around the internets

Tarik has an article in today's WaPo that has me all fired up....and the Caps too it seems.

"There was a certain point [this season] where we could say, 'Poor us, we're playing well, and we're doing all these things well, but we're just not scoring," Hanlon said. "But the past couple of games that hasn't been the case. That's not other teams beating us, that's us beating ourselves."

[...]

Clark added: "It's not the coaches; it's the players. They go out and get us the information we need. We just have to execute it. It has to come from inside this room. No one else is going to get us out of this."

Being the eternal sports optimist, I believe the Caps are going to fix the problem tonight and come out swinging. I was supposed to depart for Casa Shmee's parents this afternoon for the holidays....but I am not (Shmee's parents dont actually know this yet. We will be avoiding that phone call as long as possible). I am staying in town for the game tonight. As a wise man who played for the Mets once said, " You gotta believe!" or as I would pronounce it, " Ya gawta believe".

I am stepping off my soapbox now, and turning it over to Corey at the Washington Times:

To focus on better ice management and eliminating turnovers, Hanlon split his team in half and simulated a 20-minute game of 3-on-3 at the end of practice yesterday at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. Giveaways were punished by allowing the other team an unimpeded offensive rush.

There also was a rectangle put down on the ice with black spray paint near the benches to force players to wait for teammates to get off the ice before hopping over the wall. If anyone got caught cheating, there was a 30-second penalty assessed, and the team played 2-on-3.