It is so necessary. Positive/confident caps fans = a caps loss.
I am not so confident as some here, but I will say that this seems to be bizarro year for the Caps. So while I would normally agree with you, this year, who the hell knows?
Yep. As far as I'm concerned, they've already exceeded my expectations. Everything else from here on out is gravy.
I don't agree one bit. This is our chance. This is our year. It maybe a while before we get into a position like this again.
It's time to take advantage. I expect them to make it to the SCF. The stars are aligning. I will be satisfied with no less and I expect DH and the team align with my mindset.
They arent staying down on the mat this year after getting knocked down..they are like the Terminator..just relentless. I believe we have captured lightning in a bottle.
While I think Dale has exceeded many fans expectations, I wonder about his own.
While our team was such a mess on the ice far too often to keep high fan expectations, it appears we grew up as a team. Maybe it was the team simply maturing mentally, or everyone seeing Ovi all but benched at times, Knuble, Ward, etc has the rest realizing snap, I may be next.
I believe the game becomes largely mental. Alzner seeing 20000+ RW's rushing at him, 100000 pucks shot towards Holtby, Ovi driving into the zone countless times. They have the physical tools already, and have for years. What's left? Their mental approach to the game.
I think the playoff success in our backwards bench Ovi all hail Beagle win ugly ways, has the players believing. We call it buying in. Does it lead to wins, who knows. You can't measure these things but they are in play, I believe.
Another thing about the Rangers forecheck is that they have no offensive talent.
Gaborik, Richards and Anisimov look pretty talented to me. And Kreider, too, notwithstanding his Game 4 screw-ups.
It's the Caps, and it's the playoffs. So i expect disaster. But i will try to remember it's house money. I will try to zen out like Tex and just watch to see what happens.
Or i'll have a heart attack. That's a good possibility too.
Yep. As far as I'm concerned, they've already exceeded my expectations. Everything else from here on out is gravy.
Uhhh what? They were supposedly built as a contender. They've underachieved most of the season. Why do they get a free pass now? How many seasons have gone by with them not getting out of Round 2? Now suddenly it's ok if they don't? Why? Because they're playing hard? Battling? In other words doing what they're supposed to be doing??? They lose now and it's another failure, nothing more.
Besides, the way the table is set they have just as good a chance as anyone, unless you count LA as unstoppable. Big name contenders/rivals are out. Flyers were always overrated with their goalie and are on the ropes. Devils are inconsistent. Rangers struggled to beat the 8-seed and are hardly a juggernaut.
The goal is the Cup, at least for me. Anything else is crap, esp. another early exit. But whatever works for you.
Uhhh what? They were supposedly built as a contender. They've underachieved most of the season. Why do they get a free pass now? How many seasons have gone by with them not getting out of Round 2? Now suddenly it's ok if they don't? Why? Because they're playing hard? Battling? In other words doing what they're supposed to be doing??? They lose now and it's another failure, nothing more.
Besides, the way the table is set they have just as good a chance as anyone, unless you count LA as unstoppable. Big name contenders/rivals are out. Flyers were always overrated with their goalie and are on the ropes. Devils are inconsistent. Rangers struggled to beat the 8-seed and are hardly a juggernaut.
The goal is the Cup, at least for me. Anything else is crap, esp. another early exit. But whatever works for you.
I am interested on any adjustments anyone sees from the coaches. Its the time for coaches to do their things. Swimmer touched on something earlier, but I just saw this.
Quote:
The series shifted thanks to some key adjustments. Laich alluded to seeing some things on video that the Caps might be able to exploit, and they did so by putting pucks on net from the corners and cutting down on the Rangers‘ ability to block shots.
New York finished with just seven blocks, by far its lowest output of the playoffs.
“Obviously, they’re really good at blocking shots, and they feed off blocking shots and going the other way and getting odd-man rushes when their defensemen step up into the play,” Aucoin said. “We wanted to make sure that if we had the chance, we get it to the net. But when we didn’t, we had to get it behind the net and start a cycle and get the puck to the net. We wanted to make sure we didn’t start any breakouts for them.”
I had read somewhere else we did that because their forwards were hunkered down low, presumably ignoring our point men, to stuff our forwards.
Doubt that the 8th seeded Los Angeles Kings fan base is saying today "we're just happy to be here and everything's gravy from here on out no matter how they perform".
You knock off both 1st and 2nd seeded teams, you have to start getting pumped.
I had read somewhere else we did that because their forwards were hunkered down low, presumably ignoring our point men, to stuff our forwards.
In there own zone the Rangers use the 6 man goalie system and collapse severly. Caps are kinda doing the exact same thing and I suspect more and more teams will do this due to its effectiveness.
I don't have the stats post lockout but I would suspect blocked shots have risen every single year as teams start shifting this way.
I don't agree one bit. This is our chance. This is our year. It maybe a while before we get into a position like this again.
It's time to take advantage. I expect them to make it to the SCF. The stars are aligning. I will be satisfied with no less and I expect DH and the team align with my mindset.
They arent staying down on the mat this year after getting knocked down..they are like the Terminator..just relentless. I believe we have captured lightning in a bottle.
Me, too. I have a strange feeling that Washington and Phoenix are on a collision course right now.
Don't get me wrong. I like the way this team is playing. And I think they can make it far. But I won't be disappointed if things went wrong, like it did last year. And the year before. It was a rocky season. They barely made the playoffs. Given all that, I don't think I'd be quite disappointed as I was the last few years.
