Speculation: Acq./Rost. Bldg./Cap/Lines etc. Part LXXXIV -- The Doggiest Days (Woof!) 2017

[RandyHolt]

I think it's crazy to NOT try new things. That same static PP all year long is just too easy to defend come playoff time. Sure it's the worlds best but it has not been a difference maker in our fate.

I have been saying it for years, I want our RS PP to dry up and force us to learn how to score at ES. Modernize our attack to make us a better overall team. And, develop players other than Nick and Ovi. Let others tally up some PP points, build up confidence and develop chemistry in their games.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

This might sound crazy but how would you guys feel about Backstrom in the Mojo spot since he's so calm and collective(which is what Mojo did well in that spot because he had time and space) and Kuzzy taking the Backstrom spot?

Oshie in the slot, Kuzy on the half wall(way scarier shot that Backstrom), Backy in the corner/goal line, Ovechkin in his normal spot and Orlov on the other point.

I know they always say they need a righty to get Ovechkin the shot but Orlov is SUPER creative and can also drop bombs from the point if they overplay Ovi like most teams always do.

I think it's crazy to NOT try new things. That same static PP all year long is just too easy to defend come playoff time. Sure it's the worlds best but it has not been a difference maker in our fate.

I have been saying it for years, I want our RS PP to dry up and force us to learn how to score at ES. Modernize our attack to make us a better overall team. And, develop players other than Nick and Ovi. Let others tally up some PP points, build up confidence and develop chemistry in their games.

I'm with you guys. I want some new wrinkles. They need changes IMO largely due to predictability. The issue is Ovechkin. Can he be effective anywhere else? Not unless he reinvents his game IMO. Sadly I think we'll be right back to the typical setup come Oct....pass it around until goal turret has a shot, rinse, repeat.

 

[hockeykicker]

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

I'm with you guys. I want some new wrinkles. They need changes IMO largely due to predictability. The issue is Ovechkin. Can he be effective anywhere else? Not unless he reinvents his game IMO. Sadly I think we'll be right back to the typical setup come Oct....pass it around until goal turret has a shot, rinse, repeat.

I think he can man the point. He did it effectively in 2009.

Typical Russian kid. Hey, I wouldn't be scared of a bear with a muzzle

 

[txpd]

...force us to learn how to score at ES

5 on 5 scoring 2016/2017

1. Wild 187
2. Pens 185
3. Caps 178
4. Islanders 178
5. Leafs 169

PP%

1. Sabres 24.5%
2. Leafs 23.8%
3. Pens 23.1%
4. Caps 23.1%

The Caps pp rank in the playoffs was 2nd. Pens 5th. The Caps overall GF/G was tied for 4th.

You are barking up the wrong tree.

 

[txpd]

I think he can man the point. He did it effectively in 2009.

He plays the point now. Ovechkin is one of the few players on the team that is capable of beating a goalie clean from 30ft and further out. Why would you want him in closer?

If he reinvented his game, what reinvention would you want? Make him a pass first player? He is the team's best shooter? Stick him in front of the net for garbage goals and screening duty and getting hit by shots? He is the team's best shooter. You want to put him in the slot where Oshie plays? Oshie is open to score in that spot because teams are guarding Ovechkin. Putting Ov in the slot would make it easier to cover him and teams would squeeze all four pk players in around him. Yes, that would open up the long shot thru the traffic, but Ovechkin is the team's best long shooter. Oshie is certainly not a long distance gunner.

How would you want to reinvent his game?

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

He plays the point now. Ovechkin is one of the few players on the team that is capable of beating a goalie clean from 30ft and further out. Why would you want him in closer?

If he reinvented his game, what reinvention would you want? Make him a pass first player? He is the team's best shooter? Stick him in front of the net for garbage goals and screening duty and getting hit by shots? He is the team's best shooter. You want to put him in the slot where Oshie plays? Oshie is open to score in that spot because teams are guarding Ovechkin. Putting Ov in the slot would make it easier to cover him and teams would squeeze all four pk players in around him. Yes, that would open up the long shot thru the traffic, but Ovechkin is the team's best long shooter. Oshie is certainly not a long distance gunner.

How would you want to reinvent his game?

You're mistaken. The point is the blue line. I'm saying Ovechkin could play in Carlson's spot on the PP. Obviously I wouldn't want to see him play like Oshie and risk getting hit by shots

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

He plays the point now. Ovechkin is one of the few players on the team that is capable of beating a goalie clean from 30ft and further out. Why would you want him in closer?

