All posts in hockey

(photo by Brian Murphy)

Remember when the Washington Redskins went into last season with Rex Grossman and John Beck as the only options at quarterbacks even though everyone knew it was a terrible idea?

And remember just how badly that experiment ended – even though management was more than happy to “stake their reputation” on Grossman and Beck?

Well, that’s pretty much what happened with the Washington Capitals on trade deadline day.

Rather than attempting to strengthen a clearly flawed roster, general manager George McPhee opted to bury his head in the sand and pretend that everything is just fine.

“We would have added something to the team if we thought it would make us better, but it had to make us better,” McPhee said. “What transpired today, really there wasn’t anything there that would have been the right thing for our club. Everyone seemed to want our players but they wanted to give us futures and prospects. I wasn’t interested in doing that.”

Okay, it’s tough to really argue with that stance. Let’s hear what else GMGM had to say.

“We have some terrific young players in our lineup right now because we didn’t make mistakes the last three or four years,” McPhee said, “And we’re going to have some terrific young players going forward because we didn’t give them away today. Just not going to make that mistake. Sometimes no deal is better than a bad deal.”

Again, if you’re on the fence about renewing your Capitals season tickets after a fifth-straight year of increased ticket prices, this is exactly the type of sentiment you’re hoping to hear from management.

Anything else you’d like to add?

“The theme of this year’s deadline was everyone wanted to add and there was no one selling,” he added.

This is where McPhee and I differ.

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

While it was a welcome site to see the Washington Capitals win back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 15, I’m more than a little concerned about the timing of it.

When a team goes more than a month without putting together two solid games in a row, it should be a clear sign that all is not well with a team saddled by lofty expectations.

And yet, these two wins – Friday’s 4-1 victory over Montreal and Saturday’s 4-2 victory over Toronto – could be just enough for Caps general manager George McPhee to convince himself that there’s no reason to make any drastic moves before today’s 3 p.m. trade deadline.*

*Let’s be honest: GMGM’s preference is going to make a minor move or two rather than shipping off one of the big names on the roster. Why? Because trading away one of his “core” players would mean he’d have to admit that the team he constructed might be flawed.

It might not be ideal for the franchise you’re running, but it’s obviously better for self preservation if you remain stubborn and wrong rather than give your boss an idea that you might not have all the answers.

Watching the Capitals jump out to a lead on a vulnerable opponent and not let up in consecutive outings was a wonderful surprise for any Caps fan. My only question is – where has this effort been all year?

Forward Matt Hendricks said something interesting over the weekend that definitely caught my attention.

“Hopefully, we swayed some opinions. We’re playing well, and we like our group,” Hendricks said.

Again, why does it take a proverbial gun to the head to get these players to respond?

Washington had lost six of the last seven games heading into the weekend, but suddenly there’s a sense of urgency because someone might be held accountable for such a lackluster season?

That’s troubling to me as a fan, and I’d hope that management would feel the same way. It’s great to see two dominant efforts in a row, but what happens a week from now when these players no longer have the threat of being shipped out of town hanging over their heads?

With that in mind, I’ve come up with five Capitals players who could/should be moved before the trade deadline. Take a look and let me know your thoughts on who should stay and who should go.

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(photo by Clyde Caplan)

Three years ago, Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis was kind enough to articulate his 10-point plan to rebuilding a franchise to my buddies over at Hogs Haven.

This plan was the blueprint used by the Caps in their quest to raise Lord Stanley’s Cup for the first time in franchise history, and if nothing else, elevated the local hockey team from doormat to one of the league’s most exciting teams.

Unfortunately, as any D.C. sports fan can see, all is not well with Ted’s hockey team.

During what players openly acknowledged as a “make or break” four-game road stretch, the Caps went 1-3 while being outscored 13-5.

In fact, the Capitals have just five wins in their last 16 games, which is clearly not the way a team fighting to make it into the postseason should be playing down the stretch.

Through 60 games, Washington has 29 wins and 31 losses on the year and currently sits in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, so it’s tough to believe that even if everyone got healthy overnight this season is going to end in anything other than disappointment.

Not only that, but seemingly every player on the roster is going through a season-long slump and questions surround each of the supposed pillars the franchise is built on.

And let’s not forget the Capitals have already fired one coach – canning the most successful coach in franchise history, Bruce Boudreau, back in November – and the new coach, Dale Hunter, doesn’t have a contract for next season.

Clearly, this team is at a crossroad.

With that in mind, I wanted to take a look back at the owner’s 10-point plan to see just how concerned Caps fans should be about the state of the franchise.

