GDT: 2018 Stanley Cup discussion

[DaveG]

I still maintain for me that it's entirely about the other players on the Caps that makes me want to see them fail. I'm not particularly an OV fan (frankly I find him dirty though he's cleaned up his act a good bit) but he's also one of the 3 best players of his generation. I want to see him win one eventually just like I wanted to see Bourque win a cup, and still want to see Thornton win a cup.

But with guys like Niskanen and especially Tom f***ing Wilson? BLEGH. Keep them as far away from the Cup as possible. It's bad enough that Orprick already has one, would make me ill to see him get another one.

 

[vorbis]

No, it was definitely a movie called Shazaam with Sinbad in it. I have a clear memory of this.

wait someone already mentioned the Mandela Effect here so I'll delete my vorbisplaining

 

[Lempo]

They have up to 7 games to show that they deserve it.

 

[Lempo]

wait someone already mentioned the Mandela Effect here so I'll delete my vorbisplaining

I suddenly remember seeing an animated picture once where there was planets and some particularly weird orbital shenanigans.

 

[DougieSmash]

Doesn't care about Capitals or Ovechkin. Go Vegas, i guess. Poor Williams though. From SC finalist to Canes.

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

Hey-o

More like Lempo

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

I'm not particularly an OV fan (frankly I find him dirty though he's cleaned up his act a good bit

I like him, he’s got personality. He’s had dirty plays, but I never really saw him as a dirty player. Just a guy who was going balls to the wall and giving 115% effort 125% of the time.

Contrast that with Tom Wilson who broke a guys jaw after going out of his way to hit him in the head, and was “confused” when he got suspended for it.

 

[DaveG]

I like him, he’s got personality. He’s had dirty plays, but I never really saw him as a dirty player. Just a guy who was going balls to the wall and giving 115% effort 125% of the time.

Contrast that with Tom Wilson who broke a guys jaw after going out of his way to hit him in the head, and was “confused” when he got suspended for it.

Ovechkin's a guy that's agree to disagree in that regard. He definitely plays balls to the walls, but I also see him as a guy that frequently jumped in to hits and deliberately led with his leg on a knee to knee collision with Gleason. He'd definitely cleaned up his act in the past decade but that's also a result of taking the worst of some of those hits. As I said though I have no problem with him winning a cup, it's a significant number of the other asshats on his team that I never want to see anywhere near it that I have a problem with.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

I never really saw him as a dirty player. Just a guy who was going balls to the wall and giving 115% effort 125% of the time.

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

Damn it hank

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Damn it hank

You brought that one on yourself hoss

 

[Dishface]

That's exactly what he looks like when he doesn't have the puck on the PP, yet he is the most dangerous.

 

[My Special Purpose]

My three main factors all point to Vegas winning this series.

1) Rest/Health - Vegas has incredibly only played 15 games (12-3) to get to the Final. That's ridonkulous (just like everything else going on with them). They are healthy and rested. The Caps have played 19 games and who knows how healthy Backstrom is (although he's looked good). Basically I give the edge to Vegas for freshness. Their speed is just going to leave the Caps in the dust.

2) Goaltending - Holtby has been great, but M-A Fleury has been unreal to the tune of .947 save percentage, 1.68 GAA and 4 shutouts. I'm not sure what else can be said about this guy, but he has certainly showed how having a rock back there can energize an entire team.

3) Happy To Be There - The Caps are downright giddy to be in their first Final since 1998 and first of Ovechkin's career. I've heard a lot of "I've been playing my whole career for this," and, in general, lots of stuff about exorcising demons. The Caps are acting like they've won the Cup already. Not in the sense that they're looking past Vegas, but in the sense that *making* the Final was the goal all along! It's hard to get a fix on where Vegas stands on this particular scale since they've been playing with house money since Opening Night. But their core leaders (Fleury, Engelland, Neal) have been here many times before -- they were teammates in Pittsburgh from 2010-2014 -- and I get the sense they won't be overwhelmed by the moment, and I don't get the same sense from Ovechkin and Holtby.

