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thornescratch · 7 years

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I want to watch old Washington Capitals games but I don't know which. If you have any favourite games from the past, would you mind recommending some? It could be your favourite because they won, or they were hilarious while loosing, or even because something memorable or amusing happened at the game. I am asking you because you obviously have a lot of passion for this team, and also because you might have fellow Caps fan followers who might be willing to offer recs too. Thank you in advance!

Oh! This is a super fun question, so thank you. Hmm. This is hard because I know I’m going to write a ton and then remember “I LEFT OUT SUCH AND SUCH GAME” as soon as I hit post. So, yeah, if anyone’s reading this and wants to chime in with their favorite Caps games, please feel free!

And I’m not sure how you’re going to watch these games– hell, I’m not sure all the ones I’d recommend are available, but, I’ll try to be cognizant of that. So. That said. I should probably take this moment to note that if you want to have an actual convenient DVD, Amazon sells one of the 10 Greatest Capitals Games. You used to be able to buy it in the team store, but I haven’t seen it there in a couple years, so.

That particular DVD is very much geared to the Ovechkin era, which I don’t really see as a bad thing, but I don’t know you. And if you’re looking for much more of a deep dive into past Caps history, the DVD does include some of the most exciting and seminal games, but it’s much more current in general. I do get the mindset of people who have been around for this entire franchise and scoff at only focusing at 2005 on. I do get it! But the thing is, when you try to watch old games, you run into the fact they’re one, hard to find, two, generally of terrible video quality.

…Also the reviewer on Amazon who bitches because they think it should include the 4 OT Easter Epic should be soundly donkeypunched. Look, buddy, we all signed up for a disproportionate amount of disappointment as Caps fans, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be memorialized on a DVD. With that said, here are the games I love to rewatch or remember or I just think they’re neat. I’ll start with the DVD games because that’s convenient, and then go on with some other ones I like

Here’s what the DVD includes. All of these are good games to watch.

4/16/1988 - Dale Hunter scores the series’ winner in overtime as the Caps beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 to win Game 7 of the Patrick Division semi-final. This was the one they used in that “History will” series of NHL commercials because we have so few good playoff highlights.

4/17/1996 - In the Eastern Conference quarter-final against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team rallies from a three-goal deficit to win 6-4.

6/4/1998 - Joe Juneau scores the overtime winner in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, and the Caps go onto their first (and only) Stanley Cup appearance.

10/5/2005 - Ovechkin’s first NHL game. He scores two goals, hits a dude so hard the glass pane falls out, and Caps beat Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2.

11/23/2007 - First Bruce Boudreau coaching game, an overtime win against Philadelphia. Ah, Bruce.

1/31/2008 - Ovechkin’s (first) four goal game against the Habs, where he broke his nose (again) and won the game in OT.

4/5/2008 - Caps win 3-1 against the Florida Panthers to gain their first playoff appearance in five years, after having to win 11 of 12 down the stretch and pushing to the last day.

4/11/2008 - Ovechkin’s first NHL playoff game, with him leading the team to a come-from-behind win over Philadelphia.

4/28/2009 - Russian legend Sergei Fedorov, in his first and last season with the Caps, provides the game-winning goal in Game 7 against the New York Rangers, leading the Caps to win 2-1 in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. God, that goal. (Also, don’t look now, but that was a Game 7 the Caps won.)

5/4/2009 - The Ovechkin-Crosby dueling hat tricks playoff game with the Caps winning 4-3. (This was also where Crosby complained about hats being thrown on the ice. Like, there are many other reasons he’s never going to be on my Christmas card list, but this was him at some of his whiniest and pettiest, and when I think of reasons why I don’t care for the dude, this one tends to flash across my mind. Because I am also petty. EXCELSIOR.)

OTHER PLAYOFF GAMES.

HEY YES I KNOW EVERYONE MAKES FUN OF US ABOUT THE PLAYOFFS WELL HERE ARE SOME PLAYOFFS GAMES YOU CAN WATCH AND ENJOY.

