Stanley Caps

[BaltimoreSkins]

F yeah. I am pretty sure I was drinking beer out of a shoe at some point last night. Side note the Stanley Cup is the coolest trophy. Can you imagine the stories it could tell?

[mooby]

Originally Posted by TheMalcolmConnection

My b-hole was so puckered the last two minutes, I could have made diamonds.

Mooby, did you get to get out in the festivities?

Gahhhhhhhd what a fucking crazy time to live in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I keep pinching myself, can't believe it actually happened.

So fucking happy for this team, I know it's a cliche but they they fought hard and never gave up. Old teams would've lost after being down 3-2 going into the third.

It's just been a whirlwind since Thursday, where to start. I watched the game with some friends out at the National Harbor, they had a watch party out there with a couple thousand people but it was nowhere near as big as the one at the Cap Center.

But I screwed up bigly (thanks Trump) by asking a close personal friend of mine for advice when I should've considered he's my actual boss first. Basically, I am temp acting manager (title only not respect lol) of the parts dpt. at one of our shops. The guy who is the manager is actually a close friend of mine of the last 16 years, and he's on medical leave with a back injury for the next two weeks. If I call out there's nobody to fill in for me as we have several people on vacation so staffing is tight.

Anyways, I was talking to my boss/friend Tuesday morning and I asked what he thought if his boss (manager of all the managers) would be ok with me calling out Friday morning so I could celebrate proper. He implied I am a complete idiot and total dumbfuck to even consider doing that over a game (I thought he'd understand as a diehard Nats fan who would buy an autographed turd from Harper if it was available). So I knew if I called out I'd get an asschewing at a minimum and they'd blackball me for OT/etc. at a maximum).

So we went out to the watch party at the National Harbor, had a few drinks but nothing noteworthy, celebrated with all the other fans and I got home at 1:30 because I have to be up every day at 3:30 for work. We celebrated last night proper but it wasn't exactly the same because the moment had already passed.

Also I want desperately to go to the parade but since my shift is from 5:30 to 2 pm on Tuesday it's looking like a real no-go since nobody can cover for me.

Anyways enough woe-is-me, they still fucking won the fucking Stanley Cup!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of the main differences this year I felt was the weight of expectations being lifted. Nobody expected them to advance past the Pens, or do anything of note (even I had my expectations lowered as the playoffs started because they weren't anything great in the regular season).

Biggest difference besides nonexistant weight of expectations? Everybody bought in. Ovi has always been a scorer, even in the playoffs. But when players see your team captain hustling back on defense, blocking shots, backchecking, making every shift count, even while still being the offensive scoring stud you are, well it trickles down.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention 2nd-through 4th line scoring. In order to win your bottom 3 lines have to put up points, which they didn't do in previous years but they did in spades this year. I believe we had 4 players with 20+ points, (Ovi, Kuzy, Backy, and Oshie? I think) but other notables include Eller, g.d. clutch-AF Devonte Smith-Pelly (a gritty 4th liner who matched his 7 regular season goals with 7 goals this postseason, majority of which were game-tying or game-winning). Carlson had a magnificent postseason too, leading all defensemen in points, plus between him, Nisky, Orly, and underrated trade-deadline pickup Michal Kempny we had two really good d-pairings. Even Brooks Orpik (who has been very underwhelming for the last two seasons) had a good postseason on the 3rd d-pairing.

Combine that with Holtby's great-to-occasionally spectacular postseason (go watch The Save if you haven't, it's the highlight of the postseason) and you have the recipe for success. There was never a moment where the pressure got to them, as Zorn liked to say they stayed medium. Every series had a point where they were down, whether it was 0-2 to the Blue Jackets, 0-1 to the Pens, 3-2 to the Lightning, or 0-1 to the Golden Knights. They never panicked or lost focus, or let the hype/pressure get to them. They knew if everybody bought in, which they did, that they were going to be tough to beat. They played an excellent two way game with a focus on defense, blocking shots, backchecking, and taking advantage of timely opportunities to get odd-man advantages, and more often than not they scored on those 2-on-1's or 3-on-2's.

Of course I gotta mention the checking too, whether it was backchecking or forechecking when you consistently hit them every game over the course of a series it wears down the other team. And other than a couple questionable hits from Wilson (1 of which he was suspended for) they did a good job keeping them legal. And there was a lot of questionable calls too by the Refs but they did a great job of not letting them take the focus off the gameplan.

