A Look Ahead GAME 2 of 82; Tampa Bay Lightning 1-1-0 at Washington Capitals 1-0-0

The reigning back to back Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning come into Washington DC today to take on the Washington Capitals who won their season opener against the New York Rangers on Wednesday evening 5-1 in regulation.  Tampa Bay lost their home opener to Tuesday evening 6-2 in regulation then beat the rebuilding Red Wings 7-6 in Overtime in Detroit on Thursday evening.

Those middling results by the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Lightning might make us Capitals fans very optimistic.  Unfortunately for us Caps fans, they don't tell the whole story.  Yes, Tampa Bays home opener was clearly not a good evening for the Lightning, and Thursday's game seems like it could have gone either way when you look at the bottom line result a 7-6 (OT) win.  What those numbers and results don't tell us is that the OT victory in Detroit was a comeback win from a 6-3 deficit at 7:10 in the third period; for the last 12:50 of regulation, and the 2:43 of three on three overtime, the Tampa Bay Lightning looked and played like the team that has won back to back Stanley Cups. Steven Stamkos scored two goals; as did Ondrej Palat (whose second goal was the OT GWG). The Lightning's power play was "ON" throughout the game. The Lightning outshot the Red Wings 48-26 SOG throughout the night, and "won" the face-off battles 30-26. Basically the Bolts are basically almost back playing to form, the only statistical weakness for them is their team SV% 75.38% through their first two games. That seems likely to markedly improve pretty quickly now the front end of the Lightning's game seems to have gotten on track.

The Capitals come into their second game of the season with Nicklas Backstrom still on LTIR, and having played well in most aspects of the game during their home opener, though they started very sluggishly and didn't play well in the first period against the Rangers and the only solid face-off man they can count on to likely win draws being Nic Dowd. Regardless wether Vitek Vanecek or Ilya Samsonov get the start this evening, the Lightning are not the Rangers and the Capitals need to come out ready to play from the opening puck drop, against Detroit the Lightning had 48 shots on goal, 15 in the first period, and 16 in the second period.  Odds are they will come out for tonight's game against the Capitals brining on all cylinders.  To win, the Capitals need to play all sixty minutes like they played the final 40 of their home opener against the Rangers.  Somebody, in addition to Nic Dowd, needs to have a FO% > 50%; and the team defense needs to be relatively stifling of the Tampa Bay star forwards.

Players to watch:

Capitals: Alex Ovechkin; our selected goaltender; our energy line; Anthony Mantha; John Carlson

Lightning: Andrei Vasilevskiy; Victor Hedman; Nikita Kucherov; Corey Perry; Alex Kilorn.

I'm not making a prediction as I'm hoping this is a tossup; tightly played game that results in another two points for my Washington Capitals but I have lots of concerns, too many to quantify about that.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!

How Big a Thing is it that Alex Ovechkin is Number 5 on the NHL All Time Scoring List?

 Okay a lot of sportswriters are writing about this topic or will this 2021-2022 NHL Season.  Ovechkin moved to number 5 on the list in the Washington Capitals season opening night win over the New York Rangers on Wednesday evening.  But how big is it? and who are these legends and names Ovechkin keeps humbly referring to the honor he feels to be among them?  Well its a huge deal, and they are really, really hockey greats like really GOAT (Greatest of All Time) kind of players.  Over the next couple of weeks I'll research and blog more about this.  I've been a hockey fan for 50+ years and played the game in my own marginal fashion from age 8 (midget hockey) through age 27 (beer league) following being a second rate player on a DIII team in college.  The names on the top 50 all time list include players I loved to watch when I was a high schooler and college age avid NHL fan.  I'll blog about them, when the tribute from Marcel Dionne was upon the Jumbotron after the Great 8 scored his second goal at the opener, I recalled watching Dionne streak down the ice in his yellow and purple Kings colors past my then team the Flyers (don't hate I grew up in Philadelphia) and put the biscuit in the basket past Bernie Parent thinking: "How could that happen Kate Smith sang "God Bless America" tonight?  But I digress.

Let's start putting the overall achievement and magnitude of what we Capitals fans have been seeing from Ovechkin since he came into the NHL into context.  First of the current all time NHL goal scoring list only three (3) of the fifty (50) are currently active players on NHL rosters on any of the current 32 teams: Ovechkin at 5; Patrick Marleau at 23; and Sidney Crosby at 49.  There is no doubt in my mind that those three men are hockey players who are of generational talent level skill and accomplishment; and they will be first ballot HHOF members.  One only has to look at the other 47 names on that list to confirm that statment. Of the top 50 listed number 50, Brian Bellows, had 485 goals in 1188 games played over his; compare that to Ovechkin's 732 as of Wed. night in 1198 games; compare Ovechkin's 732 in 1198 games to all time number 4) Brett Hull's 741 goals in 1269 games or all time number 3) Jaromir Jagr's 766 goals in 1733 games and then you can understand why a lot of people including myself think Alex Ovechkin could indeed possibly surpass both Mr. Hockey Gordie Howe at the number 2 spot with his 801 goals on the list and even, maybe, just maybe The Great Gretzky for the number one spot with his 894 goals, though I expect for Ovechkin to do so will take the full length of the five seasons he has on contract through the 2025-2026 NHL Season.

As I look at more of this and put where Ovechkin falls on this list, I plan on researching and looking at the careers first of the other 9 names on the top 10 all-time goal scorers list.  I also plan to look closer at Alex Ovechkin's career and what roles and how important he has and continues to be to my now favorite team the Washington Capitals, hoping to explain why I think people who feel Ovechkin isn't a 200 foot player and so much more important to the Capitals than "a great goal scorer" really are not correct. 

The top 10 list has the following names on it: 

10) Steve Yzerman: 692 goals; 1514 games played

 9) Mark Messier: 694 goals; 1756 games played

 8) Mike Gartner: 708 goals; 1432 games played

 7) Phil Esposito: 717 goals; 1282 games played

 6) Marcel Dionne: 731 goals; 1348 games played

 4) Brett Hull: 741 goals; 1269 games played

 3) Jaromir Jagr: 766 goals; 1733 games played

 2) Gordie Howe: 801 goals; 1767 games played

 1) Wayne Gretzky: 894 goals; 1487 games played.

I expect it will take a fair amount of time and effort to research and compose these nine blogs but I think it will be worth it and very interesting to do it.  If the results are as enjoyable to do that as I think it will be I'll do more of that sort of stuff and be posting more of these sorts of thing in addition to my fanboy type posts when I go to games as part of the Season Tickets I share or watch on TV.  After the past 18 months of this pandemic stuff these sorts of exercises are more interesting diversions for me than contemplating my navel or other things.  

In the meantime:

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Thirty Six (36) - It's Just A Number But 732 and 674 Are Significant Numbers

 Well I don't know if anyone will read this post it's been a long while since I posted but I had a thoroughly enjoyable time this evening attending the Washington Capitals 2021-2022 NHL Season Opener at Capital One Center.  What a great hockey game to watch if you were a Washington Capitals fan like I am.

If you had told me back when I saw Alex Ovechkin first play for the Washington Capitals at then Verizon Center in 2005-2006, I was going to see him score his 731st and 732nd NHL goals 16 years later and the he'd score a shorthanded goal to surpass Marcel Dionne for number 5 on the NHL All Time Scoring list, I really don't know what I'd have said.  I mean from his first NHL season I think we knew we were watching a guy with special talent, possibly generational talent, but legendary talent? That wasn't yet something I suspected.  I mean every time over the past two seasons when asked by sports journalists "What's it mean to pass <Insert Legend's Name Here>, Alex clearly indicates it's very special and somewhat humbling.  But on the way home from the game tonight I thought about watching games that Marcel Dionne played and fantastic goals he scored in the late 1970's while he played for the Los Angeles Kings, he was just so, so good, you rarely thought of him as being only 5'8" tall but he is and he had such awesome hands and shot placement.  How amazing and legendary was Marcel Dionne as an NHL Player - well in January 2004, Dionne was one of six NHL All-Stars immortalized in a series of Canadian postage stamps.  That's pretty legendary to have your face on a national postage stamp, that's the company Alex Ovechkin is now among.  Thank you Mr.Ovechkin for all the wonder and joy you've filled my and other hockey fans, especially us Washington Capitals fans for the past 17 seasons.  It's been so cool to me to watch so many of your 732 goals live in person from my seat in Section 103 since you've entered the league.

