The Caps play the Thrashers tonight at Verizon Center in a Southeast Division Matchup that could give the Caps 4 points in the standings versus the Thrashers. Atlanta is 2-0 and the Caps 1-1 in the post All Star push to the playoffs. Additionally, while the Caps still have two games in hand on the Thrashers, the boys in blue from Atlanta are one point ahead of them in the Conference standings. Carolina continues to lead the SE division with 56 points in 54 games, Atlanta is in second in the division (10 th in the Eastern Conference) with 54 points in 54 games and the Caps are third in the division and 12th in the Conference with 53 points in 52 games. This past week, the first in the post All Star break push to the playoffs, has seen the majority of Southeast division teams elevate their level of play; Carolina and Atlanta are both 2-0, while the Caps and the Florida Panthers are 1-1, and the Tampa Bay Lightning 1-0 since the break. Eastern Conference playoff "bubble" teams are also playing hard since the scoring fest in Atlanta last week. The Bruins are 2-0, the Rangers 2-1, the Sabres 1-1 since play resumed while the Flyers are 1-1 on the Devils 0-2 this past week. Overall the Eastern Conference Playoff race remains a "free for all" and may actually be getting tighter. The Caps remain 5 points behind the conference eigth place Rangers and three points behind the division leading Hurricanes with two games in hand on each. The total point spread between the 13th place Florida Panthers (51 points) and 10 of the 12 teams in front of them is 9 points (the fifth place Pittsburgh Penguins have 60 points while the Hurricanes who are in third by virtue of leading the SE division have 56 points. With between 28 and 30 games to go the whole eastern conference playoff picture with the possible exception of Ottawa and Montreal continues in flux. In the last 37 days, Washington has played just one divisional game, a 5-3 win over Florida on Jan. 19. Beginning with today’s game against Atlanta, the Caps will play six of their next 10 games against Southeast Division opponents in a 22-day period. The tightly packed divisional standings change almost nightly, and Saturday’s classic four-point game shapes up as one of the most important the Caps have played to date this season.
The tight playoff race means tonight's SE conference matchup between the Caps and Thrashers should be a tough game. The season series between the two is tied 2-2. The key to both teams will be "depth scoring" the Thrashers will play without All Star forward Ilya Kovalchuk who is out this weekend with a knee injury. Last night the Thrashers beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-4 in a shootout win without their star and like the Caps have been surging. The Caps come into the game off a 5-4 overtime win against Montreal on Thursday night that saw a five point/four goal perfromance turned in by Alex Ovechkin despite playing with a broken nose much of the game. In nine games since signing a $124 million,13-year contract, Ovechkin has 11 goals and seven assists. Viktor Kozlov has benefited from his linemate's stellar play, collecting six goals and three assists in his last six games. With Kovalchuk out and barring the unlikely chance that Washington's "Great Eight" repeats his Thursday night performance, both teams will be looking for goals from their other key forwards, for Atlanta look for Marian Hossa, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Todd White Mark Recchi and Bobby Holik to try and "pick up" Kovy's slack. Over in the Caps lineup look for Nicklas Backstrom, Vicktor Kozlov, Alexander Semin Brooks Laich and Thomas Fleischman (and Mike Green if Shoane Morrison is back in the lineup) to try and contribute more offensive production then they have since the All Star break.
Possible Line Combos and Defensive Pairings
Atlanta Forwards
49-Stuart, 11-Perrin, 18-Hossa
21-Sterling, 12-White, 8-Recchi
13-S. Kozlov, 16-Holik, 9-Dupuis
36-Boulton, 23-Slater, 27-Thorburn
Atlanta Defensemen
28-Havelid, 39-Enstrom
22-Klee, 77-Zhitnik
2-Exelby, 5-McCarthy
Goaltenders: 1-Hedberg, 32-Lehtonen
Washington Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 19-Backstrom, 25-Kozlov
43-Fleischmann, 21-Laich, 28-Semin
53-Laing, 39-Steckel, 10-Bradley
87-Brashear, 15-Gordon, 18-Pettinger
Washington Defensemen
26-Morrisonn, 52-Green
3-Poti, 23-Jurcina
4-Erskine, 55-Schultz
Goaltenders1-Johnson, 37-Kolzig
LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Caps Split Home & Home With Habs, Move to 9th in Eastern Conference
Well the Caps beat the Montreal Canadeans 5-4 in overtime tonight. Alex Ovechkin scored 4 of the 5 goals here at the Verizon Center. I missed the game as I spent some time with collegues at ICx Technologies, listening in on a review of some upcoming marketing plans and enjoying a team building dinner so I can't really comment on the game other than to note the obvious - Mr. Ovechkin isn't slowing down any since he signed his big contract - he now has 43 goals and 70 points for the season and is, at least for now the league's leading goal scorer and the overall points leader. Here's an interesting note - the Caps have not lost back to back games in regulation since Bruce Boudreau took over the coaching duties from Glen Hanlon on Thanksgiving. In other words the Caps have not gone two games in a row without getting at least one standings point for 10 1/2 weeks. They went 9-4-0 (0.692) during the month of January. That's pretty good hockey - "don'tcha think?" - I surely do. In the standings, tonight's games put them one point ahead of the NY Islanders and three points behind the NY Rangers (who are in the eighth and final playoff spot) in the Conference standings, but the Caps have a game in hand on the Rangers. Tonight's games also left the Caps three points behind the SE Division leading Carolina Hurricanes, but the Caps have two games in hand on the 'Canes.
