2013 Southeast Division Champions Caps Vs. Rangers

[Heisenberg]

Hey, at least he can score from the point on the PP again so I suppose there is your silver lining.

Yep, he's pretty much a PP specialist at this point - it's really sad. The drop off has been so dramatic and in such a short time period that it's just baffling.

[SpringfieldSkins]

Yep, he's pretty much a PP specialist at this point - it's really sad. The drop off has been so dramatic and in such a short time period that it's just baffling.

There's a few explanations that I could offer...

1. Losing the Olympics took a hit on him.
2. Becoming the team captain is too much responsibility.
3. Bruce Boudreau helped elevate his game.
4. Rule changes and suspensions caused him to change his style.
5. He was figured out.
6. He stopped using PED's.

[BuddyLeeGhostHunter]

The next three games will make or break the season IMO. We need to at least get 3 points out of these next three. Anything less and the season is lost.

This team could compete BUT they're not good enough to go on a long string of wins, which is why these next three will be crucial. They're not defensive enough to shut down teams every night. They're not offensive enough either (Lightning, Sharks).

I still stand by what I said. Not proud of it but as another member mentioned, this is probably a transition year until we finally start to gel and obtain another player or three.

This team is the Oakland Raiduhs of the NHL. What a shame after the excitement of the last five years.

[Heisenberg]

There's a few explanations that I could offer...

1. Losing the Olympics took a hit on him.
2. Becoming the team captain is too much responsibility.
3. Bruce Boudreau helped elevate his game.
4. Rule changes and suspensions caused him to change his style.
5. He was figured out.
6. He stopped using PED's.

1. Don't buy it - if true, he's one of the biggest head cases ever
2. I don't see how that could be the case and just like #1 it would make me wonder what's going on inside his head
3. come on man, I know you love Bruce (who doesn't?) but Ovechkin was a monster under Hanlon from the time he stepped onto the ice in the NHL
4. One of the better theories, I guess - still don't buy it
5. That's definitely part of it - his old cross the center line and cut back across the middle and fire it across the body over the goalies right shoulder hasn't worked since the MTL series
6. Probably has more merit than I'd like to admit

[SpringfieldSkins]

1. Don't buy it - if true, he's one of the biggest head cases ever
2. I don't see how that could be the case and just like #1 it would make me wonder what's going on inside his head
3. come on man, I know you love Bruce (who doesn't?) but Ovechkin was a monster under Hanlon from the time he stepped onto the ice in the NHL
4. One of the better theories, I guess - still don't buy it
5. That's definitely part of it - his old cross the center line and cut back across the middle and fire it across the body over the goalies right shoulder hasn't worked since the MTL series
6. Probably has more merit than I'd like to admit

I was originally just gong to state #6 but I didn't want to come across as "that guy" so I figured I'd offer more explanations.

[Heisenberg]

This is about right

http://ovi.ytmnd.com/

[BuddyLeeGhostHunter]

This is about right

http://ovi.ytmnd.com/

Is that the NHL swinging gate play?

[SpringfieldSkins]

Wow, the Internet sure is fast.

[skinsfan_1215]

This is about right

http://ovi.ytmnd.com/

that's too much

[Sticksboi05]

The line he is playing on right now is a joke. A ****ing joke. Give him Ribeiro please. Oates is, so far, coaching like a clown. He literally had to circle the ice twice in the offensive zone to find his 4th line linemates remotely open.

[DC9]

He strikes me as a guy that you would want scouting players but not a guy that I'd want building my team. He has an eye for talent but I question a lot of his personnel decisions.

Like drafting Kuznetsov when he knowingly didn't want to play for you? And then saying "We expected him to sign with us soon" right before Kuznetsov signs a three year extension with his KHL team. And then when Kuznetsov is asked if the Capitals knew he was re-upping with his KHL squad he said, "Well they know now, hahaha."

He makes terrible moves that are "upgrades" and he lets guys go that he shouldn't. He wants an "offensive system" but he doesn't know how to put the right pieces out there.

