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Can't say I'm surprised at the news that Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis has sacked his GM George McPhee and his head coach Adam Oates.
McPhee and Oates were fired after the Caps failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2006-07.
Easier to fire GMGM and Oates than it is to fire Alex Ovechkin, eh TeddY?
McPhee was named GM of the Caps in 1997. Oates was head coach for two seasons. Oates pissed seriously pissed Ovechkin a few weeks ago when he chastised his captain for loafing on a back-check in a game vs. Dallas. I'm sure Leonsis got an earful from his star forward. I'm certain that Oates was called to Leonsis' office to explain his decision to blast Ovechkin to the media. Meddling owners do that. They are glorified fans. Now more than ever, Ovi has a reputation as a "coach killer". Glen Hanlon, Bruce Boudreau, Dale Hunter and now Oates have all been turfed, or have walked away from the Caps for varying reasons in Ovechkin's career.
Leonsis released a statement regarding both of them:
“George has been a terrific, longtime executive for our franchise, and I’m grateful for his commitment to the Capitals organization for the past 17 years,…said Leonsis. “Under his leadership the Capitals won seven division titles, twice were the top team in the Eastern Conference, earned a Presidents’ Trophy and competed in the playoffs 10 times. He was a highly effective manager who is extremely well regarded within our organization and around the NHL. We have the utmost respect for him and his family and wish them nothing but the very best.…
“We are also appreciative of Adam’s efforts and thank him for his devotion, work ethic and contributions to the Capitals the past two seasons. He is a smart, tactical coach who improved the performance of several of our players. He is a Hall of Fame player who we believe will be a longtime coach in the NHL. We will help him in whatever way we are able and wish him well.…
Oates did a great job in my opinion of compiling a 65-48-17 record in past two seasons at the helm in Washington. Crappy goaltending and an inconsistent offense killed the Caps and their playoff dreams this season.
Oh, but Ovi scored 50 goals. Fans are not paying to watch the GM and head coach. Therefore, Ovi gets all benefit of the doubt from the owner, despite his never leading his team to the Eastern Conference Finals, nor the Stanley Cup Finals.
Ovechin's Team Russia embarrassed itself on its home ice at the Sochi Olympics.
I'll be willing to bet you that McPhee ends up the GM in Calgary with Brian Burke before the NHL draft takes place in June.
I'm hearing that Leonsis like Boston's AGM Jim Benning as a possible successor to GMGM. Barry Trotz was recently fired by Nashville and would be a great hire as next head coach of the Caps, provided that Ovechkin can wrap his head and heart around a defense-first structure. That's a huge IF.
Oates will easily find another head coaching job in the NHL. He's that good at his job.
More to come.....
***
St. Louis Blues fans have been down this road before. Is this a matter of history repeating itself? Or, is it just an aberration?
The Blues are perilously close to having its unpleasant recent playoff history repeat itself. This first round series against Chicago is diabolically similar to their playoff collapse against the LA Kings last Spring when the Blues took a commanding 2-0 series lead with back-to-back home wins against the Kings in the first round last year, only to lose the next four games and the first round series.
Unlike the two playoff seasons past, Jaroslav Halak’s finger prints are not visible on this playoff predicament.
What has happened to the cushion that Ryan Miller and the Blues created for themselves with impressive wins in Games 1 and 2? The cold hard truth facing the Blues players and Ken Hitchcock today is that its due or die time. Game 6 will be played inside the “Madhouse On Madison… and it will not be a walk in the park for Miller and his boys.
Kane, Toews, Hossa, and the Hawks now own the momentum heading home for a close game having won three games in a row, including two straight in overtime, since blowing late leads and losing Games 1 and 2 in OT. They’ve MacGyver’d their way back into this series without the services of one of their best playoff performers Brent Seabrook who was suspended for his ugly charge-head hit on St. Louis capo David Backes in last Saturday’s game.
Plain and simply, the Hawks have buried their chances while the Blues have not.
Don’t look now, but the Blues have a chance to dump Miller and his Blues out of the playoffs in Game 6 on Sunday afternoon in ChiTown.
Blues sniper Alex Steen was less than pleased with his team’s performance and said that his team is ready to fight the good fight in hostile territory in Game 6.
"What's pouting gonna do?" Blues forward Alexander Steen said. "You just get back on the horse. It's a game. You have to win four. They have three, we have two. Off to Chicago we go. See you there."
