GDT: Sharks @ Caps - 7:08PM EST

[twabby]

start a guy 10 feet from the net all the time and his fancy stats will reflect that…

dropping lines like “outscoring Kreider” is so silly….per 60 means next to Jack in such limited exposure.

In addition to my prior post: McMichael isn’t even all that sheltered in terms of zone starts compared to his teammates. He gets less generous zone starts than Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Wilson, Oshie, Backstrom, Protas, and Sprong, yet has better chance generation rates than all of them (and better chance suppression rates than most of them). It’s inaccurate and lazy to attribute his chance generation numbers to zone starts.

 

[HTFN]

Yeah this dead end train of thought gets me all riled up.

"We can't risk it, we don't know how they'll do"
"Have you considered... testing to see how they do?"
"What?! Don't get crazy."

 

[Hivemind]

I'm beyond frustrated with Laviolette's roster and ice time decisions, and agree that changes need to be made. But I'm not to the point of wanting Lavi fired. He's still a coach with a great 5v5 systems and a long track record of success both in the regular and post-season, and we're still in the 2-3 year window at the start of his tenure with a team that he achieves his best results (although, so far, the "Laviolette bump" is rather underwhelming in Washington). Maybe the GM needs to force Lavi's hands with some roster moves, or maybe COVID simply needs to take another pass at some of the roster's veterans to make the coach wake up and smell the coffee, but I do think Lavi has a lot to offer this team as a whole.


I am fully aboard with firing the long-tenured assistants who are directly in charge of the two biggest problem areas, Forsythe and Murray. I defended Forsythe longer than many here, and I think he can still be an asset to *some* NHL team, but it's clear at this point that he lacks the ability to adapt Washington's powerplay to overcome the challenges being thrown at it. Give him a big thanks for revolutionizing the systems deployed around the NHL on the PP, and then get someone else in his seat who can better adapt to the evolutions in penalty killing that have followed. Ten years with the same PP system is an awfully long time. And my rants about Scott Murray are long documented. But don't let him ruin some new goaltender as well. Even if we trade for a different vet goalie, a shitty goalie coach is more than capable of ruining a veteran during their time with a team.

 

[Hivemind]

Yeah this dead end train of thought gets me all riled up.

"We can't risk it, we don't know how they'll do"
"Have you considered... testing to see how they do?"
"What?! Don't get crazy."

If the status quo was doing well, I could fully understand the hesitancy to make any changes (even one for a player obviously being carried by others). But the status quo isn't doing well. The team is caught in yet another powerplay slump (0-for-the-last-15) and the trusted veterans are neither scoring nor preventing key goals. So, what's there to lose?

 

[pman25]

I think GMBM has to force Laviolette’s hand with roster moves at some point, otherwise he really needs to consider firing him. Just too many mistakes from the coaching staff, and too conservative of a dogma to accomplish anything in the postseason.

Pretty much. Even if he could just assign the kids to Hershey, waive Kempny, waive Hags, bring up AJF / Pilon. Just do something. Just make some moves, change up the room a little and get some new faces in.

 

[um]

I wonder how long it takes for Sprong to get scratched again? I give him 2 more games.

 

[Hivemind]

I wonder how long it takes for Sprong to get scratched again? I give him 2 more games.

That's generous. Despite him scoring the Capitals only goal of the evening, his last shift ended with 6:52 remaining in the game. The HDH line got two shifts after that.

 

[TRASHCAT]

the man loves his hdh

 

[um]

the man loves his hdh

I liked them when they were a 4th line. Not a fan of their work as the 2nd line.

 

[Roshi]

Bad game followed by bad result. We are slumping. ovie is slumping. We need other guys to stand up but getting none of that.

Happens. We'll get over it. Its mid season, the hardest (and boriest) part of the regular season when the energy levels get down and some wear gets in. Laviolette has seen enough to know its not time to panic. Be patient, trust the process, maybe acquire a player or two to give them some freshness.

Meanwhile, let us panic. Fire everyone, trade everyone, quit hockey and start playing guitar. Hockey sucks. Caps sucks. And bars are not open.

 

[Raikkonen]

Bad game followed by bad result. We are slumping. ovie is slumping.
Happens. We'll get over it.

in October, sure

 

[895]

I liked them when they were a 4th line. Not a fan of their work as the 2nd line.

