When .... It's ...

Helloooo out there fellow Caps fans!  Today we're going to play the "when ... it's ..." game in honor of the slight roller coaster we Caps fans have been on the past couple weeks.  From December 4th through January 7th the riding the "Caps Train" was all honey and butter, really great fun like listening to Aretha Franklin belt out her best tunes on Soul Train in the 70's.  But then starting with the Caps-Flyers game on January 8th, even though the "four game losing streak" didn't start till a week later on January 16th in Smashville, watching the Caps, while still mostly fun for us fans, starting to get to be a bit of an emotional roller coaster.  Games were tight and the play by the Caps was at times, tentative so we started to get a bit tense and at times "reactive" - perhaps we were really channeling the teams own feelings from closer to "real time" then they or we would have preferred.  But as the team heads into tomorrow's game in Montreal to take on the once again, very "hot" Montreal Canadiens, the Caps are seemingly back to riding a wave of confidence after empathically breaking their recent loosing streak and besting the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 4-0 on the friendly tide of solidly played home cooking at Verizon Center on Wednesday night.  Thankfully, they aren't going into Bell Center on the tail of Tuesday's game in Columbus and so the game of "When .... It's..."

Let's start the game with the big picture ....

1)  "When after the All Star Break, your NHL hockey team of choice is on pace to finish the regular season with 100+ points and 40+ ROW, It's time to start saving your shekels to be able to afford to go watch some playoff hockey."

2) "When four of the seven Canadian NHL franchises are on track to make the playoffs at the All Star Break, It's pretty pointless to even worry for one second what the US-Canadian exchange rate might do to the salary cap since unless they are criminally mismanaged the Canadian franchises are likely to remain incredibly financially healthy."

3) "When immediately after the All Star Break, despite having one of his worst seasons ever, Sidney Crosby is still "just" fifth in the entire NHL in points/scoring and on track for his fifth straight 100+ point season, It's tragically ironic and funny to listen to media wonder aloud "What's wrong with Sid this year, etc." and as a Caps/Ovechkin fan very easy to imagine Ovi calling Sid and opening a conversation with: "Hey Sid, Ovi here, I don't know why they decided it was your turn for them to talk stupidly about, but you know what I'm not gonna say I'm sorry it's someone else in the League's turn, make sure when you pass it along it's to somebody like Sequin or Giroux, or better yet that cocky little "B" Kane,  and not back to me, okay?"

Now onto the more micro picture of the Caps to finish out today's game ....

1) "When the Caps play like they did on Tuesday evening against the Blue Jackets in Columbus; It's really, really easy to get down on them and be very, very concerned that once again you and they might be spending more time on the golf course than you'd prefer. After all "it" happened just last spring."

2) "When the Caps play like they did on Wednesday evening against Pittsburgh at Verizon Center; It's really, really, really easy to foolishly not worry about anything with this team or even how deep they might go into the playoffs and start having "champaign wishes and caviar dreams" that might even extend past say ... May 2015.  But that too would be really, really foolish, I mean remember the 2009 - 2010 team and how great they looked before the second season started?"

But fear not and hey enjoy the ride while we all can since ...

1) "When your concerns in life are centered on how "your" NHL team is really doing and is really positioned for the playoffs and run for "The CUP" are problems you have tome to consider/worry; Its really "all good" as those are truly "just and solely" what I call "first world problems."  As if to drive that point home we Caps fans can proudly point to our Team Captain for reflecting that, behaving in a manner that was pretty fun for all NHL fans to watch during the All Star Break and then have it turn around/out that he used the stage to do something good for some youngsters and families that have real, everyday challenges and generally approach them in a manner that is just a great example and model for us all.  I know to some talking about this is getting old and tired, however every time I think about it, I feel good about being an NHL fan instead of taking even a second to talk about the right amount of pressure an NFL football is supposed to be inflated to, etc. 

2) Finally, tomorrow... When we Caps fans pump out a tweet that bemoans the fact that only Ovechkin as opposed to say Ovechkin, Backstrom and Carlson were selected for the All Star Game: It's probably a good idea to look at the other team and think how ironic it is/was that the only Montreal player selected for the All Star Team was Carey Price instead of Price, P.K Subban (2012 Norris Trophy Winner), and the team's leading scorer Max Pacioretty.   I mean at the break the Canadiens only had 61 points in 45 games played and a top five record in the league while Columbus, with three all stars somehow was/is struggling out side of the playoffs and in appearing to be getting ready to make a run at the "McDavid" Sweepstakes.  My point is while I love the All Star Game, it's an NHL marketing event on par with the best, most well orchestrated sports marketing ever.  Thinking about it any other way and trying to fret about where somebody goes in the "mock draft" or something like that is pointless.  Every player selected, even some guy who got the most votes because he's the only guy in the league from Latvia  "really, really good at hockey."  Follow Ovechkin's example have fun with it, and hey wouldn't it be really, really great if the entire NHL turned at least some of the fun and benefits it generates into some good action and awareness raising for good causes.  I say let's make it one big "ice bucket challenge, car give away for great causes."  I'm even down with making sure the total goals increase - as long as we ditch that friggin' cannon.

In the meantime I'm hoping for a 4 - 1 win by the Caps tomorrow against the Habs.  I say LETS GO CAPS!!!! Wire to wire, never trail or be tied after the first goal and score the final fourth goal into an open net late in the third to ice it. Realistically do I think that will happen, probably not, but if the Caps play tomorrow at Bell Center like they did Wednesday evening at Verizon, I know it's possible, and hey if you're going to dream, why not dream big, "it don't cost any more."

So .... When this Blogger is wrapping up a post .... It's time to loudly proclaim:

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

I'd Have Rather ... But, Alas ... ; Game 9 Recap and Thoughts

I'd have rather been writing about a Caps 2-1 regulation win when recapping tonight's Caps - Red Wings game, but alas it was not to be.  Instead I am forced to write a less fun but much more accurate recap about a 4 - 2 regulation loss.  Yes, it was a no point night - the Caps despite starting the third period leading the Red Wings 2 -1 gave up three (3) unanswered goals to drop the game at the end of the third period 4 -2 to the Detroit Red Wings. Simply put it was a total bummer.  Another "Goose Egg" night,  last two games, two regulation losses, last four games, 3 losses out of four opportunities.  So instead of ending October on a high note, we Caps fans are less than subdued, but not in a good way.  The Capitals finish the first month of the 2014 - 15 NHL regular season with a 4-3-2 record while the Red Wings finish it with a 5 - 2 - 2 record.  Both Detroit and Washington came into last night's contest with identical records, they finished it in markedly different style and moods.  Washington now has more questions than answers as to the path forward, and those outstanding questions need at least some of the necessary answers, fast.  Detroit, exits October with confidence and poise, at least until teams like our Washington Capitals mature and get more patient and confident in their system, as well I suspect, better conditioned.

The headline over at NHL.com on this game reads " Red Wings Score Three In Third; Rally To Defeat Caps."  The headline after you "click through" says: "Red Wings Top Caps; Ovechkin Drought Hits 5."  Only in reference to Alex Ovechkin, and only on a "slow" sports news night is a guy with five (5) goals in the first 9 games of the season (on track for 40+ goals in the regular season" in a drought.  But the article captures the essence of the game in a very (seemingly) post game quote from Caps coach, Barry Trotz:

"Every turnover that we did have, it seemed to end up in the back of the net; those are the things that are killers, big-time killers."

Unlike other early season losses, the Caps did not have a bad or slow start to the game.  At least they played the first period with the same energy and intensity level, actually more so, than the Red Wings.  While the first period ended in a 0 - 0 tie, the Caps outshot the Wings 8 - 3, and generally outplayed the them in every facet of the game, and at both ends of the ice during the first period.  The only thing really lacking in the first period was much grit, and nobody really got in Rad Wings goalie Jimmy Howard's "grill" to push any of the 8 shots on goal the Caps had past Howard.  Additionally,
Washington held Detroit to three shots on goal in the first period.  Red Wings coach Mike Babcock apparently agrees with my assessment of the first period as seen in his post game quote:

"I didn't think we were very good early, they skated way better than us. We weren't good enough. We had no tempo to us."

That said even though the Caps outshot and outplayed the Wings, last evening's first period was one of the less interesting 20:00 of Hockey I've seen/watched in a while.

