Gilbert0Arenas wrote:This team is not stacked and I hate to put it this way, but if you guys really believe that then you are completely clueless about how hockey works. There's Ovechkin, Green, Varlamov, Laich Alzner and Backstrom. Backstrom relies totally on Ovechkin to be effective. Green thrives on the PP (which cracks down in the playoffs). Everybody else on this team is vastly overrated, with Semin leading the pack.
This team is not young either. They went to the playoffs last year and had seven games worth of experience. It doesn't take rocket science to figure out that you need to grow a pair and play a physical game and attack the goalies crease in the playoffs.
The blue line is absolute crap. Jeff Schultz is horrible, Jurcina is horrible, Poti is horrible, Pothier is 5-6 guy at best. Erskine on a good team would be a #4. Besides Green and Erskine, none of these guys would crack the top 4 or even top 6 of majority of the playoff teams.
There one gritty tough player willing to attack the net on the top 3 lines: Laich. Kozlov has never been a playoff player in his career. Semin is quite possibly the most boneheaded player in the league. Fedorov is done. Nylander never should have been signed. Flash and Fehr are total busts.
Finesse and playing in a crap division makes you win games in the regular season. Won't do anything in the playoffs. This team is the new Ottawa Senators. Except the Sens actually made the finals which doesn't seem anywhere in the future for this team unless drastic changes are made on the blue line and the top two lines like finding a new 2nd line center, finding a new first line partner for Ovie and Backstrom and finding gritty players who screen the goalies and play tough.
long suffrin' boulez fan wrote:I agree. This is a really talented team that is a little young. The only thing I fault the front office for is letting Huet get away and possibly not bringing in another goalie at the deadline.
I still think we are going to win this series.
The great Huet is sitting on the bench right now watching a goalie who was waived earlier in the season start in net. Huet is as good as Theodore and goal tending is far from the problem. Not resigning Huet also had long term ramificiations. Bringing him back meant less money to resign Alzner, Backstrom and Semin.
The Capitals have perennially stunk in the playoffs because of McPhee's flawed philosophy of building a team. HIs playoff record speaks for itself and his teams penchant for choking isn't a new thing.
Man, where do I even start with this nonsense.
1. This team does have talent on offense. They have 3 first line talents in Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Semin. Sem can be frustrating at times, but he was also our best player last year in the playoffs, if you don't remember. Maybe you gave up on them after the 3-1 deficit so you didn't seem him play outstanding hockey.
Nylander and Kozlov are deadweight, I agree. McPhee needs to find a way to move Nylander over the offseason. Fedorov is growing old, but if he is willing to come back on a much cheaper contract, I wouldn't mind McPhee signing him again.
2. Flash and Fehr are busts? After two seasons? Flash improved this year in case you didn't notice, and Fehr is just now getting legit playing time. Hardly busts so far.
3. The defense is mediocre. Poti is not a terrible defenseman though, he has been hobbled my injuries lately and it has really made a difference in his play. Erskine would not be a top 4 dman on a contender. He is perfect for the 5-6 role. Schultz is terrible, I agree. Jurcina is only effective when paired with Alzner. Alzner, Carlson, and Green are the future on D. I pray Alzner and Carlson work out. Alzner looks to be on his way.
4. Theodore is terrible but Varlamov looks like he could potentially be the franchise goaltender for this team for years to come. Hopefully he'll get to play for the rest of the series.
5. If this team is indeed swept in the first round or hell..even loses the first round, McPhee SHOULD be fired. This team does lack grit and they need more players like Laich. The skill is already there on the team. I still don't Flash and Fehr are already busts though.
In conclusion, the team needs more experience and talent on D, and more grit, net-crashing forwards. But both of those problems are relatively fixable in the coming years. This team has a very great young nucleus, that should only get better. I haven't lost hope on Green yet, he just needs to settle his game down a bit. There is still hope for this series, and I personally think they come back to Verizon with a 2-2 tie in the series.
