Preview: Maple Leafs v. Capitals
by PPP on Dec 6, 2008 4:00 PM EST
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Hey, who is that scoring the game winner?
It's amazing what can change in 96 hours. After Monday's game the Leafs had a revitalized goalie, a hard-working team with two scoring lines, and a defence that seemed to be rounding into form. Now the Leafs's goaltending is back to being questionable (or a step above mediocre) and the team's best defenceman is falling to pieces.
REMEMBER YOUR SPG PICKS FOR THE CONTEST (WILL NOT HAPPEN EXEMPT)
The Capitals come into Toronto with some serious injuries to their team but the depth that George McPhee has compiled has kept the Capitals humming.
That is an absolutely ridiculous amount of injuries. They've handled them mostly because Ovechking is awesome:
Ovechkin started off slow but has since gotten back to the form that has made him probably the most popular player in the NHL. The goaltending has been up and down which is scary because once they get it together they'll get above they will have little trouble running away with the division.
On the Leafs' side, the injuries are not as oppresive as the Capitals:
That Van Ryn injury, in my mind, has really unsettled the defence. It will be interesting to see how he slots back into the lineup and I don't think it can come soon enough.
One thing that I think we can be reasonably sure of, as The Omen mentioned, is that Kaberle will be thrown back into the deep end.
The amazing thing is that despite having the rough season he is still on pace for 6 goals and 41 assists. The -30 mark that he is on pace for the slightly scary part. Part of Kaberle's struggles can probably be attributed to the loss of his long time partner in Bryan McCabe. I think getting paired with Pavel Kubina for a stretch could benefit him.
So it's the Southeast-leading Capitals coming into Toronto to face a Leafs team that got skated hard at 8am before flying across three time zones. Will that affect the team? Probably in a good way.
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Hi Domi!
(waves)
Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option
by JaredFromLondon on Dec 6, 2008 4:18 PM EST up reply actions
only if
bkblades had on hipster glasses (linky! it’s a big picture)
Making stuff up since real Leafs news is far too depressing
I don't
then again I’m not a hipster
“I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I’m with isn’t it, and what’s it seems weird and scary to me.”
Making stuff up since real Leafs news is far too depressing
if I were a true emo
I’d have the glasses, but the hair in my face would prevent me from seing out of them
Making stuff up since real Leafs news is far too depressing
you’d also have a hard time typing, what with the slashed wrists and all.
i think it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion not a single emo kid follows the Leafs, they’d only survive about half a period.
I thought the Leafs as a whole would be a perfect team for emos. You know, the constant suffering of 40+ years, the everybody in the world hating us, the understanding from other Leafs fans that can’t be explained by outsiders…
emo leafs fans
“wow, and I thought MY life sucked…”
Making stuff up since real Leafs news is far too depressing
Perfect team for Cubs fans, when the last time the Cubbies were in the World Series was 1945 and they last won in 1908. But they were a powerhouse back then!
"A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with." -- Tennessee Williams
"Dear diary, I have all sorts of reasons to slit my wrists now:
1: I got dumped
2: my parents hate me
3: the hair in my face makes it impossible for me to see what I type so I look retarded when i try and write
4: the Leafs keep losing
I feel like tacos"
Making stuff up since real Leafs news is far too depressing
Man, my eyeliner just ran all over my McCabe jersey and when my girlfriend left me she took all my Skinny Puppy cd’s.
by Mirinov's Nose on Dec 6, 2008 5:30 PM EST up reply actions
“I spilled my black nail polish all over my MacBook and now I can’t watch the Leafs game on an illegal stream”
Making stuff up since real Leafs news is far too depressing
Very true. As for the Cubbies winning less than the Leafs, at least they got the “lovable losers” moniker out of it.
The Leafs just got “losers”. Sometimes preceded by a “F”, followed by an “uck”, and ended it off with “in”.
I think the team is just more lovable when fans are drunk in the bleachers on a beautiful summer afternoon. If you watch sober on television they are just stress-inducing.
I don’t know what it is about shoveling snow that makes me think of baseball. My brain is so odd. :/
"A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with." -- Tennessee Williams
That is odd. Then again, I don’t really think about baseball….ever. Maybe when I have hot dogs with lots of dressings on them
Making stuff up since real Leafs news is far too depressing
Baseball and hockey ...
… are the only two sports I follow.
Although I did see some college lacrosse when I was working in Baltimore. Johns Hopkins had an awesome team.
"A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with." -- Tennessee Williams
Hockey and NFL are the only two I really follow, but even that’s a kinda loose definition of “follow” (I only like watching NFL with my brothers, so in that instance it’s more for the
bonding than the actual game.)