On the other hand, last night's second period was perhaps the most entertaining and well played 20:00 of hockey I've watched so far this season.  It was fast, exciting and a really fun game to see.  Lots and lots of speed, and back and forth, and best of all the Capitals, despite a few miscues, managed to stay within the structure of their new system and kept up with the Wings, in fact the period ended with the Capitals ahead of the Red Wings 2 -1. were it not for the third period, but alas I get ahead of myself.  In the second period the Wings came out skating fast and the Capitals responded.  Red Wings youngster, Gustav Nyquist got the Wings on the board first with an even strength tally, assisted by Justin Abdelkader at 8:53 of the period, for the Capitals the "first" "Frankenline" of 90-19-43 along with the Mike Green and Nate Schmidt, both of whom otherwise had a very good night, were on victimized.  The Caps did not breakdown or abandon their system after that goal though, and at 11:26, Nicklas Kronwall was sent to the sin bin for interference which afforded Caps youngster Evgeny Kuznetsov the opportunity to get his first goal of the season on the ensuing powerplay, victimizing Detroit's league leading penalty killing unit.  Game tied  1 - 1.  Then Justin Abdelkader was whistled off to the box for high-sticking at 17:01 of the second stanza, and just as the penalty ended, Troy Brouwer put a wickedly placed wrister past Jimmy Howard at the 19:02 mark of the period.  The Caps went into the final intermission with a 2 - 1 lead and the games momentum in hand. 

The Caps should have come out in the third period and played it with the same stifling efficiency they had played the first period.  Unfortunately, the Red Wings were determined to not allow that to happen.  Their veteran first line of Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Abdelkader just kept coming ... and coming and coming.  Like Barry Trotz's quote above indicates, it's not that the Capitals gave the Wings a lot, it's that they gave them anything at all and what the Caps did not give, if the Red Wings needed it, they took it anyway.  the game's overall statistics show the Caps with 10 giveaways and the Wings with 6 takeaways.  Unfortunately for the Caps to have won this game the Caps needed to have 5 less giveaways and have played harder on the puck so the Wings would have ended with no more than 2 takeaways.  The Red Wings started their "comeback" by Justin Abdelkader scoring what is shown on the scoresheet as an "unassisted" goal at the 4:04 mark of the final period.  Not shown on the scoresheet is the giveaway Brooks Orpik made that landed on Paval Datsyuk's stick, literally right next to the right side post that Braden Hotlby kept out of the net at about the 3:50 mark or the Henrik Zetterberg  "almost takeaway" from Andre Burakovsky at ~4:02 breaking the puck loose in the lowere lefthand slot that Abdelkader pounced on and put past Holtby two seconds later. Well my mother always used to tell me bad things happen in threes - guess she was right.  Had the Capitals managed to rebound from that goal, things would have likely been different.  That was probably on at least several Caps minds then, since that's about the time they started to not play their system dogmatically and trying to make more herculean individual efforts. Victimized at the time was the "Frakenline" of 8 (Ovi) - 65 (Burakovsky) - 42 (Ward) and defensive pair 44 (Orpik) - 74 (Carlson).

 Looking back now - I imagine at about the 5:00 mark realizing this Datsyuk and Zetterberg must have gotten wry grins they worked to disguise and suppress. In any case the Red Wings second goal of the evening seems to have convinced the Caps coaching staff to reunite 8 and 19 on the first line, which in itself is/was, at least in my opinion, a smart move/good thing.  Unfortunately, it didn't really do the trick as the veteran Red Wing team now had life and relentlessly pressed the issues, whenever they were given the slightest bit of "daylight."  Had the Caps stayed disciplined, exceptionally disciplined, and committed  no further errors from the 4:04 mark of the third period, I'll speculate they could have turned the tide and gotten one if not two points and maybe even a needed "ROW" - Regulation/Overtime Win.  Alas that was not to be, at the 10:34 mark of the period with the first line of each team, or at least for the Caps 8 (Ovi) - 19 (Backy) and 42 (Ward) on the ice, playing "mano a' mano" once again Abdelkader, Zetterberg, and "the magician" Datsyuk combined to put the Red Wings ahead to stay 3 -2.  Was it a goal Braden Holtby would like back, yes - he likely wants every goal ever scored on him back, I think that's just the way he is.  Was the goal Holtby's "fault" no.  Was the score one of those times this season when we saw/will see the quarter step that Brooks Orpik no longer has and why the Penguins let him go this past summer, yes.  Was it the reason the Caps lost last night - no, that reason is/was they moved, all be it, slightly off of their system and that allowed the Red Wings to "play their game." From this point on, even though Datsyuk scored a final goal for the Red Wings, little matters worth discussing.  Yes the tripping call on Joel Ward was absurd, as was the blatant too many men (7) the Red Wings had that wasn't called; as was the high sticking call on Backstrom.  Also missed were several cross checks Orpik laid on Abdelkader and at least one corss check Abdelkader laid on Orpik; as were ... oh forget it, my point is yes the zebras were really bad, but they weren't biased, just bad.  In any case let's look for the good things, ..., ..., ..., okay other than yeah they played better last night than they played in Vancouver, I got nothin'.

Other notes I think are worth musing upon and mentioning:

Alexander Ovechkin - last evening,  Ovi had seven shots on goal, matching his total of the past four games, but did not have a point for a fifth straight game. Yes, it's the longest drought, in terms of points, of his NHL career to date, and yes he was "-2" on the night, as for that matter so was Backstrom.  Am I worried about Ovi's "production" - simply put, no, not at all.  What Ovi needs to get going again, is in my view simple, I'd put/keep 8 - 19 together, but if Trotz doesn't want to do that then at least pair him with a natural, fast skating, center - that would either Kuznetsov or Johannson.  I'm not sure what Trotz sees/fears that makes it so he's not paired Kuznetsov as a center with Ovechkin on any of the "Frakenlines" to date but pairing him with Burakovsky did not work last evening and I think that was for two reasons - a) Burakovsky, like Ovechkin is a natural wing, at least right now he is; and b) the third forward on the line needs to be faster than Ward if they are going to play the system the way it's meant to be played - all three guys coming into the zone pretty much "abreast" and sustaining a five man forecheck. My vote is a little more patience - across the board by Trotz and staff  (see: "Frankenlines" below) keeping 8 (Ovechkin) - 19 (Backstrom) as the core of the first line, and using either 16 (Fehr), 20 (Brouwer), or 43 (see: "Tom Wilson" below) at Right Wing on that line.

"Frankenlines":  I think I get why Trotz is so quick to shake up the forward lines - it's about developing a more complete confidence in the system so every one of the forwards on the team can and does really rely on and plays the system - every second of the entire game.  However, chemistry and even more-so timing are also important.  It seems to me, the system was meant to be played at as fast a tempo as the personnel on the ice at any given time can play it.  For that reason putting a noticeably slower cog onto a wheel with two other faster line-mates, does nothing from what I see than force all three of the forwards to slow their game.  Last night, particularly in the first 10:00 of the third period, that meant that instead of the Red Wings having to match speed with speed on the top two lines, they had more time to push and force the Caps play.  It was only about ~5:00 of the first 10:34 of the period that the Red Wings did that successfully but they were a disastrous 5 minutes of hockey for the Capitals.  I am ALL for accountability and I'm not suggesting we stick to line combinations through thick and thin, not at all.  I am suggesting there is a limit to the everybody in the lineup of forwards can play on any line and well with any other forward on the team; and that limit has been reached and exceeded.  The coaching staff needs to step back and look at footspeed in addition to a few other things and adjust their thinking about the line combinations.  The only "uneven" footspeed combinations that should even be considered the rest of this first half of the season, IMO, is 25 (Chimera) and 42 (Ward).

Tom Wilson - hopefully, last evening, Tom Wilson realized he got a chance to look across the ice and see the player Barry Trotz aspires for him to be.  That player wears number 8 for the Red Wings - Justin Abdelkader, who was the first star of the game when the final horn sounded.  Simply put, the Caps video team needs to take last night's game, especially the third period, and compile as much isolation video of Abdelkader's 17:44 TOI and just have Wilson watch it over, and over, ... and over - maybe even while he sleeps.  It's important for young players to have guys with similar skill levels/sets to look at and aspire to reach or exceed their accomplishments.  I think for Wilson, Abdelkader would be that role model.

Joel Ward - Ward has raised his game, a lot these past two outings and should be re"ward"ed - some PP time, yes; some more 5 on 5 minutes, yes; playing this system 5 on 5 with Ovi as his opposite wing, no.  Playing with Ovi at 5 on 5, Ward has the same issues as Brooks Laich (when healthy and confident), he just doesn't have the high gear footspeed to match Ovi when "the Gr8" puts it into overdrive.  On the powerplay this is not a factor as once the Caps are setup in the offensive zone, Ward hockey IQ, and grit mean he's anchored in/around the net and the Caps are already in the zone together.  In this system at five on five it means Ovi and the Caps faster centers need to slow their pace back to Ward's and that gives the opposing team the time they need to set up across the width of the blue line.  It just did not work last night nor will I think it work much against any other fairly good team.

Nate Schmidt: played very well last evening from what I could see despite finishing the night at - 1; he's had a pretty good season so far , though last night he played a little cautiously - no hits, no blocked shots.

