Who Would Have Thought...

Who would have thought that I of all people would be posting a link to this article by one Larry Brooks of the New York Post as one of, if not the best, post 2009-2010 articles on what the Caps Management should keep in mind and think about this off-season? I'm pretty sure Satan is now sipping on his second Frozen Pina' Colada of the day....

Sunday Regular Season Finale Finally Brings Resolution To A Number Of Questions

When we awoke this morning the mark for the Art Ross Trophy had been set by Vancouver's Henrik Sedin at 120 points after the H version of the Sedin Twins had a four (4) point night last evening, gathering 4 assists including 3 while setting up the D version (brother Daniel) for a hat trick, during the Canucks' final game of the regular season, a 7-3 pasting of the Calgary Flames.

Despite the fact, 14 of the NHL's 30 teams finished their regular season before this morning, the Capitals first round playoff opponent was still unknown as well - would it be the Montreal Canadiens or would there be another rematch against the New York Rangers. That would be determined during today's game in Philadelphia, both the Rangers and the Flyers started the day with 86 points, the winner would have 88, the same total as the Canadiens finished their season with last evening, and continue on to the playoffs. The loser would fall just short and their season would be over. The "play-in" has so many undercurrents, sub-plots and story lines around it, being between division rivals whose overall season results were generally below pre-season expectations, that it was actually hard to know what to expect. In the end ... the match ups in both conferences are now set.

In the East:

1) Caps vs. 8) Canadiens

2) Devils vs. 7) Flyers

3) Sabres vs. 6) Bruins

4) Penguins vs. 5) Senators

In the West:

1) Sharks vs. 8) Avalanche

2) Blackhawks vs. 7) Predators

3) Canucks vs. 6) Kings

4) Coyotes vs. 5) Red Wings.

We started the day with the Caps still having one game to play, against the Bruins, at Verizon Center, on National TV - NBC's Sunday Game of the Week. Both the Caps and the Bruins were in the playoffs, and their seeding was set. The Caps started the day with a league leading 120 points and their first President's Trophy already on their mantle this season. Boston started the day entrenched in 6th place in the Eastern Conference with 89 points. Regardless of the score at the end of this afternoon's game against the Capitals, the Bruins would finish the day in 6th place and face either Buffalo or New Jersey depending on how those teams finished the day during which who of those two would be in 2nd and who would finish 3rd in the East. In the end ... the Bruins took the Caps all the way to a shootout ending regulation and overtime in a 3-3 tie before the Bruins won the "gimmick" leaving the Caps with a season long record of : 54-15-13 and 121 points and poised for the start of the playoffs against the Canadiens.

... and the NBC coverage was very even handed. It's been a long time since I've watched a game covered by NBC as a Caps fan and didn't have at least two or three issues with commentary made by the NBC broadcast team, so I feel obligated to give some kudos on this one. First there was actually some love shown by both Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury for Mike Green's game and skills BOTH Defensive and Offensive skill. Milbury's assessment of the Caps strengths and weaknesses during the first intermission was low key and I felt even handed. He mentioned real legitimate stats, the PK#, the GAA, and the OT record, that show where the Caps need to tighten up the team defense and why people focus on that and the goaltending as to why the Caps might be beatable in the playoffs. He didn't make any sort of stupid, sensational, emotional statements, like say a certain winger who currently plays for a non-playoff team domiciled in the State of Ohio.

Last night's results meant that at least 9, possibly 11, teams in the league would finish the regular season today with 100 or more points. That total is, by far, the most teams over 100 points ever and, IMO, is clear evidence of the combined effects of the introduction of the three point game in conjunction with the increasing parity throughout the league as a result of the salary cap and free agency as regulated under the current NHL CBA. At the end of the day ...eleven (11) teams did finish with 100 or more points, four (4) in the Eastern Conference and seven (7) in the Western Conference.

All that said, the day started with several Alex Ovechkin still clearly fighting for the Rocket Richard Trophy as well as having a third Art Ross Trophy within reach, and several other Capitals still working towards some milestones. Alexander Semin started the day with 39 goals, Semin had never reached the 40 goal plateau. Mike Green started the day with 19 goals, back to back 20+ goal seasons for a defenseman was a notable accomplishment to be shooting at. Mike Knuble started the day with 28 goals, the 37 year old veteran has reached the 30 goal plateau only two other times in 13 NHL seasons. So the game between the Bruins and the Capitals was not without items of interest. In the end... Semin tallied the game's first goal while the team's were even strength at the 2:23 mark. That score was number 40 on the season for the talented winger from Krasnojarsk, Siberia; his first 40 goal season, though likely not his last.

Knuble tallied one of the two goals he needed but finished the season with 29 goals. Green played a great game notching an assist and going +2 for the day, but finished the season with 19 vice 20 goals. Ovechkin ended the day with no additional points, last year's Vezina Winner Tim Thomas robbed him several times today to keep the Capitals Captain off the board today. So the following three guys should all be sending their thanks for the help cards to the Bruins 'tender: Ross Trophy Winner Henrik Sedin, Rocket Richard Trophy Co-Winners Sidney Crosby, and Steven Stamkos.

So what's next? The first round of the playoffs, you know that "second season" - the one that really counts. For the Washington Capitals it starts at Verizon Center, when they take on the Canadiens. If your like me, you've been anticipating this year's playoffs for about 9 months. Seriously, I've been expecting the Capitals to return to the playoffs since last August. Now we'll see how much better, mature, and focused this Capitals team is then any prior one. Personally, I know this is exactly what all of us who lived through "the rebuild" as Caps fans and Season Ticket Holders (STHs) were hoping and rooting for. Hopefully, this is just the beginning.

LETS GO CAPS!!! C-A-P-S, CAPS, CAPS, CAPS!!!!

It's Been A Busy Week - For Me and the Washington Capitals

Hard to believe the last time I wrote my blog was basically a week ago and the Capitals had just dispatched the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 in regulation. Since then the Caps have won three more games beating Boston 3-2 in OT here in DC on Monday, the Penguins 6-3 in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, and Atlanta 5-2 here in DC last night; I also travelled to Edmonton for Business on Tuesday, had an allergic reaction to something I ate at a business dinner on Tuesday evening, had a miserable trip home on Wednesday, went to the DR on Thursday morning, then spent the rest of Thursday and Friday getting caught up with things. Today has actually been the first time since last Sunday, I've had time to collect my thoughts. Also, I have to admit I didn't really see any of the Caps - Penguins game but the Calgary game on Tuesday was well covered in Edmonton, if you'd like to discuss that.


I did see all of both the Boston game on Tuesday and the Atlanta game last night - both on television. So how about those Caps - all they do is just win, not bad for a team that...what was the quote, oh yeah, "plays the wrong way." Seriously, let's start with the great numbers after last night's two point night against Atlanta:


1) 120/54 - as in 120 points and 54 wins; only one other team has amassed 120 points since the lockout - the 2005 - 2006 Detroit Red Wings who ended the regular season with 58 wins and 124 points, before that - the advent of the "three point game" the last team to amass 120 or more points was the 1995-1996 Detroit Red Wings who finished the season with an amazing record 62 wins, 13 losses and 7 ties for a whopping 131 points. That let's you know just how good a season we've all been watching this Caps team have. Is this the best Caps team ever - well it's the best regular season record by at least 12 points if that's any measure.


2) 311/3.83 - as in goals for and goals/game. The Caps are the first team to have over 300 goals for in a season since the 2005 - 2006 Ottawa Senators had 312 (3.80 goals/game) and the 2005 - 2006 Detroit Red Wings had 301 goals for (3.67 goals/game).


3) 109/101 - as in Ovechkin and Backstrom's point totals so far with one game to play. The Caps are the only team in the league with two 100 point scorers since Lecavalier and St. Louis had 108/102 respectively in Tampa Bay in the 2006-2007 season.


4) 50/4 - as in 50 or more goals in four (4) of his first five (5) seasons in the NHL for Alexander Ovechkin. A feat matched only by: Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy - that's some pretty impressive company to be in.


5) 30/19-0-2/.0.923/2.54 - as in Jose Theodore's numbers that matter: 30 wins, 19-0-2; .923 SV% and 2.54 GAA since January 1, 2010. On the season, Theo's SV% is .911 and his GAA is 2.81; those are the best numbers Theodore has had since the 2001-2002 season. If that season sounds familiar it's because it's the one when Jose won both the Hart and the Vezina Trophies.


6) 7 maybe 8 and 12 - as in Capitals players with 20 and 10 or more goals this season.


7) 6 of 10 -as in 6 of the top 10 players in the NHL on the +/- leader list.


8) +86/23 - as in the Capitals current GF/GA differential (+86) and delta they lead the next closest team in the league, the Chicago Blackhawks who have a +63.


9) 19.2/19.0 - as in Mike Knuble and Tomas Fleischmann's shooting percentages - now that's making them count. Flash has 23 goals, of which 4 are game winners; Knuble has 28 goals, of which 5 are game winners.


Yeah, I think those are 9 reasons why this is probably the best Capitals Team ever. That's something I'm pretty sure a lot of folks will agree with me on. Now if I could get more folks to agree with me and Alan May that the easy pick for starting netminder for the Capitals in this year's playoffs is Jose Theodore. Why Jose isn't getting more love is truly beyond me.


Next up, the playoff bound Boston Bruins tomorrow in the regular season finale at Verizon Center.


Here's rooting for 122/55, Ross & Richard, 40 for #22 and 30 for #22.


LETS GO CAPS!!!!!

Colby Armstrong Suspended For Two Games

Per a post on NHL.com: "...the Thrashers will be without Colby Armstrong for the next two games as he was just suspended for using his elbow to hit Mathieu Perreault's head in Thursday's game. Armstrong will miss Saturday's game in Pittsburgh and Tuesday's game back home against New Jersey."

