Hockey fans?

[Boiler_Colt]

Been a huge Penguins fan for 25 years. I've been on pins and needles the whole playoffs. That Nashville team scares the crap out of me. The Pens are nowhere near as deep as last year. The guy the reallly really miss is LeTang. I expect a 7 game series that could go either way. I went to game 1 of the finals last year, id like to go agaon this year but I dont think I'll be able to make it.

[Luck is Good]

32 minutes ago, 21isSuperman said:

I agree.  Pittsburgh is so deep and so skilled.  But this is the same Nashville team that swept the Blackhawks, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them win the series either.  I love a good underdog story

Being the Blackhawks fan that I am, yes I'm well aware the Predators manhandled them. That told me right there that Nashville had a chance to get to the Stanley Cup Finals. I expect a great series

[21isSuperman]

On 2017-05-27 at 10:10 AM, Boiler_Colt said:

Been a huge Penguins fan for 25 years. I've been on pins and needles the whole playoffs. That Nashville team scares the crap out of me. The Pens are nowhere near as deep as last year. The guy the reallly really miss is LeTang. I expect a 7 game series that could go either way. I went to game 1 of the finals last year, id like to go agaon this year but I dont think I'll be able to make it.

Game one was close.  Unbelievable how the Pens won with 4 goals on 9 shots on Rinne.  They can't expect to win like that in the rest of the games though.

[indyagent17]

I'm from Indiana I started playing hockey when I was 10 years old  at Perry park on the south side period I'm also old enough to remember going to quite a few WHA games and seeing Gretzky and Messier play for the Racers.  Then followed by three great years of minor league hockey with the checkers with two and what should have been a third championship in three years. If y'all don't remember in 1984 the Tulsa Oilers was about to fold but they were taking over by the league and they had no home stadium. So here we meet them for the league championship and all four games here we lose including the deciding game at the Carmel Ice Skadium because Market Square Arena was unavailable

[Luck is Good]

Predators with a great 5-1 win last night. Their mindset just has to be to do what Penguins did and that's protect home ice. I still think it goes 7 games

[21isSuperman]

2 minutes ago, Luck is Good said:

Predators with a great 5-1 win last night. Their mindset just has to be to do what Penguins did and that's protect home ice. I still think it goes 7 games

They played well.  Rinne went back to his typical form.  The Pens have been insanely lucky during these playoffs.  The goalies they have played have mostly played below expectations (Bobrovsky, Holtby, Rinne) and they seem to get tons of lucky bounces (multiple goals off of Predators players).  It'll be tough, but I think Nashville has what it takes to win.  They've done a good job of limiting how many shots the Pens take

[Luck is Good]

Just now, 21isSuperman said:

They played well.  Rinne went back to his typical form.  The Pens have been insanely lucky during these playoffs.  The goalies they have played have mostly played below expectations (Bobrovsky, Holtby, Rinne) and they seem to get tons of lucky bounces (multiple goals off of Predators players).  It'll be tough, but I think Nashville has what it takes to win.  They've done a good job of limiting how many shots the Pens take

Good fortunes happen to good teams. This could set up the storybook ending for Nashville though. The run they had through the West and then come back from a 2-0 deficit against the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Would be quite a first championship to win

[21isSuperman]

Finals tied at 2.  What a series!  Rinne is back to being typical Rinne

[NorthernBlue]

57 minutes ago, 21isSuperman said:

Finals tied at 2.  What a series!  Rinne is back to being typical Rinne

Now lets see if he could do it on the road. Both goalies have struggled in the other building, although Murray didn't look bad today.

[NorthernBlue]

What a hype team Nashville is. I'm behind em. Would love to see another 8th seed win it all. What a fun team. That Gaudreau kid stepping into the lineup for Ryan Jo and he already potted 3 (!) goals. What a series it has been.

[Luck is Good]

Now this is a good Finals. Predators might just be a team of destiny. I wouldn't mind that one bit. I'm a Blackhawks fan but they've earned my respect

[21isSuperman]

14 hours ago, NorthernBlue said:

What a hype team Nashville is. I'm behind em. Would love to see another 8th seed win it all. What a fun team. That Gaudreau kid stepping into the lineup for Ryan Jo and he already potted 3 (!) goals. What a series it has been.

Second player in NHL history to score his first three goals in the Stanley Cup Finals

[bababooey]

Will we see the cup tonight?

[southwest1]

Hockey isn't really my forte. Mostly because I can't follow the puck very well & I detest snow & ice personally with a passion so sitting in a venue to watch guys on skates slide back & forth on frozen water has no appeal to me at all. 

 

If you like hockey, great. It's just not my thang. I do like the size of the Stanley Cup trophy though. It's certainly substantial & massive. An organization is never gonna misplace that & go now where did I put the Cup again? 

[NorthernBlue]

I'd be heartbroken if I was a Predators fan.

 

But I'm a Caps fan. I'm heartbroken anyways.

 

That freaking sucked.

