581 replies to this topic

[Pedro Cerrano]

Yea the last two minutes when we had 6 on 4 was very disappointing.

[You Play to Win the Game]

It's like they stopped just ferociously attacking the net, and started "thinking" when they went on the PP at all yesterday. Very frustrating. Too much emphasis on getting "set up" sometimes on the man advantage, and that can throw the organized chaos on offense out of whack. This team has really done their best on Lundqvist when they've just thrown everything they have at him like a bunch of banshee's.

[DuffMan]

On a different note, it was nice to finally get a game called by Doc Emerick

[bnickle]

I'll ask this now as to not really troll since Washington could win tomorrow. Is there a franchise in pro sports that chokes more. Is known for choking. We know some franchises just straight up suck. Are terrible all the way around. That's not the Caps. I'm talking about choking. I saw a stat yesterday that the Caps have blown a 2-0 or 3-1 lead 10 times. They've lost Gm 7 all 10 times previously.

[Mike in STL]

I'll ask this now as to not really troll since Washington could win tomorrow. Is there a franchise in pro sports that chokes more. Is known for choking. We know some franchises just straight up suck. Are terrible all the way around. That's not the Caps. I'm talking about choking. I saw a stat yesterday that the Caps have blown a 2-0 or 3-1 lead 10 times. They've lost Gm 7 all 10 times previously.

I dont think so. That's a big reason why I dont catch as many regular season games as I used to. Id probably miss one here and there. Now I might miss three on a row and not sweat it. Its no point in living and dying with the regular season. They are good enough to be in the playoffs, always make the playoffs, time to take that next step, for like seven or eight years now.

[JeremyStrain]

I'll ask this now as to not really troll since Washington could win tomorrow. Is there a franchise in pro sports that chokes more. Is known for choking. We know some franchises just straight up suck. Are terrible all the way around. That's not the Caps. I'm talking about choking. I saw a stat yesterday that the Caps have blown a 2-0 or 3-1 lead 10 times. They've lost Gm 7 all 10 times previously.

Happens more in hockey than other sports. Not really sure why. I think because of the wear on the body a playoff series has.

They just get all this press about choking because all the bandwagon fans assumed that winning in the reg season makes you the favorite for the playoffs. The playoffs are a totally different world in hockey, upsets happen on the regular.

Think of it like this, if football were a best of 3 or best of 5 series think of all the things that could/would go wrong. Think of the parity and how confident you'd be in picking winners. Too much physicality makes things less predictable.

[JordanKough]

 They've lost Gm 7 all 10 times previously.

 

Didn't they win a game 7 against Boston in 2012? 

[You Play to Win the Game]

I think he meant the 10 times that the Caps lost a series but were up 2-0 or 3-1 in said series. The Boston series was never in that scenario.

 

That was great though.

 

All the numbers/history says the Caps have zero chance tonight... but the Boston game is a good reminder that it's game 7, anything can happen. I think the Caps have outplayed the Rangers in a big way this whole series. Time to buckle down and come through tomorrow night. Need our stars to show up.

[JordanKough]

Ahh ok, so there's been 10 games that they were up 2-0 or 3-1 that extended to game 7 and they lost those series. Got it...Eesh if that's true that's pretty darn bad. 

 

How many of those were Ovi led teams?

[JordanKough]

http://grantland.com...tals-collapses/

 

Looks like three of these were Ovi and company. 

 

The stat was just confusing to me, because it doesn't seem to include any 2-0 or 3-1 series they won, and didn't get to game 7? It would seem to imply every time they got to 2-0 or 3-1 they lost...is that right?

[You Play to Win the Game]

Ovi-led? I'd say he just started truly leading this year, but that's just me.

 

I'm not sure Jordan - I just took what Nickle said at face value. I didn't do any of the research on my own. I'm surprised it's only been 3 times, though. And there's no way that they've lost every series they've been up 2-0 or 3-1... maybe just those 2-0 or 3-1 series that went to 7... but that doesn't seem right either. If that's the case, this franchise really is cursed.

[JeremyStrain]

Ovi-led? I'd say he just started truly leading this year, but that's just me.

 

I'm not sure Jordan - I just took what Nickle said at face value. I didn't do any of the research on my own. I'm surprised it's only been 3 times, though. And there's no way that they've lost every series they've been up 2-0 or 3-1... maybe just those 2-0 or 3-1 series that went to 7... but that doesn't seem right either. If that's the case, this franchise really is cursed.

 

Just revisionist history. The people that call them choke artists and make a big deal about it are the ones that barely follow the team or the bandwagoners for the most part.

 

Too much weight being put on game 7 losses and skewing memory up to that.

[You Play to Win the Game]

It is revisionist history. It's a game played on ice. Some of the bad break's we've had in those game 7's are just mind numbingly stupid. Just complete and utter awful luck.

 

The game 7's where I'm spitting fire after the game are the ones where we lose 5-1... when it's clear we didn't even really make it off the bus, that is unacceptable.

 

Double edged sword. Need the Caps to show up. But losing a tough elimination game hurts a lot more than losing a non-competitive elimination game.

[JeremyStrain]

It is revisionist history. It's a game played on ice. Some of the bad break's we've had in those game 7's are just mind numbingly stupid. Just complete and utter awful luck.
 
The game 7's where I'm spitting fire after the game are the ones where we lose 5-1... when it's clear we didn't even really make it off the bus, that is unacceptable.
 
Double edged sword. Need the Caps to show up. But losing a tough elimination game hurts a lot more than losing a non-competitive elimination game.

Yep. I was playing with the "on this day" app on FB this week and all of the caps statuses made me laugh. How furious I was with Joel Ward for single handedly losing us games, and some of the boneheaded moves. Its a much better team this year, but we are playing the best team and probably goalie in hockey right now, what did we expect?

[You Play to Win the Game]

Yep. Amazing how full circle Ward has come. Leading the team in points this post-season, been around the puck in so many key parts of both series.

 

And exactly - this is the President's Trophy winning team that is rock solid with an otherworldly goalie that gets off on playoff dominance. We've actually cracked him by crashing the net a lot and being gritty. Something Trotz really got this team to buy into. And not conscious grittiness to where you don't have a style and a system... but just all-around grit and toughness. Battling.

 

I knew this would go 7 games, and I knew it'd be a ton of 1-goal games. I don't expect tomorrow night to be any different.

 

So with that said, be forewarned... I'll be highly irrational in here tomorrow night. It is what it is.

[JeremyStrain]

Yep. Amazing how full circle Ward has come. Leading the team in points this post-season, been around the puck in so many key parts of both series.
 
And exactly - this is the President's Trophy winning team that is rock solid with an otherworldly goalie that gets off on playoff dominance. We've actually cracked him by crashing the net a lot and being gritty. Something Trotz really got this team to buy into. And not conscious grittiness to where you don't have a style and a system... but just all-around grit and toughness. Battling.
 
I knew this would go 7 games, and I knew it'd be a ton of 1-goal games. I don't expect tomorrow night to be any different.
 
So with that said, be forewarned... I'll be highly irrational in here tomorrow night. It is what it is.

Its all good. I'll give you a few days to recover if that is how things go down.

[bnickle]

http://grantland.com...tals-collapses/

Looks like three of these were Ovi and company.

The stat was just confusing to me, because it doesn't seem to include any 2-0 or 3-1 series they won, and didn't get to game 7? It would seem to imply every time they got to 2-0 or 3-1 they lost...is that right?

Well, now if they were up 2-0 they could lose 4 straight and lose in 6.


I saw the stat on SC the other night. I'm assuming it's true. You have it right. Everytime they have held a 2-0 or 3-1 lead in a series and allowed the team to come back and take it to a deciding game they have lost that deciding game. Apparently, it's been 10 times. Not only is it remarkable to have lost those deciding games 10 straight times in that scenario, but blowing a 2-0 or 3-1 series lead 10 times seems like a lot in itself.


Jeremy keeps saying the Caps choking woes are overrated but there are articles written. The talking heads have obviously noted it a lot. This stuff might happen more in hockey in general, but the Caps seem to be the kings of the choking hockey world. Can anyone show or find any numbers that show an NHL team that is comparatively as bad over a high number of series played.

[bnickle]

Well, now if they were up 2-0 they could lose 4 straight and lose in 6.


I saw the stat on SC the other night. I'm assuming it's true. You have it right. Everytime they have held a 2-0 or 3-1 lead in a series and allowed the team to come back and take it to a deciding game they have lost that deciding game. Apparently, it's been 10 times. Not only is it remarkable to have lost those deciding games 10 straight times in that scenario, but blowing a 2-0 or 3-1 series lead 10 times seems like a lot in itself.


Jeremy keeps saying the Caps choking woes are overrated but there are articles written. The talking heads have obviously noted it a lot. This stuff might happen more in hockey in general, but the Caps seem to be the kings of the choking hockey world. Can anyone show or find any numbers that show an NHL team that is comparatively as bad over a high number of series played.

So to answer my question, Greeny just said on Mike and Mike that this is the most by any team in NHL history. I think it's safe to say this isn't just a misconception. Comebacks might be more common in the NHL than any other sports, but it's also pretty clear that the Caps have the biggest history of choking in the NHL.

[DuffMan]

Ask the Sharks about their Playoff success, or lack thereof.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Meh... it sucks, but Nickle isn't wrong. Of course it happens more in hockey and hockey just has that general feel where you throw the rankings/seeding out the window as soon as the puck drops. But he's still not wrong. Caps have been very, very good at being a rock solid team that's just on the cusp, but not quite having enough. There have only been maybe 2 or 3 instances where I thought the Caps were truly talented enough top to bottom, but fell short. Those few instances are more of a classic "choke" than just losing in the playoffs. There's only one champion at the end, and there's 16 teams vying for the Cup in the tournament. Luck works both ways... and with as often as the Caps have danced this past decade, it's hard to believe they haven't even been to the ECF. Let's punch our ticket tonight. I'm tired of this shit.