Talk about Capitals hockey & more! > Washington Capitals & Other Hockey Discussion
Offseason starts
BlackIce:
--- Quote from: OldHat on Thursday June 28, 2018, 09:44:21 AM Eastern ---
What? I think you misread. Losing tougher guys makes the team softer. Wilson can't be the only guy.
--- End quote ---
I don't think I misread. The original post said Orpik was essentially the last tough guy. That isn't true. Now as for how many "tough guys" you need on the team, I'll leave that to others to discuss. But the statement as made wasn't true.
alta:
--- Quote from: chas on Wednesday June 27, 2018, 10:45:02 PM Eastern ---His numbers don't warrant it. Really. Yes, he is clutch but it's hard to translate that into a contract. Without the post season people would ask why are making him can offer? Another good season from him and I can see him getting $3m.
--- End quote ---
I would've offered 1.25, maybe 1.5. He is definitely worth that, and I'm not counting just the post season in that observation.
BlackIce:
--- Quote from: Devise on Thursday June 28, 2018, 01:12:02 PM Eastern ---
Dead on regarding his defensive problems. I don't think those defending him realize it isn't his ability to play defense, it's just his mental game. When John Carlson is on he is a game changer. But he can sometimes get caught up in plays, overwhelmed, and mentally his hockey IQ just isn't as good, especially defensively.
But even then I've seen him make offensive reads, pinch when he shouldn't of or even just holding the blue sometimes. We give up tons of shorthanded changes gambling with him and Ovie on the back end, and while they both race back work harder now etc, let's not pretend it still doesn't happen where we have shorthanded breaks against because Carlson assumes he's got the puck on the blue line.
It's almost as if he gets a little too much swagger? He presumes it's his confident play as the only factor for it going well, and that leads to forgetting to constantly read the play, and one mis-read for a D with his kind of minutes sticks out like a sore thumb.
--- End quote ---
All of this talk about pinching defensemen is missing the point. Carlson [and other defensemen] on the Caps aren't pinching and pushing the play because there is some lack of understanding on their part about the proper mix of their offensive and defensive roles. They are playing this way precisely because THE ORGANIZATION WANTS THEM TO PLAY THIS WAY! And as the role of defensemen in the offense continues to evolve, the Caps' organizational philosophy has tilted more and more in this direction. I could even notice a significant change this past season. A few years ago, you would NEVER have seen Brooks Orpik handling the puck below the offensive goal line. I was amazed this past season how many times I saw Orpik pinch and then follow the puck below the goal line. There is no way that this could be in his DNA -- the team/coaches must have been pushing him on this. And whenever a defenseman pinches, it is up to other players to rotate and a forward take up a defensive position. If you watch the play away from the puck you can see the rotation. It doesn't necessarily come naturally for many forwards, but this year, by the time the playoffs rolled around you could see that the Caps forwards had finally picked it up and the coverage was generally very good.
This concept isn't easy to master, and teams can and do screw it up. The first Caps goal, by Vrana, in Game 5 of the finals was precisely this kind of play; a Knights defenseman (Engelland??) pinched and got caught and no one covered for him, leaving Vrana all alone coming down the left wing side.
You can bet that, because of his offensive capabilities, Carlson is encouraged to pinch whenever he feels he has a reasonable chance to drive play in the offensive zone, probably more than any of the other defensemen. It is up to someone else to cover when he does that.
BlackIce:
--- Quote from: alta on Thursday June 28, 2018, 02:36:01 PM Eastern ---
Where did I even imply it should've been less than 5? Ima say it slower this time.
H i s c o n t r a c t s h o u l d v e b e e n 5 y e a r s
j u s t b e c a u s e o f t h e c a p h i t .
Losing Chimmer was gut wrenching?? Must've been for you because I didn't say that either. But it was plainly obvious the energy he brought was missing after the trade.
--- End quote ---
That isn't what you said originally. You said his contract should have been 5 years AT BEST. You conveniently dropped your qualifier this time, which suggests that less than 5 years should have been a consideration, or you would have been happy with less than 5, or something. Or are you suggesting "at best" was just a phantom, throwaway comment?
I don't think Chimera brought all that much energy to Caps games. He brought a hell of a lot of open-ice SPEED to Caps games, but when I think of "bringing energy" I think of guys who work the wall, who fight hard and consistently for the puck along the boards, who dog the puck trying to knock it loose from the opponents, who are generally a nuisance to play against. Jay Beagle has made a career doing that. T.J. brings energy. DSP brought energy pretty consistently during the playoffs; during the regular season it was a little more sporadic. Stephenson seemed to bring energy pretty consistently as he established himself. When he was with the Caps, Ward did a good job of handling the puck when he had it or was cycling with his teammates. He did not as good a job trying to get it away when we didn't have it. When I think of "energy" guys, the ones I mentioned are the Caps I think of first and foremost.
BlackIce:
--- Quote from: BlackIce on Thursday June 28, 2018, 03:11:31 PM Eastern ---
That isn't what you said originally. You said his contract should have been 5 years AT BEST. You conveniently dropped your qualifier this time, which suggests that less than 5 years should have been a consideration, or you would have been happy with less than 5, or something. Or are you suggesting "at best" was just a phantom, throwaway comment?
I don't think Chimera brought all that much energy to Caps games. He brought a hell of a lot of open-ice SPEED to Caps games, but when I think of "bringing energy" I think of guys who work the wall, who fight hard and consistently for the puck along the boards, who dog the puck trying to knock it loose from the opponents, who are generally a nuisance to play against. Jay Beagle has made a career doing that. T.J. brings energy. DSP brought energy pretty consistently during the playoffs; during the regular season it was a little more sporadic. Stephenson seemed to bring energy pretty consistently as he established himself. Wilson obviously brings energy. When he was with the Caps, Ward did a good job of handling the puck when he had it or was cycling with his teammates. He did not as good a job trying to get it away when we didn't have it. When I think of "energy" guys, the ones I mentioned are the Caps I think of first and foremost.
--- End quote ---
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version