Caps Burakovsky Fun to Watch

Andre Burakovsky, the 19-year old Caps rookie, may end up being a surprise gift to Caps fans from former General Manager George McPhee. The young Austrian plays the game with a composed sneakiness that makes him fun to watch. And, the amazing thing is that he's a left winger, not a center, but the Caps needed a center. They gave him the chance after trying him at the position during camp and preseason games. Good centers are gold in the NHL and if Burakovsky ends up being a good one, the Caps may be able to close their perpetual hole at second line center since Alex Ovechkin came to town.

In 9 games, Burakovsky collected 2G-6A-8P and was a plus-4. Not bad, even if the sample the size is small. It's early and the league hasn't had time to figure him out, but the 2013 first round draft pick, 23rd overall, is turning heads with his poise and plays like the one against Detroit where he exited the zone, pressured their  defense, got the puck to John Carlson for a pass to Troy Brouwer that ended up in the net.

Read more here.

Let's go Caps!

Caps Fans Waited For This? Brian MacLellan Promoted to GM

Really Ted? You hired the guy that worked for General Manager George McPhee, as assistant GM for the past seven years, and a guy that has been in the organization for thirteen years. Clearly neither you nor Dick Patrick want to win a Cup because if you did, MacLellan would not be your new general manager. How someone inside the organization qualifies as "fresh eyes" that can look critically at this team is beyond me. Were you turned down by other candidates? That's the only reason this decision would make sense to me.

The Caps problems start with drafting and trading for players that aren't hard workers and won't get dirty by sitting in front of the net to score, as an example. Teams that win the Cup play hard. The Caps don't. That's a culture problem that the Caps have had since the Alex Ovechkin era began. You can't fix that problem by promoting someone that's been in the organization while that culture was created. There are specific player needs, too, like stronger defense, better goal tending and depth down the middle, but the culture needs fixed, too, and that's harder to do. 

Read more here.

Let's go Caps!

GMGM Has No Place to Hide

General Manager George McPhee created this dreadful Capitals team. He arrived in Washington in 1997, the only year he sniffed a Stanley Cup. That happened on the back of Dave Poile's team and Olie Kolzig's inspired goal tending. Other than that high note, GMGM has not succeeded in the playoffs and the seven Southeast Division titles don't impress me.

GMGM's in the hot seat, but will owner Ted Leonsis fire him? Will he then turnaround and hire some ex-Capital because marketing is more important than the Cup? I miss the good old days, too, but I'm tired of nostalgia hires. I want a general manager and coaches that have Stanley Cup winning experience. Will that even make any difference if Dick Patrick is still here?

Read more here.

Let's go Caps!

Caps in Disarray

Phillip Grubauer sent back to Hershey and defenseman Steve Oleksy placed on waivers. Those are either desperation moves by a desperate GMGM or a prelude to a worthwhile trade. For a team in disarray, I hope it's the latter, but I'm not holding my breath.

The Caps need a lot of things - stability at goalie, a veteran goalie, more offense from everyone, better defense from everyone, leadership and players that believe winning the Stanley Cup is their life's mission. How's that for a laundry list?

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Let's go Caps!

Caps Mental Lapses Cost Them Too Many Games

There is nothing that frustrates me more about the Caps than their mental lapses. It's costing them a lot of games this season and a lot of regulation wins. It also points to either missing the playoffs or a quick playoff exit, something the Caps have excelled at in the George McPhee, Dick Patrick and Ted Leonsis era.

Read more here.

Let's go Caps!

Is Adam Oates the answer?

To say yes means that Oates, with zero head coaching experience, must take an underachieving Washington Capitals team and find success by, hopefully, using a part-Bruce Boudreau and part-Dale Hunter style that blends offensive firepower with defensive responsibility. To say yes means he must push them past the second round of the playoffs and hope the players care enough to leave everything on the ice to win the ultimate prize in sports. To say yes means the players will respect him enough to do their jobs as he asks. It's a pretty tall order for someone with three years of assistant coaching experience.

Please know that I think Oates was a great hockey player, an awesome center and I own his jersey. In fact, congrats Adam on your well deserved hockey hall of fame selection. But is he going to be able to deal with this group? I hear he's a player's coach, which doesn't bode well for the Caps. They had that in Boudreau and it was, ultimately, what ended his tenure in Washington.

I wish GMGM had selected someone with NHL head coaching experience and Stanley Cup finals experience. The Caps have experimented with inexperienced head coaches for the past decade. It hasn't worked out too well.

I don't know how this story turns out. Adam Oates might surprise me. The underachieving players might surprise me. I'd be happy to eat my words. But, I've been saying that for a decade, too.

Let's go Caps!

Welcome back Dale

Most Caps fans felt like Christmas came early today as Dale Hunter took to the ice at Kettler for his first practice as the new head coach of the Caps.  Hunter is a legend to Caps fans and that is my biggest fear about him jumping from the OHL to the NHL as a head coach.  I don't want anything to tarnish his legend.  All day, I've alternated between insane excitement about Dale being here and that lingering fear about his place in Caps history if this goes awry.  That fear won't go away -- I am a Caps fan, after all -- until I see how this unfolds.

I think this is GM George McPhee's last stand with owner Ted Leonsis and it's clear from McPhee's comments that he had to convince Ted this was the right direction.  Either Dale works out or GMGM won't be GM for life anymore which, after thirteen years, is as it should be. It's far more patience than I would ever have had.

GMGM's been in contact with Dale, for years, while Dale amassed an impressive 451-189-23-24 (.691%) coaching record for the Ontario London Knights. His team made many playoff appearances, won one Memorial Cup and Dale won the Coach of the Year award.   Everything I've read and listened to today about his coaching career and through following his team when John Carlson played there, makes me think Dale's a good choice for the Caps. But coaching teenagers, even in the world of rough and tumble Canadian junior hockey, is not like coaching adult multi-millionaires.  They've got to want the Stanley Cup not think that they can win it on talent alone (cue Herb Brooks).  That's the biggest task for Dale.

Now I have a new set of questions for the rest of this Cap season:

• Can Dale turn this team around and make them play hard-working, gritty, disciplined hockey like he did as a player?  He gave it all every night. It would be nice if the Caps gave 75% on a consistent basis.
• Will he easily adapt to the NHL from the OHL?
• Will the players respond positively?  Caps, just be warned, if you mess with Dale, you're going to face one angry fan base. 
• Can Dale bring back Ovie's love of the game and competitive fire? Can he teach Ovie how to become a better and more mature player?  Will Ovie take those lessons to heart?

"It's my team," Dale said in his press conference before laughingly saying it was really Ted's team. But, I like that thinking.  And, getting his name on the Stanley Cup as the coach, since he was denied that honor as a player, would make all the misery of being a Caps fan go away in one game.

Let's go Caps!  

P.S.  Thank you Bruce Boudreau for a good ride for a while.  I enjoyed the romp to the playoffs, your first year here, and that last game against Florida to get there was unreal, rocking the red at the phone booth.  I've been hard on you, but I wish you luck in your future endeavors.