GO CAPS!!!!

Nivek · Post #543 » by **Nivek** » Mon May 2, 2011 1:45 pm

I'm officially worried now.

Illuminaire · Post #544 » by **Illuminaire** » Mon May 2, 2011 5:36 pm

I'm a very casual hockey fan. And by casual, I mean, I don't watch hockey.

Is it a bad sign that when I watched last night's game, I came away with the following observations? I say yes. =p

1) The Lightning let the Caps take a lot of bad shots, but very few good ones.

2) The Caps play with wildly inconsistent levels of energy and focus.

Post #545 » by **Rafael122** » Mon May 2, 2011 6:45 pm

You're right on both accounts. The Caps are one of those teams who seem to turn it on when they want to. And Caps were mostly 1 and done with their shots. It was pathetic. It really makes you wonder if this is as far as the team can go. They have a great young core, but it just makes you wonder if they are plateauing with Broudreau.

Illuminaire · Post #546 » by **Illuminaire** » Mon May 2, 2011 7:01 pm

Are there many different defensive schemes in hockey? Another thing that stood out was how disciplined TB seemed to be whenever the caps dumped the puck behind the net. They were very diligent about putting a body on every Cap back there.

On the flip side, the Capitals tended to give the Lightning players extra time and space to maneuver.

I don't know enough to understand the ramifications of that difference in style, but it really seemed to frustrate the Cap's offense.

Benjammin · Post #547 » by **Benjammin** » Wed May 4, 2011 1:18 am

The Caps lose...yet again. The Heat win...again. Not a good night sportswise.

fishercob · Post #548 » by **fishercob** » Wed May 4, 2011 1:23 am

I like Bruce Boudreau, but I would really understand if he got fired. Down 3-0 in the second round just isnt meeting expectations.

Dat2U · Post #549 » by **Dat2U** » Wed May 4, 2011 1:31 am

It was nice knowing you Bruce Boudreau.

Down 3-0 to Tampa Bay, a team you they should frankly dominate is unacceptable.

The NHL playoffs are like Groundhog's day for Caps fans. The cycle of continuous collapses every year never seems to end.

Wizards2Lottery · Post #550 » by **Wizards2Lottery** » Wed May 4, 2011 1:35 am

Two playoff series wins since 1998 under McPhee.

Brilliant GM!

fishercob · Post #551 » by **fishercob** » Wed May 4, 2011 1:55 am

Dat2U wrote:It was nice knowing you Bruce Boudreau.

Down 3-0 to Tampa Bay, a team you they should frankly dominate is unacceptable.

The NHL playoffs are like Groundhog's day for Caps fans. The cycle of continuous collapses every year never seems to end.

Fallacy. The seeds may be 1-4, but the Caps only had 4 more points than TB in an 82 game season. Down 0-3 is indeed unacceptable, but we should in no way be expected to be "dominating" these guys. They're good.

Jay81 · Post #552 » by **Jay81** » Wed May 4, 2011 2:33 am

Dat2U wrote:It was nice knowing you Bruce Boudreau.

Down 3-0 to Tampa Bay, a team you they should frankly dominate is unacceptable.

The NHL playoffs are like Groundhog's day for Caps fans. The cycle of continuous collapses every year never seems to end.

Ted should fire every coach he employs right now....bruce and flip....and while your at it....ernie and McPhee...its the same thing every year

Post #553 » by **Rafael122** » Wed May 4, 2011 2:02 pm

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. I think this team has gotten everything they can out of Bruce and it's time to get someone else, a hard ass basically. And unlike 4 years ago, the Caps job will be the best one in all of hockey. .

fishercob · Post #554 » by **fishercob** » Wed May 4, 2011 2:18 pm

Trade Mike Green for a real two-way center while we're at it.

long suffrin' boulez fan · Post #555 » by **long suffrin' boulez fan** » Wed May 4, 2011 4:40 pm

Wizards2Lottery wrote:Two playoff series wins since 1998 under McPhee.

Brilliant GM!

It's hard to quibble too much with McPhee's job over the past few years. To take a team that had bottomed out to one that was the top point earner in the conference two years in a row... built on youth, with depth everywhere. Pretty impressive.

I love Gabby... but, he was brought in as an interim guy, then excelled at getting the Caps to perform at a really high level, particularly during the regular season. Had he not orchestrated the dramatic comeback in year one, he wouldn't have been retained.

IMO, he is great at motivating and getting guys to grind...

He can drive the heck out of a Plymouth.

I'm just not sure he is the man to steer this Ferrari that we have on our hands.

To me, he is pretty slow with adjustments. This hurts in a series and frankly forces us to be all of one thing or of another. That is, I don't have a problem with the Caps learning to play a different way... bringing all 5 skaters back on d, dumping and chasing a bit more. But, I don't think this has to be the only way you play.

Look at the Lightning... one moment they are sitting back in a 1-3-1, the next they have stepped up their line of confrontation and are forchecking like fiends. It throws off the other teams' rhythm and allows them to dictate play.

I would be sad to see Boudreau go... and, I think he'll find significant success elsewhere and soon.

But maybe he's Doug Collins and it's worth rolling the dice on finding the next Phil Jackson. I'd hate to see the window of opportunity close on this special core of players.

Post #556 » by **LyricalRico** » Wed May 4, 2011 5:39 pm

I'm really going to miss those great American Service Center commercials.

:nonono:

ST21 · Post #557 » by **ST21** » Thu May 5, 2011 1:56 am

well im officially done being a caps fan until they win a stanley cup.

yup i'm a bandwagon hockey fan, so what

no D in Hibachi · Post #558 » by **no D in Hibachi** » Thu May 5, 2011 2:24 am

Caps remind me of the 2000''s Mavs. They always have excellent regular seasons and a star, but it seems like once the playoffs start they lose confidence and underachieve. Maybe it's what DC deserves. The Caps could win 4 stanley cups in a row and they'd still be second place to the Redskins no matter how badly Snyder runs the team into the ground.

Post #559 » by **Zonkerbl** » Thu May 5, 2011 11:59 am

Well, they had an up and down season and the playoffs reflected that.

Statistically Tampa Bay was just as good a team as the Caps, as were the Rangers. So the only significant difference between the teams is energy level and confidence, and a lot of bad breaks went TBs way, sucking the energy out of the Caps and giving it to TB. I think the key thing to observe is that one of the games was lost because Budreau was outcoached -- that goal off the slow line change. And I think a key goal iin the first game was off a mistake - that's the coach's fault, afraid to say. Add to that the fact that the team didn't start playing "the right way" until the acquired Arnott and he had to speak up and tell the caps they were playing like crap. I think all those clues point to a coaching problem.

Nivek · Post #560 » by **Nivek** » Thu May 5, 2011 2:43 pm

Caps were 8th in goal differential this season, although I'm not sure if goal differential matters all that much in the NHL. On the other hand, there's a pretty good correlation (.93) between goal differential and regular season standings points this year

Of course, the Rangers (the 8 seed) were 4th in the NHL in goal differential. Tampa Bay was 15th. So, just going goal differential, the Caps should have lost to the Rangers, but defeated the Lightning.

I don't have time to do much reading in hockey analytics right now. Sucks that they're out.