re: Chicago Blackhawks 2013 Stanley Cup Champions

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Sidney Crosby doctors appointment in 20 minutes to receive clearance to play.

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go for the head iles

I know its trolling, but I can't even get angry about it. I'll address it anyway because it's the playoffs, and I like talking hockey.

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The Rangers won the regular season series 2-0-1.

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True. But regular season results, as any Cap fan can plainly attest, have little to no bearing on playoff results. How teams did against each other in the regular season is a poor indicator for a series. Furthermore, the Rangers last win over the Caps came on March 10. Not quite the depths of Caps suckitude, but definitely before the "On" switch of the Peg double header.

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The caps are absolutely the weakest division champ

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The Habs say hi.

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The Caps are not a tough team. They are loaded with talented pussies that drop to their knees when they get a little shove.

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Do people even watch the Caps? If anything, the Caps have too many slow footed tough guys: Hendricks, Volpatti, Ward, Brouwer, Chimera, Schultz, Erskine, Carlson... all of those guys get big minutes and like to hit people. Ovie is constantly criticized for hitting too much, not being a wilting violet. Yes, Mojo and Perrault are undersized and Green is fairly soft (and no one will ever confuse. There's also the whole rest of the team.

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Ovechkin is absolutely over-rated because for all the hype the guy gets and all the points, he does nothing to actually help his team win a game. I've seen him play in person multiple times - the guy is nothing but an opportunist that bullies his coach into allowing him to ignore his defensive responsibilities. Don't believe me? Then believe his negative Corsi number this year.

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You mean his 2.1 Relative Corsi? The rank which puts him 6th on the team? And really, have you watched Ovie? First off, goals help you win. it's how we keep score. And the Caps win, as they've made the playoffs six consecutive seasons, one of the longer streaks in the league. They also rely heavily on their top line for production, more than most good teams... and that would be Ovie's line. I don't think anyone will confuse Ovie for Datsyuk, but he's much better in his own end than people give him credit for... and he has improved that facet of his game immeasurably in the past three seasons.

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Believe that he's never even made it to a conference final with all the supposed talent around him.

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And there's the rub. Where's all the talent behind him? The team famously hasn't had a 2C since Federov left five years ago. When the Caps won the President's Trophy, outside of the young guns, the scoring came from Fleischman, Fehr, Knuble, and Morrison. Hardly murder's row.

The Caps issues have been the blueline and secondary scoring. This year, the Caps have Ribs, Brouwer, and Erat as their #2 line, by far the best 2nd line they've ever had. In fact, their third line is pretty much their second line from last year. Blueline is still a concern, but the development of Carlzner has helped.

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What would the Caps do with the Rangers Schedule, and what would the Rangers do with the Caps schedule?

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You mean, with a whole three more games against the Southeast? I don't know, but considering the Rangers lost their season series to the Jets, I'd think they wouldn't want another game against the Peg.

I would've liked another game Pittsburgh. I always enjoy those games.

I'd argue Game 5 is the most agonizing Caps loss in team history, other than the Easter Epic. I forgot who wrote it, but one of the Caps blogs wrote a great column that said "You are no longer a bandwagon fan" addressed to the new generation of fans. The Habs series was frustrating, but it was also watching Halak have the series of his life. It happens. The Caps lost last year. They should've won but made a series of dumb plays to grasp defeat.

Ok, the fun of the playoffs is that upsets actually happen. Often. So, here's a reason why every lower seeded team can win...

Isles over Pens: Tavares needs to be the best player on the ice and Fleury needs to be the worst. Both of those things are possible.

Sens over Habs: Nothing special. These teams are remarkably evenly matched and it wouldn't surprise anyone if the Sens win, especially with Karlsson back.

Rangers over Caps: Rangers stay out of the box and the Caps can't get power play goals. Rick Nash decides to show up.

Leafs over Bruins: The Leafs are the only team that can play just as physical as the Bruins. Unintimidated, the Leafs end up frustrating the B's, who can't knock the Leafs off their game.

Wild over Hawks: Backstrom plays out of his f'n mind.

Wings over Ducks: Fountain of youth for Zetteburg and Datsyuk, and they play like they did five years ago. In a tight series, maybe the Ducks panic against the seasoned Wings.

Sharks over Nucks: The Sharks are hot as heck and score a bunch of goals as the goalie carousel gets going. Niemi plays like the best goalie in the league, which he quietly is this year.

Kings over Blues: SEE last year.

Let's Go Red Wings....




.....can we go back to non-salary cap days, please?

Down Goes Brown gives his helpful Bandwagon Guide to choosing a team:

LINK

His #1 choice? The Islanders!

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Why you should cheer for them: The team hasn’t won a playoff round in 20 years. In that time, their fans have had to suffer through 13 seasons without the playoffs, five consecutive last-place finishes, Mike Milbury as coach, Mike Milbury as GM, Alexei Yashin, Alexei Yashin’s buyout, the fishsticks, John Spano, the Neil Smith era, Rick DiPietro, the worst arena in the league, and annual relocation rumors. And now, after two decades, John Tavares and a rebuilt roster have finally given them something to feel good about.

If you don’t want something good to happen to New York Islander fans, you are a legitimately horrible person and your parents did a bad job raising you.

Why you shouldn’t: They're playing the Penguins in the first round, so you might not want to get too attached.

The bottom line: OK, I know I said that ideally you want a team with a chance to win, and the Islanders are going to get slaughtered by the Penguins. If you don’t have the stomach for it, the rest of us will understand.

But over the past 20 years, there is no more tortured fan base in hockey than the Islanders. You should be happy for them. You need to be happy for them. And maybe, just maybe, you should jump on the bandwagon.

At least until next Tuesday. Then come back to this post and pick a new team out of the 15 that are still left.

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But over the past 20 years, there is no more tortured fan base in hockey than the Islanders. You should be happy for them. You need to be happy for them. And maybe, just maybe, you should jump on the bandwagon.

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Yeah, I'll buy that

Would love them to beat the penguins as well.

Didn't work last year, but I'm sticking to my guns. GEAUX BLUES!!!!

The Wild have scored first.