Mike Green:  the games third star deservedly so had another monster evening.  Not on the scoresheet is the awesome backcheck he made to break up what would have been a 1 on 0 breakaway in the third period....

Braden Holtby: sure the assist on the Kuznetsov power play goal was cool, but for my druthers he had happy feet last night, a 0.818 SV% isn't going to win many games in this league, and which of the two - offensive points or SV% is he being paid for?  Bottom line he didn't make the saves he needed to make in the third period and that's as much a reason as any the Caps lost last evening, however it wasn't the only reason and it wasn't as bad a night for him as the just looking at the SV% numbers might lead you to believe.

Burakovsky & Kuznetsov:  Well Burakovsky did cough up the puck leading to Abdelkader's game tying goal but overall he continues to develop and look better and better every game.  If it wasn't Zetterberg, and it wasn't the third period with the Wings down by one goal, he might have gotten away with slightly over-handling the puck where he was.  For all that he had 13:35 of even strength TOI and was 83% in the faceoff circle and "even" on the night with an assist on Troy Brouwer's goal. Kuznetsov had 13:52 of even strength TOI; was 50% in the faceoff circle and scored his first goal of the season, he had an exceptionally solid night - the only time he was on the ice that the Captials were "victimized" was the final Datsyuk powerplay goal at 19:06 of the third period while he was on the PK unit.  Overall both players continue to develop exceptionally well and despite my earlier statements about Burakovsky not being the right venter to pair with Ovechin, that thought should ent with the word "yet" - he's not the right center to pair with Ovi "yet" because he needs more time paired with Wings who stay in their "lanes" more until he gets more comfortable in the Center position. 

O' Brien & Latta: Latta was 0 for 4 in the faceoff circle, uncharacteristic and something he needs to work on.  Other than that a solid evening for both these youngsters.  Clearly they wanted to make sure Coach Trotz's belief in keeping them here while sending Chris Brown to Hershey was the right  move, which I too agree with.  While they each had less than 8:00 TOI, they made their presence known and felt when they were put out onto the ice.

Brooks Orpik & Matt Niskanen:  Last evening was neither of these two off season pickups "best outing."  As I described in my recap, the Red Wings victimized Orpik just a little too easily.  Orpik and Abdelkader had a war on ice going all night and for the entire first two periods it was a stalemate and like watching two heavyweights go toe to toe.  In the third period, Abdelkader with the help of Zetterberg and Datsyuk used their speed to clearly win the bout in the late rounds.  You just know that Orpik is going to go watch the film of last night's third period and make whatever adjustments he can to try and make sure that never happens again.  I only hope he's only lost a quarter step over his career to date and can do so.  Niskanen's performance, like his entire game, was more sublime than Orpik's.  It's still unclear to me how they did it, but somehow the Red Wings managed to make it so, even though Niskanen had his usual 20:00 TOI he was ineffective.  Good teams do that and you can't have a monster game every night but last night Niskanen di not look like he was a force to be reckoned with, as he had in big games for Pittsburgh last season. 

Well next up Steven Stamkos and the Lightning in Tampa on Saturday.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Looking Ahead to Game 9: Detroit Red Wings at Washington Capitals

Well Caps fans tonight at Verizon Center our Washington Capitals cross over  the 10% mark through the young 2014-2015 NHL Regular Season. 

The Caps and the Red Wings enter tonight's contest with identical 4-2-2 records (10 standings points).  Both teams are coming off road losses but should be rested and ready to play.  The Red Wings lost their last outing 4-2 to the Broad Street Bullies (aka Philadelphia Flyers) at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center on Saturday evening.  The Caps lost their last outing to the Canucks in Vancouver on Sunday 4-2.  Tonight's game should once again be a good measuring stick.  Will our Capitals play
the opposing team that's on the ice or will they play the reputation that Detroit has built over the past 25 seasons?  If the Caps play the opposing team on the ice, this should be a good, solid, hard fought game that they win.  If they decide to play the reputation of past seasons then the may as well not show up - #justsaying.  Both teams could really, really use an ROW - especially the Capitals who only have three to date. 

The keys to tonight's game is for the Caps are IMO:

1. Return to form and play the system - limit the Red Wings to less than 30 SOG;
2. Shot the puck more - especially our top two lines;
3. Get in the Red Wings paint" and their goaltenders "grill" more than they have the past two games;
4. A Save Percentage of 0.920+ for Holtby; and,
5. Come out faster and harder on the puck in the first period than they have yet to do this game.

The keys to tonight's game for the Red Wings to get the Verizon Crowd behind them are:

1. Play like gentlemen, realize the are the visiting team, lay down and politely give the Caps the two points we want and need.
2. Look it's a long season, Babcock should save his stars for when he really needs them and give Datsyuk and Zetterberg a night off so they rest, after all neither is getting any younger.
3. Be careful, very careful there is NO need for any Detroit skater to risk injury by getting into any Caps shooting lanes or blocking any shots, that "puck" thing is made of really, really hard rubber and it could hurt somebody.
4. Remember the importance of helping our Swedes look really good.  Washington is a growing hockey market ad the Red Wing's Swedes should go out of their way to help Backstrom and Johansson look really good tonight.
5. Prior to the game eat a really heavy, unhealthy meal, it's a long flight after the game and they'll all likely want to immediately catch some "Z'ssss" right after the game or on the flight, nothing helps you sleet better than a really heavy dinner.

Hope you weren't looking for anything too serious there - bottom line for the Red Wings is th old adage for road hockey - "play your game" - the basic keys for Detroit will be to try and dictate the pace and tenor of play.  It will be very important that the Caps don't let them especially during the first 40:00 of the game.

I'm not Peerless but my "prognostication" assuming the Caps execute on their keys 1-5 is: 

Capitals 3 - Red Wings 1

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Two Days and Two Capitals Games Since My Last Post ...

Well since my last post on Monday the Capitals have played two games of their current six game road trip. On Tuesday they played in Montreal and delivered a solid game and win against the Canadiens: 4-2 in regulation. Then last night they took on the Red Wings at "The Joe" in Detroit, a place they haven't been able to win a game at for a long time. Unfortunately, once again, despite playing a decent hockey game, and getting pretty good goaltending from Michal Neuvirth (in the net for the first time since leaving the game against Tampa Bay on 3/7 with some metal in his eye after the first period), the Capitals were unable to leave Detroit with two points, or even a single point, loosing to the Wings 3-2 in regulation.

To some degree the two games were polar opposites as far as the play, tenor and tone of the two opposing teams the Caps faced in them. In Tuesday night's game the Canadiens seemed to have a way of making the Cps look even better than the lopsided scoresheet - lopsided in favor of the Capitals in almost every measure - makes the game appear in retrospect. In Montreal, every one on the Capitals team looked very good, and in fact, IMO played a very good game. Notables: Boyd Gordon - 12 of 16 (75%) in the faceoff circle; Marcus Johansson - 2 goals and buzzing around the ice like "nobody's business the entire game; John Carlson and Karl Alzner - each of them +2 and each of them with an assist; Alexander Ovechkin - basically playing like Alexander Ovechkin always seems to play in Montreal: 1 point (an assist) +1 and led the team with 4 hits; Brooks Laich with a goal off a move that demonstrated to all just "What A Boss" he can be - just ask Hal Gill; Braden Holtby - a slightly off night at least at the start but gets an Assist and his fifth straight W; and the list could go on. On the other side of the ice, as I mentioned Laich undressed Gill and for all his "chirping" Tuesday evening P.K. Suban, who will be a star in the NHL someday, was definitely not looking like one in that game. In fact were it not for Cary Price's excellent goaltending, the game could have been even more lopsided.

