GDT: Rivalry night Caps @ Flyers. 8pm nbcsn

[g00n]

Extremely small nit here and I agree with the rest of your post, and maybe Holtby feels differently than I do, but as a goalie, I would want that 3rd goal back. He got caught watching Green's train wreck (which, in fairness, I don't think anybody except Giroux could look away from) and was off both his depth and angle.

I just watched it again on NHL.com. Carlson and Fehr are crossing right in front of Holtby at the top of the crease, and Giroux split them immediately when the puck popped out. There was no time for Holtby to do anything and he was on the post where he should've been based on Green's position, but Green made a sudden, bad move up ice and squirted the puck directly to Giroux. There was nowhere for him to go with 2 Caps in front of him, either.

What did Holtby actually do wrong in that situation, compared to the good plays by the Flyers, the bad play and decision by Green, and the ill-advised and lazy moves of Carlson and Fehr directly in front of the crease with no attention paid to either Flyer?

All we can say is we wish he would have made a great save to cover up for that mess. Nobody was working in his favor on that play. It may as well have been 5 on zero.

 

[PRicci09]

Extremely small nit here and I agree with the rest of your post, and maybe Holtby feels differently than I do, but as a goalie, I would want that 3rd goal back. He got caught watching Green's train wreck (which, in fairness, I don't think anybody except Giroux could look away from) and was off both his depth and angle.

Agree 100%.

 

[Ajax1995]

McPhee's handling of his young goalies has been a monumental failure. They need to develop, and they need to play. One bad goal, and the goalie competition is in their heads. Starter by committee may work but it needs to be well managed, but someone is getting shorted development time.

I think a decent amount of that is trying to develop more than one young goaltender in the NHL at a time. No young goaltender gets to the NHL without being a workhorse at lower the lower level but then they get to DC if the other guy is hot they may sit for a while, which is something they have likely never done before.

Mentally I think it is likely hard to go from being used to playing 3/4 of the games to playing 1/4 or less of them. I think it takes time to develop the mentality to be able to do that for the most part.

I think if you are going to try to develop 2 young goaltenders at the same time in the NHL you and your coaching staff need to commit to a more or less every other game rotation so both are still playing regularly.

And it isn't like you can't develop a young goaltender that way as Roy only played in the mid to high 40's in games per season his first 4 years in the league.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

It's weird though. These are offense-focused actions. It's almost like he's resigned himself to being a spot shooter.

It's very frustrating. He doesn't even hit and play with that passion he used to play with. I understand players get older and that stuff can taper off, but you expect that other parts of his game would get better to offset those declines in other areas but as you say, he's almost like a 3 point shooting specialist...

 

[g00n]

Agree 100%.

Point out exactly what he did wrong on that play, where he should have been and what he should have done.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Downey gets to shoot at ENGs from before center red, Ovi... nope.

The more games I see the more I think Oates is an idiot. For such a cerebral guy, he must be over thinking far too much in what is really a simple game.

It's been amusing to watch your Oates hate build over the past few months...

Thanks for that at least!

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Mike Green is the definition of a Fool's Gold Hockey player.

He is a tremendously inconsistent player who looks like he could care
less about his weaknesses. He is a spoiled brat. Spoiled rotten.

The fact that GMGM doesn't see it is professional negligence in my opinion.

I don't see that at all.

 

[swimmer77]

I fear for Halak.

I don't like Oates.

I don't like Oates' system (or lack thereof?).

I like GMGM more than Oates.

I don't like Calle.

I don't like Kolzig based on what I've read.

The only think this team has is a powerplay and Ovechkin. The only thing that Oates has done is bring Ovi somewhat back to life or has he even done that? Most of Ovechkin's goals are off of the PP from you know where. He still isn't really scoring those highlight reel goals from years gone by. Who is in charge of the powerplay? Is the main goal of this organization to keep Ovi happy?

I fear for Halak because Dale Hunter didn't come with him. The display last night in the first two periods was putrid. Halak was at his best playing in a very structured system. I hope fans are not expecting the 2010 version.

I think he is a goaltender that excels with a ton of shots against so that maybe will help. But with this group many of those are scoring chances whereas with a structured system (JM or Hunter) those chances are minimized.

One more thing about Oates - IDK how many times, when the Caps have been losing, has the camera shown him with a smirk or laughing it up with the boys. That just annoys the crap out of me and I saw it again last night.

Geez, I'm starting to like Hunter more and more and more and more.

 

[Calicaps]

It's very frustrating. He doesn't even hit and play with that passion he used to play with. I understand players get older and that stuff can taper off, but you expect that other parts of his game would get better to offset those declines in other areas but as you say, he's almost like a 3 point shooting specialist...

Oates helped him find his shooting confidence. That's undeniable, but the system is stifling other parts of his game. We've seen a few games this season, where he basically broke the rules and played like himself and he was dominant.

But yes, the "system" has relegated him to "specialist".

