GDT: MTL @ WAS 7PM - Unleash the MEH
- Thread starter g00n
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RedRocking
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CapitalsCupReality
It’s Go Time!!
- Feb 27, 2002
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Fred22406Capsfan
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- Jan 19, 2020
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notDkristich
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- Jan 27, 2013
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Langway
In den Wolken
- Jul 7, 2006
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A bottom five finish seems unlikely...but they're not all that far from it. The bottom four teams are really, really bad. But the Caps aren't clearly better than teams like Minnesota or Arizona. They squarely belong in the bottom ten. Slow, boring, sloppy, unintelligent. Extremely, extremely limited upside.
CapitalsCupReality
It’s Go Time!!
- Feb 27, 2002
- 64,673
- 19,513
The roster is severely flawed and I don’t really want to put any blame on HCSC yet…. But man.. they are playing worse than their skill level. The offensive schemes and pressures are awful and have not improved at all. They lack any cohesiveness, no details, they miss the easy plays.
Ovie's Neighbor
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- Jan 23, 2007
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I don’t think anyone is without fault. But the roster is so flawed in my opinion that no coach can get this team to win. We have a bottom 5 roster in talent. So not sure what people expect.
RedRocking
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Alexander the Gr8
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The good thing is that we’ll never see them play in those cursed blue jerseys anymore.
SherVaughn30
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I think the Rookie Coach defense stops needing to be an excuse for Carbery. He ran the Leafs PP last year, which was ranked 2nd. The fact that he hasn't been able to have a positive effect here, means either Kirk Muller is not a good PP coach or the Leafs talent made Carbery look better than he was. I still like Carbery, but I'm one of the idea that being slower and older can be an excuse. Older/Slower teams can still beat faster teams by playing smart and working harder than the opposition. I don't see the Caps outworking teams and I don't see them simplifying enough to generate more shots on goal. It's almost like they feel they must match offensively what their faster opponents do. No, you work harder and generate shots where ever you can, while attacking the net for rebounds. If the D-men are shooting more pucks and creating more, that results in more goals, then opponents have respect the Caps D more. It's like a domino effect. The D start scoring, then the forwards will start scoring more frequently.
SherVaughn30
Registered User
Looked at some highlights. Kuemper's body language tells me he's not enjoying this(who would), but also he's not being as sharp as he can be. He might be having a mental hurdle to recover his better form. I'm still of the proponent that Scott Murray is weak helping vet goalies improve their mental game. Murray wasn't able to help Holtby maintain his high peak and I see the same problem with Kuemper.
Langway
In den Wolken
- Jul 7, 2006
- 32,413
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I think there's just a resignation effect at play while this core is in place. How much can a staff really get on a vet group that often doesn't look up for the task? We saw this with new PP tactics early in the season. The old dogs were unable to embrace new ideas so they reverted basically back to the same form. 5v5 more or less we can only expect the same. The same glide. The same sloppiness. It's all they've got.
Unless they want to make it miserable Hunter Hockey again there's not much of an active, up-tempo style they can play effectively. They also don't have a real tone-setting on-ice leader that does it all. Carlson plays a lot but to the point of being ragged and seemingly neutralizing much of his offensive impact. If there's a miscue it's in that usage and how it only further hampers them offensively. Overall I'm not sure Love has done much to make the blueline any better. Fehervary has had a good season but some of that's just normal progression.
They had an injury excuse last year for being well off pace. They I suppose wanted to believe Lavi and others were also limiting them. But they're just an old, slow, sloppy flawed roster. Too easy to play against and basically done competitively.
Alexander the Gr8
Registered User
To what would you attribute their limited success in the 1st half if not for hard work? Motivation has never been a problem in my opinion. If anything, I think they spend too much energy trying to cycle all the time and it just tires them out.
The tactics can and should change, but the options are certainly limited without completely exposing the back end.
SherVaughn30
Registered User
He should have had 2 goals tonight. He beat a screened Montembeault on a low shot, but it was just very bad luck it hit flush on the post!
SherVaughn30
Registered User
Lindgren. Caps were winning games being outshot by the opponent. They weren't necessarily outworking other teams. It was more like a rope-a-dope effect with clutch scoring. Lindgren was stealing games, while the team was stubborn allowing the opponent through the middle. The team winning games and having a substantial negative goal differential was not sustainable.
