Washington Capitals Fan Forum
Talk about Capitals hockey & more! => Washington Capitals & Other Hockey Discussion => Topic started by: alta on Thursday December 28, 2017, 05:41:49 PM Eastern
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Dec. 28 Capitals vs. Boston Bruins at Capital One Arena
Time: 7:30 p.m.
TV: NBCSN
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio 24/7
Boston Bruins 20-10-5
Washington Capitals 22-13-3
from scouttherefs.com:
REFEREES
Dean Morton #36, TJ Luxmore #21
LINESMEN
Scott Cherrey #50, Lonnie Cameron #74
anticipated lines;
Forwards
Alex Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana-Evgeny Kuznetsov-T.J. Oshie
Andre Burakovsky-Lars Eller-Brett Connolly
Devante Smith-Pelly-Jay Beagle-Alex Chiasson
Scratched: Chandler Stephenson (ill), Nathan Walker
Defensemen
Dmitry Orlov-Matt Niskanen
Christian Djoos-John Carlson
Brooks Orpik-Madison Bowey
Scratched: Taylor Chorney
Goaltenders
Braden Holtby (starter)
Philipp Grubauer
By Isabelle Khurshudyan December 28
(https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_960w/2010-2019/Wires/Images/2017-12-01/AP/Kings_Capitals_Hockey_64563-e1825.jpg&w=480)
Despite talent like Nicklas Backstrom quarterbacking the unit from the half-wall, the Capitals’ power play has been lackluster this season. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
NEW YORK — Considering the talent on the power play, the league’s most lethal shot with two elite passers, Capitals Coach Barry Trotz knows his unit has underperformed this season. He expects it to be ranked in the top 10, but it’s fallen to 18th with an 18.8 percentage. When Washington was piling up wins earlier this month, the man-advantage’s slump didn’t matter as much as it does now, when the team is in a three-game losing streak and hasn’t scored a goal in 145-plus minutes.Hot streaks and droughts are expected with a power play during a season, but the Capitals’ 1-for-22 stretch on that unit over the past nine games highlights how it’s surprisingly struggled all season, especially compared to Washington’s standards. A top-five power play has been a staple even before Trotz’s arrival, but even in just his three-plus season tenure, the Capitals have scored on 23.4 percent of their man-advantages, best in the league without and not very close.But with it still struggling 38 games into the season, Trotz is mulling changes.“It’s been pretty standard, and it’s been pretty successful, but we may try to put a couple more wrinkles in here,” he said on Wednesday. “We just haven’t been hitting as much on it. … We can execute better. We move it around pretty well, and we’ve got some dynamic people, but we’re handcuffing certain players. We’re getting the passes over to them, and it’s in a bad spot.”Washington’s power play has been a predictable monster. There’s Alex Ovechkin in the left faceoff circle, firing one-timers. T.J. Oshie is almost just as dangerous shooting from the slot. John Carlson is at the point, often shooting from there with Oshie serving as a net-front presence. Nicklas Backstrom quarterbacks the unit from the half-wall, though Evgeny Kuznetsov’s promotion to the top power play has allowed him and Backstrom to occasionally switch roles, an added element of movement for a feature that’s known for being stagnant in a 1-3-1 formation.Though the power play lost forward Marcus Johansson, traded away in the offseason, Kuznetsov is arguably an upgrade at the goal line and on zone entries. The Capitals rank 29th in high-danger chances per 60 minutes (16.05), [size=inherit]according to Natural Stat Trick (https://www.naturalstattrick.com/teamtable.php?season=20162017&stype=2&sit=pp&score=all&rate=y&vs=all&loc=B&gpf=82&fd=2017-09-13&td=2018-04-07)[/size]. Last season, Washington was 20th in that category with 18.61.
“I think we don’t execute,” Ovechkin said. “We have to play simple. That’s the key for us. We don’t move the puck well. We know we’re better than that. We just have to realize what we have to do out there and start from basics and play the right way.”Trotz said he’s unlikely to make any personnel changes to the top unit, though the second group could see some. Washington’s second power play is typically on the ice for less than a minute per man-advantage, and the Capitals have the third line (center Lars Eller, Andre Burakovsky and Brett Connolly) out there with the top defense pair (Dmitry Orlov and Matt Niskanen), making it an easy transition back to even strength when the power play expires. On Thursday night, the Capitals host the Bruins, who have the fifth-best penalty kill with an 84.1 percentage.“It’s easy to say it’s this or that, but at the end of the day, it’s just getting that puck in the net,” Carlson said. “Sometimes you go through droughts like this. There are games that they’re deserved and games that they’re not. You can’t overreact and try to throw out what’s made us so good. You’ve just got to stick to what’s made you made you successful since I’ve been here.”
