GDT: The Push for the playoffs continues, Long Island Fishermans @ Pens. 7pm

[PamBallam]

It really isn’t.

It’s a moderate take not influenced by being Canadian.

Ovechkin has missed the playoffs once since his cup.

Sid will be three years in a row now.

Ovi has won multiple Rockets.

Sid has a 5th place point finish in points

It doesn’t take away from Sid’s overall ranking. But Crosby has largely played on a better team up until this year. Caps have been the better team and Ovi has been the more impactful player.

I'm American so... no Canadian bias here.

2020-21 - Sid
2021-22 - Close, but I'll give it to Ovi for putting up 50 goals.
2022-23 - Sid. Easily.
2023-24 - Sid. Easily.
2024-25 - Close, but I'll be nice and give it to Ovi for being on a better team.

Sid - 342 GP - 153 G - 253 A - 406 P
Ovi - 325 GP - 181 G - 146 A - 327 P

If you think Ovi has been more impactful the past 5 seasons, that's your opinion. One that I think very few, save Midnight Judges, would agree with.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Fascinating.

 

[trader997]

It really isn’t.

It’s a moderate take not influenced by being Canadian.

Ovechkin has missed the playoffs once since his cup.

Sid will be three years in a row now.

Ovi has won multiple Rockets.

Sid has a 5th place point finish in points

It doesn’t take away from Sid’s overall ranking. But Crosby has largely played on a better team up until this year. Caps have been the better team and Ovi has been the more impactful player.

Wow this is kind of a weird take on a pens board. Got to be honest with you, i remember Kuzy was more clutch than Ovi in 2018 and the fact is, the Caps underachieved in 19 playoffs seasons on a 20 yrs career. Truth is, Ovi passed the 2nd round only 1 year in his whole career playing for one of the better teams in the past 2 decades. Bash Sid all you want, i think no one cares about what you think really.

While we're at it, talking about the rockets and stuff, I don't get the hype of Ovi chasing Gretzky in goals. Scoring meaningless regular season goals does not make you the greatest goal scorer of all time. Ovi shot 7000 pucks on net, that's twice the shots that Mario took, and only got 200 more goals from it. The greatest goal scorers will always be Mario and Bossy.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I think you can talk about anything you want on a Pens board, regardless of what team you root for.

 

[HandshakeLine]

That's my provocative take of the day.

 

[Gurglesons]

Wow this is kind of a weird take on a pens board. Got to be honest with you, i remember Kuzy was more clutch than Ovi in 2018 and the fact is, the Caps underachieved in 19 playoffs seasons on a 20 yrs career. Truth is, Ovi passed the 2nd round only 1 year in his whole career playing for one of the better teams in the past 2 decades. Bash Sid all you want, i think no one cares about what you think really.

While we're at it, talking about the rockets and stuff, I don't get the hype of Ovi chasing Gretzky in goals. Scoring meaningless regular season goals does not make you the greatest goal scorer of all time. Ovi shot 7000 pucks on net, that's twice the shots that Mario took, and only got 200 more goals from it. The greatest goal scorers will always be Mario and Bossy.

Montreal fans defending Sid to the grave.

Shocking.

If you don’t get the hype around Ovi breaking the all time goal scoring record.. not sure what to say.

 

[HandshakeLine]

This is the hockey world's equivalent of "Hank Aaron is an uppity bum".

 

[Randyne]

But Ovi has been the much more impressive player over the last 5 years in my honest opinion

But Crosby has largely played on a better team up until this year. Caps have been the better team and Ovi has been the more impactful player.

Yep, he is very impactful leader. Last 5 years:
WSH P% in 326 games with Ovechkin =.615
WSH P% in 44 games w/o Ovechkin =.511
Even this year:
WSH P% in 52 games with Ovechkin =.740
WSH P% in 16 games w/o Ovechkin =.656

Ovechkin adds almost 20% to his team P% throughout his career: with .614; w/o .513
Sid: with .601; w/o .633

 

[HandshakeLine]

ok now I'm bored again.

 

[cookthebooks]

woke up after turning this off after the 2nd and see we finally got to our game in the the 3rd period

 

[Jag68Sid87]

can someone explain "emergency conditions" to me in a language that I might understand? Bemstrom was injured so he could not play last night. Cool. Koppanen gets recalled under those conditions. So far, so good. Novak cannot play, so it makes sense. Shea is still injured, so it makes sense.

