Comments on: Capitals fire Bruce Boudreau, name Dale Hunter new head coach

By: xotoyaxo29

xotoyaxo29 — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 01:32:27 +0000

He,needs to take a page from,the book of Steve Yzerman

By: xotoyaxo29

xotoyaxo29 — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 01:30:29 +0000

Now that Bruce is gone the pressure is the “great 8 ” to produce. He has a lot of maturing to do. This is hard because I like Ovie but I think his and the other players refusing to listen to him and their immaturity caused Bruce his job. It’s easier to replace a coach than a whole roster. The Caps need to grow up and play hockey. If they can continue to spiral downward they have no one to blame but themselves.

By: vikesfansteve

vikesfansteve — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:56:10 +0000

Even though Caps GM George McPhee said firing Bruce Boudreau wasn’t just about one guy, chances are it was mostly about one guy — Ovechkin. CBC’s Tim Wharnsby pinned Boudreau’s firing entirely on Washington’s captain, claiming the infamous benching against Anaheim was Boudreau’s undoing.

“After that, Ovechkin pouted,” Wharnsby wrote. “He scored only three times in the next 12 games and the Capitals record was a poor 3-7-1. Boudreau had lost his team. He no longer had the support from the Capitals ownership nor general manager George McPhee.”

McPhee had to know his star player couldn’t languish 38th in goalscoring (tied with Travis Moen!) much longer, or continue to score at a 63-point pace. McPhee can say the coaching change wasn’t about Ovechkin…but it was about Ovechkin.

By: vikesfansteve

vikesfansteve — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:52:13 +0000

Ovi didn’t listen, can’t be coached. It is all him.

By: michiganhockey11

michiganhockey11 — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:54:51 +0000

Not always the case, but if Bowman told Ovie to change, he’d either change or be gone. That’s the shame of it though.

By: myopinionisrighterthanyours

myopinionisrighterthanyours — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:47:26 +0000

Right now the best solution is to let Ovi do his thing and prove his best defense is his offense.

And this has resulted in exactly how many Stanley Cup trips, much less wins, for the Caps???

By: stakex

stakex — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:11:40 +0000

Ovechkin, Semin, offense, defense, goaltending…. they have all sucked for Washington. Its NOT just Ovechkin. When the team as a whole is playing bad, you can’t blame one player.

By: patrcisz

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By: vikesfansteve

vikesfansteve — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:49:12 +0000

Alex Ovechkin is the problem. Step on babies toes & you are fired. This team will go nowhere again because they let the hens rule the roost.

By: stakex

stakex — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:32:50 +0000

Thing is whupplesan, when you have the best goal scorer in the league whos putting up the numbers Ovi was…. you don’t mess with that. Besides, In 09-10 he didn’t just have has 50 goals, 109… but he was also a +45 on the season (and a career +13 in the playoffs). Sindny Crosby has never had a +- even half as good…. yet everyone talks about him as a much better defensive player. Kinda doesn’t make sense to me.

Theres no doubt Ovechkin was never the greatest defensive player, but you just don’t mess with a guy when was a +45 the year before. Theres no need to since thats a hell of a number. Now however, trying to force Ovechkin into a more balanced role has seen his scoring drop… but his line is still giving up just as many goals. Hence the -7 he has this year. Thats called poor coaching decision.

People need to learn there is no one magic fix all solution. What worked for Yzerman, will not work for Ovechkin… at least not yet. Right now the best solution is to let Ovi do his thing and prove his best defense is his offense.

By: whipplesan

whipplesan — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:05:26 +0000

I think the biggest difference between Stevie Y and Ovie is the latter is just too stubborn to learn to change his playing style. Don’t get me wrong, I love watching Ovie charging forward as much as anyone, but there is an immense difference between these two players’ personalities.

Kudos to Big Bruce for trying. Hopefully he won’t be hitting the ice cream hard for long.

By: stakex

stakex — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:49:03 +0000

Bruce Boudreau seemed like a really likeable guy who was really passionate about his team and winning. Its really sad to see him fired. At the same time however, it was exactlly what had to happen. Under him the Capitals have under achieved in the playoffs, and his switch to a more defensive system has really screwed the team up. A change was needed and its about time.

By: yettyskills

yettyskills — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:13:46 +0000

Like Bryan Murray needed to be dumped despite a ton of regular season wins by the Wings.
Once they did and hired Scotty Bowman they were able to take the next step.
Yzerman learned to play both ends

And a dynasty was born.

Too bad that Dale is no Scotty, but Bruce had to go

By: nhlbruins90

nhlbruins90 — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:00:58 +0000

Sad to see him go, but that’s the coaching biz. I imagine he’ll be employed again very soon.

Agree with govtminion – given the way Hunter played the game, players may look back and long for the good old days with Boudreau.

By: michiganhockey11

michiganhockey11 — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:59:33 +0000

Yeah, I can agree with that. He does tend to pursue hits a bit long when we does go after people.

By: govtminion

govtminion — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:53:33 +0000

I’ve never really had trouble with Ovechkin playing two-way- frankly, if anything he tends to hit everything that moves a little TOO gleefully. Getting that kind of effort out of Backstrom and Semin would be a very good thing though.

Actually, Hunter never has struck me as being a guy who deals well with slacking players, so if Semin’s days in Washington were numbered before, he’s almost certainly getting moved now. (I admit, I’m basing that off of his playing career, because I honestly have no idea what he’s like as a coach.)

By: michiganhockey11

michiganhockey11 — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:50:42 +0000

Didn’t Boudreau just make a record for the quickest coach to get 200 wins?

I had heard that he was trying to make Ovie into a 2-way player and he wasn’t having it (Ovie’s quote was something close to- “I’m here to score goals not check people”. Star forwards made into 2-way players do have success. Well, at least Scotty Bowman had success turning a star forward into a 2-way player. And that player went on to win 3 Stanley Cups….Ovie’s got to be able to play both sides of the redline.

By: jbandit2116

jbandit2116 — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:25:44 +0000

Sad to see the portly fellow leave

By: govtminion

govtminion — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:10:59 +0000

Sad that he had to go, but the writing has been on the wall here in D.C. for a while now- unless things made a huge turnaround the way they did last year after the Winter Classic, and it happened fast, there just wasn’t any way Leonsis was going to allow this to continue. He’s a pretty good coach, and a really funny person- I wish him well wherever he goes next (agreeing with Exiled1, Carolina is possible, or Columbus?), but this situation was out of hand.

By: Exiled1

Exiled1 — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 13:44:57 +0000

How long until Boudreau is named the Hurrican’ts coach?