GDT: G3: Caps @ Senators - 7:00pm

[Ovie's Neighbor]

I've seen countless shots of Ovie on the bench, huffing and puffing from a vigorous shift while still energetically wiping his visor, downing some coke, and maybe having a spit or two in between verbal jabs at someone on the ice.

Tonight when I saw him he looked like a regular guy pushing 40, gasping for air, and suddenly finding everything a lot harder than it used to be.

Starting to get a little concerned.

I agree. It doesn’t seem like he’s ever taken his conditioning seriously but he was able to get away with it and would get in shape in camp and during the season. Well he can’t do that anymore at 38. The way players like Chelios, Iginla, Jagr, Thornton, Selanne were able to still play at that age is because they were conditioning freaks. OV is going to have to change his routine if he wants to break the record.

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

Carbery to reporters in OTT on the 6-1 loss: “We’re really struggling right now from a standpoint of we’ve got a lot of guys that are looking to find their game early in the season, and aren’t there yet…Usually, it’s a few but we’ve got more than you would call normal.”

In other words, we are working through some things in the room.

 

[Dr John Carlson]

Calling it now - Uncle Ted has these Twitter analytics people on the payroll so that he can justify putting the screws on Carbery to play Ovechkin 20 minutes a night. For the record, I support this plan.

 

[Coldplay619]

I agree. It doesn’t seem like he’s ever taken his conditioning seriously but he was able to get away with it and would get in shape in camp and during the season. Well he can’t do that anymore at 38. The way players like Chelios, Iginla, Jagr, Thornton, Selanne were able to still play at that age is because they were conditioning freaks. OV is going to have to change his routine if he wants to break the record.

I see Ovi much like Iginla, both similar styles. Iginla fell off at 38 years old before playing his last game the following year. Not for a lack of trying to find suitors as well.

It might just be time. I hope his play improves because this is sad...

 

[traparatus]

Carbery to reporters in OTT on the 6-1 loss: “We’re really struggling right now from a standpoint of we’ve got a lot of guys that are looking to find their game early in the season, and aren’t there yet…Usually, it’s a few but we’ve got more than you would call normal.”

In other words, we are working through some things in the room.

Have they looked under the couch cushions? That's where I usually find all my lost stuff.

 

[WanderingCapsFan]

Carbery to reporters in OTT on the 6-1 loss: “We’re really struggling right now from a standpoint of we’ve got a lot of guys that are looking to find their game early in the season, and aren’t there yet…Usually, it’s a few but we’ve got more than you would call normal.”

In other words, we are working through some things in the room.

"We've got a lot of guys who are old and slow and useless, And they're taking up most of the salary cap. Then, we've got a lot of guys who should be in the AHL. So, were f*****d."

 

[Empty Goal Net]

You wonder if this meteoric intrusion of reality is making any impression on Ted, or if he’s still inventing ways to believe that discarding age and asset deterioration and all the myriad ways that the game had changed since he lucked into Ovi almost 20 years ago can still be ignored. The degree to which this organization has failed to keep up with how the game has changed has been laid bare. Feel bad for Carbs.

The most likely impression on Ted - if any - is concern that the public will tire of buying tickets during an ever-more plodding trudge toward #895. Then all the marketing in the world won't be able to get butts in the seats and sell the merch.

 

[Chokingdogs]

A future sweater C should do more than fight. No one views Reeves as a captain in waiting.

No one ever did, or ever will.

 

[PlushMinus]

And, of course, nothing on the PP. Re: the PP I just put it on the vets reverting back to their comfort zone rather than embracing the less familiar. I think that's the big challenge at this point. What can Carbery do if they're not truly receptive? How does he go about rewarding those that are receptive vs. those that aren't in a way that doesn't lose the later? Without full buy-in they're not going very far. Even if they get it they're so limited defensively that it's not going to be just that simple.

Carberry's hands will be tied.

The tail wags the dog on this team. And the tail consists of the old guys who Ted slurps over and - how does CCR put it - cradles their balls.

Ted: "Now Spencer, Ovie called me and said Backy isn't pleased about getting bumped to the 2nd PP unit. In fact both of them are here with me now. I'm cradling their balls, I've got two hands, I can manage that easily. Okay gotta go. TJ is here and we're discussing his next contract. Oh wait Johnny C just arrived. Damn I really need an extra pair of hands. Anyway, make sure Backy is on PP1 again next game."

