Post-Game Talk: Champions vs District 5 (quack)

[RandyHolt]

Time to focus on the Kings. Was hoping we wouldn't get 2010 version of Miller, lol.

I knew we were in trouble when I saw the delay from it being Neidermeyer night. You'd think we be used to it from all the Pens banners we had to sit through...

The delay emptied out the smelling salt inventories. Old man Miller was the icing on the cake.

 

[ovikovy817]

I just hope Oshie is ok

 

[Lindemann]

Imagine you normally have a 5 week vacation at your job. You use it up all right at the end of the year. This is a normal year for you

Then, all the sudden next year, you can only can take 2 weeks off at the end of the year. But during this time, you spent 2 weeks drinking and partying because you only had a limited amount of time to do so

Which one is going to make exhausted quicker?

 

[txpd]

I just hope Oshie is ok

If not on national, I cant see it these days. What happened to Oshie?

 

[RandyHolt]

Love the Willy thump in the corner. All the guy can do is try to draw a penalty



Willy getting run into Miller was so Wilson

 

[RandyHolt]

If not on national, I cant see it these days. What happened to Oshie?

Reported as a lower neck injury, code for upper body not head injury.

I am convinced.

 

[txpd]

Reported as a lower neck injury, code for upper body not head injury.

I am convinced.

RH speak this early in the morning....WTF is a lower neck injury? SMH

 

[RandyHolt]

RH speak this early in the morning....WTF is a lower neck injury? SMH

Upper body, not the head. I think Vogel tweeted that.

Like I said originally, upper body not head. It's NHL speak, not mine.

 

[Sam Spade]

I don’t think the Caps look great but I hated the way they were playing most of last year too.

This season is eerily similar to last year pre deadline imo - and the record backs that up for the most part.

The question is can GMBM make a season altering tweak and can Reirden and Co get this team playing more cohesive and consistent?

I for one am not gonna freak out about it - they made up for decades of disappointment and gave me the sporting thrill of my lifetime just a few months back. I certainly can’t get angry with this bunch so soon after all that.

Also, what I’m noticing is more an energy problem than an effort problem. They seem gassed about every other game to me. It’s good that they should have to earn this title defense, however, and they still have time to pick it up. Just watching them you can see the energy needed to come back after climbing the mountain the season before is pretty monumental.

I don’t know, I guess I just have a lot more faith in this group now and no matter what I trust that they’re gonna leave it all out on the ice. Even if they totally flame out I think it’d just add a poignant layer to how hard they pushed for it last spring. I don’t even think they’ll get to that point either. If I’m being honest I think I’ll be feeling proud again when they skate off the ice for the final time this year.

Can I just add, how anyone can even work up the slightest bit of anger over anything this team really does defy any logical thought I can comprehend.

I get disappointment or slight frustration by a play here or a play there, but some people seem really pissed off and I just don't understand it. To each their own I guess.

 

[maacoshark]

Tonight’s good:

Ovechkin
Vrana
Djoos

Tonight’s bad:
Everyone else

What did Vrana and Djoos do to say they were good in this game?

 

[maacoshark]

Can I just add, how anyone can even work up the slightest bit of anger over anything this team really does defy any logical thought I can comprehend.

I get disappointment or slight frustration by a play here or a play there, but some people seem really pissed off and I just don't understand it. To each their own I guess.

Its funny that you dis Caps fans for getting angry when they are some of the mist passive fans out there. You really dont understand how passionate fans can be. Other teams can bases are a lot angrier than ours. Canadian fans are a good example.
What about fans from other sports? Soccer fans are a lot more passionate than our fans. They will literally resort to violence. There has been violent acts directed at other fans, officials and players. And they have been fatalities.
If you think Caps fans are angry then you really have no clue what a passionate sports fan is. Caps fans are about as passive as spors fans can get.
Some fans here are saying we won the cup so I no longer care or it doesnt matter anymore. If that is your attitude then there is no need to continue to follow the team. I have no clue why anyone would follow a team they didnt care about.
The biggest part about being a sports fan is the passion for the team. Without that professional sports leagues wouldnt even exist.

 

[RandyHolt]

Life is too short to get bent after seeing our team lose on Scot Neidermeyer night.

I hope Oshie's neck is ok.

 

[searle]

Can I just add, how anyone can even work up the slightest bit of anger over anything this team really does defy any logical thought I can comprehend.

I get disappointment or slight frustration by a play here or a play there, but some people seem really pissed off and I just don't understand it. To each their own I guess.

I think it's how often it looks like they aren't putting in the effort that frustrates fans - we won the cup and have largely the same team as last year and we keep losing to shitty teams and going on losing streaks.

Think as has been pointed out countless times they haven't had a proper break this year - mentally or physically.