4/20/2011 - Game four of the series with the New York Rangers. Yeah, yeah, the Caps have had their share of OT pain with the Rangers. But this comes from one of the shorter playoff series the Caps enjoyed in the Ovechkin era, and hey look, it’s a double OT WIN, which came about after the Caps had fallen behind 3-0 in the game, and then forced OT and won it on what was described as a “freaky sort of development play”. Marian Gaborik, in an attempt to clear the puck, accidentally yanked it away from Lundqvist and passed it directly to Jason Chimera, who promptly put it back in the net, and then skated the length of the ice in basically two seconds while his teammates tried to catch him for hugs. (Game 5 of that series was also pretty good because it’s one of the few times where the Caps were closing out a series and never looked worried during it. Just a nice solid win.)

4/25/2012 - Game Seven of the series with the Boston Bruins. Yeah, yeah, the Caps and Game 7′s. HERE’S ONE THAT WE ACTUALLY WON. This series was so fucking close and insane and it was the NHL playoff debut of a young Braden Holtby who came storming up from the AHL after both Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth went down to freak injury and went on to become the Bruins’s worst nightmare. (If you love Braden Holtby, you should remember that ex-Cap then-Panther Marco Sturm falling on Michal Neuvirth is what propelled Holtby into the playoffs out of necessity, and therefore most Caps fans probably owe him a drink.) And of course, this was the game of Joel Ward’s OT winner, with a helping of Mike Knuble’s gigantic ass in Tim Thomas’s face, (and I’m frankly still amazed the Caps didn’t get boned with a GI call on it), and man do I love me some Joel Ward.

4/27/2015 - Game Seven of the series with the Islanders. ANOTHER GOOD OUTCOME GAME SEVEN. This game seven on the other hand wasn’t as close (though every Caps fan was puckered and freaking during it) and the Caps were dominating. Joel Ward scored first for the Caps, and they outshot New York and were handling the Isles with ease, only to have everyone almost lose their shit when Holtby made a mistake and let Nielson tie. However, just as the Bruins series was Holtby’s debut party, the Isles series was Evgeny Kuznetsov’s Big Show. He scored with just over seven minutes left in the game on Halak, the goalie who’d tortured the Caps in 2010, and it was another successful Game 7 and series win. Since we don’t have a ton of those, enjoy it.

4/18/2016 - Game Three of the series with the Flyers. This was the, uh, Bracelet Game. But it was also a game where the Caps scored five goddamn powerplay goals to win 6-1 and took a 3-0 series lead for the first time in– well, ever. (At least in the seven game series era.) This is why it narrowly beats out Game Two, which had the Steve Mason “OH NO” goal given up to Jason Chimera.

4/19/2017 - I feel like I should include a Leafs playoff series game here from 2017 for completeness sake. Uh. Hmm. Let’s go with Game Four, since it had Tom Wilson saving a goal, then going down ice to score a goal, and was high-scoring, super-close, and barely squeaked away from going to OT.

OTHER REGULAR SEASON GAMES

1/1/2011, 1/1/2015 - Both Winter Classics. CAPS ARE UNDEFEATED IN OUTDOOR GAMES. Plus, they both serve as a good excuse to rewatch the HBO 24/7 and Epix Road to the Winter Classic specials.

2/7/2010 - Snowvechkin. Ovi had a hat trick against the Pens, the Caps had to come from behind, there was bizarre reffing, and Caps won. This was all the more impressive because DC was essentially under two feet of snow at this point and for the intrepid souls who basically walked into the city on foot to see the game, they got a real gem.

2/6/2011 - The Caps shut out the Pens 3-0 on Superbowl Sunday, but more dramatically, shaved ape on skates and career injury-causing cockmonger Matt Cooke tried to go knee on knee with Alex Ovechkin in the process and Nicklas Backstrom did his best to punch everliving shit out of him for doing it. It’s great seeing Backstrom get in Cooke’s face and throw hands afterthe shot on Ovechkin. If “ice in his veins and murder in his eyes” Backstrom is that visibly emotional,then somebody done done somebody wrong.

