Time for Bruce to Go?
by b.orr4 on May 17, 2009 9:16 AM EDT
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The reviews are starting to come in on Bruce's coaching in the Pens series and some of them are downright ugly. I usually like what Kevin Dupont writes but I can't agree with his take which is basically that Bruce has outlived his usefullness. Without doubt, the Caps need to play a more defensive style to succeed in the playoffs, but I doubt that means they have to fire their coach to do that. Still, it's interesting to hear an outside opinion on the Caps situation, even if it's overly harsh:
The Capitals were atrocious in their Game 7, wiped out by the Penguins, 6-2, which left far too much blame pointed at rookie goaltender Simeon Varlamov (yanked early in the second period). Sure, the 21-year-old stopper could have been sharper, but the Caps' overall attack, from start to finish, was a damn-the-torpedoes approach that lacked bench intelligence.
Could the Caps already have outgrown their let-it-all-hang-out-there coach? It might sound crazy, given how they've delivered during the regular season under Boudreau. But keep in mind, for different reasons the Penguins were asking themselves similar questions last June after Michel Therrien led them to the Cup finals. For all their success, they looked as if they needed something, or someone, more. Late in the season, GM Ray Shero finally ditched Therrien and now the Penguins are back in the Eastern Conference finals - having found clear passage around those Washington torpedoes.
Bruce Boudreau, who took over the Washington bench in November 2007, has had a lot of success since succeeding Glen Hanlon. But if he's going to move his slick bunch beyond first- or second-round KOs, he's going to have to install a defensive template that even his high-end trapeze artists can adhere to and still perform. There was no safety net in Game 7. Or at least no one paid attention to it. Either way, there's a problem.
Forget about yanking Varlamov. How about pulling back on the likes of Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin, and getting the blue line crew to close down the defensive zone? Jordan Staal's goal at 11:37 of the second period made it 5-0, by which time Washington forwards must have turned the puck over at least 15 times. Horror show.
-Boston Globe
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Can’t say I’ve ever read this guy, and this doesn’t make a strong case for me to ever look for him. Lost me right in the opening paragraph. Not even Theo60 on these boards blames Varlamov for anything.
In truth, the defensive breakdowns in system probably weren’t nearly as bad as the fact that we couldn’t clear the zone AFTER we gained control of the puck. Did this guy watch anything other than the last game?
by HateOffSeason on May 17, 2009 10:28 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Well, Dupont is one of the more respected hockey writers in the league, but he’s still wrong. For some reason, he’s had a bit of a chip on his shoulder over the years about the Caps, so what he wrote doesn’t surprise me. And since the Bruins were playing the Canes at the same time the Caps were playing the Pens, I doubt he saw much of the series. Still, people around the league read him reliigiously, so his comments on Bruce won’t go unnoticed.
by b.orr4 on May 17, 2009 10:40 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Dupont is fantastic – perhaps my favorite hockey scribe out there – and I’ve always found him to be fair with the Caps.
And frankly, I have a hard time disagreeing with anything he wrote here. I just read it as saying Bruce needs to adjust – to coach – or he won’t get this team where they want to go, and I think he’s spot on. With better health, the Caps probably would have advanced, but when you don’t have that ideal health (or when other aspects of your game plan aren’t working), you need to adjust to give your team the best chance to win games and not just stubbornly stick with what you’ve always done, hoping it works.
I do think, however, that Dupont’s points would carry more weight if he acknowledged the injuries.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
by J.P. on May 17, 2009 10:45 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I like Dupont too. His is the first column I read on Sunday morning, but he has taken shots at the Caps before. Once in particular, in December of ‘07 he wondered why Ovechkin was wasting away in non-hockey market like DC. The exact words he used were “Ovechkin is like a battleship stuck in Walden Pond” and he deserved to be in a real hockeytown like, oh, Boston. And, you’re right, some of what he says was correct, but the same could be said for Julien and how he underestimated the Canes all series. Haven’t seen that critique yet.
