Washington Capitals 2010-11 season thread.

[ihatedallas]

Originally Posted by wide_awake

I'm sorry this is ridiculous, I can't stand when people say this.

Are you suggesting this team doesn't have enough talented players to be a cup contender?

GMGM for all his conservative flaws build a LOADED team. Cherry-picking, entitled stars, yes, but incredibly talented. His biggest flaw is that he allows Bruce to coach this team. Bruce's system doesn't emphasize back checking, blocking shots, defense, or puck control along the boards. Either it doesn't emphasize these things or the players don't give him enough respect and listen to him if he's trying to get them to do it. So either the players are immature and don't respect Bruce or Bruce doesn't know how to get his players to do the little successful things that work in post-season hockey. And I'll still stand by this when we start winning games 6-2 again because a defensively-sound, neutral-zone-trapping team with a hot goalie (i.e. Boston, Montreal) will be waiting for us in the playoffs EVERY year.

This is EXACTLY how i feel about the Caps situation. You can't blame a GM who has 11 of his draft picks in the line up, and still has prospects that would start on plenty of teams now waiting in hershey. I don't get the feeling that Bruce rides his stars hard enough. This team has the talent to win the cup...without a doubt. They just need to be properly instructed and motivated to play hockey the hard way when they need to.

The early season issues are a good thing for this team. They need to know that playing "fly by the seat of your pants" hockey is only good when everything is going right. Even though they got beat pretty bad in the boxscore by boston. They were creating scoring chances the correct way. They played a gritty game and they won puck battles on the boards, but they still need to work on their own end. Despite all the hooplah about the Caps not playing defense, Backstrom/semin/laich are all VERY capable 2way forwards - if thats what theyre asked to do.

[ihatedallas]

Originally Posted by cal_junior

On Frozen Blog has a good entry today, talking about teams this season are following the Habs' blue print for beating the Caps: Clog up the middle and allow your quality goalie to be able to see shot from the perimeter. You give up a lot of shots but not a lot of great opportunities near goal.

Makes you worry that GMGM simply hasn't set this team up to be a legit Cup contender.

While I thought the article was interesting, I thought the caps created a ton of oppurtunities around the net on Thursday, just couldnt get them by Thomas. It wasnt the normal "slapshot from the top of the circles" routine. This includes Semin and Ovi, who i saw more thna a few times getting oppurtunities from down low or near the net. The caps need to commit to this style of play long term, to find balance between this and their freaky skill plays...while also maintaining the PK form theyve showed early.

If the caps have a dominant PK and learn to diversify their scoring, this team will be better than last year.

[cal_junior]

Originally Posted by wide_awake

I'm sorry this is ridiculous, I can't stand when people say this.Are you suggesting this team doesn't have enough talented players to be a cup contender?

Well did you read the entry? That's not what it said at all. The idea is that Caps are incredibly talented, but perhaps not built to defeat good team (and good goalies) in the postseason.

Here are two key passages:

"Claude Julien this week channeled his division bench rival Jacques Martin in strategy against the Caps: clog up the middle of the ice, allow a high volume of shots against your quality netminder, knowing that he’s going to get a good look at most of them, as the Caps are very much a perimeter hockey team, being content to blast away from the outside and not pay the price required to overcome a quality goalie and his committed teammates."

"Seven games in and in all but one of them (New Jersey) the Caps have underwhelmed. Maybe they’re playing possum. Maybe they miss Mike Green that much. Or maybe, just maybe . . . George McPhee is savagely wrong, and it wasn’t merely a five-day anomaly last April that undid the Caps; maybe instead they’re a fundamentally flawed club as they’ve been assembled. They’ll outgun the majority of opponents they’ll face this regular season, but that means nothing in the big picture."

And I'm not necessarily saying I agree with this, just that it is food for thought since it comes from OFB, one of the best hockey blogs in the country. The fact of the matter is the Caps lost to a inferior hockey club last postseason and so far have not looked like world-beaters through seven games.

[cal_junior]

Originally Posted by ihatedallas

, I thought the caps created a ton of oppurtunities around the net on Thursday, just couldnt get them by Thomas. It wasnt the normal "slapshot from the top of the circles" routine. This includes Semin and Ovi, who i saw more thna a few times getting oppurtunities from down low or near the net.

I wasn't able to see Thursday's game. This sounds very positive

[ihatedallas]

Originally Posted by cal_junior

I wasn't able to see Thursday's game. This sounds very positive

Knuble particularly was much more involved in the scoring chances, he had 5 SOG.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/gamecast?gameId=301021001

Check this out, it shows where all the SOG came from. Only about 11 came from above the circles, and most were from defensemen.


Compare that to this(Tuesdays game), and you can see the quality of shots was drastically improved. - http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/gamecast?gameId=301019023

[cal_junior]

Neuvirth, you sexy Czech bastard!

Couldn't ask for a better way to start a road trip than with a young goalie's first NHL shutout.

[cal_junior]

Quite a second period tonight from the big boys:

Ovie: 2 goals, 1 assist
Lars: 3 assists
Green: 1 goal, 1 assist
Semin: 1 goal, 2 assists

[InsomniaKiller]

After last night, you have to figure we'll see a bit more of the 8-19-28 line. I understand why you don't want to use it every game, but if they can avoid playing "too cute," they're quite a force.

[ihatedallas]

Originally Posted by InsomniaKiller

After last night, you have to figure we'll see a bit more of the 8-19-28 line. I understand why you don't want to use it every game, but if they can avoid playing "too cute," they're quite a force.

When theyre out there with Green, they're near impossible to stop. The only issue is trying to find consistent scoring chances with the lower lines. Fehr and Flash have talent, but they can also disappear for long stretches. But hey, if the 3(4) of them can score 5 goals a night, its ok for the other lines to not score as much.

Last nights lineup was just weird. He had 5 guys that are usually the 4th line guys suited up.

[CarMike]

Originally Posted by InsomniaKiller

After last night, you have to figure we'll see a bit more of the 8-19-28 line. I understand why you don't want to use it every game, but if they can avoid playing "too cute," they're quite a force.

The 8-19-28 line is also known as the "SOB" line. lmao

Looks like Boudreau will stay with the SOB line for the time being:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/cap...-top-line.html

Coach Bruce Boudreau has typically preferred to spread out his most offensively-potent players in order to maximize the Capitals' options and to make it a challenge for opponents to match a defensive pairing or checking line against any single unity.

But given how well the combination of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin played Saturday when they were assembled on one line against the Calgary Flames, it looks as though he will keep the group together at least a little while longer. The trio finished with 10 points by the end of the 7-2 rout of the Flames.

"In a perfect world, they'd be split up because it makes the team tougher to cover. But every now and again, as I've done for three years, you throw [Semin] back for three or four games. They get on track and then you move him," Boudreau said. "We'll see how long this lasts until they start getting really too [fancy] playing with each other instead of doing the right things, because they want the puck and they can play shinny with it. When they're going and they're doing the right stuff they're a pretty good line."

Heading into Wednesday's match up against the Maple Leafs, Semin is the only one of the trio that hasn't gone more than two games without a point this season. The hope is that they can continue to spark each other the way they did against the Flames.

"The advantage or disadvantage is we're either going to have the puck all the time or we're not going to have the puck. Because once they get the puck those guys are going to hold on to it and it's tough to get the puck back from them," Brooks Laich said. "It was a treat to watch those three guys on the ice; that's the most talented offensive line in the NHL, the world."

[cal_junior]

If there is such a thing as a "big game" 13 games into the regular season, it is happening on Friday.

I'd love to see the Caps unload on what looks like the best defensive team in hockey.

[ihatedallas]

Originally Posted by cal_junior

If there is such a thing as a "big game" 13 games into the regular season, it is happening on Friday.

I'd love to see the Caps unload on what looks like the best defensive team in hockey.

If they can continue what they started in Calgary tonight, it will go a long way.

Boston pretty much embarrassed this team twice a few weeks ago, and if they go into that game with some momentum it should be pretty fiery.

[Ibleedburgundy]

Bring on the SOB line. Knuble hasn't looked quite as good this year IMO.

[ihatedallas]

Originally Posted by Ibleedburgundy

Bring on the SOB line. Knuble hasn't looked quite as good this year IMO.

Just curious - but how would you set up the remaining lines? Cal i'm curious how you would set that up as well.

I really have no problem running 2 "grind lines". Boudreau did it last game, and their energy and commitment to 3 zone play helped to keep the game tight and not so loosey goosey after we got up.

King/Bradley/Steckel/Hendricks/Gordon/Chimera all play with a lot of grit, and having 2 shutdown/energy lines could be beneficial defensively. Constructing lines like that creates an issue though...the second line has to consist of Laich - flash and EITHER Fehr/Knuble. That or move Knuble down to the third with a Chimera/Hendricks/knubs look...but knuble isn't fast enough for those other lines to operate as effectively.


This set up makes the most sense considering they weren't getting any offensive ..or defensive... production out of the 3rd line so far, so why not put in another energy/cycle line?

[Ibleedburgundy]

I would bump Knubes down to the third line.

SOB
Laich/Flash/Fehr
Chimera/Perrault or Johanson/Knuble
Gordon/Hendricks/Bradley

I'm indifferent between Perrault and Johanson. They both have their strengths IMO.