I keep getting emails from Tough Hockey saying we are ”soft as a baby’s bottom.” He bores me. Check out Donald meets Mr. Witt within. I forgot about this one. Do you think our team is “soft as a baby’s bottom?” Let me know what you think.
Ted's Take
I keep getting emails from Tough Hockey saying we are ”soft as a baby’s bottom.” He bores me. Check out Donald meets Mr. Witt within. I forgot about this one. Do you think our team is “soft as a baby’s bottom?” Let me know what you think.
I mentioned before on another site that the “Disney format” didn’t work for the Ducks. When they were sold, and when they adopted the Pronger school of hockey, how long did it take to win a Cup?
A “family atmosphere” sounds safe and happy. “Rock the Red” isn’t a particularly soft mantra.
I just worry that the desire to be family-friendly first could affect the team we put on the ice, and take options off the playing-style table.
For instance: Dale Hunter doesn’t fit the new team vision.
I used a fake name/e-mail address on the subject previously (I was a bit stronger in the conviction) so I’m forced to do so here too as well. I am not doing that on new strings though – promise.
If this team played in the old Patrick division, I could understand the criticism. But skill rules the day in this era, and the Capitals have exchanged a brute mentality for an energetic mentality, to which I can easily make parallels to physical toughness. And, to be honest, I believe the playoff performances of several players with “soft” reputations stamped on them went a long way towards shedding that label as it refers to this team.
It’s high time some of our higher paid defensemen stop shying away from forecheck contact which causes them to turn the puck over in our end or not even gain possession in our end deep or behind the net. That is one area we could toughen up on (Mr. Poti, Mr. Schultz, and Mr. Green). This might be an area that Mr. Alzner will greatly help with.
Huet was manhandled, but didn’t do anything to help himself. A tougher goalie wouldn’t have taken that, and in fairness, the reffing in that series regarding goaltender interference was terrible. That said, aurevoir, Huet, and I don’t feel bad about it.
As long as Erskine(Who’s a 7th d-man), Brash, and Brads are on our 23 man roster, and as long as we have Ovechkin, I don’t doubt the toughness of this team. Also, if you look at the NHL stats, the Detroit Red Wings had the fewest fighting majors in the NHL. I think they had an ok season, and no one would stoop so low as to call them Soft. And the only tough player they have is Tomas Holmstrom.
First I’d like to say I am a season ticked holder. Ted, I like the toughness/grittiness of our forwards(Hell, Ovie is the best example of toughness from a star in the entire NHL), but I would like our Defensmen to play a little tougher. I know it is hard with the new rules, but Huet was manhandled in the Flyers series. I know the refs were at fault as they let too much goalie interference happen. Now Mo was really banged up, so you have to give him a bit of a pass, but I really would like Jurcina to play physically on a more consistent basis, as he has the tools to be dominant. Schultz should really use his size, but he just doesn’t look to be very physical(I wish he had a little more of his brother’s attitude). Mike Green is actually our best open Ice hitter. I think our D is very talented and good enough that we can go very far, I just happen to be a long time Caps fan who grew up watching Scott Stevens, a young Kevin Hatcher, Mark Tinordi, Bob Rouse, Iafrate, etc.. and these guys all had some snarl to their game, so I prefer to have a couple guys on my Defense that play that way.
our team is far from soft. we work hard, lay out some heavy checks, and fight for every puck. i’ve seen so many brash fights that it’s all a blur, but i remember this one. i couldn’t help but to laugh a little. after just scoring a goal too. haha. just one more to a team of characters. i love it.
I have an idea – let’s line up Tough Hockey on the ice against Erskine, Brash and Matt Bradley and let him tell them they’re “soft as a baby’s bottom”. Geez, even Backstrom was willing to drop the gloves in the Flyers series.
As Mike Milbury would say, “Tough Hockey is depriving some village of a pretty good idiot.”
And here, right on cue, this is where Tough Hockey threatens to kick my ass for saying such a thing. Because he’s so tough, don’tcha know. He bores all of us, Ted.
Wasn’t aware he was sending you direct E-mails – but truth be told, we haven’t been able to get toughhockey’s side of the story for quite some time since he was issued his second bannination on the boards over a year ago – and since then his co-worker BreakOutInSong got bell-book-and-candled too.
For my part, I don’t think it’s quite reached Ice Capades levels as yet, but McPhee’s long-time obsession with ‘puck moving’ defencemen would have to say something….
