(photo by Brian Murphy)

[Editor’s note: Sorry for the lack of posts over the last week or so. A hectic work schedule and a quick trip to Denver prevented us from our regularly scheduled programming. Things should be returning to normal now, so let’s get on with it.]

The Washington Capitals season has come and gone and now it’s time to start thinking about the future. Now, the Caps face several questions as far as which of the team’s pending free agents should be resigned and which minor leaguers can/will make the jump to the big show next season.

Compounding matters is the fact that the NHL’s salary cap will more than likely either stay the same (it was $56.7 million this season) or possibly even go down, giving a team like Washington (who was nearly maxed out this year) even less wiggle room to operate.

For starters, the team has three forwards scheduled to become unrestricted free agents July 1st – Sergei Fedorov, Viktor Kozlov and Donald Brashear. Each player brought a very different skill set to the team this season and all three, at various times, have been linked to reports that they’ll be leaving the NHL in favor of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League.

We’ll start with Fedorov, the 39-year-old future Hall of Famer who was brought in to show this young and talented team exactly what it takes to win at this level. On the ice, Fedorov is savvy veteran who is above average in the faceoff circle and can even drop back and play as a defenseman in a pinch.

Some might think he’s simply a big-name player collecting a paycheck (he made $4 million last season) because he was great a decade ago, but that’s not the case. He may not be among the league’s point leaders anymore, but Fedorov is still a contributing member on the Caps as evident by his 11 goals and 22 assists in 52 games.

At 6-5 and 235 lbs., Kozlov is a bear of a man. He’s a big body who, when he feels like it, can do the dirty work and dig a puck out of the corners. The 13-year-pro finished the season with 13 goals and 28 assists for 41 points in 67 games and was often paired with Alex Ovechkin and Niklas Backstrom on the Caps’ top line.

One of the 34-year-old’s biggest assets is the fact that he excels at the shootout, which is helpful during the regular season. Unfortunately for Kozlov (who made $2.5 million last year), there is no shootout in the postseason. In a related story, Kozlov has just four career postseason goals in 35 games (with all four coming this season).

Rounding out the trio we have Brashear, a soft-spoken 37-year-old who prefers to let his fists do the talking for him. We’d list his statistics, but honestly, who cares? He’s on the roster to ensure other teams don’t take liberties on the Capitals’ top players. Brashear dropped the gloves 11 times last season, according to HockeyFights.com, and made $1.2 million. Sounds fair to us.

So at the end of the day, we’ve got three players who made a total of $7.7 million last season. Nothing against Kozlov or Brashear, but they are both ultimately expendable. Out of the three, if the team is going to bring anyone back, Fedorov makes the most sense. But if reports are correct and he’s been offered a two-year deal worth $7.6 million (tax free) to play back home in Russia, the Capitals aren’t going to be able to match it. They’ve got one year left to lock up Backstrom and/or Alexander Semin to long-term deals, so that kind of money simply isn’t available.

It’d be nice to get some, if not all, of the three forwards back. But if one final payday is out there and the Caps can’t match it, then they should each take it. No one is going to begrudge them for cashing in one last time and honestly, each of them helped to turn this franchise around. Their veteran presence in the Caps’ lineup will be remembered long after each has hung up their skates.

(courtesy photo)

While there is much to like about the summer (long days, better weather and the prospect of exotic vacations) there is one obvious drawback to this time of year – there’s never anything worth watching on TV.

Because the networks conspire to force folks outside to be productive or some such nonsense (those bastards), we’re stuck with reruns and reality crap that I wouldn’t force my enemies to suffer through.

The reason I bring this up in a sports column is because this is where things currently stand for the NHL playoffs. After a wonderfully exciting season and an even better Stanley Cup playoffs, we’re now left with the one finals matchup no one wants – the Detroit Red Rings versus the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Nothing against these two obviously talented teams, but this wasn’t exactly the greatest series in the history of hockey when these same two teams faced off a year ago. Let’s be honest here – no one outside of those two cities is jazzed at the prospect of a repeat, and yet, that’s where we are. The only story line even remotely different from last year to now is Red Wings forward Marian Hossa, who left Pittsburgh during this past offseason to get paid in Detroit.

But really, is that enough to get casual sports fans to tune in? Uh … no. And really, it’s probably not enough to even get hockey fans (outside of Detroit and Pittsburgh) to watch more than the highlights, which is too bad. Like I said, this season has been a renaissance campaign for the NHL. It’s too bad this is how things played out.