 

[Roshi]

Time to accept & embrace that we are done. Theres nothing to look for glimpses of hope.

And thats fine. Its been coming. Time to tank. Just sucks this is the wrong season to go full tank mode, but i guess its fine because we are set for the tank for next year too

I hope this isnt it for Ovie. Will be tough pill to see him chasing the last 73 if he doesnt find another gear. It might be a long and cringy hunt with mostly empty netters..

What im most suprised is how breathless and unmotivated the team looks as a whole (only Wilson looks like he cares). I thought that was Carberys strong feature, to get the guys interested. Not an easy spot for a rookie coach but lets see how he adjusts.

but yeah, its 3 games. 79 to go and TDL is months away.

 

[trick9]

This went around as well as was expected.

Looks like our entire core may not actually improve with age.

2 blowouts and a SO win in a game where we propably should have been blown out in the 1st period all against... (checks notes) 3 non-Playoff teams?! Next week or so is going to be pretty interesting. Start with a game against a really poor Habs team and finish against the top tanking contender Sharks. In between there are games against Leafs, Devils and Wild (yikes).

 

[Acallabeth]

I agree. It doesn’t seem like he’s ever taken his conditioning seriously but he was able to get away with it and would get in shape in camp and during the season. Well he can’t do that anymore at 38. The way players like Chelios, Iginla, Jagr, Thornton, Selanne were able to still play at that age is because they were conditioning freaks. OV is going to have to change his routine if he wants to break the record.

What makes you say Ovechkin doesn't take his conditioning seriously? His training is not advertised as much as some other guys', but he's been spending summers with his personal trainer since before the NHL. To think that AO went half a year without training much to get in shape during the camp and the season seems a bit naive. His preference for very high-caloric food is infamous, though.

Anyway, at 38 years old most of the guys were depth players (maybe not Selanne), conditioning freaks or not. Chara still run marathons, but he's years removed from being an effective an NHL player. The Caps are still expecting Ovechkin to lead them in scoring I guess.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Glad I missed this one. That box score does not look good

 

[g00n]

Carbery to reporters in OTT on the 6-1 loss: “We’re really struggling right now from a standpoint of we’ve got a lot of guys that are looking to find their game early in the season, and aren’t there yet…Usually, it’s a few but we’ve got more than you would call normal.”

In other words, we are working through some things in the room.

Translation: "Nobody worked out in the offseason and they're all out of shape. They didn't think a rookie coach would work their asses off and saw me as a disciplinary step down from Lavi. I put them all together on lines to see if they could hack it and they couldn't. Then when they were matched with younger, faster skaters it got even worse. So the next 2-3 weeks are going to be pretty painful while these guys finish their extended preseason. Let's hope nobody gets hurt."

The most likely impression on Ted - if any - is concern that the public will tire of buying tickets during an ever-more plodding trudge toward #895. Then all the marketing in the world won't be able to get butts in the seats and sell the merch.

Wasn't the last home game the first time they haven't sold out in many years?

The writing is on the wall.

 

[ovikovy817]

I have a new method to watch Caps games for this year.
Starting to watch the game in replay without knowing the final score as usual but then after the first goal against I open the NHL app to see the score.
Then watching just the highlights/fights/Caps' power plays

2 hours saved this morning. Not bad.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

I saw tickets were under $20 on stub last game. Might be a cheap date this season if you like bad hockey lol

 

[Langway]

Such a tough situation for Carbery to step into. How do you challenge vets whose confidence level is probably not great? How do you avoid stepping on their toes but not let standards drop? It would be easier if secondary support pieces were consistently going and picking up some of the leadership slack. But there continues to be a gulf in that area and it's only grown worse after the deadline subtractions. Then Carbery has to deal with other vets that are perhaps more confident but basically arrogant/selfish in having grown to pick and choose their engagement. It's a lot of instability to step into and quickly sort out, esp. given that a lot of secondary pieces aren't ideal either.

Getting nothing from the PP is the biggest concern I think. (That and Ovechkin, of course, given how much he's still relied on at his age to carry them.) There's less of an athleticism excuse on the PP and also less of an evident thought process to believe more reps get it sorted. It's bound to improve but the underlying play has been more like they're mailing it in than testing things out. Overall...too weak/casual and lacking in crispness.

