What's Left To Say ...

Okay, the Caps lost last night. For Caps fans like me, the game was disappointing. I refuse to whine about the officiating, I admire that so far as I can see no one in the Caps organization is doing so. Sure other bloggers and a few of my own comments on blogs, etc. indicate my real feelings after thinking about it for some time today. It was a great game, the officiating left a lot to be desired on/for both sides, and the game given the quality of play deserved a better ending than the one that occurred. That is not to say that means the team I root for needed to be or necessarily would have been the one to win. Okay so that's all I'll say on that subject.

The Caps have their work cut out for them, who knows these guys seem to thrive when their backs are against the wall. Ovie said it well and I'll paraphrase - the Caps need six periods IN A ROW where they play their best hockey, six periods like the first and second period of last night's game. Oh and don't, I repeat DON'T expect the Penguins to get frustrated, play stupid or just fold up and go home. For the record so far this series there have been 5 games, four out of the five have been one goal games and the other was a two goal game in which the Caps scored the first goal and Sergei Federov had two other good scoring chances before the Pens rattled off three in a row and never looked back. Simple fact, these are two very talented teams who play all out, new style hockey; they match up well to each other and so far the Pens have found a way to win three times, while the Caps have only found a way to win twice.

In the end it really probably is that simple. Speaking of simple, hopefully the Caps will keep it that way. I have no doubt when each of these two teams is eliminated from the playoffs, or if the hockey gods shine on them one of them wins the Cup, we'll learn there were more guys "ding'ed" up than anyone suspected. That said, none of that matters. At the end of the game tomorrow night either the Penguins will advance or both teams will be headed back to Verizon Center for Game 7.

As a Caps fan, I'm hoping to get a chance to see another game 7. I also hope if we get that chance the following things happen in no particular order of precedence:

a) All 18, 277 in attendance listen to the announcement for our National Anthem and indeed join in and sing it respectfully rather than desecrating it with that "O" stuff and even that "RED" stuff.

b) If Sergei Gonchar plays we applaud his return to the ice once and then forget that stupid Larry Murphey "whoop".

c) No matter what the Pens fans do on Monday when Ovie touches the puck, we continue to NOT boo every time Crosby touches the puck.

d) We continue to take advantage of the advantages Caps ownership have given us to pack our building with Caps fans clad in read and we continue to see precious few "baby blue" or "black & gold" sweaters "in our house."

and last but possibly most importantly:
e) No matter how stupid or frustrating the officiating is or isn't to us we do NOT throw things on the playing surface.

Now for Monday night I'm hoping the Caps just play simple, straightforward,GREAT hockey and kick some flightless bird butt. They can do it, they've shown that but they need to turn up and keep up the intensity. There is no doubt the Penguins will want to finish this series at home. Don't kid yourselves no one who has a chance to finish and end a series in Game 6 wants to play Game 7.

So folks we have them right where we want them, they are visible on all sides, our options are simple and obvious in front of us - we shall attack, attack and drive to victory. We shall ask no quarter nor shall we offer such to our opponents. There is no option, it's either victory or the embarrassment and ignominy of digging our golf clubs out of that cobweb ridden corner in our garages. So sharpen your skates, tape your sticks, adjust your pads and leap, leap my loyal band of brothers into the breach screaming that cry that elicits fear from the hearts of your worthy opponents --- "NO PRISONERS!!!!!"

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Well What's Next ...