Alexander the Gr8
Registered User
So what were your expectations for the season and Carbery then? Because to me, he’s doing about as well as you could reasonably expect with a roster like that.
SherVaughn30
Registered User
Carbery should have had the team go to a neutral zone trap system and counter-attack. The Devils made that system so effective against other teams that wanted to play faster and aggressive. Yes it was boring, but it was very effective for them winning games. You can't force an older/slower roster to play a faster tempo game in all 3 zones. The reason the Caps keep making the same mistakes, because the system being used does not fit with the current roster. The Caps have a good set of prospects playing in Hershey that would fit Carbery's system a lot better, but first they need to move a chunk of the older roster(minus OV).
SherVaughn30
Registered User
I was expecting a better PP and for Carbery to get Mantha going. As we found out now, Kuzy's drug problem was more serious then we thought, because I felt maybe Kuzy would have a jump start with Carbery. I also felt Carbery would help OV continue along scoring goals. As someone else mentioned, Carbery has done a fairly good job coaching team defense, but I haven't seen the offensive output in his coaching. He dialed back the D joining the offensive attack, but it has had a negative domino effect on the forwards scoring output. Kuemper I'm not surprised with his dip in play, because Scott Murray did the same exact damn thing to Holtby.
What bothers me, and it might be a rookie coach mistakes, is the teams being excessive in shot selection. Just my opinion, I would have had this roster emphasize more on shot volume and attack for rebounds, while trying at best to work harder than the opponent. Other teams might be faster with skill, but they can still be outworked by lesser skilled teams if the system/players play smart.
AZ Caps Fan
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I hope that helps. They've both clearly hit the wall. Sucks after AP got his extension.
SherVaughn30
Registered User
The way I see it, the majority of opponents are younger/faster, so you can't match head to head in all 3 zones. There is the human habit of wanting to score goals a certain way because it looks good, which is what the Caps opponents are doing to them. Opponents skate fast and play very aggressive. You can counter that with a neutral zone trap and quick passing. I don't care how fast the other team is. They won't be fast enough to chase a fast moving puck in rapid succession! When O-Zone entry is established, you move the puck around quickly. The opponent has two options, either chase aggressively or read and react. Quick passing, no matter what, will open up shot lanes if executed properly. Simplify and shoot with the intent to go for rebounds or create traffic. While the Caps forward roster is not fast to get into open spots, they do have the physical size to get to the front of the net.
The flaw I see in Carbery's system with this roster, it is designed too much in which it has to be executed perfectly or else it falls apart and backfires on the 5-man unit on the ice.
trick9
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- Jun 2, 2013
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Well, this was a poor one. The next 4 games might put this season to bed, if it isn't already.
I don't think he was enjoying this very much, if i'm honest. He comes in when the game is 3-0 and his team is the one that's 30th in goals for, only behind Sharks and 'hawks. I think you could say the same thing about several other players... few lines had some good shifts down 3-0 but you could tell from some guys play that they knew they were never going to turn that 3-0 deficit around.
I don't think he was enjoying this very much, if i'm honest. He comes in when the game is 3-0 and his team is the one that's 30th in goals for, only behind Sharks and 'hawks. I think you could say the same thing about several other players... few lines had some good shifts down 3-0 but you could tell from some guys play that they knew they were never going to turn that 3-0 deficit around.
Empty Goal Net
Do I see another GOAT?
- Feb 13, 2010
- 4,388
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For that to work, shooters need produce shots on goal or at least near the net and non-shooters need to be smart enough to anticipate where to go and/or physically capable of putting themselves into position to place their stick on a rebound or deflection. Can they generate the needed volume of 'good' shots? We've seen so many of their perimeter shots go wide and leave the zone on the other side. And oftentimes the players do not anticipate where a missed shot is headed. I'm not saying it's not worth trying, just that I doubt the results would be much better with this group.
As a group, do the Capitals players have 'hockey smarts?' Nicky certainly did. Osh is above average. CMM might. But based on what my eyes see, way too many fall short in the hockey smart stat, however that's measured.
But losing to a crappy team certainly helps the tank!
StrikingDistance
Buford T. Justice
Turned it off after the 1st. Sounds like they became more competitive but couldn't cash-in on their chances. It's a broken record. The only noticeable Caps player in the 1st was Patches...understandable. Everyone else looked like they forgot how to play hockey.
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