Stephenson bit by the flu bug
It’s unclear if the Capitals will have Chandler Stephenson back in the lineup on Thursday night. Trotz said before Wednesday’s game that Stephenson caught the flu over the recent Christmas break. If healthy, he’d likely play on the fourth line in place of either Alex Chiasson or Devante Smith-Pelly.“Guys have been fighting that off a bit in our room for the last little while,” Trotz said on Wednesday. “We just left at home and we’ll see where he is tomorrow.”
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Thanks for posting GDT again Alta. I just got back home. Another crazy day.
I'm looking forward to the mental break of watching a game. A win would be nice tonight.
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>:( we’ve got penis mcguire two nights in a row. I knew we, the authentic fan, were gonna get screwed with nbc taking over comcast
and there is collage football on 106.7 tonight >:( >:( >:(
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NBC Sports completely screwed the Formula One racing coverage by putting a brainless non-F1 talking head in charge of the broadcast. Even SpeedTV was better, and they absolutely sucked compared to European coverage like EuroSport, Sky Sports, and BBC. Americans get the dregs of the sports announcers.
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This team fukking sux. No Defense.. No offense
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what the flock
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Well crap! Next 5 minutes will set the tone for the rest of the game.
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Ok, two minutes. No damn fucks given.
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A 3rd shutout and Trotz is gone.. This team is not playing, and you can't fire the team, although I can think of about 4 trades that can be made right now
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This team has zero heart.
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Sit Niskanan.. He is worse than Schultz right now.
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Don’t know why I continue to do this to myself.
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Well that was a good shift.
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Don’t know why I continue to do this to myself.
I'm sure most of us on here would love a dollar for each time we've said that to ourselves.
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sorry we’re at BWI tryin to get the game on
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sorry we’re at BWI tryin to get the game on
You coming or going?
NBC SPorts App????
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Sit Niskanan.. He is worse than Schultz right now.
Agreed
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Niskanen has fallen off a cliff.
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Can’t win with zero goals every night.
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Another failed clear by 2 on the PK.
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Burakovsky CAN’T do that.
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7 straight periods with no goals. Where are 8 and 19?
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sorry we’re at BWI tryin to get the game on
You coming or going?
NBC SPorts App? ???
Goin’. We’re headed to FLA to spend New Years with the other family (friends for 20+ years).
I got it on radio now, . . . doesn’t make it look better
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Love it — Roenick tearing the Caps to shreds. Spot on. They don’t have any heart.
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I gotta give props to the NBC crew for totally bashing the Caps and saying the Caps have absolutely no desire to win this game. Called it men playing boys. OUCH! It had to be said though.
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I gotta give props to the NBC crew for totally bashing the Caps and saying the Caps have absolutely no desire to win this game. Called it men playing boys. OUCH! It had to be said though.
We bash Trotz but I’d turn down an offer to coach this group of prima donnas.
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Waldons interviewing Garter right now. . .
Comments on the “Workoholic Caps” of the 80s . . . 😡
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Yes - Roenick said if he were Trotz he would be screaming his head off in the locker room. Then he added that the Caps should be embarrassed and would be lucky to make the playoffs. Nice to hear an objective view as Roenick is not a Caps hater.
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Waldons interviewing Garter right now. . .
Comments on the “Workoholic Caps” of the 80s . . . 😡
Loved Gartner when he played.
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We bash Trotz but I’d turn down an offer to coach this group of prima donnas.
I'd give it a go for that paycheck, and to let them know what the average fan thinks of them
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Yes - Roenick said if he were Trotz he would be screaming his head off in the locker room. Then he added that the Caps should be embarrassed and would be lucky to make the playoffs. Nice to hear an objective view as Roenick is not a Caps hater.
I agree with Roenick. This team needs Trotz to start screaming at them.
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Carlson and Niskanen could not have played a worse period of hockey.
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Can we get a third straight shutout? We sure don’t look like we can score.
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SO FUCKING BAD!!!
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Bullshit call on Connolly
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So for the past couple years the Caps have been terrible after long breaks and holidays. What does that tell you? It tells me that we have too many guys that like to party, too few team leaders to enforce a culture, and weak discipline from a coaching staff.
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Bullshit call on Connolly
It was a fucking joke
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I’m shocked watching this pathetic display night after night.
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So for the past couple years the Caps have been terrible after long breaks and holidays. What does that tell you? It tells me that we have too many guys that like to party, too few team leaders to enforce a culture, and weak discipline from a coaching staff.
Thats just speculation.
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Eller! About time!
