Boudreau needs to go

[ROOLZ]

If I were in charge of the Caps, i'd call for a meeting with Boudreau. I'd Tell him today or tomorrow that I want to meet with him in a week.

During the meeting I'd ask what he thinks needs to be changed, and/or, what his plan is for the team going forward.

It's pretty damn obvious as long as things stay like they are, the Caps are never going to be anything more than a great regular season team, that has a chance to win the cup, but will ultimately underachieve.

The Caps are talented and deep enough to win the cup, but what has to be figured out is how or why some of the players are easily countered, and neutralized in the playoffs, ala Mike green and Semin.

Now I'd already given him a week to think about the meeting. if i didn't like his plan, or the answers to my questions, i'd tell him it's time for a change, and he's a part of the change.

 

[esls79]

I think the meeting in a week is a good idea. I've seen the past couple of years Boudreau's insistency on not changing his tactics between games or even during games. He's relying too much on his skilled players and when they become somewhat neutralized, he cannot adjust. Too many great teams are saddled by coaches that refuse to change things up - not necessarily line combos but entire systems.

He was quoted in the post game as saying he would have bet anything his poweplay couldn't go 1 for 33 in a series. After two or three games, why not change things up? Stubbornness is all I can come up with. The good coaches can make adjustments on the fly and check their stubbornness at the door.

I look at the Flyers situation from this past season. The young core of that team was given a free reign by John Stevens and partied too much and the on ice product at times showed. Out goes the player first coach and in comes a hard liner coach. Flyers shape up. Perhaps what the Caps need at this point is a disciplinarian, not a coach defending and coddling his players.

 

[Comeds]

Thinking about it more, though I think some changes may be needed, firing a coach who coached the team to the best record in the NHL may not be a great idea.

 

[elocomotive]

I never ever said the team choked... I said Brucey boy choked. His team was far and away superior than the Habs. They were given 3 chances to win and couldn't get it done. How many times did the announcers say that the life was taken out of the Caps since they couldn't beat Halak. He went with what worked in the regular season, and the Habs did a great job at shutting that down. Boudreau didn't change a thing.

Wow, I don't know how more wrong you could be. They made lineup changes constantly in the series, many of which helped. Steckel sat a lot of the series in favor of a faster 4th line and Gordon absolutely rose to the challenge. He played 3 different centers with Semin to try and get him going. He made a ballsy call of bringing up Karl Alzner in game 7 and he played great. He changed A LOT of things during the series.

If you want to criticize Boudreau, that's your call, but at least have some idea of what your talking about.

 

[johnnytata]

two words: scotty bowman.

this team reminds me so much of the pre bowman wings. lots of flash. lots of scoring. not great defense. great regular seasons. monumental collapses in the playoffs. bowman turned that around, but still they didnt win a cup till 08.

having said all that, i think boudreau neds to get another shot. we live in a knee-jerk reaction society, where it's easy to make that type of decision base on emotion. my opinion, you don't fire a guy right after a monumental let-down. you make that decision after you see how he gets the team to respond to that melt-down.

 

[elocomotive]

And they didn't adjust their offense at all. They should have been physically punishing the Habs.

They outshot the Habs 42-16 and outhit them 27-13. It's not easy to win the hits stat when you are dominating puck possession like that, so to win it by such a wide margin says they were playing plenty physical.

 

[elocomotive]

Hey, I only see the guy in the OCCASIONAL post game interview. I wasn't impressed, but 10 minutes of post game interview a year doesn't give me the right to send him down the river now, does it?

Incredibly astute observation.

It sure seems like plenty of non-Caps' fans in this thread have assumptions about him or have just made dead wrong statements about the guy.

 

[Dacks]

What adjustments were made to the powerplay? Honest question, I barely had a chance to watch this series.

 

[elocomotive]

What adjustments were made to the powerplay? Honest question, I barely had a chance to watch this series.

To some degree. Corvo replaced OV on the point on some power plays late in the series and OV played the roving role. There was too much standing around on the power plays in this series - I don't know if that's the coach or the players.

 

[esls79]

Wow, I don't know how more wrong you could be. They made lineup changes constantly in the series, many of which helped. Steckel sat a lot of the series in favor of a faster 4th line and Gordon absolutely rose to the challenge. He played 3 different centers with Semin to try and get him going. He made a ballsy call of bringing up Karl Alzner in game 7 and he played great. He changed A LOT of things during the series.