Vegas in 5 (or 7, but not 6, because I want to see them close it out at home).

P.S. Since the captaincy has been a big issue for us, I thought I'd chime in on Vegas's decision to have assorted alternates and no full-time captain this season, and why it's different than our fiasco. IMO, Vegas did it because Marc-Andre Fleury is the de facto captain and everyone knows it, but he's not allowed by league rules to wear the "C." Engelland was awarded the Campbell Trophy, but it will be interesting to see who receives the Cup if they win.

P.P.S. If Washington somehow wins, I still think Fleury will win Conn Smythe, unless the wheels completely and unexpectedly come off in the Final.

P.P.P.S. Can anyone think of a reason that a goalie shouldn't be able to wear a letter? Maybe it's time to change that rule? I can't think of a reason why they should be excluded, other than it being in fairness to them, since they have other things to think about?

 

[Navin R Slavin]

My three main factors all point to Vegas winning this series.

1) Rest/Health - Vegas has incredibly only played 15 games (12-3) to get to the Final. That's ridonkulous (just like everything else going on with them). They are healthy and rested. The Caps have played 19 games and who knows how healthy Backstrom is (although he's looked good). Basically I give the edge to Vegas for freshness. Their speed is just going to leave the Caps in the dust.

2) Goaltending - Holtby has been great, but M-A Fleury has been unreal to the tune of .947 save percentage, 1.68 GAA and 4 shutouts. I'm not sure what else can be said about this guy, but he has certainly showed how having a rock back there can energize an entire team.

3) Happy To Be There - The Caps are downright giddy to be in their first Final since 1998 and first of Ovechkin's career. I've heard a lot of "I've been playing my whole career for this," and, in general, lots of stuff about exorcising demons. The Caps are acting like they've won the Cup already. Not in the sense that they're looking past Vegas, but in the sense that *making* the Final was the goal all along! It's hard to get a fix on where Vegas stands on this particular scale since they've been playing with house money since Opening Night. But their core leaders (Fleury, Engelland, Neal) have been here many times before -- they were teammates in Pittsburgh from 2010-2014 -- and I get the sense they won't be overwhelmed by the moment, and I don't get the same sense from Ovechkin and Holtby.

Vegas in 5 (or 7, but not 6, because I want to see them close it out at home).

P.S. Since the captaincy has been a big issue for us, I thought I'd chime in on Vegas's decision to have assorted alternates and no full-time captain this season, and why it's different than our fiasco. IMO, Vegas did it because Marc-Andre Fleury is the de facto captain and everyone knows it, but he's not allowed by league rules to wear the "C." Engelland was awarded the Campbell Trophy, but it will be interesting to see who get the Cup if they win.

P.P.S. If Washington somehow wins, I still think Fleury will win Conn Smythe, unless the wheels completely and unexpectedly come off in the Final.

P.P.P.S. Can anyone think of a reason that a goalie shouldn't be able to wear a letter? Maybe it's time to change that rule? I can't think of a reason why they should be excluded, other than it being in fairness to them, since they have other things to think about?

counterpoint: nah

 

[MinJaBen]

counterpoint: nah

TL;DR

 

[A Star is Burns]

1) Caps are in the groove and Vegas will be rusty.

2) Holtby just had two shutouts, Fleury didn't.

3) Washington was supposedly just happy to beat Pittsburgh based on their reactions and celebrations, we know how that turned out.

Just showing how you can spin it whatever way. I'll be happy with either team, but I do hope Washington pulls it off. On a sad note, I want to go to game 3, but tickets are wicked expensive. They cost about 6 times what I paid face value to go to games 5 and 7 of our Cup win.

P.S. We had much less issue with all alternates, than co-captains

P.P.S. Maybe, but media sentiment could certainly fall on Ovie's side.

P.P.P.S Wasn't it always said that a goalie isn't going to be the one talking to the officials? I can see where it might be hard to follow officials on the other end of the ice for conversations unlike a skater.

 

[The Faulker 27]

TL;DR

 

[Unsustainable]

No, it was definitely a movie called Shazaam with Sinbad in it. I have a clear memory of this.

