The ‘24-‘25 boredom thread..

[BlackIce]

also...on a side (boredom) note...
Clay Stevenson, McIlrath, Alexeyev, Ethan Bear, all have higher pay/cap hit this year then Logan Thomposn  .  Well, literally EVERY single Caps player was higher paid that Thompson, but the 4 above were just reference.


Also, WTF happened to Nashville?  They will finish like the 3rd worst team in NHL this year.

   




From the Caps' point of view, the important collapse this year was the Bruins, who will finish with somewhere between the 4th and 6th worst record in the league, depending on how the final games play out.   The Caps have the Bruins' second-round pick in the draft this year, so it is going to be shortly after the end of the first round.  As it stands now, the Caps' first-round pick will be somewhere between #27 and #32, depending on how they do in the playoffs.  I have my eye on 3 players for the first-round pick:  Jack Nesbitt (big center); Blake Fiddler (big defensive RHD); and Josh Ravensberger, the #1 rated goalie in this year's draft.  They are all rated to go somewhere toward the end of round 1 and I am hoping that at least one of them is available when the Caps pick.

EDIT:  I just noticed that Seattle and Boston have both completed their seasons.  They both have 76 points, but Seattle has more regulation wins, so they are ahead of the Bruins in the standings.  Boston will finish ahead of Philadelphia, who also has 76 points, if Philly loses in regulation to Buffalo tomorrow, and the Caps will pick fifth in round 2.  If Philly wins or takes the game to overtime, they finish ahead of the Bruins and the Caps pick 4th in the second round.

As for Protas, I don't expect we will see him around anytime soon.  I have heard nothing about his status, and if he has a deep cut on his foot that had to be stitched up, that is a real problem because of the stress that skating puts on one's feet.  I imagine that has to be really healed before Protas can take the ice again in any competitive way.  Losing him is a huge blow to the team's playoff chances.

[BlackIce]

Montreal it is.

[Beaglefan2]

Wow....3 mil is ALOT for an 34 year old aging Dowd.  I like him, but damn I liked him more at 1.3m/yr. 
Good for him.  He's a decent guy.

I'd like to think that this is the Caps way of rewarding him for being underpaid for so long.  Not many franchises would do that, and maybe the Caps just thought it was market price, but Dowd has given 110% almost every night and is a cornerstone of this team.  Good for the Caps.

[alta]

The playoffs start Saturday. St Louis at Winnipeg @ 6pm and Colorado at Dallas @ 8:30pm, times are eastern. The rest of the schedule is supposed to be released today.

[Beaglefan2]

Very happy we avoided Columbus and Ottawa, but I do remember being at Game 7 last time we played Montreal after we won the Presidents Cup.  I took my young daughter who was a big fan and I was telling her before that series that the Caps had one of the best teams I had seen and they had a great chance of winning the Cup. But Montreal had the hot goalie.....


It's going to be different this time!

[alta]

I’m happy we avoided the Blue Jackets this year. They got hot when it mattered, just a few games too late.

[richkrt99]

Very happy we avoided Columbus and Ottawa, but I do remember being at Game 7 last time we played Montreal after we won the Presidents Cup.  I took my young daughter who was a big fan and I was telling her before that series that the Caps had one of the best teams I had seen and they had a great chance of winning the Cup. But Montreal had the hot goalie.....

It's going to be different this time!

Yes I was at game 1 or 2...and we outshot them literally like 54 to 18 or something crazy and lost the game.  We dominated the entire game but just couldn't get the puck to go in.  There was so much expectation and excitement that year and it came to a crashing halt early.  I celebrate every time we stomp Montreal since that time, just cause it still hurts.


and yes...This time will be different!!!

[BlackIce]

May I suggest that during the Montreal series we pay particular attention to one player - their undersized power play defenseman, Lane Hutson.  I say that because the Caps drafted his younger brother, Cole, last year, and he is considered a VERY promising prospect.  They are both similar size, and Cole is considered to have skills comparable to those of his older brother - though one never knows until those skills actually transfer to the NHL level. 


This is sort of a similar situation to the Caps' situation with Protas, where they also have his younger brother in the system and he is showing HUGE promise as a LW. 

