Tuesday Caps Clips: Rock Bottom?

Key word being “should.”

Wonder if the owner, in the heels of a poorly received hike in season ticket prices, agrees with that assessment.

What’s the furthest out of first in the SE and 8th in the Conference the team can be on Monday morning?

Frankly, my worry is that once again, GMGM and Ted will simply say “well, we weren’t healthy” and downplay the roster problems.

They needed minimum 7 and preferably 8 points out of this roadie in order to feel comfortable about the playoffs. I think they’re done.

Here, here.

Bring up the dude with the wooden stick again.

I believe he has certain…skills that would be useful for this.

I put 100% of last night’s result on the players

I certainly don’t want to absolve the players of anything related to that awful, embarrassing effort, but when you’ve got guys saying, ""We weren’t ready to play," there has to be at least some acknowledgement of a coaching failure, no?

Dale can’t get out there and play for them, but he can prepare them – strategically, emotionally, etc. – and at least part of that preparation clearly didn’t happen prior to last night.

Rock Bottom for me was Steckel’s breakaway goal in the Leafs game, although that Sabres game runs a close second, mostly because I got the stomach flu during that game.

This is pretty close, but what makes me feel (somewhat) better is that if the Jets lose tonight, the Caps will be in the EXACT SAME SPOT on Wednesday with a chance to take the division lead again. They just can’t keep blowing these chances again and again, because the other teams are just letting them hang around. That’s not going to keep happening forever.

Is this the Rock Bottom where you can at least get a decent buzz on some craft brews?

Though it’s not a strong draft….

I disagree on Semin and the goalies. Semin is starting to build a little more value. A salary dump would not be the best move right now. Unless you get a phenomenal deal, closer to what you’d get if he had been playing to his level all season long, then you should trade him now. That deal won’t come, so you aren’t risking much by waiting until the offseason when you can re-sign him (if he’ll take less money) to see what he could do with a real 2C or you trade him while his value has stayed relatively the same. The market will calm down if Nash makes it to the offseason. Many teams won’t be able to get him and they know it. Semin presents a good alternative.

As for the goalies, I agree you should trade Vokoun, especially of the season is done, but I disagree that you should trade Neuvy and that Holtby is your #1 going into next year. Nothing about his play this year suggests that he should be #1. He hasn’t had to work for it in the NHL. Neuvy and Holtby should be 1a/1b next year. The goalie market is always filled with talent. The problem is, a team with serious cap problems and lots of players to re-sign (Green, Carlson) needs all the money it can get. Holtby and Neuvy are $1.7 million together and very young. I would rather not go with more rental players. I think that was one of the problems with this team in the last few years. Goal is an area in which we don’t have a huge problem. There’s average play and then there’s abysmal play. I’m confident the two young goalies can do very well, and if GMGM can’t solve the problems with depth at center and defense, it will matter less and less who is in net.

Why would you consider moving MoJo?

Not sure if I agree with some stuff like trading Wideman or Knuble, but I’m not going to argue.

All I know is that I’d streak through the Phone Booth pants down with an “I love Crosby” shirt to keep Vokoun. It’s nice to know that even though he has a few sloppy goals, I feel like he’s the most reliable goalie overall that we’ve had since Kolzig. Theo was dependable and stole a few games, but I just think it’s nice to have a borderline elite goalie for once.

When I am on the ice (playing defense, typically) I can tell which players I have "chemistry" with because I instinctively know where they are the majority of the time. With other partners, I feel like I am second guessing and double checking to determine if they are where I think they are and in a sport like hockey, fractions of a second can make all the difference between succeeding in a pass/play and not.

There’s another word for that: “Coaching.”

Chemistry exists, I think, but it’s impact is far overblown and often used as an inarguable trump card that proves itself. “The Bruins won because they had better Chemistry.” Yeah… and a record setting goaltending performance. “Chemistry” is often used in place of “lots of talent” and “good coaching.”

Which is funny, because GMGM has been preaching speed for the last 2-3 years (with Laich, GMGM said his speed was the big factor, Chimera and Johannsen also clearly speed first guys, Kuz has great speed, etc.). I wonder if it wasn’t “speed” as much as it was “desire.” I think the Caps team speed is pretty good when they’re going, but playing at 3/4 speed makes them look pretty slow.

IMO, you saw a team (guess which one) who was playing with nothing to lose and another team which was playing scared and squeezing their sticks. One team skating fast and loose and the other team trying not to crap their pants.

