playoffs!!!

[DC_1908]

Bura only showed up before the trade deadline long enough to convince GMBM to keep him around and only played "well enough" for a limited time. I wanted Bura gone a long time ago. I knew he was going to find a spark only to let it die off again eventually. If the guy only cost $1 million or less I'd say fuck it doesn't hurt to keep him as a depth guy, but he's getting paid more than he should. His contract is looking like Brooks Laich's or Martin Erat's


And yeah we're out worked and out coached. I wish we had gotten rid of Total Retard (TR) the moment Coach Q was made available. We spend so much on top notch players but cheap out on the coaching staff...


Seems like one Cup was enough for Ted and the Caps. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy as hell about that Cup and that's something that will never get taken away from us. But fuck I want some more. Our "window" to win Cups again won't open until Total Retard is fired

Damn right!!! 👍

[DC_1908]

Avs take out Flames 5-1.  Thee two number one seeds out in the first round with a combined record of 1-8.

[Pavel095]

Avs take out Flames 5-1.  Thee two number one seeds out in the first round with a combined record of 1-8.

Just Absolutely stunning!
And now Is the question-  what was the real reason for TB,Calgary to play well whole regular season, win it at the end of the day and then  be eventually eliminated so easily  by 8 teams..
To me, it shows that any team in league starts playing differently once the playoffs begin and the overall  results could be unpredictable. It’s good for league, however I don’t like it as many teams just start showing their real potential  in playoffs.

[zerofox]

Just Absolutely stunning!
And now Is the question-  what was the real reason for TB,Calgary to play well whole regular season, win it at the end of the day and then  be eventually eliminated so easily  by 8 teams..
To me, it shows that any team in league starts playing differently once the playoffs begin and the overall  results could be unpredictable. It’s good for league, however I don’t like it as many teams just start showing their real potential  in playoffs.

There definitely is "regular season hockey" and "playoff hockey."


Under these circumstances, normally I'd say "wow the playoffs are wide open and the Caps could win with some of their biggest threats out of the way." But nope. Caps will more than likely fall to Carolina, and even if they make it past this round, Isles and CBJ stand in their way as "playing the right way / playing with heart and soul."

[DC_1908]

Just Absolutely stunning!
And now Is the question-  what was the real reason for TB,Calgary to play well whole regular season, win it at the end of the day and then  be eventually eliminated so easily  by 8 teams..
To me, it shows that any team in league starts playing differently once the playoffs begin and the overall  results could be unpredictable. It’s good for league, however I don’t like it as many teams just start showing their real potential  in playoffs.

I’m not that familiar with Colorado, but in the East, the primary factors where strength/conditioning coaching/style and “confidence”.

TBL had no forwards over 6’1”, and with the exception of Corbon and the guy Willie KOd, next to no physicality on D.   Trots was able to continually send out bigger, stronger, players, to out hit, hustle, gut, and work them which wore them down.

TBL also won 62 games.  We have seen the Caps tear through the regular season and over look the eight seed.   This level of success tends to, not always, lead to a large amount if reluctantly to change what they’ve been doing, and the willingness/ability to do it.  This reluctantly makes them predictable which becomes an advantage to the other team, as Torts did.

As zero said: playoffs vs regular season.  In this case, regular season gave CBJ a huge advantage

[zerofox]

I’m not that familiar with Colorado, but in the East, the primary factors where strength/conditioning coaching/style and “confidence”.

TBL had no forwards over 6’1”, and with the exception of Corbon and the guy Willie KOd, next to no physicality on D.   Trots was able to continually send out bigger, stronger, players, to out hit, hustle, gut, and work them which wore them down.

TBL also won 62 games.  We have seen the Caps tear through the regular season and over look the eight seed.   This level of success tends to, not always, lead to a large amount if reluctantly to change what they’ve been doing, and the willingness/ability to do it.  This reluctantly makes them predictable which becomes an advantage to the other team, as Torts did.

As zero said: playoffs vs regular season.  In this case, regular season gave CBJ a huge advantage

It seems like adversity, pressure/expectations, and having something to play for are real factors. We've seen the Caps steamroll through the regular season but not have to deal with losing streaks, injuries, fighting tooth and nail for a playoff spot, etc. They get bored and lazy down the stretch when other teams are trying to ramp up for the playoffs. TB got through the entire season thinking they could just out-talent everyone else, but they weren't able to out-work even a "lowly" team.


And I agree playoffs are also where you see coaching come into play much more. The importance of a single playoff game in a best of 7 series is way higher than a single game in an 82 game season. You have more time to prepare, with no back to backs, etc. Plus you know you're locked into your opponent for at least 4 games, whereas during the regular season you might have a few games in quick succession and one team is kinda weak so maybe you don't spend as much time on the prep for them and focus on a bigger target, who knows.