On Friday night, Miller and the Blues needed to be better in the third period and in OT, especially on the Toews OT GWG.
Thanks, NHL.com
Miller made 21 saves on 24 shots (.900%) in Game 5. He’d no doubt love to erase the Hossa goal from the game ledger. Rebound control was an issue for Miller on that goal. As has been his modus operandi in his brief stint in St. Louis, Miller’s final 30 minutes of hockey have been dramatically better than his first 30 minutes of hockey played inside games. For whatever reason, Miller is shaky early on in games then settles into a dominating posture as the game progresses. Remember Game 1 of this series when he surrendered three goals on his first seven shots faced, then made 35 saves in a row to preserve the win in Triple OT? Miller finished Game 1 with 39 saves on 42 shots faced (.929 save % ). In Game 2, Miller allowed three goals on 28 shots faced (.893 save %) in Blues OT victory. In Game 3, Miller did his job by allowing only one goal on 24 (.958 save %) shots faced in the 2-0 shutout loss. The Blues’ scorers didn’t show up for the game and Miller had to hold him in it. In Game 4, Miller made 30 saves on 34 shots faced (.882 save %) and in Game 5, he made 27 saves on 30 shots faced (.900 save %).
Miller is the winningest shootout goaltender in NHL history with 50 wins. As I watched Toews jump onto the ice surface and grab the loose puck to start his streak to the net on his OT “penalty shot… attempt, I thought to myself “Miller’s got this. No problem…. Miller has faced 279 shootout shot attempts in his career, only allowing 71 shootout goals against. That’s a save percentage of .710%. Shoters have only beaten Miller 29% of the time on shootout attempts in his career. The odds were in his favor on Friday night.
Man, was I wrong. Toews has been no slouch in the shootout himself during his junior hockey and NHL career. He scored 7 shootout goals this season (53.8%). He’s a clutch player who loves to have the puck on his stick in crunch time. Captain Serious didn’t disappoint in OT in Game 5. "It just happened so fast," Toews said. "I jumped on the ice and got the puck and it just came right to me and it happened to go in. The celebration -- just wasn't sure if it was real or not, it happened so quick."
The Blues better get off to a fast start, dig their edges in for a hard 60+ minute game on Sunday, or else they will be knocked out of the playoffs in the first round for the third time in three seasons.
***
After spending seven-plus seasons on Broadway, The NY Rangers shocked the hockey world when Glen Sather traded his captain Ryan Callahan to the Tampa Lightning in March. In the end, the irreconcilable differences between the Rangers and Callahan was a no-trade clause. Callahan demanded it, Sather said “see ya later….
Callahan played with the bull and he got both horns in the arse.
Sather worked out a win/win deal with Tampa GM Steve Yzerman when he sent Callahan, a 2015 first-round draft pick and a 2014 second-round pick (could become a first-rounder) to Tampa Bay for Lightning captain for 38 years young Marty St. Louis.
The word broke after the trade that Sather and Callahan’s agent had closed the gap on a six-year contract extension to keep Cally on Broadway, however, the no-trade clause became the deal breaker. Sather didn’t sugar-coat his feelings after he traded his captain.
“The no-trade is the one thing that really bothered me in the end,… “If you look at what’s going on today… you give too much away when you give that no-trade contract up, because it really ties your hands. I know it’s nice for the players to have security, but no-trade, no yell-at is a tough deal.…
So, Cally said his goodbyes to his buds and packed his 132 goals and 116 assists in 470 NHL career games (14G,10A in 63 career playoff games, zero in four game sweep to Montreal) and headed to the gulf coast of Florida. He scored 6 goals in 20 games on the dock of the bay.
The Rochester, NY native and former fourth rounder (2004) from the Guelph Storm didn’t perform up to his own high standards in the first round of the playoffs. The Lightning couldn’t keep the puck out of their own net, nor could their best players, Callahan included, beat Carey Price when it mattered.