If he reinvented his game, what reinvention would you want? Make him a pass first player? He is the team's best shooter? Stick him in front of the net for garbage goals and screening duty and getting hit by shots? He is the team's best shooter. You want to put him in the slot where Oshie plays? Oshie is open to score in that spot because teams are guarding Ovechkin. Putting Ov in the slot would make it easier to cover him and teams would squeeze all four pk players in around him. Yes, that would open up the long shot thru the traffic, but Ovechkin is the team's best long shooter. Oshie is certainly not a long distance gunner.

How would you want to reinvent his game?

You think Ovy's overall game is headed in the right direction? He needs to reinvent himself as a more mobile, agile player at a minimum. He needs to adapt or his slide will continue. I think GMBM said something similar at the end of the season....don't remember the exact quote. He's become a one trick pony, and while his talents prevent him from being completely neutralized from a production perspective, teams are content limiting just how much impact he's having on a series.

 

[Langway]

5 on 5 scoring 2016/2017...

You are barking up the wrong tree.

There are a lot of right trees. Believing that they should only seek to improve The Missing Link keeps them in a passive and complacent mindset generally. They were also second the season before in 5-on-5 scoring but it does always seem to dry up come playoff time, usually in concert with their forward depth also thinning out considerably.

The concern for me 5-on-5 is relying on much of the following next season:

- Connolly repeating an incredibly fortunate season from a rate standpoint in order to give them a respectable third line
- Oshie doing the same while the top line is essentially a wash possession-wise
- Vrana in the top six with no existing NHL track record of ES production, even if much of it was spent on the third-line
- Wilson to continue to develop offensively
- The fourth line handling relatively tough minutes and outproducing their expected stats
- A weaker blueline and weaker depth overall opening the door to becoming a mediocre possession team that relies too much on Sh%, goaltending, special teams and one-goal wins

For me the issue with a PP that doesn't rely all that much on movement is that it sets a dumbed down framework that carries over into 5-on-5 play to some extent. We see it with 6-on-5 situations with the goalie pulled when they basically revert to the PP setup without much success. There's not an area where they realistically shouldn't be seeking to improve, not just because they need to take the next step but also since this group is likely to be very different than the past three teams under Trotz. One of the more interesting dynamics is how the coaching staff and front office adjust to that reality in a way that doesn't immediately put them in survival mode making super conservative decisions just to get by.

 

[RandyHolt]

5 on 5 scoring 2016/2017

You are barking up the wrong tree.

Take away that 1 in 100 year massive scoring run we went on, and where are our ES numbers - rather middling for a president.

That month aside, in the Ovi era we largely get our ES goals from individual efforts, and stifling team D. That monster scoring run we had before spring break, is the tree I want us to try to climb. Create an explosive dominant ES offense. We all saw it. Don't deny we cannot get better at ES.

Instead we keep winning cups in January.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Take away that 1 in 100 year massive scoring run we went on, and where are our ES numbers - rather middling for a president.

That month aside, in the Ovi era we largely get our ES goals from individual efforts, and stifling team D. That monster scoring run we had before spring break, is the tree I want us to try to climb. Create an explosive dominant ES offense. We all saw it. Don't deny we cannot get better at ES.

Instead we keep winning cups in January.

Every year, we explode offensively during one month. We're literally unstoppable during one month, and this year it came with incredible team defense. I remember us winning back to back 5-0 games and then having 12 straight games in which we scored at least 5 goals. If we could have this offensive explosion during the month of May instead of January, we could win a Stanley Cup. We've been dying to see that happen, the potential has been there all along.

 

[txpd]

You're mistaken. The point is the blue line. I'm saying Ovechkin could play in Carlson's spot on the PP. Obviously I wouldn't want to see him play like Oshie and risk getting hit by shots

Ovechkin will never play the Carlson spot because that makes Ov the safety defender. Which is why Carlson is there. The Caps play 1 point man but Ovechkin more often than not is the number 2 safety guy because Backstrom plays far more often closer to the goal line.

 

[txpd]

You think Ovy's overall game is headed in the right direction? He needs to reinvent himself as a more mobile, agile player at a minimum. He needs to adapt or his slide will continue. I think GMBM said something similar at the end of the season....don't remember the exact quote. He's become a one trick pony, and while his talents prevent him from being completely neutralized from a production perspective, teams are content limiting just how much impact he's having on a series.

I asked how you would reinvent his game. I listed his PP game. I don't disagree that he needs to be better and evolve but as long as he has the best shot on the team his primary role will be to shoot the puck.

 

[txpd]

There are a lot of right trees. Believing that they should only seek to improve The Missing Link keeps them in a passive and complacent mindset generally. They were also second the season before in 5-on-5 scoring but it does always seem to dry up come playoff time, usually in concert with their forward depth also thinning out considerably.

