Hockey Is Back - Sweet; Caps @ Bruins Tonight

So if you read this blog you probably read other blogs that are focused on the Washington Capitals and the NHL as well and you know that Chris Bourque is now part of the dreaded Pittsburgh Flightless Birds organization; that the auction for the Phoenix Coyotes was won by --- no one; that there is no resolution in the Versus vs. DirectTV melee; and a host of other things related to hockey as well. There are also rumours on the Michael Nylander front you are probably aware of as well - ironic since in many ways, Chris Bourque to the Penguins is probably the first "casualty" in the Nylander saga - there will be others if something isn't able to be done to resolve the Nylander saga and free up his $4.875M of salary cap as well. But hey, we have hockey again - praise be!

Before getting to tonight's game and predictions though in case you missed it James Mirtle predicts the Caps will finish first in the Eastern Conference this season - hope that's not a jinx...

And just in case you missed it - Washington IS a Hockey Town - it's gotta be true since the Associated Press says so - and I agree.

For the Capitals and we Capitals fans the regular season begins in Beantown against the Bruins - here's hoping for a Two (2) Point Night for the boys in red.

My guess at the opening night lineup for the Capitals is now:

Forwards:
Ovechkin - Backstrom - Knuble
Semin - Morrison - Laich
Nylander - Steckel - Clark
Laing - Gordon - Bradley

Defense:
Green - Morrisonn
Poti - Jurcina
Pothier - Sloan

Goal
Theodore

I don't really think that Nyls will play but hey given he's making $5.5M, but if it were up to me - I'd play him till he gets traded or placed on LTIR - it's a cold thought but we need the Cap space if he's not going to be on the top two lines, which he isn't and that's the only way we'll get it. Best case is he plays well, showcases his talent and a deal he likes enough to agree to is offered by someone; worst case he plays as well as Boyd Kane would and gets as many minutes...so the third line will be Laing - Steckel - Clark and the fourth line will be Kane - Gordon - Bradley. Also according to the WaPo's Tarik El-Bashir the Defensive pairings will be Morrosonn - Green; Jurcina - Poti and Erskine - Pothier; that said I'm still rootoing for Sloan and Nyls to get sweaters tonight...(I gotta be me!)


Prediction: Caps 3 - Bruins 2. Should be a great game the Caps won 3 of 4 regular season contests last year against the Bruins though two went to Overtime and 1 of the other 2 was decided by a single goal. Fitting given the Bruins finished last season atop the Eastern Conference and the Capitals finished second.

The key to tonight's game for the Capitals - probably Alexander Semin. Take a look at Peerless' prognostication on the game and look at the fact that Semin was a big key in 2 of the 3 games out of four the Caps took from the Bruins last regular season...

The key for the Bruins is probably goaltending and Tim Thomas - again based on the results from last season's meetings between these two teams.

And now it's time for the beginning to begin...

LETS GO CAPS!!!

T - 6 Days And Counting....

Just six more days till the Caps open their regular season against the Bruins up in Boston and counting. I missed the Capitals Convention today. I had a ticket but I needed to work since I'll be going out to Long Beach, CA to meet up with "wingman" while his ship is in port the next three days. I wanted to go to get some more autographs from the Caps of yesteryear's but such was not to be.

I'm thinking more and more about the upcoming season. Tom has the tickets to tomorrow's pre-season finale against the Rangers, but I'll be at the home opener next Saturday and I am psyched. As I look at the season ahead, I'm starting to wonder about a couple of things, perhaps for example I need to rethink my thoughts about the Southeast Division. I was thinking the SE Division would go: 1) Caps, 2) 'Canes, 3) Panthers, 4) Thrashers, and 5) 'Bolts but then Tampa Bay went and made some great moves, IMO, this off season and the late pickup of Alex Tanguay along with the stellar preseason play of 1st round draft choice Victor Hedman on top of the moves to strengthen the blue-line corps overall has me rethinking things - alot. If Lightning Goaltender Mike Smith stays healthy and can play in 55+ games well, Tampa Bay could well be back to form and a threat to anybody in the league on any given night. After last year's debacle that's saying something. I watched their pre-season game against Edmonton the other night on NHL Network and though they struggled with fatigue a little, that seemed totally understandable since it was their fourth game in four nights. The style of responsible hockey they generally played was clearly a team driven by Coach Rick Tochett. The Lightning start the season with a solid set of scoring capability in their top six forwards, a responsible maturing blue line corps and pretty good pair of solidly NHL caliber goaltenders. These guys are looking like they want to give the Caps and 'Canes a run for their money and try to be one of the 8 playoff teams from the Eastern Conference.

