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!!!!

Establishing A Baseline For The Start Of The Dale Hunter Era Which Is Tomorrow Night

Tomorrow night is when I think we'll see the real start of the "Dale Hunter Era" for the Washington Capitals. Tomorrow's game against the Philadelphia Flyers comes as the first game since Dale Hunter took over as coach of the Capitals that they have had a couple of good practices in a row between home games. It will be the first time we'll get to see a Hunter coached Capitals team that may have had adjustments made that take more than an hour to practice. It also will be a game that is against a team that was a rival to the Capitals teams that Hunter played on. So we have an important game against a big rival at home after the Caps have had time to practice a few things and should be well rest. Thus the beginning of the "Dale Hunter Era" says me. mark it on the hockey calendars everywhere December 12, 2011.

So let's take a look and baseline the NHL on this day, the day before the Hunter era begins - December 11, 2011. The Washington Capitals are in second place in the Southeast Division; eighth place in the Eastern Conference; and seventeenth place in the league as we await the dawn of the Dale Hunter Era. How did the Capitals get here you might ask, we could debate the points and issues leading up to Bruce Boudreau's replacement till the cows come home and nothing we'd say really matters. We don't need to talk about or debate those things the only thing we need to do is to baseline where the Capitals are and where the teams that matter to them are around them as regards the NHL standings as of today. That way come April 7, 2012 the last day of the Caps' 2011-2012 regular season we'll be able to judge how far they've come from where they sunk to on November 28, 2011. In this week's NHL power rankings the Capitals rank a lowly 16th - the lowest you can be and still be in the rankings but hey at least over the last 10 games the Capitals are now 5-5-0 and playing 0.500 hockey, the comment in the rankings voices the question all of Cap probably shares with me - "Have they turned the corner?" We'll see, we'll see as we measure the progress against the current baseline.

So where do things stand today with the teams that matter to the Capitals?

The first team that matters to the Capitals this season is the Florida Panthers. Formerly the lowly Florida Panthers and now the Southeast Division leading Florida Panthers. The Panthers had been historically one of, if not the worst, teams in the NHL for the past decade. They haven't reached the playoffs since 2000, and haven't won a playoff game since 1997. They haven't even finished higher than third in the Southeast Division since the 2000-01 season. But thanks to a drastic overhaul by GM Dale Tallon, the Panthers have quickly emerged as one of the better and more exciting teams to watch in the League. Today they sit atop the Southeast Division with 37 points, third in the Eastern Conference and tenth in the League. In this week's power ranking the Panthers also rank tenth despite having a record in their last ten outings of just 5-3-2 (0.600 hockey). So far this season the Panthers have proven to me they are real, they have a respectable positive goal differential of +5 and they've played 0.616 hockey over 30 games; 0.667 over 12 home games and 0.556 over 18 away games. These guys are for real. That's really all that matters to us Capitals fans, that and the fact the Capitals really, really should work really hard to NOT loose any more "four point games" to the Panthers. Right now the Capitals are two games ahead of the Capitals and have played 0.554 over the 28 games the Caps have played this season. The Panthers are on track to finish the season with between 94 and 105 points. To catch and pass the Panthers I estimate the Capitals will need to ratchet up their own "game" ~20% and play 0.657 hockey to finish with 102 points; that's a pretty big delta but it could be achievable if the Capitals find their stride now and have a good "run/streak" between now and February 28th. It's also interesting to note that while the Caps and Panthers will face each other three times between now and March 1st, all three of those meetings occur in the month of February and with any luck for we Caps fans will be the most epic and important meetings between the two teams in at least a decade.

The next team that matters to the Capitals is the Eastern Conference lading Philadelphia Flyers - the same Flyers who the Capitals will face off against tomorrow night. If the season ended today, the Capitals would find themselves in the first round of the playoffs facing the Flyers. Over 28 games the Flyers have been playing 0.696 hockey and are on track to finish the season with between 108 and 120 points this regular season. The Flyers are 7-3-0 in their last ten outings and on a 5 game winning streak and they are doing it in spite of average goaltending from their net-minders (2.9 GAA last ten games), and a final and yet is they have a positive goal differential of +20 over 28 games to date (101 GF - 3.607 GF/Game and 81 GA - 2.893 GA/Game). Making up any of the four (4) full games the Flyers are ahead of the Capitals even over the 54 games remaining between now and April looks to be a daunting task. However tomorrow's match up is a four point game in that challenge and all the more reason to look at the game and increase it's importance in the Capitals minds.

The Boston Bruins who are now in first place in the Northeast Division and second place in the Eastern Conference are important to the Capitals. Between now and the end of the season the Caps still have all four of their match ups with the Bruins remaining and if they can manage to pass Florida, they will likely be battling the Bruins for the second seed in the opening round of the playoffs. The Bruins have played 0.661 hockey so far this season and have a whopping and league leading +35 goal differential. The Bruins are on pace to finish the regular season with between 102 and 111 points so it's very likely the Caps will need the Bruins to filter some in order to pass them in the standings even if the Caps can finish with 102 or 103 points. The Bruins are currently ranked atop this week's NHL power rankings.

The fourth place New York Rangers are another team, that even if the Caps have turned things around will still matter and come into play for the Caps this season. the Rangers have played 0.704 hockey over 27 games this season. They are as strong or stronger a team as either the Bruins or the Flyers and have a team goal differential of +23 and a 7-3-0 record in their last 10 games including a 6-1 blowout win over the Florida Panthers in their last outing. The "Rags" are on track to finish the regular season with between 106 and 118 points. They are currently ranked third in the NHL's power rankings.

The fifth place Pittsburgh Penguins are the next team that are highly relevant to the Capitals this season. The Penguins have played 0.633 hockey over thirty games this season despite Sidney Crosby's injury issues which unfortunately for hockey fans everywhere continue with no foreseeable end in sight. The Penguins have a +19 differential and 96 and 106 points. If the Caps have indeed turned things around and can finish with 102 points when they head into the playoffs there is a fair chance their road to Lord Stanley's Promised Land for the Capitals could well once again be through Pittsburgh.

What about the other guys in the East who could make the playoffs you might ask: Toronto, Buffalo, New Jersey, Montreal and Winnipeg.

Well Toronto at 5-4-1 in their last ten games and 13th in this week's NHL Power Rankings looks to be the real deal and could very easily finish the season as high as in 5th place and as low as 7th place with between 88 and 98 points for the season. In other words the Maple Leafs could very easily be the Capitals opponent in the first round of the playoffs, if the Capitals turn things around find a way to either win the Southeast or finish in fourth in the Conference.

The Buffalo Sabres are ranked 15th in this week's NHL Power Rankings, have played 0.552 hockey through 29 games, and have an even team goal differential to date. The Sabres are 3-5-2 in their last ten games and have a less than 0.500 record at home so far this season, while playing 0.727 hockey on the road. This team is an enigma to me but will likely remain battling Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, and Ottawa "on the bubble" assuming the Capitals can move forward on their current path and get off the bubble themselves. If that happens the Capitals likely won't be seeing anyone who finishes seventh or eighth in the Eastern Conference before the Conference finals, if at all.

So the as far as turning things around in the "Dale Hunter Era" the Florida Panthers may well have caught the spirit of things when they were billing the game between the Panthers and the Capitals as a battle for first place in the division and an important bout between the two.

So next up the Flyers at Verizon Center Tuesday Night - Be There or Be Square.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Last Night Roundup: Caps 2 - Islanders 1; Fight - Fest in Philly; Marty Gets SO #114

So last night it was a 2 point night for the Capitals in Uniondale, NY in front of an announced crowd of only 9,119. That's a two point win that takes the Capitals road record this year to 10-9-3 or 0.523 hockey (vs. a home record of 16-5-5 or 0.716).

