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Boudreau sends Caps message with bag skate

Bruce Boudreau

Washington Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau gives instructions after calling a time out in the overtime period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011. The Capitals won 3-2 in overtime. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

AP

Bruce Boudreau skated the slumping Capitals hard at this morning’s practice. Consider it punishment for last night’s 5-2 loss to Dallas at the Verizon Center.

When asked why he went the bag-skate route, the coach explained his thought process.

“It’s not something you do off the cuff,” Boudreau said, as per the Washington Post. “The initial thought is you’re so mad you want to do something and then you have to sit and say, ‘Okay, you’re mad, let’s do the right things here. What’s best for the group and everybody?’ You talk it over with the assistant coaches and we come to a decision that the initial thought is probably the thought that was going to work in this case. It’s not something that you do every day because if it’s one of those things that if you do it every day, it’s not going to work.”

Should be interesting to see how the Caps respond Friday in New Jersey. Boudreau won’t look good if they lay another egg. People will say the Caps have tuned out their coach, that they’re playing for him to be fired, etc.

That’s the risk a coach takes when he punishes his players in public. If it doesn’t get results, it looks like he’s lost for answers.

Hey, remember when the Caps were 7-0-0?