GM George McPhee has announced that Washington Capitals' great Dale Hunter has replaced Bruce Boudreau as the team's head coach. Hunter, whose No. 32 is retired by the team, is the 15th coach in franchise history.
Hunter brings one main thing to the Caps, which has been written about both in this space and in others. From the great Mike Vogel today:
"The Caps were known as a lunch-bucket bunch that prided itself on playing strong defensive hockey in those days, and they were rarely caught short in the work ethic department.
A Dale Hunter-coached team is certain to be a hard-working team."
That is one characteristic that Boudreau couldn't coax out of the Caps on a consistent basis. And, if you look at teams that succeed -- especially in the playoffs -- they are hard-working and play for each other. As Vogel writes, the Caps with Hunter didn't have the best players, but they never took a night off or had any "passengers" -- two more knocks on Boudreau.
So not only does this mean the Caps are in for some hard work, but it means that certain players are going to be in for a bit of a culture shock. Fortunately, McPhee has compiled a mostly hard-working roster, so it's not like there will have to be a major personnel shift. But if Alex Semin (or Alex Ovechkin, for that matter) feels like being lazy or complacent, they're not going to get away with it.
Boudreau tried the disciplinary route a little too late. Hunter will start with it today. And, speaking of Ovechkin, if the current team captain needs a role model of how to behave as a leader, he will not need to go too far.
Hunter was perhaps the best captain in franchise history (although Rod Langway might be a close second). And, for the current Caps, these are things that were needed that, unfortunately, cost a very good coach his job.
But for the team to advance in the playoffs, this was a tough choice that needed to be made.
November 28, 2011
November 21, 2011
Extreme Makeover: Washington Capitals
Before you think the following is about who the Washington Capitals should trade, know that there is only one person that will fall into that category. For the most part, though, this is about what the Caps can or should do to break out of their funk and get back to playing winning hockey:
1. Trade Alex Semin: Let's get the most obvious out of the way first. Semin, who was a healthy scratch tonight against the Phoenix Coyotes, has been underachieving all season and is currently the second-highest paid player on the roster at $6.7 million. Also, it's increasingly unlikely that he'll be back because GM George McPhee is not willing to give him another pay raise and his spot on the team is becoming more tenuous.
Semin only has nine points (four goals, five assists) on the season, his ice time is decreasing and he's in yet another dormant period. In fact, he's scored just 18 goals in calendar year 2011 -- a total he matched in the final three months of 2010 alone. Yes, he scored 28 goals last season, but 12 of those tallies came in November. Finally, he took nine hooking and six tripping penalties last season -- and he's got four of each already this season. He's making Matt Bradley seem like a prophet.
2. Pick Another Captain: Alex Ovechkin is the face of the franchise and the most influential player on the Caps without question. However, since he was named captain on Jan. 5, 2010, Ovie has declined. In his first full season as the team's on-ice leader (2010-11), he experienced his worst season statistically since entering the NHL and watched as his team was swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning last spring.
It would be great if Gary Bettman handed the Stanley Cup to Ovechkin if and when the Caps win the championship. But, at this rate, the team isn't getting anywhere close to achieving that goal. By many accounts, Ovie and Coach Bruce Boudreau aren't seeing eye-to-eye and No. 8 is having trouble adjusting to a more balanced, two-way style of play. Dale Hunter wasn't the Caps' best player when he was captain, but he was the team's unquestioned leader. It might be time for Ovechkin to relinquish that responsibility and get back to concentrating on hockey -- something that needs a lot of improvement.
3. Listen to Boudreau: The coach knows what he's talking about. He's one win (entering tonight's contest) from capturing his 200th NHL win (in just about four seasons since taking over in November 2007). But, for some reason, the Caps don't seem inclined to follow orders and stick to the system.
"Sometimes I think we did maybe too good of a job of moving on [from a loss], we didn't learn from our mistakes from the game before," winger Troy Brouwer said in this morning's Washington Post. "You do need to learn and progress as a team. I think it's really hitting the guys right now that something needs to change, and it starts with our work ethic."
Boudreau's had some great quotes (and excuses) about this issue over the years, but the Caps are well beyond lip service. It's time for a team that's won its division four times in a row to take the next step. McPhee has done a good job of making moves at the right time -- and sending Semin out of town is the next logical step -- but, this season, most of the makeover needs to be made internally.
4. Play For Each Other: This is perhaps the most telling sign of a true Stanley Cup contender. It's a team that always talks about helping each other, and not about personal goals or accolades. This starts with the captain (see above) and stretches all the way to the last person on the bench -- or the first recall from the AHL. When McPhee traded for Jason Chimera and Scott Hannan the last two falls, he was trying to acquire players that made an impact in those areas. But in order for the 2011-12 season to truly complete the transformation, the team needs to approach everything differently.