I'd really like to see the Thrashers make the playoffs, but from my perspective, this is the totally right call, and the suspension duration is also correct.

I chose not to make a big deal about this earlier as I suspected that this would be one instance where I would agree with Colin Campbell's actions. I don't think it was a heinous crime, Armstrong was relatively square to Perreault when he delivered the hit, I just think the rule needs to be interpreted and applied as consistently applied as possible. As BB said after the game - an elbow to the head is an elbow to the head. Every player needs to now understand just as it's their responsibility to always keep their stick in control and below their shoulder, it's also their responsibility to keep their arms into their body and to avoid targeted contact, or any chance of perception thereof, to the head of someone they are hitting. Whatever you may feel when you watch the numerous videos of this incident available on the web, in this instance Colby Armstrong did not do that.

Since my statement is in no way what the current or even the proposed rule reads, let the debates and name calling begin. I say that for two reasons - one to make clear this is just one man's opinion and two to illicit your thoughts on the whole situation/event.

Who "Really Wants It" in the Easten Conference, Anyway?

Last night three of the five Eastern Conference "bubble teams" (Philadelphia, Montreal, Boston, Atlanta and the Rangers) were in action - all three (Philadelphia, Boston, and Atlanta) lost. On Wednesday evening the Canadiens lost to Carolina. On Tuesday evening all three Eastern Conference"bubble teams" in action (the Rangers, Boston and Atlanta) won, but over the last two weeks that's (bubble teams winning) been the exception not the rule.

Of the five teams in the East fighting for the final three playoff spots, only three - the Atlanta Thrashers and the Montreal Canadiens have played better than 0.500 hockey over their last 10 games; those teams aren't "lighting the world on fire". Here's what things look like:

#6 Philadelphia, 82 points; Last 10 games: 2-6-2;
#7 Montreal, 82 points; Last 10 games: 5-3-2;
#8 Boston, 82 points; Last 10 games: 5-5-0;
#9 Atlanta, 80 points; Last 10 games: 6-3-1;
#10 New York Rangers, 78 points, 1 or 2 games in hand; Last 10 games: 5-4-1.

So doesn't that drive you to a couple of things like: a) Who of these teams really wants to make the playoffs? b) Does it matter - I mean are any of them in their current state even close enough to win a seven game series that it's possible any of them could see the second round? and c) Given the way the five of them are playing should we start to watch the 11th place Hurricanes and 12th place Islanders and track them as "bubble teams" too? It at least sort of does me to ask/do so.

One thing seems certain the way those teams are playing, we won't really know who the Caps will face in the first round of the playoffs for a while.

In the Western Conference the big question this morning is - Is tonight's game between the Avalanche and the Flames in Colorado really a must win for both teams? If it's not it's almost as close as a regular season game can get to a game 7 can get. It should be a good one to watch.

Capital Night Ends With 50th Win and 112th Point On The Season

Well it was a Two Point Night at Verizon Center tonight and maybe I am a jinx. Tonight's outing by the Capitals was a far better night of team defense against a desperate team. It was also a good hockey game to watch. Because of my back I ended up giving my tickets away and spending a good portion of the day as well as the game trying various standing, sitting and prone positions to see what ones my lower back might find pleasing. A condition that just didn't seem conducive to being part of tonight's sellout crowd at 7th and F. I'm optimistic tomorrow will be more betterer in the back department. In the meantime I do have to be concerned that I was the reason for the three game loosing streak. Oh well I'll live with it, what choice do I have?

In any case tonight's game - the good:

1) Solid Team Defense And Good Transitions Out Of the Caps Zone;

2) The Bradley - Steckel-Chimera Line; some numbers for a third line: Steckel 11 of 14/79% in faceoffs, only guys better were ... Chimera and Brads - each 1 for 1 and 100%. All three +1, All three with 1 point, Bradley with the GWG - his fourth this season - pretty "money" for a guy with 9 goals. BTW it's now official - this is Professor Bradley's best year ever for sure, I mean he and his wife have their first child, and his offensive production numbers now match or exceed his best year ever. It's always cool when nice guys do well, IMHO.

3) Brooks Laich's return and line combinations and offense in general all seemed more balanced - a coincidence - I think not.

4) The Ovechkin - Backstrom - Knuble line played solid hockey all night and the first goal of the night showed me all four of "The Young Guns" are now getting fully refocused, locked and loaded. In fact if not for some good work by Thrashers' goalie Ondrej Pavelec, Alexander Ovechkin could easily have had not one but two goals tonight.

5) Semeyon Varlamov play though not perfect and though at times he didn't look as confident as one might like was very good. His 23 stops on 24 shots for a 0.958 SV% was clearly enough to earn the win. A solid outing that should go a long way in getting the youngster engaged and confident for whatever he is called to do in the post-season.

6) Speaking of Mike Green - another great night by the one "young gun" on the blue line. A solid night all around for the Capitals ice time leader. He led the team in hits with 4, blocked 2 shots, was +1 and had an assist on the night in 24:20 TOI.

Let's be clear, this game was nothing like the first four games against the Thrashers this season. It was an entirely different style game then in the past. The way the Thashers are playing right now is much more like a team then they had been before the "big" trade with NJ. Both guys they picked up from NJ are solid pickups and make them a better team. Since it was pretty clear that Ilya Kovalchuk didn't want to re-sign, at virtually any price, if you had to say one way or the other, based on tonight's game, they did the right thing.

In the end what made tonight even better than the two points, if you are a Capitals fan, is the Caps won it. They didn't back into these two points, they played well and hard and won the game against another team that also played hard and well. It was the type of game the Caps needed to start to get ready for the post season. It was exactly the type of game we as fans needed to keep our perspective and remember just how good this team is.

Next up the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Saturday.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Have I Suddenly Become A Curse As A Hockey Fan?

It has to be me. Since my last post my favorite NHL team - the Washington Capitals - have posted two straight losses in regulation IN A ROW ...AT HOME, and my adopted NCAA Team the Bemidji State Beavers lost to Michigan in the NCAA Tournament. It must be me, it couldn't have been both of them, coult it? I mean a curse or something like it has to be at the center of the whole "flumux" that my hockey world has become.


First on Thursday evening 3/25 the Caps loose, AGAIN, to the Carolina Hurricanes in overtime 3-2. Then on Saturday, the BSU Beavers loose 5-1 in the first round of the NCAA Division 1 Men's Ice Hockey Tournament in Fort Wayne, IN to Michigan. Michiga, coached by former Saint Louis Blue Red Berenson simply overpowered the Beavers. BSU coach Tom Serratore was quoted as saying: "That's the hottest team in the country and it might be the best team in the country right now." after bigBlue tore up his Beavers. Just 24 hours later though the Blue had fallen to the Redhawks from Top Seeded Miami of Ohio, the team they beat in the CCHA tournament to earn their berth in the NCAA's. Oh well the Frozen Four is now down to: Miami of Ohio (last year's runner-up); who will face the Boston College Eagels in their Semifinal and the number 3 seed Wisconsin Badgers facing off against this year's Cinderella team, the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers at Detroit's Ford Field on April 8th. The final insult to my prowess as a "charm of a hockey fan" came yesterday when the Washington Capitals lost to the Calgary Flames at HOME in REGULATION 5 - 3 after having a first period that they finished behind 4-0.


So how do I feel today you might ask? Quite glad that I'm not one of those folks who gets too, too emotional about "their teams." Seriously I know folks who are Redskin fans that come into work depressed or mad on Monday's after the 'Skins loose the prior day. I just don't see that. I would say though, that I agree with Coach Boudreau, there's rarely, if ever, a reason to boo your team at home, let alone when they have what is really an infrequent off day/game; you really can't just "turn it on and off" that easily. What I mean is, isn't it about time to stabilize the roster with the one you feel will be "THE" roster for round one of the playoffs and start to let guys get in a grove? Sure I'd distribute the ice time more than you might otherwise do in the playoffs - no reason for ANYONE to play more than 21 minutes TOI in a game between now and April 11th. However, shouldn't the line-up be configured within maybe the occasional 1 person or two, if we count the goaltenders as well, of the expected/planned lineup for game 1 of the playoffs? To me, that means that Milan Jurcina, John Erskine and Tyler Sloan get little if any game time on the blue line right now. It also means the lines up front stabilize as much as possible so instead of shuffling the forward lines all around if a guy like Brendan Morrison is out, then the guy playing in his place plays "his regular line and regular shift" instead of shuffling the rest of the lineup, etc.


Fact, even though I'm a jinx and the Caps lost yesterday, they still clinched the Eastern Conference Championship thanks to the scores elsewhere around the league - in other words when the Devils lost 5-1 in Philadelphia yesterday that meant the Caps locked up the Conference Crown. Am I frustrated the Caps have failed to gain their 50th win of the season in their last two outings - yes. Would I like to see them have Home Ice Advantage throughout the ENTIRE playoffs, no matter how far they go - sure. However, right now the Capitals are locked for the # 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and are 5 points up on the San Jose Sharks and 10 points up on the Chicago Blackhawks for the "President's Trophy" - the Sharks have 6 games left to play, the Caps have 7 games left and the Blackhawks have 8 games left this season. My point is Boudreau is right, but as I said, not everything is rosy at Kettler and Verizon Centers. I'm all for the Capitals using these last 7 games to get ready for the playoffs, but maintaining that winning attitude and that "aura" of a really tough team to beat is very important. I think it's as important as anything else in the playoffs. Time and again, the team that finishes the season playing well and playing hard goes deep into the playoffs - look at how far Carolina went last season?


