I guess in honor of Cyber Monday, the NHL wanted to get in on the action and two coaches were upgraded/replaced. The Capitals and Hurricanes have no one to blame for their coaches firing other than their lackluster efforts.
Rumors have been circulating for weeks that Bruce Boudreau of the Capitals could be on his way out the door and last night the rumblings became louder than a training rolling into the station. It was only a matter of hours before he was a goner. Dale Hunter, former Capital who has his number in the rafters of the Verizon Center, has taken over the reigns. For the past ten years he worked in the juniors and it seems on the surface he should right at home. He's inherited a team loaded with talented players who on paper should never lose, yet managed a 5-1 loss to the Sabres lineup that was ripped straight off the lineup card from the Amerks, their AHL team. When you have a lineup sporting the names of Ovechkin, Backstrom, Semin and so forth, how do you lose to what is essentially an AHL squad?
Can Hunter light a fire under them and get Ovi and Semin to care again? Those are just 2 of the 3 million questions Hunter needs to begin to answer. He's used to dealing with teenagers and that's what the recent run of the Caps seems to have become: a locker room of teenagers that are very overpaid for their after-school jobs. They don't care and do the bare minimum required to keep their jobs. Ovi won't be traded, but Semin is the next to be on the sale block if the coaching change isn't enough, or if they don't respond to Hunter. The biggest issue against Hunter- he has no experience coaching close to this level. A bunch of 18 year olds are different. They are all trying to show off and get that one shot at the AHL/NHL; meanwhile these guys have been there, done that. They are already pros and won't drop lower than the AHL. Their contracts ensure they will get their millions regardless.
One side thought about the Capitals situation: Since Ovi was named the Captain, his play has suffered. Not everyone is cut out to be a Captain and guys in the past have given back the C to focus more on their own play. Not saying this is the solution, but maybe he needs to focus on himself and not have the added pressure of being Captain. Just my .02cents.
The Hurricanes couldn't let the Capitals have all the attention and fired head coach Paul Maurice and hired Kirk Muller in his place. The Hurricanes essentially asked for this to happen. They have been bringing up the end of the standings since the season commenced. Captain Eric Staal has been in a funk all season. Nothing about this team has been exciting, clearly another coaching change was in order. Best part: Maurice was fired for a second time by the same organization. Isn't there a reason you break up to being with? This was just a matter of time based on the history.
Surprised there wasn't a firing trifecta to be honest. Islanders head Coach Jack Caupuano should probably be thanking his lucky stars he can't get one healthy goalie for more than a game at a time because it takes the heat off the rest of the disaster ship that is the Islanders. Still, the plank is short and I don't see it holding on much longer.
It wasn't all coaching changes on Cyber Monday. Sidney Crosby was named first star for the week which shouldn't be all that surprising. In 4 games, he collected 9 points (2 goals, 7 assists) and reminded the league why he's the best. At this pace he should be the points leader before the years out. He's already back up to an average of 20 minutes of playing time and making his mark on the season. If Crosby's return and a new coach doesn't wake Ovechkin up, I deem that his career is officially on the decline. At a whopping 26. Couldn't even try to hold on till 30 Ovi? It's ok. We will always have memories of your head floating around in lockers for that extra creepy commerical and that awesome tramp stamp tattoo.
Saturday I have come to realize is the day the most crazy stuff happens in hockey, so if you want to see a good fight, just wait for Saturday. It's a worldwide phenomenon. A Finnish team on Saturday amassed the most penalty minutes in a game and the KHL forgot to play hockey and just had line brawls and goalie fights all game.
Also James Neal decided he disliked Carey Price's goalie stick and broke it with a shot. Max Pacioretty, whose face meet the turnbuckle last season, decided to defend Price's stick with a nasty hit on Kris Letang, who was dripping blood from his broken nose. Letang on the hit, "Obviously, I had my nose broken and the doc put it in place, so I was ready to go". I've broken my nose and it's a kind of a biggie. It's dripping blood and aches like hell. Breathing is also next to impossible till it stops bleeding, but Letang came back and scored the game winner. NO BIG DEAL.
Finally December is almost here (yippee!!) and the cameras will be joining the Flyers and Rangers for their filming of 24/7. CAN NOT WAIT for this. Chris Pronger will be out for the next 4 weeks (will he miss the winter classic?) with knee surgery to fix something that has been bugging him. Meanwhile the Flyers have said he's out recently because of a virus. Knee injury or virus? Anywho, hopefully because of this we won't be seeing him as much on 24/7. No offense, I'm not sure I want to see him on tv screen up close and personal. Few hockey players are great looking but he's right down there on the bottom rungs. In fact the Flyers might be one of the worst looking teams collectively.
Max Talbot of the Flyers and Mike Rupp of the Rangers (both formally of the Penguins) will be participating for round two of 24/7. Talbot will be playing in his 3rd winter classic which earns him a new ugly Christmas sweater for this strange distinction. Catch a preview of the new series here. Can't wait to see if they are able to stifle us from the wisdom of Bryz!
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