Florida's moves to back fill the departure of Jay-Bo haven't been earth shattering and it looks like the panthers are still looking to primarily build from within. I think that has been proven now to be the right general strategy for longer term NHL success and the Panthers have some excellent foundational players in Stephen Weiss, David Booth and Nathan Horton. Steven Reinprecht is a good off season pickup IMO, and the goaltending duo of Scott Clemmensen and Tomas Voukoun is probably the most reliably good duo in the division on face value. The only area the Panthers didn't upgrade or won't benefit from maturing in system folks is really the blueline. I really think the Panters should have gotten more for Jay Bouwmeester, after all he would have resigned with the Panthers before going to somewhere in Europe no doubt... In any case Florida will likely once again be a "bubble team." I expect them to play very solid, defensive hockey and they have a couple of guys who can hurt you by "putting the biscuit in the basket" as well. They start this season in a similar position to the way they started last season though 2 - 4 players away from being a solid playoff contender, but with the set of goaltenders they have, they will again likely flirt with the playoffs. For the sake of the general franchise health, I'm rooting for them.

Atlanta, what can you say, they made some good moves, moves probably prompted by trying to work towards being the team they really want to be and that their star, Team Captain, Ilya Kovalchuck wants them to be. Thankfully for us Caps fans though - our Russians remain better than their Russians. That said their off-season moves have been all solid moves in my opinion and their home grown talents and recent high draft choices are moving along nicely. They will no doubt be a better team, if not much better team then they were last season. The question mark for the Thrashers, IMO, remains their netminding. If Kari Lehtonen can settle in for a good run, Atlanta could also make a run for the playoffs and be an Eastern Conference "bubble team". If they make a similar improvement to the capabilities and level of their team next summer, they too could find themselves solid playoff contenders, but right now they are, again IMHO still 4 players away form that position.

Carolina didn't loose any ground as a team this off season IMO, they really didn't gain any though either. The Hurricanes are down to a roster of 25 players right now so they only have two more cuts to stabilize, they should come out of the gates faster than last season and that will likely make up for anything they loose in the way of standings points to the fact that when they face Tampa Bay and Atlanta for their 4 matches this season they'll be playing against an better team then they were last year. If the Hurricanes, who have the oldest roster in the Southeast Division, stay healthy and Cam Ward again shows his consistency and durability, they are likely to repeat, if not improve on, last seasons 97 point performance. So they'll likely make the playoffs again but they will be given a run for their money by Tampa Bay. If we believe the "stuff" NHL Commissioner Gary Buttman is selling about participation in the Olympics and it's general negative affect on the NHL regular season, an older team like Carolina, who will likely not have a disproportionate number of their players on National Team rosters in Vancouver, should benefit disproportionately from the Olympics break this February. If that's true, Carolina might even improve their regular season record and top 100 points, they were close to that last season.

So my revised projections for finishing positions and estimated point totals for the Southeast Division are:

1) Washington Capitals - 112 Points
2) Carolina Hurricanes - 99 points
3) Tampa Bay Lightning - 94 Points
4) Florida Panthers - 91 Points
5) Atlanta Thrashers - 90 Points.

I expect it to take 94 points to make the playoffs and whether Tampa Bay makes it or not will be a function of their record against the other likely non-Southeast division bubble teams in the Eastern Conference this season who I am picking to be: Toronto, Ottawa, and the Rangers. One thing is for sure though, if the Caps do finish with 110+ points, and Carolina finishes firmly in the playoffs and flirts with or just exceeds 100 points, and a third team from the division makes the playoffs in 2010, then the idea that the Southeastern Division is the weakest division in the NHL should finally die. The fact is if that were to happen the Southeastern Division would look pretty much like any of the stronger divisions from the 2008-2009, or the 2007 - 2008 seasons - they'd look very similar to the Atlantic Division from those years. What that means for Hockey in the Sunbelt is anybody's guess. But for us Washington Capitals fans and Season Ticket Holders it would mean 12 - 16 really good games every regular season. Who knows, the desired for (by Mr. Buttman) rivalries might even start to really develop and grow.

