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Bruce Boudreau has gone mad with power

Bruce Boudreau

Washington Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau gives instructions after calling a time out in the overtime period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011. The Capitals won 3-2 in overtime. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

AP

A day after his bold moves received public support from his GM, Washington Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau took his boldness to the next level by making Joel Ward a healthy scratch.

Bruce McNally of the Washington Examiner tweeted the news a short wile ago. The story goes that Ward slept in on Tuesday and missed a team meeting -- a crime that required stiff punishment. Apparently.

“I didn’t want to do it,” Boudreau told McNally. “He’s a good player. But the rules have got to be the rules for everybody.”

Ward will be held out of tonight’s game against Winnipeg. Predictably, the move is coming under fire from a number of folks -- here’s Jon Press of Japers’ Rink:

Ward Tweet

That sentiment’s being shared by many, especially after Ward played one of his best games as a Capital in Monday’s 4-3 win over Phoenix. Ward finished with an assist, two blocked shots, three shots on goal, a hit and a plus-2 rating and was named the game’s third star. Best part: Ward did all this while dealing with the flu!

(Which, now that I think about it, might be why he overslept that morning.)

Let me repeat for the 239th time: Boudreau is clearly not screwing around this season. As such, we’ve created the Bruce Boudreau Discipline Chart, which you can print out and update at home if you like.

Bruce Boudreau Discipline Chart

-- Made Marcus Johansson a healthy scratch. (Oct. 8)

-- Dropped Mike Knuble to 4th line. (Oct. 31)

-- Benched Alex Ovechkin. (Nov. 1)

-- Bag-skated team. (Nov. 9)

-- Made Alex Semin a healthy scratch. (Nov. 21)

-- Made Joel Ward a healthy scratch. (Nov. 23)

If the chart is missing anything, please provide updates in the comments section.