Hockey fans?

[21isSuperman]

47 minutes ago, NorthernBlue said:

So dumb. The league just doesn't understand what the fans want. And it sucks for the players who will probably get punished for playing for their counties.

 

just an overall garbage situation 

I understand all sides of it.  On the one hand, the players want to play for their countries and represent their countries on the biggest stage.  This isn't like soccer where the Olympics are a smaller tournament to something else.  For hockey, this is the biggest stage, and being able to represent your country on the biggest stage is important to the players.

 

On another hand, the NHL loses a lot by doing this.  In February, the only major leagues going on are the NBA and NHL.  The NFL and MLB are both in their offseasons.  So to give up all your marketing and all your appeal for three weeks at a time where you're in the spotlight can hurt the league's revenue.  Not only that, but you have things like injury scares and the franchises generally don't like having a three week disruption in the middle of their season.

 

At the same time, the IIHF wants it to happen because it can appeal the game internationally.  Hockey isn't as popular in Asia, so being able to have the world's best players go head to head can really show how exciting the game is.

 

I've also heard the argument that the Olympics is for amateur athletes.  Not saying I agree with it, but if you go with that argument, it would give other players a chance to play and develop themselves for the next steps of their careers.

 

I understand all sides of it.  If each side would compromise a little, I think you can get a solution.  At the end of the day, I think you should do what the players and fans want, and it seems like both players and fans want to see the NHL's stars play in the Olympics.

[bababooey]

17 hours ago, NorthernBlue said:

@bababooeyPretty tame game tonight. Glad DC got the Met and Presidents trophy locked up. Now we can relax till game 1 .

 

Rangers looking good for the playoffs I think. Lundqvist looks sharp and your depleted lineup played pretty well today. I think if they handle Montreal in the first round, they'll be able to beat whatever it is the Atlantic trots out in round 2.

 

With that being said, see ya'll in the conference finals .

 

Congrats on the Prez trophy, just remember it's been a while since the winner has won the Stanley Cup and Washington is on the brink of being the only team with 3 of them and no cups! I actually didn't watch much of last night's game (had on the Yankees instead). I know NYR have been sitting a few folks since we have been locked in on the WC1 and have Montreal locked in for a couple weeks. Henrik has been stinking since returning from injury but the defense is no help. I am convinced we are gearing up for a cup run next year when we hopefully sign Shattenkirk this offseason and maybe buyout Girardi. I'm pretty glad we are going through the Atlantic bracket considering we have the best record of the bracket with the lowest seed thanks to the Metro being so stacked. Hopefully Washington/CBJ/Pitt beat each other up in the first two rounds. I think it's gonna be Washington vs. Boston in the ECF personally but I'd love to rematch you guys. I saw playoff Hab killer Marty St. Louis the other day and I wanted to go up to him and ask if he'd suit up for the first round (he had an ice cold OT top shelf winner in game 4 that put us up 3-1 in the 2014 ECF). I hope for your sake Ovi gets one. Him and Henrik are two of the best and it's a shame it hasn't happened yet.

 

 

17 hours ago, 21isSuperman said:

@bababooey and @NorthernBlue, thoughts on the NHL refusing to take part in the Olympics?

Not happy, I saw your argument and I agree but while the NHL loses a few weeks when they are the only sport, the playoffs still get plenty of eyes. If you want to build the sport and increase your fan base you have to go on the biggest stage. For example, every single call to WFAN in NY after Oshie crushed the penalty kills against Russia that year was about hockey. The gold medal game in the Olympics before was nuts too. But NY sports radio barely touches hockey ("Nobody likes hockey, Boomer (Esiason)" is the inside joke on the station). They rarely get any mention unless they are in first place late in the season. Wrestlemania gets more airtime. They talk about it when the playoffs are on but the entire point of the olympics for the NHL is to grow the fanbase and for the players it is to represent your country. If injuries happen that stinks, but that's why its once every four years. People can get injured in the regular season too. The Yankees shortstop injured himself in the World Baseball Classic that's just how it goes. This decision might lead to another lockout...

