Should the Caps Should Fire Boudreau?

Once again, the Capitals choked in the playoffs, being swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning. After converting 17% of their power plays in the regular season, DC scored on only 2 of their 18 opportunities and 10% for the entire playoffs. Likewise after killing off all but 14.4% of penalties during the regular season, for 2^nd place, the Caps allowed 3 power play goals in 4 games to Tampa. Of course, Washington ran into a hot goalie in Roloson who leads the league in the post season in goals against average and save percentage. Backstrom (2 points in playoffs) and Semin (2 in series) disappeared after averaging almost a point a game in the regular season. What is the aftermath for Boudreau and the Caps after this collapse?

Is the bbq faced, sailor mouthed coach fully to blame for the collapse? While only going 17-20 in the playoffs and losing four of six playoffs series are pretty damning, he has the highest winning percentage of all active coaches. While it looked like the players gave up in the third period of game three and missed opportunities, it is the coach’s responsibility to get the players up for any opponent. During the eight game losing streak back in December, chronicled by HBO’s 24/7, it looked like Boudreau was already losing his players with his absurd profanity laden rants. Maybe the players are to blame as well.

Which players are free agents, need to be traded, and are too soft to win in the playoffs? Arnott, Sturm, Knuble, Laich, Bradley, Gordon, and Hannan are unrestricted free agents and only Laich and Knuble would be worthy to re-sign if they can improve on going to the net. Speaking of soft, figure skater Semin has been re-signed year to year reflecting the management’s lack of faith in his disappearing act in the playoffs and dumb penalties. Meanwhile Green might have improved his defense this year, but his offensive skills too often cause liabilities in the defensive zone. Maybe trading Semin and Green are options for a more defensive minded blue liner and tougher forward since each have only one year left on their contracts.

If firing Boudreau is the option, then who is going to take his place? While the Caps can call up Mark French, who won the Calder Cup for the Hershey Bears last year, they might want to avoid bringing up a minor league coach like Boudreau again. Maybe this team needs a disciplinarian that can handle the superstars’ egos and tendencies to revert back to bad habits when pressed in the playoffs. All I know is that I am growing pretty tired of watching 17 days worth of regular season games the past two seasons only for it to be over in a mere 40 hours.

Virginia Spring Sports Back at it Again

After uneventful football and basketball seasons, UVa’s more successful sports are now in full swing. Virginia’s baseball and tennis teams are ranked #1 in the country, while lacrosse was #2 last week.

The baseball team made national headlines this week due to Will Roberts' perfect game against George Washington, despite GW’s reporting. It was the first one in the program’s history, and the first time nationally in nine years. The Cavaliers took over the #1 ranking going into the Colonials game and have compiled a 25-2 record so far this season. After defeating then #4 Clemson and #4 Florida State five games to one in ACC competition earlier, the Wahoos travel to Blacksburg this weekend to take on the Hokies.

Meanwhile the tennis team is #1 and undefeated at 20-0. Yawn. Virginia has not been out of the top #2 since February 2009, over 82 matches ago. In fact, the Cavs have only lost 15 out of 149 games this season. Only six more ACC matches remain until postseason play begins.

As for the lacrosse team, it seems to be a down year for them, since they already lost two games this season. Even though the Hoos only lost by a combined three goals to Syracuse and Johns Hopkins on the road, they slipped to #6 this past week. It is the first time UVa has dropped out of the top #5 in over three seasons. The Cavaliers start their three game ACC schedule this week against Maryland at Scott Stadium.

These teams also had hot starts last year which I wrote about, but then choked in the playoffs, which I unfortunately also noted. I hope these teams reverse these trends this year.

The Five Choke Special

After UVA baseball collapsed in the super regional last night, the spring of disappointment is now complete. That’s five #1 ranked teams, zero titles.

As noted in an earlier post, the Caps had their best regular season in team history, but bowed out in the first round. The Cleveland Cavaliers won 60 games again, but were upset by the Celtics in 6 games in the second round, and might have a bigger loss if Lebron leaves.

Meanwhile, UVA’s spring sports joined the choking list. The men’s tennis team continued their trend of going nearly perfect all year only to lose in the NCAA semi-finals, taking their three year record to 102-4 with no titles. A week later, the lacrosse team lost to eventual champ Duke in the final seconds, ended a season where the only losses all year were to the Blue Devils. To end the heartbreak spring playoff runs, UVA baseball hosted their first ever super-regional and were one win away from returning to the College World Series, only to lose back to back games for the first time all year, ending their season and this torturous spring playoff season with a 11-0 embarrassing beatdown.

Well, now its time to turn to the fall. Oh, great.