The Caps next game is at home in the Phone Booth against the Atlanta Thrashers. Atlanta is three points behind the Thrashers in the standings. The Caps are 2-1-1 versus the Thrashers so far this season. The Thrashers are 11-13-2 on the road so far this season and 3-4-3 in their last 10 games. The Caps are 15-11-1 at home so fa this season and 7-3-0 in their last 10 games. Additionally, the Thrashers will be playing without their sharpshooter Iyla Kovalchuk, who has a knee injury, but the Thrashers still have offenive punch in Marian Hossa, Scott Perrin and Mark Recchi so they can't be taken lightly. That said I suspect Peerless will forecast a Caps vicotry and I too an hopeful. LETS GO CAPS!!!!
The Caps next game is at home in the Phone Booth against the Atlanta Thrashers. Atlanta is three points behind the Thrashers in the standings. The Caps are 2-1-1 versus the Thrashers so far this season. The Thrashers are 11-13-2 on the road so far this season and 3-4-3 in their last 10 games. The Caps are 15-11-1 at home so fa this season and 7-3-0 in their last 10 games. Additionally, the Thrashers will be playing without their sharpshooter Iyla Kovalchuk, who has a knee injury, but the Thrashers still have offenive punch in Marian Hossa, Scott Perrin and Mark Recchi so they can't be taken lightly. That said I suspect Peerless will forecast a Caps vicotry and I too an hopeful. LETS GO CAPS!!!!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Musings on a Chilly Sunday
The Caps are 8-3 so far this month (January) and now everyone is talking playoffs. From what I can see they are on the right track but talking about the playoffs is premature. The Caps have 32 regular season games to go, 16 home games and 16 away games. The schedule includes a stretch of 6 straight away games between March 18th and March 29th. They finish the season with three straight home games against Southeast Division rivals, in fact the last 6 games of the season will be against SE division opponents. There are no guarantees, except if the Caps keep playing like they have since Thanksgiving, it'll be fun to watch. LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!
In politics, the presidential primaries, have been a lot like the Caps season or maybe it's more like the NCAA football season. No clear front runners - at least not for long. If anyone had predicted that coming out of Super Tuesday, it'll be far more likely the Republican nomination would be clearer than the Democratic nominee, even around Thanksgiving would anything have happened except laughter? I doubt it. At the time the Republicans had seven (8) "serious candidates" and five (6) (Guiliani, Huckebee, McCain, Paul, Romney, and Thompson) who have/had hardcore base constituencies and relatively solid funding. On the Democratic side, while in November there were also eight (8) "serious candidates", conventional wisdom was that only three (3) or four (4) of them (Clinton, Edwards, Obama, and Richardson) had the drive, constituency and funding to go the distance.
It now appears entirely possible that after Tuesday's Florida primary where the Republicans will be a neck in neck horse race between Romney and McCain, despite a last ditch effort by Gulliani to save his campaign, McCain could be a clear front runner. Senator McCain has also surged nationally in polls of Republicans, a situation that bodes well for him going into "Super Tuesday" - February 5th -with it's many "winner take all" states. If Senator McCain can show well in or better yet win in Florida (a tough thing given he is neck and neck with Governor Romney and fighting for many of the same votes that Mayor Guilliani is courting) he will go into Super Tuesday well poised. If after Florida, Mayor Gulliani decides that his likely third place showing isn't good enough to continue, a clear possibility given the state of his campaign's dwindling cash on hand going into Super Tuesday and the precipitous erosion of his national support may drive him to retire from the field, support for McCain is likely to swell. For that reason it appears on the Republican side, Super Tuesday will likely be a battle between Romney and McCain, with Congressman Paul's hardcore 5-7% staying true to the paragon of true constitutionalism.