[21isSuperman]

36 minutes ago, bababooey said:

 

Congrats on the Prez trophy, just remember it's been a while since the winner has won the Stanley Cup

I thought Chicago accomplished that just a few years ago, no?

[NorthernBlue]

26 minutes ago, 21isSuperman said:

I thought Chicago accomplished that just a few years ago, no?

They did, and of the other 6 teams to go back to back presidents trophies made the finals at least once.

 

So History is kinda on Washingtons side. For once .

[bababooey]

1 hour ago, 21isSuperman said:

I thought Chicago accomplished that just a few years ago, no?

 

1 hour ago, NorthernBlue said:

They did, and of the other 6 teams to go back to back presidents trophies made the finals at least once.

 

So History is kinda on Washingtons side. For once .

Damn....I need to remember more....rangers are one of the teams that did NOT accomplish that lol

[Colt Cola]

Can't wait to watch my Blues take down the Wild. There is nothing as exciting as Playoff Hockey.

 

[21isSuperman]

The playoffs are here!  Nothing like playoff hockey

 

[21isSuperman]

@bababooey @NorthernBlue @Colt Cola

 

The more interviews I watch with Connor McDavid, the more he sounds like Andrew Luck to me.  Kinda quiet, meek, humble guy.  Do you agree?

 

 

[Colt Cola]

3 minutes ago, 21isSuperman said:

@bababooey @NorthernBlue @Colt Cola

 

The more interviews I watch with Connor McDavid, the more he sounds like Andrew Luck to me.  Kinda quiet, meek, humble guy.  Do you agree?

 

likes to deflect the praise to his teammates

 

[21isSuperman]

11 minutes ago, Colt Cola said:

 

Yeah, he doesn't take the compliments, very similar to Luck.  When I hear McDavid talk, it's like he went to the Andrew Luck School or Public Relations

[NorthernBlue]

2 hours ago, 21isSuperman said:

@bababooey @NorthernBlue @Colt Cola

 

The more interviews I watch with Connor McDavid, the more he sounds like Andrew Luck to me.  Kinda quiet, meek, humble guy.  Do you agree?

 

 

Hard to hate McDavid. He's a good one that oilers fans are lucky to have. He'll make em forget about the past decade of dreadfulness pretty quickly.

[Colt Cola]

I don't know if you guys saw this...but it had me on the verge of tears

 

https://www.nhl.com/blues/video/ari-takes-a-road-trip/t-277517832/c-51322103

[21isSuperman]

2 hours ago, Colt Cola said:

I don't know if you guys saw this...but it had me on the verge of tears

 

https://www.nhl.com/blues/video/ari-takes-a-road-trip/t-277517832/c-51322103

As if Tarasenko could elevate his legendary status anymore. Love seeing this kind of stuff. I never get tired of it. Thanks for sharing! 

[bababooey]

23 hours ago, 21isSuperman said:

@bababooey @NorthernBlue @Colt Cola

 

The more interviews I watch with Connor McDavid, the more he sounds like Andrew Luck to me.  Kinda quiet, meek, humble guy.  Do you agree?

 

 

He's a great kid, I'll root for them in the west especially since Talbot is backing him up.

[bababooey]

IT STARTS TONIGHT PEOPLE. LETS GOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I'll be missing Rangers game 2 because my fiance got us Billy Joel tix at MSG for Friday but hoping for a great playoff season. The beard has been started.

[bababooey]

21 hours ago, Colt Cola said:

I don't know if you guys saw this...but it had me on the verge of tears

 

https://www.nhl.com/blues/video/ari-takes-a-road-trip/t-277517832/c-51322103

Loved this. This story and Bickell scoring his first shootout goal in his last game are such good stories.

[bababooey]

My brother and cousin both work for NBC Sports so they are sending me pics with the cup right now, they are seeing if I can stop by tomorrow to see it.

