2018 NHL Playoffs

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Wed May 23, 2018 9:23 am

Early on in G6, I texted friends and said that I thought Sergachev was gonna make a difference on offense. I was wrong, or hopefully only 48 hours too early with my prediction.

I'm nervous about tonight. The series has been pretty even (haven't checked the numbers, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Caps are ahead in advanced metrics).

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed May 23, 2018 9:44 am

BSF21 wrote: ↑Wed May 23, 2018 8:36 am- I'm hot and cold on the "taking the body" strategy, but damn did it seem to work in G6. The Caps were just crushing the Bolts on every damn shift. It was hard to watch at times. Tampa needs to figure out a way to move the puck quickly and beat them on the counter.

Caps weren't taking themselves out of the play to make the hit and Wilson wasn't jump-checking them down to 11 forwards and a 5:00 kill so agreed on it certainly looking effective. Cooper is a really good coach; I imagine he'll have a plan to use their aggression against them. And I'll bet they backdoored the league with a video of any questionable charge or hit from this series to get a call somewhere.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Wed May 23, 2018 10:30 am

Someone on one of the hockey pods that I listen to (maybe Hockey Central at Noon, but more likely one of Craig Custance or Dimitri Filipovic on their home and home pods they released this week) mentioned that it was hitting, but hitting with a specific hockey purpose, not just running around looking for a hit.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Wed May 23, 2018 10:53 am

govmentchedda wrote: ↑Wed May 23, 2018 10:30 am Someone on one of the hockey pods that I listen to (maybe Hockey Central at Noon, but more likely one of Craig Custance or Dimitri Filipovic on their home and home pods they released this week) mentioned that it was hitting, but hitting with a specific hockey purpose, not just running around looking for a hit.

That's exactly right and what makes this version of the Caps very different than other teams. They used to think hitting was having Ovi, Wilson and their 4th line running around looking for a scalp. That doesn't work in high stakes games against patient, skillful opposition.

- Also in that vein, they let Ovi get away with MURDER out there. I know he's a huge guy and can lay big hits but he took 3 clear penalties in G6, the worst of which was an uncalled 5 minute board for anyone else in any other league. Given the physical play, I don't expect them to call most contact but at least one of them was awful. Also NBC is on his dick now that Syd is out. That's annoying.

I'd like to see the plays in question. We're probably going to agree on one or two, but I really don't recall him boarding anyone.

=-===-=

They need to be disciplined. I worry that they'll focus too much on taking the body coming out of that game and get caught out. As mentioned, Cooper is a very good coach. We'll see how Trotz sets them up.

Fucking Hell. 8 hours.

BSF21 · Post by **BSF21** » Wed May 23, 2018 11:09 am

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Wed May 23, 2018 10:53 am
govmentchedda wrote: ↑Wed May 23, 2018 10:30 am Someone on one of the hockey pods that I listen to (maybe Hockey Central at Noon, but more likely one of Craig Custance or Dimitri Filipovic on their home and home pods they released this week) mentioned that it was hitting, but hitting with a specific hockey purpose, not just running around looking for a hit.
That's exactly right and what makes this version of the Caps very different than other teams. They used to think hitting was having Ovi, Wilson and their 4th line running around looking for a scalp. That doesn't work in high stakes games against patient, skillful opposition.

- Also in that vein, they let Ovi get away with MURDER out there. I know he's a huge guy and can lay big hits but he took 3 clear penalties in G6, the worst of which was an uncalled 5 minute board for anyone else in any other league. Given the physical play, I don't expect them to call most contact but at least one of them was awful. Also NBC is on his dick now that Syd is out. That's annoying.
I'd like to see the plays in question. We're probably going to agree on one or two, but I really don't recall him boarding anyone.

=-===-=

They need to be disciplined. I worry that they'll focus too much on taking the body coming out of that game and get caught out. As mentioned, Cooper is a very good coach. We'll see how Trotz sets them up.

Fucking Hell. 8 hours.