Although, clearly Governor Huckebee is a Super Tuesday wild card, particularly in states with conservative Republican bases like Utah, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Missouri, Minnesota, Illinois, Tennessee, and Georgia. Further complicating things, for the Republicans, are the "winner take all states" Florida this Tuesday (a winner take all by Congressional District) and New York, Missouri, Arizona, New Jersey, Utah, Connecticut, Montana, and Delaware on Super Tuesday. It seems based on the polls that Huckebee would need a couple of major upsets to stay relevant in the race. Between now and February 6th, four hundred and twenty (420) delegates will be designated in winner take all primaries on the Republican side of the battle for the presidency. After Super Tuesday the only other states with winner take all republican primaries are: Virginia (63 delegates on 2/12) and Vermont (17 delegates on 3/4). Given the current polls it's hard to see Guliani going far without winning a significant amount of delegates in California, regardless of whether he wins Florida or not, but a win in Florida, though unlikely at present, would likely propel him to capture New York's 101 winner take all delegates; however at present Guiliani trails McCain in the polls even there in his home state. The way things are going it's hard to see how the Republicans won't have a clearer picture than the Democrats, or at least a two candidate race, after the dust from Super Tuesday clears.
On the other hand, if the Democratic primaries continue the way they've been going the Clinton - Obama battle could go all the way to the convention. Perhaps that's why John Edwards stays in the race, is he looking to be the "king-maker"?
Well Tuesday evening will be really interesting, the Caps return to action in Montreal against the Canadeans and I can watch the primary results come in from Florida. What could be better than hockey from it's largest cathedral the sport has - the Bell Center home of the 24 time Stanley Cup Champion Canadeans and election results the great State of Florida - home of the "hanging chad"?
In politics, the presidential primaries, have been a lot like the Caps season or maybe it's more like the NCAA football season. No clear front runners - at least not for long. If anyone had predicted that coming out of Super Tuesday, it'll be far more likely the Republican nomination would be clearer than the Democratic nominee, even around Thanksgiving would anything have happened except laughter? I doubt it. At the time the Republicans had seven (8) "serious candidates" and five (6) (Guiliani, Huckebee, McCain, Paul, Romney, and Thompson) who have/had hardcore base constituencies and relatively solid funding. On the Democratic side, while in November there were also eight (8) "serious candidates", conventional wisdom was that only three (3) or four (4) of them (Clinton, Edwards, Obama, and Richardson) had the drive, constituency and funding to go the distance.
It now appears entirely possible that after Tuesday's Florida primary where the Republicans will be a neck in neck horse race between Romney and McCain, despite a last ditch effort by Gulliani to save his campaign, McCain could be a clear front runner. Senator McCain has also surged nationally in polls of Republicans, a situation that bodes well for him going into "Super Tuesday" - February 5th -with it's many "winner take all" states. If Senator McCain can show well in or better yet win in Florida (a tough thing given he is neck and neck with Governor Romney and fighting for many of the same votes that Mayor Guilliani is courting) he will go into Super Tuesday well poised. If after Florida, Mayor Gulliani decides that his likely third place showing isn't good enough to continue, a clear possibility given the state of his campaign's dwindling cash on hand going into Super Tuesday and the precipitous erosion of his national support may drive him to retire from the field, support for McCain is likely to swell. For that reason it appears on the Republican side, Super Tuesday will likely be a battle between Romney and McCain, with Congressman Paul's hardcore 5-7% staying true to the paragon of true constitutionalism.
Although, clearly Governor Huckebee is a Super Tuesday wild card, particularly in states with conservative Republican bases like Utah, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Missouri, Minnesota, Illinois, Tennessee, and Georgia. Further complicating things, for the Republicans, are the "winner take all states" Florida this Tuesday (a winner take all by Congressional District) and New York, Missouri, Arizona, New Jersey, Utah, Connecticut, Montana, and Delaware on Super Tuesday. It seems based on the polls that Huckebee would need a couple of major upsets to stay relevant in the race. Between now and February 6th, four hundred and twenty (420) delegates will be designated in winner take all primaries on the Republican side of the battle for the presidency. After Super Tuesday the only other states with winner take all republican primaries are: Virginia (63 delegates on 2/12) and Vermont (17 delegates on 3/4). Given the current polls it's hard to see Guliani going far without winning a significant amount of delegates in California, regardless of whether he wins Florida or not, but a win in Florida, though unlikely at present, would likely propel him to capture New York's 101 winner take all delegates; however at present Guiliani trails McCain in the polls even there in his home state. The way things are going it's hard to see how the Republicans won't have a clearer picture than the Democrats, or at least a two candidate race, after the dust from Super Tuesday clears.
