Friday Fun Flailings

Well tonight I'm off to Verizon Center to catch my first live NHL game in months. I'll be watching the Capitals take on the Columbus Blue Jackets, I still haven't seen any postings about tonight's Caps roster and it looks to me like they are still carrying 29 players on it. I don't see them necessarily getting down to 23 with their final 6 reassignments until they absolutely have to given the way ALL the guys on the bubble seem to be working to impress the coaching staff during camp & the pre-season. That said it wouldn't surprise me to see the entire first line of Ovechkin - Backstrom - Knuble playing together tonight and on Sunday to get their timing and situational awareness together down pat before the season opener and the second game/home opener against the now even higher octane New Jersey Devils. But we'll see since other than Mike Green apparently indicating he expects to play tonight, there's really be no news on the line-up.

Yesterday, the Caps assigned Cody Eakin to his junior club, the WHL's Swift Current Broncos, while Braden Holtby and Lawrence Nycholat were sent to Hershey. The following forwards are still in camp and are presumably fighting for the last couple of available roster slot(s): Jay Beagle, Andrew Gordon, Matt Hendricks, Marcus Johansson, Mathieu Perrault, and Steve Pinizzotto. It also seems given there are still nine (9) defensemen on the roster theres at least some possibility that there is a bit of a battle for the seventh d-man slot on the roster between: Tyler Sloan, Brian Fahey and Patrick McNeill. Finally in this area (the Caps Roster) from what I can tell all the Caps who had to clear waivers to be assigned to Hershey (Kyle Greentree, Brian Willsie, Keith Aucoin and Andrew Joudrey) have done so.

Only two more pre-season games until the season open in Atlanta next week, fall and hockey are definitely in the air today in the DC Metro, at least here in Bucolic Bristow they are. Several trees behind our abode have turned; the temperature this morning was barely over 60 degrees Fahrenheit; and I find myself planning my day so it ends with enough time to get to Verizon and grab a hot dog before a Capitals game... It's already a great day to be me and it's not even 8:00 AM yet.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!