With only 48 games to play this season, it's going to be a time crunch for any coaching staff to scout another team's system. For the Capitals, that could give them the element of surprise. Head coach Adam Oates will have only a week to implement his system to his group of players. But as far as opposing teams scouting that system, it could take them 10 to 15 games to recognize it and to play effectively against Oates' system. In a shortened season such as this one, those first few games could be key for the Caps to find success.
A couple of factors go into the surprise element for the Capitals. The first will be Oates has never been a head coach in the NHL. While he probably has had say in how the New Jersey Devils played in some areas, Pete DeBoer was the head coach and had final say in what went on the ice. That leaves the elements that Oates would have like to implement if he were head coach. If opposing teams want to study the tape of the Devils to gauge how the Capitals might look this season will have to concede that it's DeBoer's system and not Oates'.
Along those same lines, if the opposing teams want to study tape of how the Devil's power play preformed under Oates' supervision they won't see Alex Ovechkin, Mike Green or Nick Backstrom on that tape. With a different personnel group (and a much better talented one in my opinion) infused in that same system, there are going to be differences. From who sets up the play to who shoots the open shot, the Caps' system under Oates will look strikingly different.
Most, not all, teams in the NHL when faced with a new system often fall back and play that team conservatively. With some teams dropping back to play the Caps defensively minded, the boys in red, white and blue might be able to steal a few extra games early. That is key to setting up for a run to the playoffs with only 48 games on the schedule.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
3 Critical Areas
Okay, warm fuzzy feelings are over. The Capitals are back to work today and they only have a week to get in game time condition. Learning Adam Oates new system and jumping into a shortened season brings two new challenges to the Capitals this season. They will begin their season Saturday, January 19th against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Oates admitted as much that today won't really be an opening for a training camp. Rather, it is the start of practice with a game in less than a week. It means the roster they have on paper is most likely the roster that will be on the ice on Sunday and starting just six days later.
There are three areas, which I believe, to be of the utmost importance for the Caps to get under grasps as the season begins. Learning these with in the framework of Oates' new system might help them get off the blocks quickly.
Power Play
The power play is the Capitals' most powerful weapon. Bringing in a power play specialist like head coach Adam Oates, this special team concept is a top priority for this team if they want to get out of the gates quickly.
A consistent and formidable power play does a lot for the offense of any team in the NHL. If a team can consistently and successfully convert power play opportunities it will soft the play of the opposition, leading to more chances 5 on 5. The Caps' bread and butter lies with a solid power play. Under Bruce Boudreau, as long as the power play was working, opposition teams couldn't play tight and physical with the Capitals for fear of getting a penalty.
With more open ice 5 on 5 the capitals will see their offensive production start to soar. That would make this team a very tough opponent when the post season arrives.
Goaltending
It will be key to a short season for sure. Guaranteed, the Capitals will utilize their two still young and budding goaltenders in Braden Holtby and Michal Neuvirth. With a condensed schedule, the Capitals have seven back to back nights in which both netminders most likely sharing duties opposite nights. Both will have to be on top of their game, then find something extra for the playoffs if the Caps should get there (knock on wood).
That pretty much means a number one goaltender is a shared position this season. That should build up to some competition once the playoffs rears its ugly head. Holtby has shown some signs of solid goal keeping in Hershey. While Neuvirth has been playing the the Czech Republic with the HC Sparta Praha. Both had some success in both leagues.
Offensive Consistency
The Capitals struggled with producing goals last season. Part of that struggle came from a power play that was stifled. Part of it was team defenses did a better job of containing Alex Ovechkin by double teaming him. As that production suffered, so did the Caps hopes of doing much offensively. The Capitals made the switch from an all out offensive assault, to a controlled neutral zone play, to flat out defense first system under Dale Hunter.
Oates has said in the past that his system will be a balanced approach to playing both on the offensive and defensive ends of the ice. But the offensive numbers has to improve for the Capitals to gain much success this season. It will have to be a team priority too, as no player can be on an island the way opposing teams have been playing the Capitals.
Of course it will be up to the coaching staff on how to best do this. But some solutions could include getting the defense into play in the offensive zone. With a healthy and rested Mike Green should help with that. This requires more covering by wings and centermen when the blue liners do make a dash to the net. Another solution is for the Capitals to set up more in the offensive zone with cycles down low. If they can work the puck around and passing is crisp, the Caps could find the open guy for a few goals running the opposition around.