[Luck is Good]

What a run by the Pittsburgh Penguins. First team to become repeat champions in the salary cap era. Incredible feat by that franchise. Such a team effort and that's how a team is successful year in and year out. Teamwork is the ultimate weapon and the Penguins have plenty of it

[21isSuperman]

14 hours ago, NorthernBlue said:

I'd be heartbroken if I was a Predators fan.

 

But I'm a Caps fan. I'm heartbroken anyways.

 

That freaking sucked.

I was pulling for the Preds and that was tough to watch.  Rinne completely imploding every road game, the powerplay being nonexistent (did you see Subban and Josi just playing catch for 20 seconds of a 30 second 5-on-3?), that was tough.

[NorthernBlue]

41 minutes ago, 21isSuperman said:

I was pulling for the Preds and that was tough to watch.  Rinne completely imploding every road game, the powerplay being nonexistent (did you see Subban and Josi just playing catch for 20 seconds of a 30 second 5-on-3?), that was tough.

Really think that Sissons no goal that clearly should have counted shifted the tide of the game. If the Preds score there, they probably open the flood gates a bit a la games 3 and 4. But instead, it stays scoreless and the Pens gather themselves a bit after. 

 

I give Pittsburgh credit. They hung in there tight during those late penalty kills, and ultimately I do think the better team won game 6.

 

But god I hate them so much. Patriots, Penguins and (probably) Warriors all winning championships this year? Maybe 2017/2018 will be better .

[21isSuperman]

2 hours ago, NorthernBlue said:

Really think that Sissons no goal that clearly should have counted shifted the tide of the game. If the Preds score there, they probably open the flood gates a bit a la games 3 and 4. But instead, it stays scoreless and the Pens gather themselves a bit after. 

 

I give Pittsburgh credit. They hung in there tight during those late penalty kills, and ultimately I do think the better team won game 6.

 

But god I hate them so much. Patriots, Penguins and (probably) Warriors all winning championships this year? Maybe 2017/2018 will be better .

I agree that the better team won.  I can't help but feel if the Caps just played a little harder, they could have taken the same route the Pens did.  I could easily have seen them beating the Sens.  A series against the Preds would have been tough, but with how Rinne was on the road, I think the Caps could have won it

[NorthernBlue]

5 hours ago, 21isSuperman said:

I agree that the better team won.  I can't help but feel if the Caps just played a little harder, they could have taken the same route the Pens did.  I could easily have seen them beating the Sens.  A series against the Preds would have been tough, but with how Rinne was on the road, I think the Caps could have won it

Similar to the Manning led Colts and New England, I thought that if the Caps slayed that Penguin demon, they'd be good to go and on route to their first Stanley Cup. I thought It'd be last year, and I was SURE it'd be this year, but guess not. But I don't even think that's the case anymore. It's more than just the Penguins and the second round. The failures in the playoffs have piled up to the point that the weight won't be lifted off the organizations shoulders until they finally lift the cup. 

 

Who knows, maybe these Caps are like the 05 Colts, who were much more talented than the 06 team, but the latter ultimately got the job done. Washington is clearly gonna be weaker next year. Not much to look forward to this off season. Caps are literally just gonna lose players. 

 

At least training camp is right around the corner . Even that is like a month and a half away. Either way, I'm ready to put the Caps gear away for a little while and get my Colt game back on. 

[bababooey]

anyone following this crazy expansion draft plus trades

[21isSuperman]

2 minutes ago, bababooey said:

anyone following this crazy expansion draft plus trades

Yep!  Fleury to the Knights.  Then the Hawks trade Panarin and the Rangers trade Stepan.  Oil traded Eberle for Strome, which has some Oilers fans scratching their heads

[PrincetonTiger]

4 minutes ago, bababooey said:

anyone following this crazy expansion draft plus trades

Blackhawks have made 2 big trades today

[bababooey]

39 minutes ago, PrincetonTiger said:

Blackhawks have made 2 big trades today

Arizona got their Defenseman, Goalie, and Center in like a half hour

[bababooey]

44 minutes ago, 21isSuperman said:

Yep!  Fleury to the Knights.  Then the Hawks trade Panarin and the Rangers trade Stepan.  Oil traded Eberle for Strome, which has some Oilers fans scratching their heads

We lost Stepan and Raanta for a young talented (and troublesome) defenseman and 7th overall pick. They got better definitely but we got rid of Stepan's contract which is huge so it's a reload/rebuild move for us. We now have 20M+ (before Klein possibly retires) to spend in FA AND two first round picks (for once!) to package in a trade. Possible to trade for Duchene or sign Shattenkirk/resign Brendan Smith now.

[PrincetonTiger]

2 minutes ago, bababooey said:

Arizona got their Defenseman, Goalie, and Center in like a half hour

With the health imposed leave for Hossa and the trade with Phoenix the Blackhawks got young

[bababooey]

1 minute ago, PrincetonTiger said:

With the health imposed leave for Hossa and the trade with Phoenix the Blackhawks got young

Sucks a HOF career ends bc he's allergic to his uniform.

