GDT: Caps @ Sharks 3/22/14 7:30pm CSNCA

[Negatively Positive]

Irwin had actually been playing better the last few games. It was nice to come in here and not see all the ******** on him even if no one was giving him credit for his good play.

He was not great tonight. But the Boyle/Hannan pairing is much much worse... and I don't think replacing Irwin with Stuart will help either

I'm still holding out hope that Stuart has been playing hurt all year and he'll be better when he comes back. But unfortunately I think he's similar to Boyle in that the years have caught up to them. He's not as old but he plays much more physical.

 

[Mafoofoo]

I don't even know what to say. Tonight was like playing NHL 14 against your little brother, scoring two own goals to give him a chance and then having him beat you in the shootout.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

I can't remember the last time the popularity of a player reversed course as quickly and as drastically as it has for Boole. Excluding, of course, massive ****-up instances like Selanne missing the open net (and excluding short-term hired guns like Campbell)

Popularity may not be the right word. We just understand that he is completely done. We've understood since last year, but last year it seemed he may have something left in the tank; this year, it's obvious that he doesn't.

I still love him, and appreciate his dedication and everything he has done for the Sharks. He's just...done.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

On topic though, to summarize. I was at the game, and I have never seen a team as bad as the Capitals.

It wasn't a full on domination, but if you check possession and zone time, it will seem as such. Washington is terrible. It's sad to see what happened to them. I remember seeing them in 2010 and thinking they had such a good young group with Ovechkin, Backstrom, Green, Semin, Carlson, etc. It's terrible to see what's happened. Green is a shell of his former self due to injuries, same could be said for Ovechkin, though part of it is him getting old, Semin went to Carolina, Backstrom is still fantastic and Carlson isn't quite as good as he was expected to be. They were such an exciting young team.

For the people who are mentioning Ovechkin "not being there tonight", he is not a game to game factor. He is a perimeter player who has a fantastic shot and knows how to get open. Please do not go off of 2010 reputations when he was the best player in the world. He is not that guy anymore. He is not a good possession player anymore, he does not hit as much

 

[Gene Parmesan]

Ovechkin isn't old. The book is out on how to defend him. Still leads the league in goals.

 

[hohosaregood]

I've been real busy the last couple weeks so I haven't paid full attention to any of the last couple games but here's my opinion on the powerplay. Partially, it's a lack of execution but more fundamentally, there's not enough movement anymore. One of the big keys last year when the powerplay was extremely deadly was that the guys were always on the move so the PKers had to keep moving too and then the lanes would open up that way. During this PP drought, there's not really any constant movement. At least not in the same way.

The guys are mainly only switching places with the puck carrier to get a one-timer from a bad spot and the rest of them kinda just mosey around in their general areas.

Entries also kind of suck. I lack the mental knowledge to express my opinion on that matter.

 

[SJSharksfan39]

I should be disappointed in the Sharks effort tonight, but I'm really not. Maybe because I was kind of expecting it, but to give up two own goals is a little face-palming. I actually thought they dominated for a good portion of the game tonight and Niemi played pretty well other than two brainfarts. At least they got a point (Now three points ahead of the Ducks) and they can move on.

 

[Zeroz]

just got back. Really ridiculous loss due to the fact that the Sharks scored all the goals in regulation. A couple gave my fiancé and I their tickets at the beginning of the 3rd period. Completely random becuase we were busy purchasing the LAST pretzel in the arena. Second row from the glass to Niemi's right, I was awestruck. I don't know if they are on these forums but if you're reading this, you gave us an epic experience and we appreciate the kind gesture, thankyouthankyouthankyou

 

[Evincar]

On topic though, to summarize. I was at the game, and I have never seen a team as bad as the Capitals.

It wasn't a full on domination, but if you check possession and zone time, it will seem as such. Washington is terrible. It's sad to see what happened to them. I remember seeing them in 2010 and thinking they had such a good young group with Ovechkin, Backstrom, Green, Semin, Carlson, etc. It's terrible to see what's happened. Green is a shell of his former self due to injuries, same could be said for Ovechkin, though part of it is him getting old, Semin went to Carolina, Backstrom is still fantastic and Carlson isn't quite as good as he was expected to be. They were such an exciting young team.

