Monday, December 15, 2008
Keeping Track of Former Caps - Brian Sutherby to Dallas Stars
Former Capitals Center Brian Sutherby has been traded from the Anaheim Ducks to the Dallas Stars. Suts has been having a fairly low key but solid season so far this year and apparently with the decision to NOT have Sean Avery return, the Stars are seeking to add more grit to the line-up without adding anybody who would bring any distractions to the locker room. The 26 year old Sutherby was always a solid citizen and great role player, looking to do whatever his team needed when he was here in Washington. Good luck in "The Big D" Brian.
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!!!!!!!!!!
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!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, December 12, 2008
Well I'll Be Watching The Game On TV Tonight...
Call this evening learning as we age, every year for the last five we have host a Christmas party, this year we'll be hosting it tomorrow. Since there is so much left to do, I'll be watching the game while trimming our tree in the den here in Bristow. Earlier in my life, I might have still attempted to attend the game, especially knowing that in addition to Alexander Semin and Tom Poti, I might get to see Mike Green and Sergei Federov return to the line up. However instead I've given my tickets another person from ICx Technologies. A fine young guy from our office - Jason will be in our seats with a friend watching the Senators and the Caps. Jason is the kind of guy that makes me glad we are building a good company. He has his degree and came to DC from Pittsburgh to make his mark in the world, he started in our headquarters as a temp, then basically became our office manager and now with our JNBCRS program win, he has been promoted to a position in the program office. He is a great person to work with, one of the many I get a chance to work with every day. However, knowing that we are building a great place where hopefully a young guy like him can grow and learn for a long period of time makes it even more fun to work in a entrepreneurial, vibrant, exciting, growing company. The fact that Jason loves Ice Hockey is a plus, although you know because of his misspent youth in Pittsburgh, he's really a Penguins fan, though he's pretty quick on the uptake and I figure a few more games of watching Semin and Ovie and we'll convert him. In retrospect, i should have told him I'd give him the tickets but he needs to really "Rock the Red" during the game, oh well ... next time.
Coming into tonight's game the Caps are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games and the Senators are 4-3-3. The Senators started the season off poorly but have picked up some momentum lately. They will be looking to improve their road record of 3-6-2 but the Caps have been awesome at home so far this season at 11-1-1. Per Tarik: it looks like Brent Johnson will get the start in goal again tonight and that both Sergei Federov and Mike Green will be back in the lineup tonight. That probably means that whether or not Karl Alzner is in the lineup or not is a function of the salary cap calculations for another several weeks - don't look here for anything that sheds light on that since this blogger can't even begin to figure out that aspect of things.
There seems to be a movement that has Penguin and Caps fans working together. The goal - to get the Eastern Conference NHL All Star starting line up of forwards to be: Ovechkin - Crosby - Malkin. Mark's Musing - hey why not? It makes a lot more sense then what the current likely lineup is - the Montreal Canadeans....
Well now it's time to do a few more "chores" before watching the Caps...
LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!
Coming into tonight's game the Caps are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games and the Senators are 4-3-3. The Senators started the season off poorly but have picked up some momentum lately. They will be looking to improve their road record of 3-6-2 but the Caps have been awesome at home so far this season at 11-1-1. Per Tarik: it looks like Brent Johnson will get the start in goal again tonight and that both Sergei Federov and Mike Green will be back in the lineup tonight. That probably means that whether or not Karl Alzner is in the lineup or not is a function of the salary cap calculations for another several weeks - don't look here for anything that sheds light on that since this blogger can't even begin to figure out that aspect of things.
There seems to be a movement that has Penguin and Caps fans working together. The goal - to get the Eastern Conference NHL All Star starting line up of forwards to be: Ovechkin - Crosby - Malkin. Mark's Musing - hey why not? It makes a lot more sense then what the current likely lineup is - the Montreal Canadeans....
Well now it's time to do a few more "chores" before watching the Caps...
LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
A Look At Where The Caps Are....
Today the Caps sit atop of the Southeast Division leading the second place Carolina Hurricanes by 6 points. They firmly part of the "second tier" of the NHL, by my accounts. The first tier being those teams that now have 40 or more points and are averaging 1.5 or more points per game: San Jose (46 points/27 games - 1.70 ppg), Detroit (42 points/27 games - 1.56 ppg), and Boston (42 points/28 games - 1.5 ppg). The second tier being those teams that are averaging 1.20 or more points per game: New York Rangers (40 points/31 games - 1.29 ppg), Montreal (37 points/28 games - 1.32 ppg), Vancouver (35 points/29 games - 1.21 ppg), Anaheim (35 points/29 games - 1.21 ppg), Washington (35 points/29 games - 1.21 ppg), Philadelphia (34 points/27 games - 1.26 ppg), Chicago (33 points/26 games - 1.27 ppg), and New Jersey (32 points/25 games - 1.28 ppg).
Extrapolating the Caps season to a logical conclusion based on the current average ppg puts them at 99 - 100 points. Given the Caps injury situation and relatively grueling schedule in November, that forecast is likely a conservative estimate. Per Tarik and Corey it is possible that two more important Caps may return to the roster tomorrow night - Sergei Federov and Mike Green. As more of the Caps opening night roster returns to the line-up, and the travel schedule and number of back-back nights lessens, the Caps should start to improve their road record and continue to maintain their solid home ice record. Overall, it is possible to see the Caps to a solid 100+ point season and a second consecutive Southeast Division championship though there are still 53 more games to be played "on the ice" by the Capitals before that happens. However, 28 of those 53 games will be at the Verizon Center where so far this season the Capitals have an 11-1-1 record; while only 25 of the games will be on the road where the Caps have a 5-9-2 record. The Caps also only play 7 of their remaining 53 games against Western Conference teams who the Caps have a 5-6-0 record against so far this season; while 46 of those games are against Eastern Conference teams who the Caps have a record of 11-4-3 so far this season.
Bottom line, is it's still a fun year to be a Caps fan.
Next up the Ottawa Senators at the Verizon Center tomorrow evening at 7PM.
LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!
Extrapolating the Caps season to a logical conclusion based on the current average ppg puts them at 99 - 100 points. Given the Caps injury situation and relatively grueling schedule in November, that forecast is likely a conservative estimate. Per Tarik and Corey it is possible that two more important Caps may return to the roster tomorrow night - Sergei Federov and Mike Green. As more of the Caps opening night roster returns to the line-up, and the travel schedule and number of back-back nights lessens, the Caps should start to improve their road record and continue to maintain their solid home ice record. Overall, it is possible to see the Caps to a solid 100+ point season and a second consecutive Southeast Division championship though there are still 53 more games to be played "on the ice" by the Capitals before that happens. However, 28 of those 53 games will be at the Verizon Center where so far this season the Capitals have an 11-1-1 record; while only 25 of the games will be on the road where the Caps have a 5-9-2 record. The Caps also only play 7 of their remaining 53 games against Western Conference teams who the Caps have a 5-6-0 record against so far this season; while 46 of those games are against Eastern Conference teams who the Caps have a record of 11-4-3 so far this season.
Bottom line, is it's still a fun year to be a Caps fan.
Next up the Ottawa Senators at the Verizon Center tomorrow evening at 7PM.
LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!
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