3/7/2011 - Holtby comes on in relief of Neuvirth in a game against the Bolts, when Neuvirth takes a shot off the mask and gets a sliver of metal in his eye. He held the Caps in it, and went on to help get the shootout win, 2-1. This was the very beginning of his career, and he’d go on to start the post-season against the Bruins and really blossom.

1/24/2012: Matty Perreault tricks the Bruins. This was an interesting game because it was one of the games Ovechkin was suspended for, after the NHL decided to make an example out of him and suspend him for a hit on Michalek but still require him to go to the ASG. Ovechkin not eager to play the NHL game of cookie-cutter villain / showdog to trot out and make money (boy, if you ever want to get an earful of rant, start me off on that particular suspension because I will not shut up about it, ever) and withdrew from the ASG. With Ovechkin out for suspension and Nicklas Backstrom concussed by noted shitstain Rene Bourque, and Mike Green also injured, it wasn’t looking good– until diminutive hero Matty P stepped up (and later got a shaving cream pie, courtesy of his proud captain who essentially rushed out of the press box in his suit and down to the ice to do it) to win the damn game with his hatty.

Fun fact with this game: Perreault somehow managed to high-stick Chara in the face during this game.Ponder that one for a minute. One might wonder how Perreault could even high-stick someone who routinely gets calls from Logan Airport to please move his head sothe planes can take off, without sneaking a ladder onto the ice or something.

2/24/2012 - Caps beat Habs 4-1. There’s an Ovechkin pretty goal in this one, but this real thing I remember is that Mike Green was itching to get back at Rene Bourque for concussing Backstrom, and boy did he. Green was playing Bourque because of the puck coming his waynear the net, but as soon as he saw the puck was past and out of danger, heturned his full attention to absolutely nailing Bourque and shoving him face-first into the goal-side. It was awesome.“Oh, did I fling you into the goal post? My bad, man.”

3/29/2012 - Matt Hendricks wins the shootout for Washington 3-2 and completely turns Tim Thomas inside out. At that point, you expected players like PKane or Datsyuk or Oshie to make beautiful, awe-inspiring SO moves.Matt Hendricks? Well, that’s a secret Caps fans knew and reveled in, and then welaughed at the other teams when they went, “Matt Hendricks, seriously? That’swho you're—oh, fuck. Fuck! fuuuuuuck! Where the fuck did that come from?!”

4/16/2013 - Ovechkin nearly tears Jay McClement’s head off for boarding Backstrom. This was a Caps 5-1 win over Toronto, and you’ve probably seen the clip in question. It was encouraging to see how much the team rushed to start a line brawl for Nicky’s sake. Backstrom, it should be noted, stood right back up and threw himself after the guy throwing himself at Ovi, so it went both ways.

12/10/2013 - I could describe all of Ovi’s four goal games, but this one against the Bolts, a 6-5 shootout win, was super dramatic and his first since 2008, a five year span. I’m just going to quote the RMNB recap of it: First, Mike Green committed a penalty and the Lightningscored. Then, Mike Green committed a penalty and the Lightning scored. Then, ina Shyamalany plot twist, Mike Green was on-ice when the Lightning scored. Holtbywas like, “Sick of you, Mike,” and he peaced out; Grubauer in. AlexOvechkin put the team on the board with an instant-score following a faceoff.Okay, buckle up. Here we go.

Troy Brouwer proved unable, so Nick Backstrom finished off the powerplay for him. Then, Alex Ovechkin happened. After Richard Panik earned a 5-minute major for boarding Karl Alzner, the Russian machine made Tampa pay. Twice. First, he laid up a cross-ice pass from Marcus Johansson, then he took a one-timer from Green to tie the game. Hats rained down. Another three-goal second period for the Washington Capitals.

Ondrej Palat put the Bolts back up in the third, taking advantage of some observational Capitals defense, but the Caps weren’t done. With the Caps net empty, Alex Ovechkin struck again, scoring his 4th goal of the night. HIS FOURTH FOARTH GOAL OF THE NIGHT.

12/13/2014 - Backstrom’s natural hat trick against the Lightning. He’s just so silky smooth.

10/23/2015 - Evgeny Kuznetsov’s hat trick and five point night against the Edmonton Oilers.

