plopster 136 Report post Posted May 12, 2016 Who thinks Phil kessel just didn't want to play for Toronto and tanked to get out? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedWingsRox 614 Report post Posted May 12, 2016 Trotz has had the same problems in the playoffs tho with some great teams. Couldn't find the goals when they were carrying play. I think this was two evenly matched teams but Pitts got the big goals Yah, that's what I was thinking, his record of playoff 1st round, 2nd round exits go beyond Washington to the days of Nashville. Is he Boudreau? Great regular season coach but missing something in playoffs? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kickazz 5,459 Report post Posted May 12, 2016 Crazy looking back. So many people had picked this team to win the cup. "No way anyone's going to beat the Capitals". I think we all underestimated Penguins. They really had been the best team in the league post all-star break. All it took was for Crosby to find his groove and for Kessel to mesh with the new team I guess. This team now has Crosby, Malkin and Kessel. Two top players in the world and one of the best goal scorers in the league. Dam them! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toby91_ca 620 Report post Posted May 12, 2016 PIT was the best team in the league dating back before the All Star break. Whoever gets through the East will be in tough against STL if they get through though, they look pretty strong right now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xtrememachine1 795 Report post Posted May 12, 2016 Crazy looking back. So many people had picked this team to win the cup. "No way anyone's going to beat the Capitals". I think we all underestimated Penguins. They really had been the best team in the league post all-star break. All it took was for Crosby to find his groove and for Kessel to mesh with the new team I guess. This team now has Crosby, Malkin and Kessel. Two top players in the world and one of the best goal scorers in the league. Dam them! After the way they finished the last few months of the regular season, I doubt anyone was underestimating them. Its not even Crosby really, he did very little in this last series. It's not Malkin either, it's that second line of Kessel, Bonino, Hagelin and the goaltending of Murray. That second line gave them the depth they needed to compliment the stars and Murray is like the anti-Fleury. Murray has every reason in the world to meltdown and does not, while Fleury has a meltdown several times in a playoff season. Interesting little fact. The Stanley Cup champion in 1976 had a rookie goalie. The Stanley Cup champion in 1986 had a rookie goalie. The Stanley Cup champion in 2006 had a rookie goalie. Now it's 2016 and there's a rookie goalie that's on a huge hot streak. We need to start a rookie goalie in 2026. 3 NerveDamage, GMRwings1983 and RedWingsRox reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GMRwings1983 8,794 Report post Posted May 12, 2016 Crazy looking back. So many people had picked this team to win the cup. "No way anyone's going to beat the Capitals". I think we all underestimated Penguins. They really had been the best team in the league post all-star break. All it took was for Crosby to find his groove and for Kessel to mesh with the new team I guess. This team now has Crosby, Malkin and Kessel. Two top players in the world and one of the best goal scorers in the league. Dam them! Those people aren't very familiar with the Capitals' history. A team's rotten history is hard to change. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kickazz 5,459 Report post Posted May 12, 2016 Those people aren't very familiar with the Capitals' history. A team's rotten history is hard to change. So lets hope St. Louis chokes too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GMRwings1983 8,794 Report post Posted May 12, 2016 So lets hope St. Louis chokes too. If they play San Jose in the WCF, I won't know what to think. This may have been the year of the choker. Washington clearly missed the party. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cali-Wing-Nut 102 Report post Posted May 12, 2016 If they play San Jose in the WCF, I won't know what to think. This may have been the year of the choker. Washington clearly missed the party. We had the Caps choke on Tues, Stars on Weds and it will be the Sharks today. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hockeymom1960 5,107 Report post Posted May 12, 2016 So lets hope St. Louis chokes too. No, let's not. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kickazz 5,459 Report post Posted May 12, 2016 (edited) No, let's not. Hard to root for St. Louis or Pittsburgh. They were the Red Wings biggest rivals next to the Avs in the last 20 years. I don't prefer to jump on their bandwagon for the finals. Too many memories of Quennville getting outcoached by Scott Bowman. Yzerman vs. Pronger. With Pittsburgh it's obviously the Crosby/Malkin v. Datsyuk/Zetterberg rivalry. I was rooting for Jim Nill's team, but now looks like I'm rooting for The Captains team. Edited May 12, 2016 by kickazz Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DatsyukianDekes 2,428 Report post Posted May 12, 2016 Washington ran into a hot goalie. Kuznetsov went cold too. That led to there demise. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
plopster 136 Report post Posted May 13, 2016 Speaking of caps and Pens. Oh and just the greatest display of the biggest dirtbag goalie melting down ever. http://m.thn.com/blog/down-goes-brown-the-five-worst-game-7s-of-the-last-25-years/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites