Fifth Avenue Forum

Just about every national media source is picking the Caps to finish as one of the best, if not the best, to come out of the eat and win the cup.
Beyond the fact it's the Caps, it's annoying.
What the **** have they done to get this love?

Ummm...finish in the middle of pack..get inflated points thanks to shoot outs/OTL..barely beat a neophyte by 1 goal in round 1.....trap...trap....trap their way to a 3-1 series lead only to blow it in the last minute and lose the series.
Lose talent like Mike Green (who sucks in the playoffs) add talent that sucks in playoffs (TJ Oshie) add veteran grit (Justin Williams) subtract multiple veteran grit (Brower...who was supposed to be the final piece years ago...and Joel Ward...not to mention Eric Fehr).
A franchise which has never won anything aside from a cinderella 1998 run....isn't even that good with the analytics (which clearly show they are inflated by PP/OTL)....and somehow, getting Justin Williams and Holtby is enough to make a quantum leap.

Sure...I know Kustnetzov is impressive and looks to be a solid borderline star....but...so what?
Holtby had a great season...as he did in the 2012 playoffs before losing his job in 2014.
Barry Trotz somehow, another mediocre playoff performer, is seen as this "genius"?

This is just annoying....either the media is just dying to see Ovie win OR they have this narrative they want to believe like agent Mulder.
Caps are what they are, what they have been the past several seasons.
A 90-100 point second tier team good enough if the pucks bounce right to make some noise, but also finish 10th.

Enough!
Thoughts....

I am too lazy to look at their line ups but they only really seem to have one scoring line, at least until backstrom is back. They seem to have good defense, and holtby was awesome last year. I agree with you though and I think it's them wanting to see ovy finally win. I don't loathe #8 anymore, unless against the pens, as he seems to have matured and improve on his weaknesses

I don't think the caps are better now than they were last year, but last year they were a solid contender.

And i also agree that ovi has become likeable

This is why we play the games. Reacting to people's opinions is stupid

I posted something like this last week. Mostly just about the Oshie/Williams thing though. We keep hearing about how great a job they did with adding Williams and Oshie and what they will bring to the team and this and that. However, these two are basically direct roster replacements for Brouwer and Ward. Brouwer scored a good bit and played rather physical and liked to forecheck and such. Ward didn't hit as much, but still went to the dirty areas and got his 20 goals.

The two new guys aren't physical, which means a fundamental change in play. They may have more points over the last few years, but it is all assists. Goal count is actually lower.

Did the Caps get better with this 2-for-2 replacement? Eh... They got a touch more offensive and they got a bit less physical. Having to pick, black or white, then I would say that hey improved. However, it is closer to an overall wash than anyone is willing to say.

I only saw parts of a Caps preseason game, as I can't listen to their announces for more than a few minutes at a time without wanting to throw myself in front of a train, but they seemed to always be talking about the Oshie deal in particular. There's no way I would want that trade if I were a Caps fan. Oshie's going to disappear in the playoffs when playing gets rough, whereas Brouwer will prove his worth. The Williams signing was solid, though. Always liked him as a player, and he shows up in big games.

When I told a co-worker of mine who is a long-time Caps fan that a lot of people were picking the Caps to finish first this year, his fatalistic response was, "yeah, and then they'll lose to whoever they play in the first round in seven games."

Trotz Trotz Trotz

me team on fire, new coach we hire

Barry Trotz Trotz Trotz

haaay-ohhhhhhhh

They are off to a good start so far.