Wild Wednesday Witticisms and Notes ...

Wild Wednesday Witticisms and Notes ...

Well last night the Capitals met the Boston Bruins at Verizon Center for their third game of the pre-season and came away with a 3 - 2 win. As with moat pre-season games numerous key players were not dressed for either side however by all accounts the game was a pretty fun one to watch. New addition D.J. King had a "dust-up" with Shawn Thorton in King's first game as a Capital. King, acquired in July from the St. Louis Blues, wasted little time in making his presence felt. Playing in his first game as a Capital, King dropped his gloves and took on Boston’s Shawn Thornton at 6:59 of the first period. Both men landed a few good blows, and King finished the fight by taking Thornton down to the ice. This is apparently a great thing and the center-point of the game to folks like OFB ... BTW King is wearing number 17, which in addition to having most recently been worn by former Captain Chris Clark, was worn by Chris Simon when he was a Capital - coincidence? Anyway with all this hype, I'm not even sure I should bother talking about the other aspects of the game like the three goals the Capitals scored, etc. But why not, it's sort of my thing, you know...

So even though there was a good hockey fight either because it ended in what could be looked at as a draw or because you know the rules and object of the game haven't changed, the winner was decided by keeping track of who scored the most goals... In that category the Capitals bested the Bruins by having one more goal at the end of regulation than the Bruins had. Scoring for the Capitals were young centers Mathieu Perrault (age 22), and Cody Eakin (age 19), who managed to sandwich a goal by Alexander Semin. Semin's goal was set-up by a good pass from young center Marcus Johansson (turns 20 next week). Also assisting on two of last night's goals was Alex Ovechkin, who saw his first action in a pre-season game last night as well. Goaltender Michal Neuvirth played the entire game for the Capitals while Nolan Schaefer backstopped the Bruins for all three periods. Neuvirth had a respectable SV% of 90.09% on the night. With 30+ guys still on the roster, none of the "bubble guys" are making the decision of who to send down easy for Coach Bruce Boudreau General Manager George McPhee. That's a good thing for the organization but it's unclear what can and will be done to keep so many talented, young players on a trajectory of continued and effective, if not rapid, development as Hockey Players for those that do get sent down to Hershey. Also I know the Capitals are basically a young team and perhaps a more seasoned veteran in the second line center spot would be a good addition both on the ice and in the locker room, but with all the apparent depth of young talent down the middle, does it really make sense to put a guy who's proven to be more effective as a Winger into that spot, even if he did score 23 goals last season? So while others saw last night's line-up as having three guys on the ice/roster who are battling for the third line center spot on the roster, I'm continuing to unrealistically hope it was otherwise.

Anyway, that's .. that's ... THAT'S ALL for today folks!

LETS GO CAPS!!!