I must say I'm far less reserved in my thoughts about the Caps then many other blogger's this morning in the wake of the 2-1 victory over the injury riddled struggling Islanders. That's in large part that I've accepted that over the past 5 years or so regardless of where either team is when they meet each other, the Islanders play the Caps close, tight and very hard. So it just seems to me that no matter what Caps - Islanders games are usually close. I really think the Islanders "get up" for the Caps and I'll point to the fact that Rick DiPietro started and played the full game well last night against the Caps, despite the fact that he and the Islanders then indicated he was too sick (flu) and wouldn't even be getting on the plane for their trip to ---- after the game. Don't get me wrong I understand where folks like DMG over at Japer's Rink are coming from and can't even argue with this particular statement in his recap of the game:

An Islander defenseman breaks his stick on a shot from the point and lets the Caps get the puck out of the New York zone, his partner losing his footing and falls down on the backcheck, Rick DiPietro's forced to come and play the puck, shanking it to the most dangerous goal scorer of the past five years...and the end result is a penalty against the Capitals? Has any sequences summed up this season better than that one?

That said, the Caps are clearly once again on the road to a 100+ point season, and they are playing very responsible, sound defensive hockey. In fact of the 7 teams who woke up this AM with 60 or more points, the Capitals 125 GA/2.60 per game is fifth best and nearly tied with 3rd best Dallas (122, 2.596) and fourth best Philadelphia (124, 2.64). As some examples of the Caps defensive responsibility as Garret over at Puckhead's Thoughts noted after last night's game:

The Caps blocked 20 shots, including a whopping 7 shots stopped by Mike Green. They also had more take-aways than the Islanders 17-11. Carlson lead the Caps in that category with 4 TKs. The Caps PK was also top notch as they denied the Islanders a power play goal in six chances.

So my own bottom line on last evening's game is I thought it was a solidly played game by the Capitals for a couple of reasons:

1) They never trailed in the game.

2) The Caps played their game and played it well for all sixty minutes. After going out to a 2-0 lead the Islanders did get a quick goal to keep the game tight, but the Caps never looked like they were even considering leaving their game plan.

3) Call up Braden Holtby played very, very well in net for the Capitals. His 24 for 25 SOG, 0.960 SV% performance was a nice way for the 21 year old to get his third NHL win of the season.

4) The first line for the Caps was the first line, all night long. I'll admit that I wasn't sure if Jason Chimera would have the right chemistry with Ovechkin and Backstrom but at least so far his speed, skating ability, size and willingness to mix it up right in opposing goaltender's faces is bringing an even more "Knuble-esque" dimension to the duo then Knuble does. Also while we're at it, I know it was against an injury ridden Islander's team but the second line with Knuble on it is working better now too, when whichever young center (Perreault or Johannson) is on it, doesn't make rookie mistakes and take bad penalties.

5) Taking two points - on the road; and giving none to a Conference opponent. I could go on, I could qualify it with another "I know it's the Islanders and lots of them are hurt" etc. BUT that wouldn't change the fact that the game ended with two points for the Capitals and they earned them by playing solid, smart hockey.

Final item I'd like to note from last night is that John Erskine is clearly having the best season he's ever had as a Capital last night Erskine was questionable all the way up through the pre-game skate. When you look at the results at the end of the night on the stat sheet: 15 minutes and four blocked shots for the game. He did have a holding penalty.But last season he often didn't play 15 minutes on his better nights, yes I know Poti is out but right now I'd consider Poti #5 on the blue line depth chart anyway and even on nights like this in prior season's Erskine would rarely get 15 minutes if he was 100%. The caliber of his play has been raised and the confidence everyone especially himself and the coaching staff have in him is probably best shown by how he was used last night while he wasn't even 100% and everyone - including the opposing team knew that. Just sayin' that's all.

Lots of other good items noted and stats from the game in the recap by the master - Peerless over here.

Next up for the Caps will be the Maple Leafs in Toronto, tomorrow night at Air Canada Centre.


Elsewhere around the NHL last night:

The Flyers pasted a 6-2 beat down on the Ottawa Senators in a game where the Senators tried to keep things interesting and salvage some pride by getting physical with the Flyers. Umm really? seriously? You go into another team's building, get your butts kicked and then try and salvage some self respect by getting physical with against a team whose heritage includes the name Broad Street Bullies and you think this is going to play out well for you. I'd be guessing probably not and I think in retrospect, I'd be right. So from PuckDaddy here's the links to a couple of videos of fisticuffs in the so called "line brawl" in the third period. I'd argue the initial Giroux - Foglino bout wasn't as "clear" a win for Foglino as might be inferred from Wysh's choice of words and the Rutuu - Hartnell fight was no contest, Hartnell got a lot more licks in than he took; and the Shelly - Neil bout ends with Shelly clearly in total control and more than making up for the scant few punches Neil got in at first. A few other videos and descriptions of the fights are here at "The 700 Level" apparently none of the eight (8) goals scored in the game were near as interesting as the any of the five fights or the fact that combined both teams racked up 126 penalty minutes since the only place you see video around of those goals are the combined game highlights and there are numerous links to any one or more of the five fights. Yeah sure the league and others "wish" fighting would just go away and the only thing fans find interesting in hockey is goals being scored ... sure that's the way things are, just ask Gary...

In LA the Coyotes beat the Kings 2-0 and the Kings are still complaining about the first Phoenix goal. So here's my thoughts - I agree with the statement by Mike Murphy, the NHL's senior vice president of hockey operations, told FSN's Jim Fox that there was no conclusive replay that would have overturned the goal based on the replays posted on the interwebs. To me it's a call like the one where MAF robbed Mike Green of the OT winner against the Penguins here in DC. Was the call on the ice wrong, yeah probably. However, the video available for review wasn't adequate to overturn the call on the ice. That's hockey. Anyway did it matter? The Kings failed to score so the most accurate conjecture although you never know is that given how the rest of the game played out LA still would have lost 1-0 and taken their record in the last 12 games to 2-10-0. Bottom line really is when your team is going through a stretch like that you just have to make sure you don't grab onto any excuses and you take ownership of just making things happen to turn it around. Sure doesn't seem like that's a thought currently shared by King's GM Dean Lombardi who is being quoted on the call last night as saying:

Lombardi said, speaking of Murphy, "When the guy in Toronto making the decisions on the goals, in Ottawa and the one tonight, wanted the G.M.'s job in L.A. and was not happy about not getting it, you have to assume you are going to get those type of calls. However, we have put ourselves in a position where these calls have a monumental effect on our season, and we're going to have to find a way out of it ourselves."

Way to be the bigger man and lead, I thought "California Guys" were supposed to be all laid back and stuff even when they are being intense.

Final score in Pittsburgh last evening Devils 2 - Penguins 0. Sure the Pens were without the services of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin but hey 114 is a lot of shutouts and Marty is the current active leader in the category. Last night's SO was his fourth (4th) of the season - considering he has 9 wins the fact that 44.44% of his wins this season are by shutout would sort of say that even at age 38, this guy can and does still play the game at the NHL level and he's pretty darn good, wouldn't you be forced to agree. Especially given the way the team in front of him has had to play with what is basically a short bench while changing their system in front of him all season.

The Detroit Red Wings are working towards having Evgeni Nabakov back in the NHL and in front of the pipes for the remainder of the season. As soon as he clears waivers. Lots of speculation last night about that on Twitter but I agree with TSN's Bob McKenzie, odds are that Nabakov will in fact make it through and be guarding the net for Detroit. That's probably not great news for other teams who have their eye on the ultimate prize in Hockey and playing into late May and early June. However, as they say, that's why they play the games on the ice....

