Gameday: Caps at Pens

One of the great things about hockey is the natural ebb and flow of the season…Just a few days ago the Caps were the golden boys of the NHL—winners of seven straight games after the Flyers had laid a 7-1 whooping on them. Just 24 hours ago the Penguins couldn’t catch a break, rumors of firing coaches abound. Now, all of a sudden, the Caps have dropped three straight games and Michel Therrien looks pretty smart for some of his coaching tactics. A lot can change even in the next 24 hours so let’s keep our heads on swivel.

TST comes to you from the shadow of Washington DC so let’s take a look at the opponent for our Penguin fan friends who don’t see the Caps as much as we do:

--John Erskine played last night for the first time in 23 games. Erskine is a physical defensemen, prone to making mistakes, but generally is a decent enough skater and nasty enough to get out of what mistakes he causes himself. Mr. Erskine missed those 22 games with a concussion. Last year Eric Godard (then of the Calgary Flames) gave Erskine a concussion in a fight.

--Brooks Laich is basically their Western Canadian version of Max Talbot; he’s a character player on the ice that is a character off of it. But Laich has gone cold recently, he’s pointless in six straight games and a -4 over that stretch.

--Many have been impressed by rookie defensemen Karl Alzner, who plays a very steady game. Alzner just took his first NHL penalty (for delay of game) in 23 games. But enjoy this look at him while you can, the Caps are in a crunch with the salary cap and expect Tom Poti and his $3.5 million salary back from long-term IR soon, which will probably banish Alzner back to the farm unless they pull some trades.

--In three games back from pneumonia Tomas Fleischmann has two goals. He’s up to 14 tallies on the season, but he’s also worst on his team in +/-, coming in at a -12. Watch when his line is out there if the Penguins can play puck control down in the Caps’ zone, it’ll be a very good sign.

--Nicklas Backstrom is off to a fine sophomore campaign, 45 points in 44 games. Centering that Ovechkin guy doesn’t hurt, but Backstrom’s added a new dimension to his game; last year he scored 14 goals (well, really 15) in 82 games and this year Backstrom’s already up to 12 goals in 44 games.

--8 of Backstrom’s goals have come on with the man advantage and defensemen Mike Green has 9 power-play goals. It’s not just Ovechkin one needs to mind, if teams focus on taking him away the Caps find an open man somewhere else. If teams aren’t vigilant on stopping AO then he finds open room and usually makes you pay with a shot. Sometimes he even puts the shot on goal.

--Ovechkin will shoot from anywhere at anytime. His 6.5 shots/game lead the league by far. We can’t find the totals for his shots blocked and missed the net but they are easily more than the ones he actually gets to the net. He’s a maniac that plays a manic brand of hockey. Hopefully, like the first meeting, he’ll be too occupied trying to run Evgeni Malkin and forget that he’s supposed to, you know, score goals.

Expectations for the game?

--Expect the Caps to out-shoot the Penguins. It seems like they usually do. This is not a bad thing, it certainly isn’t a good thing, it just is there. The Pens will give up shots but they will be manageable ones. It’s Marc-Andre Fleury’s job to manage them.

--Not much fireworks out of Crosby/Semin, at least between the two directly. The talk of the season has been the famous Alex “Deadwood” Semin interview with Puck Daddy where the Russian voiced an unimpressed opinion of Sidney Crosby. Crosby, ever the statesman off the ice, of course said the right and classy thing and let it blow over. It would be great to see Crosby ragdoll Semin like he did to Brett McLean, but that’s not in the works. Much like the Philly fans with their boos, Crosby will exact his revenge in a bigger way; on the scoreboard.

--At the end of the day, with so much talent on the ice it'll probably come down to who's players step up through the special teams and are able to convert or kill off more chances. Should be entertaining.

The Walking Wounded

Blog buddy Ben Lovejoy has been recalled (maybe the Pens saw our prospect update)....Which means that maybe Hal Gill can't go tonight.

