Bright Side

[phil162888]

This team needed to be embarrassed early this season.... why? Because were not good enough to compete with the top teams in this league .... unless we play a complete and tight system. This is an opportunity coaches dream of to reign in the team and get them focused for the season. My issue is this coach hasn't been able to do this previously but he gets one last chance imo. If he can't do it he gets fired and we move on (bright side). Were playing with a ton of young and inexperienced players which is killing us in the defensive zone. Our vets need to rally around the fact we need to play a tight defensive style of play in order to compete with the top teams. Run and gun and were done like tonight imo

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[deadhead]

It was our veterans who got killed, 1st line gave up scoring chances left and right.
Sure MacDonald sucks, but the top players were lousy again.
If you have an inexperienced team, it's that much more important for the top players to step up and lead by example.

Firing Hak ain't the answer unless you want to chance Knob, since the other alternatives are Lap and Gordon.
NHL caliber HCs aren't exactly waiting by the phones.
Of course, Hextall could always step in, or bring Holmgren back.

 

[Lord Defect]

The bright side is I got to high five gritty tonight

 

[Beef Invictus]

Trotz was available, fresh after proving he'd learned how to adapt within a series.

 

[Beef Invictus]

The bright side is I got to high five gritty tonight

At least one of us had the greatest night in human and inhuman history.

 

[phil162888]

D

It was our veterans who got killed, 1st line gave up scoring chances left and right.
Sure MacDonald sucks, but the top players were lousy again.
If you have an inexperienced team, it's that much more important for the top players to step up and lead by example.

Firing Hak ain't the answer unless you want to chance Knob, since the other alternatives are Lap and Gordon.
NHL caliber HCs aren't exactly waiting by the phones.
Of course, Hextall could always step in, or bring Holmgren back.

Don't disagree with the vets piece but for how many years do we have to see a team not progress. Your either getting better or your getting worse. Hakstol has been given a ton of rope if he can't ignite this team then we need to get a veteran experienced coach that will gain the respect of the vets . Sutter would be great imo for this team and has a history with Hextall. Just my opinion

 

[phil162888]

Trotz was available, fresh after proving he'd learned how to adapt within a series.

Trotz would have been great. Another occurrence of Hextall dropping the ball.

 

[Beef Invictus]

Trotz would have been great. Another occurrence of Hextall dropping the ball.

I always liked him in the regular season. He is dynamic and can plan for every team every night, and then for years he'd get in the playoffs and become stiff and stubborn...right up until last year, when the Caps didn't do that.

Dude is gonna go to waste in NY.

 

[Magua]

 

[trostol]

 

[deadhead]

How long would the honeymoon with Trotz last?

The vets don't need a coach to motivate them, they need a GM to move them if they can't lead.
Last thing we want is a "veterans" coach to coddle a bunch of guys who will be gone or playing complementary roles in two years.
That's the kind of coach you bring in to manage an experienced, talented team that can't get over the hump.
And a veterans coach is just the type to play MacDonald over a rookie!

 

[Beef Invictus]

How long would the honeymoon with Trotz last?

The vets don't need a coach to motivate them, they need a GM to move them if they can't lead.
Last thing we want is a "veterans" coach to coddle a bunch of guys who will be gone or playing complementary roles in two years.
That's the kind of coach you bring in to manage an experienced, talented team that can't get over the hump.
And a veterans coach is just the type to play MacDonald over a rookie!

It managed to last ages in Nashville and Washington handled him laughably, as only Washington teams can manage. or do you think winning the Cup ends the honeymoon? The problem was Leonsis being a cheapskate, not his coaching.

 

[deadhead]

I'm not talking about the players, I'm talking about this board. I'd give it two weeks.
Heck, most of the people here laughed at the thought of hiring Trotz last year.

 

[Beef Invictus]

I'm not talking about the players, I'm talking about this board. I'd give it two weeks.
Heck, most of the people here laughed at the thought of hiring Trotz last year.

That's because Trotz had a long record of not making adjustments in the playoffs and losing because of it. The point is to win, so that's bad. He recently proved he has grown past that.

Stevens got more than two weeks. Lavi got more than two weeks. Berube got more than two weeks. Hakstol got more than two weeks. You are wrong, end of story.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

Why the **** does he deserve "one last chance" exactly? What the ****.

 

[gertbfrobe16]

bah humbug

 

[deadhead]

That's because Trotz had a long record of not making adjustments in the playoffs and losing because of it. The point is to win, so that's bad. He recently proved he has grown past that.

Stevens got more than two weeks. Lavi got more than two weeks. Berube got more than two weeks. Hakstol got more than two weeks. You are wrong, end of story.

