In its postgame studio coverage last night, the hockey talking heads on Versus posed the question, ‘Which coach is on the hottest of hot seats?’ Ron Wilson (his team with a winning record) and John Tortorella were ID’d. So was Glen Hanlon.
“This is a huge, huge roadtrip,” Hanlon told the Washington Post at the beginning of this week. Two-thirds completed, the Capitals have, through 120-plus minutes of it, a single goal and a single point. More of either will be hard to come by Thursday night in Ottawa.
Given the daunting task set out before him when he arrived behind the Caps’ bench midway through the 2003-04 season — presiding over an underachieving, expensive roster, soon to be gutted, then slowly, loss-ladeningly rebuilt, it seems almost inhumane this morning to set out prose hinting at the possibility of Glen Hanlon’s being fired. But this climate of suspicion has its roots in upper management’s very publicly stated Midsummer’s Night Dream of reaching the 2008 postseason.
Led by the owner’s bull market forecast (”The rebuild is over”), backed up by the captain’s camp-opening can-do creed, the flames of happy fortune were fanned all across the organization and broadcast in high definition by new and old media. Currently residing in a tie for 28th in the standings, this Capitals’ team this morning is anything but postseason bound.
The Caps’ 3-0 start only further fueled hockey happy talk in these parts. But this morning, what seems more aberrant — that start, with a victory over a battered-by-Bob (since fired) Thrashers’ crew and a 12-shot effort on Long Island on Columbus Day — or the current 2-9-1 slide into the standings sewer?
I answered that question, thought back to the team’s playoff pledge, and, knowing the nature of contemporary pro sports as I do, immediately thought of the phrase storm clouds converging.
At the heart of the present heartache for Caps’ fans, it seems, is this question: While almost certainly Glen Hanlon was the right man to preside over the rebuild, is he as well the right man to guide them to and through the playoffs? It’s a question that I’ve heard asked by Capitals’ officials themselves the past two years, but this week in Washington — and now on national television as well — it’s being asked with application and urgency.
Glen Hanlon is now 49-78-10 as head coach of the Capitals. Taken in total, that winning percentage isn’t all that bad in light of some of the sweater fillers he’s been tasked with guiding the past three hockey seasons. But that’s not the issue he’s likely facing right now. It’s this one: that hard-working, overachieving band of nameless and journeymen, and Ovechkin, he impressed the NHL with two years ago doesn’t look quite so hard working and overachieving today.
Worse: because of the sub-.500 hole his club now finds itself in, the scratching and clawing required to move from 28th to say 16th in the league will demand a healthy stretch of non-losing. When have Capitals’ fans ever seen that from Glen Hanlon’s Caps?
One night in the middle of Alexander Ovechkin’s rookie season I was watching a Caps’ game with a wise old man about pucks, my Old Man. All too familiar with the team’s decades of disappointment as a season ticket holder, and aware of the rebuild scheme, Dad explained to me the competitive urgency of the moment given the Great8’s awesome gifts.
“They cannot waste seasons with this guy not in the playoffs,” he told me.
12 Comments
Getting third and fourth line grinders to work hard every night is a lot easier than devising schemes that maximize the talents of high end players. Glen’s a good guy and the players seem to like him, but it’s becoming more and more apparent that he’s in over his head when it comes to creating a system that achieves excellence on a regular basis. I hope I’m wrong, but if something doesn’t happen soon this season is lost.
Would it be unseemly to suggest that the recent use of excuses (i.e. “three of our top guys are out”) is getting tiresome? I know it feels that way to this fan.
I don’t know if it is time to move Hanlon or not. I think not. In the words of one great manager from another sport: “You are never as good as you look when you are winning and never as bad as you look when you are losing.” - Earl Weaver
Firing Hanlon may not be fair, particularly in light of the injuries, but it may be necessary to salvage this season. If you want an example of what changing a coach can do, look no further that last night’s opponent. 0-6 to start the season, 6-3 since they fired Hartley. And Waddell isn’t even a real coach. If they somehow beat Ottawa, or at least come out of there with a point and then come home and beat Tampa I’ll back off. But if they get thumped by the Senators and then lose to Tampa, I’m leading the march to the castle gates.
If you decide to march to the gates, B.Orr4, who would be your knight in shining armor?
That’s the biggest concern I have - the “healthy stretch of non-losing” required.
It has taken at least 92 pts to claim the 8th seed in the East the past two seasons. So, reasonably assuming that would be required again, we have to earn 81 points in the remaining 67 games. That’s about 35 wins and 11 more points from OTL/SOL. Which means 35-21-11 the rest of the way.
Did any of us think at the start of the season that this team could win just over half of its games and get a point out of 2 of every 3 games?That’s a seriously successful pace. (And we have no data to assess our shootout abilities this season.)
They could go on a tear and right the balance, and then bob and weave the rest of way, hovering around the 8th spot. But only a major shakeup, I think, will spark such a surge . . .
It seems to this fan that the players are tuning out Hanlon’s messages. When that happens, coaches get fired.
Unless this team gets on a roll fairly soon I think it would be pretty much certain Hanlon will be fired.
Fire hanlon already. Really need to send a message that losing isn’t okay anymore. We aren’t concerned about “playing hard” every night. We have to do the things that will make us win and that requires an attitude change by the leadership (easiest way to do this is a coaching change). Unfortunately, Hanlon is a good coach and is likeable so he’ll probably get every chance to turn the ship around.
If they do indeed fire Hanlon, I almost hope that San Jose gave Ron Wilson the boot first and he can come back here. I don’t know if he’d be the right fit, but he’s had success with all kinds of teams during his career. Plus, those that were most chafing under his rule before (Jagr, Oates) are gone. I think he’d be a good fit here.
Or, do you scoop up Hershey’s coach? Give one of your assistants the chance? Trade players and waste another year of Ovechkin?
pucksandbooks - I agree with your old man, I been saying the same thing the past 2 seasons.
Every year OV doest get to show his skill in the playoffs is a waste of his talent. Who knows what the future holds.
I don’t believe that Hanlon will be fired unless we lose another 9 of 11, unfortunately. But, assuming he is dismissed, it would be very interesting to see who chooses Atlanta over Washington, or vice versa (assuming that both teams interview the same candidates and each gives one an offer, which is certainly possible).
Post a Comment