If Bruce Boudreau is shown the door and fired as Washington Capitals head coach who would the team turn to? Who could they bring in that would please star Alexander Ovechkin and get more out of Nicklas Backstrom? With the exception of some of the coaches already hired and fired in the past I’m not convinced they can find the right man for the job.
Is time running out for Capitals?
The patience of Caps owner Ted Leonias is wearing very thin, he wants a Stanley Cup and he wants it now. He will not sit around for many more years and accept playoff failure, he himself will look to make changes. George Mcphee, Capitals general manager will need to make some tough changes unlike last year when it remained status quo. But how much time does he have left before he’s shown the door, one more year of second round exits he will soon find out.
When its all said and done, the Capitals are not a one and done team. The teams blue-line is filled with up and coming all-stars such as John Carlson, Karl Alzner, Jeff Schultz and lets not forget Mike Green. And lets face it how many teams would love to have Ovechkin as the star player, along with Backstrom. What they need to change are the support cast, the second-third lines need an overhaul.
If Boudreau is gone who’s next?
With all due respect to rookie head coaching candidates like Kevin Dineen, Kirk Muller or Brad Mcrimmon, the Capitals need someone that has experience and that can be demanding of the players but without being a dictator. With that being said Ken Hitchcock is not the right man for this job, nor is Michel Therrien, both have been known to be to hard on star players. One guy that would be an ideal candidate would be Bob Hartley, but he committed to his team next year in Switzerland, so he is out of the question. In my mind it comes down to three veteran coaches. First being Marc Crawford who was fired last month in Dallas after his team missed the playoffs. Second option is Craig Mctavish the former Oiler coach has been out of work for two years plus, but his time might be coming soon. The third option is Andy Murray, he’s a student of the game, and could be considered the opposite of Boudreau. A long shot could be of all people Mike Keenan, its unlikely he could be the next coach, but the Caps are going to be desperate and might turn to the veteran coach with a winning past.
None of the coaches available maybe overly attractive to Mcphee so he may stick with Boudreau one more year. But if he was let go and if I were to choose my next head coach and if I were George Mcphee, I would lean towards Andy Murray. Despite not having loads of playoff experience, he would have the Capitals so prepared it would be scary. Going forward with Ovechkin it cannot be just another game, he has to approach every game and every shift likes his last. That is why Murray would be the man, he will sit anyone that does not play the game he wants it played.
Ovechkin and friends must be discontinued
The Russian side show must come to a stop. Its time for the Capitals to part with Ovechkin’s best buddy Alex Semin, if they keep him around they will go nowhere just like every other season since 1998. Both players are going to become better players if they go their own way, reasoning why is two players with that work ethic don’t lead to success. In game 4’s deciding game, on the 5th Tampa goal, Semin was bitching to the ref’s about a non-call, seconds later slowly went to the bench for a line-change, in the playoffs that is simply unacceptable. The Caps have to surround the Great-8 with non-european hard workers, who bring there best effort each and every night. If this sideshow continues, Ovechkin will be nothing more than a second coming of Pavel Bure, a great scorer but one who had no success come the post season.
Where do they go from here.
We’re going to find out in a week or less about Bruce Boudreau. We likely will not know until the entry draft June 23, about what player personal changes will be made. The Caps are like Detroit in a way, they are to passive its all about skill and speed. They need to be a nastier, aggressive team to play against. You should want teams to fear you when going into their barn, and the Lightning felt no fear in round 2, if not it was the other way around.
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