Last night, while Neuvy kept the Capitals close, and no one on the Capitals team had an exceptionally bad game, as has often been said, the Detroit Red Wings have a system and way about them that just can "suck the life" out of an opposing team and smother them. That's what they did last night. When you look at tthis stat sheet you can and do see it in every aspect of the game. The first thing you notice about it when you look is just how much of a "puck control" game the Red Wings play and just how well they execute it: a) Faceoffs 35-21 in favor of the Red Wings; b) SOG 35-28 in favor of the Red Wings; c) shots attempted 64 - 42 in favor of the Red Wings. Don't get me wrong elsewhere in the stats the Capitals didn't do badly and as I say other than one goal that Neuvy let in that is in the "you just have to stop those" category, the Capitals stayed in the game all night long. They even had two chances to tie the game late in the third, but alas "the hockey gods" deigned not to smile on the Capitals last evening. All that said, throughout the game, they generally looked worse than the scoresheet might lead you to believe. Also, unlike Monday in Montreal, the Capitals special teams were not their brightest light; the PK unit let Detroit score on one of their two (2) power plays; and the power play units failed to score in any of their four (4) power play chances against the Wings. Best Caps on the ice last night (IMO): Dennis Wideman, Alexander Ovechkin, and Michal Neuvirth. Alexander Semin was about 1 1/2 inches and 40 seconds away from being a hero with a game tying goal in the last minute, but alas he hit the post and ends up with a very unremarkable line on the score sheet instead. Best Red Wing on the ice last night: Henrik Zetterberg - "Z" had quite a night 2 goals, 7 SOG, 2 takeaways and was 7 for 11 (64%) in the faceoff circle. Notably, the Capitals were able to keep Pavel Datsyuk somewhat in check last evening - it seemed to me to be the one thing that Alexander Semin absolutely was determined to do when they were out on the ice together and when that matchup was there Semin won it last night. However, the following other Red Wings all also played very well and made sure their team won the game: the ageless Nicklas Lidstrom (24:10 TOI, +1); Brian Rafelski (3 assists, +2, 1 BS); Kris Draper (6 for 6 in faceoffs); Justin Abdelkader (often in Ovechkin's grill) and the list is probably missing someone. BTW speaking of Abdelkader often being in Ovechkin's grill in the first period when it looked like those two might actually do more than just push and shove each other I had two notable thoughts: a) wow that's a trade I'd love if I was Babcock Abdelkader in the box for 5:00 to put Ovechkin in the box for 5:00 but Ovechkin showed he understands the score and isn't an inexperienced kid if he ever was one; and b) that's called smart line matching when you have the last change, wonder if the Capitals coaching staff should be taking notes. Well like I said, the Caps didn't play horribly, they just succumbed to the smothering play of the Red Wings in Detroit once again. With any luck, we'll all get a chance to see them try and figure out how to overcome that situation twice more this Hockey season (think about it if you don't understand what I'm saying). Now it's on to Newark, NJ for a game against the resurgent and well playing New Jersey Devils tomorrow night at "The Rock."

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Caps 3 - Red Wings 2 Late Post Game Recap/Report

Pardon this late game recap of a well covered topic, I just can't resist recaping the Caps-Red Wings game though, it was one of the more interesting games I've been to in a long time, especially for a regular season game. I know a lot of the posts have gone over how slow the Caps came out of the game based on the numbers and for sure the Caps didn't actually get a shot to the net that Chris Osgood had to stop until well past the middle of the first period. However, it didn't seem like the Caps weren't skating hard during the period, it's just that the Red Wings had the Caps offense totally off balance from where I was sitting. In the end of course the Caps pulled it out. They did that because two things that were well played and worked for the Caps all night - those two things being Jose Theodore and the Capitals Penalty Killing Unit. Both of those things are what kept the game close while the Caps were being otherwise totally stymied by the Red Wings for the entire first period. I have been a general contrarien and supporter of Jose Theodore since he arrived here in DC so I couldn't be happier that he had a fantastic night. I also echoed Bruce Boudreau's thoughts apparently - The Capitals Coach said of Theodore after the game. “I’m watching him thinking ‘this must be how he looked when he won the Vezina and the Hart Trophy in Montreal that year because without him, it very well could’ve been 6-0 at the end of the first period’.”


Also as I''ve indicated it didn't seem like the Caps lacked any enthusiasm or effort during the first period, the Red Wings just "had their number" again the Coach summed it up far better than my words could. “It was like men versus boys,” Bruce Boudreau said afterward. “I don’t think we touched the puck. They came out with a vengeance, and I’m sitting there thinking this is what Stanley Cup champions that are desperate do. ... And it’s a bar that we have to get to. We were just fortunate our goalie was great in the first period.”


You couldn't have watched Jose Theodore and not have been impressed by his play on Tuesday night. He was truly "on another plain" - or as Ted Leonsis was quoted after the game "lights out". He was truly so good that, and I shouldn't say it because I'm superstitious, that if he could play 16 games like that in the playoffs he could single-handily win Lord Stanley's Cup. Of course that's precisely why winning the Stanley Cup is the hardest championship to attain in professional sports, it would take 16 games (48 periods or 960 minutes) like that if the Capitals allowed themselves to be outflanked like they were in the first period on Tuesday. I could babble on but I'll just once again cite someone else who summed it up better than I usually can. As Peerless said in his recap: "Theodore stopped 44 of 46 shots – too many of them quality chances – and gave the Caps a chance to win late, which they did when David Steckel scored the game-winning goal with 5:59 to play." Clearly Tuesday night, the Caps cobbled together a win from great goaltending and a couple of opportunistic plays that took advantage of a goalie at the other end who wasn’t as sharp as their own. Tuesday Theodore stole a win for his teammates, stopping 44 of the 46 Detroit shots he faced (including all ten power play shots), keeping the Caps in the game long enough for the offense to show up, and then skate off with a 3-2 win. He also picked up an assist (his first since February 5 of last year), and was about as easy a first star selection as one could imagine. Theo's play of late has been stellar, in his last four appearances, he's 4-0-0 with a 1.68 goals against average and .951 save percentage.


Other notes and musings from the game:

- A lot of commentary about how Alexander Oveckin had no shots on goal for just the third time in his career. Tariq El Bashir explained it best in his post game blog. The Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski led Wings' defense did a good job of bottling up Ovie, that's the bad news; the good news doing so kept Lindstrom so busy he really did little else all night long.


- Say what you want about Tood Bertuzzi but he definitely knows how to "man up" and take responsibility for his actions good or bad. Bertuzzi's post game quote on his performance last night: "I can't give them that power play there. Stupid, stupid penalty by me. Just careless with my stick at the wrong time, then they come back and score right away. It was pretty deflating." Bertuzzi conceded. Along similar lines, Caps right wing Mike Knuble took two penalties tonight both in the offensive zone and one late in the game...

- I was hard on Caps defensemen Tom Poti while watching the game because his two mistakes were right in front of us Section 103'ers during the second period. However, after the game and looking at the statistics it's clear Mr. Poti played a solid game, in fact a very good one Tom. I doubt you heard my reaction when you inadvertently caused Theo to loose his stick during the second period but here's saying "Sorry man, chalk the emotion and passion up to the vowel at the end of my family name...I take it all back."


- Playoff hockey, actually both Sunday Afternoon, even though the Flyers are currently on the bubble in 9th, as are the Red Wings, both games sure seemed like playoff games in style, form and intensity. In games like that you've got to play a little different and the team noted it, “Obviously we are not going to hit the score sheet every night, and Detroit pretty much outplayed us for the entire game,” said David Steckel. “But, when you get in games like this your fourth line is vital whether it’s creating energy with a hit or scoring a timely goal, and we were fortunate enough to do both tonight. .... The third period was like a playoff game, it was tight and we need to know how to win games like this with everyone contributing not just our superstars, ... They're [Detroit] battling for a playoff spot right now. I thought we could have played better, but to their credit they prevented us from doing that.” In a playoff game it's often the play of the third and fourth line, as much or more, that drive the outcome. Tuesday night, that was the case and Steckel brought his A-Game, he scored a really nice goal from in the paint and plus two rating and six hits each were team highs. He's clearly working to show everyone he IS the Caps third-line center, and very capable of matching up with the NHL's other "name" pivots.


- You think Caps defenseman Mike Green wasn't up for the game and working to compare favorably to fellow 2008-2009 Norris Trophy Finalist Nicklas Lindstrom (a prior two time winner)? Green led the Caps in blocked shots with a whopping seven. He also extended his point streak to nine games and was on the ice for two goals for and only one against.


Other comments and notes worth mentioning relative to the Hockey Blogsphere yesterday:

+ I find the Blog "Alex Ovetjkin" is usually well worth the read and every once in a while it has a really poignant, great post. The recap and commentary on last night's game is one of those that I found really, really good and well worth the read, so rather than highlight it or otherwise quote it I figured I'd just post the link.


+ Perhaps the best bottom line for Tuesday Evening's game came from Detroit Red Wings Captain Nicklas Lidstrom. Referring to Jose Theodore: "I thought he saw a lot of the shots, but he made some great saves down there. He got two points for them tonight."



+ If you're wondering why there are so many Ovechkin Jersey's being worn around the DC Metro, or even by fans in other arenas just look at this statement by a true hockey guy and hockey hall of fame member. From Sunday's game with the Flyers where Sovetsky Sport interviewed former Flyer Captain and Hockey Hall of Fame Member Bobby Clarke:
SS: Would he have fit in with Philadelphia in the 70's? Clarke: "Easily! Ovechkin could have been the best player on any team at that time. SS: "Even better than you?" Clarke: "Much better! There's no way I could compare myself with him. Look how he skates, how he fights for the puck. Look at how much strength and drive he has. I'll say it again- he's a big bull. He just runs over people on the ice. It's really difficult to play against Ovechkin."

