Really? I would have been interested to see this team play Hunter's style for an entire season. Let's face it, they were a bounce or two away from being in the Eastern Conference Finals. There's an awful lot of talent on that team, just need to tweak a spot or two.

I can't fathom a real fan of the sport of hockey rooting for either Phoenix or LA against an original six team and the Devils.

clearly not enough to persuade a Caps legend to come back and take another swing, which should speak volumes.

let's face it, they've been on the cusp of "something" great for years, and have NEVER made it past the 2nd round. They couldn't do it as a #3 seed or as a #7 seed or as a #1 seed, or as a presidents trophy winner. F*cking San Jose of the east.... i say blow it all to hell and start from scratch, b/c this sh!t aint working no mo!!!

-bt-

I think there's a fair chance the Caps will get "blown" up in the offseason. Semin is as good as gone, for better or for worse, and their three best defensemen are free agents in some form or fashion (I've been arguing with my Caps friends for five years now that they should have traded Mike Green long ago).

Like I said the other day, it's going to be a good offseason to be a Wings fan for once.

that doesn't take into account the fact that i despise the rangers and devils. but thanks for thinking i'm not a 'real' fan. :rolleyes: and here all along i thought i was, thanks for the clariy.

i disagree that the team needs blowing up, or that mcphee needs to go. hunter has home and family in canada. that spoke more volumes, along with his knights, than wanting to coach in d.c.
and we have made it past the second round-i distinctly remember getting swept by detroit in the stanley cup finals.

I think it almost would have served the Caps better had they continued losing after those awful Buffalo and Winnipeg games towards the end of the season. Honestly, the team is not built to win Stanley Cups, regardless of the postseason.

This was like eons ago. Leonsis didn't own the team, McPhee certainly wasn't there, and Peter Bondra was their best player. Oh, and the team didn't even sell out their own arena during the Stanley Cup Finals.

Since Ted Leonsis has owned the Caps, despite his best efforts, the team has not been a playoff success.

if only the stanley cup winner can be considered a success, i guess a lot of teams needs to start tossing coaches, gms and players?
i get what you're saying-to a point. but to revamp everything, when some things have been clicking (albeit not enough to get all the way thru to the finals) i feel would be a mistake. all things considered, i don't think it was a terrible year. i wonder how many teams have changed coaches and made it as far?
in game 5, we were seconds from winning. had we won that, we'd have finished the rangers off at home, there would have been no game 7. that's how close the series was.


anyway, regardless of what happens, i'll be buying nhl center ice and doing it all again come fall....

when you're top 5 in salary cap every year and have nothing to show for it, something has to give

-bt-

i wonder where vancouver and pitt fall?


i just wonder who the new coach will be...and what players will be gone soon. i just hope we keep nick and wideman. and holtby. and alzner and carlson i feel will stay.

Pittsburgh just won a Stanley Cup in 2009.

Vancouver is hopeless.

was in the stanley cup last year

-bt-

And they damn near tore down the city. I think that was a high water mark for the Canooges.

I agree, they didn't win last year and got knocked out as the 1 seed this year. I feel like some changes have to be coming to Vancouver.

Whomever made the comparison with the Sharks was spot-on. How many years did we hear how awesome Thornton, Marleau, Heatley, Clowe, etc., are, and they never got past the conference semis until last year. Maybe Devon Setoguchi was the difference?

i feel like many don't give hockey teams the same consideration as in football. only one team can win the stanley cup each year, just like only one can win the super bowl. you don't see wholesale destruction of football teams every few years if they've gone without postseason success. and is it only success if you win it all? does anyone think detroit or chicago needs a complete revamping? boston? and who thinks phoenix is a powerhouse? i'd imagine if i offered a bet on postseason teams for next year in the west, more people would go with detroit to go past the first round rather than the desert dogs or the kings.

anyway, i guess until (and may it be soon) the caps actually win a cup, they'll always be a huge target for derision, regardless of what they manage to accomplish.

no extension offered to semin it appears...becomes an UFA july 1.

