Kukla's Korner Hockey
Fire Bruce Boudreau?
by Paul on 02/02/11 at 07:46 AM ET
Comments (6)
from capsfansteve at Japers’ Rink,
The simple fact is: this team is capable of playing better than it does a lot of the time. I know it, you know it, BB knows it and they all know it too. One of the questions I’ve asked myself time and time again after seeing the same lackadaisical play over and over again is whether BB is incapable of making adjustments or if the boys in red are just too lazy to care for roughly 30 minutes a game when Pittsburgh isn’t the opponent….
I’ve been contemplating the job status of BB and whether or not he should get the axe. As we all know, hockey is unique amongst professional sports in North America in that a coaching change can jump start a team’s fortunes rapidly as opposed to other sports where such measures are done as acts of desperation and seldom benefit the team….
Filed in: NHL Teams, Washington Capitals | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Bruce+Boudreau,
Comments
Left a more detailed comment over there, but the answer is “YES”
I don’t think Hitch would be a fit for the Caps though. They’d likely be better suited bringing up Mark French from Hershey.
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 02/02/11 at 09:05 AM ET
I think BB gets one more shot in the playoffs. The team looks like it is trying to learn a new style during the regular season. This often comes across as laziness, but I think that it is taking guys longer to read and react since they are approaching the game in a different way. Changing systems tends to lead to a lot of standing around as guys find themseves mentally behind the play. Everyone knows they need to play better defense and it has been a struggle, but it is necessary evil if they are going to improve in the playoffs. If this team were older and this were there last kick at the can then BB would be gone, this post season without at least two playoff rounds in comes an X’s and O’s guy that can run a bench.
Posted by hockey1919 from mid-atlantic on 02/02/11 at 10:51 AM ET
I agree that Boudreau will probably get one more shot at the playoffs, but I think a taskmaster like Michel Therrien or Bob Hartley could really get those guys into gear. I think if they just bring up someone form the system they will still be comfortable and get the same old lackadaisical play (which I am fine with as a Pens fan).
Posted by NHLJeff from Pens fan in Chicago, IL on 02/02/11 at 11:29 AM ET
I’m impressed he put so much effort into his numbers. Instead of going with superficial impressions, he tried to actually see if teams really improved after a coaching change, or if he just remembered the teams which did more?
I don’t know. It’s hard because the assumption is that a team will progress each team and go further in the playoffs, but it doesn’t always happen. Sometimes there is a setback, and sometimes the team is starting a slide, but it’s only visible in retrospect many times.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 02/02/11 at 11:32 AM ET
I agree that Boudreau will probably get one more shot at the playoffs, but I think a taskmaster like Michel Therrien or Bob Hartley could really get those guys into gear.
Agree completely.
Right now, Boudreau’s trap is completely passive. There’s no counterattack at all. Setting up a good counterattack is the trap’s point.
If the Capitals are going to play a defensive system, it makes no sense to keep a coach who has no experience with one. Michel Therrien does know defensive systems and gets his players to play them. If he can get Malkin to look like a responsible defensive player, he can probably do the same for most of the Capitals.
Posted by StevieSteve on 02/02/11 at 02:41 PM ET
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Hitch to D.C.
Posted by Rdwings28 on 02/02/11 at 09:04 AM ET