The Week In Review - Stars Surpirse Wings and Make A Go Of It

The last week in review could have these headlines.
For NHL fans try these two on: A) Stars Make a Go Of It, Surprise the Red Wings 2 -1 at the Joe; and B) Flyers Still Alive and Eagerly Awaiting Kimmo's Return.

For ECHL Fans: It's "Cincinnati Advances To Kelly Cup Finals Cyclones Beat South Carolina 2-1 In Overtime "

For Local (Bristow/Gainesville/Haymarket, VA) lacrosse fans it's "Battlefield Bobcats fall 8-9 to Osborn Eagles In First Ever Playoff Appearance"

For Caps Fans It's: "Green, Semin, Federov & Ovechkin Make To Play For World Championship" Yes, it's Canada vs. Russia for the championship and the way Semin, Ovie and Federov have been playing together perhaps, if it weren't for the two years remaining on his contract, Michael Nylander might be getting a little worried.

For folks who follow ICx Technologies it's: "ICx Technologies Reports First Quarter 2008 Results"

So overall it's been a pretty busy week. Work continues to go at a hectic pace and on the personal front getting ready to watch our son graduate from high school and start at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on July 10th is keeping us quite busy and productively occupied. The Caps blogs have all been a little slow, I attribute this to the fact many of the players who management would want to negotiate with have all been at the IIHF World Championships. Truth be told all the Caps involved have turned in pretty respectable performances in the tournament. Here's a few notes for those looking to catch up. Even though Nicklas Backstrom's Sweden team lost their Bronze Medal match-up to rival Finland 4-0, Backstrom had a pretty good tournament and was a force to be reckoned with despite his young age. Nicklas was one of Team Sweden's Ice Time leaders and had 3 goals, 4 assists and was +1 for the tournement and had a Faceoff Won percentage of 58.6%. Over on Team France, goalkeeper Christobel Huet was able to turn in a respectable GAA of 3.60 and a save percentage of 91.12% while salvaging a 2-3 record for an otherwise very young and inexperienced team. As for Mike Green and his performance for Team Canada, in 8 games played so far "Game Over" has 4 goals, 7 assists and is +1 averaging 14:19 of ice time per game. In seven games played for the Czech Republic, Tomas Fleischmann, had 2 goals, 3 assists and was +/- +6. Finally, Team Russia boasts 3 Washington Capitals the Sashas (Ovechkin and Semin) and Sergei Federov. Ovechkin, a leading candidate for the NHL's Hart Trophy, has 6 goals, 4 assists and is +9 with an average of 16:59 minutes per game over the 8 games played leading up to today's championship match-up. Semin, one of the other Washington Capital "Young Guns", also has 10 points - 4 goals and 6 assists, and is +9 with an average time on ice (TOI) of 18:11 per game. The elder statesman, Federov, has 5 goals, 5 assists and is +9 with an average TOI of 17:22 per game.

I just checked the online feed and the IIHF championship game finished regulation tied 4-4. Semin scored the first goal, assisted by Ovechkin and Federov. The Canadians then scored 3 unanswered tallies through the rest of the first. Semin then scored the second Russian goal early 1:14 into the second period on a power-play. Heatley answered at 9:56 into the second to keep the Canadians up by 2 at the end of the second. During the third period the scoring at least was all Russia and they tied the game up. For third period scoring, 8:55 into the period Tereshchneko scored assisted by Semin and Tyutin and at 14:46 into the period Kovalchuck tied the game at four where it's stayed until the start of overtime. Clearly, Washington Capitals have a lot to look forward to next season. LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!

Post Game note: Right after I posted this originally, Ilya Kovalchuck scored the game winner on an overtime powerplay the primary assist on the goal - Sergei Federov. From a personal perspective I don't know if the Caps and Sergei can figure out a way to have him in a Caps uniform next season but I sure hope they do. I believe he's got gas left in his tank and would once again be a real help in the post-season if (Scratch That, WHEN) the Caps make the playoffs again next year.

Federov & Huet - No Brainers?

On February 26th - the trade deadline, Washington GM George McPhee made several moves in addition to the Matt Cooke for Matt Pettinger deal. In all McPhee and the Capitals made three additional deals that day. They acquired veteran center Sergei Federov from the Columbus Blue Jackets for Prospect Defenseman Ted Ruth; they acquired 32 year old Goalie Christobel Huet from the Montreal Canadeans for a 2009 2nd Round Draft Pick they had acquired earlier in the season for surplus backline center Brian Sutherby in November; and they traded 29 year old journeyman forward Joe Motzko to the Atlanta Thrashers for journeyman forward Alexandre Giroux.