In other hockey news this evening at 7th and F Streets in Washington DC, Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette won his 674th game as an NHL Coach, surpassing John Tortorella as the US Board NHL coach with the most career wins; as an aside he did so when our/his Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers, the team Laviolette played for, 5-1. During the game Capitals First Round Draft pick, 19 year old Hendrix Lapierre played his first NHL game and scored his first NHL goal.  Lapierre's first NHL goal was a beauty, a "goal scorer's goal" as the cliche' goes.  Lapierre had a great camp this fall to earn his spot on the opening night roster, and looked excellent all night long. Capitals goaltender Vitek Vanecek played an excellent game as well, especially during the first period, where the Capitals had a slow start and were outplayed by every measure by the Rangers however, thanks to Vanecek, and a PPG by TJ Oshie, primary asset to Alex Ovechkin, the score at the end of the first period was Capitals 1 - Rangers 0.

Thankfully the Capitals came out for the second period "hitting on all cylinders" took control of the game and played the entire second period with control, discipline and speed.  By the end of the second period Justin Schultz had a PPG; and just 24 seconds after that Lapierre scored his first NHL goal with both his parents and grandparents in attendance to see him play in his first NHL game; that was just very cool. The second period ended with the score Capitals 3 - Rangers 0.

The third period was well played, especially by the Capitals, but despite Rangers speedster, Chris Kreider scoring a PPG for the Rangers, to break Vanecek's bid for a shutout; it really was "The Alex Ovechkin Show."  Just after the start of the third period, the Capitals went on the power play. The Caps PP was excellent all game long, during this one, Alex Ovechkin potted a rebound down low on the left side of the low slot to net his 731st career goal and tie legendary 5'8" scorer Marcel Dionne for number 5 on the All Time List; a goal that put the Capitals up 4-0 just 2;37 into the period.  Then at 9:13 in the period Kreider scored his shutout breaking PPG making it 4-1. At the 10:05 mark of the third, TJ Oshie was called for tripping and sent to the sin bin; this set the stage for what ended up enabling all of us in the sellout opening night crowd, a rare event as regards Alex Ovechkin goals - the Great Eight scored career goal 732 while the Capitals were short handed, and took sole possession of spot Number 5 on the NHL All Time Goal Scoring list.  Wow, just WOW.

Takeaways from the opening night game versus the Rangers:

1) In the second and third periods, the Capitals looked faster and more "in synch" that the Rangers.  The new faces in the lineup all younger blood played well and seem to be blending in well with the veterans.  To me thats just very, very encouraging.

2) Vanecek (SV% 0.958) had a much, much better game than Georgiev (SV% 0.815).  Regardless of how everything else goes in an NHL game, it's a rare night a team looks good when their goaltender has a SV% < 0.880 - the Rangers need him to play much closer to his ability if they are to achieve their goals for this season.  Of course it doesn't help matter when your team's ownership is stuck in the 80's wasting $1.75M of salary cap space and a roster spot on the 2021-2022 version of Nick Fotiu (aka Ryan Reaves.)

3) The Capitals woes in the Face-off Circle a carry over from last season continued through this Season's opener. The Rangers took 61% of the draws.  That's just not good enough.  They need to bring in a specialist to examine what they are doing wrong closely and work with their centerman to fix this issue, else it will be an arrow to their heart in some important games between now and hopefully next June.

Looking ahead to next game vs. Tampa Bay on Saturday evening, the Capitals have to come out faster in the first period, and be harder on the puck as well as much better in the face off circle. That said last night's game was a great start of the season, the Capitals passing game looked much better than the Rangers and the Capitals played with more structure and disciple than their opponents. Additionally, the Capitals' shot select was much better than the Rangers making their puck possessions much more productive particularly from the start of the second period and through the end of the third period.

#LetsGoCaps

In case you didn't realize it....

Good Morning all!  It's a beautiful day here in Northern Virginia, I have the heat off and the windows open.  I love spring, always have and likely always will.

So just an FYI for my fellow hockey fans, in case you missed it the old NHL Southeast Division is loving and pretty much tearing up the temporarily COVID realigned standings.  All five former Southeast Division teams are well in the thick of the hunt to make the 2021 Postseason Playoffs.  My Washington Capitals are just two points behind the NY Islanders (but with a game in hand) in Second Place in the "Mass Mutual" East Division.  The Winnipeg Jets (former Atlanta Thrashers) are in third place in the "Scotia" North and are three points/a game and a half ahead of fourth place Montreal. Finally in a surprising twist the other three former Southeast Division Teams, Carolina, Tampa Bay, and Florida are stacked in first, second, and third place respectively in the "Discover" Central division and are all at least three and a half games ahead of the fourth place Chicago Blackhawks.

What a difference a decade makes....

Well that's my musing this morning.  I plan on planting some bulbs and if I can find them a couple of nice yellow rose bushes today to relax.  Thanks to Sam Ruiz and his "crew" from Ruiz Landscaping, my spring yard cleanup has been completed, looks beautiful and in combination with todays lovely weather is inspiring. Tonight I'll watch the Caps-Flyers game (Lets Go Caps!!!).

Hoping everyone stays, safe, healthy and well!

Back???

 What is it about March?  It seems to be this time of year that gets me thinking (musing) about blogging again.  I'm pretty sure I will once again start blogging more regularly.  Now with the pandemic, and other changes in my life, though I doubt my shared musings will be exclusively tied to things totally centered around NHL Hockey, though it is my other than work diversion.  Over the next couple of weeks I'll be revamping and revitalizing "Mark's Musings" and give this all a month or so to see how things go and if my musings illicit any new followers or comments, etc.  After that then I'll reevaluate as to whether it make sense to continue.

Thanks for reading this and stay safe and healthy, everyone!

Let's Go Capitals!

3/20/2019 Some Thoughts After Last Evenings 4-1 Caps Victory

Well attending last evening' Caps game in Newark was enjoyable.  The Portuguese food in Newark's Ironbound District was delightful and the Caps played a reasonably good road game.  My friend Jim's seats as always were awesome (witness the view from my seat as shown at right).

I can attest that Devils' Goalie McKenzie Blackwood played better than his game stat line might lead you to believe if you didn't watch the game yourself.  I can also say without a doubt that to get another two points tonight against Tampa Bay here in DC, the Caps will need to play even better than they did last evening in Newark.  No predictions on the outcome for tonight's game but:

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!

3/19/2019 - Trying To Get Started Blogging (with some discipline & regularity) Again

Well here I go again. Once again I'm trying to get started blogging again.  As in the past, this blog - Mark's Musings - will be my most regular blog and likely primarily blogs about my avocations, particularly, my love and interest in Ice Hockey and my favorite sports team, the NHL's Washington Capitals.  This lovely morning finds me on the Amtrak Regional headed up to Newark to have a business meeting followed by dinner and a hockey game (Caps vs. Devils) in Newark. I know I've blogged about my prior trips to Newark for Devils - Caps games but hey, why not, they are fun and usually very interesting for me.  At this point of this particular NHL season, the Devils are outside the playoff picture looking in, and in a position to be spoilers.

This evening, besides being at "The Rock" rooting for the Capitals, I'll be rooting for the Bruins (to beat the Islanders) and the Hurricanes (to beat the Penguins) - no sense looking to play either the Islanders or Penguins in the first round if our Caps don't need to though I fully expect any road to #BackToBack has to go through at least one of them AND Tampa Bay this season.  Speaking of the Lightning - WOW - they've clinched the President's Trophy with 10 games remaining, AND more importantly they looked really, really powerful the last game the Caps played them.  Speaking of looking really, really powerful - how about that Alex Ovechkin?  With ten games remaining in the regular season, he's just two goals away from ANOTHER fifty (50) goal season, and five (5) goals ahead of Leon Draisaitel as the league's leading goal scorer.  Ovi is, IMO, clearly the best goal scorer of his generation, and perhaps of all time.  At thirty three (33) his nickname a a "Russian Machine" that Never Breaks is well deserved.

As for tonight's game, I'm looking forward to it - last time I was up in Newark, at the beginning of this season, the Caps did not look good or do well.  I expect the way they've been playing this game will be a different story.  We'll have dinner in Newark's Ironbound District then head over to the game - at least that's the plan.  We'll sit behind the goal the Caps defend twice, if I'm REALLY lucky, Ovi will score a goal in the first and then his 50th in the second where I'll be able to see and capture it on my phone really well.  If that happens, I'm also planning on buying extra Powerball tickets tomorrow as my karma will be REALLY REALLY great and who knows what might happen? A trifecta tonight would be looking online after the game and seeing that former Capital/Devil Marcus Johansonn had a hat trick as the Bruins beat the Islanders so the Caps were solidly in first place in the Metro Division. Hey - it could happen.

Seriously I'll just be pleased if it's a solid, well played 60 minute, 200 foot game by the Capitals and they win. My prediction? Easy peasy.

Caps 4 - Devils 2

Lets Go Caps!!!!!

