Reviewing Firebirds vs Bears Game Two 

You and me both lol, I even try to comment to feed the algorithm

You and me both, even if it's hours after the video was posted (due in part that I have work at 3am PT).

…but do you let the ads play in full? 🤔

You got to for THG

Agree about Lapierre, been paying attention to the Caps reloading with youth.

Ethen Frank,Lappy, and Dube all have really have good potential

@@BakedSports Ethen Frank is 26. Probably as good as he'll ever be.

@@BakedSports as for Lappy he certainly improved this year under Carbery. Could be a nice 2-way centre

Keep a close eye on undrafted goalie Clay Stevenson! He's the Caps future #1 goalie. He had a phenomenal rookie season. I think the idea for next season, Shep is promoted to backup Charlie Lindgren if the Caps can somehow trade Darcy Kuemper. That would have Stevenson being the full time #1 for the Bears next season and Mitchell Gibson promoted from the South Carolina Stingrays(ECHL)backing him up. The other scenario is, if the Caps make a package trade for a top 6 forward, Shep might be included in a package deal and get his chance with another NHL team.

Miro's projection is anywhere from middle to top 6 winger, he had a ton of potential before his cancer diagnosis, and he's been steadily working back towards that level since his remission. Lapierre is young still, he's got potential to be a 2c. Iorio's hurt right now but his upper ceiling is likely a second pairing dman. The caps were good enough long enough that they don't have a particularly deep prospect pool, but Hershey has been pretty good at helping them reach their potential as solid, consistent players.

It did not come w/o a price thou for the Bears that's for sure. They're quite depleted rn esp. on the back end.

Bears WIN Calder Cup, yeah.

Caps fan here: No clue.

Lots of AHL teams are structured around their NHL team. The Bears don't have as close of a relationship and are all about winning. It's why Chicago left their affiliation this past year - they were tired of being told what to do and wanted to get back to winning. Didn't work for them, but it illustrates the point.

Essentially the prospects the caps have in Hershey are mostly at their ceiling (solid AHL players, depth) with the exception of players like Miro, Lappy, Stevenson, Iorio, etc. Because we don't have a lot of "high value" prospects (ones with high expected ceilings, thing Ryan Leonard) and we don't have a lot of prospects point blank bc we traded a lot of picks over the years for playoff assistance, it's a lower tier farm system. You'll also run into people saying that hershey is only good because it's mostly veterans but again that's kind of a result of the shallow pool of prospects vs anything else.

So, the Caps' peospect pool is ranked 14th (out of 32 teams), so, more mid-tier than low-tier. Thst being said, many of the players on the Bears are strong AHL players, but not great NHL players, illustrating the difference in quality between the leagues. Also, the AHL is not the only plave that teams develop prospects. Keep in mind that high-end prospects (think Connor Bedard) never play in the AHL. They make the jump directly from juniors, or NCAA, or Europe to the NHL. If you are a team with a high percentage of your prospects playing in the AHL, then you are a team with a lot of mid to low-tier prospects.

Same here but going to Baltimore games an Arch Rival!

Can't beat games back then at The Old Barn.

That's golden baby.

Facts! Also Christian Pulisic!

The Bears having their own community/fans/team culture imo is definitely a big part of this. It's why the partnership with Washington has gone so well, Washington doesn't want to interfere with that, just get their players playing on the roster. Hershey expects to win every year, and so they try to play like it.

Well, if I’m not mistaken, the Sound Tigers were/are an Islanders affiliate and the Islanders were a gong show organization for much of the period you’re probably referring to. Minor league teams usually come and go, but the Bears have been there since the 30s. They haven’t always been a Caps affiliate, of course.

@@RJM1693 Correct, the Isles were bad when I followed the Sound Tigers. I became a fan during the DiPietro years. Neither team did anything. Ended up moving out of CT early 2018.

Bridgeport still sucks lol. Last in the league this year

They are the healthier team. The Bears top 3 dmen are out

Right now he and Clay are tied imo, but right now Shep is at his ceiling (solid backup/third line goalie who can play consistent, good hockey when given a solid defense in front of him), and Clay has more growth to do.

Shepard is the Bears MVP and somehow he's also the second best goalie on the team at the same time. Apparently you didn't see Stevenson play in the 2nd half of the season, where here was SHAKY.

​@@riff5fkiShep has a huge trophy cabinet already he made it to the finals every year in the NCAA 2 national championships, and 2 runner ups. I feel like if he gets 2 Calder cups, along with his MVP and Goy, he kind of has to get called up... Guy has won at every level. His age is old but Lyon kind of followed the same career trajectory.

@@thebigbucktheory5488oh yeah and for that matter so did Lindgren, he absolutely could make it just off of his work ethic it’s imo a factor of age because usually there’s a drop off

@@lillyaltland4359i mean thats kind of expected for a rookie goalie in his first AHL year?

In the US, NHL Network, or on ahltv

I've heard rumours that capitals r trying 2 shop kuemper

They'll be lucky if they get 1 game out there

trust me even most caps fans would agree lmao

He played 4 games and two of them were quality starts.

​@@TheHockeyGuy Did you watch those games? To me he looked like he went for long stretches not reacting at NHL speed and with slow mechanics to match. Not sure how much that can be expected to change at age 28. I think the results were more about being a tiny sample size rather than an indication of his skill at the top and that he would be exposed by higher skill once he's more thoroughly scouted. He's great in the AHL, he has a really simple no frills approach that's very solid at that level and doesn't give his opponents much to work with, but as a Caps fan I don't think he's a future regular unless Darcy takes another big step back. I'd love to be proven wrong, but I'm not expecting it.

I watch every game. He was one of the three stars in a win he got this season. Four games are a VERY small sample size for a goalie.

Definitely goaltending was the clearly the difference in this one.

Shopping dreidger makes no sense. He's a ufa the moment the season is over lmao. And benching him after the second goal is a mistake. Yes it was a bad goal to.give up, but you don't permentantly bench the goalie who's been one of the best in the ahl post season for 1 bad game with one bad goal

@@MrLightMatter I didn't know Driedger was UFA, so your argument there makes sense. But I stand behind my statement of benching him. There is a concept of "dereliction of duty". You really have to question the mindset of a goalie who goes back into the trap to play putt-putt when his DZ is swarming with Chocolate Bears. I can't even make a case for a goalie going behind the net even when there's nobody else down there. Let the defenseman get it. What is the POSSIBLE benefit of a goalie playing a puck behind the net? High risk, ZERO reward. I realize that Driedger isn't the only goalie that does this - they do it in the NHL too, and I rail about them too. A goalie's job - his only job - is to defend the net. Period. Nothing else. In the military, if you leave your post at a weapons bunker to sneak a cigarette or a call to your girlfriend, you might end up in the brig. Now you can counter with "It's just a game, and kids are playing it, give 'em a break", but it's the same concept. Inability to take responsibility or behave responsibly is, IMHO, a fireable offense. Keep in mind those soldiers are 18 year-olds minding those posts too. They get it. It can be done. In hockey, one moment of goofing off just wasted all that hard work of 20 other players. Do you really want a guy like that in the mix? Maybe Chris Driedger comes to Jesus in the future and learns his lesson, but it should be with another team. I'm not hating on the guy. He's probably a good guy, and I hate to give him flak, but he totally trashed that game for a team that had that game well in hand. I'm sure that publically his teammates will have his back. But deep down that one hurt. You've come so far in the season, and one moment of clowning may have changed the momentum of this series...