As soon as the trade deadline passes and the roster size isn't limited I'd like to see a lot more rotation to give players a break - even give them a few days where they don't need to report to the rink and can spend time with their families and relax a bit.

It's tougher to do with the east being so tight though - would be super embarrassing if we missed the playoffs this year, not really any excuse for that.

 

[Bladerunner]

A friendly reminder: odds for repeating are slim.

True, although it does happen, see Pitt recently. But my expectations were never that high as I know better.

More reminders:
1) teams that win the SC almost always make the next seasons playoffs;
2) don't have the data, but I'd say often with a top 4 or at least 5-6 seed. Currently, of the Metro top 5, Caps have the lowest ROW. I don't think they miss - sportsclubstats has them at 18.4% to do so !

However the way they're playing lately has them headed for Metro 3rd or a WC, and a first round exit
My expectations were higher than that !

 

[Empty Goal Net]

Stop comparing this team to last years team. This team is playing worse.

Do as I say, not as I do?

 

[peterthegreat12]

What did Vrana and Djoos do to say they were good in this game?

Both were skating, Vrana was great on zone entries, and Djoos was reliably moving the puck out of the zone and won many of his puck battles suprisingly.

 

[searle]

True, although it does happen, see Pitt recently. But my expectations were never that high as I know better.

More reminders:
1) teams that win the SC almost always make the next seasons playoffs;
2) don't have the data, but I'd say often with a top 4 or at least 5-6 seed. Currently, of the Metro top 5, Caps have the lowest ROW. I don't think they miss - sportsclubstats has them at 18.4% to do so !

However the way they're playing lately has them headed for Metro 3rd or a WC, and a first round exit
My expectations were higher than that !

My biggest concern is that too many people on the team seem to be waiting until the playoffs to turn it on and give it 100% (I'm looking at you, Kuzy).

The big risks with this are that either we could miss the playoffs entirely or it'll take too long for them to go up a gear and we'll get unceremoniously drop kicked out in the first round

 

[BallardEra]

Don't you just get that feeling that it's the Caps' destiny to play Trotz in the first round?

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Don't you just get that feeling that it's the Caps' destiny to play Trotz in the first round?

Penguins

 

[Ovie's Neighbor]

On the bright side I really think the problem is effort and not scheme. On the other side I am worried that they won’t be able to just turn it on when they need to. It is also annoying how they seem to score the first goal against these crappy teams and then quit playing because they think the game is over.

 

[RandyHolt]

I seriously need to create a website that tracks random GAME (not pregame) festivities, so that hundreds of thousands of fans don't waste vast amounts of time wondering when the game will start. And money.

And, the misery that comes with it since it's often a road game and whatever they are celebrating no one gives a rats ass about.

 

[maacoshark]

Both were skating, Vrana was great on zone entries, and Djoos was reliably moving the puck out of the zone and won many of his puck battles suprisingly.

Vrana wiffed on a couple of onetimers that were good scoring chances and he made a couple bonehead plays in the defensive zone. He didnt hurt us but I wouldnt say he was good. I thought Djoos was pretty invisible except a couple of weak shots he took from the point. I guess being invisible was a good thing in that game considering the most noticeable plays we made were blunders. I never noticed any bad mistakes by Djoos.
OK I guess those guys were pretty good compared to others on the team. I think the term not as crappy might be a better description.

 

[kicksavedave]

The thing I find most interesting about Caps fans these days is that despite all the evidence flashing in front of our faces about how regular season results and style of play mean nothing at all when it comes to playoff success, we're still getting spun up around our axle about regular season results and style of pay.

How many Presidents Trophies did we win that showed regular season results don't translate to playoff success... Three of them? Under offensive coaches like Bruce and defensive coaches like Barry. Still nothing in the playoffs.

Look up the Pens regular season vs their playoff success under Crosby's tenure. They win a couple Presidents Trophies also, but those teams flaked out in the 1st or 2nd rounds. Their back to back Cup winners recently, both finished 2nd in the Metro.

Go look at the other teams that won Cups. You'll find a similar lack of correlation.

Maybe, just maybe, let's give Reirden until the season is actually over to award him a final grade? But hey, we're Caps fans right? We waited 44 years for a Cup, but somehow we didn't learn any patience along the way.

 

[kicksavedave]

One more thing. The Caps won the Cup playing a heavy, physical game. There's a reason they won all four series final two games, they physically wore down their opponents with a punishing style. No team can play that game for all 82 RS games.

Again, I'll wait to see how they perform in the playoffs, when Kuzy cares and Ovi hits everything that moves, and Willy is a wrecking ball instead of a freshly neutered puppy. One thing I feel strongly about, the Isles will regress in these Lofts. They don't understand pacing yet. The Caps in the playoffs will be putting up better effort than this boring RS. We'll see what happens.