"It's not the team with the best players that always wins, it's the team that plays best together," Brooks Laich said after the Caps lost, 7-1, to the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night. "At times tonight we were disconnected, we were on an island a little bit. When we're successful it's all about support, short passes and five-man units on the ice."
The Caps need to adopt that mantra every night, or things won't change. As Albert Einstein famously said, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
1. Trade Alex Semin: Let's get the most obvious out of the way first. Semin, who was a healthy scratch tonight against the Phoenix Coyotes, has been underachieving all season and is currently the second-highest paid player on the roster at $6.7 million. Also, it's increasingly unlikely that he'll be back because GM George McPhee is not willing to give him another pay raise and his spot on the team is becoming more tenuous.
Semin only has nine points (four goals, five assists) on the season, his ice time is decreasing and he's in yet another dormant period. In fact, he's scored just 18 goals in calendar year 2011 -- a total he matched in the final three months of 2010 alone. Yes, he scored 28 goals last season, but 12 of those tallies came in November. Finally, he took nine hooking and six tripping penalties last season -- and he's got four of each already this season. He's making Matt Bradley seem like a prophet.
2. Pick Another Captain: Alex Ovechkin is the face of the franchise and the most influential player on the Caps without question. However, since he was named captain on Jan. 5, 2010, Ovie has declined. In his first full season as the team's on-ice leader (2010-11), he experienced his worst season statistically since entering the NHL and watched as his team was swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning last spring.
It would be great if Gary Bettman handed the Stanley Cup to Ovechkin if and when the Caps win the championship. But, at this rate, the team isn't getting anywhere close to achieving that goal. By many accounts, Ovie and Coach Bruce Boudreau aren't seeing eye-to-eye and No. 8 is having trouble adjusting to a more balanced, two-way style of play. Dale Hunter wasn't the Caps' best player when he was captain, but he was the team's unquestioned leader. It might be time for Ovechkin to relinquish that responsibility and get back to concentrating on hockey -- something that needs a lot of improvement.
3. Listen to Boudreau: The coach knows what he's talking about. He's one win (entering tonight's contest) from capturing his 200th NHL win (in just about four seasons since taking over in November 2007). But, for some reason, the Caps don't seem inclined to follow orders and stick to the system.
"Sometimes I think we did maybe too good of a job of moving on [from a loss], we didn't learn from our mistakes from the game before," winger Troy Brouwer said in this morning's Washington Post. "You do need to learn and progress as a team. I think it's really hitting the guys right now that something needs to change, and it starts with our work ethic."
Boudreau's had some great quotes (and excuses) about this issue over the years, but the Caps are well beyond lip service. It's time for a team that's won its division four times in a row to take the next step. McPhee has done a good job of making moves at the right time -- and sending Semin out of town is the next logical step -- but, this season, most of the makeover needs to be made internally.
4. Play For Each Other: This is perhaps the most telling sign of a true Stanley Cup contender. It's a team that always talks about helping each other, and not about personal goals or accolades. This starts with the captain (see above) and stretches all the way to the last person on the bench -- or the first recall from the AHL. When McPhee traded for Jason Chimera and Scott Hannan the last two falls, he was trying to acquire players that made an impact in those areas. But in order for the 2011-12 season to truly complete the transformation, the team needs to approach everything differently.
"It's not the team with the best players that always wins, it's the team that plays best together," Brooks Laich said after the Caps lost, 7-1, to the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night. "At times tonight we were disconnected, we were on an island a little bit. When we're successful it's all about support, short passes and five-man units on the ice."
The Caps need to adopt that mantra every night, or things won't change. As Albert Einstein famously said, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
November 16, 2011
Old Ghosts Haunt Caps
Last night's Washington Capitals' loss (3-1 to the Nashville Predators) marks the team's sixth defeat in the past nine games and its fourth in the past five outings. This comes after a 7-0 start when the squad did so many things correctly. But during the current downswing, painful memories are coming back to haunt the team:
* Sloppy defense: the Caps have allowed 21 goals in regulation in seven November games, not a good sign for a team that supposedly has an improved, stingy defense. By comparison, the team allowed 23 goals in all of October (nine games), and seven of those came in a messy 7-4 loss in Vancouver. It's eerily reminiscent of last year at this time, when Coach Bruce Boudreau went to a modified trap that pretty much sucked the offense life out of the team.
* Inconsistent Special Teams: The Caps are in the middle of the league (83 percent) when it comes to the penalty kill, and at 20 percent (eighth) on the power play. By comparison, at the end of the seven-game winning streak, the Caps were 29.6 percent effective on the power play, while the penalty kill stood at 81.8 percent. So the penalty kill has only slightly improved and the power play has fallen off the wagon. This is part of ghost No. 2: the Caps either do really well on the penalty kill or the power play -- not both. Right now, the extra-man advantage is powerless and the penalty kill isn't doing that great either.
