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Now that we've had some time to contemplate the horrific reality that is the Washington Capitals golf team, perhaps a few days after the doomsday clock hit midnight is a good time to point out just a few of the reasons Matt Bradley is fine-tuning his King Cobra driver.
Brace yourself fans, the truth is brutal.
And we're not saying the power play because that's a whole other post in itself. We're fully aware there's more than five reasons the Caps blew it, but here's five that stick out to me (outside the power play).
Flub No. 1: Call-up Karl So by virtue of strong play, rookie John Carlson leap-frogged top defensive prospect Karl Alzner and found himself a secure spot in the Caps' locker room. Alzner stayed in Hershey, where he dominated the AHL. Nothing wrong with that, after all, Carlson earned his spot there and the company line has been "it's OK for Alzner to grow in the AHL."
Enter Game 7 where Tom Poti can't play because his eye is a mess. Poti's injury reminds me a bit of Blair Bett's injury in the postseason last year. A key player who is needed in key situations, now out and may have played a role in the outcome of Game 7.
So that's where Alzner comes in. He plays in Game 7, looks solid and guess what? The only bright spot in the 2-1 loss is the play of the "future line", Carlson and Alzner. So why didn't Alzner play in the NHL for the entirety of March? Was Tyler Sloan really that much better an option?
It's tough to say that Alzner would have made much of a difference in a series where offense proved to be the Achilles heel of the team, but given the circumstances, Alzner should have been a Capital and should have been playing in playoffs games for the Caps this season.
Tough luck, Karl. At least your season isn't over. But you should have been seasoning for an NHL career this year. Now you're one year behind...again.
Flub No. 2: Arrogance How sure were the Capitals that they were going to advance to the second round? They traded for an injured Milan Jurcina, citing they could use his depth in the second round.
While I'm sure we won't miss that sixth round pick too much, its awfully telling that the Caps management never imagined a situation where the Caps wouldn't be in the second round. It's like a country preparing for war and thinking "there is absolutely no way we will lose or mess this up." Uh huh.
Then you have R.J. Umberger's comments that the Caps could be defensively shut down. Ted Leonsis' response? "Enjoy the long offseason, R.J." The Caps first round exit might as well be the karma police pulling the team over, just like they did when Evander Kane knocked out Matt Cooke in one-punch.
I love Ted, but sometimes it's best to let your hockey do the talking.
Don't even get me started on the ads "Looks like it's our year Caps fans!" or the whole "Nothing Else Matters" intro. Or how fans on 106.7 WJFK were talking about sweeping the Flyers in round two before Game 6.
Seems like nobody in the Caps organization envisioned a losing situation. Perhaps if they had, the urgency would have been there in Game 5. Acting like you're the team of destiny and that you're entitled to winning the Stanley Cup, instead of earning it, is deadly.
Lesson learned.
Flub No. 3: Backstrom centering Semin in Game 6 With Alex Semin slumping, Bruce Boudreau seemed to think giving the Slappin' Siberian the team's best center and focusing an entire period around getting him to score was a good idea.
Great. Sever whatever chemistry was left with Ovechkin, stick him with Belanger and hope that the guy who hasn't showed up will magically win the game for you. Oh and don't step in and stop it in the second period where you're down 2-0, just keep plugging away at Semin.
I understand why you want to get him going, but at what cost do you do it?
Boudreau made too big a deal out of trying to jump start his two playoff goats (Semin and Green) than actually adjusting to what the Canadiens were doing. In the regular season, where it's OK to make mistakes when you have the league's best team, this would be an understandable strategy.
With a 3-1 series lead where one win can send you to the second round, restart your team at 0-0 and give them a chance to rest (maybe wander in a cave and find their games) it's a horrible idea. Make the changes to the team, win the series, and get a fresh start for everyone, not just 28 and 52.
Flub No. 4: Walker for Flash I may be in the minority here, but Scott Walker shouldn't have played in Game 7.
The Caps needed scoring, and while Flash had been in a Semin-esq slump himself, adding the grit of Walker late in the series in place of the playmaking of Fleischmann doesn't sit well with me after the fact. I praised the move at first, now I don't.
Fleischmann is a more dangerous shot than Walker, a better playmaker and a student of Boudreau's system. While Walker brings an edge, and he's scored a clutch Game 7 goal before, he doesn't bring what the Caps needed the most: offense.
Plus Walker played a whopping, (wait for it), 6:07 minutes in Game 7. Waste of a jersey. Maybe not if the Caps were trying to defend a lead, but that's not what happened.
If Boudreau really wanted to sit Flash, he needed to do it in Game 6. Maybe a message is sent there, maybe not. But not putting Fleischmann in your offensive hand of cards in favor of a veteran grinder doesn't make a whole lot of sense in a series where the team desperately needed shooters to solve Jaroslav Halak.
Flash may have had bad turnovers that lead to goals, but was he really that much worse than Semin or Green?
Flub No. 5: Boudreau Didn't Adapt The playoffs, just like life, is often survival of the fittest. Like the finches Darwin studied, those who adapted to their surroundings survived and those who didn't died.
While Montreal trapped, Washington rushed into the zone and fired pucks at the net just hoping they might snipe one past Halak's glove or blocker. Instead of setting up an offense in the zone, often the Caps tried to generate goals off the rush as they always have.
They tried to play Caps hockey and when Caps hockey didn't work, they kept playing Caps hockey. Montreal played playoff hockey. The Caps never seemed to attempt to adapt to the Canadiens' style of game.
Trap, slow down the rush, clear, capitilize on mistakes and repeat. That's all Montreal did. Washington didn't do a great job of setting up in the zone and getting their offense working. When they did the chances came, but as time ticked away and the players grew noticeably worried, the Caps resorted to taking pot shots; forcing their shots into the Habs' shins.
It almost worked. A few bounces here, a slower Halak there and you're not reading this post. But that's not good enough. A team this good shouldn't look so frazzled when pushed outside their comfort zone. |