Confirmed with Link: The Washington Capitals and head coach Peter Laviolette have agreed to mutually part ways. (UPD 4/17: Forsythe and McCarthy gone too)

[CapitalsCupReality]

Put a good team in front of DK and he’ll crush it. Look what a great team did for Sammy this year.

 

[trick9]

Put a good team in front of DK and he’ll crush it. Look what a great team did for Sammy this year.

But is it that or a great goalie coach?

Darcy Kuemper had several brilliant seasons in Arizona and a great brief spell with the bubble Kings. He isn't a guy that needed a great team in front of him in the past to be a top goalie.

I do hope you are right.

 

[kicksavedave]

Put a good team in front of DK and he’ll crush it. Look what a great team did for Sammy this year.

Is Toronto really a great team defensively? I just looked at Sammy's stats and he crushed it there. 2.33 GAA, .919. His backup, Murray, was significantly worse in 26 starts.

Seems like Sammy found his game in TO. Its too easy to extrapolate this all as Murray's fault, but he sure hasn't done anything to make anyone thinks he's doing a great job here. VV showed improvement also, but not as dramatic as Sammy did.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

About to parlay Sammy and VV over 2.5 goals each

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Is Toronto really a great team defensively? I just looked at Sammy's stats and he crushed it there. 2.33 GAA, .919. His backup, Murray, was significantly worse in 26 starts.

Seems like Sammy found his game in TO. Its too easy to extrapolate this all as Murray's fault, but he sure hasn't done anything to make anyone thinks he's doing a great job here. VV showed improvement also, but not as dramatic as Sammy did.

2nd in the NHL, pretty damn good team….don’t need to dissect it over necessarily IMO. When Sammy plays fantastic and wins a series, I’ll believe he’s found his game for real.

But is it that or a great goalie coach?

Darcy Kuemper had several brilliant seasons in Arizona and a great brief spell with the bubble Kings. He isn't a guy that needed a great team in front of him in the past to be a top goalie.

I do hope you are right.

I said a good team, and he would crush it…..not a great one. This was a bad one….

 

[SherVaughn30]

I don’t hate Murray as much as most. He came to Hershey in 2013, understudy of Korn and they have coached up plenty of talent that has made it to the NHL.

Look at sample size from this year: Sammy and Vanechek (trained by Murray) go elsewhere and succeed. Darcy and Charlie come in (not trained by Murray) and regress. I think a fair bit of this was the shit system we were running that left goalies hung out to dry.

I have no issue with him staying with our crop of goalies. Getting rid of Blaine and McCarthy along with Lavi makes me happy because we need to change the voice in room and the PP.

Sorry, but Murray was never a good goalie coach to begin with. The guys only credibility was being part of the coaching staff when the Caps won the Cup. Murray couldn't help Holtby, so Korn had to come back to the forefront from being a goaltending consultant to help Holtby. Grubauer crapped the bed 2 games into the playoffs and Holtby took care of the rest.

Once Trotz/Korn left, Murray/Holtby connection was getting worse. Copley trailed off(he should have at most been the Caps backup), and Murray was getting nowhere with Samsonov/Vanecek(it was stupid to have both carry the team and yes I know part of the situation was because mismanaged salary cap space).

It's too easy to point fingers and make Lavi/McCarthy/Forsythe systems the scapegoat that messed up the goaltending. The fact of the matter is Murray's track record is horrible in regard to making the goalies better. He's barely keeping the goalies comparable. The telling tale will be how the goaltending fairs with the next coaching staff. If the goaltending overall improves under the next coaching staff, then I will lay off Murray a bit.

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

I hope the the real Sammy shows up.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Sorry, but Murray was never a good goalie coach to begin with. The guys only credibility was being part of the coaching staff when the Caps won the Cup. Murray couldn't help Holtby, so Korn had to come back to the forefront from being a goaltending consultant to help Holtby. Grubauer crapped the bed 2 games into the playoffs and Holtby took care of the rest.

Once Trotz/Korn left, Murray/Holtby connection was getting worse. Copley trailed off(he should have at most been the Caps backup), and Murray was getting nowhere with Samsonov/Vanecek(it was stupid to have both carry the team and yes I know part of the situation was because mismanaged salary cap space).

It's too easy to point fingers and make Lavi/McCarthy/Forsythe systems the scapegoat that messed up the goaltending. The fact of the matter is Murray's track record is horrible in regard to making the goalies better. He's barely keeping the goalies comparable. The telling tale will be how the goaltending fairs with the next coaching staff. If the goaltending overall improves under the next coaching staff, then I will lay off Murray a bit.

Copley earned the backup role and played well enough in it to earn a raise that priced him off the team. That wasn’t a coaching issue.

