(photo by Nick Wass)

If ever there was a week to illustrate the differences between the Washington Redskins and the Capitals, it’s this one, boys and girls.

On Monday night, the Redskins fell asleep at the wheel just in time for a national audience to witness their humiliating 59-28 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles. Their slow start ensured they spent the night playing catch-up, and by the time the ‘Skins began to actually resemble a professional football franchise, the outcome was already decided.

Just 48 hours later, the Capitals hosted the Buffalo Sabres – the only team to defeat them in their previous eight games. Unlike the gentlemen in burgundy and gold, the Caps decided to show up focused and determined from the get-go and were up 3-0 before Buffalo knew what hit them.

Instead of playing from behind the entire night, the Caps’ fast start ensured they were in the driver’s seat throughout the contest. When they suffered a letdown in the middle frame – allowing two goals in less than a minute – the Capitals still had enough of a cushion to recover.

Even though it came early in the game, the deciding moment of the night had to be when Buffalo defenseman Tyler Myers was penalized for holding Washington forward Alexander Semin. Because Sabres defenseman Chris Butler was already in the penalty box, the Caps were given nearly a full two minutes of five-on-three hockey.

Center Nicklas Backstrom scored a powerplay goal, with Semin and Brooks Laich assisting on the play, and the Capitals were off and running. It was a clear-cut example of capitalizing on an opponent’s mistake.

But the biggest difference between the Capitals and the Redskins has to be the fact that D.C.’s hockey team regularly gets contributions from the bottom half of the roster, while the Redskins are seemingly always waiting for high-priced talent to live up to their overinflated contracts.

Against Buffalo, the Caps’ third line – featuring Dave Steckel, Matt Bradley and Jason Chimera – was the difference. They set the tone early and finished the night with a total of two goals and three assists for five points.

“They were really good,” said coach Bruce Boudreau of his third line. “I thought they were our best line.”

Teams typically rely on their top two lines for offensive production – leaving the less glamorous duties of digging out pucks in the corners, crashing the net and bringing a physical presence for the second half of the roster. But when all those little things add up, like they did for Washington on Wednesday night, it can really be the difference between winning and losing.

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[As you can see, the 11th issue of Hail! magazine, our free digital publication dedicated to the burgundy and gold is now out. Here is a sneak peak of my feature story in this week's issue on Redskins defensive lineman Phillip Daniels and his son, DaVaris, who is looking to follow in his father's footsteps.]

You don’t last 15 seasons in the National Football League without learning a thing or two about life on and off a football field. That’s why defensive end Phillip Daniels is one of the most respected players in the Washington Redskins’ locker room.

Sure, he might be 37, but Daniels is still one of the strongest players on the Redskins and he’s also one of the team’s hardest workers. So when Daniels speaks, his teammates listen.

On the field, Daniels also commands respect as well. The 6-foot-6, 305-pounder had 615 tackles, 60 sacks, 16 forced fumbles and 12 fumble recoveries in 187 games played prior to this season.

Now, if you’re the son of an established NFL player such as Daniels and you dream of one day following in your father’s footsteps, you’d probably want to follow suit and pay attention to your old man as well, right? Apparently not.

DaVaris Daniels, a senior at Vernon Hills High School in Illinois, fully admits it took some time and some growing up before he was ready to listen to his father when it came to football.

“When you’re younger, you don’t always take criticism the right way,” he said. “He’d try to give me some feedback or advice after a game, but I didn’t want to hear what I’d done wrong. I only wanted to hear the positives from him. It took me a while to get out of that mindset, but once I did, it really helped me out.”

“He’s definitely been there and done it all,” DaVaris continued. “He’s taught me the ropes along the way and he’s always been willing to give me advice, but at the same time, he’s always left it in my hands to go out and do it.”

That was by design, says Daniels. While he went through the same process back in 1992 before opting to go with the Georgia Bulldogs, Daniels didn’t want to be one of those parents who tries to dictate to their children where they go and what they do with their lives.

“Ultimately, it’s his decision,” Daniels said. “He’s got to be the one making the decision. If he has questions, I’m more than happy to help, but as far as choosing what school he wants to go to, it’s up to him.

“I’ve got nothing to do with it,” Daniels continued. “I even told the University of Georgia, it’s all about how you recruit him and what school he falls in love with. It’s not up to me, it’s up to the coaches and everyone involved in the recruiting process. I’m just here to support him throughout the process.”

Even though Daniels stays in Virginia during the season and his family lives in Illinois, the father and son are in constant contact. Because of the demanding NFL schedule, Daniels was able to see just one of DaVaris’ games this season in person. For the rest of the games, Daniels has to settle for watching a feed on the internet.

“We talk a couple times a week though,” DaVaris said. “And no matter what we start the conversation talking about, it always gets to football at some point.”

At 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds, DaVaris isn’t built like a defensive lineman. Instead, the younger Daniels plays wide receiver well enough that he’s considered one of the top prospects heading into college.

When asked which professional football player he most resembles on the field, DaVaris says Indianapolis receiver Reggie Wayne, who is considered one of the best all-around wide outs in the game.

“But I don’t see it,” Daniels said. “I really don’t. It’s hard to pick a guy in the NFL right now because, really, he could be anybody. I’m not sure who I’d say he plays like, but I know he plays well.”

Regardless of whether he’s the second coming of Wayne or not, DaVaris has proven to be an impact player in whatever situation his coaches put him in. This season alone, he’s thrown, caught, rushed, returned a punt for a touchdown and even scored a defensive touchdown for the Cougars.