In other news my thoughts and my wish for a sound and speedy recovery go out to former Capital Tomas Fleischmann who had been on fire since joining the Avalanche in the trade that brought the Capitals Scott Hannan. Fleischmann's season has ended when two blood clots were found, one in his lungs. Flash had found new life in the Avalanche line up and the injury is yet another blow to Colorado who has been riddled with injuries all season. As many reading will recall, "Flash" missed Capitals' training camp a few years ago when he developed a blood clot when flying home after the Caps were defeated by the Penguins.

Finally before I close this post if you haven't seen what happened when news of the Winter Classic results reached "The Fuhrer" here's a glimpse from inside the brain trust sort of 24/7 like.... Wonder how he reacted when he saw Marty got his 114th SO at the expense of the Penguins, Bylsma is probably toast and already on his way to Stalingrad.....

LETS GO CAPS!!!

First to 30 But ...

Well the 2010 - 2011 NHL Regular Season is basically 25% completed and the Washington Capitals are the first NHL Team to reach 30 points, an interesting thing to note immediately after the Capitals lost their second game in a row last night. A rare home loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in a shootout, it was an exciting game to watch and just about everything I don't like to see in a hockey game but more on that later. First a few other notes and thoughts since this is my first blog post since last Monday.

As I opened with the NHL season is now 25% complete and with 25% of the games played one can do some reasonable analysis and forecasting based on that analysis. I haven't done that yet but I will shortly. The simplest extrapolation to do though is that the Capitals are now on pace for a 117 point regular season. Given the magic number for the Eastern Conference is now between currently looking to be around 85 points, it's likely that the Capitals are on pace for another playoff appearance. As such I will officially stop worrying that they might take the fact that not everyone makes the playoffs seriously enough, to bed. Right now the Capitals are 2 1/2 games ahead of the second place Tampa Bay Lightning in the Southeast Division and 1 game ahead of the second place Flyers and a half (4 1/2) games ahead of the eighth place Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference. Overall the Capitals have been playing at least as good this regular season as they did last season when they won the President's Trophy - a true Hockey Non-Event - in the the regular season. Throughout the league what my gut says is that the hockey is better this season than last - I attribute this to the growing parity around the league driven by the maturity of the salary cap; while the quality of the officiating has just gone downhill and there's multiple reasons for that IMO.

Sine my last blog post, the Capitals played three games and went 1-1-1. On Wednesday evening they beat Buffalo here in DC by a score of 4-2 in a hard fought game that was one of their best yet so far this year. On Friday they lost to the Thrashers in Atlanta getting shutout by a score of 5-0 in what could well be their worst game in a long time. Then last evening we had the 5-4 Shootout loss to the Flyers here at Verizon Center. Throughout last night's loos though the Capitals played hard the full sixty five minutes. At times clearly the referees felt the Caps were playing a little too hard and that's probably why they called a total of nine (9) minor penalties and gave the Flyers nine (9) power play opportunities last night. To be clear the referees also called affair number of penalties on the Flyers - seven (7) to be exact. The result was the Capitals tallied three (3) power play goals while the Flyers also put a (one - 1) goal on the scoreboard while they had the man advantage. So let m e make a note - there's the first thing I hated about last night's game - the referees and linesman figured too prominently in the outcome. Exacerbating my dismay in this area is the fact that on at least three occasions the officials got in the way of the play and affected who got the puck and where they got it on the ice. Further many of the penalties were IMO - weak calls - and on at least four occasions the official calling the play didn't appear to have anywhere near a good line of sight to the infraction that he called. Those calls were:
a) Ville Lieno - Hooking 2:00 at 2:02 of the second period;
b) Eric Fehr - Boarding 2:00 at 15:43 of the second;
c) Matt Bradley - Interference 2:00 at 14:31 of the third;
d) Nicklas Backstrom - Interference 2:00 at 3:12 of overtime.

Other "weak calls" IMO:
i) Scott Hartnell - Slashing 2:00 at 7:39 of the second - to me it looked like Hartnell just got a penalty for being a bonehead and mouthing off.
ii) Brooks Laich - Goaltender Interference 2:00 at 12:50 of the second period, watch that replay and try and fine the interference .... should be fun for you, especially if you haven't had a chance to play where's Waldo lately...

Then in addition to those calls driving parts of the game, there's the whole matter of just how much I do NOT like shootouts. Of course if someone can show me a shot by someone that comes anywhere or anyway closer to being a goal and then doesn't go in the net than Alexander Semin's shootout attempt last night, I will be totally surprised.

Good things to take away from last night's game:
1) We got a point;
2) We never gave up;
3) The Capitals really are a better team than the Flyers, the fact they were able to get a point last night while not one puck seemed to bounce their way and they kept hammering at it, well that's just a good thing.
4) The next time the Caps and Flyers play each other, we really ought to have DJ King on the ice just so he can stomp on Scott Hartnell when he needs to be stomped on. Trust me that would be at least two shifts.
5) Eric Fehr 2:00 for boarding - watch that one on youtube and find something wrong with that check ... seriously...

Next up, the Devils, away at "The Rock" in Newark tomorrow evening.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Flyers vs. Caps @ Verizon Center This Evening

Well here I am getting psych'ed up for today's 5PM start of a hockey game in the district and then I go on line and find this bad news: "#Caps assign Marcus Johansson to Hershey: http://wapo.st/9rW5vw" on Katie Carrera's twitter feed. I get it but I don't get it. "It" being both Tomas Fleischmann and Bruce Boudreau's insistence that "Flash" is the right interim answer for second line center for the Capitals. Sorry I know I'm getting to be a harp on this but I can't help it, every game since MoJo's hip flexor injury we've seen "Flash" have flashes of offensive brilliance and mediocre results in both the faceoff circle and the back end when he's sent out as pivot to a second line that includes Brooks Laich and any of the other obvious choices (Semin and/or Knuble) as his wings. I can't say I didn't see this coming. Boudreau has given Fleischmann more ice time and chances both at wing (compared to Eric Fehr) and at Center (compared to either MoJo or Brooks Laich) consistently over the past couple of years. Fleischmann is indeed a talented NHL calibre player, I've said it repeatedly. In fact I'm on record here as saying I think he is worth his $2.3M salary - but I'm also on record as saying he is worth that as a left wing. When you look at Fleischmann as a center, especially as a second line center, well to me it just doesn't make sense. Let's start with faceoffs - to date Flash is 41.3% in the faceoff circle, so sure he won an important one against the Bruins but hey, as John Carlson's uncle who was sitting in front of me that game pointed out, we're talking about doing it against Patrice Bergeron who though he leads the Bruins' centers in that category is only 48.7% "in the circle" and the Bruins who as a team - well in the faceoff catagory this year, they aren't very good. So while Marcus Johansson is the only Capitals Center with a worse faceoff percentage than Flash (MoJo has a 34.)% in the circle), neither are the guy who Gabby is sending out to take an important last minute defensive zone draw when the the other team is on the power play or has their goalie pulled in a tight game.

To me the issue is that for their second line center, the Caps need a playmaker who is as good on his defensive assignments as he is in the offensive zone. The guy who has the potential to do that most is not, IMO, the 26 year old Fleischman who finished last season with 23 goals and 28 assists in 69 games after playing most of the season on the Wings. It might be and I say might be Marcus Johansson, a 20 year old Swede who is clearly a playmaking, vice scoring Center and who so far this season has looked more comfortable and in the right place relative to defensive assignments when he's been the second line Center than Fleischmann has looked to date. Well it really doesn't matter what I think and clearly nobody pays me millions to coach hockey or even to pitch Mercedes, the only right I have to an opinion is to my personal opinion as a rabid Capitals fan who buys tickets. So all I can do is say this - watch this afternoon when the Caps play the Flyers, given Johannson's reassignment and the other rumblings coming out of the Caps quarters today, I'm guess we'll see a second line of either Laich - Fleischman - Knuble or Laich Fleischmann - Semin. So just watch and see how many times during his shifts Flash ends up playing the Left Wing's assignment in the Caps Defensive zone because for whatever reason either Laich or Semin end up being the deep back-checker.

