[notwoz]

The Caps were down 4-1 at one point and won 5-4 to win their 14th game in a row.
http://www.washingto...ml?hpid=topnews
This point in the season is when the top teams start to show why they're the top teams. The pretenders go 2-7-1 in their last 10.

[FearTheReaper]

How epic was the Caps/Pens game today? Ovie's breakaway was insane. And to rally from 2-0 and 4-2 ? The Caps are my choice from the east.

[notwoz]

FearTheReaper, on 07 February 2010 - 09:51 PM, said:

How epic was the Caps/Pens game today? Ovie's breakaway was insane. And to rally from 2-0 and 4-2 ? The Caps are my choice from the east.

At the risk of being branded as a traitor to the home team, I have to agree with you. Bruce Boudreau doesn't strike me as a brilliant coach -- good but not great -- but he's a coach with a s**tload of talent and a hard-working roster.

[Fizz315]

Gonna have to agree with you that the Caps will swipe the east, they have been playing great hockey.

[Fizz315]

Not to mention Ovechkin's break away that he shattered the goalie cam on rofl

[SwampD]

I guess the Sabres had talent in December then?

[Eleven]

SwampD, on 07 February 2010 - 10:18 PM, said:

I guess the Sabres had talent in December then?

Not to take away from a thread that's about a great hockey game, but yeah, the Sabs had talent in December. They have talent now. The talent isn't doing sh&t right now, but it's there.

And no, it is not enough talent for the Sabs to win the Cup unless Miller gets rest and regains his form. Even then, it might not be, but until then, no, the Sabs won't be very good.

[tom webster]

notwoz, on 07 February 2010 - 09:14 PM, said:

The Caps were down 4-1 at one point and won 5-4 to win their 14th game in a row.
http://www.washingto...ml?hpid=topnews
This point in the season is when the top teams start to show why they're the top teams. The pretenders go 2-7-1 in their last 10.

Who the hell cares what happened in February when the season is over. All that matters is the end. The Capitals are a great team and are my favorite to represent the East but every team goes through different stretches and it is ridiculous to pull up specific points in the season and say this is what good teams do.

Chicago has gone 5-4-1, Los Angeles 9 and 1 and I'll put my money on Chicago for the West. you want to take LA?

[static70]

Yes, I caught the game as well. Wash. is the team this year in the East. They have it going on. Ovy is just sick. The supporting cast is down right scary as well. I love the topic, its refreshing to talk about other teams every once in awhile. The Pens hung themselves this game, but it was one hell of a 3rd period for sure.

[SabresFan526]

notwoz, on 07 February 2010 - 09:59 PM, said:

At the risk of being branded as a traitor to the home team, I have to agree with you. Bruce Boudreau doesn't strike me as a brilliant coach -- good but not great -- but he's a coach with a s**tload of talent and a hard-working roster.

Glen Hanlon did absolutely nothing with the exact same roster. Hanlon had Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom, Poti, Green, etc. Hanlon couldn't do anything with these guys. Boudreau has gotten these guys to be basically the best team in the Eastern Conference. I get your point, and it's not lost on me that the Caps are just loaded with incredible talent, but Boudreau is doing what Hanlon could not do with basically the same core and same talented roster.

[SwampD]

SabresFan526, on 08 February 2010 - 12:12 AM, said:

Glen Hanlon did absolutely nothing with the exact same roster. Hanlon had Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom, Poti, Green, etc. Hanlon couldn't do anything with these guys. Boudreau has gotten these guys to be basically the best team in the Eastern Conference. I get your point, and it's not lost on me that the Caps are just loaded with incredible talent, but Boudreau is doing what Hanlon could not do with basically the same core and same talented roster.

Wasn't it around this time last year that Pittsburgh fired their coach and they then went on to win the Stanley Cup?


Just sayin'.

[JJFIVEOH]

I wonder if Caps fans were calling for Boudreau's firing and to trade the entire team when they had three 3 game losing streaks and a 4 game losing streak.

[Kristian]

notwoz, on 07 February 2010 - 09:59 PM, said:

At the risk of being branded as a traitor to the home team, I have to agree with you. Bruce Boudreau doesn't strike me as a brilliant coach -- good but not great -- but he's a coach with a s**tload of talent and a hard-working roster.