Christmas Eve Musings - 12/24/2018

Wow, where does the time go? Its Christmas Eve and another year is almost over.  As I think over the past year, I can’t help but think over the last several years and think how fortunate and blessed my and my family’s lives have been.  We are all healthy and, by and large, we are all happy. Our lives are full and rewarding. Sure, we are challenged, from time to time, and there are those days that I’m frustrated or wish I could just magically wiggle my nose and magically solve something.  But when I think over our lots in life, I know we have been and are living very fortunate lives.  I don’t know the reason for that, so all I can conclude is, we are blessed.  All I can do is offer prayers of thanks and try to live a good life as best I can and give back where I can.  Thank you, Lord and thank you to my family and friends for your kindness and the generosity of your example, kindness and the gifts of your time, encouragement and friendship.  These are truly the core of my musings as I consider my lot in life this Christmas Eve. 

As I think about those things above, the enjoyment I get from many things in life seem shallow and certainly less important.  One of those shallow things I get joy from is watching and following professional sports, but I do find joy in them.  When I think of the professional hockey team I follow, I console myself in thinking about how much charity and joy I understand the Washington Capitals Players and Staff and the MSE foundation give others who are not as fortunate as me and my family.  Those things make me feel less shallow for following and supporting the Capitals and proud of the team and what it gives back to our community.  But with these sorts of bigger thoughts and feelings of thanks, I think my current blog musings about the Capitals should wait a couple of days.

As I think back and look forward this time on year, I’m thinking about how and what I can give back more myself, especially to our community and I’m likely to start doing that and also musing about it here from time to time to.  

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All.

Two Weeks Gone By; Six More Caps Games Played (4-2-0)

Well in the two weeks since my last blog post the Caps have played six more games; two home games and four on the road and compiled a 4-2-0 record in that period, despite still having two top six forwards out of the lineup injured and one veteran d-man also out. What to say about the Caps during this period - well first they are 8-2-0 in the last ten games and 4-2-0 in the last two weeks. What does that record say to me, well the Cup hangover is gone and they are back. That's the good news. I'm going to look back at the last two weeks in reverse order though, starting with last night's game.

Capitals at Columbus Blue Jackets 12/8/2018

Well in many ways the best road game so far this season.  Out of lineup: Tom Wilson (upper body - concussion?); TJ Oshie (upper body - concussion?); Brooks Orpik (Lower Body); healthy scratch: Christian Djoos; Riley Barber.  Starting Goaltenders: Braden Holtby; Sergei Bobrovsky.  Result 4-0 Caps win.  Where to start? Well, 1) welcome to the National Travis Boyd with his first NHL goal off a pretty nicely orchestrated and setup play by Alex Ovechkin; 2) welcome to the Caps scoring statistics and off the schneid Dmitri Jaskin; 3) awesome saves when the Blue Jackets surged by Holtby to get his second shutout of the season; 4) way to play the full 60 minutes with no passengers to get the win; and finally 5) way to display that fountain of youth and retake the NHL goal scoring lead, our Captain, Alex Ovechkin.  There really wasn't much not to like about this game if you're a Caps fan.  Final thought: I hope Blue Jackets' coach John Tortorella feels better soon, he really looked pale and under the weather as he apparently has been for a while, but the sweater is styling.

Capitals at Arizona Coyotes 12/6/2018

Well - I missed this game as I was on the road for work and didn't finish driving back home from NY until after the game ended.  Starting Goaltenders: Phoenix Copley; Adin Hill. Out of lineup: Tom Wilson (upper body - concussion?); TJ Oshie (upper body - concussion?); Brooks Orpik (Lower Body - LTIR); healthy scratch: Madison Bowey.  Andre Burakovsky scored the GWG late in the third period, was named the first star but apparently didn't think he had a great game based on his post game comment: "This game is funny. Overall, I wasn't really there today, I had a tough one. Some nights, you have 1,000 chances and can't score. Some nights, you're struggling and you get one." Copley turned in a solid performance: 0.931 SV% stopping 27 of 29 SOG to earn his sixth win of the season and his record for the year is now 6-2-0-1 with a 2.95 GAA and 0.902 SV%.

Capitals at Vegas Golden Knights 12/4/2018

This ended up being somewhat an Olyde Type Hockey game thanks to the antics of one Ryan Reaves of theKnights and the Caps lost in the end by a score of 5-3.  Out of Line Up: TJ Oshie (upper body - concussion?); Brooks Orpik (Lower Body - LTIR); healthy scratches: Jonas Siegenthaler; Travis Boyd. Out of Lineup for VGK: Max Pacioretty. Starting Goaltenders: Braden Holtby; Marc-Andre Fleury.  Result was a 5-3 regulation loss by the Capitals. Well highlights and low lights were: highlights: 1) Nate Schmidt scored twice and had an assist against his former team (us); 2) Jakub Vrana scored twice showing his speed and hands off; 3) Ovi scored his 20th goal of the season thus far; lowlights: 1) Ryan Reaves is trash for sure, pure unadulterated trash - it's not just his actions, targeting not just Wilson but Ovechkin and every other player he could the entire game until his ejection nope not just that but also his post game comment on the Wilson hit was out of line and unrepentant; 2) VGK's coaching staff - nobody plays like Reaves did for 14 shifts/10:48 TOI until the officials ejected him without doing so with the encouragement of his coach/coaching staff, also given the post game comments; 3) the fact the Caps didn't respond after Reaves took Wilson out of the game either physically or on the scoreboard to me is a low light and something I lay at the feet of the players and the coaching staff, but understandable in Butthead Bettman's NHL.  I'm just consoling myself with the fact that the next two games the Caps have played well and the thought that if this is the best game VGK can throw out there after losing the SCF and the first meeting this season to us, then I don't see them making the playoffs again this post season.

Anaheim Ducks at Capitals 12/2/2018

Worst Caps Home performance in ... I can't remember how long.  Out of Lineup: TJ Oshie (upper body - concussion?); Brooks Orpik (Lower Body - LTIR); healthy scratches: Jonas Siegenthaler; Travis Boyd. Starting Goaltenders: Braden Holtby, John Gibson. Result 6-5 regulation loss by the Caps.  Where to start, well at the end of the first period the Caps were leading 3-1and had chased John Gibson from the net; midway through the second period they were leading 5-1; at the end of the second period the Caps were still leading 5-3 but momentum had shifted; at the end of the third period the Ducks had won it 6-5 after scoring 5 unanswered goals on the Capitals.  In between the 13:30 mark of the second period when Nic Down scored the Caps fifth goal and the end of the game, it seemed like they decided they could phone the rest of the game in most of the time and the few times they even shot on net, Ryan Miller (in for Gibson) rose to the challenge.  My conclusion is simple the Capitals played an uninspired second two periods and Todd Reirden got severely out coached by Randy Carlyle.  Carlyle's team was laying a huge egg when he pulled Gibson, and whatever he said to them or got them to say to themselves at the first intermission meant they knew to win you can't ever give-up not until the game is over.  Contrast that to how the Caps came out for the third period and the lack of adjustments by them to ensure they finished the game with the two points they should have gotten out of this contest.

New Jersey Devils at Capitals 11/30/2018

Backstrom with the Hat Trick and an assist; Holtby with a 33 save/ 0.917 SV%. Out of Lineup: TJ Oshie (upper body - concussion?); Brooks Orpik (Lower Body - LTIR); healthy scratches: Jonas Siegenthaler; Travis Boyd. Starting Goaltenders: Braden Holtby, Keith Kinkaid. Result 6-3 Capitals Win.  A dominant game by Capitals first line:  Backstrom 3G, 1A; Ovechkin 1G, 2A; Tom Wilson 1G.  The post game discussion on this one was all around Wilson's match penalty for his hit on Brett Seney, which got him ejected even though I didn't think it was a hit to the head, targeting, etc. and based on Seney's post game comments, I don't think it was either.  NHL Player Safety also opted not to mete out any supplemental discipline and saw the event similarly to myself and Todd Reirden did.  That said, it's a reminder that Tom Wilson has to really think about every hit he makes.

Capitals at New York Islanders 11/26/2018

A solid road game against former Cap's Bench Boss' Islanders gets Caps two points in regulation.  Out of Lineup: TJ Oshie (upper body - concussion?); Evgeny Kuznetsov (upper body)  Brooks Orpik (Lower Body - LTIR); healthy scratch: Jonas Siegenthaler. Starting Goaltenders: Braden Holtby, Thmas Greiss. A solid, solid road win marked by excellent play by the first line:  Tom Wilson 2G, 1A; Alex Ovechkin 1G, Nicklas Backstrom 3A and Braden Holtby 0.967 SV% (32/33). Result 4-1 win by our Washington Capitals.

This Week:

Next up this week will be three games: Tuesday at home against the Detroit Red Wings who are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games; Friday at Carolina against the Hurricanes who are 5-4-1 in their last 10 gams, and Saturday they host Buffalo who are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games.  I'm looking forward to attending my next game for the Saturday game against the Sabres, they've been a surprise to me this season, I didn't expect them to be this good until next season or so. With the parity in the league this season, especially in the Eastern Conference where just 8 points/3-4 games separate the third place Sabres to the 13th Place Ottawa Senators, any team can beat any other team on a given night/day.  So this weeks games should be good but I'm still optimistic about the Caps getting 6 more points out of the next three games and if the Caps play all of them like they played they played last evening in Columbus.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!