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pathetic that it took 8 periods of hockey to get 1 goal
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pathetic that it took 8 periods of hockey to get 1 goal
Bad thing was it may have been offside. Lucky Boston didnt challenge.
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Ovi!!!
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nice to see them wake up
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I'm expecting Papa Johns pizza tomorrow. They better not let up now!
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So for the past couple years the Caps have been terrible after long breaks and holidays. What does that tell you? It tells me that we have too many guys that like to party, too few team leaders to enforce a culture, and weak discipline from a coaching staff.
Thats just speculation.
Yes, because that is what we do - speculate. Except in this case it is based in fact. We stink after layoffs. You got a better reason?
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Some teams just dont play well after long lay offs
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Nice to see Eller get a big goal. I don’t know why that guy doesn’t score more, he has sick skills.
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Some teams just don't play well when they don't give a fuck! There's still something rotten in D.C. in this regard. I don't recall seeing any other team run so damned hot and cold in the heart department.
Jeremy Roenick just said it as well as it could be said, "If the Caps play like they did in the second period consistently they can win a cup, they're that good".
Questions is, do they want to?
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Some teams just don't play well when they don't give a fuck! There's still something rotten in D.C. in this regard. I don't recall seeing any other team run so damned hot and cold in the heart department.
Jeremy Roenick just said it as well as it could be said, "If the Caps play like they did in the second period consistently they can win a cup, they're that good".
Questions is, do they want to?
I can't really argue that. This team has a reputation of not playing with heart. We have a couple guys that give it all on every shift but we have way too many guys that take shifts off. Even Oshie has looked lazy at times.
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Yes, too many guys are lazy way too often. It’s a long season, but you build bad habits and think you can turn it on when needed. Then the playoffs come and it’s not so easy to flip the switch. That’s why I keep saying personnel changes are needed.
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Unbelievable turnovers this game.
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All on TJ Oshie. He’s sucked since he’s been back. Really awful.
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great PK,
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And Backstrom can’t get his head out of his ass either.
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It seems the Caps are doing a better job setting up Bruins for SOG than the other Bruins are.
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Oshie takes a bad high-sticking to cause the penalty. They kill it and then he gives it up anyway! WTF?
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All on TJ Oshie. He’s sucked since he’s been back. Really awful.
Bad enough he took the dumb penalty but we kill it off and the first thing Oshie does when he gets on the ice is give the puck away and give the Bruins the lead.
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Oshie takes a bad high-sticking to cause the penalty. They kill it and then he gives it up anyway! WTF?
Oshie has been terrible
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This is BS reffing. Total crap.
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crash the net!!!!!!!
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yet again, this rule fukin sucks
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Good goal or we are being screwed.
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Bozos.. It's a good goal.
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Now we get a PP. Make it count.
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Pizza, Pizza!!
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These announcers are the worst league ass kissers ever, you could clearly see the replays yet these boso's refused to admit the Caps held it in
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and a horrible pp, trying to be too cute with the passing
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who is Vranalov?
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How was that NOT a penalty?
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These announcers are the worst league ass kissers ever, you could clearly see the replays yet these boso's refused to admit the Caps held it in
The feed I got is Boston commentators but they said it was onside.
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These announcers are the worst league ass kissers ever, you could clearly see the replays yet these boso's refused to admit the Caps held it in
The feed I got is Boston commentators but they said it was onside.
NBC INSISTED it was offsides, even when their replay clearly showed it wasn't.
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Down 2-0 after 3 minutes — a point looks good. Let’s get the second.
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ain't a chance in hell these zebras give the Caps a PP in over time
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ain't a chance in hell these zebras give the Caps a PP in over time
No kidding. Could have been a couple called
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Oshie just can't stop making passes to the opponents.
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Except for the 1st period this has been fun to watch in spite of continued stupidity
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Exciting overtime. Now a stupid fucking shootout.
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The question is where will I be buying pizza, D.C. or Boston.
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And Oshie continues to suck.
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Too goddamn cute from 92.
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OVI!
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holly crap!! OV scored in the SO!!!!!!
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Extra point baby!
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Pizza in D.C. !!!!!
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post game is on the regular channel
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See? I told you we had to have Ovi in the shootout - ha!
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Oshie just can't stop making passes to the opponents.
Oshie was by far the worst player on the ice tonight. He was so out to lunch that he didnt even get a shot off in the shootout. Just fumbled it away like he did all night. I have to admit I blew a gasket when Oshie coughed up the puck on the Bruins 3rd goal. I just can't believe how bad Oshie has been playing. I'm not talking just the scoring slump. Terrible give aways. Can't make or receive a pass. He was a liability tonight.
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We just have Boston’s number. Even when we make terrible turnovers all night long, and the get the penalty calls, they still can’t beat us.
