huge chance after the PK big miss
Edit: gut punch of a finish the leafs looked sharp tonight not looking great but that's why it's a 7 game series
Unfortunately, it's all mental for the Caps no matter how much the lineup changes each year. Have to figure out who can mentally overcome the so called curse.
If the Wild don't win today I might jump in a ditch
So you want to be a Caps fan...
The caps are lucky the sports world mocks the GSW for their choke last year and not them but then again atleast GSW gets to the finals each year
Heck of a save from holtby he's phenomenal
I would gladly trade all the presidents trophys and high seeds for one low seed trip to win the cup so fast
4 games tonight, ALL 4 went to OT. That's why the Stanley Cup Playoffs are the best playoffs.
Hey, this is random and all, but wouldn't it be funny if there was a team that called themselves the Dutch Ovens?
He said Dutch Ovens, not Dutch Rudders.
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt."
there was an ECHL team in Macon Georgia called the Macon Whoopee.
Two consecutive years without Chicago in the finals! I did not see Nashville sweeping them
Kind of refreshing
Now if Washington could buck the trend as well and go deep this year
Without looking it up, I couldn't tell you the last time Caps won a playoff game by more than 1 goal
Game 5 vs Pens last year. 3-1
there you go, I should have actually remembered that since I was there... whoops lol
I don't blame anyone for a hazy recollection of any Caps playoffs game/series
16th OT game of the playoffs comin at ya, Blues v Wild!
wug
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That bounce and goal was classic caps playoff drama. Matthews is dirty good
In a stunning turn of events, we're in overtime again.
In an even more stunning events the caps are actually moving on
CAPS! Beat the flightless birds.
Now that the Caps finally beat the Maple leafs, I wanted to say this now because I didn't want it to seem I was making excuses just in case they lost....
I don't think I have seen one team in Toronto get soooo many lucky bounces and deflections on so many of their goals in one series. Did caps get some lucky bounces and deflections? Yea sure, some, but it seemed like on every Toronto goal outside of game 2, there was some crazy deflection that got by Holtby or some stupid lucky bounce where the puck hit many players (caps and/or leafs) and ended up right in front of the leaf's player's (especially Matthews) stick and they just tap it in. I may be wrong but I don't think I can think of one goal by Toronto in this series where they just shot it without a crazy bounce setting it up or a deflection and it went by Holtby.
Just crazy and unreal but I also understand to win the NHL playoffs, you have to have a good mixture of luck and good. This was a fun series but I just wanted to see if anybody saw the same thing...
As a Caps fan, I'm just tired of hearing the "lucky bounces go against Washington" excuse. The entire game of hockey is predicated on the puck bouncing around off of sticks, the boards, skates, etc. Weren't both of Mojos goals last night lucky? The first he barely snuck through. The second bounced right off the goalie to his stick as he was getting pushed and he was able to put it past the goalie.
I'm no hockey expert but I think its pretty plain to see the reason the Caps have not won in the playoffs during the Ovechkin era is a lack of consistency, defensive tenacity and killer instinct.
What this team needs to develop is a feeling of revenge and go out there and kick some ass, no matter what team it is. Take a look at Nashville this year. Chigaco knocks them out in two previous years in the first round, this season they absolutely crush the Blackhawks in the playoffs and that's a team that could be considered a recent dynasty.
I hope the Caps come out with their ass on fire but they have got to play that way for 60 minutes, for maybe seven games to beat Pittsburgh and then for two more series to be crowned champs. History shows us they aren't up for it, I'm hoping it changes this year but as many Caps fans probably do, I've got my doubts.
Respectfully,
Longtime jaded DC sports fan
I agree with everything said here. When the same song and dance is the "lucky bounce against us" line, it gets to be old, overused, and simply an excuse. Our two goals last night could be considered lucky by any other team.
Japers' Rink said it on Twitter last night: "Here's the deal - put yourself in a situation where a bounce or call can decide a game and you can't be surprised when it does."
Again not making an excuse, just making an observation as I understand every team goes through their fair share of bad luck bounces/deflections, while some more than others.
IMO Mojo's first goal was lucky but his second one was not. Caps threw/shot it right at Anderson and Trots had Mojo crash the net and was in perfect position to get the (would be) rebound. No lucky bounces off players/sticks or deflections
lucky bounces do go against Washington, as do other teams. I was just saying I saw more crazy bounces go the oppositions way more than any other series I have seen, whether it was Washington playing or not.
I am not making excuses because (obviously first, because we won the series) I do get tired of that excuse as well. I was just amazed at the number I saw for this particular series.
Last night is less of a good example I think. Both Mojo's goals were grinding, get to the net for rebound sort of goals.
The Leaf's was... puck bounces at a 90 degree angle off a dump in along the boards to where a Maple Leaf is skating? I think that's a bit more puck luck than the Caps goals.
The rest of the series? Meh.
I think Mojo's first goal was a little lucky where he just push the puck at the horrible angle he was at and just slipped under Anderson's padding. The OT goal I agree was a grinding goal where they threw the puck to the net and mojo was in perfect position to get a rebound
Again, not saying there wasn't luck involved, just that game 6 was not a great example of even bounces both ways leading to goals. I'm not sure I've ever seen a bounce like what lead to the Leafs goal.
I think it was in game three but they did a pretty detailed explanation that going against the norm in terms of how they progress into the zone and how they approach the net and the entire style of play we saw from Toronto goes back to their coach Mike Babcock, which was one reason why Detroit had so much success for so long in getting to the playoffs and in the playoffs when he coached them. Its essentially a different style of hockey than about 85% of the league. He uses lightning speed to send multiple players up the middle of the ice, whereas most teams try to work it around the wall to get it to an open man in space. Babcock coaches his guys to use the shortest route to the net in the initial crash. Alot of what the announcers were calling bounces were exactly what Toronto aims for. The hardest puck in hockey to handle or predict is the bouncing one. You dont see that bouncing from the Caps because they typically rely on slapshots and clean passing to open looks. Toronto on the other hand just wants to throw the puck in where it causes the greatest confusion, even opening the entry to the zone with a bouncing puck sent from the blue line right at Holtby.
