Up next: Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and the Washington Capitals
by FrankD on Jan 21, 2010 8:00 AM EST
in 2009-10 game previews
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Print[SBN Caps blog - Japers' Rink]
RECORD: 31-12-6 (1st in the East)
SCORERS: Alex Ovechkin (30g, 35a), Nicklas Backstrom (20g, 35a), Mike Green (12g, 38a)
Alex Ovechkin woke up in St. Petersburg, Russia the morning of June 13, 2009 only to hear from a friend that Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup while he was tucked away in his bed eight time zones away.
His heart sunk.
"I was like, 'Jesus,' " Ovechkin said Wednesday from Kettler Capitals Iceplex. "You know, maybe we could have been there, too. I was disappointed."
That's the sort of stuff that truly warms your heart.
It's kind of hard to believe this is the first time the Penguins and Capitals are playing since the postseason. Seriously. But if there was ever a good time for these two to faceoff once again, I guess now's as good a time as any. The next three games are pretty big for the Pens - Caps tonight, Flyers on Sunday and Rangers Monday - and for the most part the team is getting by just fine despite a few injuries. Any doubts of Brent Johnson's ability to step in for the injured Marc-Andre Fleury were hopefully silenced the other night in the 6-4 win over the Islanders. And frankly I'm pretty comfortable with a guy going up against his former team, especially when they guy is a goaltender.
The bigger concern, if any, is etched in how close the Pens came to almost losing a three-goal lead against the Islanders. And although they did manage to hit the gas and close out Tuesday's game with a win, I think it goes without saying that you can't give a team like the Caps an opportunity to come back.
So far this month things have continued to work in Washington's favor, as they've posted a 7-2 record early in the new year and currently ride a four-game win streak into Mellon tonight.
This is a big game and hopefully one in which the Penguins can come out on top. It's a pretty tight race between the Top Four teams in the conference and it's never too early to pick up some big points. Again, with the Caps on tap tonight, Flyers on Sunday and Rangers on Monday, now would be as good a time as any for Pittsburgh to find that winning touch. Perhaps it's wishful thinking, but if the Pens can sweep these games they could be in first place by Monday night.
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Is this game televised?
A goaltender going up against his former team should know some of the shooting tendencies of his former teammates I would think. Should be a good game. Now the REAL pens need to show up – not the ones that were on the ice in Vancouver – LOL
Same can be said in how to beat BJ. All i can say is that crosby and co better be ready to play tonight because there coming to play with a vengence for stealing the cup from them.
by CAPFan4Life on Jan 21, 2010 10:08 AM EST up reply actions
Stealing the CUP???
You never would have gotten by Detroit had you beaten us. Wake up and realize that your defensive shortcomings will never allow the Caps to win a cup. AO actually has to backcheck and Grren has to keep solid defensive positioning in the playoffs, and neither are truly capable of doing that. And THAT is why you will continue to lose to us in the playoffs.
They're better than you think
And I find it hard to believe that not a single person in that room may have an inkling that if they’d beaten PIT, they may have won it all last season.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 10:23 AM EST up reply actions
To beat Detroit, the Pens needed to play a very patient game and take their chances at opportune moments. The Caps are not a patient team offensively. Detroit’s counter attack system was tailor-made to beat you. The Pens also needed outstanding goaltending from MAF, who proved to be a clutch goalie. The Caps do not have a proven playoff goaltender. In fact, Varlamov wilted under the pressure of game 7 and got blown out. MAF stood tall and delivered a key save on AO in the beginnng game 7 and also a HUGE save against Lidstrom to seal the Cup.
I wil not discount that you have a good team. I just would give them very little chance (not none) against that Detroit team last year. THANK GOD WE WILL NEVER KNOW.
I don’t think they would have beated 07-08 Detroit, but 08-09 Detroit was much less disciplined with the puck, in which case the Caps might have won. Anyways, we’ll never know.