Got us to thinking, the injury bug hasn't been kind to the team closest to us and our favorite team. So, in a pickup game (at 100%), who ya got if these two lineups met each other? It's sad that you can almost make lineups...

Washington Capitals *
Poti-Green
Erskine-Schultz
Sloan


Pittsburgh Penguins
Gonchar-Gill
Whitney-Boucher
*Pseudo-retired Brian Pothier not included because face it, he's finished.

The Sweater Ted Meets the Owner Ted

Yesterday I got the pleasure of getting to sit down and talk with an NHL owner, a first. Ted Leonsis invited me to Capitals headquarters and I was glad to take him up on the offer. We sat and talked for probably about 20 minutes. The first thing you will notice about Mr. Leonsis is how engaging he is; he gave all his attention to me and was genuinely focused and interested in our meeting. It was something special. The next thing you can’t help but see is the man’s passion for the team and sport of hockey; he’s an owner that wants to have a class organization and wants to provide a winner. In that regard they are rounding into form.

We talked about a lot of things: hockey, blogs, fan-ship, following teams, he told me about his youth and how he came to love the game. We talked broadly about arenas and revenue, the economy…Of injuries and coaching changes, on fans who don’t get it and ones who do. It was a whirlwind and an exciting one.

I've come to the conclusion that in this day and age with the limitless resources of the internet and cable/satellite television, it is so much more easier to stay connected to a sports team if you wish. It's no stretch to say though, I'm probably at one extreme in terms of rooting interest. Had I been, not less "dedicated" to the Penguins but maybe less attached is the proper word, it would be easy to see me phasing out of them and towards a team who's city I live in. If it was 30-40 years ago, I would not have much of a choice.

Therefore, I don't think it's uncommon or really inherently a sin for a transplant to adopt their local team. I also still believe though there are plenty of folks like me in this area, who's bond with their team/city has been solidified. I think this is reinforced when Buffalo, Detroit and Pittsburgh (three cities that have lost a lot of people) come to play in a city like Washington where due to the government, there's a lot of transplants in the area to begin with.

More to the point I would say, if you ever get the chance to meet Mr. Leonsis, be it at a game or around a practice, I would definitely suggest doing it. He is accessible and as you would imagine a very interesting conversationalist. I had a very nice time at Caps HQ and thank him for his time and parting gift; tickets for me and my friends to sit in some of his seats. We all had a wonderful time.

Kane > Crosby? Uhh, no

Semin exploded on Puck Daddy:

What's so special about [Crosby]? I don't see anything special there. Yes, he does skate well, has a good head, good pass. But there's nothing else. Even if you compare him to Patrick Kane from Chicago ... [Kane] is a much more interesting player. The way he moves, his deking abilities, his thinking on the ice and his anticipation of the play is so superb.

I think that if you take any player, even if he is "dead wood," and start promoting him, you'll get a star. Especially if he scores 100 points. No one is going to care about anyone else. No one is going to care whether he possesses great skill. Let's say you put someone in front of the net and let him deflect pucks in, and he scored 50 goals; everyone will say "Wow!" and then hand him a $10 million per year contract. That's what they like here.

And as if he couldn't endear himself more to us...

Have you forgiven the United States for stealing Russia's gold medal in the 1980 Olympics?
[Loud laughter] Why would I still be mad at them? Their team is weak now. The Canadians are our main rivals.

I wonder if Semin knows that his wonderboy Pat Kane (who he's seen a grand total of two times in live action) is in fact, American.

As far as the first quote goes, despite playing about the same number of games (224 for Crosby, 201 for Semin) Sid has more than double the points of the Russian player. (307 to 153). We'll leave the impressions to you.

Biz Nasty wins the fight, the Caps win the battle

Credit to you Caps, coming back from being 3-1 after two and totally out of the game. The Caps won tonight and deserved to even though they only won 20 minutes. That's it and that's all. Carrying 40 minutes of play doesn't matter if you can't finish and that's what matters.