Struggling to Find Time ... to Blog and Other Things Too

Well it's now been a little over 6 weeks since I last did a blog post where in I declared my intent to revive my blogging waves and my life is conspiring to make that hard by keeping me too busy now that I am out of the habit of blogging my ideas and thought, especially my Washington Capital elated thoughts every other day or so.  Alas I will still try ... dagnabbit, I WILL.

Well since my last blog post on October 7th, "OUR" Washington Capitals have played 21 additional games, been up and down, and now seem to be settling in for the remaining ~ 3/4 of the NHL season with the type of game and effort we grew accustomed to last season.  The Capitals are now 13-7-3 sitting just barely atop the Metropolitan Division and facing the NY Islanders coached by Barry Trotz , himself.  The Islanders are surprising everyone being a well coached team playing with great structure and showing the league there is "life after JT (John Tavares.)

The last two weeks the Caps played eight games and have compiled a 6-2-0 record.  The Caps now have First Line Tom Wilson back on the ice, are playing with both Evgeny Kuznetsov and TJ Oshie out of the lineup; and with Brooks Orpik also out of the line-up.  Lots of guys are stepping up and making a difference but there is no doubt the Tom Wilson's return is helping to motivate the team, as is his play.  Alex Ovechkin is also playing awesomely, the 33 year old, generational talent LW has 5 G and 2 A in his last five games and now is on pace for a 6oG season,  Another guy stepping up to make sure Kuznetsov being out of the lineup doesn't hurt the Caps too badly is 31 year old Nicklas Backstroke.  Back is also playing pretty awesomely - he has 2G and 3A in the Caps Last five games and a 51.27% FO win rate and a total of 25 points (6G & 19A) in the 23GP for the season thus far.  If your counting that's on pace for 89 points this season.

Both John Carlson and Dmitry Orlov have stepped it u and Madison Bowey and Christian Djoos have elevated their games too to fill the gaps left by steady Eddie stay at home D-Man Brooks Orpik's absence.  Frankly  Matt Niskenan and Michael Kempny have also elevated their games so that's really good news.  Finally when Braden Holtby was out of the lineup for a couple of three games, Phoenix Copely showed me that all least for this season, he's the Caps solid answer for a backup goaltender.

In just an hour or so the Caps face off against Trotz and the Islanders - if when they win they will have a six game win streak going and will have clearly shaken the "Cup Hangover."

I'm predicting the Caps will maintain their structure and discipline as did the NY Rangers last week when they beat the Islanders 5-0. Since that game against the Rangers, the Isles have beaten the Devils and the Hurricanes in relatively low scoring affairs but they (the Islanders) scored 4 against the Devils and $ against the Hurricanes.  I'm predicting this game will be even lower scoring and the Caps will win 3-2 in Regulation.

Islander Players to Watch: Mathew Barzel & Leo Karmorov
Capitals Players to Watch:  Alex Ovechkin & Dmitry Orlov

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!

Should I or Shouldn't I ? ... Blog That Is

Last March I threatened to return to blogging but now I really do think it's time.  After watching the first two Capitals games of the 2018-19 season and a couple of other games I think I'm ready to actually do it.  I hope I can again become disciplined and rigorous enough to muse and blog about hockey at least after every Caps game this season and maybe even about a couple other things in my middle age pretty boring life.  To catch up, we no longer live in Bucolic Bristow, or Charleston.  We're back in Northern VA and now living in Friendly Fairfax.  Fairfax is nice! It's closer - no more daily 30+ mile commute to Arlington/Crystal City via and with the traffic on the Sunset Strip.  Why it took me 22 years to realize, that for us, a place like this, and a smaller house (in square footage) was right for us, I have no idea, That said both my wife and I and our furry family members are very happy here - side bonus is it's A LOT easier to get to and from Capital One Center, and a lot other places in the DCMVA area we typically go.  Enough about me, what about hockey?  Well, I still split the tickets with two former colleagues I used to work with - it's a great arrangement.  I never gave up the tickets or on the Capitals so they are still awesome seats with and around awesome fellow hockey fans in Section 103.  So here we go, I'm gonna blog again.

As I mentioned earlier, I did not have the tickets for opening night so I watched that game on NBCsN.  I also watched the Pittsburgh game at home. Both were great games to watch IMO, even though the Bruins really were not ready to play on opening night.  The Caps retained their structure and the result showed what they could do - which is basically play the same way that propelled them through the playoffs to the Cup.  The first line 8, 92, and 10 in for 43 looked very good the entire game.  13-19-77 looked very good and very fast when they need/wanted to.  63-20-18 was very solid and fast, in fact 18 (Stephenson) was wicked fast a couple of times in GM 1 vs Boston, but flashed his speed even more-so the following evening in Pittsburgh.  The fourth line looked very good as well during game 1, I think we're all going to decide Nic Dowd was another great pickup by GMBM The fact that during the 7-0 trouncing of the Bruins the scoring came from six different players across all four lines last seasons leading scoring defenseman - John Carlson, and the Matt Niskanen, and even Braden Holtby had assists was #awesome.  Simply put, Game 1 could not have gone better for the Caps all around.  The team played fast, structured hockey and there were no passengers.

Game 2 in Pittsburgh was a different story.  We can all whine about starting the season with a back to back against two good opponents, but why should we - what would be the point? I submit there is none.  Look the Caps-Pens rivalry is fun hockey to watch anytime.  Game 2 for the Capitals was Game 1 and the Home Opener for the Penguins.  It needed up being fire wagon hockey, a least on the score sheet.  The Caps had their chances to win it for sure.  Their legs as a group didn't look like they held up as well as we Caps fans would have liked to have seen, especially in the this period when they took three penalties because, IMO, of the Pens moving their feet better and faster.  That said, the Caps did have their chances to put the game away, they led 3-2 after the first period, trailed 5-4 after the second, and forced overtime at 6-6 thanks to two goals from TJ Oshie in the third.  They lost in OT 7-6 with Evgeni Kuznetsov in the penalty box and the Pens on the PP.  Given as Sidney Crosby said in post game comments "It's not often you win a game giving up 6 goals in this league" -it's even less often you win one if you give up 7 goals.  As pretty and well executed as Game 1 was for the Caps, Game 2 was that chaotic, crazy and unstructured by both teams, I'm sure neither coaching staff was all that happy with what they saw from their teams in the Caps Game 2.

For the Caps the consolation is they finished the first two games of the season and their first set of back to backs against two good teams earning 3 out of 4 possible points.  They then have a rest until this coming Wednesday when they take on VGK, here at home.  I can't wait that's the first "real" game of this season that I will be at.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!

I'm Back ....

    Well after a two year hiatus from blogging I've decided to give it a try again.  I'm going to go back to my beginnings though and blog about all my musings, not just the Washington Capitals.  Though, how about those Capitals?  Tonight they beat the Islanders for the second time in two nights and are now in first place in the Metropolitan division as the regular season has only 11 games remaining for most teams.  Even more importantly the Caps have now rebounded, IMO, from playing very lackluster hockey to playing 7-3-0 in their last 10 games.  That's looking pretty good, IMO.  Next up on Sunday is an important game against the Flyers in Philadelphia.

   How about the NCAA Tournament? aka March Madness?  Can you believe UMBC? I know I was shocked - pleasantly.

    Also in other news, we've moved back to the DC Metro area - last October and just today closed on the purchase of a "new to us" house in Fairfax City.  I've changed jobs and am now working for a small local software company and there we're moving offices too.  So lots of change going on for me.

Basically, life is good.  Well more thoughts and musings later...

2015-16 Washington Caps: Just How Good Is 98 Points in 63 Games, and What Do The Caps Need to Do Now To Reach Their Goal?

Wow, ... just wow.  That's how good 98 points in 63 games is - the Capitals have played 0.7778 hockey over the course of the season thus far; in the 77% of the season completed to date, the Capitals have basically amassed enough points so that they would have qualified for the playoffs in either conference last season.  That's pretty good in itself.  Then consider these items, the Caps:

• Current Goal Differential (+63) is already better than last season's awesome +60 goal differential by the 2015 President's Trophy winning NY Rangers.
• The Caps current GF/Game and GA/Game numbers are right up there with last season's league leaders numbers as well.
• The Caps current record over the last 10 games 7-3-0 is the third best in the league behind only Anaheim's perfect 10-0-0 and Tampa Bay's 8-2-0 numbers despite the fact the league leading Capitals are 7 1/2 games ahead of the second place (for the league) Black Hawks and 9 1/2 games ahead of the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference.  Both the Ducks and the Lightning on the other hand are now in dogfights to win their division after relatively slow starts to their seasons.  To be clear the Caps have shown basically slow starts to their games over the last 10 plus games but have responded over the course of those games and shown their talent and compete levels are there and able to find ways to take control of most games and win against anyone and play in "heavy style and games."

