Do Rangers have a easier route to ECF than the Caps by finsihing 4th instead of 1st?

[Tankster*]

They have their best teams in years, and are better then the Habs F/D/G, arguably better than the Pens too at those positions.

So you are one of those that thinks Holtby is better then Price ?

 

[Machinehead]

I guess people like Babcock and Julien don't know what they're seeing either.

Which Babcock and Julien? Two of the three best corsi coaches of all time? That Babcock and Julien?

And even for elite coaches, you're kidding yourself if you don't think it's still based on reputation. Every single coach in the league plays garbage veterans.

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

They've failed in years past because they were trying to mask a garbage defense with inflated powerplay numbers.

This is literally the best defense corps and even strength team they've had in franchise history. By far.

Scott Stevens, Larry Murphy, Kevin Hatcher, Rod Langway in 1988-89 were better. That's 3 HOF defensemen, right there. Throw in some very competent defensemen in Calle Johansson and Rob Rouse, as well.

 

[Machinehead]

Scott Stevens, Larry Murphy, Kevin Hatcher, Rod Langway in 1988-89 were better. That's 3 HOF defensemen, right there. Throw in some very competent defensemen in Calle Johansson and Rob Rouse, as well.

Fair enough.

I should have said recent history.

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

Fair enough.

I should have said recent history.

Definitely the best recently. By a country mile and a half.

Definitely a very good ES team, as well, which is something they haven't been in recent years.

 

[Crosbyfan]

Washington has a tougher route to get to the ECF but they are more likely to get there than the Rangers are. Not a real knock on the Rangers who could very well get there.

 

[Bladerunner]

Short answer to OPs question - Yes.

Someone posted above that there's only a big 2 in the Metro (I suppose Caps, Pens), not a big 4. I say BS. Cbus and Rongos are strong teams. Their fans may not be thrilled w/how they're playing atm (scoring, etc), but they're capable of beating anyone in the playoffs (vs Habs, Pens).

Metro hasn't just been dominant over Atlantic, they're clearly better then the Western divisions. The current playoff format is awful. Odds are against it, but I wouldn't mind seeing a Caps-Rags ECF

 

[piteus]

The Rangers did until the Penguins were forced to replace half their team with AHLers. With a weaker Pitt, the Metro became a lot more tolerable.

 

[Wendy Clear]

So you are one of those that thinks Holtby is better then Price ?

Like that's some sort of crime.

He hasn't had a season as good as Price's best, but he hasn't had a season anywhere NEAR as bad as Price's worst, has a better career save %, GAA, SO%, and absolutely ***** all over him in the playoffs, too.

Which is funny, considering this thread has a bunch of Habs homers pointing at the Caps' playoffs failures, so they should be real quick to tip their hat to Holtby in this regard.

In fact, Holtby's playoff performance is so much better than Price, who WOULDN'T take Holtby in net over Price in a game that matters?

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

And only 1.25 of those 53 shot attempts have found the back of the net.

How does that compare with some of the other elite D men
Doughty 48 shot attempts against per 60 and 1.50 GA60
Hedmen 50 and 2.21 Ga 60
Suter 54.5 and 1.96 GA60
Josi 56 and 2.34 GA 60
Karlsson 58.5 and 2.17 GA 60

Of 73 Dmen with over 1250 mins played 5-5 Weber is 27 in shot attempts against at 53 and first in GA60 at 1.25.

A little context is important. The 53 shot attempts against is not bad. The 1.25 GA is elite.

And its not all due to the Price factor, otherwise some of his teammates should be having similar numbers. Craig anderson, dubnyk, Budaj are all in top 10 in GA60 even bishop and rinne are top 14.

For what it's worth, those numbers don't mean much. First, you should probably use relative numbers as it will at least tell you how they're doing vs their teammates. Secondly that number varies wildly from year to year.

If we look at relative numbers Weber is best in the league this year. Last year he was worst on his team. And over his career he's exactly zero. It doesn't mean anything.

Looks like Rangers will get Montreal in the first rd - and if they somehow get past that - they'll get either Ottawa/Toronto/Boston - all teams Rangers will have a better record than.

Caps will get the 8 seed in round 1 - but then have to face Pitt or CBJ in the 2nd round. One of the top 4 teams in the NHL.

It's pretty ridiculous how the playoffs are set up. This could be the second year in a row the Caps win the Presidents Trophy and have to play the team with the second best record in the East in the second round again. Meanwhile, the team with the 6th best record (team the finishes 2nd in Atlantic) could actually have home ice in both the 1st and 2nd round.

That's messed up. If Montreal doesn't win I'd love to see Washington or Nashville take it. OV deserves a cup.

 

[sharks9]

Like that's some sort of crime.

He hasn't had a season as good as Price's best, but he hasn't had a season anywhere NEAR as bad as Price's worst, has a better career save %, GAA, SO%, and absolutely ***** all over him in the playoffs, too.

Which is funny, considering this thread has a bunch of Habs homers pointing at the Caps' playoffs failures, so they should be real quick to tip their hat to Holtby in this regard.

In fact, Holtby's playoff performance is so much better than Price, who WOULDN'T take Holtby in net over Price in a game that matters?

Lol how does that matter? Price was in the league far before Holtby and yes he had some bad seasons then, but for the past 3 seasons he's been healthy he's been better than Holtby while playing behind a worse team.

At least Price has made it past the 2nd round. Not to mention the gold medal and WHC gold he won while Holtby rode the pine because Team Canada knows which one is the better goalie.

 

[Tankster*]

Like that's some sort of crime.

He hasn't had a season as good as Price's best, but he hasn't had a season anywhere NEAR as bad as Price's worst, has a better career save %, GAA, SO%, and absolutely ***** all over him in the playoffs, too.

