GDT#71 Capitals @ Flyers 7:00pm Thu Mar 14, 2019 NBCSWA, ESPN+, NBCSP

[richkrt99]

Wilson has more goals, and is (the laughable) +/- of 16 compared to Kuzy who as a “number one center” is just +5


And Connolly scored is 19th and is +2 for a one way player (bang up job)


Oh and LARS, aka Helen, aka Keller netted his 11th whole goal! and is a -8!


Oh Wilson missed 20games do to politics/marketing.


(Note the sarcasm of the shitty +/- stat, all the while pointing out all but Wilson are one-way or attempted 2way players)


5-2 wins against teams 5 pts out of a Wild Card in March are fine and good, but in no way indicates success in a best of 7 series, or validates subpar performance so far this season.


If “back to back” is gonna be uttered, the entire team needs to step up WAY above the level they’ve been playing at.

DC,


I know you lean toward the negative side sometimes, (must be out of Hopslam) but....


The Caps are in 1st place in their division with what? 11 games to go.  How is that sub-par performance so far?  Definitely had a bad stretch, and they certainly could be more consistent on D, but they have shown improvement, especially over the last month.  They are at least trending in the right direction.  Better that than the other way round


Over the last 15 games they have allowed....
0, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 5, 2, 1, 2, 3, 0, 1, 5, 2 goals against.  That's a 2.00 GAA per game average.  I'll take that heading towards the playoffs (or anytime).  Only three times have they allowed three goals or more.  THat's 12 our of 15 games allowing 2 goals or less.  Throw out 3 bad games and it's pretty primo.  Not trying to pick and choose and manipulate the numbers, but I'd say 3 bad games out of the last 15 for team D is pretty good.
Some of that is Holtby standing on his head, but some of it is better team D overall (and both are what it takes to win in the playoffs)


I do agree Wilson is awesome, and believe he truly is the biggest factor to this team's direction (other than Holtby strictly due to the nature of the position)


Kuzy is soft and is definitely drifting this year, but not a Semin 2.0 (like someone else posted).  His game definitely needs improvement


Also, you shouldn't continually argue that the +/- stat is the most worthless stat in hockey and then use that stat to argue that Wilson is great and Kuzy, Conno, Eller sucks.  Of course Willy's +/- is better, he plays on the "top scoring line" and the other three play on a line that faces more teams' top lines.
If you want to use the +/- argument then Carlson is a "Great" d-man  cause he is +19

(okay, ignore that last bit...just saw your +/- sarcasm comment)  and I really hate that the font size changes




I have no problem with Conno - 20 goals/year (assuming he gets 1 more) plus 20 assists for a third line guy making 1.5 mil is awesome production.  Call him one way if you want, but multiply his goals/salary on OVI and Ovi should be making 3.75 mil/year.  Ovi's cost per point is roughly 2.5x what Conno's is.  Not really comparing the two players, but based on salary and output, Conno is a freaking steal and not just compared to Ovi's contract.
If you were to ask ANY GM in hockey if they want a third line guy who will score 20 goals and 20 assists (without any PP time) for $1.5m/year, I'd bet the farm they'd jump at the chance.


Lars - not sure why you hate him so much except he is a soft Euro guy.  I would not call him a one-way player either.  His line is often the line that plays against others' top lines, so they are going to allow more goals.  He certainly isn't the best 3c ever, but he is serviceable and fits with this team.  On a side note - I think Haggs helps that line's D tremendously (well anything is better the a Burka, so....nevermind that)  Lars is NOT having a great year, but I have no problem with his play as a 3rd line center (He DID have an awful stretch of dumbass penalties earlier, but..)


"5-2 wins in March are fine"...okay, get the point, but that beats the hell out of 5-3 losses to teams in or out of the hunt... AND, Caps have only allowed big goals(5) twice in more than a month and allow 3 goals once...totaling three times in a month they have allowed more than 2 goals.  I'd argue that's good, not bad.


I, for one, am NOT muttering back to back and cringe when I hear that.  I think Tampa beats us this year, but the Caps have as good a chance as any team to beat them.




Go Caps

[richkrt99]

I think last night pretty much dashes any hopes Philthy makes the playoffs.  They have a brutal schedule ahead - worse than the Caps.


Ovi better wake the hell up and score some goals soon if he wants 50.  I predicted couple months ago he gets 48 or so?  I will have to go back and see where I asked for everyone's predictions on that.  I'd like to see him get 50 and the Rocket,  Caps have 3 of remaining games against Tampa.  They do NOT allow alot of goals...although I believe Ovi has pretty good numbers vs Tampa, no?


