re: MSB Season Long Hockey Thread

No one wanted to fire Oates. And yes GMGM still needs to go in my opinion barring a Stanley Cup run. He's been given far too many chances to try and build this team. I wish Philly had been able to sneak in as the 8th seed. Would have been nice to see the Pens go home early again.

Will the Devils ever score a goal again? Bye bye DeBoer and I really really hope Marty doesn't go out this way.

Hope Icelanders make the playoffs and Winnipeg beats out the BlueShirts.

Record in April:

Caps 8-0-0
Penguins 4-2-0

I'll leave it up to the board to decide who is "hotter".

No one thinks it's wrong to "doubt" a team, but that's not what you're doing. You've consistently said how terrible the Caps are, and even as you try and reform your position and move the goalposts for about the billionth time this season, you still call the Caps a "pimple on the Pen's arse". Yeah, that's just "doubt".

Points earned since the Caps fell to last place in the NHL standings (top three in the NHL):

Blackhawks: 54
Penguins: 50
Caps: 45

So, if the Caps are just a pimple on the arse of the Penguins, wouldn't that make the Penguins the same to the Hawks? Or is that different, because it's your team?

BTW - the Caps are guaranteed to win at least 2 of 3 against the Northeast, which was your minimum standard for believing in the Caps. They've already gone 2-0 in that stretch, once again exceeding a prediction of yours.

This team is getting hot at the right time much like the Kings last year.

Must.not.let.myself.buy.into.the.hype.

The offense and goaltending are certainly present for a deep run. The defense still leaves a lot to be desired.

Well the biggest weakness this team has is their possession rate.

Anyway, the defense has the highest goals against average of any playoff team right now aside from the Isles. And they're ranked fourth in shots against. Luckily Holtby is in the zone.

I'm thinking their FenClose is a statistical mirage. Watch Ribiero play. He holds forever, and doesn't pass for the shot until he has the perfect play. Since Fenwick and Corsi both measure possession by shots attempted, it could be that Rib's failure to shoot is underrating the Caps' possession numbers.

And while the Caps have a ton of goals against, that's also the statistical memory of a GAA above four in the season's first quarter. Now, they are closer to 2.5, which is at or slightly above league average.

Last night, Holtby wasn't asked to make any big saves. The team seems to be consciously funelling shots to him if he has a clear look instead of trying to block all shots on the perimeter.

Oh for sure, I still think they're weak and will be bounced early.

And yeah, they aren't a pimple on the Pens arse, that would be an easy sweep or 4-1 without a doubt.

Makes me sad that Peg turned to shite and gave you the division most likely so it could have possibly happened 1st round but oh well.

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But you also think every team sucks except Pittsburgh, so you're not the most reliable person in the world.

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Well duh, best team hockey. Sucks is a strong word, Chicago is good.

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I think you've literally been wrong every time you've made a prediction.

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I've only made a prediction one time and that was a month ago but yeah.

Paul Martin practicing in full gear at full speed today, frick yes.

So much for missing first round of playoffs, ahead of schedule and will return by seasons end.

Just turned on NBCS for the Bruins game.

Pregame about to begin.