Are The Inmates Running The Asylym in DC?

He went out the same way he came in. Almost four years to the day after being hired to turn around a Capitals team that was struggling to meet expectations, Bruce Boudreau was fired from his coaching job because the Caps were once again struggling to meet expectations. Just four years ago Boudreau was the NHL coaching neophyte who was brought in to replace Glen Hanlon. At that time, Boudreau was a relative unknown outside the Caps organization, but he made a name for himself by quickly turning around that Capitals team and establishing them not only as a winning team, but as an entertaining team as well. They became a fixture on Versus and NBC not only because of Ovechkin's star power, but because they played an exciting, up-tempo brand of hockey that was fun to watch. They even looked like they were having fun. I always felt the Caps were a must-watch because they were the most entertaining team in the NHL. The fact that Boudreau and Ovechkin seemed to be like the NHL's version of "The Odd Couple" only increased their appeal.

While there was a constant debate among hockey fans about who was the better player, Ovechkin or Crosby, I always thought that Ovechkin was the most "exciting" player in the game. Even when there were lots of other great matchups to watch, I would stay focused on the Caps because I never knew when Ovechkin would deliver one of those plays that just makes you shake your head in appreciation of his unique combination of skill and determination. He was a player that literally brought fans to the edge of their seats every time he touched a puck. However, those jaw-dropping displays of hockey brilliance were becoming rarer and rarer. You could see how much the Caps struggles were wearing on both Ovechkin and Boudreau just by looking at their faces. The boiling point came when Boudreau benched Ovechkin during the final minute of a game with the Caps trailing by one goal. The Caps tied that game and eventually won it in overtime, but the real story was the video footage of a frustrated Ovechkin mouthing some choice words about his coach on the bench. Things were on a slow simmer ever since, and as the Caps struggles continued, the calls for Boudreau's head were becoming louder.

George McPhee, the Capitals GM, was in a difficult position. The team was playing well below expectations, and the star player and coach were no longer on the same page. McPhee kept saying all the right things in the paper. He was defending the coach for being tough on the star players and holding them accountable for their play. However, as is often the case when a coach and a superstar player start to butt heads, the coach lost out.

Firing Boudreau may have seemed like an easy decision for McPhee, but I am sure that it wasn't. Chief among his concerns has to be whether the inmates are now running the asylum in DC. Take this quote for instance, "For whatever reason, as a team we weren't really responding well enough or as good as we should have been," defenseman Karl Alzner said. "And it's kind of, 'Where do you go from there?' " That is a scary quote to hear from one of your best young players. For whatever reason? Where do you go from there? That sounds like a player who is lost. He doesn't have any answers, and the coach either isn't providing them or the players aren't listening to them. After hearing players say things like that, it left McPhee with few options. I think he saw that this ball was rolling downhill and that there was no way to stop it any more. He'd better hope that Dale Hunter can get these guys under control in a hurry, though, because right now, the inmates are running the asylum in DC, and if the star players on the Caps don't fall in line quickly, things could get even uglier.

The Lost Art Of The Two Pad Stack

Yesterday I saw someone tweet a link to this somewhat lengthy video on youtube containing NHL highlights from the 90s. I'm incredibly sentimental, and I love taking trips down memory lane, so, needless to say, I loved watching it. While I was soaking up all the amazing goals, cringing at the bonecrushing hits, and smiling in recognition at all the players I remember from that decade, I kept thinking to myself that the brilliant saves in there are the type of saves we just don't see in the NHL anymore. Was I just becoming an old, sentimental curmudgeon? Was this my version of "we used to walk ten miles to school.... uphill..... both ways?" Or was there some truth to my sentiment? In order to test if my feelings were rooted in truth or just in sentimentality, I started searching for goalie highlights of current NHL goalies. The more I watched, the more I felt that not only was my reaction correct, but the differences in goaltending from the 90's to today were even more stark than I imagined. Yes, the game is different. We all know that. Players are bigger, faster, stronger, and advances in stick technology results in shots that are harder and faster than ever. The biggest factor though, is the size of goaltending equipment.

Watch that 90's video and look at the size of the goalies. They are much smaller than they are today. Combine that with the increased speed of the game today and you have a much different style of goaltending. To compare, look at this video I found of Henrik Lundqvist highlights. Lundqvist is one of the best goalies in the league today, but his style is completely different than what you see in the 90's video. His pads are enormous and he relies on his size and positioning, rather than his reflexes or quickness, to stop the puck. Would Lundqvist have been a successful goalie in the 90's with the smaller gear? Would a goalie like Mike Richter be successful today with the larger gear? It's impossible to answer those questions, but it's an interesting debate nonetheless. The style of play is just so different. Going back the the 90's video, look at the save by Kirk Mclean against the Flames at the 7:05 mark. I still remember exactly where I was when I saw that save. I might even go as far as to say that it was the best save I have ever seen, an absolute textbook two pad stack. When was the last time you saw a save like that? Been a while, right? Goaltending is so much different now. Look at Lundqvist in the picture above. From his stance it's impossible to even move the way Mclean did in making that two pad stack save. His legs are so far apart and his skates are such sharp angles relative to the ice that it would require a total change in body position before even being able to push off and move horizontally. That is why you seen Lundqvist fall into a butterfly on almost every save. His stance leaves no real alternative. He's not the only one, either. That style of goaltending is extremely common today.

You look at the guys in the nets today and they are all huge. They take up so much space that there just isn't much to shoot at. It makes saves like that Mclean two pad stack a thing of the past. I remember just a few years ago when the size of goalie equipment was the topic du jour. Kay Whitmore's committee was running around measuring pads in an attempt to keep the size of equipment in check. With headshots, concussions and suspensions now dominating headlines and airwaves, monitoring the size of goalie equipment has been forgotten. I hope that at some point they revisit this issue. I don't want goalies becoming the size of sumo wrestlers, but when I see guys like Luongo, Rinne, Lundqvist, I fear that we are heading down that road. I guess I can always just go to youtube and take a trip down memory lane...