No Hartley on the list

By ERIC DUHATSCHEK, Globe and Mail

Boudreau was promoted from the Capitals' farm team in Hershey on an interim basis. It makes sense for the Capitals to wait and see if he has the right stuff to coach on a full-time basis in the NHL (his resume suggests he does) before sifting through the available candidates who are currently looking for work (Pat Quinn, another Canucks' alumni, and Dave King, who knows something about how to handle Russian players, would be two prime candidates if the Boudreau experiment doesn't pan out).

...hmmm... No mentioning of Hartley, maybe he is in Moscow already :-) I don't think Hartley is a good answer. Dave King? maybe... Pat Quinn? nah...

For Boudreau to keep a job... he needs to win the next 10 games, like Alex promissed in his interview to SovSport:

"The season is long, we have only passed a quarter of the distance. Everything can still change. Watch us to win 10 games in a row…"

Actually Boudreau needs to win today in Philadelphia. One more loss and his interim status will become permanent. :-)

Frankly sounds almost impossible plus Semin injured his wonky ankle again. Boudreau has no room for mistakes, very tough task for him or any coach.
We'll see...

Update:
Ken Campbell, THN, on Boudreau's interim status:

Of course, it was only fitting the Capitals would name Boudreau an interim coach. Certainly wouldn't want to give the guy a sense of security, now would they? Actually, it makes sense, since Capitals GM George McPhee is also on thin ice. Should he be fired this summer, the new guy coming in likely wouldn't want to be committed to a coach he didn't hire.

But for a guy who was called up and sent down 26 times during his tenure in the Maple Leafs organization, Boudreau doesn't seem to mind the designation.

"Actually, I think it was a smart move," Boudreau said. "If I had been George (Capitals GM McPhee) I would have done the same thing. I'm sure he has some confidence I can do the job or he wouldn't have brought me here in the first place, but I also know he probably wants to see how things go the rest of this season.

“Now it's up to me and I absolutely want to do everything I can to have that interim tag removed from my name. (Philadelphia Flyers coach) John Stevens was an interim coach and he proved it to Philadelphia."

More of Eric Duhatschek:

Alexander Ovechkin, with 13 goals in 19 games, remains about the only reason to come out and watch the Washington Capitals play this season.

Are we gonna have the two-part show, performed by a single actor Alex Ovechkin again this season? In the first part the actor leads the team in all stats and there is a hope for playoffs. In the second part that single actor again leads the team in all stats, and he is the only reason half of the audience is still watching, the other half has left already...

Last season when Caps lost the chances for playoffs, it was horrible... that gloom and doom was carried to this season, I believe... Nobody wants to lose and if Alex won't have his new contract signed soon... we might see him elsewhere next season...

Highly unlikely, but it is possible.


Update: Caps 4 - Flyers 3. Congrats to Boudreau and the team! When Flyers scored the third in a row to even the game and force overtime, I thought, that's it, it's a final meltdown, but Nicklas Bäckström turned to final countdown. Just like Ovechkin said, "Watch us to win 10 in a row"

One down, nine to go... The journey back to .500 and... shhhh playoffs has begun...

Happy B-Day, Nicklas!



Update:
By Tim Leone, Patriot-News

The Caps lost a 3-0 lead but were rescued by Nicklas Backstrom's game-winning goal at 1:55 of overtime. The rookie beat goalie Martin Biron off a rush by Alex Ovechkin in which Ovechkin whiffed on his shot.

"Quite honestly," said Boudreau, elevated Thursday from his position as Hershey's head coach in the wake of Glen Hanlon's firing, "I caught myself saying, 'Ovechkin is up. Ovechkin? Holy smokes.' That's what caught me most of all. I was here in front of 20,000 people. It was a good situation."

By Scott Morrison, Winnipeg Sun

So it falls to Boudreau, who made his debut yesterday afternoon in Philadelphia, to get the Capitals pointed in the right direction. And it falls to McPhee to get Alex Ovechkin under contract. If Boudreau fulfils his task, it will help McPhee take care of his. If they fail, consider them both working on an interim basis.