GDT: PP Specialist visiting Shrek and his GF, 8PM

[SimplySensational]

So ****ing annoying that they finally are playing a good possession game and getting no PPs. 3 PPs in this 3 game stretch.

 

[g00n]

Oates blames failure to change lines on last 2 goals:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...ing-up-late-lead-against-penguins-we-blew-it/


Ok, counting the OT loss recently where a line change wasn't made, that's at least 2 games we "blew" for this reason. Why?

FTA:


“Last thing I said going out for the third is, ‘You’ve gotta know how much juice you’ve got in the tank because, we played last night. They didn’t,’” Oates said.

“It’s responsibility for guys to come, you’re yelling to change and [players] get caught up in the moment [thinking], ‘Maybe we can get one more rush out of it,’” Oates said. “When you do you’ve got to be able to get back. You can’t gamble — there’s mistakes. It’s a shame because you played a good hockey game.”


So again, "the players ****ed up and they're not listening to me".

 

[Hivemind]

Shift length clearly is a problem for this team, and it has been since before Oates. It seems like a cultural thing that extends from Ovechkin on down. He's the team captain and also the worst perpetrator of stretching out shifts. That said, someone needs to get control of it, and Oates has failed to do so.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I disagree. Just because he can win a cup in Anaheim doesn't mean he could do it here. Way to many other variables and at the end, the well had been poisoned no matter how good BB is.

It will just go a little further in solidifying the position of those of us who have always believed the issue was the recipe/ingredients and not the Chef.

That and so many haters from other fanbases back during the 24/7 stint swore up and down he was a product of Ovechkin and nothing more. He's proving what some of us always believed, he's a great coach. That said, at that time, McPhee having let the roster stagnate and fester like it did, they still had to make the change, certainly not second guessing that.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Urbom-Oleksy is easily the best possible third pairing.

What a bonehead move to waive Urbom.

They (I'm going to start calling THEM, "The Authority" in WWE deference) clearly disagree. The Toronto version of Erskine is certainly worthy, but we get that 3 times a year tops.

 

[NeilYoung]

The real problem with that third pairing is Erskine, he's not close to the player he used to be for whatever reason.

Look at any of the d's numbers with and without Erskine. Statistically Erskine is one of the worst players in the league this year.

They could throw something as pathetic as Schmidt and Strachen out there and the results would probably be stronger

 

[Stewie G]

I can't imagine a ton of people had a problem with Bruce as a regular season coach, at least until "The Switch". My issue was his playoff performances. He showed almost no ability to adapt within a series. I didn't watch much of the Ducks' series last year, but did he show any signs of improvement? I think Anaheim fans may start whistling a different tune if they see the same "Playoff Bruce" that we saw here.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Shift length clearly is a problem for this team, and it has been since before Oates. It seems like a cultural thing that extends from Ovechkin on down. He's the team captain and also the worst perpetrator of stretching out shifts. That said, someone needs to get control of it, and Oates has failed to do so.

Disasgree that it's a cultural thing. I think it's a personnel thing. To many personnel groupings get pinned inside their own zone, lengthening their shift length.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

The real problem with that third pairing is Erskine, he's not close to the player he used to be for whatever reason.

Look at any of the d's numbers with and without Erskine. Statistically Erskine is one of the worst players in the league this year.

They could throw something as pathetic as Schmidt and Strachen out there and the results would probably be stronger

Erskine is the same player he's always been. He had an unusually effective stretch last season and since then has reverted into the same old John Erskine who's too slow to keep up with the play and doesn't use his physical strength and toughness nearly enough.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

Erskine is the same player he's always been. He had an unusually effective stretch last season and since then has reverted into the same old John Erskine who's too slow to keep up with the play and doesn't use his physical strength and toughness nearly enough.

It was barely a stretch -it was just 30 games. And he wasn't unusally effective. By happenstance, his goaltenders were unusually effective when he happened to be on the ice.

 

[BiPolar Caps]

It was barely a stretch -it was just 30 games. And he wasn't unusally effective. By happenstance, his goaltenders were unusually effective when he happened to be on the ice.

His value was at its zenith after the Leafs game and his clash with Orr.

 

[BiPolar Caps]

Bruce was done here whether we like it or not. Ovechkin was barely on speaking terms with him when he left and that's neither tenable nor repairable.

McPhee AND Boudreau should have been relieved of their duties together.

The video capturing Ovie mouthing "fat ****" when Boudreau didn't put him out in the waning minutes of a game pretty much sealed his fate. Somewhat of a Shanny/RGIII moment I suppose without the video evidence.

 

[Hivemind]

Disasgree that it's a cultural thing. I think it's a personnel thing. To many personnel groupings get pinned inside their own zone, lengthening their shift length.