[ed note: I haven't been keeping up that well with this blog, lots going on in my personal and professional life that has my attentions where they actually should be, however the result is that any blog updates I would have done are or would probably be "a day late and a dollar short." I just don't see the point in posting "me too" statements when I know the folks who read this blog are often authors of blogs of their own that have great content or regular readers of those same blogs. To that end I haven't posted anything since the Rangers' game seven. For the Penguins series, I missed game 1 as I was at a funeral, I attended game 2 and have to say it was a great experience again, and then I missed game 3 due to some personal commitments. So my perspectives are based on less than complete first hand experience for the Penguins series though I did watch a replay of most of Game 1 as well. I should be getting back to more regular posting now and will be in my usual seat in Section 103 "Rockin the Red" for Game 5. LETS GO CAPS!! ]

Well what's next? By all accounts game 3 was not "Caps Hockey" and if not for the continued excellent play of Simeon Varlamov (32 stops on 34 shots in regulation - SV%=0.941 and 39 of 42, 0.929 overall through OT) the Caps would likely have been defeated by more than one goal in regulation. However, the reality of the playoffs is indeed that the Caps are still leading this series 2-1 and are still ahead in this series. A win tonight and they are two games up on the Penguins with a chance to win the series at home, however a loss and they are at the start of a very, very tight 3 game series.

So far in addition to a lot of great hockey, there has been a lot of talk in this series that is pretty interesting and both obvious and relatively "non-sequatar" IMHO. All three games have been intense "playoff hockey" and they have been one goal games. I'll summarize all the chatter into two simple consolidated statements by each team:

Pittsburgh: "We like how we are playing, we could have and should have won all three games but we didn't we lost two but we are going to beat these guys because we are outplaying them. When the Caps win it's because they are getting away with too much from the referees and we'd like to see more penalties called when they try and unfairly slow down our big guns."

Washington: "We are playing super when we play super and when we do we have the talent to beat these guys, so far that's happened two out three times and that's why we are up in this series. When the Pens win it's because they are getting away with too much from the referees and we'd like to see the games called more evenly so we get as many power play chances as the Penguins do."

See, from my perspective this sort of talk is silly. I was disappointed yesterday when I saw on the Washington Post blog that Caps GM George McPhee was taking issue with the officiating in game 3. As a Caps fan I had hoped we could and would be able to take the high road and laugh at the "whining" of Crosby, Cooke, et. al. instead we joined in with our own counterpoints. Bottom line - that game is done and over and while from what little I know I too wouldn't have agreed with the Varlamov slashing penalty that in and of itself isn't why the Capitals lost the game, in fact as often happens when there is a minor against the goaltender, the Caps and he rallied to ensure the Penguins didn't score on the ensuing man advantage. Also while Pittsburgh did enjoy 7 power plays to the Caps 2 during regulation each team only scored one power play goal.

A couple final thoughts on this subject. Two (2) of the seven penalties were "delay of game" by defensemen. I have been thrilled by the great, stepped up play of both Milan Jurcina and Brian Pothier so far since the playoffs began but there's really no excuse for these sorts of penalties. Michael Nylander, sorry to continue to be so down on this guy but here's the numbers as I see them: TOI 7:27 - 10 shifts; 1 penalty - 2:00, 1 attempt blocked, 1 giveaway, 2 blocked shots, salary this season - $5.5M ($4.85 Cap hit). Someone needs to tell Nyls when your contributions vs. cost is already so suspect you can't be taking penalties - AT ALL. So not counting the Varlamov slashing penalty that leaves: Mike Green - slashing; OV - interference; and Semin - hooking. Hardly disciplined hockey so one sided or not it sure seems like the Caps weren't trying to make things easy for themselves on Wednesday night. They really need to focus on this for games 4 and 5 - back to back games require even more discipline and sticking to your game plan then games that have a break between them.

As if this series needed any more sideshows or distractions from all the rivalry "stuff" etc. now we have the "Pens Message Board Threat" against OV. What can be added other than to say that thankfully it just looks like some stupid 17 year old comment, of course the way this series is going the next thing to break will be he's a skinhead still fighting the cold war who has a bunch of hunting rifles in his "cabin." Really folks how anyone can think "death threats" are not totally out of line and not illegal, vs. just bad "netiquette" I can't fathom, however at least so far I haven't seen anyone suggest that to be the case.

