SaucyJack

Nevertheless, New Jersey remain in a nearly-even 5-team dogfight for 3rd place in the Mediocropolitan Division and the last Eastern playoff spot.  

Right or wrong.  Just is.  

A gawd-awful loss at home to a woeful Coyotes club.  These guys don’t get that they HAD to take all 8 points from these first 4 games in March, before 9 of the last 11 contests ending the month are against elite foes.

Just horrible to lay an egg like this.   (Easter is still several weeks away, after all.)

AWFUL

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/03/03/kuznetsov-waivers-capitals-coyotes/

Both teams have tough March schedules.  Each play 9 games against elite opponents by my reckoning.  Will be interesting to see who holds up, who nabs 3rd in the Metro.

Now that Caps goal was VERY much against the run of play. 

Could’ve been 4-3 there with 7 minutes to go with the Tippett chance.

Capitals get some reprieve in the first third of March (4 games) not playing the teams in what I perceive as the Top 11.

Their Fates will likely be decided in 11 games played between Mar 11th and 30th, starting with their Western Canada trip.   Nearly all Top 11 teams in this most difficult 20-day stretch:

@wpg @edm @sea @van @cgy 

tor car wpg det @tor bos 

Should be Murderer’s Row.  April not as bad, a mix of best, middle, worst.

On 2/23/2024 at 11:00 AM, SaucyJack said:

big upset win Saturday night in greater Miami, then staving off Ottawa at home, and then a huge road win against another chase-em-down club in Detroit, would be a remarkable finish to February, and a welcome continuation of recent good fortune.

Alas, a glass half full.  Or should I say empty.  Yes, an Ottawa win, but a late lead blown to Florida resulting in 1 point, then last night’s butt-smacking by Detroit that left Charlie Lindgren as forlorn as I can recall all year.  (Even though it was 2nd of a back to back, 3rd in 4 nights, and 5th in 8 nights, the Caps shouldn’t be outclassed and out-skated that badly.)

5.9% is what moneypuck says this morning.  A few in the WaPo comments advise not being fooled by a few recent wins to forgo being a seller this spring.  

2 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

I just wonder though....the wild n woolly type of defense they played against the Sens (or some might say lack thereof), if they get away with a more structured team.

Yeah, they have shown defensive weakness all year.  Maybe they’ve had some luck lately, too.

Before tonight, moneypuck.com had Philly at 66.3% and Washington only 11.1%.  Wha?!  On average, Washington would snare 3 pts from the 3 games in hand and thus trail Philly by 3 pts with 23 to play.

So, I figured the experts were taking strength of remaining schedule into account.  I subjectively classified 11 good teams, 12 fair teams, and 8 poor teams.  Of the Caps remaining 25 games, 13 are against the Good, 7 the Fair, 5 the Poor.

Of the Good, two teams have yet to be played this season.  Three remain vs the Red Wings, and two against the Jets.  Plus 2 apiece vs Bruins, Canes, and Leafs.  Add in single matchups with the Canucks and Oilers.

So tough sledding.  Things look better in the standings than they actually are.

P.S.  Caps also still have two games to play in Buffalo.  Per scheduling oddity, both are in April!

3 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

the Caps seem to think they have a shot at the post season still

Well yeah…they’ve been pretty fair of late.  They have two chances:  catch Tampa or Detroit for a wild card, or catch Philly for 3rd in the Metro!

They’ve edged past the Pens, Devs, and Isles, and could tie the Flyboys by winning their two games in hand.  Somebody in the not-too-strong Metropolitan Division is gonna finish 3rd  and get in.

Big game in Motown tomorrow.

On 2/8/2024 at 2:15 AM, Buffalo Rick said:

perhaps the sleeper in all of this are Winnipeg

About time for the club named after Bobby Hull to finally win this Stanley Cup thing.

Thanks to a 3-game winning streak, the Caps have quintupled their playoff chances in a mere two weeks from 3% to 16.5%.
 

A must-win last night in Lightning Land.  Young Swedish D-Man Rasmus Sandin saves the club from two early 3rd period defensive lapses to bag the game winner with 5 minutes left against a club that Washington is desperately chasing.

It’s still a bit bleak, but a big upset win Saturday night in greater Miami, then staving off Ottawa at home, and then a huge road win against another chase-em-down club in Detroit, would be a remarkable finish to February, and a welcome continuation of recent good fortune.

”Keep Hope Alive”, as they say.

On 2/17/2024 at 1:23 PM, Math said:

Even in Europe, they tried to have some sort of a Champions League with the best european teams but it's a pain in the arse. It existed in the early 1990s, then it was cancelled for lack of interest and support, then they tried a revamp version but nobody really cares. It messes up all different calenders and teams don't want to have extra games and travelling in an already busy schedule.

Perhaps so back then, I have little knowledge of it, but right now I’d say that the UEFA Champions League, and its lesser brothers like the Europa League, are very popular across Europe.  Large enthusiastic crowds in most game highlights that I view.  

Anyway, I digress and am off topic in regards to the Olympics.

