Washington Capitals Press Conference
The Washington Capitals had a very disappointing end to the 2012-13 CDCGML season. After being the top team in the entire league for almost a third of the season things just seemed to slip. The Capitals finished the season 11th overall in the standings and 9th in the Eastern Conference just outside of a playoff spot. We had some time with GM da.moose to ask him a few questions about the recent draft, missing the playoffs, and what to expect in the upcoming offseason as well as the 2013-14 season.
Question #1: What caused the team to slip so quickly in the standings last season and what will be different about the team this upcoming season?
Answer #1: I'm going to start by saying that I don't think last season was a disaster at all. I am a very competitive person and obviously missing the playoffs hurts; especially when the team has such a promising start to the season. Last season we knew we were giving a lot of very young and inexperienced players a lot of playing time and a lot of opportunity to prove themselves within the organization. The fact that they started off so hot just shows the amount of potential some of these players have and how good they can be as soon as this season. However, there comes a point in the season where experience in the NHL becomes a huge factor. These young guys are not as used to professional hockey. All the hard work takes a toll on them and you need experienced guys that are accustomed to playing an 82 game season to lead the team. I was very impressed with a lot of players last season and we will continue to give them opportunities to become key players within this organization. This season though we believe that we have enough veterans that we can rely on to carry the load from the beginning until the end of the season. Guys like Gagner and Turris are a year older and adding players like Bourque, Cogliano, and Gonchar at the deadline will only give us more reliable options throughout the entire season.
Question #2: After last season will there be a coaching change?
Answer #2: Bruce Boudreau will remain the head coach of this hockey team. He has been here for my entire tenure and has motivated the team to over achieve at times. That division championship during my first season had a large part to do with Bruce's coaching as well as the run to the Stanley Cup Finals during my second season. The hot start out of the gate was largely thanks to Bruce as well. We will be making a few changes to his staff though. Former Devils defenseman Scott Stevens will be taking over as our primary defenseman coach and we are in discussions with Jamie Langenbrunner about a potential coaching opportunity as well. We will just wait to see the decision he decides to make this offseason.
Question #3: With the 14th overall selection in the recent draft the Capitals opted to draft Frederik Gauthier out of the Rimouski Oceanic. What can you tell us about this player and what can fans expect from his in the future?
Answer #3: We are very excited to have added such a promising young man to our organization. At 6"5 Frederik has a rare combination of size, speed, skill, smarts, and work ethic. He is a very mature and confident young man. He already excels at the defensive end of the ice so we are quite confident that he will make the NHL squad down the road. How much upside he has is the big question mark though I guess. Some scouts look at his numbers; especially in the second half of this season and questions Frederik's offensive upside. We believe that he is going to be a late bloomer in that regard. We are looking forward to the task in developing Frederik into a key player for us down the line. Honestly, I'm not expecting him to be here for 3 or maybe 4 season's. He has a lot to learn about the offensive side of the game. The fact that he is already so dedicated and gifted on the defensive end though will hopefully mean that he can put more focus towards learning the offensive end of the game. Most players his age are the opposite. He just does a lot of small things right that I notice and is very smart. He was offered a full hockey scholarship to Harvard but opted to go to Rimouski instead.
Question #4: Should we expect any big changes to the roster this summer?
Answer #4: Hopefully not. We are hoping to keep everyone around and just continue to develop from within. The biggest moves we made were during the trade deadline when we added three pieces that we believe will improve this team immensely. Outside of them we are really just depending on our leadership core that has helped us remain very competitive every season as well as the development of our big group of very young players.
