Courtesy: CBSSports.com
WASHINGTON — It’s at that point of the season where the Capitals are playing meaningless hockey as they will miss the postseason for the first time since the 2006-07 season. While nothing productive ever comes from playing the blame game, head coach Adam Oates seems to absorb a sizable chunk of the criticisms from fans.
But is he the one to blame and will he ultimately lose his job following the season?
What the 2013-14 season has shown is that this team as a whole in coming from the fairly weak Southeast Division is for the most part fraudulent. Offensive-laden talent on the top two lines is not enough to salvage a roster that is fairly unbalanced and lacks consistent defensive prowess on all three pairs.
Is that Oates fault? No.
That’s on the front office.
The inability to establish consistent line threesomes and defensive pairings throughout the entire campaign has inhibited Washington’s ability to build chemistry among one another. Injuries to players like Mikhail Grabovski and Brooks Laich put the Capitals behind the eight ball early, but inefficient play on the back end has put Washington in a state where they’ve had to cycle rookies and inexperienced minor leaguers in and out of the lineup.
Is that on Oates? Partially.
He has to be able to know the strengths and weaknesses of every player on his roster and find the right combinations to produce optimal results. Injuries he can’t control, but constantly asking players like Nate Schmidt to bounce between AHL Hershey and Washington is asking a bit much and may hinder the growth and development of a young defenseman the Capitals may need.
Then, there’s the “Ovechkin effect”. As talented as the Gr8 has been for Washington, his presence on the ice at times can go unnoticed and look pedestrian despite being a superstar talent. His lack of effort at times is the epitome of what Washington as a hockey franchise represents in recent memory. Players take on the personas of their coach and captain(s). How Ovechkin goes is how the Capitals go.
Is that on Oates? Partially.
Ultimately, players play and coaches coach, but Ovechkin isn’t like a lot of other superstars in the NHL. He has a bit of a reputation as a coach killer and in getting to know Oates personality, he has allowed Ovechkin to kind of do his own thing. Which is a good and bad thing.
Sometimes, giving a superstar too much power can hurt the team as a unit. It makes the other players not respect the bench boss as much as they may feel slighted as to why the preferential treatment is given to one and not all. While that doesn’t appear to be the issue in D.C., Oates has his hands full with Ovechkin simply because Ovechkin’s talent is the microcosm of their successes and failures as a franchise.
Oates may be chased out of our nation’s capital, but it may not be deservedly so. The problem with the team is more related to the personnel on the roster, not so much those teaching them. With uncertainty at the top as to whether or not general manager George McPhee will return in 2014-15, change at that spot may be more necessary than the rest of the organization.
Since Ovechkin’s arrival in D.C., this roster has had virtually the same look and feel. Not salvaging at least one Eastern Conference Finals appearance in that time span means something, somewhere has to change.
But sometimes, coaches shoulder so much of the blame that they are treated like quarterbacks in the NFL. One minute, they’re the hero. The next? The goat.