Well on Tuesday night when Backstrom scored I kiddingly chanted and joked to my seatmates "Our Swede is better than your Swedes, nah, nah, nah..." Tonight we Caps fans should be hoping and sending good vibes towards Pittsburgh so at the end of the night we'll be able to say: "Our young guns are better than your young guns, nah , nah, nah." So remember NO NEGATIVE WAVES MAN. ... And:

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Wow - Cool Hockey Weekend Even If It Is Summertime....

Okay, since you probably read this and other blogs you know that The Washington Capitals' ECHL affiliate South Carolina Stingrays captured the Kelly Cup - the ECHL Championship in Anchorage on Friday Night. It took 23 playoff games for the Rays to get 16 wins, but with a 4-2 victory in game seven, the South Carolina Stingrays knocked off the Alaska Aces and clinched their third Kelly Cup Championship!! Congratulations to the Rays Organization. The winning goaltender Friday Night, and the ECHL Playoff MVP, was James Reimer who stopped 26 of the 28 shots he faced. The XX year old Reimer was a 4th Round, 99th overall pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2006 NHL entry draft, and as per Hockey's Future is part of the Leafs system, this season he played in Reading for the ECHL Royals, Toronto for the AHL Marlies, and South Carolina. He was a great pickup for the Stingrays by their coach/gm - Jared Bednar. Also on the winning team were Capitals prospects: Center & Team Captain Travis Morin, and Left Winger Maxime Lacroix.

The Capitals AHL affiliate Hershey Bears took a 2-1 Series lead in the AHL's Calder Cup finals with a 3-0 win in Hershey yesterday over the Vancouver Canucks' affiliate Manitoba Moose. The Bears try and make the series 3-1 this evening in Hershey with a 5:00PM faceoff while the Moose try and even the series up. Both Hershey and Manitoba are filling their buildings and the series is filled with solid hockey. Yesterday, The Bears found the back of the goal first, as Graham Mink netted his sixth of the postseason at 6:22 of the first period. Michal Neuvirth earned his fourth postseason shutout, turning aside all 28 Moose shots. The Hershey power play went 2-for-3, and the penalty kill silenced Manitoba on all five attempts. The three stars of the Game: 1. Michal Neuvirth (4th postseason shutout) 2. Alexandre Giroux (league-leading 14th playoff goal) 3. Staffan Kronwall (two assists, on ice for all three goals).

Good luck to the Bears today; hopefully next year at this juncture all three teams in the Capitals Organization, including those who regularly play at the Verizon Center will still be competing. Speaking of NHL Hockey how about those Red Wings? Last night's game was truly a lesson in puck control and self control by the Red Wings. Pavel Datsyuk notched two assists and almost had a third in his return to the ice after 18 days on IR. Chris Osgood turned away all 22 shots by the Penguins and the Red Wings as a whole totally frustrated both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Marc-Andre Fluery had his "human game" letting 5 of 21 shots by for a save percentage of just 0.762 before being pulled in the second period. By that point it was basically all over "except for the crying" as they say. The way this series has been nothing is for sure but there was no doubt who the better team on the ice last night was. Clearly Pittsburgh has a lot of adjustments to make over the next couple of days while Detroit seems to determined to try and repeat and not give the young talented Pittsburgh team anything to motivate themselves with. Lots of physical play and some of it marginal ensued last night, but in the post-game comments and Q&A, the Red Wings were clearly not biting on any leading questions and seem determined to let their play on the ice do their talking next game as well as this one. So Pittsburgh now has their backs against the wall and Detroit appears determined to try and win their 12 Cup overall and 2nd in a row in Pittsburgh. It should be a great game - I have a new poll - who do you think will win on Tuesday and who will win the Cup? I'm thinking Detroit holds it together and once again wins the Cup in Pittsburgh on Tuesday; I'm not making any predictions on scores, etc. though. I do predict that Franzen and Malkin will go at it before the end of the second period though.

Five more weeks till the Capitals Development Camp Opens ... in the meantime

LETS GO BEARS!!!! and once again
CONGRATULATIONS STINGRAYS!!!

Wow - Another 3-1 Win By The Red Wings and They Lead the Finals 2 - 0

Well the Stanley Cup Finals head to Pittsburgh and will resume on Tuesday Night with the Detroit Red Wings leading the series 2 games to nil. Pittsburgh has to really go back and figure out how the Wings are neutralizing their keys to victory, and they have to hope that somehow between now and Tuesday evening Chris Osgood gets back to earth. Osgood was the #1 star of the game again tonight with a Save % of 0.969.

Both the #1 star and the Save % are duplicate images of Osgood's performance in game 1, so who's leading the Conn Smyth voting if it's held tomorrow? Probably not Sidney Crosby who was once again held off the scorecard.

Oh and in a totally weird motion that clearly sends the signal that discipline in the NHL is nothing but arbitrary and capricious, Evgeni Malkin will not be suspended despite getting an instigator penalty in the last five minutes of the game. Here what was in the game recap up on NHL.COM: "Malkin received an instigator penalty for a fight with Detroit’s Henrik Zetternberg at 19:41, but will not be suspended.NHL Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell issued the following statement regarding the instigator penalty:Rule 47.22 states: "A player who is deemed to be the instigator of an altercation in the final five minutes or at any time in overtime shall be suspended for one game, pending a review of the incident. The director of hockey operations will review every such incident and may rescind the suspension based on a number of criteria. The criteria for the review shall include, but not be limited to, the score, previous incidents, etc..." Following that review, Campbell said: "None of the criteria in this rule applied in this situation. Suspensions are applied under this rule when a team attempts to send a message in the last five minutes by having a player instigate a fight. A suspension could also be applied when a player seeks retribution for a prior incident. Neither was the case here and therefore the one game suspension is rescinded."

Well it's over to the Igloo now and according to the crack broadcast team at NBC it will be a totally different story there because the Penguins will have the last line change. I don't know about that, it sure seemed like Detroit had four lines that could skate with any combos Pittsburgh was throwing out there in the final two periods tonight. In any case, we are defiantly seeing some good hockey being played and I have to believe that either Osgood is human or Fluery steals at least one of the next two games and this is at least a five game series no matter what. Oh well of even more interest to me is whether either Datsyuk or Draper play in game 3 after everyone has an off day. Oh and once again - how about that Justin Abdelkader kid - he scored another goal tonight...

Tonight - Game 2 - Will Crosby & Maltby Go At It "Mano e' Mano?" and Other Musings

Well the blogsphere and the main stream media are storming to find something to stir interest and even more hype in tonight's Red Wings - Penguins game 2; as if a rematch of last year's finals between two teams loaded with talent isn't enough. Greg Wyshynski aka "Puck Daddy" over at Yahoo Sports and a bevy of commenters over at TSN.com's story on the game were suitably unimpressed by Sidney the wonderful Crosby's moves and post games comments to post a lot on the matter. Of course the Penguin's faithful just shrugged it off by the rest of hockey fandom for either a) being jealous at not having Mr. Wonderful on their team, b) being jealous that they are not as talented or wonderful as young Mr. Crosby or c) part of the grand conspiracy against the Penguins and a diversion from the fact the biased, poor officiating cost them the game because they didn't get a penalty shot when Henrik Zetterberg almost closed his hand on a puck that was sitting atop Chris Osgood's back in the crease. But the real story is as Red Wing's coach Mike Babcock is noted to point out over at NHL.Com - the battle, the game within the game between Zetterberg and Crosby or at least the game between them last evening.

Interestingly, even NHL.com can't avoid mentioning that some noted hockey people, including Babcock, aren't too thrilled with Crosby's behaviour and style of play of late. The story over at NHL.com includes the following verbiage: "And what of Babcock's statement that Crosby was head hunting on his hit on Zetterberg? ... He can say whatever he wants," Crosby said. "I don't think I've been known as a head hunter throughout my career. He's the first one to ever say that, so it's pretty interesting stuff." Well perhaps Crosby's defense is true enough he only had 80 hits this regular season despite his earlier claim that he finishes every check so maybe he's not a head hunter. I sort of think more about his nut seeking fisticuffs moves when I think of Mr. Wonderful and his quest for the Lady Byng Trophy. So when the Penguins fans talk about a conspiracy against their team and Captain, please pardon my rant on their hypocrisy. How can you just shrug off stories and stuff like the ones after his nut punch in the national media just 6 short months ago and make like Sid the Kid is the role model you want every Canadian hockey player to emulate because Ovie did a really silly post #50 goal celebration?