He brought in Wojlcek Wolski to replace Alex Semin?

He traded Varlamov and brought in Vokoun? (granted, at the time I thought it was a good move)

He let Thomas Flieshmann go and brought in Joel Ward. Ward looks better right now but Flash has been lights out in Florida on their top line.

He trades for Arnott and doesn't re-up him.

He banks on Knuble who doesn't pay off.

He SHOVES Jeff ****ing Schultz down every coach's throat because he doesn't want to be embarrassed for picking in the first round ahead of Mike Green and other stud players.

And then there is Ted... whose models of running a franchise "correctly" is showing in the Caps and Wizards.

Terrible General Managers
Caps: Check
Wiz: Check

Coaches with no Head Coaching experience at the top level:
Caps: Check (Boudreau, Hunter, and Oates)
Wiz: Check

No real direction, but a lot of young players:
Caps: Check
Wiz: Check

Wanting credit for playing hard but not closing out:
Caps: Check
Wiz: Check

Seemingly unwilling to spend the money to correct the deficiencies:
Caps: Check
Wiz: Check

You can love Ted all you want. I've never liked the dude. All of the above coupled with the fact that he's raised ticket prices every year for the last four or five seasons, and he has Capatilized (no-pun intended) on having a once in a lifetime player in Ovechkin, and pretty much ruined him with how he's allowed his GM to build around him and with all of the coaching changes.

I'd be lost on the ice too if I were Ovi. All of this talent and you want me to go from free wheeling, to blocking shots, to 50/50? All in one season?

This organization is an absolute joke and won't go anywhere as long as McPhee is around.

[KDawg]

Sorry, I know this is the Caps thread, but the NHL thread sucks... So I'll post here:

The Sabres are a very frustrating team. Vanek is inconsistent but he's one heck of an offensive player. They have moments that they look unbelievably good and moments where they look absurdly awful. Our defensive pairings and coaching decisions regarding them are odd at times as well. As is some of Ruff's decisions (ie: Losing with 1.8 seconds left in OT because Lindy decides he HAS to do a line change at that point). It's incredible. Then last night, when all the chips are down and the Sabres are riding a three game losing streak INTO Boston... We win 7-4 on an excellent 5 point effort from Vanek (again). He probably had the pass of the year in the game as well. And other than one major gaff by Leopold and Myers, the D actually played halfway decent. I don't get it. Consistently inconsistent. And, the best part of last night... John Scott beating Thornton so bad in a fight that Thornton didn't return... I don't even think Thornton got a punch off

I'm thrilled with their play last night... I'm just... Baffled.

Sorry Caps fans, I had to vent and I wanted to post it somewhere that actually had activity

[DC9]

Kdawg, nothing was more annoying last night watching that third period of the Caps game, than having my brother-in-law (Sabres fan) texting updates to the Sabres - Bruins game. LOL. He got me back good for all of this **** I gave him on Sunday when we beat Buffalo and he was watching at my house.

Lindy Ruff has a brass pair for keeping that young Center up this year, but he's seemingly (albeit slowly) finding his footing. I envy your youth up the middle with he and Foligno.

While we're so thick in the Middle that McPhee feels it necessary to trade a Center prospect for a winger... I could throw up.

[EBoz]

Nice write up on Ovi and the Caps.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/89...win-figure-out

And this pic from the thread over at HF boards that ixcuincle posted yesterday.
http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/sh...335617&page=24

[Heisenberg]

Like drafting Kuznetsov when he knowingly didn't want to play for you? And then saying "We expected him to sign with us soon" right before Kuznetsov signs a three year extension with his KHL team. And then when Kuznetsov is asked if the Capitals knew he was re-upping with his KHL squad he said, "Well they know now, hahaha."

He makes terrible moves that are "upgrades" and he lets guys go that he shouldn't. He wants an "offensive system" but he doesn't know how to put the right pieces out there.

He brought in Wojlcek Wolski to replace Alex Semin?