While I'm not going to pretend they don't get trapped in their own zone, I think the culture deifnitely plays into it. They had the opportunity to change during the shift in question last night, but opted instead to stay out, and got themselves pinned because of it. Too often does the same line stay out for multiple rushes up and down the ice. This team pretty much only changes on dump ins and faceoffs.

 

[artilector]

I'm actually a fan of Carrick's skill set.

I just think he's a perfect example of a 3-year AHL guy. He needs to seriously bulk up and polish his game without the puck.

Yeah, Carrick is doing fine for a rookie. Just can't afford to have both him and Erskine on the same pairing, or for that matter to have two pairings that can be defensively suspect.

Bruce was done here whether we like it or not. Ovechkin was barely on speaking terms with him when he left and that's neither tenable nor repairable.

McPhee AND Boudreau should have been relieved of their duties together.

Yeah, it's too bad BB's all-offense teams didn't work out, and that's on McPhee for wasting like 20% of the cap space on players who contributed nothing. But then the balloon went out and he lost the team. Series against Tampa was pathetic, there was no coming back from that.

I propose we have two threads for each topic - one for the lefthanders and one for the righthanders.

Ahaha, yes!

Maybe we are seeing a change in direction from a development standpoint. Maybe its random, but the only injury was Erskine for a few weeks.

I am stunned to have seen so much of Carrick Schmidt Urbom and Orlov this year. I didn't expect to see any of that at all.

It's crazy that McPhee's D has zero UFA/acquired D men. It's all young players that have to rely on other young/inconsistent players to help them develop. It's insane, considering the whole Ovechkin prime years thing.

Should only be surprising to those that hate him due to his salary and soundbites.

When healthy, he's been a very good supporting player for a while now.

People highly dislike that he pretty much has a secure top-6 place no matter how he plays, which is absurd. However, as a certified Laich "hater" I gotta admit he played well yesterday. But at his best, he's no more effective than Chimmer & Ward, so yeah, his salary makes no sense.

 

[artilector]

One other thing that stood out for me yesterday was the huge amount of space that Pens D enjoyed on the point. I don't know if it's because Caps are instructed to collapse or because the forwards lose position, but IMO it's a recipe for playoff disaster. It's free shots followed by deflections and rebounds near the goal, which exposes the Caps D' weaknesses. I really don't get it, what's the use of wingers collapsing so much? It seems they would be a lot more useful putting pressure on the point men.

Really don't like collapsing tactics, especially with the personnel on this team..

 

[Capsman]

One other thing that stood out for me yesterday was the huge amount of space that Pens D enjoyed on the point. I don't know if it's because Caps are instructed to collapse or because the forwards lose position, but IMO it's a recipe for playoff disaster. It's free shots followed by deflections and rebounds near the goal, which exposes the Caps D' weaknesses. I really don't get it, what's the use of wingers collapsing so much? It seems they would be a lot more useful putting pressure on the point men.

Really don't like collapsing tactics, especially with the personnel on this team..

Depends on what you mean by collapsing; staying collapsed or collapsing and then skating out to put pressure on the point. I don't mind collapsing to take away passes into the crease or keep a Malkin-type from beating a defender one on one. Problem is we are either leaving our feet or skating hard to the shot lane, leaving ourselves vulnerable to exactly what Maata did. I would prefer that they approach the point man with a little more caution.

 

[Capsman]

The real problem with that third pairing is Erskine, he's not close to the player he used to be for whatever reason.

Look at any of the d's numbers with and without Erskine. Statistically Erskine is one of the worst players in the league this year.

They could throw something as pathetic as Schmidt and Strachen out there and the results would probably be stronger

Schmidt struggled in his last few games, but there was a lot to like with him. Some more AHL under his belt and he's a keeper.

 

[artilector]

Depends on what you mean by collapsing; staying collapsed or collapsing and then skating out to put pressure on the point. I don't mind collapsing to take away passes into the crease or keep a Malkin-type from beating a defender one on one. Problem is we are either leaving our feet or skating hard to the shot lane, leaving ourselves vulnerable to exactly what Maata did. I would prefer that they approach the point man with a little more caution.

I'm not sure what the difference is -- defensemen on the point have too much time to take a shot, and this also means that forwards have time to move into position to screen our goalie & deflect pucks. Whatever the reason for doing it, we're doing too much of it, IMO.

 

[malyk]

Looked at the stats on Extra Skater for the game last night and, if I'm reading them right, there were 9 defensive zone draws and the Erskine/Carrick pairing was on for 5 of them! Alzner/Carlson had 3 and Orlov/Green had 1.

I have no idea what CalleJo is thinking, but that doesn't seem to be the most idea situation. You want guys who can retrieve the puck and move it up the ice to start in those situations and you want to shield your worst pair a bit.