It sucks when your favourite indie band sells out and becomes second liners.

 

[895]

Okay, I'll say it.

Fire Lavy.

 

[tycoonheart]

Okay, I'll say it.

Fire Lavy.

Problem is who do we replace him with? His assistants are ass clowns and we don't have a up and coming potential type of coach in Hershey any more.

Whats Dale Hunter up to these days?

 

[895]

Problem is who do we replace him with? His assistants are ass clowns and we don't have a up and coming potential type of coach in Hershey any more.

Whats Dale Hunter up to these days?

Carbery.

I believe, by tradition, all assistant coaches are allowed to leave and become head coaches elsewhere.

 

[pman25]

Carbery.

I believe, by tradition, all assistant coaches are allowed to leave and become head coaches elsewhere.

Do assistants jump mid season though? In season firings usually result in promoting an interim head coach from within or hiring someone unemployed.

 

[Langway]

Do assistants jump mid season though? In season firings usually result in promoting an interim head coach from within or hiring someone unemployed.

Yeah, I can't really recall that happening off-hand.

I wonder what, if any, film study and analysis they do of their attacking. Do they just look at quality chance figures in bulk to see whether they've hit their quota? Or do they look at the nuts and bolts of their execution? I haven't seen much tablet review lately in-game and that goes in part to full mental engagement so you really wonder most nights. They get some chances, sure, as every team does. But when it comes to building chemistry and cohesion you don't get the sense there are overarching priorities. You don't get the sense they've got a firm grasp on what they're good at and what they believe they need to get a better handle on and aggressively attack it. That's part of the issue in overusing HDH. You know you're just getting defense and checking type hustle at both ends. It's super simple by design and that has value but ultimately it's pretty limited. They're not really building scoring lines. They're not building up depth scoring as a matter of principle. And so HDH becomes a limiting crutch. Solid at best but not ambitious.

For quite a while Ovechkin carried them and it's probably for the best that he isn't. All of this adversity could be a blessing in disguise ultimately but only if they wake up, bear down and more fully dedicate themselves toward fundamentally better play. Relying on bounces or just sticking to it and staying positive seems like a recipe for this to persist for a good while. It seems like resistance toward truer self-assessment, perhaps in part due to a loss of confidence and maybe some fragile egos. Some of their shit is certainly on the core and their longstanding rigidity but it's on the staff to shape the plan and set the tone. It is a long season. There are a lot of ups and downs but they're not stacked enough not to fine-tune their game. They're not nearly good enough to just play good defense and then relatively unfocused rudimentary offense. They've got Dallas & Pittsburgh on the road then some big weapons to contain in Edmonton. If they're not careful they could be looking at eight plus games without a regulation win and then who knows what sort of funk they're mired in. Who knows what sort of buffer they're eroding should they get hit with more injuries.

 

[Empty Goal Net]

^^^^^what Langway said^^^^^

Does this team have an identity? If so, I don't know what it is.
The Cup winning team played a heavy game; this team doesn't.
Earlier iterations emphasized skill; little of that on display here.
Some teams are known for their speed; again, that ain't the Caps.
Others are suffocating, often in terms of both forecheck and d-zone play; not so for this roster.
A few are highly dependent on world-class goalies; certainly not the case in DC.
The principal attribute of this team seems to be a striving for mediocrity. Make the playoffs and hope for lucky bounces.

 

[Neil Racki]

^^^^^what Langway said^^^^^

Make the playoffs and hope for lucky bounces.

Wasnt that the game plan coming into this season?

 

[StrikingDistance]

Was at the game last night (sorry...had to go...free ticket). Will be my last one for a while...

My takeaway: Team looks out of sync, out of position often, and not moving their legs enough. The only one noticeable last night was Sprong. He was flying everywhere...even into triple coverage. haha Players dropping passes to no one, backhand passes to the Sharks, just disjointed-looking play.

Ovi right now is 50% beast mode - 50% coast mode. He can be on the PP for 2mins+ because he barely moves. I took some vid and captured him making a good hit, but that was his highlight of the night.

1st period Sammy was over-playing everything. It was nerve-wracking to watch. Must be worse to be a team-mate. I'll take VV please.

Watching Hags getting so many minutes...it's just crazy. Don't recall seeing him connect a pass all night. At some point Lavi has to be looking at replays and cerebral cortex must confirm: Yeah, he sucks. Right? Riiiightttt??

