Ovie's First Game Out

This is a tough article to write.  I've got to say that with Ovie out and losing only 3-2 with one of those three being almost an "own goal" fluke off of Mike Green, this really wasn't a horrible game.  And honestly, for many players out there it wasn't all that horrible.  Thoughts:

1. Very happy to see Flash on the board again.  I would have liked one from Brooksie too but I'll take it.  The secondary scoring needs to increase and even if its only a trickle for now its nice to see some scoring all around.
2. Discipline!!!  OMG!  I really think we could have won this game, which would have been really great had we stayed out of the box in the third period.  4 Penalties in the 3rd period is NOT acceptable and I really hope BB rips the team a new one for that.  Those penalties alone led to the game winning goal(s).  Without those penalties and that fluke off of Green, Varly had a perfect game.  Unfortunately, that doesn't count for anything.
3. Semin............  Its rare that I wish a player had just "not shown up".  Semin, who was supposed to be the go-to guy with Ovie out, actually hurt the team.  As many penalties as shots on goal!?  Good god man!  And at horrible times too!  There was a post on Japers' a while ago about making a "bold move" and trading a top ranked player to shake things up for the Caps.  I threw my hat in that we should get rid of Green and got burned hard.  Most people suggested we get rid of Semin, to which I highly opposed, but its games like this (and last years playoffs) that make me see the light.  When the pressure is on Semin seems to cave and while I like his skill, hockey is all about the pressure being on.

Overall I'm actually not upset about this game.  MB is a good goalie so throwing down 2 goals isn't the worst outcome.  But I expected more from Semin, we all did.  Bring on friday!

Power of positive thinking

Leading their division by 8 points, 2nd in their conference only 2 points behind the "godly" penguins, 3rd best point total in the NHL, the most goals scored in the NHL and they clearly still have the best player in the world based on stats all through the first 14 games.

These are real results. I don't mean to completely shrug off your concerns about the caps because those issues definitely are also real, but I feel like you may be starting to nudge the panic button a little too early. I am actually glad that there are some exposed issues with the team that need to be addressed because we still have the whole rest of the regular season to address them, whether that be through trades at the deadline or an altering of how they prepare for games (Are you listing Brucie?), but the good news is that there is so much time to fix these problems.

And yes, when you sit with 20 points after 14 games, those issues ARE minor in the grand scheme of things. One of the things we have to remember is that we feel like the Caps are making so many more mistakes than other teams and such because we only FOCUS on the caps while watching a whole game. The truth is, every team in the league throughout the course of a game can take stupid penalties, make boneheaded plays, poor saves, etc. but we don't really see them. And yes, even the really good teams can do this.

Now, I'm not saying that we shouldn't keep these issues that they have in the back of our minds and look to find improvement as the season goes on. If they are still having trouble playing a full 60 minutes and if they still take too many costly penalties in April, THEN I will begin to panic because the course of the season did not help correct their issues. But don't forget what happened to Pitt last year. Half way through the season, they weren't even sitting in a playoff spot, then they turned it on in the last quarter and well...you know the rest.

Now, about Ovie's injury. Clearly, I want him back as soon as possible, but to be completely honest, I think that this could be a slight blessing in disguise for this team. They NEED to learn to come together as a team and compete as a team unit without relying on the fact that Ovie is the best player in the world and could single handedly win for them. Precisely what this team needs right now in order to help right themselves is 3-4 games without Ovie when they will have to rely on teamwork more. Whether or not they answer the call will have to be seen, but I am hopeful because this blog is filled with too much negative thinking about our teams. Think positive and lets assess this team's chances at the cup again at the midpoint of the season.

"Impeach Dan Snyder". Can we make a fortune selling these bumper stickers you think?

Capitals Woes

Two losses, Ovie injured.

The caps are in a precarious position.  For a team who is supposed to have their best chance for a Cup this year, they don't know how to play 60 minutes of hockey.  For the 14th game this year, whether it be a win or loss, the Caps are not playing like they are a playoff hockey team.  On any given night, anything can happen, and that's NOT how a playoff team plays.