[richkrt99]

and....we need to boot Montreal EARLY!  Way TOO many Canadian teams in the playoffs this year: all three Canadian teams made it in the east, and 2 in the west....and Calgary missed by a whisker.
(I have nothing against Canadian teams, but the ratio is just way off this year)
I expect there will be only one Canadian team left in the east after the 1st round.

[Beaglefan2]

Yes I was at game 1 or 2...and we outshot them literally like 54 to 18 or something crazy and lost the game.  We dominated the entire game but just couldn't get the puck to go in.  There was so much expectation and excitement that year and it came to a crashing halt early.  I celebrate every time we stomp Montreal since that time, just cause it still hurts.


and yes...This time will be different!!!

So the other part about when I went to Game 7 with my 12 year old daughter ......  After the game ended we sat in stunned silence and the arena was very quiet.  All the way to the car, we didn't say a word and it was just awful. I then drive out of the parking lot and get stuck in traffic. I come to a stop outside of the Jaleo restaurant where this rather large girl was getting her car from the valet.  She takes her sweet time and is chatting with other girls  - all the while I am fuming from the game and now the delay.  Finally, with my impressionable daughter next to me, I roll down the window and basically scream at this lady to "move your fat ass!".


My daughter gives me the look and instead of apologizing and telling her how wrong I was, I just looked at her and said "don't tell your Mother".  Not my proudest moment, but one that we now laugh about.

[alta]

 

[alta]

Caps round 1 game 1 is Monday at 7pm. All Caps 1st round games will be broadcast on Monumental, as well as nationally.

https://www.nhl.com/news/2025-stanley-cup-playoffs-first-round-schedule-television-results

https://monumentalsports.com/2025/04/monumental-sports-network-announces-2025-washington-capitals-playoff-coverage/

[Mickstix]

My daughter gives me the look and instead of apologizing and telling her how wrong I was, I just looked at her and said "don't tell your Mother".  Not my proudest moment, but one that we now laugh about.

 

[richkrt99]

Could be worse.  I was at that game, and we were all feeling down at the end and when my mom came around with her car she was angry and crying....
we asked what was wrong and she said she was struggling with her car and some asshole yelled at her to move her fat ass.  She cried all the way home. 

[alta]

the redneck jokes have started

[richkrt99]

Caps, Panthers, Devils, even Canes basically all limped/fell into the playoffs, all playing under .500 hockey the last 10 games
Toronto goes in 8-1-1, Montreal 7-1-2, Tampa 6-1-3, Ottowa 6-2-2
Toronto looks like they might actually get out of the 1st round this year.

Dallas and Colorado limped in.  Jets and Oilers both 7-3, and Kings 8-2 in their last ten.

I'd like to watch the Oilers/Kings matchup - I think that will be good.

[Beaglefan2]

Could be worse.  I was at that game, and we were all feeling down at the end and when my mom came around with her car she was angry and crying....
we asked what was wrong and she said she was struggling with her car and some asshole yelled at her to move her fat ass.  She cried all the way home. 

I had a feeling I was going to burn in hell......   

[alta]

The players are off today. As usual, I expect no news from the team when the players have the day off.

[waynerivers]

Caps need to play a heavy forecheck game and put the body on Montreal in their own end.  In fact, they should put the body on them at every opportunity.  Montreal is going to want to play a fast skating transition game and we need to short circuit that.  If we play like we did the first few months of the season, we should dispatch them without too much trouble.  Play like we have the last month and we may find ourselves on summer vacation.

[BlackIce]

Regardless of how the Caps did for the first 80% of the regular season, I've never seen them as a legitimate Stanley Cup threat this season.   


Last year they struggled into the playoffs on the last day and got eliminated by a clearly superior Rangers team>  I was OK with that.  Simply having Carbery shoehorn them into the playoffs felt like a success.

So bulding on that, what would constitute a successful season  this year?  For me, winning two rounds and getting to the conference finals would be what I consider a success.  The way they're playing right now though, and the absolutely crucial pieces they are missing, makes it seem like even that is a stretch.   


And no, I don't know why the two words in the last paragraph are so small.