Comments on: PHT’s Pressing Questions: Can Oates strike the right balance in Washington?

By: hawkeyplayer

hawkeyplayer — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 00:00:31 +0000

Boudreau was the best!! he knows how to play his players!!!

he was also a power forward himself in his AHL days!

By: rsl22

rsl22 — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 21:05:08 +0000

Will never happen. OV is the Caps. The same way Crosby will be a Penguin, Toewes will be a Hawk….players like are the franchise.

By: bakedbees

bakedbees — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 21:03:48 +0000

add a little native face paint, bad pirate attire and some lipstick, voila, Adam Ant

By: valoisjoeybfeld69

valoisjoeybfeld69 — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 20:12:45 +0000

No sources. Just assessing the team based on experience. New coach, under achieving team, players taking shots at each other via the media during the lockout, lack of a leader and franchise player. To me, and I could be wrong, but this all adds up to failure. Ovi has to go.

By: rsl22

rsl22 — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 15:34:59 +0000

And your source telling you there is dissension in the locker room is…?

Everyone sure seems pretty upbeat right now. I can admit I’m not in the locker room, but from a pretty big fan, I see no dissension. I see a team amped up for a quick start and a new coach who everyone is saying great things about.

By: valoisjoeybfeld69

valoisjoeybfeld69 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 22:33:52 +0000

Oates is in a difficult position. He is at the helm of a team that under achieved under the lack of leadership of Boudreau and Ov. Ov is still there and there is much dissension in the locker room. Tough way to start a coaching gig in the NHL.

By: rsl22

rsl22 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:57:23 +0000

Didn’t Tampa miss the playoffs last year by around 8 points?

I think “runs away with” in a 48 game season might be a bit of a stretch, but I think Tampa winning is also a bit of a stretch. My guess….Washington, Florida, Carolina, Tampa, and Winnipeg.

By: tbbolts91

tbbolts91 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:20:06 +0000

ahah, funny…

By: rsl22

rsl22 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:37:36 +0000

Agree. He can really help those two by creating space with his speed. We don’t need him to score 30; we need him to free up OV.

With a guy like Knuble, not to knock the guy, but he was one dimensional. He’d go to the net hard, and that’s a bonus for any team, but it meant that teams were able to predict that and focus more on shutting down OV.

By: dipthatchip

dipthatchip — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:16:22 +0000

I don’t know man, he’s got a lot to improve on. I agree that he’s incredibly fast and smooth, but he’s a turnover machine in the offensive zone

By: westof1club

westof1club — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:46:08 +0000

Nice to see Oates recognize Brouwer on the 1st line as an impediment to consistent production. Mojo can’t produce with slow footed defensive minded skaters. Now Caps fans can see his true upside playing with skill.

By: ravenscaps48

ravenscaps48 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:31:18 +0000

Washington runs away with the Southeast

By: rockthered1286

rockthered1286 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:28:19 +0000

And there sits the secret weapon on the top line:MoJo. He doesn’t get much praise or credit (outside of MD/DC/NOVA) but trust me when I say Marcus Johannson will be a household name by the end of this season, espeically considering the damage he can do playing with Backstrom and across from Ovi.

By: sippindasyzurp

sippindasyzurp — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:21:22 +0000

Is that Ray Liotta in that picture??

Washington will be dangerous this year, as a Jets fan I look forward to seeing them coming to Winnipeg 3 times this year.

By: capsfan19

capsfan19 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:16:16 +0000

Got to attend the training camp yesterday. And i have to say i really liked what i saw so far.
Under hunter, he preferred to play the overlord type of coach during the practices with his assistants jumping in to make pointers to players. But even though oates is new to the team he was not afraid to approach even the senior players like hamrlik and tell then what he saw wrong/ needed improvement.
I also saw some extremely dangerous shooting from ovechkin. He took alot of his shots on holtby during the practice session and he looked amazing. Im sure people will read this, roll their eyes, and think “here we go again”, but im telling you he looked real good out there. He was the only player to score consistently on holtby.
Really liked how ribeiro looked too! He was getting right in there with the boys and seemed real intent on building team chemistry.

By: rsl22

rsl22 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:07:25 +0000

According to the “bold” prediction on Puck Daddy, the Caps won’t make the playoffs.

I highly doubt that.