He traded Varlamov and brought in Vokoun? (granted, at the time I thought it was a good move)

He let Thomas Flieshmann go and brought in Joel Ward. Ward looks better right now but Flash has been lights out in Florida on their top line.

He trades for Arnott and doesn't re-up him.

He banks on Knuble who doesn't pay off.

He SHOVES Jeff ****ing Schultz down every coach's throat because he doesn't want to be embarrassed for picking in the first round ahead of Mike Green and other stud players.

And then there is Ted... whose models of running a franchise "correctly" is showing in the Caps and Wizards.

Terrible General Managers
Caps: Check
Wiz: Check

Coaches with no Head Coaching experience at the top level:
Caps: Check (Boudreau, Hunter, and Oates)
Wiz: Check

No real direction, but a lot of young players:
Caps: Check
Wiz: Check

Wanting credit for playing hard but not closing out:
Caps: Check
Wiz: Check

Seemingly unwilling to spend the money to correct the deficiencies:
Caps: Check
Wiz: Check

You can love Ted all you want. I've never liked the dude. All of the above coupled with the fact that he's raised ticket prices every year for the last four or five seasons, and he has Capatilized (no-pun intended) on having a once in a lifetime player in Ovechkin, and pretty much ruined him with how he's allowed his GM to build around him and with all of the coaching changes.

I'd be lost on the ice too if I were Ovi. All of this talent and you want me to go from free wheeling, to blocking shots, to 50/50? All in one season?

This organization is an absolute joke and won't go anywhere as long as McPhee is around.

I have been criticizing Ted for years and caught a bunch of heat a few years back for doing so. Trust me, a lot of Caps fans and STH's have a strong dislike for Ted and he has pissed me off several times. I don't agree with a lot of your other points though.

- Kuznetsov could still (and probably will) pay dividends for the Caps as early as next season. The risk with him was the only reason they were able to draft him that late in the first round and I'm hopeful that he will come over and contribute after the Olympic break next year.

- I don't know of any free agents out there who could have replaced Semin and even if there was someone you can guarantee that Ted wasn't going to spend the money before the lockout to sign them. I never wanted them to let Semin go for exactly this reason - despite how streaky he could be his talent is almost impossible to replace.

- Varlamov wanted out and didn't want to compete for the job. I can't really blame him for getting rid of him with the attitude Varlamov was displaying at the time. If Varly becomes an elite goaltender and none of the 3 Caps prospects do the same this could be seen as a huge mistake but I'm not ready to call it that as of now.

- He traded Flash for Scott Hannen, which was a move I really liked at the time and really wish they would have kept Hannen. He was very good defensively and I thought it was a much bigger mistake letting Hannen walk after that season than the intial trade of Flash. Flash was the exact type of player that most criticize now - a ton of skill but very soft and disappeared during big games and during the playoffs.

- I don't remember the specifics of what Arnott wanted to stay. I do remember really liking him on a line with Semin but I feel that Rebeiro is better at the 2C - especially if he can ever learn to win a faceoff (35% WTF?)

- Knuble was great for the Caps during his time here. I'm not sure how you can call him out specifically when the entire team didn't get the job done while he was here. He was one of the most professional guys on the team and I wish more of the younger guys had followed his lead.

---------- Post added February-1st-2013 at 09:39 AM ----------

The line he is playing on right now is a joke. A ****ing joke. Give him Ribeiro please. Oates is, so far, coaching like a clown. He literally had to circle the ice twice in the offensive zone to find his 4th line linemates remotely open.

Hard for me to say he "deserves" to be on any line at this point considering how incomplete his game is at the moment. However, I'll agree that I would like to see him get a few games centered by Ribeiro to see if they can get some chemistry. I'm not going to be too harsh on Oates since 1) it's becoming too common to blame the coach when it's obvious there is a problem with this core group of guys 2) GMGM hiring another coach with no experience (*sigh*) so I'm expecting it to take it some time for him to get it together and 3) 6 days of training camp for said inexperienced coach to get prepared for a very fast moving NHL season was just asking for trouble.