I also think in a 7-game series, a team’s ability to adapt to another team’s style comes into play. So style during the regular season is more or less a moot point I think.
Anyways lets not get into that here. Maybe in May.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 11:03 AM EST up reply actions
I’m not sure where this " caps suck on defense" things always pops up. It’s an easy thing to say because the offense is so good and that’s the system they use.
But Caps have FIVE defenseman that are top 20 in +/- in the entire NHL and have allowed less goals then these Pittsburgh Penguins all while their top goalie has been out since December and have used another rookie in net along with the not-consistent Jose Theodore.
As far as “proven goalie”…Varly came in with about 5 or 6 actual NHL games, won a series for the Caps and came one game from beating the Pens. So I’m not so sure there’s a huge difference here. MAF was good, no doubt but Varly went above and beyond for sure.
And as for giving the Caps a small chance to beat the wings- way off. Yes the Pens beat the Caps and were the better team. But look at G3 and G5, fluky crazy bounces that end up in the Caps net in OT. So I’m not sure there’s much of a difference between the Caps and Pens last year meaning the Caps and Wings would certainly have been an even matchup.
" 60 percent of the time...it works everytime"
I’m not sure where this " caps suck on defense" things always pops up. It’s an easy thing to say because the offense is so good and that’s the system they use.
Probably the same place “Crosby is a whiner” thing pops up from. A lesson my father taught me a long time ago was that it is harder to lose a bad reputation than to get one. It doesn’t take much into todays instant access interwebs world to get a bad rep. It can take a lifetime to repair it.
by PensFan024 on Jan 21, 2010 11:16 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I’m not sure where this " caps suck on defense" things always pops up. It’s an easy thing to say because the offense is so good and that’s the system they use.
That was used as a common reference to the Penguins last season as well. And then it became, “Well, except for Brooks Orpik.” Then it was, “Well, except for Brooks Orpik and Rob Scuderi.” And then Hal Gill, and then…you get it.
Varly did play some solid games for the Caps in the postseason and maybe he was the victim of a few bad bounces, but without sounding like a smug Pens fan, he’s in Hershey now for a reason. I don’t expect it will be forever, but he still needs some work, specifically with the glove.
Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.
He’s injured, I thought, got hurt in his first rehab start. So I guess technically in Hershey. But his glove has been a lot better this season and tossing out his first two starts, his stats are top-5 in GAA and sv pct, and he must lead % of starts won by a landslide for goalies who’ve started at least 10 games. Irbe has helped him with his game a lot. Looks less scrambly as well.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 12:17 PM EST up reply actions
but without sounding like a smug Pens fan, he’s in Hershey now for a reason.
To rehabilitate an injury. Not because his 12-1-2, .924, 2.21 season’s been insufficient.
by David Getz on Jan 21, 2010 12:22 PM EST up reply actions 5 recs
I didn’t say you suck on defense. I said you have defensive shortcomings, especially with your top players. AO will NEVER win a Selke. I have seen him play in person 3 or 4 times and consistently pointed out to the crowd around me how he continually stays on the offensive side of center red even when the puck is deep in the zone. Sure, this is a small sample size and TV angles do not allow us to always follow AO all the time, but I cannot remember ever watching a Caps game where AO played and thinking he made a great backcheck. I will be watching tonight though cause I know you will come back with examples if he does.
Green will win a Norris , but only because he scores twice as many goals as the next guy, not because he is considered a defensive defenseman.
You have a good team and it will be a fun end to the seaason and a fun game tonight, but please do not create controversy simply because you misread one of my posts. I stick by statements and my reasoning above. I am sure you disagree. Such is the life of a hockey fan. The difference is that I have three banners in my rafters and you got AO. I’ll take that any day of the week.
I went to a Caps/Panthers game down here in south florida last year & I seen the same thing. OV only plays on half the ice and he’s always cherry picking on the blue line waiting for someone to feed him the puck.
Jagr use to do the same thing & I would do what the caps fans do and deny it until I was blue in the face, but it was true, and it’s true for OV also.
