The Swamp

Caps -Lightning last night was a fun one. 1-0 caps after 1, 4-3 after 2 (and a pretty Tampa PP goal). Then a nice 6 v 5 to tie it up by the caps. These teams play all of the 3 matchups in March (with Tampa taking the first 2)....and it won't surprise me to see them play a whole bunch in the playoffs.

Looked like Pacioretty might have torn an ACL tonight.

Saw a white Golden Knights Fleury sweater in the Edinburgh train station yesterday.

brian wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2019 10:06 pm Looked like Pacioretty might have torn an ACL tonight.

wow, between him and Pavelski two huge losses for LV and SJ.

Are Vegas fans trying to get Trouba arrested?

Great Hockey Player, but terrible clothing choice, and not the fuel you want to see going into the Stanley Cup...and I think that is the local Teeter I sometimes stop at.
https://russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2 ... ore-321833

wlu_lax6 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2019 2:18 pm Great Hockey Player, but terrible clothing choice, and not the fuel you want to see going into the Stanley Cup...and I think that is the local Teeter I sometimes stop at.
https://russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2 ... ore-321833

Ovi's pre-game meal is 100 times worse than any of that stuff, so I think he'll be OK.

Would have been better if he bent over to get something off the bottom shelf and showed off his tramp stamp.

Hate to with agree with Drew Doughty on anything but....

Tkachuk still living rent free in Doughty's head.

Hockey is probably the perfect drinking sport to watch when you get older. 35 minutes is perfect amount of time to finish a beer and then 18 minutes to get a pee in.

You misspelled three.

A_B wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2019 9:43 pm You misspelled three.

Three minutes is perfect amount of time to finish a beer and then 18 minutes to get a pee in.

You should get that checked out.

rass wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2019 6:02 amYou should get that checked out.

Before seeing your post, I just used this exact phrasing in a different thread.

brian wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2019 2:24 pm

wlu_lax6 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2019 2:18 pm Great Hockey Player, but terrible clothing choice, and not the fuel you want to see going into the Stanley Cup...and I think that is the local Teeter I sometimes stop at.
https://russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2 ... ore-321833

Ovi's pre-game meal is 100 times worse than any of that stuff, so I think he'll be OK.

I think I talked about this on here, many years ago... I was once asked to tag along on a post-game outing that included a club that didn't have a sign out front and you had to know one of the doormen to get in. The "rumor" was that Ovechkin and a few other players would often show up REALLY late and party into the wee hours. I left in time to catch the Metro (11:30 or so), but the other guys stayed and reported that he definitely came in and partied like there was no tomorrow.

This was probably... 7-8 years ago? At least that long ago.

The point is that between his crazy ass diet and the way he was out drinking on a routine basis, I had always worried that his window to get a trophy was going to be pretty tight. I know that he's mellowed a lot in recent years (married life), but it is AMAZING that this guy is still one of the top players in the league given his lifestyle. Russian Machine, indeed.

Flames, Sharks and Golden Knights all stumbling across the finish line. Think the Flames are far enough ahead but it may cost the Sharks home ice if they get to the conference final.

That said, Predators and Jets are stumbling too. The Blues a very legit chance to win their division. That’s bonkers when you consider where they were when the calendar flipped.

I am completely baffled by the Sharks suddenly turning inept. They looked so good for much of the year, and now they can't beat anyone. I am mired in hockey depression.

sancarlos wrote: ↑Fri Mar 29, 2019 11:02 am I am completely baffled by the Sharks suddenly turning inept. They looked so good for much of the year, and now they can't beat anyone. I am mired in hockey depression.

Vegas has been resting a lot of guys so I'm not too worried about them. I'm about 90 percent convinced that Fleury's "injury" is completely made up so that they could just give him two weeks off to coincide with his wife giving birth (and to rest) without drawing the ire of the NHL and/or the PA.

Big game tonight between the team I've been following because I thought I was moving there and the team I'll be following in two years.

Yeah, this is always a weird time of year. Over in the east, the Caps clinched a playoff spot last night, but they've had to continue to grind this entire month. On the other hand, there've been years where they kind of coasted through March and it took them the first 2 games of their first series to wake up and pick up their pace.

Mixed bag, either way.

Feeling a bit better...

Super tough game last night between Caps and Tampa. Just beat the crap out of each other. 3 matchups in a short period of time and both being cup contenders just made it chippy. Everyone was looking to play body.