So it's settled, I'm a jinx and the Caps are aching and ready to turn things around. No need to panic, it is only two games but I'm sure the guys want that 50th win as bad as we fans do. I'm also sure the team next up - the Ottawa Senators are as motivated as the Calgary Flames were on Sunday. That means the Caps need to play like THEY not Ottawa are the 5th place team in the Conference fighting for their division title - after all that is what Ottawa is and will be doing. For sure they can't play a period of hockey as uninspired and unmotivated as Sunday's first period - well it's not impossible - but it is highly unlikely - thank goodness.


So let's all get with the "Zen" program, do a big cleansing breath as we get into the Lotus position and chant our mantra - sending positive vibes to the Capitals ....UMMM..UMMM....UMMM...


LETS GO CAPS!!!!


UMMM....

The Caps Season So Far ... By the Numbers

Yesterday I caught up on many musings or at least had time for the first time in a while to type them into my computer. To me "blogging" is kind of like what NPH used to do at the end of each episode of "Doogie Howser, MD." In any case today is the first time in a while, basically since the NHL Season resumed post-Olympics, that the Caps aren't either just coming off a game or just going into the next game, so it seems like a good time to reflect on the season thus far, and that's what I've did late last night. I figured I'd share some of what I think are the highlights one gets when looking at the current NHL Team Stats in a comparative fashion. So by the numbers the Capitals are the #1team in the NHL in the following categories:


A) When trailing after the first period, the Capitals win are the only team in the NHL who win more than 50% of the time. They have a win % of 0.593 while the team in second place to them - the Pittsburgh Penguins only come out on top when trailing after the first period 48.5% of the time. If never saying die is a measure of "heart" the Capitals lead the rest of the NHL by at least 10%.

B) The Caps also lead the rest of the league in winning % when they out shoot their opponent. When out shooting their opponents the Caps are 0.692 while the second place Chicago Blackhawks are 0.639. This is a great statistic, especially when you combine it with the fact the Capitals are third in the NHL in average shots per game with 32.9 behind only Chicago and Detroit who each average 33.2 and 32.9 shots per game respectively.

C) Of course the Capitals also lead the league in the following categories: i)point percentage with 0.736 vs. second place Chicago at 0.683; ii)average goals for per game with 3.88 vs. second place Vancouver who score an average of 3.24 goals per game; iii)wins - so far the Capitals have 48 wins versus second place Phoenix who has 46; iv)power play % - the Caps score on average 25.9% of the time when they have a man advantage, while second place Montreal scores 23.4% of the time in similar situations; and, v) overall team +/-, the Caps are +66 as compared to second place Chicago who is +41.

D) The Caps are just 17th in the league in GA/G with a total of 2.76 goals per game, as compared with the league leading New Jersey Devils who limit their opponents to an average of just 2.34 goals per game. However, the Caps lead the league in 5 on 5 Goals For/Goals Against Ratio with 1.58 goals as compared to second place Vancouver who has 1.29. New Jersey? - they are 10th in the league 1.05.

E) When it comes to successfully closing out games where they are leading after 2 periods, the Capitals only 9th in the league with a winning percentage is 0.882 while the league leading Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings are a perfect 1.000 in that category. Of course the Caps have outright won 66.7% of their games overall, while the Kings have won 58.6% of theirs and the Sabres have only won 54.9% of theirs.

F) In fact the only summary level statistical category where the Capitals are weak and you really can't find any sort of countering statistic that either explains why or mitigates the impact and concern is the Capitals penalty killing statistics. The Capitals PK is a woeful league #24th at 79.1% while the league leading Boston Bruins are 86.2%. Of course last game the PK unit went a perfect 5 for 5, one can only hope the trend here continues and the PK unit improves to at least 85% the rest of the way this season and through the playoffs.

What's this all mean anyway. Bottom line, I think it means two things, and those two things are a bit cliche' and pretty obvious to us all but they bear stating simply and directly:

1) The 2009 - 2010 Washington Capitals are a helluva a good team, possibly the best Capitals team ever, surely current Caps fans hope they go further than ever before.

2) All that probably means at this point is the Caps may well go into the playoffs with home ice advantage throughout. Nothing more, nothing less. In other words come the 2010 playoffs, when once again "history will be made," the Caps and everyone else left in the field will start with a clean slate for the most grueling post season in professional sports. It will be important for them to be ready to scrape and claw, every way possible within the rules, for each and every one of the 16 victories required to win Lord Stanley's Cup.

Having just returned from several days at my Alma Mater, I feel it's appropriate to conclude with the traditional: "That is all, carry on", since the next Caps game isn't until Wednesday evening.

The Last Week - Where Does The Time Go...

Wow, it's been a week since I made a blog entry? Was I brain dead? Was my mind on total hold, I mean no musings for a week? Well, no not really, it's just been a pretty busy week and it started with the hit by Ovie on Campbell and then deciding to wait and see what the NHL would do about it. Then, the disappointment in those decision and then, well then my real life took over and I was out of town from Wednesday until late last night. So here goes a quick recap and summary musings about the last week, now that the heat of the moment and all that other stuff are over.

1) Ovie's hit on Campbell was in my opinion the following: a) The result of a bad decision by a 24 year old young man who also happens to be the Captain of the Washington Capitals and one of, if not THE, best ice hockey players in the world. b) To some degree rooted in everything you might both like and dislike about "the new NHL." Some may argue, but there is a general "lack of respect and meaningful repercussions" in the NHL today, and one of the two main roots of that is the ill considered "instigator rule." The other main root of that is that over the past several years, the NHL has made numerous rule changes that have increased the speed of the game.That has had two main very adverse unintended consequences both of which were on clear display during last Sunday's incident: i) injuries occur more frequently and when they do, they are often worse then in the past and ii) the game is now often too fast for the officials to be able to keep up and be in position to see the plays and penalties properly, thus they make poor calls or miss calls more often. In the end, I'd have to say that the way things played out, if you're a Caps fan, and I am, you feel the reaction and suspension was excessive. If you are a Blackhawks fan, or don't like Ovechkin's style of play, you probably feel he should still be in the Press Box. So, in the "logic" of NHL discipline, which is often Hammurabian in nature, all things considered the NHL probably got this as "right" as possible. The real issue is when will some of the rule changes that are really driving these things be "rolled back"? and the game returned to it's more physical but slower roots? In the end that's really the only thing that will fix this without trying to turn things into a "no contact sport" which certainly isn't going to happen. There, how's that for a musing?

2) Well the Caps have played 4 games since my last posted musings and they went 3-0-1 on a four game road trip, two games of which were without the league's leading scorer and their Captain. At the start of the week the Caps had 99 points and now they have 106, they are leading the league, in fact as I write this they are leading the Blackhawks for the President's Cup by 9 points, though Chicago has a game in hand. In the Eastern Conference the Caps lead the Flightless Birds from Pittsburgh by 16 points (8 games) while both teams have just ten (10) games to play - one of which is the Caps next game on Wednesday evening against none other than those same Penguins. The Pens first play the Red Wings in Detroit tomorrow night before coming to DC for Wednesday's contest. That means that when the two teams face off on Wednesday evening it might be possible for the Caps to lock up the Conference depending on what happens in Detroit on Monday, New Jersey on Tuesday evening, and Buffalo on Wednesday. To my minds eye, that would basically be the beginning of the real journey towards this season's real goal, a journey that hopefully won't be over until June.

3) So far the Capitals are 7-1-2 since the Olympic break, that's 0.800 hockey with respect to points captured vs. points available. For the Caps to reach that lofty 120 point season level, the level that historically has been viewed as some of the best seasons ever, they have to play 0.700 hockey for the season's final 10 games. The remaining 10 games are 8 games against Eastern Conference foes and 1 game against the Calgary Flames. Additionally 7 of the 10 remaining games are on home ice here at Verizon Center where the Caps are an amazing 26-4-4 (0.824) so far this season. That said it won't be easy pickings, nine (9) of the 10 games are against teams that all still have something to play for and games that might have ramifications on post season positioning or if the opponent makes the post season at all.

First on Wednesday, they face the Penguins here in DC - the 2nd place Pens are dueling with Devils for the Atlantic Division Championship, a loss to the Caps could make the difference for the Pens of a first or second place seeding in the Conference and a fourth place seeding. The Caps then travel to Raleigh, NC to face the 12th Hurricanes who are 5-4-1 in their last ten and still have a possibility of sneaking into the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

On Sunday the 28th the Calgary Flames come to Verizon Center, the Flames are currently in 9th place in the Western Conference "duking it out" with the Red Wings for the final playoff spot in the West. Then on Tuesday the 30th, the Ottawa Senators come to DC, the Senators have been struggling of late going just 2-7-1 and have lost heir last 5 games, however, they are in 5th place in the East though have the same 79 points that the 6th place Flyers and 7th place Canadiens have, so every game is once again a big one for the Sens.

Next month the Caps close their season out with 6 games. Two (2) games against the surprising Atlanta Thrashers, two against the Boston Bruins, the fourth regular season game against the Penguins, and a game in Columbus against the Blue Jackets. The game against the Blue Jackets in Columbus on April 3rd is the only game of the Caps' final ten (10) against an opponent that isn't fighting for a playoff berth or post season position. The Thrashers have won their last four games including today's game against the Flyers, a 3-1 victory in Philadelphia. The Thrashers are currently in 9th place in the East, just one point behind the Bruins. The Caps play the Thrashers in two games here in Verizon Center first on April Fool's Day (really) and then seven days later on Friday April 9th. The Caps play the currently 8th place Bruins who now have 76 points and 10 games remaining twice more here in DC as well. The first of the final two regular season games against the Bruins is on Monday April 5th and then the final game between the two is the final game of the regular season for both teams here at Verizon on Sunday April 11th. While the Caps final regular season match-up with the Penguins in Pittsburgh on April 6th will likely be hyped by the media much more, the four games against the Bruins and Thrashers will likely have a much greater potential impact on this year's post season.