By hey, his job is to be fed the puck and score. That’s what he does
by GhostWalker40 on Jan 21, 2010 12:16 PM EST up reply actions
What was the score in that particular game? The Caps got blown out twice by the Panthers last season, IIRC. If they’re losing by a lot then of course BB is going to tell Ovie to cherry pick.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 12:32 PM EST up reply actions
Realistically, though, Ovechkin does play higher up in the defensive zone than most wingers and leave the zone more quickly because, even if it hurts the team some defensively, it probably helps them more offensively.
Yes, true. But I doubt he’s past the red line when the puck is behind his net, unless someone like Backstrom or Green has the puck and is carrying it out (I can refer to that 10-2 blowout in which Ovie got his 50th in 07-08 vs BOS at VC as a particular example)
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 12:37 PM EST up reply actions
What are those defensive shortcomings? I’m just wondering.
Selke-No worries, OV is plenty happy with the MVP, Richard etc :)
I’m not sure I trust your 3 or 4 games spent watching him in person then myself seeing every game he’s ever played.
No one here is saying Green is a defensive defenseman.
No controversy here- just simply disagreeing.
" 60 percent of the time...it works everytime"
Seen him play a dozen times in person
how he continually stays on the offensive side of center red even when the puck is deep in the zone.
But never seen this, unless the Caps are losing badly. Keep in mind that if they’re losing, he’s the guy to send out. It helps that his linemates are generally pretty good defensive players in their own right
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 12:35 PM EST up reply actions
Intended the strikethrough to be a blue box, my mistake.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 1:13 PM EST up reply actions
You like to throw "Never" around
You got some inside information? Of course not. You just have hope. And I hate to burst your bubble, but Crosby will NEVER win a Selke either.
Now let's say you and I go toe to toe on bird law and see who comes out the victor.
As far using never and other words that are final and complete. It is who I am. I like things black and white. Obviously no insider information, but I would bet my house on it vs. yours if you want?
I’ll put my student loan debt up against your house, that’s for sure. But when talking about the Selke AO is at an inherent disadvantage. Since 91-92 Jere Lehtinen is the only Wing to win the award (three times). The rest are centers. Wings just don’t get the defensive responsibility that garners that attention. You can buy into the hater based hype and say AO doesn’t play D, but if you watch him regularly you’d know that’s not the case.
Now let's say you and I go toe to toe on bird law and see who comes out the victor.
Agreee...
Like I said, living in PGH, I do not have the luxury to see everything he does on the ice on TV. I like and RESPECT your team, but I have witnessed what he does and I don’t like it. Whether it is the knee on knee collision with Gonchar or the cherrypicking, I don’t like the way he plays. I do think he is the best goal scorer in the league and is magic with the puck.
I will never be a hater or cater to hater based “hype”.
I’m sure you’d be able to get over it if he was in black and gold. Your guys have their own questionable incidents but haven’t turned you off to them. It’s how fans are.
Now let's say you and I go toe to toe on bird law and see who comes out the victor.
I mean the guys screen name has ULF in it.
by genomachine-O on Jan 21, 2010 1:46 PM EST up reply actions
I am excited to see the Caps again. Good offensive team, that is not so good defensively. Should be a barnburner tonight.
Caps have more Goals For and Fewer Goals against than the Pens.
Now let's say you and I go toe to toe on bird law and see who comes out the victor.
*with worse goaltending and a two-man team, neither player of which can play D.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 12:55 PM EST up reply actions
I never compared them. START READING WHAT THE HELL I POST AND DON’T INFER AN ARGUMENT WHERE THERE IS NONE.
Washington is 15th in GAA. That is average. OR, NOT SO GOOD. I don’t like pissing contests with the uninformed. For having a surname that implies equality, you need to wake up and look at others opinions and comments and not read into things.
I’m pretty equal. You can’t trash the Caps’ defensive ability when it’s on par with the Pens’.