Capitals first day of camp starts today at 10:30 am, at Kettler Iceplex. They are open and free to the public. The Caps will hold camp all week before their first game against the Lightning on Saturday January 19th.
Oates admitted as much that today won't really be an opening for a training camp. Rather, it is the start of practice with a game in less than a week. It means the roster they have on paper is most likely the roster that will be on the ice on Sunday and starting just six days later.
There are three areas, which I believe, to be of the utmost importance for the Caps to get under grasps as the season begins. Learning these with in the framework of Oates' new system might help them get off the blocks quickly.
Power Play
The power play is the Capitals' most powerful weapon. Bringing in a power play specialist like head coach Adam Oates, this special team concept is a top priority for this team if they want to get out of the gates quickly.
A consistent and formidable power play does a lot for the offense of any team in the NHL. If a team can consistently and successfully convert power play opportunities it will soft the play of the opposition, leading to more chances 5 on 5. The Caps' bread and butter lies with a solid power play. Under Bruce Boudreau, as long as the power play was working, opposition teams couldn't play tight and physical with the Capitals for fear of getting a penalty.
With more open ice 5 on 5 the capitals will see their offensive production start to soar. That would make this team a very tough opponent when the post season arrives.
Goaltending
It will be key to a short season for sure. Guaranteed, the Capitals will utilize their two still young and budding goaltenders in Braden Holtby and Michal Neuvirth. With a condensed schedule, the Capitals have seven back to back nights in which both netminders most likely sharing duties opposite nights. Both will have to be on top of their game, then find something extra for the playoffs if the Caps should get there (knock on wood).
That pretty much means a number one goaltender is a shared position this season. That should build up to some competition once the playoffs rears its ugly head. Holtby has shown some signs of solid goal keeping in Hershey. While Neuvirth has been playing the the Czech Republic with the HC Sparta Praha. Both had some success in both leagues.
Offensive Consistency
The Capitals struggled with producing goals last season. Part of that struggle came from a power play that was stifled. Part of it was team defenses did a better job of containing Alex Ovechkin by double teaming him. As that production suffered, so did the Caps hopes of doing much offensively. The Capitals made the switch from an all out offensive assault, to a controlled neutral zone play, to flat out defense first system under Dale Hunter.
Oates has said in the past that his system will be a balanced approach to playing both on the offensive and defensive ends of the ice. But the offensive numbers has to improve for the Capitals to gain much success this season. It will have to be a team priority too, as no player can be on an island the way opposing teams have been playing the Capitals.
Of course it will be up to the coaching staff on how to best do this. But some solutions could include getting the defense into play in the offensive zone. With a healthy and rested Mike Green should help with that. This requires more covering by wings and centermen when the blue liners do make a dash to the net. Another solution is for the Capitals to set up more in the offensive zone with cycles down low. If they can work the puck around and passing is crisp, the Caps could find the open guy for a few goals running the opposition around.
Capitals first day of camp starts today at 10:30 am, at Kettler Iceplex. They are open and free to the public. The Caps will hold camp all week before their first game against the Lightning on Saturday January 19th.
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
One Big Happy Family
It was more for the benefit of the media than it was for the general manager George McPhee and head coach Adam Oates to address the press. The "oh so fluffy" feelings of a hockey season returning saw both media moguls and Capitals' players and staff wearing wide smiles and patting each other on the back in a hearty "Welcome back!"
Alex Ovechkin was the marquee guy that the press had asked for since seeing his return at Dulles Airport being greeted by Mike Vogel. It looked like that was not going to happen, but in the end, classic Ovechkin strolls out, wide grin wearing a t-shirt that said in Russian "Am I really the prettiest one here, again?" To a Caps fan, yes, yes he was.
From Braden Holtby, to McPhee, to Oates and then Ovi finishing up the impromptu media day at Kettler, the mood was light, cheerful even. A sense of relief was on the faces of both players and coaches and the people that interview them. Even a spotting of Joe Beninati, who regaled his rough time finding work during the stoppage with fellow reporters, made it seem that hockey was right where it was supposed to be in DC.
While it is all smiles and cheerfulness, the seriousness of a sprint of a 48 game season is weighing on management and coaches. Anxious to get back to work, Oates told reporters of running line combos almost daily. Even McPhee is getting calls from other GMs around the league looking to trade once the CBA is ratified. It looks to be a confusing and fast start to the season, and the team most ready for it might be the one fighting for a chance in the Finals for Lord Stanley's Cup.