Basically from a general perspective, the challenges now for the Caps between no and April 15th is integrating their trade deadline pickups to the lineup, which shouldn't be overly difficult since GMBM's pickups were for depth vice addressing any key position needs.  The other thing they need to do is to stay interested and get or stay healthy. That means continuing to play the right way and make sure they don't develop any bad habits over the last 19 games of the season.

What do the Caps need to do to reach their goal - which is to still be playing and winning in June? That's a harder question, if the season ended today I think their road to that goal would be through: Pittsburgh; Madison Square Garden (NYR); Tampa Bay; and either Chicago, LA, or Anaheim.  Think about that and you can clearly see why the Stanley Cup really is the most difficult Professional Sports Championship to win.  Despite likely winning the league regular season by 5 or more games, to win the Championship the Caps will have to win 16 of what will likely be 22+ games against other teams who now have average records of 0.620 and are all very solid, accomplished teams of prideful, professionals.  That's a long row to hoe for anyone who wants to win "The Cup."  To do so will, as with prior years, take complete teams playing complete 200' hockey for sixty or sixty plus minutes per game.  Thankfully the Capitals are a deeper and stronger on the puck hockey team then they've been, possibly ever, but certainly for any time over the past decade.  They now have eight (8) NHL quality defensemen capable of playing in basically any situation - yes I'm assuming that John Carlson will end the regular season back in the lineup and in awesome playing shape for the start of the playoffs.  They have two (2) NHL quality goalies, on having a season clearly worthy of Vezina Trophy consideration, and I predict assuming they have a deep playoff run the way he's been playing Holtby is likely to be in consideration for the Conn Smythe as well.  Then there's the Caps depth on the forward lines, the Caps are clearly a four line team with threats on all four lines from Rocket Richard leading Alex Ovechkin to late season pickup fourth line Center Mike Richards.  As long as they continue to play the right way and play a 200' game generating their scoring chances from sound defense and solid breakouts from their own zone, the Caps at times appear unstoppable.  That said the road to Lord Stanley's Cup will be through four other teams whose fans and Bloggers will likely be justifiably writing similar comments and accolades.  One things for sure, the next two months we Capital's fans will be again treated to some excellent hockey contests and I am as optimistic as I've ever been that will continue into June.

LETS GO CAPS

- starting with tonight's game against the Rangers at Verizon Center.

Happy New Year - Farewell 2015 and "How 'bout 'dem Washington Capitals!?!

Well fellow Capitals fans it's been a couple of months since September when I last posted here about our favorite NHL team, the Washington Capitals.  To say they've been good months for us and the Caps would, frankly, be an understatement.  Right now, as of this AM, the Capitals are running away in the standings from 28 other teams in the league.  The only team that the Caps are close with are the Dallas Stars who are also having a great season so far.  I'm writing this blog post in such a positive tone right after a Caps underwhelming loss to the Carolina Hurricanes last evening for two main reasons.  The Capitals 58 points in 37 games is truly an amazing 0.784 pace through the season to date and that's a pace that would see them end the season with 128 points which would likely mean another President's Trophy for them.  That's pretty good stuff, though we know now a great regular season is no guarantee of post season success, so I suspect none of us Capitals fans are all that excited about the simple standings point total, I know I'm not.  What I am excited about is the way the Capitals are playing and winning so far - look at the league standings and you can quickly see despite being an offensively potent team (the Capitals 117 GF and 3.162 GF/G is second best (to Dallas) in the league,) the Caps are creating scoring chances by taking care of things in their own end and playing defense first (their 78 GA and 2.11 GA/G) is best in the league.  The Capitals goal differential of +39 ties them with Dallas for the best in league on that score, so you can see with a goal differential of +1.05 the Caps are a worthy opponent for any team in the NHL to measure themselves against.  The other thing that has been noted by several on air and MSM print analysts of late is this Capitals team is basically strong and deep across the board at every position.  That's why both they and the Dallas Stars are basically 4+ games ahead of the Los Angeles Kings and 6 1/2+ games ahead of anybody else in the league as they skate through the New Year toward the 2016 NHL All Star Break.

So as we look towards April 2016 and the start of the NHL post season, what's the season to date portend about what it will take to for sure make the playoffs? Well lets start with saying it's likely going to take 97+ points to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference and 94+ points to make it in the Western Conference with the possible exception of the third place  spot in the Pacific Division.  This is a bit of an anomaly compared to recent years when the Western Conference has been clearly the stronger of the two Conferences however the strongest division (and hardest to get into the playoffs from) still is in the West - the Central Division could easily end up with five (5) teams in the playoffs and the number seven and eight seeds in the Western Conference will likely be as likely to get past the first round as not by any odds maker's book. At this point the teams in the West I consider long shots at best (odds of 25-1) of making the playoffs is really just Edmonton, with just 33 points in 39 games and a goal differential -22, even though Edmonton is in the Pacific Division and only 4 games behind the third place San Jose Sharks, I don't think you can give them better than 25-1 odds against making the playoffs at this time.  Calgary, Anaheim, and Vancouver are all only 1 1/2 games or less behind San Jose so that means the Pacific Division will be a battle ground for the second and third place post season spots the rest of the way this season and from an odds perspective until somebody breaks away from the pack of Arizona, San Jose, Vancouver, Anaheim and Calgary in either direction the odds of any of two of those five teams making the post season will be pretty much equal.  In the Central Division, those teams records and play to date - all seven of them - has been better than all of the Pacific division, with the clear exception of the LA Kings, however right now things aren't looking good for Winnipeg who is in seventh place in the Division with just 36 points in 37 games and a - 10 goal differential.  Winnipeg needs to get more consistent on defense and keep the puck out of their own end and net more if they are going to turn things around and begin the climb to a playoff spot.  Right now they are 3 games out of a Wild Card spot and with a 6-14-0 record against Western Conference opponents so far this season, their 109 GA and 2.95 GA/G (vs a GF/G of just 2.68) giving them a 20-1 chance of making the playoffs is probably being kind.  Other than that in the West we probably have to wait till the end of January to start to draw any conclusions or make any real projections.

In the East, unless the injury bug hits hard or some other thing causes anomalous behavior to start soon and continue for some time the Caps will be the number 1 seed and seeds 2 through 8 will likely finish within 6 points of each other.  Truth be known based on the NHL season to date, in the East any one of 12 or even 13 teams besides the Capitals could find themselves in the post season as likely as any of the other teams in that group.  The only teams I'd put at greater than 25-1 odds of making the playoffs in the East right now are Columbus and Buffalo, and that's as much because of their goal differential and either their abysmal GF (Buffalo) or GA (Columbus) totals to date.  Similarly for like reasons I consider Philadelphia and Carolina longer shots at getting into the post season then the rest of the conference, including Toronto.

What's it all mean - it means that the Leagues quest for parity in the interest of keeping things interesting longer through the NHL Regular season is basically working.  To me that's a good thing, it means more games will matter longer into the season.  If you look at the rule change to the three man OT it also means that's working as there are fewer and fewer "shoot outs" (45 to date this season) and that's a good thing too, but to me it still means that now more than ever, every game should be worth three points - I'd love to see it where if a team wins in regulation they get three points while a win in OT or via shoot out is worth only two points.  That would mean the only real "tie breaker" that might matter is how you do versus Conference and Division opponents and everything else could be seen right up front throughout the season by your overall point total. 

In the meantime next up for our Washington Capitals will be tomorrow in Columbus against the Blue Jackets now coached by John Torterella - anyone heading to Columbus for the game please make sure to bring a big water bottle to the game in case the former Ranger's coach gets out of hand, okay.  Just kidding sort of.  That should be a good game except for the inevitable Ryan Johannson TOI tracker that inevitably will be some pre and post game discussion given the current media and rumor mill chatter.

Thirteen Days and Then It's Hockey Time Again - Lets Go Caps!!!!

Well fellow Caps fans, just two weeks until the Capitals open their 2015-2016 NHL season.  In the next day or two the staff will pare down the roster so it is substantially closer to the final slate of 23 players who will be on the roster for opening night's game.  By and large most of those spots are clear, in fact there's at least 15 players in my opinion who are a "lock" for that roster.  By "sweater number they are: 2) Matt Niskanen; 8) Alexander Ovechkin; 9) Dmitry Orlov; 14) Justin Williams; 25) Jason Chimera; 27) Karl Alzner; 43) Tom Wilson; 44) Brooks Orpik; 65) Andre Burakovsky; 70) Braden Holtby; 74) John Carlson; 77) T. J. Oshie; 88) Nate Schnmidt; 90) Marcus Johansson; and 92) Evgeny Kuznetsov. Add 19) Nicklas Backstrom if he's healthy enough and you have 16 spots spoken for/allocated but I suspect he will not be .  That leaves 7 spots to be assigned that are currently being "fought for," It remains unclear wether either Justin Peters or Philipp Grubaurr will be the backup for Holtby but that takes us down to 6 open spots on the roster.  Then one of the remaining guys, I'm guessing Taylor Chorney because of his size will be the seventh D-Man and also assuming that Brooks Orpik will be healthy on opening night and you are down to five (5) open spots on the roster.  Now,  if you assume that 21) Brooks Laich is currently un-tradeable and we are down to 4 open spots, unless he's traded to free up Cap space, etc.

