Boudreau isn't buying the "play down to the competition" chatter from the past two days.
"When was the last time we played down to our competition?" Boudreau said. "We've lost two games [in regulation] in our last 14 and [the Kings] won [four] games in a row on that road trip against good teams. We weren't playing down to them -- they were playing really well. Colorado has won [two] games in a row and is desperate. Every team has sense of urgency, and it is the NHL -- there's no bad teams. Do we think we are holier than thou? We don't. We thinl we're a hard-working team that has had some success. That question is not a good question."
almost 3 years ago
TylerG
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What’s really interesting about that quote (besides the “we’re winning, so everything must be fine” slight of hand) is how sharp and defensive his tone is when he’s talking about something that might be on him.
Bad penalties? The players need to be better disciplined.
Bad PP? They’re being too cute.
But turn the spotlight on him – which is what “playing down” implies in that he hasn’t prepared his team – and suddenly there is no problem and the questioner gets attacked.
Curious.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
I agree the tone is a bit odd, but I can’t really disagree with the facts. Los Angeles is a talented team and they’ve played well recently. Same thing for the PK and PP units. The team does need to be more disciplined and it does need to stop being too cute so often. Now, how much of the team’s discipline and powerplay, um, play is on Boudreau is another question.
I just flat disagree with Bruce on this one. Just because you are winning doesn’t mean you aren’t playing down to your opponent. What shows me they are playing down is the fact that teams that are in deep trouble when facing the caps are not getting thumped.
A few games to prove my point. (Its a limited snapshot, but give me a break here)
1. Rags – 4 – 5 OL
2. Habs – 3 – 4 W
3. Isles – 2 – 1 W
4. Sens – 2 – 3 L
5. Oil – 5 – 2 L
The exception that I can come up with is the TB game from the recent road trip. Not all of the games I point at are losses, and that is a testament to how talented this team is and how they don’t give up, but they do seem to lack the killer instinct.
I think that goes back to what Boudreau was saying about their not being bad team (I think that’s an overstatement regarding parity, but anyway….). Aside of the Islanders and the Senators, all of those teams have talent and are in playoff contention. The Capitals are good but it’s not like they should be dominating everyone but the best three or four teams in the league every night out, that’s just not realistic.
I don’t expect them to go throw a 7 spot on every team they play except SJ and BOS. What I would like to see is them thump a team that has talent but is in trouble… Take the Habs. Come into DC reeling, deeply troubled, distracted, their “stud” (used loosely) left at home to make a point. The Caps take a 2-1 lead and if they score the next one can just kill the Habs. Instead, they take a bad penalty, let the Habs back in and the game turns into a dog fight.
I feel like in order to be a really good team you have to occasionally hammer good teams that aren’t playing well.
One thing that I do wish, is that Bruce didn’t say this… Its giving his team a pass to coast on occasion (even if they haven’t to this point). I’d prefer that he come out and say. “Yeah, its a problem. We’ve been lucky on a few occasions, were winning more than we’re not. Its something we have to improve on if we want to go deep come April.”
The Only Expection???
How about the last 9 games:
WAS 4 DET 2, Detroit 2nd Place in the West
WAS 7 OTT 4
WAS 5 NJ 2, NJ 3rd Place in the East
WAS 4 LA 5, Bad game (I’ll give you that one)
WAS 3 FLA 1, FLA 2nd in SE wanted to challenge for the SE title
WAS 4 NYR 5 (SO)
WAS 5 TAM 1
WAS 4 FLA 2, Beat the Cats twice in a week playing in consecutive days
WAS 4 MON 3 (SO)
A 7-1-1 record where the Caps scored 4 or more goals 8 out of 9 times and a goal differential of +15. Do they have to beat every team by 3 goals and go 24-0-0 for the rest of the season to meet your approval? Sure they have things to work on but they have definitely been laying the wood to teams out there. I just don’t think killer instinct is one of their missing attributes.
