GDT: Caps vs Canes 12MAR13

[Atlas]

Ovie isn't the problem. He's not a superstar right now but he's skating with Beagle and Wolski. He must be wondering if he's in a beer league some shifts.

The Caps are weak all over. Ovie is the captain of a dilapidated ship.

 

[troyerlaw]

Man, Ovechkin's under-performance is bringing out some idiocy here.

the entire team's underperformance is bringing out the idiocy. from the GM on down. and it's not just idiocy, it's rage. and justifiable rage, in my book. this has been a long slow slide for this team, and this year it has gotten significantly worse. do you see positive signs? do you see reasons to be hopeful? i see a lack of effort and aggressiveness, from the GM down. i see softness from one end of the rink to the other. outside of the oleksy fight, i didn't see an ounce of push-back tonight or desperation. i certainly came away from game thinking, 'if they don't care, i guess i don't either.' won't be hurrying home to watch thursday's game.

it's not just that we lost either. we had good chances, we didn't bury them (MoJo, Brouwer). two of the CAR goals were arguably flukey and lucky. that said, once the bounces went this way, once we fell behind, we did NOT fight back like a desperate, angry hockey team. we didn't dig in our heels and contest every inch. not even close to it. we played out the string, and it was infuriating to watch.

to me, GMGM is in lindy ruff territory, as far as length of tenure. he has had PLENTY of time to achieve results. the results (e.g. two second-round game 7 losses, at our best) aren't good enough. time to try something new.

as for Ovie, i wasn't being serious when i said i would give him away. of course i would hope for meaningful return. but the current arrangement isn't working well for him or the team.

at the very very least i would trade Ribs while his value is sky-high.

 

[BTCG]

Maybe it's because I just read 100 pages of a management textbook, but Ovechkin can be fixed. But that process should have started after the Montreal series and it should be ongoing. The biggest opportunity this franchise has isn't trading Green or Johansson or signing Ribeiro. It's reclaiming Ovechkin and it's pretty obvious that no effort is being made on that front.

Can you fix getting older? I realize he's still quite young, but everyone loses a step as they age.

 

[Carlzner]

Ovie isn't the problem. He's not a superstar right now but he's skating with Beagle and Wolski. He must be wondering if he's in a beer league some shifts.

The Caps are weak all over. Ovie is the captain of a dilapidated ship.

What? He was playing with Backstrom tonight...

 

[Halpysback*]

You're not gonna 'reclaim' Ovechkin on a team the number one priority of whose constrution was developing Jeff Schultz.

The first and only step towards reclaiming Ovechkin is putting together a team that's not chock full of holes and that needs Ovechkin to continuously go balls to the wall to sniff the second round on a good day.

Of course we could get a shrink to convince him that he needs to play like a bat out of hell on a crappy team built to fail in all sorts of ways. I'm sure that'll work.

 

[Langway]

Maybe it's because I just read 100 pages of a management textbook, but Ovechkin can be fixed. But that process should have started after the Montreal series and it should be ongoing. The biggest opportunity this franchise has isn't trading Green or Johansson or signing Ribeiro. It's reclaiming Ovechkin and it's pretty obvious that no effort is being made on that front.

You can draw a straight line from their lack of skill development and long-term adherence to the process to the broken franchise player. Take the player out of the dysfunction and into a healthy, stable environment and in short order he'll rise again. Not that he's above blame but he's a symptom not a cause.

It's yet another reason why Oates may be a decent coach but he was not the right presence for this team at this time. While he does talk about the process more, communicates well and is quick with pointers the overarching force in putting everything together is an entirely new experience for him. It's ridiculous how little this franchise values experience.

 

[Halpysback*]

Actually, I guess it could have been done, in two easy steps.

Step 1: Not let Varlamov go.

Step 2: Not let Semin go.

Whoops.

 

[BTCG]

Actually, I guess it could have been done, in two easy steps.

Step 1: Not let Varlamov go.

Step 2: Not let Semin go.

Whoops.

