GO CAPS!!!!

[fishercob]

well, it looks like the young DC pessimists were right again.

i'm so glad i expect to lose or else would my heart would be broken again.

yeah you're awesome. You should be a life coach.

[miller31time]

Dale Hunter steps down as coach of the Caps.

I don't understand why he didn't want to come back.

[Zonkerbl]

Well that sucks.

[verbal8]

Yeah pretty shocking about Hunter quitting. Sounds like it is genuinely a case of Hunter preferring to spend time with his family.

[miller31time]

You have to think we'll try to bring in another defense-oriented coach. It wouldn't make much sense attempting to change the team with Hunter, then once he leaves reverting back to our old style.

[go'stags]

so what was the point of this whole thing?

[Nivek]

I'm a very casual hockey fan, but I think the NHL has a problem in that apparently offensive stars mean nothing in the post-season. In the playoffs, everything is defense and goal tending. Which is kinda okay, I guess, but it makes me wonder what the point is for getting an Ovechkin. Plus, if only one style of play wins (defense), then the games can get sorta repetitive and ultimately boring. The NBA had that problem with all the iso-ball in the early 2000s. Hockey sorta gets around that with the speed, hitting and close scores, which keep fans keyed up.

Like I say, I'm a very casual fan so I'm on...ahem...thin ice here. I wonder what puckheads think.

[miller31time]

I'm a very casual hockey fan, but I think the NHL has a problem in that apparently offensive stars mean nothing in the post-season. In the playoffs, everything is defense and goal tending. Which is kinda okay, I guess, but it makes me wonder what the point is for getting an Ovechkin. Plus, if only one style of play wins (defense), then the games can get sorta repetitive and ultimately boring. The NBA had that problem with all the iso-ball in the early 2000s. Hockey sorta gets around that with the speed, hitting and close scores, which keep fans keyed up.

Like I say, I'm a very casual fan so I'm on...ahem...thin ice here. I wonder what puckheads think.

I'm not a puckhead by any stretch of the imagination (just started getting really into the game this season). I think you're right but only to an extent. Yes, defense and goaltending play a bigger role in the playoffs but the cream does seem to rise to the top when it comes to great offensive players. Ovie and Backstrom, by all accounts, didn't have the playoffs they would have liked and yet were still #1 and #2 on the team in playoff points. Ovechkin predictably led the team in goals and Backstrom (one of the best puck handlers in the league) led the team in assists.

So yeah, things slow down, defense revs up and the goalies are the best of the best but the best offensive players still do their thing.

[Dr Positivity]

I'm a very casual hockey fan, but I think the NHL has a problem in that apparently offensive stars mean nothing in the post-season. In the playoffs, everything is defense and goal tending. Which is kinda okay, I guess, but it makes me wonder what the point is for getting an Ovechkin. Plus, if only one style of play wins (defense), then the games can get sorta repetitive and ultimately boring. The NBA had that problem with all the iso-ball in the early 2000s. Hockey sorta gets around that with the speed, hitting and close scores, which keep fans keyed up.

Like I say, I'm a very casual fan so I'm on...ahem...thin ice here. I wonder what puckheads think.

Offensive teams actually dominate the champions list, believe it or not. It's some crazy stat like the only champions since 84 who weren't top 10 in offense/goals scored in the regular season were 95 and 03 Devils. All 4 of the remaining teams this year were non top 10 though. I'd say though that LA has top 10 offensive talent, if not top 5. The coach they fired halfway through the year was ultra restrictive. They have dominated the playoffs so far because of their offensive stars and not Quick IMO

In terms of specific teams I would list Chicago (2010), Pittsburgh (2009), Detroit (2008), Tampa (2004), Detroit (2002), Colorado (2001), Detroit (1998), Detroit (1997), Colorado (1995), Pittsburgh (1992), Pittsburgh (1991), and Edmonton's 4 with Gretzky as good examples of "explosive offense is our calling card" teams. So it goes back in forth

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

^ great work, Mufasa.

Hockey commentators are like lemmings, really attracted to the flavor of the month.

When all is said and done, the Caps revolution got them about as far as they always get.

Talents like Ovie and Backstrom only come around so often. We need to build a team around their strengths... And hope that we end up with the hot goalie in the playoffs.

[Zonkerbl]

Looks like Semin isn't coming back. Good riddance I say, that dude was a penalty committing fiend.

[miller31time]

Looks like Semin isn't coming back. Good riddance I say, that dude was a penalty committing fiend.

I can't really blame him. He'd be the #1 option on a lot of teams. Instead, he's seen as the 3rd best player here. There have been times where he's been unhappy with his ice time, too.

From what I understand, this is going to be a good off-season for free agency so hopefully we'll be able to replace him with comparable talent.

[Rafael122]

It sounds like the Caps have anywhere between $15 million to $20 million in cap space so this is going to be a very important offseason for them. 2nd line center is a must.

[Zonkerbl]

A long and painful journey

This has just been a brutal, brutal 10 months since the Caps lost to the Rangers in just about the most painful way possible, a 2-1 game 7 loss. Then there was the lockout. Then there was the brutal, brutal start to the season, with the Caps dead, dead last for much of the shortened season.

Finally, they are starting to turn things around, most recently with a 7-1 beat down of the Florida Panthers. They are currently 10-11-1; their 21 points have them in 12th place, five points out of eighth place in the Eastern Conference and six behind Southeast-Division leading Carolina.

C'mon Caps!

viewtopic.php?f=233&t=1238146

[Zonkerbl]

Ok I gotta admit I lost my Caps mojo after the brutal, brutal ending to the last two postseasons. Uuuuuuuuuuugh.

But they are getting hot and in the playoff hunt. Maybe we can be the brutalizers this time around instead of the brutalizees.

[Higga]

I went to the Winter Classic and my girl is a die hard Caps fan so I've been trying to pay more attention this year. Feels like for once maybe we can be the low seeded team that gets hot and wins the whole thing as that tends to be what happens in Hockey(kinda like Baseball, where higher seeds lose regularly).

[fishercob]

Ok I gotta admit I lost my Caps mojo after the brutal, brutal ending to the last two postseasons. Uuuuuuuuuuugh.

But they are getting hot and in the playoff hunt. Maybe we can be the brutalizers this time around instead of the brutalizees.

I like Trotz a lot. My smart hockey friends say they're playing really well and the system is sound. It seems as if they're still talent deficient, but they have some young guys who could be quite good -- 92 and 65 -- once they add some strength.

They are fun to watch.

[Zonkerbl]

OMG DUDES. OVECHKIN MAKES NO LOOK PASS WITH 2 SECONDS LEFT FROM BEHIND THE NET TO WARD FOR GAME WINNING GOAL WITH 1.3 SECONDS LEFT TO STEAL FIRST GAME ON ROAD FROM THE FRICKING FRICKING RANGERS MAN!!!!!!

[Zonkerbl]

Cmon let's go populate the Caps board.

viewtopic.php?f=233&t=1175182&p=43497675#p43497675

[JWizmentality]

Cmon let's go populate the Caps board.

viewtopic.php?f=233&t=1175182&p=43497675#p43497675

Wow, very inappropriate.