In any case, the road between now and the end of this regular season, will not be easy for the Capitals. To my mind, that is a good thing as it should help ensure they are well prepared and ready for the even harder road the playoffs bring.

4) Looking at the Eastern Conference standings right now it seems entirely possible the Caps could face any of seven different opponents in the first round of the playoffs: Ottawa, Philadelphia, Montreal, Boston, Atlanta, the Rangers, or Florida. It's also still mathematically possible for three others to sneak in - the Islanders, Tampa Bay or Carolina though each of them need to make up 8 points in just 10 games remaining and they are all currently slumping, so it doesn't seem likely any of those final three will make the playoffs.

5) Finally, during the past week, indeed actually since January, Jose Theodore's performance has, in this blogger's opinion, made him the clear number 1 goaltender on the Capitals. I hope he continues to do so through June, as well.

As the week ends, the world is indeed in order but, next up, Pittsburgh. The journey continues, one game at a time.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

The Importance of Being "Earnest"

Over the past three evenings and yesterday the Washington Capitals have played in only one hockey game - Friday night - that they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning 3 - 2 in regulation. However during that time span they managed to a) clinch their third division title in a row, and b) put some additional breathing room between themselves and a couple of folks who are chasing them for playoff positioning and the NHL regular season championship, namely Pittsburgh and Buffalo.

During the past three evenings while the Caps went 0-1-0, Pittsburgh and Buffalo both played one of the games they had in hand on the Capitals. Pittsburgh went 0-1-1 in the span and no, like the Caps has played 68 games this season, leaving them only 14 remaining games to attempt to make up the 14 points (7 games) they trail the Caps. Over the same time span, Buffalo went 1-1-1, they have now played 67 games leaving them 15 games to attempt to make up the 17 points they trail the Caps and 3 points they trail the Penguins. Both the Sabres and the Penguins are also still fighting with division rivals Ottawa/Montreal and New Jersey/Philadelphia respectively for their division crowns as well. At this juncture, in the Northeast Division, Buffalo has 82 points/67 games played, Ottawa has 79 points/69 GP, and Montreal has 76 points/70 GP. In the Atlantic Division Pittsburgh currently has 85 points/68 GP, New Jersey has 83 points/67 GP and Philadelphia has 76 points/67 GP. On Thursday evening, Atlanta's loss to Columbus meant the Caps clinched their division as at that time they had at least a 15 game lead on every one of their other division rivals with just 15 games remaining.

So where am I going with all this background? Remember back in October when, after the Caps 3 - 2 shootout win over the Nashville Predators on the 17th, or after the 3-2 overtime win against the Islanders in Uniondale, we talked about "ugly wins" but how in April we'd only be talking about and thinking about the two points? Well, now is that time and indeed all we're talking about is the two points, they earned on those days and how now with a season total of 99 points, the Capitals sit atop the NHL standings. The Caps are in control of their own destiny today, and if they play to their potential through the rest of the season, they should continue to be so. How did they get here - let's look back at a month by month to get an idea.

• October: The Caps opened the season 8-2-3 and captured 19 points while playing 0.731 hockey.


• November: The Caps went 8-3-3 capturing another 19 points and played 0.679 hockey and finished the month with 38 points for the the first two months of the season.


• December: The Caps went 8-5-0, capturing another 16 points, playing 0.615 hockey and finishing the month with a total of 54 points.


• January: After opening the new year with a 2-1 loss to the Kings in LA on New Year's day, the third loss in a row, the Caps went 13-2-0 including finishing the month with the first ten of what would end up being a 14 game winning streak. The fantastic January record, 0.867 hockey, gave the Caps 80 points and propelled them into a clear battle for the league's regular season point title. It also clearly gives this year's Caps team a chance to finish the season with the best record of any team in franchise history and enter the playoffs with a top seed and home ice advantage throughout.


• February: After continuing the in process winning streak to 14 games the Caps went into the Olympic break on a three game loosing streak and a record of 4-1-2 and a total of 90 points. Even with a three game loosing streak the Caps were 0.714 for the month.


• March: Returning from the Olympic break, the Caps have started the month 4-1-1, made some interesting, relatively low cost trade deadline pickups and were the first team in the league to clinch their division and a playoff spot. The Caps now have 99 points and are on the verge of their second 100+ point season.

When you look at those month by month results, what you see is the Capitals have played consistently strong and with clear purpose and drive to win, throughout the season. One might say, the Capitals have played with earnest all season long, working hard to make sure they get back to the playoffs and go further then they did last year. The Capitals have clearly shown they understand it is much better to be finishing the season in a manner that is preparing for the post season rather then scurrying to make sure they make the playoffs. Now whether or not that means this Capitals team achieves what no other Capitals Team has during the franchises 35 year history remains to be seen. But it's sure been fun to watch them try, and it likely it will continue to be so. Of course, all that continues to require focus on the immediate task at hand by the Capitals and that means one game at a time. Next up, Chicago, today on the NBC Game of the Week.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

The Rest of the Season In The Eastern Conference

The Capitals pace this season is blistering and they've picked up where they left off once the Olympics Break was over going 3-0 since play has resumed. The Caps now have a few interesting magic numbers. They still have 17 games left to play this season but because they lead the Southeast Division by 30 points and 14 games their magic number to clinch the Southeast Division is just 3 - any combination of 3 wins by the Capitals or 3 losses by the the Atlanta Thrashers and the Caps likely clinch the Division since their magic number to ensure the Tampa Bay Lightening cannot win the division is 2, and the Florida Panthers is 1.



As far as the Eastern Conference goes right now the Capitals are basically fighting it out with four other teams for the Conference crown: Pittsburgh who has 82 points, New Jersey who has 79 points and two games in hand, Buffalo who has 77 points and two games in hand, and Ottawa who has 77 points and whom the Capitals have one game in hand on. So right now the Caps lead the Conference by at least 7 games on their next closest rival with 17 games to play. That puts their magic number on New Jersey at 11, Pittsburgh and Buffalo each at 10, and on Ottawa at 7.



These numbers are interesting and even more exciting when you look over the Caps remaining schedule. Eight of the remaining games are against other members of the Southeast Division. So far this season the Caps are 14-2-0 against teams in their own division. Further the Caps play the Carolina Hurricanes 3 more times this month - once at home and twice in Raleigh at RBC Center, and at this point following their trade deadline moves with just 59 points, the 28th place Hurricanes are playing solely for pride with a depleted roster, so it's probably not hard to see the Capitals capturing 4 or more of those available points, unless somehow Cam Ward manages to steal more than one game from the Caps. The Caps play the Tampa Bay Lightening and the Atlanta Thrashers each two times, Tampa once at home and once in Tampa this month and Atlanta twice here at Verizon Center in April. As they showed the other night the Lightening still has a team that isn't an easy match-up for the Caps if they get some reasonably solid play out of their goaltender so lets be conservative and say they split those 4 available points with the 'ning. However looking at Atlanta things get even more speculative, if the Thrashers come into the games with the Capitals still fighting with the Bruins, Canadiens and Rangers for the final playoff spot in the Conference, they might be able to fight hard and split the two games with the Caps, even though so far this season the Caps are 25-3-3 on home ice. Then we come to the Florida Panthers, the Fla-Cats have basically all but admitted they are already thinking about next season, so even though the game is on their home ice in Sunrise, I'll assume the Caps win and sweep this years series 6-0 since in the first 5 contests this season the Caps have outscored the Panthers 26 - 12. So just from playing 0.625 hockey against a set of opponents against who the Caps have been 0.825 so far this season, they should capture another 10 points putting them at a season total of at least 106 points.



The Caps have another five (5) games against other Eastern Conference teams from outside the Southeastern Division. They play Pittsburgh once more here at Verizon Center on 3/24 and once in Pittsburgh on 4/6 - the second game of a back to back and probably the hardest challenge for the Capitals in the remaining 17 games; Boston twice both games here in DC on 4/5 and then in the Caps final game of the season on 4/12; and Ottawa here in DC on 3/30. So it's not unfathomable to see the Caps snagging at least 6 of those 10 points which would put them at a season total of at least 112 points, which would be their best season total ever and that doesn't even take into account the other three games the Caps have to play against Western Conference opponents before the season concludes. The Caps play Dallas - their next opponent - on Monday Evening here at Verizon Center. The Caps come into the game riding a three game winning streak while the Stars have lost their last three and are rapidly sliding out of the race for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference so I'll call that one for the Caps. On Sunday 3/14 the Caps travel to United Center in Chicago to take on the Blackhawks on National TV and while that will be "one bodacious game" I'm again picking the Caps to come home with two points.Finally we have Calgary here at Verizon Center on Sunday 3/28 and in that game I'm figuring the Flames walk away with two points while the Caps get one. So with those five points the Caps finish the season with 117 points and their best season record and point total ever. the amazing thing about this analysis and recap is that it is conservative since a) it forecasts the Caps to capture points at a ate lower than they have so far this season, and it forecasts they do so against a strength of schedule that is weaker than they face so far this season. That's pretty intense wouldn't you say?



Of course it all has to happen one game at a time starting tomorrow evening against Dallas. That should be a good one...



LETS GO CAPS!!!