So here's where we are so far on opening night:  Forward Lines:
Line 1:    8 -  92 - 77
Line 2:  65 -  ?? - 14
Line 3:  90 -  21/83 - 43
Line 4:  25 -  83/21 - ??
13th Forward:  ???
14th Forward:  19 (Scratched on Opening Night)

Defense Pairings:
First Pairing:      74 - 44
Second Pairing:    2 - 27
Third Pairing:       9 - 88
7th Defenseman:  4

Goaltenders:  70 & 31 or 35.

I believe the last roster spots on opening night will be: 1 - 10) Center Derek Roy who I think will be signed to a single year contract by the Capitals later this week. 2 - 49) W Stanislav Galiev and 3 - 46)  Center Michael Latta. I project the opening night 2nd line center will be Roy  and Galiev and Latta will round out the final two roster slots on opening night and Backstrom will be a scratch or on IR.

What do you think?  Are you looking forward to this season as much as I am?

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!

Still Quite Happy to Be A Caps Fan!!!

Well fellow Caps fans it's a little more than four months and then some since my last blog post.  The Caps exited the playoffs in mid-May, before they, you and  I 'd have liked, but once again I find myself optimistic about the upcoming season thanks to the moves the Caps have made since mid-June.  Once again Capitals GM Brian McClellan (GMBM) has seemingly filled the upcoming season with promise.  The Caps Free Agent signings, especially Justin Williams, as well as what I think will be a great "hockey" trade the Capitals:  TJ Oshie from Saint Louis for Troy Brouwer, Phoenix Copley and a third round draft pick.  Overall while I am very sad to see the departure of Mike Green from the Capitals I understand it and I like the way the 2015-2016 Washington Capitals team roster is looking as far as which UFAs they are signing and which UFAs they opted not to resign. The Capital's roster as it's shaped up is pretty interesting.

The resigning of both RFA's Braden Holtby and Marcus Johannson are things I like as well, I think having both those talented guys back and in the fold are solid things. 

Then we have the UFA departures/not resigning of Mike Green, Joel Ward, John Erskine, Tim Gleason or Curtis Glencross and Eric Fehr. I'll miss Mike Green and I think the Capitals will as well however, for the role that Barry Trotz and GMBM envisioned for Green, in the salary cap era and with the cap not going up much this season, the Capitals just couldn't afford to keep him at $6+M per season.  Notice I'm not commenting on other aspects of this, as one of my biggest fears for the next couple of seasons is meeting the Red Wings in the playoffs and having Mike Green, in Norris Trophy finalist form, scoring game 7 game winners against us.  So yes, I'm a Mike Green fan and will remain so and I really wish him well.  All I will say is to make sure that doesn't happen a guy who now wears the number 2 on a Capitals sweater needs to step up his game, despite have a pretty solid season in his first year as a Washington Capital last year.

I'll also miss Joel Ward and I think if Ward had indicated a clear willingness to sign a 3 year deal in the neighborhood he ended up with in San Jose, he would likely still be a Washington Capital. Alas, I think the Capitals were smart to say a clear no to a four year term deal for the 33 year old Ward, and I think the change out of Wardo and Troy Brouwer for TJ Oshie and Justin Williams is overall a step forward and might be a big part of what the Capitals need to make further into the playoffs in 2016.

Another lesser discussed signing I like is Dan Ellis, to say that last season Justin Peters underwhelmed is understatement, now how the three/four goalie situation gets handled remains to be seen but I'm betting Peters is on waivers on his way to Hersehey at the end of training camp assuming Ellis is healthy and ready to go as Holtby's primary backup.  In fact I'm betting that Peters is Grubauer's backup in Central PA when the season starts and asking for a trade, any trade to any NHL team that will give him a shot. 

These signings and the Oshie trade all mean to me that the team that takes the ice for the season opener will be different, in a positive sense, then the one that left the ice on May 15th.  The add of Oshie and  Williams mean the Right Wing side of the Caps Forward Lines are looking  much, much different than when the Caps left the ice this spring; and that young Andre Burakovsky as well as young Tom Wilson and Marcus Johanson can all be rotated through the second and third lines so they are fresh, healthy and productive well they continue to develop their offensive and two way games, all season long.  Then on lines one and two, the Caps go from having really no clear 1RW to having ... well no clear 1RW but for an entirely different reason then this spring - because they have two guys who could/will compliment 19 and 8 on the first line.

Then we have the 180 degree change for the Caps at the 2C positing, 2C IMO has been pretty much a no mans land since the Caps opted not to resign Mike Ribero and he went to Nashville.  But now?   Well, to me the 2015 playoffs confirmed Evgeny Kuznetsov in the number 92 car as the Capitals 2C and  McClellan has now signed  him to an entirely reasonable 2 year $6M extension.  Also, I'll go out on a limb here and assume that Marcus Johansson will play 3C and that line will be faster and more skillful and productive than it has been since the 2009-2010 season. So, I believe that will leave the Capitals with a top six of: Ovechkin - Backstrom - Williams  and Burakovsky or Johannson - Kuznetsov - Oshie; then for the third and fourth lines I see Laich -Joahnsson- Wilson and Chimera - Beagle - Latta.   This team has forward depth, size, talent and grit top to bottom in my view.

At the end of the day the guy who really doesn't fit in terms of productivity and salary cap hit vs. role though now is Brooks Laich.  A guy struggling to fit into the lineup on the third or fourth line and whose main talent, right now is on the PK,  should not be a guy with a salary cap hit forward of  $4.5M.  Look around the league and what do you see for that kind of money?  I'll tell you 20 foot, two way players who are clearly on the top 6 forward, a clear cut second liners who put pucks in the net as well as they keep other teams from scoring.  Brooks Laich used to be one of those but that day passed when he missed most of two seasons with injury.  As yourself for his current $4.5M Brooks Laich or Brad Marchand?  Brooks Laich or Matt Belesky?  Brooks Laich or Louie Erikson?  Brooks Laich or Scott Hartnell?  Brooks Laich or Matt Stajan?  Brooks Laich or Bryan Bickell?  Brooks Laich or Johan Franzen?  Brooks Laich or Milan Lucic?  Brooks Laich or Marian Gaboriak?  Brooks Laich or Max Pacioretty?  Brooks Laich or David Desharnais?  Brooks Laich of Lars Eller?  Brooks Laich or Mike Fisher? Brooks Laich or Kyle Okposo? Oh and if you said Kyle put  $1M in your pocket?  Brooks Laich or Mats Zucarello? Brooks Laich or Wayne Simmonds?  Oh and if you said Simmonds put $500K in your pocket.  Brooks Laich or Patric Hornquist?  How about this one - Brooks Laich or Joel Ward and if you said Wardo put $1.25M in your pocket.   Brooks Laich or David Backes?  Brooks Laich or James Van Riemsdyk?  Brooks Laich or Tyler Bozak?  Brooks Laich or Bryan Little?  Brooks Laich or Andrew Ladd?  I think the above illustrates my point going through the contracts and Cap hits of comparably compensated players I just named 20+ players I consider better values for ~$4.5M of salary cap hit (or less) than the player Brooks Laich is today.  Geroge McPhee made some good deals and signings, in retrospect and with another season (the 2016-17 season) to go on it, the contract Laich was signed to in 2011 was not one of them.  Hopefully he can get to be 80+% of the player/contributor that deserved that contract in the 2010-11 season.  Unless he does though he will be significantly overpaid versus his "comps" around the NHL.  I'll work hard this season not to bring this item up again and hopefully Brooks returns to the form that earned him his current contract so I won't be tempted to mention it ever again.

Now on to other items of interest - only forty days  till the 2015-16 season opens ... though before that we'll have training camp and get to once again watch heart and soul guys like Liam O'Brien, Sean Collins, and Nate Schmidt fight for a roster spot.  All while we get a chance to see how talented youngsters like Stan Galiev, Madison Bowey, Nathan Walker, Jakab Vrana, and Conner Carrick are developing and getting ready to challenge for a spot here in the NHL ... will it be now?  From what I see the Caps cupboards are stocked, the system in place and the time may even be now.  What time you ask?  The time we've all been waiting for....

