Dale's First Day

There was a larger than usual crowd at Kettler Capitals Iceplex on Monday morning as the news spread that Bruce Boudreau was out as head coach of the Washington Capitals and alumnus Dale Hunter was in. Some were there out of coincidence, like the group in front of me, but others had made it a point to come and see the first day of a new era.

The new era got off a bit slowly as the scheduled practice was moved once from 11am to noon to accommodate a George McPhee press conference and then just because as the players did not take the ice until 12:04, led by Alex Ovechkin with George McPhee and Ted Leonsis watching from the perch above the benches. The team was met with applause from the crowd which only got louder five minutes after as Dale Hunter emerged with the assistant coaches Bob Woods, Dean Evason and Dave Prior.

 Practice began with full-ice 4 on 4 drills. While there was no real big difference in the players' demeanor, I still felt a "hey look at what I can do" in the air as Hunter stayed back from the action, letting Coach Evason call the drills and having short one on one conversations with various players.

Mike Green, who had skated on his own earlier in the morning, watched for a few minutes from the bench.

 Over half an hour passed before Hunter took his place at the dry erase board and began to take a more active role in the practice.

 

The first drill was a closed blue-line 5 on 5, a realistic game-type situation drill much like I thought they should be doing more regularly. Ovie was hitting the boards hard, once with the help of Chimera, shaking the whole curve of plexiglass in the lower corner.

 This section I like to call "coaching":

Right before 1pm, the group headed to the far end of the ice where Hunter attempted a shot on Vokoun. He was denied, so clearlt he hasn't seene nough tape yet of his weak spots. Shoot higher next time, Dale!
 On Carlson's shot, he slipped and wiped out into the boards. I apologize for not recording that.

During the course of the practice, several men in St Louis Blues track suits would come in to watch in the hollow at center ice between the stands. On my way out, I saw why. The team was skating on the other rink.

All in all, an interesting first day, but the first test to see whether or not this was the right choice will happen tomorrow night. Will an energized and motivated Capitals team take the ice or will it simply be more of the same?

Cyber Monday Deal- A New Head Coach for the Caps

Mike Vogel's Blog

 I guess I won't be getting that Kitchen-Aid hand mixer after all, because my Christmas wish came true. Coach Boudreau is out and Dale Hunter is in as coach of the Capitals. Yes, BB had a good record, fastest to 200 wins, etc. but he wasn' t the coach for this group of players and this isn't a bad group of players so he had to go. I think he was just fine for AHL level but he's just not an NHL coach. Now we see if Dale Hunter is an NHL coach. He's got records for fastest to 300 and 400 wins in the OHL but we have to see if it translates. I have a feeling he isn't going to take crap and whining and complacency, nor do I think he'll adopt the fool persona for local commercials.

The new era begins with a press conference at eleven. Practice has been moved to noon, pictures up afterward.

I Wouldn't Ask for Anything Else for Christmas if This is True

Washington Times

Apparently on Canadian TV, former Cap/my high school crush/current analyst Nick Kypreos stated that a coaching change could come soon and that Dale Hunter was up for the job. Twitter's quick with the "it's just speculation" right now and the Caps spokesman has issued a denial, but Kyper is usually right and by now I'd think anyone who's been around long enough knows that a denial doesn't always mean something's not true. I'm going to head to practice tomorrow and see what's up and we'll know soon enough.

Prediction

Mathieu Perreault is scratched and no one is parking in front of the goal. The Caps are going to lose.

Ducks Practice 11/1/11

On November 1^st, the ice was still being prepared at Verizon Center so the Anaheim Mighty Ducks had their morning skate at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. They got the makeshift curtained dressing room treatment and an hour under the solid red wall proclaiming the home of the Capitals. I'd caption them, but I have no idea who any of them are beyond Hiller and his Movember mask.

Is There Still a Lockout?

  I miss the Wizards.

  The outcome might not have ended up in their favor most nights, but more often than not, that was a team who went out onto the court knowing they were just as capable of winning the game as the other team. I cheered for that mindset and effort, so I am on board for Ted Leonsis' slow and steady wins the race approach, but when he applies that same metric to the Capitals, I have to disagree.

 The Capitals were an elite team. They are well beyond the building blocks stage. Premium players have been in place for a while now, but they are still pieces contained within a set of strategies and systems. I know Ted is into the business of happiness, but no matter what smiley face he puts on this current downturn, a great deal of fans- the ones who pay with time and lots of money, are not happy. I know I was insulted when he implied in one of today's blog posts that those upset with the slide are simply not taking the lows with the highs- Ted's Take. There might be bandwagoneers who aren't used to a losing team, but I would hope that a great majority are ones who have suffered through years of mediocre teams and player and coaching changes and know that this configuration of the team should be playing at a higher level than it is. I think it's perfectly reasonable to be disappointed and ask for action.

