The Defense

The Capitals cannot be expected to make a serious run at the Cup without substantially upgrading their defense. Coach BB plays a vertical system that stretches the ice with the intent of obtaining offensive zone possession in the shortest possible order. While he freely admits that this system will challenge his defense by exposing them to odd man rushes, it also leaves them susceptible to forechecking pressure - especially the kind encountered in playoff hockey. I don't think that the Great 8 has an intimate familiarity with all of the nuances of the breakout play - if you catch my drift.

This group was not up to the challenge last Spring - leading to the departure of Jay Leach in the off-season - and, since there were no upgrades this summer, it seems doubtful that they possess the skill set needed to get the job done this year. This system and these personnel may be effective enough to win games and clinch divisions in the regular season but under the pressure of playoff hockey the players were simply unable to consistently move the puck out of the zone. And for my money they did not play physically enough. Okay, so you're 6 foot 5 / 240 lbs, don't have a lot of speed, posses average hands and adequate vision - so hurt somebody! I'm looking at you Jeff Schultz. Is Milan Jurcina in the room? These guys just plain have to get meaner. Where are you Ed Van Impe?

The biggest question is whether new defensive coach and Calder Cup winner Bob Woods can coach 'em up to be effective in the current system - let's not forget that we're less than two season's removed from the Glen Hanlon era and his 'build a wall around the goaltender' approach to the game. Woods has proven that he can adapt to BB's unorthodox style style at Hershey - maybe he can bring it to the phone booth as well. My opinion is that they are still one elite taking-care-of-business player away from having a complete defensive squad.