Conversely, the NBA is firing on all cylinders these days. After a so-so season in which everyone assumed it was a forgone conclusion that the L.A. Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers were a lock for the finals, things haven’t gone exactly according to plan.

When they’re not battling the WWE, the Denver Nuggets are actually fairing better than to be expected against Kobe Bryant and friends. Ever since Chauncey Billups came to town, the Nuggets have turned into a bona fide team. No longer are Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson seeing who can jack up 30 shots a game first. Instead, everyone now has a defined role and (for the most part), they’re able to remember that working together is much easier than five individuals all looking out for themselves.

Click here for the full article.

Note to self is a weekly sports column written for HoboTrashcan.

(photo by Evan Vucci)

All eyes were on the mound last night as Washington Nationals rookie pitcher Ross Detwiler made his professional debut.

As previously mentioned, the 23-year-old was forced into action because of injuries and ineffectiveness with Scott Olsen. Things got off to a rocky start for the Nats when shortstop Christian Guzman picked up two errors in the first inning, but Detwiler still looked sharp. In fact, Detwiler was all fans could have asked for – throwing 84 pitches, 61 of which were strikes. Unfortunately, things went from bad to worse after Detwiler hit the showers.

Nats pitcher Garrett Mock entered the game in the sixth inning. He threw just 15 pitches and here’s what happened – a walk, a wild pitch, a hit batter and a two-RBI double for good measure. No sense in letting the kid get a win in his first outing. Wouldn’t want it to go to his head, would we now? So Mock did us all a favor and picked up another loss for the league’s doormat, who are now 11-26 on the year.

Here’s the part where we state the obvious about the Nats’ 12-7 loss to the Pirates Monday night. They lost while scoring seven runs. For those who haven’t been paying attention (and judging by the attendance figures, that’s the majority of you), this has become a troubling trend for the home team.

Over the last nine games, the Nats have scored 57 runs (for the mathematically challenged, that’s more than six runs per game). There’s just one problem. The Nationals have gone just 1-8 over the same span because they’ve given up an astounding 78 runs (more than eight runs per game).

So while it’s awesome to see Guzman batting an NL-best .385 on the season, followed by first baseman Nick Johnson (.336 batting average), third baseman Ryan Zimmerman (.358 batting average) and outfielder Adam Dunn (.286 average and 11 homers), they basically need to score double digits just to have a chance at victory these days.

Oh, and just so we’re not only blaming pitching, the Nationals lead the league in errors with 37. Yes, they have 37 errors in 37 games. And yes, if you found a way to screw up every single day you came to work, you certainly wouldn’t be a millionaire. You’d be unemployed. But these are growing pains.

And while there are plenty of negatives begging to be dwelled upon, we’re choosing to focus on a positive. In his first pro game, Detwiler delivered. There are a dozen things around him to be concerned about and there’s no guarantee that he’ll be nearly as sharp his next time he takes the mound, but on this night, Ross Detwiler gave Nats’ fans a reason to smile.

(AP photo)

We’re headed into uncharted territory here on the blog. With our hockey season having come to an abrupt ending and football season not quite here, we’ll be turning our attention to that local baseball team that continues to try and find its way. Before we get to the on-the-field stuff, we wanted to take a broader view of the state of the franchise.

Let’s start with what we know.

The biggest reason the Washington Capitals have become one of the best and brightest teams in hockey is because general manager George McPhee and his talent evaluators are consistently able to turn high draft picks into name contributors.

Forget about top five picks like wing Alex Ovechkin and center Nicklas Backstrom, the Caps are also able to find guys later in the draft. Defenseman Mike Green (29th overall), goalie Simeon Varlamov (23rd overall) and forward Alexander Semin (13th overall) are just a few of players who fit into this category that will keep the Capitals competitive for the next several years.

Conversely, we have the Washington Redskins, who seemingly show up on the day of the draft with a plan to “just wing it.” When a team like the Baltimore Ravens or New England Patriots goes with the “best player available” draft strategy, more times than not they come out on top and walk away with a cornerstone for their franchise.

When the ‘Skins front office tries the same approach, they end up using three second rounders on pass catchers who fail to contribute. Sadly, this is actually the preferred method, since their other alternative is to give away draft picks for guys named Jason Taylor, Brandon Lloyd and T.J. Duckett. This is why clown music should be played in the Redskins’ war room on draft weekend.

