(photo by Brian Murphy)

Washington Capitals center Keith Aucoin knows the odds aren’t in his favor.

Although he’ll turn 32 this November, Aucoin has yet to play a full season’s worth of games at the NHL level (he’s played in 74 total games since 2005-06). He’s been called up to the Capitals for just 20 games over the last two seasons. And he can’t help but be realistic when he sees the names of highly-touted prospects like Marcus Johansson and Mathieu Perreault next to his on the team’s depth chart.

But don’t expect Aucoin to quit without a fight. Generously listed at 5-foot-9 and 187 lbs., Aucoin has always been somewhat of an underdog. Other players might look like a prototypical hockey player, but the Waltham, Mass., native is never going to be outworked or out-hustled on the ice. Even if he starts the season back in the minors, he’s not going to let it affect his game.

And with a mindset like that, it’s impossible not to root for a guy like Aucoin. We caught up with him earlier this week, before he was assigned to the Hershey Bears, to get his take.

“I’m here at camp, where I see an opportunity at center, and I’m battling a couple young guys who have a good chance at making it,” he said. “But I’m coming in with the mindset to work hard and show them what I can do. They’ve seen it from me in the past. I’ve just got to go out there, work hard and hope they like what I can do. I’m just hoping for a chance.”

Coming into training camp, what, if anything, have the coaches said to you about the competition at center?

“They don’t tell you much,” admitted Aucoin. “They tell you there’s an opening at one of the center spots and it’s up for grabs between three or four guys, but that’s about it. You’ve just got to go out there and work hard. If you worry about it, it’s going to affect your play. You just can’t worry about it. You just go out there, show people what you’re capable of and hopefully put up some numbers. If you do all that, then hopefully they like you enough to keep you around. I feel like I can help this team out, so hopefully I earn that chance.”

The Hershey Bears have won back-to-back Calder Cups in the AHL and you’ve posted 60 goals and 142 assists for 202 points over the last two regular seasons. How do you not stop for a minute and say, “What the hell do I have to do to prove once and for all that I can play hockey?”

“It’s definitely something that comes across your mind from time to time,” he said. “Over the last couple years, you put up decent numbers here in the nine or 10 games that you get and, at times, it gets frustrating. You know, I’ve been through it most of my career – being called up and sent down. I try to not let it get to me, because when I do think about it too much, it gets into my game and I don’t play as well.

“When you do get sent down, you’re going to a great organization,” Aucoin said. “You know it’s a team that’s going to win and it’s a great group of guys, so that does make it easier.”

If that does happen and you’re sent back down to Hershey to start the season, then how are you going to handle that?

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[As you can see, the fifth issue of Hail! magazine, our free digital publication dedicated to the burgundy and gold is now out. Here is a sneak peak of the main feature, written by David Elfin, in this week's issue -- an in-depth look at Redskins middle linebacker London Fletcher.]

After starting at middle linebacker for mostly successful 4-3 defenses for 11 seasons, London Fletcher could have been angry when his Washington Redskins switched to a 3-4 scheme this winter. But moving to an inside linebacker is nothing compared to what the 35-year-old Cleveland native experienced before he made the NFL as a rookie free agent with theSt. Louis Rams in 1998.

Before he turned 13, Fletcher’s older sister had been raped and murdered, his grandmother had died in his arms and his brother had embarked on a lifetime behind bars. But Fletcher didn’t pick up a gun or a knife. He picked up a basketball and a football.

If he was going to settle scores, that would happen on the court or the field not on the drug-infested streets. That “turn the other cheek” response is derived from Fletcher’s upbeat nature, his religious faith and from a love of competition and sports.

“I looked at the choices that my sister made and decided I wanted to do something different, something to bring a smile to my mom’s face because I knew how hurt she was,” Fletcher said. “I saw the consequences of [my brother’s] choices when I was young and knew I didn’t want to go that route.”

Sports were his route out of the ghetto and to fame and fortune, but Fletcher hasn’t forgotten his roots. He was one of three finalists in January for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, given to the NFL player who best combines excellence on the field and in community service.

