Post-Game Talk: gdt (MOD WARNING POST #30)

[maacoshark]

I mean they set a record for most high danger chances against at some point last year so this isn’t surprising

Its crazy how many odd man rushes we give up. The thing I am seeing alot is our dmen holding the line and not getting support from our forwards.
Dmen pinching is part of the game now because teams are trying to generate offense but a forward has to cover for him and it isnt happening often enough.

 

[OviTaughtMe]

Jinx post

I remember when we had to go to rival GDTs after regular season wins to validate our feelings.

Glad those days are over.

Peace be with you bro

 

[AussieCapsFan]

Wilson is now back to being Wilson. He is what he is, he had his career streak.

Folks, this isn’t something to just say “oh well, they need a break”. This is not just a losing streak, it’s annihilation. There is no way, if you have ANY intention to even make the playoffs, you don’t make changes or continue with this coaching staff as is. Fire Arniel and Chapman if you must.

I just don’t buy the fatigue/looking toward be break angle.

If you fire the coaches who are you bringing in to replace them? It's all very well to suggest these drastic measures but there has to be a significant improvement. And forget Qenneville - he's taking the season off.

And whether fatigue (mental and physical) is the entire problem or only part of it - they really do need a break. It might not solve all of their problems but I guarantee it is going to help .
As for Reirden and the coaching staff, I would expect them to be working hard during this break to figure out wtf is wrong and how to fix it. THAT would be my expectation if I was paying their salaries.

 

[Ovie's Neighbor]

If you fire the coaches who are you bringing in to replace them? It's all very well to suggest these drastic measures but there has to be a significant improvement. And forget Qenneville - he's taking the season off.

And whether fatigue (mental and physical) is the entire problem or only part of it - they really do need a break. It might not solve all of their problems but I guarantee it is going to help .
As for Reirden and the coaching staff, I would expect them to be working hard during this break to figure out wtf is wrong and how to fix it. THAT would be my expectation if I was paying their salaries.

Isn't he the guy who wanted Trotz gone last year? Not sure we should take his advice on firing coaches.

 

[AtNightWeFly]

BTW I looked up all of our back to back games last year and like I said Holtby only once started both games in back to backs and he was pulled after 21 minutes. So as I said you completely made up that statement. And I knew it without even looking it up but thought I would look it up anyway just to prove that you made that up.
Wow, how old are you? Can't believe you would actually post that crap.

You're hanging on to this mans 'you know what' way too hard. You should be embarrassed at this point.

Go back and read what I wrote again. I said Holtby sucked game after game and your precious kept putting him out there game after game to get lit up. Just like Todd is doing but suddenly you have a problem? You are a groupie!

Barry does it- good.
Todd does it- bad.

 

[kicksavedave]

So the good news is, now we know Oprik wasn't the reason they sucked.

 

[Sam Spade]

You can't deny Trotzs ability as a coach. Just look at what he is doing with the Islanders pathetic roster. They went from 31st defensively to first.
Have you ever heard of a team finishing last in goals against and improved to first the next season? Their goalies aren't they that good. That's all coaching.

The Isles have a top ten D in the NHL, and did last season as well they just didn't have the right guy to structure them properly.

Boychuk, Leddy, Pulock, Hickey, Mayfield and Pelich are a pretty damn decent group.

 

[AtNightWeFly]

I remember when we had to go to rival GDTs after regular season wins to validate our feelings.

Glad those days are over.

Peace be with you bro

You should've signed off with a southern "Bless your heart." This being a Virginia team and you know how much they hate southern teams up there in the Mecca. Still good tho.

 

[AussieCapsFan]

The Isles have a top ten D in the NHL, and did last season as well they just didn't have the right guy to structure them properly.

Boychuk, Leddy, Pulock, Hickey, Mayfield and Pelich are a pretty damn decent group.

You are spot on. And the team has allowed the fewest goals against in the league, so far.
It's the offence that is lacking - actually below the league average for goals per game but with a goal differential of +25 I'm sure they don't care.
They only need to outscore the opposition by one goal per game and they'd have a perfect record.

 

[Langway]

Boychuk, Leddy, Pulock, Hickey, Mayfield and Pelich are a pretty damn decent group.

Yeah, not really. They're not close to top ten on paper. Toews has helped some but it's not more than middling at best on paper. Pulock & Leddy are the top pair and adequate but nothing great. Boychuk has slowed down. Hickey is hurt. The rest are young. Cohesion, consistency, structure and discipline tends to smooth a lot of issues over.

Time will tell on Reirden. Maybe he's not alpha enough. I'm not sure I've ever seen the guy pissed off to the point where it would get my attention. But it's also on the leadership group to hold each other accountable and that's long been an issue even when they had the hunger and chip on their shoulder left to get over the hump finally. Niskanen & Backstrom in particular are playing nowhere near leadership material. Oshie, for all that he tries, isn't terribly far behind in terms of 5-on-5 impact since returning. Kuznetsov is really the younger guy that, along with Wilson & Vrana, should be the steadying, confidence-building, game-breakers. They're younger and ought to still possess the gas to power through. But way too often Kuznetsov can't be arsed to do anything but show off when easy plays can be had. This may be the stickiest switch they've needed to flip but it is a long-running theme. Recently they'd just get back to basics, play D-first and get back on the horse. They did do that fairly well against NYI but the buy-in against more skilled teams is awful.

