If it were a Canadian player doing this, it'd be over already. Because Ovy is Russian, he's suddenly a diva for muttering to himself. Boudreau made the right call. Ovy responded with the primary assist on the GWG. What more to the store is there?
I think it had as much to do with the crappy ice as anything else. Every time Ovie got revved up, the puck jumped off his stick. He wasn't effective in that game - the 3rd line was. I wouldn't call it a benching so much as effective coaching. Not a big deal.
that call was fine. it was not a benching. the third line was skating well, but Backstrom needed to be there to take the faceoff, because Laich isn't good at them this season. thus Backstrom was put there as the extra man.
yeah, BB could have put Ovi out there in place of a defenseman, but with Wideman and Carlson on the points, they have almost the same firepower from the blueline without the forwards always looking to pass back there to ovechkin.
yes, it was made a bigger deal than it is. no, it was not a message to ovechkin.
that call was fine. it was not a benching. the third line was skating well, but Backstrom needed to be there to take the faceoff, because Laich isn't good at them this season. thus Backstrom was put there as the extra man.
Come on. That is some weak hedging. Ovechkin played like a turd and he was benched for it.
Boudreau acted like a man, was right to do so, and his gambit worked. Own it.
maybe ovechkin didn't have a hat-trick, but the first line crushed the ducks' shutdown lines. pretty much any game the caps play, ovechkin is draped by three guys all night.
I'm sorry, he was clearly benched. Stop trying to soften reality. When you have a superstar who by all accounts has ALWAYS been the main guy in that scenario (down a goal, pulled goalie) and he's told to sit in that critical time, he's being sent a message.
It was a great move by Bruce. The rest of the team is now on notice....NOBODY is above the law and ALL will be held accountable.
__________________
George McPhee....The Teflon GM. 15 years of failure and counting....
6 - Number of playoff series the Capitals have won since George McPhee took over as General Manager in 1997 (which makes him the third-longest-tenured GM in the League), three of which came in McPhee's first season on the job.
If it helps you guys feel better, I just rolled my eyes at the report. It's a former Flyers player turned sports reporter trying to make a name for himself.
The more attention his story gets the more asignments he will get. Attention good or bad drives hits to their sites, buzz, and people watching their show.
The more viewers the more money they make from sponsors.
Just ignore the guy's ridiculousness and he will be unemployed and look like an idiot.
If it helps you guys feel better, I just rolled my eyes at the report. It's a former Flyers player turned sports reporter trying to make a name for himself.
The more attention his story gets the more asignments he will get. Attention good or bad drives hits to their sites, buzz, and people watching their show.
The more viewers the more money they make from sponsors.
Just ignore the guy's ridiculousness and he will be unemployed and look like an idiot.
it's not one guy. in fact, i think it was puck daddy from yahoo that started it all. also, it has less to do with the actual benching than Ovie calling BB a fat ****. that's what's getting all the attention. players get benched all the time, but a player disrespecting his coach like that is news, especially when that player is OV.
it's not one guy. in fact, i think it was puck daddy from yahoo that started it all. also, it has less to do with the actual benching than Ovie calling BB a fat ****. that's what's getting all the attention. players get benched all the time, but a player disrespecting his coach like that is news, especially when that player is OV.
Except that it's pretty clear to me that that isn't what he called BB.
NHL on the Fly spent 10 minutes on this last night without even mentioning the what Ovy said as he sat down.
To expand on it a bit (even though I shouldn't, so the subject will die faster), watch Ovie's post-game interview. He's a pro. He understands why he was benched, that he needs to get better, and he doesn't want it to happen again.
Except that it's pretty clear to me that that isn't what he called BB.
NHL on the Fly spent 10 minutes on this last night without even mentioning the what Ovy said as he sat down.
I disagree....hell even ESPN is blocking out Ovy's mouth now on replays. It seems pretty apparent what he said.
I'll defend Ovy to the death, but I'm not sure there's a defense or a need for one here. He mouthed off to the coach. It happens all the time, but he unfortunately got caught on camera.
just watched the 3rd period again. it's always interesting to me to watch a game a few days later. there always things which jump out at me as not fitting into the story which most of us took away from the game.
for one thing, though MoJo did play a good game, he was undeniably sitting right behind Perry watching him take 2,3, 4 whacks at puck till it finally went in, for the 4th goal. i know we were already shorthanded, but there should have been a hard cross check to small of Perry's back as soon as he set up to start whacking away.
john erskine made several nice plays in third period, including stretching out on ice to break up good scoring chance for Ducks.
ovie really did not have such a bad 3rd period anyway. if you watch each shift and each time he touched puck, he made nice passes to both Semin and Backstrom breaking up the middle of the ice. he made a smart dump-in and line change, keeping his shift short and recognizing he was 1-on-2 at blue line. he also played a good final shift, following 19's direction and crossing over, and then heading straight to the net on the second part of that play.