Wake up and realize that your defensive shortcomings will never allow the Caps to win a cup. AO actually has to backcheck and Grren has to keep solid defensive positioning in the playoffs, and neither are truly capable of doing that. And THAT is why you will continue to lose to us in the playoffs.
First off, this quote makes it clear that you don’t actually watch the Caps. Second off, if the Caps are incapable of winning a Cup, and the Pens D is just the same as the Caps D, then does that mean the Pens won’t win another Cup?
Now let's say you and I go toe to toe on bird law and see who comes out the victor.
Yea but most of the guys on the Pens D squad have proven they can get it done come playoff time. The Caps D have yet to prove it in the playoffs. I agree tho that right now neither defense is great right now.
by genomachine-O on Jan 21, 2010 1:24 PM EST up reply actions
Small sample size here for both teams, so saying “will never allow the Caps to win a cup” and “you will continue to lose to us in the playoffs” is way to strong. I think last season, if you remove Tom Poti from the Caps blueline, Sergei Gonchar had more regular season games played than the other 6 D combined. So, they are young and will go through growing pains, but it’s early to imply that they’ll never get it done. Especially since that is based off of three playoff series.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 1:30 PM EST up reply actions
I am being a fan.
We have owned you in the playoffs for many years. Nothing last year made me reconsider. And I won’t until you beat us. Yes, it could happen, but it hasn’t.
I already stated that I am black and white. Huge shortcoming and I know it. Especially when implying opinions in 100 words or less.
“I yam what I yam and that’s all that I yam!”
Oh, and that guy, the best defensive guy on our blueline, he didn’t play last year in the playoffs because he was injured. Maybe, just maybe, that would help.
Now let's say you and I go toe to toe on bird law and see who comes out the victor.
Mr. Nasty, as he’s now called.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 1:35 PM EST up reply actions
Please notice....
That post was replied to because someone else mentioned that we STOLE THE CUP FROM YOU with no previous bashing by a Pensburg member. Pulling out my reply and only looking at that as an example is like saying the Caps are a good defensive team when they are 15th in GAA. Make your stats reference whatever you may, your team is not GOOD defensively. Mine is not GOOD defensively, but are the defending SC Champs, and champions play a different game when it matters most. So far, the Caps have not done that or they would have won a Cup.
AND ONCE AGAIN...
There was no comparison to the Pens, but you believe there should be since we are playing tonight. Only an oblective look at where the Caps stand in relation to the rest of the league defensively. NOT SO GOOD!
Admittedly, 15th is decent.
FWIW, Caps are on track to be 15 goals out of the top 10 by the end of the season. Not exactly a lot.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 1:33 PM EST up reply actions
I should’ve written
Admittedly, 15th IS decent.
What I meant was that while it’s not great, “not so good” is a whats-it-called, same as saying your day was “not so good” when it was poor. You also set yourself up with an aggressive tone, which doesn’t help.
The margin between the “Good” and “decent” is not huge. Caps were 9th-10th in GA for much of the season before they lost it for a few games in late Dec.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 1:44 PM EST up reply actions
Set myself up with an aggressive tone?
This is my home, not yours, and I will defend it with all the honor I know how as long as Frank, Hooks, Dunman and Lavender allow it. If you don’t like my tone GO HOME. I am not trolling on your board, but maybe I will just to stir things up.
And again, please infer anything you want with my wording, but 15th out of 30 is NOT SO GOOD.
Thank you Ulf, I am not longer the only one annoyed by these guys.
by genomachine-O on Jan 21, 2010 1:19 PM EST up reply actions
This close to the olympics I would think it is more likely that we see an Ocho on Sid (or vice versa)dirty hit, but I’m hoping we don’t see any.
Heh, over the past few weeks the lack of Ovie-is-dirty stuff is making it seem quiet around the NHL sphere.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 11:04 AM EST up reply actions
I’d still like to know why the NHL is trying to keep the myth going that OV and Sid have a rivalry going. Sure, they are the top 2 players in the league, but that doesn’t mean that have a rivalry. You can tell that Sid isn’t driven by how much better he is than OV, nor do I think he cares about personal awards.