So the smiles are fine for now. The real work begins when "camp" starts most likely on Sunday.
 |
| Ovi walks in all smiles. |
From Braden Holtby, to McPhee, to Oates and then Ovi finishing up the impromptu media day at Kettler, the mood was light, cheerful even. A sense of relief was on the faces of both players and coaches and the people that interview them. Even a spotting of Joe Beninati, who regaled his rough time finding work during the stoppage with fellow reporters, made it seem that hockey was right where it was supposed to be in DC.
 |
| Oates addresses the media. |
So the smiles are fine for now. The real work begins when "camp" starts most likely on Sunday.
Sunday, January 06, 2013
Talkn' About... Practice
The earliest training camp would start is Wednesday. But to get players in and the coaching staff primed, the likely start of camp would be Friday. But this won't be like training camps of the past. With only a week (or less) to prepare for a sprint of a 50 game season, Adam Oates will be in cut down mode from the get go.
What would a shortened camp look like? More like a practice during the regular season. A small contingent of players form the AHL will make an appearance, but most likely it will be the contract players the Caps signed and have under contract. Formal rosters will be submitted in the next day or so, but for now we can speculate who will be at Kettler in the next week.
In the way of goaltenders, the possibility of bringing up three for camp seems likely, but the coaching staff might stick to two. Braden Holtby and Micheal Neuvirth most likely will be the team's one and two netminders, although not necessarily in that order. If Oates decides to make it a competition for the top spot, the Caps could see some young goaltenders duke it out over this 50 game stretch. To round out camp, the Capitals could bring up Danny Sabourin. It is more likely that the organization wouldn't leave the Bears with out a goaltender, so we may only see Holtby and Neuvirth at camp.
Your standards at defense will return. Karl Alzner and John Carlson most likely will be the top two blue liners. Rounding out Dmitry Orlov, Mike Green, Roman Hamrlik, John Erskine and Jeff Schultz will all report to camp. Jack Hillen will be the new face on the back line. Patrick McNiell might get a call up for a look.
Washington's forwards will have some new faces with the acquisitions of Wojtek Wolski and Mike Ribeiro. (Rumor has it Ribeiro has been playing in the DC area for the last couple of months with some men's leagues) They will be in fused with the return of Alex Ovechkin and Nick Backstrom returning from Russia where they played with Moscow Dynamo. Troy Brouwer, Jason Chimera, Matt Hendricks, Brooks Laich, Mathieu Perreault, Joel Ward and Marcus Johansson will be the regulars for camp.
Joey Crabb, Mattias Sjogren, Filip Forsberg and Stanislav Galiev might make an appearance to see if they need to call up anymore talent from Hershey or beyond. For them to crack the line up, they most likely would have to fill in for an injury (Laich ended his brief stint overseas after sustaining a groin injury) or if someone's game went downhill.
In any event, and who ever does show for camp, the Capitals' coaching staff will have to quickly evaluate, cut and mold their team for a short season. Oates priorities will to be bring a flowing chemistry to the team in a short amount of time, make the power play work at a consistent level and shore up the defensive end of the ice for the Caps to make a run at the playoffs and beyond.
What would a shortened camp look like? More like a practice during the regular season. A small contingent of players form the AHL will make an appearance, but most likely it will be the contract players the Caps signed and have under contract. Formal rosters will be submitted in the next day or so, but for now we can speculate who will be at Kettler in the next week.
In the way of goaltenders, the possibility of bringing up three for camp seems likely, but the coaching staff might stick to two. Braden Holtby and Micheal Neuvirth most likely will be the team's one and two netminders, although not necessarily in that order. If Oates decides to make it a competition for the top spot, the Caps could see some young goaltenders duke it out over this 50 game stretch. To round out camp, the Capitals could bring up Danny Sabourin. It is more likely that the organization wouldn't leave the Bears with out a goaltender, so we may only see Holtby and Neuvirth at camp.
Your standards at defense will return. Karl Alzner and John Carlson most likely will be the top two blue liners. Rounding out Dmitry Orlov, Mike Green, Roman Hamrlik, John Erskine and Jeff Schultz will all report to camp. Jack Hillen will be the new face on the back line. Patrick McNiell might get a call up for a look.
