g00n
Retired Global Mod
- Nov 22, 2007
- 30,674
- 14,844
Ultimately pro sports is about one thing. WINNING
It's why phrases like "he played good enough to win" are meaningless to me. If you didn't win, you didn't play good enough to win, or you didn't do enough.
From the last thread:
Winning now means nothing, aside from winning enough games to qualify for the playoffs. The Capitals have won plenty in the regular season and ultimately it has been meaningless.
They need to work on things that have been shown to work in the postseason: a solid possession game, a smart and efficient transition game, and fostering creativity in the offensive zone. If it costs them a few games in the regular season so be it.
From the last thread:
Winning now means nothing, aside from winning enough games to qualify for the playoffs. The Capitals have won plenty in the regular season and ultimately it has been meaningless.
They need to work on things that have been shown to work in the postseason: a solid possession game, a smart and efficient transition game, and fostering creativity in the offensive zone. If it costs them a few games in the regular season so be it.
Selanne was injury plagued and took an entire year off, Kuzya has some other problems.EZ 4 KooZ said:He's obviously still in his prime. He's 24 years old, he's just in a major slump. It's like when Selanne had 32 pts in 78 games in 2004 and after the lockout he scored 90 pts in 80 games.
success breeds success. Winning now DOES matter. Being a Professional matters. You're brushing off the importance of a strong mental attitude and work ethic by saying winning doesn't matter, it's loser-speak. This is IMO part of the fundamental problem with the team psyche. They only want to 'get up' when the games 'matter' and reality to date says they can't just flip the switch and expect to succeed. They should play like they all matter and then there's no need to flip the switch. Any strategy and line combo can be tried and still allow them put forth a strong effort each night. This coasting attitude shows a lack of pride and professionalism and it's been a core issue for a long time.
success breeds success. Winning now DOES matter. Being a Professional matters. You're brushing off the importance of a strong mental attitude and work ethic by saying winning doesn't matter, it's loser-speak. This is IMO part of the fundamental problem with the team psyche. They only want to 'get up' when the games 'matter' and reality to date says they can't just flip the switch and expect to succeed. They should play like they all matter and then there's no need to flip the switch. Any strategy and line combo can be tried and still allow them put forth a strong effort each night. This coasting attitude shows a lack of pride and professionalism and it's been a core issue for a long time.
Niskanen would be a good fit with Orlov. Yes, he would have to take more defensive responibilities, but having 2 defensemen who are very good puck movers on the ice at the same time can be a recipe of a success too. Any way, if Niskanen-Orlov gives us a truly reliable 2nd pairing that can play a lot of minutes, I think we could live with not getting the maximal potential offensive output from Matthew.
Give Orlov a chance in the top four, either continuing with Carlson or with Niskanen. Burying him on the third pairing because you percieve Carlson to not be getting enough points is ridiculous.
Bigger issue as I see it is if Orlov plays with Carlson, Alzner-Niskanen is still your primary shutdown pair. Point production was specifically cited by GMBM as the reason they like Orlov and see top-4 potential/value in him - he isn't capable of being a shutdown D, nor do they want him to be in that role. But if you pair him with Niskanen, you make Alzner-Carlson your shutdown pair, and not giving Carlson the toughest minutes is actually an advantage to spreading out your offensive talent and maximising his point production.
We can live with occasional pizzas if Orlov-Carlson is banking big point totals between them, but so far they're not. They have three points in six games between them (same as Orpik and Schmidt), and Orlov is the only D to have a -1 plus/minus. I'm not saying the pair won't improve, but if it's still lousy by GP10 or so they need a shake up.
Orlov isn't getting enough points either so it's not so ridiculous nor unlikely when that's his primarily value 5-on-5. If Orlov, Carlson and the offense generally isn't producing and the staff's answer is to switch players around then it probably won't be long until it happens. A bigger role is great but not when a player's strengths become neutralized in the process. Orlov has wanted a bigger role but he also needs to show he can handle it. He'll get more games to show what he's got but the longer they struggle to score the more likely that change will be made. In the short-term it may not be a bad idea to have him produce on the third pair, gain confidence and then maybe see if he can handle more minutes (rather than assume he can make the jump all at once).Give Orlov a chance in the top four, either continuing with Carlson or with Niskanen. Burying him on the third pairing because you percieve Carlson to not be getting enough points is ridiculous.
I have no expectations for this team, and really not a lot of interest. I said a few years ago that I loathed Alzner's response when they lost to the Rangers in G7 and he moped about not getting the breaks and being unlucky and it's more of the same now. They're absolutely more talented than almost every other team in the league but they just seem like they're waiting for something to go wrong so they can make excuses about why it didn't work out for them.
I don't envy BMac. He's going to have some tough, tough decisions this summer.
From Trotz on down and one poster here after another, they claim that the team history has no effect on the current team. Everytime they fail, the weight on them gets a little heavier. Even a guy like Jason Williams has to look at this and say, "Ok, yea. They are the Capitals afterall"
Last season they shrugged off blowing the 3 games to 1 lead. This season, its going to be more difficult.
With the expansion draft looming where we we can only protect 3 defenders I would be shopping Orlov for top 9 winger that doesn't need to be protected. Sandford is to raw for a cup winning team. He would be better served in Hershey.
Wanting to fast forward assumes they're fully prepared for that moment and, frankly, they never really have been. It's one thing to be impatient and another to be unmotivated. The Ovechkin Era post-Boudreau has mostly been filled with fairly unmotivated teams when it really comes down to it.
The Pens winning that way doesn't mean that it will work for anyone else or even the Pens this season. Had Kuzy produced like Kuzy in the playoffs the Caps beat those nobodies and then what?
The nobodies were not the reason that Kuzy froze up.
Food for thought
The Pens nobodies didn't wait for something to motivate them...That's not my point. I'm arguing that just because Sanford is a nobody doesn't mean that he can't be a valuable piece in our top 9. The Pens nobodies made a name for themselves last year.
The Pens nobodies didn't wait for something to motivate them...