It sure seems the Caps need to get more patient and disciplined when they face a well executed trap. They also probably need to focus on improving their puck possession and cutting down the number of shots on goal they give up to the Pens in the next two games. The back to back games over the next two evenings are looking to be a potential inflection point in this series. There has been some speculation on the PensBurgh blog that they might "test" our young phenom goaltender and hopefully expose some weaknesses that he has here-to-for not displayed. I for one both hope and think this won't be the case, but regardless of that sentiment would also like to see the Caps tighten things up and derive more advantage and benefit from the great success the Caps have been having in the face off circle so far this series. I'm also hoping the "ding" that Sergei Federov took from Hal Gill last game is something he can readily shake off and get back to the success he had in Games 1 and 2 or even better yet against the Rangers. Also looking at the TOI numbers for game 3, as much as Pittsburgh fans are hoping that Varly's conditioning might cause a few issues for the Caps it sure seems like the Pens will, need to better manage the ice time of their top five ice time leaders in game three in games 4 and 5 as well.

Keys for the Caps these next two games seem to be pretty obvious to me:

- Better capitalize on the faceoff advantage the Caps have had by playing smarter puck possession, e.g. fewer shots into clogged lanes, tighter, crisper outlet passes, etc.

- Zero "stupid" e.g. automatic delay of game, penalties.

- Better protection of the goaltender and more awareness of where key players who sure seem to know where the paint is (e.g. Crosby, Cooke, etc.) are when the puck is in their zone.
- More traffic in front of Marc-Andre Fluery.

- "Caps Hockey" - out hustle the Pens, out hit the Pens, and basically out play them - not an easily done task, as much as most of us Caps fans might not like it, this is a very talented team that matches up well against our "Washington Capitals."

- NO WHINING, leave that to the poster boy who thinks a good hockey fight involves a "nut tap" to the opponent. Just focus on doing that "voodoo that you guys do so well" even if you are the best GM in the league right now, please.

So let's see how we can all band together and send great vibes over across time and space to the Caps and into the "Igloo" tonight so our boys come back to DC leading this series 3-1, then lets see if we can make the "Phone Booth" even louder than it was for the Game 7 against the Rangers.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!

One Down! - Three To Go ...

WOW - that was the only word I could think to express my feelings as a walked down "E" Street last night to get back to where I parked my car - WOW...

Last night's game was joyful, if you were and/or are a Washington Capitals fan. Unless for some odd, unfathomable reason reading this blog is your only connectivity to the outside world, you already know the Washington Capitals completed a comeback from a 3-1 best of seven series deficit against the NY Rangers last night. If you didn't watch the game at all you only know the final score was 2-1, you might not know the Rangers played an excellent game, executing the "dreaded" 4-1 trap flawlessly for the first two periods and fairly well for the final period of the game. If you didn't watch the game in person at DC's Verizon Center, you might not have any idea or appreciation just how fantastic a celebration of world class NHL playoff hockey the game was, or how loud and enthusiastic the sellout crowd was either.

Thanks to an early goal by the Rangers' Nik Antropov, setup by that pesky, nuisance Sean Avery drawing multiple Washington Capitals into a shoving match in the corner, the Rangers led or were tied in this game for all but the final 4:59. Thankfully for the Capitals, if your only going to lead a hockey game for less than 5 minutes, the last 4:59 of the third period of game 7 of a playoff series is the right time to do it though. So even though, by my estimation, Sean Avery had finally made a real impact on the Rangers - Capitals Series where it counts, on the scoreboard, the Caps comeback was completed. Interestingly from a scoresheet perspective 4 of the 5 biggest names on last night's scoresheet were Russians and the fifth was also a European. I am speaking of the 3 goal scorers and the two goaltenders. As already mentioned, Nik Atropov scored the Rangers only tally, while Alexander Semin and Sergei Federov socred the two goals necessary for the Capitals to advance to Round 2. In net for the Capitals Simeon Varlamov (pronounced var-LAM-ov) aka CZAR-lamov, made the victory possible with several excellent saves, including two at the end of the second period that were crucial. Rangers netminder Henriq Lundqvist stopped 22 of 24 shots, a save percentage of 0.917 last night and didn't give the Caps much to shoot at all night.