Either way, there's a reason why we finally won a Cup when we decided to give a highly experienced NHL coach a shot at the job, rather than the strategy of hiring some no name AHL coach / rookie coach / former player. You need talent, don't get me wrong, but we've seen last year with VGK and this year with NYI that a bunch of misfit toys can be coached into a formidable team.


It still confuses me why we weren't willing to pay up a bit for Trotz (despite his issues last season before the big win). And we weren't willing to get a REAL coach in either. Is it really money? Don't tell me it's money when the team is dropping $12 million on John Carlson. That's like Connor McDavid money. Don't get me wrong, there's a ton of Dmen out there way worse than Carlson, so I'm pretty happy we have him despite how infuriating he can be, but goddamn that's a high price to pay for someone who isn't a Top 5 and maybe not even a Top 10 Dman in the NHL. He just picks up points because occasionally he completes a decent non retarded pass to Ovi on the PP

[DC_1908]

It seems like adversity, pressure/expectations, and having something to play for are real factors. We've seen the Caps steamroll through the regular season but not have to deal with losing streaks, injuries, fighting tooth and nail for a playoff spot, etc. They get bored and lazy down the stretch when other teams are trying to ramp up for the playoffs. TB got through the entire season thinking they could just out-talent everyone else, but they weren't able to out-work even a "lowly" team.


And I agree playoffs are also where you see coaching come into play much more. The importance of a single playoff game in a best of 7 series is way higher than a single game in an 82 game season. You have more time to prepare, with no back to backs, etc. Plus you know you're locked into your opponent for at least 4 games, whereas during the regular season you might have a few games in quick succession and one team is kinda weak so maybe you don't spend as much time on the prep for them and focus on a bigger target, who knows.


Either way, there's a reason why we finally won a Cup when we decided to give a highly experienced NHL coach a shot at the job, rather than the strategy of hiring some no name AHL coach / rookie coach / former player. You need talent, don't get me wrong, but we've seen last year with VGK and this year with NYI that a bunch of misfit toys can be coached into a formidable team.


It still confuses me why we weren't willing to pay up a bit for Trotz (despite his issues last season before the big win). And we weren't willing to get a REAL coach in either. Is it really money? Don't tell me it's money when the team is dropping $12 million on John Carlson. That's like Connor McDavid money. Don't get me wrong, there's a ton of Dmen out there way worse than Carlson, so I'm pretty happy we have him despite how infuriating he can be, but goddamn that's a high price to pay for someone who isn't a Top 5 and maybe not even a Top 10 Dman in the NHL. He just picks up points because occasionally he completes a decent non retarded pass to Ovi on the PP

The thing about VGK and NYI is, much like you said about Carlson, they don’t lack “talent” per-say, they don’t have “stars” and the contracts that come with “stars”.


NYIs highest paid (Baychuck) is 6mil and they have almost 10m in Cap Space. 


VGK kept enough cap space to get Stone, Stansny, and Packority, names but not superstars. to under 10mil yet tradable contracts.


All the while, hardly anyone can look at either roster and find a player they wouldn’t want on their team.   These teams aren’t misfits, these teams are loaded with good players with great contracts.

[Pavel095]

The thing about VGK and NYI is, much like you said about Carlson, they don’t lack “talent” per-say, they don’t have “stars” and the contracts that come with “stars”.


NYIs highest paid (Baychuck) is 6mil and they have almost 10m in Cap Space. 


VGK kept enough cap space to get Stone, Stansny, and Packority, names but not superstars. to under 10mil yet tradable contracts.


All the while, hardly anyone can look at either roster and find a player they wouldn’t want on their team.   These teams aren’t misfits, these teams are loaded with good players with great contracts.

Good point, moreover all of those teams as you mentioned above have great internal management staff ,as a result VGK second year in a row has great chance to win a Cup and NYI thanks to Caps with Trotz is showing unbelievable results therefore it’s all about management skills.

[DC_1908]

Good point, moreover all of those teams as you mentioned above have great internal management staff ,as a result VGK second year in a row has great chance to win a Cup and NYI thanks to Caps with Trotz is showing unbelievable results therefore it’s all about management skills.

Yep, GMGM with free reign and Gallant as coach.


Lou Lamerillo(sp?), with Trotz as coach


Yikes . . .

[zerofox]

The thing about VGK and NYI is, much like you said about Carlson, they don’t lack “talent” per-say, they don’t have “stars” and the contracts that come with “stars”.


NYIs highest paid (Baychuck) is 6mil and they have almost 10m in Cap Space. 


VGK kept enough cap space to get Stone, Stansny, and Packority, names but not superstars. to under 10mil yet tradable contracts.


All the while, hardly anyone can look at either roster and find a player they wouldn’t want on their team.   These teams aren’t misfits, these teams are loaded with good players with great contracts.

That's insane that NYI has $10 million in space...talk about good management/coaching. If only we had a coach who had experience coaching above mites level hockey prior to coaching the Caps...

[RavenCp]

I’m not that familiar with Colorado, but in the East, the primary factors where strength/conditioning coaching/style and “confidence”.