Anyway while I continue to be very bullish on the Capitals prospects this season, it's clear there won't be any free points for the taking in the division this season, IMHO.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Preseason Caps 6 - Blackawks 2 - That was fun and now free wings! Yeeha!

Preseason Caps 6 - Blackawks 2 - That was fun and now free wings! Yeeha!

Okay so last night I went to my first live hockey game of the season and boy was it fun - reminded me why I love live hockey and not because the Caps pasted the Blackhawks either. Because it was just "good clean fun". First lets not get too excited it was preseason and all but here's what I saw that was what I will class as

"THE GOOD:

1) The Caps that played last night were NOT the same ones that lost on Monday Night to Buffalo - this Caps team remembered how to put Shots On Goal and hey it worked... That's why in the next 7 days I can get free wings at Glory Days - YeeHa - who doesn't love free stuff?

2) The influence of having Mike Knuble on the team is indeed evident - he's not the only one crashing the net and looking to score down low. In fact one of Ovies two goals was from closer in then we've generally seen and to me, that means if "The Great 8" keeps that in his bag of tricks we might even see a 70 goal season. So in this regard a "Good" shout out goes to: Knuble, Ovie, Backstrom, Laich, Boyd Gordon and Captain Chris.

3) Mobile Defensemen and smart play by them - Shoane Morisonn joined the rush twice and had a positive impact; Tyler Sloan nice goal!; Brian Pothier is looking good and Tom Poti had a good game (except the 3 penalties...). Based on last night and the prior preseason games performance I'd say that right now Tyler Sloan is looking like fair possibility to open the season as a Washington Capital, if he does what that means, I believe is that Karl Alzner is in Hershey and the 5 and 6 slot on the depth chart any given night that 1-4 are filled by a healthy Green, Poti, Pothier and Morrisonn is split between the following 3 or 4 guys: Erskine, Sloan, Jurcina, and Schultz. The way these guys have looked in Camp and the pre-season, that would be a nice organically grown upgrade to where the Caps started last season off on the blue-line.

4) Seymeon Varlamov was very, very solid last night. He ended the night with a SV% of 0.929 and the two he let in were 1) a Power Play goal on a second shot and 2) a tip in off of one of his defenders (Mike Green). I think that unless Neuvy gets a shutout tonight he'll be starting in Hershey at the beginning of the regular season, backed up by Braden Holtby. Not hating on anybody here - just sayin' Varly's performance was hard to fault in any way.

5) I don't know if you want all that firepower on one line every night but watching the Ovechkin - Backstrom - Semin line was great fun - especially on Ovie's second goal which was the Capitals second of three power play goals of the night. Maybe this we don't really need a heavyweight enforcer approach can work. Semin's primary assist on Ovie's second goal was just classically awesome.

Wierd/Mildly Humourous/Akward Moments-Thoughts:

1) Mathieu Perrault can play at the NHL Level, however a) he's not ever likely to be your "go to face off guy" and b) he ought to know his limitations and NOT try and put moves on/out skate Bryan Campbell - though since it was a preseason game it was fun watching him try to do it.

2) The Caps scored 3 power play goals in 6 chances - nice!; the Caps gave up 2 power play goals in 6 penalties, pretty close to being ironic, eh?

3) Sickly feeling seeing Alexander Semin laying on the ice; ditto Patrick Sharp in a preseason game.

4) Interesting thought - four guys and only four guys who played last night were not +/- positive when the game ended: Mike Green, Oskar Osala, Andrew Gordon, and Kyle Wilson. Of those four only one was a Norris Trophy finalist at the end of last season, as of this morning's news the other three were all sent down to Hershey. Think the competition for roster slots is fierce in DC this fall?

5) I really need someone to give me some ideas as to what we should be "jeering" at Patrick "20 Cent" Kane when he's on the ice. "Hail A Cab" doesn't really have any relevance to ice hockey situations ... AT ALL...