Now that I berated DC for being negative....my turn.  Caps will lose Saturday in Tampa, Isles will win and move into 1st place (with a game in hand).  Hens will also win Saturday (vs Blues) and be within 2 pts of Caps with 10 games to go.
Caps have a pretty tough schedule for remaining games.  Only Philthy's is worse.  Actually, all the teams left in the hunt are going to have to work for most of their points.  Fucking Hens have the lightest schedule of any team remaining (shocker)


Caps are going to have to play well to stay in it.  Maybe that's good. 


Go Caps

[richkrt99]

Conno has more goals than Kuzy and Backy 




Orlov is now even +/- and Nisky is -1  (that's not good, but its hell better than when they were like -10


Chandler is -12 (ouch), but he hasn't been playing much lately when the caps team +/- has greatly improved.


(Don't lecture me on how worthless the +/- is.  Just saying it is improving as a whole, so that is good.)

[DC_1908]

DC,


I know you lean toward the negative side sometimes, (must be out of Hopslam) but....


The Caps are in 1st place in their division with what? 11 games to go.  How is that sub-par performance so far?  Definitely had a bad stretch, and they certainly could be more consistent on D, but they have shown improvement, especially over the last month.  They are at least trending in the right direction.  Better that than the other way round


Over the last 15 games they have allowed....
0, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 5, 2, 1, 2, 3, 0, 1, 5, 2 goals against.  That's a 2.00 GAA per game average.  I'll take that heading towards the playoffs (or anytime).  Only three times have they allowed three goals or more.  THat's 12 our of 15 games allowing 2 goals or less.  Throw out 3 bad games and it's pretty primo.  Not trying to pick and choose and manipulate the numbers, but I'd say 3 bad games out of the last 15 for team D is pretty good.
Some of that is Holtby standing on his head, but some of it is better team D overall (and both are what it takes to win in the playoffs)


I do agree Wilson is awesome, and believe he truly is the biggest factor to this team's direction (other than Holtby strictly due to the nature of the position)


Kuzy is soft and is definitely drifting this year, but not a Semin 2.0 (like someone else posted).  His game definitely needs improvement


Also, you shouldn't continually argue that the +/- stat is the most worthless stat in hockey and then use that stat to argue that Wilson is great and Kuzy, Conno, Eller sucks.  Of course Willy's +/- is better, he plays on the "top scoring line" and the other three play on a line that faces more teams' top lines.
If you want to use the +/- argument then Carlson is a "Great" d-man  cause he is +19

(okay, ignore that last bit...just saw your +/- sarcasm comment)  and I really hate that the font size changes




I have no problem with Conno - 20 goals/year (assuming he gets 1 more) plus 20 assists for a third line guy making 1.5 mil is awesome production.  Call him one way if you want, but multiply his goals/salary on OVI and Ovi should be making 3.75 mil/year.  Ovi's cost per point is roughly 2.5x what Conno's is.  Not really comparing the two players, but based on salary and output, Conno is a freaking steal and not just compared to Ovi's contract.
If you were to ask ANY GM in hockey if they want a third line guy who will score 20 goals and 20 assists (without any PP time) for $1.5m/year, I'd bet the farm they'd jump at the chance.


Lars - not sure why you hate him so much except he is a soft Euro guy.  I would not call him a one-way player either.  His line is often the line that plays against others' top lines, so they are going to allow more goals.  He certainly isn't the best 3c ever, but he is serviceable and fits with this team.  On a side note - I think Haggs helps that line's D tremendously (well anything is better the a Burka, so....nevermind that)  Lars is NOT having a great year, but I have no problem with his play as a 3rd line center (He DID have an awful stretch of dumbass penalties earlier, but..)


"5-2 wins in March are fine"...okay, get the point, but that beats the hell out of 5-3 losses to teams in or out of the hunt... AND, Caps have only allowed big goals(5) twice in more than a month and allow 3 goals once...totaling three times in a month they have allowed more than 2 goals.  I'd argue that's good, not bad.


I, for one, am NOT muttering back to back and cringe when I hear that.  I think Tampa beats us this year, but the Caps have as good a chance as any team to beat them.




Go Caps

By (albeit harsh) sub-par I’m referring mainly to being under 80% in PK and dead last faceoffs.  This, despite great seasons by Nick and strong performances by Dowd and Boyd, is an indictment on all the centers.


