The Capitals’ Rock the Red era peaked in January 2010. I wrote about it shortly before Bruce Boudreau was fired in November 2011. Alex Ovechkin was named captain in January of 2010 as the Caps were surging towards their first ever Presidents’ Trophy as the best regular season team. Since that time, the team seemed to devolve as a contender for championships in the NHL. While they still finished as the best team in the NHL and set many statistical records, the Caps stumbled late in the season and were then bounced from the playoffs by Montreal. Granted, the Canadiens were riding a red-hot Jaroslav Halak. However, many of the Caps’ special teams problems in recent seasons started in that seven game series and were the difference in that Conference Quarterfinals series with Montreal. The Capitals failed to prevent the Canadiens power play from scoring and couldn’t muster more than one power play goal for in 33 opportunities. The entire team appeared to slump in the scoring department when it mattered in the playoffs and the calls for better defense were deafening.

To start the 2010-2011 season, the Caps looked to build on previous regular season success and make a legitimate Cup run. While the Capitals offense seemed to start well, they slumped again heading into the Winter Classic against the Pittsburgh Penguins. To make up for the lack of scoring, Bruce Boudreau tried to install a defense-first system. I guess the idea was to prevent other teams from scoring if the Caps were not going to score goals. We all saw the losing streak from the inside out on the HBO 24/7 series. When the team finally bought in to the new system, the Caps found some success and captured the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. The Capitals retired the New York Rangers in five games to face a division rival, Tampa Bay Lightning in the Conference Semifinals. In the Rangers series, the Blueshirts struggled to score against the newly defensive Washington Capitals. The Lightning found the key to beating the system. Effort. Quite simply, they outworked the Caps every on the ice, all the time, for the four game sweep.

The Caps opened the first seven games of the 2011-2012 season with a perfect 7-0 record. Free agent signings like Troy Brouwer and Joel Ward were paying off in the secondary scoring department. They were beating talented Penguins, Flyers, and Red Wings rosters and seemed to progress while doing so. By the middle of November, they were dropping games like a 7-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Boudreau was fired in favor of Dale Hunter. The former Caps captain and fan favorite brought yet another defense-first system to the Caps. It was moderately successful and the offense continued to struggle as the reigns were kept tight on Ovi and his cohorts. The Capitals made the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. In a thrilling seven game series against defending Stanley Cup champions-the Boston Bruins-Hunter’s strategy and the Caps’ execution seemed to fall into place. The Caps had Braden Holtby playing out of his mind in net and the second best penalty kill in the playoffs (91.3% effective) heading into their second round series with the New York Rangers. Popular opinion held the Caps in high regard as a team that had evolved to take “the next step”. The series went the distance in classic fashion. In the end, the Capitals offensive stars could not score in game seven and the Caps went home after yet another second round series loss.

After three years of small improvements and huge setbacks, reality has finally set in during the beginning of the lockout shortened, 2013 season. The Washington Capitals are not a good hockey organization. As fans, we are witnessing the failure of special teams to win games that lost the series against Montreal; we are screaming at the general lack of on-ice effort that was swept by the Bolts; and we are frustrated to see yet another coach in Adam Oates forcing his system on a roster that is not suited to it or at least hasn’t bought-in yet. These problems have festered for three years under the management of George McPhee as authorized by majority owner, Ted Leonsis. As mentioned on this site before, the organization does not seem to run in a way that results in consistent on-ice success. The organization makes excuses for continued disappointment. Excuses like injuries, bad luck, bad match-ups, and a general, “almost is good enough as along as the Verizon Center sells out” attitude, contribute to the losing hockey culture in the Caps organization. The only way the Washington Capitals will win a Stanley Cup is by not accepting those excuses for losses. It will take personnel changes throughout the organization, from the ice to the front office. It will likely take years for real improvements to take effect in games. Winners don’t make excuses. When will the Washington Capitals stop making them and address the issues that have stagnated the progress of the organization?

Opening Night at Verizon Center (photo by Eric Rigsby)

I spent most of my hockey time since Saturday afternoon watching the return of the NHL. It started with the LA Kings raising their Stanley Cup banner and ended with attending the debacle that was the Capitals’ home opener, last night. It was great to watch the best hockey players in the world playing against each other, finally. With only a week of training camp, some miscues and fatigue were expected. It was easy to tell in most games that many players and in the case of the Caps, whole teams are not ready for live, NHL action. They are learning new systems and teammates. They are out of game shape. They are in preseason mode, playing regular season games in a shortened, intra-conference only season.

