GDT: Stars @ Caps - 4/1/2014 - April Caps Fan Day.

[usiel]

Rough game. They didn't have it. Starting to wonder if Oates has started to lose the lock room.

Watching this felt like....

 

[Capsman]

I don't think that he warrants that much hate, considering the roster he has. GMGM needs to go and it has been this way forever and every caps fan concurs on this.

This roster is better than they have played. Even suckier teams with worse defenses have won the occasional 2-1 or 1-0 games. Our offense has enough talent to apply more pressure than they have and that would have gone a long way toward relieving the pressure on this defense. Instead he has molded this team into a bunch of players who are forcing everything to the outside because of his handedness obsession. He has been very lucky getting as many wins as he has considering the pretty consistent tilting of the ice toward our goal throughout the season. I doubt he's so lucky next season if he survives.

Honestly, outside of Ovechkin, Backstrom, Kuznetsov, Ward & Wilson, everyone else needs to go. Brouwer can put some decent numbers up but he's too slow and talks too much. I'm not sure how our lineup became so unskilled.

You want to break up the rest of that very reasonably paid 3rd line?

We were far better off with Steckel, Fleischmann, Bradley & Semin than Johansson, Chimera, Grabovski & Brouwer. We lost the ability to be dangerous at 5on5 because we lost all our skill and footspeed.

I could not disagree more. I think you are romanticizing the 07-09 team. Steckel and Bradley were pretty meh and stayed meh after leaving. Fleischman and MJ are a wash IMO. MJ will be that type of player and has been that type of player until running into the train wreck of a coaching staff this season. Semin of old, sure. He hasn't been that guy for quite some time. The guys we have now, each and every one would have a top 6-9 role on most other teams.

The signing of middle road goalies out of panick is lame too, Halak, Theodore & Vokoun should never have worn caps sweaters.

Theodore was a very reasonable signing at the time, a stopgap until the young guys matured. What he did with that young goalie core is another story.

GMGM folded hard after that Montreal series which was the worst thing to do.

How is that, trading Fleischman for Hannan? Cause that's pretty much the only core piece he traded away the season after Montreal. Things were going south long before the rest of the roster changes.

 

[BTCG]

Rough game. They didn't have it. Starting to wonder if Oates has started to lose the lock room.

Watching this felt like....

They never have it in a big game... no matter who is coaching. It's disgusting.

 

[SashaSemin28]

Rough game. They didn't have it. Starting to wonder if Oates has started to lose the lock room.

Watching this felt like....

felt like a combination of these tbh











EDIT: Forgot Philly

 

[Calicaps]

felt like a combination of these tbh

lots of youtubes

Wow, I hate you so much right now.

 

[ChibiPooky]

Adam Vingan ‏@AdamVingan 14m
Eric Fehr: "It looked more like a preseason game for us than a game that we needed to win to make the playoffs.” BOOM.

 

[Vladiator16*]

Hooey!

He's the weakest defenceive player out there, as we saw tonight.

The guy sits out the PK when the goalie takes a penalty.

This is really all i need to know about your knowledge of hockey... Ovechkin is in the box when goalie takes a penalty is because at the end of PK there is a good chance for a breakaway, and there is non better for it then this cherry picker.

If you really think he is the problem, i think you are out your mind.

 

[Blades of Steel]

Wow, I hate you so much right now.

its amazing to see how Ovechkin and this team have changed.. its truly sad.

 

[hb12xchamps]

They ****ing suck. Back to the bagheads

 

[ChibiPooky]

“There was zero urgency,” Braden Holtby said. “If I was a fan, I’d be booing us right now. Playoff race like we’re in, we lose 5-0. It’s awful. There’s no words for it.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...s-show-zero-urgency-in-blowout-loss-to-stars/



Unrelatedly, Russian Machine has been churning out some good reads.

 

[Capathetic]

Caps crushed in another big home game by a team of young and hungry players and then the one elder statesman they have puts the humiliating nail in the coffin.

Color me shocked.

Starts at the top and there is no emphasis on winning a cup in this town.

Hope no playoffs sinks in real deep with them...but we like our team.

 

[FloridaCap]

This is really all i need to know about your knowledge of hockey... Ovechkin is in the box when goalie takes a penalty is because at the end of PK there is a good chance for a breakaway, and there is non better for it then this cherry picker.

If you really think he is the problem, i think you are out your mind.

He isn't the problem, but he is part of the problem. He's just so damn good at scoring goals it masks his deficiencies a bit while they are glaring on every other player.

First off, we need a new coach. When that new coach comes, he needs to surround Ovechkin with actual talent, not an AHL scrub like Jay Beagle. Next, he needs to be put on LW. If he can revive his even strength play, then great. His cluster**** of defensive ability wouldn't really matter. As is, he's not contributing anything at even strength, while being scored on quite often. A lot of that blame, if not all of that blame, can be put squarely on Adam Oates, but it is what it is.

But if he can't revive his even strength play? I mean, the guy is turning 29, well past his physical prime... he's not getting better. Then what?