by b.orr4 on May 17, 2009 12:13 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Here’s Dupont’s ‘Walden Pond’ quip (Jan. 20, ‘08, fwiw):
Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, in his "Ted’s Take" blog, didn’t hold back his disdain for media types who questioned the long-term signing of Alexander Ovechkin, and specifically whether the team could fill out the roster quickly enough to make it worth spending $124 million on AO. “I find many of the Canadian press hypocritical, uninformed, and pretty damn lazy,” wrote Terrible Ted. In short order, the Capitals lost veteran pivot Michael Nylander (rotator cuff surgery) for the season, which right now makes Ovechkin look like a big ol’ battleship docked at Walden Pond.To me, he wasn’t saying that AO was “wasting away in a non-hockey market,” but rather questioning the mega-deal and the Caps’ ability to surround AO with quality talent thereafter.
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by J.P. on May 17, 2009 1:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
you call Nyls “quality talent” ???
by RedskinFan4Life on May 17, 2009 3:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I do. Read more about the square peg, round hole.
I'm so sick and tired of the refs explaining the calls like this is the NFL.
by Whiter Mage on May 17, 2009 11:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
If that’s the case, then McPhee needs to find the team with the square hole. I doubt anyone will trade for him, but maybe Nyls is acceptable to being put on waivers with the notion that the interested team will make a claim on him. He’s got $8.5 million left on his contract. If he’s claimed off waivers, the team picking him up only has to pay him half his contract (the Caps would be responsible for the other half). You can’t tell me that a player of Nylander’s skill wouldn’t be attractive to some team at an annual salary of $2.1 million a year.
by b.orr4 on May 18, 2009 4:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
No, but I can tell you that Nylander would rather play for Washington in any role than submit to being put on waivers. He wants to be here, regardless if it’s him or his wife, and he would rather be here than anywhere. The team is handcuffed, and I don’t think Boudreau really has any want to play him over BB’s CapiBears. And that’s fine, it just handcuffs GMGM.
I'm so sick and tired of the refs explaining the calls like this is the NFL.
by Whiter Mage on May 18, 2009 11:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Not to mention that waiver route isn’t really that great for the Capitals – it sticks them with a 2.3 million cap hit for the guy for each of the next two years and I think they’d rather bite the bullet this year and buy hit out for $1M per for 2010-11 and 2011-12.
by David M. Getz on May 19, 2009 1:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think Dupont’s pretty much hit the nail on the head. I don’t think that Boudreau has outlived his usefulness at this point – it’s awfully hard to argue with the results, after all – but I also think that he, like the players, needs to evaluate his performance and find areas to improve. If he can’t, he will need to go because I can’t see a guy who’s unwilling to change his system and unwilling to hold players accountable being a guy who wins the Caps a Cup.
by David M. Getz on May 17, 2009 1:13 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I think so far he’s proven he’s willing to adapt to get the W. The Penguins series was all about playstyle and turnovers. In the Rangers series, we outplayed them, played our game, and dominated the game play. In the Pens series, I think almost 80% of the times it was 5 on 5 the puck was in the Caps zone. Maybe the system is a problem, but certainly, it bugged the hell out of me. The fact we got it to 7 games shocked me.
I'm so sick and tired of the refs explaining the calls like this is the NFL.
by Whiter Mage on May 17, 2009 1:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
“I don’t think it’s systems. We just have to get them to play the systems a little bit better. They’ve learned it for a year now. I’m not in charge of the personnel. But we’ll see what the personnel looks like next year.” – Boudreau
Apparently it’s not the system – it’s the players that GMGM gave Bruce not playing the system the way it’s supposed to be played.
Frankly, I’d like my head coach to take a bit more responsibility.
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by J.P. on May 17, 2009 1:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Has Boudreau ever once stated anything publicly which indicated any shred of self-doubt on any decision since taking over for the Caps?
Boudreau sets the system but that’s not all he’s responsible for as a coach. Consistency and motivation are keys. He infused the team with confidence last season and fighting back into the playoffs was motivation enough for them…but I do wonder about his ability to set the right tone as coach of a team whose cornerstones are still pretty raw talents. They have the sheer skill to be a perennial playoff team but for those steps forward to be taken there needs to be more attention paid to the aspects of the game that they still need to work on. That self-evaluation and attention to continuously improving didn’t seem to be there down the stretch when there was ample opportunity to focus on those areas and not simply scrapping desperately for points.