If you want to criticize Boudreau, that's your call, but at least have some idea of what your talking about.

Since he did shuffle line combos and switch players in and out and that didn't work, perhaps it's not only the players - it's the system? Shots on goal are not nearly as telling as scoring chances and I'd venture that only a very tiny percentage of those shots were good quality scoring chances.

His system is offensive based and they did that by generating shots - yes they ran into a hot goalie, but it is obvious now this system is not well suited for the postseason, plain and simple. That much is on Bruce and so is being too stubborn to get his best players on the ice away from the Habs top d pairing -he did a poor job of this in games 5 and 7 with the last change. Simply put, Boudreau is not above the criticism he has been given since last night. There is no right or wrong, it's all opinions

 

[Dacks]

I don't know if Boudreau can be blamed at this point. They remind me of the Phoenix Suns. The play a style in the regular season that is very exciting and very succesful, but everyone tell them it won't work in the postseason.

The last two seasons, you could blame playoff woes on inexperience and being the underdog. This year you could blame it on facing a hot goalie and panicking a little bit. But if next year leads to the same result (great regular season followed by an underwhelming postseason) I think you have to ask a few questions: Can Boudreau get wins with the current style of play? Could somebody else? And if the style is to blame, can Boudreau and GMGM make the necessary adjustments?

Anyway, even though I don't like him, I think Boudreau has earned at least another year.

 

[loki604]

Federov on BB:

This is a very direct and tough question. I respect Bruce a lot. He let me do a lot of things, he made me one of his top 6 forwards who had to play and influence the result. I thank him a lot for that. It's difficult for me to analyze his actions. This is because I did not watch all the games. I can only say that Bruce is a terrific person, a great human being. And as a coach he takes great care of all the guys. And at times it seemed to me that he was a bit soft with the guys. Maybe in some situations he should have been tougher [on them]. I know he has both of those qualities. What was the balance of those two qualities is difficult to say.

The one thing I agree with him is that I would also bet my house knowing that leading 3-1 is a serious score and going home for Game 5... It's depressing when you lose that game, then go to Montreal and lose the next game, then of course the momentum is lost.

From Chatting with Sergei Fedorov on Capitals' elimination, next moves - Puck Daddy - NHL Blog - Yahoo! Sports

 

[johnnytata]

it's funny. this morning i compared the caps this year to the wings in the early years of their current run.

then on the drive home, listening to nhl home ice and hockey night in canada, every analyst (at least 5 total) in the space of one hour made the same comparisons. this is not to say that the caps will win 4 cups in the next 12 years, but at equivalent stages, the comparisons are undeniable.

apparently, earlier in the day, jimmy devellano was talking about those early years, and he was talking about how between 93 and 95, after "getting kicked in the teeth a couple times," there was serious talk about whether yzerman could lead that team, to the extent that there were serious possibilities of trading him to ottawa and buffalo, but management decided to stay patient. unbelievable.

every analyst agreed, you stay the course at this point, and to quote one of them, "sometimes getting kicked in the teeth is part of the process."

 

[islander4cups]

sorry, but can't agree with the OP. Keep in mind this team was garbage before he took over at Thanksgiving a few seasons back. And when you don't have the horses, you don't win in the playoffs...and the Caps don't have the horses.

Sorry, but they are a girl who looks great from a distance but the closer you get your regret walking towards here. Green is the most overrated player in the league. He's terrible in his own end. The Caps should trade him now before he has another crap D season and can't get anything for him. If the Bhawks sign Campbell for 6.5 per, then the Caps can unload Green's contract.

And Semin is the invisible man. He floats around the perimeter taking 35 foot snap shots off balance and won't drive the net or go into corners in the playoffs.

The Caps should go after Volchekov or whatever his name is from Ottawa. They need that type of grit on the blueline. He played like a warrior v. Pitt. They need guys like that on the blueline in DC because other than Schultz and Poti, no will will even swing their purse to deliver a hit on that blueline. I was amazed how often the Caps D just gave up their own blueline on even man rushes and collapsed automatically below their faceoff circles. They gave the Habs the top 30 feet of their zone and created no jam in the neutral zone. combine that with a goalie who stole games 6 & 7, that is why the Habs won.

It had nothing to do with Boudreau. He doesn't have the horses on the blueline and 2 of his top scorers disappear come every playoff.

