Good afternoon to all who are reading this blog, and if you are reading this blog you too are probably itching for the NHL to resume play tonight. Thankfully, there will be eleven (11) games played around the NHL tonight and two of them are Southeast Division match-ups: Caps - 'Canes in Raleigh, NC and Tampa Bay at Atlanta. The only Southeast Division team not in action tonight is the Florida Panthers who don't return to action until tomorrow when they host the Boston Bruins. Of course tonight's games mean the Capitals can recapture first place in the Division from Tampa Bay assuming the Caps win and the Thrashers manage to provide inhospitable environs to the Lightning and send them home with less than two points.
The two Southeast Division contests tonight might also provide a benchmark as to whether the Division can truly become a viable, exciting Division to watch in the NHL. Only two points separate the first place Lightning from the third place Thrashers as we approach the mid-point of the season; and while the "streaky" fourth place Carolina Hurricanes are nine (7) points behind the third place Atlanta Thrashers, they continue to demonstrate the ability to play with any other team in the league. As such it's not beyond the realm of possibility that the Hurricanes could put together a good streak over the next six weeks and also find themselves in the hunt for the playoffs. Finally, to a lesser degree, the same can be said of the fifth place Florida Panthers who are but two points behind the Hurricanes. Also worth noting is that the both the Hurricanes and the Panthers have four (4) games in hand on both Washington and Atlanta and two (2) games in hand on Tampa Bay. It's all just further evidence that the Southeast Division is no longer the weakest division in the league. It also means that the hockey being played between so called "division rivals" is now an excellent sports entertainment product and with two games that have implications in the current standings on a holiday weekend, league watchers will no doubt be looking at the paid attendance at both these games to gauge the current health and longer term viability of the sport in the Atlanta and Raleigh-Durham markets. Of course that thought/statement also doesn't take into account an uncooperative Mother Nature.
Personally, I think this season is one that will begin to validate the efforts of the NHL to expand the appeal of the sport to the broader US markets in general and the Southeast, in particular. So I'm looking forward to seeing two well subscribed games tonight. I'm also hopefully optimistic that the Capitals will come off their Christmas "break" and capture two points tonight playing a grittier style of hockey than the Hurricanes have seen them play for quite some time. That said there continue to be some challenges for the Capitals coming in to tonight's game. On the sick and injured front, Matt Hendricks and Tom Poti are listed as questionable and Tyler Sloan (groin), DJ King (undisclosed), Jeff Schultz (thumb), Boyd Gordon (lower body), and Matt Bradley (finger) are all on Inured Reserve. Reports are that Michal Neuvirth was the first goaltender off the ice at this morning's practice skate so it appears he will be in net at the start of tonight's game. No reports as to what the lineup will look like relative to lines and defensive pairings but I'm going to guess the pairings will be: 52 - 23; 27 - 74; 4 - 21. Yep you got that right, I'm thinking with Poti and Sloan out and no word of Brian Fahey being called up, Brooks Laich will be on the blue line for the Capitals. If he's not, well somebody else you and I don't normally see line up there will be. That likely means the second and third lines will also be jumbled and the Capitals will need a solid. smart game from all the forwards but from Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom, Knuble, Johansson and Perreault in particular. Welcome to the future MP85 and MoJo90 - now it's your time.
With the injuries and other recent challenges that the Capitals have been having, in particular the drop in offensive production from their stars: Ovechkin, Backstrom, Semin and Green, tonight might be the best chance the Hurricanes have at turning around this season's results when they face the Capitals. Tonight's meeting is the fourth between the two teams this season and so far Washington is 3-0 to Carolina's 0-2-1 record. If the Capitals win tonight it will be the first time since the 1997-98 season that the Capitals have swept their road games with Carolina. Given the Hurricanes' last tilt with the Capitals ended in a 3-2 shootout victory by Washington at DC's Verizon Center, I'm not expecting tonight's game to be an easy one for the Capitals to win. In addition to the fact that the Capitals are a little more banged up than the Hurricanes, forward Jiri Tlusty (arm) is the only Canes player out with an injury; is that fact that today's pre-game routine is different than most road games. Teams can’t travel on Christmas Day, so the standard practice of arriving in a road city the night before a game is out the window. That means the Caps flew out to Raleigh-Durham from Dulles this morning and into the unusual wintry conditions - see the picture out the window from Sergey Kocharov's twitter post when they landed here. They then bused directly to their morning practice and are in a city that is pretty paralyzed by the current conditions so actual attendance might be affected (the same goes for Atlanta too I suspect, though less so).
The last variable to whether the game will go as planned is this item - seems the officials are having difficulty getting there too according to Kukula's Korner. You can also see the anticipated line combinations for the Hurricanes recently juggled lines in the post as well. Somehow I think the NHL will find a way to get officials to RBC Center in time for the game, and if they don't I say who cares with the way some of the calls and officiating has been this year in the NHL, if the planned officials don't get there in time, there has to be a good set of officials from a "beer league" in and around the North Carolina State Capital who could give it a shot.
Well I'm thinking that this might be the game where Backstrom and Ovechkin get their scoring touch back. It's also going to have to happen for the Caps to control the game and win - Nicklas Backstrom has scored four of the eight goals the Caps have scored against the Canes this season. I also expect the Hurricanes to play Mike Green in a similar fashion to the way Pittsburgh did - very physically. However, I think Green is ready for it after the 34+ minutes of ice time against a Penguins team who never, ever missed an opportunity to hit him all night long on last Thursday night. The Caps also need another solid game from recent pickup Scott Hannan and I expect they will get it. So you can see, assuming this game is played tonight, it should be a battle and a good one to watch. The Capitals are working to get back on track, knowing that this month - December 2010 - will be the first sub 0.500 month after 21 months of playing over 0.500 hockey, so they will be working hard to close out their remaining two games this month with four standings points. The Hurricanes are in ninth (9th) place in the Eastern Conference and looking to start the after Christmas, pre-All Star Game portion of the season with their first win of the season over the Capitals. The desire and drive to win will therefore likely be there for both teams. So even if the crowd is small, the building and environs are cooler and snowy than usual in North Carolina, and the officials a little off their usual top form due to late arrival, this should be a good game to watch and with a few bonces going their way a Capitals victory.
LETS GO CAPS!!!!
Showing posts with label Atlanta Thrashers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Atlanta Thrashers. Show all posts
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Balance ...
Balance is something that when a talented team like the Washington Capitals exhibit it, makes them almost unstoppable. Unfortunately balance is something that is often fleeting, at least so far this season. A lot of folks have talked about the search for the 60 minute game, something that a lot of Caps fans feel we may have seen once so far this season during the 18 games the Capitals have played. To be sure a consistent solid effort by an entire hockey team is a significant part in achieving that thing I am calling balance. Another thing is that the entire team is playing and executing their roles, such that no one or two players need to be on the ice an inordinate amount of time. When a team is balanced and executing a balanced game plan, there's no need for a couple of players to "carry the team." If you are now asking yourself: "What's this guy talking about?" Don't worry I'm ready to make my point and here it is. The Washington Capitals, the team I root for in the NHL, is dangerously close to being a balanced hockey team and in fact often during this season so far they have been a balanced hockey team hitting on all cylinders for 20 or more minutes a game.
What only 20 minutes a game? you say. Yes, I reply, take last evening, clearly during the second period the Capitals were not executing well and were unbalanced. Last night I'd say the Capitals played about 25 minutes of balanced hockey and that was more than enough to beat the Thrashers. Though parity is starting to be achieved throughout the league and the Thrashers are much improved over last season, not all their off season moves this summer are paying off well. Though the pick-up of Andrew Ladd was by far the best move the Thrashers made this summer, at least so far this season. The pickup and transition of Dustin Byfuglien hasn't always been smooth and last evening was one of those times it wasn't pretty for Atlanta when big Buff was on the ice. I say this in spite of his statistics as if you watched the game he was routinely "preyed" upon by the faster and better skaters on the Capitals team.
One of the positives and why I say the Capitals are getting close to achieving balance throughout an entire game is exhibited in their ice time report from last evening. Ovechkin total TOI: 17:52 avg/shift: 0:56; Green total TOI: avg/shift ; those are the numbers you want to see these two guys around every game; they are of course the top forward and top blue-liner on the team. But look at these numbers and also look at the per period numbers of these guys Matt Hendricks total TOI: 14:48 avg/shift: 0:52; Karl Alzner total TOI: 19:53, avg/shift: 0:51; David Steckel total TOI: 15:39, Avg/shift: 0:44; John Erskine total TOI: 12:29 avg/shift: 0:49 (and don't forget Erskine spent 5 minutes in the penalty box for what at least so far this season was the best hockey fight by a Capital. That's a pretty balanced line-up and play, certainly there wasn't a lot of line matching going on by the Capitals coaching staff or if there was it's not all that obvious.
Of course all those good thoughts and things aside. The second period last evening was the worst period of NHL hockey I've watched live in a pretty long time. In fact given last night was the Capitals 70th consecutive sellout and I've been there for around 53 of them, I'd say the second period in last night's game was the most painful period of hockey for me to watch live in at least 52 games. Seriously, from right after Matt Hendricks responded to Andrew Ladds' first tally of the evening at the 2:23 mark of the period until about the 15:00 mark of the period the Capitals had no chemistry let alone balance. At one point or another just about every one of the Capitals looked like they were skating in quicksand for at least one shift. Then the last five minutes of the period, well just when I thought I couldn't get more disgusted at the on ice officiating in the NHL this season, well it got worse in my opinion. There were multiple non-calls of totally obvious penalties and this is going on while the score is tied 4-4. Seriously, if you can trip a guy in the corner so bad that I'm thinking it's a marginal slew-foot, then what's the point of even having a rule? There were nights in the past when I've complained about Kerry Fraser and made fun of his hair; and Stephane Auger - don't get me started; but Dave Jackson, congratulations, you sir are why the NHL must now continue to prohibit the organists around the league from playing "Three Blind Mice..."
Thankfully, the Capitals team that returned to play the third period was much more like the team that played during the first period than the second. The truth is that the first 10 minutes of the third period was probably the best hockey that either team played last evening.
So the guys who had good games last evening, I mean good games for the entire sixty minutes:
- Matt Hendricks (+3, 3 hits, 1 goal)
- David Steckel (+3, 83% FW (19 of 23), 3 hits, 1 takeaway, 1 blocked shot, 1 goal, 1 assist)
- John Erskine (+2, 2 hits, 3 blocked shots, 1 goal (the game winner) and 1 takeaway)
- Mike Green (+2, 6 blocked shots, 1 goal, 1 assist)
- Jeff Schultz (+2, 1 assist, 2 blocked shots)
- Tyler Sloan (+2, 2 assists, 2 hits, 2 blocked shots).
Ovechkin, Semin and Backstrom owned the Thrashers in the first period and were a threat every time they were on the ice in the third period. The second period, as we say, not so much. For whatever reason last night during the second period the Thrashers basically outworked the entire Capitals team. Its hard to stay motivated with a two or three goal lead. The truth is the Thrashers first two lines are good this year. Andrew Ladd and Rich Peverley played well all night and they played hard all night. During the second period the Thrashers other young guns Evander Kane and Bryan Little also played well and came alive. In fact there were at least two instances during the second period when I wondered aloud why Mike Green didn't just stomp on Kane and on one of them he made us pay for not tying him up and neutralizing him when got the primary assist on Little's goal at the 3:07 mark of the second period to pull the Thrashers within one of the Caps. One last note on who fram the Tharshers had a good or bad night last night - statistically this season so far Nik Antropov of the Thrashers can't buy a good night. Last evening Antropov was as much a force in the Thrashers solid play in the second period as pretty much anybody other than Ladd or Peverley but he still managed to finish the evening at -3. I'm not a fantasy hockey guy but think about it so far this season Antropov is pretty much fantasy hockey death while over the last three Capitals games John Erskine has been total money. I'm thinking we'll be seeing that Fu Manchu 'stache that Erskine has been sporting for Movember until the 2011 playoffs are over the way things are going for the 30 year old Kingston, Ontario native.
In any case despite the ups and downs and ebbs and flows of the game, the Capitals managed to once again rise to the occasion and finish the night with two points as well as find themselves leading the league in the standings. To me the best coaching move of the night was leaving Michal Neuvirth in the net and letting him work his way through an evening that at one point (the end of the second period) saw him in possession of a SV% of 0.769 before recovering and progressing back towards his statical norms to finish the evening with his league leading 11th win of the young season and a SV% of 0.851 for the game. The most questionable coaching from my perspective came during the Capitals power plays late in the second period when after Bryan Little scored short handed for his second goal of the evening, the Caps juggled the power play all around trying all sorts of what to me were odd combinations while Mike Green was in the box. I just couldn't understand what the coaching staff was thinking other than something on the order of "Well since we are looking basically awful right now, let's trow the kitchen sink at 'em and see where that gets us." it didn't get us anywhere but we did manage to get out of the second period tied 4-4 and enabled us to basically play and win two points in what ended up being a 20 minute game.
Oh well, they all can't be pretty and to me the good things about last night were:
1) Michal Neuvirth fighting through his second period, where at least some of the issue was mediocre - not terrible but mediocre - rebound control and getting the victory.
2) Secondary scoring. 50% of the goals and 56.25% of the points the Capitals scored last night were done so by team members other than either top 6 forwards or Mike Green. That's a good night and a team effort by any measure.
