I simply have to vent this and get it off my, ah, proverbial chest ladies. As the resident Ovi fan and Captials fan, I know this will come as shock, but I AM SO MAD AT HIM, at them, at the WORLD and have been for some time and I just have to say and get it out.
An open letter to Mr. Leonsis,
I say this with as a fan of Alexander Ovechkin, first and foremost, and then of hockey. When you fired Bruce Boudreau, a little piece of me died because no matter how the mainstream media spun it, we all know that it was because of player issues – e.g. Ovechkin.
Boudreau is a great coach. He will probably be the best coach you will ever have. He was not the problem. We all know “What the problem is with the Washington Capitals.” The real question is what is going to be done about it?
For five years I’ve watched Ovechkin go from a great player to a player with a great attitude. It pains me to say that but having been an athlete myself on a team, and a captain as well; you have to lead by example.
I had hoped Mr. Leonsis would have bucked the system and shook things up by NOT firing Boudreau, showing some loyalty, having some balls, and fixing the real problem. If he had, his team may have actually had a shot at the play-offs. Sometimes the Alpha dog needs a good swat to the nutsack to get back in line and lead the pack.
But as it stands, the fans have watched Boudreau excel in Anaheim, their beloved team implode under the tutelage of Dale Hunter’s mess and Ovi still stands around on defense, stands around on offense, waits for his teammates to pass the puck to him and still misses it when they do. His attitude that he has to do it all has got to stop because guess what? He can’t, he certainly doesn’t and there are guys out there who can and are doing it better now.
He still has time on his contract where he can be traded. Perhaps before you fired Boudreau you should have used that bargaining chip to get your Alpha dog back in line. Now he’s the Rick Nash of the East Coast. No one will want that bad golden apple, no matter how good it might taste. He’s still too costly, you don’t know how he’ll perform and there still might be a worm in there somewhere. It’s not an imponderable conundrum. It’s just a conundrum.
FIX IT. PLEASE.
Missing BB,
DC
Tags: Alexander Ovechkin, Bruce Boudreau, Ted Leonsis, washington capitals
I agree with every single word you said, and I am sick to my soul about it.
Thank you. I love Ovi but someone with more clout needed to sit him down and say, “Kid, you’re good but you’re not THAT good and here’s the deal, pull it together or go back to Russia because that attitude doesn’t fly here no matter how much money is on the table. Or we’ll trade you to a shithole team if you have such a huge problem with Boudreau. Now hand over that “C” because Brooks Liach already has his needle threaded. 🙂 I think they would have been in a better play off position. But unfornately, there is no wayback machine.
Let it out!, your totally right on the whole issue. Every time I watch a Capitals game he is always acting like a 2 year old instead of a 26 year old, can’t shot worth shit anymore, he doesn’t deserve to be captain. Give it to someone that works his ass off for the team and is a team player. That needs to stop or he’s going to lose every single fan he has. And possibly his job too.
Agreed. You know it’s bad when Ovi is trying to steal the puck from his own player. The “C” has not been earned by Ovi. Totally agree that Brooks has deserved being captain. I’ve thought that since 24/7 aired.
WHAT IS HAPPENING?! I think Dawn and I ran into each other yesterday and had a Freaky Friday exchange. I’ve been biting back the “Trade this piece of s*%$” comments all season (well, not from Gator) because I don’t like Ovi anyway, and I’m biased. But when Dawn says it… well, who else has sweatpants with OVECHKIN across the ass?
I know how hard it is for Dawn to say this. But she’s right. It’s not the same as the Flyers trading Richie and Carts away for partying, but it’s close. If you don’t care and you don’t put the team first, you don’t stay. Ovi has saved himself marginally by delivering huge OT game winning goals (and for that we thank him), but it’s not enough. If he had his heart in the game, the Caps wouldn’t have to win like that.
PS: He can take Sasha Fierce with him, I’m sick of that jerk.
Firing BB was a big mistake. BIG. HUGE! I have to go shopping now…
You don’t allow players to have enough pull to get a coach fired… especially when that player (looking at you Ovechkin) isn’t even playing well. Someone needs to give him a dose of “reality” because clearly he’s living in “rockstar fantasy land”.