Stanley Cup Final - Golden Knights (P1) vs Capitals (M1)

[GoJetsGo]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

I'm not 'struggling' with anything, and I'm not 'cheering' for them.

I just understand why they are where they're at. I'm guessing some of your negativity might have something to do with them knocking out the Jets which is understandable.

lol, it does not, because I'm a Flames fan, not a Jets fan. If you look at my join date, there were no Jets. It was akin to having a GoWhalersGo username at the time. But I do enjoy how in debates, that seems to be a default dig people like to bring up when they want to deflect from what's being discussed.

You're struggling with the fact people don't seem as enamoured with them as you are, and that despite that group having gelled and playing well, there are a lot of other fortunate factors that went in to putting those players on that roster to begin with. Pretty simple as far as I'm concerned.

Again, feel fine with it all you want... but your suggestion it's off base to feel they've had a ton of good fortune seems disingenuous to me.

[Hackey]

Should be a great series. I'm happy with either team winning. Would love to see Ovi get a Cup but seeing an expansion team win the Stanley Cup would also be pretty cool.

[3rd liner]

Cheering for Ovie and the Caps for sure, he deserves a Cup and he isn't getting any younger. Vegas has been a hardworking team and a good story, but I have to go with Ovie here. The window for Vegas will still be open for a few years...... not so much with the Caps.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by the_only_turek_fan

Vegas in 5.

Really? I can't see the Caps rolling over that easily.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by GoJetsGo

lol, it does not, because I'm a Flames fan, not a Jets fan. If you look at my join date, there were no Jets. It was akin to having a GoWhalersGo username at the time. But I do enjoy how in debates, that seems to be a default dig people like to bring up when they want to deflect from what's being discussed.

You're struggling with the fact people don't seem as enamoured with them as you are, and that despite that group having gelled and playing well, there are a lot of other fortunate factors that went in to putting those players on that roster to begin with. Pretty simple as far as I'm concerned.

Again, feel fine with it all you want... but your suggestion it's off base to feel they've had a ton of good fortune seems disingenuous to me.

It wasn't a dig or a default reaction, if the Flames had lost to Vegas I'd be pretty salty, so I thought that's where some of the negativity was coming from. I didn't know your username history, my bad.

And no, I'm not struggling with anything. I'm not 'enamoured' with them. That's a strange comment. I really don't care if they win or the Caps. If Tampa had won I'd rather Vegas win then the Lightning, but now I really don't care either way.

[alnigi]

Originally Posted by alnigi

Not a Jets fan, but cheering for them in this series. Hope to see Nashville, San Jose, Pittsburgh and especially Boston all fall down.

Originally Posted by alnigi

Congratulations Winnipeg ! Well, I got my wish with all 4 series in this round. Hope to see a Capitals/Knights final.

Ha ha .... I've had my wish granted on every playoff series since the second round.
I'd love to see Washington hoist the cup. For all those pissed off at Vegas success , imagine if they got back here to the finals again next year.
I love it ! This ought to be an awesome final.

[GoJetsGo]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

It wasn't a dig or a default reaction, if the Flames had lost to Vegas I'd be pretty salty, so I thought that's where some of the negativity was coming from. I didn't know your username history, my bad.

And no, I'm not struggling with anything. I'm not 'enamoured' with them. That's a strange comment. I really don't care if they win or the Caps. If Tampa had won I'd rather Vegas win then the Lightning, but now I really don't care either way.

All good, you just seemed abnormally salty that I (and many others) feel they've had a ton of good fortune and aren't thrilled about it.

You seem to think it's all on the players on the ice. I'm not denying they've been great. I'm saying (again) there was a ton of luck and good fortune that went into seeing those players available and so many sleeper picks blossoming. I don't think it's at all abnormal as a fan of any other franchise to not be excited about seeing a new team have instant and resounding success under those circumstances.

[FireGilbert]

Go Caps Go! It is time for Ovi to lift the Cup and for Vegas fans to feel adversity and heartbreak.

I’d also love to see a Nathan Walker appearance in the finals but should be careful what I wish for as that likely means the Caps are struggling or have injuries.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by GoJetsGo

All good, you just seemed abnormally salty that I (and many others) feel they've had a ton of good fortune and aren't thrilled about it.

You seem to think it's all on the players on the ice. I'm not denying they've been great. I'm saying (again) there was a ton of luck and good fortune that went into seeing those players available and so many sleeper picks blossoming. I don't think it's at all abnormal as a fan of any other franchise to not be excited about seeing a new team have instant and resounding success under those circumstances.

