The Washington Capitals are out of excuses, done with their search for a 60-minute effort and beyond the point where a move at the trading deadline will adjust the culture of the organization.
It's come down to this: if the Caps don't completely change what's ailed them this season (and maybe longer), then Ted Leonsis needs to fire GM George McPhee and Coach Bruce Boudreau.
It's extremely difficult to believe that it's reached this point, and in this economy I would never wish for anybody's unemployment, but there's no other solution if the franchise is serious about winning its first Stanley Cup. And here's why:
* Despite finishing with a record 121 points last year, and basically keeping the same team together, the Caps have regressed majorly this season.
* McPhee has stuck to his "build from within" philosophy, but none of the rookies really have drastically improved the team. (John Carlson may be the exception.)
* McPhee also continues to offer curious contract extensions to players like John Erskine, Tom Poti, Tyler Sloan and Alex Semin when, except for maybe Semin, other teams aren't exactly knocking down their doors.
* Trading for D.J. King still seems useless when he's played in only 12 games this year and logged a little more than 60 minutes all season.
* How long can you say "this team is still young and still learning" when their on-ice performance continues to reflect that of an uninspired squad?
* You can't pin everything on Boudreau. He's done everything in his power to try to get the most out of a very talented bunch. But McPhee seems unwilling to fill the voids that many others see and, for some reason, many of the players' issues seem to reside between their ears.
* Do you think that there's a slight possibility that Boudreau switched to a defense-first system to protect his young goalies? If so, the team is even more flawed than we originally thought.
It's gotten to the point where nothing but a Stanley Cup will do for the franchise. Over the course of the last three seasons, the Caps won the Southeast Division each time, but then watched lower seeds advance further in the playoffs.
The Caps have won just one playoff series over the last three seasons despite a combined 323 regular-season points over that span. As a comparison, the Philadelphia Flyers have won five playoff series during the same three years (as a five-, six- and seven-seed), despite only 282 regular-season points.
Yes, the Caps has claimed that they were going to play "playoff-style" hockey all season. And, under their new defensive-minded system, they've improved their penalty kill and goals-against average.
The problem is that they've won less than two-thirds of the games in which they've scored first (63.6 percent, 21st in the league entering tonight's games). When they've lead after the first period, their winning percentage is .722 (18th). Those aren't exactly stats that should have fans dreaming of a long playoff run.
The team has been able to mask deeper problems because they had one of the most dangerous offenses in the league since Boudreau became coach. But this season, for whatever reason, their offense has regressed by more than a goal per game and the entire franchise looks defeated.
It's time for Leonsis to make the most difficult decision of his ownership: by changing the culture and bringing in proven winners as GM and coach. Then, and only then, will the Caps be a legitimate threat to win the Stanley Cup -- and not a team that 35 percent of NHL players think is overrated.
February 3, 2011
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1 stormer(s) wrote:
Great post! I think it is about time people start questiong McPhee and especially Boudreau. I'm not really a Caps fan, but just seeing the level of talent that they have it makes me cringe to think, what their performance entails.
Sure they score a ton of goals (at least before this year) and are exciting, but they don't know how to win a playoff series. And enough with the excuses about them being too young, both the Pens and Blackhawks have seemed to do alright with pretty young rosters.
I personally don't think Boudreau has what it takes to put this team over the top, they don't seem to make adjustments in big games or in Playoff series and that has to come down on Boudreau.
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