“I’ve always been driven,” Fletcher said. “Those situations in my family added fuel to the fire that was already there. There was a toughness built into you from an early age in my neighborhood. We used to play tackle football on the concrete. You weren’t going to get a lot of babying at home either. If you were crying, you wouldn’t get a lot of hugging. You’d get, ‘When are you going to stop all that crying?’”

Nor did Fletcher cry over being, shall we say, vertically challenged, even though basketball, not football, was his passion as a youngster and a teenager.

“London excelled at football, but he loved basketball,” said Tim Isaac, who mentored Fletcher at the neighborhood recreation center. “Not only was he a very good player, basketball gave him an outlet for what was going on in his life. He could shoot around and get some solitude.”

Fletcher might have needed solitude at times, but he was always a leader. It’s easy to see the point guard who earned a basketball scholarship to St. Francis (Pa.) – before transferring home to play football for Division III John Carroll – in the 5-foot-10, 245-pound captain, who has been quarterbacking NFL defenses for 12 years.

“I’ve been in leadership positions since I was in elementary school,” Fletcher said. “Guys would ask me, ‘What do you want to do? Where do you want to go?’ I loved watching Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas, guys that were leaders. You could just see it in their passion, the way they approached the game, how their teammates responded to them. I love being the leader. That’s just the way I was made. But you can’t try to force your way on people.”

Fletcher didn’t have to do that in Washington. The Redskins gave him a five-year, $25 million contract on the heels of their dreadful 2006 season on defense because: he had been the NFL’s top tackler the previous seven years for St. Louis and Buffalo; he knew Gregg Williams’ scheme from running it for the Bills in 2002-03; and for his inspirational leadership.

“London’s the best football player I’ve been around,” said new Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett. “He’s smart. We ask him to do a lot of things and he’s doing a great job with the defense. He makes very few mistakes. He’s the ultimate leader. I don’t think he’s gotten enough credit. I’ve watched him over the years, but until you see him [every day], see how he handles the football team. The guy is really something special.”

Fletcher doesn’t just know his job, he knows what everybody else is supposed to do.

To read the rest of this feature click here and subscribe to Hail! magazine.

(courtesy photo)

[Note: Every Tuesday I write a column for SB Nation DC. This is that column.]

Since 1999, when quarterback Brad Johnson, running back Stephen Davis and receiver Michael Westbrook teamed up for the NFL’s second-best offense, the Washington Redskins have consistently failed to score points and rack up yardage on offense.

Conversely, the Redskins defense has finished in the top 10 in eight of the last 10 seasons. For better or for worse, that’s what Washington Redskins football has boiled down in recent history. The defense keeps the team in the ballgame and then it’s a question of whether or not the offense can do enough to win the ballgame.

Well, after giving up 30 points in back-to-back games against Houston and St. Louis, it’s clear something is not right with the Redskins defense.

You can point to the offense and rightly wonder why running back Clinton Portis seems to be falling down to avoid contact, or why receiver Joey Galloway is prominently involved even though he hasn’t been productive in years, but I would counter that the defense is held to a higher standard.

The offense, regardless of who is drawing up the plays or who is active on gameday, still can’t score consistently in the red zone. They still can’t put together time consuming drives to keep the Redskins defense fresh. They still take dumb penalties at the worst possible time.

But that’s what we expect from them at this point. Stephon Heyer isn’t very good, so when he’s in the game, you know an ill-timed holding penalty by Heyer is surely going to erase a key third-down conversion. That’s what happens when a below-average player is asked to play one of the most important positions in football.

For my money though, there’s nothing more troubling than watching the once-reliable Redskins defense fail to stop anyone. It’s one thing to give up yards in bulk to Matt Schaub and the Texans’ offense. They had the number-one passing attack in football last season and can score points with ease on anyone.

But it’s another story entirely when the Rams, led by a rookie quarterback and without the services of Stephen Jackson for half of the game, light you up. That’s when it’s time to panic.

