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The Washington Capitals (1974-), Eastern Conference, Metropolitan Division - Moved from Capital Centre in Landover to Capitol One Arena in Chinatown, 1997 - STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS 2017-2018


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Not a huge pro hockey fan but, as a sports fan, keep half an eye peeled and will pay closer attention if the Caps should somehow, finally, make it to the Finals this time around.  Will be paying more attention to the NBA playoffs and nascent baseball season.

Still, go Caps...and whoever lovehockey roots for...Ottawa or Calgary maybe? Can't remember but know her affiliation has been declared here previously.  :-)

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Not a huge pro hockey fan but, as a sports fan, keep half an eye peeled and will pay closer attention if the Caps should somehow, finally, make it to the Finals this time around.  Will be paying more attention to the NBA playoffs and nascent baseball season.

Still, go Caps...and whoever lovehockey roots for...Ottawa or Calgary maybe? Can't remember but know her affiliation has been declared here previously.  :-)

I'll put my non-Caps commentary re: paragraph 2 in the general hockey thread.  As for the Caps, when was the last time they and the Wizards were both in the playoffs?  It's been a while.  On the other hand, having the Wizards in the playoffs will take some of the media heat off of them.

As of this typing, their playoff opponent will either be the Red Wings or the Islanders.  I'm trying to wrap my head around the Islanders being in the playoffs, but good for them.  Personally, I think the Red Wings would be the more interesting matchup.

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...

As of this typing, their playoff opponent will either be the Red Wings or the Islanders.  I'm trying to wrap my head around the Islanders being in the playoffs, but good for them.  ...

I still remember the teams with Denis Potvin, Bryan Trottier and...the defenseman that was on the Miracle Gold Medal team....Morrow.

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Chimera's GWG was super and the look on his face after it went in was priceless.

But the goal of the game for me was Backstrom's goal. He's surrounded by four guys, he basically freezes all of them and BAM! Biscuit in the basket! Great, great goal.

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I had no idea what was going on in this series since I'm not much of a hockey fan *. So I checked out the news and saw that some more tickets for tonight's game have been released.

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* When I was a kid, living at the time in Madison WI, The Miracle On Ice happened. I had seen a couple of the players on the US team play as Badgers (Golden Gophers as well) with my dad. My old man immediately bought me hockey skates and had me out on the ice where I failed miserably at skating. I think he still looks at me with disappointment.

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So, sounds like they won a huge game tonight while the Nats did a faceplant. In other words, nothing like the perfectly wonderful DC Sports Hat Trick Tuesday night.

But, while also not a big hockey fan (more fair weather come playoff time), I have to ask those who are.  Aren't these Caps guys the ones who always impress early but never get it done as the playoffs advance toward actually crowning a Stanley Cup winner?  Right or wrong, kind of what I've been thinking so hard to get too excited about a possible win over...what are they called again?...the Islanders.

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So, sounds like they won a huge game tonight while the Nats did a faceplant. In other words, nothing like the perfectly wonderful DC Sports Hat Trick Tuesday night.

But, while also not a big hockey fan (more fair weather come playoff time), I have to ask those who are.  Aren't these Caps guys the ones who always impress early but never get it done as the playoffs advance toward actually crowning a Stanley Cup winner?  Right or wrong, kind of what I've been thinking so hard to get too excited about a possible win over...what are they called again?...the Islanders.

As much as I hate the Caps, their major failing for the last couple of years was they only had 2 NHL quality defensemen. With the addition of Niskanen and Orpik they really added a huge amount of quality to the D. That said, I still don't see them in the finals.

By contrast, my Pens did not really fill the holes left by losing those two. Add to that the raft of injuries to the Pens D and their late season limping to the playoffs and most probable exit from the playoffs tonight make sense.

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So, sounds like they won a huge game tonight while the Nats did a faceplant. In other words, nothing like the perfectly wonderful DC Sports Hat Trick Tuesday night.

But, while also not a big hockey fan (more fair weather come playoff time), I have to ask those who are.  Aren't these Caps guys the ones who always impress early but never get it done as the playoffs advance toward actually crowning a Stanley Cup winner?  Right or wrong, kind of what I've been thinking so hard to get too excited about a possible win over...what are they called again?...the Islanders.

It's hard to be a Caps fan, but we keep hoping and cringing. It would be great to see them go past the first round, or ideally the second. It's agony, but we gotta be who we are.

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And they made it through the first round.  The Islanders' goal (trickle through the five-hole*) was not pretty.

