(photo by Brian Murphy)

Anyone who has read my thoughts on the Washington Capitals this season should know by now that I’m convinced this team is critically flawed.

This roster, as presently constructed, doesn’t appear capable of coexisting with the system Dale Hunter wants to utilize. So what Caps fans are “treated” to most nights is uneven play in which the rink looks completely tilted against Washington.

The Capitals end up getting out-shot and out-worked seemingly every time they take the ice. They rarely turn up the pressure on their opponent, so quality scoring chances and powerplays* are few and far between.

For at least 20 minutes every game, the players look completely disinterested as they go through the motions shift after uninspired shift.

*Although, to be fair, the team’s powerplay is horrid. They need a four minute five-on-three man advantage just to get enough of a sustained attack on a goalie to make him sweat. So I’m halfway convinced that referees have stopped calling penalties against Washington’s opponents in hopes of preventing further embarrassment. But I digress.

That this has been farce has been allowed to continue all season long is a slap in the face to anyone who actually cares about this team.

As I wrote last week, it’s clear that the window has closed on these Capitals. Anyone who believes these players are capable of winning a championship is clearly delusional.

Even with Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green all healthy and motivated (which apparently is easier said than done), the Caps still aren’t best suited to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty the way Hunter wants them to.

The best outcome anyone can reasonably hope for this season is for the Capitals to make the playoffs and then get bounced after a round or two.

You know, like they did each of the previous four seasons under that coach who wasn’t good enough to keep around anymore.

Continue reading this post

(courtesy photo)

The Washington Capitals lost to the Florida Panthers 4-2. Once again they were out-hustled. Once again they were out-played. Once again they failed to put together a full 60-minute effort.

We’re now 50 games into the season and this game felt awfully familiar. It’s as if we’ve seen this movie before. If only I could put my finger on it …

(photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack)

While it was nice to see the Capitals get a point in a road game, Washington’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning wasn’t all that enjoyable.

Sure, Washington was just 8-13-2 on the road to begin and was without the services of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green as they faced a talented divisional rival after a lengthy layoff.

So there are going to be plenty of people out there who are willing to make excuses for the stretches of less-than-stellar play. There are going to be plenty of fans who are happy to accept a point for the overtime loss as a moral victory.

Just don’t count me among that group of fans.

Because Washington’s first game after the all-star break was just more of the same of we’ve been what subjected to all season long.

The Capitals were at times good, but are rarely ever great these days.

They struggle to create quality scoring chances, the powerplay is still abysmal and they never have any sort of a margin for error. One screw up* and this team’s chances at victory essentially go out the window.

*Like say, a past-his-prime defender tripping over his own feet ensuring the opponent has a clear one-on-one breakaway against your goalie. Moments like that will always be huge momentum swings over the course of a game and Roman Hamrlik’s moment in the spotlight wasn’t a pretty one.

But my biggest issue with the Capitals these days is the fact that they’re simply incapable of putting together a full 60-minute effort anymore.

Continue reading this post

(photo by Mitchell Layton)

As you’ve no doubt heard by now, Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin was suspended three games for a hit on Pittsburgh defenseman Zbynek Michalek in Sunday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Penguins.

Although no penalty was called at the time, Brendan Shanahan, the NHL’s head disciplinarian, saw fit to sit The Great 8.

“The moment Ovechkin launches himself into the air prior to the hit he becomes responsible for any contact to the head,” Shanahan said.

While it was disappointing to see the NHL suspend Ovechkin, I can’t pretend to be surprised by Shanahan’s decision. In his eyes, Ovechkin is a repeat offender (he was suspended twice during the 2009-10 season) who should know better.

With Ovechkin off for an impromptu vacation, it means the Capitals – who continue to fight with several other middle-of-the-pack teams for a playoff spot – obviously need a player or two to step and fill the void. Especially since Ovechkin isn’t the only top-tier player out of action these days.

Top-line center Nicklas Backstrom is still out of action due to a concussion and top defenseman Mike Green remains out of the lineup as he deals with a groin injury.

Think about that for a second – in a season in which the salary cap stands at $64.3 million, Ovechkin, Backstrom and Green account for roughly $21.5 million.

When three players eat up a third of your total salary cap space, you’re obviously expecting them to be your workhorses and carry the proverbial load for your team day in and day out.

Conversely, when three of your four highest-paid players are out of the lineup, it’s safe to say your team is typically in trouble.

That, of course, was the backdrop as the Caps took the ice against the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins.

While the sweaters remained the same, the players wearing them for the home team looked a lot more like the Hershey Bears than the Washington Capitals we’ve come to know and love.

On the surface, there was little reason for optimism heading into this one. The Bruins have been in beast mode all season long.*

*Case in point: their 15-6 record on the road was better than most team’s home record and they had scored 168 goals while only allowing 97 for the season. That’s pretty good.

And yet, I was more excited to see this game than any other since Dale Hunter took over as the new coach. Why?

Continue reading this post

(photo by Brian Murphy)

Growing up, the Washington Capitals were the epitome of a blue-collar team.

They never had the biggest names in hockey, but they earned respect thanks to their desire to outwork and outhustle opponents into submission.

While our nation’s capital will never be confused for a blue-collar town, that lunch pail mentality served the franchise well as the team qualified for the postseason 14 consecutive seasons – starting with the 1982-83 season and running through the 1995-96 campaign.

The Capitals typically lost in the first round of the playoffs, but the bar was set low enough locally that simply qualifying for the postseason was good enough to keep most fans happy.

And then there was the 1997-98 season, where everything came together for the Caps in a perfect storm of skill, determination and a lot of luck.

