GDT: Capitals @ Blues - Halak returns to STL and won't play

[Hivemind]

Giguere would be great (if healthy), but I doubt Colorado lets him go.

They traded for Berra and signed him to an extension. Giggy isn't heading back to Colorado, but there's a lot of talk that he's going to retire.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Wait, what? Clemmensen? lol, he's absolutely atrocious. You can't even rely on him for one start.

From 2008-12 he had 4 consecutive seasons of being a really good backup. He's fallen off with the dumpster fire in Florida the last two seasons, but he's got it in him.

Take a look at some of the backups for playoff teams in the league. Jeff Zatkoff, Cam Talbot, Martin Jones, Anti Raanta, Chad Johnson, Alex Stalock.

Backup goalie is not, nor should it be, a valued position. Lockerroom influence is probably as important a trait as any for a backup goaltender.

 

[FloridaCap]

From 2008-12 he had 4 consecutive seasons of being a really good backup. He's fallen off with the dumpster fire in Florida the last two seasons, but he's got it in him.

Take a look at some of the backups for playoff teams in the league. Jeff Zatkoff, Cam Talbot, Martin Jones, Anti Raanta, Chad Johnson, Alex Stalock.

Backup goalie is not, nor should it be, a valued position. Lockerroom influence is probably as important a trait as any for a backup goaltender.

Backup goalies are valued positions when your starter is inconsistent and your team is a fringe playoff team.

Zatkoff, Talbot, Jones, Raanta, Johnson, and Stalock all have experienced, proven #1s in front of them and a very good TEAM in front of them as well, two things we don't necessarily have.

At the very least, I think we need a top-tier backup for one season to see if Holtby can go back to the Holtby of old or if this year's Holtby is what it is. Going into a season with Holtby/Clemmensen/Grubauer could get ugly, quick.

 

[Hivemind]

Which of those guys were penciled in as their team's back-ups at the start of the season? Zatkoff, Jones, Talbot, and Raanta all came in after goaltenders ahead of them were injured (Vokoun), retired (Biron), or sucked (Khabibulin). None of them were plan A for their team's back-up option. Beyond that, at least Talbot and Jones earned their spots over other players. Jones forced Scrivens out of town, and Talbot was starting ahead of Lundqvist for stretches of the season (after also leapfrogging Missiaen).

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Backup goalies are valued positions when your starter is inconsistent and your team is a fringe playoff team.

Zatkoff, Talbot, Jones, Raanta, Johnson, and Stalock all have experienced, proven #1s in front of them and a very good TEAM in front of them as well, two things we don't necessarily have.

At the very least, I think we need a top-tier backup for one season to see if Holtby can go back to the Holtby of old or if this year's Holtby is what it is. Going into a season with Holtby/Clemmensen/Grubauer could get ugly, quick.

This year's Holtby was quite obviously screwed over by asinine coaching. Look what happened tonight when he abandoned the crap they were pushing him to do and played his game. Despite his poor season, he's still at a career .918 save percentage at over 100 NHL games. That's better than Miller and Halak.

Commit to him and don't jerk him around and he'll perform.

And again, Clemmensen has shown the ability to be a really good (30-40 game) backup very recently.

 

[ChibiPooky]

They traded for Berra and signed him to an extension. Giggy isn't heading back to Colorado, but there's a lot of talk that he's going to retire.

I always forget Berra

Then yeah, Giguere would be great if he doesn't retire. High character guy, has been a solid mentor for Varlamov, and Conn Smythe winner. Guy is absolutely perfect for the Caps if available.

 

[Carlzner]

Andy Strickland
‏@andystrickland
Jaro Halak tells me he never told #Caps Head Coach he didn't want to play against #stlblues. Halak says what's out there isn't true.

 

[ChibiPooky]

Andy Strickland
‏@andystrickland
Jaro Halak tells me he never told #Caps Head Coach he didn't want to play against #stlblues. Halak says what's out there isn't true.

I have no idea what's going on in this organization anymore

 

[FloridaCap]

Andy Strickland
‏@andystrickland
Jaro Halak tells me he never told #Caps Head Coach he didn't want to play against #stlblues. Halak says what's out there isn't true.

Not surprised in the slightest. Something is off here.


Hopefully this blows up so it's just another reason to can Oates.

 

[Hivemind]

Andy Strickland
‏@andystrickland
Jaro Halak tells me he never told #Caps Head Coach he didn't want to play against #stlblues. Halak says what's out there isn't true.

Then why did he play along with the story earlier today? Doesn't look good for anybody.

 

[Calicaps]

Andy Strickland
‏@andystrickland
Jaro Halak tells me he never told #Caps Head Coach he didn't want to play against #stlblues. Halak says what's out there isn't true.

What a disgraceful cluster****! C'mon Ted, show some self-respect and get control of this mess.

 

[ryan519*]

Andy Strickland
‏@andystrickland
Jaro Halak tells me he never told #Caps Head Coach he didn't want to play against #stlblues. Halak says what's out there isn't true.

what the ****..

 

[thelebaron]

cant wait to see the next oates presser

 

[terranraida]

They traded for Berra and signed him to an extension. Giggy isn't heading back to Colorado, but there's a lot of talk that he's going to retire.

He's old, he's been meaning to retire for eons now, I know Anaheim will probably retire his old number when he goes. Selanne's exiting this year, too. I bet there's going to be a big old ceremony with JSG, Selanne and hopefully Kariya all getting their digits retired.

but back on topic, What a ******* play by Grabovski!

 

[amin723]

I feel like people who were expecting a loss in this game really don't understand the Caps at all, or at least had their fandom clouded by the mystifying nature of Adam Oates.