11/16/2016 - Nicklas Backstrom has another 5 five point night as the Caps skull the Penguins 7-1. Fun fact: At that point in time, Backstrom had had five five-point games, one more than Ovechkin, equaling Crosby, and one less than Malkin. And… no All Star Game appearances or Selkes, because the NHL is stupid.

If you want to know his other five point games up until then, they were:

11/16/2016 against Pittsburgh Penguins – 2 goals, 3 assists12/10/2013 against Tampa Bay Lightning – 1 goal, 4 assists02/04/2010 against New York Rangers – 1 goal, 4 assists12/05/2009 against Philadelphia Flyers – 1 goal, 4 assists11/15/2008 against New Jersey Devils – 1 goal, 4 assists

1/7/2017 - Backstrom’s 500th assist, on a TJ Oshie goal. It’s harder to pick out favorite Backstrom games because his game is so quiet and focused on operating in the shadows. Usually he’s having some kind of tremendous game that people focus on the dudes scoring the goals off the magical moves he’s making.

1/22/2017 - Ovechkin’s 1000th point. 35 seconds in, against the Pens. FUN FACT I WAS THERE FOR THIS ONE. I have a good friend from out of town who is a Pens fan (I’m as shocked as you), and for the past couple years she’s come to town from across the country when the Caps play the Pens, and my record with her was ABYSMAL. Until this game, I had never seen the Caps win in person at Verizon while she was there, but then this one happened, and she very kindly didn’t shove me over the ledge of the nosebleeds to my death, as she would have probably been in full rights to do after all the hooting and capering I was doing.

LOSSES? UH….

I don’t have a lot of recs for Caps losses because, well, I’m not a masochist. But if you must, I would recommend two particular ones first because the fights were bonkers.

11/21/1998 - Caps vs. Bruins. These is notable because of the goalie fight. Most notably, the one that’s been called “The Dance” between Byron Dafoe and Olie Kolzig, since– well, you’ll know it when you see it. The backstory is, Dafoe and Kolzig were close friends– best men at each other’s weddings, even. And when the Bruins and Caps threw down in their line brawl, Dafoe grabbed Dale Hunter (Dale Hunter having been just momentarily pried out from the dogpile and had just been separated from Ken Belanger) and Kolzig came down the ice to get in on the action. However, Kolzig decided to fight Ken Belanger (since the refs had turned around to deal with Dale Hunter) which was… uh, probably not a good idea.

Dafoe and Hunter had simultaneous “Ho-shit, son,” realizations, immediately stopped fighting each other, and flung themselves at Kolzig and Belanger respectively. Dafoe grabbed Kolzig and basically waltzed him away from Belanger before he could get his head smashed in, and Hunter went back to fighting Belanger. Kolzig and Dafoe pulled each other’s jerseys off while Kolzig seemed torn between trying to yell at Dafoe for yanking him out of the fight and laughing at his friend. Everyone on the ice got tossed and the Caps lost 5-4 in OT.

1/12/2010 - Caps vs. Bolts. You actually don’t really have to watch this whole game, which was a 7-4 loss. You just need to watch Steve Downie and Alex Ovechkin drop the gloves and prepare to fight, only to have Matt Bradley come streaking in at the last second and literally steal the fight out of Ovechkin’s hands. Dan Steinberg did a great write-up of it for the Sportsbog. It’‘s kind of hilarious because, well, Ovi and Downie were both completely taken by surprise. If you catch any of the later analyst clips, you can see Bradley watching Ovi and Downie yell at each in the box, keeping an eye on the unfolding events like a hawk, screaming urgently at Eric Fehr to get the hell off the ice so he can get on without getting the instigator, and then just making a direct beeline for the fight so he can get in front of Ovi and punch Downie in the face.

12/16/2014 - The never ending fucking shoot out with the Panthers. Ugh. I refuse to even google this to find highlights. WE WENT THROUGH THE ENTIRE GODDAMN ROSTER. EVEN BROOKS FUCKING ORPIK SCORED. ON A TRIPLE DEKE. I still refuse to believe the entire thing wasn’t a fever dream from the mind of Roberto Luongo while passed out on the can. It did at least give us the notable mic’d up quote of “Coach Korn has a pitched tent in the stands right now,” though.