Personally I think this is the result of "Flash" - despite what Boudreau and he say - being a far more natural winger and scorer than Center/play maker. Again I'm not saying Flash isn't good, what I am saying is IMO he's a far better Wing than Center, particularly on the backcheck. Now if the reason to do this is to get Flash the ice time and exposure he needs to become a "tradable asset" then I can be convinced it's the right thing to do. Again Flash isn't bad and he's worth his salary as a Top 6 Forward at Wing on any number of NHL teams. In fact in the right situation, in that role, it wouldn't surprise me to see him score 30 goals a season. That said here in Washington the best I think we'll ever see is where he ended up at the end of last season: #6 in goals (as long as Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom, and Laich are on the team) and # 7 in points with a defensive contribution that is "middle of the pack." Most importantly from my perspective Flash as the second line center seems to make Brooks Laich less effective on the second line across the board. So once again I'm saying that I think Tomas Fleischmann is not the answer as our second line center if we are going to go deep into the playoffs, even in spite of his current play, which has I will grant him, seen him going to the net far more often and aggressively than he did last season. He will score his share of goals - I mean he's been getting an average of 14:30 TOI/Game and that will continue to rise now. However, his defensive play when he's at Center, just plain scares me, especially when the Caps second line find them out on the ice against an opponents first line. Today that would mean that Flash will be going up against Mike Richards ... hard to see him coming up better than +/- 0 in that sort of matchup. Of course if he's up against the Flyers second line he'll be trying to win faceoffs against Jeff Carter who is 57.3% in that category while having an offensive output (5 goals, 6 assists, 11 points) that so far this season is better than Flash's (4 goals, 3 assists, 7 points) though Flash's +7 +/- is better than Carters +2, that's another matchup that I think Flyers' coach Peter Laviolette isn't going to fret too much about.

Well now about the rest of my pre-game thoughts. The Flyers are coming into a game with a 5PM start right off another away game against the Islanders on Long Island last night. In that game the Flyers won 2-1 in regulation. Last night's Flyers - Islanders game was a tight one and another game that saw Flyers Rookie Goaltender Sergei Bobravsky play very well. The 22 year old Russian turned in a sterling 31-save performance and earned the 2nd star of the game. Assuming he gets the nod for the back to back start he will be a player to watch and a key for the Flyers as he has been so often so far this season. Danny Briere will not be playing as he'll be serving the last of his four game suspension this afternoon in the Verizon Center press box, however as I noted the Flyers have a few other weapons who will be playing - their names are Richards, Carter, Pronger, Hartnell and Van Riemsdyk. The Caps come into today's game having won their last three (3) in a row and in second place in the Eastern Conference while the Flyers come in having won their past six (6)games in a row and in first place in the Eastern Conference. It will also be interesting to see which goaltender - Holtby or Neuvirth gets the nod to start for the Capitals today, and whether Alexander Semin starts the game on the first or second line after seeing how the Capitals - Bruins game on Friday evening ended.

In any case, as all of the recent contests between these two teams have been, I expect this will be a very good and exciting to watch game.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Game 1 In The Books - Blackhawks 6 - Flyers 5

Here's my random thoughts about last night's Stanley Cup Finals Game 1...

Midway through the first period I thought - if things keep up this way, the final score will be 7-6 and I have no idea who will win. Seriously, no kidding that's why I thought. Things did basically keep up that way and I wasn't far off the mark.

It only shows how little confidence the Blackhawks have in Christobel Huet that Antti Niemi was still in the Chicago net to get the victory. It also once again just resoundingly screams what a waste of $5.5M of Salary Cap Space, Hut's contract is for Chicago. As a Capitals fan I'd like to once again say thank you for the self-discipline of the Caps Management and Ownership and for Jose Theodore, these past two seasons.

Aren't the playoffs, especially when your big players need to show up and deliver big? Flyers: Richards-Carter-Gagne combined for no goals, no assists and a +/- of (-7). Not to be outdone for the Blackhawks: Kane-Toews-Byfuglien combined for zero goals, zero points and +/- of (-9). I'd say this points to a couple of things: a) both the Flyers and the Blackhawks have good coaching staffs and used the time between series to watch a fair amount of video and come up with ways to modulate the impact of the other teams' "big guns" and b) the guys assigned to keep the other teams "big guns" neutralized executed well. That said my feeling is this level of non-production will not continue through the rest of the series and one important factor for who ever wins the series will be that they will make counteracting adjustments faster than the loosing team can react to. Given last night's game it's probably going to be much more about being a "coach's series" than being about a "goaltender's series/duel" - just a hunch on my part.

Don't get me wrong, right now I'd rather be the Blackhawks and up 1-0 in the series, but there's a lot of good things the Flyers have to build on, and I can't believe that Chicago was sitting in their locker room after the game thinking it was going to be easy for them to win their first Cup since 1961. Can't see the Blackhawks sweeping this series right now.

It will be interesting to see who Peter Laviolette starts in goal for game two. Brian Boucher was clearly the best goaltender who played last night, but Leighton wasn't really the problem for the Flyers and it was really his first bad game since he took over for Boucher in the playoffs. No doubt Niemi will be in goal for Chicago and the Hawks will be hoping he has what has become his usual stellar coming back from a bad outing game in game 2. To some degree what happens there with Niemi in game two will drive the amount of swagger the Hawks have when they travel to Philly for game 3 and 4.

32:21 of Ice Time is probably too much for Philly to play Chris Pronger against the Blackhawks, but I'm not sure what choice they have. I guess if they could get it so Lukas Krajicek skated 10-12 minutes in the game and/or Ryan Parent skated 5-10 minutes in a game vice 7:03 and 00:41, they might be able to dial Pronger's ice time back to something on the order of 27 minutes. Seriously, if the game had gone to Overtime it's very conceivable Pronger could have been asked to play 40 minutes and that likely just won't work against the Blackhawks who are so deep. This is something that will likely be a key thing to watch the rest of this series.

I won't make any prediction on who will win but after last night's game it's hard for me to feel the Series won't be at least six (6) games long.

No Flyer penalties last night --- really? Well Laviolette had to be happy, even if the 22,000+ referees in United Center were slightly incredulous at times.

Second star of the game Marian Hossa --- really? Hossa played a good game but in a game where 11 goals are scored the fact that the second star of the game is a guy who didn't score a goal but had two (2) assists in 18:14 TOI just shows how distributed the Chicago offense was last night. Personally, nothing against Hoss, but I would have given the second star to Dave Boland for his unassisted short hand goal, but I always feel a "shortie" provides a team with a bunch of good karma and momentum and tend to overvalue their impact on a game.


Next game tomorrow in Chicago.

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

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

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

In the East:

1) Caps vs. 8) Canadiens

2) Devils vs. 7) Flyers

3) Sabres vs. 6) Bruins

4) Penguins vs. 5) Senators

In the West:

1) Sharks vs. 8) Avalanche

2) Blackhawks vs. 7) Predators

3) Canucks vs. 6) Kings

4) Coyotes vs. 5) Red Wings.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Caps 5 - Flyers 3; A Two Point Afternoon At Verizon Center

This afternoon's Caps-Flyers regular season finale at Verizon Center was an exciting game to watch for sure. The Caps played a full sixty minutes of hockey and it's a good thing they didn't let up because the Flyers came with their A game and played it for all sixty minutes as well.