Now, yes, I understand that its "early" in the season and our record is "pretty good" and Ovie has a better start than any season so far, but thats not how it looks out there.  Sloppy and inconsistent.  Some thoughts:

1. Ovie injured.  There is nothing more scary than this.  Lets hope its nothing serious, and doesn't come back to bite him through his career.
2. Brooksie with two goals.  This is also interesting.  Hes been hungry all season and been a little unlucky but also a little tame.  He needs to be more aggressive.  I think if he were, he'd be a great addition to this team's scoring.
3. Mistakes.  From Green's "shank pass" last night to Theodore's leaving the net and the bad bounce tonight, it seems like the Caps are playing too nonchalantly.  Many of these snafus are costing us goals.
4. Penalties.  I know we're lower on the "PIM/GM" list, but what that doesn't show is the timing of those penalties.  Taking a penalty when you are up 4-3 with 2:30 left in the game is how you lose games.

I've been told I hold the Caps to too high a standard.  Expecting them to win most games may not be wholly realistic.  I don't agree.  You get to the playoffs two years in a row, taking the best team in the league to a seven game series, its time for some real results.  President's trophy, Stanley Cup, these are the records this team needs, else 20 years from now, not many people will remember Alexander Ovechkin.  And it wont be his fault.

First Division Game

PHEW!  Just breathe!  That's good... there you go, in and out.  Everything's going to be ok...

Wait, no its not!  A win is a win right?  Not when it reflects problems that serious teams won't let you live through.  I'll start with the good this time.

Goals from 5 different players.  I was going to write a post earlier about the differences between this and last year's starts for the Pens as compared to the Caps to point out the absolute importance of TEAM hockey.  This year, Crosby and Geno are barely in the standings in terms of goals or assists.  Sure, they are doing quite well, but the Pens are getting contributions from all over their lines, and a significant amount of it.  They are 7-1-0.  With goals from all over our lines, we had this game tucked away early and solidly.  Good thing too...

0-7 on the power play.  Enough said about that.

4 penalties in the last 3 minutes.  Enough said about that.

I'm still not sure as to what this team needs to get itself organized.  I'd like to throw out a new venture here and go with "leadership".  Part of having a team identity is having a leader.  Ovechkin is amazing, but his english skills (or lack thereof) and his carefree/silly manner make him a terrible "leader".  Unfortunately, our captain, the guy whose supposed to lead, is pretty poor at both leading and hockey.  Once again, I feel like we're a collection or immense talent with nothing funneling it.  In this case, the whole << sum of the parts.

Where to begin with the Skins...

Right now, the Skins may just be one of the worst run franchises in the NFL. And since the problems all start with the top, it may be quite a while before we really see anything positive out of this team.

As long as Cerrato is around as the team head of operations, this team will NEVER even make it to the conference championship game. Snyder needs to wake up to the fact that his buddy is atrocious at his job and has over the last few years essentially ignored the main issues that needed to be addressed. Why the hell has nothing been done about our offensive line? Every guy on it is old, most of them had injuries last season, and we have no depth whatsoever at any of its positions. Yet, nothing is done. What does he expect, for the hand of god to come down and open up holes and protect the QB? Let's not even mention Dinny's (From now on, I will refer to Dan Synder and Vinny Cerrato as one entity) decision to essentially destroy the Redskins cap future by throwing ungodly amounts of money at Haynesworth when it was our offense that really needed help (and our defense has only gotten worse this year..hmmmm)

Oh, and in a draft in which every single scout out there knew that it was an extremely poor draft for WRs, what do the Redskins do but use their two highest draft picks for wide receivers (both of whom are complete NFL flops).

Lets look at what else Dinny has done to this team; both of our RBs are old, no young talent brought in so no depth, Some of the worst coaching hires ever seen (Spurrier!?, Zorn!?), Letting go an excellent defensive coordinator in Greg Williams, the list goes on.

Because of so many boneheaded moves, the team is screwed for years to come and you know what, the fans absolutely deserve better than this. Even through all this crap, the Redskins still have one of the most devoted fan bases in the league who would die for this team. Dinny cannot be allowed to succeed in destroying one of the best things this city has. It is our duty to do all that we can to stop them. I heard rumors that their may be a march on the DC mall by Redskins fans who will be wearing bags over their heads to protest the management. I feel like joining them...

Thank god I can watch Ovie being amazing every week

Weekend Wrap-Up: Skins

Glad to see the Caps are playing again, well, glad to see Ovie is scoring again, hopefully the rest of the team will wake the hell up.