I didn't mean to come across as salty. Maybe it came out worse than I intended. If so, my bad.

They are fun to watch and play as a team. They're well coached. And they're only in their first year so I don't really have any reason to dislike them all that much. When they're in the playoffs playing teams I've grown to hate they're the lesser of two evils.

I do get annoyed when I see people talk about the expansion draft and how lucky they were. I don't think there was a person on the planet that looked at that roster (even today) and thinks that's a Cup winning roster. But sometimes things just click. And some of their players were given to Vegas along with draft picks to take on salary or so they would stay away from other players. Kudos to McPhee for his work there, and perhaps not such a great job from other GMs, namely from Florida and Minnesota.

Is there luck? Sure. I don't think any team gets as far as they do without a little luck. But I don't think they're where they are mainly from luck. I think luck has played a pretty minimal part of their success.

[GoJetsGo]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

Is there luck? Sure. I don't think any team gets as far as they do without a little luck. But I don't think they're where they are mainly from luck. I think luck has played a pretty minimal part of their success.

Then that's where we agree to disagree. The circumstances that had those key players available to them were different from any past expansion draft. I think you'd feel a bit different about your take if the Flames had lost Karlsson, Marchessault or got zero assets for Fleury.

In addition to that, they knocked it out of the park with the majority of their picks regardless of what anyone thought at the time. From running the table on selections to trades and accumulating draft picks to everything going their way on the ice, it's easy to see why a lot of people are put off by it.

You don't think that plays as big a factor as those players and their work ethic. That's fine. I think the good fortune they had both in the circumstances surrounding the draft and just about every decision panning out is well beyond a "little bit of luck".

I'll leave it at that as I think we're going in circles now.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Yes, we do agree to disagree on some points. Fair enough.

Just hoping for an entertaining final. And if the Caps win, so be it.

[GoJetsGo]

Hopefully the styles do make for an exciting final.

I'm really not as worked up about it as my Dennis Leary-esque tone might imply on the previous page. This thread just seemed like the best place for such a rant now that the final is set as I do hope to see them grind to a halt as Ovie finally wins a cup.

I'm sure no matter what happens this Vegas glow will wear off as we continue to play them multiple times a season as they add more young players and prospects to that group.

It will soon unite most people here in the **** Vegas camp!

[Textcritic]

The most interesting part of this thread is that KFF did not know GoJetsGo's username history.

One of my secret amusements is when another poster calls him out as a Jets fan just to see him rehearse his backstory ... again ... and again ....

It never gets old.

Now, Capitals—go get your Stanley Cup.

[GoJetsGo]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

One of my secret amusements is when another poster calls him out as a Jets fan just to see him rehearse his backstory ... again ... and again ....

It never gets old.

Your a sadist.

(see what I did there?)

[SebC]

Originally Posted by GoJetsGo

I think you'd feel a bit different about your take if the Flames had lost Karlsson, Marchessault or got zero assets for Fleury.

In that case my feelings should be directed to the Flames' management for letting it happen. Panthers fans should be mad at the Panthers.

[GoJetsGo]

Originally Posted by SebC

Panthers fans should be mad at the Panthers.

All 80 of them?

[FireGilbert]

Can we use this thread to once and for all standardise how we shorten Ovechkin? Is it OV, Ovie, Ovi, or Ovy?

I vote for Ovi.

[bubbsy]

I can't think of a cup finals where i was rooting for both teams to win.

Would love to see ovi finally get his

Vs

A expansion team winning it all in yr1

Amazing storylines!

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by SebC

In that case my feelings should be directed to the Flames' management for letting it happen. Panthers fans should be mad at the Panthers.

This is the truth. The Panthers were a 96 point team that missed the playoffs by one point. Think of how good they might have been had they kept Marchessault, Smith, and especially Gallant (no offense to Boughner who is a decent coach in his own right). We might be discussing the upstart Panthers in the cup finals instead of the Knights.

That being said, I'm pulling for the Knights for the former Panthers mentioned above, but also the former Flame, Engelland. They just have more people on their team that I like compared to Washington, who I'm largely indifferent to.

[Sylvanfan]

So count Bettman's sinister plan is to pit the underdog Americans against the big bad Russians.

Given everything that Ovechkin has done in his career it would be absurd for him to not win a Stanley Cup against a franchise that's scored fewer goal's than he has. Although MAF has been a playoff boogeyman for the Capitals over the years.