Tuesday Caps Clips: Blues @ Caps Game Day

Evelyn Wood… Speed reading….

You read my mind.

I actually quite liked the Ken Campbell piece from THN. Yes, it’s a bit of a re-hash of the “stars killed Boudreau” theme, but that doesn’t make it wrong or poorly written.

In two seasons at London, Kostitsyn played in 122 games and was 66-143-209 in those games. In two post seasons at London he played in 35 games and was 22-36-58. Not bad numbers.

Hunter also had Rob Schremp and had some run-ins with him, IIRC (benched him in the playoffs, I think… maybe the Memorial Cup). But eventually, Schremp bought in.

But it’ll be interesting to see if Hunter can get similar buy-in from older players who are already “developed” and don’t have that carrot of “If you want to play in the NHL, you have to do it this way” dangling in front of them.

Kostitsyn also hates Glen Hanlon, for whatever that’s worth.

As we all know, image and narrative supercede the facts. If Ovi didn’t insist on having fun in life (well, and a different birthplace), it wouldn’t be a meme.

Possibly related, the Campbell piece has some interesting ‘final days’ detail.

Did you ever read the piece on Ted’s take about a year ago about how much misinformation is out there when you google things about the capitals, ovechkin, ted, etc?

I did see a note last night that Crosby won with his third coach, so perhaps Ovechkin’s third coach is the charm.

I said it yesterday, but I think it’s worth a repeat — Jarome Iginla has never played for a single coach for 4 straight years. If Ovi’s a coach killer, then Iginla is double the coach killer.

The headline in Wharnsby’s piece almost makes it sound as if he had the facts to back up his claims — until you read it.

What you look at the garbage that’s out there from “journalists” — intentionally not counting Bill Watters — one shudders to think about what lies ahead in Coach’s Corner and the Hot Stove this weekend.

Thanks. A hairy bitch, she was.

Making it to the conference finals is all it would take for me to consider the season a success. Success means a lot of things depending on the context, but for the Caps it should just mean that they’re getting better every time around.

Agree, but it will be hard to play the Rangers in both the first and second rounds.

Inside of that, the team needs to show they can play playoff hockey with a killer instinct. Get up two games to none, go for the kill. Don’t let up.

And not that I care who the team plays/beats in the playoffs, but getting over the Penguins hump would count as extra credit.

In 2008, they probably overachieved just to make the playoffs out of the hole they dug.

In 2009, they were beaten by a better team at the top of its game.

In 2010, they fell backward.

In 2011, they fell backward again, a team that demonstrated it can beat only teams from Manhattan with goal-scoring issues in the playoffs.

They should have had their ECF moment by now. I probably said this, but I’ll say it again. If this team does not win a Stanley Cup — this year — they won’t. They are not likely to have this promising a collection of players at the right times of their careers again for the foreseeable future. And the crush of five straight disappointments might be too daunting. I just can’t get the image of this being the Ottawa Senators, v. 2.0, out of my head.

I think expectations need to be lowered, and my guess is that the Caps’ brass has lowered them internally, but won’t externally.

IMO, the odds of winning a Cup this year declined with the coaching change. I support the change as a long term move, but I’m less optimistic about this season, if only because it typically takes time, including an off-season, for a coach to truly have an impact. If nothing else, witness the fact that the two assistant coaches haven’t changed and, presumably, could be preaching similar philosophy. I also think a failure in the spring is much more explainable to fans and acceptable to fans with the coaching change.

The only reason to maintain expectations is the raw talent of the team. For expectations to be maintained, you have to believe that the coaching change was less about Boudreau and Hunter and more about simply a different voice.

Eastern Conference Finals and they have to at least be competitive in the series. Otherwise, we’re just treading water again.

I look at the Hunter hiring as a positive. I thought the team had topped out with Boudreau. This should improve their prospects IMO.

ECF and they at least look competitive when they get there.

SCF-or-bust is tempting but ultimately unrealistic.

I agree. The team needs to take a step forward, and that means getting out of the 2nd round.

Only people that hate the Caps and/or are stupid (there’s a Venn Diagram for you) think Alex Semin is a core player on this team.

With some element of masochism, you need to read the entire Cox article to appreciate this paragraph. FWIW, I think much of the article is well-written and supports his thesis that the jump from OHL to NHL is too big. He makes some fair points.

He then loses readers like us by making an unnecessary, gratuitous dig at Ovechkin and the Caps in his final paragraphs.

Only thing missing is a dig at Ted.

Damien, holding a grudge is so 2009….

Still hoping there’s a video of this somewhere.

Where did you see this? I’m sorry that I missed such a priceless May moment.

I don’t think it was…If anything, it was too even-handed, too obvious. It was not Bruce, that style, and the comparison made yesterday about difficulty of going from the teddy bear to the grizzly bear for a single team team was spot on.

Great minds, eh.

I definitely think he’s trying to force a bit of a narrative there. If anything, you could argue that Vokoun, MoJo, and Ward got the hammer much quicker than Semin. It took weeks of bad play and 7 straight games with a PIM for Semin to sit. Not exactly “singling him out” kind of behavior. AO missed, what, a shift? It got a ton of attention, but if that’s “singling out” then Hamr and Wideman sitting for entire periods (or close to it) has to be in the same mention.

I’d disagree. I think some players (Ward, Johansson, Halpern) accept the “accountability” actions since they’re either mature (Ward, Halpern), or humbled by their lack of experience (Johansson).

The divide wasn’t between those who were called out by BB and those who weren’t, but rather, between those who accepted it and those who did not.

And he had a fine moustache.

I love Labre. He’s hilarious during almost every alumni event.

no one takes more pride, or more child-like glee, in having been a Cap than Yvon Labre. I love getting to hear him talk.

When I was 14, very gangly and awkward, I tripped over my own feet on the steps at Cap Centre going down to the glass for warmups. With a 50-foot tumble down the stairway in front of me I was saved when Yvon Labre caught me and set me on my feet. Gave me his autograph and chatted for a couple of minutes. I was a bit star-struck. Very nice guy.

I watched Yvon play when I was a kid but I don’t remember much, but then he was a defensive defenseman, so he was doing his job. I do know what I’ve seen and talked to him at games, and the man is a true gentleman, has been a fine ambassador for the Caps and hockey in general, and has a sneaky sense of humor….

Is this HFBoards now?