Besides, I’m trying to get them into hockey (which doesn’t help as they only have access to NBC games), which is awesome because I get to be an expert in something
Making stuff up since real Leafs news is far too depressing
I’m a sports junkie. But like you, I follow hockey and NFL football the most. But other than hockey (my grade 2 teacher got me interested), all the sports I watch or follow had no family or friend backing. I was mostly a loner watching the sports.
I’m mostly a loner with hockey, but at least football (and embarrassingly enough, NASCAR) let me drink beer and be loud and crude with my brothers
Making stuff up since real Leafs news is far too depressing
As for NASCAR
I think you have to be with other people to “watch” it. I’m not sure if I could act non-arrogantly if I knew someone who watched NASCAR alone without any provocation or without being prompted by others to be swept in the moment. Maybe I just don’t find cars going around in circles exciting enough to pass any sort of judgment. But I will anyway.
NASCAR
like I said, I get to be obscene and crude with my brothers, so it’s fun
Making stuff up since real Leafs news is far too depressing
But I suspect it’s just a wish that I didn’t have to shovel snow, and I associate baseball with spring.
Still, it’s better than having the summer temperatures shoot past 100 degrees Fahrenheit routinely, so I can cope with a few inches of snow now and then.
"A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with." -- Tennessee Williams
Technically
Watching baseball sober live can be all kinds of dull, too. Baseball in the winter isn’t so far-fetched. The seventh inning stretch will never get old, since you can do that everywhere in life. Though it may be prudent to pick and choose where you decide to put baseball in your life.
“Alright, honey, I know the baby’s about to come out, but man, I need a seventh inning stretch. All this squeezing your hand and encouraging you is tiring.”
I’ve been to a few minor league baseball games and the people watching is usually pretty interesting
then again, a friend told me since baseball has those long stretches where nothing is happening, it’s a great sport to watch stoned and have weird ass conversations during
Making stuff up since real Leafs news is far too depressing
People watching is a timely baseball tradition. And being stoned is never a wrong move (although for me it is). But you do have to find things to do when you’re not watching the game or else you end up hating baseball for the rest of your life.
Then again
it was minor league stuff VT EXPOS (not the Lake monsters as they are known today), so I dunno if major league is that much different
Making stuff up since real Leafs news is far too depressing
Watching baseball sober live can be all kinds of dull, too.
Except for Greg Maddux. I loved watching that man pitch, because he was so freaking sneaky that the batters would just walk back to the dugout shaking their heads and having no clue how he made them look so bad. The other pitchers I loved watching were Kerry Wood and Mark Prior – and Dusty Baker should be locked in the trunk of a tiny car and left in the long-term lot at the airport for what he did to the both of them.
I am in baseball mourning over his retirement. :(
"A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with." -- Tennessee Williams
Jimmy Key
Was my Greg Maddux equivalent. He never overpowered batters, but his craftiness and his southpaw curveballs were my favourites growing up. But Maddux was certainly a gem. I always laugh when Maddux manages to pitch a fastball down the pipe. The whole stadium just gasps, since it was so unexpected. By the time people recover, the inning is over after another 1-2-3 outing.
It’s why I try not to miss any Roy Halladay game days either, since it’ll be a sad day when he does retire 30 years later. 30 years might be too ambitious, but damn it, I want to see the Terminator pitch as long as he can.
Halladay is something special, no doubt.
Just his sheer competitiveness reminds me of Jack Morris in the mid-80’s. His numbers weren’t especially good, but he was one tough cookie. He hated to come out of the game more than any other pitcher I’ve seen.
"A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with." -- Tennessee Williams
I’ll give you that.
Plus Morris was apparently a bit of an ass. Not an unusual trait for anyone that competitive – businessmen in particular are notorious for it.
"A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with." -- Tennessee Williams
'sup foo's
i’m all emo gangsta now. werd
"You do dat, you go to da box, you know, uh, two minutes by yourself, and you feel shame, you know, and then you get free."
The Left Coast Lock
by blurr1974 on Dec 6, 2008 5:52 PM EST reply actions
keeping it real
number one in the hood, y’all
Making stuff up since real Leafs news is far too depressing
holla holla
this one’s for my homies…
\pours out some OE
"You do dat, you go to da box, you know, uh, two minutes by yourself, and you feel shame, you know, and then you get free."
The Left Coast Lock
by blurr1974 on Dec 6, 2008 5:56 PM EST up reply actions
emo homies?
like, emoies?
/writes crappy poetry for emoies
Making stuff up since real Leafs news is far too depressing
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