Stanley Cup Finals

Holy cow.
 
I got to catch Vegas twice this season, once at home and on the road in Philly. They won both times. Amazing what they have been able to do with a bunch of castoffs!
 
There have been expansion teams that won championships in major sports in a short time after joining the league (for example my beloved Diamondbacks in only their fourth year of existence). But I don't believe a major league franchise has ever won a world championship in its very first year.

And it's Vegas. What's not to like? This is fun.
 
Caps fan here. This is going to be a wild ride....
 
An old school team built over years versus an expansion team that got to cherry pick the best players from all the other teams. It’s good hockey but the league has whored itself for the sake of money and television. It’ll never be the same. I’m not sure I respect that.
 
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gdwindowpane said:
Unless you’re a Caps fan... great game though. Vegas is fast, going to be a tough series...
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I'm a Caps fan and thought it was fun, although I didn't like the ultimate outcome. I don't see VGKs rolling over OV and gang like they did with the rest of the west, but if the Caps can pull it off (and I think they will) they will most certainly have earned it.

That non crosschecking call on Ryan Reaves was BS though. That should have been a Caps PP, not a VGK goal. But it wouldn't be the first time a team faced adversity in the playoff.
 
Bill Jennings said:
Not so sure they're all castoffs! I wish the Pens would have kept Fleury, he's not done yet!
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Each team could only protect one goaltender. If they didn't convince MAF to waive his no trade clause, they would have had to expose Matt Murray (who was arguably better at the time and much younger). With speed and a HOFer goalie you can win a lot of games you have no business winning on paper. Funny that no one recognized that last summer but the expectations for a expansion team were so low that no one would be foolish enough to predict that this would be a good team, since the model of four lines of second line players is so unorthodox.
 
I think George McPhee is a pretty good GM. Built half of the Capitals and all of the Vegas Knights. I thought the opening ceremonies were a bit much but it is Vegas, lol. My son said that the NHL should take away their team for that spectacle. lol.
 
Unbelievable. I have to think that Holtby and Fleury perhaps the two best goaltenders still playing and golly 9 points (I'll not blame the last empty netter on the goalies)! We've got some great attackers out there, but still. This was an odd (yet exciting) game.
 
Brad Z said:
If they didn't convince MAF to waive his no trade clause, they would have had to expose Matt Murray (who was arguably better at the time and much younger).
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I know the reasons, I'm still not convinced that Murray will be a Fleury though.
 
Bill Jennings said:
I know the reasons, I'm still not convinced that Murray will be a Fleury though.
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Based on what the Caps saw in the playoffs this year, he most certainly was not. That said, at the time I think the Pens saw Fleury as on a downward slope past his prime, and apparently that was enough motivation for him to play out of his mind this year.

That's OK, the Pens gave Vegas their #1 goalie, and the Caps gifted them their #1 defenseman.
 
Blackshawks fan here, so I'd be okay seeing go either way. I'd prefer it to go to the Caps, just because I think OVs earned it. (And I went to a game in DC with my daughter, who is a Caps fan.)

Yeah, the opening ceremony was a joke. It felt like a trip to Medieval Times but without food. And it dragged on and on and on.

I am glad to see Fleury doing well. All he needed was a better goalie coach to get his mojo back.
 
I switched over and watched something else and got back right before the puck dropped.
 
Should be a great series, hope the Caps win. Opening ceremony was unwatchable.
 
Brad Z said:
I'm a Caps fan and thought it was fun, although I didn't like the ultimate outcome. I don't see VGKs rolling over OV and gang like they did with the rest of the west, but if the Caps can pull it off (and I think they will) they will most certainly have earned it.

That non crosschecking call on Ryan Reaves was BS though. That should have been a Caps PP, not a VGK goal. But it wouldn't be the first time a team faced adversity in the playoff.
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ANd flagrent enough that Mike Milbury, a Caps hater, even remarked about it on the air. That takes some doing.
 
As a Predators fan, I'm pulling for Trotz and the Caps. I think he, Ovechkin, and that franchise deserve it.

We went to a the Predators game in Vegas, back in January. I honestly love their arena and the fans were definitely into even at mid-season. And, yeah it's corny, but the pregame theatrics are unique and work really well in-arena. Putting the cameras on the ice really destroys the effect, IMO. I agree on TV it's not very good, and I think they'd be better served to keep it to wide shots.

Oh, and the story line that these are a team of castoffs. Nope, I'm not buying that. Teams could only protect so many players. The Predators "cast off" James Neal who has been a 30-40 goal scorer most of his career. They had to do that to protect one of their centers because at the time in the off-season they only had 2.5 centers and nothing was in the works.
 
Stewartb said:
An old school team built over years versus an expansion team that got to cherry pick the best players from all the other teams. It’s good hockey but the league has whored itself for the sake of money and television. It’ll never be the same. I’m not sure I respect that.
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Exactly. Especially with a GM that has build another contender.
 
They certainly did have a huge advantage over previous expansion teams. In today’s market it makes sense to have them competitive from the start instead of letting them wallow for years. Still, I don’t think anyone thought Vegas would be where they are. They were 500-1 odds before the season started. I wish I had some of that action!
 
Learned something though. I've never seen the ice repaired with a fire extinguisher before.
 
Chip Sylverne said:
Learned something though. I've never seen the ice repaired with a fire extinguisher before.
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Yeah, I commented on that. I've watched them make repairs on the ice at rinks before but never that way.

Did you catch the two rows of Elvis's in the stands?
 
Chip Sylverne said:
Learned something though. I've never seen the ice repaired with a fire extinguisher before.
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That ice was ess aych eye tee. I've seen a snowcone with more skateable ice than Vegas last night. The Caps (esp. Kuzy) will have to adapt their game.
 
Brad Z said:
That ice was ess aych eye tee. I've seen a snowcone with more skateable ice than Vegas last night. The Caps (esp. Kuzy) will have to adapt their game.
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they're all skating on the same ice.....
 
Rink variation is part of the sport in Hockey. They can't even standardize the size of the ice let alone its condition.
 
We went to Vegas for a game a few months ago amd had a blast! Highly recommend it if you get the chance, and i’m not a fan of Vegas
 
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