yes, he did not have the dynamic energy and results of the 21/42/25 line, but he really was not awful either. he made a crappy play on the late power play, trying to carry the puck deep himself and getting pick-pocketed and causing a clearing of zone for Ducks PK, but for the 3rd period anyway, that was the only real screw-up i saw. (yes, i know he faulted himself for a ducks goal earlier, but i think that was 2nd period.)
the other thing i noticed is, at the key moment, when he called BB a FF, and when BB sent others onto the ice, the people he sent onto the ice were NOT 21/42/25. they were 26/22/90(?), and then there were a couple more whistles before goalie got pulled and 19 was added along w/ 42/21/25 for final push.
and keith jones, as awkward as he was in the post-game interviews, was right on the money about the Ovie situation as it unfolded. he said it was "THE story" of the end of the game, and he immediately credited BB with sending a 'great message' to the team that great play would be rewarded. he also specified that these were the right people to send out for "THIS game," even if they were not generally the ones who would get final shift.
he also immediately shot down any ideas that Ovie was sitting due to injury by pointing out that no, Ovie was hanging over the edge of the bench ready to jump on the ice, but was simply not sent out.
in sum, Ovie didn't do anything special that game, but he wasn't abysmal either.
Carlson was excellent throughout the period, activating at the right times, coming close twice to scoring himself toward end of game. and then taking the shot from near point which caused rebound to 19.
final note on 8: one thing i notice this year is, there seems to be less hitting from him. maybe if he went back to a slightly more physical, reckless style, that would pump him up and increase his energy. he was better v. ducks about trying to hurry to the point man while in D zone and get right in the D man's shooting lane. but he still tends to cruise past scrums along the boards and make a single one-handed stab at puck to try to poke it free. it never works and then he skates right out of the play again. i do wish he would skate right into the scrum and hammer away with the others instead of cruising past in one-hand mode.
for one thing, though MoJo did play a good game, he was undeniably sitting right behind Perry watching him take 2,3, 4 whacks at puck till it finally went in, for the 4th goal. i know we were already shorthanded, but there should have been a hard cross check to small of Perry's back as soon as he set up to start whacking away.
Carlson was excellent throughout the period, activating at the right times, coming close twice to scoring himself toward end of game. and then taking the shot from near point which caused rebound to 19.
Carlson was in a much better place to deal with Perry than Johansson was given that he was inside Perry and Johansson outside. It was only once Carlson had completely blown the play and fallen down in an attempt to play the puck and not the man that Johansson was the guy left to maybe save things with some split second heroics.
How you put that on Johansson and ignore Carlson's culpability I have no idea...
I'm sorry, he was clearly benched. Stop trying to soften reality. When you have a superstar who by all accounts has ALWAYS been the main guy in that scenario (down a goal, pulled goalie) and he's told to sit in that critical time, he's being sent a message.
It was a great move by Bruce. The rest of the team is now on notice....NOBODY is above the law and ALL will be held accountable.
If it was me the group I would have put other there would have looked like this.
If it was me the group I would have put other there would have looked like this.
Ovi-Knuble-Backstrom-Semin
Carlson-Wideman
Good thing I'm not coaching.
I have a good idea how that would have played out.
Pass from Ovie to Backstrom. Backstrom passes back to Ovie. Green somehow hops on the ice and takes a pass from Ovie. Passes back to Ovie for a shot into someone's shinpads which bounces back out to center. Time expires.
Carlson was in a much better place to deal with Perry than Johansson was given that he was inside Perry and Johansson outside. It was only once Carlson had completely blown the play and fallen down in an attempt to play the puck and not the man that Johansson was the guy left to maybe save things with some split second heroics.
I disagree....hell even ESPN is blocking out Ovy's mouth now on replays. It seems pretty apparent what he said.
I'll defend Ovy to the death, but I'm not sure there's a defense or a need for one here. He mouthed off to the coach. It happens all the time, but he unfortunately got caught on camera.
This is all a bunch of media nonsense. Boudreau was right to keep Ovechkin out. And Ovechkin was right to be p.o.ed about it. Would you want a guy who WASN'T angry about being kept out when the game was on the line?
If it helps you guys feel better, I just rolled my eyes at the report. It's a former Flyers player turned sports reporter trying to make a name for himself.
The more attention his story gets the more asignments he will get. Attention good or bad drives hits to their sites, buzz, and people watching their show.
The more viewers the more money they make from sponsors.
Just ignore the guy's ridiculousness and he will be unemployed and look like an idiot.
If you are referring to Jones, I think he's a former Cap too........
I disagree....hell even ESPN is blocking out Ovy's mouth now on replays. It seems pretty apparent what he said.
I'll defend Ovy to the death, but I'm not sure there's a defense or a need for one here. He mouthed off to the coach. It happens all the time, but he unfortunately got caught on camera.
He was actually saying "I love Bruce" in Russian................