Lot's of highlights and favorite things about this game but here's my top ten:

1) Brooks Laich had his best game in a couple of months this afternoon. He had two goals and an assist for three points. Laich's first goal of the game at even strength tied the game at 2-2, was a nice, gritty goal from a guy going hard to the net and enabled the Caps to go into the first intermission with the game tied 2-2. Then on the Caps second power play chance of the day, Laich fed the puck to Alexander Semin who had the net wide open and buried his 20th goal of the season at the 7:05 mark of the second period. Those two plays were great but the best was yet to come. At the 4:56 mark of the third period, with the Caps a man down because of a weak roughing call on Tyler Sloan, Laich got in between the Flyers power play team and ended up with a one on one breakaway, solid control of the puck and a step on the defender. Brooks then proceeded to "deke the pants off" Flyers' goaltender Ray Emery for his second goal of the day and 13th goal of the season - unassisted to put the Caps up by a score of 4 -2.

2) Jose Theodore was very, very, very good. He stopped 30 of 33 shots, a Save % of 0.909 and came up with the big ones when he had to do so in order to keep the Capitals in the game. Two of the three goals against him were on the power play and were great plays by the Flyers, and James Van Riemsdyk's even strength goal came off a rebound when both Jeff Schultz and Mike Green also misplayed and were in the wrong place, enabling Van Riemsdyk to get his 11th goal of the season.

3) Alexander Ovechkin - what can you say, sweet penalty shot goal, eh? Ovie had a goal on a even stregnth penalty shot in regulation. He got that goal after getting an assist on the first Caps goal of the game by Mike Knuble, which also was scored at even strength for another two point night by the great eight.

4) Alexander Semin played an excellent game. The only goals Semin was on the ice for today were scroed by the Capitals. He scored a goal on the power play, he got an assist on Brooks Laich's even strength tally and he was on the penalty kill when Laich scored his "shortie." In addition to his two points, Sasha also was +2 for the afternoon.

It was a day of goal milestones that were divisible by 10 for both Alex'es - #30 for Ovie and #20 for Semin.

5) Mike Green had a very good game as well. He led the Caps in ice time with 24:50 TOI, went +/- even, had 1 SOG, 2 hits, 2 takeaways and 2 blocked shots. Additionally he had 3 shot attempts blocked, one a blistering slap shot by Kimmo Timonem that #44 probably wishes he let Ray Emery handle. Most impressive was that in an afternoon when #52 found himself in the company of Chris Pronger and Timonem, "Game Over" was the best all around defenseman in the game.

6)Actually a "low light" but noteworthy nonetheless, horrible officiating - Referee Kelly Sutherland's roughing minor call on Shoane Morrisonn at the 6:08 mark of the third period was about as bogus and unnecessary call, and as large an example of inconsistent officiating, as they come. Sure you might and I emphasize might be able to make a case the prior roughing call on Tyler Sloan at the 3:36 mark was marginally warranted, but the call on Sha-Mo was the result of such incompetent and inconsistent officiating, it was laughable.

7) Actually another low light that is notable. I really hate the way Scott Hartnell plays the game and not just because he doesn't play for the Caps. I hate him because I feel he should be called about 20,000 times more than he is for goaltender interference. I'm probably wrong since he doesn't get a bunch of those call against him, but hey that's my view. Anyway, Hartnell plays on the edge all the time and he's a lot more offensive (no pun intended) to me as a "pest" who crosses the line into a "dirty" player a lot more often than Sean Avery or really anybody else in the league to me. I can't, actually won't, recap all the times i thought Hartnell should have been in the box, it'll just frustrate me ... again. I just hope that the next time Hartnell plays the way he played this afternoon, he gets flattened a few times by solid rock, legal hits.

8) John Carlson - this kid is going to be good. He had 19 shifts and 15:52 TOI and was +2 today. What's notable was he never looked like a "rookie" defenseman today - at least that I noticed.

9) Shoane Morrisonn had a solid afternoon. His "statline": +2, 1 minor penalty taken - a bogus call from my seat, 1 attempt blocked, 3 hits, 1 giveaway, 2 blocked shots.

10) Mike Knuble had another excellent game, he scored the first Caps goal of the day, crashing the net, was +1 and was a thorn in the Flyers collective sides every second of his 14:25 TOI.

Well that's my notables from today's game. Next up the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday evening here at Verizon Center, I'll be Rockin' the Red in Section 103 with Rob - one of my college friends.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Wow - December Started With A Bang and Now Philly, Laviolette and Snow...

So I know I'm a little late with this but I have to get this in, Thursday night at Verizon it was a great night to be a Capitals fan. Further if you can imagine anything that would make it better, wouldn't it be watching one of your favorite players have a 4 point night, while sitting close enough to his mother so you could get a high five from her when he scored his two goals? Well if that isn't worth the price of admission, you have much, much higher standards that me. I'm just going to give a big Jim Cramer-esque "BOOO - YAA" to a) Alexander Semin, b) Semyon Varlamov, c) the entire experience. It was a well played game the only very minor down point was when Weiss scored and broke the chance for Varly to get his second shut out of the season as I think it would have propelled him right into the thick of Calder Trophy discussions.


The game has been well re-capped and fully discussed here in the blogsphere as well as the main stream media but I just have to say there were good games turned in by everyone on the team from my vantage point. I'll only comment on the performances of five other players at Thursday night's game: David Steckel, Keith Ballard, Stephen Weiss, Alexandre Giroux, and Mike Duco.

David Steckel: A solid game, but he really just needs to relax, this goal drought will end soon enough, he's just getting too many good chances for some of these pucks not to bounce his way. Also I'd like to see him get a few power play minutes out there with the first unit in the role of being in front of the net while Knuble, spelling Brooks Laich is still out if there is another looooonnngg power play. I'm thinking a double minor type of thing as I don't foresee too many more 7:00 power plays this season. That was simply amazing - amazingly stupid on Duco's part but more on that later.

Keith Ballard: This guy should have gotten at least three minor penalties and is clearly playing frustrated. Seriously, he laid a cross check on Alexander Semin behind the Panther's net at the end of the first period that should have been called but wasn't, and he hacked several other guys through the second and third that I venture to say if the Caps hadn't been leading by 3 or more goals on each occurrence would have been called. He clearly wants to make up for his bone-head move earlier this week but playing as he did Thursday night wont cut it. In a game where the majority of the team is outplayed it won't matter but in a close game it will. Ballard is too good and too experienced a player to not get it, he needs to watch the tape of this game and start playing more disciplined hockey.

Stephen Weiss: This guy is good. In a game where the rest of the team was being outplayed, there were numerous times when Weiss and his line were on the ice that I worried Varly's shutout was at risk. The goal he scored to put the Panthers on the board in the third period was a solid one and not of the type a goaltender would usually "want back" as it was a laser shot through a screen. Weiss is a pretty unassuming name around the league but I think he's the kind of guy that is part of a solid foundation to build a team around, Thursday's game only solidified that in my opinion.

Alexandre Giroux: Giroux's statistic line in the game is pretty empty from Thursday's game. A solid example that as I am often reminded statistics aren't everything. Giroux had no points, finished +/- even and in 13:39 TOI his only stat line entries are 6 shots on goal, 2 attempts blocked, 1 miss and 3 hits. Of course one of his three hits was the Elin Nordegrin Woods Hit of the Game on Dmitry Kulikov that led to the 7:00 power play prompted by Mike Duco's retaliation. From our vantage point in section 103 I can tell you the hit was a solid, totally legal one, and one if you are a coach you want a forechecking wing to make EVERY time. That Giroux wasn't able to score after knocking Kulikov off the puck on that play is the only thing that didn't go the way you'd want if you were a coach. Kulikov is a fine young player and I expect will be a solid NHL defenseman for years to come. But on the play, the 19 year old Russian did so many wrong things you can't keep count but lets start with 1) where he was on the ice, why wasn't he stopped firmly behind the middle of the net instead of slightly behind the left post off to the side, just begging a forechecker to try and take the puck away? 2) If you are putting yourself in such a vulnerable position why do you alternate from looking down at the puck to the back of your own goaltender, especially when you apparently didn't have your feet in a nice well balanced base position? If you were Bruce Boudreau and Giroux hadn't at least tried to knock the guy of the puck in that play you'd probably want to drive him back to Hershey yourself on Thursday night before going home to sleep. Seriously, the fact that Giroux responded with a very solid, totally legal hit is a compliment to him and I hope that it means he gets another chance to show all the haters wrong. Giroux had a great game and whether it was because of discipline or just total shock that he didn't respond to Duco's retaliation, the result was awesome and just helped "seal the deal" on Thursday.