For the people who are mentioning Ovechkin "not being there tonight", he is not a game to game factor. He is a perimeter player who has a fantastic shot and knows how to get open. Please do not go off of 2010 reputations when he was the best player in the world. He is not that guy anymore. He is not a good possession player anymore, he does not hit as much

I think Boudreau kinda ruined that team. Plus they were always cycling through goalies.

 

[OrrNumber4]

I think Boudreau kinda ruined that team. Plus they were always cycling through goalies.

Boudreau has a lot of strengths, but he never got some of his star players to improve on the flaws in their games. Hard to know if it is Boudreau's fault...after all, he was at the mercy of Ovechkin/Semin/Green more than they were of him...

 

[hohosaregood]

Boudreau has a lot of strengths, but he never got some of his star players to improve on the flaws in their games. Hard to know if it is Boudreau's fault...after all, he was at the mercy of Ovechkin/Semin/Green more than they were of him...

I don't think Boudreau was ever part of the problem. He was the perfect coach for the guys on that team. Forcing that team to even attempt a more defensive style was the wrong choice and if I recall correctly, that was a mandate from their GM. Heck, he hired Dale Hunter after Boudreau. They basically coach opposite styles.

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

After that second own goal you just knew they were going to lose the game somehow. And I was really baffled by the OT forward pairings. How the hell does Burns only get one shift in OT with more open ice? And after the game he and Thornton had just two days ago, why not keep them together?

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

The Caps haven't been the same since they got Halak'd in 2010 (we're hoping he returns the favor this year). McPhee folded under media scrutiny that the Caps couldn't win the Cup by winning games 6-4 so he told BB to transition them to a trapping team. That didn't work, BB left, and in came Hunter who was completely the opposite of fun hockey; pack all 5 guys in front of our net, dump and change, and hope to win games 1-0 by getting a deflection off the shin guard. Now we've moved onto some weird hybrid where we don't play defense and don't play offense but some how we're not a lottery team. I don't like it nor understand it nor do most Caps fans.

The Caps have also been hit by the injury bug fairly signicantly over the years as well: Green is a shell of his former self, Backstrom was a top 5 center before he got his concussion, Ovie battled through a series of injuries he never disclosed, Orlov lost a season of development to a concussion, Neuvirth never stayed healthy, Laich's groin is torn to shreds, etc. The Caps aren't old, but they have some miles and some serious health concerns.

Finally, George McPhee is a buffoon. His asset management (letting Semin walk for nothing, trading for Ribeiro and letting him walk, the Erat-Forsberg debacle for which he should have been fired on the spot, and many more) has been atrocious and he has a revolving door every year at 2C, on the blue line, and in net. He never found Green that stay-at-home presence and his 3rd pairings consist of AHL call-ups or veterans who should have retired. All that said, the Caps have certainly plummeted from their President's Trophy days. There's still hope that McPhee and the coaching staff will get fired before we've wasted the best years and great contracts of Ovie, Backs, Alzner, Carlson, and a few other guys.

You probably don't care about any of that, but now you know. Thanks for the 2 pts.

 

[Mattb124]

Its funny how the power play looked dangerous when they just shot the puck. No one wants to shoot.

Totally this.

They may not have given it 100%, but the shots were 36-24 in favor of the Sharks, with no score effects. The caps had 2/3 the shots that we did. They definitely did outplay Washington. Just got really really unlucky.

Exactly, the shot count at the end of regulation was 36-20. While the Sharks did not play their best game, they certainly did not take the night off. This is one of the those rare losses driven more by puck luck than poor play.

 

[Kitten Mittons]

On topic though, to summarize. I was at the game, and I have never seen a team as bad as the Capitals.

It wasn't a full on domination, but if you check possession and zone time, it will seem as such. Washington is terrible. It's sad to see what happened to them. I remember seeing them in 2010 and thinking they had such a good young group with Ovechkin, Backstrom, Green, Semin, Carlson, etc. It's terrible to see what's happened. Green is a shell of his former self due to injuries, same could be said for Ovechkin, though part of it is him getting old, Semin went to Carolina, Backstrom is still fantastic and Carlson isn't quite as good as he was expected to be. They were such an exciting young team.