Semin was going to probably become a UFA regardless.

I think you're missing the point. Chicago won a Cup two years ago. Detroit in '08 (and they have seriously revamped and will have some serious changes this offseason). Boston just won a Cup last year. The Caps have been a 90+ point team for five straight seasons now, including multiple division crowns, and have never gone past the conference semis. That's not success.

NFL teams are blown up every single season. It's called the salary cap. Take a look at any NFL team's roster and see how big the changes are between this season and four or five seasons ago.

Not to pick on you, but really on the bolded? How many coaches have the Bills gone through in the last dozen seasons? The Lions? Even successful teams can their coaches. NFL teams make wholesale changes pretty much every season. Roster turnover is astronomical in the NFL.

perhaps i had teams like san diego and tenn in mind when i said that.... norv turner still there, along with that ridiculous gm. fisher lasted forever in tenn.
anyway, regardless....another year, no cup. and like the last 37 years, i'm saying maybe next year. not nearly as painful this year for some reason. last year i was just sick, sick after getting swept out.

i wonder if they'll stick with their 'used to play for the caps' theme and ask adam oates? he's an assistant with the devils now...been an assistant for several teams since retiring as a player.

and yeah, no surprise that semin won't be back. figured that was what would happen after him signing just the one year deal.

Adam Oates also played for like 14 other teams.

just speculating about the team, have nothing else to do regarding hockey right now!


and apparently semin was surprised to hear that he won't be with washington...apparently news to him when he got off the plane and people were asking him questions.

should be an interesting summer.

There's a pretty good game on now.

really?
caps aren't on, tony has the remote. i'm not much of a tv watcher. hockey's over, it's reading time/computer til football i guess.

another great decision by the franchise....let a 6 million dollar player walk out the door and GET NOTHING FOR HIM!!!!!

kudos georgie boy!!!

-bt-

I'm starting to feel about Ovechkin the way I felt about Green back in the earlier Caps playoff flameouts: they should trade him while he still has value. Ovechkin is the man, and a blast to watch play, but he's virtually non-existent on the defensive end, and doesn't seem particularly interested in changing that.

Despite his successes against the Rangers over the years, watching him and Girardi match up has become my favorite thing in hockey. It is a great battle every game and I would hate to see him leave the area. Unless he came out to the Avs, I could deal with that.

Honestly, I'm not sure what it is about Ovie, but I don't find him as fearsome as he used to be. For a while I viewed him as the best player in the league by far. There have always been rumors surrounding him (HGH wise) and I'm not accusing him of anything, but he just doesn't seem to play at that same speed/level as he did in years past.

He was definitely a shell of his former self this year. Agreed though, at one time I put him above Crosby as the best player in the league. Now, I'm not sure either player even makes the top 10.

I think the years of playing a lot of minutes, hitting everything that moved (legally or otherwise) and playing at 1000 mph every shift took its toll on him. He really was a shell of his former self all year. Plus it never struck me as if he took great care of himself.

he's only had one bad year and it was only bad because he set the bar so high. Hunter system doesn't flatter ovechkin at all, I think he will have a big year next year.

i think there are several reasons for ovie's change. one is putting the 'c' on his shirt-he hasn't been the same since. then he lost his #1 assist guy, backstrom, for a lot of this season. then there was the move towards more d by boudreau, with the shift in play completed by hunter. i think ovie showed a willingness and ability to change his style of play during the postseason, but i have no doubt at all that losing time on ice really ticked him off.

go devils !!

way to go marty :rolleyes::eek::zz::wf

i love it, and i want one!!! yeah, bet they're not available tho.

Great stuff, Kings are ridiculous right now. I am curious to see how their D will handled getting destroyed every single time they go after the puck in the next round though, regardless of who wins the East.

Rangers were pitiful tonight.