But wait...Nieto and Aho have been doing the AHL/NHL yo-yo since the trade deadline, basically. Why can't we play one of these two guys and not recall anyone else under emergency conditions? Because when you recall somebody under emergency conditions but healthy scratch two players for the same game, it poses more questions. It's just a very strange rule that I have yet to fully comprehend. I mean, I get why teams recall players under emergency conditions (so as to not count against your four players that you can recall after the trade deadline), but shouldn't a team actually be under emergency conditions when making such a call-up?

I mean, for this team it does not matter because the players being recalled are non-prospects whether they are under emergency conditions or not. And not to sound like a broken record, but Joona Koppanen? Really? We have a clear hole in the top six right now (LW with Malkin and Tomasino, the Bunting spot), so we are using a combination of Danton Heinen and Connor Dewar there? That Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari was playing well, so let's break that up to promote one of them to a scoring line! Brilliant.

Why are we not giving Koivunen, Ponomarev and McGroarty turns playing that role right now? Don't tell me it's because of W-B/S because that is quite frankly B.S. It's because of Mike Sullivan, pure and simple. These guys can take turns, so you are not killing the farm team's playoff hopes at all. What kinda does that is keeping that team's leading scorer (Bemstrom) in the NHL to play meaningless fourth-line minutes! But again, Sullivan.

Give Ponomarev a few games next to Malkin and Tomasino. Does not work? OK, try Koivunen next (you know, REWARD the kid for his AHL campaign). Not a fit? OK, perfect, Rutger it's you turn!

Instead, we are just getting bombarded with the non-prospects. What should be the team's fourth line is now the third line, and also getting promoted to the top six! This is what has been happening since the trade deadline. But hey, we got more picks and prospects for future avoidance by our great czar behind the bench. Awesome.

Anyway, if anybody has an answer to my question about emergency conditions, that would be great because this stuff keeps me up at night.

 

[pistolpete11]

There's the Mike Sullivan Penguins we've all come to know and hate.

 

[PensFutures]

Ended up going last night.

+I left when it was 2-0
-After only going to ECHL/college games, I felt 10 miles from the ice
----I went over to one of the little booze carts, and a can of high noon was $26
---Got Michaels Pizza in the south side for the last time

 

[Icarium]

So nice that the Pens can have one of their trade mark third period collapses but this time I can enjoy it rather than get frustrated by it.

Funny how team whose coach won't shut up about responsible hockey and playing the right way gives up odd man rushes like they are going out of style, especially when the games are on the line. It's almost like actions speak louder than words.

Playing down to an opponent is another specialty of ours. The Isles have terrible special teams but ours didn't look any better and at 5 on 5 we were very much outplayed.

 

[canadianguy77]

Montreal fans defending Sid to the grave.

Shocking.

If you don’t get the hype around Ovi breaking the all time goal scoring record.. not sure what to say.

If you think that Alex Ovechkin has been playng anything close to resembling “hockey” for the last decade plus…then I don’t know what to tell you. He’s basically been a marketing gimmick for that organization. It’s not hockey. He doesn’t actually help his team win. He scores goals at the expense of his team, if that makes sense. It might not be so noticeable now because he has a good team around him, but watch him play for a shift. He barely even moves.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

I go to a lot of caps games and I give a ton of credit to that org and team- especially the coach- for figuring out how to use Ovi on a winning hockey team. Because the dude is the biggest poacher/cherry picker I’ve ever seen at a high level

I don’t even mean it in a bad way- its a player playing to his strengths and a team using him to his strengths but if his name wasn’t Ovechkin there’s not a coach out there that wouldn’t have him riding the pine.

And this is not like it was 7 years ago where sure the controller would disconnect… bro barely moves now unless he chooses to.

If Sid wanted to play wing like that and was allowed to he could score 50 goals no problem. I’m biased of course but watch a couple games- to even compare them is wild.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

In other news from the "Paint bucket" tonight.
View attachment 995244

By just these 3 girls?

Context in your memes is super important, but when the HC sucks at his job it makes you take your own less seriously

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

I go to a lot of caps games and I give a ton of credit to that org and team- especially the coach- for figuring out how to use Ovi on a winning hockey team. Because the dude is the biggest poacher/cherry picker I’ve ever seen at a high level

I don’t even mean it in a bad way- its a player playing to his strengths and a team using him to his strengths but if his name wasn’t Ovechkin there’s not a coach out there that wouldn’t have him riding the pine.