[bababooey]

THE GLASS EFFECT!!!!

[21isSuperman]

17 hours ago, bababooey said:

My brother and cousin both work for NBC Sports so they are sending me pics with the cup right now, they are seeing if I can stop by tomorrow to see it.

That's wicked.  I'm jealous .  Your Rangers took game one.  Meanwhile my Oilers lost in OT....

 

Here's hoping the Caps can lift my spirits!

[bababooey]

17 minutes ago, 21isSuperman said:

That's wicked.  I'm jealous .  Your Rangers took game one.  Meanwhile my Oilers lost in OT....

 

Here's hoping the Caps can lift my spirits!

I can't say they completely stole that game, but Glass's lucky unassisted backhand changed the tune and playoff Henrik was locked in. They are true road warriors.

 

I haven't even checked all the scores I just saw our game, Boston came back, and Pitt won handily after Murray got hurt in warmups. I saw a graph of prices for each team. I thought Rangers were bad at like 170 for cheapest seat...Oilers are 360 for cheapest, absolutely insane. Good luck to the Caps tonight!

[21isSuperman]

16 minutes ago, bababooey said:

I can't say they completely stole that game, but Glass's lucky unassisted backhand changed the tune and playoff Henrik was locked in. They are true road warriors.

 

I haven't even checked all the scores I just saw our game, Boston came back, and Pitt won handily after Murray got hurt in warmups. I saw a graph of prices for each team. I thought Rangers were bad at like 170 for cheapest seat...Oilers are 360 for cheapest, absolutely insane. Good luck to the Caps tonight!

As you said, Pitt easily won after Murray got hurt, which really surprised me.  I was predicting the Blue Jackets to win that series in 7, since the Pens are dealing with so many injuries, but good on them for overcoming so much adversity.

[Colt Cola]

Jake Allen was practically making saves on his head last night!!!!

 

Definitely put my Blues on his back.

 

up 1 - 0 and we got outplayed so plenty to work on before game 2.

 

Go Blues

[21isSuperman]

@NorthernBlue Caps looked scared out there against the Leafs..... 

[NorthernBlue]

27 minutes ago, 21isSuperman said:

@NorthernBlue Caps looked scared out there against the Leafs..... 

Ik it's 2-1 but that was a disgusting 1st period for a 1st seed.

[21isSuperman]

5 minutes ago, NorthernBlue said:

Ik it's 2-1 but that was a disgusting 1st period for a 1st seed.

Yeah, that was brutal.  They seemed scared to make a mistake.  Toronto seemed like they were just having fun and playing the only way they know how whereas Washington looked scared to make a mistake.  Hopefully that goal settles them in and gets them playing Caps hockey

[21isSuperman]

5 hours ago, Colt Cola said:

Jake Allen was practically making saves on his head last night!!!!

 

Definitely put my Blues on his back.

 

up 1 - 0 and we got outplayed so plenty to work on before game 2.

 

Go Blues

Allen stood on his head, my goodness.  What a performance.

[NorthernBlue]

57 minutes ago, 21isSuperman said:

Yeah, that was brutal.  They seemed scared to make a mistake.  Toronto seemed like they were just having fun and playing the only way they know how whereas Washington looked scared to make a mistake.  Hopefully that goal settles them in and gets them playing Caps hockey

Okay. We're tied. The end of the second period was much better (although the PP looks pretty bad right now despite the earlier goal).

 

New game. 1 Period. Tied. The Caps need to come out with some urgency and pot a couple on these young guys. There is no reason for them to lose this game. 

[21isSuperman]

1 hour ago, NorthernBlue said:

Okay. We're tied. The end of the second period was much better (although the PP looks pretty bad right now despite the earlier goal).

 

New game. 1 Period. Tied. The Caps need to come out with some urgency and pot a couple on these young guys. There is no reason for them to lose this game. 