Idk if I missed anything but fuck it, DC is a championship city again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

World champs! Stanley Cup champions!!!!!!!!!!! I legit believe the Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to achieve because it's such a physical game, at the end of a long regular season with 82 games, and you still gotta win 16 more games. There's no bye week for the top couple teams, even the 1 seed has to play the equivalent of the wild card round, and it's not like baseball with the best of 5, every series is the best of 7.

So proud of DC and our boys for bringing the Cup home. So happy for Ovi, and Backy, and Beagle (who I didn't mention but is our best face off guy and a great role player who doesn't get a ton of recognition but is a key role player on the squad) and Holtby, who have been with this team for so long, and seen so many downs, that it's made the wait totally worth it. Stanley Cup champions! Let's Go Caps!

[Chico23231]

ThTs awesome mooby

[Bishop Hammer]

The Caps run this year was short of magical. If they win another Stanley Cup DC/MD may very well become a hockey town.

[mooby]

Can't believe Trotz resigned, but from the sound of it it seems purely business. Trotz deserved to be paid more after hoisting the Cup and the Caps didn't want to commit for 5 years at a Babcock type salary of 5mil/year or so. I can see both sides of the argument.

Still, I'm happy we have Reirden ready to go, and I'm happy Trotz won the Cup. He's got a stellar reputation as a person and deserved it after all these years.

[kct1975]

Originally Posted by mooby

Gahhhhhhhd what a fucking crazy time to live in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I keep pinching myself, can't believe it actually happened.

So fucking happy for this team, I know it's a cliche but they they fought hard and never gave up. Old teams would've lost after being down 3-2 going into the third.

It's just been a whirlwind since Thursday, where to start. I watched the game with some friends out at the National Harbor, they had a watch party out there with a couple thousand people but it was nowhere near as big as the one at the Cap Center.

But I screwed up bigly (thanks Trump) by asking a close personal friend of mine for advice when I should've considered he's my actual boss first. Basically, I am temp acting manager (title only not respect lol) of the parts dpt. at one of our shops. The guy who is the manager is actually a close friend of mine of the last 16 years, and he's on medical leave with a back injury for the next two weeks. If I call out there's nobody to fill in for me as we have several people on vacation so staffing is tight.

Anyways, I was talking to my boss/friend Tuesday morning and I asked what he thought if his boss (manager of all the managers) would be ok with me calling out Friday morning so I could celebrate proper. He implied I am a complete idiot and total dumbfuck to even consider doing that over a game (I thought he'd understand as a diehard Nats fan who would buy an autographed turd from Harper if it was available). So I knew if I called out I'd get an asschewing at a minimum and they'd blackball me for OT/etc. at a maximum).

So we went out to the watch party at the National Harbor, had a few drinks but nothing noteworthy, celebrated with all the other fans and I got home at 1:30 because I have to be up every day at 3:30 for work. We celebrated last night proper but it wasn't exactly the same because the moment had already passed.

Also I want desperately to go to the parade but since my shift is from 5:30 to 2 pm on Tuesday it's looking like a real no-go since nobody can cover for me.

Anyways enough woe-is-me, they still fucking won the fucking Stanley Cup!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of the main differences this year I felt was the weight of expectations being lifted. Nobody expected them to advance past the Pens, or do anything of note (even I had my expectations lowered as the playoffs started because they weren't anything great in the regular season).

Biggest difference besides nonexistant weight of expectations? Everybody bought in. Ovi has always been a scorer, even in the playoffs. But when players see your team captain hustling back on defense, blocking shots, backchecking, making every shift count, even while still being the offensive scoring stud you are, well it trickles down.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention 2nd-through 4th line scoring. In order to win your bottom 3 lines have to put up points, which they didn't do in previous years but they did in spades this year. I believe we had 4 players with 20+ points, (Ovi, Kuzy, Backy, and Oshie? I think) but other notables include Eller, g.d. clutch-AF Devonte Smith-Pelly (a gritty 4th liner who matched his 7 regular season goals with 7 goals this postseason, majority of which were game-tying or game-winning). Carlson had a magnificent postseason too, leading all defensemen in points, plus between him, Nisky, Orly, and underrated trade-deadline pickup Michal Kempny we had two really good d-pairings. Even Brooks Orpik (who has been very underwhelming for the last two seasons) had a good postseason on the 3rd d-pairing.

