I think its just hard to communicate with you. You only have negative things to say about non-penguins, and every team that isn't the pens has a childish nickname. I didn't bother posting in this thread at all despite my love of hockey until after the Pens were eliminated because of you.

I want the Jets to win (like I wanted the Senators to win last year), Winnipeg took it really hard when the first iteration of the Jets went west to Arizona. In actuality, I'm pretty sure its going to be Knights/Lightning , with Tampa Winning in 6. I don't have a dog in the fight so I can just hope that its all competitive games and a 7 games series every time.

I feel like the NHL is gaining momentum again, and I really hope a lockout/walkout doesn't happen ever again so the sport can keep its momentum going for a long time.

So because you have to deal with it, we have to deal with it? Kind of a weak cop out, but whatever gets you to sleep at night.

Its not. http://theoatmeal.com/comics/irony

However that makes him both a better hockey player and golfer than me.

What you typed and your inability to quote different people/posts in one reply is what doesn't make sense. It's fine to be passionate about your team, but if your only defense of your team is disparaging other teams and players you may want to revisit your approach. As I said before , it makes you extremely difficult to communicate with. I'm also a bit confused why you lump me in as a Capital fan?

Notice my lack of aggressive and insulting words?

Not nearly enough curse words per sentence and ending with "fuck right off" really stresses the "this is my counter point and I hope you can see it from my side even if you don't agree" point you were going for. Also, it doesn't matter who started what, just let it go and move on. The Jets looked *REALLY* good last night.

I only replied to him three times, and that was the last one I'll bother with. /shrug

At least I mentioned the Jets looked good last night!

I think they just had a little rink rust, Im sure the rest of the games will be much more competitive, in both the ECF and the WCF. I agree that Fleury wasn't the problem in that game.

Ugh, the neutral zone trap. The Lightning aren't looking very energetic (/pun). Better get it together quick or there wont be a game five.

I don't know if it was the Jets playing flat or the Knights firing on all cylinders; but Vegas looks incredibly sharp all game. Prior to the first goal they scored, they held the puck in their offensive zone for like 3 shifts in a row. They were putting on a clinic.

Vas was standing on his head 95% of the game. Ovi had an amazing pass on the caps second goal to spring Kuznetsov. I guess when the officiating is terrible but doesn't favor one team over the other it doesn't matter as much.

Ovi is the king of standing around, I'm surprised he doesn't have 45 minutes of ice time a night :p Here's a tough drinking game, take a shot every time Ovi stands near the face off dot / top of the circle on the powerplay.

And yeah, the Lightning didn't have a shot on goal for almost 21 straight minutes of ice time, that's insane for playoff game. Holtby has been solid and most of the goals he's given up weren't entirely his fault.

They are a team full of 2nd liners or better and they got a perennial All-Star goalie from the Pens. Most expansion teams didn't get the talent the knights got. Their real test will be in like 5 years when they have to start cycling players.

I knew they'd make the playoffs based on the players they got. I didn't picture them making the cup finals though.

I really thought Tampa would get their shit together for game 7, but they got outplayed up and down the ice. Hotlby had the perfect mix of luck and skill last night. The few times he was out of position the bolts just couldn't bury it. Lightning didn't score a goal since the middle of game 5, which is NUTS. Either way a team is going to get it's first cup this year; and Canada's drought is now at 25 years!

The Knights aren't really a Cinderella story, but that's been covered already. Really I just hope its 7 games of great hockey. Its kind of nice to not have a bias towards either team so I can just sit back and enjoy it.

The highlight of the game for me was when the Caps were on the first power play. The announcers said "oh and Ovi is staying out for the second half of the power play......" My wife said "I don't see him out there" I replied "He's just standing at the offensive blue line waiting for the other guys to do the work to bring the puck into the zone". About 20 seconds later the caps brought the puck up and guess who was standing at the blue line......

I was cracking up.

I know the strategy behind it, but Ovi can play the full 2 minutes of the PP every time because he doesn't help with entry, camps at the blue line, and camps at the left circle in the zone. It's not a knock on him, it's an observation and more of a knock on "Doc" Emrick than anything else. When he made the call he sounded genuinely surprised and all I could think was "Is this the first Caps game he watched?"

Really good game, except the Tom Wilson cheap shot. League needs to sit him for a game so that maybe he'll get the message. Fluery was the better goalie despite giving up 4. Half of his goals were due to defensive breakdowns, most of Holtby's were juicy rebounds. Knights in 6 is a save bet, but if they keep up that energy they may do it in 5 or less.

Fine sit him the rest of the finals? Maybe he'll stop being a butthole then. It really took away from what was otherwise a really good intense hockey game.