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Spring Has Sprung and You Know What That Means...

Sorry for the now almost six weeks since my last blogpost fellow musers.  I had some work related travel and a few other distractions with life in the meantime and lets face it, this blog isn't really a priority with me like it was several years ago.  Also I really didn't have all that much to write about
.  At the time of my last blogpost on February 12th, our Washington Capitals were pretty much in the same place, standings-wise as they are now, well on their way to a playoff spot but not a shoe-in by any means.  In the ensuing almost six weeks and 22 games the Capitals have gathered 8 more ROW than they had on 2/12 and an 11-7-0 record (22 more standings points).  That's not as good by any means as the Ottawa Senators who now basically trail the Caps by just 1 game in the Eastern Conference standings (since 2/12 the Senators have been the hottest team in hockey with a blistering 16-2-1 record).  I mention the Senators just to illustrate why I believe the Capitals while on the right track are not shoe-ins for the playoffs.  Six weeks ago did anyone in the Hockey world think the then 10th place (in the Conference) Senators would be in control of their own destiny right now as far as making the playoffs.  I doubt it - at least other than the Senators themselves maybe.

Right now to me it looks like to be sure your team makes the playoffs in the East, they're going to need 98+ points and at least 39 ROW.  Are the Caps on track for that - simply put if they keep playing just under 0.600 hockey between now and tax day, yes; if they backslide to 0.500 they will find themselves in the dogfight for the top spot on the bubble with Boston, Ottawa (can any team keep up the pace they are on - that remains to be seen), and to a lesser degree, Florida if the Panthers stay on their current 0.650 pace or pick it up a little. So here's how I see the Eastern Conference regular season ending.  The current top three teams: Rangers, Canadians, and Lightning will be the top three teams; in the Metropolitan Division I just don't see anyone who is within striking distance (Islanders, Penguins, or our Capitals) playing that much better than 0.600 the rest of the way - the schedules are too tough for all three teams and right now the Islanders are 0.400 in their last 10 games while the Penguins are 0.450.  Additionally all three of the teams chasing the Rangers in the Metropolitan Division are 4.5 - 6 games behind the Rangers and have less than 10 games left in their seasons and even if the Senators basically "win out" they end up with 105 points,  so assuming the Rangers who've been 8-1-1 in their last 10 games regress to 0.500 hockey in their last 11 games of the season and finish with 110 points they still likely win the Division and are one of the top 3 seeds in the Conference. Nope the scoreboard watcher's excitement here in the East is the battles for seeding between the Red Wings, Islanders, Penguins and Capitals; and the battle between Ottawa, Boston and at least for a few more games, Florida for the final available playoff spot in the Conference. 

As far as the battle between the Red Wings, Islanders, Penguins and Capitals for seeding, I'll note that while all three of their rivals have games in hand on the Caps, only the Capitals have a better than 0.500 in their last 10 games.  Additionally in my view while Detroit and the Islanders may have a slightly easier schedule but I subjectively feel the Caps remaining schedule is the toughest of those four while the Penguins is the weakest/easiest.  All that said I don't think it matters that much.  The Conference beyond 1, 2, and 3 is wide open and once the second season starts any of the eight teams that get in after the next three weeks could win the Conference and make it deep to the Stanley Cup finals as far as I can tell.

Out West while Dallas is trying to make it interesting playing to an 8-2-0 record in their last 10 games they basically have to win out in their last 9 games and finish with 98 points to be sure of making the playoffs, maybe they could loose one and finish with 96 if  both Minnesota and Winnipeg somehow choke/tank but given both of those teams are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games the odds of that happening are miniscule, IMO.  It's even doubtful to me that the LA Kings who are now 1 1/2 games behind the Jets and 1 game behind Calgary with 10 games to play get in though it will be a few more games before on can "call that ball." Otherwise it's all just a battle for seeding for 1-3 between Anaheim, Nashville, and Saint Louis and for 4-8 between Chicago, Vancouver, Calgary, Minnesota, Winnipeg *and/or, if they somehow make it, LA.  The only team in that mix NOT playing 0.600+ hockey in their last ten games are the Predators though and they already have 96 points and 36 ROW so they'd finish with 100+ and ~40 ROW even on their current (last 10 games) 0.350 pace.

So Caps fans next up those pesky Devils from Newark on Thursday evening here at Verizon Center and I say....

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!

How Much Tougher To Play Against Are the '14-'15 Caps than the '13-'14 Version?

Well if you're wondering just how much tougher a team to play against this season's version of the Washington Capitals are than last seasons, I say look no further than one particular column in the NHL Standings.  I'm not a total "fancy stats" guy, in the end I'm really a bottom line kind of guy.  To me to answer the question: "are this season's Washington Capitals Much Tougher a team to beat than last season's model?"  I say the answer is a resounding "YES!" and point to the NHL Standings column "ROW" - Regulation & overtime Wins - last season through all 82 games the Caps tallied a total of twenty eight (28).  This season through fifty five (55) games the Caps now have twenty seven (27), that's why this season the Caps are on pace to total 100+ points and last season they totaled 90 when the season was over.  So if you're "STH" - Season Ticket Holder start saving your sheckels to pay for your playoff tickets and keep rooting for the Caps to keep playing like they've been playing since the start of December.

The Caps are not playing tonight and to be honest I dozed off at the backend of the second period during last evening "tilt" in San Jose, so if you're looking for a good recap/summer go on over to Peerless's Blog. 

In the meantime if you are going to watch tonight's games I put this little guide so if you like me are a Capitals fan you can easily identify who you should be rooting for this evening.

In the meantime, I'm already thinking about the Caps next game in LA at Staples Center and hoping "our boys" are charged up to put on a good show and snatch another two points in front of their Dads as it's the start of the annual Fathers Trip.

 

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

It's All Good As Far As I can Tell In "CapsLand" Today....

Well fellow Caps fans in the week that has occurred since my last public musings/blog post as far as I can tell it's pretty much all good here in "Capsland." 

From a "big picture perspective" the Caps remain on track for a 100 point/40+ ROW season even though currently they are in the top wild card spot in the Eastern Conference as the third place NY Rangers have 3 games in hand on the Caps.  However the overall metropolitan Division race has tightened as only three points separate the Caps from the First Place Islanders.  Additionally the top of the Eastern Conference Standings have also tightened, even though 7 points separate the seventh place Caps from the first place Tampa Bay Lightning, only three points separate them from the Third Place Montreal Canadiens. Additionally there are now 8 points between the Caps and the currently "wrong side of the bubble" ninth 9th place Florida Panthers.  All things to ponder, muse/consider with just three weeks left before the 2014-2015 NHL Season trade deadline.

The Caps have played four games this past week racking up a 2-1-1 record, that 0.625 hockey, more importantly they had a GAA of slightly under 1.50 in those four games including a less than stellar defensive performance against the Saint Louis Blues where they allowed a high of 40 SOG by the Blues and lost 4-3.   Backup Goalie Justin Peters posted a SV% of 0.900 in the Saint Louis game but the Caps were basically just slightly outplayed by the Blues in every facet of the game and neither team played even close to their best hockey in front of wither Peters or Blues goaltender Brian Elliott who posted a 0.917 SV% against 36 Capitals SOG.  To me the second two periods of the game were the best goaltending we've seen from Peters since the start of the season and give me cause for hope.  I feel much of the fan calls for Peter's head are as much a result of just how well Braden Holtby is playing as they are caused by the fact that to date Peters has played just that much under where the Caps need him to play.  I've said it before, in the Caps are on their game and our net-minder posts a 0.915+ SV% two regulation goals should get the team at least one standings point and three goals all but guarantees a two point ROW night.  Hopefully in his next outing Peters gets more team defense in front of him and he notches his gam up from a 0.900 SV% to a 0.915+ SV%.  The other three games the Caps played this week were well played, if not excellent+ efforts all, even the 1-0 OT loss to Montreal at Belle Centre.  My view of the Montreal Game is the loss was due to two words - Carey Price, the Caps were very good up in Montreal but it was a night where Carey Price basically stole two points from Washington. 

The other two games were just awesome clinics in one way or  another.  Tuesday evening the reigning Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings came into town and faced Braden Holtby and the Capitals and all the Caps did is have Holtby pitch a perfect game 4-0 shutout while Troy Brouwer-Power scored two goals in 16:10 TOI while playing in his 500th NHL game.  As others noted afterward it was as complete and perfect execution of the Caps game plan as we've seen thus far this season. Against Ottawa last evening in Ottawa the Caps put on a clinic in three things a) how to properly respond to an opposing team opening the scoring in a game; and b) how to kill off penalties when the calls are going against you (Senators had 4 PP, Caps 0); and finally c) how to play with and protect a one goal lead in the final period of a game, other than the penalties, that is.  Finally a simple observation, perhaps only in Ottawa does a one tem get basically outplayed in pretty much every aspect of the game, lose 2-1 and still somehow end up having two of the three named stars of the game. 