Anyway, I do hope BB gets his own assistants. He still deserves that right and maybe they would help put the right team culture together behind the scenes so that the team can progress in all of the areas they need to.
by Langway on May 17, 2009 5:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Agree with the last statement. All those endless talks (for instance, about getting in front of the net) just show that coach’s message was not delivered to players’ brains. This is the same as when a little kid is doing something wrong again and again in spite of parent’s explanations — and in this case the parent cannot avoid a major part of responsibility for his/her inability to deliver the message. Yet BB, unlike Therrien, is a relatively new coach in NHL, which supposedly is different from AHL in many aspects, and therefore it would be fair to give him more time to LEARN how to be an NHL coach.
by fnralch on May 17, 2009 5:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
And it’s always easy to forget:
Nick Backstrom: 21 years old
Alex Ovechkin: 23 years old
Mike Green: 23 years old
Jeff Schultz: 23 years old
Eric Fehr: 23 years old
Alex Semin: 25 years old
Tom Fleischmann: 25 years old
Milan Jurcina: 25 years old
When Bruce talks about maturity, there’s something to it.
And if he’s going to take some blame, then Boudreau deserves credit for his accomplishments too. He coached the #2 team in the Eastern Conference regular season, with a steady stream of AHL players playing key roles. Lots of players had great individual accomplishments. In the playoffs, his team could have given up in the Rangers series, but showed good resiliency and came back.
I think he’s the right man for this team. I think he’s willing to make adjustments. And I just don’t think this was the Caps’ year. Boudreau maybe didn’t get everything out of the players that he could have, but he certainly got a lot out of them.
by Gould Old Days on May 17, 2009 3:18 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
BB has only been around for 1 1/2 years and people already talking about its time for him to go ?!?! What has he done? Oh, that’s right….last place midway thru the season to qualifying as a 4th seed for the playoffs followed by a 50 win season, a 2nd seed, and 2nd round playoffs to Game 7. This is with a lot of young players too.
I think, in retrospect, with all the injuries on the D corps, it’s no wonder that the guys in Red couldn’t play D. When you have that many players playing less than 100%, what do you expect?
However, throughout the Pens series, I did not really see a whole lot of adjusting going on from game to game by BB and his coaching staff. Its good to have a strong belief in your system, but I think its also necessary to make the right adjustments. Sometimes it means looking at yourself and seeing how you can improve as a coach as far as game to game strategies/adjustments and also in-game adjustments, too.
I think BB has done a fine job so far. Let’s see how he handles the next year. If they continue to improve with playing deeper into May and June, then he’s doing something right. If this doesn’t happen, then it may be time to look at the guy behind the bench.
by RedskinFan4Life on May 17, 2009 3:44 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I think, in retrospect, with all the injuries on the D corps, it’s no wonder that the guys in Red couldn’t play D.
That. Would it have been different if everyone had been mostly healthy? We’ll never know. You’ve got to figure that players without broken feet skate faster and players with working hands and shoulders hold the stick better. Sure, they might have still been outplayed and lost. But they might have won, and the second guessing would be on hold for another round.
by gfcaps fan on May 17, 2009 4:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I believe they would have been different. Being healthy means they could be more aggressive. Green, sans bum shoulder, wouldn’t shy away from hitting Crosby or others in front of the net plus he’d be shooting harder from the point. I could go on and on, but I think you get my drift.
Time will tell, I think…
by RedskinFan4Life on May 17, 2009 8:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
This, exactly. Jettisoning him now is throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and is a bit knee-jerk. Let’s see how he does next season.
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
by gotsparkly on May 17, 2009 6:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Ibid.
The nature of the organization, combined with the ascent of last season plus a second round game 7 loss to the (eventual Stanley Cup winning?) Penguins, has bought BB a lot of good. He’d have to lose the team completely next year, or lose in the first round of the playoffs next year and the year after, before getting the axe.
Boudreau should evolve. Certain players on this team who don’t get it will either start getting it or be traded. We’ll eventually be free from the likes of Nylander and Clark. A few might think a change is necessary, but I’d say that based on the likelihood of that happening, it’s just wasted breath.