On 2/17/2024 at 1:00 PM, JR Ewing said:

I don't like the IOC or the Olympic Committees of the various countries, who use money which could be much better spent than making sure a bunch of rich guys get richer.

Not to mention the corruption of the international governing bodies of various sports.  I just watched the Feb 2023 episode of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (soon to be or already expired off of HBO/Max).  One story was about how many put their headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, because the Swiss do not require much if any transparency.  
 

So instead of $$ going into development of their game, esp in 3rd World countries, they throw lavish parties for themselves and otherwise enrich their higher-ups.  The Swiss say that having these organizations help their economy, and whistleblowers are looked down on and/or ignored (or worse).

Still, I love watching Olympic weightlifting while not bothering to research whether it’s governing body is corrupt.  It’s my every-4-year chance to savor it.

On 2/20/2024 at 5:55 PM, Jimtown guy said:

Can’t say I remember that 2/3/99 home game 10-1 clobbering against then-lowly Tampa Bay, but upon lookup I saw that Peter Bondra scored a hat trick in that 4:47 span along with an assist.

The Lightning got their revenge in their second-ever playoff series in the spring of ‘03, defeating the Caps 4-2 after having lost the first two games at home.  (A series that signified an end of an era in Washington, leading to rebuild and the eventual acquisition of Ovechkin.)

2 hours ago, thegx.ca said:

Add up to 36 I say...even 9 per division

Of course, it means a new formula of how often one plays each team in one’s division, in the other division in your conference, and the other conference.  Several choices to make, including whether to only play some teams in the other conference once.

I disagreed with 32 being perfect as far as playoff achievement.  NFL and MLB still only allow less than half to qualify for postseason, despite expanding those fields in recent years.  (I.e., 16 in, 20 out, is OK in my view.)

Russians are banned in team sports for the 2024 Paris summer games per their state-sponsored doping scandals.  Whether that ban extends to the 2026 Turin winter games has not yet been decided, or so I read.

It is more important for ice hockey to put on an exciting star-studded Olympic competition than other sports, as it is the only team game for a winter Olympiad.  (The summer games are so overloaded and getting even more crowded, they can afford something like, say, basketball being amateur-only should that ever occur.)

2 hours ago, Math said:

putting this in front of the scene to prevent any return of the NHL in Québec City.

Wow.  Hunter had been out of Québec for 6 years when he pulled his crap on Turgeon in the ‘93 playoffs.

Dale Hunter vs Pierre Turgeon 1993, anyone?

Losers of six straight, lowering their making-the-playoffs odds to 3%, with a trip to Beantown and the mighty Bruins earlier this afternoon, that I missed.

The Capitals win this game ?!?  In a 3-0 blanking of the Conference Top Dogs ?!?  In their rink ?!?

My head just asploded.    

20 minutes ago, radoran said:

I don't think "the fans" are down about only "this year"

After scoring 83 pts in the regular season of their Cup victory, he degraded to 72, 52, and 29 points the next three.  (But the 29 was the 41-game Covid Seadon so project that as 58 pts.) He improved in 21-22 for 78 pts, then degraded last year to 55.

But this year is especially bad with 17 pts in 47 games.  (That projects to a meager 30 pt season if he played all 82.)

It is extra bad now in 23-24, for sure, nothing quite compares to these low totals.

16 hours ago, Alexandron said:

Such a sad news regarding of his enter to the players assistance program.

The fans may be down on Kuzy and his performance this season.  But several commenters on the WaPo article thought he was brave to admit he had a problem and to take advantage of the league’s program.

Say what you might about Evgeny Kuznetsov, and most of it these days is not pretty from fans commenting on WaPo game articles, who want his now-underachieving arse and ridiculous salary out the door…

…but he is nevertheless beloved for providing the most dramatic and cathartic moment in Washington Capitals history in the 2018 Cup run:

- sure, the Cup was won against Vegas, but with relative ease in 5

- and sure, they were an inch from confirming their Choking Dog natures in round 1 vs Columbus, before Carl Eller’s double OT road winner prevented going down 3-0 

- and yes, in round 3 the fans could hear those dreaded Dog Sounds against Tampa Bay, after losing 3 straight before winning the last two to win in seven

- IT WAS ROUND TWO - - - finally beating the Penguins, the two-time defending champs, in OT, even if it was “just” a game 6.  IN Pittsburgh.  Crushing those demons…listen to my favorite sports call of all time, courtesy of Caps radio play-by-play man John Walton.  Tears well up for me whenever I watch this every couple years or so.

Good afternoon; good evening; and good night !!

1 hour ago, yave1964 said:

Kuznetsov has left the capitals and entered players assistance to get help with a Problem.

WaPo says he tested positive for cocaine in 2019 representing Russia in the World Championships.  (Possible of course since Washington hasn’t won a playoff series since the 2018 Cup.)

And, this was originally named the “substance abuse and behavioral assistance program”.

So I doubt the Problem is consuming too much Diet Coke.

Ovechkin improving with age:  in April 2014, Bleacher Report had him the 2nd most overrated player in the league.  Nearly 10 years later, he has improved, in this poll at least, to 6th in this woeful category.

The Puzzler…is a Pucks Fan!

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