Later Gators

Apologies for slacking off around here lately, we've been prepping for a road trip and are about to embark now. If we're not back on Monday to dicuss, someone call the President.

Gameday: Steelers at Washington

Image taken from Ape's DC Steeler Nation blog

It's not all about hockey here...OK so it is, but today is a special day; for the Steelers are coming to Landover and we'll be there. Should be a fun day and a good game featuring two solid should-be playoff teams.

Oh, and Jason you better get rid of that ball quickly....Deebo's comin for your ass.

A Hockey Day in Washington

Today we here at TST took in the matinee game between the Washington Capitals and the hated Philadelphia Flyers. Impressions as follows:

``Nicklas Backstrom looks a thousand times more assertive than at the beginning of the season when he kind of looked a little tentative in coming to the NHL as a rookie from Sweden.
``We're not sure we like Alex Ovechkin playing the point on the powerplay. Sure, he's got the great shot to unleash from back there, but he's not a defenseman so there was a couple of times where he couldn't hold the puck in the zone (like a defenseman like Tom Poti probably should have been expected to). Plus, playing the point Ovechkin is banished--for the most part, to playing the perimeter and holding the blueline, where as if he was on his customary forward position he could float around more, especially towards the crease and have more free range to find the space granted by the man advantage to look for the quick shot or rebound.
``His great pass to Ovechkin aside, Viktor Kozlov did not have a very great game. He is skilled when he has the puck, but otherwise Kozlov seems to have the presence of nothing more than a ghost. This is not news to close observers of those who follow the Caps but it needs said, since it was painfully obvious. Hopefully when captain Chris Clark gets in better game shape (he had missed the past 18 games with injury) he ought be on the top line with AO and Backstrom.
``Milan Jurinca was incorrectly listed on the jumbotron as a healthy scratch which certainly provided a surprise WTF moment, as injured Tom Pothier and black sheep Steve Eminger were also the scratches.
``As well as Mike Green played rushing the puck up the ice and firing off shots at net, it seems like he still has some room for improvement that one must feel he has the ability to achieve in the years to come. Scary for opponents, for sure.

As an aside and addendum to JP's mini-rant of overheard fan talk in the stands, here's something that bothers me...

And, to note, this bothers me in more cities than just Washington....When fans yell "SHOOOOOT" seemingly every time a player has a little bit of room in the offensive zone. Lord knows this bothered me for many seasons in Pittsburgh when Alexei Kovalev (who was almost always amongst the league leaders in shots on goal) got the same unsolicited advice.
#1) These guys are professionals playing a sport for practically all their lives. They know when to fire the puck and when the chance of getting it on target is not there. You're just a middle-aged asshole drinking a beer in the stands who's probably never played organized, let alone professional, hockey before.
#2) In one situation where the guy beside me advised to shoot, sniper Alex Semin did (surely not because of the instantaneous prodding). The puck was easily blocked and cleared out of the zone. Quickly the "monday morning powerplay quarterback" was silenced. Your angle to the net is not what the highly skilled player has and he easily has more experience and knowledge of how to handle the situation. Which just goes to show; you may mean well for the team, after all it's hard to score if one doesn't shoot, but the players in the situation know a little bit better on how to handle the situation than you.

Whew. I feel a lot better now.

I was saddened to see one of our Atlantic division rivals (and Philadelphia at that) win at the expense of a team who wouldn't make the playoffs right now, but it is what it is. Although there was a vocal and obvious presence of visiting Flyer-trash fans, I would say they were a lot tamer and more quiet at the Verizon Center than when Pittsburgh came to town. And Buffalo too, for that matter.

All in all, an entertaining game to watch for the outside observer with 10 goals being scored, 1 fight and several big hits for both sides..

Now we turn our attention to tomorrow night's "nationally televised game" with the Penguins on Versus against the New York Rangers. Both teams should be well rested and ready to play, hopefully the Pens can come out strong and if someone other than Sidney Crosby could create some offense that would be awesome too.

Report From Caps Practice

From one struggling team to another; I decided to take the short trip (for me) to the Washington Capitals practice facility. Some thoughts and observations:

``Not even a losing record and supposedly a coach and a GM on the hot-seat can shake Alex Ovechkin. He was out there carrying on and generally enjoying himself. Very few NHL players act like they enjoy practice. Ovechkin seems like he's having too much fun out there. His energy and exuberance is refreshing.

``As you could imagine for a team in a deep hole, a lot of X's and O's and teaching by embattled head coach Glen Hanlon. He seemed very confident and in control out on the ice, not looking at all like a coach who's shaken by knowing he could be out the door with a few more losses. Hanlon also had about a 5 minute on-ice conversation with Olie Kolzig.


``The defense really focused on a lot of "D to D" passes, making sure they were crisp and accurate.

``At one point there was a modified criss-crossing 3 on 2 drill that had players shooting on both ends of the ice at the same time. The difference between what a starting goalie (Kolzig) lets in the net and what a backup goalie (Brent Johnson) lets by was pretty obvious.

