Running Stanley Cup Playoff Thread

He seems to be doing pretty well the last two years in the playoffs. And regular season.
Neuvirth is 4-5 with a 2.34 GAA this playoffs.
Niemi is 6-2 with a 2.99 GAA this playoffs.

 

Not sure you can say Howard sucked. Gave up a power play goal after the defense let the Shark alone near the crease. Second goal came on a flutterpuck that Setoguchi broke his stick on. Third goal all the Wings' defense were out of position below the net.

And fourth goal, tipped by the stick.

Howard was the only reason they were close in this series. Their offense was slumbering. They had numerous chances to finish the game in OT and didn't do it.

 

Bruce Boudreau has been given FOUR CHANCES to take the Capitals to the proverbial promised land. Each time the Capitals have fallen well short, and there's no way in hell Ted is going to cut loose his prized investments. A multimillion-dollar superstar has a lot more stock than a coach who can't cut it.

24/7, IMHO, reflected Washington's locker-room attitude, notably the attitude towards Boudreau. When he addressed the room, the players responded as they would to teenagers with a substitute teacher: checking phones, one earbud in the left ear, taking off equipment ... there was no palpable sense of respect.

The organization itself is in dire need of a change of the culture, which has been accustomed to nothing but postseason failure, save for 1998.

You are hired to coach an NHL team either to win or to get fired. It's a stressful existence. If Boudreau stays, then it affirms what I've said all along about the Caps - that organization is a fraud. A pretender.

As for the Southeast? Almost the updated version of the 1980s Norris Division, only with two Stanley Cups to its credit. The Lightning almost instantly re-legitimized the Southeast.

 

With all the power Team Canada had, they could've started anyone in goalie and won. Luongo has always been a good-to-great regular season goalie and an average-to-poor one in the playoffs (23-21 record, .919 save percentage, 2.41 GAA). The Chicago Blackhawks have been his Ahab, and while people might say "he beat them this year" Vancouver was up 3-0 and went to overtime in Game 7.

 

.919 and 2.41? Sign me up.

 

Best joke I heard today: They're serving a new drink in DC today: the Ovechkin - it's a White Russian without a Cup.

 

What must make this so sad for the Caps fanbase is this was the year that Pittsburgh was not in their way. No Sid. No Malkin.

This should have been their year.

But when your coach is eating ice cream at 10:30 a.m. on HBO, what do you expect?

And the Caps have never had a goalie who could stand on his head for a game or two and win a series for you. Fleury can have bad games, but he can also turn into Hasek with Buffalo where not team on Earth can get two pucks past him in one night.

It's a shame that OV doesn't punch a teammate in the face once or twice. He's wasting away on that team.

 

Ovechkin is in a similar situation to Iginla. Both outstanding players on teams that are a little short in crucial areas, generally speaking. Washington has offence, some goaltending but sub par defencemen. Calgary, when they contended, had goaltending, some defencemen but sub par offence.

I always thought it was a shame that Iggy didn't get real help on offence. It boils down to Calgary's horrible draft record and talent evaluation.

I was surprised TB handled Washington so easily. The Bolts almost looked like last years Black Hawks with waves of offence the Caps couldn't handle.

 

Gonna win a Stanley Cup with Michael Neuvirth? Simeon Varlamov? Brandon Holtby?

Capitals' demise had nothing to do with Ovechkin.

 

Why not with Neuvirth? Christ. The kid is 23. You don't have to have a grizzled vet in goal to win. This series wasn't on him. It was on the defense coughing the puck up in their own zone time after time after time. With Tampa's firepower, you simply can't do that and expect to win.

 

Is it just me or is this round really, really dull? I was flipping between the three games last night and none really grabbed me.

 

Oh, there is PLENTY of grabbing going on...just watch the Sharks/Wings games.