Getty Images Dale Hunter is going to have his hands full in replacing Bruce Boudreau as head coach of the Caps. They’re a team lacking a lot of things, but the Caps’ dedication to playing more defensive hockey that started last season led to the Caps becoming a seemingly joyless mess of a team.
While there’s a lot of pressure on Hunter to get things turned around for the Caps, he could make things a lot easier on himself and the rest of the team by doing something that Boudreau never fell back upon doing in his desperate final days in D.C. Instead of tweaking things defensively and turning the Caps into a pack of grinders, Hunter should just dial it back to a few seasons ago and take the leash off the team and let them attack at will.
The Caps became league and media darlings as an offensive juggernaut with Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin leading the charge and blazing up and down the ice scoring goals in bunches. After all, Nicklas Backstrom is back to being the dynamic playmaker again and giving him the chance to open it up would make the Caps far more dangerous.
If the Caps open things up and Tomas Vokoun gets to fall back on those old instincts from his Florida days, perhaps it awakens his game as well. After all, he put up some of the better numbers in the NHL behind a team that couldn’t score. If you get Ovechkin and Semin to be the 40 or 50-goal scorers they can be, who’s to say it can’t work for the Caps?
The Caps have gotten their dose of coaching to figure out how to play better defensively, but the Caps were dangerous because they could score a ton, not because they could backcheck like the 90′s Devils. Let those guys go free Dale, it could be the instantly smartest move you can make.
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They rank first and second in shorthanded goals in the 2013 playoffs.
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It initially made it look like he suffered an injury.
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AHL Bruins blow 3-0 series lead against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
May 22, 2013, 11:40 PM EDT
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Trent Whitfield has now been on the wrong end of history twice.
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Video: Sens coach won’t take questions, refers press to game sheet
May 22, 2013, 10:59 PM EDT
John Tortorella would be proud.
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The Penguins “have too much depth.”
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Ottawa’s strong first period was wasted.
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Report: NHLPA director Fehr wants to address issue of fighting
May 22, 2013, 9:02 PM EDT
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He’s been reaching out to agents and players.
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Mike Halford and Jason Brough tackle that question.
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He also wants to express his gratitude to the Vancouver Canucks.
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AP
Beau Bennett and Jussi Jokinen have been inserted into the lineup.
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AP
Two swift playoff exits sunk the Canucks’ coach.
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His career has gone downhill since being part of the Hodgson trade.
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AP
Vancouver’s Alain Vigneault joins the fray.
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“As long as they keep winning here, that just gives me a better chance for a return with every win.”
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“Will we look at them? Absolutely.”
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Pittsburgh’s power play is just 1-for-12 in its past two games.
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Official: Canucks fire head coach Vigneault, assistants Bowness and Brown
May 22, 2013, 3:48 PM EDT
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Vancouver cleans house.
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After starring for Team USA, Ducks goalie Gibson ‘ready for the NHL right now’
May 22, 2013, 3:31 PM EDT
Decent goaltending depth in Anaheim at the moment.
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Darin Pastor wants to know why his offer to buy the Coyotes was rejected
May 22, 2013, 2:47 PM EDT
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Click to read two good reasons.
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AP
This should make the Keith Ballard buyout easier to stomach.
