This is not a knee jerk reaction to the Caps laying down and losing a game without showing emotion against a division rival. Losing a game to a Thrashers team featuring none other than Dustin Run-The-Goalie Byfuglien, as well as several large forwards, including heavyweight enforcer Eric Boulton, that for some reason, Boudreau scratched Erskine and King against. The Capitals and Thrashers have had bad blood recently. So why not play a bigger, tougher lineup against a huge, top flight scoring team?
The answer lies in Boudreau's style. He is a pacifist coach, one who has decided to let the power play be the enforcer. Here is a guy who has stuck by his plan; a man of conviction. BB has been routinely outcoached in the playoffs, despite entering the last two playoff seasons with by far superior teams to the competition we have been eliminated by. However, at some point, we need to cut our losses and run. A midseason coaching change has proven beneficial in recent memory, and I'm convinced that it would serve the Capitals well.
So who can come in and institute a new system that the players can adapt to, in time for the playoffs? None other than local hero Dale Hunter. Hunter has been coaching in the OHL since 2001, training both of his sons, one of whom is toiling in the ECHL currently. He guided the London Knights to the Memorial Cup in 2005, which shows that he can motivate and nurture his young players' growth, yet demand nothing but the best from them. Hunter also has been suspended twice as a head coach because of players leaving the bench to fight. While some could see this as a sign of poor leadership, I see this as a coach demanding teamwork from his players, and them displaying a tremendous amount of camaraderie and respect for each other to go to great lengths to defend each other - very much unlike the modern Capitals.
Boudreau too had shown that he could lead a youth movement, but that has not translated into the bigs. He found instant success with the Capitals when he was initially promoted, mostly because with the Capitals he found eight Hershey Bears whom he had coached only months earlier. He already had their trust and respect, so he had a head start. Not to take anything away from his successes, because Boudreau has done a great job of molding the current team, but he is not the coach moving forward because of his style.
The team needs a good shakeup, but the core of players have grown together and are committed to winning together. Minor moves, such as ridding the team of streaky deadweight like Fleischmann, make the team better, but aren't enough to really right the ship. Fire the coach, wake everyone up, and play some damn exciting hockey.
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lol, fire the guy who hasn't lost since he got the )ob? remember how "Oriolely" Horrible the caps were for 6 years? i don't put it on bruce when his offense had 46 shots, and a lot of them were very very good. (i was there). I see a problem in personell. Every caps fan wanted george mcphee fired until he got lucky with ovechkin and backstrom. i new gm is needed. flash for hannan? why is mike green still a capital? he bumbled around like a drunken oaf half the time. i can't name a more overrated player. Hunter should be a GM or another kind of coach. Boudreau is an excellent coach.
ReplyDeletebrandon, I disagree. If Boudreau could coach, he would make adjustments during intermissions/timeouts. He has a Lindsay Ruff team without Lindsay Ruff's coaching skill. If Boudreau could coach, the team would be grittier, Mike Green would be passable at defense, and Semin would be passable at defense for a winger. Nikolay Zherdev is hitting and playing all out in Philly for Peter Laviolette for fucks sake. ZHERDEV!
ReplyDeleteBoudreau lives and dies by the PP. His players embellish to get the man advantage, and with their talent, score. That comes from him. Gone are the days of Jagr, where stars were agile enough to avoid hits, and wouldn't go down easier than a college girl at her first party. If Boudreau can one day make his team consist of a little sandpaper and some defense, I'll change my stance.
GM GM isn't the problem. Look at the young guys coming up through the system still. He (and the scouting department) are keepers.
Brandon, you complain about Fleischmann being traded for Hannan, then complain about McPhee's skill as a GM. He ripped off Detroit to get Flash.
ReplyDeleteThe trade: Lang for Fleischmann, a 1st (Mike Green), and some guy who never made it past the ECHL in North America. That same year, McPhee made 6 other trades, bringing in Brooks Laich, and Shaone Morrisonn, and draft picks that became Jeff Schultz, Francois Bouchard, as well as some prospects that just didn't pan out or stick with the organization.
That same year, he drafted Chris Bourque (who became a star in the AHL), Sami Lepisto (a regular contributor on Phoenix's defense), and Andrew Gordon (who also became a solid AHL player).
Behind Backstrom, McPhee drafted Varlamov, Neuvirth, Bouchard, and Mathieu Perreault.
In 2007, McPhee drafted Alzner, Ted Ruth (whom he traded for Fedorov). In previous years, he has drafted Boyd Gordon, Alex Semin, Steve Eminger (whom he traded for the pick that became John Carlson), and Eric Fehr. He assembled this team through the draft and smart trading.
By the way, most of those 46 shots came from the perimeter. You can't win like that. Not against a hot goalie with a big defense in front of him. It was as if Fleischmann never left. The Caps glided across the ice like they were out on a date.
I agree with this post. The coaching in Washington is atrocious; how did the caps loose in the playoffs, against inferior teams? They were kept to the perimeter and stopped at the blue line. They have no concept of gaining the zone or a free flowing attack. And mike green is about as overrated as Jovanovski was back in Vancouver.
ReplyDeleteAnd again last night, another terrible outing. Perimeter shots won't win that many games if there is no one crashing the net. If the goalie can see the puck, more often than not, he will stop it. The Caps have the personnel to cycle the puck, and take a good shot, but they need to park someone in the goal crease and stuff it home - or somehow find a way to dictate the pace of the game. Controlling the puck well, taking an outside shot, then turning up the ice because the rebound was recovered by the defense is not the way.
ReplyDeleteEric Daze would fit in so well with this lineup. Big and soft, like Stay Puft.
I'm glad to see Boudreau get bad press. I feel great knowing that I'm not the only one who wants him gone.
ReplyDeletehttp://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitalsinsider/poll-what-should-the-caps-do-n.html?wpisrc=nl_sports
ReplyDeleteVote for "Change the coach"