The other major thing that Babcock has his teams focus on is winning draws and as seen from this series they did it remarkably well against the Capitals, which left the Caps chasing for possession more often than not. When you are chasing you are more likely to make mistakes which was much of Toronto's early success in this series.
All that said, now they need to show that they can beat the Pens and if they manage that, the remaining teams just get less and less skilled going forward.
Love that Flower is playing. I think any longtime Pens fan is going to miss him a lot, and getting to take one last ride is great. We're not gonna win the Cup without Letang, and if we do Sullivan deserves a statue, but getting a great run behind Flower again is all I could ask for.
Awesome second period! Let's go Pens!
Uh oh
Death, taxes, and capitols letting everyone down in the playoffs
I feel sick. All those saves and THAT goes in.
Look, I get the official NHL party line is that the Penguins can do no wrong. And that NBC is too busy slobbering over Sidney Crosby to notice anything else. But really...?
Stop crying.
Yes. The refs missed calls on the caps too. I think Orlov's hit was a penalty as well. But you can't tell me the Penguins literally committed no penalties that game (I don't count the matching minors).
I see you got a picture of every shift change in the NHL.
How about the "interference" on Ovie where Hornqvist flops? The "slash" on Niskanen where he was making a legit attempt at a rebound (and hit the puck, to add)? The quick whistle in the 3rd where the puck never was covered at all in the entire melee? Where are those pictures?
I'm sorry, all I'm hearing is "wah wah wah is it football season yet?"
The interference was interference.
The scrum play was never going to be a goal after ovechkin literally tackled MAF for goalie interference so that play is a moot point.
There will be calls for and against both teams; it's a fact of the game. But to say that the refs stole the game is to ignore the fact that MAF was a wall and the Pens defense allowed the caps a total of 3 open looks the entire game. The backcheck game was strong last night
1) I never said anything about how the game would have been different if the officials had called the game properly.
2) The Caps definitely had more than 3 good chances and open looks that game, so I'm not sure what you were watching. MAF did play well though. Definitely robbed some guys.
3) As for the slashing, we'll have to agree to disagree there. I think the stick and MAF covering up were simultaneous, and I have seen far worse then that. Just seemed like an extremely ticky-tack call in a game where plenty of other more obvious calls could have been made.
Penguins blocked 29 shots. They had lanes closed and broke up crossing passes all night. That's what I saw. That's greatly improved vs the cbj series
I agree about the slash call though, it was simultaneous and shouldn't have been called
Frankly, it was a great game by both teams. Penguins played 60 minutes of hard hockey. The Caps played (IMO) their usual 40 minutes of fantastic hockey, 20 minutes of lazy hockey.
I was just so ticked off about the poor officiating that I couldn't even enjoy the game by the end of it.
"Tackled" is a pretty big stretch considering Ovechkin bumps MAF (and MAF makes it look like someone ran over him with a truck).
MAF was good last night, and better than Holtby, which is why they won. But, never said the refs stole it. Just simply stating that there is a bias.
A Caps fan complaining about the refs... now I've seen everything
Look, I get it. Anyone who's team loses who thinks the refs did a poor job is ridiculed because "lol look at you whiner, wah wah wah". I don't give two shits about that. I think the officials were awful, and that's that. It's a shame, because the game was great but I couldn't even enjoy it.
You sound like a Duke basketball fan. The amount of stuff the Caps get away with regularly without calls makes this little mini-tirade that much more comical.
Trust me, nobody in the league is feeling sorry for your perceived slight.
I really don't care what you think. Or what the Caps "regularly get away with". I even think they got away with some penalties last night. I still stand by my claim that the refs last night were awful and that's that.
I will say this first.... O'Hallahan along with Tim Peel are consistently one of the worst referees in the NHL but he missed calls on both team. Do I scratch my head when Caps got no PP's? Sure. Should every game have the same amount of calls for both team? No, unless warranted.
Usually you see the refs make a "make up" call if they missed a penalty or called a bad penalty earlier in the game. I would have like to see a call to at least make it 2-1 but it is what it is, no complaints here. I thought it was a great game. Caps out played them, out hit them, and out shot them but came on the short end of the stick because crosby was in great position for those (horrible) rebounds give up by Holtby. Benino seems like a Cap killer but I will also say Oshie needs to put that puck in the net in the first period.
Like I said, Caps outplayed Pens in almost category but I think this will be a great series going 7
You forgot that Jake Guentzel is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
not quite, but I will say he has stepped up in the playoffs but also benefits big time with being on Crosby's line a lot if not all. What makes Crosby so great is not his scoring, but how he can make the guys on his line so much better, whether that be a new guy or rookie
That was far and away the best officiated game of the playoffs. You're upset your team loss, that's it. Nobody wants the refs to get involved in the game, especially one this good, and they did a fantastic job of staying out of it. There weren't any dirty hits, both teams played clean. The Caps lost, and it wasn't because of the refs.
Your team is as healthy as a team could be in the playoffs. The Pens are missing their top defenseman/Norris Trophy-caliber player (Letang), starting goalie (Murray), and one of the most important players on the team (Hagelin), yet still just took one on the road. And they started a goalie that Caps fans have had a ton of fun making fun of for the last 5 years, and Flower shut you down.
The fact that fans, players, coaches and media from both teams noticed the missed calls both ways makes your first statement false.
But, what do I know.
Refs are going to miss calls, they're not machines and they can't be perfect. You ask for consistency and they were extremely consistent all night. The game never even came close to reaching a point of it being dangerous or poorly controlled.