DSP and Orpik were our two best players - can’t believe I said that.
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Oshie just can't stop making passes to the opponents.
Oshie was by far the worst player on the ice tonight. He was so out to lunch that he didnt even get a shot off in the shootout. Just fumbled it away like he did all night. I have to admit I blew a gasket when Oshie coughed up the puck on the Bruins 3rd goal. I just can't believe how bad Oshie has been playing. I'm not talking just the scoring slump. Terrible give aways. Can't make or receive a pass. He was a liability tonight.
Agree - maybe his worst game as a Cap. Not sure what is wrong with him.
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See? I told you we had to have Ovi in the shootout - ha!
Good thing we did. We should have left Oshie at home.
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Oshie just can't stop making passes to the opponents.
Oshie was by far the worst player on the ice tonight. He was so out to lunch that he didnt even get a shot off in the shootout. Just fumbled it away like he did all night. I have to admit I blew a gasket when Oshie coughed up the puck on the Bruins 3rd goal. I just can't believe how bad Oshie has been playing. I'm not talking just the scoring slump. Terrible give aways. Can't make or receive a pass. He was a liability tonight.
Agree - maybe his worst game as a Cap. Not sure what is wrong with him.
Thats the worst game I've ever seen him play. It was frustrating to watch. I still like the guy. It happens to everyone.
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We just have Boston’s number. Even when we make terrible turnovers all night long, and the get the penalty calls, they still can’t beat us.
DSP and Orpik were our two best players - can’t believe I said that.
They both played well
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See? I told you we had to have Ovi in the shootout - ha!
That was a sweet game winner too. He nailed the top right corner as perfect as could be. I've never had any issue with Ovie near the top of the rotation for the shootout. Why would you, he has a killer shot?
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I thought Vrana was going to score another sick goal on that breakaway.
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See? I told you we had to have Ovi in the shootout - ha!
That was a sweet game winner too. He nailed the top right corner as perfect as could be. I've never had any issue with Ovie near the top of the rotation for the shootout. Why would you, he has a killer shot?
I just think there are better guys that can stick-handle better and get pucks by in the shootout format. Ovi is a great scorer but I don’t think his stats in the shootout are that good.
My order would be Oshie, Kuznetsov, Backstrom, then I would think hard about Eller and Buro before Ovi. That will never happen though because Trotz doesn’t want to blowup the team hierchy - maybe rightly so. I would still put Ovi 4th though.
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I think Ovi would be my 4th option behind the 3 guys you mentioned.
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We just have Boston’s number. Even when we make terrible turnovers all night long, and the get the penalty calls, they still can’t beat us.
DSP and Orpik were our two best players - can’t believe I said that.
I have been saying, I like DSP's energy. This team needs some
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100 to 7
Great job guys!
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Oshie isn't right. Looks off balance a lot. Not sure if he's still on the mend, afraid of getting hurt again or just shaking off rust, but he's not the same at all..
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Oshie isn't right. Looks off balance a lot. Not sure if he's still on the mend, afraid of getting hurt again or just shaking off rust, but he's not the same at all..
probably both, and the shit show he came back to couldn’t help either
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Oshie isn't right. Looks off balance a lot. Not sure if he's still on the mend, afraid of getting hurt again or just shaking off rust, but he's not the same at all..
probably both, and the shit show he came back to couldn’t help either
shit show? ...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IiNYmiM0Nfw
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So here it is....my glorious first post. 8)
(thanks AJ)
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So....I went to the "old" board out of curiosity....
8 posts in the GDT for the last game :-[
By the way....I was out of touch for some time before the switch. Someone clue me in here as to WTF happened?
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So....I went to the "old" board out of curiosity....
8 posts in the GDT for the last game :-[
By the way....I was out of touch for some time before the switch. Someone clue me in here as to WTF happened?
Two assholes attacked, unprovoked, ArJ, then me, then the community. Caps management banned the two ass holes, and ArJ. Told us ArJ was non negotiable. So we left.
and welcome ;D
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So....I went to the "old" board out of curiosity....
8 posts in the GDT for the last game :-[
By the way....I was out of touch for some time before the switch. Someone clue me in here as to WTF happened?
I dont think ArJ even responded to the other guys.
Two assholes attacked, unprovoked, ArJ, then me, then the community. Caps management banned the two ass holes, and ArJ. Told us ArJ was non negotiable. So we left.
and welcome ;D
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So....I went to the "old" board out of curiosity....
8 posts in the GDT for the last game :-[
By the way....I was out of touch for some time before the switch. Someone clue me in here as to WTF happened?
THERE you are Rick!! Welcome! I’ll PM you and fill you in
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Thanks everyone