``After the first half of team drills, Michael Nylander and Viktor Kozlov separated themselves from the forwards and worked at center ice on some close-range stick handling drills and skating. Nylander constantly looked like he was out of breath, always doubled over and even tripped a couple times. Everyone has bad days, but Nylander usually seems a lot more smooth and in control than he was today.

``The rest of the forwards mainly worked on some shooting drills and then did a rebound drill with Kolzig. The two most impressive surprising players for me were Boyd Gordon and Brooks Laich. Those guys can really let it rip, I was impressed. It's surprising they don't score more goals in games when they count.

``During one drill, the team was basically using 3 players to play keep-away from a 5 man forechecking unit. I mention this only because at one point while playing keep-away, Tom Poti rushed the puck up the ice coast-to-coast. The goalie denied his shot, but he skated clean through Nicklas Backstrom's line. Ovechkin, predictably, was whooping it up on the bench and definitely enjoyed that the most.

``Donald Brashear was pretty brutal in all facets (skating, passing, shooting, controlling the puck). It's easy to see why some Caps fans are getting frustrated that he never gets scratched and always manages to be on the 4th line. However, Brash was off the ice early, so it's looking like he might be in the press box tomorrow night.

``On the way out of the place I ran into John Erskine, and said hello and wished him luck. He's every bit 6'4" and was a pretty nice guy. Hopefully the Caps will put him back in the lineup soon, I didn't think he really did half bad so far this season.


Overall the team seemed pretty loose. Caps beat writer (and one of the best around), Tarik El-Bashir said the mood seemed pretty tense at Monday's practice. Maybe it's just getting more guys like Poti and Chris Clark back, but the mood seemed pretty loose from the players at least on the ice. Ovechkin was joking on Clark seemingly all practice and a lot of guys like Gordon, Laich and Brian Sutherby were pretty loose joking around with each other and the assistant coaches.

Winning In Washington

A win is a win, and you take one when you can get it so it's nice to see the Pens win at home---err the soft "away" friendly confines of the Verizon Center.

Some thoughts:

• Sidney Crosby is still "Gretzky-ing" (more assists than the other guy has points) his nemesis A-Hole, as Crosby had the primary assist on the game winner, while A-Hole was not much of a factor. Caps fans will point out his shots (which were all from the outside) or his hits (not of much merit).


• The Penguins were playing there third game in four nights and it showed at times. The Caps did well with puck possession and there were several times when they controlled the play for long stretches.


• But the Penguins had some good cycling shifts too. Colby Armstrong had a very solid game and worked the puck low very well. Same for Jarrko Ruutu and Georges Laraque too.


• Marc-Andre Fleury was awesome, finally having a good game. He played like he played last year when he played well: being aggresive to the angles, not afraid to move around and moved confidentially and with a purpose. Definitely good to see him play well and quiet the false rumors from Canada that say Mr. Shero is looking for a new keeper.


• The Heavyweight Champion of the NHL shall remain around Laraque's waist. Donald Brashear lost his helmet and took several lefts to the back of his skull. Credit Brash though for hanging tough and then surprising BGL with a shot that knocked him down at the end. Still, I judge hockey fights on who I'd least want to be. I'd rather take 1 Brashear right (his first one hit helmet) than take about 6 or 7 BGL lefts to the skull. The folks at hockeyfights.com seem to agree, as 71% score the fight either a draw or a win for Laraque.


• For probably the first time since a wrestling match against one of his brothers, Jordan Staal got in a fight. The feisty Matt Pettinger easily handled him, but Staal atleast answered the call; either in the shift he high-sticked a Cap (possibly Pettinger, it was near the boards and I couldn't tell. The refs didn't call the infraction for whatever reason, so Staal had to answer the Code. Good man.


• One under-rated night: Sergei Gonchar. He played well defensively with his stick, got in a few rushes, put the puck on the net and generally neutralized A-HOLE.
• Old Man Recchi was terrible. He looks notably slower, pucks were rolling off his stick left and right and overall just didn't look like he belonged out there. I'd much rather see the healthy scratch victim Erik Christensen out there.
• The "White Out" was weak. Real weak. Not just because of the many Pens fans, but most the Caps fans that were there didn't even wear white. Poor showing, but what did you expect.

It's good to be 4-3 and get some confidence for a young goalie. Gotta be happy for that.

Uhh, this is gonna end well...

Sometimes I wonder about people in positions higher than me; what coaches think putting out certain line combos (like giving Mark Recchi 20 minutes of ice time Wednesday night and giving Evgeni Malkin 14)...Or what GMs are thinking when they make trades or signings.

Add the Washington Capitals promotional department to the list.