The Caps picked up 27 year old center Alexandre Giroux for 28 year old Right Wing Joe Motzko. What this deal was about is really unclear other than trying to give two journeyman another chance at greener pastures isn't obvious. Though it does appear a fair deal and it did clear ~$100,000 of cap room for the Capitals next year.


In designating rookie Cary Price as their number 1 goalie and trading Huet to the Caps, the Canadeans picked up a reasonably good draft pick for a guy they were likely to not resign anyway. The Capitals picked up a "second" number 1 goalie to bridge from 37 year old Olie Kolzig to any one of several goalies in their development system. Whether the Caps resign Kolzig will be dependant on Kolzig himself. It's virtually certain after the past twenty games, the Caps will make an effort to resign Huet, who is an unrestricted free agent at season's end. The Caps also have 31 year old, solid backup, Brett Johnson signed under contract through the 2008-2009 season. There doesn't seem to be much doubt the Huet deal made a very positive impact in Washington and was a solid move by George McPhee. Since joining the Capitals, the 32 year old Huet has played 13 games, compiling an 11-2-0 record including 2 shutouts; while earning a Goals Against Average of 1.63 and a save percentage of 93.6%. Between Huet's and Kolzig's current salaries the Caps have $8M of cap room at the end of the season; between this and their other Cap room, they should be able to resign Huet as well as Defensive Phenom, Mike Geen who is a restricted free agent at years end. Either way - whether the Caps resign Huet or not - in retrospect this has been a no brainer.


The benefits of picking up of 38 year veteran Russian center Sergei Federov are a little more sublime. Federov, an unrestricted free agent at seasons end, has three Stanley Cup Championships under his belt; and is a solid steadying presence in the locker room for Washington' younger Russian phenoms. Federov has 2 goals and 11 assists in 18 games played with the Caps; additionally he has played well on both the Powerplay and the Penalty Kill units. Additionally, Federov is clearly a great 2nd line partner for LW Alexander Semin. Semin has been on fire the last games of the season and his cross-ice backhand pass to Federov to set up the game winner the other night was masterful. Clearly, playing with the first big name Russian to come into the NHL is both inspiring and reassuring for both Semin and Ovechkin. Semin has a center that understands his style of play and Ovechkin has a guy he talk to in his native tongue about the burdens and joys of super-stardom and chasing that first Stanley Cup. Just as Michael Nylander was a solid, steadying influence for Nicklas Backstrom during the first part of the season, Federov is the same for Alexander Semin. Whether Federov comes back to the Caps and they have room for him next season of not, the Federov pickup was indeed a no brainer - who is Ted Ruth anyway?

The Caps first playoff run in five years starts on Friday at Verizon Center against the Flyers. I'm on vacation till Monday so my next post after tomorrow morning may not be till Tuesday but hey - LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!! Ovechkin for President - 2008!!!

Flyers 2 - Penguins 0; Biron Finishes Regular Season With Back to Back Shut-outs

It's official, the NHL Eastern Conference third place Washington Capitals will face the sixth place Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the 2007 - 2008 season playoffs. As a kid I was a HUGE Flyers fan so I thought I'd have been a little bit conflicted. I am not at all though, so - LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Both the Caps and the Flyers are hot right now. The Flyers finished the season 7-1-1 with Marty Biron shutouts in the two final games. Even though Sidney Crosby didn't play in the final game, the Penguins played a solid game and the Flyers had to work to win two well deserved final regular season points. The Caps are 13-4-0 since March 1st, and Caps Goalie Christobel Huet had a GAA of 0.750 in the last three games of the season. The Caps finished the season with a seven (7) game winning streak and are the hottest team in the NHL right now. For the season the Caps have the second most improved regular season record; the Flyers have the most improved regular season record. The series will be hard fought and hard hitting. Injuries will play a factor. The Capitals have some injury challenges right now, particularly on Defense. Jeff Schultz went down in their season finale against Tampa Bay and did not return for the rest of the game; and as of this writing there has been no update on his status.

Updated Player Pos Injury Expected Return

04/07/2008 Jeff Shultz D Unannounced Questionable

04/06/2008 Chris Clark RW Groin Questionable for first round of playoffs
04/06/2008 Shaone Morrisonn D Upper body Questionable for first round playoffs
04/06/2008 Brian Pothier D Concussion Doubtful for first round playoffs
04/06/2008 Dave Steckel LW Finger Probable for first round playoffs;

02/06/08 Michael Nylander C Shoulder IR. Out for the season

For the Flyers their injury report is slightly less daunting:

Updated Player Pos Injury Expected Return
02/27/2008 Simon Gagne LW Concussion IR. Out for season
12/28/07 Mike Rathje D Groin IR. Likely out for the season
03/17/08 Derian Hatcher D Leg Out for season

Center Daniel Briere, Right Wing Sami Kapanen, Defenseman Jason Smith, and Center Denis Tolpeko were all also scratched and didn't play in the Flyers season finale against the Penguins today.

