Comments on: Poor Effort, Bad Bounces Sink Caps: Thrashers Win 5-0

By: Zone Starts and Expected Scoring Chances

Zone Starts and Expected Scoring Chances — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 05:39:34 +0000

[...] the best of weeks for Braden Holtby where bad play and soft goals got him pulled after against ATL. That 5v5 scoring chance save percentage is atrocious, despite the Caps defense giving him better [...]

By: Saturday Night Letdown: Flyers beat Caps 5-4 (SO)

Saturday Night Letdown: Flyers beat Caps 5-4 (SO) — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 03:34:53 +0000

[...] higher power to elevate your blood pressure, and you will thank them for it. If last night’s flustercluck with the Thrashers turned you into an Eeyore, tonight’s bout with the Philadelphia Flyers rendered you manic. [...]

By: BobbyG

BobbyG — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 20:56:14 +0000

@barb: IMO the Caps are winning despite Ovie, not because of anything he’s contributed lately. I don’t know if I feel sorry for Philly. They will be in a lousy mood too, considering they blew 4 leads against Tampa Bay in their last game and eventually lost.

@Dawn: I wasn’t going to say anything about this, but since you brought up the subject:

IMO Ovie’s girlfriend is bored by hockey, going to practices and games, and he feels pressured to keep her entertained and amused enough to stay in DC instead of going to NYC to party with her friends. That’s why he’s out late at parties and night clubs, which depletes his energy and focus for playing hockey. Also, he’s been shooting commercials and making appearances to promote his new DVD. There are only so many hours in the day and so much fuel in the tank even for a young healthy athlete like him. IMO Ovie needs to get his priorities in order before his game goes into the toilet for good.

By: sonja

sonja — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 19:25:53 +0000

Ahem … that wasn’t a hockey game we watched last night. It was a remake of that 70′s movie, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” Planet Earth has been invaded by mind sucking aliens and their first victims were obviously the Caps … because that is the only logical explanation for that atrocious game last night.

By: barb

barb — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 15:09:42 +0000

cheer up (explicatives removed for your own safety)

the caps are still top of the league by three points. and now….now they’re in a really bad mood because they got humbled.

i feel sorry for philly!

By: Dawn

Dawn — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 13:37:37 +0000

This game was so painful to watch, especially against a team like the Atlanta Thrashers. They are 8-9-3 compared to our 14-5-1 and this should not have happened obviously. As BobbyG said, they looked terrible out on the ice, sluggish, confused and no effort whatsoever. I was so disappointed that I had to turn the game off in the third period because it was just too hard to watch for me.

And I hope that Mike Knuble gets better soon. A broken face has to suck.

As far as Ovie is concerned, he needs to get his head back into the game. I’ve never seen him look so terrible on the ice before. I understand that every player has slumps at some point in their career, but this is ridiculous. He is the Captain and he needs to put more effort in so he can be a true leader and show the team that awesome work ethic he has normally. He spends a lot of time doing things with his girlfriend or going to clubs and he needs to spend that time practicing a bit more. He is the best player in the NHL, again as BobbyG mentioned, and he is so much better than he was last night. I just hope that he gets out of that slump he’s in soon. I miss the real Ovie.

By: BobbyG

BobbyG — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 08:44:22 +0000

There’s not much I can say about this game that’s already been said in Ian’s summary. The Caps were sluggish and looked lost almost from the first puck drop, and the game was essentially over less than halfway through the first period. Ordinarily a 3 goal deficit wouldn’t be impossible for the Caps to overcome with 2 1/2 periods remaining, but the Caps just weren’t able to recover. The effort wasn’t there, they looked and played like they were already defeated and stopped competing, and it was lights out way too early.

Poor Mike Knuble. He must have been born under a bad sign. He is the embodiment of Cream’s song “If it wasn’t for bad luck. I wouldn’t have no luck at all.” His broken face aside, and I’m sure it must hurt like hell, but what are the Caps going to do now to fill his slot on right wing on the so-called top line? Adjustments will have to be made, possibly involving a callup from Hershey, so this development could be very interesting.

Ovie. What positive can I say about him? Unfortunately, there isn’t anything. His play isn’t just iffy, it’s atrocious. Who would have thought he would be referred to as “probably the third best Alex out on the ice tonight”? He wasn’t probably third best, he absolutely was. For someone who prides himself on being the best PLAYER in the NHL, Ovie must be shaking his head wondering what he has to do to break out of his slump and return to being, well, OVIE. When we get the real Ovie back is anyone’s guess, but I hope it’s soon. His teammates miss him, they need him to lead as only he can. It’s still early in the season, but his funk better not go on and fester much longer.