Given that:
A)You have one of your closest geographical rivals in town
B)Fans don't really come to your own rink that much (the announced attendance last night was just above 11,000)
C)Your opponent often draws many loud fans

Why would you take the following steps:
1)Announce a "white-out" night, where fans wear white. This is a cool idea when it comes off well (see Penn State, Calgary's 'Sea of Red', etc).
2)Stick your team in white jerseys, which is what the road team wears in the NHL
3)Give out Terrible Towel knock off white towels to fans that come in

Uhh, I hate to break it to you guys, but this is possibly the worst idea since someone thought to fill a blimp with hydrogen.

What could go wrong?

BUT!

The Capitals have aggressively marketed special discount tickets to fill the seats against their biggest regional rivals (Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York, Toronto) with their own fans. A great idea. I bought this. I'm not going to be a dick and sell my tickets to the non-Pens games on eBay, I live close enough to attend. Plus, it's usually worth the price of admission to see guys like Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin and Nicklas Backstrom.

So maybe, unlike last year, there won't be as big of a Penguin partisan crowd. Maybe the Caps who've been losers of their last three games, and without the services of Semin will come out the gates fired up.....If the Penguins get a quick lead though and jump on the Caps early (Olie Kolzig gave up 5 goals last night, some pretty soft) it's going to get ugly. Caps fans will be quiet and the Pens fans will be more fired up.

The ultimate kicker:

If a Penguin scores a hat trick (I'm looking at you Petr Sykora), heaven help us all. Those Terrible Towel knockoffs are going to rain down on the ice so much it might just bring a tear to the old Pacman's eye.

I am very excited for this hockey game. I will be there. It's going to be very interesting to see the atmosphere and if there's more Caps fans than last time around. I went to the Caps home opener and they seemed to be very well represented. Judging from the locals, everyone has had this game circled on the calender for some time now. Should be electric.

Also, since the lockout, some head to head numbers:
Penguins: 7-1
Capitals: 1-6-1 (a shootout loss)

Sidney Crosby: 5 goals, 9 assists, 14 points
Alex Ovechkin: 4 goals, 4 assists, 8 points

So that's right, if you're keeping track at home, Croz is "Gretzky-ing" Ovechkin so far. That of course meaning he's got more assists than you do points.

A Venture Into Enemy Territory

As many of you know I live in Virginia, and I took a trip to Verizon Center to see the Caps in their home opener against the Canes Saturday night. Some notes:

--The Caps came out very strong, outshooting the Canes in double digits throughout the game. It was hard to tell if it was just because the Caps played well or if Carolina was showing a little fatigue of 3 games in the first 4 days of the season.
--Alex Ovechkin had a sweet goal and was hitting people left and right. Still didn't go into the defensive zone too much, and had a puck roll off his stick on a clean breakaway, a goal he knew he should have had. So as good as he played, there's still room for more improvement.
--Matt Pettinger really impressed me with his physicality as a 3rd winger. He's been around for a while, but he was pretty noticeable to me for the first time.
--The Caps D was really good at passing it D to D. The addition of Poti helps, but the maturation of guys like Mike Green and Shaone Morrisonn is just as big.
--John Erskine actually looked like he belonged in the NHL. Much better than I remember him last year.
--Tomas Fleischmann is on the top line with AO and the immensely huge Viktor Kozlov. It's not going to work. 'Flash' couldn't keep up at all with the two Russians and didn't look like he belonged on a NHL top line. This was just one game, but he didn't create much and bungled several chances horribly.
--Rookie Niklas Backstrom is definitely more of a Jordan Staal type teenager rather than a more explosive guy like Malkin or Ovechkin. Backstrom didn't stand out that much and was pretty quiet. It's tough to be so young and in the NHL, but Backstrom doesn't look like he doesn't belong. He's just not an impact player. Yet.
--Eric Staal was almost invisible. The night before he look invincible Pittsburgh. Giving a little more credence to a little early fatigue for Carolina.
--Olie was solid. The Caps went into a defensive shell in the 3rd and he was called on to make some big, but not impossible saves. And he did.
--The new HD scoreboard is absolutely amazing. Words can't define how beautiful or clear it is.
--Attendance wise the crowd was strong. Loud too. There were still many, many empty seats (especially in the 200 section), but a lot of people already had the new red, white and blue jerseys.

Me and my buddy (a diehard Caps fan) often joke going to games at Verizon Center because you will see the most random jerseys of teams not even playing (Detroit, Philly, Toronto, Vancouver, Anaheim, etc, etc). Saturday night was the first time I didn't see this happen. There were a handful of Canes fans--but not really even that many. The overwhelming majority seemed, like their Caps, to be dressed in red that night. It was kind of refreshing to see.

It will be interesting to see if this scenario repeats itself in less than two weeks when the Penguins come to town on a Saturday night....I'm guessing probably not.

While I'm not going to hint at the playoffs, or an undefeated season like some tongue-in-cheek bloggers, the Caps were good. They were big. They hit. They did excellent in puck possession and carried the play.

2 games doesn't and 82 game season make. Certainly it's nice to get off to a good start, but not everything. The Caps were the better team tonight, but it'll be interesting to see how they fare over a long stretch of the season. Like I said in my season preview, I see them on the playoff bubble. Nights like this will help.