Talk about Capitals hockey & more! > Washington Capitals & Other Hockey Discussion
Coaching
ArJunaZ:
--- Quote from: PUCKNRUSH on Friday March 06, 2020, 10:10:17 PM Eastern ---
My point being that the DISCIPLINARY measures, an HC would have to implement, necessary to TRULY break the collective will of its very foundation, amongst the ring leaders of it, would NOT ever be TOLERATED by Ownership!
Said another way, the faith in the HC, and the length of time, and patience, and LATITUDE, Ownership would have to EXTEND to an HC, (assuming he was even CAPABLE of taking the actions necessary), WOULD NEVER be acceptable to Ownership, as a PROPER way to handle the problem!
Rush
--- End quote ---
Great point Rush.
I have been pondering this very thought about Reirden's limitations, whether he has a weakness or not, or is much being imposed on him by ownership. This has been one reason I have not trashed him so much.
The problem AND the solution lie in the player's hearts and minds. At this point in the season this is not a bad thing. All relies on the players themselves to decide IF they want to grab this very rare opportunity and take home another cup. I still believe this team more than any other is capable of bringing home the cup. There is more than enough experience in our players and especially the leaders to accomplish this. They know what it will take.
It is almost too late. They will need to find the mettle to bind them very soon. Win or lose today against Pittsburgh, if they can't fire on all cylinders and avoid stupid mistakes I will call it pretty much hopeless at that point. I think they know this. Today will bear great meaning for the remainder of the season.
(I will now begin to digress)
This is very reminiscent of 2018. It was the players that decided to bring home the cup. We slumped through February that year too. Then we went on a tear, but still had a very questionable Holtby with Grubauer holding down the fort. Holtby found his game after the playoffs began. The Capitals at that point were on a mission.
We are less than a handful of games separated from that successful season.
For some reason I was extremely calm and expectant of a cup win in 2018, even through the rough spots. This year I believe we have even more talent, though I miss Orpik and Niskanen for sure. Our defensive failing this year falls largely on the forwards, yet we've seen they are capable of extremely responsible two-way play. I am not now nearly as calm about our chances as I was that year
Someone else pointed out, I think it was Alta, that a new coach this late in the season is a non-starter for many reasons. I think Reirden has done a pretty good job as HC. There has been many a game where we were being handled by the opponents only to come out and tilt the ice back after an intermission. I believe Reirden played a large role there.
As many have pointed out, we have many larger than life players on our team, and with that headwind and the not so secret top down edicts setting an unchangeable mold of how we handle these players we must use our intelligence to fairly place the blame where most of us have realized it belonged for years ... on the players.
The one area I would blame equally on coaching and the players is the power play. We have seen how this team can thwart the best aggressive PK when they decide to drop the rigid PP structure and crash the net, fire everything at the net, and BE THERE for rebounds. I am inclined to believe the coaching is to blame for this failure.
With regards to excessive penalties I expect the players are now on their own to sort this out. Each player needs to be held accountable by the entire team for letting them down when they take a selfish penalty.
This year we've seen from the Capitals some of the most remarkable displays of confidence, skill, will, heart, and perseverance, leading to some of the most memorable comebacks and displays in NHL history. All they need is to find a few switches and we are capable of a legitimate shot at the cup.
I honestly don't know if Trotz had answers to these same problems. I'm inclined to think not. Even he said it ultimately came from the players.
Huge game today in Pittsburgh.
Beaglefan2:
I'll go back to the PP as the best measure of coaching ability. For the rest of the game, the coaches put in a system and players more or less try and execute it with the back and forth flow of the game. A good coach comes up with the right system for the talents of his players but then it is up to them to stay with it and execute.
The PP may be the same way to an extent, but it is contained and you can actually plan an exact system with specific play sets for each team you play. The Caps rarely adapt to different teams, they just do the same thing over and over. They also never copy the system of teams that have hot PPs, they just force the puck to Ovi every time.
The second aspect of the PP that is an absolute coaching flaw is the entry. Our ridiculous drop pass approach just does not work and wastes a ton of time. We would be much better off with quick sharp passes coming down the ice. Even dump-ins would be better than watching Dylan casually and blindly drop back lazy passes.
KollieOlizig:
--- Quote from: Beaglefan2 on Saturday March 07, 2020, 10:24:14 AM Eastern ---I'll go back to the PP as the best measure of coaching ability. For the rest of the game, the coaches put in a system and players more or less try and execute it with the back and forth flow of the game. A good coach comes up with the right system for the talents of his players but then it is up to them to stay with it and execute.
The PP may be the same way to an extent, but it is contained and you can actually plan an exact system with specific play sets for each team you play. The Caps rarely adapt to different teams, they just do the same thing over and over. They also never copy the system of teams that have hot PPs, they just force the puck to Ovi every time.
The second aspect of the PP that is an absolute coaching flaw is the entry. Our ridiculous drop pass approach just does not work and wastes a ton of time. We would be much better off with quick sharp passes coming down the ice. Even dump-ins would be better than watching Dylan casually and blindly drop back lazy passes.
--- End quote ---
I agree about our pp. Especially that stupid drop pass. Our pp has had some success when Wilson plays on the first unit and creates traffic in front of the net. I hope to see more of that.
I think we should be talking about our 5 on 5 play. We have been horrendous defensively. We blame our goalies and defencemen but defense is a team concept and our forwards aren't helping enough. We have too many forwards that spent most of their time going north and not enough south.
Ovi himself was responsible for a goal in each of the last 2 games because of lazy back checking.
Another problem has been our forwards being guilty of leaving the zone early. Too often our defence have no options so they force a stretch pass.
There is too much gap in our game. Usually that means the east west gap between the 2 defencemen but it also means the north south gap between the forwards and defencemen. The one goal Philly scored a couple games ago was a 4 on 2. All 3 forwards got caught deep.
waynerivers:
--- Quote from: KollieOlizig on Saturday March 07, 2020, 10:41:34 AM Eastern --- I agree about our pp. Especially that stupid drop pass. Our pp has had some success when Wilson plays on the first unit and creates traffic in front of the net. I hope to see more of that.
I think we should be talking about our 5 on 5 play. We have been horrendous defensively. We blame our goalies and defencemen but defense is a team concept and our forwards aren't helping enough. We have too many forwards that spent most of their time going north and not enough south.
Ovi himself was responsible for a goal in each of the last 2 games because of lazy back checking.
Another problem has been our forwards being guilty of leaving the zone early. Too often our defence have no options so they force a stretch pass.
There is too much gap in our game. Usually that means the east west gap between the 2 defencemen but it also means the north south gap between the forwards and defencemen. The one goal Philly scored a couple games ago was a 4 on 2. All 3 forwards got caught deep.
--- End quote ---
I agree totally on backchecking. This team is lazy as crap, something that Trotz would not tolerate. Remember Ovie backchecking and actually blocking shots? Seems like a long time ago. Nobody does much now aside from maybe the 4th line. Kuz and Vrana are one way guys and Backstrom has looked like an 80 year old woman for about a month and a half. I have no idea what's wrong with him. He's stunk since he signed the extension especially.
Much of this, though not all, falls on the coach and Rierden has demonstrated he's totally incompetent. They have a ready replacement sitting there in Alan May, who quickly figures out what's wrong and wouldn't put up with this type of play. He'd be cheap enough, too, which should make Leonsis happy. That's step one of a multi-step process because changes need to be made on the roster as well and that means that nobody outside Ovechkin should be untouchable. Yes, that means you Kuz, Carlson, Orlov, etc, etc.
waynerivers:
--- Quote from: Beaglefan2 on Saturday March 07, 2020, 10:24:14 AM Eastern ---I'll go back to the PP as the best measure of coaching ability. For the rest of the game, the coaches put in a system and players more or less try and execute it with the back and forth flow of the game. A good coach comes up with the right system for the talents of his players but then it is up to them to stay with it and execute.
The PP may be the same way to an extent, but it is contained and you can actually plan an exact system with specific play sets for each team you play. The Caps rarely adapt to different teams, they just do the same thing over and over. They also never copy the system of teams that have hot PPs, they just force the puck to Ovi every time.
The second aspect of the PP that is an absolute coaching flaw is the entry. Our ridiculous drop pass approach just does not work and wastes a ton of time. We would be much better off with quick sharp passes coming down the ice. Even dump-ins would be better than watching Dylan casually and blindly drop back lazy passes.
--- End quote ---
The "slingshot" is the dumbest thing ever invented and needs to go.
The "slingshot" is the dumbest thing ever invented. What the hell use is getting to the red line practically, maybe getting around a guy and then throwing it backwards so that the next guy has to do the same work again? The whole thing is utterly stupid and, as you said, wastes time.
ou said, wastes time.
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