And this is not like it was 7 years ago where sure the controller would disconnect… bro barely moves now unless he chooses to.

If Sid wanted to play wing like that and was allowed to he could score 50 goals no problem. I’m biased of course but watch a couple games- to even compare them is wild.

You're not wrong, but what makes a good coach? Putting players in position to succeed/playing to their strengths

Carberry (or however you spell it) is doing a masterful job of this. Got a 1 trick pony? Let him do his trick then GTFO the ice. Sully might have had a PP specialist in Sprong, but he can't PK or something something...

 

[Ugene Magic]

Wow this is kind of a weird take on a pens board. Got to be honest with you, i remember Kuzy was more clutch than Ovi in 2018 and the fact is, the Caps underachieved in 19 playoffs seasons on a 20 yrs career. Truth is, Ovi passed the 2nd round only 1 year in his whole career playing for one of the better teams in the past 2 decades. Bash Sid all you want, i think no one cares about what you think really.

While we're at it, talking about the rockets and stuff, I don't get the hype of Ovi chasing Gretzky in goals. Scoring meaningless regular season goals does not make you the greatest goal scorer of all time. Ovi shot 7000 pucks on net, that's twice the shots that Mario took, and only got 200 more goals from it. The greatest goal scorers will always be Mario and Bossy.

To take it a bit further, OV needs this record for his legacy considering beyond Rockets, he doesn't have a whole lot winning in various ways or other major awards.

Granted, he was going into the HHOF just on his goals alone being the most 50 goal scorer (9 times) tide with Gretz and Bossy. But I assure you the other two didn't take seasons off. Bossy only played 10 seasons and Gretz had injuries later on where OV seems timeless. I guess being a player with control disconnect and siting in his parking spot will allow your body to prosper. Meanwhile, guys like Wayne and Mario played PK minutes and have a season's worth points. But that's the difference of being a center over a wing where OV has a total of 6 SHP's. The playoffs are really a miss match, and I really don't get the big deal about the goals record. He just woke up one day and realized his lazy looking legacy wasn't up to snuff. Maybe if he hadn't taken seasons off in his absolute prime, he wouldn't have to try so hard now.

Those other 3, Gretz, Lemieux and Bossy didn't take seasons off uninjured. And Mario did more than anyone who was injured.

In the end, it isn't wrong to call him a one trick pony. Anyone with a sound mind would take the Center over a Winger.

Well, I guess I ranted too much here.

But I hope OV enjoys the record.... none the less.

 

[Gurglesons]

If you think that Alex Ovechkin has been playng anything close to resembling “hockey” for the last decade plus…then I don’t know what to tell you. He’s basically been a marketing gimmick for that organization. It’s not hockey. He doesn’t actually help his team win. He scores goals at the expense of his team, if that makes sense. It might not be so noticeable now because he has a good team around him, but watch him play for a shift. He barely even moves.

Incredibly biased take. Not even worth acknowledging tbh.

Sid is the only negative 5v5 player to win a Smythe in the cap era.

Love Crosby, but his defensive game is pretty much as non-existent as Ovi’s.

 

[Ugene Magic]

Incredibly biased take. Not even worth acknowledging tbh.

Sid is the only negative 5v5 player to win a Smythe in the cap era.

Love Crosby, but his defensive game is pretty much as non-existent as Ovi’s.

Context here, so is OV. But Crosby has never done it in his prime as OV did.

 

[max21]

If you think that Alex Ovechkin has been playng anything close to resembling “hockey” for the last decade plus…then I don’t know what to tell you. He’s basically been a marketing gimmick for that organization. It’s not hockey. He doesn’t actually help his team win. He scores goals at the expense of his team, if that makes sense. It might not be so noticeable now because he has a good team around him, but watch him play for a shift. He barely even moves.

The fact this is a real post is honestly embarrassing, like holy shit this is bad and some people actually agree with you. I say this as a caps fan who loves watching Crosby. And yes I am a caps fan reading the penguins board - I don’t care.

 

[Gurglesons]

Context here, so is OV. But Crosby has never done it in his prime as OV did.

Ovechkin was on the ice for 21 GF and 11 GA in his Conn Smythe win.