“I don’t know whether you want to call it playing down to the level of the opponent, but whatever you call it, we definitely do that against teams that haven’t won in a long time,” said middle linebacker London Fletcher. “The Rams haven’t won at home in two years. They haven’t scored 30 points in a long time. We all have ownership in this.”

Click here for the full article.

(photos by Brian Murphy)

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

1. “Radioactive” by Kings of Leon

When the Washington Redskins pissed away a 17-point second-half lead at home to the Houston Texans, ‘Skins fans could take solace in the fact that the schedule makers were kind enough to donate the St. Louis Rams as a Week 3 “get-well present.”

It was as if the powers-that-be took pity on the Redskins and decided the schedule a cakewalk the following week to get everything right as rain heading into the most challenging stretch of the 2010 schedule.

Just one problem. The Redskins simply refuse to make anything easy on themselves and now – after a humiliating 30-16 loss to the previously inept Rams – we’re sitting here, once again, trying to figure out if the season is effectively over after just three games for the second-straight season.

On days like this it really is tough to tell which team is historically bad and which team is the one who is supposed to dominant. Let me put it this way:

The Detroit Lions were mired in the second-longest losing streak in NFL history – dropping 19 straight games. The once-proud Kansas City Chiefs, who were starting over with a rookie head coach Todd Haley and a seventh-round draft pick named Matt Cassel at quarterback, had lost 16 of their last 17 games. The Rams, as you know by now, had been defeated 27 of their last 28 games.

And yet, each one of those pitiful teams was able to get their act together long enough to defeat the Redskins – all in the last 365 days, amazingly enough.

Sunday’s 30-16 triumph marked the first career victory for Rams quarterback Sam Bradford, who joins Lions quarterback Matt Stafford and Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young as rookies who got their first taste of victory at the hands of Washington.

And that’s not even counting other rookies such as Joe Flacco, Bruce Gradkowski and Trent Edwards, who also picked up a win at Washington’s expense in their rookie campaign. Why even bother using Peyton Manning or Tom Brady against the burgundy and gold, when the Redskins are willing and able to put over any unproven rookie willing to step into the ring with them.

“I don’t know whether you want to call it playing down to the level of the opponent, but whatever you call it, we definitely do that against teams that haven’t won in a long time,” said middle linebacker London Fletcher. “The Rams haven’t won at home in two years. They haven’t scored 30 points in a long time. We all have ownership in this.”

It apparently doesn’t matter who’s the head coach or coordinator. It doesn’t matter which players are on the active roster. Nothing good comes from the Redskins facing a doormat. It’s one thing to say the Redskins have a tendency to play down to the level of their opponent, but what if they’re not playing? What if the Redskins simply aren’t that good?

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

As a rookie during the 2008-09, defenseman Karl Alzner played 30 games for the Washington Capitals.

Last season, for whatever reason, Alzner took a step back and was called up to the National Hockey League for just 21 games. And while he saw action in just playoff game, it was during Game 7 against the Montreal Canadiens.

Alzner was paired with defenseman John Carlson during that game, and Caps coach Bruce Boudreau is on record as saying they were the best line on the ice for Washington that night.

Now, we’ve reached year three with Alzner in D.C., which is affectionately referred to on this blog as the “put up or shut up” year with professional athletes. I’m of the firm belief that, if you can’t definitively prove to your team in three seasons that you deserve a full-time roster spot, you’re wasting everyone’s time.

Fortunately for Alzner (and Caps fans begging for help along the blue line), it finally appears that he’s going to be given every opportunity to be a full-time member of the Capitals. With that in mind, I caught up with the quirky 21-year-old this week to see how everything is coming along.

Okay, I’m going to come right out and say it – this is the “Year of Alzner.” You’re here with the Capitals to stay and I’m expecting big things from you this season. What say you?

“I hope this is my year,” he said. “I know a lot of people have been saying things like that and I’m working as hard as I possibly can. I’m trying to do a little bit of everything in hopes of rounding out my game so that, when the time comes, I’m ready to step up and make plays.”

