Be Careful What You Ask For

Coach Boudreau had lost the players long before he lost the head coaching job. Nothing against Coach Boudreau, he was, is and will continue to be a great coach. But the truth of the matter has always been there. There was something missing with his style and or ability with the organization and players on the team which prevented the Caps from achieving their ultimate goal; an NHL Championship.

Recent history has shown that Boudreau has been asked to change things up, to alter his approach, in order to get more production out of the team. For whatever reason(s), that did not happen. In fact, in the end, the players had lost confidence and failed to follow their leader.

My guess, in all that went into this decision to fire Boudreau, is that a conversation or two happened with the front office and some of the players similar to the following:

We don’t like/believe in his approach anymore and can no longer be motivated to play for him. We need/want a coaching change to someone we can and will follow. We want somebody else.

Well, be careful what you ask for. Now you got your wish. The puck is in your court Caps players. If you continue to fail now, maybe it wasn’t all Boudreau’s fault.

Below is a clip of McPhee addressing the media regarding the coaching change. I don’t believe I have ever seen anybody more nervous and uncomfortable discussing a managerial change before in my life. But, as he said in the interview, the tank was empty.

Opening Night!

Tonight is opening night for the Washington Capitals. This is the year, like every year for the past 2 or 3 years that folks are saying they are the one of the favorites to win the cup.

 

They certainly have the talent. But do they really have the dedication? Even their star player and team captain, Alexander Ovechkin, admitted that he and others were not in the best mental and physical shape of their careers last year.

Even former Capitals player Matt Bradley dissed the caps by saying some of the prevailing attitudes were not conducive to success.

So, what have they done to make themselves better?

The Caps have some very key and interesting additions to the team this year.
Troy Bouwer, Joel Ward add good scoring potential as forwards.
Tomas Vokoun adds depth at goal and Roman Hamrlik complements their defensive line.

These additions will provide potential leadership, stability and depth at key positions.

I mention potential leadership as the key to success for this team. They need leadership to impose a new attitude of winning, especially championship winning. Bringing in key players is good, but as Bradley mentioned, the leaders and coaches of this team need to bring in new attitudes.

Hopefully this will be the year. The year the team comes together and lives up to expectations and brings home the championship. It all starts tonight against a young and up and coming Carolina team. A team that always seems to give us trouble.

Lets go out and set the tone for the game, the team and the upcoming championship season with a well orchestrated, dedicated and passionate win!

Lets Go Caps!