Caps; Boudreau wasn't the problem

 The Washington Capitals lost another game last night, 2 to 1. A game that should have been won easily by playing the 26th ranked Avalanche. The Caps looked weak and outplayed as they struggled throughout the game. Ovi was no threat to the opposing team as he skated to crash the net and lost the puck several times before attempting  a shot, something that has been happening often. The Avalanche scored first with about 17:11 left in the first period. It was the softest goal I've seen in a long time. Neuvy was caught sleeping, it looked as if he was looking up at the stands or just mind wondering when suddenly a floater from opposing player Cody McLeod came from the blue line and zipped by Neuvy over his left shoulder as he looked in disbelief.

Which brings me to the subject; Boudreau was not the problem, the Capitals have been struggling since the beginning of the season. Yes, they won 7 in a row, but how many standing points did we give up during the streak? We had 3 overtime games, where we had the lead, gave it up and managed to win in OT.  The Capital's 3 overtimes included a shootout against Tampa. In one of those 7 game streaks Ovi was benched, and as televised, you could see him cussing out Boudreau, and act of insubordination. That scene showed how undisciplined the Caps are, how confused and lost they are. You still have Semin who can't find his Mojo, and doesn't really care. Rumors of the team drinking and partying the night before a game have surfaced throughout the fan base.  And I'll leave that there.

Besides having a poor offense, the Caps have no defense; they definitely miss Mike Green who is a great asset to the team. He not only plays defense, but has the capability to score. The Caps were lucky Neuvy jumped right back up last night or the score would have been worse. Out of 3 power plays, the Avalanche almost had 2 shortys. Out of 8 games in December, the Caps have had 21 goals scored against them, 10 of those points were combined by Florida and Philly, with each taking 5 goals apiece. Dale Hunter was hired to fill Boudreau's shoes; upper management claims he will put the Caps back up to par where they should be. He is finding out that the task is not as easy as they thought it was going to be. After all with the talent he has, it shouldn't be that hard, or is it? Yes, the Caps have talent, discipline....NO! Boudreau took over the Caps a few years back, put them at the top and brought a lot of glory to DC. He had the players, the talent, it was just a matter of putting them on track, and then they fizzled in the post season, was the pressure too much? Were they just too arrogant where they thought, "no worries, we're invincible, we can win."

Boudreau is gone, should he have been fired? My opinion is no. We could have at least waited till the end of the season; after all, he brought DC glory and respect. But then again, this is Washington, where we definitely need a championship of some sort at all expense, and we really believe the Caps could bring that championship to DC. Is it too late? Boudreau is 1-3-1 with his new team, to his credit, he doesn't have the talent he had in Washington, and he will have to rebuild and wait till next year, do some trading and get some good draft picks. Dale has the talent, but that talent is also aging. Can he bring discipline back and take us to the promise land? Maybe he should talk to Tebow.

Sources; RUDYKINS, PICTURE OF BOUDREU FROM GOOGLE IMAGES