Mike Duco: Short and sweet - Bonehead award of the Game! I don't know what set this guy in his second NHL game but his reaction to Giroux was unfounded. Seriously is there some history between the two from last years AHL season? If Duco was trying to make an impression, I guess he did. The penalty he took put his team a man down for 7:00 minutes. One of the funniest images I'll remember from Thursday night's game was Ref Kerry Fraser using his fingers counting off the penalties while explaining the result to Capitals Captain Chris Clark and then seeing the 7:00 pop up next to #68 on the scoreboard. No doubt the results from Thursday's game will further skew the data about a home ice advantage for penalty minutes, even in spite of the 4:00/2 calls I thought were pretty blatant make-up/try and keep things even calls against the Caps. I'm all for old tyme hockey, but I want to be clear I don't consider Mike Duco, or anybody else's retaliation against a totally warranted, clean, legal HARD hit - Old Tyme Hockey. The resulting penalties and 7:00 man advantage for the Caps was warranted and exactly why bench clearing brawls are no longer the de-rigor in the NHL. If Duco was smart once he jumped Giroux and had him on the ice he'd have just stopped instead of punching him several times. That Giroux wasn't bloodied in any way shows he knows how to cover up pretty fast and I believe understood the best thing he could do at that time was "take one or three" for the team.

So on to looking ahead to tonight's game in Philly. Well the big news is the Flyers have a new coach - Peter Laviolette. If the name sounds familiar it should be, as most fans know Laviolette last coaching job was at the helm in Carolina, since then he's been a TV commentator for the most part. So the Flyers have a coach who definitely is familiar with the Capitals. The replacement of John Stevens is in response to a season start that has been underwhelming to say the least. Laviolette, 45, has a record of 244-184-59 in 487 games over seven seasons with the New York Islanders (2001-03) and Hurricanes (2003-09). He also coached the Providence Bruins to the 1999 Calder Cup championship, and coached the U.S. at the 2006 Olympics. Flyers GM Paul Holmgren said he came to the decision to dismiss Stevens not long after Thursday's 3-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. It was the second-straight game the Flyers have been shut out, the first time that's happened since February 2003.

The Flyers come into tonight's game 3-7-0 in their last ten games and looking to break a 3 game loosing streak. The Capitals come into tonight's game 6-2-2 in their last ten and looking to extend a four game winning streak. This is the second of six games in 10 days for the Caps and the second game of a equally very busy December 13 game schedule for the Flyers. So far this season the Caps and Flyers have met twice. The Caps are 1-0-1 and the Flyers are 1 - 1 - 0 in those meetings. Both teams have won their games at home, though the last time they played in Philadelphia it took overtime for the Flyers to gain a 6-5 victory. It should be an interesting game, which Coach Laviollete hasn't been on board long enough to make any significant changes to the Flyers game plans, the Flyers reaction to being put on notice by recent statements from GM Holmgren and the basic understanding that Laviollete generally prefers a more up tempo pace and game to what Stevens preached will bear watching. Make no mistake, in spite of the fact the Caps are in first place in the Conference with 40 points and the Flyers are in 11th place with 27 points, this will be a hard fought game.

I won't be watching much, if any of this game as we will be at a friend's holiday party tonight. Tomorrow I'll put together and present the "If Every NHL Game Were Worth Three Points" Week 11 Standings, and perhaps some summary reaction to the highlights and other thoughts on the four games the Caps will play next week.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Sometimes, Though Not Always Patience Is Rewarded: Caps 4 - Flyers 2

The answer is in - the Caps can raise their level of play as much to meet the level of an opposing team as they can lower it. Tonight at Verizon Center an excellent game of ice hockey was played by both the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals. At the end of the game the scoreboard read Capitals 4 - Flyers 2 - in short a two point night for the boys in red and a no point night for their opponents.

However, some folks are this joint are still not happy common complaints include:

a) no secondary scoring;

b) allowed the Flyers too many shots on goal;

c) didn't smile when they pirouetted during the swimsuit portion of the competition;

d) didn't score on the 5 on 3 even though Flyers Goaltender Ray Emery clearly was rooting for them [NOT];

e) and the list could go on.

To all those concerns I say - nothing wrong with Coach Boudreau and these highly paid professional athletes striving for perfection but we fans should step back and enjoy the game and the victory just a tad don't you think?

The following Washinton Capitals had really good nights:

1) Jose Theodore - stopped 41 of 43 Flyers Shots on Goal including 20 in the third period.

2) the SOB (Semin-Ovechkin-Backstrom) line was super with a combined 4 goals and 9 points.

3) Mike Gren and Shoane Morrison had good nights as well.

4) Tom Poti has had bettter games but his 5 blocked shots tied Mike Green for tonight's team lead.

The three stars of the game were: 1) Jose Theodore; 2) Nicklas Backstom (goal, 3 assists, and a + 3 on the night); 3) Alexander Ovechkin (2 goals, + 3 on the night) - Honorable Mention: Alexander Semin (1 goal, 2 assists, +3 on the night).

Next up - the Thrashers in Atlanta on Thursday evening.

The Waiting ...That's...the Hardest Part....

The following quote is attributed to former Philadelphia Flyers Coaching legend Fred Shero:



"We know that hockey is where we live, where we can best meet and overcome pain and wrong and death. Life is just a place where we spend time between games."



Tonight after waiting a couple of days we, Caps fans, get to see if our favorite hockey team is as capable of "playing up" to the level of their opponents as some folks have recently accused them of playing down to other opponent's levels. Tonight, the Caps faceoff against the Philadelphia Flyers at Verizon Center for the second of four 2009-2010 regular season contests. The first meeting was a high flying affair (no pun intended - well maybe a small pun but that's a horse of a different color.) Back just three weeks ago the Flyers handed the Caps an overtime loss that started a 4 game loosing streak, now the Caps meet again and they are going for their fifth win in a row and on the longest current winning streak in the league (not that that is all that special right now given it's only four games).

However, right now when the two teams meet the Caps have two things they need to fix to ensure they win number five tonight at Verizon - a) the Power Play - the Caps need to get their power play unit on track, on track means from this point forward scoring around 25% of the time they are on the man advantage; the other thing the Caps need to do is b) shut down and frustrate the Flyers offense, draw not take penalties. Of course all the other stuff that is currently working right for the Capitals needs to continue to do so.

Anyway two more hours till the focus of life, per Fred Shero, resumes at Verizon Center - I'll be Rockin' the Red over in Section 103 ... how about y'all?

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!

Wow - Caps Are One of 5 Teams Off To a 0.700 or Better Start ...

Wow - The Caps Are One of Only 5 Teams Off To a 0.700 or Better Start ...
Why Don't Things Feel Better?

As of the completion of tonight's games there are only 5 teams in the league playing 0.700 hockey or better - the Washington Capitals with 14 points in 10 games just clear that bar. The other teams who are 0.700 or better are: the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche each of whom have 18 points in 11 games (0.818); the Buffalo Sabres with 13 points in 8 games (0.813); and the Calgary Flames with 15 points in 10 games (0.750).