Caps Best Rangers 2 - 0; Theodore Gets First His Shutout of Season

It was a two point night for the Capitals, in fact tonight they earned their 95th and 96th point of this regular season. That's two more points than they totalled the entire 2007 - 2008 season when they won the Southeast Division with a total of 94 points; last season of course the Caps finished the regular season with 108 points, we'll come back to that later. In 2005-2006 and 2006 - 2007 the Caps totaled 70 points each season, for the entire 82 game season, aside form last season, the last time the Capitals were on anywhere near this pace or this good was a decade ago the 1999 - 2000 season which they finished with 102 points. As of tonight they have 96 points, lead the Eastern Conference and currently lead the NHL having captured 73.84% of the standings point they have competed for this season and they are on pace to capture 120+ points at this juncture. To put into perspective just how good this team is playing, the last team to capture 120 or more points was the 2005-2006 Detroit Red Wings with 124 and they are the only team to have done so since the lockout. Prior to the lockout, and the implementation of 3 point games only 10 teams, in the post expansion era have achieved anything like the Capitals success so far this season:

1) the 1976-1977 Montreal Canadiens with 132 points in 80 games,
2) the 1995-1996 Red Wings with 131 points in 82 games,
3) the 1977-1978 Montreal Canadiens with 129 points in 80 games,
4) the 1975-1976 Montreal Canadiesns with 127 points in 80 games,
5) the 1970 - 1971 Boston Bruins with 121 points in 78 games,
6) the 1972 - 1973 Montreal Canadiens with 120 points in 78 games,
7) the 1971 - 1972 Boston Bruins with 119 points in 78 games,
8) the 1985-1986 Edmonton Oilers with 119 points during an 80 game season,
9) the 1983-1984 Edmonton Oilers also with 119 points in an 80 game season,
10) the 1981-1982 New York Islanders with 118 points in an 80 game season.

Further if you look closer at the rosters of the teams that played and won those games you'll see rosters filled with depth and great names, many names who are in the Hockey Hall of Fame today. Caps fans, if you're not having fun watching games this season, you likely never will have fun at a hockey game.

Now about tonight, Jose Theodore - first star of the game and deservedly so, stopping 30 of 30 for his first shutout of the year, his third as a Washington Capital and the 29th of his career. Including tonight's game Theo is 22-7-6 with 1 shutout, a GAA of 2.79 and a Save Percentage of 0.910 in 37 appearances so far this season. Further in his last three games Theo is 2-0-1 and has better than a 1.90 GAA and better than 0.933 SV%. It would be great to see Theodore continue this level of performance until June, it would be a career year for him and it would mean a great year for the Capitals as well. Theodore played superbly the entire game tonight. Eric Fehr scored his 17th goal of the season on the power play in the first period and it was the game winner, although no one expected it to be at the time. Fehr scored by going hard to the net and roofing a nice pass from Tomas Fleischmann past Ranger backup goaltender Alex Auld. The third star of the game went to "new guy" Eric Belanger. For most of the game Belanger skated as the pivot between Brooks Laich and Alexander Semin and tonight he and his linemates looked very good the entire game. Belanger scored the "insurance goal" at even strength at the 13:38 mark of the second period assisted by both Brooks Laich and Alexander Semin.

Caps Trade Deadline Moves And a Quick & Dirty On Tonights Game Against The Sabres In Buffalo

First, Caps GM George McPhee GMGM made some moves today and from what I can tell it sure looks like he did so in a manner that a) didn't cost the Capitals all that much and b) won't in any way upset the chemistry on the team already here. McPhee acquired 4 players and he did so in moves that only affected/moved 1 person who is really on the existing Capitals roster.

- In his first move of the day GMGM acquired 36 year old Right Wing Scott Walker from the Carolina Hurricanes for a 7th round draft pick in this years upcoming draft.

- Then later this morning GMGM acquired 32 year old Center Eric Belanger from Minnesota for Washington's Second Round pick in this years draft.

- After that GMGM turned his attention to the in process salary dump underway just over in Columbus, OH and reacquired 26 year old Defenseman Milan Jurcina for a conditional pick in this summer's draft. Jurcina was sent to Columbus earlier this season in late December in the deal that brought Jason Chimera to the Capitals. Jurcina had played in 13 games between that deal and the Olympics, where he was on the Slovakian National Team. In his short stint with Columbus and in the Olympics, Juice looked strong, and got to play a bigger role and more minutes than he usually did with the Caps before the trade, GMGM and Gabby must have liked how they saw the 6'4", 233# Slovak respond. I certainly was sorry to see him go in the Chimera trade, as prior to the deal he was one of the bigger guys in terms of Hits and physical presence in the line-up.

- The latest deal to be announced was the biggest and the only one affecting someone on the current Capitals Roster. GMGM acquired 32 year old Defenseman Joe Corvo from Carolina in exchange for 32 year old Defenseman Brian Pothier, 22 year old Left Wing Oskar Osala of the Hershey Bears, and the Capitals Second Round Pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Pothier was slated to be an UFA this summer and I didn't expect the Caps to resign him, Osala had a couple of shots at the NHL level but had as of yet to catch on, though he will have a better chance at cracking the Hurricanes roster as a scoring left wing since he's not competing with Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Tomas Fleischmann for that role. However, the price tag for Corvo seems a little high if we're just going for a rental. Don't get me wrong, I think Corvo is a good pickup and Corvo is slated to be a UFA at the end of this season. His current salary is $2.65M and if the Caps could resign him at or near that number for a 2 or even 3 year deal he's probably a keeper but if that happens then there will be other moves this summer as well. It is nice to see the Caps now have a veteran blueliner with experience playing Bruce Boudreau's system.

The general news and emotions on the wire from pundits like The Sporting News seems to be that the Caps and GMGM had a good day and strengthened their roster or improved depth in the areas they made moves so they can make a deep run in to the playoffs. I agree with Michael Peca, Joe Corvo should take some of the heat and attention of opposing teams gritty forwards like Sean Avery off of Mike Green. That should help Green stay healthier through a 5 or 7 game series and maybe it even opens up some more room for him on some of his shift. The grit that Walker and Belanger bring only adds to the grit that Knuble and Chimera brought earlier this season. Additionally Belanger brings in another solid responsible older statesman at Center ice to compliment Brendan Morrison and ass a little more depth there. All of which helps ease the pressure on young superstar Nicklas Backstrom.

I think these moves are all pretty good and all at a reasonable cost, some will bemoan the price paid for Corvo but if as I hope it takes some pressure and attention off Mike Green in one or more of the playoff series the Caps play this post season, the deal is probably worth it, the only real impact/price the Caps likely feel from it is the loss of a second round draft pick in 2011, as in terms of the swap of Pothier for Corvo, at worst that's a wash and it wasn't looking like Osala was making the roster any time in the next two seasons here in DC. Everything else didn't cost much except for the second round pick for Belanger in this year's draft and his presence on the roster means at the end of the season and playoffs the Caps have two experienced guys who will be UFA at the end of the season competing for the 2/3 spot on the depth chart for Centers that currently make $1.5M and $1.75M so that means they ought to be able to resign the one they want to keep for a reasonable, and affordable number under the Cap while giving Backstrom the raise he will get this year as an RFA. Jurcina is a known commodity and a positive locker room presence who returns to the team with more experience and upside than he left it with, and Walker is a heart and sould kind of player who basically "didn't cost nuttin'" and played well for Carolina in their playoff run last season so to me, that deal was a "no-brainer."

Now about tonight and Buffalo we have disappointed American Olympians Tim Connely and Ryan Miller vs. disappointed Russian, Czech and Swedish Olympians Ovechkin, Semin, Fleischmann and Backstrom. I don't see Jurcina making it to Buffalo and playing tonight so no disappointed Slovaks will be on the ice for the Capitals tonight. Buffalo is fighting it out these next twenty games with Pittsburgh, New Jersey and a resurgent Ottawa for playoff seeding and home ice advantage, so they are also motivated there. This is the second of a back to back for the Sabres, they lost 3-2 last evening in Pittsburgh. This will be a close, well played game so hopefully the Caps will re-start the season on a high note. It should be a fun one to watch as these are two well coached and talented teams. I won't make a prognostication but you know where my heart is. The Caps called up Hohn Carlson so it will be interesting to see if he plays tonight as well.

Welcome back Milan Jurcina, and welcome to DC Scott Walker, Eric Belanger, and Joe Corvo. BTW in case you haven't heard, this is our year.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Well Between Work and Some Disappointment About The Silver I'm Late Posting Today....

Wow, how about that Gold Medal game, all except for that last minute and final score. First let me say I now have a big time "man crush" on Zach Parise. I text'ed one of my friends who is a long time (as in since 1983) Devils fan and season ticket holder and asked him if he thought Lou L might take any two or three Caps, except Ovechkin and Backstrom for Zach. Talk about a guy who never gives up...

The ending of the game was just horrible from my personal perspective. My initial feelings were totally in synch with the exasperation and disappointment Ryan Millers reaction to the goal expressed. Before I spout off once again about Sidney Crosby, let me admit the guy has a way of making a different no matter what and he is a great hockey player. That said the Gold Medal game, at least the first 61 minutes of it were clearly NOT his best hockey ever played. Also just as so many fans who don't like Ovechkin would have made this point, I'll make the point that if it weren't for those final 60 or so seconds he spent on the ice, many, many, many folks would have been all over about how he didn't make a difference and rise to the occasion this game. Instead somehow the bloody guy manages to score what is probably the most important hockey goal scored by a Canadian Player in at least the last 8 years. Ugh, so cruel to those of us who feel the guy is already excessively deified by far too many hockey fans and pundits. Unbelievable...makes me root against him even harder but you know what I'm pretty sure he never cared and I know for sure now he doesn't have to care about nor no matter what will he ever.

Give it to both teams though it was a great game and it could have gone either way to use the cliche'. It did go to Canada and you have to congratulate them all, even Sidney bleepin' Crosby. The guy is uncanny, but does he have to be so perfect when he's interviewed so he always sounds so scripted? It's like watching a 21st century version of Leave It To Beaver but in a Bart Starr Athletic Level Talent's body.

