Stanley Cup

[Alsacs]

Please pick Vegas to win.

Just because of this Caps in 5.

Vegas sucks and is a total fluke. Can’t compete with the top line of the Capitals and don’t get me started on how good Holtby is. Caps go into Vegas win games 1 and 2. Hiccup in game 3 and finish the Knights in Vegas.

Your welcome.

 

[Hoo's That]

What housecleaning? I hope you are not suggesting getting rid of Barry Trotz.

No. It would be players. Dumping contracts, bringing in new blood, letting minor leaguers get their shot, stuff like that.

 

[syr14]

No. It would be players. Dumping contracts, bringing in new blood, letting minor leaguers get their shot, stuff like that.

You mean the exact same stuff they were faced with last season? Team was not expected to be anywhere near this good going into the season based on who they let go. The whole organization deserves a ton of credit.

I don’t agree with anyone who says the window is closing soon. I think the future remains extremely bright for the Caps. They have scouted and drafted very well and have a young core of players growing up quickly with this run to the cup. Ovechkin is 32 but had one of his most complete seasons this year. Who seriously sees him slowing down anytime soon?

We may lose John Carlson and Jay Beagle which would suck, but the Caps have shown to be quite capable at putting together a roster that can compete at a high level and exceed expectation.

 

[HOFCeluck]

Firmly on the Caps bandwagon as I have no intention of seeing a first year franchise win the Stanley Cup.

 

[syr14]

Just because of this Caps in 5.

Vegas sucks and is a total fluke. Can’t compete with the top line of the Capitals and don’t get me started on how good Holtby is. Caps go into Vegas win games 1 and 2. Hiccup in game 3 and finish the Knights in Vegas.

Your welcome.

I am obviously still jacked up from last night. But my instant analysis prediction is Caps in 6.

Love starting the series and being the road team (8-2 on the road this playoffs). Love the fact that we have won our series in practically every fashion imaginable (down 0-2 to Columbus, lost game 1 vs nemesis Pit, lost 3 straight to TB). Love that we have faced and defeated some of the best goaltending in the NHL on this path, and get a shot at avenging past failures vs Marc Andre Fleury.

Vegas has not been tested through these playoffs like the Caps have. It’s a credit to them being an outstanding team. Losing just 3 games and getting to the cup is remarkable. But I think the Caps will offer a very different test. If we can continue to defend in front of Holtby the way we have thus far I would not bet against the Capitals.

 

[HSPORANGE]

I would rather be competing for and winning president's trophies than being the perennial doormat the Sabres are.

Past history in the playoffs meant nothing. This Caps team was written off by everyone to start the year, based on the team they had last year that couldn't get it done, and the players they lost.

"We are not going to be suck this year." -Alex Ovechkin ... before the season started. He was right.

Haha what do the Sabres stinking have to do with the Caps choking yearly? I was glad to see them finally have success in the playoffs with all that talent they have.

Keep telling yourself that the Caps were written off by everyone. They were always in the conversation with all that talent it was just a question of taking the next step.

 

[HSPORANGE]

No. It would be players. Dumping contracts, bringing in new blood, letting minor leaguers get their shot, stuff like that.

If they didn’t advance to the SCF, then they most definitely would have had to shake up the core

 

[SmilinBob]

I believe 500-1

Wow, Amazing...

 

[syr14]

Haha what do the Sabres stinking have to do with the Caps choking yearly? I was glad to see them finally have success in the playoffs with all that talent they have.

Keep telling yourself that the Caps were written off by everyone. They were always in the conversation with all that talent it was just a question of taking the next step.

You overplay the choking aspect when you consider they lost in the 2nd round (due to playoff structure) and both times to the eventual cup champion. They were mighty close both times. Pens and Caps were the best two teams in the entire league the past few years. Sorry but it’s true.

The caps were expected by everyone to take a significant step back. I don’t have to tell myself that.

 

[jncuse]

Caps dominated play for massive stretches during the series. Demonstrated they were without question the better team. Glad some people were amused I was quite confident in a team and sport I know a lot about. They backed it up.

You were so confident that you went in hiding as soon as they started to lose.

That being said I am glad they won. Both would be good stories to win the Cup.

 

[syr14]

You were so confident that you went in hiding as soon as they started to lose.

That being said I am glad they won. Both would be good stories to win the Cup.

Yeah they lost a few they could have won, which made me dial it back a little. I had no desire to see what you jokers would have to say after those games. It was of course the totally not lazy narrative of "Caps are gonna choke". It is tough to close any team out and I should have given Tampa more credit. If you were actually paying attention though one team clearly carried the play for almost the entirety of the series, so yeah I was always going to be confident.