Soft! Soft you say! blasfumy! This is one of the biggest teams in the NHL. Brash is one of the best at his job and his job is hitting. Ove is something weve never seen before because of his hitting. Didnt he finish 4th in hits for the NHL? Semin has takin to hitting like a fish to water since Gabby took over. Cooke was a tough loss in the hitting department but Brooksy proved that he can fill that spot aginst PHI. Those are the names everyone knows. What about Matt Bradly who had shifts in game 1 vs PHI were he was getting 3 to 4 hitts. Thats insane. All three D lines have a hitter. This team is stacked with power but its young power and the masses dont know there names. BUT THEY WILL AFTER THIS SEASON!!!!!!!!!
he is absolutely right. the caps went from worst to first, made the playoffs and won enough hardware at the end of the season to fill home depot. he has an excellent point. he is to hockey knowledge what michelle wie is to men’s golf.
Donald is as tough as they come on the rink. In his family, I daresay his uncle Carl was tougher, being the first African American Navy Master Diver as well as the first amputee to be a certified diver.
In September, just before training camp, the USNS Carl Brashear will be launched… think someone from the Caps website can go cover it with Donald (I’m sure he’ll be there for it!)
Soft as a baby’s bottom? No, no we are not. Our problem is our hired grit in Brashear, Bradley, Erskin, and to a lesser extent Juchina doesn’t always step up when needed. It was quite frustrating seeing Huet tackled every other minute during the playoffs and the only person to step up was Mike Green. We’ve got a tough skilled team, and we’re going to do great things not just for one season like the Penguins, but for many years to come.
So….which team is Tough Hockey watching? The Caps are pretty tough. I think you’ll find Semin is truly a tough guy. We’ve got Brashear, Bradley, Clark, Ovechkin & Erskine. Semin can get pretty chippy as can Brooks Laich.
Simple answer: Nope, Tough Hockey. You’ve got the wrong team, pal.
Well, other than a soon-to-be 37 year old Brashear, there isn’t much else. Bradley and Erskine can land some nice hits, but they sure as heck haven’t intimidated too many people in their career. Too bad Cooke couldn’t be retained, the team needs a couple of guys like him. Heck, Ovechkin was the biggest bruiser last season with 220 hits. Remember, this team let the Flyers bowl over Huet numerous times in the playoffs. Tough teams stop that after once instance. The team didn’t, and failure to put the body to the Flyers is one of the top 3 reasons why they went to the conference finals and not the Caps.
Toughness is one of the last things this team needs to address before you can say “the rebuild is over.” Hopefully young guys like Carlson will fill that niche. Remember the tough guys on the 98 team? Hunter, Tinordi, Berube, Simon, Witt, Konowalchuk. THAT was a tough team. Notice that the last time the Caps were a big tough group was also the last time they won a playoff series? Not a coincidence.
unwritten rule… players drop their gloves before taking a shot at another player…but the video was not that clear and we do not know what witt was saying to donald so donald gets the benefit of the doubt; on the other hand maybe donald was just pissed because someone keyed his lamborghini that day and took it on poor mr. witt.
Bottom line–brashear is one tough guy that toughens up any team.
btw in all my years watching hockey, which are very many, ovie is one of the toughest and most physical forwards, who is also simaltaneously one of the biggest offensive threats in the game(messier, howe, rocket richard).
Well – - maybe not that soft. I think we have a great overall enforcer when “push comes to shove.” That said, we should face the fact that we need better, smarter “pushers” that can effectively and consistently clear the area in front of the goalie. I mean think about what Philly did to Huet in the playoffs. I think most avid Caps fan agree that we need more sheer muscle (and scoring prowess beyond Green) on defense. Our guys are lean, tall, and fast (sans Erskine) more like basketball players. I’d love to get some punishing linebacker types (like Erskine but with more skill and agility) that play smart, don’t take too many bad penalties, but can still handle situations in front of the net (e.g. Adam Foote, R. Blake, Niklas Kronwall, Scott Stevens type). That said we probably could get by in the regular season without them until playoff time. I think a smart veteran d-man would inspire our team in a manner similiar to Fedorov.
Let’s be clear; what is tough hockey? I’m a Bruins fan. (insert your cruel joke here). However, there are several things in the NHL that excite me today, and the team the Caps have on the ice happens to be one of them. Last season Washington embarrassed the B’s then journeyed up to Beantown for the anticipated rematch. Now the bruins won that game, but what I will never forget is AO and his boys deep in the Bruin’s end. AO took such a pounding, but still worked his magic, still did his job. To me that’s tough hockey.
HA! That’s laughable! Who the hell is Tough Hockey? He’s about as relevant as a baby’s leavings.
I’m tired of loud-mouthed people who have probably never actually played hockey that talk about how ANY pro is “soft.” I’d bet even Danny Briere could tee off on this guy and make him cry for his mommy.
Relatively speaking, the Caps are not at all “soft” in comparison to the rest of the league. Out of 30 teams, the Caps were 11th in Adjusted Hits.