In any case now looking ahead to this coming weeks games, the Caps have two home games this weekend - the Ducks tonight and the Flyers on Sunday afternoon.  Then they leave for a West Coast/California road trip facing the Sharks in San Jose on Wednesday evening; the Kings at LA's Staples Center on Saturday Evening and then the Ducks on the other side of LA LA Land in Anaheim at Honda Center on Sunday Evening before jetting home. So over the next nine (9) days the Caps have five games - 2 at home and 3 on the other end of a pretty darn long road trip.

Before we look forward and muse about tonight's Duck-Caps tilt at Verizon Center a couple of season to date notable statistics and associated musings:

1)  Along with his score of his thirty second goal of the season last evening, Alex Ovechkin returned to his position atop the NHL goal scoring leaders in the race for the Rocket Richard Trophy. As noted elsewhere, Ovechkin is just the fifth player in the "modern era" to put up thirty or more goals in his first ten NHL seasons and as long as the stars stay aligned for him, he could possibly "notch" his sixth 50 goal season this year.  He also has 18 assists and is + 13 for people that care about those things as well.  Oh and over the past couple of weeks he gave a car away to a charity, you might have heard about it cause it means that unlike last season when he was a selfish, self-absorbed, person and not very good/incomplete hockey player, this season he's both great at hockey and a really, really excellent human being.  Don't you just love it when a young man turns his life around?  ... Just kidding but lets be clear Ovi is now a great person having a great season, and apparently Sidney Crosby is as close to an enigmatic professional hockey player as someone not born in Russia can get. Maybe this off-season Sid can retain whoever counseled Ovi last summer.

2) Braden Holtby is now in the top five NHL Goalies stats for GAA and Save Percentage with season to date numbers of GAA 2.14; SV% of 0.925.  Holtby is also number two in shutouts with six (6) and and sixth in wins with 25.  Solid numbers given his league leading forty - five (45) games played and 2,634:04 time on ice this season to date.

3) Nicklas Backstrom has slowly climbed his own way up the league leaders overall scoring leaders to fourth with 54 points; Nicklas is also second on the "assists" leaders board with 38 apples.  Also not too shabby.

4) The Capitals now have six players on the roster with 11 or more goals; eleven (11) players with 15 or more points; and eighteen different players have scored at least one goal. 

5) Among NHL Defensemen, John Carlson is 10th in scoring and Mike Green is 14th with 35 and 30 points respectively.  Overall as a team to date the Caps are 9th in the Goals Against Department with just 130 goals against allowed and sixth in differential with a +23.  No doubt this is a much tougher team to play against then the Capitals teams of the past two seasons.

Now about tonight - I'm rooting for another two point night for the Capitals and the way I see it they'll get the ROW.  I figure the Ducks should be tired from scoring 5 goals on the Predators and Pekke Renne last evening in Smashville and flying to DC last night - that flying stuff really makes those guys wings/arms tired as I hear it.  Seriously, another great test for the Capitals, if they can keep playing like they have for the last four games, smart, disciplined, structured hockey the Caps could win tonight against a team coached by their old coach. 

I'm calling it 4-2 final for the Caps with the fourth goal into the empty net with under 1:30 to play.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

When .... It's ...

Helloooo out there fellow Caps fans!  Today we're going to play the "when ... it's ..." game in honor of the slight roller coaster we Caps fans have been on the past couple weeks.  From December 4th through January 7th the riding the "Caps Train" was all honey and butter, really great fun like listening to Aretha Franklin belt out her best tunes on Soul Train in the 70's.  But then starting with the Caps-Flyers game on January 8th, even though the "four game losing streak" didn't start till a week later on January 16th in Smashville, watching the Caps, while still mostly fun for us fans, starting to get to be a bit of an emotional roller coaster.  Games were tight and the play by the Caps was at times, tentative so we started to get a bit tense and at times "reactive" - perhaps we were really channeling the teams own feelings from closer to "real time" then they or we would have preferred.  But as the team heads into tomorrow's game in Montreal to take on the once again, very "hot" Montreal Canadiens, the Caps are seemingly back to riding a wave of confidence after empathically breaking their recent loosing streak and besting the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 4-0 on the friendly tide of solidly played home cooking at Verizon Center on Wednesday night.  Thankfully, they aren't going into Bell Center on the tail of Tuesday's game in Columbus and so the game of "When .... It's..."

Let's start the game with the big picture ....

1)  "When after the All Star Break, your NHL hockey team of choice is on pace to finish the regular season with 100+ points and 40+ ROW, It's time to start saving your shekels to be able to afford to go watch some playoff hockey."

2) "When four of the seven Canadian NHL franchises are on track to make the playoffs at the All Star Break, It's pretty pointless to even worry for one second what the US-Canadian exchange rate might do to the salary cap since unless they are criminally mismanaged the Canadian franchises are likely to remain incredibly financially healthy."

3) "When immediately after the All Star Break, despite having one of his worst seasons ever, Sidney Crosby is still "just" fifth in the entire NHL in points/scoring and on track for his fifth straight 100+ point season, It's tragically ironic and funny to listen to media wonder aloud "What's wrong with Sid this year, etc." and as a Caps/Ovechkin fan very easy to imagine Ovi calling Sid and opening a conversation with: "Hey Sid, Ovi here, I don't know why they decided it was your turn for them to talk stupidly about, but you know what I'm not gonna say I'm sorry it's someone else in the League's turn, make sure when you pass it along it's to somebody like Sequin or Giroux, or better yet that cocky little "B" Kane,  and not back to me, okay?"

Now onto the more micro picture of the Caps to finish out today's game ....

1) "When the Caps play like they did on Tuesday evening against the Blue Jackets in Columbus; It's really, really easy to get down on them and be very, very concerned that once again you and they might be spending more time on the golf course than you'd prefer. After all "it" happened just last spring."

2) "When the Caps play like they did on Wednesday evening against Pittsburgh at Verizon Center; It's really, really, really easy to foolishly not worry about anything with this team or even how deep they might go into the playoffs and start having "champaign wishes and caviar dreams" that might even extend past say ... May 2015.  But that too would be really, really foolish, I mean remember the 2009 - 2010 team and how great they looked before the second season started?"

But fear not and hey enjoy the ride while we all can since ...

1) "When your concerns in life are centered on how "your" NHL team is really doing and is really positioned for the playoffs and run for "The CUP" are problems you have tome to consider/worry; Its really "all good" as those are truly "just and solely" what I call "first world problems."  As if to drive that point home we Caps fans can proudly point to our Team Captain for reflecting that, behaving in a manner that was pretty fun for all NHL fans to watch during the All Star Break and then have it turn around/out that he used the stage to do something good for some youngsters and families that have real, everyday challenges and generally approach them in a manner that is just a great example and model for us all.  I know to some talking about this is getting old and tired, however every time I think about it, I feel good about being an NHL fan instead of taking even a second to talk about the right amount of pressure an NFL football is supposed to be inflated to, etc. 

2) Finally, tomorrow... When we Caps fans pump out a tweet that bemoans the fact that only Ovechkin as opposed to say Ovechkin, Backstrom and Carlson were selected for the All Star Game: It's probably a good idea to look at the other team and think how ironic it is/was that the only Montreal player selected for the All Star Team was Carey Price instead of Price, P.K Subban (2012 Norris Trophy Winner), and the team's leading scorer Max Pacioretty.   I mean at the break the Canadiens only had 61 points in 45 games played and a top five record in the league while Columbus, with three all stars somehow was/is struggling out side of the playoffs and in appearing to be getting ready to make a run at the "McDavid" Sweepstakes.  My point is while I love the All Star Game, it's an NHL marketing event on par with the best, most well orchestrated sports marketing ever.  Thinking about it any other way and trying to fret about where somebody goes in the "mock draft" or something like that is pointless.  Every player selected, even some guy who got the most votes because he's the only guy in the league from Latvia  "really, really good at hockey."  Follow Ovechkin's example have fun with it, and hey wouldn't it be really, really great if the entire NHL turned at least some of the fun and benefits it generates into some good action and awareness raising for good causes.  I say let's make it one big "ice bucket challenge, car give away for great causes."  I'm even down with making sure the total goals increase - as long as we ditch that friggin' cannon.

In the meantime I'm hoping for a 4 - 1 win by the Caps tomorrow against the Habs.  I say LETS GO CAPS!!!! Wire to wire, never trail or be tied after the first goal and score the final fourth goal into an open net late in the third to ice it. Realistically do I think that will happen, probably not, but if the Caps play tomorrow at Bell Center like they did Wednesday evening at Verizon, I know it's possible, and hey if you're going to dream, why not dream big, "it don't cost any more."

So .... When this Blogger is wrapping up a post .... It's time to loudly proclaim:

LETS GO CAPS!!!!