 

[Bayside44]

Drove by Braden Holtby's house this AM, it's about 2 blocks from the kids school. Looks like the kids on his street wrote Go Caps and such up and down the sidewalk. Pretty neat.

 

[HSPORANGE]

You overplay the choking aspect when you consider they lost in the 2nd round (due to playoff structure) and both times to the eventual cup champion. They were mighty close both times. Pens and Caps were the best two teams in the entire league the past few years. Sorry but it’s true.

The caps were expected by everyone to take a significant step back. I don’t have to tell myself that.

Doesn’t matter that they were losing to the eventual Cup champs as they still lost. Close doesn’t matter when your roster is constructed to win it all, which The Caps were. The Caps have were labeled playoff chokers for a reason and pure speculation to say they were one of the 2 best teams when they weren’t able to make the finals.

Good luck to them in the finals.

 

[syr14]

Doesn’t matter that they were losing to the eventual Cup champs as they still lost. Close doesn’t matter when your roster is constructed to win it all, which The Caps were. The Caps have were labeled playoff chokers for a reason and pure speculation to say they were one of the 2 best teams when they weren’t able to make the finals.

Good luck to them in the finals.

Done talking about this choking nonsense.

Good luck to your 'bres hopefully another top draft pick can get you out of the basement finally. You are in the easier division after all.

 

[HSPORANGE]

Holtby was amazing last night. Main reason the Caps were able to hang on.

 

[upperdeck]

vegas openings are great. amazing what you can do with real lighting systems.. the boxer dude for game one was classic.

 

[CanadianSU]

vegas openings are great. amazing what you can do with real lighting systems.. the boxer dude for game one was classic.

It's vegasish but it's a tad toooo much IMO

 

[CanadianSU]

Just because of this Caps in 5.

Vegas sucks and is a total fluke. Can’t compete with the top line of the Capitals and don’t get me started on how good Holtby is. Caps go into Vegas win games 1 and 2. Hiccup in game 3 and finish the Knights in Vegas.

Your welcome.

Is it a total fluke? The modern game is built around speed and they built their team like that. Combine that with good goaltending and you can go for a run.

 

[Alsacs]

Is it a total fluke? The modern game is built around speed and they built their team like that. Combine that with good goaltending and you can go for a run.

I wasn’t serious it was for the Caps poster.

 

[syr14]

I wasn’t serious it was for the Caps poster.

Funny how you weren't serious but might end up being close to accurate for once in this thread.

 

[CanadianSU]

Funny how you weren't serious but might end up being close to accurate for once in this thread.

Long ways yet

 

[syr14]

Long ways yet

VGK will have to kick it up a notch in order to match the level the Caps are playing at through 3 games.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Firmly on the Caps bandwagon as I have no intention of seeing a first year franchise win the Stanley Cup.

It's a joke that in a major professional league that a first year team could be playing for the championship. Could you see that happening in the NFL or the NBA. It's a great story and yada, yada, yada, but what does it say about the other teams in the league. Should all of their GM's get canned.

 

[ScrabbCuse]

It's a joke that in a major professional league that a first year team could be playing for the championship. Could you see that happening in the NFL or the NBA. It's a great story and yada, yada, yada, but what does it say about the other teams in the league. Should all of their GM's get canned.

Definitely unexpected, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing for the sport. There aren’t really “super teams” like there are in the NBA. Having the best players doesn’t mean your team will dominate in the NHL. Having team chemistry is just as important as being talented in a sport like hockey. It’s just too fast paced for one player to completely take over.

The Golden Knights players work together extremely well. There was very little pressure based on expectations coming into the season and I’m sure most of them were playing with a chip on their shoulders after being deemed not important enough to be protected by their former teams.

It’s a good underdog story. I enjoy the parity and knowing before each season, your team isn’t necessarily eliminated from playoff contention from the get go. To each their own though. I can understand if you think it’s a negative thing for the NHL.

 

[syr14]

It's a joke that in a major professional league that a first year team could be playing for the championship. Could you see that happening in the NFL or the NBA. It's a great story and yada, yada, yada, but what does it say about the other teams in the league. Should all of their GM's get canned.

The parity you see in the NHL is very unique. The salary cap actually makes it difficult to build and keep a "super" team. The expansion rules were favorable, but I don't think it's a coincidence McPhee is the GM who built both cup final teams.