The concern for me 5-on-5 is relying on much of the following next season:

- Connolly repeating an incredibly fortunate season from a rate standpoint in order to give them a respectable third line
- Oshie doing the same while the top line is essentially a wash possession-wise
- Vrana in the top six with no existing NHL track record of ES production, even if much of it was spent on the third-line
- Wilson to continue to develop offensively
- The fourth line handling relatively tough minutes and outproducing their expected stats
- A weaker blueline and weaker depth overall opening the door to becoming a mediocre possession team that relies too much on Sh%, goaltending, special teams and one-goal wins

For me the issue with a PP that doesn't rely all that much on movement is that it sets a dumbed down framework that carries over into 5-on-5 play to some extent. We see it with 6-on-5 situations with the goalie pulled when they basically revert to the PP setup without much success. There's not an area where they realistically shouldn't be seeking to improve, not just because they need to take the next step but also since this group is likely to be very different than the past three teams under Trotz. One of the more interesting dynamics is how the coaching staff and front office adjust to that reality in a way that doesn't immediately put them in survival mode making super conservative decisions just to get by.

we are talking about 2 different things. I was responding to the idea that the Caps relied too much on their pp at the expense of being a good ES scoring team. That the resulting drying up of pp performance killed their playoffs. Last season they were among the leaders in 5 on 5 scoring and their pp didn't dry up in the playoffs.

That is all I was saying. This coming season? Yes, they have some work to do to show they can be competitive at any level. I am not certain even that Holtby is an elite goalie. He wasn't anything close to that in the playoffs and a prime reason they lost. Not the power play. Every area of their game will need to be adjusted for the new season and this new roster

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Ovechkin will never play the Carlson spot because that makes Ov the safety defender. Which is why Carlson is there. The Caps play 1 point man but Ovechkin more often than not is the number 2 safety guy because Backstrom plays far more often closer to the goal line.

Meh, I don't see it as a big issue. If the other team goes on a breakaway, I'd trust Ovi to catch the guy more than Carlson. If it's just a 2 vs 1 break, Carlson could get back to break it up if Ovi can hold them off just a second or two.

 

[MrGone]

Take away that 1 in 100 year massive scoring run we went on, and where are our ES numbers - rather middling for a president.

That month aside, in the Ovi era we largely get our ES goals from individual efforts, and stifling team D. That monster scoring run we had before spring break, is the tree I want us to try to climb. Create an explosive dominant ES offense. We all saw it. Don't deny we cannot get better at ES.

Instead we keep winning cups in January.

That has been the story of this team. They won in spite of BB. They won with great individual efforts. And that hurt them in the long run.

 

[RandyHolt]

That has been the story of this team. They won in spite of BB. They won with great individual efforts. And that hurt them in the long run.

Ovi made his mark on the league, by flying up the wing all by himself, cutting towards the slot, and scoring. That was the root of our ES offense, for many years.

100% individual effort - near unstoppable 1 on 1. Now, we see him score off that play about once a year.

Barry has us trying to grind our way to victory (that one month a year we always dominate offensively, aside) which Ovi is not a good fit for. We really need Ovi to be able to hang on the boards for Barry to win a cup here. Pitt was taking candy from him in game 7. Easily, and they led to goals. I don't think we can blame his injury.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Ovi made his mark on the league, by flying up the wing all by himself, cutting towards the slot, and scoring. That was the root of our ES offense, for many years.

100% individual effort - near unstoppable 1 on 1. Now, we see him score off that play about once a year.

Barry has us trying to grind our way to victory (that one month a year we always dominate offensively, aside) which Ovi is not a good fit for. We really need Ovi to be able to hang on the boards for Barry to win a cup here. Pitt was taking candy from him in game 7. Easily, and they led to goals. I don't think we can blame his injury.

Regardless of the goals the Penguins scored in game 7 thanks to Ovechkin's poor puck management that day, we weren't going to win that game anyway. We scored 0 goals on MAF. This was arguably the most important game of the entire Ovechkin era, and they were shutout. Mind boggling.

 

[RandyHolt]

Regardless of the goals the Penguins scored in game 7 thanks to Ovechkin's poor puck management that day, we weren't going to win that game anyway. We scored 0 goals on MAF. This was arguably the most important game of the entire Ovechkin era, and they were shutout. Mind boggling.

Barry's panic move of putting him on 3 was good for one ESG out of him, ironically from his old move IIRC, but it was a sign of desperation that likely filtered down to the players and cast doubt.