I didn’t say they weren’t playing well. But I think you have missed my point. They play to their opponent:
Statement Games –
WAS 4 DET 2
WAS 5 NJ 2
WAS 3 FLA 1
WAS 4 FLA 2
Differential: +9 (Hurray)
Games they should win:
WAS 7 OTT 4
WAS 4 LA 5
WAS 4 NYR 5
WAS 5 TAM 1
WAS 4 MON 3
Differential: +6 – you throw out the game against TB and all of a sudden its a +2
They are winning but I do think that they play down to their opponent.
It's pretty obvious
…that their mental preparation could be quite a bit better. There’s a tendency to let them have carte blanche because they’re largely a young team but at some point the standard has to be higher if they’re really serious about being a contender. Along the same lines as your winning is all that matters point, the process of winning and fostering good habits is what solid coaching is all about. We haven’t seen enough of that this season, unfortunately. BB will comment on being too cute or not taking stupid penalties but it doesn’t seem to really change anything. Tighter on-ice leadership would help get that point across as well but one has to wonder how effective Bruce is in getting them to not fall back into bad habits.
I wouldn’t expect any other reaction, to be honest.
But it doesn’t change the fact that nine of the Caps’ 16 regulation losses have come against Western Conference opponents, and 4 of those 9 are against teams who aren’t in their playoff 8 as of today.
"Good crowd out there tonight, boys, let's really try to win this one."
by Bald Pollack on Feb 20, 2009 3:24 PM EST up reply actions
Agreed. Plus it ignores the evidence: Eight penalties against FLA? Four really, really bad ones against a reeling MTL team? That’s plenty of recent evidence of a lack of mental focus. And Gabby…
It’s from a “Morning Skate” video posted yesterday on the Caps site. I was a little surprised at his vehemence when I saw it but what he says and what he thinks could be two entirely different things. All the time players get asked, “why do you think this is happening?” and invariably, their response is “if we knew that, we would fix it”. Certainly this is among the coach’s responsibilities, to fix the lack of focus, but the Caps are still a relatively young team. I suspect he tries to strike a balance between never being satisfied and bolstering their confidence.
I’m one of those “lurkers” JP referred to yesterday so although I’d like to linger, I have to get back to work. See you tonight.
A lot – just look at how many Adams winners have been fired and how many Cup-winning coaches never won one! :)
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
Sometimes coaches, like....
players, execs, politicians, bankers and plumbers, get tired of having to answer the same question too many times. Whether the Q is pertinent or not, sometimes you get a little testy/defensive.
Or maybe he should answer, “yeah we really sucked against those bottom feeders. eh?”
Slumpbuster
Bruce can deny it all he wants but the truth is the Caps have become hockey’s version of a slumpbuster for teams on the skids. Just since Jan 1, here’s the list of losers that managed to get well on the Caps:
Jan. 9-Columbus is on a two game losing streak while the Caps are on a seven game winning streak. Nevertheless, the Blue Jackets come to Verizon and win 3-0.
Jan. 20- Ottawa has lost 6 out of 8 and is 0 for forever on the power play when the Caps, winners of three in a row, show up in town. What happens? Ottawa scores a bunch on the power play and wins easily.
Feb. 11- The Caps travel up to NY winners of four out of their last five to play the Rangers who are on a five game losing streak and averaging about a goal a game. Of course, the Rangers go on a scoring spree netting five and win in OT
Feb. 18- The Caps are on a three game winning streak when Montreal show up in town, losers of five of six on the road and a pitiful power play. We all know what happened. The Habs PP goes 3-4 and the Caps just squeak by in a shootout.
In the middle of all this they play great games and they beat Boston, Detroit, NJ and Florida. Right, they’re not playing down to their opponent.
by b.orr4 on Feb 20, 2009 3:18 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Haha, so, Koken just said that Boudreau told him that part of the reason why the Caps have lost to these middling western teams at home is that the Caps aren’t fired up for those games and play down to the competition. OK then.
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Southeast Standings
| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Florida
|
55 | 27 | 17 | 11 | 65 |
|
Washington
|
55 | 28 | 22 | 5 | 61 |
|
Winnipeg
|
57 | 26 | 25 | 6 | 58 |
|
Tampa Bay
|
55 | 24 | 25 | 6 | 54 |
|
Carolina
|
56 | 20 | 25 | 11 | 51 |
(updated 2.12.2012 at 10:06 PM EST)
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