The Capitals current winning streak at four (4) games is also the longest in process streak in the league today. So why don't all of us fans feel more relaxed and confident? Well ... because. Because the team hasn't been winning the way we all thought they'd be winning. The last two wins weren't pretty wins. Of course maybe we're all starting to expect too much. Look at the October schedule...thirteen (13) games, seven home games, six away games, one night of back to backs; eight of thirteen games against 2009 playoff teams. So lets look at things in perspective. To get to 100 points in a season a team has to play 0.609 hockey, the Capitals have been playing 9.1% better than that so far this season and they've done it while playing seven (7) of their ten (10) games thus far against playoff teams. Their record against playoff teams so far this season is 3-2-2 (0.572); against the three non-playoff teams they've faced so far this season and from a record perspective the Caps are a perfect 3-0-0. As far as being competitive against playoff teams, 0.572 isn't too shabby, play that way against those foes come April 2010 and you'll win your fair share seven game of playoff series.

So while it's true that the Caps haven't really blown out the lesser opponents they've faced so far they have won two of those three games in regulation, and in two of the three games, the Caps went out fast and held on. Against the ever pesky (at least for the Capitals) Islanders, the Caps came back from two goals down and pulled out an OT win. Losses against last season playoff teams were generally tight games as well. The Caps lost in OT against the Flyers in Philly - a game where the Caps took 9 minor penalties to the Flyers 6 - including six penalties to the Flyers one during the second period. The Capitals lost to Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers 4-3 (a one goal game) at Verizon Center on 10/8, then traveled to Detroit and lost 3-2 to the Red Wings at the Joe on 10/10. The Caps returned home and battled the Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils to a 3-2 shoot out loss at Verizon Center on 10/12. Since then the Caps have had some less then "beautiful" wins but they've been a perfect 4-0-0 including taking down the San Jose Sharks 4-1.

So yes it's a long season, but so far, after sputtering a little out of the gate during the second week of this month, the Caps have gotten things back on track. The Caps host the Flyers on Tuesday night, the Flyers lost tonight to the Sharks 4-1 in Philly. Yes, those same San Jose Sharks who lost to the Caps 4-1 on the first game of a two week East Coast road trip, beat the Flyers 4-1 on the last game of that same road trip. Now the Flyers are 5-3-1 and off to a reasonably good start to the season themselves, though they are just 2-3-1 since they beat the Caps in OT at home two weeks ago. With a little luck Alexander Semin will be healthy and back in the lineup so there's even more firepower in the lineup and to spark the power play unit. Also with a little "luck," if the Caps are in need of some grit, they'll find it in abundance in the lineup starting with summer free agent pickup Mike Knuble looking to make his mark on his former team. One thing for sure, as always it'll be a good game. And, with a little luck the Caps will win it in regulation and everyone else will come to the realization I'm coming to, which is this team isn't going to win every game they win to what will likely be their highest point total ever, with pretty wins. They'll capture a few more two point nights with ugly wins to, but shortly thereafter, when you look at the standings they'll still be in the W column and good for two points.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Caps Fall To Flyers 6 - 5 in Overtime; New Beasts In The East?

Well it was a ONE POINT on Tuesday night in Philadelphia for the Washington Capitals. In a sign towards just how much things have changed since 3 years ago, the Caps and we their fans aren't satisfied. Even though the Caps have Captured 5 out of 6 available points in their first three games and started quickly out of the gates playing 0.833 hockey, we're not satisfied. We know we literally can not "win them all" but that is our objective.




The truth about Tuesday night is it was a pretty ugly second period sandwiched between a good first period and a respectable third period. But the second period was ugly for both teams. Just take a look at the statistics and the "game tape." During the 'eventful" second period the Caps gave up 4 goals on 15 shots, they also took 6 minor penalties, during which the Flyers scored 2 power play goals. Over the full game and overtime, the Caps gave up 6 goals on 41 shots, took 9 minor penalties, on which the Flyers capitalized three times. In the end their second period performance resulted in Semyon Varlamov being pulled at the midpoint of the second period after having been in what looked like it could have been a goaltender's duel with the Flyers Ray Emery through a scoreless first period during which he stopped 11 shots and Emery stopped 14.





The Flyers for their part have had better home opening games for sure as well. They took 6 minor penalties, yielded one power play goal and five goals in regulation on 36 shots. The Caps were outscored 4-3 in the second period but outscored the Flyers 2 - 1 in the third, while the first period was played to a 0-0 stalemate. That the Capitals were still in the game after allowing the Flyers to have the man advantage 9 times during regulation play is a testament to just how flawed this game was on both sides of the ice. In fact, the Flyers had to come from behind to tie the game at 5-5 with just 4:15 left in the Third Period.





However, if either of these two games deserved to win the game it was indeed the Flyers. They were the more disciplined team on the ice Tuesday night; that's probably the only thing the Flyers team is happy with, even though Mike Richards scored a hat trick. So while Flyers fans can point to Richards' hat trick and Caps fans can point to Oveckin and Semin's two goals apiece, the only consolation both teams can take away from this game is the Flyers captured 2 points and are 3-0 on the season; and the Capitals captured 1 point and are 2-0-1 on the season. The interesting thing is if I had to guess, I'd say I expect each of the three remaining between these two "Beasts of the East" to have similar stories. The other thing that is for certain is these two teams love to play all out against each other. The story when they get together is "Go Big or Go Home." Unfortunately for the Caps, on Tuesday night even though the Caps went big, the Flyers went slightly bigger. When that happens the difference is, as it was, just the "little things/differences." In Tuesday's case that was three less minor penalties and two more power play goals.

If you're wondering here's some interesting projections based on the first three games of the season for the Capitals:

1. The Capitals have been playing 0.833 hockey with their 2-0-1 record, that puts them on pace for 132 points. That's not going to happen, but some projections are just fun. Oh if they win on Thursday they will be playing 0.875 hockey and on pace for 143 points and that isn't happening either.
2. Alexander Ovechkin has now scored 5 goals and 9 points in 3 games. That puts him on pace for 136 goals and 246 points. Neither of those are probably going to happen either but that projection is why folks around the NHL are starting to murmmer about "50 in 50". Ovie is currently on pace for 83 goals in 50 games right now, so the possibility of 50 in 50, even with a slump in early season production seems plausable. The compressed season for the Olympics Break this year also may actually enhance his chances.
3. Brooks Laich is on pace for 82 goals as he has scored 3 goals in 3 games. He has looked solid in all three games and clearly has an icreasingly better nose for the net, great hands and the drive to make this his first 30+ goal season.
4. Alexander Semin, the his just keep coming eh? Sasha has 4 goals and 7 points in 3 games. That has him on pace for 109 goals and 191 points. Like Ovie's production and pace, that can't continue but this year could be his first 50 goal and/or 100 point season.
5. Nicklas Backstrom has 8 points in 3 games, all assists. He is yet another Capital on pace for 218 points. That isn't likely to happen but he too could have a 100+ point season.

How's that for some fun season long projections. As amazing as those personal statistics could or would be, the way the Caps are all playing, it's clear they would all give them up so they could have a shot at Lord Stanley's Cup. That's what makes this team look like they might do it; it's also why they (and we) feel taking a point on the road against a good Philadelphia Flyer team, isn't good enough.

Next up, Thursday night, the NY Rangers, aka the Blueshirts, at Verizon Center. I expect we'll see Jose Theodore in the net for the Capitals and Henrik Lundqvist in the the net for the Rangers. Otherwise I expect the Capitals to be looking to improve their record to 3-0-1 and to rebound from Tuesday's game against the Flyers. The Rangers will be looking to improve their record to 3-1. I'll be Rockin' the Red in Section 103, hope to see y'all there.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Well Two More Games Tonigth ...Thinking About Saturday Night at the Phone Booth...

Well the 2009 - 2010 NHL Season Continues tonight with the NY Rangers taking on the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh tonight. Tonight should be an emotional game for the Penguins and their fans, the game will be the season opener for the Pens and this should be the first game of the last season to be played in Mellon Arena (aka The Igloo). Pittsburgh's arena is currently the oldest one in use in the NHL; it was completed in 1961. Next season (2010 -2011) should be the first the Penguins play in the new "Consol Energy Center. Adding to that emotional point is the fact the Penguins will be raising their third Stanley Cup banner to the Igloo's rafters tonight. It sure seems the only way the Rangers are likely to overcome that wave of good Penguin karma would be a stellar night by Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist aka King Henrik. Stranger things have happened but I don't think they will tonight. It still should be a good one to watch.