The Rangers executed the 4-1 trap flawlessly during the first period, limiting the Caps to just two shots on goal, fortunately one was a great one by Alexander Semin that found the back of the net at 15:34 of the first period to tie the game at 1-1. The rest of the first and remainder of the second periods were tough minutes for the Capitals, New York played measured, patient team hockey and executed a stifling trap. The Blueshirts play limited the Caps scoring chances but they did get a few. Howver, either good recoveries by relentless backchacking or "King Henriq" kept the few Caps scoring chances out of the Rangers net at their end of the ice. While at the Caps end of the rink, they too had tightend things up after giving up that first goal to Antropov at the 5:35 mark of the first period. Finally at about the 15 minute mark of the third period, veteran and future Hall of Famer Sergei Federov, playing in the 8th game seven of his illustrious NHL career, got his chance for glory on a breakaway after an outlet pass from Matt Bradley. The 39 year old from Pskov, Russia did not flinch or miss, after streaking down the right side of the ice, he saw his opening. The Swedish Monarch in the net for the Rangers moved quickly to the left side of the net, however, Federov must have sensed Lundqvist moving too far or too fast and he pulled up instantly putting the puck past him into the upper left side of net past the Ranger goalies' right shoulder. Fedorov is now tied with Hockey Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux for 15th place on the league’s all-time playoff scoring list. Fedorov now has 12 game-winning goals in Stanley Cup playoff competition, tied for 17th on the NHL’s all-time list in that department. To put Fedrov's career playoff accomplishments in perspective, last night was his 176th NHL playoff game, that's almost 3 full regular seasons without missing a game's worth of playoff experience and accomplishments. He is now one game shy of matching Hockey Hall of Famer Al MacInnis for 25th on the league’s all-time list in that department. How's that for WOW!

The moment when Federov scored is when an already loud Verizon Center crowd erupted and stayed so "rumbling the rafters" for the remainder of the game. To be sure, the Caps played excellent, dominating hockey for those last 5 minutes of play and the Rangers only managed to get Lundqvist to the bench for just two seconds as the puck was in their zone for much of the final minutes of play. The crowd noise was the loudest I have ever heard it during ANY professional sporting event of my life. However, from where I could see it the crowd was always in control, to be sure some additional precautions were taken in and around the Rangers bench and they seemed well thought out and advisable to keep in place for pretty much all games.

As for crowd behaviour, you can only pretty much speak knowledgeably about the conduct in and around your own seat. But I can tell you from my discussions with my seatmates, it seems my friend Gary brought a group with him and they managed to get a fair number of seats in and around section 103 for game 5. Per the folks who usually sit around me there were no untoward incidents then and it was clear the usual good natured chat between hockey fans of rival teams was all conducted in a civil manner. Last night two Rangers fans, a husband and wife, sat in front of Tom and I, we had several good conversations at breaks in the action, like the prolonged delay when the glass needed to be repaired and between periods. They were nice folks and I believe they would say the same about us. The only thing they probably didn't like about the game was the outcome but I'm not going to work to change that anytime soon.

Another big - WOW - story of the game and series was now just turned 21 year old Simeon Varlamov. He took over for Jose Theodore after game one and through the last six games of the series he's compiled a 4-2 record with a SV% of 0.952 and a GAA of 1.17 - WOW! CZARlamov's athleticism and flexibility proved to be a deadly combination to the Rangers 2009 playoff objectives. Other pleasant developments that are notable so far from this series - the elevated level of play of the entire Capitals line up and the mature, patient adjustments being made to the games by the Caps young stars to playoff hockey. You can't write about this series without mentioning the improved level of focus and play by the blueline corps, notably Erskine, Jurcina, and Poti. Sure Green, ShaMo and Pothier are all also playing excellent hockey as well but most pleasantly surprising to me has been the play of John Erskine. Once again another move by Caps GM George McPhee, the Erskine contract extension this season, looks prescient. The return to the lineup by Brian Pothier has also helped but right now the amazing thing to me last night was it seemed like during the third period almost any of the six blueliners could play together without miscommunication, miscues or hesitation of any sort. Tom Poti had a great, not good, but great series against the Rangers and you can't not mention that. Up front, "the grinders" especially Matt Bradley, Dave Steckel and Boyd Gordon seemed to be pushing for folks to stand up and take notice of them so here it is - great series guys - WOW!

