Post-Game Talk: Caps vs the weird P logo team

[SpinningEdge]

Caps have Alex Ovechkin and are 23rd in the league at home on pp.

 

[troyerlaw]

Caps have Alex Ovechkin and are 23rd in the league at home on pp.

And we give up a lot of shorties. We need a new approach to the PP. We have trouble even entering the zone. Backstrom has been pretty meh for a while now.

 

[OviTaughtMe]

As far as the playoffs go, we’re at the point where you pray that your stars are stars and Holtby gets hot. Getting out of R1 will be extremely difficult but that might be the ceiling

This team kinda is what it is. They can go far but there are a lot more teams that are better and more likely.

 

[Devil Dancer]

At this point I'd give TR the rest of the season and the playoffs, but if they don't show improvement at PP and D, and survive at least a round or two (big emphasis on two) then they should move on. The clock is ticking and Todd hasn't done anything to show he's the answer.

They won a lot of games early in the season when teams are carried by talent. They haven't adjusted to changing conditions and opposition strategies as the season has gone on. Those are signs of weak coaching.

 

[OviTaughtMe]

But also hockey is complete f***ing random. We have no idea what will happen in April.

Flyers might be blowing their load right now

 

[Capsman]

And we give up a lot of shorties. They need a new approach to the PP. Having trouble even entering zone.

It’s incredibly slow moving and scripted. Both outside and inside the offensive zone. We literally have guys with space forcing the slingshot back into more compromising positions.

 

[AtNightWeFly]

PP1 cant enter the zone, and Kuzy is wasted on PP2.
And Backstrom needs to shoot one of these days on the PP. He knows that he's allowed to, right?

 

[notDkristich]

i come out of the wood work late, because i record the game and then watch it

we have a head coach? been a while

backstrom and carlson are getting 1st line paychecks to produce and play like 4th liners. yep, i said it. come at me ;-)

Once Kevin figures out that he might actually have to implement some tactics that fit our strengths, and dump Carlson off PP1 will will be alright. And no...the deflected dump in with ALL 3 forwards standing still does NOT count as tactics.

 

[crab]

Jensen lead the defense in TOI? What tha,,,,,

I’m not a Jensen fan but he was actually solid other than that huge gaffe where he turned it over for a 2-0.

Carlson was quite bad

 

[hb12xchamps]

We had plenty of good games under Oates too. And, frankly, we haven’t had many complete games since December. A game where all (or even most) cylinders were firing.

What are you talking about? They’ve had big wins in both January and February. They just beat Minnesota who has been hot as of late and is fighting for their life to get into the playoffs. What do you people want? 5-0 wins every single game? That’s not possible.

Yes this team is not playing consistently well right now. It’s no where near the compete level that they had when they were tearing up the league to start the year. What do you expect from one of the oldest teams in the league? They are going to get into the playoffs and we all know that’s a completely different animal than the regular season. Get their shit games out of their system now.

 

[caps4cup]

This team is so poorly coached and dysfunctional right now it’s hard to believe that they’re an actual NHL team. Sometimes it looks like they’re a bunch of random guys that have never played together before and have no coaches at all. No discipline, constant turnovers, no forecheck, constantly getting out worked and out muscled all over the ice in battles.

Not all of it is on TR. Guys like 92, 8, 13, and 74 all have spells where they are lazy as hell and they’re definitely tougher to coach. But a lot of the problems right now (especially defensive related problems) have a lot to do with the way the team plays, and that is on TR. The PP is also on TR. He is in charge of Forsythe. It’s obvious the PP needs a change and neither of them have done anything to fix it.

Some of the problems are definitely personnel related but the way this team plays the game, and the “system” they run, is a much bigger problem. I don’t know the last time watching this team was so frustrating. They had bad stretches under Trotz but they never looked this poorly coached and frankly, just flat out lost, as they do right now. Even with Oates, everyone knew he was terrible, and the result was mediocre results and mediocre play with a mediocre roster. TR was given a Stanley Cup winning team (and arguably an even better roster) and the results record wise have been good, but it seems like the culture and the structure they played with under Trotz is completely forgotten now and they’re back in Oates territory. The last 30 mins, their effort and attention to detail was embarrassing.

 

[hb12xchamps]

PP1 cant enter the zone, and Kuzy is wasted on PP2.
And Backstrom needs to shoot one of these days on the PP. He knows that he's allowed to, right?

Exactly. If they’re going to die on the drop pass hill, better do it with forwards who can enter the zone. Kuzy needs to be the zone entry guy on PP1

 

[AtNightWeFly]

This team is so poorly coached and dysfunctional right now it’s hard to believe that they’re an actual NHL team. Sometimes it looks like they’re a bunch of random guys that have never played together before and have no coaches at all. No discipline, constant turnovers, no forecheck, constantly getting out worked and out muscled all over the ice in battles.