After watching the Capitals lose their season opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, I wanted to reserve judgement on where I think the Caps are going, this season. There were some bright spots. The power play looked pretty good, generating early scoring chances. Also, when the Capitals established possession in the Lightning end, they got pucks and bodies to the net. In general though, they looked slow and out of sync on TV. In the defensive zone, the Caps appeared confused on assignments and simply could not muster the effort to clear the zone on the penalty kill. The Bolts moved the puck with ease through the neutral zone to gain entry and generated scoring chances. Having witnessed all of that on television, I decided to wait until I attended the Caps’ home opener to see in person what was going on before sounding the alarm.

Last night against the Winnipeg Jets, on Verizon Center ice, the Caps started the game with some energy and speed but faltered after the halfway point in the first period. This time, I got to witness in person how slow the Caps looked compared to the Jets. It’s already well-documented that new Caps head coach Adam Oates wants to play an up tempo, team game in all three areas of the ice. He wants to pressure the puck in all three zones, regain possession, and push the pace up ice to catch opposing teams in transition. You can see the Capitals attempting to execute this strategy. The key to success is team speed. From my vantage point last night, high up in section 412, the Jets seemed to beat Capitals players to loose pucks with little effort in the offensive and defensive zones. Winnipeg skated through the middle of neutral zone as Caps defenders struggled to get into position. The Washington Capitals looked very slow. The lack of speed put Caps players out of position which resulted in many penalties and scoring chances for the Jets. Game over.

Of course, it was only the second game, after a short training camp with a new head coach, new systems, and new teammates to gel with. It will take some time for the Caps to regain regular season form, physically and mentally. The question is, how long will it take? In this 48-game, 2013 NHL season, all games are played within each conference. Essentially, a 4-point swing in the standings could be had in each game. While there is some time to right the ship, there isn’t much. How do you gain team speed in the middle of a season, though?

Bettman apologizes to NHL fans.

With the lockout ending and the 2013 NHL season about to begin, many clubs are attempting to repair their damaged relationships with the fans. Most of the NHL franchises are offering deals like discounted merchandise, discounted or even free concessions at the arenas, and special events during the week leading up to opening night, January 19th. Here is my attempt to grade the Washington Capitals’ offerings as part of their Fan Appreciation Week.

• All practices and scrimmages during training camp are free and open to the public – B-. The Caps have been doing this for years as standard practice. There’s nothing new here. However, it’s a great way to introduce and educate a non-traditional hockey fan base.
• The quasi-fanfest held on the first day of training camp (Red Rockers, Slapshot, face painters and airbrush artists, bounce houses, and the beloved PA, Wes Johnson) – C. This is cool for those who could make it on such short notice that camp was starting.
• Caps Fan Appreciation Special Event at Verizon Center on January 17th. Includes a practice, complimentary concessions, Q&A with players, Rod Langway and Peter Bondra appearance, games, and 20% sale in the team store – C. Another fanfest like event. Being able to meet Langway and Bondra is cool but come on, only 20% in the already insanely marked up team store?
• Daily prizes on WashingtonCaps.com throughout Fan Appreciation Week – A-. Prizes include meet and greets with players, autographed items, and tickets to enjoy the suite life. This is how you keep fans engaged during a short lead up to the start of the season, during the work week.
• Season ticket holders will make out like bandits with merchandise, concessions credits, and higher end prizes – B. The Capitals know where their bread is buttered. It’s nice to see them reward those fans who suffered greatly as they paid in good faith for tickets they couldn’t use. If I was a season ticket holder, I would expect more though.

BONUS: The best, post lockout deal is offered by NHL GameCenter Live. The entire 2013 season for $49.99 – A. This literally puts the game back into the hands of the fans who might not have the opportunity to take NHL clubs up on their offers for tickets. Fans deprived of NHL hockey can watch all the out-of-market games on their smartphones, tablets, computers, and game consoles. This is a great way for the NHL to re-engage the fans.