Ovechkin needs to be put with "high flyers". Grabovski and Kuznetsov come to mind. No matter who is on Ovechkin's line, they will suck defensively, so there is no sense at all in putting him with defensive players. This will never happen under Oates, unless they're all playing out of position.

 

[FloridaCap]

“There was zero urgency,†Braden Holtby said. “If I was a fan, I’d be booing us right now. Playoff race like we’re in, we lose 5-0. It’s awful. There’s no words for it.â€

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...s-show-zero-urgency-in-blowout-loss-to-stars/



Unrelatedly, Russian Machine has been churning out some good reads.

I may dislike Holtby as a goalie, but I love how he has the nuts to say stuff like that at his age. His voice is always the voice of reason among the load of BS that Oates & Co. spit out after every loss.

 

[usiel]

“There was zero urgency,†Braden Holtby said. “If I was a fan, I’d be booing us right now. Playoff race like we’re in, we lose 5-0. It’s awful. There’s no words for it.â€

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...s-show-zero-urgency-in-blowout-loss-to-stars/



Unrelatedly, Russian Machine has been churning out some good reads.

Still smacks of the room being lost already.

 

[msrulo]

Sorry but there was a game today?

 

[Liberati0n*]

Ovechkin needs to be subjected to actual constructive criticism by a coach. Oates likes to "communicate," but he's not capable of delivering potentially unwelcome messages directly to someone like Ovechkin because that would require the leveraging of more social respect than he's able to command. Oates resigns himself to the abstract and manages psychological things by moving pieces around and counting on messages to be transmitted. So if he needs to get a non-ego-stroking message across to Ovechkin, for example, he does it passive aggressively: he makes him play with Jay Beagle and Joey Crabb.

Hunter was obviously a different animal, but to some extent the way things operated was the same. The demands he made of Ovechkin were implicit. It wasn't passive aggressive like Oates, but it could only be constructive if Ovechkin made it so on his own. Obviously what the ultimate outcome there would've been can't be known.

 

[tfer717]

first time poster in this forum.. Huge Ovie fan..

Truly.. what HAS happened to Alex?

Yes he still scores magical one timers on the PP.. but why does he look like an old man 99% of the time during even strength? Is he getting old? Has he lost his passion for the game? Is Bauer gear heavier than CCM? (LOL)

I know it isn't any bias.. because he is literally my favorite athlete of all time.. but he looks slow. he looks clumsy. He bobbles the puck..he no longer dangles seamlessly as he once did. Granted he has been playing with Beagle but I just don't see that explosion the last few years as I did up until 2011 or so. He used to bounce down the ice with his signature skating style that brought fear to defenseman.. but I just no longer see it.

Every game I sit down and hope that is sparks back.. even when he scores hattricks now it ends up being PPG one timer...PPG tap-in... Empty net...etc. (Not that a hattrick could ever be bad... but i think you guys will know what I mean)

Sorry to skew the discussion towards a more general observation of ovechkin... but I really am puzzled night after night about where his fire has gone. He used to look like a bullet leaving a chamber everytime he saw the puck in space..

 

[FloridaCap]

first time poster in this forum.. Huge Ovie fan..

Truly.. what HAS happened to Alex?

Yes he still scores magical one timers on the PP.. but why does he look like an old man 99% of the time during even strength? Is he getting old? Has he lost his passion for the game? Is Bauer gear heavier than CCM? (LOL)

I know it isn't any bias.. because he is literally my favorite athlete of all time.. but he looks slow. he looks clumsy. He bobbles the puck..he no longer dangles seamlessly as he once did. Granted he has been playing with Beagle but I just don't see that explosion the last few years as I did up until 2011 or so. He used to bounce down the ice with his signature skating style that brought fear to defenseman.. but I just no longer see it.

Every game I sit down and hope that is sparks back.. even when he scores hattricks now it ends up being PPG one timer...PPG tap-in... Empty net...etc. (Not that a hattrick could ever be bad... but i think you guys will know what I mean)

Sorry to skew the discussion towards a more general observation of ovechkin... but I really am puzzled night after night about where his fire has gone. He used to look like a bullet leaving a chamber everytime he saw the puck in space..

1) He's playing out of position. He is 10000x better on the left wing, but thanks to Adam Oates, he's stuck playing RW. He doesn't have any moves on the right wing to beat a defender one on one, and there's no good shooting angles either. This often leads to him being pinched against the boards the second he enters the zone, or having to throw a sharp angle shot on net because there simply isn't a way to get a better shooting angle. It's also much harder to see the entire ice sheet over there, causing his assists to go down (as well as his linemates not being able to score).

2) He's stuck playing in this garbage system Oates put in. His line (and every line, except the third, for that matter) gets hemmed in their zone so long that they are all tired when it comes to offense. Of course, Ovechkin doesn't really play defense, so that makes him the only one with energy on the entire line for offense. This leads to him being way ahead of everyone else, and a 1-on-2 or 1-on-3 develops. It will never work. This garbage system also emphasizes dump and chase hockey, which does not suit Ovi in the slightest.

3) He's playing with Jay Beagle. He shouldn't even be on an NHL roster, nevermind playing with a multi-time Hart winner.