Combine that with Holtby's great-to-occasionally spectacular postseason (go watch The Save if you haven't, it's the highlight of the postseason) and you have the recipe for success. There was never a moment where the pressure got to them, as Zorn liked to say they stayed medium. Every series had a point where they were down, whether it was 0-2 to the Blue Jackets, 0-1 to the Pens, 3-2 to the Lightning, or 0-1 to the Golden Knights. They never panicked or lost focus, or let the hype/pressure get to them. They knew if everybody bought in, which they did, that they were going to be tough to beat. They played an excellent two way game with a focus on defense, blocking shots, backchecking, and taking advantage of timely opportunities to get odd-man advantages, and more often than not they scored on those 2-on-1's or 3-on-2's.

Of course I gotta mention the checking too, whether it was backchecking or forechecking when you consistently hit them every game over the course of a series it wears down the other team. And other than a couple questionable hits from Wilson (1 of which he was suspended for) they did a good job keeping them legal. And there was a lot of questionable calls too by the Refs but they did a great job of not letting them take the focus off the gameplan.

Idk if I missed anything but fuck it, DC is a championship city again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

World champs! Stanley Cup champions!!!!!!!!!!! I legit believe the Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to achieve because it's such a physical game, at the end of a long regular season with 82 games, and you still gotta win 16 more games. There's no bye week for the top couple teams, even the 1 seed has to play the equivalent of the wild card round, and it's not like baseball with the best of 5, every series is the best of 7.

So proud of DC and our boys for bringing the Cup home. So happy for Ovi, and Backy, and Beagle (who I didn't mention but is our best face off guy and a great role player who doesn't get a ton of recognition but is a key role player on the squad) and Holtby, who have been with this team for so long, and seen so many downs, that it's made the wait totally worth it. Stanley Cup champions! Let's Go Caps!

Originally Posted by Chico23231

ThTs awesome mooby

Originally Posted by Bishop Hammer

The Caps run this year was short of magical. If they win another Stanley Cup DC/MD may very well become a hockey town.

We Got The Cup!

Statanley Caps!

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

[kct1975]

Originally Posted by mooby

Can't believe Trotz resigned, but from the sound of it it seems purely business. Trotz deserved to be paid more after hoisting the Cup and the Caps didn't want to commit for 5 years at a Babcock type salary of 5mil/year or so. I can see both sides of the argument.

Still, I'm happy we have Reirden ready to go, and I'm happy Trotz won the Cup. He's got a stellar reputation as a person and deserved it after all these years.

I agreed that I am a bit surprised that Barry Trotz resigned. Did hear on the Sports Talk Radio, however, last week that it was a possibility that he might resign.

It is unfortunate, but I guess Business is Business.

As you mentioned, Mooby, at least all of the Assistant Coaches were retained. If the GM can find some way to keep most of the team together, I think that the Caps at least have a chance to make it back to the Eastern Conference Finals.

We'll see how next season goes.

For now I just want to spend this summer celebrating the Stanley Cup Victory!

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

[BaltimoreSkins]

Welp the foosball season is almost done and while I have been following hockey I will be shifting gears after this weekend. First off so much for a Cup hangover these guys are playing lights out, winning games in a variety of ways. Second they are winning despite missing key time throughout the season from Wilson, Oshie, and Knuzey. The swagger they are playing with is different than in the past and it is fucking awesome.

[mooby]

My only gripe so far with this season is it seems we lost a bit of focus on defense. If we're going to do anything in the postseason again this year they really have to place a bigger emphasis on d. The penalties are a bit worrying too, they are taking way too many penalties and the pk isn't as good this year. Last year the postseason recipe for success was strong defensive play while capitalizing on your offensive opportunities. This year they're taking more penalties and being a tad bit more lackadaisical on D.

[BaltimoreSkins]

Definitely agree. I think we will see the tune that up soon.

[BaltimoreSkins]

Title defense started with a W. Caps should have put that away early 3rd but oh well. A W is a W. Nice to see the Nats and Wiz players there supporting the Caps too. Did anyone see any Skins reps? I know Cooley goes to a lot of games but didn't see or hear anything about them.

[Burgold]

Well Caps choke again,what else is new?

[RobH4413]

Originally Posted by Burgold

Well Caps choke again,what else is new?

Sucks to lose, but what are you going to do. Nice to have a team in town that won a title recently. Skins won't sniff that for a while

[mooby]

Originally Posted by RobH4413

Sucks to lose, but what are you going to do. Nice to have a team in town that won a title recently. Skins won't sniff that for a while

This. Even if the Caps had won, I highly doubt they would've made it past the Islanders. They looked lousy from the first OT on, it was clear their conditioning was lacking.

I really wouldn't be surprised if they just wanted a normal offseason to rest, they didn't look like they wanted it from 2-0 and 3-1 on last night.

[Chico23231]

When Oshie went out...got that sinking feeling.