Board 8 > NHL Discussion Topic - Purge Edition

(+) Yeah! (+)

Butts clenched
Knees weak
Arms heavy

Longest 5 minutes in the Caps franchise history.
---

How do you screw up the game clock with a minute left in the game?

How does the clock work properly for 82 regular season games, a dozen playoff games, but not in the final two minutes of the Stanley Cup final?
---

Vegas trying to stop time.
---

Crisis averted!

A well deserved win for the Capitals and for Ovechkin.
---

Caps earned every bit of this. Well done.
---

Congrats Peri! Congrats Muffin!
---

CAPS WIN!!!!!!!


---

Caps are the only local team I care even a little about but I only watch playoff hockey. Good stuff tho
---

Congrats to my backup team once the Leafs ultimately job. Ovie finally gets a Cup!
---

Pokewars posted...

Congrats to my backup team once the Leafs ultimately job. Ovie finally gets a Cup!

Now all we need is a Leafs cup win.

Right guys?
---

As a Wings fan, no, you are not right.
---

Good playoffs. Congrats to the Caps fans.
---

trdl23 posted...

As a Wings fan, no, you are not right.

I respect the Red Wings, and have never really seen it as a rivalry. I always rooted for them when they were in the West, and now that they're in the division, they aren't relevant enough to be considered a threat!
---

Man how bad does Nashville look right now?

They got totally outplayed by the Jets, who got destroyed by the Knights, who got destroyed by the Caps
---

GG Caps fans. Hate that he had to go over Vegas to do it but this was obviously Ovi's time.
---

Ovi raising the cup has me emotional and I'm not even a Caps fan. I'd be a wreck if the Leafs ever won the cup.
---

Good for Washington, pretty glad to see Ovechkin get the Cup
---

Something I hadn't thought about until just now: Is there any better place in the world to celebrate a win like this than Las Vegas?

Half of these guys aren't even going to make it back to Washington.
---

davidponte posted...

Ovi raising the cup has me emotional and I'm not even a Caps fan. I'd be a wreck if the Leafs ever won the cup.

So would the world to be fair.
---

To be honest there probably isnt a better city to be in to win a championship. The after party would be off the hook.
---

I actually had a dream a few months ago where the Leafs won the cup and it involved me crying like a three year old having a tantrum.
---

Congrats to Ovi and Backstrom, but man why did they have to do it against my new favorite non-home team. Which what a year they had.

That series was a lot closer then the 4-1 would show btw.
---

davidponte posted...

Something I hadn't thought about until just now: Is there any better place in the world to celebrate a win like this than Las Vegas?

Half of these guys aren't even going to make it back to Washington.

oh my god, they will have the greatest cup celebration ever
---

Just uh... Don't party too hard.
---

What an incredible moment. So happy for Ovechkin. Nobody deserves this more. This may be the most significant championship win for an individual athlete... like, ever? The only thing I can think of in my lifetime that comes close is when Peyton Manning finally won a SB...
---

Dirk winning in 2011 against the Miami Big Three is up there
---

SmartMuffin posted...

This may be the most significant championship win for an individual athlete... like, ever?

A little bit of an overstatement here.
Unless we are just talking about guys who should have won but didn't till they were older. Which is a completely different statement.

Off the top of my head I can think of Elway, Randy Johnson, Brett Hull, Paul Tracy lol who am i kidding, Martin Truex Jr. ok ill stop with the racing ok?, Nigel Mansell ... just one more to throw in becasue i watch a lot of racing and have all my life, and some of the guys on that 08 Celtics team as the competition.
---

This was just about the first time I've ever watched hockey, and I respect the hell out of the athleticism and stamina it requires. It has to be the most frenetic sport I've ever seen.

As maybe the only active Board 8er who lives in the Vegas area, I'm happy to tell you guys that absolutely nothing (apart from last year's shooting) has brought this town together the way this team has. For the past several weeks, every time I go out, I see maybe 10-20% of the people rocking Knights gear. At the gym, at the grocery store, lining their cars - it's everywhere. It's a greater sense of community and camaraderie than I've ever seen with any SoCal sports team growing up (probably because it's the first Vegas has ever had), and I hope it lasts beyond Cinderella runs like this one.

My only regret is not seeing a live game during the inaugural season - especially now that I'll have to pay a lot more to do so.
---

It's cool to see how much the Knights caught on in Vegas, hope their crazy run this year leads to their popularity having some staying power
---

Congrats Ovechkin and the Caps.

Ovi finally narrows the chasm between he and Sid just a little.
---

SmartMuffin posted...

This may be the most significant championship win for an individual athlete... like, ever?

And after 22 years
RAYMOND BOURQUE

Dirk was a nice story but he was never on the level of Ovechkin.

Elway is a good example, I'll concede that one.