But still, watching Biz Nasty unequivocally jack up Matt Bradley is still awesome.....Hey, it's October, right? Plus Evgeni Malkin (3 points) and Sidney Crosby (2 points) sure did outscore that Alex Ovechkin (0 points)? Small consolation though. Both teams will live to see another day. It's only October, after all.

Game 5: Caps/Pens...the opening salvo

Thanks to geography, we're in the middle of Capitals country...The Penguins and Capitals both feature some of the best and most active blogospheres around and we have friends on both sides. Our circle of hockey buddies is split: 2 Penguins fans (and the editor) and 3 Caps supporters.

With all this mixing, we're stuck right in the middle. So even though tonight's game is just one of 82, and in the big scheme of things not that important, anytime you've got Crosby vs. Ovechkin vs. Malkin, it's a big deal. Each one of those guys wants to be the one to shine the brighest anytime they share the stage together. Bragging rights personally are on the line. It's what the sport is all about.

So, for our Penguins readers and comrades, here's a look at the Caps with things you need to know:

• Viktor Kozlov is out with injury, and Caps captain Chris Clark is on the top line now. Clark's kind of like an undersized (but more mature) version of Ryan Malone. His precense in front of the net and down in the corners should mesh well with the skill of Nicklas Backstrom and Ovechkin.
• If the Penguins forwards don't challenge Mike Green, he will rush the puck all the way up the ice into a scoring area. Green's off to a ridiculously frantic start (3 goals in 3 games) and if unchecked will do damage.
• Alex Semin, the enigmatic but extremely talented winger, has been one of the hardest working players on the ice this season. That is a scary thought, when he wants to be one of the best players in the sport he can be, but his work ethic (be it from injuries or disinterest) hasn't seemed all there in the past.
• The Caps have experimented with Sergei Fedorov on the blueline but appear to have him as a forward tonight. This is good news as it means that the dim-witted and slow skating John Erskine is back in the lineup and probably paired with the not fleet-of-foot Milan Jurcina. This could be a great matchup for the Pens speedy 3rd line with players like Tyler F. Kennedy and Max Talbot.
• Jose Theodore settled down a little after the second game but the fact remains he's given up 6 goals on 48 shots and has been very shaky early in games.

Best Penguin: Nicklas Backstrom

Sometimes you really have to love the hammer and the nail relationship the Penguins and Capitals have.

So will this game-winning goal count towards Nicklas Backstrom's Calder hopes?

Also: Sidney Crosby had 2 goals (well, one and Backstrom's gift), Evgeni Malkin 3 assists....Still think you're an MVP, Mr Ovechkin? Lead your team to the playoffs first.

The Avs want to party like is 2001

After luring Peter Forsberg back to North America, Colorado has swung a deal to get defenseman (and wishful thinking TST target) Adam Foote back to their team. All indications were that Foote was interested in re-signing with Columbus but negotiations didn't go well and it seemed feelings on both sides were hurt---TSN used the word "divorce" more than once to describe how things went down.

Ok so now if the Avs announce they're bringing back Patrick Roy and Ray Bourque back, we're calling shenanigans.

Now it looks like the wheels have fallen off the Colum-BUS (sorry). TSN just announced Sergei Fedorov is a, gasp, Washington Capital. No word on the return yet.

Hopefully the BJs want to ship a guy named Mike Peca to Western PA...

Greenie looking for Phaneuf Money?

Mike Green is a jokester (also pictured Brooks Laich [left] and me and my buddy

After the Caps game on Sunday, 4 players (Brooks Laich, Shaone Morrisonn, Mike Green and Eric Fehr) went to a bar after the game.