On the other hand, if the Democratic primaries continue the way they've been going the Clinton - Obama battle could go all the way to the convention. Perhaps that's why John Edwards stays in the race, is he looking to be the "king-maker"?
Well Tuesday evening will be really interesting, the Caps return to action in Montreal against the Canadeans and I can watch the primary results come in from Florida. What could be better than hockey from it's largest cathedral the sport has - the Bell Center home of the 24 time Stanley Cup Champion Canadeans and election results the great State of Florida - home of the "hanging chad"?
Friday, January 25, 2008
Last Night's 2-1 Win Over the Leafs
I went to last night's game versus the Leaf's with my friend Pat from work (ICx Technologies). Pat's a New Hampshire boy and a hockey fan too. We had a blast from our dinner of "dollar dogs" through watching the great game as the Caps and Leafs "duked it out" through three closely played periods of hockey.
This is a late post and I'd have to say DMG, JP and CapsChick all have drawn a good bead on this one, so I'll digress a little about a couple of things in the current NHL era I like and a couple I'm not wild about.
Things I like in the current era:
- "No Red Line",
- No "Icing the Puck" Against the Boards,
- Dollar Dog Night,
- Slower Whistles When the Goalie Ices the Puck,
- Ovechkin, Datsuyk and the other Russians who Skate, Hustle, Score AND Hit/Check HARD.
Things I'm Really, Really Not Wild About
- The Mandatory Delay of Game Penalty,
- Calling Boarding Penalties When Someone Makes a Solid, Good, Hard Check,
- "The Trap",
- The Instigator Rule,
- "The Trap",
- Giving an extra two minutes to a player with a visor who fights, especially when he didn't start the fight,
- "The Trap"
- The idea that high scoring game draws more fans,
- "The Trap".
Yes after the last two night's games against the Maple Leafs, I'd like to say Thank You Bruce Boudreau for changing the style of play the Caps use and "trapping" less. The past two games really exemplified why I don't like "The Trap": 1) it's no fun to watch; 2) the team that plays the best doesn't always win (re: Wednesday Night in Toronto); 3) it doesn't necessarily make average players better/isn't necessarily more forgiving (re: the stats of the Caps' grinders since the coaching change). On the other hand, best of all you don't have to play it to win - (re: the Caps record since the coaching change). Gary Bettman if you really want to draw more fans, outlaw the trap just like you can't play zone defense in the NBA; pro hockey teams/players shouldn't play the trap.
A couple of kudos on the game. Last night's game was fun to watch, but the Caps ought to be glad most of them have a few days off, they are clearly playing tired. Last night's first star was Brent Johnson - "Johnnie" play superbly and deserved the first star. He faced 32 shots and stopped 31 of them, including some spectacular saves from all angles from super glove save grabs to break up plays to thwarting some breakaways. The first goal - Brooks Laich's goal, was a super team effort and while I never saw the tip, Laich may deserve the goal just for getting in front of an Ovechkin slapshot. The maturity and two way play Alex Ovechkin shows every game this season is stupendous. In many cases his hustle to a backcheck or his play making is as spectacular as his goals. His involvement in both of last night's scores are reflective of that great work ethic and team spirit. Ovie is now all about playing to win, not about Ovie and it's as contagious as Quintin Laing's hustle and great play and Donald Brashear's great locker room leadership. Speaking of "Brash" the Caps resigned him yesterday as well. I think that's another good move by Caps management.
My last thought - the Caps have gotten back into the playoff fray with a streak during which the Caps have played 10-3-2 in the last 15 games. To make the playoffs the Caps will have to continue to play with the steadiness of purpose, and indeed near abandon they have since Thanksgiving. It's way too early to count any of their Southeast Division rivals out of things, and it's way too early to figure that it will take less than 88-92 points to make the playoffs. That means the Caps need to continue to play the same level of hockey - 0.655 (17-8-4) they have under Coach Boudreau. Indeed to finish clearly in the playoffs (92 points) they need to play 0.640 hockey for their remaining 32 games. Each win makes it easier now and it's not an impossible thing to imagine before their recent 10-3-2 tear but it's way too early to resign yourself to not getting your money's worth from your April Country Club minimums (not that I'm the CC type at all). My point is everyone needs to just keep their head down and hope for the best. Keep rooting for the Caps, watching the attendance improve, etc. The Caps themselves need to continue enjoy playing hard and winning and everything will work out. Confidence is fine; overconfidence is always unwelcome, and not useful and at this time still entirely unjustified.
