daver
Registered User
From the Stanley Cup Expectations thread, specifically Ovechkin and the Caps and their underperformance.
There is a somewhat broadly accepted narrative that from '96 to '02 the WCF was the "real" Stanley Cup Final given the WC won 6 of 7 Cups against a few mediocre EC champion teams and a combo of the three WC Cup winning teams (Wings, Avs, Stars) were in every WCF over those seven years save for one (2001).
The '97 to '02 Wings are as close to being a "dynasty" since 1990 as any other team. The Avs, with two Cups and five WCF appearances, are viewed as being on par with the Wings over that timeframe. They were the clear best two teams in both the regular season and the playoffs. The Stars had a very good three year run.
Forsberg and Sakic notably are viewed as "winners" and playoff warriors, relative to others with much longer Cup resumes.
From '16 to '18, the Pens and the Caps, and, though clearly not quite to the degree of the Stars, the Bolts, went through a similar pattern where one could argue the three times the Pens and Caps matched up in the EC 2nd Round it was the "real" Stanley Cup Final as each winner went to win the Cup final against fairly mediocre WC champion teams. The Caps won the President's Trophy twice and the Pens were #2 in regular season wins over that period.
I am willing to give Ovechkin and the Caps a bit of a pass on the "only once past the 2nd round" narrative given they lost to the best team in 2016 and 2017 in the 2nd round. Even though the Pens went 7 games against the Bolts in 2016, the Caps were the toughest opponent. The same with 2017 where 7 games was needed. In 2018, the Caps needed to go through the 2-time defending Cup champs, and a perennial contender in the Bolts, in 2018 to win their Cup.
The Caps were also unfortunate in 2009 to play the Pens in the 2nd round. It is very arguable that they were the 2nd best team in the EC that year too.
As for Ovechkin, he played at a GOAT level against the Pens in 2009, was very good in 2016, and underperformed in 2017.
Yes, generally speaking, the Caps underperformed during Ovechkin's time relative to expectation's, as did Ovechkin, but not to the degree where Ovechkin loses ground to players with clearly inferior regular season resumes in an all-time ranking sense.
There is a somewhat broadly accepted narrative that from '96 to '02 the WCF was the "real" Stanley Cup Final given the WC won 6 of 7 Cups against a few mediocre EC champion teams and a combo of the three WC Cup winning teams (Wings, Avs, Stars) were in every WCF over those seven years save for one (2001).
The '97 to '02 Wings are as close to being a "dynasty" since 1990 as any other team. The Avs, with two Cups and five WCF appearances, are viewed as being on par with the Wings over that timeframe. They were the clear best two teams in both the regular season and the playoffs. The Stars had a very good three year run.
Forsberg and Sakic notably are viewed as "winners" and playoff warriors, relative to others with much longer Cup resumes.
From '16 to '18, the Pens and the Caps, and, though clearly not quite to the degree of the Stars, the Bolts, went through a similar pattern where one could argue the three times the Pens and Caps matched up in the EC 2nd Round it was the "real" Stanley Cup Final as each winner went to win the Cup final against fairly mediocre WC champion teams. The Caps won the President's Trophy twice and the Pens were #2 in regular season wins over that period.
I am willing to give Ovechkin and the Caps a bit of a pass on the "only once past the 2nd round" narrative given they lost to the best team in 2016 and 2017 in the 2nd round. Even though the Pens went 7 games against the Bolts in 2016, the Caps were the toughest opponent. The same with 2017 where 7 games was needed. In 2018, the Caps needed to go through the 2-time defending Cup champs, and a perennial contender in the Bolts, in 2018 to win their Cup.
The Caps were also unfortunate in 2009 to play the Pens in the 2nd round. It is very arguable that they were the 2nd best team in the EC that year too.
As for Ovechkin, he played at a GOAT level against the Pens in 2009, was very good in 2016, and underperformed in 2017.
Yes, generally speaking, the Caps underperformed during Ovechkin's time relative to expectation's, as did Ovechkin, but not to the degree where Ovechkin loses ground to players with clearly inferior regular season resumes in an all-time ranking sense.
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