Comments on: Mental Endurance

By: kab

kab — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 15:03:27 +0000

I don’t see this as a coaching problem, ( we’ve got a rookie coach still trying to find his groove } or a system problem (nj even with their revolving dr seems to be working it) . I see it as a talent problem, specifically the lack thereof. when you bring out jhonny e. as your top defender that about says it all. unless papa bear and uncle George can pull a couple of high end blueliners out of their hat. this is looking more like a 48 game preseason of 2014. painful as it may be sooner or later ted will have to come to grips with the truth, cup winners are built from the goalie out. but hey bad hockey is still better than no hockey.

By: Mental Endurance

Mental Endurance — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 09:07:26 +0000

Hmmm the coach we should still have behind he bench, B. Boudreau, seems to have his team mentally tough and not taking bad penalties. Lucky Ducks to have him! Still one of he dumbest things I have ever seen in Wash. Sports was the firing of BB (and that includes Dan snyders ridiculous moves. Oh the days when we had a legitimate shot! Instead now we have a emotionless coach that praises the penalty killers instead of maybe I don’t know addressing and fixing the problem of taking these bad penalties in the first place. Comical!

By: Bucky Katt

Bucky Katt — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 18:03:24 +0000

Mental focus. Hockey IQ. Determination. Whatever. Bottom line is this team has no identity. As one wag over at Japer’s has observed, George McPhee has replicated “American Pickers” in his approach to forming this team. We, as fans, get to watch the consequences of this every game.

By: Jay

Jay — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:52:44 +0000

By the way Elisabeth, I should have said that my comments were in no way directed at your write up which I think was really good. I was just so flabbergasted at the way Twitter lit up last night with the whole “Ovie is back” thing. There was a lot to like about Ovie last night, and you captured it well. But bottom line he didn’t score, and as you pointed out very well, the team he captains lost.

I also think you are dead on with your comments about mental focus. And in last night’s game we saw at times a guy who was doing a lot of good things, but Ovechkin clearly has a problem that is resulting in flubbing the puck at times, missing the net on a clear breakaway (by a wide margin, if memory serves) and other small things. And, in my humble opinion, it goes to the fact he is thinking about things rather than trusting his instinct, which is a problem right now because he doesn’t seem to know how to adapt to the rest of the league catching up to him.

It’s clearly a very mental thing with Ovie now, and as we all know as goes Ovie so goes the team. The team played a great second after a sloppy first period and took control of the game. But when Ovie had issues finishing and demonstrated the kind of mental errors that have been indicative of his play recently, the team lost that mental focus too. Mental endurance, that’s a really great term and a big issue with the Caps right now.

By: Martin

Martin — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:38:37 +0000

After watching the Pens-Flyers game the night before, the caps-devils game looked like grown-up rec league match.

By: Elisabeth Meinecke

Elisabeth Meinecke — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:28:40 +0000

Hi, Jay! Thanks for your observations. In the replay from the press box, it certainly looked like Greene’s stick caught Ovechkin’s skate blade from behind (it was hard to decipher), but perhaps I saw it incorrectly. Unfortunately, the video doesn’t seem to be on either NHL or the Caps’ website. Oates’ summary of Ovi’s game, if I remember correctly, was not glowing, but as my Internet went out last night while finishing this up, I couldn’t get quotes, and figured it was better to not include than incorrectly quote.

By: Jay

Jay — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:27:57 +0000

Not to take anything away from Ovechkin last night, but the first highly visible play when he broke in on net, was “tripped” and swiped at the puck on his way down was a great example between new and old Ovie, and just made me shake my head. I was sitting in 108 row F, so it all happened 10-15 yards from me. When Ovie got past the defenders, he fumbled the puck, it got caught in his feet, he tried to regain possession, instead tripping himself and then fanned on the puck as he fell to the ice. Greene didn’t touch Ovie, yet drew a phantom penalty. Yet you’d have thought Ovie made the most amazing move in the history of hockey. Makes me laugh.

I’ll give Ovie credit for hustling about half of the night, at times he was flying, throwing the body around and generating chances, but Ovechkin from 2007 would’ve had at least two, maybe three or more goals. His passing abilities are definitely improving and he can toss the puck around as well as just about any Cap, but he gets paid to score goals not pass the puck, especially when the Caps don’t have anyone for him to pass to.