Yet they call an extremely weak slash on Niskanen in a pretty important part of the game. How does that logic work out? I'll agree the Ovechkin interference could have gone either way, but Niskanen poked at a puck that was in the process of being covered and gets a penalty?
Either way Caps had a couple sloppy plays and got punished for them. Hopefully they clean that up. Still think it is dumb that the two best teams in the NHL are playing in the second round of the playoffs, the NHL needs to change the playoff format so that this series is the Eastern Conference Finals. Just my two cents.
When they first said there was a penalty I thought it would be on Williams for jumping on top of a scrum (really not sure what he was going for there). Missed calls both ways, refs aren't perfect, but they were as consistent as you could ask.
Well I mean four Penguins players rode Nisaken into the boards. I don't blame Williams for backing up his teammate. As for the Ovechkin penalty, it was a penalty and a boneheaded play. Frankly, I most upset about the non-tripping call on a semi-breakaway in the third, and what sure looked like a Pens guy grabbing the stick and pulling it out of the hands of a Caps player when he tried to play the puck on the cycle. Of course that's only what I saw live since NBC would never actually show that sort of thing on replay.
At first I thought the crosscheck after the whistle on Williams was a penalty (that led to the matching roughing minors), but knowing Williams he was probably selling it for all it was worth.
I know he was protecting his teammate, it just looked hilarious. Malkin got tripped in the open ice, too many men on the ice, there were some missed calls both ways. But they clearly drew a line saying they weren't gonna call it unless it was egregious, save maybe one call. That's very good consistency for a playoff game.
Ottowa with a HUGE comeback, scoring twice in the final 3 minutes, then winning in 2OT. Wow. JG Pageau with 4 goals.
Pat Narduzzi + Bronco Mendenhall + salt = caps fans....
What an awful move by shattenkirk should be 1-0 caps instead 1-1
Lol Caps
Edit: I don't think Tom Wilson plays honorably and he is a big reason I don't like the capitals. He is borderline dirty and his main goal is to injure others and not to play hockey
So is Ian Cole and Crosby. Every team has one.
Zach Parise be like
So what happens in DC if the Caps get swept?
I can see Trotz getting the pink slip.
doesn't matter what happens. This team is going to look totally different next year regardless
I read two years ago that the caps had two seasons to win it and then has to be blown up because of cap space. Was that true?
Some of the trades and moves they made last offseason and this season were to address that. May be a couple changes, but will mostly be intact (if mgmt sees fit).
This just isnt the case, unless Management gets guys to sign with them to stay successful rather than get the best money. The Capitals are going to have 13 free agents this off season.
Shattenkirk, Oshie, Williams, Alzner, Winnik, and Connolly are the big ones. Thats three of your Power Play top line and two or three of your actual top line. Its over 200 Points of production for this season. Currently these guys make a combined $17.5M. Shattenkirk, Oshie and Alzner are all expected to get offers in the $6M to $7M per season. Williams is expected to get offers around what he already makes only because of his age so around $3.5M. Connoly and Winnik are each expected to get $3+M offers. That would put the group total on the low end around $28M and high end around $35M.
The Caps this season actually ended up $58K over the $73M team salary cap. I expect that Oshie and Shattenkirk will both be gone, but that the Caps may find a way to resign Williams and Alzner. They will probably have to choose between Connoly and Winnik. I for one vote for keeping Connoly if thats the case.
Good info here and I agree with almost all points but Alzner making 7-8 million for his next contract. Sure Oshie and Shattenkirk will get their last big contract of 6 million+/year but no way Alzner goes from 2.8 to 7 million+.
Kind of an tangent thought, but If Caps don't get it done this year, they need to think about trading OV to a Canadian team or not protecting him and letting him reunite with GMGM in Vegas. Caps can't build their team around a player who is making 9.5 million/year against the cap for next 4 years after this season. One of the Canadian team could pick him up of the likes of Winnipeg, Vancouver, Toronto, etc. But I think Vegas makes too much sense with Alex with his personality and how the Vegas team is building from the ground up and all the cap space, along with GMGM being there too.
+Kuznetsov +Burakovsky +Johansson. Shattenkirk was a rental, he wont stay. Oshie can only stay if he's willing to take like $5 mil a year, but he could easily make $6+ somewhere else. Alzner will either be taken in the expansion draft or not resigned, he was statistically our worst defensman this year and hasn't fully recovered from his hernia surgery last offseason. Neither Connolly nor Winnik are worth $3+mil and if they want that they are easily replaceable for less. The team will be good next year, but certainly wont look like it did this year.
C-A-P-S
We took a 2 goal lead and turned it into an OT win on a powerplay...this team is not looking very sharp
A one goal win never felt more like a loss...
It's the caps in the playoffs, what did you expect?
I said earlier that if Sullivan wins a Cup without Letang and Murray he deserves a statue. If he wins it without Crosby too he deserves a lifetime contract worth any amount of money he wants. The Pens are now missing almost $17million in cap money through injury (23.6% of the cap), and still found a way to fight back. That's not supposed to happen, you aren't supposed to even have a chance when you lose that much talent.
*except when playing the Caps. FIFY
Had the game gone to 5OTs last night with Crosby coming back out for the OTGWG, it would perfectly embody DC sports; especially in the playoffs.
They announced a little while ago that Crosby is going to miss game 4 with a concussion so I expect the league to assess Niskanen a suspension since thats how they seem to treat all penalties these days. Going to be interesting to see how things play out and how long the concussion keeps Crosby out.
They've already announced there will be no suspension
No suspension coming.
Crosby and Sheary are both out with concussions. Sheary may re-appear later this series, but I would bet large amounts of money on Crosby not returning until the 2017/2018 season.
As a Pens fan it sucks. But being realistic, I honestly didnt think the Niskanen hit was that bad. In real time it was pretty reactionary.
Now for Ovechkins hack to the right arm of Crosby just before......
Niskanens hit wasn't bad, it was even over penalized. It didn't seem to be intentional.