Over the course of the season the two Eastern Conference foes met 4 times and the Flyers led the series 3-1. Since the Caps Thanksgiving day coaching change the series was knoted at 1-1. All four games were tight, three of the four were decided by one goal and the only game that the margin of victory was greater than one goal was a game where the Flyers scored an empty net insurance goal in the final minute. Fans can expect this series to be hard hitting; fast paced and probably low scoring. Goaltending will be key for both teams, in the end it will however come down to Washington's big men against a balanced Flyers attack. The Flyers have seven (7) forwards with twenty (20) or more goals this season. The Caps have three (3) forwards including league goal scoring leader Alexander Ovechkin, along with left wing Alexander Semin and center Brooks Laich with more than 20 goals. They also have defenseman Mike Green with 18 (leader among all NHLdefenseman this year) as well as Victor Kozlov with 16 goals and rookie center Nicklas Backstrom with 14 goals. Additionally, trade deadline pickups Sergei Federov and Matt Cooke have made their presence felt on special teams since their acquisition. In goal the Flyers #1 Martin Brion has no NHL Playoff experience in his 9 NHL seasons, while backup Antero Nittymaki has 2 NHL playoff games under his belt in his three NHL seasons. On the Goaltender situation for the Capitals, they have two #1's and an experienced backup ready to go all with more playoff experience than either choice Flyers Coach John Stevens has. It seems clear, Caps coach Bruce Boudreau will look to trade deadline pick-up Christobel Huet, who is the hot goalie in DC. Huet has 32 wins this season split between Montreal and Washington; he's won his last 9 outings and has a save percentage of 97.0% (and a GAA of 0.750) in his last 4 outings. Like Biron and Nittymaki, despite playing 4 NHL seasons, Huet has limited playoff experience - he went 2-4 with a GAA of 2.44 and a save percentage of 92.9% for Montreal in the 2005-2006 season playoffs. If anyone is motivated to have a great playoffs though it's Huet; he'll be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and each round the Capitals advance that he is in net will likely result in solid financial rewards for the NHL's only French Born player. Additionally, he's got to be motivated by the intense competitive nature all goalies share to drive his new team deeper into the playoffs than the Canadeans rookie of the year candidate, Cary Price, who he was cast aside for. If the Caps need playoff experience in goal, they can turn to current number " 1/2", veteran Olaf Kolzig. The 37 year old Kolzig has a 20-24 record in 45 playoff games including the 1998 playoffs when he backstopped Washington to the Stanley Cup finals. Sidelined, healthy scratch, Caps number two, Brent Johnson also has more playoff experience than both Flyers netminders combined. Johnson has 12 games of NHL playoff experience, most gained during the 2002 playoffs with the Saint Louis Blues when he went 5-5 in 10 games played.

The series will be fun to watch when it kicks off on Thursday or Friday; hopefully I'll be able to catch it on satellite - I'll be in the Bahamas, fishing for Marlin, Tuna and Dorado, with a few of my USMMA Class of 1982 Classmates on my Best Man's boat. It was a tough call but not that tough. We'll be fishing for four days from Thursday through Sunday, we'll spend a day or fishing the eastern side of the gulf stream around Bimini and dock for the night in Alice Town, one of Hemmingway's old hang outs. Then we'll proceed into the Tongue of the Ocean and spend two days fishing out of Chubb Cay Marina, some of the best Marlin fishing in the world in early April. Over the past four years this trip has become an annual tradition for five of us and each year we seem to find a way or reason why it's length needs to grow from it's original three day weekend duration. This year we are going from April 9th - 14th so I won't be making any blog posts during those from the 9th until the 15th.

I'm ready for a break, even if it means I'll miss the first few playoff games the Capitals have. Over the last month, we've had a lot of excitement. At work, ICx Technologies, has had am eventful couple of months. I was on a team that just finished submitting a competitive proposal for a large DoD CBRNE program, it was the largest program I've been involved in chasing since joining the company in 2006 and both exhilarating and pressure filled. One of our larger trade shows just concluded - ISC West - on Friday and during it, we had several product releases as well as product update releases. On my return from vacation, I'll be in the middle of chasing two more smaller DoD Force Protection initiatives that will keep me busy and occupied for the next couple of months. So a short break from the real world pressures with a few days of fishing in paradise, and maybe a cheeseburger or two there as well, will be a welcome respite.