 

[RandyHolt]

I think a decent amount of that is trying to develop more than one young goaltender in the NHL at a time. No young goaltender gets t....

Good post.

I think it's good to always be developing one at basically every level, until the best emerge.

Not have 3 kids at the NHL level, as we have this year.

It's takes time to filter out the best one, but if in the process, half request trades, management has simply dropped the ball.

Especially if they end up being the best of the bunch.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Oates helped him find his shooting confidence. That's undeniable, but the system is stifling other parts of his game. We've seen a few games this season, where he basically broke the rules and played like himself and he was dominant.

But yes, the "system" has relegated him to "specialist".

More coaching blame? It's the IN thing I guess. Do the coaches prevent him from playing with the same fire he used to? Do they make him play poorly in his own zone?

What about the "system" in your eyes are preventing these things?

 

[ChibiPooky]

Arguable but the play happened so fast right on the side while Holtby was getting set after playing the puck, right? It was a quick turnover and shot that came out of nowhere. More of a symptom of the entire game's flow than a simple "softie" imo.

I didn't say it was soft, I said I'd want it back. Goalies want a lot of goals back that aren't soft.

I just watched it again on NHL.com. Carlson and Fehr are crossing right in front of Holtby at the top of the crease, and Giroux split them immediately when the puck popped out. There was no time for Holtby to do anything and he was on the post where he should've been based on Green's position, but Green made a sudden, bad move up ice and squirted the puck directly to Giroux. There was nowhere for him to go with 2 Caps in front of him, either.

What did Holtby actually do wrong in that situation, compared to the good plays by the Flyers, the bad play and decision by Green, and the ill-advised and lazy moves of Carlson and Fehr directly in front of the crease with no attention paid to either Flyer?

All we can say is we wish he would have made a great save to cover up for that mess. Nobody was working in his favor on that play. It may as well have been 5 on zero.

There is nobody close enough to the crease to impede Holtby's movement. Upon watching the replay many times, he does come out to challenge, but not far enough. His angle is also slightly off because he doesn't have time to set up to the shooter. When you don't have your angle, you have to push further out in order to cut off the angle. Holtby only pushes to the spot he would have wanted to be at if he were on the angle.

Note that I don't blame Holtby for this goal, but if I'm Holtby, I definitely think I can make that save more often than not. That's why he'd want it back - not because it's his fault, but because he thinks it's a save he can make.

 

[ChibiPooky]

Oates helped him find his shooting confidence. That's undeniable, but the system is stifling other parts of his game. We've seen a few games this season, where he basically broke the rules and played like himself and he was dominant.

But yes, the "system" has relegated him to "specialist".

More coaching blame? It's the IN thing I guess. Do the coaches prevent him from playing with the same fire he used to? Do they make him play poorly in his own zone?

What about the "system" in your eyes are preventing these things?

I'm not talking about a systemic flaw here. I'm talking about watching as the puck comes to Ovechkin along the boards, and instead of making a hockey play (head up, look for an outlet or dump it up the boards), he just whacks at the puck or flips it out cross-rink to nobody.

I also notice a lot of Capitals making weak plays on the puck (body out of position). That's a mental/compete issue, not system, and it's contagious. Ovechkin does it notoriously on the boards trying to spring a rush, but he's far from the only one and it results in terrible possession.

 

[Calicaps]

More coaching blame? It's the IN thing I guess. Do the coaches prevent him from playing with the same fire he used to? Do they make him play poorly in his own zone?

What about the "system" in your eyes are preventing these things?

I don't excuse Ovi's bad defensive play. I have been one of his top critics in that regard all year. But I do believe the system limits his more aggressive offensive play. If only because unless they get offense off the rush, his line has had no forecheck all year. They are a terrible possession team and that makes it difficult for him to play his bull-in-a-china-shop style. Maybe it's personnel and not system, but it's certainly coaching/management related.

I'm not talking about a systemic flaw here. I'm talking about watching as the puck comes to Ovechkin along the boards, and instead of making a hockey play (head up, look for an outlet or dump it up the boards), he just whacks at the puck or flips it out cross-rink to nobody.

I also notice a lot of Capitals making weak plays on the puck (body out of position). That's a mental/compete issue, not system, and it's contagious. Ovechkin does it notoriously on the boards trying to spring a rush, but he's far from the only one and it results in terrible possession.

Misunderstood. Apologies. Totally agree about his—and the team's—defensive board play. Yesterday there was an egregious example of this—can't recall which Cap—on one of the PKs. All the time in the world to clear and half-assed it up the wall right to a Flyers player at the point.

 

[g00n]

Misunderstood. Apologies. Totally agree about his—and the team's—defensive board play. Yesterday there was an egregious example of this—can't recall which Cap—on one of the PKs. All the time in the world to clear and half-assed it up the wall right to a Flyers player at the point.

That might have been Alzner. Philly scored right after that.

 

[Calicaps]

That might have been Alzner. Philly scored right after that.

Yep. That was it.