Among what I found out:

``Fehr said that his back and his hip are absolutely at 100%.
``Laich told the crowd much to my delight (when asked) that the best hockey player he has ever lined up against is in fact Sidney Crosby.
``I talked to Green about Dion Phaneuf's 6 year $39 million dollar new contract and asked him point blank where he would try to negotiate off of that..."You know me and Phaneuf have the same agent, right?" Greenie said. I just nodded and said, "Oh damn, so you about to get paid, huh?" He smiled and chuckled, "what other defenseman has 15 goals this year?".
``All the Caps there were great sports, signing things and taking pictures for everyone. I especially enjoyed Laich, he had a great sense of humor and good outlook on being there.
``Vodka and waters are the drink of hockey players. "Don't want all the carbonation and sugar of a soda", I was told.

Please, please, please, PLEASE let this happen

By virtue of being at the top of the SouthLeastern division (hey, somebody’s got to be!) the Capitals and their 1 game above .500 record sit in the 3rd seed of the NHL playoffs.

The Penguins, as of today, are currently in the jackpot 6th seed.

Can’t we just end the season right now, already?

Caps fall to the Thrashers

I wish I was awake when this happened

And now thoughts from the game we attended and didn't Tivo tonight:

• You'd look at the shots (advantage Washington 36-13) and think they really carried the play. But they didn't really apply pressure in flurries or come close to scoring that often.
• Atlanta, without their best player in Ilya Kovalchuk, looked like a boxer that wasn't trying to land any punches but was being very cautious about not giving up the knockout blow either. Though the ever dangerous Alex Ovechkin registered 7 shots on net (and 10 more that were either blocked or off-target) he wasn't really that much of a threat.
• Ovechkin did have one golden opportunity, he was close to the net (with Kari Lehtonen out of position) but his back was turned and he rushed the shot. Literally, after he spun around and controlled the puck he had almost the entire net empty but he shot before his balance was set and it sailed high and wide. Unknowingly he could have had another second or two to steady himself and slam in the easy goal; but that's an easy call when you're in the stands and not on the ice.
• Alex Semin continues to be consistently inconsistent. While not news to Caps fans he often takes terrible penalties. Plus it seems like he loses and edge and wipes out at the most inopportune of times. Also we can't find the exact stat category right now but he's got to be among the league leaders in diving penalties...
• Shaone Morrisonn (or however you spell it) seemed a little over anxious in his first game back from injury in pinching in. Considering that he wasn't too effective at it, plus his role is to be the steady partner for the very talented Mike Green it seemed odd. Morrisonn needs to settle down and not try to do too much to be at his best.
• We thought Pascal Dupuis (even though he had just one shot on net and no points) was the most forceful and best offensive forward for the Tbombs throughout the game.
• It was nice to see Old Man Recchi end up with 2 assists on the night, he made the play happen on Todd White's goal (the only goal of consquence in the whole game) and deserved to be a star of the game over Ovechkin.
• Coaches will tell you there's no such thing as a bad idea to throw the puck at the net. We'd disagree. Ovechkin will shoot from anywhere anytime he can. Shooting lanes or angles be damned; he WILL shoot as much as possible (as evidenced above from 10 ten shots either blocked or mis-fired). Ovechkin must be the least efficient superstar of all-time. But considering he's still the goal and points leader in the league at the moment perhaps there's no room for our insight there.
• Point being, if old boy could learn a little bit of patience and try to work to pick his spots a little better he could become an even more effective player. Now that would be a scary thought. It'll be interesting to see if he ever tries to adapt and adjust his strategy towards this or just keep firing away. Maybe there's no use in changing his style, since it's working for him. Maybe we're not in any position to offer advice. Just calling it like it seems.
• Ifwe know Caps fans, some blogger will probably point their injuries (like Captain Chris Clark and top 4 defenseman Brian Pothier) to show the result could have been different. While Clark is a warrior and a heart-and-soul guy and his absence from the lineup is notable, it's an impossible game of "what if" to imagine him actually suiting up and playing.

