Should the Capitals fire Barry Trotz?

[SportsPhan8]

I realize that it's only his third year there but.....

Last two seasons = 111 combined wins and 238 points. Yet, as we all know, they haven't made it to the ECF in either season. They should have at least one Cup win by now.

Is Ovechkin mostly to blame? Since his playoff debut in '08, they've yet to make it past the second round. This postseason = only 8 points in 13 games. They haven't made the ECF since 1998.

To me, this team needs a swift kick in the ass. A coach with great motivational skills would be perfect for them, a guy like Lavy or Tortorella.

Thoughts on the coaching, as well as the coaching philosophy for next season?

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[illpucks]

Absolutely. Fire Trotz. Hire Sutter.

 

[PrototypeX85]

No, they should trade Ovechkin but we all know that's not happening.

 

[JaegerDice]

At this point blaming the coach seems absolutely laughable.

 

[syz]

How many coaches deep is this problem for Washington? Maybe something else is the problem.

 

[illpucks]

At this point blaming the coach seems absolutely laughable.

17 seasons - and Trotz has never passed round 2.

 

[H382]

I feel like it's slight over-reaction..

1) Pens are defending champs. Caps didn't lose to a bad team.

2) Caps were a couple bounces(inches) away from everyone talking about them moving on.. So a slight flick of the wrist difference completely changes how people view them?

 

[SportsPhan8]

At this point blaming the coach seems absolutely laughable.

How?

 

[poeman]

No...they keep winning regular season no matter the coach, its the personnel in the playoffs that are failing them

 

[Nalens Oga]

Yes. I'm not quite sure why people think it's only Ovechkin's bad performance, they're two different issues.

It won't likely make a difference now with their roster going down next year which is a shame, it might have if they had made the change last season but obviously it would've made less sense to have done it then.

 

[SportsPhan8]

I feel like it's slight over-reaction..

1) Pens are defending champs. Caps didn't lose to a bad team.

2) Caps were a couple bounces(inches) away from everyone talking about them moving on.. So a slight flick of the wrist difference completely changes how people view them?

The biggest issue/reason they lost were the missed shots on net. How the hell do you not get a SOG on a breakaway?

 

[molon labe]

I realize that it's only his third year there but.....

Last two seasons = 111 combined wins and 238 points. Yet, as we all know, they haven't made it to the ECF in either season. They should have at least one Cup win by now.

Is Ovechkin mostly to blame? Since his playoff debut in '08, they've yet to make it past the second round. This postseason = only 8 points in 13 games. They haven't made the ECF since 1998.

To me, this team needs a swift kick in the ass. A coach with great motivational skills would be perfect for them, a guy like Lavy or Tortorella.

Thoughts on the coaching, as well as the coaching philosophy for next season?

Torts? How is gooning it up any different than what happened these last two playoffs?

The Caps' need a system they can buy into that isn't just physicality and power plays.

As a guy who saw Tracy McGrady do very similar stuff for the Magic in the NBA (which is an entirely different sport in every right) - strictly speaking on how to handle a super star vice coaching change - I say that it's a gamble no matter what. I think it might take both, but I also follow the Caps as little as possible. Just sort of evidence gathering from the major fires of the past few years.

 

[SportsPhan8]

No...they keep winning regular season no matter the coach, its the personnel in the playoffs that are failing them

Coaches are the personnel

 

[SportsPhan8]

Torts? How is gooning it up any different than what happened these last two playoffs?

The Caps' need a system they can buy into that isn't just physicality and power plays.

As a guy who saw Tracy McGrady do very similar stuff for the Magic in the NBA (which is an entirely different sport in every right) - strictly speaking on how to handle a super star vice coaching change - I say that it's a gamble no matter what. I think it might take both, but I also follow the Caps as little as possible. Just sort of evidence gathering from the major fires of the past few years.

Motivating, not gooning. They're soft.

 

[Arturs Irbe]

I think yes, but their core is aging and can't get it done.

In my opinion losing Forsberg was a huge blow to the franchise.

 

[The Beyonder]

It's not the grit behind the bench that needs to be swapped. Firing Trotz is the easy decision, but the problems are the players on the ice.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Absolutely. Fire Trotz. Hire Sutter.

Sums it up perfectly.

Trade Holtby, fire Trotz, make Grubauer the starter and bring in Sutrer.

 

[moon111]

If anything, the fact the coach had them playing their best hockey all season long says something. The fact there wasn't more in the tank for the playoffs kind of shows the exact opposite, that the coach was getting the most. The simple fact is, OV isn't worth the money.

 

[JaegerDice]

17 seasons - and Trotz has never passed round 2.

Lets just entertain the idea that the new coach and not the constant core is the problem.

The WSH have had 2 of the top 10 coaches in the NHL. Short of maybe Sutter (though he had his own struggles by the end in LA), who are you going to get in the same league, let alone better?

 

[Duffman955]

The caps change coaches often and get the same results

time to change the players

 

[SportsPhan8]

It's not the grit behind the bench that needs to be swapped. Firing Trotz is the easy decision, but the problems are the players on the ice.

I feel like it's a combination of the two. I don't want to give people the wrong idea....

 

[SportsPhan8]

Sums it up perfectly.

Trade Holtby, fire Trotz, make Grubauer the starter and bring in Sutrer.

Why the hell would you trade Holtby? He's been excellent the past two seasons, it's not his fault they don't score for him

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Somebody has to be the fall guy.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Why the hell would you trade Holtby? He's been excellent the past two seasons, it's not his fault they don't score for him

Because they need to make a trade to shake up the core and he's the only guy the Capitals have an internal replacement for. The Caps need to make a core change at this point.

 

[SportsPhan8]

Because they need to make a trade to shake up the core and he's the only guy the Capitals have an internal replacement for. The Caps need to make a core change at this point.

I disagree. You don't trade the team MVP