Comments on: Add “goaltending” to Capitals’ crisis list

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:02:32 +0000

I don’t buy that for a second. When things aren’t going well bad things like ugly goals seem to happen. The whole team needs to pick it up and give their goalie some support. Vokoun is good but he’s not good enough to be the Caps saviour unless the rest of the team starts doing its part. Bottom line is they need to start scoring some goals or things aren’t going to get better for them any time soon

By: jpelle82

jpelle82 — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:46:11 +0000

vokoun gave up that softie to hartnell and the team just gave up on him last night

By: jpelle82

jpelle82 — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:45:09 +0000

i agree, the coaching changes, the goalie changes, the defensive overhaul….none of it has worked in the last 5 years. i blame the russians

By: stakex

stakex — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:36:10 +0000

Thing is the Caps haven’t been playing THAT bad aside from the last few games under Boudreau. If they had a goalie like Thomas or Lundquist they would certainly have won more games. Obviously the Caps are not scoring like they need to, and their defense is… well, awful.

However good goaltending can certainly lift a team thats struggling. In fact, I would argue that the Caps BIGGEST issue this year has been the play of their goalies. Again its not even the numbers, its the awful goals that both of them have been giving up. How can a struggling team get out of their funk when every time they start looking good, they give up a weak goal?

This game was a great example. The Caps didn’t look that bad for the first half of the game… but then Vokoun gave up some really bad goals that just crushed them. You can’t have a goalie doing that when your trying to climb out of a funk.

By: somekat

somekat — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:00:50 +0000

If that’s true, then they should have a whole list of guys they should be looking to dump. If the team isn’t playing hard for a ceratin goalie (especially the starter), that is a problem with the rest of the team. I could even see if it was, say, Bryzgalov in Pheonix last year. He played so many games, and was so important to their system, I could see the team mailing in a few games when he was out.

But if your starter is playing, and the team doesn’t play hard for them, you have to start to question the players. In particular, the guy wearing the C and the 2 wearing the A.

By: jpelle82

jpelle82 — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:22:38 +0000

all 5 goals were soft. i said this when the caps signed him, vokoun hasnt done jack his whole career, the fans couldnt actually expect for him to be the messiah could they? his stats were padded by the amount of shots he faced playing for a horrible florida team over the past few years and he hasnt proven to be a winner, ever. notice how he vokoun gone and florida is winning now? sometimes guys just bring the stink with them. good luck…the sooner you get holtby in there with games under his belt the sooner this ship gets turned around. i dont see the caps playing for vokoun…i’ve seen them play their asses off for holtby though.

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:37:57 +0000

I said it’s nothing to complain about when he’s the least of their problems. Patrick Roy couldn’t help this team the way they’ve been playing this year

By: watermelon1

watermelon1 — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:36:23 +0000

Bottom line… it’s HOLTBY TIME.

By: bcjim

bcjim — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:06:46 +0000

Caps played AWFUL all around. Just disgusting.

Someone tell them the goal is not in the corner because that is the only place they seem to be interested in putting the puck. You dont get points in hockey for cycling the puck around in the corner, just FYI.

By: wheresdapuck

wheresdapuck — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 11:00:56 +0000

I will admit I did not watch the game last night! That said, there has been a total breakdown in the blueliners failing to clear the puck, failing to pass properly on the breakouts, etc. Yes, Vokoun has let in some soft goals.

I was hoping for a 3 goalie rotation at the beginning of this year with Varly, Nuevy and Holtby. But they traded Varly and got Vokoun. The most promising star is Holtby, but no goalie is going to be successful in DC if the Caps let 5 or 6 odd-man rushes & 4 break-aways per game and can’t clear the puck! Too many scoring opportunities for the better teams in the NHL!

By: stakex

stakex — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 07:22:54 +0000

One bad game? Try a lot of bad games, and a 2.81 GAA is in fact something to complain about. That sees him tanked 31st in the league. Oh, and his SV%? Ranked 26th in the league. How is that NOT something to complain about when Washington had very high hopes for Vokoun?

And its not just the numbers, its that he has given up several very bad goals over his last few games. Nothing hurts a struggling team worse then seeing your supposed star goalie giving up really bad goals.

By: danphipps01

danphipps01 — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 05:47:06 +0000

Varlamov’s not been stellar in the past. There was no reason to expect him to improve in the future. Neuvirth is actually noticeably WORSE than Vokoun. That leaves Holtby. Holtby, with all of fourteen NHL games under his belt, against Vokoun, who has consistently been one of the top ten netminders until this year. I think we know why you’re not the GM, chief. Two mid-range backups and an AHL prospect do not a healthy goaltending situation make.

If anything, I figure the solution was trying to shuttle out Semin’s salary at the end of the season and using the cap space to gun for a bigger-name goalie, but whatever. It’s not like they can’t do that at the end of this one. They’ll have the room and some quality guys are coming into free agency, so if they don’t go and resign the walking bag of penalty minutes, they should hopefully be able to buy one quality goaltender.

That, or, um, hope and pray that Holtby can save them. Lord knows Neuvirth isn’t up to the challenge.

By: dowhatifeellike

dowhatifeellike — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 05:09:08 +0000

Vokoun was a bad signing. He was never the answer. At the end of last season the Caps had Neuvirth, Varlamov, and Holtby. They didn’t need anyone else.

By: danphipps01

danphipps01 — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 04:38:56 +0000

Vokoun… hoy. He’s been a lot like Bryzgalov – decent, even good, but not as good as he was supposed to be. Difference is, he costs a pittance and isn’t signed for the next million years, but even so, for a team with the win-now mentality, he ain’t cuttin’ it. And the Flyers, they can afford Bryz being questionable in the short term – they’re scoring every other shift, what the fuck do they need to worry about? Meanwhile, the former premier offensive squad of the NHL is lucky to get three goals a game. Very lucky. They’ve got decent defense, decent offense and decent goaltending – but when that’s all you’re getting out of players who in theory should be putting out decent defense and GREAT offense and goaltending, you start getting worried. Very worried.

By: James O'Brien

James O'Brien — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 04:02:16 +0000

Thanks for pointing that out.

By: dbick

dbick — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 04:00:04 +0000

Tebowmania has even made it onto a hockey blog

By: James O'Brien

James O'Brien — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 03:26:14 +0000

I generally agree, but he hasn’t been the goalie that Washington/most of us expected. He’s inching toward 90% after tonight, too, I’d guess.

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 03:14:45 +0000

One bad game doesn’t mean much, the guy’s been one of their only solid players this year. GAA under 3.00 and SV% over .900 isn’t anything to complain about when there are much more glaring problems