Overall it was probably one of the most boring and least active games we've seen this season. Both teams--but especially Atlanta, were playing a very conservative playoff style game. For a while, we thought it was actually Minnesota vs. Calgary (minus Jarome Iginla and Marian Gaborik). Literally that much of nothing was happening throughout most of the game. It's a shame it was a vanilla game too, there was a large crowd on hand and we get the feeling more than a couple were taking in a game for the first time....We get this feeling because it was overheard by someone behind us asking a buddy: "So what number is Ovechkin again?"

In the end, Atlanta made one play (courtesy of Recchi and White) and Washington couldn't make any. That was your "ball"game. Whether this game at the end of the year ends up being just 1 out of 82 or a turning point for either club or even the difference in the division race remains to be seen. One does get the feeling though while Atlanta is happy and relieved to get two points on the road, it's more of a disappointment for the Caps to let this opportunity slip away.

Pre-game Washington thoughts

JP says Malkin hasn’t established himself as a center, citing mainly his very low faceoff percentage this year. Not that big of a deal to us; the biggest factors in improvement are experience and strength, two things that will come with time. We think Malkin’s improvement will continue. The style he likes to play; that of carrying the puck through the zone, dishing it to teammates and wheeling around a lot makes him a natural center. That he is defensively responsible and backchecks well as the deep forward in his own zone continues that.

Also JP takes a swipe at Malkin’s post-season performance. His pure stats weren’t bad (0g, 4a in 5 games) and the most games he had ever played in a season was 57 in the RSL; which doesn’t much compare to 83 in the NHL that he did last season. It will be interesting to see how JP’s boy Nicklas Backstrom handles the rest of the season, as he’s basically in the same uncharted waters and now is the #1 center due to Michael Nylander’s injury.

The Penguins calling up 3 players is significant. Our guess is the majority of the 3 banged up forwards (if not all of them) will miss this game. Losing Colby Armstrong, Adam Hall and Tyler Kennedy hurts, all play important roles. Hall is one of the top penalty killers.

But we are excited to see Chris Minard. At 26 he’s no spring chicken and hasn’t appeared in a NHL game yet. But he’s been productive this season in Wilkes-Barre and after a little slump after an opening night hat trick has become one of the team’s best offensive weapons. Minard’s a goal scorer and said to be willing to go into high traffic areas. We wouldn’t mind giving him a brief audition in a situation setup to give him success with other skilled players.

Also Tim Brent and especially Jonathan Filewich are prospects that have impressed before and diehard fans have long been awaiting seeing them in Pittsburgh. Tonight could be the chance.

Speaking of chances, huge game for Dany Sabourin. After the impressive shutout of Montreal the other night the pressure is back on him to stick in the starting lineup. A poor performance could end him back on the bench in favor of the Conkmania. And with Marc-Andre Fleury a couple of weeks from returning, who knows how many chances Sabs will have to prove that he shouldn’t be waived when there are 3 healthy goalies around (more on this later).

As always when you play the Caps you have to account for Alex Ovechkin. Sergei Gonchar has done pretty well so far shadowing AO, expect that to continue tonight. The real matchup could be trying to limit the Caps 2nd line, Alex Semin is finally over his high ankle sprain and producing points again and Tomas Fleischmann is playing the best hockey of his NHL career so far.

It will be interesting to see how this shorthanded and mish-mashed lineup the Pens throw out there responds. We fully expect the best out of Malkin, and hopefully Ryan Malone and Petr Sykora can carry their end of the bargain tonight. That, plus limiting Ovechkin, stopping Semin and staying out of the box as much as possible are the keys to the game. If the Pens do that, they’ll probably win. If not, the streak of games over the Caps will end at 6.

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.

124 million reasons to stay in DC

Now I see why Alex Ovechkin fired his agent….No person in the world would advise him to sign for such a long-term contract. Well, apparently one person in the world, his mother.