[PrincetonTiger]

2 minutes ago, bababooey said:

Sucks a HOF career ends bc he's allergic to his uniform.

Very sad

[PrincetonTiger]

5 minutes ago, PrincetonTiger said:

With the health imposed leave for Hossa and the trade with Phoenix the Blackhawks got young

I hate losing Panarin but love the return of Saad

[NorthernBlue]

28 minutes ago, bababooey said:

We lost Stepan and Raanta for a young talented (and troublesome) defenseman and 7th overall pick. They got better definitely but we got rid of Stepan's contract which is huge so it's a reload/rebuild move for us. We now have 20M+ (before Klein possibly retires) to spend in FA AND two first round picks (for once!) to package in a trade. Possible to trade for Duchene or sign Shattenkirk/resign Brendan Smith now.

Rangers have the resources and money to go after it this off season. I think they wind up and try once more to build a team good enough to win it all, as Henrik's career winds down. I think Shatty definitely wants to go to NYR. He'd be a good fit. Very offensively gifted player. And if ya'll somehow acquire Duchene that'd make a pretty nasty forward core. Could potentially give Pittsburgh a run for their money in the Met.

[21isSuperman]

54 minutes ago, NorthernBlue said:

Rangers have the resources and money to go after it this off season. I think they wind up and try once more to build a team good enough to win it all, as Henrik's career winds down. I think Shatty definitely wants to go to NYR. He'd be a good fit. Very offensively gifted player. And if ya'll somehow acquire Duchene that'd make a pretty nasty forward core. Could potentially give Pittsburgh a run for their money in the Met.

The Shatty I saw in the playoffs is a defensive liability.  Great PP guy and offensive contributor, but I'd like my defensemen to be better on the back end.  He's like Mike Green, in my opinion.  If I'm the Rangers, I wouldn't pursue him.

[Luck is Good]

3 hours ago, PrincetonTiger said:

I hate losing Panarin but love the return of Saad

I HATE losing Artemi Panarin. I'd have rather kept him

[NorthernBlue]

That's.........quite a contract for my boy TJ.......

[PrincetonTiger]

4 hours ago, Luck is Good said:

I HATE losing Artemi Panarin. I'd have rather kept him

Me too 

[PrincetonTiger]

3 hours ago, NorthernBlue said:

That's.........quite a contract for my boy TJ.......

Not sure what the Caps were thinking

[NorthernBlue]

33 minutes ago, PrincetonTiger said:

Not sure what the Caps were thinking

Obviously just trying to keep the cup window open by keeping him. But man that contract is gonna bite pretty much every year after year 3. 

 

Oshie did score 33, but his shooting percentage was ridiculously high. It's unsustainable. He's still gonna produce, but how much, I have no idea. We'll have to see.

 

I love Oshie, as do most Caps fans, which is why the general reaction to this is relatively okay, but man. What a hefty and risky contract. Have said this pretty much every year since 2010, but this team better win a cup soon . 

[PrincetonTiger]

9 hours ago, NorthernBlue said:

Obviously just trying to keep the cup window open by keeping him. But man that contract is gonna bite pretty much every year after year 3. 

 

Oshie did score 33, but his shooting percentage was ridiculously high. It's unsustainable. He's still gonna produce, but how much, I have no idea. We'll have to see.

 

I love Oshie, as do most Caps fans, which is why the general reaction to this is relatively okay, but man. What a hefty and risky contract. Have said this pretty much every year since 2010, but this team better win a cup soon . 

Those mega contracts can come back and haunt a franchise 

[21isSuperman]

16 hours ago, NorthernBlue said:

That's.........quite a contract for my boy TJ.......

8 year deal for a 31 year old player....I like Oshie, but the Caps are going all in for the next few years (stop me if you've heard this before...)

 

It's like Chiarelli giving Lucic a 7 year deal when he's approaching 30.

[NorthernBlue]

3 hours ago, 21isSuperman said:

8 year deal for a 31 year old player....I like Oshie, but the Caps are going all in for the next few years (stop me if you've heard this before...)

 

It's like Chiarelli giving Lucic a 7 year deal when he's approaching 30.

But at least the Oilers have a really young core to build around, oh and they got this one guy names Connor McDavid, who won MVP at like 20 years old . Their situation is a bit better than the caps.

 

At least Oshie is fun to watch. I enjoy having him rock the red. Next season won't be so bad. Just so long as I temper my expectations.

[21isSuperman]

23 hours ago, NorthernBlue said:

But at least the Oilers have a really young core to build around, oh and they got this one guy names Connor McDavid, who won MVP at like 20 years old . Their situation is a bit better than the caps.

 

At least Oshie is fun to watch. I enjoy having him rock the red. Next season won't be so bad. Just so long as I temper my expectations.

In the back of my mind, I'm viewing this upcoming Caps team as the 2006 Colts.  The previous year's was a more talented roster, but couldn't win.  The 2006 Colts and 2017 Caps will be less talented than the previous year, but could be a quiet contender for it all now that everyone has written them off