GDT: Caps @ Canes 7 PM - All Aboard the Matty P Bandwagon!

[FloridaCap]

This banishment of young players in games that could be real, free opportunities to evaluate them against NHL talent is as good a reason as any to fire Oates right now.

I would have fired him a lot sooner, but if I found out these were his lines, I'd fire him right this second. Promote Forsythe to interim coach, and tell him to give the rookies playing time.

This is ridiculous. Worst coach in franchise history.

 

[g00n]

Theory: Oates is sticking to his guns in the hopes that the Caps finish with enough points to make his first full season less ****** looking. He's not going to bother developing the players here because he knows he's out the door, and he needs to pad his resume with points and potential excuses. He also won't deviate from his system now that the games are meaningless because doing so would admit defeat while validating criticisms of him. He has to play out the string.

If that's true and the veteran players give up, what then? A Kuz-Beagle-Wilson first or second line may not be out of the question.

 

[Liberati0n*]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...g-playoffs-capitals-can-only-blame-ourselves/

Oates said it was not the right time to place blame just yet and that his speech to the team revolved around “being a pro.â€

 

[g00n]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...g-playoffs-capitals-can-only-blame-ourselves/

 

[ChibiPooky]

“It’s a little bit different obviously than the last years when there’s a lot more heartbreak when it comes to game sevens or losing in the playoffs,” Holtby said. “This is more frustration and something that we’re gonna have to use to our advantage in the future.”

He might be the only guy on the roster with any mental toughness at all.

 

[ryan519*]

holtby starting. good

 

[g00n]

They really had no clue they stunk that much. Really. Everyone waiting for someone else to light a soark. Because it's always happened that way. But this time Ovie said "nope".

 

[g00n]

holtby starting. good

Halak should be done, but you never know with Oates.

 

[FloridaCap]

“It’s a little bit different obviously than the last years when there’s a lot more heartbreak when it comes to game sevens or losing in the playoffs,†Holtby said. “This is more frustration and something that we’re gonna have to use to our advantage in the future.â€

He might be the only guy on the roster with any mental toughness at all.

Mental toughness through the media and mental toughness on the ice are two different things. Most people think he's a mental headcase.

He is one of the few people who make any sense at all in the media and don't just fluff up the coach and everything else, which I like.

 

[ChibiPooky]

Mental toughness through the media and mental toughness on the ice are two different things. Most people think he's a mental headcase.

He is one of the few people who make any sense at all in the media and don't just fluff up the coach and everything else, which I like.

All goalies are headcases

The way he talks about it makes me feel like he has a better chance of actually growing from the experience than the other quoted players.

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

Halak should be done, but you never know with Oates.

Do we even know the actual story behind the Halak case? Halak and co. are saying he was pressured into not starting and I'm inclined to believe it. Here's a guy who was called out by the top player in the league in 2010 for "shaking" and then comes out and stands on his head for the rest of the series. I don't buy him as being as much of a head case as he was made out to be. I think he probably didn't think playing was a good strategic move after Oates and Kolzig talked to him about it and then for whatever reason Oates throws yet another player under his bus.

Call me crazy but I don't subscribe to the theory of throwing out a very decent amount of work Halak has done here over what are contested claims that he didn't want to play one game. Even if the whole story is true I still don't think it's worth not re-negotiating, it's one incident out of his entire career.

 

[RandyHolt]

As I suspected Oates is scuttling the ship in a sense. Young players should be taking center stage and he is banishing them. I hate this guy

Kuznetsov-Beagle-Wilson

This is why you fire Oates immediately. If George won't do it, he goes to.

He is not scuttling the ship, he is steaming full ahead like nothing happened.

 

[g00n]

Do we even know the actual story behind the Halak case? Halak and co. are saying he was pressured into not starting and I'm inclined to believe it. Here's a guy who was called out by the top player in the league in 2010 for "shaking" and then comes out and stands on his head for the rest of the series. I don't buy him as being as much of a head case as he was made out to be. I think he probably didn't think playing was a good strategic move after Oates and Kolzig talked to him about it and then for whatever reason Oates throws yet another player under his bus.

Call me crazy but I don't subscribe to the theory of throwing out a very decent amount of work Halak has done here over what are contested claims that he didn't want to play one game. Even if the whole story is true I still don't think it's worth not re-negotiating, it's one incident out of his entire career.

There are plenty of recountings of the affair in the Halak trade thread and the Blues GDT from this week. Halak did confirm that he wasn't comfortable and told Oates as much. From there it's a question of whether he was pressured into not starting, whether he came out and said he didn't want to start, and so forth.

As for his body of work it's been OK but not significantly better than what any of our other goaltenders have been able to do. He blew 3 shootouts and lost 5 in a row down the stretch, and then this thing with not being comfortable. It isn't about just one game.

 

[SimplySensational]

“It’s a little bit different obviously than the last years when there’s a lot more heartbreak when it comes to game sevens or losing in the playoffs,” Holtby said. “This is more frustration and something that we’re gonna have to use to our advantage in the future.”

He might be the only guy on the roster with any mental toughness at all.

What the **** is mental toughness even mean then?

If by mental toughness you mean inexplicably lets in slapshots from beyond the circle from 4th liners he saw the whole time or being able to stop top 6 talents on breakaways like its nothing, but constantly getting dangled by 4th liners, then sure he has a lot of mental toughness.

 

[SashaSemin28]

Just want Semin to pot 3, Ovechkin to pot 3. Then the Semin/Ovechkin handshake, followed by them riding the batmobil again.

 

[FloridaCap]

What the **** is mental toughness even mean then?

If by mental toughness you mean inexplicably lets in slapshots from beyond the circle from 4th liners he saw the whole time or being able to stop top 6 talents on breakaways like its nothing, but constantly getting dangled by 4th liners, then sure he has a lot of mental toughness.

lol, this is exactly why Holtby frustrates me to no end.

The incredible saves on snipers followed by getting beat clean from the blue line by a 4th line scrub.

 

[foundhockey]

I hope we see a lot of minutes from Wilson and Kuzya.

 

[ryan519*]

why they copyin our horn chant

 

[foundhockey]

Wardo!

 

[SimplySensational]

Ugh, Capitals out of the playoffs, Ovechkin doesn't nail diva with his head down...

 

[aquablue]

Semin should be Ovie'd and Nailed... but Ovie doesn't nail anyone anymore, he's saving his body for the wifey.

 

[ryan519*]

damn joe b and locker sound so depressed

 

[aquablue]

damn joe b and locker sound so depressed

It's all a ruse for the fans.

Joe B cares more about how his pocket squares look then the caps.. i bet he can't wait to get some more free time to try on the latest Armani.

 

[SimplySensational]

Bellemore is still afraid of Wilson.

 

[g00n]

Not an expert on this draft but wondering if there's an advantage to tanking these last 3. Unless the 5 teams between us and the 8th spot play each other we could drop down that low from the current 13th spot. If we win out we could maybe fall back 2 spots.