Okay like for the Caps no time to wallow in self-aggrandizement, thanks to a third period comeback by Carolina last night, the Caps will face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the next round. WOW! That one should be a barn-burner. Pittsburgh bested the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 in their opening round series. Now the Caps have to put this one behind them and understand as great as last night's victory felt, it was just one down, three to go.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Caps Down Lightning 5-2 Take 4-0 Lead in Season Series

It was a Two Point night last at the Saint Pete Times Forum for the Washington Capitals. All around it was a good night for the Caps. Yes the Lightning are the 29th ranked team in the NHL however they still have the core of a very solid team and it wasn't until the third period that the Capitals totally "sealed the deal." There was only one negative to the game - Mike Green left the game with about 1:30 left in the third period after Steven Stamkos dragged him down and somehow it seemed his right shoulder was injured. Hopefully that won't be an injury that keeps "Game Over" out for any length of time. Throughout the evening Simeon Varlamov played well in goal and earned his third NHL Win last night. Alexander Ovechkin scored his 50th goal of the season to put the Caps in front of the Bolts at the 7:43 mark of the first period while the teams were playing 4 on 4 hockey. Ovechkin now leads the league in goals with nine (9) more than the second leading goal scorer - Zach Parise of the New Jersey Devils. He is also currently the second leading point scorer with 93, currently trailing leader Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins by nine (9) points.

The Caps finished the first period with a 2-1 lead on another 4 on 4 score by Mike Green his 26th of the season to regain the lead at the 19:50 mark of the period. Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos had tied the game at 1-1 on a Tampa Bay power play goal at the 17:39 mark. Tampa Bay scored the only goal of the second period. At the 15:54 mark Martin St Louis scored an even strength goal when the Lightning was able to catch the Capitals with a well executed breakout and solid puck movement. The second period ended with the score knotted at 2-2.

The third period was All Caps all the time. Mike Green put the Caps back in front with a really solid full strength goal at just 1:48 into the period. The goal was Green's 27th of the season was assisted by Viktor Kozlov and Alexander Ovechkin. Green leads all defenseman in the NHL in goals with 27 and points with 63, he is tied for 6th in assists with 36. "Game Over" has six more goals then Sheldon Souray of the Edmonton Oilers and eight more points than Andrei Markov of the Montreal Canadiens. His sixteen power play goals are currently best in the league. The Capitals power play went 1 for 5 last night when Michael Nylander scored while they had a 5 on 4 man advantage at the 7:38 mark assisted by Viktor Kozlov and Ovechkin. The goal was just Nylander's eight (8th) of the season. The Capitals' "Energy Line" for last night of Matt Bradley, David Steckel and Quintin Laing put the Capitals three goals ahead at the 12:26 mark. Bradley's fifth (5th) goal of the season was scored at even strength and assisted by Shaone Morrisonn and Dave Steckel.

Overall the Capitals really didn't play a great game. They were a little less disciplined then they probably would have liked in the first two periods when they were out shot 22 -19. Fortunately, Simeon Varlamov came up with some pretty solid saves, despite not having the best rebound control during those two periods. The Capitals played their game plan and executed it throughout the entire 20 minutes of the third period though. The result was considerably different than the first two periods as well; in the third period the Capitals out shot the Lightning 11 - 6 and out scored them 3 - 0. the Capitals also stayed clean and penalty free during the entire third period as well.

