Peter, I agree … the outcome and the style are definitely linked.  And that is aggravated by the sports culture of this area. 

I don’t agree with touting GMGM though. I think his failure to put a 2nd center on the Caps was a gigantic problem.

I wanna look back at Montreal again soon, but I’m worried it’ll just be sad.

They ran head first into a hot goalie. Pure and simple. They put up more shots in those seven games than I remember them ever doing but Halak was on fire, he stopped everything. What he didn’t stop, his defense did. That wasn’t an indictment of the Caps’ defense. That was a testament to the zone in which Halak was clearly tuned. When the Habs also beat Pittsburgh I would have thought this nonsense would have died. Drives me nuts, it’s insulting. 

Gabby coached the way he played. He coached the way this team needed him to. He wasn’t the problem. The NEW SYSTEM, rolled out the next season, was the problem. That’s what cost him his job. He was forced at gunpoint to change everything he knows about hockey, and to change what made this team successful.

 I’m going to go on record as saying it wasn’t McPhee’s fault. Anyone who thinks for a second that McPhee was the mastermind behind the 180° turn in philosophy is delusional.  You can draw your own conclusions from that.

Dale Hunter is not the answer. He never was. Why would McPhee spend all that time building a high-octane, in-your-face, offensive juggernaut only to say after a few years, “whoops, my bad” and change everything? Who in their right mind does that? McPhee, who drafted the right guys, traded for the right guys, hired the right coach for THOSE GUYS and the way they play? It’s insanity!  There had to have been someone else calling his shots for him.  He’s not stupid or crazy.

We may never know for certain what led the Caps to the spot they’re in: they’re a disjointed bunch of talented guys who don’t know whether they’re coming or going because they’re playing against their skill set. One cannot drop a Yugo engine into a Ferrari body and expect to win any races.  If Hunter is to remain with this team, they will have to blow it up, again, and start building a team which meets his requirements: big, dumb, physical, and YOUNG. That’s the type of player he knows how to coach. That’s the type of player with which he wins. That’s not this team. 

Dale Hunter will be gone after this season.  He’s on a one-year deal.  Let’s hope when the dust settles the Caps will have a coach worthy of their talent.

FAIL UNDER DALE:
 Now dale is not all to blame; but I highly dislike his systems. 1-2-2 trap, man on man in the D-zone, no floating wingers pulling their D out of our defensive zone, overall defensive minded and lack of line consistency. For those that might not know hockey that well, man-on-man consists of individuals winning battles in the corner, discipline and hockey sense. In my opinion only a few of our D-men have all 3 of those attributes, which makes this system hard to execute. GMGM has some explaining to do.

Other than Dales shit systems (in my opinion), leadership is the biggest hurdle for the Caps. From what the sports media has said, “the reason why Gabby got fired was because of the dispute with Ovi.” Ovi is a captain; he needs to be the most dynamic player on the ice, adapting at whatever is thrown at him…obviously his play nor his attitude has adapted within the last 2 seasons.

The Capitals have had their shot at the cup, we reached our peak, and now we are on the decline. We blew our changes because of immaturity and lack of desire/heart from our core players.

I’m  a pessimistic asshole, I know; But this Capitals team realls needs a shake up. you know something is not right when Chim-dog and laich have as many goals as  stick-infraction-Semin (who I will admit has been better as of late).