Ultimately, the best way for an NHL club to woo fans back is to win. That will only add to the pressure placed on teams to start fast and finish strong during a lockout shortened, 48 game season. It will be very interesting to see how players, teams, and organizations respond.

Actual, professional hockey players at Verizon Center. (photo by Eric Rigsby)

Every player and fan already knows, the current NHL labor dispute, sucks. There is simply no other way to describe it. For most American hockey people, the closest professional hockey team is an NHL club. For that same demographic, the only televised hockey they usually get to see are local market and nationally televised NHL games. If the NHL is not playing games, most American hockey people are not watching professional hockey, in-person or on TV. So, the prospects of getting to attend or at least watch an actual, professional hockey game pitting the Hershey Bears against the Norfolk Admirals in the AHL Showcase at Verizon Center last night was very exciting.

For myself and a whole Verizon Center section full of my fellow men’s leaguers, it would be particularly fun to watch our friend, Tommy George (@The61Car) work his part-time AHL linesman gig. And it was. We got to cheer for our local celebrity. We were hockey fans again. We got to drink beers and get loud at the game. However, there was this dark side to all of it.

Hockey people are fed up with the lockout and they expressed their frustration in different ways. The arena was quiet. Probably as quiet as it has been since the Rock the Red era began. Sporadic “Fire Bettman” chants broke the calm. Some people had makeshift shirts and jerseys denouncing the labor dispute. During a TV timeout, a video showed Slapshot, the Capitals’ beloved mascot, doing Christmas-y things around the Caps’ offices at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. It was booed. In our section, it was unmercifully booed. It reminded me of the story of Santa Claus being booed and pelted with snowballs at a Philadelphia Eagles game in 1968. As hockey people, we weren’t booing Slapshot celebrating the season just as Santa wasn’t the real target of Philly fans’ frustrations 44 years ago. We were booing what the video represented; an organization that’s part of the problem, keeping us from the game we love.

After the video and booing ended, I turned to Jon Walker (@jonnywalker36) and said, “I really hope Uncle Ted is here and they show him on the board.” Alas, it never happened.

• The hockey tournament starts TODAY, July 13th at 7:00pm and concludes Sunday afternoon. Yours truly will be playing for Team Hoegaarden (the white team). [ofbghockey.com]
• The silent auction which includes hockey memorabilia (Caps and Bears signed items), a custom-made corn hole set made from used hockey sticks, golf foursomes, tickets to Washington Capitals games at Verizon Center, and other exciting items. The auction will take place on Saturday, July 14th. It will open for bids at 10:00am and close at 6:00pm. The auction winners will be announced at the pig roast held in the Skate Frederick parking lot after the Saturday evening tournament hockey games. [ofbghockey.com]
• Remember, all proceeds from the event will be donated to support the athletes of Special Olympics Maryland. Bid early and bid often!

The 2012 OFBG Tournament

If you�re interested in sponsoring this great event or donating items for the auction, please read the 2012 OFBG Sponsor Letter.

Old Fat Bald Guys Hockey

As previously mentioned on the site, the 8th annual Old Fat Bald Guys Hockey Tournament and Silent Auction to benefit Special Olympics Maryland is being held July 13th-15th at Skate Frederick. The auction items were on the Old Fat Bald Guys Hockey Facebook page and as promised, I present them to you. More items will be added so make sure you check for updates here, on the OFBG Facebook page, or the new OFBG website at http://ofbghockey.com.