Also in the vein of admitting I was wrong, as long as he doesn't do anything monumentally stupid, Patrick Kane can be on the next three or four Team USA's at the Olympics as well. If he wants to go out partying call me I'll fly to Buffalo and be his designated driver if he doesn't want to spend cab fare and he doesn't have to tip me. I just want to make sure neither I or anybody that matters ever feels the need to question having him represent our nation at Ice Hockey, the guy has rockets on the end of his legs.

Now with all that said it's time to get back to the last ~20 games of the 2009-2010 NHL season. Tonight the NHL returns to action with Detroit at Colorado in just 15 minutes and then tomorrow it's a full slate of games - 12 in all. The Caps return to action on Wednesday evening in Buffalo...there they all will be looking to make sure they return to the winning ways they were enjoying during most of the time since the New Year and looking to wrap up the regular season in fine form.

Some good blogs today by Tarik El-Bashir on Capitals Insider, first from this morning and then later this afternoon... as we all wonder about will the Caps be active here before the trade deadline...

LETS GO CAPS!!!

The NHL's Olympic Break Will Be 100% In Effect Later Tonight...

The Caps finished their pre-Olympic Break game last night at ~11:15 EST in Saint Louis, however there are five more games today before the NHL is officially "on break." The Tampa Bay Lightning play the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden this afternoon in a game which could solidify the Lightning's resurgence into playoff contention before the break. Nashville plays Pittsburgh at the Igloo in a game between two solid teams though right now Nashville is on the Western Conference playoff bubble and needs the two points a lot more than the Penguins. Vancouver completes their 14 game pre-Olympic road trip odyssey in the Twin Cities where they take on the struggling Minnesota Wild. The hot Ottawa Senators take on the New York Islanders at Veteran's Memorial Coliseum on Long Island, and in what should be the final game before the break the Anaheim Ducks will be in Edmonton to take on the cellar dwelling Oilers.

So while five members of the Washington Capitals: Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Semyon Varlomov, Nicklas Backstrom, and Tomas Fleischmann are making their way today from Saint Louis to Vancouver, ten NHL teams including a few of their upcoming weeks' opponents and teammates will be competing in the last NHL games before the Olympics hiatus. The Men's' Olympics Hockey Tournament gets underway on Tuesday. The Women's Tournament is already underway. The Men's competition is loaded with numerous teams that could win a medal. Everyone knows about the Russians, the Canadians and the Swedes, as well as the longer shot USA. But teams from the Czech Republic, Finland, Switzerland, Belarus and Slovakia are all also solid squads who will give the other teams a run for their money.

In fact the tournament starts with 12 teams in three groups of four for the Preliminary Round. Group A consists of: Switzerland, Norway, Canada, and USA. Group B consists of: Russia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Latvia. Group C consists of: Finland, Sweden, Belarus, and Germany. Following the completion of the 18 game preliminary round the 12 teams will be ranked and the qualification round will be held; the top four teams will get a bye and teams 5 through 12 will face each other in a set of elimination games leading up to the medal games. To be sure the four teams that are most talked about Russia, Sweden, Canada, and USA are all loaded with talent.

After all Canada is so loaded with talent they felt chemistry and style of play were important enough and they had enough talented blue-liners to choose from to leave the top ranked defenseman in the TSN.CA NHL Player Rankings off the squad. After all why should one put Mike Green for inclusion on the team, he was only a Norris Trophy finalist last season. He's only second in the NHL in +/-, behind not someone on the Canadian Team but his teammate and fellow Calgary native Jeff Schultz. In scoring Green leads the league in both all categories: goals, assists and points. Of course in old school hockey, we tend to value stay at home defensemen more than guys like Mike Green, after all we all know they score their goals by cheating on defense and that means they let the other guys skate freer and score more goals against their team. But wait, if that's so then why is it that Green has ratings that place him clearly into the top 15 defensemen in the league in all statistical measures of defense such as Corsi ratings, etc. as well. Also keep in mind that list of top 15 include numerous (at least 5) players who are ineligible for inclusion on Team Canada as they are already playing for other teams like Sweden (Nicklas Lidstrom); and some others that no one would suggest be included because they don't have the mobility required to play in this years Olympics. In the end, I know this is probably me being a fan, but to me, the biggest and most ill considered snub, all be it, an expected one is the exclusion of Green from the Canadian Olympics squad. Whether Green's exclusion has any negative impact on where Canada finishes the tournament or not remains to be seen and it may not matter given how many excellent players Canada has on their roster, but the pressure is on the home team to capture gold in this signature event.

The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming; wait the Russians are here. The Russian Olympic team is also loaded with NHL talent. In fact the squad is anchored by a mix of veteran NHL stars like Evgeni Nabakov and Sergei Gonchar, as well as several "young guns" including Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, and Alexander Semin. Like the Canadians, the Russians are basically, an NHL All Star Team. Those players who are not currently in the NHL are all well known international stars like Sergei Federov and there is no one on the team that can be taken lightly.

Often overlooked by we North Americans in this whole discussion is the defending champions aren't from North America or Russia, they are from Sweden. Isn't that weird? The Swedes are also loaded with NHL talent and have their own controversy over the snub of Johan Franzen buzzing around.

Team USA is fielding a team that probably has the best chance to medal in some time, but if the US has a legitimate chance to medal which they do, so do the Czechs, and the Slovaks, and that as we say is why the games will be played on the ice. this time in Vancouver, a beautiful city, I sure wish I could go and see some of these games live. If for no other reason than to see former Caps like Milan Jurcina and Sergei Federov in action....

The Caps Go For A "Perfect Week" Tonight At Verizon Center

I didn't post a recap of the Caps 6-3 Win On Thursday at "The Igloo" in Pittsburgh over the rival flightless birds, however unless for some bizarre reason this is the only place you get your NHL news you know it was a close, good game through 40 minutes, and though the Caps clearly won the last 20 minutes 3-0 the game was closer then the final score indicates. All that said I just want to say this to any Penguins fans who might be reading this while I can: "Our young guns were better than your young guns ..... our young guns were better than your young guns .... nah, nah, na, nah nahhhh."

That out of the way, as the Pens fans on their blogs indicate it was just a regular season, non-division game. One in which the Caps earned the same two points as any other game, the same two points the NHL doles out to add to their previously earned 68 points - meaning that at the end of the game the Caps had 70 regular season points, a record of 32-12-6. At the end of the game and going into tonight's game this Washington Capitals team is the first in history to have 70 points in 50 games. What's that mean? Well a look at the Eastern Conference Standings makes clear a couple of things: first: the Caps are indeed "taking it one game at a time" while still making sure they are driving toward the ultimate goal; second: right now the Caps are playing for what they should be playing for - to finish the regular season first in the conference; and third: the Caps have now clearly become one of the elite teams in the NHL. Why do I say these things, well in reverse order let me explain my musing.

The Caps are clearly "one of the teams to beat" in the NHL because their record over the last three seasons says they are. a) Last season they finished the season second in the Conference and it took the eventual Stanley Cup Winning Penguins 7 games to knock them out of the playoffs. (The pain we in Caps nation feel every time we have to say and/or write these types of things are precisely why for Caps fan Pittsburgh is our biggest rival. For Penguins fans right now it's because we have Ovechkin and they still think "he took Gonchar out." That's the current biggest grist for the rivalry, but the history is long and storied.) b) The Caps have an explosive offense and a style that is intense to watch and play; and very difficult to play against. However as they showed Thursday night during the third period, this season when they feel the need to they can play very disciplined hockey and the neutral zone trap with the best of them. c) The Caps have at least six players who have the talent to win a game all on their own: Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green, Jose Theodore, and Mike Knuble. There are another five or six who are also tough to "keep down" when they are "on" as well: Tomas Fleischmann, Tom Poti, Brooks Laich, Eric Fehr, Matt Bradley, Brendan Morrison and Semyon Varlamov. In short the Caps have so many weapons and ways to beat you, when the majority of them show up ready to play, the opposite team cannot just key on one or two things, shut them down and win. That's why I believe this team is built for the playoffs and long haul in the game that is the post-lockout NHL. It's also why everyone who plays the Caps right now, shows up with their A game. That has been the case during the first three games this week and that will be the case tonight when the Phoenix Coyotes come to DC. The Caps have managed to stay focused and take each of the prior five games one at a time and if they do that tonight and play their game they should be able to get their eighteenth home win of the season. However, the upstart surprising Coyotes won't make it easy for them.


Right now the Caps are focused and playing for what they should be playing for - to finish the regular season in first place in the Eastern Conference. Why is that what they should be playing for? Well, it's how you get the best seeding, and supposedly the best schedule, you can get for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Stanley Cup Playoffs, remember them, the hardest post season in professional sports. To win "Le Cup" a team must win 16 games, that usually means they must play at least 22 games after the regular season is over to win the NHL Championship. That's basically another quarter season. They have to beat each team they face four times and they usually play those best of seven series in a span of 14 or less days. Sixteen (16) to twenty-eight (28) games against the toughest opponents in your sport in a compressed time - that's just grueling. Any edge, however small you can get for that test is worth working for and getting. To make it even more of a reason, right now the Caps lead their division by 19 points and no one in the division has a game in hand on them so that's at least a 9 1/2 game lead. Because of that since the real goal is the Stanley Cup, the Caps need to keep the bar high so they play every game they'll have between now and June with the right drive and intensity. That means even though they are not division games, the game the Caps play against the other top teams in the league are the ones they measure themselves against. That's not to say they shouldn't don't and won't "get up" for division games - their record thus far against their own division is after all 10-2-0 so it's not like they are "slacking off" when they face other Southeast Division teams.

