I think a team flying in to play the Caps on Tuesday night checking into their hotel room Monday night, telling their best checker that it\'s his job to stick to Ovechkin, and then spending a half an hour at the morning skate talking about the importance of keeping an eye out for Green sneaking in from the point; is probably about as deep as most teams get as far as gameplanning for the Caps during the regular season...
Torts is a very good tactical coach with plenty of time to plan, implement, and adjust as needed. He doesn\'t have to shut them down either, he just has to give his guys a chance by limiting the damage they do.
An overmatched Flyers team once neutralized the unstoppable Bobby Orr, and won a Stanley Cup by continually dumping the puck in behind him, and tiring him out by forcing him to go back and get it, and carry it, and hitting him every time he did.
If Bobby Orr can be game planned for by a smart coach, ...then I have to believe Mike Green can be game planned for as well, ...remember the Caps aren\'t the Pens, Wings, Ducks, Sharks etc with a series of talented puck moving defensmen, ...after Green, they become a below average squad that can be exploited.
I\'m also factoring in a more motivated Rangers squad as well, ...Zherdev for instance would seem to have another gear available that wasn\'t often seen during the regular season, ...I don\'t think it\'s much of a reach to expect guys like Naslund, Gomez, and Drury to elevate their games as well.
I\'m also thinking about Sean Avery\'s waving of the stick in Marty Brodeur\'s face during last season\'s playoffs as well, ...how will the Caps respond to his antics???
Staal is a 21 year old kid, ...but he\'s also a very experienced 21 year old kid, ...he\'s played the shutdown role against world class players successfully on the international stage, ...he won\'t be phased by the assignment, and his youth means he\'s also got the stamina to stay with Ovechkin shift for shift and stride for stride throughout the series.
I\'ve ready everybody\'s posts, and there\'s some good reasons to make the safe pick and opt for the Caps here, they certainly are very capable of winning this too, and I could very well be wrong, but if I were a Rangers fan, I\'d like my chances against the Caps better than against any other team in the East except the Habs.
Despite what the statistics say, the Rangers can play with these guys, and they have the three most important factors favoring them:
Goaltending, Goaltending, and Goaltending.
We all knew the Cap\'s season was lost when they failed to sign Huet, this series will just make that official.:laugh: