Post-Game Talk: Snow Bros vs. DC Bros. 7pm. Verizon Center. 10.18.2016 (The Bro Edition)

[The Zapper]

B's fan watching to see how Connolly played. Looked like he had a few good chances and played physical. 4 shots and 4 hits. Just needs to play with confidence

 

[bur and 666 others]

And now some blue jackets fan created a thread on the main board about how the capitals are unstoppable

oh man, that'll be fun. have they brought the caps playoff history yet?

 

[hockeykicker]

oh man, that'll be fun. have they brought the caps playoff history yet?

it was like 5 times on the first page

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

B's fan watching to see how Connolly played. Looked like he had a few good chances and played physical. 4 shots and 4 hits. Just needs to play with confidence

He's been pretty decent, made a nifty move at the end of the 3rd. He looks like a valuable asset in our bottom 6. He lacks consistency though, my only knock on him.

 

[bur and 666 others]

B's fan watching to see how Connolly played. Looked like he had a few good chances and played physical. 4 shots and 4 hits. Just needs to play with confidence

he was noticeable, had some great chances. just checked the lines and t seemed he was on the 3rd line, but i noticed him mostly with Beagle which is our 4th line. I think he is more suitable with Beags.

 

[The Zapper]

He's been pretty decent, made a nifty move at the end of the 3rd. He looks like a valuable asset in our bottom 6. He lacks consistency though, my only knock on him.

he was noticeable, had some great chances. just checked the lines and t seemed he was on the 3rd line, but i noticed him mostly with Beagle which is our 4th line. I think he is more suitable with Beags.

He was pretty inconsistent and out of place playing with Bergeron and Marchand but helped a lot by finishing checks to open space for the two. He stood out on the fourth line and had better scoring chances with other gritty fourth-line style of forwards. I think most agreed he could be a very effective third/fourth liner

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

He was pretty inconsistent and out of place playing with Bergeron and Marchand but helped a lot by finishing checks to open space for the two. He stood out on the fourth line and had better scoring chances with other gritty fourth-line style of forwards. I think most agreed he could be a very effective third/fourth liner

He might even get some PP action if (I hope it doesn't happen) one of Oshie or Williams gets hurt.

 

[Sam Spade]

Getting a team on back to backs but the Caps looked fantastic tonight.

Varly never looks could against them, I wonder why they always start him?

 

[txpd]

it was like 5 times on the first page

its going to be a tough season for us here. the caps are good again. oh brother

 

[txpd]

Getting a team on back to backs but the Caps looked fantastic tonight.

Varly never looks could against them, I wonder why they always start him?

Varly didn't look good? Didn't caps get 20 shots on goal in the first period and 1 goal?

 

[Calicaps]

Thoroughly enjoyable game. You could tell Ovie was toying with god mode right from the start. Only complaint: even with 40 shots, they passed on at least another 10 quality shot opportunities trying to make the perfect pass.

 

[hockeykicker]

i guess the new postgame thing is a robe

 

[Sam Spade]

Varly didn't look good? Didn't caps get 20 shots on goal in the first period and 1 goal?

Ok maybe I should have said he never wins against them.

And I know it was Ovie, but that goal was pretty soft, no?

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Ok maybe I should have said he never wins against them.

And I know it was Ovie, but that goal was pretty soft, no?

The puck deflected off Johnson's stick.

 

[LastWordArmy]

Our look at the game.

http://lastwordonhockey.com/2016/10/19/t-j-oshie-scores-twice-capitals-shutout-avalanche/

 

[troyerlaw]

OV looks like he is flying out there.

His puckhandling was excellent! He looked more confident than usual about holding onto puck and making moves around guys from a standstill in offensive zone. Just very dynamic overall in offensive end tonight.

I think his board skills are still at low end of the spectrum, but at this point, that's probably not going to change much. Just isn't his game. He does the other stuff extremely well, especially shooting and hitting.

Underrated passer, too, i have always felt.

 

[Acallabeth]

Easy win against what ertainly looked like a bad team. Congrats Grubauer. Ovechkin looked like 2009. Swedes are awesome, when Burakovsky improves his release, beware.

I think his board skills are still at low end of the spectrum, but at this point, that's probably not going to change much. Just isn't his game. He does the other stuff extremely well, especially shooting and hitting.

His board skills are more like inconsistent. He usually isn't very good at it, but was just dominant without the puck this game.

 

[ovikovy817]

So, it will be Williams, Eller or Connolly/Sanford with a 2 goal game against Florida 1st, 2nd and 4th line, already had a guy. No it's time for the 3rd line.

 

[g00n]

I know they won but...."Will over Skill"? That sounds like a try-hard anthem.

I know our o-first fans are not going to like that and tbh I don't think I like it, either. Maybe there's some background reference to a speech I'm missing but you can't "want" or "will" your way to championships. Not without the necessary skills and the ability to unlock them under pressure.

Per everything we know about sports psychology the best approach is aligning will with skill-- which is to say constantly feeding and fostering the desire/will to win so that it's in the background driving the process-- while not overthinking the actual performance. You must trust your ability and your teammates, and let it flow. Commit to trust. Train your mind to default to the mindset that your best chance for success is letting your body do its thing, per your training...no matter the situation. The score and results will take care of themselves. Resist the urge to try and steer your movements or thinking. Avoid micromanaging the details or contemplating the circumstances (including assessing how much "will" you're applying). All of it is best handled in a zone or flow state.

As such I worry that focusing too much on "will" as the magic elixir might backfire under playoff pressure since we may be training players to monitor their mind too much while implying they should think their way through the process...or at least that unlocking their greatest "skill" potential is less important than desire and hard work. This is how you fall into ruts that go nowhere, scoring droughts, d-first related injuries from stars blocking too many shots, etc.

Maybe it's a nitpick, but if we're going to deal with psychology in addressing will and skill we'd better get it right. Team zeitgeist established through shared mantras can be powerful and can define your culture (that's what it's supposed to do).

The only way this makes any sense at all is if the elephant in the (locker) room is a lot of finesse players with egos who think they can coast to championships, and need a serious kick in the pants. The danger is the wrong players taking the message to heart, or the right ones swallowing the entire prescription instead of just one pill.

(summoning Langway)

 

[RandyHolt]

I still think the Iggy fight was... odd.

Now if Willy was trying to goad him into a 'gator, or get him off the ice for 5, great job kid. But did we really need him doing that in the 3rd game of the season, with a lead vs a team B2B on the road, vs a guy that can crank him one proper on the jaw?

Iggy:

thought we were going. I’ve been in a decent amount of them and I thought that was ‘go’ time. I guess it wasn’t.”

Iginla said he was sure Wilson wanted to fight. “We had words the shift before from the bench, because I got into it with (Lars) Eller when he tripped me going up the ice. It was kind of a follow up play, the next shift. (Wilson) came behind the net and came towards me and I thought, ‘Here we go.’ Misread on my part

It's just not often you see a teams tough guy show he wants to fight a high skill guy, only to try to back out? at the last moment.

 

[Raikkonen]

(summoning Langway)

Nice try, but no. Didn't use cohesiveness word in the process. Easily not Langway.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

I know they won but...."Will over Skill"? That sounds like a try-hard anthem.

I know our o-first fans are not going to like that and tbh I don't think I like it, either. Maybe there's some background reference to a speech I'm missing but you can't "want" or "will" your way to championships. Not without the necessary skills and the ability to unlock them under pressure.

Per everything we know about sports psychology the best approach is aligning will with skill-- which is to say constantly feeding and fostering the desire/will to win so that it's in the background driving the process-- while not overthinking the actual performance. You must trust your ability and your teammates, and let it flow. Commit to trust. Train your mind to default to the mindset that your best chance for success is letting your body do its thing, per your training...no matter the situation. The score and results will take care of themselves. Resist the urge to try and steer your movements or thinking. Avoid micromanaging the details or contemplating the circumstances (including assessing how much "will" you're applying). All of it is best handled in a zone or flow state.

As such I worry that focusing too much on "will" as the magic elixir might backfire under playoff pressure since we may be training players to monitor their mind too much while implying they should think their way through the process...or at least that unlocking their greatest "skill" potential is less important than desire and hard work. This is how you fall into ruts that go nowhere, scoring droughts, d-first related injuries from stars blocking too many shots, etc.

Maybe it's a nitpick, but if we're going to deal with psychology in addressing will and skill we'd better get it right. Team zeitgeist established through shared mantras can be powerful and can define your culture (that's what it's supposed to do).

The only way this makes any sense at all is if the elephant in the (locker) room is a lot of finesse players with egos who think they can coast to championships, and need a serious kick in the pants. The danger is the wrong players taking the message to heart, or the right ones swallowing the entire prescription instead of just one pill.

(summoning Langway)

It's just a BS slogan they have on a bathrobe. What was the slogan last year during the playoffs? Entitled to nothing? Yeah right

 

[txpd]

Ok maybe I should have said he never wins against them.

And I know it was Ovie, but that goal was pretty soft, no?

you should go back and read what marty broduer says about ovechkin. that his shot has the race characteristing of being able to be shot thru the best goalies. ov makes a lot of goalies look like they give up soft goals.

but...lets say it was soft. he was standing on his head otherwise.

 

[txpd]

It's just a BS slogan they have on a bathrobe. What was the slogan last year during the playoffs? Entitled to nothing? Yeah right

its just the hockey version of a game ball. hard hat. beard. whatever.

 

[g00n]

It's just a BS slogan they have on a bathrobe. What was the slogan last year during the playoffs? Entitled to nothing? Yeah right

But it's not really just a slogan on a bathrobe. It's a point of focus they're trying to get everyone to buy into by rewarding someone nightly. These things carry meaning within organizations of any kind and they usually show up when there are morale or motivation issues. We know that was a problem last year and it's clear management is trying to address it. It had better mean something to them, but at the same time I have concerns about the wording/concept.

If they're enacting a team-wide incentive program and it's perceived as just a slogan on a robe then there's a big problem with the way the players respond to leadership, and that means there's a fatal misread by the coaching staff as to where this team's collective head will be in 2017.