TBL had no forwards over 6’1”, and with the exception of Corbon and the guy Willie KOd, next to no physicality on D.   Trots was able to continually send out bigger, stronger, players, to out hit, hustle, gut, and work them which wore them down.

TB had so many deep playoffs tuns in the last five years. This is one a rare year when they were eliminated in the first round. It is decently one of the top playoff team in the East. They were competing with Pens when lost Stamkos. I'm not sure what happened to them this year, but something got broken, may be more psychologically. 

[DC_1908]

That's insane that NYI has $10 million in space...talk about good management/coaching. If only we had a coach who had experience coaching above mites level hockey prior to coaching the Caps...

That’s mostly due to Taveres, LL was more than likely ok with the cap space than Taveres.

[DC_1908]

TB had so many deep playoffs tuns in the last five years. This is one a rare year when they were eliminated in the first round. It is decently one of the top playoff team in the East. They were competing with Pens when lost Stamkos. I'm not sure what happened to them this year, but something got broken, may be more psychologically.

Psychological it would be over-confidence and being intimated . What happened was not many system changes, the new GM not correcting how the Caps beat them, (playing more physical then they could), and CBJ watching what The Caps did to beat therm.

Bottom line is they where just to small.

[Pavel095]

TB had so many deep playoffs tuns in the last five years. This is one a rare year when they were eliminated in the first round. It is decently one of the top playoff team in the East. They were competing with Pens when lost Stamkos. I'm not sure what happened to them this year, but something got broken, may be more psychologically.

I think the main factor was that TB didn’t expect such performance and urgency from CBJ based on regular season  matchups and once TB realized that they must to change something in order to win at least one game  ,it was already too late..
That’s what I’m saying that regular season result means nothing once the playoffs start, but TB expected  to take it easy.

[RavenCp]

I think the main factor was that TB didn’t expect such performance and urgency from CBJ based on regular season  matchups and once TB realized that they must to change something in order to win at least one game  ,it was already too late..
That’s what I’m saying that regular season result means nothing once the playoffs start, but TB expected  to take it easy.

I disagree that regular season is just nothing, although playoff games are more intense. Good coach can deploy better strategy and make better adjustments. Two strongest team can meet in the first round. Also regular season is averaged 82 games, team can lose key players at the end of the season, loose a bit. NHL teams also very close to each other, compare to NBA for example. May games decided overtime etc.


For TB loosing Headman was a big thing, but their coaching staff seems lost.

[Pavel095]

I disagree that regular season is just nothing, although playoff games are more intense. Good coach can deploy better strategy and make better adjustments. Two strongest team can meet in the first round. Also regular season is averaged 82 games, team can lose key players at the end of the season, loose a bit. NHL teams also very close to each other, compare to NBA for example. May games decided overtime etc.


For TB loosing Headman was a big thing, but their coaching staff seems lost.

You could be right, however in other sports for example in NBA or MLB I haven’t seen such stunning results in first playoff round.
Regarding the TB, they have so much depth and star squad that even loosing Headman should not lead to such poor result.

[RavenCp]

You could be right, however in other sports for example in NBA or MLB I haven’t seen such stunning results in first playoff round.
Regarding the TB, they have so much depth and star squad that even loosing Headman should not lead to such poor result.

I agree for TB it is one of the worst playoffs for sometime. Yes, by loosing Headman it should be such outcome, but he is a key player with a big size who was losing a lot of minutes, it is almost like loosing two good D.


NHL is more competitive due the salary cap and drafts (promote better players to worst teams), that era of NHL left in 90s. Caps vs Canes just a few points difference in the regular season.

[RavenCp]

Psychological it would be over-confidence and being intimated . What happened was not many system changes, the new GM not correcting how the Caps beat them, (playing more physical then they could), and CBJ watching what The Caps did to beat therm.

Bottom line is they where just to small.

The last year I felt like CBJ were the toughest playoffs opponent. Now they are improved especially before trade deadline, so here we go.

[Pavel095]

I agree for TB it is one of the worst playoffs for sometime. Yes, by loosing Headman it should be such outcome, but he is a key player with a big size who was losing a lot of minutes, it is almost like loosing two good D.


NHL is more competitive due the salary cap and drafts (promote better players to worst teams), that era of NHL left in 90s. Caps vs Canes just a few points difference in the regular season.

Yeah this modern nhl era gives excellent chances to win a CUP almost any team. In addition, with such strict rules in drafts and salaries require higher ranked teams to have smart   GM in their office and even that not gives guarantee of success as we can see nowadays.
The bottom line regarding the regular season is that many teams for example Canes or CBJ during the regular season just playing half of their potential,but once the playoff starts it becomes whole different story.

[Pavel095]

The last year I felt like CBJ were the toughest playoffs opponent. Now they are improved especially before trade deadline, so here we go.

Definitely, this trade deadline had huge positive impact which helped them to grow their mindset..