I was avoiding the forums since the game because I was just too angry/depressed to see anything about the Caps. I finally had some time to digest the game and my own thoughts.
1) I'm worried about Trotz. He preached about getting rid of the "good enough" attitude, but he didn't make any tactical changes to the PP or our breakouts after we started ******** away a 3-1 series lead. He seems content to play games to a stalemate and let lady luck and the refs decide our fate. That's not enough. We have to learn to create separation and go for the kill. Trotz's teams are not known for that, and maybe that's why he hasn't gotten past the second round. How can we have a killer instinct if our coach doesn't?
2) I'm not sure what to make of Backstrom. We've seen him take over games with OV on the shelf. Unfortunately, when OV is healthy, Backstrom goes into passive mode even when they're not on the same line. I'd like to imagine he was really injured, but he was still a beast on the boards throughout the series; it's just that every other aspect of his game went down the toilet.
3) We need to get rid of dead weight. I'm hoping the reservations I have about Trotz in my first point are just his attempts at squeezing the most he can out of a roster bereft of talent. Laich and Brouwer are replaceable; I wish hockey had a stat like WAR, because I bet they are performing way under replacement level hockey. Green cannot be paid $5 million to be on the the third D pairing. We have successfully weaned off of depending on him for even strength point production. Cut him loose and let his mental lapses cost someone else the Cup.
1) Well, 1:40 from victory over best team in the conference is pretty damn close to working.. Game 6 got away from them, and Game 7s are a tight crapshoot, anyway. I'm not saying Trotz's system is elite, but it's not like it was a clear failure, despite the bad optics of blowing a 3-1 lead. Perhaps more simply, Caps just did not create enough offense. The only players that exceeded expectations in that regard were basically the guys on Kuz's line (final edition) -- and I'm not sure how much they were hampered by Trotz.. Transition game seems weak,
Anyway, Trotz is gonna be here awhile, let's see what he does 2nd year, no choice.
2) FYI -- the last thread that questioned Backstrom was closed, so be advised
I agree that the Caps need more out of him, and they need to do more to figure out how to make him more effective. Actually, I don't think he played that badly (except for some strange defensive lapses), I think he played more or less his game, as did Ovechkin, but their partnership continues to underwhelm. Need to try to find better line combos. My thoughts have been the same for a while -- IMO their quickness+workrate are subpar (except for short bursts), so as a basic requirement they each need linemates that can pick up the slack in that regard and create more time/space for them.
3) No argument there.
