Post-Game Talk: Hockey game vs leafs

[Calicaps]

We're going to make the playoffs, I'm pretty confident. Look around the division or even the Eastern Conference. A lot of teams regressed, maybe not as much as us, but I'd be surprised if the back-to-back President's Trophy winners all of a sudden missed the playoffs. Holtby and the top 6 at the very least should be able to keep us afloat. We might not win the division, but I doubt there are more than 7 teams better than us in the East.

I keep seeing you say this, but I don’t share your optimism. They might make it, but theyare a bubble team at best and with the new format, just being in the top 8 doesn’t get it done anymore.

 

[Capitals40]

Because the coach isn't the problem. Thought that was obvious by now. They've done basically every system possible from the high offense of Boudreau to the dale hunter era to whatever Oates was trying to do. After a while it's the players

So when we won the Presidents' Cup the last 2 years it was Trotz that won both trophies but the players lost the playoffs..

 

[ovikovy817]

At least we fixed the defense
If Djoos is RH, this puck go out of the zone, but I don't blame him for that play.

And guys, you need to stop fantasize about Djoos or Bowey or someone else over Ovi on the left point when we're without over goalie. This guy has 567 goals in the NHL and has a lethal shot. So that kind of guy will be prefered to anyone else in this sport.

 

[ovikovy817]

IIRC, for the first time of the year, we're out of the playoff picture.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

One thing we haven't discussed is how awful Caps Faceoff is or whatever they call that show that starts at 6pm EST. Neil Greenberg, Courtney Laughlin, and someone else... unwatchable.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

One thing we haven't discussed is how awful Caps Faceoff is or whatever they call that show that starts at 6pm EST. Neil Greenberg, Courtney Laughlin, and someone else... unwatchable.

Courtney Laughlin is annoying as hell, even more than her father.

I keep seeing you say this, but I don’t share your optimism. They might make it, but theyare a bubble team at best and with the new format, just being in the top 8 doesn’t get it done anymore.

We will see who was right in the end. I hope it's me, but we should agree that not making the playoffs with a roster like ours would be a disappointment, with or without Niskanen.

 

[txpd]

I keep seeing you say this, but I don’t share your optimism. They might make it, but theyare a bubble team at best and with the new format, just being in the top 8 doesn’t get it done anymore.

Anyone that thinks this team coasts/is a lock for the playoffs needs to look more closely at the league. Its a tight league. I still don't know what happened to Niskanen. I am assuming he broke something and will be out for

 

[txpd]

We will see who was right in the end. I hope it's me, but we should agree that not making the playoffs with a roster like ours would be a disappointment, with or without Niskanen.

Why should we agree with that? This bunch with a 50 goal Ov, a 30+goal Oshie and a complimentary performance from 19 and 92 still needs Vezina level goaltending and solid defense to be a solid team with a puncher's chance at a cup. If Niskanen is out 3 months and any of Orpik, Orlov or Carlson take an injury like they have in recent seasons and Djoos and Bowey are not Schmidt good right now, they could be doomed.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Why should we agree with that? This bunch with a 50 goal Ov, a 30+goal Oshie and a complimentary performance from 19 and 92 still needs Vezina level goaltending and solid defense to be a solid team with a puncher's chance at a cup. If Niskanen is out 3 months and any of Orpik, Orlov or Carlson take an injury like they have in recent seasons and Djoos and Bowey are not Schmidt good right now, they could be doomed.

I feel like we're overreacting because of a string of bad games. I looked around the league, and I noticed that "Cup favourites" Edmonton only has one win, while the Golden Knights are in first place. It's still very early.

 

[g00n]

Yeah but where is our secondary offense? If not for Ovechkin's early surge, where are we?

Let's say two of the guys in the top 6 go down. Can this team score enough to make the postseason? Pittsburgh lost a shit ton of man games to injury last year and won the Cup anyway. Can the Caps even sniff that?

 

[Langway]

It is early but it's hard to imagine they'll solidify into the contender class in the East this season. It's not just the young D...it's also definitely the weakness of the bottom six and what seems to be a stale approach generally from an overall system/cohesion standpoint. I'd put them more in the 6-10 range until they can show they're capable of stringing together a few far more cohesive team efforts in every area. If they can manage to do that over the next month or two maybe they can get on a roll but so far they're not putting it together very well.

It's similarly too early to tell what's what in the rest of the conference but it at least does figure to be more competitive around the edges than last season.

 

[txpd]

I feel like we're overreacting because of a string of bad games. I looked around the league, and I noticed that "Cup favourites" Edmonton only has one win, while the Golden Knights are in first place. It's still very early.

Its not overreacting.
1. Niskanen is already out. You would have to think something like what Burt and Beagle have been out from similar sorts of things. The defense had a 3rd pair of Orpik and Schmidt last season. The Caps margin for trouble is very thin.
2. With that defense the Caps offense is going to struggle. There's no way to avoid it.
3. Can they succeed. Sure. But its obvious that the wheels could come off this bandwagon very easily.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

It's a good thing they don't have a ton of money locked up in long term contracts so if this goes south they'll at least be able to make changes.

 

[Calicaps]

Anyone that thinks this team coasts/is a lock for the playoffs needs to look more closely at the league. Its a tight league. I still don't know what happened to Niskanen. I am assuming he broke something and will be out for

I've answered you twice on Nisky. Yes, it seems like a broken hand or wrist or finger. You know they'll never say.