Tom Wilson with the overtime snipe!  That was way too stressful

[NorthernBlue]

5 minutes ago, 21isSuperman said:

Tom Wilson with the overtime snipe!  That was way too stressful

I damn near woke up the neighbors after he scored.

 

And yes. You are right. Too stressful.

 

Looks like Washington won't be walking away with this series the way we thought they would, eh?

[21isSuperman]

3 minutes ago, NorthernBlue said:

I damn near woke up the neighbors after he scored.

 

And yes. You are right. Too stressful.

 

Looks like Washington won't be walking away with this series the way we thought they would, eh?

I may have yelled too...I was told by my family to settle down

 

I think the Caps will learn from tonight.  They're simply too talented to be taken out in the first round.  I like Toronto's roster, I think they have a lot of good young talent, but I think their youth and inexperience will hurt them.  They played with tons of heart, especially Andersen, but I think Washington is simply too much for them.

 

It is just one game though.  For all the teams I predicted to win their series, I went 1/4 yesterday, with Boston being my only correct call.  Even Chicago, who I have going to the Stanley Cup Finals, is currently losing.

[NorthernBlue]

1 hour ago, 21isSuperman said:

I may have yelled too...I was told by my family to settle down

 

I think the Caps will learn from tonight.  They're simply too talented to be taken out in the first round.  I like Toronto's roster, I think they have a lot of good young talent, but I think their youth and inexperience will hurt them.  They played with tons of heart, especially Andersen, but I think Washington is simply too much for them.

 

It is just one game though.  For all the teams I predicted to win their series, I went 1/4 yesterday, with Boston being my only correct call.  Even Chicago, who I have going to the Stanley Cup Finals, is currently losing.

Yeah the caps were trash in the first, a little better in the second, played well in the third and absolutely dominated the OT frame (Leafs had no real opportunities to score while the Caps had at least 3 or 4 quality chances). 

 

That's the key to this series I think, as the Caps depth will allow them to play better down the stretch of games, especially in third periods. They just have to do a much better job at keeping steady in the first period of games. Can't let Toronto get the early lead, as Andersen has shown tonight, he's no slouch and is very capable of stealing a game.

 

Still got Caps in 6. If they can pull out game 2 as well, I think that'd be too much for the young Leafs to overcome. 

[21isSuperman]

11 hours ago, NorthernBlue said:

Yeah the caps were trash in the first, a little better in the second, played well in the third and absolutely dominated the OT frame (Leafs had no real opportunities to score while the Caps had at least 3 or 4 quality chances). 

 

That's the key to this series I think, as the Caps depth will allow them to play better down the stretch of games, especially in third periods. They just have to do a much better job at keeping steady in the first period of games. Can't let Toronto get the early lead, as Andersen has shown tonight, he's no slouch and is very capable of stealing a game.

 

Still got Caps in 6. If they can pull out game 2 as well, I think that'd be too much for the young Leafs to overcome. 

I have Caps in five, but I'm a little nervous about that now .  I still think they win, but it could be a tough series.  One advantage I thought the Caps had in the playoffs was playing the Leafs in the first round while the Pens and Jackets go at each other.  I figured the Caps would finish out the series quickly while the Pens and Jackets go to 7, meaning the Caps would be fresh for the second round while the winner of Pens/Jackets would be tired.

 

I'm hoping that was just game one jitters/pressure.  If they come out and play the way they did in the third period, this series will be over very quickly.  Also, Shatty had an incredible game.  He was all over the place

[NorthernBlue]

2 hours ago, 21isSuperman said:

I have Caps in five, but I'm a little nervous about that now .  I still think they win, but it could be a tough series.  One advantage I thought the Caps had in the playoffs was playing the Leafs in the first round while the Pens and Jackets go at each other.  I figured the Caps would finish out the series quickly while the Pens and Jackets go to 7, meaning the Caps would be fresh for the second round while the winner of Pens/Jackets would be tired.