 

[islander4cups]

Since he did shuffle line combos and switch players in and out and that didn't work, perhaps it's not only the players - it's the system? Shots on goal are not nearly as telling as scoring chances and I'd venture that only a very tiny percentage of those shots were good quality scoring chances.

His system is offensive based and they did that by generating shots - yes they ran into a hot goalie, but it is obvious now this system is not well suited for the postseason, plain and simple. That much is on Bruce and so is being too stubborn to get his best players on the ice away from the Habs top d pairing -he did a poor job of this in games 5 and 7 with the last change. Simply put, Boudreau is not above the criticism he has been given since last night. There is no right or wrong, it's all opinions

Did you watch game 6? The Caps should have won that game in Habland 7-3 if it weren't for Halat doing his best Dominator imitation.

 

[elocomotive]

Since he did shuffle line combos and switch players in and out and that didn't work, perhaps it's not only the players - it's the system? Shots on goal are not nearly as telling as scoring chances and I'd venture that only a very tiny percentage of those shots were good quality scoring chances.

Well, you'd be wrong. They had a lot of good scoring chances. I understand what you are saying. Sometimes 50 shots is just a lot of soft floaters from the wing trying to make something happen. That was not the story in these last two games. Guys didn't execute and Halak was fabulous.

I'm not suggesting Boudreau is above criticism or has his job for life, but jumping on him at this point and saying he can't win or his "system" won't work is very premature. First off, he's doing the best with what he has. He doesn't make the personnel decisions and inherited a team that has WAY more offensive talent than defensive talent. He's used that, which is what good coaches do. The previous coach (Glen Hanlon) had the same games and tried to use a system that ignored their offensive talent, and the results were awful.

Second, plenty of teams go through developmental stages before they crack through. Somebody mentioned this in regards to the Pens - they've had success much faster than most teams. That's an excellent point. If you look at Gretzky's Oilers, it took 5 seasons before #99 made it to the SCF with that team. They went out in the first round in '80, the second round in '81, and the first round again in '82 before being in 5 of the next 6 SCF and winning four Cups. That was all under one coach - Glen Sather. Most coaches and teams on their way to great success experience failure and shortcomings along that path. In fact, you can say pretty much EVERY team does that.

So could Boudreau have done things differently. Sure. But he's done way too many things right to strip away the job from him at this point. And to say this team can't win a Cup someday playing the way they do is ignorant and too early in my opinion. They got grittier and improved defensively this year, but their defensemen are mostly VERY young. I'm sure they'll continue to improve and the team will make more tweaks to help with that in the personnel department.

But I don't think you even think about getting rid of the coach that in 2.5 seasons has shown you 3 playoffs, set all kinds of franchise records, and basically had one underachieving playoff series.

 

[esls79]

Well, you'd be wrong. They had a lot of good scoring chances. I understand what you are saying. Sometimes 50 shots is just a lot of soft floaters from the wing trying to make something happen. That was not the story in these last two games. Guys didn't execute and Halak was fabulous.

I'm not suggesting Boudreau is above criticism or has his job for life, but jumping on him at this point and saying he can't win or his "system" won't work is very premature. First off, he's doing the best with what he has. He doesn't make the personnel decisions and inherited a team that has WAY more offensive talent than defensive talent. He's used that, which is what good coaches do. The previous coach (Glen Hanlon) had the same games and tried to use a system that ignored their offensive talent, and the results were awful.

Second, plenty of teams go through developmental stages before they crack through. Somebody mentioned this in regards to the Pens - they've had success much faster than most teams. That's an excellent point. If you look at Gretzky's Oilers, it took 5 seasons before #99 made it to the SCF with that team. They went out in the first round in '80, the second round in '81, and the first round again in '82 before being in 5 of the next 6 SCF and winning four Cups. That was all under one coach - Glen Sather. Most coaches and teams on their way to great success experience failure and shortcomings along that path. In fact, you can say pretty much EVERY team does that.

So could Boudreau have done things differently. Sure. But he's done way too many things right to strip away the job from him at this point. And to say this team can't win a Cup someday playing the way they do is ignorant and too early in my opinion. They got grittier and improved defensively this year, but their defensemen are mostly VERY young. I'm sure they'll continue to improve and the team will make more tweaks to help with that in the personnel department.

But I don't think you even think about getting rid of the coach that in 2.5 seasons has shown you 3 playoffs, set all kinds of franchise records, and basically had one underachieving playoff series.