Thoughts? That looks pretty square in the numbers to me.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Wed May 23, 2018 12:22 pm

Oh yeah, that play. There's no way that's a 5 minute. If he had actually crushed him into the boards, I'll entertain it. He DID hit him into the boards, though. So, yeah, he got away with one there, no question.

(ETA - I just watched it again 5 times and edited the above.)

And I'm not engaging in whataboutism, but Strohlman's hit on Wilson was a text book boarding play and against almost any other player would've been 5. On that play, Wilson didn't turn at the last minute, the hit was between the numbers with Strohlman having lots of time to line it up, and the hit was high and into the glass.

I was OK with a minor and no suspension, but very easily could've made an argument there.re.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Wed May 23, 2018 12:26 pm

Edit above.

BSF21 · Post by **BSF21** » Wed May 23, 2018 12:54 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Wed May 23, 2018 12:22 pm Oh yeah, that play. There's no way that's a 5 minute. If he had actually crushed him into the boards, I'll entertain it. He DID hit him into the boards, though. So, yeah, he got away with one there, no question.

(ETA - I just watched it again 5 times and edited the above.)

And I'm not engaging in whataboutism, but Strohlman's hit on Wilson was a text book boarding play and against almost any other player would've been 5. On that play, Wilson didn't turn at the last minute, the hit was between the numbers with Strohlman having lots of time to line it up, and the hit was high and into the glass.

I was OK with a minor and no suspension, but very easily could've made an argument there.re.

I'm with you on Strohlman and I've got no dog in that fight.

Maybe Ovi didn't ride him in, but from an impartial standpoint, just seemed like they were giving him a LOT of leeway. The above linked is a bad hit and should be penalized. You can really hurt someone with that shit. You're probably right, 2 minutes. Maybe 5.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Wed May 23, 2018 1:06 pm

Stralman! Not Strohlman. He's Swedish, not German.

So much nervous energy right now.

Side note, someone in my neighborhood facebook group just posted a picture of a goat on the loose down the street from my house.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Wed May 23, 2018 1:56 pm

The fact that I'm even close is as much of a nod a respect as I'll muster, Bolthead!

(I honestly do most of my hockey spelling phonetically. Ain't nobody got time for that.)

BSF21 · Post by **BSF21** » Wed May 23, 2018 2:00 pm

I copied him ^^^

Post by **brian** » Wed May 23, 2018 3:46 pm

Let's get this game started already.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed May 23, 2018 3:54 pm

Antwaan Stralman.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Wed May 23, 2018 5:06 pm

Brian - thoughts on this?

Union workers in Las Vegas casinos vote to authorize possible strike

... It also could cause problems for fans heading to the city to watch the Vegas Golden Knights hockey team play in the Stanley Cup Final in early June...

Post by **brian** » Wed May 23, 2018 5:17 pm

Yeah, it won't affect the Finals or T-Mobile directly, but it could affect any fans staying in the casinos around the arena (all of which are union).

Ultimately I wouldn't worry too much. The Culinary Union is massively influential in Vegas, but there's a lot of tailwind towards getting a deal done on both sides. The casinos and union have had a pretty good negotiating relationship for awhile, it's an election year and both sides stand to lose a lot of money if a deal doesn't get done. Even if they don't get the deal done by the June 1 deadline, they'll probably get close enough to finish it off before authorizing a walkout. This happens every few years and the deal always gets done.

Long story short, it won't affect the SCF in any way, shape or form though.

ETA: Another tailwind is that I doubt Las Vegas casino operators are interested in seeing B-roll footage or news footage of striking casino workers a few hundred feet away from the arena for Game 3 (if Tampa wins) or Game 5 (if Washington wins) so all the more motivation to get a deal done.

Post by **brian** » Wed May 23, 2018 7:44 pm

You don’t often see a real, legitimate fight in a Game 7.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Wed May 23, 2018 7:46 pm

Lots of anger in that bout.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Wed May 23, 2018 8:25 pm

Watching really closely, looks like speed guys for Caps may have shot their wad in G6.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Wed May 23, 2018 8:28 pm

Caps need the 3 4 lines to step up right now. Like. Now.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Wed May 23, 2018 8:28 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Wed May 23, 2018 8:28 pm Caps need the 3 4 lines to step up right now. Like. Now.