Maybe we shouldn't have let Nolan Yonkman go.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Maybe it's because I just read 100 pages of a management textbook, but Ovechkin can be fixed. But that process should have started after the Montreal series and it should be ongoing. The biggest opportunity this franchise has isn't trading Green or Johansson or signing Ribeiro. It's reclaiming Ovechkin and it's pretty obvious that no effort is being made on that front.

Yup. He alone could elevate this team 9-10 places in the standings.

Fixing whatever's wrong in his head should be the #1 priority.

 

[BTCG]

Now, I didn't see the game live like you people, but one thing I notice in the replay: their faces. There's no look of desperation or determination. Odd.

 

[brs03]

I'd like to see what he and Ribeiro look like separated for a decent amount of time. The two together just get absolutely destroyed at even strength... would be nice to get a picture of which is the bigger culprit, if nothing else.

 

[tycoonheart]

I'd like to see what he and Ribeiro look like separated for a decent amount of time. The two together just get absolutely destroyed at even strength... would be nice to get a picture of which is the bigger culprit, if nothing else.

Those two together are a defensive liability. I mean offensively they've worked well, yes. And that is one of the reasons why I've wanted to see Ovi back with Nicky. Nicky is a very responsible center. Play Ribs with Brouwer and Ward, those two will cover for his lack of defensive responsibility.

 

[BTCG]

Harrison's goal (their 2nd): awful.

And still ... no emotion in their faces. You'd think we were the ones who had an 8-10 point lead.

 

[swimmer77]

Harrison's goal (their 2nd): awful.

And still ... no emotion in their faces. You'd think we were the ones who had an 8-10 point lead.

Wait until the third Canes goal.

 

[brs03]

Those two together are a defensive liability. I mean offensively they've worked well, yes. And that is one of the reasons why I've wanted to see Ovi back with Nicky. Nicky is a very responsible center. Play Ribs with Brouwer and Ward, those two will cover for his lack of defensive responsibility.

Putting them together theoretically works well if you protect them with O-zone starts. That's happened to an extent (not as much as they could be though) and they're still the worst on the team in terms of chances and goals against (adjusted for icetime). They're scoring (or at least Ribeiro is) but they're still doing more harm than good, I think.

I was a proponent of having them together at first. I'm ready to see it end, though. Get Ovi comfortable with Backstrom again (or Perreault, if you want to come out of left field?) so that he won't be scrambling to adjust once Ribeiro is traded.

 

[BTCG]

Wait until the third Canes goal.

What period does that happen in?


Anyone.. please.

 

[BTCG]

I cannot fathom Locker's comments. "I like what I see....."

Unreal.

 

[swimmer77]

What period does that happen in?


Anyone.. please.

Close to the end of the second............I think.

 

[BTCG]

Found the 3rd score: out hustled again, and still no emotion.

Kid yawns.... classic McPhee era reaction.

I can't watch this anymore.

 

[BTCG]

Close to the end of the second............I think.

Thank you.

 

[BTCG]

All I can say is the Caps better find a different phone booth and change into their Superman suits... cause the playoffs will not be easy. And we'll be lucky to win a game.

Blows my mind how far this team has regressed from where we were with BB at one point.

 

[Langway]

All I can say is the Caps better find a different phone booth and change into their Superman suits... cause the playoffs will not be easy. And we'll be lucky to win a game.

 

[BTCG]

Not getting any audio. What's he saying?

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

You're not gonna 'reclaim' Ovechkin on a team the number one priority of whose constrution was developing Jeff Schultz.

The first and only step towards reclaiming Ovechkin is putting together a team that's not chock full of holes and that needs Ovechkin to continuously go balls to the wall to sniff the second round on a good day.

Of course we could get a shrink to convince him that he needs to play like a bat out of hell on a crappy team built to fail in all sorts of ways. I'm sure that'll work.

It doesn't even have to be the big picture team building things.

Take idiot Milbury's recent comments. Ovechkin came back a couple days later and ripped on Milbury's GMing skills. What a difference it would have made if that rebuttal came from McPhee rather than Ovechkin. Show the guy you give a **** about him.

 

[Langway]

Not getting any audio. What's he saying?