The biggest story of the NHL’s regular season, in my opinion, has been the courage of the Washington Capitals. When I say courage, I don’t mean in the traditional sense. I don’t mean fighting courage. I mean the courage to change how they played.
Last season, the Capitals won the President’s Trophy – awarded to the team that scores the most points in the NHL. Things were great. Then, all of a sudden, they run into a hot goaltender (Jaroslav Halak) in the playoffs, are knocked out by an eighth-seeded team, and their super season is a disaster. People wanted the coach fired, wanted players traded. The fans were in panic mode.
So, how do you handle this situation? One way – and the way most people would handle it – is the safe way: do nothing. After all, why change when you led the NHL in points? And losing again in the playoffs was just bad luck. We’ll get ‘em next year. Our luck will change.
Well, George Mcfee, the General Manager of the Capitals, and coach Bruce Boudreau knew that luck happens when preparation meets hard work. They knew it wasn't bad luck that led them to lose in the playoffs. It was their style of play. This is where the courage comes in. They didn't take the easy road - of not changing. They took the longer, harder road of making the high-scoring Washington Capitals the best offensive team in the league, and refocusing them. Demanding they become a good defensive team.
Why would that take courage, you ask? Isn’t it just a case of telling your players they will have to give up some points individually in order to give us the best chance at winning the Stanley Cup? No problem. They’ll all see the wisdom in that and buy in, right? Not so fast.
Now they were being asked to play defence as hard as they play offense. Maybe harder. The message: you probably won't have as many goals as you had last year. How did all these star players get their giant contracts? By scoring goals. The only selling point in this re-focusing: the GM and coach thought this would give them a better shot at winning the Cup.
That decision took courage.
As I write this, the Capitals are in first place in the Eastern Conference. The players have slowly bought into the new system and are much better defensively. As expected, the offensive numbers for the star players are down. It has been a tough, at times rocky, transition. But it has been the right one. The Capitals are better suited to win in the playoffs and it was gutsy to change.
Now they better win. Because star players will not patiently give up goals and get nothing in return.
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