Crosby was on the ice for 16 GF and 18 GA in his Conn Smythe win in 15-16.

I’m not denying Crosby deserved the Smythe that year. Just that the idea that since 15-16, Crosby has been some head and shoulders defensive guru over Ovechkin is largely a lie perpetuated by Canadian media.

Crosby is clearly the better career and player overall. Ovechkin has just been a more impactful player and contributed to the Capitals being a better team since 17-18.

 

[SEALBound]

I'm American so... no Canadian bias here.

2020-21 - Sid
2021-22 - Close, but I'll give it to Ovi for putting up 50 goals.
2022-23 - Sid. Easily.
2023-24 - Sid. Easily.
2024-25 - Close, but I'll be nice and give it to Ovi for being on a better team.

Sid - 342 GP - 153 G - 253 A - 406 P
Ovi - 325 GP - 181 G - 146 A - 327 P

If you think Ovi has been more impactful the past 5 seasons, that's your opinion. One that I think very few, save Midnight Judges, would agree with.

Yeah, it's a pretty garbage take to suggest Ovi has been a more "impactful" player than Sid (on a individual basis) over the last 5 years.

Wow this is kind of a weird take on a pens board. Got to be honest with you, i remember Kuzy was more clutch than Ovi in 2018 and the fact is, the Caps underachieved in 19 playoffs seasons on a 20 yrs career. Truth is, Ovi passed the 2nd round only 1 year in his whole career playing for one of the better teams in the past 2 decades. Bash Sid all you want, i think no one cares about what you think really.

While we're at it, talking about the rockets and stuff, I don't get the hype of Ovi chasing Gretzky in goals. Scoring meaningless regular season goals does not make you the greatest goal scorer of all time. Ovi shot 7000 pucks on net, that's twice the shots that Mario took, and only got 200 more goals from it. The greatest goal scorers will always be Mario and Bossy.

It's about what one should expect. It's a proxy war comment stemming from his crybaby takes on Dubas because he's mad Hextall got fired. These are the kind of roundabout comments that have the sutle yet stupid obvious jabs at Dubas because Washington is doing well this year. You want to chip away as the frozen dogshit covering his post? You'll find a "Washington is doing better than Pittsburgh because Dubas sucks! Ya see! I told ya! Ya see! Ya see! I told ya!"

I toss baggies of posts like that into the bottom of the trash bin every weekend.

The fact this is a real post is honestly embarrassing, like holy shit this is bad and some people actually agree with you. I say this as a caps fan who loves watching Crosby. And yes I am a caps fan reading the penguins board - I don’t care.

I've seen two Caps games in person this year (Utah and Vegas) and one Pens game (Utah). It was very clear to me that Ovi has lost a step or two...or even three. Granted, the Utah game is the one where he got hurt so I didn't get to see a full game. Ovi is playing like a guy that is merely out there to get the goal scoring record. And that's fine. That's what he should be doing at this point. That's what I want him to do at this point. He can see launch missiles from the circle on the PP. That said, having seen a game in person and multiple on TV, Sid's on a different level when it comes to skating, effort, conditioning, etc. While I appreciate both, I don't think it's unfair to suggest "Ovi has lost a step" and "Crosby, while not a good, is defying father time".

 

[Gurglesons]

It's about what one should expect. It's a proxy war comment stemming from his crybaby takes on Dubas because he's mad Hextall got fired. These are the kind of roundabout comments that have the sutle yet stupid obvious jabs at Dubas because Washington is doing well this year. You want to chip away as the frozen dogshit covering his post? You'll find a "Washington is doing better than Pittsburgh because Dubas sucks! Ya see! I told ya! Ya see! Ya see! I told ya!"

I toss baggies of posts like that into the bottom of the trash bin every weekend.

No, this is actually on Sullivan. Since 18-19, Sullivan’s coaching system has been “get Crosby out as much as possible”. We aren’t a team we are a tribute act to Sidney Crosby.

Washington has done the opposite.

Dubas and Hextall are both equally responsible for us not being like Washington. Both equally have a passive attitude versus home run swings which is likely an internal process valued by our ownership.

Will be interesting to see how Dubas handles this summer. His trade deadline was decent a solid B-. If he somehow turns Rakell or Rust into something at the draft and flips some of his assets for impactful young players, I’ll feel slightly more inclined to trust his process.