Did he? Or did Ovechkin suddenly decide to play a complete game for a month?
What adjustments did he actually make, other than have Holtby come back and play well? It helps when your goalie puts up a .922 S% over 22 games.
Of course it also helps to have Kuznetsov, who was MIA in the 2015-16 playoffs at 23, have a dominant playoff at age 25 - experience matters

 

[Beef Invictus]

Did he? Or did Ovechkin suddenly decide to play a complete game for a month?
What adjustments did he actually make, other than have Holtby come back and play well? It helps when your goalie puts up a .922 S% over 22 games.
Of course it also helps to have Kuznetsov, who was MIA in the 2015-16 playoffs at 23, have a dominant playoff at age 25 - experience matters

Oh god do you actually think Ovechkin was a let down in the playoffs before last spring? You're badly informed.

You have it wrong. OV wasn't letting the team down all these years, it was the other way around.

He made distinct gameplans for each team and tweaked them to account for opposing adjustments. He didn't do as well at it as Sullivan had been doing, but it was a big step forward for him, and good enough to get the job done. Hell, he was able to keep a step ahead of Sullivan in their series, something Hakstol is incapable of.

Do you not watch for schemes and adjustments while you're watching? It really seems you don't.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Why the **** does he deserve "one last chance" exactly? What the ****.

If he had nine lives like a cat he would have used them up well by now too.

 

[deadhead]

Oh god do you actually think Ovechkin was a let down in the playoffs before last spring? You're badly informed.

You have it wrong. OV wasn't letting the team down all these years, it was the other way around.

He made distinct gameplans for each team and tweaked them to account for opposing adjustments. He didn't do as well at it as Sullivan had been doing, but it was a big step forward for him, and good enough to get the job done. Hell, he was able to keep a step ahead of Sullivan in their series, something Hakstol is incapable of.

Do you not watch for schemes and adjustments while you're watching? It really seems you don't.

How do we know if Hakstol can or cannot - he simply didn't have the horses to play with the Penguins.
How would the Penguins series turned out if say the Flyers had Holtby instead of Elliott/Mrazek?
Penguins never scored more than 3 goals in any game against the Caps.

The other factor is that Washington was an experienced team with a lot of playoff experience:
Top 6 forwards: Ovechkin (32), Backstrom (30), Kuznetsov (25), Oshie (31), Wilson (23)
Top 4 defensemen: Carlsson (28), Niskanen (31), Orlov (26), Kempny (27)
Kempny was the only one of these ten core players without 39+ PO games of experience

Flyers had Giroux (63 games), Simmonds (36), Voracek (24), Couts (18), Raffl (13), MacDonald (13), Gudas (9), Ghost (6), Filppula (99), Weise (38), Lehtera (33), Read (24) - our most experienced players, other than Giroux and Simmonds, were bottom six forwards.

 

[Beef Invictus]

How do we know if Hakstol can or cannot - he simply didn't have the horses to play with the Penguins.

Because we have seen that it takes 20+ games for him to fix obviously broken aspects of the roster in the regular season, and have never seen him fix anything broken in the playoffs.

How would the Penguins series turned out if say the Flyers had Holtby instead of Elliott/Mrazek?
Penguins never scored more than 3 goals in any game against the Caps.

Penguins never scored in large part because Trotz's Caps dominated puck possession. We still lose with Holtby, because Holtby for all his skill, isn't good enough to single handedly compensate for Hakstol chasing a Hogg-MacDongle matchup against Sidney Crosby.

The other factor is that Washington was an experienced team with a lot of playoff experience:
Top 6 forwards: Ovechkin (32), Backstrom (30), Kuznetsov (25), Oshie (31), Wilson (23)
Top 4 defensemen: Carlsson (28), Niskanen (31), Orlov (26), Kempny (27)
Kempny was the only one of these ten core players without 39+ PO games of experience

Washington has long been experienced in the playoffs, and long fallen short. The difference was Trotz becoming flexible.

Flyers had Giroux (63 games), Simmonds (36), Voracek (24), Couts (18), Raffl (13), MacDonald (13), Gudas (9), Ghost (6), Filppula (99), Weise (38), Lehtera (33), Read (24) - our most experienced players, other than Giroux and Simmonds, were bottom six forwards.

A great way to build playoff experience is to win playoff games. Hakstol sucks at that, in large part because he cannot adapt quickly and because he purposefully chases awful matchups.


Do you think chasing awful matchups is good coaching? Do you think it is a good idea to send your worst pairing against the opposing top line instead of your best? When you describe Hakstol as being flawless, do you believe that sort of strategy is without flaw?

 

[Strawberry Fields]

If he had nine lives like a cat he would have used them up well by now too.

 

[Tripod]

On the bright side, points don't matter in October.

 

[Chinatown88]

 

[sabremike]

Dude is gonna go to waste in NY.

Judging from what I've seen so far that may not be the case. Despite losing a franchise player they look far far better than last season. They actually have a solid structure and that's entirely due to coaching.