Based on what we've seen so far I'd have to say the inside track for the competition for roster slots right now and the opening night lineup/roster are:

Forwards:

Lines:

1) Ovechkin - Backstrom - Knuble or Semin

2) Laich - Morrison - Knuble or Semin

3) Steckel - Beagle - Clark

4) Laing - Gordon - Bradley

Reserves: Nylander

Defense

Pairs:

A) Green - Morrisonn

B) Poti - Jurcina

C) Pothier - Sloan

Reserves: Erskine, Schultz

Goaltenders:

Theodore

Varlamov.

Take a good look at that lineup, it shows that right now the impact of the extra defenseman the Caps have and a forward who doesn't fit their system means GMGM wil likely move somebody soon so when they go on their first West Coast road trip in mid-december they can take two reserve forwards (likely Nylander + one other) and one reserve defenseman. Also given the great caliber of play the younger guys in camp have shown so far, the Capitals are far more likely to pay Michael Nylander $5+M this year to ride the pine a lot and call up guys from Hershey who fit into the system when they are needed then they are to dress Nyls and have to try and adjust the play/game plan around whatever line he plays on.

So tonight it's the Rangers at MSG and the game is only being shown on NHLN-Canada so I may have to buy Center Ice already this season.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Looks Like It'll Be A Tough Year To Break Into the Caps Roster Even ....

It looks like it'll be a tough year to break into the Caps roster even with Fleischmann and Fehr likely to both still be out when the season opens.

Well the Washington Capitals are 2-0 in the preseason, normally that's not something you care about and if anything being the worrier, I might point out that to date it sure doesn't look like either of the top 2 forward lines have played a shift together against an opponent. Also, probably not been often that a normal defensive pairing has taken a shift together either. However last night from what I can tell looking at the statistics against the Chicago Blackhawks, it sure seems that the Hawks skated a pretty solid lineup against the Capitals. The Capitals on the other hand on seemed to skate one of their top six forwards, though to be fair, the blue line corps in front of Michal Neuvirth was composed of 5 of the likely top six defensemen on the current depth chart. Despite that fact, and the fact the Capitals started the game "sluggish" they managed to come back, win in overtime, and out shoot the Blackhawks 30 to 26. All in all a pretty good night, especially when you realize that despite what they've been doing with the lineup, through the first two pre-season games, the Capitals penalty kill unit is 10 for 10. This from a team that had the 17th "best" penalty kill unit in the NHL last season.

So what's it all mean? Well today there were a few more guys sent out of the Caps Camp and one would suspect to Hershey's camp which will open soon. That should make some room so over the next game or two the coaching staff should be able to give enough ice time to the guys on the bubble to thin the herd further and still have the final two preseason games left to let the "normal" first and second lines get enough shifts to hone their timing back to shape by opening night. However, it also means it's unlikely that many of the top six forwards will skate tonight when the Caps take on the Sabres at Verizon Center. I also wouldn't count on seeing more than four of the likely top six defensemen play tonight either. We should get to see starting goaltender Jose Theodore for at least half the game though who knows, perhaps the coaching staff will want to alternate between Varly and Neuvy for another two games before Theo takes the draws to get ready for the season opener.

One thing is for sure, the "bubble guys" aren't making it easy for the coaching staff to decide who to put where on the depth chart. Several veterans are also looking good and ready for the start of this season as well. In that regard both Pothier and Clark are looking solid. Though last night wasn't his best outing as a Cap, the first pre-season game by Pothier was solid. Clark has shown he is working hard to get his timing back, and Brooks Laich's two "post hits" last night show he is honing his "nose for the net" as the the regular season approaches. The bubble guys making an impact so far when they get on the ice seem to be: Tyler Sloan (5 blocked shots); Jay Beagle; Alexandre Giroux; Mathieu Perrault; and Kyle Wilson. I expect both Beagle and Chris Bourque to get a fair amount of ice time tonight to show what they can do. I also expect Sloan. Jurcina, Alzner and McNiel to get a fair shot of ice time on the blue line tonight as well. Up front, I wouldn't be surprised to see at least three of the top six forwards take the ice tonight, but I don't expect them to log too much more than 17:00 TOI tonight, yielding ice time in favor of letting the guys battling for the last three or four forward slots on the roster skate more.

Welcome to the preseason, post - rebuild.... Now lets all get out there and

ROCK THE RED

so the team knows how glad we all are that the hockey season is near at hand.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!