Ovechkin has his faults, but Oates makes them more noticeable then they need to be. So why does he look so old? Adam Oates. Gone are the days of him roaring down the LW at immense speeds and ripping snipes through defensemen's legs. Nobody does that in their late-20s. It's sad, but it is what it is. However, he can still be a dynamic player at even strength, I think, if he gets a better coach. Oates doesn't have a clue how even strength hockey works.

 

[tfer717]

1) He's playing out of position. He is 10000x better on the left wing, but thanks to Adam Oates, he's stuck playing RW. He doesn't have any moves on the right wing to beat a defender one on one, and there's no good shooting angles either. This often leads to him being pinched against the boards the second he enters the zone, or having to throw a sharp angle shot on net because there simply isn't a way to get a better shooting angle. It's also much harder to see the entire ice sheet over there, causing his assists to go down (as well as his linemates not being able to score).

2) He's stuck playing in this garbage system Oates put in. His line (and every line, except the third, for that matter) gets hemmed in their zone so long that they are all tired when it comes to offense. Of course, Ovechkin doesn't really play defense, so that makes him the only one with energy on the entire line for offense. This leads to him being way ahead of everyone else, and a 1-on-2 or 1-on-3 develops. It will never work. This garbage system also emphasizes dump and chase hockey, which does not suit Ovi in the slightest.

3) He's playing with Jay Beagle. He shouldn't even be on an NHL roster, nevermind playing with a multi-time Hart winner.

Ovechkin has his faults, but Oates makes them more noticeable then they need to be. So why does he look so old? Adam Oates. Gone are the days of him roaring down the LW at immense speeds and ripping snipes through defensemen's legs. Nobody does that in their late-20s. It's sad, but it is what it is. However, he can still be a dynamic player at even strength, I think, if he gets a better coach. Oates doesn't have a clue how even strength hockey works.

It is very sad. Very sad indeed

 

[ryan519*]

****** game, but if we're gonna lose oates and mcphee, this is how you do it

no playoffs

 

[usiel]

AO is WAY frakking down the list of what I worry about for next season.

 

[BTCG]

This is really all i need to know about your knowledge of hockey... Ovechkin is in the box when goalie takes a penalty is because at the end of PK there is a good chance for a breakaway, and there is non better for it then this cherry picker.

If you really think he is the problem, i think you are out your mind.

Really? I never see Datsyuk, or Zetterberg, or Malkin, or even Crosby sit in the box when the goalie takes a penalty. I don't recall ever seeing Bondra or Hunter do it either.

The truth is, AO is one-dimensional, and he's a liability when we need defenceive play, as we saw tonight.

Take away the other 4 Star goals and they still win, because Alex is lazy, and would not skate back and get in the play.

AND, I thought you were going to bed?

 

[BTCG]

He isn't the problem, but he is part of the problem. He's just so damn good at scoring goals it masks his deficiencies a bit while they are glaring on every other player.

First off, we need a new coach. When that new coach comes, he needs to surround Ovechkin with actual talent, not an AHL scrub like Jay Beagle. Next, he needs to be put on LW. If he can revive his even strength play, then great. His cluster**** of defensive ability wouldn't really matter. As is, he's not contributing anything at even strength, while being scored on quite often. A lot of that blame, if not all of that blame, can be put squarely on Adam Oates, but it is what it is.

But if he can't revive his even strength play? I mean, the guy is turning 29, well past his physical prime... he's not getting better. Then what?

Ovechkin needs to be put with "high flyers". Grabovski and Kuznetsov come to mind. No matter who is on Ovechkin's line, they will suck defensively, so there is no sense at all in putting him with defensive players. This will never happen under Oates, unless they're all playing out of position.

He knows this.... but CCF nailed it tonight: there are many in Capsland that refuse delivery on reality, so they resort trying to lead the conversation in another direction. When that doesn't work, they resort to personal attacks.

 

[BTCG]

first time poster in this forum.. Huge Ovie fan..

Truly.. what HAS happened to Alex?

Yes he still scores magical one timers on the PP.. but why does he look like an old man 99% of the time during even strength? Is he getting old? Has he lost his passion for the game? Is Bauer gear heavier than CCM? (LOL)

I know it isn't any bias.. because he is literally my favorite athlete of all time.. but he looks slow. he looks clumsy. He bobbles the puck..he no longer dangles seamlessly as he once did. Granted he has been playing with Beagle but I just don't see that explosion the last few years as I did up until 2011 or so. He used to bounce down the ice with his signature skating style that brought fear to defenseman.. but I just no longer see it.

Every game I sit down and hope that is sparks back.. even when he scores hattricks now it ends up being PPG one timer...PPG tap-in... Empty net...etc. (Not that a hattrick could ever be bad... but i think you guys will know what I mean)

Sorry to skew the discussion towards a more general observation of ovechkin... but I really am puzzled night after night about where his fire has gone. He used to look like a bullet leaving a chamber everytime he saw the puck in space..

Welcome!

 

[PuckBuddy]

Hey George, one more retread left to sign....