Will A New Coach Turn the Capitals Around?

Some of us were having this discussion back in April when we thought that coach Bruce Boudreau would be out as the Capitals coach after losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a four-game sweep. Well, his run as a Capitals coach ended today.

Bruce Boudreau was finally fired by the Capitals after struggling through this portion of the season that finally let the Capitals management. He was the fastest coach to win 200 games in modern-league history but his problems in the playoffs and recenty stumblings were the ones that got him ousted.

Boudreau will be replaced by former Capitals captain Dale Hunter, who will make his debut Tuesday night when the Capitals face the St. Louis Blues, starting a three-game homestand.

"This was simply a case of the players were no longer responding to Bruce. When you see that, as much as you don't want to make a change, you have to make a change," general manager George McPhee said to media reporters earlier today. "Bruce came in here and emptied the tank. He gave it everything he could and did a really good job, but the tank was empty," he laer added. "When that happens, you get a new coach, where the tank is full and see if it makes a difference."

Hired on Thanksgiving Day almost four years ago, Boudreau went 201-88-40 in the regular season but has a somewhat dismal 17-20 record in the playoffs. This season, he tried a new approach, a new way of getting things to the point where he could actually win a Cup. Unfortunately, that technique has now left Alex Ovechkin in bad shape in terms of performance and he has not produced as much as he had last season.

The Capitals had a great start to the season, with a 7-0 record, but it went downhill quickly, losing six of their past eight games, and Ovechkin has only a goal in those eight games.

Well, it was about time. People across the league, mostly analysts, who have been calling on Bruce Boudreau to get fired at the end of last season. Management, however, kept him on. Now it's goodbye and it's time for a change.

I was one of those people who was skeptical about Boudreau's performance this season, after what happened in last season's playoffs. That 7-0 record, I thought, might have kept Boudreau his job, but it was that slump that the organization looked at and determined that a change was necessary.

Now with Boudreau gone, the Capitals promote Dale Hunter from the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. A former Capitals player himself, Hunter knows what the general manager McPhee is looking for. A team that can win the Southeast Division, but most importantly, win the Stanley Cup. He was very good in the OHL, where he became the fastest coach in OHL history to reach 300 and 400 career wins.

But now, can he bring success to Washington? The key here is Alex Ovechkin. If he can get back into form and score some goals, then there's a chance that Hunter is the right man for the job. It's going to take some time, though. This is not something you can bring in and ultimately it works, but after a while, I think Dale Hunter will be the right man, and the Capitals needed this change, because this team is underperforming and underachieving. They can go all the way, but they just need a coach that has the mindset and the strategies to get them all the way there.

For anybody who wants to see that MLS Cup 2011 recap, here you go: