Talk about Capitals hockey & more! > Washington Capitals & Other Hockey Discussion
G59 Capitals @ Golden Knights 6:00pm Mon Feb 17, 2020 NBCSWA, NBCSN, SN, ATTSN-R
ArJunaZ:
--- Quote from: Mickstix on Monday February 17, 2020, 10:19:39 PM Eastern ---Thank god!! :clap:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/euuHYxPHxj">pic.twitter.com/euuHYxPHxj</a></p>— NASCAR (@NASCAR) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASCAR/status/1229602665170112514?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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I saw that. Very good news. I hope he recovers well. It's a miracle if he does. I read the following in the Charlotte Post:
"Somehow, thankfully, Ryan Newman is alive. We can thank God for that, because how Ryan Newman ever survived Monday’s crash at the Daytona 500 is almost impossible to fathom."
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/scott-fowler/article240382251.html
waynerivers:
It's become obvious over the last 23 games (11-12 record) that the Caps have serious problems that go way beyond just being in a rut or slump. Even casual observation shows that the following are issues that probably can't be fixed in the short term:
As a team, they are SLLLLOOOOOWWWW. You watch Col, TB and some of these other teams and they are quick with everything. They skate fast, they pass fast, they transition fast. The Caps do none of it because they don't have the speed and they aren't even using what they have because they aren't skating. That's why we see all these crappy stretch passes and pucks dumped up the boards to center either to nobody or to the opposition.
Aside from how they're playing, the talent level isn't up to the top teams. Ovie, Backstrom and Oshie aren't getting any younger or faster. Kuz, Vrana and Wilson are the only guys with decent mileage ahead of them on offense who can be impact players. Eller is a decent talent but not a 2nd line player. The fourth line does a good job mucking things up and they give you what you want out of a fourth line. The rest of the forwards are useless and there's really not a guy on the team outside Ovie and Backstrom who I'd say is untouchable.
The defense is a major problem. Carlson, Orlov and Jensen are a disaster waiting to happen in our own end and the other three guys have seen their play decline, too. Kempny looks like the injury has permanently reduced his effectiveness. Add in very poor, panicky decision making when under duress and this group is a major weakness.
The goaltending hasn't been great for awhile though they also don't get much help. When the puck is in your end most of the game, it wears on your goalies and pucks are going to go in.
The HC is just totally clueless and/or ineffective, as I've mentioned before. He either fails to diagnose what the problems are or is powerless to effect changes. That may not be 100% his fault if he doesn't have any talent but we still have the talent to be playing vastly better than what we've shown the last 2 months. If a coach can only win with superior talent at all positions then he isn't much of a coach. Look at what Trotz has done in 2 years with the Isles, a team that was basically a lower third of the league whipping boy for years.
The FO can also be rightly criticized for some of the personnel decisions made which have not worked out as planned.
Overall, if the ship isn't righted quickly, I could see them missing the playoffs. With Pitt, NYI, CBS and Phi all playing well, there is no margin for error. The worst part is that the team seems to be in a malaise where they simply go through the motions and have come to accept mediocrity. If that's the case, then Ovie getting 700 will be the only highlight the rest of the year.
zerofox:
I've been pretty anti-Holtby for much of the season. Not just because he's been struggling for much of the season (and also has been on a steady decline the last few years), but also because he's probably going to price himself out. $10 million is way too expensive. Even $6 million is too expensive considering his declines. However, I admit he's been playing a bit better the past few games. I'd still like to see Sammy get some starts too though (even if his last couple of games were less than stellar).
That said, the fact that we've been in such a slump for so long seems to point to a coaching issue. There was a period where we slumped and it seemed like it was due to illnesses impacting our team. Well, it seems like that's long gone by now and we're still struggling mightily.
I wanted Reirden fired for much of last season. This season I haven't put much of the blame on him since we started out doing well. We were winning plenty of games, our offense was doing great. We were winning despite shaky goaltending/defense. Now we've been in a funk for way too long. I think it's time to take up the pitchforks against TR again.
zerofox:
--- Quote from: waynerivers on Tuesday February 18, 2020, 12:42:21 PM Eastern ---
The HC is just totally clueless and/or ineffective, as I've mentioned before. He either fails to diagnose what the problems are or is powerless to effect changes. That may not be 100% his fault if he doesn't have any talent but we still have the talent to be playing vastly better than what we've shown the last 2 months. If a coach can only win with superior talent at all positions then he isn't much of a coach. Look at what Trotz has done in 2 years with the Isles, a team that was basically a lower third of the league whipping boy for years.
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I agree. Trotz has done a lot with a mediocre roster in NY. And look at what they did with a rag tag group of misfits in Vegas. It is both fortunate and unfortunate that we've had such a talented on-paper roster in recent years. Fortunate because they can win a lot of games on sheer talent alone. Unfortunate that those wins seem to mask a lot of the coaching idiocy we have to deal with. Imagine what we could accomplish with this talent level AND stellar coaching all around.
PUCKNRUSH:
Both well said by Zero and Wayne!👍👍
I am a Kempny fan, but something IS definitely different about his play, and his overall performance has declined.
I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but in the second and third periods of the Vegas game, I could swear I saw him sort of favoring one leg when he made certain turns in the corners against the boards, and/or was expecting contact with an opponent. He did not do that last year before his injury!
He also used to be able to corral an opponent, much more effectively, against the boards, often times resulting in a nice possession change for us.
His whole stature, up against the board, has a much “weaker“ look to it now. Which leads me to think that he has more permanent ramifications to his injury, as he has always seemed to be a hustler with a good attitude, and a dash of scrappy, for his size!
He’s also not shy in the penalty department either, unfortunately, which, for me, used to be an accepted negative. But EVERY players negatives, NOW, loom larger, with this kind of team shenanigans going on!
Agree also about Riorden. He’s either clueless, OR, knows the issues, but is unable to wield any of his influence with the major players on this team! Either way, Riorden comes out as an ineffective, innocuous, “HCITO”! (Head Coach In Title Only). Having team leaders and players around him, that neither respect, nor listen to him, short of it agreeing with whatever THE PLAYERS want to do! Just BALL-LESS, in short!
At the moment, I’m just hoping the Caps bring a solid win, for our little BOARD GET TOGETHER, this Saturday! ( see the forum thread for information, if you’re interested in attending )!!
Rush
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