I hope the the real Sammy shows up.

.500 save percentage…that’s not the real guy?! Bwhahahaha…

 

[DWGie26]

Sammy looking like Sammy tonight! Good lord that 6th goal was bad!

 

[Hivemind]

There is zero valid defense of Murray. He ruined Holtby to the point where Mitch Korn had to be dragged out of retirement to fix him prior to the 2018 playoffs. He ruined Holtby again after that. Sammy showed promise during his first NHL stint, but then as soon as he was exposed to Murray on a full time basis, he imploded. Vitek treaded water under Murray. Both Sammy and Vitek took steps forward away from Murray. Even Phoenix Copley improved on a team without Murray. Lindgren regressed under Murray this season. The best goalie under Murray was Grubauer, but he also got years of tutelage under Korn and went on to be a Vezina finalist under Parkkila in Colorado.

I challenge his supporters to name one goalie who has played his best hockey under Murray. You can’t.

For an organization that has been the best in the league at developing young goalies the past 20 years, Scott Murray is clearly dropping the ball compared to not only Mitch Korn but also Dave Prior (who’s available to be hired btw). Fire Scott Murray.

 

[YippieKaey]

Wish i could be the next HC. I'd get Ovi to 895, and Oshie would score 30 goals with Mantha on the other wing being a two-way beast whilst at the same time Kuzy returns to .ppg form and Bäckström becomes the fastest guy on the team. Carlson would get his Norris and Lapierre the Calder.

Oh, and our new second line center Connor Bedard scores 50 goals.

We'd still lose in the first round though.

 

[Langway]

Looking for Mr. Right | Washington Capitals

As Cup playoffs push on without them, Caps undertake search for trio of coaching staff vacancies

www.nhl.com

A lot of references to skill development here and rightfully so.

 

[Calicaps]

There is zero valid defense of Murray. He ruined Holtby to the point where Mitch Korn had to be dragged out of retirement to fix him prior to the 2018 playoffs. He ruined Holtby again after that. Sammy showed promise during his first NHL stint, but then as soon as he was exposed to Murray on a full time basis, he imploded. Vitek treaded water under Murray. Both Sammy and Vitek took steps forward away from Murray. Even Phoenix Copley improved on a team without Murray. Lindgren regressed under Murray this season. The best goalie under Murray was Grubauer, but he also got years of tutelage under Korn and went on to be a Vezina finalist under Parkkila in Colorado.

I challenge his supporters to name one goalie who has played his best hockey under Murray. You can’t.

For an organization that has been the best in the league at developing young goalies the past 20 years, Scott Murray is clearly dropping the ball compared to not only Mitch Korn but also Dave Prior (who’s available to be hired btw). Fire Scott Murray.

Who are you challenging? I don't see anyone "supporting" him. But he's plainly staying when they're letting other long-time guys go. It might just be money. But it also might be that Carbery likes him or Kuemper does. I doubt Mac just forgot he was there.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Who are you challenging? I don't see anyone "supporting" him. But he's plainly staying when they're letting other long-time guys go. It might just be money. But it also might be that Carbery likes him or Kuemper does. I doubt Mac just forgot he was there.

“Oh, damn, hi Scott. Your key card still works? Well, ahh welcome back, you have a new extension!”….…..

Who are you challenging? I don't see anyone "supporting" him. But he's plainly staying when they're letting other long-time guys go. It might just be money. But it also might be that Carbery likes him or Kuemper does. I doubt Mac just forgot he was there.

First rule of HF Fight club, if you don‘t adamantly support one position, you clearly support the flip side!

 

[twabby]

Looking for Mr. Right | Washington Capitals

As Cup playoffs push on without them, Caps undertake search for trio of coaching staff vacancies

www.nhl.com

A lot of references to skill development here and rightfully so.

This stood out to me too. Seems all but certain they are going to go with an offensive-minded guy and one who will be tasked with more development instead of putting it onto the backburner.

 

[Hivemind]

Who are you challenging? I don't see anyone "supporting" him. But he's plainly staying when they're letting other long-time guys go. It might just be money. But it also might be that Carbery likes him or Kuemper does. I doubt Mac just forgot he was there.

There were multiple posts on page 9 of this thread that were downplaying how bad it was to keep (even extend!) Murray. And money is a pretty weak excuse, considering he was on an expiring contract, so it's not like they would have had to pay two goalie coaches if they let him go to hire someone else. If the Caps org is content to keep a low-tier goalie coach because they don't want to pay for a better candidate, that's a bad sign about their priorities.

I don't think Mac forgot he was there. I think Mac made a mistake in keeping him around. Just because GMBM reaches a decision doesn't mean that decision is automatically correct or that we cannot question it here on HFB.