The Peerless appropriately points out that AO saved a nice chunk of change by not having to pay the agent’s commission, which is true. But consider the salary cap, which was at $39 million the first season after the lockout (max player contract is 20%: $7.8 million) has grown to $52 million this season (max $10.4 million) and the NHLPA has already stated they expect league-wide revenues to increase, and thus push the cap up further.

With the league looking at an inevitable return to ESPN in some form in the very near future, one could speculate hockey could ‘pop’ in the public image. Especially when young stars like Sidney Crosby and, ironically, Ovechkin push the sport further to more and more revenue. In a sense, Ovechkin could grow the sport with his play, which would raise others salaries but not his own.

Don’t get me wrong, $124 million guaranteed is nothing to sneeze at. It’s financial security for your kids’ kids kids. Just as impressive is the commitment Ovechkin made to the Caps. He could have used what little leverage he had to try to get in a new city on perhaps a team closer to competing or with a bigger (and more visible) market for hockey. But, as he said all along we’ll point out, he wanted to stay in Washington.

Congrats to the Capitals for getting their cornerstone locked up. Congrats to Ovechkin for deservedly breaking the bank. Congrats to the Caps fans for having something to get excited about. Congrats to us all for no longer having to hear morons like Eklund and Larry Brooks and wishful thinkers North of the Border with their crazy fantasies about where he might end up.

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.

Is Alex O About Finished in DC?

Hat tip to the Fanhouse, for this interview given to a Russian newspaper and translated to English:

"Do you plan on changing teams at the end of the season? Washington's game looks hopeless."

"I don't know yet where I will be next season. I am not negotiating my new contract. I want to stay in Washington. But who knows what is going to happen?"

This is very significant. Ovechkin's now openly questioning whether or not he'll be a Capital for much longer. With guys like Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza and, yes, Sidney Crosby already signing long-term deals with their clubs, a framework is in place.

Many Caps bloggers opined over the summer when Crosby resigned that it wasn't for very long (even though Crosby was forgoeing one year of UFA) and that at $8.7 million, it was hardly a hometown discount. You probably won't be hearing too much of that again.

Ovechkin scenarios now:

#1: Finish out the season, become a RFA. Someone obviously offers a huge contract, Caps obviously match and retain rights. Ovechkin either sucks it up and becomes a little happier for playing for $10+ million a year, or whines and demands a trade.

#2: Becomes RFA. Let's it be known he'd rather be playing in Russia next year than come back to Washington and force a trade that route. If Aleksey Morozov can command $4 million (US), then I'd imagine some wealthy owner could and would make an enticing offer for Ovechkin if the Caps try to call his bluff.

#3: Commit himself fully to his team, sign a long term contract that forgoes 1 year of being unrestricted and tailor the terms of the contract to well under a million dollars of the current maximum.

#3 is how Crosby went. I have a feeling AO will be a lot closer to one of the top 2 scenarios. If you think there's frustrating times for the Penguins right now, a look to my hometown shows there's definitely trouble brewing...

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.

Announcing the 2500 Penalties In Minutes & 300 Points Club

This is something I thought of for no real reason one day. This stems from the fact that the pure 'enforcer' is a dying breed. Gone are the days when a 4th line winger that can't skate and is only there to fight could flourish in the NHL. These days you need a skill set to atleast be decent with the puck to be looking at a decent NHL career.

So I thought about compiling a list of historic tough guys that also could score some points. The idea really came to fruition with the concussion forced retirement of a Sweater Ted favorite, Matthew Barnaby. One of the reports pointed out he had 300 points even, so I figured that'd be as good a cutoff as any.

First, some active players that are close inductees:
--Gary Roberts is an absolute lock at 2493 PIMs to go along with his 888 career points. Gary Roberts can look at a referee the wrong way and draw 7 penalty minutes Expect him to make this list as the 12 inductee by about mid-October. In fact, if he sees how awesome this list is, expect him to make it in about an hour.

--Brendan Shanahan needs 75 PIMs to qualify...But considering Shanny's game has evolved to less fiery and more a "pick your spot goal-scoring veteran", it's noteworthy to point out he only spent 47 minutes in the box in 2006-07, it’s conceivable he falls a little short if this is his last season.