But you're completely right, that slash from 8 was awful. Clear penalty and just terrible move from a captain
It was a slash. Awful? No, it's a 2 minute minor penalty they missed. Terrible move from a captain? C'mon, man.
I meant awful that it wasn't called. It should have been a 5 on 3. Even without sid, Pens likely go up 1-0 and it would completely demoralize the caps
And what's more, that slash might have prevented Sid from scoring had Holtby not stickchecked him. If that's the case, every fan would want their captain to take that penalty.
Stick didn't even touch boninos face absolute joke
Have to agree. Calls like that should be able to be challenged by a coach.
Like in other sports say the NFL any penaltys or scores within I dunno 2-4 minutes of the end of the game should be reviewed or atleast looked at completely changed that game and took the wind out of the caps sails
Thankful that there are reasonable Pens fans out there like you.
Missed a 4 minute high stick on Burakovsky a couple minutes earlier. It all evens out in the long run.
No comment on the Carlson "roughing" penalty during the Caps PP that we never saw a replay?
The "let's find the missed calls" game is really easy, and it's really dumb. There are always gonna be missed calls on both sides. Here's a fun one from last years series:
https://www.hockeyfeed.com/videos/t-j-oshie-makes-a-mockery-of-himself-w...
It accomplishes nothing, and I don't get riled up when they miss calls because I know there isn't a giant conspiracy to make one team win.
Well, it's not a game when that certain call leads to the GWG.
Easy to say and do that when it favors your team.
You had 30 minutes of hockey after that, blaming the refs is just an easy cop out to justify the loss in your head.
Did you see me on here complaining about the hook on Cullen in Game 3 that wasn't called? Nope. The only reason I brought up the Burakovsky high stick was to prove a point, wouldn't have heard a peep otherwise. You're playing against a team without Crosby, Letang, and Murray but want sympathy because you think the refs are against you. How about blaming your captain that went invisible in a huge game? How about blaming Orlov for kicking the puck directly into his own net?
lol @ the Caps fan whining about the refs
That game was emblematic of the capitals playoff history and I've seen it play out for the last 30 years.
Need a Rangers W on the Sens tonight. They should be up 2-1 in the series. Now that the Sens are reeling a bit, send them back to Ottawa beat up and with some doubt in their minds.
I think Pens win it all again...at least get to the finals.
yes they certainly have the pedigree...you can tell the difference between the team that thinks it can (Caps) and knows it can (Pens)!
If they get Crosby back, I agree
If Crosby is out, it'll be unbelievably tough. They are in Washington's head, much like how Philly was in Pitt's head in 2012. They might win this series with a team that has no business winning on paper, but get smoked the next.
I don't see them losing to NYR.
I was surprised at Anaheim's comeback last night. I figured that a McDavid versus Crosby final was in the works.
The Rangers have a good chance against Ottawa. If Lundqvist plays at a high level, they have a punchers chance against anyone and have a history of giving the Capitals a hard time. Pittsburgh is a different animal. Their speed guys on the forecheck give the Rangers huge problems, and those problems are exacerbated by having two right defensemen playing on their off side. It changes the angles for puck movement getting out of the zone. The Rangers are at their best offensively springing Nash, Kreider, and Grabner on break outs and that speed means the D has to be much more conservative with their breakout. That means the Rangers will struggle to score goals, and even with Crosby out the Penguins have more natural scorers than the Rangers, who really need those odd man rush goals to generate offense.
I may be counting my chickens with Ottawa having a two goal lead. But, if the Rangers play like they did in Game 3, I don't think Ottawa wins another game in the series. Anderson has been a little shakey, and Pageau (who has spent the whole year killing the Rangers) can't sustain his GAG output.
I agree completely. It would not surprise me at all to see Washington, if they got to the next round which I don't believe they will, stumble against NYR. Was it two years ago that the rangers were down 3-1 in the series and came back and won it??? Anyhow, and agree against the Pens v Rangers.
Again pens fan.
I fell asleep before the ducks game finished and I can not believe Edmonton lost. That first period at times they were crazy fast. If they make it out of that series they've got a chance.
And the Penguins can not let the caps out shoot them 38 - 18 again.
BIG WIN TONIGHT BABY
Caps in 7...... lol
Caps don't play well at home during the playoffs, weirdly. Lots of pressure, I guess. As a casual caps fan I think Pens in 5, unfortunately
It's the Caps we're talking about it here. They will win Games 5 & 6. Only to lose Game 7 on puck that bounces off a ref in 2OT. That way puck luck, hockey Gods, and the refs will all be in range to bitch about. It is also the most devastating way for them to lose, which is what Caps hockey is all about.
Oddly, this also wouldn't surprise me. But I'm still calling a Pens win tonight
I'll bet you $1M that the Pens won't win tonight.
You got it- sounds legit
esol i fi gnidnib yllagel ton si tnemetats suoiverp eht
Well you are guaranteed to lose...the Caps and Pens don't play until tomorrow night.
Guys, I is Wild fan
Oh
Only thing more of a fluke would be a puck off the boards directly towards the net, or bouncing off someone's skate.. like Orlov.
Oh wait.
Well I will be in section 111 today to be a witness of the downfall. Not expecting a win, but if they do, we'll be back for game 7 for the inevitable let down lol
You saw it here first.... I believe in the due theory!!!
Rags got worked in the OT. Hank is usually so sound but gave up a soft one to end the game. Was pulling for them so we can keep the cup in the US
Why Alain Viggy continues to roll Marc Staal out and bench Brady Skjei with leads late in games continues to bite the Rangers in the behind. The Rangers have scored 4 or more goals in every game in the series minus game 1, have lead for almost 80% of the games, and find themselves trailing. For a long time fan, it hurts to see longtime Rangers like Derek Stepan, Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, and even Lundqvist himself struggle so badly. But, the theme for almost every playoff since the strike year holds true- the Rangers young players (this year- Jesper Fast, Brady Skjei as examples) play really well, and the highly paid veterans stink up the joint.