 

[Roshi]

^^^^^what Langway said^^^^^

Does this team have an identity? If so, I don't know what it is.
The Cup winning team played a heavy game; this team doesn't.
Earlier iterations emphasized skill; little of that on display here.
Some teams are known for their speed; again, that ain't the Caps.
Others are suffocating, often in terms of both forecheck and d-zone play; not so for this roster.
A few are highly dependent on world-class goalies; certainly not the case in DC.
The principal attribute of this team seems to be a striving for mediocrity. Make the playoffs and hope for lucky bounces.

Identity is to stay patient and believe, punchers chance as was titled here on september.

”it aint about how hard you hit. Its about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. Thats how winning is done.”

Theres not much tools to be fast or furious right now, so we will just need to see it play out. We still have the skill there though. So Its not rocket science, mostly getting hot at the right time. We werent so big and mean for whole of the 17-18 season when we won the cup. Lot of people here wanted to fire Trotz because he had lost the ”identity” of the team.

 

[twabby]

I'm beyond frustrated with Laviolette's roster and ice time decisions, and agree that changes need to be made. But I'm not to the point of wanting Lavi fired. He's still a coach with a great 5v5 systems and a long track record of success both in the regular and post-season, and we're still in the 2-3 year window at the start of his tenure with a team that he achieves his best results (although, so far, the "Laviolette bump" is rather underwhelming in Washington). Maybe the GM needs to force Lavi's hands with some roster moves, or maybe COVID simply needs to take another pass at some of the roster's veterans to make the coach wake up and smell the coffee, but I do think Lavi has a lot to offer this team as a whole.


I am fully aboard with firing the long-tenured assistants who are directly in charge of the two biggest problem areas, Forsythe and Murray. I defended Forsythe longer than many here, and I think he can still be an asset to *some* NHL team, but it's clear at this point that he lacks the ability to adapt Washington's powerplay to overcome the challenges being thrown at it. Give him a big thanks for revolutionizing the systems deployed around the NHL on the PP, and then get someone else in his seat who can better adapt to the evolutions in penalty killing that have followed. Ten years with the same PP system is an awfully long time. And my rants about Scott Murray are long documented. But don't let him ruin some new goaltender as well. Even if we trade for a different vet goalie, a shitty goalie coach is more than capable of ruining a veteran during their time with a team.

I'd much, much rather they take Laviolette's toys away and get him better toys rather than outright fire him. But I'd also rather fire him (and the entire staff) and bring in an entirely new staff now than to dick around and do nothing (aside from maybe getting a goalie).

 

[SpinningEdge]

I'd much, much rather they take Laviolette's toys away and get him better toys rather than outright fire him. But I'd also rather fire him (and the entire staff) and bring in an entirely new staff now than to dick around and do nothing (aside from maybe getting a goalie).

Agreed.

send all the kids down. Lavi doesn’t want them obviously and won’t play them any meaningful minutes.

Put him in hot seat and go “okay, you want to do things your way - and put your trust in hgh lines winning you games - go get it done”.

tell all the kids to go to Hershey, play 15-20 minutes plus, and let them know they at least have a plan.

If Lavi wins and we go far in playoffs (unlikely) - great. He’s a coach we can have vets only around. If he loses in round 1 again (more likely), can him, bring in a new coach focused on rebuilding with the kids with Ovi/Backstrom and go that route.

Not sure if either one of those will end up working - but I do know CMM siting in the upper deck press box definitely isn’t a good option.

 

[Ovie's Neighbor]

the man loves his hdh

Hockey death hormone…at least when it comes to enjoying hockey

 

[george14]

I know the Caps are slumping, but fixing their goaltending problem makes them a threat to anyone. Obviously that's easier said than done, but I was looking at some stats and found it odd to see the following:

- 10th in GAA
- 20th in SV%
- 22nd in Shots Against
- 25th in SOO SV%

Now the last one doesn't matter that much, but to me this shows the Caps are playing well as a team (not as of late of course) but their goaltending is a major issue. I'm not a Caps fan and I know I am stating the obvious here, but I do believe a goalie shakeup/acquisition immediately makes them a contender. They have a ton of talent and their goalies are simply not doing their part. It's not that the team as a whole is mediocre, it seems to be one sore spot.