Next week - Home & Home vs the Montreal Canadeans. The Caps are 7-3-0 for the last 10 and the Habs are 7-2-1 going into the All Star Break. Next weeks games should be good ones and I can't wait till next Thursday to see the Caps work to continue to improve what could be a great overall season record. LETS GO CAPS!!!!
This is a late post and I'd have to say DMG, JP and CapsChick all have drawn a good bead on this one, so I'll digress a little about a couple of things in the current NHL era I like and a couple I'm not wild about.
Things I like in the current era:
- "No Red Line",
- No "Icing the Puck" Against the Boards,
- Dollar Dog Night,
- Slower Whistles When the Goalie Ices the Puck,
- Ovechkin, Datsuyk and the other Russians who Skate, Hustle, Score AND Hit/Check HARD.
Things I'm Really, Really Not Wild About
- The Mandatory Delay of Game Penalty,
- Calling Boarding Penalties When Someone Makes a Solid, Good, Hard Check,
- "The Trap",
- The Instigator Rule,
- "The Trap",
- Giving an extra two minutes to a player with a visor who fights, especially when he didn't start the fight,
- "The Trap"
- The idea that high scoring game draws more fans,
- "The Trap".
Yes after the last two night's games against the Maple Leafs, I'd like to say Thank You Bruce Boudreau for changing the style of play the Caps use and "trapping" less. The past two games really exemplified why I don't like "The Trap": 1) it's no fun to watch; 2) the team that plays the best doesn't always win (re: Wednesday Night in Toronto); 3) it doesn't necessarily make average players better/isn't necessarily more forgiving (re: the stats of the Caps' grinders since the coaching change). On the other hand, best of all you don't have to play it to win - (re: the Caps record since the coaching change). Gary Bettman if you really want to draw more fans, outlaw the trap just like you can't play zone defense in the NBA; pro hockey teams/players shouldn't play the trap.
A couple of kudos on the game. Last night's game was fun to watch, but the Caps ought to be glad most of them have a few days off, they are clearly playing tired. Last night's first star was Brent Johnson - "Johnnie" play superbly and deserved the first star. He faced 32 shots and stopped 31 of them, including some spectacular saves from all angles from super glove save grabs to break up plays to thwarting some breakaways. The first goal - Brooks Laich's goal, was a super team effort and while I never saw the tip, Laich may deserve the goal just for getting in front of an Ovechkin slapshot. The maturity and two way play Alex Ovechkin shows every game this season is stupendous. In many cases his hustle to a backcheck or his play making is as spectacular as his goals. His involvement in both of last night's scores are reflective of that great work ethic and team spirit. Ovie is now all about playing to win, not about Ovie and it's as contagious as Quintin Laing's hustle and great play and Donald Brashear's great locker room leadership. Speaking of "Brash" the Caps resigned him yesterday as well. I think that's another good move by Caps management.
My last thought - the Caps have gotten back into the playoff fray with a streak during which the Caps have played 10-3-2 in the last 15 games. To make the playoffs the Caps will have to continue to play with the steadiness of purpose, and indeed near abandon they have since Thanksgiving. It's way too early to count any of their Southeast Division rivals out of things, and it's way too early to figure that it will take less than 88-92 points to make the playoffs. That means the Caps need to continue to play the same level of hockey - 0.655 (17-8-4) they have under Coach Boudreau. Indeed to finish clearly in the playoffs (92 points) they need to play 0.640 hockey for their remaining 32 games. Each win makes it easier now and it's not an impossible thing to imagine before their recent 10-3-2 tear but it's way too early to resign yourself to not getting your money's worth from your April Country Club minimums (not that I'm the CC type at all). My point is everyone needs to just keep their head down and hope for the best. Keep rooting for the Caps, watching the attendance improve, etc. The Caps themselves need to continue enjoy playing hard and winning and everything will work out. Confidence is fine; overconfidence is always unwelcome, and not useful and at this time still entirely unjustified.
Next week - Home & Home vs the Montreal Canadeans. The Caps are 7-3-0 for the last 10 and the Habs are 7-2-1 going into the All Star Break. Next weeks games should be good ones and I can't wait till next Thursday to see the Caps work to continue to improve what could be a great overall season record. LETS GO CAPS!!!!
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