Capitals First Round Playoff Schedule

Happy hour starts in 5 minutes
Hog Fever said:
The NFL will always be number one for me but there is nothing quite like the NHL playoffs. The ebb and flow of emotions and play over a seven game series really has no equal in sports. In the NBA there are very few surprises in the playoffs. You can almost name the conference finals now, and the first round is just getting ready to finish. Not so in the NHL.

You constantly get certain players who step up when the spotlight is brightest and others who fold under the pressure. It’s a fascinating study in character. In other team sports one guy can only take you so far. In the NHL a hot goaltender can absolutely carry a team. A guy like Cammalleri who was 390th in scoring this season with 26 goals all season can score 11 in six games. You don’t see that in any other sport. Where did this guy come from? More importantly for the Caps is: “when will he go back”? Every year there are stories like his in the playoffs and big upsets in the first round are not that uncommon.

The Caps are a very talented young team that needs to learn how to close out an inferior opponent. Now they find themselves facing down a team who believes they can beat them and a goaltender who is playing out of his mind. Not a good combination since defense is not exactly a team strength. Can the Caps still win? Sure, and I think they will if they can get the first goal Wednesday. If the Habs get on the board first though you could see the Caps start to press and if they do that, we lose, and the great regular season is wasted.

Key to victory Wednesday: Score first and make the Habs press so we can get more chances in transition. We can’t have this game go to OT as the chaotic nature of OT evens the odds way too much for my liking. Just win baby.
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This. There is nothing in sports quite like the NHL playoffs.
 
Henry said:
I don't know anything, but why wouldn't you start the other guy?
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Because at times in this post season and last years post season Varlamov has played incredibly in net. Theodore on the other hand has proven again and again that he doesn't have the mojo to get it done in the playoffs.

The only way we see Theodore is if Varlamov gives up a couple of soft goals early. If we see them make that switch then we're in big trouble because it's a pure desperation move.
 
Henry said:
I don't know anything, but why wouldn't you start the other guy?
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What HF said. Varlamov, for the second year in a row, has firmly entrenched himself as the playoff starter. He is the future of the franchise, so has to claim that mantle at some point. I honestly think if he never got injured this past year, the amazing post-Olys Jose Theodore story never happens, as he was beginning to reclaim his starting job when the injury happened (he was 12-1-2).
 
T-minus 4 and a half hours until the puck drops in this one. I've never been this nervous for a sporting event in my lifetime...craziness!

I encourage all of you to watch - there is nothing in sports quite like game 7 of an NHL playoffs series*.




*please disregard last night's demolishing of the Coyotes by Detroit. :)
 
Lanky Livingston said:
T-minus 4 and a half hours until the puck drops in this one. I've never been this nervous for a sporting event in my lifetime...craziness!

I encourage all of you to watch - there is nothing in sports quite like game 7 of an NHL playoffs series*.)
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Except for pretty much every NFL playoff game.

Sorry. Had to. :D

EDIT: That said. Yes I'll be watching, though I'll have no idea what I'm looking at. :)
 
Henry said:
Except for pretty much every NFL playoff game.

Sorry. Had to. :D

EDIT: That said. Yes I'll be watching, though I'll have no idea what I'm looking at. :)
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You want to see the guys in red smack the little black thing past the guy in white with all the pads and into the net. :)
 
The key tonight will be scoring first. If the Caps can get a 1-0 or 2-0 lead, they will roll. If they are playing from behind yet again, I fear the worst.
 
Good luck to the Caps fans here. Hate to see what happens here if they do lose. It will be worse than ES after a Skins loss.
 
riggins44 said:
Good luck to the Caps fans here. Hate to see what happens here if they do lose. It will be worse than ES after a Skins loss.
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Nah, you won't get any of that from me. This team will be a Cup contender for a good 5-6 years minimum. They've got a strong, young core, and quite a few awesome prospects who haven't even seen the NHL yet. The Hershey Bears, their AHL farm team, has won the Calder Cup (AHL equivalent of the Stanley Cup) 2 years in a row, and is rolling through the playoffs this year. There is no shortage of talent to bring up.

And they are doing things right - tonight will be the first time in franchise history the team has 4 homegrown DMen on the ice in a playoff game - Green, Schultz, Alzner and Carlson will all play (Tom Poti is out with an eye injury).

So, if they lose tonight, it will suck for sure. But its not the end of the world. They'll be around to disappoint us fans in the playoffs for many many years to come! :D
 
Lanky...you remind me of a young Redskin fan little over 40 years ago. Wandering around until we found the promise land.

Good luck to your Caps. :thumbsup::cheers:
 
2-0 Montreal. Ugh.

Get used to disappointment.

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Well...it ends. A historic loss to an inferior opponent ends the Caps season prematurely. No 1 seed had ever lost to an 8 seed after going up 3-1...in history. The Caps found a way to do it.

I can't even blame the refs (even though that SHOULD have been a goal - you don't make THAT call in game 7, you just don't) because the Caps should have closed the series out 3 games ago.

Oh well...patience is a virtue. I never thought they'd win the Cup this year (before the season), I just got caught up in the hype. I figured they'd go to the ECF though...and THAT is disappointing. Next year....DAMN that sounds familiar...
 
Watched he whole thing. Ovechkin was ohhh so close to scoring at the 4 minute mark, and just barely missed it. Had it gone in, I really think the Caps would've pulled it out. Can't really blame the ref - he definitely interfered with the goalie on the goal they waved off, unintentional or not - and he made the call immediately. Never seen a team dominate possession the way the Caps did tonight and yet still look tight and ineffective. Too bad, since you have to wonder if they could have gotten past Montreal if maybe they'd have shaken the monkey off their back and looked like the team we saw much of the regular season.
 
I felt the same way Boone...if they'd just gotten past Montreal....

RE: the waved-off goal - the shot got there at roughly the same time Knuble did, who was fighting for position with Gill. So much going on, there is just no way you make that call. Traditionally, Refs swallow their whistles in game 7s except for the most egregious penalties.....

EDIT: That's the last I'm going to talk about it. Nothing is going to change my mind...and nothing can change the outcome. Its over. UGH.
 
Well, I won't argue it was both close and a huge call. I'm with you - probably wouldn't have blown the whistle there, but I can't really fault him for it either, as I think he did obstruct the goalie. Just incredible they could out shoot them to the degree they did in games 6 & 7, and lose them both. The Canadians figured them out, plain and simple. The Caps were outcoached, and out played. Period.
 
Boone said:
Well, I won't argue it was both close and a huge call. I'm with you - probably wouldn't have blown the whistle there, but I can't really fault him for it either, as I think he did obstruct the goalie. Just incredible they could out shoot them to the degree they did in games 6 & 7, and lose them both. The Canadians figured them out, plain and simple. The Caps were outcoached, and out played. Period.
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I will agree they were out coached, that much is obvious. Fleischmann should have been benched after games 3 or 4, Semin should have been sent down to the 4th line or benched, and taken off the power play in game 2 or 3. Should have called up some young talent - Perrault or Aucoin would have been fantastic in this series.
 
Feel for ya brother. That's why I stay a casual fan - I seriously couldn't take to be emotionally invested in another DC team that consistently breaks my heart.
 
Boone said:
Feel for ya brother. That's why I stay a casual fan - I seriously couldn't take to be emotionally invested in another DC team that consistently breaks my heart.
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I'm regretting getting so involved...ugh. Now I'm hooked.

I guess I should be happy that I route for a team that will routinely MAKE the postseason for the next 10 years...
 
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