Not all of it is on TR. Guys like 92, 8, 13, and 74 all have spells where they are lazy as hell and they’re definitely tougher to coach. But a lot of the problems right now (especially defensive related problems) have a lot to do with the way the team plays, and that is on TR. The PP is also on TR. He is in charge of Forsythe. It’s obvious the PP needs a change and neither of them have done anything to fix it.

Some of the problems are definitely personnel related but the way this team plays the game, and the “system” they run, is a much bigger problem. I don’t know the last time watching this team was so frustrating. They had bad stretches under Trotz but they never looked this poorly coached and frankly, just flat out lost, as they do right now. Even with Oates, everyone knew he was terrible, and the result was mediocre results and mediocre play with a mediocre roster. TR was given a Stanley Cup winning team (and arguably an even better roster) and the results record wise have been good, but it seems like the culture and the structure they played with under Trotz is completely forgotten now and they’re back in Oates territory. The last 30 mins, their effort and attention to detail was embarrassing.

And 19. Why do you always leave him out?

 

[OviTaughtMe]

What are you talking about? They’ve had big wins in both January and February. They just beat Minnesota who has been hot as of late and is fighting for their life to get into the playoffs. What do you people want? 5-0 wins every single game? That’s not possible.

Yes this team is not playing consistently well right now. It’s no where near the compete level that they had when they were tearing up the league to start the year. What do you expect from one of the oldest teams in the league? They are going to get into the playoffs and we all know that’s a completely different animal than the regular season. Get their shit games out of their system now.

Agreed


But they are struggling overall right now. The issue here is that posters here can’t just leave it as struggling. It’s got to be this big dramatic “they’re gonna miss the playoffs !!!” Thing every time.

 

[troyerlaw]

We literally have guys with space forcing the slingshot back into more compromising positions.

Well said. It’s ineffective and a total time-suck. And you still wind up with like 8 guys all along the blue line and Kuz/eller, backstrom arrive with speed but try to stickhandle or pass through the wall instead of dumping deep and winning the race to the puck. Just dumb. And then even we do set up, the puck movement is slow and predictable, and backstrom/kuz seem to fumble it away at halfboards much more than previously.

On the bright side, Holtby playing better now. And 4th-line Panik seems to work well (even if Kovy has been a mixed bag). Also, despite the one really bad giveaway toward the end, I actually thought Jensen looked decent.

Top-6 needs to increase their give-a-**** metrics. They got embarrassed tonight by a sharp, hungry team.

 

[notDkristich]

And 19. Why do you always leave him out?

9.2 million X 5 years reasons why

love his past, not his present nor his contract

 

[AtNightWeFly]

9.2 million X 5 years reasons why

love his past, not his present nor his contract

It's as bad as Captain Chicago. I was stunned with how many Caps fans were pleased with that signing.

 

[troyerlaw]

backstrom and carlson are getting 1st line paychecks to produce and play like 4th liners. yep, i said it. come at me ;-)

The discrepancy between salary and play is even worse with Kuz IMO. Holtby once said Kuz ‘has the potential to be a top-5 player in this league.’ Right now i’d settle for top-50. At least Nicky knows how to win the occasional faceoff.

 

[Ovie's Neighbor]

People keep saying we had similar lulls when we won the cup with Trotz but that just isn't true. Our worst month we went 6-6-2 and we went 13-5 in March/April. This year we went 4-7-2 in February and are not showing any signs of turning it on. I wish I shared the optimism of other posters.

 

[DanTHEMan71]

People keep saying we had similar lulls when we won the cup with Trotz but that just isn't true. Our worst month we went 6-6-2 and we went 13-5 in March/April. This year we went 4-7-2 in February and are not showing any signs of turning it on. I wish I shared the optimism of other posters.

Every team goes through bad stretches. The difference is Trotz and that coaching staff were actually competent.

 

[Zazzaro703]

PP1 cant enter the zone, and Kuzy is wasted on PP2.
And Backstrom needs to shoot one of these days on the PP. He knows that he's allowed to, right?

On that note, when was the last time Carlson kept the PK honest and fired a few or did something other than pass to Backstrom or Ovi? The whole operation just seems uninspired with no plan other than to use their talent to win.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

It’s cute Flyers fans think they can come here and trash talk.

 

[Holtbyisms]

God we f***ing suck right now.

 

[Ovie's Neighbor]

On that note, when was the last time Carlson kept the PK honest and fired a few or did something other than pass to Backstrom or Ovi? The whole operation just seems uninspired with no plan other than to use their talent to win.

It’s so frustrating. He has a cannon I don’t understand why he doesn’t shoot more. We used to be able to punish teams for committing a player to take away OV. Now we just look confused.

 

[AtNightWeFly]

On that note, when was the last time Carlson kept the PK honest and fired a few or did something other than pass to Backstrom or Ovi? The whole operation just seems uninspired with no plan other than to use their talent to win.

Him too! Last game they said he has scored 1 goal on the PP all season. My jaw literally dropped.
Todd seems to have the balls only to punish/demote Kuzy and no one else.