RySkins Posted March 16, 2002 Share Posted March 16, 2002 After watching the Terps, and then the final minutes of the Wizards win over the Sonics, I switched over to the Caps game and watched them "lose" a 5-4 decision.<br /><br />Trailing 4-2, the Caps roarer back with two third period tallies to tie the score. Late in the game, after a Colin Forbes penalty put the Sharks on the PP, Teemu Selani scored the game-winner after an OBVIOUS hand pass by Damphose (SP?).<br /><br />And what's even worse is that the moron officials went to the replay and still screwed it up!<br /><br />As if the Caps aren't having a hard enough time as it is, they have a well-earned point robbed of them by the refs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldog Posted March 16, 2002 Share Posted March 16, 2002 this game was a microcosm of the entire season for the Caps:<br /><br />1. Get behind quickly on the road in a must win game by playing a poor first 40 minutes.<br /><br />2. Wake up and play well enough in spurts to be in games late.<br /><br />3. Take untimely and often stupid penalties with precious time left on the clock and then allow the final goal, disputed or not.<br /><br />This team is in the death throes of the 2002 season.<br /><br />I think we can see now it is unlikely the team will be a meaningful participant in the postseason and George McPhee should be open to moving a couple of older players like Oates and Dahlen that may be attractive to other teams down the stretch.<br /><br />Both players are unrestricted free agents and will probably not be re-signed at ages 39 and 34. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RySkins Posted March 16, 2002 Author Share Posted March 16, 2002 The Caps really need some productive youngsters in the scoring department.<br /><br />All through the mid-to-late 90s we kept hearing about high draft picks and great prospects. Almost none of them have panned out with the Capitals, which is really starting to catch up to the franchise now.<br /><br />This team really has me confused. The concentration lapses and stupid plays are so uncharacteristic of Capitals teams of recent memory. Some kind of shake-up needs to occur. Whether that means replacing Ron Wilson I do not know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldog Posted March 16, 2002 Share Posted March 16, 2002 the reason you don't see a 25 year old 30 goal scorers on the Caps is because David Poile traded Jason Allison and Anson Carter to the Bruins in the deal that put Oates in Washington.<br /><br />players do have a way of coming on as soon as they leave town and that is something that has bothered me as well over the years.<br /><br />consider the loss of other good players such as Byron Dafoe and Andrew Brunette. Caps' management just couldn't shake the notion that Brunette was too slow and too poor of a skater to be an effective forward in the NHL despite having good hands around the net. He found a way to score once he left town, eh?<br /><br />Meanwhile we acquired players such as Dmitri Khristich and Trevor Linden that were both past it. Spent a pretty penny on both of their contracts as well. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="frown.gif" /> <br /><br />As far as your other point goes, the explanation I have is the Caps believe they are a better team than they really are and have lost the focus and effort that characterized the team in previous years.<br /><br />Yes, the talent level has risen with the acquisition of Jagr and the emergence of Sergei Gonchar as a backline scorer.<br /><br />But, the team is also older around the edges and has suffered some hits on the blueline, where it is just not as strong as before.<br /><br />That means the team has to play a team defensive style where the forwards make a commitment to get back and help out.<br /><br />That is just not the game of players such as Jagr and some of the other Europeans.<br /><br />They want to play a more open, aggressive style where the team takes the puck into the opponents' zone with possession and uses set plays to try and score.<br /><br />That is contrary to the Caps' traditional dependence on the old dump and chase game made famous by the 1970's Flyers.<br /><br />Hey, I would rather play like Jagr wants to, like the old Montreal teams, but the Caps just don't have the depth of talent to carry that off and lack the speed on defense to cover for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyDave Posted March 16, 2002 Share Posted March 16, 2002 Its getting to a point that I just surf the Caps games now cause I hate watching the obvious outcome.<br /><br />It seems like all of our area teams have periods in ever game wher they play like they want to lose either by turnin the bal/puck over sill fouls/penalties or bad decisions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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