WAIT IT’S BAD LUCK TO END ON A LOSS, LET’S END WITH SOME MORE WINS.

1/08/2016 - This game had everything I say, in my best breathy Stefon voice. A quick two goal lead for the Caps. Giving up three goals to fall behind. Nicklas Backstrom slamming in a loose puck with less than ten seconds left to tie it. OT madness. Nate Schmidt and his skate helping Holtby save an almost slam dunk Ranger goal off the faceoff in OT. Ovechkin grabbing the saved puck and going end to end to score in OT. Ovechkin falling on his face. Happy, huggy chaos by the Caps on Madison Square Garden ice. Ovi one away from 500 goals…

1/10/2016 - Ovechkin’s 500th. This might be my favorite game (for now…), not because it was a blowout win, not because Ovechkin actually had two in this game, one of which involved dangling Erik Karlsson’s pants off, but watching the team come to celebrate with him, seeing how much they loved him and were overjoyed for him and had actually planned it out in advance without his knowledge… that’s just something special. It was just a really, really good moment that very little can spoil for me, no matter what.

#Anonymous #links #Washington Capitals #old Caps games #milestones

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rick-city · 7 years

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On Marc-Andre Fleury

Marc-Andre Fleury is likely done as a Pittsburgh Penguin.

I don't exactly know why, but I feel like writing a little something about what I feel like he has meant to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

If your first thought is “Yeah, but Matt Murray’s save percentage is.....” then this post isn’t for you. I’m not saying that Fleury is better than Matt Murray or that the Penguins should keep him instead of Murray. The league has a salary cap and an expansion draft coming up, so keeping the younger and cheaper goalie makes sense.

However, that doesn’t mean I’m happy to see Fleury go. It’s actually quite the opposite. Yes, sports are about winning (and the Penguins are certainly winning these days) so it probably makes logical sense to say “Well, statistically Marc-Andre Fleury is or isn’t something or other” and then dismiss him. It’s easy to mock people who are sad to see him go as sentimental fools who care more about a “nice guy” than winning and then mention Matt Murray’s save percentage again.

This post isn’t about statistics.

This post is about a feeling. Yes, sports are about winning and losing and numbers, but they’re also about how they make us feel. We cheer because of how we feel. We get dejected when a team loses because of how we feel.

I remember the day Marc-Andre Fleury was drafted. I was two years old when Mario Lemieux was drafted and eight years old when Jaromir Jagr was drafted. I grew up watching those players, but I didn’t have the excitement of paying close attention to their entire careers.

I was 21 when Marc-Andre Fleury was drafted. I remember getting an email from the Penguins’ mailing list that said the team had traded up to pick first overall. I was ecstatic. It was the first thing to really be excited about as a Penguins fan in a while. The Penguins were not good. The “glory days” were gone. Yes, Mario Lemieux was still there, but the team had only 27 wins in the 2002-2003 season. That year they traded away Alexei Kovalev, and Martin Straka had one foot out the door.

I had watched Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, and Ron Francis lift the Stanley Cup. Now I was watching Rico Fata, Dan Focht, and Kris Beech. It was depressing.

When the Penguins drafted Marc-Andre Fleury, it was the first sign that there might be hope for the future.

And it wasn’t just hope. Marc-Andre Fleury brought consistency. Yes, it sounds weird to use the words “Marc-Andre Fleury” and “consistency” together, but it’s true.

Since Tom Barrasso left the Penguins, I had watched Ron Tugnutt, Johan Hedberg, Jean-Sebastien Aubin, Garth Snow, Sebastien Caron, etc. in the Penguins’ net. Yes, some of those players were quite good and some had some success in Pittsburgh, but none of them were around for long. When Fleury was drafted I knew that the team would finally have a goalie who would be there for a while.

He was there for over a decade. He won more than any Penguins goalie in history. And yes, a lot of that had to do with the team in front of him, but a lot of it had to do with him too.