Washington's forwards will have some new faces with the acquisitions of Wojtek Wolski and Mike Ribeiro. (Rumor has it Ribeiro has been playing in the DC area for the last couple of months with some men's leagues) They will be in fused with the return of Alex Ovechkin and Nick Backstrom returning from Russia where they played with Moscow Dynamo. Troy Brouwer, Jason Chimera, Matt Hendricks, Brooks Laich, Mathieu Perreault, Joel Ward and Marcus Johansson will be the regulars for camp.
Joey Crabb, Mattias Sjogren, Filip Forsberg and Stanislav Galiev might make an appearance to see if they need to call up anymore talent from Hershey or beyond. For them to crack the line up, they most likely would have to fill in for an injury (Laich ended his brief stint overseas after sustaining a groin injury) or if someone's game went downhill.
In any event, and who ever does show for camp, the Capitals' coaching staff will have to quickly evaluate, cut and mold their team for a short season. Oates priorities will to be bring a flowing chemistry to the team in a short amount of time, make the power play work at a consistent level and shore up the defensive end of the ice for the Caps to make a run at the playoffs and beyond.
Good Morning Hockey
Good morning DC, you are waking up to a NHL season this morning. The NHL and NHL players association has reached a tentative deal that could have the season starting in less than two weeks. One hundred thirteen days after the initial lockout by the owners of players, both sides have come to a basic agreement in a 16 hour marathon Saturday night into the early hours of Sunday morning.
Per TSN.ca...
As info comes in on the Capitals schedule of training camp and games, I will be sure to pass it along.
Per TSN.ca...
"Don Fehr and I are here to tell you that we have reached an agreement on the framework of a new collective bargaining agreement, the details of which need to be put to paper," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed to reporters early Sunday morning. "We have to dot a lot of I's and cross a lot of T's. There is still a lot of work to be done, but the basic framework has been agreed upon."Training camps can start as soon as Wednesday, as late as Saturday. Details of the deal are still emerging, but there was no agreement yet of NHL players participating in the winter games in Sochi 2014. But it is expected a deal to be reached by then.
As info comes in on the Capitals schedule of training camp and games, I will be sure to pass it along.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Cry Me A River
To be fair, I only got a snipet of the topic du jour on Sirius XM NHL Homeice this morning. But from what I gathered, Micheal Buble made comments about not buying NHL products to boycott the current lockout.
The pundit remarked if fans stopped buying into the NHL, as in merchandise and other things, then we aren't really hurting the league for the lockout. Fans would just be hurting the little guy who makes the stuff. He was told as much by a person that wrote him a letter urging fans not to boycott merchandise sold by the NHL because it would put the little guy out of work.
My problem with the statement is the guy who wrote the letter should have sent it to the owners instead. The little guy has no future as long as the lockout looms for the NHL. But the fans didn't lockout players or failed to negotiate a deal, the owners and the players did. If you want me to support the little guy, put pressure where it is needed, not on fans but on your owners, players and the National Hockey League.
If a fan doesn't show interest on the league because they are not playing, can you fault them for not buying merchandise even just "to support the little guy"? I don't think merchandisers can whine to fans for wanting to boycott a league because they refuse to put a product on the ice for fans. Their beef lies with some one else.
I don't have a problem with fans who wish to boycott the leagues' merchandise. The lockout already has affected the little guy, but not by the fault of those who do not buy a jersey for Christmas this year. I feel for the little guy, I really do. But I'm not the one who cancelled the season.
Stepping off soap box.
The pundit remarked if fans stopped buying into the NHL, as in merchandise and other things, then we aren't really hurting the league for the lockout. Fans would just be hurting the little guy who makes the stuff. He was told as much by a person that wrote him a letter urging fans not to boycott merchandise sold by the NHL because it would put the little guy out of work.
My problem with the statement is the guy who wrote the letter should have sent it to the owners instead. The little guy has no future as long as the lockout looms for the NHL. But the fans didn't lockout players or failed to negotiate a deal, the owners and the players did. If you want me to support the little guy, put pressure where it is needed, not on fans but on your owners, players and the National Hockey League.
If a fan doesn't show interest on the league because they are not playing, can you fault them for not buying merchandise even just "to support the little guy"? I don't think merchandisers can whine to fans for wanting to boycott a league because they refuse to put a product on the ice for fans. Their beef lies with some one else.
I don't have a problem with fans who wish to boycott the leagues' merchandise. The lockout already has affected the little guy, but not by the fault of those who do not buy a jersey for Christmas this year. I feel for the little guy, I really do. But I'm not the one who cancelled the season.
Stepping off soap box.
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