Bruce Boudreau

[HockeyThoughts]

Now that Hanlon is gone and Boudreau is in..

What changes would you like him to make? (farm team call ups, the lines..eetc)
Additionally, what changes do you actually think he will make?

Just wondering, what everyone thinks will make the team do better, and do people who no Boudreau, what kind of changes he could realistically make.

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[BigDaleHunters]

Just quit playing OV's line every other shift. Was H trying to kill this kid? And Nylander is no spring chicken, double shifting him all season will insure he's got nothing left in the tank come March. How about letting Eminger into a game? Can we get Sutherby back now? Jeez what a mess!
-L5

 

[CapGoodie]

Only change that matters is winning a few hockey games rather than losing them all. How he goes about making that happen isn't all that important to me at this point.

I'm not too excited about Kozlov back at centre but one thing that frustrated me the past month or so was that Green wasn't really being groomed as the 'guy' on the PP point so I'm cautiously happy that he was working on both the first and second PP units in practice yesterday. He's got lots of things to work on but the PP is where he can play to his strengths, and he's not a ho-hum kinda player on the PP who just waits for something to happen - he trys to make it happen. Long overdue letting him play bigger minutes on the PP IMO, and perhaps his 5-on-5 minutes didn't need to be so high.

Backstrom on the 4rth line...meh...he's still playing centre and was on the first PP unit as well yesterday so it's all good for now.

Bruce will get a little more patience from me in terms of line juggling in his first couple of weeks as he needs time to get to know the team/players. He seems like a coach who likes to find steady lines in the end.

Anyway...the only change that matters to me is some wins and seeing these guys play some determined hockey.

 

[malyk]

Well he's probably going to make their systems more aggressive. He's a high energy, aggressive coach, so I think they'll probably change the way they've been doing things, especially on offense.

He'll probably have a different outlook on the defensive pairings as well. He's had a lot of time to see Green and Schultz play. He knows them. It wouldn't surprise me to see the D pairings shuffled significantly.

He'll probably take a few games to figure out what he wants to do on the forward lines, and I'm going to give him that long to figure things out.

I'd like to see lines of

Ovi-Backstrom-Clark
Flash/Semin(when healthy)- Nylander-Kozlov
Petti-Steckel-Gordon
Brash-Laich-Bradley

Don't know what I'd do with flash once semin is healthy. Probably sit brash.

We'll see how things go in about an hour.

 

[txpd]

Just quit playing OV's line every other shift. Was H trying to kill this kid? And Nylander is no spring chicken, double shifting him all season will insure he's got nothing left in the tank come March.

[/QUOTE]
Looking at the reality of it, Ov's ice time is about right unless you think all of those guys are being overplayed. All those teams are winning too...except the Caps. I don't see Crosby and Malkin on that list and how have the Pens been doing?
1 C Brad Richards TBL 24:58
2 R Martin St. Louis TBL 24:21
3 R Daniel Alfredsson OTT 23:45
4 L Alex Ovechkin WSH 22:42
5 L Henrik Zetterberg DET 22:41
6 C Vincent Lecavalier TBL 22:23
7 L Dany Heatley OTT 22:19
8 C Rod Brind'Amour CAR 22:16
9 R Marian Hossa ATL 22:13

Further down the list we see Nylander at 19:23 next to Mike Sillinger.

 

[Stimpy]

With Backstrom on the fourth line, you may see an increased use of the fourth line with some double shifting of AO there. Then you put Backstrom on the PP and his minutes are up. Who knows, maybe even a little PK time. He been pretty good defensively, can steal a puck, could start some shorty chances. Could it hurt to put him a AO on an occasional short PK stint to see what happens?

 

[HunterSThompson]

With Backstrom on the fourth line, you may see an increased use of the fourth line with some double shifting of AO there.

thats a good point, i didnt think of that, it creates three scoring lines double shifting ovechkin there

 

[txpd]

Boudreau, first impressions

I didnt know much about Boudreau and was surprised to hear that he was 52 years old. First time NHL coaches are younger now days. But I had never seen what he looked like til today. Now it all makes sense and I am even more hopeful.

Bruce Boudreau has Ralph Friedgen syndrome. He is the opposite of Bruce Cassidy.
Some of you may remember that Friedgen ran Bobby Ross's offenses from resurrecting Maryland, to a national championship at Georgie Tech, to a Super Bowl in San Diego.

Each time Ross would move up the ladder he would tell his boss that Friedgen was a genious and should replace him. Each time they would pass on Ralph because he was fat. They did not want him to be the face of their program because of how he looked. Nevermind that he was in fact a genious.

Maryland finally gave in and gave him a chance and sure enough Ralph Friedgen is a great football coach.

Bruce Boudreau is about as much the Cool Alternative as Barry Trotz might be. He's fat and round and looks like the manager at the Auto Zone. With his record I can imagine that he gets passed over because guys that look like John Stevens get the job.

Oh...and Mr. McPhee??? Can we all send Ted an email and ask him nicely to tell Coach that we can't allow him to do that anymore.

 

[CapitalPunishment]

Um...