I watched that game too, and I have to say it's one of those games that make me wonder if the Sabres and Capitals play in the same league.

WOW!! Just wow!

In a weird way, it makes me completely obvlivious to whether or not this team wins it's division, makes the playoffs or even makes a trade. At this point, I feel a little too convinced that no matter what we did, the Caps would eat us alive in a 7 game series.

[TheMute]

JJFIVEOH, on 07 February 2010 - 11:34 PM, said:

I wonder if Caps fans were calling for Boudreau's firing and to trade the entire team when they had three 3 game losing streaks and a 4 game losing streak.

Oh my God, what an amazing point! Because the Caps and the Sabres are pretty much identical in their talent levels! Yes!

[static70]

TheMute, on 08 February 2010 - 03:41 AM, said:

Oh my God, what an amazing point! Because the Caps and the Sabres are pretty much identical in their talent levels! Yes!

:lol:
The OP is absolutely correct though, Buf lacks the talent to be sure, especially talent like Pitt and Wash in the East. But hey, look at the bright side. There is hope, Darcy just said a couple of days ago that the organization is going to find that talent from within :w00t: .
I officially want what Darcy is smokin! :D

[FGD59]

I think what it comes down to is that Buffalo has too many players with the same skill set and size. This makes them even less talented as a group than as individual players. That is why Myers stands out so much. He is Good and Big. The thing that struck me watching the Pens and Caps yesterday was their size and how strong both teams were on the puck whether it was skating the puck out of the defensive zone, the clears were made head up facing up ice with 2 hands on the stick or on the power play neither team was easy to knock off the puck. Scoring by committee is great until the team hits a slump and one guy has to keep scoring IN SPITE of his teammates.

The Sabres by contrast clear the puck with one hand with their backs turned up ice, fumble the puck on the power play, fore check weakly, struggle to get through the neutral zone and most importantly IMHO is when a game starts going bad they lack the size and hitting ability to slow the other team down and make them pay a price in the corners. Even teams like Carolina and Columbus can go into the corners and just think about making a play not about getting hit.

This is what makes Darcy’s comments, at the behest of Quinn and Galisano, so infuriating. (Why in God’s name even address Kovilchuck if all you can say is he is a bad fit) Grier and Montatdor are small pieces to what should have been a much bigger change understanding that the salary cap makes this hard. The hardest thing to take about “Improve From Within” is the fact that winning the Cup is not a business goal of this organization. They are saying Bufffalo Fans it is the overall goal of the Sabres to play .550 hockey and win a first round play-off series (and even that seems hard to imagine this year.)

If winning the Cup was a goal they’d do something big not because they would sure it would work, but because the Sabres as currently constructed are incapable of being or growing into a Cup contender.

[nobody]

Quick glance I come up with the Caps worst 10 game so far this year as 4-4-2.

Sens: 4-6-0

NJ: 3-6-1

Pens: 3-7-0

[Kristian]

FGD59, on 08 February 2010 - 09:07 AM, said:

I think what it comes down to is that Buffalo has too many players with the same skill set and size. This makes them even less talented as a group than as individual players. That is why Myers stands out so much. He is Good and Big. The thing that struck me watching the Pens and Caps yesterday was their size and how strong both teams were on the puck whether it was skating the puck out of the defensive zone, the clears were made head up facing up ice with 2 hands on the stick or on the power play neither team was easy to knock off the puck. Scoring by committee is great until the team hits a slump and one guy has to keep scoring IN SPITE of his teammates.

+1

[JJFIVEOH]

TheMute, on 08 February 2010 - 03:41 AM, said:

Oh my God, what an amazing point! Because the Caps and the Sabres are pretty much identical in their talent levels! Yes!

You're right, the talent difference is noticeable. Just like BFLO and Pittsburgh. BTW, where are the Pens in the standings?

It's great to rely on one player, especially when they get hurt.:rolleyes:

[TheImpact]

epic game yesterday. wheres our 40+ goal scorer like ovi at this point in the season?!