I remember a movie called that with Sinbad, never watched it

 

[Unsustainable]

.

 

[Lempo]

.

The point you made makes no sense.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

That's exactly what he looks like when he doesn't have the puck on the PP, yet he is the most dangerous.

I hope he's not taking those one timers on his own net!

 

[Negan4Coach]

wait someone already mentioned the Mandela Effect here so I'll delete my vorbisplaining

"The Mandela Effect" is, tbh, a really bad name for the phenomena because literally zero people with an IQ above 80 remember anything other than Nelson Mandela getting out of prison, overthrowing the Aparteid regime and then becoming President of SA.

It should be called the Berestein Effect because we all know goddamned well thats how those books were spelled.

 

[Ole Gil]

I assume practicality keeps goalies from wearing letters. Can’t have him skating all over the ice to talk to the refs. From what I understand, that’s The real purpose of the letters.

 

[tarheelhockey]

"The Mandela Effect" is, tbh, a really bad name for the phenomena because literally zero people with an IQ above 80 remember anything other than Nelson Mandela getting out of prison, overthrowing the Aparteid regime and then becoming President of SA.

It should be called the Berestein Effect because we all know goddamned well thats how those books were spelled.

Agreed. It’s kind of hard to digest that even a single person mananged to miss the whole thing about a very-much-alive Mandela making headlines for like 25 years after prison. The only way to get that wrong was to go off the grid some time in the 80s.

 

[cptjeff]

My three main factors all point to Vegas winning this series.

1) Rest/Health - Vegas has incredibly only played 15 games (12-3) to get to the Final. That's ridonkulous (just like everything else going on with them). They are healthy and rested. The Caps have played 19 games and who knows how healthy Backstrom is (although he's looked good). Basically I give the edge to Vegas for freshness. Their speed is just going to leave the Caps in the dust.

2) Goaltending - Holtby has been great, but M-A Fleury has been unreal to the tune of .947 save percentage, 1.68 GAA and 4 shutouts. I'm not sure what else can be said about this guy, but he has certainly showed how having a rock back there can energize an entire team.

3) Happy To Be There - The Caps are downright giddy to be in their first Final since 1998 and first of Ovechkin's career. I've heard a lot of "I've been playing my whole career for this," and, in general, lots of stuff about exorcising demons. The Caps are acting like they've won the Cup already. Not in the sense that they're looking past Vegas, but in the sense that *making* the Final was the goal all along! It's hard to get a fix on where Vegas stands on this particular scale since they've been playing with house money since Opening Night. But their core leaders (Fleury, Engelland, Neal) have been here many times before -- they were teammates in Pittsburgh from 2010-2014 -- and I get the sense they won't be overwhelmed by the moment, and I don't get the same sense from Ovechkin and Holtby.

Vegas in 5 (or 7, but not 6, because I want to see them close it out at home).

P.S. Since the captaincy has been a big issue for us, I thought I'd chime in on Vegas's decision to have assorted alternates and no full-time captain this season, and why it's different than our fiasco. IMO, Vegas did it because Marc-Andre Fleury is the de facto captain and everyone knows it, but he's not allowed by league rules to wear the "C." Engelland was awarded the Campbell Trophy, but it will be interesting to see who receives the Cup if they win.

P.P.S. If Washington somehow wins, I still think Fleury will win Conn Smythe, unless the wheels completely and unexpectedly come off in the Final.

P.P.P.S. Can anyone think of a reason that a goalie shouldn't be able to wear a letter? Maybe it's time to change that rule? I can't think of a reason why they should be excluded, other than it being in fairness to them, since they have other things to think about?

Engelland, as the Vegas native, has got to be first among equals there. He should get the cup first.

As for goalies wearing letters, the only actual stated job of the Captains in the rulebook is that they are the only players authorized to officially discuss matters with the refs. Goalies can't do that as a matter of practicality, since they're often 180 feet from where plays are being argued, and by rule, since they can't cross the red line. The league tried making allowances for Luongo in Vancouver, but it was indeed a mess, so they put their foot down on it.