The Capitals' play in the third period was solid and they came away with a regulation two point win. At the same time up in Boston, the Los Angeles Kings handed the Bruins an overtime loss so with respect to the B's the Caps had a three point night. Presently the Caps are just four points behind the Bruins in the Eastern Conference though Boston still has one game in hand on the Caps. The significance of that state is not too long ago the Bruins were nine (9) points ahead of the Capitals. Next up for the Capitals will be the Carolina Hurricanes, tomorrow to RBC Center.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

This Just In - Caps Recall Pothier and Varlamov, Assign Neuvirth to Hershey

It just flashed across the bottom of the screen on NHL Network, the Washington Capitals recalled defenseman Brian Pothier and goaltender Simeon Varlamov, to make room on the roster they assigned goaltender Michal Neuvirth to Hershey.

Last night against Wilkes Barre Varlamov had 29 saves on 31 shots. Pothier was +1 with 5 shots on goal during his 4 game conditioning stint in Hershey. Varlamov is 18-6-0-1 in 25 games in Hershey this season and 2-0 with the Capitals. His AHL SV % is 0.910 and his GAA is 2.47, he has had 2 shutouts at Hershey this season.

First of all it's just great to see Brian Pothier continue his comeback after such a tough concussion-related injury last year. Second, it's great to be seeing the Caps bench getting longer at just the right time of the season.

Welcome back Brian and...

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!

Are The Caps Shopping For A Goaltender? Does A Deal Make Sense?

Last week there was some chatter started that indicated the Capitals might be looking at making a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks to trade Michael Nylander and some considerations for Nikolai Khabibuhlen. One might ask, would such a deal make sense? For myself, analyzing the situation I come up with a very definite ... well, maybe. The first thing one has to do to assess the viability of the deal is ask, would such a deal have the possibility of making both teams better. On this aspect the answer is a definite probability.

The Blackhawks style of play is probably even better suited for Nylander than the style of the Bruce Boudreau Capitals and the average age of the top 4 centers in Chicago is 23 years old. Further the 44 games of NHL playoff experience that the 36 year old Nylander has could be to the Blackhawks what Sergei Federov was to the Capitals these past two seasons. The only players on the Chicago roster with significant playoff experience are 27 year old Martin Havlat and 35 year old Kahbibuhlen. So Nylander would probably help the Chicago front line attack with his mature steady hand. However, the whole Christobel Huet/Nikolai Kahbibuhlen "deal" continues to befuddle. So far this season as #1 and #1A goaltenders the Chicago goaltenders statistics look like this:

Khabibuhlen: 10-1-4 with 1 shutout; a GAA of 2.44 and a save % of 0.922;
Huet: 8-5-3 with 1 shutout; a GAA of 2.38 and a save % of 0.916.

Over their careers Kahbibuhlen has a save % of 0.908 (652 games) in the regular season and 0.922 in the playoffs (57 games), while Huet has a save % of 0.918 (199 games) in the regular season and 0.918 in the playoffs (13 games). So why trade down from Khabibuhlen who has a Stanley Cup ring now when they are only trailing the Red Wings by five points and they have a game in hand on Detroit? On the season the Blackhawks have played 31 games so far and have 114 goals for and 82 goals against. They also have two experienced defenseman in Brian Campbell and Brent Sopel - in short other than one or two more experienced forwards they have what they need for a playoff run and they do indeed have an extra number 1 goaltender. However, the goaltender with the most playoff experience is Khabibuhlen and while he does indeed become a free agent at the end of the season, does it make sense for the Blackhawks to count on Huet who has only 13 games of playoff experience to drive them deep into the playoffs this season and next? Of course, based on signing Huet to a four year contract, the Blackhawks have probably already made that decision. Assuming the Blackhawks trade either Huet or Khabibuhlen, they will be counting on either 25 year old prospect Corey Crawford or 25 year old prospect Antti Neimi to step into the void and provide a solid backup to their number 1.