If anything, OV had one with Geno, but that has died down.
It’s for the monies. If people think Sid and Alexander hate each other, they may be more inclined to watch the game, or pick a side and scoop up some merchandise. Of course, I mean the casual fan, that kind of stuff isn’t going to move anyone on here.
by Hatt the Moople on Jan 21, 2010 11:41 AM EST up reply actions
As of right now I would say the Pens are the team with the suspect defense not the Caps. The Pens are going to have to score early and spend a LOT of time in the offensive zone tonight if they want to win. aka.. Really play their system well, which quite frankly we haven’t seen lately.
As far as the Ovie not playing defense. You cant really compare that to what Sid does. Sid is a center, naturally by position the center has to be more defensively responsible. Ovie could put forth a little more effort on defense, but a guy that is as good offensively as him, I would rather have him by the blue line than in the corners.
Psst…please don’t bring Ovie vs Sid into this, again
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 12:24 PM EST up reply actions
Now twice in the same week a person on a Pennsylvania hockey team’s SBN blog has told me to go back to Japers’ Rink.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 12:33 PM EST up reply actions
The moderator on BSH told the guy I hadn’t done anything and they let me be thereafter. If Hooks or FrankD tells me to get off, I will.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 12:40 PM EST up reply actions
That fans in PA don’t like to have their views challenged and prefer to stew in their own petri dish of groupthink?
Now let's say you and I go toe to toe on bird law and see who comes out the victor.
yea your analysis of the Caps is just blowing my mind.
“Caps have more Goals For and Fewer Goals against than the Pens”
by genomachine-O on Jan 21, 2010 1:00 PM EST up reply actions
Pens though have played two more games, so their GA/gm is slightly lower, by my rudimentary math. Offense is no issue of who is deeper.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 1:04 PM EST up reply actions
You’re allowed to mix it up here as long as you keep it within the context of fan-to-fan bantering (ie. not trolling and telling everyone here to F off). Since you haven’t done either of those two things and have been having a healthy conversation, I see nothing wrong with having ya around. I welcome it actually. Much like how we open up the doors to Flyers fans during game days.
Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.
geeze how could I not know how to spell the name of the caps blog..
by genomachine-O on Jan 21, 2010 12:46 PM EST up reply actions
FWIW, this is IMO the 3rd best blog on SBN.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 12:57 PM EST up reply actions
agreed. Such a nice change of pace then pensblog LOL.
" 60 percent of the time...it works everytime"
Thanks a lot. Really appreciate the kind feedback.
Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.
Its kinda crazy to me that some athletes dont watch their own sport. I guess as fans we are more into watching the game than the players are. But I just dont see how after they spent all that time trying to win a Cup or the world series or whatever, that when it comes down to it they wouldnt at least watch a Game 7.
What do you mean? I can sort of buy into it, that you don’t want to be demoralized, but I bet the large majority of players do watch.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 1:31 PM EST up reply actions
I’m sure there are a number of players that do. I mean that just seems crazy to me. I’ve heard guys like Gaborik and lots of the Steelers and what not, say they dont pay any attention to their respective sports once the season is over for them. Youd think at least out of curiosity or something they would at least watch the Champ game. Idk maybe its not that weird.
by genomachine-O on Jan 21, 2010 1:44 PM EST up reply actions
Oh, wow. I think I’m beginning to see why the first Caps/Pens match-up would be so late in the season. Nobody could take this level of hype and, um, discussion all the time. Looking forward to this game anyway.
"Darling, you say Brooks Orpik 'checked' that guy. He did not 'get under him and put him into the wall'."--Beloved to me, Winter 2007
Cocktails With the Penguins, where Pens fans toast victories and drown defeats.
Reminding me a little of our Japers’ Rink invasion of Canes Country on “Are the Caps ripe for a fall?”
