Comments on: Languishing in the Learning Curve

By: MulletMan

MulletMan — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:33:15 +0000

Yeah, I guess we haven’t had many injuries. Here’s a quick list for you:
Pothier – 38 games, 5 goals, 9 assists
Clark – 18 games, 5 goals, 4 assists
Nylander- 40 games, 11 goals, 26 assists
Semin – 63 games, 26 goals, 16 assists
IMHO, Semin has just in the last month started to hit his stride.

By: usiel

usiel — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:46:12 +0000

As with any profession sports team in the playoffs it is typically the team that makes the most mistakes that ends up on the losing in and the Caps have WAY more mistakes (obvious lack of experience) than Philly so I give full credit to how they’ve played very solidly this series.

By: usiel

usiel — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:30:13 +0000

I have to agree about the uneven officiating not in just this series but in other playoff games and started noticing it roughly a month before the end of the season. I seriously had flash backs to the 90’s where this was typical but now we are seeing inconsistent interference calls. What kills me are the picks and have nothing to do with the puck carrier.
Semin’s playoff play has been great especially because there were many that thought he would wilt this series.
Eminger’s solid play towards the end of the season and the couple of playoff games makes me wonder if he turned the corner or is it another small stretch of good play that he exhibits before regressing again. IMO GMGM will qualify him but tinkering with the D side of this team will probably be the most crucial part of the off season.
Green’s ability in the D-zone is not there yet but that comes with experience. What can’t be taught is the game breaking ability he has on the offensive side.
Fehr with a healthy off season and training regimen will have a great opportunity next training camp to really show what he’s got. Still amazing all the time he missed dev. wise. To be honest I would have pulled Flash out of the lineup for game two in favor of Fehr just based on how the flyers were matching up physically against Flash (/insert keyboard coaching moves).
And on the subject of Flash he must *commit/dedicate* himself to some serious off season training. IMO he needs another 10-15 pounds and more work on his quickness/first step.

By: NastyEmu

NastyEmu — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:27:48 +0000

Thanks for the reply, Phil.
“But we?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re still not done with this year?¢‚Ç¨¬¶”
Oh, I know. Every Flyers fan knows. The Caps were certainly the better team for most of game four, and I’m sure the return home for game five will give them an even bigger boost. If the Caps can win game five, the pressure will really be on the Flyers to win game six. Not sure my stomach can take it. I have tickets to game six, but I really hope this series ends on Saturday.

By: VT Phil

VT Phil — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 19:41:42 +0000

NastyEmu:
Yes, we had two big injuries this year. The biggest is Chris Clark who is our captain and has been out for something like 50 or 60 games. We also lost a vet in Michael Nylander who needed surgery for a torn rotator cuff. Getting those two bodies back will be big for this team next year.
You’re 100% about the depth at the blue line. As you can see by reading just this thread, many fans bemoan the lack of talent on D. Many of us see the key to doing great next year is an active off season to bring in one or two additional consistent bodies to play back there along with bringing up some of our younger guys from Hersey. If the Caps can get a solid blue line, I really think winning the Southeast – and perhaps going 1 or 2 in the East – is a very reachable goal.
Carolina will certainly take major steps to fill in a few holes and if they can stay healthy, the Caps certainly won’t run away with anything next year. I hope that the Southeast can put at least those two teams in the post season, if not a third.
But we’re still not done with this year….

By: Junior

Junior — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:32:21 +0000

Just to be clear: I agree the officiating has been horrible all around – I’m not suggesting an anti-Caps bias.

By: NastyEmu

NastyEmu — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:25:45 +0000

Not trying to stir anything up, but I have a question for Caps fans. Is there any concern that they may regress next year? They had a hell of a run over the last 3/4 or so of the season. Did they have any major injuries to overcome this year? Carolina surely will be healthier next year, making the division a little tougher. They don’t seem to have much depth, especially at the blue line. Any future stars ready to come up and help them out, or are they going to have to sign a FA? I don’t mean to bring additional negativity on their situation, but I’m not sure they’re as close to being a contender as many others do.

By: radbytrade

radbytrade — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:05:54 +0000

Woo other Flyers fans!
Still on the officiating tip, I think anyone who feels the refs are calling the game biased against the Capitals are viewing things through glasses tinted a shade too red. If there’s one thing the NHL wants it’s that any team with Crosby or Ovechkin on it progresses as far as absolutely possible. I’ll echo my and others’ earlier sentiments that the calls have been equally bad for each side. I think one reason why it might look like things are slanted more one way than another (aside from any homer-bias) is that the Flyers are the team that, more often, have capitalized (no pun intended)on these calls.
Again, best of luck in Game 5…but Go Flyers.

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:52:03 +0000

Very well written analysis; I enjoyed reading it. I have to say, that although the Flyers have dominated the series, the Caps played very formidably last night. It really sucks to play so well and lost in overtime (especially when there’s no consolation point), but that’s what makes playoff hockey so much fun to watch….overtime.
On the officiating, horrendous. However, watching the playoffs over the years, I have noticed that the officiating becomes terrible in the post season. This could be attributed to the refs allowing the players to just play the game, but when they feel pressured to call a penalty, it usually ends up poorly.
It could also be the being fair by being unfair. In game 3, Umberger was called for a trip on Ovechkin (understandable) but Ovechkin took a dive and was not called (should have been 4 on 4 but was a cap pp). Maybe 5 min later, Mike Richards is awarded a Penalty shot on a very very close call. I still don’t think he was ahead of the defensemen enough to warrant a PS, and I’m a flyers fan.
But in agreeing with many on this board, the Caps are like the Penguins of last year. While they’re not out yet, it has taken them a while to find their stride in this series. With 14 players making their debut against a Flyers team that has 6 players debuting, it is reasonable to understand that this team needed the playoff experience.
I’ll be willing to bet the caps win the east next year, or are among the leaders in points. Next year, they will be a very formidable opponent, and if they happen to lose one of the next 3 games, take solace in knowing that it happens to every young team. The playoffs are a different animal than the reg. season, and it takes a trip there to figure that out.
with that said, it has been a hell of a series, the only time I officially counted the caps out of a game was at the end of game 3 after the penalty shot. This team scares the s*** out of me when ever they touch the puck, and I’m just glad the Flyers have figured out a way to limit them. Can’t wait for 1:00 tomorrow, it’s gonna be a hell of a game.

By: margaret

margaret — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:20:15 +0000

oh man, yesterday was so intense! I can’t believe we lost in DOUBLE OVERTIME
that was a crap goal that the flyers had. huet wanted a whistle for interference or just a stoppage, and the refs didnt notice! it shouldn’t have counted. I mean, there was no way the refs could take away adouble overtime goal in the playoffs IN flyers territory, but still! the refs need to get all that goalie interfernce crap sorted out. the flyers do it all the time and never get called, while we got pushed into biron once and got a penalty!! I hate the flyers and the refs SO much!!!!
one of my favorite parts of the game though was when little beardless b?É¬§ckstr?É¬?m totally tried to duke it out with bri?É¬®re.. I love him! it was so amazing!!