Would having Khabibuhlen as a Cap make sense and make the Capitals better? Could the Caps make such a deal work? The Caps have Jose Theodore and Brent Johnson. So far this season both have done adequately, Johnson probably more so. However, both are now battling back from hip injuries and neither have had the success of Kahbibuhlen either this season or consistently over the length of their careers. So far this season their numbers look as follows:

Theodore: 8-6-1 with 1 shutout; a GAA of 3.26 and a SV % of 0.883;
Johnson: 10-5-2 with no shutouts; a GAA of 2.55 and a SV % of 0.916.

Over their careers Theodore has a save % of 0.908 (462 games) in the regular season and 0.914 (47 games) in the playoffs; while Johnson has a save % of 0.903 (243 games) in the regular season and 0.931 (12 games) in the playoffs. While Theodore has a Vezina and Hart Trophy to his credit, he doesn't have any Stanley Cup Rings and the deepest he has been in the playoffs is 12 games. Johnson becomes a free agent at the end of this season, Johnnie's salary cap hit this season is $812K. Theodore is signed through the end of next season with an average salary cap hit of 4.5M. Kahbibuhlen is a free agent at the end of this season, his full season salary cap hit to the Blackhawks this season is $6.75M. Michael Nylander is signed to a contract with the Capitals through the 2010-2011 season that has a salary cap hit of $4.875M and a no movement clause. Another factor, though doubtful will be that Kahbibuhlen might be willing to take something more on the order of what the Caps could afford next season for their number 1 goaltender - say $4.5 to $5M and accept a two or three year deal, to play on a team with Russian countryman like the Alexes: Ovechkin & Semin, even if Viktor Kozlov and Sergei Federov do not resign, and to be the mentor to Caps 20 year old prospect Simeon Varlamov. That assumes that somehow the Caps resolve the issues such a deal would create with Theodore as well. That Khabibuhlen would be a fair to great mentor for Varlamov shouldn't be in doubt; just the fact someone with Khabibuhlen's NHL experience could coach the protege' without having to battle a language barrier has to be a plus. The bigger issues are who back fills Nylander until everyone is healthy and what do the Capitals do with Jose Theodore if they decide that neither he nor Brent Johnson are likely to be the goalie to take them deep into the playoffs this spring. Also what has to happen to make the salary cap numbers even begin to work this season? The Capitals basically have no Cap room right now and Khabibuhlen's cap hit is a prorated $1.9M larger than Nylander's. Clearly there has to be another player or two involved to make the numbers work and with the Capital's injuries to date, it's very hard to figure out who that might be.

So to me everything about this discussion looks like a definite maybe.

Caps 4 - Blues 2

So for those of you who keep track my guess at tonight's lineup was basically 95% right - I missed on Laich & Flash - I figured Brooks would be on the third line & Flash on the second but in fact it was Brooks on second and Flash on third. Other than that slight error my guess was correct - I'd rather be lucky then good. As far as the score goes, I should have been right but I missed by 1 goal... Oh well who cares - it was a two point night, except for Vicktor Kozlov, for whom it was a three point (2 goals and an assist) night and was the number 1 star of the night. The number two star of the night was rookie/20 year old goaltender Simeon Varlamov who stopped 29 of 31 shots (0.935 save percentage) and is now 2-0 as an NHL goalie. The number three star of the game was "The Great Eight", Alex Ovechkin, who had a goal (his 20th of the season), seven shots, five hits, and a blocked shot.

The only thing keeping it from being a perfect night is that Carolina beat Florida in overtime so the Caps are still only eight (8) points ahead of the Hurricanes in the Southeast Division. With tonight's win the Caps record improves to 20-10-3 overall and they have a total of 43 points, that's 0.652 hockey on the season. They now have a 5 game winning streak, their second of the season, and are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games. They are on track for a 107 point season, not bad for a season where they have already dressed 33 different players - five for their first NHL game ever.

Next up - the Flyers in Philadelphia on Saturday Evening; I have tickets I can't use for the game due to other commitments - I really don't know what I'll do with them...seems a shame to waste them. Oh well, the best laid plans....instead I will get to watch the game here though, at least the third period I hope.