After that, no one is one the horizon, and that is the beauty of this club. You can't just be tough and get in a lot of fights. You can't just be a skill player that has an edge. Either way, you'll come up short in one category or the other.


For instance:
-those who would easily have the PIMs, your average enforcer (Donald Brashear and his 2312 PIMs) won’t be able to score the points (he’s 35 years old now and only has 192).

-a guy who easily has the points (like Keith Tkachuk) usually falls hundreds of PIMs short (Tkachuk has 2033 in his career).


Looking far into the future, perhaps Sean Avery (134 points, 913 PIMs) one day will join this prestigious fraternity, but there's still a long road ahead of him of being a pest, and he'd need many more healthy seasons of plying his craft. Feel free to pipe up in the comments if I'm missing a new impending member, but I think I got all my bases covered here.

So without further adue

The honorable 2500 penalties in minutes and 300 points club


Tiger Williams (3966 penalties in minutes, 513 points)


Probably the most badass of all time, Tiger Williams is synonymous with out of control mayhem and general awesomeness. But he could play a little hockey and is truly the godfather of this club. I'm too young to really appreciate his glory, but I still know that Tiger Williams is pretty much the man.

Dale Hunter (3565 penalties in minutes, 1020 points)


Dale Hunter is known for a lot of things, perhaps first and foremost the brutal late hit on Pierre Turgeon. But he's second on this list in total points and was a great leader for his teams. Capitals fans hold this guy in very high regard. Though sometimes he'd lose his cool, he's pretty much what a hockey player should be in my opinion: tough, skilled, and a leader. He's the epitome of this club.



Marty McSorely (3381 penalties in minutes, 359 points)


Unfortunately, like Dale Hunter, McSorely is remember for an unacceptable split second decision he made at the tail end of his career, to tomahawk Donald Brashear. But McSorely earned his bones by protecting the likes of Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux for much of his career and was atleast good enough of a player to enjoy a lengthy NHL career.



Bob Probert (3300 penalties in minutes, 384 points)


Players like Bob Probert aren't around anymore. One of the toughest players in history, Probert was just flat a monster at beating people up. I must admit, when compiling this list I was surprised to see Probert got the points to make the cut; since most of my memories of him playing come from the tail end of his career when he wasn't much of a scoring threat. But Probert scored 13 or more goals six times in his career, and in 1987-88 he had 29 goals and 33 assists to go along with 398 penalty minutes. Just shows you how much the game has evolved in the last 20 years.

Rick Tocchet (2970 penalties in minutes, 952 points)


Controversy often follows members of this club (like aforementioned Hunter and McSorely), since they naturally seem to be risk takers and are inherently hot under the collar. Unfortunately Rick Tocchet's name is more linked to gambling nowadays then it is to being a true power forward. He was on Mario Lemieux's wing for the Cup years and an absolute force to be reckoned with. Cam Neely (1241 PIMs and 694 points) was probably the premier power forward during Tocchet's prime, but Tocchet was an extremely dangerous player in every way for many years.

Pat Verbeek (2905 penalties in minutes, 1063 points)

"The Little Ball of Hate" is probably the coolest nickname ever. Verbeek, listed at 5'9, was never afraid to go into the tall trees and always disturb things. His career points total makes him #1 on this list. A lot of skill and a lot of fury on the ice. I love it. That's why this club exists to showcase warriors like Verbeek that aren't true enforcers (unlike some in this fraternity) but just skilled, hard-nosed players that it's a pain to play against. No opponents enjoyed playing against Verbeek because they knew he would always go balls to the wall and leave it all out on the ice. To me, that's the best compliment you can pay someone.