Clearly this was a lock for a win. Beat the good team to stay alive. Lose the road game in Carolina, (following a Columbus loss). Beat Chicago (following another Columbus loss), beat Tampa (Columbus loses). We tie, but Columbus goes based on ROW's, because we couldn't beat Carolina.

Good game for the Caps.

The Halak fiasco is the decorations on top of the icing on the cake in terms of evidence of Oates mismanaging this team.

 

[g00n]

Andy Strickland
‏@andystrickland
Jaro Halak tells me he never told #Caps Head Coach he didn't want to play against #stlblues. Halak says what's out there isn't true.

HASHAHAHAHAA!!! I love it. Is there a bigger sideshow in the NHL right now? Unleash the wrecking ball on this front office

 

[g00n]

This year's Holtby was quite obviously screwed over by asinine coaching. Look what happened tonight when he abandoned the crap they were pushing him to do and played his game. Despite his poor season, he's still at a career .918 save percentage at over 100 NHL games. That's better than Miller and Halak.

Commit to him and don't jerk him around and he'll perform.

And again, Clemmensen has shown the ability to be a really good (30-40 game) backup very recently.

This right here. On a night Holtby stands on his head playing his own style, and holds a top team to 1 goal, we're back to talking about creating a multi-headed monster and messing with his head for the sake of improving his head.

And now with Halak denying he wussed out, he's back in the mix. Maybe.

 

[Blades of Steel]

I had a feeling that wasn't true about halak. I just couldn't believe it.

 

[g00n]

I had a feeling that wasn't true about halak. I just couldn't believe it.

Well let's not get ahead of ourselves. We seem to be putting the most faith in whatever the latest tweet is. First, is the tweet correct? Second, how does it reconcile with Halak supposedly confirming the story yesterday?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...lav-halak-not-comfortable-facing-former-team/

“We know the feelings when you go into your old stomping ground and it’s not always easy and you’re not always comfortable, at least the first time,†Oates said. “We talked to [Halak] and he just wasn’t 100 percent comfortable. Unfortunately this time of year and where we’re at, we can’t afford that and Holts has played great lately. We feel really good about that and Holts is playing.â€

As he was walking out of Scottrade Center following the morning skate, Halak confirmed Oates’s comments, stating that the trade was still “fresh†and he didn’t want that to impact his performance in the game.

On Monday, Halak said he was looking forward to going back to STL but didn't know if he'd be playing. He also said he had "mixed emotions" about it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...-halak-looking-forward-to-facing-former-team/


So it sounds to me that Oates and Kolzig may have gotten wind of that story from Monday and checked in on Halak. They probably asked him "are you 100% comfortable" and he probably said "no", then they made the decision to start Holtby and threw Halak under the bus to the media.


Who is ever really, fully 100% comfortable and not nervous before any big game? This sounds like an organizational failure, led by Oates but bought into by Halak. Halak could've sacked up, and Oates could've just pointed to Holtby's past performances or made up some injury excuse. Instead, Oates dragged another player out in front of the media and sacrificed him to protect himself from any criticism.

 

[Corby78]

On Halak, I don't care what the exact situation was, you don't go out to the public and say your goalie wasn't comfortable. stupid by oates.

On the playoff chase, I'm not sure why people keep talking about CBJ. We have more of a shot of catching detriot. There is no way florida beats CBJ with playoffs on the line. I said it weeks ago and it looks like I could be right. We will end up the first team out in the worst position possible.

 

[RandyHolt]

It's a shame it took Backstrom 80 games to muster up the effort needed to do a little dipsy doo with the puck before shooting like he did last night on the PP. Changing the angle before shooting. Basics.

In the 80 games before, he would move straight at the G no moves and crest him.

Where has that simple play been all year from him? Sorry but no injury excuse gets him out of that one.

He was supposed to be our most creative player and he waits until we are one game from elimination to bring his A game.

 

[BobRouse]

Who is ever really, fully 100% comfortable and not nervous before any big game? This sounds like an organizational failure, led by Oates but bought into by Halak. Halak could've sacked up, and Oates could've just pointed to Holtby's past performances or made up some injury excuse. Instead, Oates dragged another player out in front of the media and sacrificed him to protect himself from any criticism.

Well Oates is really really awesome at the bus toss.

I'm just waiting to see who's next in line to be chucked!

 

[g00n]

Well Oates is really really awesome at the bus toss.

I'm just waiting to see who's next in line to be chucked!

What's the list up to now?

Laich -- afraid of injury
Green -- "talk is cheap", not fighting
Halak -- not 100% confident, benching self
Ovechkin -- quit on the play
various skaters -- "The Mistake"
various goalies -- more mistakes

I know I'm missing some.

 

[BobRouse]

What's the list up to now?

Laich -- afraid of injury
Green -- "talk is cheap", not fighting
Halak -- not 100% confident, benching self
Ovechkin -- quit on the play
various skaters -- "The Mistake"
various goalies -- more mistakes

I know I'm missing some.

I'm sure he had to have said something about Erat. Maybe Orlov?

He's losing his grip rapidly by pulling these ploys. But he's always gone out in a very public blaze of glory as a player so not surprising he's doing that as a coach.

 

[swimmer77]

Andy Strickland
‏@andystrickland
Jaro Halak tells me he never told #Caps Head Coach he didn't want to play against #stlblues. Halak says what's out there isn't true.

After listening to Oates, I believe Halak. The decision sounded contrived.

Can't wait till Oates is gone. But it's also bothersome that a fair amount of players who have left seemingly have done so under not so good circumstances.