Kuzy gets top minutes with Ovie (which helps his assists), yet still is under 40 percent on face offs, a defensive liability, and at this stage in career can still not contribute on the PK.  Given that, how can he only be putting up under 20 goals while playing primarily in offensive situations?  (IOW, he ain’t doin a hell of a lot else, his assist totals are elevated for playing with Ovie, has missed only a few (if any games), shouldnt he at least be expected to be in 30 goal range?)


Eller as a “3rd Center”, while playing in almost all situations, is still under 50% on faceoffs, and is a regular on a PK that is at bottom of league and under 80%,  Yet has only put up 11 goals.


Connolly has also shown to be a 100 ft player who’s strength is scoring and after that, not much.  He was given a chance to play on Ovies line and failed, and does not appear to be making,nor succeeding in trying to take Oshies spot, nor assisting with the faceoff issue, or improving the PK. 


In contrast, after Wilson, Nick and Oshie have been the back bone of this team all year, and are not , and cannot be acknowledged enough for that.   Their stats may look like this was an off year, but they have both played excellent 200ft games, played all special teams, and all situations,  They NEED to this because Kuzy, Eller, Connolly, (and others), cannot and/or  will not improve their game to do what Nick and Oshie do. 


So if they cannot/will not do that, shouldn’t we expect higher stats as they aren’t doing much else than playing offense?


Yes, Hotby being hot, and adding Jensen (who may be our best all around D), have lead to less GAA recently, but that’s a lot, and too much,  to bet on going into the playoffs when your the number one target of the 7 other teams. 

[Mickstix]

They should really just forfeit the rest of the season and buy new golf clubs.. 

[DC_1908]

They should really just forfeit the rest of the season and buy new golf clubs.. 

Well, this here sumbitch is gettin me wanting to take up golf again. So I couldn’t blame them all that much!


Hell, goin down to FLA, gettin that sumbitch, hittin up a Top Golf, blasting some Skynard & Hatchet, and seeing how many beers I can sweat out before gettin drunk, sounds damn good right now!


But in all seriousness, while this team is good at many things, there are still weakness and deficiencies that can be exploited and/or their strengths cannot fully compensate for.


While it seems cynical, it is also pragmatic to point out 10% success rate in 10 tries does not guarantee future success.  They will need to keep improving and evolving and not just proverbially say "we did it last year, we can just do it again".



Success does not mean “mission accomplished”, “I can die happy”,”keep doin the same thing because it worked once”.  Success means NOTHING else but success is, or will be good enough for the forseable future.  So everything needs to constantly evolve, develop, and improve to maintain  success.  Because every enemy has developed strategies to neutralize your strengths,exploit your weaknesses, and will be coming after you to levels they haven’t before.

(Heh, I really should of been a coach)

[Mickstix]

That cheesy shotgun PP entry has me wanting to take up golf myself..    Damn thing worked for a couple months, now it just looks like  ..

[DC_1908]

That cheesy shotgun PP entry has me wanting to take up golf myself..    Damn thing worked for a couple months, now it just looks like  ..

Yep!  But stick to Top Golf as playing bumper cars and/or Duke’s of Hazzard, and/or Tokyo Drift with the golf carts with a case and or minikeg (hell if I’m payin >$10 a beer on the course) has become frowned upon for some dumbass reason.

Heh iffin anyone ever got DUI in a golf cart, ‘deed I’d imagine Old Possum himself would be proud  🤠

[Mickstix]

Was just talking to my buddy yesterday.. He rides his "cart" round the neighborhood, up to the burgerking.. Has the kid drive in his lap, while he sips a cold one..    So far, so good! 

[DC_1908]

Was just talking to my buddy yesterday.. He rides his "cart" round the neighborhood, up to the burgerking.. Has the kid drive in his lap, while he sips a cold one..    So far, so good! 

Heh my buddy in Venice has one to ride around his “gated community”, hehe when I’m down there I ride it to the hot tub and around the place with a few “roadies”, a cigar, and tunes blastin. Though not an FLA band, Black Oaks Jim Dandy is a good tune to play while doing that. . . ‘DC to the res-que, DC to rescue, DC to the res-que, go DC, go!’  . . . (Yep, the image of that you have is probably right on)

[alta]

its not quite a DUI, but I was impressed, a friend got a drunk in public while riding a bicycle in college, she hit a parked car in front of a cop