Third Game a Charm?

Just a quick post prior to the beginning of the third game of the Boudreau era. This should be a great test for the new coach and the team. Is the Honeymoon going to come to an end tonight or continue at least for another few nights? Buffalo well certainly test the more up tempo, skate, skate, skate game plan. The speed and skill level of the competition will be better than what the team saw against the Flyers and Hurricanes.

More later...

Thankful for...

I thought it would be appropriate to list some things that I'm thankful for on Thanksgiving. But first, I must come clean and admit that I'm a Washington Capitals fan and I intend to spend a good deal of time on this blog focusing on the Caps. With that in mind, let's start with this glorious franchise and list the things I'm thankful for with respect to it.

1. The worst team in the NHL. After all the optimism not only within the organization but also in other esteemed media outlets, it's hard to believe how bad the team has been through the first quarter of the season . After 21 games the team has amassed a total of 13 points. Are you kidding me? Does anyone remember the new motto for the franchise at the start of the season - "New Look. New Season. New Attitude."? Well, I guess they are three for three. They have a New Look for sure with the uniforms. A New Season did commence in October. And last but certainly not least, a New Attitude - albeit a losing one evidently.
2. Curious George. Sorry for the reference, Mr. McPhee but you have not done anything during your tenure to truly impress me. I guess I'm still smarting from the cancer (aka Jaromir Jagr) you brought to this team. Yes, all that is behind us now thankfully or is it? Could it simply be that the cancer is still somehow festering within the locker room? Coming out of the lockout, the team essentially had a clean slate. I have no problem with the slow, patient strategy of building from within but you better have a hell of a scouting system and a development program in place to ensure that this pays off. I'm not convinced that the franchise has such a system and program in place. In a league where mobility, deft skills and speed seem to be the essential elements of success, the team sure has drafted a lot of big, slow defensemen. I remember several years ago when a scout told me that you can teach positioning and other basic premises of the game but you can't teach mobility and speed. At the time, we were specifically talking about Enrico Ciccone. Of course, this was not during Curious George's tenure but the point is relevant. In addition, Mr. McPhee seems to have a penchant for signing 2nd tier or below free agents to supplement the youth movement. No one will ever convince me that Brian Pothier, Tom Poti and Viktor Kozlov were highly coveted free agents. I'll have another post about all of this at a later date.
3. Glen Hanlon, er Bruce Boudreau. As I started writing this post, I found out that Glen Hanlon had been fired. I truly am thankful for this move. I certainly do not wish any ill will towards Glen and wish him and his family the best. This is the brutal part of all sports. However, I think it was overdue. Does the "interim" part of Boudreau's new role suggest that there might be any truth to some of the rumors I've heard that Dale Hunter and/or Craig Berube might be coming back into the organization in a coaching role? More on this later as well. Good luck, Bruce. I guess we will see if my thoughts about this move being overdue have any validity.
4. Alex Ovechkin. Do I really need to say anymore? Man, is he fun to watch or what? How bad would this team be without him? One of my criticisms about Hanlon was that I thought he played him too much. I'm sorry but 26 plus minutes a night is a killer for a forward. I honestly think he will be even better at 20-22 minutes a night over the course of an entire season. Just think what would happen to his goal totals if he hit the net more consistently and had that jump in his legs throughout the entire game.

There will be more to come. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday.

Welcome

Welcome to Hockey from the Wasteland. You might ask why the reference to the Wasteland. Well, I have been living in Houston, Texas for over six years now and when it comes to hockey it feels like I'm in some far, lost outpost. Yes, we do have an AHL team here and good tickets are easy to come by and relatively cheap but clearly football (at all levels), baseball and basketball rule this town. There is very little if any coverage of hockey here. As a result, I thought I would start a blog and share my own thoughts as a therapeutic exercise to help ease my pain.

I'm new to the blogosphere and will hopefully get better as we go along.

More to come soon...