Ok, points well taken. I was looking at Boudreau's system as an assembly line type deal with a large mallet that smashes down on apples. You can "change" things up by replacing the apples with oranges and get a different outcome on paper, but the smashing of the fruit continues. I was saying perhaps instead of replacing apples with oranges, he should try to alter the assembly line to bypass this mallet all together. I too think it would be a little premature to let him go, but if I saw any regression in the team next season, I wouldn't hesitate to go in another direction. Franchise records are great and all, but the playoffs are what really counts.

 

[elocomotive]

Ok, points well taken. I was looking at Boudreau's system as an assembly line type deal with a large mallet that smashes down on apples. You can "change" things up by replacing the apples with oranges and get a different outcome on paper, but the smashing of the fruit continues. I was saying perhaps instead of replacing apples with oranges, he should try to alter the assembly line to bypass this mallet all together. I too think it would be a little premature to let him go, but if I saw any regression in the team next season, I wouldn't hesitate to go in another direction. Franchise records are great and all, but the playoffs are what really counts.

Isn't it great to be on a board where people acknowledge good ideas and are willing to actually discuss ones they don't agree with? Fantastic.

Absolutely agree with your last point. My point is just that it's still early in his NHL career. He's had a good amount of success here and plenty in both the regular season and in the playoffs in the AHL. You have to give him some more time to reach the ultimate goal.

And for all the our defense is terrible talk, they played pretty well in this series. They suffocated Montreal in several of the games. And for all the "this team isn't gritty enough," they added Balenger and Chimera, who both deliver tough hits. Eric Fehr loves to work in the corners. Laich and Knuble both harass the netminder (Knuble about 2 inches too close apparently). They have one of the best 4th lines in the league.

I think this team has what it takes and will get it done. It's just apparently going to take a little more time. And you have two very tradeable assets in Green and Semin if you want to make some tweaks for next year to add depth on the blue line.

I've seen every kind of Caps' team the last 20 years, but this is our best team by far. Makes yesterday all the more disappointing. But the Habs were a tough matchup for us. It was a bad break and they didn't finish them off before Halak got hot. It sucks, but you don't implode the thing and get rid of the leader who's made it all happen. You give him more time.

 

[Urkie]

Isn't it great to be on a board where people acknowledge good ideas and are willing to actually discuss ones they don't agree with? Fantastic.

Absolutely agree with your last point. My point is just that it's still early in his NHL career. He's had a good amount of success here and plenty in both the regular season and in the playoffs in the AHL. You have to give him some more time to reach the ultimate goal.

And for all the our defense is terrible talk, they played pretty well in this series. They suffocated Montreal in several of the games. And for all the "this team isn't gritty enough," they added Balenger and Chimera, who both deliver tough hits. Eric Fehr loves to work in the corners. Laich and Knuble both harass the netminder (Knuble about 2 inches too close apparently). They have one of the best 4th lines in the league.

I think this team has what it takes and will get it done. It's just apparently going to take a little more time. And you have two very tradeable assets in Green and Semin if you want to make some tweaks for next year to add depth on the blue line.

I've seen every kind of Caps' team the last 20 years, but this is our best team by far. Makes yesterday all the more disappointing. But the Habs were a tough matchup for us. It was a bad break and they didn't finish them off before Halak got hot. It sucks, but you don't implode the thing and get rid of the leader who's made it all happen. You give him more time.

I somewhat agree but I'm also going to disagree.

You see, the Caps don't play a style of hockey suited for the playoffs and that might irk you but I'm telling you. You can't win by being one dimensional in the playoffs. You need to be able to win more then one way and I don't think the Caps can win any other way then simply scoring a lot of goals.

I think the Caps have a lot of good pieces on their team but you have to reel them in a little bit. Make them play responsible hockey rather then careless hockey. Play a dump and chase game every once in awhile. That's how you win in the playoffs. You don't win by being an all out offensive force which is clearly the case or at least what I saw.

And when things aren't going well it's usually up to the coach to identify what's wrong and make changes accordingly. That's what good coaches do but Boudreau persisted on keeping things the same which kind of shocked me.

I don't think the Caps need to blow anything up but I do think they need to change their approach dramatically. Especially when the playoffs come around.

 

[elocomotive]

You see, the Caps don't play a style of hockey suited for the playoffs and that might irk you but I'm telling you. You can't win by being one dimensional in the playoffs. You need to be able to win more then one way and I don't think the Caps can win any other way then simply scoring a lot of goals.