Chris Chelios (2837 penalties in minutes 936 points)


Chris Chelios is so old he's probably in every club you can make up, like this one and probably even Jesus's original book club. Credit him for being able to keep in shape and keep playing the game, and still not taking shit from anyone, even if they're young enough to be his son. Chelios could have retired after the Red Wings won the Cup in 2002 and still made this club, by the way. Even Gordie Howe thinks this dude needs to hang 'em up. If you were wondering, Howe "only" had 1685 PIMs in his NHL career, so even he falls short on this most exclusive club.



Dave Manson (2792 penalties in minutes 390 points)

Dave Manson was the name of a player I'd heard, but I had to look him up; I'm too young to really remember him as an impact player in any team or particular game. But, I'll give you this: only 3 defensemen are in this club and the other 2 are sure-fire hall of famers. I don't know what that says for Manson, but he's in good company.



Scott Stevens (2785 penalties in minutes 908 points)


Scott Stevens means business. Probably the toughest hockey player I've ever seen. Not just because of the devastating, highlight reel hits (whattup Eric Lindros?) but just how he played seemingly 30 minutes a night, every night and was so smooth, so IN CONTROL. I think a lot of that rubbed off of a younger teammate and partner of his Scott Niedermayer. Stevens was awesome as an offensive-defenseman in Washington and a total rock for New Jersey as he aged. He and Marty Brodeur are the Devils. When I dreamed up this club, I was looking for players with crazy toughness and some skill to match...Clearly Scott Stevens was made for it.

Willi Plett (2572 penalties in minutes 437 points)


I was a little surprised about Dave Manson, but I'll admit Willi Plett was the only guy I've never heard of. At all. He retired when I was 4 years old and played for such powerhouses as the Atlanta Flames and the Minnesota North Stars. The only thing I know about the Atlanta Flames is I hate Clement, Clement Hands of Cement and the only memories I have of the North Stars is how Mario tore through them to give the Pens a Cup. But, looking at Plett's hockeydb profile, he scored 38 or more points seven times in his career and every year he had double digit PIMs. Must have had a bit of an edge and some skill to match, so we'll let him in.

Matthew Barnaby (2562 penalties in minutes, 300 points)


Newest inductee Matthew Barnaby knows about being a pest. He had to literally fight his way onto a junior team that he showed up weighing 140 pounds. He turned out a solid NHL career that he announced this summer was over due to concussion woes. Barnaby was the ultimate nuisance, a player who could actually play the game, but always knew his role and never hesitated in sticking up for the team, even when it meant fighting someone much taller and heavier. Unlike enforcers he wasn’t a totally liability on the ice but unlike skill players, he didn’t have the natural talent to slide through on point production alone.

Barnaby was the ultimate crowd pleaser, still a fan favorite in places in Buffalo and Pittsburgh even though he's long left them. Opponents and rivals hated him (some fans still do), which is only a testament to how good he was at doing his job. The shame is Barnaby had to retire young, and couldn't climb higher on this list. Still, not bad for a kid coming from nothing.

That's your 11 members of the 2500 PIMs + 300 point club. Fierce but skilled. Not afraid to mix it up, but strong enough to still help their teams. Tough enough to compete for a long, long period of time in a gruesome NHL world. These are your alpha-males. These are the top dogs.

The cool thing about owning your own hockey team..

There's some people that it's impossible not to like. Chad Johnson may be one, but I think Ted Leonsis, the patron saint of this blog certainly is another. Below is one of Leonsis' latest blogs:

Fun
I am at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex. There are more than 30 players on the ice including our three newcomer free agents, Alex Ovechkin and Alex Semin. The goalies took the day off. Hence, Chris Clark is leading drills and he has all of the players that are right-handed playing left-handed and visa versa. He has them skating hard.

Kozlov is a very big man as is Tom Poti. Both seemed very impressed with our facility. Michael Nylander can dangle left-handed. It is very impressive to see.

There is only one person in the stands right now and he is having a great time.

Just a very rich man and his professional hockey team; straight chillin on a Wednesday afternoon. Must be nice.