Somewhere in between the Caps and ‘Skins we have the Washington Nationals. Like the Caps during their vaunted rebuild, the Nats seem content to suffer in the short term while stocking up the franchise for better long-term stability and depth. Fans might have to partake in a 100-loss season now, but the promise of better days led by Ryan Zimmerman, Jordan Zimmermann and others is supposed to ease the pain.

It’s great in theory to say “we’re blowing it up and rebuilding through the draft,” but at the end of the day you’ve got to have the right people in place to identify and select talented players in the draft. Otherwise, you’re destined for mediocrity.

So what can we say about the Nationals front office and the job they’ve done thus far in restocking the proverbial cupboard?

Um … not much. Other than guys named Zimmerman(n), the jury is still out. Last year’s first rounder was spent on Aaron Crow, a wonderfully talented pitcher out of Missouri. But the team failed to sign him and basically has nothing to show for the ninth pick in the 2008 draft.

The first rounder from 2007 is a pitcher named Ross Detwiler from Missouri State. He’s currently the second ranked prospect in the Nats’ farm system (behind Zimmermann) and will be taking the mound for Washington tonight. Ideally Detwiler wouldn’t be pitching at the major league level today (he’s 0-3 with a 2.96 ERA with Double-A Harrisburg), but such is life with the Nats. Injuries and ineffectiveness with Scott Olsen mean we get our first glimpse at Detwiler sooner rather than later.

Regardless of how Detwiler fares tonight he’s in better shape than Chris Marrero, the team’s 2006 first rounder (and the third ranked prospect in the organization). We attended a Potomac Nationals game last week and saw Marrero strike out in consecutive at bats in a total of just six pitches. This guy makes a living as a power hitter and it’s okay to swing for the fences on occasion, but he wasn’t even close to making contact on this day. We’re hoping we just caught him on a bad day.

And don’t even get us started on Marrero’s Potomac teammate Stephen King, a third rounder from the same 2006 draft. We’ve nicknamed him “Dorn” because it looked to us like he was fine playing third base as long as he didn’t have to get his uniform dirty.

As a rule, baseball players take longer to develop than football or hockey players. We know this and fully understand it. But because the situation is so destitute with the big league club, a lot of these youngsters are naturally being asked to play at an accelerated level. Some are responding well. Others are not.

So while we’re only 36 games into the season and it’s already safe to say the competitive portion of this season has come and gone, there are still reasons to tune in. Tonight, it’s Detwiler. And who knows, maybe the kid comes out and is able to put it all together against a very beatable Pittsburgh Pirates squad. And if he can stick around, then suddenly you’re looking at a rotation with John Lannan, Shairon Martis, Jordan Zimmermann, Detwiler and a spot reserved for Stephen Strasburg come this summer. If that doesn’t give you a reason to smile then nothing will.

(courtesy photo)

In technical terms, yesterday sucked balls.

Any D.C. sports fan knows exactly where I’m coming from, but for the benefit of the rest of the class, here’s a recap of the series of nut shots that’s given us more than enough reason to put a bag of frozen vegetables on our collective beanbag as we attempt to recover from a painful Wednesday.

For starters, the one team that consistently wins in this town, the Washington Capitals, was not able to get the job done with their season on the line. And while losing is almost inevitable in team sports, doing so to your most hated rival on a national stage makes it a whole lot tougher to deal with.

“They were more composed with the puck, and the other thing they did and the reason they won the game is because they outworked us,” said forward Brooks Laich after the Caps’ 6-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. “It’s not easy to stand in front of you guys and say that we’ve been outworked in our building in a game seven. I’m sure that’s something we’re going to have to think about for a long time.”

Sadly, there is no truth to the rumor that due to a scheduling conflict involving a Yanni concert, the Capitals’ offense was thrown off a day and is actually arriving in town tonight for a pivotal game seven. I guess we’ll have to wait five months to see how the Capitals respond to this bit of adversity.

And right around the same time that the Caps were imploding, the one reason to care about the Nationals was suffering a similar fate. You see, the Nats were kind enough to start the season 1-10, letting the rest of the country know “there’s nothing to see here” and to move along for another season or two until the Nationals get some pitching and additional depth.

Well, the one reason folks outside of the beltway actually acknowledge this current team is Ryan Zimmerman, the third baseman who saw his 30-game hitting streak come to an end last night just as folks were beginning to take notice.

Sure, the Nats at 11-21 are still the worst team in baseball. But Zimmerman matched George Brett’s 30-game streak in 1980 for the longest by a third baseman since Pete Rose’s 44-game streak in 1978.