The other game in the NHL tonight has the Philadelphia Flyers traveling to North Carolina and taking on the Carolina Hurricanes at RBC Center. This should be a good, hard fought season opener. The Flyers will be looking to validate things for all those folks picking them to get to the Stanley Cup finals, while the Hurricanes will be looking to show everyone they like their division rival Capitals are "the real deal" once again this season.

Both these match ups have the potential for being solid, fun games to watch. The Penguins - Rangers game is available nationwide on the NHL Network both here in the US and in Canada.

A lot is being written in the blogsphere about last night's Capitals - Bruins game. It ranges across the spectrum in tone and tenor. For my two cents, it's 2 points, one game down and 81 to go to get to the playoffs. Really, nothing more, noting less. Solid efforts by the entire Capitals team, but hey there are indeed 81 more games left in the regular season, no need to get too high or low about anything.

Looking ahead to tomorrow evening's home opener for the Capitals leads me to point out the obvious. Our team's foe - the Toronto Maple Leafs are not the same team we played last year. They could end up being one of the most improved teams in the league though last night they failed to finish out the game with a win in regulation and then the totally revamped Canadeans won in overtime. The Maple Leafs have, in a relatively quiet fashion, revamped their team and gave the Canadeans a "run for their money" last evening. Now they will be looking to come in to Washington and take two points from the Capitals. That probably won't happen, but this leaf's team has the talent to do just that so our Capitals will need to "ring their "A" game.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

What's Going On With This Blog? Where You Been Dude?

Mark's been missing in action lately...but finally Captain Insane-o caught up with him. Once that occurred he was cornered and Insane-o got some answers.

Captain Insane-o (CI): "Dude where have you been first we get sporadic updates and 'den nuthin' for a week, what gives?"

Mark (M) - shaking in fear at the sight of the menacing former professional wrestler: "Well Cap, I'm sorry, first it was so hectic at work and then me and the family spent five days at Myrtle Beach on vacation. The wireless access wasn't that good and all I could get on the TV was an occasional Carolina Hurricanes' highlight. But you know, Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede was pretty good - 40 bucks for mediocre chicken and no utensils but if you think Dolly looks good in person, you should see here on a 30 foot screen. Weee-ooooohhhh."

CI: "Well you know what you missed dude? Tonight while you were driving in your stinkin' car for 8 hours, you missed the second of the Caps first back to back wins since February ended."

M: "Get outta town, really?"

CI: "Yes, really, schmuck. And because you went MIA, I had to go find more blogs, other blogs, blogs by more dedicated hockey bloggers. Hockey bloggers who know what it takes to reward people who follow their blogs regularly - dependable updates, or in the absence of that - CASH!"

M: "Well, Captain, you may kick my butt, but now i've got neither of those things. However, I should be able to provide more regular updates now that I'm back from my South Carolina vacation. Unless of course, that pesky "day job" gets in the way again. Until then this quick update will have to do."

Caps 2 - Flyers 1 - YES!!!! Sweet....

Tonight in Philadelphia was a two point night. The second one in a row for the Capitals. In fact in their last three outings, the Capitals have come away with points. and have managed to claw back to 0.416 for March after an uncharacteristic 0-3-1 start during and extended homestand. Interestingly the Caps are now 12-3-2 in their last 17 road games after a relatively slow start in that department this season, overall this season the Capitals are now 17-12-4 on the road this season. At home for the season they are 25-9-2. The Caps now have 90 points and are just 1 point behind the New Jersey Devils, although the Devils have two games in hand and continue to be one of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference.

Unfortunately for me I missed the last two games. Unfortunate, because during those tow contests, goaltender Jose Theodore has had two very solid outings. On Tuesday in Nashville, Theo had a 27 save, 0.964 SV % evening; tonight according to the scoresheet he had a 35 save, 0.972 SV% night and earned the Second Star of the Game. I'm so glad that Theo and the Caps are back on track. I was getting nervous and wondering if my faith and optimism was misplaced. I once again am feeling confident and very happy that I renewed our season tickets early. Tomorrow is the renewal deadline, maybe I'll be able to move my seats a little and edge over from the folding seats we're currently in back towards some stadium seats again.... Just maybe... when I renewed there was only one love unsold seat in Section 103... What a great change from just three years ago.

With just 13 games remaining, 10 against Southeast Division foes, the Capitals are 12 points ahead of the second place Carolina Hurricanes and 13 points in front of the third place Florida Panthers. The Caps have two more games against both the Hurricanes and the Panthers. In fact next up for the Caps is a home game on Saturday against the Hurricanes, then Monday is the start of a 5 game road trip where they open against Atlanta on Monday Night at Phillips Arena and then play the Panthers in Sunrise, Florida Tuesday night in their last "back to back" game of the season. As I just came back from vacation thinking about catching one of those away games isn't even an option since Tom has our seats on Saturday my next live hockey game will be at Verizon on the 27th when the Caps take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. However, just for grins I went and looked and good seats are available in Sunrise for the Caps-Panthers game on Ticketmaster...ohh that is just so wishful thinking on my part.

Next up Carolina, Saturday at Verizon Center -

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!

Caps 2 - Flyers 1 (SO) - What A Game!!!!!!!

Well a lot has already been posted today and last evening about last night's game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center. Probably the best this blogger can add is some basic color commentary. First, what can you say except --- WOW!!! after a game like that? It had everything rivalry, meaning and import to the Eastern Conference standings, and just a whole lot (65+ minutes to be exact) of really solid, good hockey. Oh, and best of all another two point night for the Capitals at 7th and F.

On the rivalry end - how can you beat this - check out the reported, and also verified by this blogger, pictures of injured Flyers star Daniel Briere aka "Peeiere" in the men's room urinals. I can't speak for all of them but the one in the corner between sections 102 and 103 had 'em. Ironic that the number one answer for "Philadelphia is famous for..." was "C) Obnoxious Fans." All that said, there is much talk in the Philadelphia press belittling the 2-1 shootout win in light of the fact it came at the end of a long road trip for the Flyers and they are injury depleted. In response this blogger asks, since when is a lineup with three of seven regular defensemen injured and out of the lineup as well as one of your top five goalscorers considered healthy? Also, there were even more injuries to the Caps on December 20th and no such excuses came from the Caps. Classless moves by the Orange & White started before the game when the Flyers in a show of disrespect took the ice first while the Mites on Ice were putting their flags out and readying the arena to Rock the Red. That that lack of respect continued to silly, baseless comments by some Flyers about fictional knee on knee hits and turning legitimate open ice hits into trying to take Jeff Carter out, shouldn't be surprising. Having been at the game - I'd just like to pass this message out to Scott Hartnell, candidate-NOT for the Lady Bing - "Nice total face grab on Semin in the third period Scott, glad to see he put you on your rump shortly thereafter..."

Hey Caps fans - what can you say about Jose Theodore's play last night. It was truly another exciting goalies duel at the VC - Martin Biron let in literally only one more that JT60. That was a cool thing about last night's game. As was chronicled here earlier this week, last night was one of those rare non-shutout games (less than 9 in 100) where the team that got two points at the end of the night, scored less than two goals in regulation. Also to make it even rarer, every player on both teams finished +/- 0 since both goals in regulation were power play tallies.

Nice shootout goal by Viktor Kozlov, nice quick power play goal in the first by Nicklas Backstrom. Two points is tow points and 18-1-1 is 18-1-1 as is a seven (7) game winning streak. Next up Columbus Blue Jackets at the Verizon Center on Friday Night.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!