 

[RandyHolt]

One thing we haven't discussed is how awful Caps Faceoff is or whatever they call that show that starts at 6pm EST. Neil Greenberg, Courtney Laughlin, and someone else... unwatchable.

Post game show with them is an hour, as well. Yikes - talk about a snooze fest.

 

[RandyHolt]

At least we fixed the defense
If Djoos is RH, this puck go out of the zone, but I don't blame him for that play.

And guys, you need to stop fantasize about Djoos or Bowey or someone else over Ovi on the left point when we're without over goalie. This guy has 567 goals in the NHL and has a lethal shot. So that kind of guy will be prefered to anyone else in this sport.

Those kind of guys are preferred at forward, too!

I prefer a pointman that doesn't spin away when a forward comes at him with the puck, like he did when Kadri came close. Talk about an easy ENG. And Bura takes his spot. A recipe for failure with as cold as he is. Who is our scoring LW with Ovi on point? Sure seems a lot eaiser to leave him there and get Orlov out there. Keep it simple theory.

YTD Ovi's 0-2 on point duty. Both times his shoddy play on the point ended any chance of a tying goal.

Will you rethink him on point if he goes 0-10? 0-20?

 

[Calicaps]

Those kind of guys are preferred at forward, too!

I prefer a pointman that doesn't spin away when a forward comes at him with the puck, like he did when Kadri came close. Talk about an easy ENG. And Bura takes his spot. A recipe for failure with as cold as he is. Who is our scoring LW with Ovi on point? Sure seems a lot eaiser to leave him there and get Orlov out there. Keep it simple theory.

YTD Ovi's 0-2 on point duty. Both times his shoddy play on the point ended any chance of a tying goal.

Will you rethink him on point if he goes 0-10? 0-20?

And also too: Ovi hasn't historically scored from up high so much (relatively speaking I mean). Like all scorers, he's better down low, obviously in his office, but he's underrated in tight. Having him way up high at the point actually negates his best skills.

 

[DanTHEMan71]

I can't see us being anything more than a wildcard team this year, just as I predicted after the offseason. We've lost way to much talent over the last few years for basically nothing (Forsberg, Ward, Green, MP85, MoJo, Alzner, Williams, Schmidt, Carrick, etc.) and we were due for some big injuries this year after a relatively healthy 16-17.

We can't just gloss over those personel losses and assume what we had in the pipeline will carry us out of the mess this organization put itself in. Most of the other teams in East haven't botched their player management over the last few years and the Caps have. Now we're seeing those mistakes finally creep into reality.

We have no scoring depth and half our defencemen are figuring out how to settle into the NHL.

IMO, the only thing that can get us to being respectable this year are breakouts from Bura and Vrana. Regardless, the defence will barely survive all season.

 

[RandyHolt]

And also too: Ovi hasn't historically scored from up high so ....

I actually think his points shots tend to be headhunters. He certainly is not the type to get hard low shots on net, which is often a good play with guys swarming the net. Point shots tend to need screens. You go stand in front.

Sorry but extra man, I hate a perimeter attack. Its like drunk ice capades very sloppy. All the passing lanes are clogged, and Ovi is too easily pressured and no great chances are generated.

I actually prefer the extra man to go right to the net, stick his huge fat ass right in the f***ing goalies face, and try to make it more a 5 on 4 by tying up a dman down low.

The guy in front is an anchor point to set as the foundation of the play, and run plays off of that. Suddenly a screen play is in the playbook, as is the low hard shot, and a little bit of our PP playbook.

With Ovi down much closer to his offices.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

I actually think his points shots tend to be headhunters. He certainly is not the type to get hard low shots on net, which is often a good play with guys swarming the net. Point shots tend to need screens. You go stand in front.

Sorry but extra man, I hate a perimeter attack. Its like drunk ice capades very sloppy. All the passing lanes are clogged, and Ovi is too easily pressured and no great chances are generated.

I actually prefer the extra man to go right to the net, stick his huge fat ass right in the ****ing goalies face, and try to make it more a 5 on 4 by tying up a dman down low.

The guy in front is an anchor point to set as the foundation of the play, and run plays off of that. Suddenly a screen play is in the playbook, as is the low hard shot, and a little bit of our PP playbook.

With Ovi down much closer to his offices.

The guy at the point on the 6vs5 should be Orlov. Put Oshie and Kuznetsov down low, Ovechkin and Backstrom at the circles, Orlov at the point and Vrana as a rover.

 

[maacoshark]

At least we fixed the defense
If Djoos is RH, this puck go out of the zone, but I don't blame him for that play.

And guys, you need to stop fantasize about Djoos or Bowey or someone else over Ovi on the left point when we're without over goalie. This guy has 567 goals in the NHL and has a lethal shot. So that kind of guy will be prefered to anyone else in this sport.

I think our team is terrible when we pull the goalie. The board play of our top guys isn't good enough. We lose too many battles. And Ovi on the left point on 6 on 5 doesn't really work. It should be a left handed shot because it is easier to make a play along the boards to keep the puck in the zone. Ovi should be closer to the net.

 

[txpd]

I've answered you twice on Nisky. Yes, it seems like a broken hand or wrist or finger. You know they'll never say.

I am not on tbe boards as in the past. Missed it. Sorry. When they LTIR a guy right away its something obvious like a broken bone.
Burt: He is cold. He goes cold all the time. Like Kuznestsov. Very like Kuzy goes ice in 10 or 20 games and no earlier than that Burt will get going. Happens every season. Hopefully Wilson gets a little something going. I think that is more likely than Burakovsky suddenly going good