“He put us on the map a little bit with what he did,” said Nationals manager Manny Acta, who has apparently mastered the art of the understatement.

And the icing on the cake comes courtesy of the Redskins, who, thankfully, did not have a game yesterday and therefore did not find a way to fall apart in the fourth quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals, San Francisco 49ers or an equally inferior opponent.

Click here for the full article.

Note to self is a weekly sports column written for HoboTrashcan.

(Reuters photo)

In the immortal words of Gwen Stefani - don’t speak.

We know you’re disappointed. We know you’re angry. We know you’d rather see the Washington Capitals lose to anyone other than those damned Pittsburgh Penguins. But do everyone a favor and zip it. No one is happy with how game seven played out, but it does absolutely no good whatsoever to have a hissy fit and/or walk around town and run your mouth about the only salvageable franchise D.C. has.

We’re coming off of one of the most exciting playoff series in more than a decade and although it ended in a less-than-desirable fashion, there’s still a lot to like about the future of hockey in our nation’s capital. So do everyone a favor and give it 24 hours.

Cool down and then, once rational thought has returned to the option menu, we can all take a look at what went wrong and where we all go from here. No matter how much your brain might be telling you otherwise tonight, one game does not ruin an otherwise memorable season.

(Reuters photo)

Isn’t it amazing what can happen when you stop screwing around and simply put the puck on the net?

The Washington Capitals finally played as if their season was on the line and, thanks to a David Steckel deflection, defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime 5-4. After losing their last seven-consecutive overtime games, the Caps will now host the Penguins in a do-or-die game seven Wednesday at the Verizon Center.

So far this series has played out fairly consistently – the Penguins have been the much more aggressive offense, generating twice as many quality scoring chances as Washington, while the Capitals have been much streakier. When they’re clicking, they’re impossible to beat. When they’re content to get “cutesy” with the puck and force low-percentage passes in high-traffic areas … not so much. Just getting the Caps offense to stop trying to make the extra pass and fire a shot on net at times has been maddening.

Here’s the kicker – you don’t even have to shoot, so long as you’re aggressive in the offensive zone. The Penguins proved that when they won game five without ever shooting, with a Evgeni Malkin pass deflecting off of Caps defenseman Tom Poti and past Simeon Varlamov for the overtime winner.

In fact, after seeing so many pucks deflect off of Capitals defenders into their own net, we (half) joked that the only way for the Caps to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins and force a game seven would be to have Washington defenders camp out in front of the opposing net and wait for the puck to hit them and bounce into the net.

Thankfully, things didn’t have to come to that.

Instead, Caps fans were treated to a much sweeter shot of redemption, with the game-winning goal in Monday night’s game six coming from center David Steckel, who has played a masterful series and yet was known around town as the guy who had a chance to steal game five but couldn’t bury a bouncing puck into the Pittsburgh net in overtime.

After winning a faceoff in the offensive zone, Steckel crashed the net and was in the right place at the right time when teammate Brooks Laich fired the puck in his general direction. Steckel turned the blade of his stick and redirected the puck past Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fluery and sent Caps fans into a frenzy.

And while we’re on the subject of redemption, it was nice to see forward Alexander Semin finally get into a groove. The Capitals player who shined the most during the New York Rangers series (with five first-round goals) had yet to make an impact against the Penguins through five games.

But with the Caps facing elimination, Semin finally got things going – avoiding the ill-advised decision making that drives his coaches and fans insane, while also drawing two Penguins penalties that each resulted in goals for the good guys. The stat sheet only shows Semin with two assists, but he was a much bigger influence in the Caps living to play another day.

And the man of the night was forward Viktor Kozlov, who coach Bruce Boudreau nicknamed the “Unsung Russian” earlier this year. Kozlov, known mostly in NHL circles as a great regular season player who vanishes come playoff time was everywhere Monday night. He had two major goals that provided the secondary scoring (i.e. – goals from folks not named Alex Ovechkin or Niklas Backstrom) that has been sorely needed this series.

The Capitals are now 6-1 in elimination games over the last two years. They’re old enough to know what’s at stake and yet, young enough to come out and play like they don’t give a damn. Sure, things looked scary when the first period ended and the Caps were trailing 1-0 on the scoreboard and 18 to 5 in shots, but they got better as the game went on and are finally starting to resemble the offensive powerhouse we all know and love.

There’s no guarantee that they’ll be able to show up Wednesday night and eliminate the Penguins, but the fact is, they’ve got a shot. And really, at this point in the season, that’s all you can really ask for.