I think the Caps have a lot of good pieces on their team but you have to reel them in a little bit. Make them play responsible hockey rather then careless hockey. Play a dump and chase game every once in awhile. That's how you win in the playoffs. You don't win by being an all out offensive force which is clearly the case or at least what I saw.

And when things aren't going well it's usually up to the coach to identify what's wrong and make changes accordingly. That's what good coaches do but Boudreau persisted on keeping things the same which kind of shocked me.

I don't think the Caps need to blow anything up but I do think they need to change their approach dramatically. Especially when the playoffs come around.

There are a lot of ways to play winning hockey in the playoffs. I see a lot of good posts from really good fans in this thread who obviously know and play hockey, and then I see a lot of garbage from fans of other teams who throw criticism at the Caps that doesn't make any sense and doesn't reflect anything that actually occurred in this series. The Caps didn't play dump and chase? What are you talking about? They absolutely did. And no, he didn't keep things the same. Look at my post above again. And an all-out offensive force? They gave up 66 shots in the last 3 games. That's not careless, irresponsible hockey. They played pretty well on defense. They don't have the best players in that department, but besides Mike Green who was just losing pucks off his stick while skating with it for no reason, the D guys did pretty well. Poti and Carlson were downright excellent.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Pens are not a stellar defensive unit, are they? They've gone to two straight Stanley Cup finals. And the two best defensive teams in the Eastern conference are also gone right now, are they not? So clearly there is no magic formula for the playoffs that the Caps simply refuse to embrace. This isn't something that Boudreau just "doesn't get." They scored 19 goals in the first 4 games and then Halak just became incredible. If they had lost a bunch of games 5-4, I'd see your point. But they lost 2 of the last 3 games 2-1. Guys didn't execute. It was clearly working and then it wasn't. The goalie got hot, things tighten, and the goal gets smaller. That's hockey.

Did you even watch the series? If they lost b/c of lousy, awful defense, I would agree with you, Urkie, but that's not what happened here. Their offense and power play failed them. Again, guys didn't execute. And I could be wrong, but I don't think much changes in the playoffs on a 5-on-4 situation. You pass it around for open shots, create traffic, and try to get it home. It didn't happen. That's on the players and give credit to Halak and the effort of the Habs' defensive players.

For all the talk of how the playoffs are so different than the season, here's how it went down...

Caps-Habs - split season series, series goes to 7 games
Devils-Flyers - Flyers dominate 5-1 in the season and 4-1 in the playoffs
Bruins-Sabres - Bruins won season series 4-2, playoffs = same
Senators-Pens - split season series, pretty tight series with 4 OT frames

Canucks-Kings - Canucks win season 3-1 and playoff series 4-2
Sharks-Avs - Split season, Sharks win in 6 but Avs were very close early on
Blackhawks-Preds - Hawks win season 4-2, playoffs = same
Wings-Coyotes - split season series, seesaw playoff series goes to 7 games

Sure, playoff hockey is more physical, there are fewer penalties generally, and guys play harder, faster, and you can plan on tighter Ds and wild goalie swings.

But low and behold, all the teams that won the season series (even though their overall record wasn't as good), also won the playoff series. So it seems to me that while there is a difference in playoff hockey, it's overstated and a little cliche. Four of the season series were won by one team, and they ALL won their playoff series by a nearly identical margin. Four of the season series were split, and they ALL went to 6 or 7 games and were close series.

This is because of matchups!!! Some teams are simply tougher opponents for others. The Devils killed the Caps this year, but the Flyers (who we destroyed) mauled them. Matchups. If you face a hot goalie during the season, you're on a plane to play somebody else the next day and don't see him for a month. But if he heats up in the playoffs, you have to face him again the next game.

Some teams match up better against others. It was a bad draw for the Caps and our guys on offense simply didn't convert when they had the chances. That part is not on Boudreau and it is not because of careless, sloppy defense either. Frankly, I wish it was on the guy b/c it's a lot easier to just replace the coach than dissect the team. But I don't think that was the problem here. And if it was, the tired stereotypes of the Capitals you've presented have nothing to do with the way this series was played.

The Caps were utterly and completely dominant in every facet of the game (save goalie) in game 7. It just didn't go in the net. Thems the breaks and that's why hockey is sometimes a cruel, devious mistress.