Speculation: Caps have players only meeting after Rangers loss

[SpinningEdge]

3-7-3 in last 13 games.

todd frustrated at the players - and players frustrated with the system saying it’s not working.

we’ll see how productive it was - interesting kuznetsov was primarily mentioned as being u controllable

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[francaisvolantsparis]

FAKE

 

[Ridley Simon]

Oh I see.

So the same system that took them to #1 in the league at the halfway point is now broken?

huh. Crazy times indeed

 

[Holtbyisms]

Lot of breaks that realistically they created themselves to start the year have gone away cause they're not working anymore. They work in spurts not full games anymore. That has to change oyur they're out in the first round again.

 

[McVechkin]

Oh I see.

So the same system that took them to #1 in the league at the halfway point is now broken?

huh. Crazy times indeed

It’s obviously broken. This isn’t a slump. I don’t have an answer on why it’s broken.. Or even if it was a system at all/if the early season success was just on the back of talent and getting hot at the right time....

but it’s clear whatever they are trying to do, it isn’t working.

 

[AussieCapsFan]

Lot of breaks that realistically they created themselves to start the year have gone away cause they're not working anymore. They work in spurts not full games anymore. That has to change oyur they're out in the first round again.

My "theory" is that it wasn't so much a system as it was a team of very talented players who have played together (most of them anyway) for a long time. They were the best team in the league for the first three months of the season. They fell behind in games but still had the confidence, unity, and skill to power their way back and win those games. The powerplay was very very good, the PK was exceptional, but they weren't shutting down the opposition and our goals against was above the league average most of that time. But it didn't matter because if you're outscoring teams then you're winning games, right?

The first problems that I can remember (and happy to be corrected) were when Holtby lost his form. The team seemed to play with less confidence when he was in net and there were defensive mistakes, turnovers, etc. The team played better with Samsonov but I think some damage had been done and the self doubt was creeping in. I am speculating (of course) but I think around this time Reirden tried to make changes to their playing style and it's actually caused more harm than good. I think the players are confused by the system (I don't even like the word but I don't know what else to call it) and I think they - especially the veteran players - are caught between trying to play to the system and play the way they're used to playing and have played for a long time. I imagine some of them have become so frustrated that they have checked out / tuned out and that's why the effort level seems to have fallen away. I don't even think it's lack of effort, I think it's mostly frustration that has caused lack of confidence and second guessing themselves. When that happens things just go from bad to worse.
It also would explain why the newer guys - Hagelin, Panik, Hathaway, Jensen (recently) - have been more noticeable lately as our better players. They aren't struggling to "unlearn" how they've played in the past (as Caps) so they are just going out there and playing.
(I don't know how to explain Eller's play - I guess he's an outlier and all I will say is I'm damn glad he's playing the way he is).

I believe Holtby has been better lately. He's still not where we'd like him but he's definitely improved and I believe it's because he no longer feels like he's single-handedly costing us games. I think a lot of the pressure has come off him and shifted to the other players.

Kuznetsov? Combination of laziness, frustration, and as has been pointed out, he is avoiding physical contact. In the first minute of the game against the Flyers he took a stick to the face / mouth and was visibly upset / angry. He played like crap for the rest of the game. I think we saw that carry over into the game against the Rangers.

Anyway, sorry for the long post. In summary, the above is why I've been driving the "fire Reirden bus" for a while now. It really isn't anything against Reirden per se,. He has tried to implement changes to make the team better but I think they've backfired spectacularly to the point where
he's lost the team and I don't think he can get them back. There are many examples of this happening with veteran cores and it almost always ends with the coach being fired and the team getting the reset they need. The difference here is it's very late in the season.

 

[Portable Mink]

This seems
Fake
To
Me

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

This thread is locked until there's an actual source that reports this.