Is it truly time to panic or is this just an unfortunate bump in the road? Here’s what the blueprint says:

1. Ask yourself the big question: “Can this team — as constructed — ever win a championship?” If the answer is yes — stay the course and try to find the right formula — if the answer is no, then plan to rebuild. Don’t fake it — really do the analytics and be brutally honest. Once you have your answer, develop the game plan to try to REALLY win a championship. Always run away from experts that say, “We are just one player away.” Recognize there is no easy and fast systemic fix. It will be a bumpy ride — have confidence in the plan – “trust and verify: the progress — but don’t deviate from the plan.”

From a production standpoint, captain Alex Ovechkin is a shell of his former self. He’s also widely believed to have quit on Boudreau, which is why a coaching change was made. His best friend, Alexander Semin, is a head case who enjoys long walks on the beach and taking dumb penalties at the worst-possible time. Mike Green is never healthy for more than 10 minutes at a time and Nicklas Backstrom, the team’s best player this season, has no clue when he’ll rejoin the team thanks to a concussion.

These are your four highest-paid players and yet, none of this inspires confidence. If management really does decide to be brutally honest as Leonsis said, then can they really believe this team can win a Stanley Cup with these four players as the cornerstones?

I think we all know the depressing answer.

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(courtesy photo)

As a sports fan, there is nothing worse than the stark realization that all hope is lost.

Until you reach that breaking point, optimistic fans are able to easily rationalize poor outings by chalking up losses to a tough schedule, bad luck, a rash of injuries or a million other excuses.*

*Does the phrase “We ran into a hot goalie” ring a bell? How about “We couldn’t buy a call the entire game?”

But I’ve been a fan of D.C. sports teams long enough to know that, inevitably, there comes a time in every season when it’s no longer possible to bury your head in the sand and tell yourself that everything is going to work out just fine.

Until recently, the last time that depressing moment of realization came into my life was on Sunday, October 30, 2011.

If I close my eyes, I can still picture it as if it was yesterday.

The 3-3 Washington Redskins traveled to Toronto to take on the 4-2 Buffalo Bills.

Realistically, no one thought for a minute that either franchise was capable of winning the Super Bowl, but both teams had looked decent enough at times during the first two months of the season to inspire a bit of confidence on behalf of their fans.

“Sure, the Redskins aren’t considered part of the NFL’s elite, but at least head coach Mike Shanahan has this team pointed in the right direction,” said damn near every Redskins fan in town.

And then the Buffalo game happened.

The Redskins were systematically destroyed in a 23-0 beatdown by a Bills team that’s so underwhelming they’re forced to play a portion of the home games in another country, and it was clearly time to adjust expectations.

After watching quarterback Rex Grossman get benched for throwing four interceptions in a single game, any chance of Washington salvaging the season hinged on the arm of John Beck.

Shanahan and his son Kyle both swore that Beck could be “the man,” and even went as far as to “stake their reputation” on the unheralded backup, which sounded great … until the 30-year-old actually stepped onto a football field.

But after that demoralizing loss it Toronto, it was clear the Redskins had no backup plan and ‘Skins fans better brace themselves for another forgettable season.

So why am I ripping the band-aid off of this old wound? What good can possibly come from reliving such disheartening moments?

I’m glad you asked.

I bring all of this up to help fans of the Washington Capitals prepare for what comes next.

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

Whatever happened to respecting our elders? Or at the very least, can’t a team that prides itself on being a professionally run organization be man enough to let a guy know when he’s not wanted anymore?

Of course, I’m talking about the current situation brewing between veteran forward Mike Knuble and the Washington Capitals.

And by situation, I mean the last week represents Knuble’s turn in coach Dale Hunter’s doghouse.*

*I guess if you’re looking for a bright side, Knuble can at least seek comfort from defenseman Jeff Schultz or goalies Michal Neuvirth and Tomas Vokoun since each of them can relate to what Knuble is currently going through.

In case you missed it, the 39-year-old has fallen out of favor with the team’s new coach and has found himself out of the lineup as a healthy scratch each of the team’s last three games.

Typically veteran players with 14 years of experience don’t find themselves in this situation unless they’re recovering from an injury.

And yet, Knuble sits while career minor leaguers like Keith Aucoin, Jay Beagle and Joel Rechlicz somehow make the cut.

Don’t get me wrong, I know he’s having a terrible year. Hell, even he knows it and he’d be the first to admit it. But it’s not like Knuble has been set up for success this year.