 

[troyerlaw]

Isn't he the guy who wanted Trotz gone last year? Not sure we should take his advice on firing coaches.

i ALWAYS believe in firing the coach. And one of these days I will finally be right!!!

Have a good break, everyone. Here’s hoping for a strong stretch run and another exciting spring!

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

So the good news is, now we know Oprik wasn't the reason they sucked.

So much for Sam’s theory....

 

[Holtbyisms]

Nothing matters until end of Feb early March. Let's go!

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

Jinx post

Did his TOI magically jump 4 minutes last night? Did his seasonal stats finally hit what would be considered 1c/2c worthy?

...No? He just had a good game? Cool, Jeff Schultz was prone for a good game every so often, I don't think that I penciled him in for top line pairing after that.

 

[SpinningEdge]

sure you did.

Www.facebook.com/itsmatthewstewart

Yes, I sure did. I have some funny videos too from the night.

Not a big deal, but was really cool. Been friends with a couple of them for awhile. I own a couple dog daycares and my biz partner owns the bar they love to go to and they threw their cup party there the night they got in with the cup. Had a pre season dinner there with Trotz and everything before last season too. He was always down to earth and nice. Granted I haven’t met Reirdon, but a good guy, winner here, and part of a team we all will never forget for forever, tough seeing him go right after a Cup win.

 

[maacoshark]

The Isles have a top ten D in the NHL, and did last season as well they just didn't have the right guy to structure them properly.

Boychuk, Leddy, Pulock, Hickey, Mayfield and Pelich are a pretty damn decent group.

The Isles have a top 10 dman? Not they dont. Not even close.
You are right about one thing. They do have the right guy to structure them. Obviously we dont.

 

[maacoshark]

You are spot on. And the team has allowed the fewest goals against in the league, so far.
It's the offence that is lacking - actually below the league average for goals per game but with a goal differential of +25 I'm sure they don't care.
They only need to outscore the opposition by one goal per game and they'd have a perfect record.

We know they have given up the least amount if goals this year. The point is that they gave up the most goals last year. The difference is coaching.
This proves that defense is more about the system than the personnel.

 

[John Price]

I'm more calmer and rational that most others and I admit this streak is starting to worry me a bit but I'm still hopeful that the time off will be good for them. Just get all that funk out of your system.

Penguins went through a slump too earlier this year. Even the Leafs were slumping and the Penguins are slumping a bit now. It's an 82 game season. It's January. Later on in the year if this streak continues, I will get a bit worried.

 

[Sam Spade]

The Isles have a top 10 dman? Not they dont. Not even close.
You are right about one thing. They do have the right guy to structure them. Obviously we dont.

Yes, they do. Go over all the NHL teams and it is pretty clear actually. I have said this before this season, especially when they had De haan.

 

[Sam Spade]

So much for Sam’s theory....

19-8 without him.

 

[VaCaps Fan]

All star break will help us rest and regroup in the coaching department...

 

[maacoshark]

Yes, they do. Go over all the NHL teams and it is pretty clear actually. I have said this before this season, especially when they had De haan.

They do not have a top 10 dman.
BTW do you not realize that team defense isnt just individual play by your dcore. Its a team concept and it takes all 5 guys on the ice.
And Mr stats guy. If you want to see some ugly stats you should check out Lars Ellers stats. Can you say brutal? 6 goals in 50 games playing 16:45 per game on 100 shots. For those not good at math that's 6.0 %. He is also a minus 14 which shouldn't be a surprise since he is a career minus player. Below 50% on faceoffs. The worst stat might actually be his giveaway. Usually guys that give the puck away the most are your primary playmakers and puck moving dmen. He isn't known as a passer but is up there in giveaways. I honestly feel that he is our worst forward this season. He hasn't been good at either end of the ice. He tries but doesnt seem to have any hockey IQ. He makes a lot of poor decisions.
I dont understand how he has played so many minutes thus year and played in every game.

 

[maacoshark]

19-8 without him.

That's not that good. We are 6-0 with both Kuzy and Oshie out of the lineup

 

[maacoshark]

I don't really know why you felt the need to reaffirm what you said. My post wasn't critiquing the substantive issues raised in your post, it was merely pointing out the irony in choosing to critique Kadri on a night he goes 3 +1 against your team. I suppose, I just relished the opportunity... Mustard?

I can't stand that weasel Kadri but there is no denying he had a very good game. He us a fierce competitor.

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

I don't really know why you felt the need to reaffirm what you said. My post wasn't critiquing the substantive issues raised in your post, it was merely pointing out the irony in choosing to critique Kadri on a night he goes 3 +1 against your team. I suppose, I just relished the opportunity... Mustard?

I don't really know why you felt the need to reaffirm that he had a good night in the Caps GDT... and yet here we are...

My original point was all about how he clearly is not the player he was hyped as being in the summer. One game does not erase that, I also never said Kadri was bad, as Maaco pointed out, he's typically pretty potent against us.