For the people who are mentioning Ovechkin "not being there tonight", he is not a game to game factor. He is a perimeter player who has a fantastic shot and knows how to get open. Please do not go off of 2010 reputations when he was the best player in the world. He is not that guy anymore. He is not a good possession player anymore, he does not hit as much

Love the new username. Should've been reserved for Pinkfloyd though.

 

[magic school bus]

The Caps haven't been the same since they got Halak'd in 2010 (we're hoping he returns the favor this year). McPhee folded under media scrutiny that the Caps couldn't win the Cup by winning games 6-4 so he told BB to transition them to a trapping team. That didn't work, BB left, and in came Hunter who was completely the opposite of fun hockey; pack all 5 guys in front of our net, dump and change, and hope to win games 1-0 by getting a deflection off the shin guard. Now we've moved onto some weird hybrid where we don't play defense and don't play offense but some how we're not a lottery team. I don't like it nor understand it nor do most Caps fans.

The Caps have also been hit by the injury bug fairly signicantly over the years as well: Green is a shell of his former self, Backstrom was a top 5 center before he got his concussion, Ovie battled through a series of injuries he never disclosed, Orlov lost a season of development to a concussion, Neuvirth never stayed healthy, Laich's groin is torn to shreds, etc. The Caps aren't old, but they have some miles and some serious health concerns.

Finally, George McPhee is a buffoon. His asset management (letting Semin walk for nothing, trading for Ribeiro and letting him walk, the Erat-Forsberg debacle for which he should have been fired on the spot, and many more) has been atrocious and he has a revolving door every year at 2C, on the blue line, and in net. He never found Green that stay-at-home presence and his 3rd pairings consist of AHL call-ups or veterans who should have retired. All that said, the Caps have certainly plummeted from their President's Trophy days. There's still hope that McPhee and the coaching staff will get fired before we've wasted the best years and great contracts of Ovie, Backs, Alzner, Carlson, and a few other guys.

You probably don't care about any of that, but now you know. Thanks for the 2 pts.

For Caps fans sake, i hope McPhee gets fired. it's disgusting what he did to that team

 

[magic school bus]

It's hilarious that this team takes nights off against 'inferior' opponents considering they've never won jack and are still often the punchline of the hockey world.

And by hilarious I mean embarrassing and disgraceful.

Agreed.

 

[Nighthock]

I don't even know what to say. Tonight was like playing NHL 14 against your little brother, scoring two own goals to give him a chance and then having him beat you in the shootout.

too accurate

 

[Helistin]

Meh , tough loss but this is how things even out in the long run -> Sharks stealing Rangers 2 points a while back with a subpar game .
Isn't this like the 1st loss in 20 years in home against the Caps.
Save it for the potential losses agains't the incoming Flames and Oilers games

 

[hohosaregood]

The Caps haven't been the same since they got Halak'd in 2010 (we're hoping he returns the favor this year). McPhee folded under media scrutiny that the Caps couldn't win the Cup by winning games 6-4 so he told BB to transition them to a trapping team. That didn't work, BB left, and in came Hunter who was completely the opposite of fun hockey; pack all 5 guys in front of our net, dump and change, and hope to win games 1-0 by getting a deflection off the shin guard. Now we've moved onto some weird hybrid where we don't play defense and don't play offense but some how we're not a lottery team. I don't like it nor understand it nor do most Caps fans.

The Caps have also been hit by the injury bug fairly signicantly over the years as well: Green is a shell of his former self, Backstrom was a top 5 center before he got his concussion, Ovie battled through a series of injuries he never disclosed, Orlov lost a season of development to a concussion, Neuvirth never stayed healthy, Laich's groin is torn to shreds, etc. The Caps aren't old, but they have some miles and some serious health concerns.

Finally, George McPhee is a buffoon. His asset management (letting Semin walk for nothing, trading for Ribeiro and letting him walk, the Erat-Forsberg debacle for which he should have been fired on the spot, and many more) has been atrocious and he has a revolving door every year at 2C, on the blue line, and in net. He never found Green that stay-at-home presence and his 3rd pairings consist of AHL call-ups or veterans who should have retired. All that said, the Caps have certainly plummeted from their President's Trophy days. There's still hope that McPhee and the coaching staff will get fired before we've wasted the best years and great contracts of Ovie, Backs, Alzner, Carlson, and a few other guys.