I think the Rangers have a decent chance to win 2 in a row and win the series, but if they do, they will use up way too much gas to sustain a much longer run. The series should have ended yesterday. Two two goal leads blown late.
Yesterday I went from this...
via GIPHY
To this...
via GIPHY
That Spurrier GIF is the greatest thing ever
Guys
Hey Guys
Guess who's losing in a playoff game
That's a hard guess...
Just enough comeback in the Caps to give their fans (like me) hope. Only to let them down.
hope is the worst thing a team can give their fan base and Caps are cream of the crop when it comes to that. Expecting them to win game 6 just to fall miserably in game 7
You mean cream on the crap.
Caps up two nil. Setting up to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory again
Losing in OT in game 7 is the most Capitals thing ever.
All that hope in DC, then... Ugh.
Yup
Well I didn't think the Caps would make it to game 7. Now that they have I fully expect them to fall flat on their face as is tradition. I think the pressure of playing at home always gets to them. They seem to struggle on home ice (in the playoffs) more than other teams
This was the most complete performance the Caps have ever put on the playoffs that I have seen. I am a total defeatist as a Caps fan, but gotta feel pretty confident after this one.
We're well trained that way.
At least you have 3 Super Bowls and an NBA Championship
Yeah but they are hardly comforting if you're 25 or younger
I'm 29 and I don't remember the 1991-1992 Super Bowl, I was 3.
I'd say most people under 35 or so probably don't remember much of Gibbs' first tenure.
I'm 16 and a Minnesota fan and there has never been a real chance, beside the 2011 NFL Playoffs, where one of my teams have even had a chance at winning a championship, at least the caps and nats are in the conversation on a fairly regular basis
Queue the Would You Rather?: "In the conversation" vs. "The butt of every playoff choke-job joke"
Would you rather: "In the conversation" or "The butt of every Baseball and Basketball and Football (excluding Browns) joke"
eh, you are very young and to have plenty of years to look ahead to.
As a skins, caps, wiz and hokies fan..... I can almost say not making the playoffs regularly is better than making it all the time, (sometimes having high expectations) and choking. every. single. time.
It seriously takes a toll on you if you are really invested into your teams.... financially, emotionally, etc.
But those of us that are 40 remember having Super Bowl winning Redskins come to our classrooms as part of the DARE program back then. They would hand out special football cards at the same time. Those were good days.
You got the Redskins. I got Davey Allison.
Fleury = gloveside, gloveside, gloveside! Did I say gloveside?????
Well that was unexpected. Especially since it was a pure domination and not an OT shot or something. Pens just looked lost most of the game. But hey I'll take it.
Caps win game 7. For one simple reason...
Justin Williams
Look up that dudes performance history is Game 7s. Its insane. This will be his first with the Caps obviously.
I for one, as a loyal Flyer, will be rooting for the meteor
Probably the worst performance I have seen from the Pens all season. Couldn't complete simple passes, just exiting the zone was a struggle, all-around terrible. Crosby was the only one that ever looked remotely dangerous. I'm pretty sure the Avalanche would have beaten the team that played last night. I don't know if it's the loss of Daley that just happened to be the tipping point (Clark Ruwhedel isn't good), but the defense looked completely out of sorts. Sullivan is one of, if not the best coach in hockey so I'll just have to trust him.
The lack of hustle is the most frustrating though, 2 on 1 breaks are bad but they do happen, what is frustrating is when they happen and there isn't even a backchecker in the picture to force a quick decision. Talk about leaving your goalie out to dry.
It was painful, even from just a hockey fan stand point - the first four, four and a half games were really good hockey. Last night was awful, it wasnt even fun to watch aside from being a Penguins fan. Get the puck out.
If they play like that they dont stand a chance tomorrow. They better pick it up. At least be competitive.
If last night taught us one thing: no one knows wth is going to happen. Caps have the momentum, but also the typical DC tendency to choke.
This one will be a good one to watch (assuming I don't see Metallica instead)
who's metallica?
Some boy band from the 80's
Well that's why I've never heard of them, they never show up in my Four Tops playlist
Sullivan changed the lines before game 6. He brought back the HBK line, put Guentzel with Malkin and put Sheary with Sid.
I dont question Sully as he knows the team much better but damn. It clearly didn't work and I was very surprised to see how much it changed the Pens.
I know, I was skeptical when I saw that. At practice today they were back to the normal lines.
I am shaking like a dog shittin peach seeds.
Too late.
horrible... two lazy sorry periods. You dismiss it when you think your team is out of gas. The Rangers suddenly play balls out in the third, which meant they were dogs early. Blow it up, build around a young nucleus and hopefully they can luck out and draft a star forward to be the centerpiece when Igor Shestyorkin comes over to replace Lundqvist.
Lundqivst deserved better, but he was dreadful outside of the first 50 minutes of game 1 in this series.
Stupid Canada. Nobody cares about your fake TV stations.
Actually just had this conversation with my boss.
Me: "Stupid Canada. Canada sucks..."
Boss: "No they don't."
Me: *incredulous glare*
Boss: "Something that is completely irrelevant can't suck. They don't matter."
Well, your boss obviously hasn't heard of LOLUVA football
And boom goes the dynamite
replace oilers/ducks game with Wiz/Celts for the NoVa/DC crew on here
Crapitals getting beaten soundly. Color me surprised
It's over. Turning on Brockmire.
- Caps fan
Fleury is my hero
Edit: in all honesty, I love having a rival that I can both hate and respect. GG caps
Agreed. I don't even really hate Ovechkin, I actually like his game, and I don't really hate the Caps. Just have a lot of respect for them. Fuck the Flyers.