Funny story about the theatrics, I forgot the game started at 8 and I flipped to it at 8:20 thinking I'd miss part of the first period. They hadn't even sang the national anthem yet. It was tough staying up so late.

I didn't say it was the only cheap shot; rough play in the crease is one thing, trying to hurt another player like that something else entirely. I agree that the cross check should have been called and the goal waived off because of it. Wilson should have gotten a 5 minute major with a match penalty for that garbage though. Knights lose a player for 15 or 20 minutes to go through concussion protocol and have to double shift guys, meanwhile Wilson gets a 2 minute breather ; and it was concurrent minors so the team wasn't really penalized. It really was the low point of the game. I mean 10 goals scored in total and the dirty hit is the thing I remember the most.

I just hope game 2 is as exciting, and chippy play is replaced with sound fast paced hockey. Vegas needs to crank up the AC indoors too, no more stoppages for ice repair :p In their defense it was like 95 degrees outside.

And Wilson with yet another dirty interference hit. That dude is too good of a player to do that kind of shit.

Otherwise, great intense game. Vegas didn't let going down by 2 diminish their spirit and the Caps being up by 2 didn't rest on their laurels. I just cant will myself to stay up till the end of the game. I'm too old to stay up past 11 and then get up at 6 the next day and get ready for work. I'll be able to do it for Saturday's game, and the puck will drop a lot closer to 8 than 830 since they don't need to have Cirque du Soleil out there performing pregame. Vegas should start the theatrics 30 minutes earlier so us old fart east coasters can watch the whole game.

It's like when you see your local team is retiring a jersey and the game is scheduled to start at 7. You know they wont be playing hockey till at least 730 to 8 o clock

Same guy does the same piece of shit move in back to back games. Never said it was the only bad play or bad call.

Wilson plays PAST the edge not on it. Reaves is quickly becoming an asshole too. I'm neither a Caps nor a Knights fan, so please don't read anything I type as a favoritism towards one team or the other.

I will say this, I like the way Vegas does the Star spangled banner, where the singer skips the word "night" and the crowd chants "KNIGHTS!" super loud. It's neat.

It can be both. If you trip a guy and he throws his arms up and dives to the ice in an effort to be sure the call is made its embellishment. But I do agree at times it can be one and NOT the other. Like if you didn't actually high stick a player and he whips his head back and grabs his face, then it should just be embellishment called.

#DelawareProblems We don't have any pro teams and we don't have any good college teams in any sport either. Everyone tends to cheer on either the Baltimore/Washington teams, or the Philly teams. I cheer on the Flyers but I root for Alabama for college football. They don't show much college hockey around here, so while I watch when I can, it's hard to start pulling for a specific team.

I cheer on Alabama for a few reasons. My favorite teacher in High School was an Alabama Alumni . The school dumps a TON of money that is made from the football program back into the school. They have some of the best sports medicine curriculums / facilities in the entire country. Also, a person I didn't like all that much at my last gig was a huge LSU fan, so it was fun to taunt them with "Roll Tide".

I got a chuckle when the knights tripped 2 different caps, and neither was called. Then a cap tripped a cap and they called it, lol.

Other than the flub by Holtby , the caps played pretty much an unbeatable game.

Caps are roffel-stomping them right now

I was wondering how long it'd be before someone quoted b-drug,lol. Intense game, stayed up and watched it till the end. My wife laughed about the clock. Grats to the Caps, they definitely deserved it.

its real. I saw pix from 2 angles, and the video from NBC

NFSW link: https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/8pkzca/nsfw/

I went to sleep right after the horn sounded, saw the gifs on reddit, that's about all I know.

I think Tavares will land in Toronto, but you guys will lose Van Riemsdyk to the Coyotes. I just wish the Flyers would open up their pockets and land someone. James Neal is a fantasy but Mike Green, Alexei Emelin, and Thomas Hickey are all possibilities, and the Flyguys need some veteran defenseman to pair up with their rooks.

This is where every other fan base in the hockey world has it better than Philly. All we do is throw gobs of money at goalie failures. I'm looking at you Bryz.

now that Tavares is signed, where's Karlsson going? He'll never be a Flyer but that wont stop me from hoping.

I had him pegged for Tampa Bay as well, in a fairly lopsided deal (2 or 3 players and a draft pick or two)

92 days till hockey starts?

Toronto gained talent but lost some depth, but I think they'll be a contender. Vegas will make the playoffs again, but I don't think they'll make it to the cup finals again. My heart wants Philly to go deep in the playoffs but I see another first round exit (at best) unless they square up that 6x3 area between the pipes.

Just pray he doesn't go to the Devils, they are gonna be pretty bad this year unless they start signing some people. I think they've lost like 6 players so far.