 

I'm hoping that was just game one jitters/pressure.  If they come out and play the way they did in the third period, this series will be over very quickly.  Also, Shatty had an incredible game.  He was all over the place

Yeah definitely would have lost this game if they never had Shatty. The Leafs are feeling really good about the game though. Many fans and pundits suddenly giving them a much better shot. 

 

Hopefully Cbus can actually give Pit a run for their money. They've been bad recently and it would be pretty disappointing if it takes the Caps 6+ games to win this series while an undermanned Pens squad handles the Jackets in like 5. 

[21isSuperman]

Refs making bad calls on both teams. Half of these "penalties" aren't even penalties. Caps doing a much better job in the first period

[21isSuperman]

Ovie!! 

[NorthernBlue]

@21isSuperman They never make it easy, do they?

[21isSuperman]

12 hours ago, NorthernBlue said:

@21isSuperman They never make it easy, do they?

I had the Caps winning in 5, so Toronto gets one game.  My concern is how much of a toll this series will have.  They've played game 1 + OT then game 2 + 2 OT, meaning they've played 9 periods over 2 games.  If this becomes a very physical series with lots of games going to overtime, what will they have left in the tank for Pittsburgh in the next round?  It's been a really bad showing for Washington, if you ask me.  Toronto doesn't have Zaitsev and they lost Polak and the Caps still can't manage to sustain puck control.

 

It's certainly been an odd playoffs in a lot of ways.  My Stanley Cup prediction was Chicago and Washington and both teams are having trouble in round 1.  Meanwhile, I thought Pittsburgh and Columbus would go to 7, but Pittsburgh is having no trouble despite not having Murray and Letang.

[Luck is Good]

Yeah my Blackhawks have some work to do. Down 2-0 to the Predators is not an enviable position. I knew this would be a tough series. And on the Capitals, the Maple Leafs are no joke. They have a budding superstar in Auston Matthews who has elevated that entire team. Capitals have to prove it this postseason. There's been too many times where they've underachieved in the postseason. The time to do it is now

[NorthernBlue]

4 hours ago, 21isSuperman said:

I had the Caps winning in 5, so Toronto gets one game.  My concern is how much of a toll this series will have.  They've played game 1 + OT then game 2 + 2 OT, meaning they've played 9 periods over 2 games.  If this becomes a very physical series with lots of games going to overtime, what will they have left in the tank for Pittsburgh in the next round?  It's been a really bad showing for Washington, if you ask me.  Toronto doesn't have Zaitsev and they lost Polak and the Caps still can't manage to sustain puck control.

 

It's certainly been an odd playoffs in a lot of ways.  My Stanley Cup prediction was Chicago and Washington and both teams are having trouble in round 1.  Meanwhile, I thought Pittsburgh and Columbus would go to 7, but Pittsburgh is having no trouble despite not having Murray and Letang.

There are lots of positives and lots of negatives you can take away from this series so far. But the important thing is, it's tied 1-1, heading into enemy territory. The Caps haven't played bad, but they need to play better. The Leafs are hanging in there, but if the Caps get their cycle game going, and start creating long shifts in the offensive zone (like the shift that led to the Backstrom tying goal), they'll be too much for the Leafs to handle.

 

Right now, I feel like they are letting the Leafs dictate the game and pace right now. This hasn't completely screwed the Capitals, but they need to play their game. If they do, Toronto won't keep up, and they could get this done in 5, or 6 max. 

 

Lots to improve on. The Leafs are no joke. But the Capitals should still win this series. 

[Colt Cola]

Blues up 3-0.

 

Allen has been great this series, and Dubnyk isn't playing bad for the Wild. Wild pretty much controlled the first 2 games but my Blues snuck those 2 games from under them. 3rd game the Defense pretty much controlled the wild and led to a lot of odd man breaks for the Blues. Hoping to finish them off in 4 and then sit back and watch the rest of the western conference beat each other up.