• Two (2) tickets to the Florida Panthers at Washington Capitals game; 5:00PM Sunday, November 18, 2012; Section 220, Row G
• Braden Holtby Autographed 8.5″ x 11″ Photo; Donated by the Hershey Bears
• Mathieu Perreault Autographed 8.5″ x 11″ Photo; Donated by the Hershey Bears
• Four Rounds (foursome) of Golf at Waverly Woods Golf Club; Donated by Waverly Woods Golf Club
• 30″ Baltimore Ravens/Miller Lite Neon Light; Donated by Olde Towne Tavern
• 8.5″ x 11″ Paul Stewart Autographed “Hockey Fights Cancer” photo; Donated by Paul Stewart
• Washington Capitals jersey signed by Nicklas Backstrom; Donated by the NHL
• NHL cap signed by Mike Green; Donated by the NHL
• NHL Officials Association Autographed Referee Sweater; Donated by the National Hockey League Officials Association
• Andrew Gordon Autographed�8.5″ x 11″ Photo; Donated by the Hershey Bears
• Two (2) tickets to the Winnipeg Jets at Washington Capitals game; 7:00PM Wednesday, November 21, 2012; Section 220, Row G
• Cornhole boards made of hockey sticks. This item was hand built. The boards are covered in a clear gloss to keep the surface smooth and protected. This is a one of a kind item!
• Hershey Bears Players (Boyd Kane, Mathieu Perreault, Lawrence Nycholat, Francois Bouchard, and Zack Miskovic) Autographed 8.5″ x 11″ Photo; Donated by the Hershey Bears
• Brian Leetch #2 “C” New York Rangers jersey
• Paul Stewart (as a player) Autographed�8.5″ x 11″ Photo
• Jason Chimera Autographed Card; Donated by the Washington Capitals
• USA Hockey 75th Anniversary Gift set including a golf shirt, sleeve of golf balls, hat, and six-pack cooler; Donated by USA Hockey
• Frederick Keys gift set including an autographed baseball signed by Frederick Keys pitcher and Baltimore Orioles prospect Dylan Bundy, and two (2) sets of four tickets to any Sunday-Thursday home game at Harry Grove Stadium; Donate d by the Frederick Keys
• Norfolk Admirals gift set including an autographed team photo signed by the 2012 Calder Cup Championship team, a logo puck, playoff game program, and Olaf Kolzig – Hampton Roads Admirals bobble head; Donated by the Norfolk Admirals
• 18.5″ Weber charcoal grill that’s perfect item for the hockey post-game tailgate

All proceeds from the tournament and silent auction benefit the athletes of Special Olympics Maryland.

If you�re interested in sponsoring this great event or donating items for the auction, please read the 2012 OFBG Sponsor Letter.

Oates looks more like the head coach here. (photo by Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE)

Five days before the opening of NHL free agency for 2012, the Washington Capitals named Adam Oates as the new head coach of the Caps. Oates was on a short list of rumored candidates that included former Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup winning assistant coach, Mike Haviland and the Norfolks Admirals’ 2012 Calder Cup winning head coach, Jon Cooper. Included on a list of proven, championship caliber coaches, why was Adam Oates the right hire for the Caps?

On the surface, Oates was hired for two basic reasons. First, Oates was a great distributor of the puck. He recorded over one thousand assists during his fourteen hundred point, nineteen year career. He can certainly impart some of his experience on players like Nicklas Backstrom and newly acquired center, Mike Ribeiro, who will both be expected to spark the Caps’ top-4 wingers. The second basic reason was Ilya Kovalchuk’s transformation as the Devils advanced to the Stanley Cup Final last season. The experience that Adam Oates picked up as the assistant coach running the Devils power play and dealing with Kovy on that run might pay off for the Caps as they try to rehabilitate Alex Ovechkin’s mid-career.

The Adam Oates hire also continues the trend of hiring ex-Capitals players as coaches. Oates’ resume as a Caps player is impressive and makes him popular among the established fan base. Most notably, he wore the alternate captain’s “A” and was second on the team in points during the 1998 Cup Final run (Oates tied with Joe Juneau but with one less goal).

Just as he did as a Capitals captain in 1999, Adam Oates follows Dale Hunter. The question now is can Adam Oates be as successful as Dale Hunter was to get the roster to buy in and play as a team? Having no head coach experience, Oates’ challenge is a big one. He has to find ways to reach the Caps players like Hunter did while also capitalizing on the high potential of the roster. Will he be able to set effective lines, revive the power play, work in-game match-ups, and oh by the way, get Ovi and the rest of the Caps’ talented leadership to buy in? We’ll have to wait a couple of months to find out.

For now, the Capitals have hired a well-respected NHL coach and Hall of Fame (just selected today) player just ahead of the start of free agency. Adam Oates could be a decent bargaining chip as Caps general manager George McPhee attempts to strike deals with a limited free agent talent pool. Supposedly, some guy who played for the New Jersey Devils named Zach Parise had nice things to say about Oates.

The 2012 OFBG Tournament

If you’re interested in sponsoring this great event or donating items for the auction, please read the 2012 OFBG Sponsor Letter.