Bolts265
Registered User
The way our PP was this game i doubt it would have changed anything. But 7 guys and the zebras don't see that?
I've read till the 20th page. You guys are pathetic. Bolts were "swept" in 3-4 series! Fire everyone, break the core, because one player couldn't point a puck into an empty net.
Washington is just a better team for these 7 games only.
I will root for Washington in SCF because they deserved it for domination in the league in regular seasons for many years. The Vegas' outcasts story is very cool, but this whole league will be pathetic when any expansion team can win the cup from the first try, just proving Stanley cup winner is coincidence of a good coach, couple of suddenly progressing players, star goalie and luck. It's almost the same any dead team can get the very next season without year after year building a core.
You guys are a classy bunch overall. If any of us were obnoxious it's mostly as a defense mechanism against the Pens and Bruins fans and the like.Hey I just want to give you guys a tip of the cap for being a good group of fans/posters through the series. The threads on the main boards were fun and didn't get annoying or obnoxious like they sometimes do. I know how disappointing it is when you have a really good team and high expectations and keep falling short but try to stay positive, this team is good and will break through eventually. And hopefully it won't take them as long as it took Ovechkin and the Caps.
Get that Cup for Ovi. He deserves it after all the shit he's taken over the years.Hey I just want to give you guys a tip of the cap for being a good group of fans/posters through the series. The threads on the main boards were fun and didn't get annoying or obnoxious like they sometimes do. I know how disappointing it is when you have a really good team and high expectations and keep falling short but try to stay positive, this team is good and will break through eventually. And hopefully it won't take them as long as it took Ovechkin and the Caps.
Reminds me of this piece:I think a few things need to be pointed out about hockey as a sport, especially in the NHL.
There isn't much talent difference between the top teams (let's call the top teams the 8 best teams in the NHL). Even looking at the rosters going into this series - we had an advantage at D pretty much because we have a Hedman and they don't, and any advantage at forward we had was fairly minimal, with goaltending being a wash. I think you can look at the rosters of the other final 8 teams and come to a similar assessment - we were probably the most talented team in the NHL, but it's hardly Globetrotters v. Generals level of talent disparity.
Add into that - NHL is especially prone to luck. Just the nature of a game played with an irregular object on ice with sticks. Bounces happen and can have an outsized effect on an individual event, and because of the low scoring nature of the sport, an individual event can have tremendous weight in the overall outcome. This weakens the effect that having a more talented team can have on the outcome of a series.
Finally - since the talent disparity is small and there is a large piece of randomness involved, other factors weigh in significantly. Effort, attention to detail, some minor systems-based tactical decisions - that's where the difference in a series happens. That's what determines who wins late in the playoffs. I don't think it's a shock that the two teams left are great at the attention-to-detail game, and I don't think any team comes close to Vegas when it comes to effort, and we surely didn't match Washington in that regard. Systems and tactics? Eh - probably an exaggerated effect and easy to monday-morning quarterback, but it's still there.
But effort and attention-to-detail need to be there to win a Cup. No team is so talented in today's league to ignore those factors. Look at every post-Cap Cup winning team and you'll see each of them excelled in those to features of the game. Pitt last two seasons - despite a meh D corps - played a very solid defensive game and didn't waste possessions. The Blackhawks personified that to a T. The Kings suffocated you by never being out of position, same as the Bruins. The Red Wings, the Ducks...
All of those teams played that way. We have for stretches - but I think we can all look at the last two ECF losses and say "yeah - we didn't have the compete or the focus we needed to win."
Bringing in XYZ player isn't going to change that. It needs a buy in from the team and a loud and clear message + accountability from the coaching staff.
Hockey is so much luck compared to some other major sports. It doesn't make sense to go all-in in one season and ruin your future in hockey. We had the pieces to make the McDonagh trade.If it's about luck then you want to keep this intact as long as you can to get as many rolls of the dice as possible.
This interview, right?Anyone watch Kuch's interview? It was like he doesn't give a ****, Also said he wasn't injured and Stamkos said he was feeling good.
This interview, right?
well, he is smiling a lot here. Certainly this is the most amiable exit interview you could have?
I'm feeling it's due to him being younger...not really seeing him giving an interview after the loss like this a few years later with a possible letter A on his jersey.
just sounds like a innocent shy boy who only sees a game as a game, something to enjoy win or lose.
Oh no you have better eyesight than me!!maybe he was told by his agent he was getting a 8 year contract extension for 8.5 per year avv by the lightning on july 1st 2018 ?
Maybe he went to Cooper's stash of "I don't give a f***" gum.Anyone watch Kuch's interview? It was like he doesn't give a ****, Also said he wasn't injured and Stamkos said he was feeling good.