 

[Misery74]

This stood out to me too. Seems all but certain they are going to go with an offensive-minded guy and one who will be tasked with more development instead of putting it onto the backburner.

Seems like he is lobbying for Halpern to me.

 

[Hivemind]

Seems like he is lobbying for Halpern to me.

"Maybe some guy that has a skill background" doesn't sound much like Halpern to me.
Assistant coach could also mean Mike Vellucci, who was Tom Wilson's coach in Plymouth.
Marco Sturm is a former skill background guy (albeit more in a depth/complimentary role rather than a primary line driver), who was an assistant coach up until this season (when he took over head coaching duties for the Ontario Reign).

Do I think Wilson was lobbying for either of those? Almost certainly not. I just don't think it's worth trying to read *that much* between the lines of what he's saying. He's asking for a fresh perspective who could work well with developing the younger players. I don't think he's secretly campaigning for a specific name.

 

[Misery74]

"Maybe some guy that has a skill background" doesn't sound much like Halpern to me.
Assistant coach could also mean Mike Vellucci, who was Tom Wilson's coach in Plymouth.
Marco Sturm is a former skill background guy (albeit more in a depth/complimentary role rather than a primary line driver), who was an assistant coach up until this season (when he took over head coaching duties for the Ontario Reign).

Do I think Wilson was lobbying for either of those? Almost certainly not. I just don't think it's worth trying to read *that much* between the lines of what he's saying. He's asking for a fresh perspective who could work well with developing the younger players. I don't think he's secretly campaigning for a specific name.

I didn’t mean he was lobbying, poor choice of words. But sounds like he was describing someone young, like Halpern.

 

[Ovi895]

There is zero valid defense of Murray. He ruined Holtby to the point where Mitch Korn had to be dragged out of retirement to fix him prior to the 2018 playoffs. He ruined Holtby again after that. Sammy showed promise during his first NHL stint, but then as soon as he was exposed to Murray on a full time basis, he imploded. Vitek treaded water under Murray. Both Sammy and Vitek took steps forward away from Murray. Even Phoenix Copley improved on a team without Murray. Lindgren regressed under Murray this season. The best goalie under Murray was Grubauer, but he also got years of tutelage under Korn and went on to be a Vezina finalist under Parkkila in Colorado.

I challenge his supporters to name one goalie who has played his best hockey under Murray. You can’t.

For an organization that has been the best in the league at developing young goalies the past 20 years, Scott Murray is clearly dropping the ball compared to not only Mitch Korn but also Dave Prior (who’s available to be hired btw). Fire Scott Murray.

It's beyond insane that they have front row seats to goaltending falling a cliff and never recovering the moment Korn left and they'd just rest their laurels with Murray ruining every promising young goalie they pipe through the organization after because looking for a competent goaltending coach is too much werk and requires getting off the hammock

 

[RedRocking]

This stood out to me too. Seems all but certain they are going to go with an offensive-minded guy and one who will be tasked with more development instead of putting it onto the backburner.

Oshie was pretty pointed about guys being “checked out” and not playing with “heart”:

“the continuous people looking like they didn't care or maybe looking like they weren't going to give everything they had to win…that to me is unacceptable.”

Gee, I wonder who that could be? He’s gotta know that Kuzy/Mantha will hear that and know he means them. Maybe he expects them to be gone?

 

[IafrateOvie34]

Whoever becomes coach needs some grace time and not bashed on first month of the season. I’m not saying we did with prior coaches, however patience is needed. Just make the right choice in the beginning. Lavi was never the right choice.

 

[Ovi895]

Oshie was pretty pointed about guys being “checked out” and not playing with “heart”:

“the continuous people looking like they didn't care or maybe looking like they weren't going to give everything they had to win…that to me is unacceptable.”

Gee, I wonder who that could be? He’s gotta know that Kuzy/Mantha will hear that and know he means them. Maybe he expects them to be gone?

Wonder if its easier to play with heart when you get to take off 25 games a season from that shitshow

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Wonder if its easier to play with heart when you get to take off 25 games a season from that shitshow

That’s a shit take…Dude has earned more here.

 

[Ovi895]

That’s a shit take…Dude has earned more here.

enough where he doesn't need to be on the ice apparently.

Just give him and Backstrom cozy front office jobs so they can showcase their heart without the team having to deal with the insane cap headache a quarter of every year. What happens when a cap ceiling team has to miss almost 6 million it allocated for a substantial part of every year and is in no position to replace it with anywhere near comparable effect?

The biggest part of the game is... being on the ice to play it. It's why Ovechkin has the career he has and is challenging the great one instead of having the legacy of a better Kovalchuk. It's also why Crosby isn't gonna make the case for dethroning one of the big 4 when all is said and done