from chuck Gormley of CSNWashington,

So how many losses need to pile up before they realize this doesn’t work?

To me, that is the underlying question of this season and only general manager Brian MacLellan can answer that. So far this season the first-year GM has been patient, waiting to see how his team responds to Barry Trotz and his “culture change.” But it’s clear that after 25 games, the Caps are not as far along in the process as Trotz would like and a week doesn’t go by without Trotz bringing up his players’ need to break old habits.

I asked Trotz to elaborate on what he means by old habits and he ran off a list as long as Eric Fehr’s stick without even pausing, from how they practice to how they deal with adversity. But the most damning quote from Trotz was this: “ I think we’re better than we’ve shown, but we’re not as good as we think we are.” I have wondered from the very start of this season whether the Capitals can change their culture without changing their players.

Personally, I think MacLellan will spend these next several weeks pondering that same question.

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