The current Caps have clearly joined the NHL elite. How can I say that - well look at the team, the organization and the fan base. Lot's is made of how DC isn't really a "hockey town", I respectfully submit that DC is as much a "hockey town" as any place else in the United States. First understand we need to admit that no place in the US will ever be a "hockey town" as much as any of the major cities in Canada. Sorry, Detroit. And just to make a point look at the Detroit Free Press on-line sports section today. No front page coverage at all of the Red Wings despite the fact they have a home game against the Los Angeles Kings tonight. My point is not to bash anybody rather that the NHL isn't the #1 followed sport in any US City. Here's the sports page for the on-line edition of the Pittsburgh paper, the Post-Gazzette which of the two large papers in town tends to cover the current Stanley Cup Champions the most - Penguins are front and center and for the Tribune, they have some "above the fold" type coverage of the Penguins as well. Of course both basically have the same story - that wouldn't happen if we were talking about the Steelers, I bet. And here in Washington, the art work is local woman's high school basketball, but the first story is "Reasons To Believe" which was all about the Caps this past week in general and the win over Pittsburgh in particular. The local fan base - say what you will, recall those dark days of "the rebuild" and empty seats at Verizon Center all you want, but as a season ticket holder. I'll attest Caps tickets are the hottest in town and every game is really a sellout. It's been that way for two and half years now and it shows no sign of letting up. Why, well they Caps are playing exciting hockey but the organization is also all class. Tickets are a little higher then they were in price and I expect we'll see a "normal increase" next season as well, but the Caps Organization works hard to make sure you get value for your sport entertainment dollar. From the first day I bought my plan in 2005 and then my full season tickets in 2006 through to today, I've always dealt with hospitable, professional folks who sure seem to sincerely care that we enjoy our experience and feel it's worth every penny we spend. Some of that is the location of Verizon Center in "the middle of it all" but a lot of it is the experience inside the arena when the Caps are playing as well. Ted Leonsis and the other members of Lincoln Holdings have clearly committed themselves to the long haul and having the best team as well as providing the best fan experience in not just the NHL but professional sports. Sorry to be so effusive but when the comparisons around town are so stark, I feel it's justified.



So what or more exactly who's next. It's the Phoenix Coyotes at Verizon Center at 7 PM. As noted above the Caps are currently in first place in the Eastern Conference with 70 points and a 32 - 12 - 6 overall record (17-3-3 at home). The Coyotes are in fourth place in the Western Conference with 63 points and a 29 - 17 - 5 overall record (10-9-3 on the road). Phoenix has been a surprise team this year and they've won their games with solid team defense. The Coyote's have several players who can indeed find the back of the net but their leading goals scorer right now is Scottie Upshall with 17 goals; their points leader is their Captain Shane Doan with 34 points - 14 goals & 20 assists. The Coyotes will work hard to keep the Caps off balance, bottled up, and off the scoreboard. Key to those effort will be veteran defenseman Ed Jovanovski and goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. Both Jovanovski and Bryzgalov are having excellent seasons, getting through them as well as Doan, Upshall and the rest of the top two lines and defense pairings will be the key for the Capitals tonight.



For the Caps, patience and disciplined play are required to win, they need to stay out of the box, play with intensity but not out of control, and force the Coyotes to try and match up with all the Caps weapons. Since the Caps are the deeper team and now have 10 players with 10 or more goals to the Coyotes 4, as well as 3 with 20 or more to the Coyotes, well zero, as long as the Caps play a full sixty minutes of disciplined hockey and don't beat themselves, they should take two points away from this game. On paper, the only way other than beating themselves the Caps might loose is if Bryzgalov "steals one" for his team. That said, Bryzgalov is 2nd in the NHL this season in shutouts with 5 shutouts, an overall SV% of 0.919, and a GAA of 2.12 in 44 games played so that's not an unfathomable thought. Sorry guys, didn't mean to jinx anyone, just trying to honestly assess the competition. That said it's a classic match-up we Caps fans should be getting used too high-powered offense vs. sound team defense. So far when the Caps have played sound, disciplined hockey, vice getting impatient and playing "pond hockey", they've won those sorts of match-ups this season.

In any case it feels a lot better talking about the Coyotes in this sort of discussion than when they were the subject of discussions this summer. That is a tribute, IMHO, to the players and the Coyotes' coaching staff, especially head coach Dave Tippitt. The Coyotes are doing well this season and they are doing it with team play and a roster that has a salary cap hit of $41.6M (~73% of the maximum salary cap roster). That's all nice to see. However even though I usually like to root for the underdog, not tonight guys, I'll save that for the early rounds of the Western Conference Playoffs.

Prediction: Caps 3 - Coyotes 1.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Don't Look Now ....

Don't Look Now .... But Guess Who Has The Best Record In the NHL East Through The Last 10 Games...



Through the last 10 games the Buffalo Sabres, who are 7-0-3 and have amassed 17 out of 20 possible points, have the best record in the Eastern Conference over the last 10 games. That may not be all that surprising, however what probably is a little surprising is that the New York Islanders who defeated the Sabres 3-2 in a shootout that went 8 rounds have the second best record in the East through the last 10 games with a record of 7-2-1, 15 out of a possible 20 points - 0.750 hockey. Interestingly, the last 10 games through the NHL schedule have essentially begun to "solidify" two intensifying races to the conclusion of the regular season and the playoffs. The first race is among a grouping of four teams: New Jersey (65 points in 46 games), Buffalo (64 points in 46 games), Washington (64 points in 47 games), and Pittsburgh (61 points in 50 games) competing for the top three seeds and spots in the conference. A second grouping of 9 teams: Boston (54 points in 47 games), Ottawa (52 points in 49 games), the New York Rangers (51 points in 48 games), the New York Islanders (50 points in 48 games), Montreal (50 points in 49 games), Philadelphia (49 points in 46 games), Atlanta (49 points in 47 games), Florida (48 points in 48 games), and Tampa Bay (46 points in 47 games); finds itself in a pretty tight race fighting for the final four playoff spots in the Conference.



All of the above along with the fact that out in the Western Conference depending on how you look at things at least 11 and as many as 14 of the 15 teams can be viewed as contending for the eight playoff spots are why last week, when talking to Tariq El Basher of the Washington Post, Washington Capitals General Manager stated: "There aren’t many teams that are out of it, so you might, in years past, have eight or 10 teams you could talk to about players. This year, it might be four or five. It might be slim pickings, so I’m concerned about that." However, the situation shouldn't be all that surprising to any of the NHL's GM, it's a sign that five seasons after the implementation of the salary cap, two inevitable results have occurred and taken hold: A) "parity" and B) the increased value of overall organizational strength/depth and a solid coaching staff. Making matters tougher for GMGM is the Caps have already done a deal with one of the the 4 0r 5 likely trade deadline sellers - Columbus, assuming they have already explored the various potential deals with Columbus, that leaves Toronto, Carolina, and Edmonton for them to be talking to right now. Looking at each of those three teams and their available "rentals" - according to nhlnumbers.com, the Maple Leafs have 8 guys who will be UFA at the end of this season; the Hurricanes have 10 guys who will be UFA in July, and Oilers have 5 guys who will be UFA and Sheldon Souray who has occasionally been the center of some trade rumours from time to time this season.

When I look at those three teams and guesstimate the potential available players who might be the subject of discussion between GMGM and his counterparts here's what I come up with. Toronto - slim pickings as with Mike Green firmly in the fold and turning it up of late, I doubt the Caps will go for any sort of "Tomas Kaberle" sweepstakes, even if the Leafs are thinking about entertaining them. The Leafs have some interesting forwards coming available but given the Caps depth in that area, I don't see them giving anything up for Lee Stempniak, Alexei Ponikarovsky, or Rikard Wallin. Nor do I see any reason the Caps might want to pick up Mike Van Ryn, unless Brian Pothier remains troubled by injuries between now and closer to the deadline; though Garnet Exelby might be someone they'd want to pickup. Carolina has a couple guys of interest though working a deal with a "division rival" generally tends to cost more. Rental services of either Joe Corvo and/or Niclas Wallin has some chance at improving the Caps Blue Line Corps. Up in the list of forwards there are several folks who could help in the way Jason Chimera has though if the offense keeps up the way it has been then GMGM's focus can be pretty much on some blueline assistance. Edmonton brings the possibility of: Mike Comrie, Fernando Pisani, Sheldon Souray, Denis Grebeshkov, and Steve Staios. So as GMGM alludes it's not easy to see how any of these guys really help the Caps get all that much better even though they have the room under the Cap and an ample talent pipeline get any of them. As for the rumoured discussions with Atlanta about Ilya Kovalchuk given the resigning of Alexander Semin, it's hard to figure the Caos would be willing to give up the number and type of prospects Atlanta would likely want for a great guy, but one who would clearly be just a "rental".

Not that anybody asked, these are just my two cents on the subject. Next up the Flyers later today at Verizon. Mike will be using the tickets so I'll be following the game here on CSN HD in Bristow.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Halfway Through The Season and There's Time To Lookahead To This Year's Playoffs

The NHL season is 54% complete. The Eastern Conference Standings look like this:

The Western Conference Standings look like this:

Based on those current standings and recent trends it looks like it will take at least 89 points to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference and at least 92 points to make the playoffs in the Western Conference. Given those cutoffs the following 6 Eastern Conference Teams appear to be long-shots to make the playoffs and could be "sellers" at the trade deadline: 10) New York Islanders; 11) Atlanta Thrashers; 12) Florida Panthers; 14) Toronto Maple Leafs; and 15) Carolina Hurricanes. The following 5 Western Conference Teams also appear long shots as well: 11) Minnesota Wild; 12) Anaheim Ducks; 13) St Louis Blues; 14) Columbus Blue Jackets and 15) Edmonton Oilers. While it's still mathematically possible for any of these 11 teams to make the playoffs, they basically have to start their playoff run now, and it's even harder to forecast and see them in the playoffs given the two week break for the Olympics in February. As such trying to look at them and their chances of winning the Stanley Cup is very difficult and my odds-making would basically group them all into a "field" right now any one of whom has odds of winning the cup of 125+ - 1.