Boruqe did it by getting traded to an already good team, which is sort of an instant-disqualifier IMO. The reason this is such a huge moment for Ovechkin is because he did it HERE, with the Capitals. It means so, so, so much less if the Caps never win in this window, then later in his career he gets traded to Boston or wherever and wins it as a second-line power-play specialist with Brad Marchand as the captain and leading scorer <_<
---

Yeah I agree with Muffin on this one.

I don't think Brett Hull compares with Ovechkin either. Like they're kinda similar players and Ovechkin is better; he's one of the ~2 best forwards of his era. Plus again, Ovechkin doing it with his long-time team helps.
---

SmartMuffin posted...

This may be the most significant championship win for an individual athlete... like, ever?

Daniel Bryan, WM 30
---

Jakyl25 posted...

SmartMuffin posted...

This may be the most significant championship win for an individual athlete... like, ever?

Daniel Bryan, WM 30

Jesus.

I hope the future goes better for OV...
---

A-Rod?
---

Oh oh

Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia.

Unless you live in a world where Golf (like racing ugh) doesn't count.
---

I did think of Phil actually, although I DO think Golf doesn't count - not because it's "not a sport" or whatever, but because

a) Golfers have a much wider window of ability, it's not rare for older golfers to have a good run and win a major

b) Golf is entirely individual, such that you don't really have a tight "window" in the sense that you do in team sports, where your own performance only can contribute so much
---

voltch posted...

A-Rod?

A-Rod jumped ship to join the most successful franchise in sports and got busted for roids.

OV stuck with the team that drafted him despite their decade plus of failure and finally prevailed.

You know what, I'm willing to say that this is better than Manning and better than Bourque. One of the best sports stories ever told.

If you couldn't take joy in looking at OV's face last night, you flat out don't have a soul.
---

Yeah, Elway and Manning may be as good, but they definitely aren't better.

The biggest advantage Ovechkin has is that it really did look like the window had already closed and his team wasn't exactly dominant this year. It was a more unexpected run than the Broncos or Colts had.
---

If you look at other leagues I don't think there are any stars who would stick around through all that failure with such loyalty anymore. Certainly not the NBA since LeBron and Durant started this trend. I can't see it in football either really.

I think it is the mark of a true Captain that Ovi put the blame at his own feet and didn't jump elsewhere. It's rare loyalty and makes me respect the fuck out of him.

And now that he's got his Cup out of the way he can go back to losing to us every year without much sadness. ;)
---

Backstrom too, to a lesser extent.

And I lowkey kinda feel like Kuznetsov could've been Conn Smythe.
---

If you look at other leagues I don't think there are any stars who would stick around through all that failure with such loyalty anymore. Certainly not the NBA since LeBron and Durant started this trend. I can't see it in football either really.

The situation in the NBA is fucked entirely due to their absurd salary cap situation where they have a laughably low "max" contract, which basically means it's impossible for star players to differentiate themselves with money.

Also the reason you don't see this is because the Caps have been in a really unique situation in that they've been really really good without winning for a long time. There was never any reason for Ovechkin to leave, because the team never really got bad. They've been legit cup contenders basically from his 3rd season on, every single year.

I can't really think of another pro sports team like that in my lifetime. Maybe the Utah Jazz or the New York Knicks of the 90s? Buffalo Bills with 4 straight SB appearances is its own animal.

Hilariously enough, the closest thing to that currently now that the Caps have won might very well be the Washington Nationals, but you bet your ass that if they don't win this year, Harper is totally leaving...
---

Harper is coming to the Yankees win or lose, bruh.
---

ExThaNemesis posted...

And I lowkey kinda feel like Kuznetsov could've been Conn Smythe.

It's similar to 2016 where an extremely strong argument can be made for a player (Kessel/Kuznetsov) but they'll go with the superstar with a good case (Crosby/Ovechkin) because who knows if that star will ever get a shot at a Conn Smythe again.

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/23728721/2018-stanley-cup-final-alex-ovechkin-washington-capitals-win-stanley-cup-nhl
---

Suns during the Nash years is another

EDIT: The Chargers during Rivers prime
---

Jakyl25 posted...

EDIT: The Chargers during Rivers prime

I mean, these are close, but not quite.

The Caps literally won the Presidents trophy three times, and their results were a first round loss, and two second round losses. They've won their division 7 out of the last 10 years!!!!
---

Quick eyeballing suggests the Nash era Suns only finished first in the league once, and only won their division 3 times

For the Chargers, I count one first in the league and 3 division titles over a similar timeframe
---

Going through the last 10 years of the NFL. The only teams to finish first in the league in the regular season but NOT to have Won an SB over the same approximate timeframe are the Panthers (once), Falcons (once), and Chargers (once). Note that the Panthers and Falcons both at least got to one.

In the NBA, the only such team is the Bulls (twice, believe it or not), and the Rockets this year.
---