By: Langway Rules

Langway Rules — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 23:13:33 +0000

Great analysis Fecteau. You do understand the game and laid it all out clearly. Just as Paul Coffey prevented some strong Red Wings teams from taking the Cup in the mid 90s, so too will Green prevent some strong Caps teams from winning. GM GM is a student of the game and knows this all too well. Expect him to jettison a loose cannon Green to shore up the blue line before mid season. It’s no secret that the Coaching staff has lost patience with his year in year out undisciplined play.

By: Caps Fan

Caps Fan — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 19:43:56 +0000

Obviously you don’t know jack about hockey. I am sure you’ve never played.

By: Fecteau

Fecteau — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 12:39:15 +0000

My problem with this, as I’m a Capitals fan, is how there was NOTHING done. They lost players and seem to only grab minor leaguers and bush league players to fill the holes. Varlamov and Neuvirth will be fine if they stay healthy, but the defense is what is and has been the problem for a while; namely Mike Green.
Green spends so much time concerned about offense that he leaves his goaltender and D partner susceptable to odd man rushes, which is the real reason why they didn’t win against Montreal. Granted Halak was playing stellar goaltending and also knocked out the Penguins the next round, but there were at least two losses that were completely Mike Green’s fault. I loved how Boudreau made a statement along the lines of he only messed up twice this game, but it ended up hurting us both times… Yeah, a game that’s final score is 3-2 and he’s responsible for screwing up so Montreal wins, but if a guy like Willie Mitchell or another solid stay at home defenseman would have prevented those 2 goals, all of a sudden the score is now 1-2 and the Caps win! And there wouldn’t have been a game six needed…
Furthermore, you have two potential future All Star defenseman coming up for full time roles in Carlson and Alzner, but let’s not get a guy that can really show them leadership and how to play D in the NHL (like Pronger needed with Al MacInnis while in St. Louis) so 2-3 years down the road they’re All Stars, rather than having for them to learn the hard way and take 6 years like most defenseman without that mentor… In 6 years, expect half the team is gone because of salary cap reasons, you can’t keep Semin, Backstrom, Knuble, Ovi, Green, Laich, Fleischmann, etc on the same team without sooner or later having to get weak(er) on D, goaltending, whatever…
Plus it shores up that D line that has put the goaltending in between a rock and hard place during the playoffs. If they were able to find a player that could handle having to get left high and dry by Green on a regular basis that’s fine; but I think the way to go is to get rid of Green. The Caps HAVE offense; they’re the best in the league by far. So there’s proof that you don’t NEED a defenseman to play offensively other than to quarterback the power play if you have all those players I’ve listed above…

Comments on: Why Caps GM George McPhee didn't do more in the off-season

By: Langway Rules

By: Caps Fan

By: Fecteau