3) Once again an active defense that is joining the rush figured in the game in a significant way. The blue line corps participated in five of the six Capitasl goals on the night. The only goal that a blue liner wasn't involved in was David Steckel's empty netter to ice the game at the 19:23 mark of the third period.
4) Alexander Semin's goal. Two reasons: a) it was the prettiest goal of the nice and it's awfully cool to see Ovie make a saucer pass to Semin in a little role reversal; and b) it was for Semin's 13th goal of the season and it moved him in front of this Crosby kid that some people out in Western Pa are always talking about. Also because it's part of the reason we're starting to see what I'd say are silly articles like this one about "the other Alex". So let me be the first or one of the first to say it - Ryan Lambert is most likely an idiot and this article is one of the silliest ones I've seen in a while. Take his statement: "But the year before that he had 14 points in 14 games and in 2007-08 he had eight in seven, right? Well, one or both of Ovechkin and Backstrom were on the ice for all but one of those." Well I was at or watched all those games and you know what you could take Ovechkin or Backstrom's playoff stats from that post season adjust the numbers slightly and move those three names into any of the other two places and say the same thing. Or how about this take Maxim Talbott, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby and their stats from the Penguins last two season they made/won the Stanley Cup finals and in the case of Malkin and Crosby make an argument as to who facilitated whose glory. Most people tend to forget Malkin is the guy who got the Conn Smyth when Pittsburgh last won the Cup. My point/contention is that Semin is one of the top 10 or 15 players in the NHL today. He's an elite talent and paying him $8M or so a season the next couple of seasons won't likely be looked at - even in retrospect say when he's retired and his playing days are behind him in say 2022 or so - as having "overpaid" him. That's why I'm saying the article I linked you too, is dumb. That said I love articles like this. I think they serve notice to ALL the Capitals that until this team wins a Stanley Cup, they are all - including Ovechkin, Green, Semin, Backstrom, Laich, Boudreau all of them - just as likely to have their talents and their exciting style of play questioned or subject to armchair pundits adding footnotes to their accomplishments. That's got to be a great motivator for them all.
5) The race for the crown for Movember is clearly now between John Erskine's lucky Fu Manchu and Karl "Erik The Red" Alzner's full crimson beard. The fact that so far this month both players have been having very good results on the ice, and that hockey players are notoriously superstitious means we are likely to see them keeping their current looks for a while longer. If they do I think I have a suggestion as to know who should be playing Santa at the Capitals Team Christmas Party...
Okay so next up will be the Buffalo Sabres here at Verizon Center on Wednesday evening. I'll be watching the game here at home in Bristow on CSN (HD) but I'll still be Rockin' the Red. How about y'all?
LETS GO CAPS!!!
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Saturday Morning Musings ... #1) Best Wishes Go Out To Ondrej Pavelec
Having worked for extensive periods of time in foreign lands away from my friends and family, I'd be extremely self-centered, let alone remiss, if I failed to make my first thoughts on hockey this morning about sending positive thoughts out to Ondrej Pavelec. And of course to his friends and family, one or two of whom at this very moment may well be sitting on an airplane, worrying as they fly over the Atlantic. Hopefully for them all, the hardest days will only be these next few while they are worrying about what happened to Ondrej that caused him to collapse and be unconscious for what seems like is probably well over 30 minutes, and that when his doctors figure out what it is/was he can get better and resume his playing career and life in a manner that is relatively close to the promising career and future he had before last night's episode and ensuing drama. Obviously I don't know him or his family but I share the thoughts and words of his teammates Chris Mason and Dustin Byfuglien, as reported over on Peerless' game recap:
So as someone who found suffering through a week of a tremendously epic stomach virus while working in a foreign country trying, I can only say that being ill away from home has so many additional reasons to be emotionally as well as physically trying, I will keep Pavlec and his family in my prayers until I hear he is well on the way to recovery. As of this morning the 23 year old Czech is awake and in stable condition in the Atlanta Hospital where he was taken.
As for my other hockey related musings this morning, I find my excitement at going to this evening's Capitals Home Opener decidedly muted by reflections on their performance in Atlanta last night. While I'm probably less critical than some of the other bloggers and blogs on the subject of recapping last night's "No Points Night" in Atlanta, there wasn't much at all to cheer about if you're a Capitals fan. Other than the two Capitals goals and a minute or so on either side of them, I have to agree it was not an enthusiastic return to NHL Regular Season Play, that "our" much loved Capitals brought out to the ice last night. The reason I'm a little less critical than others is that I did see a well coached team, stick to and execute their game plan pretty well last night, the problem for the Capitals is that team was wearing Atlanta Thrasher uniforms. The Thrashers made many moves this past summer, all of which will likely improve the team's performance on the ice for the entire season, not just last night. However, I think the one whose impact was most noticeable last night was bringing in Craig Ramsey as their new head coach. If you watched the game on CSN last night you heard enough about this from Caps color analyst Craig Laughlin, but I do agree with Laughlin that Ramsey's style and approach was very obvious last night and it made a difference in the game. The other thing the Thrashers did last night is they played "team hockey", and IMO they got the benefit of at least one iffy call - I still don't understand how you make the call that resulted in Evander Kane getting that penalty shot, but since you can't tell otherwise from TV angles it's also hard to definitely say the on ice official didn't see something we at home couldn't.
To me, as a Caps fan, the most frustrating thing is that I felt Michal Neuvirth played a very solid game. The problem is I'm not sure the Caps are done with the pre-season yet. Isn't six pre-season games enough to sort out the Defense Pairings and to get the lines settled and some of their timing right? You're probably asking that this morning as you shake your head looking at a box score that reads Atlanta 4 - Washington 2, it's my initial reaction for sure. However, as I reflect and muse on things, I remember that this is really the first game of the year where the Capitals have a settled line-up, so to some degree it's the first time guys can really focus on that, with the possible exception of the Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble line. However, even there Backstrom didn't play much in the last week or so of the preseason. So while the Caps went 5-1 in the preseason and Atlanta went 0 and whatever, the Caps success was fueled primarily by the bottom of the depth chart playing hard for roster slots, while the Thrashers lack of success was primarily fueled (IMHO) by them making changes to their "system." So I'm sincere when I say, I'm not sure the Caps are done playing "pre-season" hockey - i.e. experimenting with Defense Pairings and line combinations, etc.
The good news for me is as I muse about tonight's home opener, I feel the same way about where the New Jersey Devils are as a team coming out of the preseason and into the regular season as I do about the Capitals. Because of their own last minute roster manipulations to get under the salary cap, the Devils lineup wasn't finalized and stabilized until a day after the Capitals was. How the Devils managed to take a point away from their game with Dallas in Newark, at "The Rock", last night with all the distractions and weirdness to their roster right now, is beyond me, but they did. So the Deils come into tonight's game 0-0-1 while the Caps come into it 0-1-0. I expect both teams will get up for the game, as both ended the playoffs at about the same time last spring and both weren't happy with how that happened. I'm actually hoping that the Capitals go with the exact same lineup tonight as they did last night in Atlanta. I think if you throw in an ounce or two of energy to that lineup, it will match up very well against this year's Devils team.
As has been noted elsewhere, this year the New Jersey Devils seem to be modifying their "formula" for success in some significant ways. I think that means that this year the Devils won't just be good, they'll also be a fun team to watch play. Whether the changes will also result in them being able to climb further up and/or to the pinnacle of NHL Hockey, remains to be seen. The same can and is said about our Capitals, at least - the NHL Power Rankings have both the Caps and the Devils ranked pretty high right now. Of course the interesting thing to note is that after the first two days of the regular season, Carolina is leading both the League and the Eastern Conference with a 2-0 record.
Speaking of Carolina leading the Eastern Conference in the standings and the Caps loosing last night to the Thrashers, to me the good thing is that I believe that means there are at least 4 good teams out of the 5 in the Southeast Division. That means that the games the Caps have against those SE division opponents will be competitive games to watch. That also means the Capitals are less likely to run away with the Division, let alone the Eastern Conference this season - and that means, to me, the Caps will be better prepared for the playoffs - IF - they make them. Mind you the Caps should make the playoffs this year, but they need to approach the rest of the regular season - all 81 games remaining - like they count, because they do indeed count and the playoffs don't start until AFTER you get into them. We certainly don't want to finish the season in any manner close to what these current bizarre standings look like now do we?
There's no need at all to react to last night's game. I only posted the above image because of how eerily different it is from where my hopes, dreams and expectations were. There is a need to focus on tonight's game and play hard, good, solid hockey. Also if it's not too much to ask, can we see a game that's fun to watch - I mean with the Caps and Devils rosters, it seems like it should also be able to deliver that. I'm thinking the Capitals are more than capable of playing and winning a game that is "all that", this evening.
LETS GO CAPS!!!
“It was awful. You imagine his family across the sea, they are probably following the game and something like that happens. It must be a helpless feeling. It was tough. To be honest, I had trouble focusing when I first got in there. I couldn’t stop thinking about him.”
“It’s something where you step up and play hard. He wouldn’t have quit working if it happened to someone else. We can’t do the same. We felt bad for him. As a team we had to come together and get the victory for him.”
So as someone who found suffering through a week of a tremendously epic stomach virus while working in a foreign country trying, I can only say that being ill away from home has so many additional reasons to be emotionally as well as physically trying, I will keep Pavlec and his family in my prayers until I hear he is well on the way to recovery. As of this morning the 23 year old Czech is awake and in stable condition in the Atlanta Hospital where he was taken.
As for my other hockey related musings this morning, I find my excitement at going to this evening's Capitals Home Opener decidedly muted by reflections on their performance in Atlanta last night. While I'm probably less critical than some of the other bloggers and blogs on the subject of recapping last night's "No Points Night" in Atlanta, there wasn't much at all to cheer about if you're a Capitals fan. Other than the two Capitals goals and a minute or so on either side of them, I have to agree it was not an enthusiastic return to NHL Regular Season Play, that "our" much loved Capitals brought out to the ice last night. The reason I'm a little less critical than others is that I did see a well coached team, stick to and execute their game plan pretty well last night, the problem for the Capitals is that team was wearing Atlanta Thrasher uniforms. The Thrashers made many moves this past summer, all of which will likely improve the team's performance on the ice for the entire season, not just last night. However, I think the one whose impact was most noticeable last night was bringing in Craig Ramsey as their new head coach. If you watched the game on CSN last night you heard enough about this from Caps color analyst Craig Laughlin, but I do agree with Laughlin that Ramsey's style and approach was very obvious last night and it made a difference in the game. The other thing the Thrashers did last night is they played "team hockey", and IMO they got the benefit of at least one iffy call - I still don't understand how you make the call that resulted in Evander Kane getting that penalty shot, but since you can't tell otherwise from TV angles it's also hard to definitely say the on ice official didn't see something we at home couldn't.
To me, as a Caps fan, the most frustrating thing is that I felt Michal Neuvirth played a very solid game. The problem is I'm not sure the Caps are done with the pre-season yet. Isn't six pre-season games enough to sort out the Defense Pairings and to get the lines settled and some of their timing right? You're probably asking that this morning as you shake your head looking at a box score that reads Atlanta 4 - Washington 2, it's my initial reaction for sure. However, as I reflect and muse on things, I remember that this is really the first game of the year where the Capitals have a settled line-up, so to some degree it's the first time guys can really focus on that, with the possible exception of the Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble line. However, even there Backstrom didn't play much in the last week or so of the preseason. So while the Caps went 5-1 in the preseason and Atlanta went 0 and whatever, the Caps success was fueled primarily by the bottom of the depth chart playing hard for roster slots, while the Thrashers lack of success was primarily fueled (IMHO) by them making changes to their "system." So I'm sincere when I say, I'm not sure the Caps are done playing "pre-season" hockey - i.e. experimenting with Defense Pairings and line combinations, etc.
The good news for me is as I muse about tonight's home opener, I feel the same way about where the New Jersey Devils are as a team coming out of the preseason and into the regular season as I do about the Capitals. Because of their own last minute roster manipulations to get under the salary cap, the Devils lineup wasn't finalized and stabilized until a day after the Capitals was. How the Devils managed to take a point away from their game with Dallas in Newark, at "The Rock", last night with all the distractions and weirdness to their roster right now, is beyond me, but they did. So the Deils come into tonight's game 0-0-1 while the Caps come into it 0-1-0. I expect both teams will get up for the game, as both ended the playoffs at about the same time last spring and both weren't happy with how that happened. I'm actually hoping that the Capitals go with the exact same lineup tonight as they did last night in Atlanta. I think if you throw in an ounce or two of energy to that lineup, it will match up very well against this year's Devils team.
As has been noted elsewhere, this year the New Jersey Devils seem to be modifying their "formula" for success in some significant ways. I think that means that this year the Devils won't just be good, they'll also be a fun team to watch play. Whether the changes will also result in them being able to climb further up and/or to the pinnacle of NHL Hockey, remains to be seen. The same can and is said about our Capitals, at least - the NHL Power Rankings have both the Caps and the Devils ranked pretty high right now. Of course the interesting thing to note is that after the first two days of the regular season, Carolina is leading both the League and the Eastern Conference with a 2-0 record.
Speaking of Carolina leading the Eastern Conference in the standings and the Caps loosing last night to the Thrashers, to me the good thing is that I believe that means there are at least 4 good teams out of the 5 in the Southeast Division. That means that the games the Caps have against those SE division opponents will be competitive games to watch. That also means the Capitals are less likely to run away with the Division, let alone the Eastern Conference this season - and that means, to me, the Caps will be better prepared for the playoffs - IF - they make them. Mind you the Caps should make the playoffs this year, but they need to approach the rest of the regular season - all 81 games remaining - like they count, because they do indeed count and the playoffs don't start until AFTER you get into them. We certainly don't want to finish the season in any manner close to what these current bizarre standings look like now do we?
There's no need at all to react to last night's game. I only posted the above image because of how eerily different it is from where my hopes, dreams and expectations were. There is a need to focus on tonight's game and play hard, good, solid hockey. Also if it's not too much to ask, can we see a game that's fun to watch - I mean with the Caps and Devils rosters, it seems like it should also be able to deliver that. I'm thinking the Capitals are more than capable of playing and winning a game that is "all that", this evening.
LETS GO CAPS!!!
Friday, October 8, 2010
It's Time ... Hockey Time ... Caps Hockey Time Specifically!
It's here - opening day of the 2010-2011 season for "our" Washington Capitals, yep that's what today is. October 8, 2010 - mark it on your calender or something like that, anyway. In addition to going down in History for future generations as the day the Washington Capitals started the 2010-2011 NHL Regular season, a lot of people also remember this day because it's the day that:
The Great Chicago Fire erupted. No we're not talking about the big "fire sale" that the Blackhawks have had this summer to clear salary cap space. We're talking about the real Great Chicago Fire that happened in 1871. The blaze destroyed four square miles of the city, killing about 250 people and leaving some 90,000 homeless, so it's really almost as significant as if something happened to Da Bears to Chicago sports fans (i.e. way more significant than the shuffling to the Blackhawks' roster.)
Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States, died in Concord, N.H., at age 64, on this day in 1869.
American Army Sgt. Alvin York almost single-handily killed 25 German soldiers and captured 132 in the Argonne Forest in France, on this day in 1918.
And perhaps one of the greatest moments in sports history occurred when Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in a World Series as the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 2-0 in Game 5, on this day in 1956.
While tonight's Capitals-Thrashers season opening game in Atlanta won't rise to those levels of significant events, it... well it really just won't, but it will be fun to have NHL hockey back in our lives as Caps Fans.
Peerless has a great prognostication and preview on the game already up. I'm not sure I'm as optimistic about the score but I agree with his keys to the game and that the Capitals cannot "sleepwalk" their way through this game. I also agree that on the Caps roster one of the key guys we'll be watching will be Tomas Fleischmann as he starts the season on the second line in the Center's position. After all the resolution of the quandary on who the second line center should be for the Caps is probably one of two or three keys to the Caps season this year, not just tonight's game.
The Capitals have apparently been in Atlanta since yesterday afternoon so they should be focused and ready to play.
The lineups for tonight's game that I have are as follow:
So I'm thinking the Caps Lines and Pairings tonight will be:
Forwards:
Ovechkin - Backstrom - Knuble
Laich - Fleischmann - Semin
Chimera - Johansson - Fehr
Hendricks - Steckel - Bradley
Defense:
Green-Schultz
Poti-Carlson
Alzner-Erskine
Goal
Neuvirth though I wouldn't be surprised to see Dany Sabourin get the nod so Neuvy is in net tomorrow for the home opener.
In any case - it's Hockey Time and hockey time is time to get psych'ed.
LETS GO CAPS!!!
The Great Chicago Fire erupted. No we're not talking about the big "fire sale" that the Blackhawks have had this summer to clear salary cap space. We're talking about the real Great Chicago Fire that happened in 1871. The blaze destroyed four square miles of the city, killing about 250 people and leaving some 90,000 homeless, so it's really almost as significant as if something happened to Da Bears to Chicago sports fans (i.e. way more significant than the shuffling to the Blackhawks' roster.)
Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States, died in Concord, N.H., at age 64, on this day in 1869.
American Army Sgt. Alvin York almost single-handily killed 25 German soldiers and captured 132 in the Argonne Forest in France, on this day in 1918.
And perhaps one of the greatest moments in sports history occurred when Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in a World Series as the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 2-0 in Game 5, on this day in 1956.
While tonight's Capitals-Thrashers season opening game in Atlanta won't rise to those levels of significant events, it... well it really just won't, but it will be fun to have NHL hockey back in our lives as Caps Fans.
Peerless has a great prognostication and preview on the game already up. I'm not sure I'm as optimistic about the score but I agree with his keys to the game and that the Capitals cannot "sleepwalk" their way through this game. I also agree that on the Caps roster one of the key guys we'll be watching will be Tomas Fleischmann as he starts the season on the second line in the Center's position. After all the resolution of the quandary on who the second line center should be for the Caps is probably one of two or three keys to the Caps season this year, not just tonight's game.
The Capitals have apparently been in Atlanta since yesterday afternoon so they should be focused and ready to play.
The lineups for tonight's game that I have are as follow:
So I'm thinking the Caps Lines and Pairings tonight will be:
Forwards:
Ovechkin - Backstrom - Knuble
Laich - Fleischmann - Semin
Chimera - Johansson - Fehr
Hendricks - Steckel - Bradley
Defense:
Green-Schultz
Poti-Carlson
Alzner-Erskine
Goal
Neuvirth though I wouldn't be surprised to see Dany Sabourin get the nod so Neuvy is in net tomorrow for the home opener.
In any case - it's Hockey Time and hockey time is time to get psych'ed.
LETS GO CAPS!!!
Friday, April 2, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
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!!!
Still In Search Of Win #50.....
Well as we all know Tuesday evening's outing between the Capitals and the Senators resulted in.... gasp ... the Capitals third loss in a row and a "one point night." To be sure Tuesday evening was a far better outing by the Capitals then Sunday's game against Calgary. The Capitals effort versus the Senators, a team who as Gabby pointed out, was a better effort and more inspired effort than the prior two games. However, it wasn't a 60 minute effort. Look I get it, in fact, I think nearly everyone gets it - as Coach Boudreau has pointed out this is pretty much exactly like trying to tell your kid he needs to get cracking the books a couple weeks before finals, in fact it's like that and the kid "aced" the mid-terms and knows he's really, really smart/good.
These last three games have been tough on those of us fans who are by nature "worriers" and if things go as I think they will for the remaining six games of the season, we're all still likely to be worrying through the end of the season. I say that because four of the final six games of the season are against the two teams most likely to be fighting for the last playoff spot in the East - Boston and tonight's opponents the Atlanta Thrashers. The cause of Tuesday evenings loss was in my opinion primarily one thing: "Time and Space" - as in the Caps clearly allowed Jason Spezza and Daniel Afredsson too much of it. I was at the game and watched it closely, by the end of the first period it was obvious who the Caps needed to shut down - they basically did that for the 20 minutes from the middle of the second through the middle of the third period, Tuesday evening. However, despite protestations to the contrary, it's sure seems to me that many players on the Caps are "throttled" back at least just a little, at least being a little more careful to avoid injury, etc. then they likely will later this month.
After Ovie's last suspension, vetran Mike Knuble noted that one of the keys for a player to have a long career, the long career you want great players like Ovechkin, Green, Semin, and Backstrom to have is to know when you can and should ease your foot up on the accelerator. The Capitals have clearly are doing that, either consciously or unconsciously and it shows. Yes I know the Capitals are denying it (coasting) that's why I phrased it as consciously or unconsciously. But, it shows when you come out slow and don't finish off opponents in the third period. Sure there were some moments of inspiried hockey in particular I liked the DEFENSIVE play of Mike Green - the two breakaways he got back for and broke up including one with a penalty free diving poke check ought to be put on CD and sent to every one of the people who get to vote for the Norris trophy this year. Alexander Semin's second goal, masterfully set up by a feed from Ovechkin, as well as Semin's hustle and play in general for those 20- 30 minutes I'm pointing to was great as well. I thought Jose Theodore played well, though he clearly was at least left out if not hung out to dry for most of the goals. The officiating was once again maddening but it went both ways, the penalty on Karlsson for tripping Ovechkin that resulted in the Caps first goal of Tuesday night was a gift and a bad call. Of course since I'm a Caps fan I regard the "makeup tripping call" against Nicklas Backstrom, also a bad call, as the worst call of the night. In the end that gave the Senators the chance to win the game - which they did. In truth neither team played a complete game Tuesday night and that gave both teams a chance to win. In particular if someone told you the Caps and Senators would play a game where Senators goaltender Brian Elliott had a SV% of 0.810 and the Senators were the winning team, before Tuesday night would you have believed them?
In the end it doesn't matter, we are on to tonight's match-up with the Thrashers, a team that is truly perplexing. They trade Ilya Kovalchuk at the deadline, generally a smart move because he wasn't going to re-sign in Atlanta, yet they are still truly in the playoff race with Philadelphia, Boston, and Montreal. To be sure Atlanta is the team with the longest odds against them making this year's post season, but they are by no means out of it. They really have to be driven at this point knowing but for an unfortunate, perplexing loss on Monday night to Carolina they too would have 82 points and though they'd still find themselves in 9th by virtue of the tie breakers they'd be poised far better to pounce on a misstep by any of the other three. Of course the fact the Hurricanes also beat Montreal last evening had to be welcome news to the Thrashers. Atlanta has just 5 games left but they are all against teams that already have their ticket to the post-season: 2 against the Caps, 2 against the Penguins, and 1 against the Devils. Whether that works for or against the Bluebirds remains to be seen. One thing is for sure though - the Thrashers have far more at stake tonight than the Capitals, Atlanta really does probably need to "win out" to have a chance at the playoffs and they have been playing well. In fact at 6-2-2 in their last 10 games, they have the best record of the four "bubble teams" in the East over the prior 10 game stretch.
Well I'm hoping Brooks Laich returns tonight and John Carlson is also in the lineup, it would be even better if Brendan Morrison was back too and the line-up could and does start to stabilize to what it will be for the start of the playoffs. I expect we'll see Semyon Varlamov in goal tonight though to me it looks like the goaltender for the start of the playoffs will and should be Jose Theodore. I'm planning to be catch the game from my seat in section 103 though it's unclear at this moment whether my lower back will be cooperative, it's been aching for two days now. The cause is as perplexing to me as the recent play of the Caps and the officiating in the NHL has been since October. Hope to see y'all there Rockin' the Red ....
LETS GO CAPS!!!
These last three games have been tough on those of us fans who are by nature "worriers" and if things go as I think they will for the remaining six games of the season, we're all still likely to be worrying through the end of the season. I say that because four of the final six games of the season are against the two teams most likely to be fighting for the last playoff spot in the East - Boston and tonight's opponents the Atlanta Thrashers. The cause of Tuesday evenings loss was in my opinion primarily one thing: "Time and Space" - as in the Caps clearly allowed Jason Spezza and Daniel Afredsson too much of it. I was at the game and watched it closely, by the end of the first period it was obvious who the Caps needed to shut down - they basically did that for the 20 minutes from the middle of the second through the middle of the third period, Tuesday evening. However, despite protestations to the contrary, it's sure seems to me that many players on the Caps are "throttled" back at least just a little, at least being a little more careful to avoid injury, etc. then they likely will later this month.
After Ovie's last suspension, vetran Mike Knuble noted that one of the keys for a player to have a long career, the long career you want great players like Ovechkin, Green, Semin, and Backstrom to have is to know when you can and should ease your foot up on the accelerator. The Capitals have clearly are doing that, either consciously or unconsciously and it shows. Yes I know the Capitals are denying it (coasting) that's why I phrased it as consciously or unconsciously. But, it shows when you come out slow and don't finish off opponents in the third period. Sure there were some moments of inspiried hockey in particular I liked the DEFENSIVE play of Mike Green - the two breakaways he got back for and broke up including one with a penalty free diving poke check ought to be put on CD and sent to every one of the people who get to vote for the Norris trophy this year. Alexander Semin's second goal, masterfully set up by a feed from Ovechkin, as well as Semin's hustle and play in general for those 20- 30 minutes I'm pointing to was great as well. I thought Jose Theodore played well, though he clearly was at least left out if not hung out to dry for most of the goals. The officiating was once again maddening but it went both ways, the penalty on Karlsson for tripping Ovechkin that resulted in the Caps first goal of Tuesday night was a gift and a bad call. Of course since I'm a Caps fan I regard the "makeup tripping call" against Nicklas Backstrom, also a bad call, as the worst call of the night. In the end that gave the Senators the chance to win the game - which they did. In truth neither team played a complete game Tuesday night and that gave both teams a chance to win. In particular if someone told you the Caps and Senators would play a game where Senators goaltender Brian Elliott had a SV% of 0.810 and the Senators were the winning team, before Tuesday night would you have believed them?
In the end it doesn't matter, we are on to tonight's match-up with the Thrashers, a team that is truly perplexing. They trade Ilya Kovalchuk at the deadline, generally a smart move because he wasn't going to re-sign in Atlanta, yet they are still truly in the playoff race with Philadelphia, Boston, and Montreal. To be sure Atlanta is the team with the longest odds against them making this year's post season, but they are by no means out of it. They really have to be driven at this point knowing but for an unfortunate, perplexing loss on Monday night to Carolina they too would have 82 points and though they'd still find themselves in 9th by virtue of the tie breakers they'd be poised far better to pounce on a misstep by any of the other three. Of course the fact the Hurricanes also beat Montreal last evening had to be welcome news to the Thrashers. Atlanta has just 5 games left but they are all against teams that already have their ticket to the post-season: 2 against the Caps, 2 against the Penguins, and 1 against the Devils. Whether that works for or against the Bluebirds remains to be seen. One thing is for sure though - the Thrashers have far more at stake tonight than the Capitals, Atlanta really does probably need to "win out" to have a chance at the playoffs and they have been playing well. In fact at 6-2-2 in their last 10 games, they have the best record of the four "bubble teams" in the East over the prior 10 game stretch.
Well I'm hoping Brooks Laich returns tonight and John Carlson is also in the lineup, it would be even better if Brendan Morrison was back too and the line-up could and does start to stabilize to what it will be for the start of the playoffs. I expect we'll see Semyon Varlamov in goal tonight though to me it looks like the goaltender for the start of the playoffs will and should be Jose Theodore. I'm planning to be catch the game from my seat in section 103 though it's unclear at this moment whether my lower back will be cooperative, it's been aching for two days now. The cause is as perplexing to me as the recent play of the Caps and the officiating in the NHL has been since October. Hope to see y'all there Rockin' the Red ....
LETS GO CAPS!!!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
It's Official I'm A Wimp and Caps Take The Streak To A Baker's Dozen...
It's probably official - I'm a wimp. I thought about going to Friday night's game but Bristow is 32 miles from Verizon Center and when I went outside to see about going to the game, I saw 3" of snow on the ground already and it was coming down hard. It was getting colder and I thought about the prospect of driving home in a foot of snow and "opted out". So I shoveled the driveway and walk and went back in the house to settle in to watch the game in HD on CSN. Does that make me an official DC Metro "snow-wimp" after residing in the area for going on 14 years? Well the game started on time, and watching Alan May and Lisa Hillary on the pre-game show made me feel like even more of a wimp, but hey I'm getting to be an old man now since I passed the half century mark earlier this week.The game started off as has become almost usual for the Caps these days. They started a little slow and gave up the first goal of the game but then settled in and scored 4 unanswered tallies to take the lead. in fact were it not for a weird bounce the Thrashers wouldn't have scored their second of the night as Michal Neuvirth made the stop only to have it hit Alex Semin in the chest as he slid into the net...Mike Green got his first goal of the streak - an empty netter to close out the game 5-2 as well. The three stars of the game Neuvirth who stopped 43 of 45; Alexander Ovechkin who had a goal and an assist and dominated when he was on the ice; and Nicklas Backstrom who also had a goal and an assist and looked pretty awesome too.
Oh and I appreciated the shot of one of my neighbors in Section 103 after the Ovechkin goal. I noted I sit around a lot of other wimps too....so I don't feel too guilty about having become a DC Metro Snow Wimp, anymore...
Now we get ready for the NBC (Nothing But Crosby) Network's game of the week tomorrow as long as the Penguins can get here after their 5-2 loss in Montreal today. Hopefully I'll be able to get to the game, I spent 6 hours today shoveling myself out now I just need a plow to come by.....
In the meantime....
LETS GO CAPS!!!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Atlanta Thrashers 2 - Anaheim Ducks 1
Last night I went and saw the Thrashers host the Ducks here in Atlanta's Phillips Arena as I am here on business. I went to the game with two colleagues from work, one a French Canadian from Montreal who grew up playing hockey and following "Le Habs", the other a gentleman from Baltimore who was attending his first hockey game.
It was interesting as Pierre and I would point out to each other the former Canadiens and former Capitals on the Ducks and Thrashers and Sam would comment on the game and ask about the rules, penalties, etc. It was also interesting to attend a hockey game that wasn't a sellout and see how the Tharashers Organization is working to sell their product and increase the fan base here in "Blueland." I saw a lot of things I hadn't seen in a while at Verizon Center and can say two things - the Thrashers are working hard at it; and based on what I saw work with the Caps at Verizon Center during "the rebuild" they are doing a lot of smart things.
Both the Thrashers and the Ducks consider themselves teams fighting for a playoff spot in their respective conferences. Both teams have a solid and, I feel, up and coming teams. The Thrashers have a fair talent base and watching them play, especially their PK and PP units, it's easy to understand how they started the season well. Zach Bogosian and Evander Kane both play beyond their young years. The Atlanta Russians/Europeans: Kovy, Afinaganov, Kubina, Antropov, Enstrom, Valabik, Salmela and Hedberg all are at worst solid hockey players and in the case of some, like Kovalchuk, possessors of superstar talent.
I got to see former Capital Steve Emminger take his 17th shot and score his 2nd goal of the season. I saw Colby Armstrong put one in from the paint while getting a gritty game, and I watched Maxim Afiniganov finish off a powerplay goal that culminated a power play unit's shift that was scary good on puck movement.
I also at a not so god for me but wonderfully tasty bar-b-cue beef brisket sandwich for dinner and had a much more enjoyable evening than I would have otherwise had working in my hotel room.
Tonight most of the folks who read this blog will be watching those same Anaheim Ducks play our favorite hockey team, the Washington Capitals in DC at Verizon Center. The Caps should win, last night here in Atlanta Jonas Hiller was in the net for the Ducks and he played well. Atlanta had a lot me shots and scoring chances than Anaheim during the first period and a half of the game, Hiller is how they stayed in the game. Conventional thinking says that means JS Giguire will be in the net tonight for the Ducks but really it won't matter either way. The Ducks should still fall to our beloved Caps.
Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to see the game tonight, probably online on GameCenter Live but maybe not...
LETS GO CAPS!!!
It was interesting as Pierre and I would point out to each other the former Canadiens and former Capitals on the Ducks and Thrashers and Sam would comment on the game and ask about the rules, penalties, etc. It was also interesting to attend a hockey game that wasn't a sellout and see how the Tharashers Organization is working to sell their product and increase the fan base here in "Blueland." I saw a lot of things I hadn't seen in a while at Verizon Center and can say two things - the Thrashers are working hard at it; and based on what I saw work with the Caps at Verizon Center during "the rebuild" they are doing a lot of smart things.
Both the Thrashers and the Ducks consider themselves teams fighting for a playoff spot in their respective conferences. Both teams have a solid and, I feel, up and coming teams. The Thrashers have a fair talent base and watching them play, especially their PK and PP units, it's easy to understand how they started the season well. Zach Bogosian and Evander Kane both play beyond their young years. The Atlanta Russians/Europeans: Kovy, Afinaganov, Kubina, Antropov, Enstrom, Valabik, Salmela and Hedberg all are at worst solid hockey players and in the case of some, like Kovalchuk, possessors of superstar talent.
I got to see former Capital Steve Emminger take his 17th shot and score his 2nd goal of the season. I saw Colby Armstrong put one in from the paint while getting a gritty game, and I watched Maxim Afiniganov finish off a powerplay goal that culminated a power play unit's shift that was scary good on puck movement.
I also at a not so god for me but wonderfully tasty bar-b-cue beef brisket sandwich for dinner and had a much more enjoyable evening than I would have otherwise had working in my hotel room.
Tonight most of the folks who read this blog will be watching those same Anaheim Ducks play our favorite hockey team, the Washington Capitals in DC at Verizon Center. The Caps should win, last night here in Atlanta Jonas Hiller was in the net for the Ducks and he played well. Atlanta had a lot me shots and scoring chances than Anaheim during the first period and a half of the game, Hiller is how they stayed in the game. Conventional thinking says that means JS Giguire will be in the net tonight for the Ducks but really it won't matter either way. The Ducks should still fall to our beloved Caps.
Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to see the game tonight, probably online on GameCenter Live but maybe not...
LETS GO CAPS!!!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Review of Last Night's Caps 7-4 Win Over The Panthers and A Few Musings...
Last night was a 2 point night, unfortunately I missed the entire game as we took our son back to college on Long Island and between a later than planned start in the morning and "mis-underestimating" the duration of the trip back, we walked back into the house probably about 20 minutes or so after the buzzer sounded ending the third period with the Capitals up 7-4. Another two point night and this one with Alexander Ovechkin, Mike Green and Jeff Schultz all in the press box. So I've spent part of today, after playing what was my first and probably will be my last round of golf for 2009, reviewing the game recaps and buzz around the Caps "blogsphere".
So how did I do on my predictions, I wondered... my predictions were:
1) Final score Caps 4 - Panthers 2; - wrong 7-4 wasn't even close...
2) Semin has at least a two point night; - wrong Semin didn't score but did has 2 of the Caps 3 minor penalties, played 19:10
3) Backstrom has at least a two point night; - correct, Backy had two assists, he also had another monster night in the faceoff circle, as did David Steckel.
4) Knuble scores a goal; - I'm taking this one as correct since he had two goals, and two assists - MONSTER night for Knuble..
5) Somebody we don't expect, probably Erskine scores a goal;and - I'm taking this one as correct since Quintin Laing scored his second, I'd love for things to change and me and the rest of us Caps fans to be able to expect Laing to score but right now, it's an unexpected thing we all love to see.
6) Shoane Morrisonn is indeed, wrongly, suspended for two games... wrong on that one, thankfully, oh and Shaone Morrisonn had a good game for the stats sheet perspective at least.
So how did the Caps score 7 goals with two of the four "young guns" in the press box? Well it was a team effort, 13 different Capitals had at least one point. To review: Mike Knuble had a monster night with two goals and two assists. Tomas Fleischmann also had a big night scoring a pair of goals. Brooks Laich, Quintin Laing and Mathieu Perreault (scoring his first career NHL goal) also added markers for the Capitals. In fact everyone in the lineup except Milan Jurcina, John Erskine, Alexander Semin, Tyler Sloan and Dave Steckel. How Steckel didn't end up with at least a point in a game where he won 11 of 18 faceoffs is a question I'll not understand having not seen the game but whatever. In any case I'll continue to predict for Alexander Semin to have a good night, and safely assume that Steckel will win faceoffs until the stars align and it happens on the same night.
In any case next up or the Capitals will be the Islanders at Verizon Center on Wednesday evening so there's plenty of time to muse about a lot of things. My first muse is to point out that the Caps have started November the way they ended October, playing 0.600+ hockey. In other words the Capitals continue on pace for another 100+ point season. Further, the past two games have helped address the whole secondary scoring discussion. Through 17 games the Caps now have 7 players on track for 20+ goal seasons: 1) Alexander Ovechkin; 2) Brooks Laich; 3) Alexander Semin; 4) Brendan Morrison; 5) Mike Knuble; 6) Tomas Fleischmann; and 7) Nicklas Backstrom. Others who are on track for career years as far as NHL regular season goal production include: Matt Bradley who is on pace for 14+ goals this season; Quintin Laing who is on pace for 10 goals; and Tyler Sloan who is also on pace for 10 goals. Add to that a hopefully rejuvenated Mike Green who finds his scoring touch and strengthens the power play when he returns to the line up and you'll have a team with 10 guys you really have to worry about lighting the lamp when they are on the ice for the Capitals.
Across the board, the Capitals are looking pretty solid. Ovechkin is on pace for a 110+ point season and even with a a multi-week healing period this month is still likely to once again be in the running for the scoring titles. Alexander Semin, maligned of late is on track for 33 goals and 38 assists - 70+ points. Brooks Laich is on track for a career year - 33 goals and 53 assists - 80+ points. Nicklas Backstrom is on track for 19 or 20 goals, and 82 assists - a 100 point season, it's worthwhile to note that Backstrom's assists totals continue to grow seemingly regardless of who he skates with. Tomas Fleischman appears well on his way to a 20+ goal/30+ point season... and the list goes on. The other good news seems to be that you can't ignore that both Mike Knuble and Brendan Morrison are at least as good or better than the guys they replaced in the line-up, Kozlov and Federov, in regards to production.
Offensive production doesn't appear to be much of an issue for the Caps, thanks to last night's 7-4 win over the panthers, the Capitals lead the league in goals scored with 65 goals for. Another interesting point to note is only 3 teams have a better GF-GA differential then the Capitals have to date (the Caps are +13): San Jose: + 19; the New York Rangers: + 15; Colorado: +15. Interestingly right now with 24 points in 17 games the Caps are fourth in the league's overall standings and second in the Eastern Conference. In the Southeast Division the Caps are 7 points in front of the second place Tampa Bay Lightning however the Lightning have two games in hand on the Caps so if we were tracking this "baseball style" the Caps would only be 2 1/2 games up on the boys from Tampa.
Another look in baseball "lingo" at what the Caps have been doing so far this season, overall for the season the Caps are playing 0.706 hockey on the year. If you project that to season's end the Caps are on track for a 115+ point season. Let that sink in - if you don't understand why you go to Verizon Center and come away roundly disappointed if the Caps don't win, you need only realize the Caps are currently playing 0.722 hockey at home. That's a long way from the early years of the "rebuild" for those of us who lived through those recent "slow years."
To be sure the Capitals are now dealing with a spate of injuries and the season and playoffs assuming they make them will go much more smoothly when they get healthy but this team is really cooking with gas and finding ways to win on most nights. The other positive trend of late has been the Capitals are playing more disciplined hockey and taking fewer penalties in games, at least the last two, and last night they didn't take any penalties during the Third Period. That has to continue if the Caps are to keep up their current winning trend.
Wednesday should be a good game, the Islanders and the Caps have already had two close games and the Islanders came away with an OT win when the teams last met on October 30th at Verizon Center. The Caps and we Caps fans will be looking for a 2 point, regulation win night...
LETS GO CAPS!!!
So how did I do on my predictions, I wondered... my predictions were:
1) Final score Caps 4 - Panthers 2; - wrong 7-4 wasn't even close...
2) Semin has at least a two point night; - wrong Semin didn't score but did has 2 of the Caps 3 minor penalties, played 19:10
3) Backstrom has at least a two point night; - correct, Backy had two assists, he also had another monster night in the faceoff circle, as did David Steckel.
4) Knuble scores a goal; - I'm taking this one as correct since he had two goals, and two assists - MONSTER night for Knuble..
5) Somebody we don't expect, probably Erskine scores a goal;and - I'm taking this one as correct since Quintin Laing scored his second, I'd love for things to change and me and the rest of us Caps fans to be able to expect Laing to score but right now, it's an unexpected thing we all love to see.
6) Shoane Morrisonn is indeed, wrongly, suspended for two games... wrong on that one, thankfully, oh and Shaone Morrisonn had a good game for the stats sheet perspective at least.
So how did the Caps score 7 goals with two of the four "young guns" in the press box? Well it was a team effort, 13 different Capitals had at least one point. To review: Mike Knuble had a monster night with two goals and two assists. Tomas Fleischmann also had a big night scoring a pair of goals. Brooks Laich, Quintin Laing and Mathieu Perreault (scoring his first career NHL goal) also added markers for the Capitals. In fact everyone in the lineup except Milan Jurcina, John Erskine, Alexander Semin, Tyler Sloan and Dave Steckel. How Steckel didn't end up with at least a point in a game where he won 11 of 18 faceoffs is a question I'll not understand having not seen the game but whatever. In any case I'll continue to predict for Alexander Semin to have a good night, and safely assume that Steckel will win faceoffs until the stars align and it happens on the same night.
In any case next up or the Capitals will be the Islanders at Verizon Center on Wednesday evening so there's plenty of time to muse about a lot of things. My first muse is to point out that the Caps have started November the way they ended October, playing 0.600+ hockey. In other words the Capitals continue on pace for another 100+ point season. Further, the past two games have helped address the whole secondary scoring discussion. Through 17 games the Caps now have 7 players on track for 20+ goal seasons: 1) Alexander Ovechkin; 2) Brooks Laich; 3) Alexander Semin; 4) Brendan Morrison; 5) Mike Knuble; 6) Tomas Fleischmann; and 7) Nicklas Backstrom. Others who are on track for career years as far as NHL regular season goal production include: Matt Bradley who is on pace for 14+ goals this season; Quintin Laing who is on pace for 10 goals; and Tyler Sloan who is also on pace for 10 goals. Add to that a hopefully rejuvenated Mike Green who finds his scoring touch and strengthens the power play when he returns to the line up and you'll have a team with 10 guys you really have to worry about lighting the lamp when they are on the ice for the Capitals.
Across the board, the Capitals are looking pretty solid. Ovechkin is on pace for a 110+ point season and even with a a multi-week healing period this month is still likely to once again be in the running for the scoring titles. Alexander Semin, maligned of late is on track for 33 goals and 38 assists - 70+ points. Brooks Laich is on track for a career year - 33 goals and 53 assists - 80+ points. Nicklas Backstrom is on track for 19 or 20 goals, and 82 assists - a 100 point season, it's worthwhile to note that Backstrom's assists totals continue to grow seemingly regardless of who he skates with. Tomas Fleischman appears well on his way to a 20+ goal/30+ point season... and the list goes on. The other good news seems to be that you can't ignore that both Mike Knuble and Brendan Morrison are at least as good or better than the guys they replaced in the line-up, Kozlov and Federov, in regards to production.
Offensive production doesn't appear to be much of an issue for the Caps, thanks to last night's 7-4 win over the panthers, the Capitals lead the league in goals scored with 65 goals for. Another interesting point to note is only 3 teams have a better GF-GA differential then the Capitals have to date (the Caps are +13): San Jose: + 19; the New York Rangers: + 15; Colorado: +15. Interestingly right now with 24 points in 17 games the Caps are fourth in the league's overall standings and second in the Eastern Conference. In the Southeast Division the Caps are 7 points in front of the second place Tampa Bay Lightning however the Lightning have two games in hand on the Caps so if we were tracking this "baseball style" the Caps would only be 2 1/2 games up on the boys from Tampa.
Another look in baseball "lingo" at what the Caps have been doing so far this season, overall for the season the Caps are playing 0.706 hockey on the year. If you project that to season's end the Caps are on track for a 115+ point season. Let that sink in - if you don't understand why you go to Verizon Center and come away roundly disappointed if the Caps don't win, you need only realize the Caps are currently playing 0.722 hockey at home. That's a long way from the early years of the "rebuild" for those of us who lived through those recent "slow years."
To be sure the Capitals are now dealing with a spate of injuries and the season and playoffs assuming they make them will go much more smoothly when they get healthy but this team is really cooking with gas and finding ways to win on most nights. The other positive trend of late has been the Capitals are playing more disciplined hockey and taking fewer penalties in games, at least the last two, and last night they didn't take any penalties during the Third Period. That has to continue if the Caps are to keep up their current winning trend.
Wednesday should be a good game, the Islanders and the Caps have already had two close games and the Islanders came away with an OT win when the teams last met on October 30th at Verizon Center. The Caps and we Caps fans will be looking for a 2 point, regulation win night...
LETS GO CAPS!!!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Caps 4 - Thrashers 3 (corrected), a Two Point Night...
The Capitals won 4 -3 tonight over the Atlanta Thrashers keeping their winning streak alive at 6. The first period and a half the Capitals dominated. Then for the last half of the game the Thrashers showed resilience and outworked the Caps; however Semyon Varlamov had a good night and kept Atlanta out of the net most of the rest of the way. To put things in context about how hard the Thrashers worked the second half of the night, their third goal, Zach Bogisian's second of the evening came at the 19:59 mark of the third period .....I'll post more about the Caps game later but now it's over to the World Series Game - Lets' Go Phillies...
A Look Ahead To Tonight's Game vs. Atlanta & What About That Secondary Scoring Stuff?
Tonight the Capitals travel to Atlanta to take on the Atlanta Thrashers at Phillips Arena. They'll be facing a team that they needed to hold off from a come back to win 5-4 last week. However, this will be Atlanta's first game without star, leading scorer and Captain Ilya Kovalchuk who broke his foot since the last game with the Capitals. The Thrashers will likely come out flying and "loaded for bear" since they'll want to prove they aren't a "one trick pony". While the Thrashers are no longer a "one trick pony" in the end if the Capitals play their game plan and play like they did the first two periods of last week's game and stay focused, they'll win their sixth game in a row before returning to DC to take on the Islanders tomorrow night at the Phone Booth. However, the Capitals have been juggling their own line-up to accommodate the ever changing "sick & injured" reports so it won't be a cake walk. The Caps will need to ensure that neither Nik Antropov, Bryan Little, or Slava Kozlov are allowed to make up for the lost production Kovalchuk's absence from the Atlanta lineup creates.
Prediction: Caps 4 - Thrashers 2.
There has been an increasing buzz here in the Caps blogsphere about a lack of secondary scoring, as well as the definition of it. I figured I'd take a look around the league and compare the other teams and their secondary scoring vs. the Capitals. After Tuesday night's game against the Flyers only 10 of their 41 goals (24.3%) have come from someone who is not a forward on the top two lines, if you take Mike Green's 2 tallies out of that mix it's 8 of the 41 (19.5%). So I figured I'd look at the other teams in the top of the league both in points and goals scored and compare their sources of production compared to the Capitals. Aside from the Capitals I figured I'd look at the other leading teams in the Eastern Conference, as well as the Western Conference teams with 40 or more goals scored to date for comparisons.
First let's characterize the Capitals offensive production not counting the top six forwards - 10 goals from seven (7) different players including 3 from Matt Bradley and 2 from Mike Green. Only one Capital other than "the big six" has a Game Winning Goal (GWG) thus far. However, the Capitals total offensive production of 41 goals in 11 games; 24.3% from "secondary scoring" - goals from sources other than their top two lines.
Other Eastern Conference teams who are currently in the top eight in the standings:
1) Pittsburgh Penguins - 20 points in 12 games; 43 goals scored. Of their 43 goals, 23 (53.4%) have come off of sticks that belong to players not part of their top two forward lines; 2 players other then their top 6 forwards (Sergei Gonchar and Tyler Kennedy) have scored 4 game winning goals.
2) New York Rangers - 17 points in 13 games; 47 goals scored. Of their 47 goals, 22 (46.8%) have come from secondary scoring including 11 off the sticks of their blue line corps. Of those 22 goals from secondary scorers, 5 have been game winners.
3) Philadelphia Flyers - 11 points in 1o games; 33 goals scored. Of their 33 goals, 11 (33.3%) have come from secondary scoring, however no one other than their top six have scored a game winning goal to date.
4) Buffalo Sabres - 15 points in 9 games, 30 goals scored. Of their 30 goals, 10 (33%) have come from secondary scoring, including 3 from veteran off season pick-up Mike Grier. Secondary scorers have scored 4 of their 6 game winners to date.
5) Ottawa Senators - 14 points in 10 games; 34 goals scored. Of their 34 goals scored, 16 (67.6%) have come from secondary scoring (good thing too since Jonathan Cheechoo and Jason Spezza are both yet to score their first goal of the season.) However only one (1) of their six (6) GWG's to date have come off the stick of a secondary scorer.
6) Montreal Canadeans - 12 points in 12 games; 31 goals scored. Twelve (12) of their 31 goals(38.7%) scored to date including 3 of 5 GWG have come off the sticks of secondary scorers.
7) New Jersey Devils - 12 points in 10 games; 27 goals scored. Eight (8) of their 27 goals (29.6%) have been scored by other then their top five scorers, their top "stud", Patrik Elias, has yet to play this season as he is on IR. However 3 of the 4 GWG recorded to date have been by secondary scorers.
Western Conference Teams with 40 or more goals scored to date:
1) Colorado Avalanche - 22 points in 13 games; 44 goals scored. Seventeen (17) of their goals to date (40.9%) have come from secondary scoring including 5 of their 9 GWG.
2) Los Angeles Kings - 16 points in 12 games; 44 goals scored (doesn't include goals or points from last night's late game against the San Jose Sharks). Twelve (12) of their 44 goals (27.3%) of their total production has come from secondary scoring including 4 of 8 GWG.
3) Dallas Stars - 16 points in 12 games; 41 goals scored. Fourteen (14) of their 41 goals (34.1%) have been the result of secondary scoring including three (3) of their six (6) GWG.
4) Calgary Flames - 15 points in 11 games; 43 goals scored. The Flames may be the poster children of secondary scoring this season. Twenty Two (22) of their 43 goals (51.2%), a total of seventeen (17) different Flames have scored goals so far this season. Leading the secondary scoring parade is defenseman Dion Phaneuf with five goals so far this season. Five (5) of Calgary's six (6) GWG to date have come from other than top six forwards as well.
5) San Jose Sharks - 15 points in 12 games; 42 goals scored (doesn't include numbers from last night's late game with the Kings). Fourteen (14) of their 42 goals (33.33%) scored so far this season have been the result of secondary scoring. Two (2) of seven (7) GWG have been from secondary scorers.
So while I've been asking how many other leading teams have at least 10 goals from secondary scoring so far this season, the answer is - 10 of them. That said the Caps 10 goals from secondary scoring while fewer than any of those other 11 teams except the New Jersey Devils, it is basically a respectable absolute number since the range is 8 (the Devils) to 23 (Pittsburgh). However only five teams have 15 or more goals as a result of secondary scoring: Pittsburgh, Calgary, the Rangers, Colorado, and Ottawa. Some of the reason for the Caps being somewhat off the pace (24% vs 33%) on secondary scoring so far this season may well be the fact they really haven't had a big need for it so far this season, though it would be nice to know if they needed it, it was there. There's really no reason it should be off since the current Caps lineup has more then enough firepower both on the third and fourth lines as well as on the blueline, this season.
Now on to Atlanta ...
LETS GO CAPS!!!
Prediction: Caps 4 - Thrashers 2.
There has been an increasing buzz here in the Caps blogsphere about a lack of secondary scoring, as well as the definition of it. I figured I'd take a look around the league and compare the other teams and their secondary scoring vs. the Capitals. After Tuesday night's game against the Flyers only 10 of their 41 goals (24.3%) have come from someone who is not a forward on the top two lines, if you take Mike Green's 2 tallies out of that mix it's 8 of the 41 (19.5%). So I figured I'd look at the other teams in the top of the league both in points and goals scored and compare their sources of production compared to the Capitals. Aside from the Capitals I figured I'd look at the other leading teams in the Eastern Conference, as well as the Western Conference teams with 40 or more goals scored to date for comparisons.
First let's characterize the Capitals offensive production not counting the top six forwards - 10 goals from seven (7) different players including 3 from Matt Bradley and 2 from Mike Green. Only one Capital other than "the big six" has a Game Winning Goal (GWG) thus far. However, the Capitals total offensive production of 41 goals in 11 games; 24.3% from "secondary scoring" - goals from sources other than their top two lines.
Other Eastern Conference teams who are currently in the top eight in the standings:
1) Pittsburgh Penguins - 20 points in 12 games; 43 goals scored. Of their 43 goals, 23 (53.4%) have come off of sticks that belong to players not part of their top two forward lines; 2 players other then their top 6 forwards (Sergei Gonchar and Tyler Kennedy) have scored 4 game winning goals.
2) New York Rangers - 17 points in 13 games; 47 goals scored. Of their 47 goals, 22 (46.8%) have come from secondary scoring including 11 off the sticks of their blue line corps. Of those 22 goals from secondary scorers, 5 have been game winners.
3) Philadelphia Flyers - 11 points in 1o games; 33 goals scored. Of their 33 goals, 11 (33.3%) have come from secondary scoring, however no one other than their top six have scored a game winning goal to date.
4) Buffalo Sabres - 15 points in 9 games, 30 goals scored. Of their 30 goals, 10 (33%) have come from secondary scoring, including 3 from veteran off season pick-up Mike Grier. Secondary scorers have scored 4 of their 6 game winners to date.
5) Ottawa Senators - 14 points in 10 games; 34 goals scored. Of their 34 goals scored, 16 (67.6%) have come from secondary scoring (good thing too since Jonathan Cheechoo and Jason Spezza are both yet to score their first goal of the season.) However only one (1) of their six (6) GWG's to date have come off the stick of a secondary scorer.
6) Montreal Canadeans - 12 points in 12 games; 31 goals scored. Twelve (12) of their 31 goals(38.7%) scored to date including 3 of 5 GWG have come off the sticks of secondary scorers.
7) New Jersey Devils - 12 points in 10 games; 27 goals scored. Eight (8) of their 27 goals (29.6%) have been scored by other then their top five scorers, their top "stud", Patrik Elias, has yet to play this season as he is on IR. However 3 of the 4 GWG recorded to date have been by secondary scorers.
Western Conference Teams with 40 or more goals scored to date:
1) Colorado Avalanche - 22 points in 13 games; 44 goals scored. Seventeen (17) of their goals to date (40.9%) have come from secondary scoring including 5 of their 9 GWG.
2) Los Angeles Kings - 16 points in 12 games; 44 goals scored (doesn't include goals or points from last night's late game against the San Jose Sharks). Twelve (12) of their 44 goals (27.3%) of their total production has come from secondary scoring including 4 of 8 GWG.
3) Dallas Stars - 16 points in 12 games; 41 goals scored. Fourteen (14) of their 41 goals (34.1%) have been the result of secondary scoring including three (3) of their six (6) GWG.
4) Calgary Flames - 15 points in 11 games; 43 goals scored. The Flames may be the poster children of secondary scoring this season. Twenty Two (22) of their 43 goals (51.2%), a total of seventeen (17) different Flames have scored goals so far this season. Leading the secondary scoring parade is defenseman Dion Phaneuf with five goals so far this season. Five (5) of Calgary's six (6) GWG to date have come from other than top six forwards as well.
5) San Jose Sharks - 15 points in 12 games; 42 goals scored (doesn't include numbers from last night's late game with the Kings). Fourteen (14) of their 42 goals (33.33%) scored so far this season have been the result of secondary scoring. Two (2) of seven (7) GWG have been from secondary scorers.
So while I've been asking how many other leading teams have at least 10 goals from secondary scoring so far this season, the answer is - 10 of them. That said the Caps 10 goals from secondary scoring while fewer than any of those other 11 teams except the New Jersey Devils, it is basically a respectable absolute number since the range is 8 (the Devils) to 23 (Pittsburgh). However only five teams have 15 or more goals as a result of secondary scoring: Pittsburgh, Calgary, the Rangers, Colorado, and Ottawa. Some of the reason for the Caps being somewhat off the pace (24% vs 33%) on secondary scoring so far this season may well be the fact they really haven't had a big need for it so far this season, though it would be nice to know if they needed it, it was there. There's really no reason it should be off since the current Caps lineup has more then enough firepower both on the third and fourth lines as well as on the blueline, this season.
Now on to Atlanta ...
LETS GO CAPS!!!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Caps 5 - Thrashers 4 Despite Sub-optimal Special Teams Play
A two point night, and the Caps remain firmly in first place in the Southeast Division.The Good:
1) Two Points & Three Points Up On the Thrashers
2) Secondary Scoring All Around By The Caps
3) Jeff Schultz 3 points - 1 goal, 2 assists, +3 and 2 hits - who is this guy?
4) Shoane Morrison a game time decision - +1, 2 takeaways, 16:00 TOI
5) Apparently No One Got Hurt
The Bad:
1) Seven power play chances = zero goals scored, one goal yielded.
2) Took eight (8) minor penalties and yielded two (2) power play goals.
3) Yielded a couple of softies.
4) Barely out shot the Thrashers.
The Weirdest:
*** Jeff Schultz' goal, nice assist, Varly***
The Best:
****Survived, Got Two Points**** Bringing overall record to equal to playing 0.667 hockey...
Next up: The New York Islanders at Nassau County Veterans Coliseum in Uniondale, NY on Saturday Evening.
LETS GO CAPS!!!!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
How, After A Four Day Layoff, and Only the 9th Game Are The Caps the Walking Wounded?
How, After A Four Day Layoff, and Only the 9th Game Are The Caps the Walking Wounded?
As we look ahead to tomorrow night's game that has to be the question. Also before anyone dismisses the Thrashers look closer at the second place team in the Southeast Division - they are playing 0.750 hockey through their first 6 games this season, are just one point back of the Caps and will take a one point lead in the division if they manage to get a victory in regulation over the visiting Capitals. The Atlanta team web site bills Thursday's game as "Kovalchuk vs. Ovechkin" but the game is of course a bigger contest than the match up between the two team's scoring aces. The Thrashers have started hot, and now have 21 goals for and just 15 against in 6 games; that's an average of 3.5 GF and 2.5 GA a differential of +1.00; the Caps have 29 GF and 24 GA in 8 games - 3.625 GF and 3.0 GA and a differential of 0.625. Of the Thrashers first six games though only one has been against a 2009 playoff team; while seven of the Capitals first eight contests have been against 2009 playoff teams so what happens in this first contest between these two division rivals remains to be seen. This is not however the same Atlanta team that took to the ice last season and if the Thrashers goaltending holds up, they will continue to do well.
I've pointed this out before and I'll say it again, last season the Caps ran hot or cold against the Thrashers going 4-2-0, but the two losses were pretty embarrassing outings and occurred when the Caps traveled to Atlanta. Atlanta is 2-1-0 so far this season. The key for the Caps will be to play solid, smart hockey and throw rubber at the Thrashers netminder, on target, get shots through, and not let the Thrashers guns loose or make it easy for them to break out of their zone. If they do that this will be a two point night for the Caps. Eleven (11) of the Thrashers twenty-one goals have come off the sticks of Ilya Kovalchuk (7) and Rich Peverly (4) - that's 52.4% of their overall production. While the Caps are similarly lopsided in their production with 15 of their 29 goals (51.7%) of their offense coming off the sticks of two players Ovechkin and Semin, and Semin is a doubtful for tonight's game, the presence on five other multi-goal scorers for the Caps versus one (Evander Kane) for Atlanta gives an edge to the Capitals for roster depth. it also means that the Washington game plan can be relatively straight-forward in spite of the fact that Atlanta coach John Anderson has the last change, it shouldn't be too hard for Caps coach Bruce Boudreau to get the matchups he wants as well as keep some separation between the tow teams aces if that's what he wants to do. However, the Thrashers are hot and that's also why as they say, they play the game on the ice - you just never know. The other thing the Caps need to do is "come out swinging" so to speak - playing aggressive, heads up hockey, drawing penalties not taking them, etc.
Predictions and prognostications politely refused today because of the injury report. However I will say this - I want our guys to have a two point night and:
LETS GO CAPS!!!!
As we look ahead to tomorrow night's game that has to be the question. Also before anyone dismisses the Thrashers look closer at the second place team in the Southeast Division - they are playing 0.750 hockey through their first 6 games this season, are just one point back of the Caps and will take a one point lead in the division if they manage to get a victory in regulation over the visiting Capitals. The Atlanta team web site bills Thursday's game as "Kovalchuk vs. Ovechkin" but the game is of course a bigger contest than the match up between the two team's scoring aces. The Thrashers have started hot, and now have 21 goals for and just 15 against in 6 games; that's an average of 3.5 GF and 2.5 GA a differential of +1.00; the Caps have 29 GF and 24 GA in 8 games - 3.625 GF and 3.0 GA and a differential of 0.625. Of the Thrashers first six games though only one has been against a 2009 playoff team; while seven of the Capitals first eight contests have been against 2009 playoff teams so what happens in this first contest between these two division rivals remains to be seen. This is not however the same Atlanta team that took to the ice last season and if the Thrashers goaltending holds up, they will continue to do well.
I've pointed this out before and I'll say it again, last season the Caps ran hot or cold against the Thrashers going 4-2-0, but the two losses were pretty embarrassing outings and occurred when the Caps traveled to Atlanta. Atlanta is 2-1-0 so far this season. The key for the Caps will be to play solid, smart hockey and throw rubber at the Thrashers netminder, on target, get shots through, and not let the Thrashers guns loose or make it easy for them to break out of their zone. If they do that this will be a two point night for the Caps. Eleven (11) of the Thrashers twenty-one goals have come off the sticks of Ilya Kovalchuk (7) and Rich Peverly (4) - that's 52.4% of their overall production. While the Caps are similarly lopsided in their production with 15 of their 29 goals (51.7%) of their offense coming off the sticks of two players Ovechkin and Semin, and Semin is a doubtful for tonight's game, the presence on five other multi-goal scorers for the Caps versus one (Evander Kane) for Atlanta gives an edge to the Capitals for roster depth. it also means that the Washington game plan can be relatively straight-forward in spite of the fact that Atlanta coach John Anderson has the last change, it shouldn't be too hard for Caps coach Bruce Boudreau to get the matchups he wants as well as keep some separation between the tow teams aces if that's what he wants to do. However, the Thrashers are hot and that's also why as they say, they play the game on the ice - you just never know. The other thing the Caps need to do is "come out swinging" so to speak - playing aggressive, heads up hockey, drawing penalties not taking them, etc.
Predictions and prognostications politely refused today because of the injury report. However I will say this - I want our guys to have a two point night and:
LETS GO CAPS!!!!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Looking Ahead to 2009-2010: Southeast Division
Well I figured as the free agent season for the summer progresses, I'd look at each division and the teams within moves this off season and jot down some thoughts.
As of this afternoon the following Free Agents of note are still available so things could still change where a team within a division could or will be positively or negatively affected by a free agent move I note my thoughts. I also figured I'd start with the Southeast Division for two reasons: 1) the Capitals are in the Division and 2) it seems to me a lot of the moves that need to or will be made in the Southeastern Division have already been made.
Here's the top UFAs that remain unsigned right now:
1. Alex Tanguay
2. Martin Biron
3. Saku Koivu
4. Jason Williams
5. Miroslav Satan
6. Mike Comrie
7. Manny Malhortra
Others of Note/Interest: Steve Eminger, Manny Fernandez, Martin Gerber, Mike Grier, Brent Johnson, Bobby Holik, Curtis Joseph, Manny Legace, Matt Pettinger, Michael Peca, Andrew Raycroft, Dmitri Kalnin, Joe Sakic, Antero Nittymaki, Mathieu Schneider, Daryl Sydor, Ossi Vaananen, Kevin Weekes, Kyle Wellwood, Maxim Afinogenov, Richard Zednick, Sergei Zubov and of course: Brendan Shanahan, Mats Sundin, and Chris Chelios (if fo no other reason than morbid curiosity for those last three names on the list...)
Now looking at the Southeast Division Team's finishes from last regular season. At the end of the 2008/2009 Regular Season, the standings were as follows.
1) Washington: 108 points (50-24-8) 2nd in Conference, 4th in League
2) Carolina: 97 points (45-30-7) 6th in Conference, 11th in League
3) Florida: 93 points (41-30-11) 9th in Conference, 14th in League
4) Atlanta: 76 points (35-41-6) 13th in Conference, 27th in League
5) Tampa Bay: 66 points (24-40-18) 14th in Conference, 29th in League.
Looking ahead to the 2009/2010 season I predict things will end up with the teams in the following finishing order and with the following total points.
1) Washington, 100+ points
2) Carolina, 93+ points
3) Florida, 80+ points
4) Atlanta, 80+ points
5) Tampa Bay - who knows? and will we care?
Current Situation and Roster Notes Looking Ahead to 2009/2010
Washington Capitals: The Capitals currently have 19 players on their roster and three openings, assuming you don't feel that one of the prospects in their solid talent pipeline doesn't move up. Right now the Capitals have an estimated salary cap payroll of $52.625M against an estimated budget/max Cap of $56.8M leaving them $4.175M of salary cap space. They are probably done with the free agent market for this season though the signing of veteran right wing Mike Knuble was a pleasant and pretty universally welcome surprise in "Cap-land". The Caps made qualifying offers to 8 Restricted Free Agents and the only one to file for arbitration was Milan Jurcina but he will likely get something out of it given his good showing in the playoffs and the fact he led the D-Corps in Blocked Shots and Hits during the regular season. That combined with the looming necessary contract extension offers to Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom later this season as well as the probable desire to have some space for a trade deadline pickup leave the Caps with little room and probably less desire to make any big moves at this time. Save of course the possible trade of Michael Nylander to a place that wants him, his $5+M cap hit and that he with an NMC wants to go to. In addition to picking up Knuble the Caps have also lost Viktor Kozlov and Sergei Federov from their lineup, enforcer/4th liner Donald Brashear has left town for the big apple and backup goaltender Brent Johnson is a UFA and not expected to return. The remainder of the Capitals lineup remains pretty firm and behind the team that racked up the fourth best record in the NHL last season is a pipeline that includes prospects on an AHL Affiliate that won that league's Calder Cup, and an ECHL affiliate that won that league's Kelly Cup last season. Right now it looks like the replacement for Fedrov will be a juggling of the top six forwards that moves Brooks Laich to the second line center spot; Knuble is a clear replacement, and scoring upgrade for Kozlov, Johnson's replacement is one of two excellent young goaltenders in the Capitals' pipeline - Seymeon Varlamov or Michal Neuvirth - either of whom , if they continue the form they showed in the post season, will be an upgrade and should give Jose Theodore competition for playing time next season. Last the "replacement" for Brashear appears to be an upgraded soring punch on the 3rd and 4th lines and an even more potent power play in the likeness of the Detroit Red Wings per statements from Caps General Manager George McPhee.
2) Carolina Hurricanes: The Hurricanes currently have 17 players signed and five openings on there roster; right now they have an estimated payroll of $48.142M against an estimated budget of $51M and a max cap of $56.8. That leaves them budget room of $2.858M and cap space of $8,658M. The good news so far this off season is the Hurricane's haven't lost anybody from a lineup that made the playoffs last season. The bad news is the Hurricanes haven't added anybody of note to upgrade a team that lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Penguins. The 'Canes still have to resign UFA Dennis Seidenberg and hang on to restricted free agents Anton Babchuk, Tuomo Ruutu and Jussi Jokinen for their roster to remain in tact. They could also use some additional firepower to augment their scoring punch and build around a core that is goaltender Cam Ward and star center Eric Staal. They haven't tried to do that yet this off season and given the remaining top UFAs it doesn't look like they will do so either. That said, they are coming off a great end of the season run and solid playoffs even though they were ousted by the eventual Stanley Cup Winner. The way Carolina ended the last season, even without any major upgrades, they will give the Capitals a run for their money in the division, but there are still some "chinks in their armour" as well.
3) Florida Panthers: The Panthers, are the biggest question mark in the division. They finished last season with quite a good run and missed the playoffs only on a tiebreaker. They currently have 18 players on their roster and four openings; they've achieved this with a payroll of $49.42M against a estimated budget of $54.5M. That gives them $5.08M and $7.38M of space against their budget and the salary cap respectively. In the wake of Jay Bouwmeester's departure from South Florida, the Panthers have been making a few moves to try and ensure they do return to the playoffs next season. However, they also lost backup goaltender Craig Anderson to free agency, and that shouldn't be dismissed as Anderson filled in ably last season for an injured Tomas Vokoun for a period. Those moves include picking up veteran defenseman Jordan Leopold from Calgary and signing him to a one year $1.75M deal; resigning veteran forward Radek Dvorak to a 2 year $3.4M contract, and signing leading goal scorer, forward David Booth, who was an RFA, to a six-year contract worth $25.5 million. That said given the slow pace the Panthers are taking in possibly bringing back their other veteran free agents: D Nick Boynton, D Jassen Cullimore, F Ville Peltonen, D Karlis Skrastins, and F Janis Sprukts, they certainly also be leaving themselves a fair amount of room to build from within using their younger players ... but with a goaltender like Vokoun and solid forwards like Stephen Weiss and David Booth to serve as a core to build around, the Panthers will not be a push over this season - even without Boumeester in the lineup. I'm sure some South Florida hockey fans are wondering what the Panthers would be like with a star defenseman to anchor their blue line corps... kind of makes me wonder too.
4) Atlanta Thrashers. There's almost no doubt the Thrashers should be one of the most improved teams in the NHL this coming season. With the following guys as the possible free agent losses on July 1st: F Mike Hoffman, F Joe Motzko, D Nathan Oystrick, F Eric Perrin, D Brett Skinner, F Grant Stevenson - a bunch who as a group totaled 148 games played and 12 goals scored last season - the Bluebirds weren't at risk of loosing much in the way of team strength anyway. Then they went out and signed big free agent Nik "Borat" Antropov to a four year $16M deal to play alngside scoring machine Captain Ilya Kovalchuck and in front of a young but talented blue-line corps as well as talented younsters like Bryan Little, Rich Peverley, and Colby Armstrong as well. The Thrashers still need more talent to really compete for a Cup like their star wants but they have salary cap room and also seem convinced that goaltender Kari Lehtonen is ready to be the main man between the pipes for them as well. The Thrashers may do well picking up some of the now available, cheaper free agents and they may still have salary cap room to be one of the few teams in the league to actually play in the trade market. Hmmm - you think there's any chance they are looking for a 36 year old Swedish, puck control center? Probably not but I can dream can't I?
5) Tampa Bay: Okay despite some relatively rationale behaviour so far this off season, all of which seems to be well considered and likely to strongly improve this team, it's just a fact that the train wreck perptrated by the new ownership and Barry Melrose last off-season will take more than one year to remedy. So far this off season, discounting allegations of possible tampering, just because lets not get too surreal, th free agent pickups of defensemen Mattias Ohlund and Matt Walker, and forward Stephane Veillieux all will improve the team. Also the prices paid for Walker and Veillieux don't seem excessive and while there's lots of spectulation and conjecture going on about the Ohlund deal there can be no doubt he'll be a good mentor for first round draft pick Victor Hedman who also appears ready to make the transition from the Swedish Elite Leagure right to the NHL. Truth be told with Lecavilier, St. Louis, Malone, Prospal and Stamos up front and the improved blue line carved out this off season, if young goaltender Mike Smith can hold his own, and the ownership/management drama subsides, by mid-season Tampa Bay should be settled in and also looking good. That said their has just been so much turnover the past two seasons and so much drama this past season it'll probably take all year before the Lightning get in a groove. Like I said - it takes a while to clean-up a train wreck and get normal operations resumed - just ask riders of WMATA's RED Line.
Well what's it all mean Caps fans?- first, you don't have to read this blog to know your guys, those "Young GUns" Washington Capitals aren't going to sneak up on anyone this season. They along with Pittsburgh and Boston are picked to be "The Beasts of the East." So expect opposing teams to play harder than ever when they match up with the Capitals. Also expect oach Bruce Boudreau to emphasize more than ever that the Capitals need to make Verizon Center a tough place for opponents to come away with even a point. Last year set a bar and the young Caps aren't gearing to surpass it. Let's all keep hoping that ... "THIS will be THE year."
LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!
As of this afternoon the following Free Agents of note are still available so things could still change where a team within a division could or will be positively or negatively affected by a free agent move I note my thoughts. I also figured I'd start with the Southeast Division for two reasons: 1) the Capitals are in the Division and 2) it seems to me a lot of the moves that need to or will be made in the Southeastern Division have already been made.
Here's the top UFAs that remain unsigned right now:
1. Alex Tanguay
2. Martin Biron
3. Saku Koivu
4. Jason Williams
5. Miroslav Satan
6. Mike Comrie
7. Manny Malhortra
Others of Note/Interest: Steve Eminger, Manny Fernandez, Martin Gerber, Mike Grier, Brent Johnson, Bobby Holik, Curtis Joseph, Manny Legace, Matt Pettinger, Michael Peca, Andrew Raycroft, Dmitri Kalnin, Joe Sakic, Antero Nittymaki, Mathieu Schneider, Daryl Sydor, Ossi Vaananen, Kevin Weekes, Kyle Wellwood, Maxim Afinogenov, Richard Zednick, Sergei Zubov and of course: Brendan Shanahan, Mats Sundin, and Chris Chelios (if fo no other reason than morbid curiosity for those last three names on the list...)
Now looking at the Southeast Division Team's finishes from last regular season. At the end of the 2008/2009 Regular Season, the standings were as follows.
1) Washington: 108 points (50-24-8) 2nd in Conference, 4th in League
2) Carolina: 97 points (45-30-7) 6th in Conference, 11th in League
3) Florida: 93 points (41-30-11) 9th in Conference, 14th in League
4) Atlanta: 76 points (35-41-6) 13th in Conference, 27th in League
5) Tampa Bay: 66 points (24-40-18) 14th in Conference, 29th in League.
Looking ahead to the 2009/2010 season I predict things will end up with the teams in the following finishing order and with the following total points.
1) Washington, 100+ points
2) Carolina, 93+ points
3) Florida, 80+ points
4) Atlanta, 80+ points
5) Tampa Bay - who knows? and will we care?
Current Situation and Roster Notes Looking Ahead to 2009/2010
Washington Capitals: The Capitals currently have 19 players on their roster and three openings, assuming you don't feel that one of the prospects in their solid talent pipeline doesn't move up. Right now the Capitals have an estimated salary cap payroll of $52.625M against an estimated budget/max Cap of $56.8M leaving them $4.175M of salary cap space. They are probably done with the free agent market for this season though the signing of veteran right wing Mike Knuble was a pleasant and pretty universally welcome surprise in "Cap-land". The Caps made qualifying offers to 8 Restricted Free Agents and the only one to file for arbitration was Milan Jurcina but he will likely get something out of it given his good showing in the playoffs and the fact he led the D-Corps in Blocked Shots and Hits during the regular season. That combined with the looming necessary contract extension offers to Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom later this season as well as the probable desire to have some space for a trade deadline pickup leave the Caps with little room and probably less desire to make any big moves at this time. Save of course the possible trade of Michael Nylander to a place that wants him, his $5+M cap hit and that he with an NMC wants to go to. In addition to picking up Knuble the Caps have also lost Viktor Kozlov and Sergei Federov from their lineup, enforcer/4th liner Donald Brashear has left town for the big apple and backup goaltender Brent Johnson is a UFA and not expected to return. The remainder of the Capitals lineup remains pretty firm and behind the team that racked up the fourth best record in the NHL last season is a pipeline that includes prospects on an AHL Affiliate that won that league's Calder Cup, and an ECHL affiliate that won that league's Kelly Cup last season. Right now it looks like the replacement for Fedrov will be a juggling of the top six forwards that moves Brooks Laich to the second line center spot; Knuble is a clear replacement, and scoring upgrade for Kozlov, Johnson's replacement is one of two excellent young goaltenders in the Capitals' pipeline - Seymeon Varlamov or Michal Neuvirth - either of whom , if they continue the form they showed in the post season, will be an upgrade and should give Jose Theodore competition for playing time next season. Last the "replacement" for Brashear appears to be an upgraded soring punch on the 3rd and 4th lines and an even more potent power play in the likeness of the Detroit Red Wings per statements from Caps General Manager George McPhee.
2) Carolina Hurricanes: The Hurricanes currently have 17 players signed and five openings on there roster; right now they have an estimated payroll of $48.142M against an estimated budget of $51M and a max cap of $56.8. That leaves them budget room of $2.858M and cap space of $8,658M. The good news so far this off season is the Hurricane's haven't lost anybody from a lineup that made the playoffs last season. The bad news is the Hurricanes haven't added anybody of note to upgrade a team that lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Penguins. The 'Canes still have to resign UFA Dennis Seidenberg and hang on to restricted free agents Anton Babchuk, Tuomo Ruutu and Jussi Jokinen for their roster to remain in tact. They could also use some additional firepower to augment their scoring punch and build around a core that is goaltender Cam Ward and star center Eric Staal. They haven't tried to do that yet this off season and given the remaining top UFAs it doesn't look like they will do so either. That said, they are coming off a great end of the season run and solid playoffs even though they were ousted by the eventual Stanley Cup Winner. The way Carolina ended the last season, even without any major upgrades, they will give the Capitals a run for their money in the division, but there are still some "chinks in their armour" as well.
3) Florida Panthers: The Panthers, are the biggest question mark in the division. They finished last season with quite a good run and missed the playoffs only on a tiebreaker. They currently have 18 players on their roster and four openings; they've achieved this with a payroll of $49.42M against a estimated budget of $54.5M. That gives them $5.08M and $7.38M of space against their budget and the salary cap respectively. In the wake of Jay Bouwmeester's departure from South Florida, the Panthers have been making a few moves to try and ensure they do return to the playoffs next season. However, they also lost backup goaltender Craig Anderson to free agency, and that shouldn't be dismissed as Anderson filled in ably last season for an injured Tomas Vokoun for a period. Those moves include picking up veteran defenseman Jordan Leopold from Calgary and signing him to a one year $1.75M deal; resigning veteran forward Radek Dvorak to a 2 year $3.4M contract, and signing leading goal scorer, forward David Booth, who was an RFA, to a six-year contract worth $25.5 million. That said given the slow pace the Panthers are taking in possibly bringing back their other veteran free agents: D Nick Boynton, D Jassen Cullimore, F Ville Peltonen, D Karlis Skrastins, and F Janis Sprukts, they certainly also be leaving themselves a fair amount of room to build from within using their younger players ... but with a goaltender like Vokoun and solid forwards like Stephen Weiss and David Booth to serve as a core to build around, the Panthers will not be a push over this season - even without Boumeester in the lineup. I'm sure some South Florida hockey fans are wondering what the Panthers would be like with a star defenseman to anchor their blue line corps... kind of makes me wonder too.
4) Atlanta Thrashers. There's almost no doubt the Thrashers should be one of the most improved teams in the NHL this coming season. With the following guys as the possible free agent losses on July 1st: F Mike Hoffman, F Joe Motzko, D Nathan Oystrick, F Eric Perrin, D Brett Skinner, F Grant Stevenson - a bunch who as a group totaled 148 games played and 12 goals scored last season - the Bluebirds weren't at risk of loosing much in the way of team strength anyway. Then they went out and signed big free agent Nik "Borat" Antropov to a four year $16M deal to play alngside scoring machine Captain Ilya Kovalchuck and in front of a young but talented blue-line corps as well as talented younsters like Bryan Little, Rich Peverley, and Colby Armstrong as well. The Thrashers still need more talent to really compete for a Cup like their star wants but they have salary cap room and also seem convinced that goaltender Kari Lehtonen is ready to be the main man between the pipes for them as well. The Thrashers may do well picking up some of the now available, cheaper free agents and they may still have salary cap room to be one of the few teams in the league to actually play in the trade market. Hmmm - you think there's any chance they are looking for a 36 year old Swedish, puck control center? Probably not but I can dream can't I?
5) Tampa Bay: Okay despite some relatively rationale behaviour so far this off season, all of which seems to be well considered and likely to strongly improve this team, it's just a fact that the train wreck perptrated by the new ownership and Barry Melrose last off-season will take more than one year to remedy. So far this off season, discounting allegations of possible tampering, just because lets not get too surreal, th free agent pickups of defensemen Mattias Ohlund and Matt Walker, and forward Stephane Veillieux all will improve the team. Also the prices paid for Walker and Veillieux don't seem excessive and while there's lots of spectulation and conjecture going on about the Ohlund deal there can be no doubt he'll be a good mentor for first round draft pick Victor Hedman who also appears ready to make the transition from the Swedish Elite Leagure right to the NHL. Truth be told with Lecavilier, St. Louis, Malone, Prospal and Stamos up front and the improved blue line carved out this off season, if young goaltender Mike Smith can hold his own, and the ownership/management drama subsides, by mid-season Tampa Bay should be settled in and also looking good. That said their has just been so much turnover the past two seasons and so much drama this past season it'll probably take all year before the Lightning get in a groove. Like I said - it takes a while to clean-up a train wreck and get normal operations resumed - just ask riders of WMATA's RED Line.
Well what's it all mean Caps fans?- first, you don't have to read this blog to know your guys, those "Young GUns" Washington Capitals aren't going to sneak up on anyone this season. They along with Pittsburgh and Boston are picked to be "The Beasts of the East." So expect opposing teams to play harder than ever when they match up with the Capitals. Also expect oach Bruce Boudreau to emphasize more than ever that the Capitals need to make Verizon Center a tough place for opponents to come away with even a point. Last year set a bar and the young Caps aren't gearing to surpass it. Let's all keep hoping that ... "THIS will be THE year."
LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Capitals Repeat As Southeast Division Champions
Last night was a one point night at Verizon Center for the Capitals as the had a "One Point Night," they also as Coach Boudreau explained in his press conference after the game, anticlimactically clinched the Southeastern Division title, there second in a row. The feat was anticlimactic, not because it isn't a solid accomplishment, but rather because it was a clear intermediate goal set at the beginning of the season, and a goal that was well within reach for some time.If not for the excellent play of the Carolina Hurricanes since mid-February (16-4-2 since February 15) and a solid second half of the season by the Florida Panthers (22-16-6 since January 1st), the Capitals would have easily clinched the division a couple of weeks ago. As it is last night's 5-4 overtime loss to the Sabres puts the Capitals 9 points (4 1/2 games) ahead of the Hurricanes and 15 points (7 1/2 games) in front of the Panthers with each team having only 4 games left to play in the season..Clinching the division means the Capitals are now free to concentrate on staying ahead of the New Jersey Devils as both the Caps and Devils play their remaining four games as well. Finishing second in the conference would guarantee the Capitals home ice advantage in both of the first two rounds of the playoffs. Given the Capitals are 0.738 at home so far this season and 0.566 on the road this season, and Verizon Center has turned in to one of the hardest buildings in the league to beat the home team this season, a game 7 home ice advantage in at least two of the four series between the Capitals and their ultimate goal would figure to be pretty desirable.
Before delving deeper into that discussion though it would seem a closer look and deeper discussion about the second half play of what is supposedly the weakest Division in the NHL is in order. Presently it's a real possibility that the Southeast Division teams will finish the regular season next week with three teams qualifying for post-season play: Washington, Carolina, and Florida. If the Panthers manage to move up from 9th to 8th and qualify for the playoffs in the four remaining games that would likely mean that the Rangers dropped out of the playoffs. If that's how the Panthers get in to the playoffs that would mean the Eastern Conference playoff teams would consist of: 3 Atlantic Division Teams, 2 Northeast Division Teams and 3 Southeast Division Teams - who would have forecast that makeup at the start of the season? Of course in the season ended tomorrow the Eastern Conference playoff mix would consist of 4 Atlantic Division Teams, 2 Southeast Division Teams and 2 Northeast Division Teams.
However, another note on who you do and don't want to play right now (i.e. who's hot vs. who's not) as you drive to the close of the season looking at each team's performance over the past ten games gives you a decidedly different perspective then looking at the overall season records. Right now the hottest team in the NHL over their last ten games is Western Conference's Anaheim Ducks who are playing 0.800 hockey who are 8-2-0; in the Eastern Conference both Carolina and Pittsburgh are also playing 0.800 hockey by virtue of their 7-1-2 records in the last 10 games as well. After that there are 4 teams that are playing 0.750 hockey, 3 Western Conference Teams (San Jose, Vancouver, and Saint Louis) and 1 Eastern Conference Team (Boston).
At the end of the season it'll take 90-92 points to make this post season that's an overall pace of 0.556 - 0.568 hockey, so it would figure that as you drive for a playoff berth and every point counts a hot team would certainly be any team that is playing 0.650 hockey or better. Besides the aforementioned teams the following teams have been 0.650 or better through their last 10 games, in the West: Columbus, Nashville, and Phoenix; in the East: Washington, and Atlanta. That's a total of 12 "hot" (0.650 or better) teams. Their Divisional Breakout is: Pacific Division - 3 Teams, Southeast Division - 3 Teams, Central Division - 2 Teams, Northwest Division - 1 Team, Northeast Division - 1 Team, and Atlantic Division. This is not a case about who's the toughest and/or weakest division to play in over the course of the season or overall - that's not what this analysis is about. This analysis is about whether or not the Capitals who conventional wisdom a couple of weeks ago said had the weakest schedule remaining in the drive for the playoffs do/did in fact have that "advantage" over New Jersey. The current data would suggest that this supposition and prior conclusion is/was in fact just about dead wrong. Right now it's true the Capitals control their own destiny, with each team having four games remaining, the Capitals one point ahead of the Devils, and games tomorrow (at home against Atlanta), Tuesday in Atlanta, Thursday in Saint Petersburg, and next Saturday in Florida, while the Devils play today in Buffalo, take on Toronto in Newark on Tuesday, play in Ottawa on Thursday and finish the season at home in Newark against Carolina. Assuming the Capitals and the Devils each win today and tomorrow the Caps will remain in control of their own destiny however right now using their last 10 game records as a gauge of strength of opponents things look like the list below:
>>>>>>>>Capitals >>>>>>>>>>Devils
SAT/SUN: Atlanta (0.700)-H/ Buffalo (0.600)-A
Tuesday: Atlanta (0.700)-A /Toronto (0.500)-H
Thursday: Tampa (0.400)-A/ Ottawa (0.600)-A
Saturday: Florida (0.600)-A/ Carolina (0.800)-H.
Looking at those matchups in that light and taking in to account that right now when the meet their opponents only two are "bubble teams" Buffalo and Florida, along with the "extra" road game the Caps have to play a purely qualitative view would be if the strength of schedule favors either team it's New Jersey. However, the Devils only managed to squeak by Tampa Bay (5-4 OT) last night in Newark to break what had been a 6 game/1 point loosing streak. While back up goaltender Kevin Weekes started and exited the game with an injury so that means Scott Clemmensen should return to New Jersey as the backup, that won't slow the Devils down assuming Clemmensen resumes where he left off this season if needed in Newark. The big question mark is was this recent loosing streak and the issues it exposed in the Devils game rectified once and for all. On Washington's side the questions at hand center on focus, and the other factors contributing to the intermittent defensive miscues. Those unknowns and how they play out over the next week may well totally overshadow anything to do with strength of schedule but a few things are clear and bear keeping in mind:
1. Atlanta seems to be fine with their role as spoiler and will play every remaining minute for pride and to win, the Caps cannot take the next two games lightly or they may well NOT be in control of their destiny when Wednesday morning dawns.
2. Buffalo will play "with a vengeance" tonight at home in their struggle to stay alive and that may well be the Capitals best hope at getting some daylight between themselves and the Devils before their season finale against Carolina.
3. Given all the attention and controversy surrounding Alex Ovechkin's 50th goal celebration, along with the fact that Mike Green also broke the consecutive goal scoring record for defensemen in Tampa this season, you have to think the Lightning will play "extra hard" against the Caps in what should be their best chance for victory in their final three game road trip of the season. Proving, their are no "gimmes" in the NHL and "that's why they play the game on the ice."
4. In a strange turn of events depending on how things go for Florida and the Caps between now and next Saturday, the final regular season game for both teams may actually mean more for the Capitals then it does for the Panthers.
5. Depending on the next 6 days, it's entirely possible the final season games between the Caps & Panthers and the the Devils & Hurricanes could be the two most important games for the playoff implications in the NHL next weekend. At the beginning of the season who would have thought that Southeast Division teams would be 3 of the 4 teams involved in a situation like that?
Coming up later musings about a look ahead to tomorrow afternoon's Caps - Thrashers game, then on Monday some musings on do the Caps have what it takes to get to and possibly through the Stanley Cup Finals.
In the meantime, congratulations to our Washington Capitals for clinching their second consecutive Southeastern Division Title. Next up Atlanta at home tomorrow so, now let's get back to work and clinch home ice for the first two rounds of the playoffs.
LETS GO CAPS!!!!!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Mr. Hyde & Dr. Jekyll Go To Florida for Spring Break
It's been four days since my last blog entry and other more focused bloggers and the "real media" have chronicled the past two Washington Capitals games quite well. However the real question in most Caps fans' minds this morning is which team will show up tonight at Saint Pete Times Forum to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning? Will it be the really ugly, bad Mr. Hyde Capitals how lost in Atlanta 5-1 on Monday evening or will it be the wonderful, handsome and smooth playing Dr. Jekyll Capitals who not only shut out the Florida Panthers 3-0 in Sunrise, Florida on Tuesday night but also didn't even allow the Panthers a single shot on goal?Perhaps, just as as we wonder which Caps Team will show up, on the other side of the boards/glass the Capitals are wondering which fan base will show up tomorrow morning. Will it be the rationale, educated fan base they have had for those long, often "dry" rebuilding years who understand "you can't win them all" and "even very good hockey teams have bad games"? Or will it be the more recent, much more demanding, much faster to react, and much larger fan base that has grown as the Capitals fortunes, play and results have improved since Thanksgiving 2008? The fan base who after a "stinker" starts wondering aloud and agreeing with TV commentators that perhaps their "Golden Boy" is over enthusiastic in his celebratory efforts after a goal, or who indicate they agree their team's #2 defenseman and a key "minute muncher" and special teams player is overpaid and under performing even though comparatively looking around the league and at his statistical performance thus far this season doesn't support whether conclusion.
At this point, a more succinct and bigger hack of a blogger might say something "hokey" like "Only the shadow knows, but to find out tune in tonight at 7:30PM EDT, same bat station ...."
Instead since that blogger is not me, I'll offer a couple of points that I think are relevant to support my feeling and opinion when I say I think it'll be Dr. Jekyll.
First as J.P. of Japer's Rink points out: "In each of the first three games between the Caps and Bolts this season, Washington has out-scored Tampa three-nothing in the first period, and each time it has come against a different goaltender." Tonight's the trend of the Caps outplaying the 'Bolts in the first period will likely to continue and the victim will likely be Karri Ramo in net for Tampa Bay. The Caps might not score 3 and the 'Bolts might not be held scoreless but it would seem surprising considering the makeup of each team and their histories if the Caps don't outscore and generally outplay Tampa in the first period given how well each team knows the other and the Capitals have a chance tonight to overtake the New Jersey Devils in the Conference standings even if it is only for as few as 24 hours and Tampa Bay is basically only playing these remaining 12 games of this season for what amounts to pride.
Second as has been the case all season long Tampa's roster is in flux once again after Defenseman Corey Murphey's foot was broken by a Vincent Lecavalier slapshot. As such, Tampa Bay will have Matt Lashoff as the 20th different defenseman on their roster this season. That flux along with all the shuffling created by Tampa Bay's trade deadline deals means that much of the 'Bolts roster is just sorting out roles and style of play let alone fine tuning timing.
Third or perhaps 2 1/2, as Peerless points out at 3-2-3 so far, the month of March represents the best monthly performance thus far for the Lighting in 2008-2009 and the only month they are over 0.500 this year. In fact in statistical categories like 5-5 results, goals for per game, goals against per game or whatever, so far this season the Lightning's results are in the bottom 10 teams of the league. As for overall record, with 61 points thus far the Lighting are 29th out of the NHL's 30 teams. So while they have been playing relatively well of late with a 2-0-2 record in their last four outings and both Lecavalier, Rammo and Martin St. Louis are playing well; the Capitals should still win this one.
Final score forecast: Capitals 5 - Lightning 3.
LETS GO CAPS!!!!
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