There were certainly ups and downs. Yes, he sat on the puck and pushed it into the net with his butt, he slipped and fell running onto the ice, he bobbled the puck a million times behind the net, he “played” against the Philadelphia Flyers in 2012, and he lost his starting job to Tomas Vokoun in the 2013 playoffs.

But he also stopped Alex Ovechkin on a breakaway in 2009 and dove to keep the puck out of the net to win the Penguins the Cup that same year. He made 46 saves in his very first game with the Penguins (and lost). And, just this year, he stepped in for the injured Matt Murray and was vital to eliminating Columbus and Washington.

Marc-Andre Fleury isn’t the greatest goalie in history. But he’s not the worst, either. The people who attack him over-exaggerate his flaws, which causes his supporters to over-exaggerate his strengths. But, again, that’s not what this post is about.

Before Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, there was Marc-Andre Fleury playing behind Konstantin Koltsov, Matt Murley, and Mike Eastwood. He gave people a reason to believe. Those bright yellow pads were a beacon of hope.

I’m glad he got to play during this playoff run. I’m glad he got to raise the Cup with pride, instead of sheepishly holding it for a few seconds like he did in 2016. I’m glad Pittsburgh got to say goodbye to him at the parade.

And I’ll be cheering for him in Vegas or wherever he goes. Hopefully it’s not Winnipeg.

youtube

#marc-andre fleury #pittsburgh penguins

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midar1 · 7 years

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@brooksbratten Pick No. 154, goaltender Tomas Vomacka with the #Preds logo. From the Czech Republic, says he looked up to Tomas Vokoun.

#*#*photo #draft 2017 #hockeyedit #preds #predsies #tomas vomacka #twitter #nashville predators #*preds

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filipf0rsberg · 7 years

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top 10 nicest nhl players

i decided to compile a list of the nicest guys/best experiences i have had with nhl players! this is not by any means a full list (i haven’t met every single nhl player lol) and i wish i could include 50+ pictures.

10. Braden Holtby. When the caps were in town, he stopped and signed/ took pictures with everyone! We had a little conversation and he seemed genuinely happy to meet fans.

9. Brandon Saad/Cam Atkinson: I had to include both these guys! they were such happy and smily good sports when my friends and i made them take soooo many pictures. Super sweet!

8. PK Subban: Ok i feel like this is an obvious one. PK is such a fun and nice guy and always so kind to everyone!

7. Lars Eller: I met Lars when he was still on the habs, and he was so nice to me and my sister! we were of course so excited to get photos with one of our favorite teams and he laughed at our excitement lol.

6. Roman Josi: Roman is SO SWEET. He always takes time to talk to people and ask how they are, even in crazy autograph lines or events where everything needs to move quickly.

5. Craig Smith: one time we battled in air hockey and managed to end in a tie. He’s always so nice and smily, he gave my sister a puck for her birthday one time and was so happy to do so!

4. Ben Bishop: ok maybe I’m just head over heels in love with Ben, but meeting him was so great! It was his birthday so of course i run up and tell him “happy birthday” and his face lit up and he laughed “thank you!” super nice guy

3. Filip Forsberg: Fil is the OG love of my life (which is where my url comes from) and i love him so much. I can’t count the number of times I’ve gotten to talk to him, but he is always so kind and excited to see fans. Sometimes at public practices he’ll greet fans first saying “good morning everyone!!!”

2. Nick Foligno: Let me preface this by saying if you ever want a player to talk to you, you have to engage in the conversation. Nick Foligno is not like this. He asked me how i was doing. usually it’s the other way around. Love him!

1. Pekka Rinne: Ok .. y’all knew this was coming. Pekka isn’t even the nicest hockey player i have ever met, he is one of the nicest people on this planet. He is always so kind and nice to me and my friends every time we see him and always asks how life is going. Is it bad he knows our names now? I could go on for days about how much he cares about his fans but we would be here for a while. I will tell you that one time i gave him the DORKIEST letter and he got in touch with me to thank me for it. Can’t say enough about Peks.