Rangers are up next, on Thursday.

*Just in case:  The five-hole is when a goalie goes down, either most of the way or all the way down with the pads on the ice, and the puck goes between the knees.

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And they made it through the first round.  The Islanders' goal (trickle through the five-hole*) was not pretty.

Rangers are up next, on Thursday.

*Just in case:  The five-hole is when a goalie goes down, either most of the way or all the way down with the pads on the ice, and the puck goes between the knees.

What are the 1-through-4 holes?!

"Islanders vs. Capitals 2015 Finals Score, NHL Playoffs: Washington Wins Game 7 To Advance" by Mark Sandritter on sbnation.com

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And they made it through the first round.  The Islanders' goal (trickle through the five-hole*) was not pretty.

Rangers are up next, on Thursday.

*Just in case:  The five-hole is when a goalie goes down, either most of the way or all the way down with the pads on the ice, and the puck goes between the knees.

Kuzi's goal was just sick. Such patience!

What a stressful game that was.  So excited to see the Caps advance!  The upcoming trash-talking between me and my father (a life-long Rangers fan) should be epic.

Utterly and completely stressful.  I am not looking forward to them playing the Rangers (again), but at least they are there, in the second round with a chance. I'll take it.

It was so great to see the Wizards players there in support, too.  And I love, love, love the guy that calls the game for the radio. He is just AWESOME.

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Learn something new every day.  I always thought it was Laughlin who  came up with that 5 hole expression himself. "Putting the biscuit between the pipes through the five hole" can certainly have many meanings to the non-hockey trained ears.

Personally, the Caps have been crushing my hopes and dreams consistently since circa 1980 or so.  What can I say, I am a glutton for punishment.  But oh how much fun were the games back at the Caps Center when tickets were like 10 bucks and a total of 5,000 or so of us in the house cheered them on.  My favorite part was at the start of the 3rd period when they let all of us up in the nose bleeds move down to the blue seats... Oh the memories.

Come on Caps - prove me wrong this year!!

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Wooooooo!  Joel Ward for the win!  If last night was any indication, it's going to be a great series.

I was convinced we were headed to OT. What a great way to end the game! But man the Ovechkin goal was pretty sick too.

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"Beautiful."

My out-loud comment to an otherwise empty space about the game-winning goal tonight.

This is the time of year when I start paying closer attention.  What a game tonight! This team has a serious goaltender!  Amazing 2-1 victory to go up 3-1 with Holtby beating the first penalty shot of the series.  Lots of fun. Can they close this out in Madison Square Garden on Friday???  That'll game should be must-see TV for any DC sports fan imho.

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This is the time of year when I start paying closer attention.  What a game tonight! This team has a serious goaltender!  Amazing 2-1 victory to go up 3-1 with Holtby beating the first penalty shot of the series.  Lots of fun. Can they close this out in Madison Square Garden on Friday???  That'll game should be must-see TV for any DC sports fan imho.

A healthy, confident goalie can carry a team a long way.

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Holtby was amazing last night.  28 saves, and then the rest of the team backing him up with 25-27 blocked shots.  Hoping they can wrap it up on Friday night and get some much-earned rest & recuperation before the next series begins.

To me, anyway, the blocked shots have been the most noticeable (and positive) change in this year's playoff run.  Of course, Holtby's performance has been absolutely stellar - but it's so nice to also see his teammates keeping things away from the net.  Seems like they are all feeding off each other's success and confidence.

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To me, anyway, the blocked shots have been the most noticeable (and positive) change in this year's playoff run. Of course, Holtby's performance has been absolutely stellar - but it's so nice to also see his teammates keeping things away from the net. Seems like they are all feeding off each other's success and confidence.

This is interesting to me, as a hockey neophyte who knows other sports much better. I, too, noticed defenders occupying shooting lanes and blocking many shots. But, shouldn't that be Hockey 101? Table stakes? Shouldn't defenders away be, well, defending?

I compare this to soccer (maybe wrongly). In football, goalies don't typically come under as fierce and as sustained assault as they seem to in hockey. Often, but not always, a goal scored in football is the fault of the defenders more than the keeper. But doesn't seem as much this way in hockey?

Rinks are smaller than football pitches and action moves faster so maybe that's part of it? But why not more blame on defenders when a team loses than the goalie?

A good example from last night was the Rangers' goal when Ovi was beaten by Brassard in a footrace to the Caps' goal. Why not more emphasis on the defenders in that play, rather than the talk about how Ovi, a winger, was out skated?

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