I do confess though I have less an issue with Crosby then the disrespect that Christobel Huet showed the Caps Organization and fan base after we all embraced him last season - that said I am so much happier the Caps have Jose Theodore in the goal tending mix than Huet right now. In fact I can easily think of like 1 million reasons why I feel that way right now and 5.5 million I'll feel that way in 2010, but I digress. Back to Sidney Crosby the fifth or sixth best guy on the ice last night for the Penguins vs. Henrik Zetterberg the Red Wings No. 1 forward. Yes, that should be quite a battle. Latest out of Detroit is that Pavel Datsyuk and Kris Draper will again be scratched tonight due to injury. Instead the Wings will dress Ville Leino and Justin Abdelkader. The urgency for Datsyuk to get back was alleviated somewhat by the effectiveness of Detroit's fourth line, a unit featuring Kirk Maltby, Leino and Abdelkader. If Crosby's poor form move did anything real last evening it was to add emphasis to the effectiveness on Detroit's fourth line last night, of course so too did the fact Abdelkader got his first playoff goal.

Bottom line is tonight's game should be a great one. Key players for each team's success will be: for Pittsburgh Marc-Andre Fluery; for Detroit whoever Coach Mike Babcock has shadow Sidney Crosby - I don't think that will be Zetterberg, at least not during the first period, I'm thinking it actually might be Maltby. As for other key match ups/players I'm looking for Brian Rafaleski to be on the ice a lot of the time when Malkin is out there. For Pittsburgh Bill Guerin, Maxine Talbot, or Ruslan Fedotenko could be the key "second tier" guy to make or break the game. For Detroit in addition to Rafalski, watch Franzen, Cleary and Helm, as well as Marian Hossa of course, any one of those guys had chances to notch a few more tallies last night and could do so tonight.

Well it's not watching the Capitals but at least it's very, very good ice hockey and the best we're going to see until next October.

LETS GO WINGS - LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Musings During Stanley Cup Finals Game 1

Well I started to watch the beginning of the Red Wings - Penguins game but then NBC started their usual stuff and Doc Emmrich and others started with the Crosby man-love crap in the pregame so I switched over and watched NUMBERS for an hour. So I missed the first period and came back in time for the 1st intermission, and even though the score is tied 1-1 the Crosby coronation/man-love continues. This is just getting sooooo old. I sooo hope that Detroit tunes these guys up so we don't have to continue to listen to how wonderful Crosby is for another year. I really don't have that much against Crosby personally, he seems like a decent guy, but come on he's not the only great player on the ice, especially in this series.

Mike Milbury just said it looks like Evgeni Malkin is following Sidney Crosby's lead and that's why he's getting better. Come on, these guys can't even give Malkin his full due without getting into the Sidney Man-Crush/Love thing. So with less than 30 seconds down in the second period we have excerpts from an interview with Mario the Great who is singing the praises of Sidney the Great. Then we have highlights where they are talking about how great Crosby is on a scoring chance from the first period and instead what they should be talking about with this highlight is the great save by Osgood who denies the Penguins. Next we have a scoring chance by Malkin on a breakaway with ~16:20 left to play in the second period that Osgood denies, and of course the replay shows it was preceded by Malkin tripping up Kronwall and it should have been a penalty. Of course a minute later Brett Ledba slashes Maxime Talbot breaking his stick and giving the Pittsburgh holy Penguins a power play. Wait we'll see how much these NBC commentators can say something great about the Penguins while Marian Hossa does a great job killing the penalty. So as great as Crosby and Malkin are on the power play, Pittsburgh ends up with an icing call against them while they have the man advantage - yet the NBC broadcast team is still talking about the great Penguins - and I am thinking kill me now, I've got to get a big dish so I can get the Canadian feed but wait that might be worse since the Red Wings are "A European Team".

Since Pittsburgh didn't score the referees call a tripping penalty as Stall gets tripped - why is it a trip on Staal but not on Kronwall? At this point of the game, I'm starting to think "I hope the Red Wings score a shortie" and Dan Cleary gets a great scoring chance. So what do the NBC guys start to talk about - how that's only the second shot by the Wings this period - think these guys are a little biased maybe? Nahhh no way, that wouldn't be responsible sports journalism would it now? I mean why would the Wings be a little short on shots on goal now, they've only been short handed ~ 40% of the second period so far. Dan Cleary takes the puck away from Sidney the Great and gets a good shot off but no one points that out for 2 more minutes until Pierre flipping Maguire mentions it in passing as they show the replay. How does a mere mortal like Cleary take the puck away from Crosby - isn't he suppossed to be like a hockey god? Why isn't that a storyline that gets talked about for at least a minute during this 180 minute scheduled Crosby lovefest?

So after the Red Wings successfully killed the second penalty without letting Pittsburgh get too much offense, Dan Bylsma puts out a mixed line of Crosby-Malkin-Cooke and Detroit dominates that shift. Seriously, if not for great back checking by Malkin would have scored. Yet the fact that Crosby didn't look too wonderful that shift seems to pass without much notice, even though Henrik Zetterberg made him look foolish. Maguire asks Bylsma about the mixed lines and Bylsma comes up with the lamest lie in the business indicating he did it to get some guys ice time who didn't get ice time due to the power play. So I'm wondering what are you talking about Coach didn't I just see Crosby and Malkin out for over half the power play that ended, and weren't they only on the bench for one shift before you put them on the ice together at 5 0n 5?.

Next, Detroit blows a line change and Rafalski and Osgood pull Detroit's bacon out of the fire. Rafalski ties up Crosby and what do we talk about. Can you guess - if you said what a great play Rafalski just made, nahhh we'll mention that in passing. Instead we'll talk about how great Sid looked right up till the time Rafelski and Osgood shut him down. Finally the Wings get a power play and I have to admit they don't look too, too great but you have to wonder how Matt Cooke doesn't get a penalty with a very late high hit at the end of that power play. What game were the TWO referees watching on that one? Not the game I was seeing on NBC obviously, I mean Cooke could have gotten 4 minutes for that move and he gets away with a non-call.

So with less than 2 minutes left in the second period, Detroit starts to dominate a shift with Crosby out there. Sidney tries to pull a dive, it doesn't work, the Wings get off three shots before Pittsburgh needs to ice the puck, with a tired team on the ice and less than 1:20 left in the period Pittsburgh calls a timeout. However, Sidney the Great loses the face off and Detroit wins the battle for the puck and scores their second of the night as Johan Franzen does a great play and "buries the biscuit in the basket." The second period ends with Detroit having the momentum and the lead 2-1, I'm left to wonder just how Milbury and Maguire will get their man-love in for Crosby and the Penguins now. Oh wait I'll bet they'll talk about how Pittsburgh out shot the Wings by so much that period. Somehow, they'll rationalize that Sidney the Greats team really should be winning and it's only a matter of time till the scoreboard reflects that reality. [ed note: Let's see how good my prediction on this one is after the commercial break is over.] Well, they started the intermission commentary by showing how great Detroit is playing but wait Milbury just started to talk about how Pittsburgh had chances this period and could be winning. Oh now we have a commercial break again - when they come back how much you want to bet Maguire and Milbury are going to go through it. Maguire is Bylsma and he's talking about that Pittsburgh is down and they need to shoot more and get the puck in deep more. Milbury is saying Detroit has to keep putting thing on net and not let up at all. So I guess I'll relax a little about bias but I still have the feeling they really like Pittsburgh and can't wait to crown Sidney and the Penguins as "hockey gods" - call me jaded. On to period three, LETS GO WINGS!

So the third period starts and Pittsburgh has the momentum for at least the first minute, minute twenty until Marian Hossa puts a nifty outlet pass to Darren Helm who is actually well defended by a great recovery by Hal Gill. However, the next shift Justin Abdelkader has a beautiful move pulling the puck out of the air and puts it into the net top shelf by a stunned Marc-Andre Fluery. Detroit is now up 3-1. At the 15:30 mark, I have to admit the Wings dodged a bullet when the puck somehow ends up right on top of Osgood's back and man is Crosby pissed and lobbying for Zetterberg to get a penalty for closing his hand on the puck. However, the replay seems to show he didn't close his hand on it so that was probably the right call. So somehow I'm not even hearing too much of what Emmrich is saying and even less of what Maguire is saying and I'm thinking: "Thank you, God." Darren Helm just puts in a great shift at ~9:30 left in the period laying out two hits that really get the crowd going. The NBC team is now pointing out how much ice time Detroit's fourth line is getting this period, so maybe before the end of the series they'll realize and acknowledge how deep Detroit is - what do you think? will it happen? So for this period it looks like for the rest of the period it's Zetterberg's job to shut down Crosby and I'm trying to figure out who is being matched up against Malkin. So now with 7:38 left in the period the shifts are getting long for Crosby, Malkin and Guerin and Detroit has to take a timeout because of a nice shift and an icing. Now we're down to ~5:30 left and the clock is definitely NOT Pittsburgh's friend - the NBC broadcast team doesn't mention it though of course instead focusing on what exactly Crosby is doing at this minute - just once I'd like to see this guy pick his nose on national TV wouldn't you.