Yeah we won a few games before that, but it was almost borrowed time. The fact that we made it to a game 7, was our cup this year.

Nick said it, and there is some truth to it, we lost that series in the first 2 games. Since we suck at handling game 7 pressures, we have to avoid game 7s. But Barry waits too long to put away his checker board, and pull out his chess board. He only does something catered to his opponent out of desperation, and I think it can have an adverse effect on his players.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Barry's panic move of putting him on 3 was good for one ESG out of him, ironically from his old move IIRC, but it was a sign of desperation that likely filtered down to the players and cast doubt.

Yeah we won a few games before that, but it was almost borrowed time. The fact that we made it to a game 7, was our cup this year.

Nick said it, and there is some truth to it, we lost that series in the first 2 games. Since we suck at handling game 7 pressures, we have to avoid game 7s. But Barry waits too long to put away his checker board, and pull out his chess board. He only does something catered to his opponent out of desperation, and I think it can have an adverse effect on his players.

I was mostly worried going into game 6, fearing the same scenario from 2016 would happen again. When we went up 5-0 against them, in their home, I really thought we would win the series in game 7. Hell, Penguins fans themselves thought they were finished going into game 7.

 

[RandyHolt]

I was mostly worried going into game 6, fearing the same scenario from 2016 would happen again. When we went up 5-0 against them, in their home, I really thought we would win the series in game 7. Hell, Penguins fans themselves thought they were finished going into game 7.

Pens fans are delirious. They had Sid and Geno at full health, and we had decades of our playoff failures looming over our heads and our star, injured. They had a proven cup winning coach, we had the long tenured coach who never got out of the 2nd round, with a slew of 2nd round failures on his resume.

Never underestimate the pressure the home team faces, even without our historical chokes. Giving up the first goal at home, may have finished us off. Here we go again.

And, as always, tending is HUGE. They had their old stud goalie playing very well, and our goalie overall may have never been more shaky.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I asked how you would reinvent his game. I listed his PP game. I don't disagree that he needs to be better and evolve but as long as he has the best shot on the team his primary role will be to shoot the puck.

I missed the part where I said he wouldn't shoot the puck.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Barry's panic move of putting him on 3 was good for one ESG out of him, ironically from his old move IIRC, but it was a sign of desperation that likely filtered down to the players and cast doubt.

Yeah we won a few games before that, but it was almost borrowed time. The fact that we made it to a game 7, was our cup this year.

Nick said it, and there is some truth to it, we lost that series in the first 2 games. Since we suck at handling game 7 pressures, we have to avoid game 7s. But Barry waits too long to put away his checker board, and pull out his chess board. He only does something catered to his opponent out of desperation, and I think it can have an adverse effect on his players.

Now that move was a panic move? Revisionist history at its best. He wasn't playing up to snuff. Many thought he was hurt or just playing below his typical level and if I remember correctly either liked the move at the time or were simply accepting of it "because he must be hurt". Fashionable to blame Barry for everything though, I get it.

If that move sunk the rest of the team mentally, then they truly are mental midgets and will never win a Cup. I'm not buying it.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Pens fans are delirious. They had Sid and Geno at full health, and we had decades of our playoff failures looming over our heads and our star, injured. They had a proven cup winning coach, we had the long tenured coach who never got out of the 2nd round, with a slew of 2nd round failures on his resume.

Never underestimate the pressure the home team faces, even without our historical chokes. Giving up the first goal at home, may have finished us off. Here we go again.

And, as always, tending is HUGE. They had their old stud goalie playing very well, and our goalie overall may have never been more shaky.

Their old stud goalie is known for choking too. We came so damn close to beating them, we just had to hold on for 60 minutes and pot one before them. Maybe in some alternate reality we win this game and go on to win it all.

I understand that this team chokes all the time but I still haven't fully grasped the concept of choking. It's foreign to me, I've never choked. Not in sports, not in every other aspect of my life. I remember a chemistry class which I was about to fail in high school. I basically had to get over 95% on the final exam, and that was after getting a terrible grade on the midterm. I walked in for the exam, knowing there was no margin for error and that I would have to repeat the class otherwise. Got 100% on the final and passed. I never had any doubt in my abilities, I was confident I could make it and I did.

How do you step on the ice to play a ****ing game and stop performing because of the pressure and the expectations? If I was a player for the Caps, I'd be super excited to play in a game like that. Every hockey player in the world dreams of playing in a game 7 of a tight series against their worst enemy.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I could have accepted a 2-1 goalie duel, or a 5-4 barn burner....but shut out in game 7. Gutless.