Agreed, fuck the flyers
Death, Taxes, the Washington Capitals losing Game 7
This is the time of year as a caps fan, always in early may every year, that I get sad watching them fold to the pens but thankfully and gleefully I remember that every year in the NFL my pats put Pittsburgh in its place but this year this one hurt we were so close but last game the caps got every bounce, second puck, tonight the pens got every bounce and key guys like johannson had very off nights hard to watch ovi as you gotta feel he's dying on the inside
"We're trying," Ovechkin said. "We try to do our best."
Memo to Alex... Losers always whine about doing their best. Winners go home and f^ck the prom queen.
Such a great line, I just didn't feel like meme searching this am
well, someone down voted you (maybe by accident, who knows) so I figured the meme might help them get the joke.
Thanks! Not sure why I got the downvote, but oh well, someone is possibly offended somewhere!
This is just the mumblings of a man who knows his last best chance at the Cup likely passed through his fingertips, and his legacy will be that of the star leader of a team that underperformed to a historic level.
Even worse, the division is about to get a lot tougher. Columbus finally got a taste of what success is this year and if they can continue to improve, they're going to be a force for a while. Carolina has put together a legitimate beast of a defensive core and if the signing of Darling works out, they're only going to get better over the next few years. The Flyers just secured the #2 draft pick to be added to a team that is already getting better soon. I would not be surprised if the Caps inevitable step backwards this offseason eventually leads to a complete rebuild in the next 5 years.
Sorry Guys
Lmao Please Delete Offending Franchise!
Ottawa is sticking around with Pitt.
Pens dominated the first two periods and just couldn't bury the biscuit. I imagine this pain is how capitals fans feel
When you start EXPECTING it to happen, then you know how we feel...
NHL officials go full ACC after the Subban goal
Pittsburgh should just rename their team to the Pittsburgh Opportunists. 5 goals on 13 shots.... unreal
The predators are ferocious I missed the first two games of this series but the preds are playing like it's life or death some insane defending tonight
It was desperation because Pekka has been awful, and even last night he looked very uncomfortable at times. The Pens blue line didn't show up and the special teams have been horrible, but I'm not worried at all. The bounces didn't go our way, it happens, that's why it's so hard to get a sweep.
I swear man. The penguins can be one of the funnest teams to watch, but there have been some games this playoff season where they have just played downright awful.
I cant tell if Sullivan is thinking multi-games ahead and trying to deceive the Predators by having the defense purposefully banging their heads against the wall just blindly throwing it up the boards, but its irritating to watch.
I hope they can pull one off tonight, they honestly have not played well yet this series. Id like to see a win at home. Last year was so anti-climactic in San Jose.
Every other team in the east I hate, Chicagos cool. I like Nashville, theyre fans are awesome and its cool to see Main street so packed for hockey, but PK Subban sucks. Who wins and then runs their mouth?
They've been doing that since Letang got hurt because guys like Maatta have been terrible with turnovers. Throw it up the boards and just create a scramble in the neutral zone. If you see every game we got handled in this postseason (Washington Game 6, Ottawa Game 3, Preds Game 3) it was the opponent just hugging the boards when we were trying to exit. Then in the next game there is usually a new strategy with the centers coming farther back and one of the wings stretching the ice. It's hard to ever doubt Sully though, he's the unrivaled best coach in hockey right now (you get that title when you haven't lost a postseason series yet).
I think Crosby is about to have a huge game, I don't know what Subban was thinking but since 2012 against the Flyers Sid has learned to just stay quiet and make them pay on the ice. Sid has 2 extra gears that nobody else in the league can match, and when you piss him off he turns it on (Phaneuf learned that in the ECF). That was really dumb by PK, and he's also a tool.
PK is awesome. He took Crosby's whining (and cursing) and made a joke out of it.
"I used Listerine before the game. I think my breath smells great."
That was some funny stuff!
Crosby wasn't whining, Subban was talking trash to Guentzel and Crosby (being the C) stepped in to protect the rookie. But I wouldn't expect any other fans to give Crosby the credit he deserves, I'm sure the one-handed backhand was because of the refs somehow.
Crosby gets plenty of respect for how he plays. He also gets away with a ton of stuff because of who he is. Pittsburgh got their asses handed to them in Game 3. Big deal. The Pens have been talking so much trash when they're ahead in a game, maybe they should try some Listerine.
Go to a Pens game live. Crosby deals with more off-the-puck crap than any player I can remember. When exactly have the Pens been talking trash in this series? The Malkin fight was because the Preds decided to take the "they can't call everything" approach for the last 18 minutes of Game 2 and Malkin is always dumb enough to oblige the other team when they want him to get pissed off.
Sorry to hear that. I guess everybody should treat ol' Glass Jaw with more respect. Of course, hiding behind refs and taking cheap shots at other players tends to lead to guys wanting to pay you back. Guess he should toughen up if he wants to be the big boy on the team.
Malkin's okay. Not the best Russian in the league, but he has his moments. He benefits a lot from playing for the Pens.
The Preds just used the same Jedi mind tricks on the Pens and got under their skin. Seems the refs are letting both teams play and get away with a lot. That 2 handed slash by Kessel to the legs of one of the Preds at the boards should have gotten him the gate in Game 3.
Ol glass jaw? Toughen up?
We got ourselves a keyboard toughguy over here!
Yep. Hard as nails! /s
I called Crosby a glass jaw because he's had too many concussions. I hope he has the sense to walk away from the game. I would really hate to see him get injured badly. I don't doubt he's going to have CTE.
And he does need to toughen up. He can't expect the refs or his team to continually bail him out when he keeps starting crap after plays are over.
Crosby gets crap off the puck because he acts like Gretzky, but there isn't a McSorley around to cash the checks his mouth is writing.
I think you are really stretching here on the trash talk from Subban though. I'm not a fan of the guy, but he was asked straight up and gave a pretty funny response.
