Thoughts on Hanlon

Earlier today someone posted the following question in a comment: is it time to fire Hanlon?

Until now this is a subject that I've admittedly been rather wishy-washy on. In all my time as a fan I've been very reluctant to aim the finger of blame directly at the bench boss. I grow attached to coaches, almost as attached as I am to the players, and the thought of firing them often seems beyond my thought process.

That officially ends today.

I'm jumping on the "fire Hanlon" bandwagon right now, tossing aside my sentimentality which really has no place in sports in the first place, ditching my childhood naivete and saying that this team should be better. It should be better and there is no longer any excuse I can give for why they are not.


This is a team full of people talented enough to make a living playing hockey. So why is it that they are routinely unable to do the little things like complete a pass or get a decent scoring chance? Why do players continue to shoot the puck directly into the opposition's skates, often allowing an odd-man rush? Why do players like Ovechkin and Nylander continue to overplay the puck and ultimately turn it over?

The fact that the defense has improved enough to overcome these little breakdowns is beside the point and in fact is little comfort - it may be a goal prevented but it's also an offensive chance blown at the other end. When you're only scoring one goal a night you can't afford to be missing the net with your shots or turning the puck over on the power play.

Then there's the chemistry, an elusive animal that, until recently, seemed to be present in the locker room. There was a good spirit, a positive attitude, a sense that this team was in it together. But is it me or does that seem to be missing lately? Players sound increasingly dejected in interviews - we're playing well but we're just not winning, we're not getting the breaks, blah blah blah.

Twice in the last two weeks we've seen articles come out from scratched players airing their frustrations at the lack of playing time - something I don't remember seeing in recent years. It begs the question, why aren't Sutherby and Eminger getting ice time? You can say chemistry is delicate, lines are set, we want the depth to have two healthy bodies in the press box...but when the team is losing all the time, that argument stops holding water.

You can't claim that this team is better without those two in the lineup - and I'm not saying they're the answer, either. As much as I like both of them I can admit that neither is the team-saving type. I just know that I've seen Jeff Schultz fail to line someone up with a solid check or turn the puck over far too many times not to wonder what Eminger would have done in the same situation. I know that I've seen Sutherby give 110% on every measly shift he's been given this year, something we can't always say about some of the other forwards. It's not like this team can get any worse...might as well let them play a bit.

And what about the work ethic? This team has been one of the worst teams over the last three years but there was never a question that they came to play almost every night. Teams would say afterwards that the Caps were a hard-working team, tough to play against, and you couldn't take them for granted. Haven't seen those quotes floating around after many games lately...

So yes, it's time for Hanlon to go. I realize that I am but one voice and I come into this argument late and with all the authority of an armchair GM. But all these things - the lack of basic hockey skills, the lack of chemistry, the lack of hard work - these are all things that fall squarely in the lap of the coach. It is his job to drill the hockey fundamentals into his team's minds. It is his job to create chemistry where there was none. It is his job to motivate the team to put in a full sixty minutes of high energy, hard-working hockey.

Coach Hanlon is a great guy, a great coach, a great leader. He was a breath of fresh air after the disaster that was Bruce Cassidy's tenure here, a calming voice when the team was being sold off bit by bit, a reassuring presence when the Caps wallowed at the bottom of the league two years running.

But now it seems his work is done. Time for a change.