Now coming off a TV timeout we see Malkin and Crosby out together and "Sid the Great" looses the face off - the broadcast team points out that's bad for the Penguins - finally some objective coverage? Why not it was such an obvious comment I could have made it. At the 3:45 mark Fluery has to come all the way out of the net to break up a break away and the Red Wings almost score again if not for some really nifty acrobatics by the Pens goaltender. With 1:40 left Hossa misses an empty net and somehow the Wings don't score even though they have the puck in the Penguins zone and an empty net for what seemed like an eternity.

It's over. Final score Red Wings 3 - Penguins 1. So now we'll hear how great the Penguins were despite loosing the game. Wow - I hope I'm wrong about tomorrow night and the Red Wings win and end up going to Pittsburgh with a 2-0 lead. It's just so easy to dislike the Penguins since the NBC guys so obviously love them. That said I still think the Penguins will come back, I just hope I'm not right. Finally some love for Osgood - I mean 35 of 36 (a 0.972 Save Percentage). Holy cow - Milbury just said "it wasn't a great day at the office for Sidney Crosby" and now they actually acknowledged he had a dismal 30% win percentage on face offs tonight. Now we even have some love for Darren Helm, wait till next game if Detroit wins, might the NBC guys actually start to root for the Wings?

Looking to Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals Tonight

Game 3 the Penguins came alive, they were still out shot, but they certainly were NOT manhandled in any way, and of course "Sid the Kid" played to the level he's capable of which on anybody's scale is awesome. Marc-Andre Fluery was again excellent as well with a save percentage of 94.1% while facing 34 shots compared to the human numbers of 87.5% while facing 24 shots by Chris Osgood at the other end of the rink. The Pens took two more penalties than they had power plays but they gave up only one power play goal to Detroit on their 5 chances. Penguins' coach Michel Therrien used the last line change well and the +/- numbers of Crosby, Malkin and Hossa bear that out. So what's in store tonight?

Both teams had a day off on Thursday, the Red Wings went to Nemocolin Woodlands (a great get away not at all too far from DC for a great weekend escape) did some relaxing, some bonding and some marketing for the NHL. The Penguins apparently took a real day off Crosby told the MSM he laid around, mostly in bed, apparently alone getting rest. Hal Gill indicated he lounged and spent the day in Pittsburgh with his family going out to lunch. The point being both teams got a day to rest and relax on Thursday and were back at practice on Friday. For the Red Wings Tomas Holmstrom sat out Friday's practice but indicated he intends to play. As far as intangibles for the Pens, more sadly, Kris Letang received word that his best friend, Vancouver Canuck, Luc Bourdon was killed in a tragic motorcycle accident , Letang has indicated he is shocked by the news and had trouble focusing on hockey yesterday. All of this means both teams should have a high energy level in general but both also have a few potential "chinks" in their armour. Expect the Red Wings to again work very hard at "bottling up" Crosby and Hossa, as well as Malkin; and expect Coach Therrien to again make good use of the last line change to get them freed up some more than they were in Games 1 and 2. The things to watch are potentially elsewhere - for the Red Wings how will Johan Franzen react, his second game back? and how will Holmstrom's injury slow him down? will a rested Chris Osgood return to the impenetrable force in the Red Wings' net he was in games 1 and 2? - for the Penguins, how will Hal Gill handle the Red Wings in front of the Pens net? will Kris Letang be able focus on the game and play the inspired hockey of which he is capable? and will the Pens figure out how to at least match the Red Wings in shots on goal?

(Ed Note: There will be a moment of silence tonight before the game for Luc Bourdon, as the father of an 18 year old son, I can only imagine the grief and depth of the nightmare this untimely death is for his family. My heart truly goes out for them, no father or mother should ever have to deal with what they are going through. They are in our thoughts and prayers and I hope they are in yours as well.)

Stay tuned Caps Hockey Fans, tonight's game is on the same "bat station" at the same "bat time" as Wednesday night's - NBC. Tune in to see how this plays out, after all, it's the only hockey we've got available till Camp Opens at Kettler or even better, the pre-season starts.

Can't wait till next season. LETS GO CAPS!!!

Detroit Blanks Pittsburgh Again (3-0) Take 2 - 0 Series Lead

Last night, Detroit again controlled the tempo and play of the game for 60:00 minutes and beat Pittsburgh to take a 2 - 0 lead in the Stanley Cup finals. Once again Marc - Andre Fluery played an excellent game in net for the Penguins and delivered a save percentage of 91.2% on the 34 shots the Red Wings sent his way. Unfortunately for the Penguins, Chris Osgood again stopped 100% of the 22 shots the Penguins managed to take.

The Red Wings dominated most aspects of the game despite coming up behind or only matching the Pens in several statistical categories. The Penguins didn't get their first shot on net until over 12 minutes of the first period had been played. The only aspect of the Red Wings game that didn't hit on all cylinders was their power play. The Wings didn't score a power play goal all night despite having a man advantage for 13:20 of the game. The series now goes to Pittsburgh where the Penguins haven't lost since February 24th. It will again be interesting to see what adjustments and line match-ups the Penguins try now that they have the last line change. The Pens need to make some major changes to their game plan in order to turn things around because right now the Red Wings look like the much better team. (Ed Note: Maybe I should leave the prognostication to Peerless.) The nice aspect of this story no matter who you are rooting for? Thirty-five (35) year old, Chris Osgood is only the fourth goalie, all-time, to start a Stanley Cup Finals with two straight shut-outs. Not bad for a guy who came into the net in relief in the first round of this year's playoffs. Perhaps Osgood's performance is a reason, thirty eight (38) year old Olaf Kolzig believes he can still be a dominant, number 1 goalie in the NHL next season. Of course it might also be cause to hope another thirty-something goaltender might be able to anchor the Washington Capital's drive to their first Stanley Cup next year... In any case if the Pens can't make some effective adjustments in the next two days and Osgood and his teammates keep playing the kind of hockey they've shown fans in the first two games, this might be a very short series.

On the Washington Caps news front, for all those folks clogging up the Capital's Insider with comments about what GMGM should have done before or instead of signing Karl Alzner last week; please note the following facts:
1) Alzner was the Caps number 1 pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft and as such the Caps had until June 1st (this coming Sunday) to get him under contract.
2) By virtually all accounts and scouting reports the 19 year old is the best Defensemen who did NOT play in the NHL last year - in other words a tru "blue chip prospect" and the Caps would have been crazy to let him get away.
3) The three year entry level contract Alzner and the Caps signed is apparently very similar to the deal Caps Defenseman Mike Green signed three years ago (Green's deal averaged $833K/year).

Most of the folks blog posters and commenters feel the Caps should have signed before they signed Alzner, will indeed be signed. It's likely the Caps have now started serious discussion with many of them now that the IIHF Worlds are over. In most cases the posts involve Mike Green and Christobel Huet, or the Caps Goaltending picture in general. Some of these posts are obviously based on uneducated emotional reactions such as:
- One recent poster indicated he felt the Caps should try desperately to trade Tom Poti away - seems kind of ridiculous when you look at and understand Poti's role on the team and understand the 31 year old led the Caps in Ice Time, had a +/- rating of +9 often against the oppositions best forwards, and often was a stalwart on the penalty killing units. (Poti is under contract through July 2011 with an annual Salary Cap Hit of $3.5M - which will probably be the average or a steal for a top 2/to 4 defenseman after this year's free agent signings.)
- Other posts and comments indicate many do NOT understand what the word Restricted means before the words Free Agent in the terms of the current NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Shoanne Morrisson; Mike Green, Brooks Laich, Steve Emminger, Eric Fehr, Boyd Gordon, along with minor leaguers Stephen Warner and Jamie Hunt are all RESTRICTED Free Agents this year. Certainly Caps Management will resign and/or match any qualifying offers most of these great young players get.
- Another subject of many posts and comments relate to the resigning of Sergei Federov, the thirty-eight year old veteran of 1,196 NHL regular season and 169 NHL playoff games trade deadline pickup, played a stellar post season and was super in the IIHF championships. Most point to that and the clear spark he and young Russian teammates Alexander Semin and Alexander Ovechkin seem to have when they play together as the reason the Caps should resign him now. This despite the fact it is unclear whether Federov wants to play another season in the NHL (his 19th) and the fact that the Caps need to have the right role and salary cap room for him when a healthy Michael Nylander and Chris Clark return to the lineup next season.

Can't wait till next season - LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Wings Flew to Game 1 Victory - Downed Penguins 4 - 0 in Series Opener

Saturday night the Detroit Red Wings basically "man-handled" the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals opening game at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. After the first ten minutes of the first period, that were, for the most part, the usual opening of a multi-game series, the sort of tentative "feel each other out" cautious, don't make too any mistakes kind of hockey, the Red Wings "turned on the jets" and basically shut down the Penguins for the remaining 50 minutes of the game.

Tonight it's game two, once again in Detroit. For the Penguins to win, they'll once again need super goaltending from Marc-Andre Fluery since it appears Chris Osgood continues to make that aspect of the game, "the price of admission". Some pundits are indicating this series is NOT a goaltenders battle and it's NOT JUST a goaltenders battle. However, there is indeed a goaltenders battle being waged within the larger battle between these two powerhouse teams. While a lot of comparisons will be made between the young Fluery and the experienced Osgood, on Saturday Fluery had a save % of 88.88% stopping 32 of 36 shots and Osgood posted a save % of 100% stopping all 19 of the Penguins shots. To be sure, Fluery's play in the first and second periods was, in large part, the only reason the Penguins started the third period within 2 goals of winning the game. During period 1 and 2 the Penguins were out shot by the Wings 27 - 16 and that was only because the Penguins spent much of the last half of the first period on the powerplay. The Red Wings won Saturday night's game in the neutral zone. During the second and third periods, Pittsburgh's powerful offensive weapons could not get moving and were rarely allowed to "setup" in the offensive zone. Detroit's penalty killing unit(s) were excellent holding a powerplay unit that averages a 25% success rate scoreless for 9:50 AND scoring a shorthanded goal late in the third period to go up 3-0.

Like Detroit, Pittsburgh is a powerhouse of a team and no doubt will make adjustments in tonight's game. After the lesson they got on Saturday, fans can be sure that the young guns from Pittsburgh will indeed "kick it up a notch". In game one the "less physical"/smaller/older Red Wings out hit the Pens 31 - 25 and swarmed over both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Malkin was held to just 1 shot and Crosby to only 3. Adding insult to injury on one the few shifts where Pens coach Michel Therrien put Crosby and Malkin out together, in what appeared to be an attempt to force the Wings to open the game up a bit early in the third period, the Red Wings' Mikael Samuelsson scored his second goal of the game to put Detroit up 2-0. Perhaps the worst outcome of Saturday's game is the Red Wing's have given the rest of the league a blueprint of how to take apart the Penguins, even with Crosby, Malkin, and Marian Hossa all in the lineup. Of course to do it you need a tremendous amount of talent, like the Red Wings have, and to play awfully solid, near flawless hockey yourselves. In any case, the interesting thing tonight will be watching the adjustments the Penguins have made in the first period and Detroit's reaction and counter to them in the second and third periods.

For Caps fans though it's nice to know those blasted flightless birds are vulnerable. LETS GO CAPS!!!!!! Can't wait till next season.

Stanley Cup Finals Start Today - Preview for Caps Next Year?

The Stanley Cup Finals start today when Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the Penguins face off against Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsuyk and the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit this evening. To Caps Fans, this will be a good, hard fought series between two teams likely to be between the Capitals and the Cup when next year's regular season ends and the 2009 playoffs begin as well.

As indicated in earlier posts this blogger is predicting that the Red Wings will fall slightly short and this year's Cup will be the start of the Crosby - Malkin - Fluery era in Pittsburgh. That assumes Marc-Andre Fluery continues the stellar play he has shown so far in the playoffs, even though he is likely to be tested even harder than he has at any point of his career. At the other end of the ice, veteran Chris Osgood is unlikely to waiver, so fans will have a good yardstick by which to measure the Penguins' #1 netminder.

The contrast between the two teams should be interesting Lidstrom vs. Gonchar; Datsuyk vs. Crosby; Zetterberg vs. Malkin will all no doubt be featured in various VS. network highlights and commentaries. However, the real battles/contrasts to decide the series will more likely be Franzen (when he returns) vs. Stall; Samuellson vs. Hossa; Chelios vs. Gill; Kopecki vs. Sykora; Maltby vs. Malone; Filppula vs. Talbot, etc.. It's here, the backside of each team's depth chart, where the exceptional depth of both teams becomes apparent. It's also here where the youth, raw talent and SIZE of the Penguins becomes clear and there is a contrast to the experience, finesse and learned skill of the Red Wings. Given the length of the season and the comparisons between the two teams there seems to be the potnetial for a slight edge to go to the Penguins here though as they say "That's why they play these games on the ice." For now the only thing left to do is speculate on the future outcome. Who do you think will hoist the Cup above his head Penguins Captain Crosby or Red Wings Captain Lidstrom and after what game of the series?


All the above in consideration it certainly seems if the Washington Captials are to build on their accomplishments for 2007 - 2008 and advance further into the 2009 playoffs, they will meet the likes of at least one, if not both, these teams next year as well. Of course a lot of water needs to pass under the bridge before the Caps are assured to be playing hockey past tax day next year, but this year was "a breakout year" for the young Caps team. Assuming the Caps can resolve the following off ice challenges between now and the start of the 2008-2009 season: a) resign their young number 1 defenseman, Mike Green, who is currently a restricted free agent; b) sign a legitimate number 1 goalie, preferably the resigning of Christobel Huet who is an Unrestricted Free Agent; c) sort out their blue line corps so the once again have 7 or 8 legitimate NHL Blueliners on the roster; d) figure out what/how to accommodate a roster with a healthy Michael Nylander AND a Sergei Federov, if Federov wants to play another NHL season given his post deadline performance for the Caps and his clear chemistry with young gun Alexander Semin; e) sort out what they want to do with "grinders" Matt Bradley and Matt Cooke in a way that retains sufficient "grit" in the line-up but also gets some additional secondary scoring in the lineup besides Brooks Laich (who they need to resign) and hopefully a healthy Chris Clarke, Fans can once again expect to be watching hockey in "the phone booth" in late April next year.


The biggest area of likely change/fluidity for the Capitals is probably the Defense Corps. The resolution of the top 4 defenseman on Bruce Boudreau's roster card at the start of next season will require sorting out the resigning of Shoanne Morrisson (RFA) and Steve Emminger (RFA) as well as the status of Brian Pothier (Career Threatening?/Ending? Concussion Syndrome Injury), as well as the play and ranking of Milan Jurcina, John Erskine, Sami Lepesto, Ben Clymer and Karl Alzner. Basically the only things settled in the blueline corps seem to be a)Tom Poti will be back and b)the Caps want to resign Green and Morrisson but the salary cap implications of those two resignings and Pothier's status need to be understood, and Coach Boudrea has to understand and decide where he is on the depth chart ranking of Emminger, before Boudreau and General Manager George McPhee look at whether they feel they need to go to the free agent pool for another top 4 D-Man. It seems Jurcina, Erskine, Lepisto and Alzner are all likely to compete for roster slots 5 and 6 when camps open with Jurcina the likely #5.


The most critical area currently in flux is Goaltending. As has been highlighted well by DMG in his Caps Blue Line, the only NHL caliber goal keeper currently under contract for the Caps is backup Brent Johnson. Whether you're an "Olie the Goalie" continued supporter or not it certainly seems the Caps need to resign Christobel Huet now. It seems clear that Olie Kolzig will either end his career elsewhere or Caps fans will be seeing his number hoisted to the rafters of the VC next season if he retires after testing the free agent waters. None of the goalie prospects are NHL ready and even Fredric Cassivi last year's number #1 goalie on the Caps AHL Affiliate Hershey Bears is an unrestricted free agent, not that he's the right guy for the job any more than Johnnie is. If the Caps need to go into the Free Agent pool the pickings get slim pretty fast after Jose Theodore and if the Caps are willing/able to spend 5/6+M for a goalie, they will likely be just as able to save a few bucks and sign the 32 year old Huet rather than the 31 year old Theodore. Though both Huet and Theodore fit the right age bracket to fill the gap between the end of longtime number 1 Kolzig's Caps Career and the current prospects in the Caps system.

Forward line positions are a strength and all the Capital's Management Organization has in these positions at this point seem to be choices between good, better and best. That being said, General Manager George McPhee will still need to continue to do the excellent job of Salary Cap Management that he's been doing if the Caps are to rise to the heights that both of this evening's contestants have. LETS GO CAPS!!!! Can't Wait For Next Season.

It's Penguins vs. Red Wings In the Finals

Well yesterday Pittsburgh pretty much manhandled the Philadelphia Flyers downing them 6-0 in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference Championship series to get into the Stanley Cup finals; and this evening the Detroit Red Wings took control of their game 6 with the Dallas Stars and drove to the Western Conference Championship behind a 4-1 victory. The Stanley Cup finals start in Detroit on Saturday and it should be a great series.

Predictions anyone? For me it's Penguins in 6. If that happens it will be the true start of the Malkin - Crosby - Fluery era in Pittsburgh and the Penguins first Stanley Cup since 1991 - 92 and their third ever. If Detroit wins it'll be their first since 2001 - 02 and their 11th all time.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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