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

Don't Look Now But ....

Don't look now but it was a very successful weekend. In Bristow, we held our annual Christmas Party on Saturday and "a good time was had by all."


Oh and those Washington Capitals - they won back to back games on Friday & Saturday beating Ottawa at home on Friday night 5-1, a game that left many fans wondering just what does Brent Johnson need to do to get his first shutout of the season; and beating the Montreal Canadeans 2-1 in Montreal on Saturday night. Rookie goaltender Simeon Varlamov made his debut on Hockey Night in Canada for the Saturday Night game. The Capitals now have a "human schedule" until January 9th and 10th when they play Columbus at home, followed once again on Saturday evening in Montreal. If you are keeping track so far this season the Capitals and the Canadeans have played twice (once home, once away) and the Caps lead the series 2-0. Through 31 games so far this season, the Capitals lead the Southeast Conference by 8 points. If you're keeping track, as of this morning the Capitals are the number 5 team in the league-wide standings and number 3 in the Eastern Conference. More importantly as of this morning the Capitals are on a 1.26 standings points per game pace, in other words they are on track for a 103 point season. Of course as I noted, that doesn't compare to the blistering pace that San Jose, Boston and Detroit are on, 1.72, 1.53, and 1.52 points per game respectively. However, it does signal that the Capitals are firmly on track to return to the playoffs, and if current trends continue to do so once again as the Southeast Division Champions.

The only negative news of the weekend are the injuries to Jose Theodore, Sergei Federov, and Tyler Sloan. Hopefully the only issue for Nicklas Backstrom was a migraine and it will pass and he'll be back on the ice at practice today. Sloan has indeed been a great story to follow and another surprise from the Capitals player development system - he has worked extremely well paired with several defensive partners, not the least of which has been Tom Poti. Even when John Erskine returns, it's extremely possible that Sloan and his bargain salary cap hit of $475K stay on the roster as the seventh (7th) defenseman. Sergei Federov supplies so much both tangibly in the way of flexibility and intangibly in the way of leadership and experience to the Capitals that his presence in the lineup as much as of the rest of the season cannot be overstated. However, the only thing more important that Sergei Federov in the Caps regular season line up is a healthy Sergei Federov in the Capitals playoff line-up. Despite Simeon Valamov's fantastic debut and Brent Johnson's fantastic play throughout this entire season (ignoring game 1 in Atlanta), Washington needs Jose Theodore back and on mark. Solid 1A and 1B goaltending from both Johnson and Theodore will be essential for the Caps to reach their potential this season.

Back to the positives, with the month of December half over, the Capitals appear to be getting back on track. The Caps' record over the last ten games is 7-3-0; for the month so far they are 5-2-0 and over the past 3 games they have outscored their opponents 10 - 3. Through the season so far the Caps have managed to keep it together and on track and lay the foundation for a solid season. Looking at the Caps record on a month by month basis shows remarkable consistancy despite having dressed 31 unique players to date: October 5-3-1 (0.611 hockey), November 8-5-2 (0.600 hockey), and December to date 5-2-0 (0.714 hockey). The entire team and extended line-up has raised the bar from last season's great results. However, the Capitals' "special teams" have taken that very good 5 on 5 play up yet another level: the power play has been 37.9% efficient (11-for-29) over its last seven games and the penalty kill crew has killed 89.7% (35 of 39) of all shorthanded opportunities over the last nine games.

Next up for the Caps: the New York Islanders at Nassau County Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, NY - tomorrow night at 7PM EST. Let's all hope the Caps play the Islanders as hard as they've been playing the tougher teams this past week and they take their winning streak to four (4) games. The Islanders are 2-8-0 in their last 10 games and are 5-8-1 at home so far this season. They have a talented, experienced team but are fighting through a lot of injuries themselves. They could play desperate hockey, so the Caps will need to bring their solid, relentless forecheck and be on their game to make it four wins in a row.

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