All of that aside, I have seen a number of Pens fans suggest that Sullivan is intentionally running out a less than optimal gameplan jus to bait a team. That is the most ridiculous excuse I have ever heard. You don't just give a game away in the NHL playoffs to set a team up, and to suggest otherwise is ludicrous. Not saying the Pens aren't the better team, but sometimes you just get beat. Especially in Nashville in these playoffs, like every other team has with the exception of literally 1 game.
I don't know if it's just because I don't religiously watch hockey until it's the playoffs but this Stanley cup has been super entertaining and I can't remember seeing a team that can counter attack so well as Nashville has done in the last two games
Also it's nice that the NHL finals aren't sucking like the NBA finals
I don't know how anybody could tell me that the NHL playoffs aren't the best playoffs of all sports. NCAA is probably a close 2nd with the shear amount of crazy close games/upsets/comebacks/etc. But I think everything else pales in comparison. It's a shame not as many people watch/follow it.
I love the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but when a postseason takes 2 months to complete I can understand why people would get bored by it. I have never understood how/why someone wouldn't enjoy watching hockey though, I love to play basketball but the NHL is so much better than the NBA.
Yea I hear you on the length but if you want to compare it to the NBA again, they are always faster. NBA loves to drag it out (for obvious reasons) by playing every third day while NHL plays every other day with the occasional 2 day break in between changing of cities
Wow, that was dirrrrrty by Crosby.
What a punk.
Like it really would have made a difference last night. Preds got smashed and sh*t-bagged.
I didn't say that it would have. Notice, I said nothing along the lines of, "Man, that dirty play was directly responsible for the Preds losing." They were already down 2-0 and looked like the inferior team by that point.
I was merely pointing out that Crosby face-washing Subban was an extremely dirty play, right in front of the ref no less.
Its Crosby, what the hell do you expect? He's secretly one of the dirtiest players in the game, because he knooooows he won't get called for a damn thing because he's on the NHL's protected list. When you play the Pens, you know from the start, you're going to be dealing with borderlined play all night long, and the second you push back, you'll get whistled. Its been this way for 10 years now, and its only getting worse over time.
Though, its impressively noteworthy that a guy with the concussion problems Crosby has thinks its ok to use Subban's head as a dribbling basketball on the ice during a time when the NHL is trying to say it promises that it really does care about concussion safety, and even more impressive that the refs decided the event merited offsetting minors to Sid and PK.
Yeah, I was under no illusions about Crosby's behavior before that. Generally though, most of the extracurriculars in hockey don't bother me, and I just accept it as part of the game. The pushing and shoving after practically every save always cracks me up to be honest.
I was a little shocked at how brazen Crosby's actions were though, especially given his proximity to the ref.
C'est la vie.
anyone who thinks Crosby isn't a dirty player has a half a brain
Perennial Crosby-slurper Mike Millbury says Subban 'had it coming'
It's dirty if you started watching hockey 2 months ago. It's something you see every year if you watch hockey a lot. Retaliation in hockey is normal. Subban punched him in the back of the head in Game 2, but I'm sure that was perfectly ok to you because you just don't like Sid.
Preds just got screwed out of a huge goal. Yikes.
Surprise! /s
The refs wipe off a goal that would put the Pens down 1
This game is already over.
Refs in the bag for Crosby and the Pens. Never should have blown that whistle, especially that quickly
I actually hope we lose tonight and win it at home...
This game should be 1-1 right now.
If anything, this series just exposed how corrupt the NHL has become
Apparently the only thing that can be reviewed is offsides from a few minutes earlier. This series was decided before the puck dropped
http://www.theonion.com/article/ref-quietly-asks-penguins-players-if-he-...
Penalties were 4-0 including a 5-on-3, I'm apologizing for nothing. Back-to-back! Let's do it again next year!
Cheese and crackers, a dumpload of Pens haters on here! I liked them well before Crosby and Malkin (not before Lemieux). Why all the hate? They don't even have the most wins for a franchise.
We're the team that keeps winning. In 5 years when Malkin and Crosby are older I bet people start hating Edmonton or Toronto. It's ok though, I still remember how awful the mid-2000s were. I'm gonna enjoy these years because they don't last forever.
They're the Patriots of the NHL.
Why/how? They're not even in the top 3-5 in terms of Championships.
They've
won 4appeared in 4/won 3 in the past 10 years. I don't get why it's a difficult comparison to grasp. Also, the NHL Champs leaders all won a majority of their championships when the league had 6 teams, so that ranking is pretty pointless in 2017I guess that would make more sense to me if they were in the top 5 in terms of championships won. Heck, they're not even in the top 5 in terms of number of Stanley Cup finals played. If anything, I would say the Redwings draw a stronger comparison to the Pats.
This is a completely misleading stat in 2017. The league had ten or fewer teams for the first 50 years of its existence. Each team was guaranteed at least a 10% chance of winning for 50 years.
Strictly based off of # of appearances/wins, Montreal, a team that hasn't even appeared in the finals since 1993, is the closest comparison to the Pats
The hate is due to the fact that each time the Pens filed for Bankruptcy (2x) they got generational players to save their shitty franchise. If it weren't for Bettman and his cronies, the Pens would be in Kansas City. Dont act like you have a good fan-base. Good franchises dont file Chapter 11 twice....
Ugh, this. People forget how bad things were up there before the NHL had Lemieux step in to purchase the franchise. You're right, they were one foot out the door to KC before that happens. And lets not forget this team was built by years of tanking to add 4 major pieces (Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Fleury) around which the franchise was able to be based.
And a secret backroom meeting during the lockout so the Pens could draft Crosby. Absolutely deplorable. The Pens' franchise is nothing but a sham propped up by Bettman.
I mean, I won't get into that conspiracy theory, but I have heard those rumors before.