Ovi gets 50 and 51 (8th time doing so...Gretzky and Bossy had 9 seasons with at least 50)
Oshie cracks 25
Backstrom makes 7 caps with at least 20 goals

Wilson dropped Cernak with a big right


On Ovi

RMNB wrote:Ovi now needs 236 more goals to catch Gretzky. But the 2019-20 season could be a huge one for Ovechkin. If he scores 50 goals again, he could rocket up to eighth all-time in scoring, surpass 700 goals, and be one behind Mike Gartner’s 708. The names he could pass include Luc Robitaille, Mario Lemieux, Teemu Selanne, Mark Messier, and Steve Yzerman.

sancarlos: what the heck are they wearing on the Sharks broadcast?

degenerasian wrote: ↑Sun Mar 31, 2019 8:08 pm sancarlos: what the heck are they wearing on the Sharks broadcast?

I don’t know. I missed the game. Took my daughter to the airport then went out to eat with the wife.

Oilers are in town Saturday. :)

Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... MASS HYSTERIA!

https://russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2 ... Ub17giqrUY

Kempney is out of the playoffs. Man, good thing they picked up Jensen. That's a big blow.

Had a fun discussion at the Oilers/VGK game last night where we had to convince the girlfriend of the guy in the seats next to us that McDavid is really the best hockey player on the planet and there's almost no argument about that. It's not that she wasn't buying it necessarily, was just funny to see the Oilers and VGK fans within earshot of her all teaming up to basically tell this woman "yes, that #97 guy is indeed the best hockey player on Earth".

(Think the whole thing started with her asking why his nickname is McJesus.)

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2019 3:24 pm Kempney is out of the playoffs. Man, good thing they picked up Jensen. That's a big blow.

You've got problems? Sharks have injuries to Joe Pavelski, Erik Karlsson, Melker Karlsson, Lukas Radil, and Radek Simek. Logan Couture and Evander Kane recently returned from the injury list. Others are rumored to be playing hurt.

sancarlos wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2019 3:34 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2019 3:24 pm Kempney is out of the playoffs. Man, good thing they picked up Jensen. That's a big blow.

You've got problems? Sharks have injuries to Joe Pavelski, Erik Karlsson, Melker Karlsson, Lukas Radil, and Radek Simek. Logan Couture and Evander Kane recently returned from the injury list. Others are rumored to be playing hurt.

You would obviously know better than me, but I wonder how much of those are just guys resting since SJ has been locked into the #2 seed realistically for the last few weeks. I know Vegas has been generating some "fake" injuries to get guys nights off. I know the Karlsson injury is legit - he's been out awhile, but they'll at least have the benefit of resting for another nine days anyone who needs it.

Unless something crazy happens, only serious injury for VGK going into the playoffs is still going to be Haula (who has been out since November and probably ain't coming back this year).

Yeah, just posting about Kempney bc it was news today. Caps appear to be even healthier than they were last year going in. One of the obvious reasons they did so well is that their top 2 lines were very healthy last year. Every other year, you'd hear that Backstrom, Oshie or some other top line guy was struggling with an injury... You could see it, but of course they never cop to it until after they're bounced.

Here's the thing, though. Not being able to keep keep Jay Beagle is a real potential problem. Kuzy is terrible at the dot and now we don't have a counter-balance. I know face-offs are a little over-rated, but it sure puts a lot of pressure on the team when they can't get out of their zone without having to ward off an offensive set.

brian wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2019 3:37 pm

sancarlos wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2019 3:34 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2019 3:24 pm Kempney is out of the playoffs. Man, good thing they picked up Jensen. That's a big blow.

You've got problems? Sharks have injuries to Joe Pavelski, Erik Karlsson, Melker Karlsson, Lukas Radil, and Radek Simek. Logan Couture and Evander Kane recently returned from the injury list. Others are rumored to be playing hurt.

You would obviously know better than me, but I wonder how much of those are just guys resting since SJ has been locked into the #2 seed realistically for the last few weeks. I know Vegas has been generating some "fake" injuries to get guys nights off. I know the Karlsson injury is legit - he's been out awhile, but they'll at least have the benefit of resting for another nine days anyone who needs it.

Unless something crazy happens, only serious injury for VGK going into the playoffs is still going to be Haula (who has been out since November and probably ain't coming back this year).

What's Pacioretty's condition? was it as bad as you originally thought?

No, he's played in the last two games. I would have bet it was a very serious injury at the time it happened, but I guess he's OK. And if he was still dinged up and rest would help I'm sure they would have rested him because they'll have rested almost everyone at least one game before the playoffs start. Looks like Fleury is coming back to play in the last two regular season games to tune up for the playoffs.

I think the only guy who “could” play for the Sharks but isn’t now is Pavelski. He legit got injured, but I think they are being extra careful with the recoveries of both Erik Karlsson and the Big Pavelski.

Pavelski is back tonight. Great to see him back.

Tyler Bertuzzi is the first player in Red Wings' history to have four consecutive games with three points. The last Detroit player to do it in three straight games was Yzerman in the 1992-93 season.

Vegas gets (arguably) the biggest college FA prize*:



*I'd listen to arguments for Nico Sturm, but I think most of the scouts think Schuldt projects as a better pro. Of course, no one ever knows.