Best that can be done is strengthen weak links so they have a higher floor, which should mean Johansen's brief time is over. They need to see what they have in HHA while Edmundson remains out, particularly with Sandin not playing great and a need for another PKer. I'm not sure there are many more cards to play other dumping Mantha to open up space, to just move on already and subtract one headcase from the mix. There's so much off-kilter about them that doesn't seem like a quick fix or a matter of going over video. Bottom line is they need more functional headline talent because only Carlson is living up to the name/AAV. I doubt there's much Carbery can do other than wait on them to figure it out and balance it out as best as he can. Ovechkin you'd think should figure it out unless there's an injury limiting him. But the rest? It may be a long wait. Jensen should also rebound but Kuznetsov/Backstrom/Oshie/Mantha take up over a third of their cap space and there's just not much left there IMO.

 

[bacchist]

The only criticism of the coaching I do think is fair is that our PP looks the same. I would have hoped they spent the entire offseason and training camp working on a new system. Especially after all the talk about the new look. Someone help me understand.

How can you have a new look on the power play if you have to have Ovechkin out there for a full two minutes every single time doing the same thing he always does? He stays on the perimeter, where he can't contribute or disrupt. Once or twice in those 2 minutes, he might shank one wide. And 2 or 3 times he'll fail to keep it in the zone.

I'm not sure Carb and co have any freedom to change the defining feature of the power play. I just hope they get the benefit of the doubt and have a chance to show what they can do after this washed up core is gone.

 

[Empty Goal Net]

///

I hope this isnt it for Ovie. Will be tough pill to see him chasing the last 73 if he doesnt find another gear. It might be a long and cringy hunt with mostly empty netters..

///

. . . and we all know that opportunities for empty netters come only when teams have a lead near the end of the match. How often will that happen this season?

 

[Midnight Judges]

It's pretty obvious that this team came out playing its best hockey in the first period with everyone skating hard and putting in a good effort. The line changes were much better than the previous two games too.

And they scored zero goals.

This team flat out sucks.

Ovechkin and Backstrom look like they should have retired already. What is that - $17M in cap space? The scrubs coming up from Hershey are better than them at this point.

 

[Capsman]

I agree. It doesn’t seem like he’s ever taken his conditioning seriously but he was able to get away with it and would get in shape in camp and during the season. Well he can’t do that anymore at 38. The way players like Chelios, Iginla, Jagr, Thornton, Selanne were able to still play at that age is because they were conditioning freaks. OV is going to have to change his routine if he wants to break the record.

This. And, something I’ve mentioned multiple times, adjusting his game. Working on puck handling, shielding the puck, etc. He won’t get to 894 if his line never maintains possession.

 

[sycamore]

I've been criticizing Backstrom for the past 3 years or so, only to get shouted down by fellow Caps fans. Not allowed to criticize those sacred cows.

 

[crazy8888]

What surprised me the most so far is how similar things look, considering all the "system changes" that were talked about during the summer. Especially the power play! WTF are they doing out there?
What happened to all the new looks they discussed to keep the teams on their toes? Oshie still taking faceoffs and losing most of them. No chance at possession to begin the power play. Always chasing. Zone entries still suck.
On that note, can somebody please tell me why year after year they insist on Oshie taking faceoffs on the power play? I understand strategically they want a righty taking the faceoff on that side but at the end of the day is it not better to just win the faceoff instead of chasing after the puck over and over? Statistically Backstrom is better at faceoffs no? Why is he not taking them?

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Translation: "Nobody worked out in the offseason and they're all out of shape.

I don’t buy that….

 

[Brian23]

What makes you say Ovechkin doesn't take his conditioning seriously? His training is not advertised as much as some other guys', but he's been spending summers with his personal trainer since before the NHL.

Ovi has notoriously not taking care of himself as a top athlete should, this isn't even really a question. For years the joke was he'd show up to camp well overweight because he knew he'd get into shape over the season. The dude still drinks soda on the bench during games. It's a testament to what a freak of nature he is that he's been as good as he's been while not putting his all into conditioning, but he certainly could have been even better if he had hard committed like some of the other freaks around the league.

There's a real world where Ovi just hits a wall. I'm not at that point yet, but I have less confidence he gets close to a PPG if he continues his style and level of current play.