You give up a bit of a weak goal early on and those sticks get tighter. You give up another and it’s full on panic time. Third goal in the last minute of the period and it’s time for a diaper change.

I spend a decent amount of time watching the Avalanche, and the difference between the two teams in overall speed is shocking. Mind you, the Avs employ Paul Stastny, Ryan O’Byrne, and Shane O’Brien – not guys who are exactly renowned as speedsters.

Outside of Chimera and Johansson, this is a pretty slow team. Ah, for the days when Mike Green could still skate without his innards trying to escape.

The caps are one of the biggest and heaviest teams in the league right now. It’s not a coincidence.

I think it’s pretty hard to advocate throwing in the towel this season. Sure, the team looks like crap when they’re bad, and it seems like when they do win, they get a lead then hold on for dear life. That being said, they’re chasing Florida, Winnipeg, and Toronto. None of these teams strike fear into me, and despite their flaws as a team, it wouldn’t be crazy to think they could string a few wins together and overtake 2 of those teams.

Still, I think GMGM needs to focus on clearing cap space and giving himself some room to not necessarily rebuild, but reload for next year. Don’t give away players for pennies on the dollar that could help you sneak into the playoffs, but if you get a substantial offer for someone on an expiring deal, it needs to be accepted. In addition, if he can get anything for Ward or Hamrlik to get their contracts off the books, do it. Hamrlik has played better since Hunter’s arrival, but he, along with Ward, aren’t guys that are essential to making this team a winner moving forward, and even for this season.

After this year’s performance, I think that it’s become a little more evident that GMGM’s roster building wasn’t as strong as initially perceived. This is why I say this deadline and offseason are going to be huge for him if he wants to keep his job. His hire of Dale Hunter and the firing of Boudreau are separate issues. Bruce needed to go, and I’m even less confident in Dale’s coaching abilities at this level. McPhee said something along the lines of “coaching experience is coaching experience, no matter the level,” during Hunter’s introductory press conference. I wish I could remember the exact quote, but this is crap. The game is different when dealing with 18 year old boys, and grown men. The stakes are higher, the talent is better, and the overall style is different, so just because GMGM is very convincing when he speaks, doesn’t mean everyone should buy his BS.

Watching this team, there is no system. Dale has been here nearly two months and the team looks just as lost as his first day on the job. He isn’t utilizing the players to their strengths, and I don’t think you can make enough changes to this roster to bring in guys who play “Hunter” hockey. The problem doesn’t need to lie with either the players or the coach, it can fall on both. The players haven’t performed well all year, but whatever this style of hockey is that Hunter is preaching is crap. The stat guys on this board have shown that it doesn’t matter what players are out there, nobody can win consistently playing his style of hockey.

whoops, reply fail to YLM

Maybe a lot of that has to do with the fact that they’re one of the slower teams in the league (if you buy what opposing coaches are saying).

That was the worst. That is defense 101 — get the puck out of your zone by making the safest and most effective first pass. That did not happen, and you can’t blame that on team speed (their own or their opponent’s).

There are a lot of things that “could” happen. You could even win the lottery tomorrow. Semin for Suter or Weber is not in the category of things that “could” happen.

What in the Caps’ play over the past few months suggests that the playoffs will be a success? They will not be facing backup goalies with the frequency they have faced them so far (24 times in 59 games), and will not be facing bottom-feeders. They are 8-6-2 under Dale Hunter against teams in the East currently playoff eligible (4-3-1 with Backstrom, 4-3-1 without).

I don’t think it’s THAT dire yet.

For example, the Caps have made the playoffs in the last five years.

The Washington Capitals is supposed to be everything the Redskins aren’t: winners and champions.

Only one of those teams has ever been a winner and a champion, and they’ve done it multiple times. I’d trade current relative statuses with the Skins if histories were also swapped.

More like the discussion about rock-bottom between Walon and Bubbles.

Mark Eaton?! We can finally get that top 4D we’ve needed so desperately!

Milan Jurcina is a lot of things, but I’m not sure I’d call him “Hulking”.

The Caps have to get Mark Eaton, if only to secure the fan base in Delaware.

If Juice and his amazing minus 26 went to Detroit, the taunting would never cease.

I feel like I’m defending DH32 all the time, but I really think that any expectations of a dramatic turn around in 2011 were misplaced. That just doesn’t happen. Changing coaches mid-season is akin to a white flag.

You truly can’t judge until next season. I’m a broken record on this, yes, but I believe it’s true.