Honorable mentions who would probably be next on the list: Juuse Saros, Colin Wilson, Dougie Hamilton, TJ Oshie, Max Pacioretty, Mike Richards, Shea Weber, Tomas Vokoun, also met Wayne Gretzky one time - he signed everything but didn’t really say much lol

#hockey #nhl #i'm sorry if this floods your dash but i am bored and the preds aren't playing #pekka rinne #filip forsberg #nick foligno #brandon saad #cam atkinson #craig smith #ben bishop #roman josi #pk subban #lars eller #braden holtby #em and hockey players

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tnpredsfan · 7 years

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Today marks 10 years since the news broke that then-Blackberry CEO Jim Balsillie was trying to buy the Nashville Predators and move them to Hamilton, Ontario.

Things looked bad. Attendance was crappy, the Preds were bleeding money, nobody in Nashville seemed to like original owner Craig Leopold and Leopold ordered the fire sale that saw captain Kimmo Timonen, Scott Hartnell and Tomas Vokoun leave after our best season to date.

Balsillie even had the audacity to sell season tickets in Hamilton before the sale was ever finalized. (Honestly, it's one of the reasons the Preds weren't moved because it pissed off the NHL and they talked Leopold into selling to a local group.)

Holier-than-thou Canadians and "traditional market fans" mocked us and told us that we didn't deserve a hockey team. That hockey couldn't succeed in the South.

Nashville rallied, and the team stayed.

The expansion years, the Save the Team rallies, Radulov fleeing, Suter leaving, Shea's offer sheet. All of the struggles make this so much sweeter.

Enjoy this, y'all. We've earned it.

#nashville predators #preds #western conference champs

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thepinerider · 8 years

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Top 3 All-Time Predators Goalies

The Nashville Predators have been around for just 19 seasons, meaning their “all-time lists” in terms of team history simply lack richness compared to other storied franchises. However, the Predators have been able to find success in their short-lived tenure since joining the league and a few...

Via: http://thehockeywriters.com/best-goalies-nashville-predators/

#Best Goaltenders #Chris Mason #Mike Dunham #Pekka Rinne #Tomas Vokoun #Top Story

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goalhofer · 6 years

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1st 10 Results Of Player Jersey #s By Sport On Google: #92

Hockey: Tomas Nosek (Vegas Golden Knights), Gabriel Landeskog (Colorado Avalanche), Rick Tocchet (Philadelphia Flyers), Evgeny Kuznetsov (Washington Capitals), Ryan Johansen (Nashville Predators), Alexander Nylander (Buffalo Sabres), Jonathan Drouin (Montreal Canadiens), Gabriel Landeskog (Sweden), Tomas Vokoun (Pittsburgh Penguins) & Evgeny Kuznetsov (Russia).

Baseball: Jason Pridie (New York Mets) & Giovanny Gallegos (New York Yankees).

Basketball: Lucas Nogueira (Toronto Raptors) & DeShawn Stevenson (Dallas Mavericks).

Football: James Harrison (Pittsburgh Steelers), Adolphus Washington (Ohio State University Buckeyes), Pat Sims (Cincinnati Bengals), Reggie White (Green Bay Packers), Reggie White (Philadelphia Eagles), Leonard Williams (New York Jets), James Harrison (New England Patriots), Dontari Poe (Atlanta Falcons), Tanoh Kpassagnon (Kansas City Chiefs) & Michael Strahan (New York Giants).

Soccer: Stephan El-Shaarawy (A.S. Roma), Kemar Lawrence (New York Red Bulls), Stephan El-Shaarawy (A.C. Milan F.C.) & Stiven Mendoza (S.C. Corinthians Paulista).

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kessel--run · 7 years

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So I was reading an article on DK Pittsburgh Sports about last nights game and DK was breaking down the differences between the present team and the team of the 2013-2015 seasons. He gets to Fleury and he talks about how Fleury kept pounding his head against a concrete wall at the Nassau Coliseum after Bylsma switched to Vokoun. I couldn't believe that I hadn't heard this story before. So I put it into Google and sure enough an article from 2014 from the Pittsburgh Tribune review also written by DK where he compares the Fleury of the previous playoffs to the Fleury of that year's playoffs. "I remember Fleury on Long Island last spring, ramming his forehead against a cement-block wall at the back of the locker room. He was a mess of the worst kind. Dan Bylsma didn't want to turn to Tomas Vokoun, but he had no choice." I mean, we knew he was in a rough headspace and after seeing a psychologist and the Pens hired Mike Bales Fleury improved. But how many people really know how bad a place Fleury was in before that 2013 offseason.