My broken record is going to keep skipping along right here: When your boss sucks, you don't have motivation to do well. There is no drive to make him look good when he doesn't deserve it. BB has to go.

• If the team needs hustle and drive and speed and a man to stand in front of the goal, why has Monsieur Hustle himself, Mathieu Perreault, been the healthy scratch the last few weeks? Mike Knuble and Matt Hendricks can't do it all themselves.
• Vokoun can't go side to side and the high glove side is weak. The defense does nothing to compensate for that.
• Cody Eakin has not been the ginger revelation that so many proclaimed him to be. There's been a whole lot of nothing coming from him.
• There has to be a way to bring up some new D-men. Even if Green were healthy I can't see him making up for the regular miscues of Hamrlik and Schultz all on his own. There should be enough to rotate some of them up to the press box.
• It may be a coincidence that Ovie hasn't done so well since getting the C, but maybe there is something to him being a kid who feels he has to carry the weight of a team that isn't being motivated correctly from the top down. Some people simply aren't leaders and there's nothing wrong with that. Slide that C over to #22 and see what happens.
• I'm not laying any blame at the feet of George McPhee. He has acquired quality players and that's what he's supposed to do. This bit of intel solidifies my respect. Please don't backtrack later, GMGM.

 I want to be in the business of happiness, too. I admit I haven't finished reading the book but I'd be pretty sure that one of the tenets is not to worry about things out of your control. The employment status of the Caps personnel is certainly something out of my control, but if Ted makes it a point to keep the napkins and straws stocked in Section 104, it seems hard to believe that he'd let the team that people are coming to see suffer from a lack of motivation and leadership.

WIlson Gives Out Hugs at Nats Park

Beautiful slideshow of Wilson Ramos' press conference today at Nationals Park. Looking at these just make me smile. We are so lucky to have him back safe.

Washington Times

Edited to add:

Stole this video link from Nats Inquisition because it's got the Zim/Wilson hug in action and general happiness.

AP

Accountability When the Buck Doesn't Stop

 When I am in public situations and interacting with people, my voice tends to go a bit high and timid. I don't know why. I don't do it on purpose, but it amuses my dad to no end. "Why don't they get to hear your real voice?" he's always asking. "We don't get the shy and sweet you." This is what I think of when I listen to these Caps post-game/post-practice press conferences Bruce Boudreau puts on, all low and beaten-down. You can feel the waves of "You can't blame me" coming off of him. Those who have seen the HBO 24/7 know this isn't his real voice either. This is someone who gets mad and does something about it, but if you just listened to the press conferences you'd think things happen behind the bench without Bruce being any the wiser. The decisions he had to make were all agonizing but something that had to be done. I'm not buying it, just as I'm not buying services from Hadeed Carpet, copiers from Ameritel or a Mercedes from American Service Center.

 Every time I post an anti-Gabby statement, I feel bad about it because there is an air of "Enough people are negative about DC sports/hockey/the Caps, we don't need to be negative internally" around these parts. I want the man to prove me wrong. I want Ted Leonsis' faith in him to be justified. But I don't see it. I see someone who thinks because he has good players, he's a good coach, but having eyes will tell you otherwise.

By now we see a team he has molded. There is no more "This is the team he was handed and he did what he could with it." He's decided who his favorites are (Semin) and who he tolerates (Perreault). He's got the greatest player in the world so turned around he doesn't know which way is up any more. The idea of Ovie being a team player is better than the reality. This isn't working. Ovie needs to be a selfish bastard to do what he does best. The phrase "too cute" gets tossed around, and not just by the guys at Puck Buddys. It feels like a preschool team where everyone needs to touch the puck before anyone can shoot. Windows close in that time and opportunities are missed. Standing in front of the net is seen as presumptuous and holding back the defense is a waste of time because the other team still gets into the offensive zone faster.

 There are times, and at the beginning of the season they could last for whole games, where there was hustle and drive and an understanding that to win you really do need to score more goals than the other team. When it leaves and you see professional hockey players looking like relief pitchers in the batting box - "How does this go again?" hope fades. These guys are are being told how to play, and so eyes should turn to the play-caller, someone who switches lines and strategies too fast for anyone to catch on smoothly, someone who benches underperformers too few and far between.

 I don't think it's a coincidence that people like Bradley and Steckel, who have revealed locker room attitudes are on other teams now and that people who were thought to be potential leaders, especially Arnott, saw how things really ran and distanced themselves.