If I’m being honest, this time last year I thought you’d be a mainstay in Washington. Obviously that didn’t really happen, with you spending the bulk of your time in Hershey with the Bears. How do you look back on last season?

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[As you can see, the fourth issue of Hail! magazine, our free digital publication dedicated to the burgundy and gold is now out. Here is a sneak peak of the main feature, written by David Elfin, in this week's issue -- an in-depth look at Redskins running back Clinton Portis as he closes in on 10,000 career rushing yards.]

Heading into Week 2, Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis needed just 241 yards to become the 25th back during the NFL’s 91-year history to rush for 10,000 career yards.

That’s a magic number that such Hall of Famers as Gale Sayers, Earl Campbell, Jim Taylor, Bronko Nagurski and Paul Hornung didn’t reach.

Of course, seasons are longer than they were back then, affording more of a chance to add yards at a younger age before the legs lose their agility and spark, but 11 of the 13 backs who reached 10,000 yards and have been eligible to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame are enshrined in Canton, Ohio.

The two exceptions are Ottis Anderson (10,273) and Ricky Watters (10,643), so perhaps, 11,000 is really the magic mark.

Besides, if Portis’ two half-seasons (2006 and 2009) are combined into one, he has averaged 1,385 yards per season over his eight-year career. If he hits that number in 2010, he’ll vault over the 11,000 yard barrier.

Prior to facing Houston, Portis was also just 876 yards shy of surpassing Hall of Famer John Riggins as the leading rusher in Redskins history. And Portis needed two rushing touchdowns to move past Stephen Davis for second place in franchise history, behind only Riggins. Portis already holds the club record with 26 games with 100 rushing yards.

So how good is Portis? Is he Hall of Fame material despite his often crazy antics and his even more offbeat comments?

Well, if, as the saying goes, you’re judged by the company you keep, Portis can make a pretty strong case. Consider that the only backs ahead of him through Week 2 in yards from scrimmage per game (107.9) are Hall of Fame legends Jim Brown, Barry Sanders and Walter Payton, as well as Canton cinches LaDainian Tomlinson and Marshall Faulk.

Among active backs, only Tomlinson and Fred Taylor (who has played four more seasons) have run for yards than Portis.

Of course, unlike Brown, Payton and Faulk, Portis has never won a championship. But neither did Sanders. And Tomlinson and Taylor haven’t either. Portis only played in one playoff victory during his first eight seasons, but that’s all Sanders did during his 10-year career.

And while former Redskins running back Ladell Betts was superb in relief of the injured Portis during the second half of the 2006 season, the Redskins were still just 2-7 when their No. 1 back didn’t start that year, 3-4 when he did. All told, during Portis’ first six-plus years in Washington, the Redskins were 37-41 with him in the lineup, 5-13 when he didn’t start.

The Redskins have had other great backs including Hall of Famers Riggins, Bill Dudley, Cliff Battles and Larry Brown, as well as Davis and Terry Allen, but a case can certainly be made that no other back will have done more in a Washington uniform by the time the 29-year-old University of Miami product is all said and done.

Portis’ fascinating Redskins career has been about character and characters.

If he wasn’t dressing up in costume as he did virtually every Thursday during the 2005 playoff season – remember Southeast Jerome, Doctor Don’t Know, Sheriff Gonna Getcha and Coach Janky Spanky? – Portis was verbally sparring with coaches or radio talk show hosts.

Portis has never enjoyed practice or preseason, but the weekday diva transforms into a warrior on game day. And few feature backs have ever blocked as effectively as Portis, although at 5-foot-11 and 218 pounds, he’s no giant.

“I have more fun blocking than doing anything,” he said. “When I broke 60-yarders, I used to come to the sideline and be gasping for air. It was a run. It wasn’t nothing exciting. That’s what I get paid to do. When I knock somebody off their feet, that’s what’s exciting to me.”

To read the rest of this feature click here and subscribe to Hail! magazine.