i can see why Knuble said what he said. Ovi was hardcore and its why we loved him so much. Folks liked knuble and he wasnt balls to wall 24/7. Perhaps Ovi's career will last twice as long by playing a little smarter, who knows. Maybe it will be shorter.
I may be the last person wanting Ovi to change his style, and do not want anyone to get inside Ovi's head. But it almost seems inevitable, if nothing else, through suspensions clobbering his wallet.
But Bruce himself asked Ovi to tone it down. To the media, about targeting Malkin. Beautifully. Then the All star charades after that, it was easy to see he did ease up his game.
Knuble was hardly alone in thinking Ovi was being too reckless. And I think Bruce got to him first. And maybe Canada.
They're lucky people can't leave comments. Keep your heads buried in the sand Management.
"I like the way we're playing"...
George McPhee, GM of the 2-9 Washington Capitals
You can't even make this crap up.
C - A - P - S
DELUSIONAL!
DELUSIONAL!
DELUSIONAL!
__________________
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.
I'm sick of hearing the excuse about adjusting to the system with no preseason when so much of it seems based on individual play, and other teams are not having this problem.
Look at the teams that made coaching changes:
Calgary: 8 points in 8 games, 3pts out of 8th spot in West
Edmonton: 11 points in 10 games, tied for 8th spot in West (young team)
Montreal: 13 points in 10 games, 6th spot in East Capitals: 5 points in 11 games, worst in the NHL by 3 points
Time to play "one of these things is not like the others".
Perhaps Ovi's career will last twice as long by playing a little smarter, who knows. Maybe it will be shorter.
Nothing about what OV is doing right now is smart.
He glides around the d with his stick in the air, doesn't go to the net, is hitting much less, and shoots into sticks constantly.
His career may last twice as long, but he is nearly worthless at his current contract. A couple more years and he won't be selling jerseys or tickets. Especially if the Nats and Redskins continue to improve. Luckily the Wizards stink, or the Caps would be completely irrelevant.
Just from a visual I think Ovechkin is hitting less. Is it much less? IDK. But my perception and stats are all I have to go by and I truly don't think he is feared as much as he once was.
If GMGMs leash was getting short at all, the win last night probably let the leash go again.. It will take another 4-5 game losing streak before we see any changes on the roster and probably another 10 losses to see a head finally chopped in the front office. Yeah, That's probably being generous.
We cant just say "Caps are only 4 points out". While specifically that is true, they have also played 2 more games than the 8th place team, and 1 more game than the 7th place team.
Caps are more like 6-8pts out of the playoffs. Long way to go, and they are still 5 games under .500 (utilizing the LOSER pt).
Realistically, Caps need to get to their 15th win around the same time they get their 15th regulation time loss. 15-15 and whatever gives them a shot.
