General Sports Water Cooler

This team is just not built to play the system Hunter is trying to implement. Our defensive personnel are not good enough to make it through sustained pressure without one or two big breakdowns (i.e. Erskine falling down on the GWG tonight). If we aren't creating more chances than the opposing team, we're losing 90% of the time.

If we had, like, Philly's defense, this system would be great.

Does anyone wanna still argue against the fact that we were just sold a lie? When I said it the other day I got called an idiot

we were mostly hockey novices, saw ovie doing spectacular shit and hopped on board

then we were told Semin was one of the most talented players in the league and that Backstrom was top 5 in his position...there's at least 6 better centers than Backstrom

we were had...the team just isn't as good as we were told

OK so maybe Ovie is playing like shit. He did have great passes right into the top of the crease multiple times today... but no one was there.

Are any of the "top line" guys even trying anymore? Also, I hate Schultz. Had his back to Adams, what the F good is a defender who is facing the goalie at the post?

Yeah its pretty much all he did. I watched what he was doing on the ice most of the time he was out- and he just seemed to coast.

That's hindsight though. At the time it looked like a great signing - a respected veteran defenseman who could skate a little, move the puck a little, and play good positional defense. He was a pretty solid contributor in Montreal. I don't know whether it was their system, his partners, his age, or something that doesn't fit here, but I refuse to believe the dude just flat out forgot how to play effective defense.

Who in the Western Conference is worth trading for? If we trade Semin or Backstrom, I don't want them coming back to haunt us.

He was in the correct position, but was looking at the goal rather than the play developing on the ice behind him.

I hope I never have to see a video of Wes at someone's "Capitals Wedding" ever again.

I loved how all the commentators were talking about how "old OV" was back last night. No he wasn't. He was flying around hitting people, but got maybe 1 bull rush at the net and had 1 SOG overall. Just because he was hitting people doesn't mean he was anything like old OV.

I go up to Ottawa for work a lot. Byward Market is an area downtown with a ton of restaurants and bars and stuff. There's a shitty Courtyard Marriott down in that part of town, and a couple other better hotels too, including the Fairmont Chateau, which looks like a castle from the outside. Beyond Byward, walking down by the river and Parliament buildings is kinda cool, but the rest of that side of town is kinda meh, like Farragut North in DC on the weekends kinda, very quiet and barren. With Byward Market you can basically just wander around and funnel in and out of bars, there's a ton around there.

In Byward there's a really good italian restaurant, Vittoria Trattoria, and the Black Tomato, another good place. Also the Blue Cactus. Heart and Crown is a cool irish pub too. Don't go to Navarra, not that great, and expensive.

There's also the casino up in Gatineau I think? If that's your kinda thing.

Semin scratched with a shoulder injury. Trade rumors on teh tweeters.

En route now....gonna be a looooooong day/night

I'll be down there shortly in a Carlson jersey. Probably staying at Iron Horse for a bit, maybe RFD or Rocketbar, def. not the others.