That being said, the whole part of the forgotten attendance problems of the Pens (and Caps and Blackhawks to a lesser extent) really chaps my ass nowadays as a fan of the Canes. We get shit on constantly because of our inability to fill the stadium on a consistent basis while at the same time those same people sing the praises of those franchises completely ignoring the fact that 20 years ago, they had the exact same problems. They built winners through the draft, and the fans came back. These things are cyclical. People don't want to watch teams with management that can't get out of its own way. The Canes haven't been to the playoffs in 8 years, and only once since they won the Cup 11 years ago. That's unbelievably shitty performance for a league that sends over half its teams to the playoffs every year. We're no better or worse than any of the major market teams, its just that we're the ones currently at the bottom of the curve and they're at the top.
90% or more Pens fans are bandwagon fans since drafting Crosby/Malkin. I am a Washington homer and I will say its the same thing with Caps fans and Ovechkin. The difference is what you mentioned, Pittsburgh went through bankruptcy twice and had two feet out of the door until Mario saved them. Now a lot of fans pound their chest but are totally ignorant to the fact they had worst attendance before Crosby/Malkin and was this close to shipping out of town.
oh well, all fans are the same. Lane stadium sold out every game for years when we won 10 games a year. However, the last few years a lot of empty seats are at most home games since we have not been winning as many games. Fans love winners,,,
I agree with you for the most part. Good fan bases will travel and go to the games no matter what the record is. Pens fans are as much bandwagon fans as the next team and a lot of them have a short memory of how close they were to leaving town.
Here is my two cents on the Stanley Cup Champion
Like it or not, the Predators would have won that game 99 times out of a hundred last night. Beside the early whistle goal, the Preds had every shot in the third period up until the Hornqvist goal last night. They killed the pens in Time of Possession as well. I am a very big Hockey fan, I am also a very big anti-NBA fan and I always hate it how the NBA gets more press, hype , and fans when the overall product of sport in vastly insufficient. In this playoffs, the NHL had a golden opportunity. For once in a lifetime, NBA fans were actually admitting how boring their games are, and not just regular NBA games, the flippin finals! NBA fans were saying the finals were boring! That factor, combined with the fact of an underdog 16th seed going up against the mighty Penguins in a non-hockey market increased the most NHL popularity in decades. The NHL had a golden opportunity to make their sport relevant, but it blew itself once again and (intentional or unintentional) made a dumb miss call that led to the Pens victory. This would be the equivalent of having a wide open net and shooting it backwards into your own net. Not only did those new fans see how great hockey is, but they also saw how dumb the NHL is. So now instead of watching the match up of a lifetime game 7 on Wednesday, they will be watching basketball again and all will return to normal.
The problem with the NHL is that its currently a self-fulfilling prophecy. The neutral fans who aren't fully savvy in the sport constantly hear bitching and moaning from the NHL die-hards about how much certain teams get the benefit of the doubt in reffing. Lo and behold, you get to the Finals, and in back to back games you see Crosby allowed to dribble Subban's head like a basketball with only an offsetting minor called that had no detriment to his team, and then in the series clincher you see the go-ahead goal by the Preds disallowed because of a convenient whistle by the refs. That shit turns neutral fans away, because it (rightfully so) makes the league look impressively corrupt and in the bed of the teams who are chosen to be good.
And before we complain about the refs in the NFL and NBA, you're completely right that those refs are bad, too, but those leagues don't have the popularity problem the NHL does. Hell, the NFL could slaughter a member of the losing team at halftime, and people would still tune in in droves, and the NBA is always going to be puffed up by ESPN because of their TV deal. Those leagues can afford the rep hit from incompetent refs. The NHL can't, and they haven't really realized it.
I love the hate! Keep bringing it, it's funny. They spent the last 40 minutes doing everything within their power to make up for the whistle and the Preds couldn't take advantage. Losers blame the refs, winners overcome them. I haven't heard a single Preds player complain about the refs, just fans. For that I respect them.
And people wonder why Pittsburgh fans are called Boston-lite
Better than being a Philly fan.
Well this is just wrong
edit to clarify: this just gets so old. There is anti-Philly bias literally everywhere else in America and the truth is we're not even close to the worst fans. But trying to make this point is generally wasted breath because everyone else just goes LOL SANTA CLAUS BRACELET THROWING SNOWBALLS D CELL BATTERIES. Like we're the only fanbase that acts out when our team underperforms. I'ma stop before I really get started
this one game has enough to prove Philly fans are the worst
ugh well you throw that in my face it makes it pretty hard to defend the people at that game.
But I, myself, am a Philly fan. While I can't deny we have a large share of skidmarks among us, you're never gonna get me to believe we're the worst.
Is almost like he forgot about the Caps fan who hit Jeff Carter in the face with a bottle during an interview with NBC after the Flyers eliminated the Caps in the Verizon Center in Game 7 back in I believe 2010.
never once said it doesn't happen anywhere else, but to that magnitude? imo no
in your opinion.... who is the worst fanbase/fans?
I think Boston takes the cake there. They think they're God's gift to sports fans. Everyone knows it's Hokie fans. Especially ones who tweet at recruits /s
See imo I don't think they are the worst but I think they are the most spoiled
If Pittsburgh is Boston-lite...
The Capitals are the Shooter McGavins of the hockey world.
#shootah
Losers file bankruptcy twice and rely on Bettman to get them their wonderkid.....
#champs #backToBack #hypeTrainnnn
I will say even though they lost, Id love to see a game in Nashville.
Congrats to the Kansas City Penguins!
All I see in this thread
You guys sound like LOLuva fans during football season...
Pittsburgh is just one of those teams that gets it done when it matters. Crosby, for all intents and purposes, is a flat out winner and probably one of the best ever. Any fan would want him on their team. Penguins fans love it, everyone else, especially Caps fans such as myself, hate it. I'm used to it at this point.
I was blown away at the reversed goal last night where the ref didn't see the puck. Definite game changer, but apparently called correctly as the rules go.
Congrats Pittsburgh fans, tack on another 5 years of no complaining about any of your sports teams.