Knuble currently sits 14th on the team in scoring with just three goals and eight assists for 11 points in 53 games. Only two players – defenseman Roman Hamrlik and forward Matt Hendricks – have less points while seeing action in 50 or more games this season.

No one, most of all Knuble, can be pleased with his lack of production this season. But it should be noted that Knuble ranks 15th on the team in ice time – averaging 14 minutes and 18 seconds of ice time per game.

It goes without saying, the less playing time Knuble gets the more difficult it’s going to be for him to be productive. Of course, playing on the team’s fourth line isn’t helping either, but I digress.

This is a man who was at his best while playing on Washington’s top line with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

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(photo by Clyde Caplan)

While many teams are loading up for a stretch run in the deciding months of the NHL’s regular season, the Washington Capitals appear completely content to stumble their way towards the finish line.

That the Caps fell to the San Jose Sharks 5-3 isn’t particularly newsworthy — after all, they’ve lost 16 of their last 17 against San Jose — but watching a team that is usually stellar at home fail to show up for a key game against a slumping opponent wasn’t exactly what the fans in attendance at the Verizon Center signed up for.

Maybe coach Dale Hunter thought calling up goalie Braden Holtby a few hours before the puck dropped would give his team some sort of spark. If so, he couldn’t have been thrilled watching a puck find the back of the net from a shot that was fired 69 feet away.

Holtby hadn’t played in a game for Washington in almost a year and he clearly wasn’t at his best, but I truly feel like he deserved a better outcome. In the early moments of this game, the 22-year-old seemed to be one of the only guys in red who actually came to play.

While the Sharks skated circles around the Caps, Holtby continued to stand on his head to keep the game close. But then a fluky deflection off of a shot from behind the red line squirted past Holtby and the wheels came off.

The Sharks seized control and by the time they built a 5-1 lead, there was little reason to continue watching another Capitals’ letdown game.

Rather than beat this team up for losing eight out of their last 11 games, I’ll simply say that anyone who is still on the fence about whether Washington should be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline should be forced to watch this game on a nonstop loop from now until the trade deadline.

I don’t care if Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green return to action tomorrow, this team isn’t capable of doing anything noteworthy as presently constructed.

So while it’s great to hear the owner suggest his team is going to be aggressive in looking for ways to improve this team, I truly hope management takes a good hard look at this roster and figures out how to salvage some of the pieces.

Don’t fall into the trap of the local football team that swears each and every year it’s just a move away from contention. Because that’s clearly not the case for a Caps team that wouldn’t even make the playoffs if the season started today.

Figure out which players should still be considered building blocks and which players would most benefit from a change of scenery and then give this franchise the kick in the pants it needs to once again be worth the price of admission.

Because judging by the sheer number of fans heading for the door midway through the third period, there are plenty of other places Caps fans would rather be than paying top dollar to watch yet another disappointing effort from a once-promising franchise.

(photo by Clyde Caplan)

As the Washington Capitals continue to muddle their way through an uninspired regular season, games like this one could ultimately mean the difference between a postseason birth or sweeping changes throughout the organization.

For more than 57 minutes, the Capitals were in the driver’s seat as they imposed their will on a vulnerable opponent.

Washington was winning in seemingly every statistical category – shots on goal, hits, face-offs won and most importantly, they held a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard.

And then the wheels fell off in horrifying fashion.

Inexplicably, a Winnipeg Jets team that ranks 27th in the league in goals per game and had just eight goals in their last seven games turned into an offensive juggernaut – scoring twice in a span of 12 seconds to force overtime.

Things got tense when Jets forward Evander Kane scored during Winnipeg’s six-on-three powerplay, and then a disheartening goal by defenseman Dustin Byfuglien from 82 feet out was the stomach punch the Caps never recovered from.

By the time the overtime period ended, I’m not sure anyone cheering for the home team felt good about Washington’s chances in the shootout. Hockey is a game of momentum, and that’s something the Capitals were clearly lacking by the end of this game.

After shutting out the Florida Panthers earlier in the week, goalie Tomas Vokoun responded with yet another stellar performance. Well … for the first 57 minutes, at least.

In fact, Vokoun has been outstanding at the Verizon Center since Dale Hunter took over as coach of the Capitals.

His 1.91 goals against average and .939 save percentage in 14 home games coming into this contest show why he’s solidified his claim as the team’s top goaltender.

But a powerplay goal when the opposing team had three extra skaters cost him a shot at back-to-back shutouts and a bad bounce off of a Caps defender proved to be the difference.

Vokoun clearly deserved a better outcome, but these are the things that happen when you can’t put away an opponent that is clearly on the ropes.

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