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 1:46 PM EST up reply actions
well aren’t you the little union soldier.
by genomachine-O on Jan 21, 2010 1:55 PM EST up reply actions
We’ll show you later tonight.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 1:57 PM EST up reply actions
Here we go with again with Caps fans treating the reg season games like Game 7 of the finals.
by genomachine-O on Jan 21, 2010 1:58 PM EST up reply actions
How many Cups? 0 ZERO?? You gotta be kidding me? NONE? ZIP, ZILCH NADA?? Wow, you are talking like the DEFENDING STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!!
Welcome to the City of CHAMPIONS.
My comment was ill timed and phrased. I was supposed to sound like a super over confident Caps bandwagon fan trying to trash talk. Plus, my army left.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 2:07 PM EST up reply actions
What the hell are you talking about? You act like you’ve done anything. We come over to try to talk about the upcoming game and you revert to total D-bag form. I didn’t realize Hooks and Frank wanted this place to be so unwelcoming.
Now let's say you and I go toe to toe on bird law and see who comes out the victor.
wwwwaaaahhh………. but i dont really know what the hell hes talking about either
by genomachine-O on Jan 21, 2010 2:11 PM EST up reply actions
How are we unwelcoming? you jumped into a conversation to put your two cents in and I disagreed. I have not been overly-aggressive in any tones, just responded, in kind, to trollers on another’s board. I have not insluted you, like you just did me, or threatened you in any way.
Yes, the last two comments were sophomoric, but the conversation turned by that point and again you come swooping in to rescue your comrades that got themselves in too deep or turned the conversation. Please re-read and see whose original comments went D-bag before you claim to be fair and balanced.
Full Disclosure: I stated that you are caps fans and have nothing else, but to troll here as an insult to your comrades bragging of again trolling on another’s blog. Please don’t think less of me for it?
Quite honestly...
I think this was the one (and what you wrote thereafter)
I didn’t say you suck on defense
As an example of welcoming, the smaller blogs like Mile High Hockey do a terrific job.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 2:30 PM EST up reply actions
Do you mean where I said Green will win a Norris trophy, or when I said that you have a good team?
Probably where I said I got three banners and you got none, huh? That’s being not welcoming? After a Caps fan said we stole the cup from you? and a Caps fan infers that not so good means sucks?
Two wrongs do not make a right, and against my better judgement, and since we already would have dropped the gloves and then hugged it out in person (not joking)…
I am sorry for being a D-bag if that is how it was perceived.
Me too. Anyways, good luck tonight. I hope BJ posts a shutout (and loses, of course).
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 2:40 PM EST up reply actions
I knew GMGM shouldn’t have traded Chris Clark! (who is perfect thus far)
Just kidding. Crosby is getting so good I’m starting to find that I can’t hate him anymore, even though he’s a Penguin.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 2:45 PM EST up reply actions
I think F&B took offense at the Never part, and admittedly, just as you all I’m sure get super annoyed at people bashing Crosby for being a “whiner” and “crybaby” we get annoyed when people bash Ovechkin for being “one dimensional” and a “cherry picker.” Not to say that they aren’t, but most of the time they’re not.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 2:43 PM EST up reply actions
Come on, really? I said he would never win a Selke. He wont.. Crosby wont. Malkin wont. It is a fact that centers win in and they almost never (see I kinda learned my lesson) play on the first line.
Maybe my rose colored AO glasses only see the cherry picker, but I did say he is magic with the puck and the best goal scorer in the league. If I reacted every time another fan mentioned sid the crybaby, I would be in jail.
by Ulf Murphy on Jan 21, 2010 2:50 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I didn’t get annoyed at it, personally. I don’t think that’s happening either. Crosby, I could see it. Malkin too. (might as well throw in Nicklas Backstrom)
If I reacted every time another fan mentioned sid the crybaby, I would be in jail.
Nice. Rec.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 2:56 PM EST up reply actions
I think Staal is the only current Penguin who could win one. And I agree Backstrom could.