Goalie Olaf Kolzig, playing some of the best hockey* of his stellar career, backstopped the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals and for a brief moment it seemed like the Capitals might actually be capable of shocking the hockey-watching world.

Unfortunately, the Detroit Red Wings never got the memo and any dreams of seeing Peter Bondra raise the most storied hardware in all of sports were snuffed out in a hurry.

After 24 seasons of good, but rarely great hockey, the Capitals had finally elevated their play to hockey’s grandest stage – only to get steamrolled by a franchise that has drank from Lord Stanley’s Cup 11 times.

*Even after being swept by Detroit, Kolzig finished the playoffs with a 12-9 record, a 1.95 goals against average, a .941 save percentage and four shutouts. That’s called getting it done, boys and girls.

And yet, although Washington suffered a beatdown in the finals, most Caps fans were just thankful for the experience. When you root for a team with little to no expectations, you’re able to celebrate the victories and brush off the setbacks easier than most.

Fast forward to the 2003-04 season when Capitals owner Ted Leonsis and his general manager, George McPhee, took a critical look at their roster and came to the gutsy decision to blow it all up and start over from scratch.

By their own admission, Leonsis and McPhee saw a team that was good enough to make the playoffs each year, but wasn’t much of a threat to do anything once the postseason began.

The new regime refused to accept mediocrity, so they traded away aging veterans to stockpile young prospects and draft picks while bracing for a painful rebuilding process known simply as “the plan.”

Continue reading this post

(photo by Tom Boland)

I’m going to be completely honest with you – the Washington Capitals, at times this season, have been painful to watch.

Take, for example, the team’s pitiful effort at home in a 3-0 loss to the New York Islanders Tuesday night.

After 60 minutes of uninspired hockey by the home team it was tough to tell which team was tied for the fewest points in the Eastern Conference and which team was fighting for first place in their division.

And then, 24 hours later, the Capitals responded with an impressive 3-0 road victory over the Montreal Canadiens that had me scratching my head.

Did the players in the Capitals’ locker room show up for the Montreal game because of their lackluster performance the previous night?

Was the team fired up because the game represented a chance for retribution against Rene Bourque – Montreal’s newly-acquired player who knocked center Nicklas Backstrom out of action with a cheapshot elbow to the head?

Or is this team just schizophrenic and there’s no true way of knowing what anyone is going to see on any given night?

At this point, each of those answers seems to make sense. But when push comes to shove, I’m more inclined to believe it’s the third option that fits these days.

This team, as best as I can tell, still lacks a true identity. They’re no longer a run and gun team hoping to win a shootout every night. They’re not quite the lockdown defense juggernaut they hope to someday become.

Instead, the Caps are essentially a team that rarely gets shots on net, has trouble scoring goals consistently and almost never gets sustained pressure on an opponent.

How does a team earn a shutout victory on the road and still manage to leave a sour taste in your mouth? It probably has something to do with being limited to just 16 shots on net.

Against the Islanders, eight Washington players were held without a shot and six more had just one paltry shot on goal.

Against Montreal, six players were unable to register a single shot, while eight players had a single shot on net.

In fact, no player had more than two shots on goal against the Canadiens and captain Alex Ovechkin managed just one shot* for the entire game.

*Considering Ovechkin scored the one time he managed to put a shot in the general direction of Habs goalie Carey Price, it’s inexcusable that the $100-million man wouldn’t or couldn’t get another shot on target the rest of the evening.

Although Ovechkin averages more than five shots a game for his career, he’s failed to do so in each of his last eight games. Let’s go ahead and make it a priority to get him back on track.

Continue reading this post

(photo by Jana Chytilova)

It seems like only yesterday that I was posting an interview with Washington Capitals forward Troy Brouwer.

In that feature, I specifically mentioned that if the Caps are going to turn things around and get this season back on track, it’s going to come thanks to players such as Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Brouwer.

In related news, the Capitals defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-3 thanks to third-period goals from Backstrom, Ovechkin and … you guessed it … Brouwer.*

*Sure they weren’t playing as the team’s top line last night because Alexander Semin replaced Brouwer, but that doesn’t mean I still can’t get a little credit for essentially spelling out which three players were going to have stand-out performances against Ottawa.

The Capitals came flying out the gate against the Senators – outshooting the home team 15 to six in the opening frame, but had nothing to show for it after 20 minutes.

They even had a two-man advantage for nearly a full two minutes, but couldn’t put the puck in the net. It seemed inevitable that doubt was beginning to creep back into the players’ minds and another lackluster finish was on the way.

“It is tough when you’re doing the right things and things aren’t going your way,” said Brouwer. “You want to change over to doing the wrong things to see if they might work. But guys were good. They stuck with it. We got some breaks finally at the end.”

The first break of the night for Washington came off of the stick of former captain Jeff Halpern, who simply crashed the net and was rewarded with a big, juicy rebound.

Senators goalie Craig Anderson made the initial save on defenseman Dennis Wideman’s shot, but the puck deflected right to Halpern who snuck it past Anderson for his second goal of the year.

From there, the game tilted in favor of Ottawa, with the Senators taking the lead on a soft goal allowed by netminder Tomas Vokoun and a great individual effort by forward Nick Foligno.

Sure, the Caps were outplaying the Sens, but they once again found themselves behind on the scoreboard.

“We had lots of chances but we weren’t scoring,” said coach Dale Hunter.

Trailing 2-1, the Capitals got a huge boost from Backstrom – who finally showed his teammates that it’s okay to score a goal on the powerplay.

Backstrom’s beautiful wrist shot not only tied the game halfway through the third period, but it helped remove a massive weight from the proverbial shoulder of Washington’s powerplay unit – who had just two goals in 53 chances prior to Nicky’s 10th goal of the season.

Continue reading this post