Russian Machine Never Breaks
by macvechkin on May 17, 2009 8:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Dupont probably has forgotten more hockey than I will ever know but I think he is dead wrong on this. BB’s systems are not the problem. When his systems are played the way they are supposed to be played, his teams win championships, hold teams to 10 shots in a game and hold teams without shots in entire periods. When they are not played the way they are supposed to be played, his teams lose and sometimes they lose ugly. But is this a function of the systems and coaching or player execution? Since his teams can play the system as evidenced above, and it works well when played as designed, it seems at least as much a function of execution as it is game planning and coaching.
That said, clearly it is BB’s job to do more than game plan- coaching is also installing a system that fits your players and holding the players accountable when they stray or fail to execute. But BB’s systems do fit the Caps’ personnel so I think the real problem, as GOD astutely points out, is how new this all is to both coach and players. The players are young and their brains are still cognitively developing; BB needs to learn how and when to exact consequences from players who stray from this system. This is all a function of time and experience and can only be solved by the passage of time. The more time passes, the more the players will play the systems and learn to play them consistently; the more time passes, the better BB will get at dealing with those who either can’t or won’t play his systems; and the more time passes, the further along GMGM will be in getting players for BB rather than BB having to deal with players built for other systems (see e.g. Nylander, Michael).
And I don’t necessarily see BB commenting on the type of players he has as avoiding or not accepting responsibility. There is some truth in what he says: Knuble plays at the net, Flash plays on the perimeter and no amount of yelling/coaching/cajoling is going to bring about long term changes. In short spurs, Flash and Nyls and Semin might crash the net but that is not their game. Coaching is about figuring out what needs to be done and it is not like BB couldn’t figure it out. Every coach in the league knows what needs to be done: go to the net. But when most of your team won’t go to the net, what can you do- sit them all? The problem is not that Flash and Semin won’t go to the net; it’s that the Caps have very few players that will.
I am not, however, a BB apologist. Though not specifically set forth in Dupont’s article, BB does need to figure how to be a player’s coach without being a pushover and he does need to examine his (seemingly) blind loyalty to certain players. But BB is not Scotty Bowman or Mike Keenan and while I expect some change from him in these areas I don’t expect a whole lot. Badger Bob won a Cup as a player’s coach and BB seems to be cut from that cloth.
And so, based on what I’ve seen of BB over the last year and half and based on the very young age of the core group of players, I am willing to give BB the benefit of the doubt for at least the next 3 years. 19, 52 etc have all become the players they are right now under BB and we all remember what this team looked like under Hanlon. BB should get a chance with Carlson, SDR, and all the rest.
If the Caps are not in the SCF within 3 years, it might be time to hit the reset button and start all over again. Until then, the Caps should stay the course. I like what I am seeing and am more than satisfied with the development of the coach, players and organization.
You can't reason someone out of something they weren't reasoned into.
by ChrisAm on May 17, 2009 10:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I don’t think Dupont was saying BB’s system is a problem, rather saying that he needs to be willing to make changes to it at times, and that’s true. The NHL is full of smart scouts and coaches – they’ll find a flaw in your system sooner or later.
by David M. Getz on May 18, 2009 3:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah at too many times Bruce abandons his own system (or is it part of his system?) when the Caps are down. It’s not fair for him to do it and not think that the players won’t start trying to take things into their own very talented hands.
I think BB does tweak his system but there is only so much you can do before it comes down to the guys on the ice.
by zephyr on May 19, 2009 3:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
For me it’s pretty simple: no need to talk about replacing BB unless the Caps fail to improve.
Going off what Gabby said, this isn’t an issue unless they don’t make the Eastern finals next year.
by superjuan on May 18, 2009 12:28 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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Southeast Standings
| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Washington
|
22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 30 |
|
Tampa Bay
|
19 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 23 |
|
Atlanta
|
18 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 22 |
|
Florida
|
20 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 20 |
|
Carolina
|
21 | 4 | 12 | 5 | 13 |
(updated 11.21.2009 at 12:53 AM EST)
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