Does anyone else feel like NHL/Caps hockey has become boring?

I admit, that’s a strange reaction to have to a 5-2 win in which Oshie picked up a hat trick and the Caps scored 2 (almost 3) PPGs. I was excited for each goal, verbally frustrated at all the miscues or bad calls, and a hat trick could not have come for a better player as Oshie is all heart, 100%, every game. Still, I left the game feeling, meh, and I don’t know if it’s the Caps, NHL hockey in general, the game experience at Capital One Arena, or any or all of these things.

For reference sake, I’ve been following the Caps since 1989 and I went to games regularly until I moved from MD to TX in 2006. Since then, I have gone to games against the Stars whenever the Caps are in Dallas and rarely when I’ve visited family in MD. My last game in DC was 2014 though. For the most part, I don’t get to watch games on TV. Parking myself in front of the TV for sports games just isn’t a priority for me and I don’t feel like paying for all the platforms needed to do so. I keep up with the Caps by following the games on the NHL app and occasionally listening in to John Walton (Oh, how I miss Ron Weber, though I did get to hear his voice on MASN during my Thanksgiving visit last November).

Anyway, as for the team. They just aren’t exciting anymore. There are those that seem dialed in (Oshie, Strome, Lindgren come to mind) but, it looks like they’re not on the same page most of the time. The passes aren’t crisp and quick, the skating is haphazard at times (too man friendly collisions which indicates poor communication to me), and too many miscues (that drop pass to no one in the defensive zone at the end of the 2nd while on the Power Play that went to a Blues skater, WTF?). I guess part of this is age. They’re not the same high flying team they used to be. But as well as they played against the Blues, I also can’t help but feel that they got away with one because it was St. Louis and Oshie was on fire. This type of play might get them into the playoffs, but there’s no way it’s going to take them out of the first round.

As for the individual players, I haven’t been a fan of Kuzy since the Cup. I feel like he got his Cup, he got his contract, and he’s done. There’s flashes of brilliance, when it’s convenient for him, but otherwise, never mind. And I fully recognize there’s no easy way out of that situation. Ovi, it seems like he’s different. I get it, he’s older, but that doesn’t seem like the correct explanation. I don’t buy that he’s lazy either. He looks, listless I think is the word. Maybe he’s playing a different way in a different system? But to me, he looks less intense, less joyful. Maybe his father’s passing is still affecting him?

The game itself was slow. A new comer to hockey was sitting behind me and she said this out loud while I was thinking it. Is hitting down across the league as a whole? Has the haphazard enforcement by DPS finally taken its toll? I noticed this the most with Wilson and Ovi, but the Caps in general just didn’t look physical enough. And to be fair, it wasn’t just the Caps. St. Louis wasn’t really throwing bodies around either. To be honest, it was both comforting and disheartening to see at the same time because I’ve noticed this in the past few years when the Caps come to play Dallas too, but I thought it was just a product of those two teams. Also, what the hell is up with the obsessive ice shoveling? I’m guessing this is a league thing, but honestly it just seemed to slow the game down. How odd that MLB is taking steps to speed up their game while the NHL seems to be finding ways to slow theirs down?

And then there’s the the fan experience. Whenever I hear owners mention this my initial thought is, all the matters to me is that you put a consistent, winning, and exciting team on the ice. The intermission and TV timeout BS is still of no consequence to me, but a couple things stood out. That fancy new Jumbotron seemed way under utilized. Sure we saw the goals, but where were the replays of close calls, big saves or plays? Also, it was really neat seeing the player stats projected on the ice during intermission, unless you were sitting on the player’s bench side of the arena where everything appeared upside down. Again, this would be better on that giant screen hanging above center ice. And speaking of on-ice projections, I like the shot tracker, but what did all the markers mean. The goals were easy to pick out, but the Caps had 8 shots in the first and there were something like 15 read markers of varying shapes? Finally, the crowd? Is that typical now? I guess being a Thursday night had something to do with it, but it just seemed tame. Is the team rubbing off on the fans, or is it the other way around. Perhaps the absence of the vuvuzela guy had something to do with it, but you can’t convince me that the lack of an organ isn’t having an impact.

Wow, that was way longer than intended, but I just wanted to get these thoughts out there and see how far or close to the mark I might be in my perceptions. Cheers.