Like now!

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Wed May 23, 2018 8:30 pm

That's the Dan Girardi we know.

Tough one for the Bolts. They've been dominant with nothing to show for it.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed May 23, 2018 8:40 pm

And there’s the unpenalized bullshit hit for the night. Bonus points for it being Cedric Paquette, exactly the kind of guy Tampa would love to see Washington take a penalty retaliating on.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Wed May 23, 2018 8:41 pm

Can't decide Game 7 you know.

Post by **brian** » Wed May 23, 2018 8:45 pm

I’m rooting for Washington solely from a home-ice advantage/worst case at least it’s a team who also doesn’t have a Cup standpoint but shutting down this new version of Ovie gives me a cold sweat.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Wed May 23, 2018 8:46 pm

Absolute fucking horseshit.

I’m watching on a delay, sorry, should’ve said that. Didn’t see any traffic so...

That is textbook fucking boarding.

This league, man.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Wed May 23, 2018 9:01 pm

My daughter has a BURA jersey.

This is kind of insane.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed May 23, 2018 9:05 pm

Super dickhead thing to say, but atleast at 2-0 Orpik going out could have been a huge blessing.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Wed May 23, 2018 9:28 pm

Scenes when Ovechkin finally makes it to a Stanley Cup final and gets swept by an expansion team.

The Universe is cruel.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed May 23, 2018 9:32 pm

Jesus Christ, Orpik is back? Are they pretending he laid face down for 3 minutes with an upper back ouchie?

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed May 23, 2018 9:33 pm

mister d wrote: ↑Wed May 23, 2018 9:32 pm Jesus Christ, Orpik is back? Are they pretending he laid face down for 3 minutes with an upper back ouchie?

I think official name of that injury would be laying on the ice like a broad.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed May 23, 2018 9:35 pm

Titfucker.

Post by **brian** » Wed May 23, 2018 9:41 pm

Might see more Bryce Harper on NBC in the next two weeks than the rest of his MLB career combined.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed May 23, 2018 9:50 pm

HE TOUCHED IT AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Wed May 23, 2018 9:59 pm

I'm glad both team touched the conference trophies, get rid of that stupid superstition

Post by **brian** » Wed May 23, 2018 10:06 pm

Congrats to NLFC and the other Caps fans.

Post by **brian** » Wed May 23, 2018 10:45 pm

brian wrote: ↑Tue Apr 24, 2018 10:17 am I wouldn't bet any real money on it, but just have a weird feeling it's going to somehow be the Golden Knights and Capitals in the Finals. I think I said that during the regular season thread, but going to throw it out there now just in case.

(And if that happens, it will be fun to watch the rest of America fall in love with Nate Schmidt like Washington and Vegas fans have.)

I obviously wish I would have had the balls to bet this parlay.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed May 23, 2018 10:46 pm

Now you know. Put 10 down on random swamp posts.

Post by **brian** » Wed May 23, 2018 11:43 pm

I’ll have some more thoughts before Monday I’m sure but in my mind it comes down to this — to win this series Washington will likely have to win two games in Vegas. If the Caps can do that they’ll definitely have earned the title.

I know it’s in vogue to dismiss home-ice advantage and I get it hasn’t been a huge deal especially for Washington but the home ice advantage in Vegas is real and if Washington isn’t careful they could be down 2-0 and facing two straight must-win games at home because if it’s 3-1 going into Game Five the series will be over.

Post by **brian** » Wed May 23, 2018 11:48 pm

All that said it should be a hell of a series. Lots of fun storylines, RMNB and Sinbin.vegas are two of the best fan sites, one of the best players of all-time chasing a Cup. Gonna be epic.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu May 24, 2018 7:20 am

I’m going to go out on a very long and thin limb and say this series will be lost by a goalie.