Datsyuk is the only firt-liner I can think of who has won the Selke and I gotta go back to work so I’m not looking it up.
Yeah, Staal slipped my mind.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 11:08 PM EST up reply actions
Tampa I think is 2 days. I was annoyed by that.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 2:41 PM EST up reply actions
No, just like to converse with people who give a about what I say.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 1:56 PM EST up reply actions
love is in the air from the comments above.
I’m on my phone so I couldn’t see the right places to respond but all are welcome here if they play nice and I don’t think anyone has been a pest.
Though if Cap fans really think they would have beaten the Red Wings in a 7 game season they’re crazy. They barely could touch the puckwith a DET team that didn’t have half the players from last season (Hossa, Franzen,
Hudler, Kronwall, etc). I think DET woiuld have crushed the Caps like they did to Pittsburgh 2 years ago or Chicago last year…You gotta learn how to play the Red Wings in the playoffs if you’re a young team…and that means losing once. The Caps could have been competitive at times, of
course, but I think it’s a huge stretch to think they probably would have won
"I'm glad I got drafted first, because no one remembers number two." -- Alexandre Daigle
by Hooks Orpik on Jan 21, 2010 2:45 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Definitely would have been tough, and I doubt it, but the Red Wings last season were much more careless with the puck and by the time they got the Finals it looked like Hossa and Datsyuk were really banged up. Plus, the games the Caps would have dropped early would have been in Detroit. Maybe I’m being too optimistic, but that series I think would end up being quite competitive by the end, like 07-08 PIT-DET. And if anything, they bet Detroit 4-2 in late January 2009.
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 2:50 PM EST up reply actions
Though if Cap fans really think they would have beaten the Red Wings in a 7 game season they’re crazy. They barely could touch the puckwith a DET team that didn’t have half the players from last season (Hossa, Franzen, Hudler, Kronwall, etc).
True, but that was only one game. I mean, it’s sure as heck far from a sure thing that the Caps would have taken down the Wings if they’d gotten that far, but I wouldn’t say it’s not gonna happen based on that game.
Fair enough, i was just illustrating how Detroit plays is much different than playing other teams. It’d be foolish to compare the last game, since both teams would have been much, much different 6 or 7 months ago
"I'm glad I got drafted first, because no one remembers number two." -- Alexandre Daigle
Funny thing Washington tries to emulate Detroit, according to Coach BB
Ovechkin = Green Backs
by red army line on Jan 21, 2010 11:09 PM EST up reply actions
I cant wait to go to this game. I get more excited about going to Pens Caps games than any other game. I hope out D is up to the task tonight. I would feel a lot better about having Fleury in net too. Im also wondering how Jeffery and N. Johnson will be used tonight.
Pumped for 2nights game. Made a bet w/ a friend. If the Pens win, he has to wear my Crosby jersey. If the caps win, I have to wear his Caps “Rock the Red” shirt. Pens better win cause that shirt will burn my skin like hot tar. Enjoying reading the above argument. I can feel the love
by stoopidtom on Jan 21, 2010 3:17 PM EST via mobile reply actions
My roommate (not a hockey fan) just walked in and asked if I’d be watching the game tonight. Being in Ohio, I told him it’s not on TV. He seemed surprised since ’it’s a huge rivalry and Crosby and Ovechkin hate each other"
Bettman, your crazy PR machine is working!
Uh-oh, things getting heated already.
First let me say, I have a lot of hatred against the Pens. I hated them before Crosby and Ovechkin came along and after last season I hate them even more. But I’m always civil to the opposing fans. So….
I’m looking forward to the game tonight. Obviously, the Caps are upset about how things ended last season so I think they’re gonna come out flying. It should be interesting with Johnny in goal too. I’m guessing it’ll be a physical game, the game against Detroit was kinda physical, even Semin threw a check or two.
Let’s Go Caps!
Я Харт не так ли?
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