#marc andre fleury #Pittsburgh Penguins

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Capitals opt for playoff-inexperienced Philipp Grubauer in goal for opener

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Capitals opt for playoff-inexperienced Philipp Grubauer in goal for opener

Philipp Grubauer will start Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the Washington Capitals over Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Braden Holtby.

The 26-year-old German started 10 of the final 16 games of the regular season, going 7-3-0 with a 2.32 goals-against average and .925 save percentage. Grubauer’s 2.06 GAA and .933 save percentage are the best among NHL goalies since Oct. 27.

“I just think that Grubi deserves the opportunity,” coach Barry Trotz said Tuesday, a day after telling Grubauer of his decision. “It sort of evolved all year. There wasn’t a date or anything like that. It just evolved and Grubi got more games and a bigger body of work.”

It doesn’t change how we go about our business. We’re just concerned about our game.— Columbus head coach John Tortorella on Washington starting Philipp Grubauer in goal in Game 1 over No. 1 Braden Holtby

Grubauer called it a privilege to start after spending the past three full seasons as the backup to Holtby, who won the 2016 Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goaltender. It could be a short-lived privilege if he struggles because Trotz said his decision is only for Game 1 on Thursday night and the Capitals are going “game by game.”

The opener will be Grubauer’s second career start in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Grubauer started a game against the New York Islanders in the first round in 2015 when Holtby was sick and entered in relief once in 2017.

“It doesn’t change how we go about our business,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. “We’re just concerned about our game.”

Grubauer led Windsor to the Ontario Hockey League title and won the Memorial Cup in 2010. He also helped Germany qualify for the 2018 Olympics. But it’s this recent stretch that gives him the most confidence going into the playoffs.

“It helps playing more and more,” Grubauer said. “The more you get on the ice, the more experience you get. You see different situations and different teams. If you sit on the bench, you can get good from watching, but you’ve got to get the experience.”

He will likely see a lot of Columbus captain Nick Foligno, who is back after missing the final six games of the regular season with a lower-body injury. Foligno gives the Blue Jackets some net-crashing presence and will be in and around the crease often.

“I honestly feel great,” Foligno said after centring Oliver Bjorkstrand and Josh Anderson in practice on what is now the deep Blue Jackets’ third line. “I’ve played this game long enough to know how you have to prepare during an injury to make sure you’re feeling good mentally and physically when you get back.”

Late-season struggles

Holtby has never sat on the bench for a Stanley Cup playoff game. Michal Neuvirth started all nine games for Washington in 2011 before injuries to him and Tomas Vokoun pressed Holtby into duty in 2012.

The 28-year-old has started 59 of the past 60 Capitals playoff games. But his struggles down the stretch — a 3.75 GAA and .886 save percentage in his final 17 appearances — cost him the ability to go into another post-season as the guy even after showing improvements following his four-game “reset.”

Trotz said Holtby was a pro and told him: “If you put me in the net, my job is to stop the puck. If I get that opportunity, I’ll stop the puck.” He was similarly gracious after practice about the demotion.

“My job is just to focus on my game, getting it the best it can get to,” said Holtby, who closed the season 5-1-0 with a 2.67 GAA and .911 save percentage . “Coach’s decision who plays or not doesn’t have anything to do with me. I’ll just focus one practice at a time, trying to be a positive influence around the team and go from there.”

Holtby said in March it was good to “clear the team’s head with that kind of stigma that’s kind of going on with me in net.” With Holtby and Grubauer splitting time down the stretch, the Capitals won 12 of their 15 final games.

“I think we have two good goalies who can play,” defenceman Dmitry Orlov said. “Grubi was good for us all season. It’s not easy to be second goalie and not play some games. You need to always be prepared in practice. I think he did a good job like a professional player, and I think he’s got confidence right now.”

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