You probably don't care about any of that, but now you know. Thanks for the 2 pts.

We do care. As fans of the sport, watching other teams' fans have to suffer sucks pretty hard and everybody deserves the best version of their team. Although the only team that I have pretty mixed feelings about are Vancouver and Edmonton. I have a bit of schadenfreude when I think of their teams falling.

 

[hohosaregood]

Meh , tough loss but this is how things even out in the long run -> Sharks stealing Rangers 2 points a while back with a subpar game .
Isn't this like the 1st loss in 20 years in home against the Caps.
Save it for the potential losses agains't the incoming Flames and Oilers games

Considering the way this team plays against bottom feeders, there is about a 90% chance they're gonna lose to at least one of them.

 

[stator]

Ovechkin isn't old. The book is out on how to defend him. Still leads the league in goals.

Somebody needs to address the elephant in the room when it comes to Ovechkin.... he does it to himself.

Ovechkin:
1- does not play defense like the other top goal scorers.... not even close with his large, negative +/-
2- He leads the league in shots on goal by a large margin, almost 50% more than the next top goal scorer (Perry)
3- His assists are noticeable very low for the top 10 goal scorers
4- His time on ice per game does not stand out with the rest of the top scorers either.


Clearly, these stats support Ovechkin is a determent to team play. He plays hockey more as an individual than as a team player. He needs to decide either to stay on track for the Rocket trophy, or be a team player and go for the cup as a Washington Capitals.

I would be disappointed in DW if he signs Ovechkin as a Shark. We don't need individuals.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

For Caps fans sake, i hope McPhee gets fired. it's disgusting what he did to that team

You'd fit right in on our board! There's been a "Fire George" movement for about 3-4 years now. We'll see what Ted does if we miss the play-offs or burn out in the 1st round again and it seems like a near certainty that one of those will happen.

We do care. As fans of the sport, watching other teams' fans have to suffer sucks pretty hard and everybody deserves the best version of their team. Although the only team that I have pretty mixed feelings about are Vancouver and Edmonton. I have a bit of schadenfreude when I think of their teams falling.

I agree, and appreciate your comments. I used to live in San Diego and watched the CA teams when I could. I think it's pretty cool that 3 of the top teams in the sport reside in a state not known for hockey -- it's good for the game in the US. My cousins live in San Jose and we had some fun leading up to the game last night. Great city, I got to go there for a wedding. I enjoy watching the Sharks and feel like you guys are kind of the Caps of the east (or at least when we were fun to watch) in terms of a great young corps struggling to get over the hump in the playoffs. Funny I haven't heard back from my cousins since there was about 8 minutes left in the game last night...

 

[hohosaregood]

Somebody needs to address the elephant in the room when it comes to Ovechkin.... he does it to himself.

Ovechkin:
1- does not play defense like the other top goal scorers.... not even close with his large, negative +/-
2- He leads the league in shots on goal by a large margin, almost 50% more than the next top goal scorer (Perry)
3- His assists are noticeable very low for the top 10 goal scorers
4- His time on ice per game does not stand out with the rest of the top scorers either.


Clearly, these stats support Ovechkin is a determent to team play. He plays hockey more as an individual than as a team player. He needs to decide either to stay on track for the Rocket trophy, or be a team player and go for the cup as a Washington Capitals.

I would be disappointed in DW if he signs Ovechkin as a Shark. We don't need individuals.

I think he's getting pidgeon-holed into that role. Besides, it's going to be a lose-lose situation for him in the media anyways. He's taking all the shots and getting the goals so he's a selfish player. The moment his shot totals drops, they're going to say he's done or he's not putting the team on his back. He can do no right in this league.

 

[Mafoofoo]

I would be disappointed in DW if he signs Ovechkin as a Shark. We don't need individuals.

Speak for yourself. Put him out there with Thornton and Burns and the Vlasic pairing and let him go ham on other teams.