Skins:
This is the first loss after-which I feel the general media is beginning to acknowledge the issues the Skins have had for over a decade now.  I feel like the past few years they've been trying to figure out why things weren't working, blaming it on record-setting QB hirings, record-setting coach hirings, bad luck, missed opportunities, this, that and the other thing.  But these embarrassing personnel and team issues are not causes themselves but rather symptoms of the real problem.

I flipped over to espn.com tonight to read some recaps of all the other great teams in the league (Farve/Brees undefeated, Brady setting more ridiculous records) when I clicked the page and saw this: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=lebrun_pierre&id=4575553.  I began crying... tears of joy, until I realized I had clicked on the NHL tab and not the NFL tab.  While I am only kidding (not really), I saw a glimmer of hope in those few seconds I had thought the owner of the Skins was no longer in command.  Like I had been set free, let out of prison, finally come up for air after being drowned for over 10 years.  Dan Snyder has run this team worse than the execs at Enron and its long past due for a change.

The problem with today's game is that its no different than our last game, or the game before that, or the season before that.  This team requires an overhaul.  A complete changing of the guard.  New coaches, new QBs, new everything and unfortunately we've squandered the youth out of the few quality pieces we have (Moss, Cooley) or traded away players over the years that really contributed to this team (what the hell happened to Champ Bailey? Denver?! wtf!).  But its not the losing or the overhaul thats painful.  Its that its never going to happen, ever, and we're going to be sucked dry year after year by Snyder.

When will it stop?  When will we be free?

Also, Jeff called "safety" like three plays before the game ended by us getting safetied.  Well done, sir!

Weekend Wrap Up: Who are we?

Three losses for DC fans this weekend.  Hey, at least the US beat Honduras!  (Yea, doesn't really make me feel any better either).  Today will be a duel post for both the Skins and the Caps because I think they've both hit a similar problem:  Identity Crisis!

Caps:

I start with the Caps because this is a team who's identity crisis is probably the most troubling.  They came charging out of the gate, with a 5+ goals a game average over the first three, rocking teams' worlds and filling up the top 5 stats categories like the Caps were the only team in the league.  But now they are in real trouble, 4 losses in a row and they can't seem to find themselves.  Lets explore:

1. Shift Lengths.  OMG, how many times do I have to say this!  Japersrink.com did a great analysis of this issue last year, showing that shift length corresponded with an exponential decrease in goals scored.

2. Discipline!  Whether its taking too many penalties or not scoring power plays, this team has lost its fundamentals and they've lost them badly.  This accounts for more than special teams too.  Discipline also refers to forwards (Ovie/Semin I'm lookin at you) getting back and playing some defense.  It also refers to puck control, which is suffering badly.  But most importantly I'm referring to playing a team game.  The caps are playing like a bunch of individuals who happen to be on the ice at the same time.

3. Consistency.  If you don't know what kind of team you are, you won't be doing anything consistently.  The Caps right now are plagued with the inability to play consistently across games, but more importantly across periods.  They play hot and cold, with a chance of suck.

So, sports fans, who are the Caps?!

Redskins:

This team's identity crisis has been evident for the past 10-15 years.  The skins have gone through so many coaches and QBs in the past decade they make Sybil Dorsett look healthy.  The skins finally decided to "stick with" a QB and a coach for more than one season in hopes that continuity will solve all their issues.  But continuity does not translate into an identity if all the pieces are not working together.  Lets explore:

1. QB.  I'm not sorry, but Jason Campbell sucks.  QBs are supposed to be leaders, like Peyton, Ben or Brady.  These QBs are shot callers, and their teams listen to them.  Campbell is a passive aggressive idiot, who commands little to no respect.  No team fears him, and more importantly, neither does his..

2. Run game.  Why do we run power running plays with a Clinton Portis?!  CP is not a power runner, evidenced by his inability to cross the goal line on 1st and goal at the 1 yard line.  Four tries later and we're hoping for a safety.

3. Consistency/Discipline.  Honestly, any given Sunday this team does almost anything.  Its a circus.  Botched field goals, botched punts/returns, safeties, blocked extra points, botched fair catches, fumbles, interceptions.  Skins games are training videos on what NOT to do in the NFL.  Its disgraceful and its embarrassing, and no $100mil free agents can fix a team without fundamentals, and usually only add another, expensive, personality to the identity crisis.

So, sports fans, who are the Skins?!