Which is funny, considering this thread has a bunch of Habs homers pointing at the Caps' playoffs failures, so they should be real quick to tip their hat to Holtby in this regard.

In fact, Holtby's playoff performance is so much better than Price, who WOULDN'T take Holtby in net over Price in a game that matters?

Oh ok, i didnt see a bunch. I saw one.
You seem very aggressive when talking about the Montreal Canadiens ?

 

[Harry22]

To respond to ayyyy. Only you would take Holtby before Price.

 

[Wendy Clear]

Lol how does that matter?

You don't like consistency?

Yeah sure, we'll just write off all of Price's bad years. Only his good ones count. Let's write off all those playoff years too. Hmm, what's left. Is Price any good in the shootout?

 

[sharks9]

You don't like consistency?

Yeah sure, we'll just write off all of Price's bad years. Only his good ones count. Let's write off all those playoff years too. Hmm, what's left. Is Price any good in the shootout?

Price has been consistently great for the past 3 years. Are we supposed to treat a season from 8 years ago the same as this year's season?

 

[Mrb1p]

When was the last time the Habs did anything in the playoffs?

Two conference finals losses in a decade after squeaking out a couple 2nd round series wins in 7 games? How do fans, even homers, not realize how fine the margin is between that "accomplishment" and the Caps losing in 6 or 7 games in the 2nd round?

If you actually think the Habs have "clutch" qualities which trump the Caps', from that ridiculously small sample size and with a completely different team now, I mean I don't know what to tell you. That's incomprehensibly stupid.

You need to be talking about a team like the Blackhawks or Patriots for a worthwhile sample size of dominant, clutch and consistent playoff performance.

The Montreal Canadiens?

The Caps always have their "best team"... They never do anything, and winning games in the ECF is something the Caps never did, so its substantial. The Habs didnt just get in the ECF three years ago, they got there and won games with Tokarski as their goaltender. Tokarski.

 

[Mrb1p]

Like that's some sort of crime.

He hasn't had a season as good as Price's best, but he hasn't had a season anywhere NEAR as bad as Price's worst, has a better career save %, GAA, SO%, and absolutely ***** all over him in the playoffs, too.

Which is funny, considering this thread has a bunch of Habs homers pointing at the Caps' playoffs failures, so they should be real quick to tip their hat to Holtby in this regard.

In fact, Holtby's playoff performance is so much better than Price, who WOULDN'T take Holtby in net over Price in a game that matters?

I mean, my post was cocky enough, now youre posting about Holtby being a better player than Pricr because of a season that happened 8 years ago, when Price was 21?

 

[Voight]

So you are one of those that thinks Holtby is better then Price ?

He's not far behind, and Grubauer is a lot better than Montoya/Lindgren.

 

[Wendy Clear]

Price has been consistently great for the past 3 years. Are we supposed to treat a season from 8 years ago the same as this year's season?

So has Holtby. And unlike Price, he just gets better in the playoffs. Remember: this is only regarding the insinuation that Price is some sort of God compared to Holtby. Which is beyond laughable. It's not 2014 any more.

Bobrovsky is right there too. It's incredibly close. I feel bad for anyone who thinks Price is in some kind of tier by himself. (Especially bearing in mind playoff performance, which is all I've read on this forum the past few days to prop up certain players and trash others.)

 

[Wendy Clear]

The Caps always have their "best team"... They never do anything

Lock it up. Blackhawks or Penguins are winning it because no one else ever does anything. Habs will get clowned again in the ECF. History always repeats itself folks. Nothing for us to see here.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

The Rangers did until the Penguins were forced to replace half their team with AHLers. With a weaker Pitt, the Metro became a lot more tolerable.

Wait what? You're really trying to push this penguins are done narrative.

Even without Letang pens are a better team than anyone in the Atlantic.

 

[sharks9]

So has Holtby. And unlike Price, he just gets better in the playoffs. Remember: this is only regarding the insinuation that Price is some sort of God compared to Holtby. Which is beyond laughable. It's not 2014 any more.

Bobrovsky is right there too. It's incredibly close. I feel bad for anyone who thinks Price is in some kind of tier by himself. (Especially bearing in mind playoff performance, which is all I've read on this forum the past few days to prop up certain players and trash others.)

SV% since 2013-14:

Price: .929
Bobrovsky: .922
Holtby: .921

Yes, Price is in a tier of his own. The difference between Price and the other two is the same as the difference between those two and guys like Halak, Reimer, and Miller (.915 SV%)

And I think it's odd that if Holtby gets so much better in the playoffs, why have the Capitals failed to get past the 2nd round? Price has done it, why can't Holtby?

 

[txpd]

SV% since 2013-14:

Price: .929
Bobrovsky: .922
Holtby: .921

Yes, Price is in a tier of his own. The difference between Price and the other two is the same as the difference between those two and guys like Halak, Reimer, and Miller (.915 SV%)

And I think it's odd that if Holtby gets so much better in the playoffs, why have the Capitals failed to get past the 2nd round? Price has done it, why can't Holtby?

Are these playoff numbers above?
Last playoffs Holtby was 1.72 and .942. Both were league best. Why do you suppose they didn't win? The season before he was 1.71 and .944.(Price btw was 2.24 and .920.)

 

[MastuhNinks]

Meh, the East is Washington's to lose with the Letang injury.

 

[Voight]

Are these playoff numbers above?
Last playoffs Holtby was 1.72 and .942. Both were league best. Why do you suppose they didn't win? The season before he was 1.71 and .944.(Price btw was 2.24 and .920.)

Holtby's career averages are insane too - 1.87GAA .937SV% ... for reference, Tim Thomas' 2011 run was 1.98GAA/.940SV%. Guy is an absolute beast in the playoffs, its the meh defence in front of him thats been the issue until this year.