As is customary after a team is eliminated from the playoffs, there will be a post mortem in Tampa to determined what their fatal flaws were against Montreal. Steve Yzerman will no doubt be in contact with Callahan’s agent in the days to come to begin talks on an extension which should be in the six year, $36 million range. The Bolts will want to extend Callahan long term before he hits the open market, especially when you consider that captain Steven Stamkos will become UFA after the 2015-16 season. Yzerman is going to have to start showing Stamkos the love now by signing some quality players. Trading Stamkos’ best bud Marty St. Louis certainly didn’t sit well with Stamkos and Yzerman knows it. Imagine if The Bolts miss the playoffs next season and Stamkos considers leaving Tampa as a UFA. It could happen. The Bolts need to sign Callahan. Does Callahan need to sign with them? No, he doesn’t. Tim Murray and the Buffalo Sabres is watching the Callahan-Tampa situation closely, as are other NHL GMs. Should he hit the open market in July, Callahan will be pursued by teams in both conferences. He and his agent know this. Callahan will be one of the belles of the UFA ball if the Bolts fail to sign him. I have doubts and reservations right now as to whether or not the Bolts can afford to pay Callahan $6 million per for six straight seasons. Bolts ownership doesn’t have unlimited resources to work with. The team continues to lose money and there are concerns about controlling costs while trying to ice a competitive team. This season, Tampa caught Lightning in a bottle when kid-heavy lineup became a 101 point producer. Several young Bolts players came of age in 2014-15. Now, they are becoming RFAs. Alex Killorn, T.J. Brown, Tyler Johnson, Richard Panik, and Ondrej Palat injury in October all played huge roles for Jon Cooper this season. These kids, along with the brilliance of Ben Bishop in net, saved the season for the Bolts after Stamkos suffered his serious injury. Without the kids playing at such a high level, the Bolts would have been a lottery team. Now, Killorn, Brown, Johnson, Panik, and Palat need to be paid. Even if they sign bridge deals or 10% qualifying offers, it would mean less available monies to pay Callahan. In order to afford Cally, the kids and eventually a new deal for Stamkos, the Bolts will have to jam up their season ticket prices in a price-sensitive marketplace. The fans may revolt and vote with their wallets at the box office. If and when that happens, the owners will feel more pain. The Bolts already have $47.6 million committed to 15 players for next season. The cap will rise to $71.1 million. Suffice to say, Yzerman will not be spending to the cap in 2014-15.
Back to Callahan, who reflected on his Tampa experience on Friday. Personally, I get the sense that Callahan is considering testing the UFA market in July. I don’t get the warm and fuzzies when I hear Callahan describe his brief time in Tampa. Sure, the weather is nice there and he gets to play with arguably one of the top three players in the NHL in Steven Stamkos. Of course he liked his teammates and coaches. Why would he say differently on locker clean out day?
Ryan Callahan talks about why he'd be open to return to the #TBLightning. [WATCH] http://t.co/IPK5sgzV1z pic.twitter.com/vgeRpF1dEE
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 25, 2014I don’t think that its a gimme-putt that Callahan re-signs in Tampa. I think he plays the market. I also feel strongly that Buffalo will be doing everything in its power to recruit Callahan to come back home and be a leader of a talented constellation of young stars. Money will not be an object for the Sabres. As we’ve seen in the past, when Terry Pegula wants a high-profile UFA, he’s not shy about tapping a new natural gas well and over paying to get his man. Ville Leino was one such UFA infatuation for Pegula. Leino is already one skate out of Buffalo and will likely be an amnesty buyout in the near future. Tim Murray can use Leino’s $4.5 million per season and use it to pay Callahan his requisite $6 million per season. If Callahan is impressed with Tampa’s kids, he should really take notice of Buffalo’s embarrassment of young riches in Rasmus Ristolainen, Nikita Zadorov, Mark Pysyk, Jake McCabe, Joel Armia, Mikhail Grigorenko, Nick Deslauriers. To say nothing of the three potential first round draft picks in the June entry draft. The Sabres will have their own second overall pick, however, they could end up with the Islanders’ fifth overall pick, as well as St. Louis’ first rounder (if Ryan Miller re-signs or makes it to WCF this season). The Sabres also have a cup that over floweth with prime second round draft choices in the next two entry drafts. Tim Murray and Terry Pegula will not be bashful in unrestricted free agency this summer. They enter the summer with $32.5 million in available cap space. They will have to make decisions on UFAs Zenon Konopka, Matt D’Agostini and John Scott. UFA Hank Tallinder will not be brought back after a disappointing season. RFAs Tyler Ennis, Marcus Foligno, and Cory Conacher will require new contracts, as will Chad Ruhwedel, Matt Hackett, and Connor Knapp. Murray will re-sign all and will be left with $26.5 to $27 million in available cap space to invest in the star players that his loyal fan base are demanding that he sign. Murray will be ultra-aggressive in the weeks to come.
Callahan may want to eat some real Buffalo wings and a “Garbage Plate… or two.
Home is where the heart is.