 Prove me wrong, Bruce. Use your real voice. I want a Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men" moment here. I want to hear Bruce screaming, "You want me on that bench! You need me on that bench! You use words like accountability, bag skates and trying harder. I use them as punchlines. Did I order that sloppy power play with no one crashing the net? You're goddamn right I did!"

And in my version of this fantasy, he looks amazed as Knuble and Alan May drag him away.

Wilson is Coming Home!

 I hadn't been in the door fifteen minutes back from the Wilson Ramos vigil at Nats Park before I saw the news that he had been found safe and was on his way home. I am still grinning like an idiot. I am usually not hippy dippy but I would like to think that these little lights in the darkness helped.

From earlier tonight:

Thank you to the Nationals for the excellent hot chocolate and permission to leave the signs and candles on the gate. Thanks to those who played the Wilson Ramos at-bat music, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, Who's on First, and of course Take on Me through the speakers.

Thank you to Alicia @DragBallwRamos for leading the effort. Thinking positive led to positive results. Now to plan the celebration party.

Ramos Vigil

e want Ramos safe at home.



Facebook link

Tonight, Friday November 11 from 6pm to 7:30pm, there will be a vigil for Wilson Ramos outside the centerfield gate at Nationals Park. For more information, please click the above link or follow the #vigilforramos tag.

Wilson Ramos

I bought tickets for Opening Day 2012 and my catcher better damn well be there in the lineup. Venezuela, do what you have to do.

It's in the Bag

  I admit, I had to Google "bag skate." It wasn't in wikipedia or my dictionary app, but so many people were using it on Twitter to define the long hard non-stop practice the Caps had on Wednesday, I had to find out. And that's all it is. A long continuous practice, for punishment or conditioning. I think it's obvious which reason the Kettler crew did four sets of sprints in between drills for a straight ninety minutes, though I think if punishment is to be equal, old Gabby should have been doing his share. Mike Green worked hard the whole practice and he wasn't even in the last few games.

11:27am- Everyone was already out on the ice before the 11:30 start time. After stretching and the first set of suicide sprints, it was time for one-on-ones, or what I like to call couples skate. Mike Green was out for the action, paired with Cody Eakin.

 

Then we had some more active one-on-ones where they shot at the goaltenders. I'm not impressed with these and the other open ice types of drills. Sure Vokoun can stop what amounts to a breakaway, well most of the time- the five-hole was pretty open from what I saw. Make that man go side-to-side. That's where he gives up the most, IMO. I would call for five-on-five every day until they get things down. They go through these drills and then on game day it looks as if so many times they stop and you can see them thinking "What happens next?" and there's no time for that when five people who are not your teammates are barreling down on you.

12:16pm- Then came a more realistic drill, three-on-three inside the blue line. They were trying hard, I give them that. Ovie was making moves that had my mouth hanging open a few times.

This mark on the ice was from Ovie falling hard and bouncing right back up.

12:27pm- Blue line to blue line skate. No one was going hard past the lines, mainly gliding to a stop. I can't blame them, by now they had been on the ice for a straight hour. Which leads me to my next bit of confusion. If these men can skate non-stop for an hour with smiles on their faces, why then when I think all they need is a few more steps to really break out and set up a chance do they instead dump it and change lines? Sure they might be worn out, but momentum is a good thing.

For some reason- I didn't catch on to the pattern, Erskine (I think? It may be time for a new prescription) and Ward dropped down for pushups before continuing on.

12:30pm- No signs of slowing down. BB was still working the team. Among the phrases overheard were "If we don't get better at this we're f#$%ed." and "Work your nuts off here!" Stay classy, Bruce.

Over an hour in and everyone was still playing hard.

12:37pm- They all gather at the far end of the rink for some four-on-four and then five-on five drills.

12:41pm- Both nets were brought into the corner for some mini action. I don't get it, I just record it.

Eakin was sent back to collect extra pucks. Rookie work, I suppose.

12:48pm- More sprints. Perreault decided to smack his stick on the glass right by my head and my ears were ringing for quite a bit.

12:50pm- Ovie is still smiling. Is it just me or does Mike Green look like he should be tying up someone to the railroad tracks these days with that facial hair?

 There was so much snow left at the end boards, Arlington County was about to call for a two-hour delay.

12:52pm- One more meeting at the strategy board.

12:54pm- Guys finally start leaving the ice.

Eakin, Ward, Perreault, Hendricks, Laich, Schultz, and Halpern were the last ones still hanging around.

1pm- Brooks Laich was the last one off the ice and still took time to sign for those few still left at the rink.

I was curious to see what BB had to say about this type of practice, so I hung around another forty-three minutes to eavesdrop on the press conference, but those things are quite close in and the sound quality was not the best. People are better off finding it on the official page than going by the few notes I managed to scribble down.

Did it work? We'll find out Friday night.