There were 15 Neutral Zone draws and Erskine/Carrick only took 3 of those. That's...not right. You've got to put one of the other pairs out there for the d zone faceoffs and put erskine and carrick out when the draws are up the ice.

 

[SimplySensational]

Shift length clearly is a problem for this team, and it has been since before Oates. It seems like a cultural thing that extends from Ovechkin on down. He's the team captain and also the worst perpetrator of stretching out shifts. That said, someone needs to get control of it, and Oates has failed to do so.

Ridiculous.

Ovechkin did the VO2 Max for 15 minutes and the NHL average is around 10 minutes.

Either way the problem is linked to lazy backchecking. No pressure, the other rushes off the ice and the players realise they have to stay on.

 

[Backstrom #19]

It's called playing with the cards you're dealt (in this case by GMGM).

Playing Erskine and Carrick is George's decision and not Oates's? Troy Brouwer playing top-6 minutes every game this year was his decision also? I like Oates as a coach so far but the fact he hasn't bumped Brouwer down yet is terrible.

 

[Hivemind]

One other thing that stood out for me yesterday was the huge amount of space that Pens D enjoyed on the point. I don't know if it's because Caps are instructed to collapse or because the forwards lose position, but IMO it's a recipe for playoff disaster. It's free shots followed by deflections and rebounds near the goal, which exposes the Caps D' weaknesses. I really don't get it, what's the use of wingers collapsing so much? It seems they would be a lot more useful putting pressure on the point men.

Really don't like collapsing tactics, especially with the personnel on this team..

It's not collapsing, at least not in the sense of what Jacques Martin or John Tortarella do defensively.

The Caps use an "overload" defensive zone scheme, similar to what New Jersey uses and what Philadelphia used under Laviolette (and perhaps still uses under Berube?), among others. It's not about collapsing around the net, so much as it's about attempting to create a numerical advantage on the side of the ice where the puck is and break up any cycle attempts. As a consequence, a lot of responsibility is left on F3 to cover the high slot and prevent back door plays, which ends up meaning that he has to play very loose compared the weakside point man. Additionally, F2 has the dual responsibility of covering the strongside boards to help break up the cycle, and the strongside point man.

If you maintain proper coverage, the defense shouldn't be able to get a clean pass the strongside point, and will have to collapse their formation to get the weakside point involved. The problem is the Caps aren't very good on the boards, and the other team can often best F2 to get the puck to the point. If they succeed at getting to the point, they can exploit the system's biggest flaw, reversing the ice.

 

[artilector]

It's not collapsing, at least not in the sense of what Jacques Martin or John Tortarella do defensively.

The Caps use an "overload" defensive zone scheme, similar to what New Jersey uses and what Philadelphia used under Laviolette (and perhaps still uses under Berube?), among others. It's not about collapsing around the net, so much as it's about attempting to create a numerical advantage on the side of the ice where the puck is and break up any cycle attempts. As a consequence, a lot of responsibility is left on F3 to cover the high slot and prevent back door plays, which ends up meaning that he has to play very loose compared the weakside point man. Additionally, F2 has the dual responsibility of covering the strongside boards to help break up the cycle, and the strongside point man.

If you maintain proper coverage, the defense shouldn't be able to get a clean pass the strongside point, and will have to collapse their formation to get the weakside point involved. The problem is the Caps aren't very good on the boards, and the other team can often best F2 to get the puck to the point. If they succeed at getting to the point, they can exploit the system's biggest flaw, reversing the ice.

Interesting explanation, thanks.

But a lot of the time it feels that when the puck gets to the point with lots of space, it's not because the Caps' players were over-aggressive in trying to win the puck, but because they stayed too passive in some vague zone-like coverage.

When an attacking player gets the puck on the half-boards, covered by the center or a d-man, our wingers often seem stuck in no-man's land. They're not really pressuring the guy, nor are they close to the point men; it's like they are covering some imaginary cross-ice lane..

I guess maybe part of the problem is not having strong 1-on-1 personnel, especially on D. You can't trust single coverage, so other guys end up cheating (or being less aggressive) to cover for a possible mistake, and as a result the whole unit gives opponents too much space.

 

[g00n]

It looks like all they're trying to do is force a shot from a bad angle and then take the rebound the other way. That's it. Not much commitment to actually creating a takeaway unless one falls in their lap, or unless you have grinders out there just throwing bodies and the puck comes loose.

Most of the time it's lean, poke, follow the puck like mites on ice, gather rebound, transition break out...

 

[Vladiator16*]

Boudreau still sucks though from what I'm told.

If he wins a Cup, the piles of crow will be large.

Its not IF, its WHEN, if not this year eventually he definitely will, incredible coach... Caps were like training wheels for him, "first wife" sort of speak... i miss that fat **** and watching Perutu... he is just getting better and more consistent... this organization turning into a graveyard.