When I opened the thread I thought I was going to read about something that dealt with HOCKEY... not about another man's apearance.

Um, dude... seriously? Friedgen Syndrome? Right... this is soo lame....

 

[txpd]

Its only lame if you dont consider that appearance and youth and image were major factors in Bruce Cassidy getting an NHL coaching job.

 

[SDBondra]

I was interested in seeing Boudreau in action for all the same reasons. My first impression was also that he looks like Ralph Friedgen / Darth Vader without his helmet on. When I saw how much of a troll he was, my first thought was "man that guy must really be a great coach." He's almost as ugly as Scotty Bowman.

 

[UBCsalmonslayer]

I heard Boudreau was giving Caps players sets of pushups in practice for the last ones in... those are some serious pee-wee style coaching tactics, but so far they appear to be working so who am I to disagree with them?

 

[CapitalPunishment]

Its only lame if you dont consider that appearance and youth and image were major factors in Bruce Cassidy getting an NHL coaching job.

Seriously man... you're starting to scare me

 

[txpd]

I heard Boudreau was giving Caps players sets of pushups in practice for the last ones in... those are some serious pee-wee style coaching tactics, but so far they appear to be working so who am I to disagree with them?

He was giving players laps not pushups.

 

[txpd]

Seriously man... you're starting to scare me

Fine, there was a front page story on exactly this subject visa vi Friedgen in the Washington Post during his successful first season with the Terps.

 

[Langway]

My early impression of Boudreau was that he sounds a lot younger than he is, mainly because he has such an obvious passion for the game.

As far as his personality, he seems like a mix between Hanlon and Carlyle. That's an ideal synthesis for this group, imo.

He's pretty dead on when he says:

...there is a lot of work to be done but [he] doesn't expect to make major changes.

"It's subtle changes, not like you're revamping the whole thing" he explained. "I just think the mind-set sometimes has got to change, and the culture's got to change. They've got to believe that they're really good players."

While he should be capable over time of the micromanagement aspects of the game where Hanlon & Co. struggled, him changing the team psyche is something that can happen instantly if the players buy in. That should only deepen as the players continue to buy into his guidance and they collectively persevere.

 

[Weary]

Its only lame if you dont consider that appearance and youth and image were major factors in Bruce Cassidy getting an NHL coaching job.

They were factors because Paul Maurice led the Hurricanes to the finals that spring. Leonsis loves following the example of others -- especially recently successful others.

Had Bozo the Clown been coaching Carolina, Cassidy would have gone unnoticed while the Caps engaged in an all-out effort to hire Ronald McDonald.

 

[LadyIce]

Its only lame if you dont consider that appearance and youth and image were major factors in Bruce Cassidy getting an NHL coaching job.

He has to be the prettiest NHL coach ever! No one will be as pretty as him. Too bad he didn't have Wilson's fashion sense.

I still remember the opening video where Cassidy was featured and everyone gasped at how pretty he was. And don't forget he was named one of Washingtonian Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People!

WL: How do you feel about being named one of Washington's Most Beautiful People by the Washingtonian?

BC: There was a lot happening for me at that time and I got teased a lot. It's nice to be recognized in any manner…I don't know what to say to that, I don't know how to take compliments very well.

They were factors because Paul Maurice led the Hurricanes to the finals that spring. Leonsis loves following the example of others -- especially recently successful others.

Had Bozo the Clown been coaching Carolina, Cassidy would have gone unnoticed while the Caps engaged in an all-out effort to hire Ronald McDonald.

You're probably not far from the truth there.

 

[BigDaleHunters]

First of all, it appeared that Bruce swapped roles for Green and Schultz. Great move that immediately got a goal and an assist from Green. I never understood why a playmaker like Green wasn't on the PP and backed the OV line. Second, the ice time appeared to get spread around more evenly, saving the legs of the top players for when they were needed. Brashear had a great night as a result. Plus, ther was room for experimentation in OT which lead to the game winner. It looks as though Bruce is going on knowledge rather than theory, and the team responded beautifully. Now let's get nine or ten more in a row!
L5
(I'm working on getting my nick changed, bear with me)

 

[Reaper45]

I know BB and Mike Cammalleri have a lot of respect for another, I wouldn't be surprised if the Caps came calling for MC.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

I know BB and Mike Cammalleri have a lot of respect for another, I wouldn't be surprised if the Caps came calling for MC.

Not to be rude or anything, but why the F would the Kings ever deal him? Even assuming they would deal him, what do we have to give them?

 

[895]

Not to be rude or anything, but why the F would the Kings ever deal him? Even assuming they would deal him, what do we have to give them?

The main board says Ovechkin

 

[txpd]

LoL...it was a hoot on the main board. its even more funny brought here.

 

[Reaper45]

The main board says Ovechkin

Ha, one misguided Kings fan.

 

[Reaper45]

Not to be rude or anything, but why the F would the Kings ever deal him? Even assuming they would deal him, what do we have to give them?

Bad taste left over from his arbitration deal this year. That and the thought that when his contract ends after next season he'll bolt for another team. Try and get something for him at the end of the year while we still can and while he still has value to other teams.