Looking at the other 19 current contenders by Conference and from my perspective things shape up like as follows. From the Eastern Conference:

1) New Jersey Devils: Currently atop the conference with 63 points in 42 games and the best winning and points capture percentage in the NHL. 31-10-1 with 124 GF and 90 GA. In general consensus is that the Devils are the Beasts of the East and one of the 3 strongest teams in the NHL today. Based on their play to date and their +24 overall goal differential, as well as the disciplined play and the great season so many Devils including Martin Brodeur are having, assuming they stay as healthy as they are now or better, I'd put the Devils at 2-1 to make the finals and as such 3-1 to win the cup.

2) Buffalo Sabres: Currently in second for the Conference with 61 points and a 28-11-5 record and 10 points/5 games up on the Boston Bruins in the Northeast Division, the Sabres fortunes seem to rest squarely on the shoulders of goaltender Ryan Miller, however the Sabres current overall goal differential of +21 is also worth noting as is their 7-1-2 record in their last 10 games. The only thing keeping the odds of the Sabres winning their way to the Stanley Cup finals is who they've played against when they accrued their 11 losses and 5 overtime losses so far this season as it's likely the Sabres will need to get by either the Devils or the Capitals in one of the earlier playoff rounds to make it to the finals this season and they haven't matched up that well against either this year. Odds of making it to the finals 3-1; odds of winning the Cup 6-1.

3) Washington Capitals: Currently in third in the Conference with 60 points, a 27-11-6 record and up by 16 points/8 games on the Atlanta Thrashers in the Southeast Division. The Caps are in a similarly solid position relative to their path to the finals. To get to the finals the Caps will likely have to go through New Jersey or Pittsburgh or both. The Caps have played the Devils four times this season and only figured them out in their last meeting; they have not yet played Pittsburgh yet this season, but they should match-up at least as well against the Penguins as they did last season and that resulted in a 7 game playoff series. The Caps positive goal differential of +41 is second in the NHL only to Chicago. The odds of making it to the finals 2.5 - 1; odds of winning the Cup 5 - 1.

4) Pittsburgh Penguins: Currently in fourth place in the Conference and second in the Atlantic Division with 57 points, and a 28-17-1 record, the Penguins are six points ahead of 5th place Boston but the Bruins have two games in hand. The Penguins have a positive goal differential of +20 and at time have looked like they could repeat this season; at other times they've looked like they are likely to make an early exit from the Playoffs. Odds of making it to the finals 3.5-1; odds of repeating for the Cup 7-1.

5) Boston Bruins: Currently in fifth place in the Conference and second in the Northeast Division with 51 points and a 22-15-7 record. The Bruins have struggled this season and been quite streaky. They clearly could use some more firepower and have the fewest goals (114) for of any team Eastern Conference team in playoff contention and Tim Thomas has been good but not superhuman like last season so the Bruins 107 GA is solid but not as notable as the Devils (90) or the Sabres (102), finally their GFG/GAG differential of + 0.16 goals a game means they have been and will likely continue to play tight games the rest of the season, that can be both mentally and physically tiresome, additionally the Bruins haven't matched up well against the Devils, Caps or Penguins so far this season. Odds of making it to the finals 6-1; odds of winning the Stanley Cup 13 - 1.

6) New York Rangers: Currently in sixth place in the Conference and third place in the Atlantic Division with 50 points and a 22-17-6 record. What can you say about the Rangers this season? Mercurial? Streaky? Odds on making it to the finals 15-1; odds of winning the Stanley Cup 32-1.

7) Ottawa Senators: Currently 7th place in the Conference and third in the Northeast Division with 48 points and a record of 22-19-4. The Senators have been hot and cold all season, currently they are cold having lost their last three games. They will be a bubble team throughout the remainder of the season but they will probably make the playoffs. Odds on making it to the finals 25-1; odds of winning the Stanley Cup 50-1 because of their abysmal record on the road (6-11-1), they've played poorly against the teams they'll need to go through to get to the finals and and the fact whatever happens they won't have home ice advantage.

8) Montreal Canadiens: Currently 8th place in the Eastern Conference and fourth in the Northeast Division with 48 points and a record of 22-21-4; the Habs are 6-3-1 in their last 10 and looking like a possible 5th or 6th place team. Odds of making it to the Stanley Cup finals 15-1; odds of wining the Cup 30-1.

9) Philadelphia Flyers: Currently 9th in the Conference and fourth in the Atlantic Division with 47 points and a 22-19-3 record including going 7-3-1 in their last ten and being on a three game winning streak. While showing some life, as well as having made a coaching change to get a spark it's still a long road ahead for the Flyers who have a average GF/GA per game differential of +0.20 goals/game which is better then the three teams ahead of them in the standings. Odds of making it to the Stanley Cup finals 15-1; odds of winning the Stanley Cup 25-1.

From the Western Conference:

1) Chicago Blackhawks: Currently 1st in the NHL, 1st in the Western Conference and 1st in the Central Division with 66 points, a record of 31-10-4 and 8-1-1 in their last 10 games. The second highest scoring team in the league with 151 goals for and the second stingiest defensive team in the league with 99 goals against. The Blackhawks have been doing it all with a high Octane offense and team defense along with consistent, unspectacular, but solid goaltending by Cristobel Huet. Odds of making it to the Stanley Cup Finals: 2-1, Odds of wining the Cup: 3-1.

2)San Jose Sharks: Currently 2nd in the Conference and, 1st in the Pacific Division with 63 points and a 28-10-7 record. The Sharks are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games and are almost as tough on the road this season as they are at the Shark Tank. Could this year be the year for the team from Silicone Valley --- you never know. Odds of making it to the Stanley Cup finals: 2.5 - 1, Odds of winning the Cup 4-1.

3) Calgary Flames: Currently 3rd in the Western Conference and 1st in the Northwest Division with 57 points and a 26-14-5 record. The Flames have been tougher on the road then at home so far this season and they've been pretty tough at home; they've also been exceptionally strong against Eastern Conference teams. Odds of making it to the finals: 3-1; odds of winning Lord Stanley's Cup: 5-1.

4) Phoenix Coyotes: Currently 4th in the Conference and 2nd in the Pacific Division with 57 points and a 26-15-5 record. The Coyotes have been the surprise team of the season this year so far. The 'Yotes have played solid hockey on the road playing above 0.500 hockey and have been giant killers at home this season going 16-6-2 in Glendale. Odds of making it to the finals: 6-1; odds of winning the Cup: 10-1.

5) Vancouver Canucks: Currently 5th in the Western Conference and 2nd in the Northwest Division with 56 points, a 27-16-2 record, a GF-GA differential of +36 in 45 games played and a record of 7-1-2 in their last 10 games. The Canucks have added a higher octane offense to their traditional solid defense this season and appear determined to make a solid run to bring Lord Stanley's Cup in June to the same ice that will host Olympic Gold in February. Odds to make the finals: 4-1; odds of winning the Cup: 8-1.

6) Colorado Avalanche: Currently 6th in the West and 3rd in the Northwest Division with 56 points and a 25-15-6 record. The Avs are the other surprise team in the West and they've been riding the solid goaltending of Craig Andersen along with playing disciplined solid hockey to consistently sound results so far this season. However, there marginal GF-GA differential of +3 over 46 games means for them to go deep to the playoffs Andersen will have to be hot from now through June if they are to go all the way. Odds to make the finals 9-1; odds of winning the Cup 17-1.

7) Nashville Predators: Currently 7th in the West and 2nd in the Central Division with 55 points and a 26-16-3 record. The Preds continue to do more with less than pretty much any other team in the NHL on a regular basis. I think the Predators are a balanced team with just enough firepower and two very undervalued but very talented goaltenders such that if they have a hot goalie to ride, they could easily be the "Cinderella" team in the West during this seasons playoffs. Odds of making the finals 15-1; odds of winning the Stanley Cup 27-1.

8) Los Angeles Kings: Currently 8th in the Western Conference and 3rd in the Pacific Division with 53 points in 45 games played and a record of 25-17-3. LA is a solid young team being built from within and on their way to being a powerhouse getting closer to being one. Odds on making it to the finals 15-1; Odds on winning the Stanley Cup 30 - 1.

9) Detroit Red Wings: Currently in 9th in the Conference and 3rd in the Central Division. The Red Wings have been hit by injuries this season and are missing a few parts that departed following last season's Cup Finals. Detroit will continue to fight for a playoff spot with the 5 teams currently ahead of them but until they get healthy and in shape they won't be able to dominate as they have in the past. However, if they hit April in stride, playing their usual solid hockey, they'll once again be able to do some damage in the playoffs. They are perhaps the hardest team in the league right now to handicap/forecast. Odds of making it to the finals: 17-1; Odds of winning the Stanley Cup 32-1.

10) Dallas Stars: Currently in 10th in the Western Conference and 4th in the Pacific Division with 49 points and a 19-14-11 record. The Stars are a week of 0.500 hockey from dropping into the "field", they are also a week of 0.800 hockey from being in 6th or 7th place as well so that's why they aren't "in the field". Teams like the Stars with 11 OTL's are what have lots of folks talking about reexamining how three point games are handled, but i think I've expended enough bytes of cyberspace that my views are well known. Odds of making the finals: 30-1; odds of winning the Stanley Cup: 80-1.

These are just my own subjective thoughts and forecasts, the math and analysis behind these estimated odds range from considered thoughts to wild ass guesses. So anyway all I'm trying to do here is get a little thought and discussion going from a Caps fan perspective.

Next up Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

LETS GO CAPS!!!