* No. 28 is Missing: The Enigmatic One, Alex Semin, has eight whole points (three goals, five assists) in 16 games, good for 170th in the league. He's only got two points this month and has looked pretty lost. In fact, Boudreau actually benched him for the third period against the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 11, when Semin played just 8:25 in a 3-1 win. He hasn't exactly endeared himself to the "new" playing style this season.
For once, goaltending isn't haunting the Caps. Yes, there have been some hiccups for Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth, but overall, they've been pretty good in leading the Caps to a 2.75 goals against average. Most of the inflation, though, is due to the defensive play in front of the Czech (team)mates and not the goalies' performance.
So the Caps are back in a similar situation as previous years, despite many efforts to make things different. Granted, it's a long season and a lot can change. But the fact that a team with many of the same players are going through the same things as previous seasons is a bit troubling and could derail a lot of good in a hurry.
* Sloppy defense: the Caps have allowed 21 goals in regulation in seven November games, not a good sign for a team that supposedly has an improved, stingy defense. By comparison, the team allowed 23 goals in all of October (nine games), and seven of those came in a messy 7-4 loss in Vancouver. It's eerily reminiscent of last year at this time, when Coach Bruce Boudreau went to a modified trap that pretty much sucked the offense life out of the team.
* Inconsistent Special Teams: The Caps are in the middle of the league (83 percent) when it comes to the penalty kill, and at 20 percent (eighth) on the power play. By comparison, at the end of the seven-game winning streak, the Caps were 29.6 percent effective on the power play, while the penalty kill stood at 81.8 percent. So the penalty kill has only slightly improved and the power play has fallen off the wagon. This is part of ghost No. 2: the Caps either do really well on the penalty kill or the power play -- not both. Right now, the extra-man advantage is powerless and the penalty kill isn't doing that great either.
* No. 28 is Missing: The Enigmatic One, Alex Semin, has eight whole points (three goals, five assists) in 16 games, good for 170th in the league. He's only got two points this month and has looked pretty lost. In fact, Boudreau actually benched him for the third period against the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 11, when Semin played just 8:25 in a 3-1 win. He hasn't exactly endeared himself to the "new" playing style this season.
For once, goaltending isn't haunting the Caps. Yes, there have been some hiccups for Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth, but overall, they've been pretty good in leading the Caps to a 2.75 goals against average. Most of the inflation, though, is due to the defensive play in front of the Czech (team)mates and not the goalies' performance.
So the Caps are back in a similar situation as previous years, despite many efforts to make things different. Granted, it's a long season and a lot can change. But the fact that a team with many of the same players are going through the same things as previous seasons is a bit troubling and could derail a lot of good in a hurry.
November 6, 2011
Caps Still Finding Form
Through 12 games, the Washington Capitals have shown mostly ups, but a few downs. Their most recent game, a 5-3 loss at the New York Islanders, most definitely falls into the latter category. The problem, it seems, is that the defense (2.75 goals allowed per game) isn't as solid and consistent as expected. The offense (3.92 goals per game), however, is stellar. In order for the team to contend, their defense will have to tighten up a bit -- without affecting the offense.
The other (somewhat) concern is Tomas Vokoun. He's got a 2.54 goals against average, but was torched for all five goals against the Islanders and four in one period earlier in the season against the Vancouver Canucks.
Nick Backstrom seemingly has found his offensive spark, while Alex Ovechkin has looked pedestrian at times. Alex "The Enigma" Semin has all of seven points in the first 12 games. Coach Bruce Boudreau has shown a willingness to punish players for a poor performance. Let's see if he'll make a player like Semin a healthy scratch -- or if GM George McPhee would actually consider sending No. 28 elsewhere.
Yes, it's early, but there's no time to waste this season. Not with expectations higher than ever, and the stakes possibly even more elevated.
The other (somewhat) concern is Tomas Vokoun. He's got a 2.54 goals against average, but was torched for all five goals against the Islanders and four in one period earlier in the season against the Vancouver Canucks.
Nick Backstrom seemingly has found his offensive spark, while Alex Ovechkin has looked pedestrian at times. Alex "The Enigma" Semin has all of seven points in the first 12 games. Coach Bruce Boudreau has shown a willingness to punish players for a poor performance. Let's see if he'll make a player like Semin a healthy scratch -- or if GM George McPhee would actually consider sending No. 28 elsewhere.
Yes, it's early, but there's no time to waste this season. Not with expectations higher than ever, and the stakes possibly even more elevated.
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