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

(photo by Brian Murphy)

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

On days like this, I completely understand why so many fans of the Washington Redskins despise the media.

We now live in a world where anyone and everyone with a keyboard or microphone in front of them say or write anything that pops into their head with absolutely zero accountability.

That was clearly evident when Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan opted to bench quarterback Donovan McNabb in the deciding moments of a winnable game against the Detroit Lions two weeks ago.

Once the media sensed blood in the water, countless writers, yodelers and talking heads did their best to pile on, igniting a firestorm that culminated with Shanahan being labeled everything from egotistical to a racist.

As soon as the herd was done slamming Shanahan for the decision to willingly insert backup Rex Grossman into the deciding moments of a football game, the topic inevitably turned to the future of Shanahan, McNabb and the franchise, in general.

That’s when the “experts” stepped up their game with definitive statement after definitive statement about how one questionable decision in the heat of the battle had no doubt doomed the Redskins for years to come and ensured a messy divorce was on the horizon.

“I don’t believe for a second that Donovan McNabb is going to be here now,” said Michael Wilbon on The Tony Kornheiser Show. “Not for a second. Done. First of all, the Arizona Cardinals, where he lives, need him too much. Or Minnesota. Or the Chicago Bears, where he lives.”

Wilbon went on to say, “This is what has always plagued the Redskins – ego and arrogance.”

This, mind you, is coming from a guy who openly admits he’s pals with McNabb. They’re neighbors in Arizona and have a long-standing friendship, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that when Wilbon speaks on the subject, he’s got more of an insider’s perspective than most.

But don’t think for a second that Wilbon was alone.

“Donovan McNabb is never going to re-sign here,” said David Aldridge during the same show. “That’s over. You have now wasted two more draft picks on somebody that’s not going to be here.”

It was more of the same on the national stage, as the “worldwide leader in sports” happily trotted out an onslaught of so-called NFL experts to also shed light on the situation at Redskins Park.

“Personally I just think that Mike Shanahan was acting in the moment, and in a moment of anger, because this soup has been simmering for a while,” said ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. “It’s almost the worst-kept secret in the league, as far as I’m concerned. There’s been no enamorement with Donovan McNabb going back to the summer, and then as you went into the season you kept hearing that Mike Shanahan and Kyle Shanahan – his son and the offensive coordinator of the Redskins – had not been happy with the way Donovan practices.”

And just for the hell of it, here’s one more quote on the subject:

“If you don’t want Donovan McNabb to be your quarterback, you have to say that,” said Tom Jackson, also of ESPN. “The message sent across is I don’t want you to be my quarterback, I have another guy in mind, whenever I can find that guy. What this has done, though, for the rest of this year – because we’re still in this season – you have now, to some extent, fractured probably forever your relationship with the quarterback and your relationship therefore with the locker room.”

In related news, the Redskins and McNabb agreed on a five-year, $78-million contract extension Monday, with the 33-year-old taking home $41 million guaranteed.

Oh wait, that’s not related at all. In fact, some would even suggest that this news directly contradicts everything each of these well-respected media members said. To borrow a phrase from Wilbon – I’m not surprised.

If no one ever holds these guys accountable, then what’s to stop them from continuing to babble on senseless rhetoric?

Click here for the full article.

(courtesy photos)

The Washington Capitals defeated the Atlanta Thrashers 6-4 yesterday in an old-fashioned slobberknocker of a hockey game, giving them wins in nine of their last 11 contests.

It wasn’t always pretty and both teams clearly looked sluggish for large chunks of this bout, but in the end, the Caps were able to walk away victorious thanks to defenseman John Erskine, who scored the game-winning goal with less than seven minutes to play in regulation.

Erskine also picked up a second win on the night – defeating Thrashers forward Eric Boulton in one of the best hockey fights you’ll ever see. In fact, Puck Daddy is already calling this instant classic a “fight of the year candidate.”

All in all, a good night for a gentleman who it’s safe to say isn’t usually the focal point of the Washington lineup.

“I had a lane. I shot as hard as I could and we had guys going to the net to create some traffic,” said Erskine, who had scored just eight goals in 340 career games prior to Sunday. “It was a roller coaster of a game. We had a letdown in the second and we came out hard in the third.”

While the Capitals were happy to walk away with two points on a night they clearly weren’t at the top of their game, there’s no avoiding the fact that this type of effort is going to cost Washington more times than not.

“It wasn’t very good,” said Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau of his team’s performance. “We made mental mistakes. It was ugly, but the good thing is they righted the ship. We talked about not wanting to beat teams 6-4. We want to shut teams down.”

To their credit, Capitals players fully admit they need to be better if they want to continue to be successful.

“We haven’t strung together a good 40 minutes,” said center Dave Steckel. “We come out with a good 20 and then our second 20 is lacking energy. Teams might not play their best in the first, then they come out harder and we’re not responding, so it’s something we want to fix. We haven’t played a 60-minute game in a couple games now.”

The Capitals also got goals from forward Alex Ovechkin, defenseman Mike Green, forward Matt Hendricks and an empty netter by Steckel.

Although he didn’t have his best game of the season either, the win gave Capitals goalie Michal Neuvirth his league-leading 11th victory on the season. Neuvirth, the NHL’s rookie of the month for October, is now 11-3 with a 2.60 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.

I bring all of this up because it gives me a great excuse to bring up something that’s been driving me crazy all season long. Whenever I saw a shot of Neuvirth with his mask off during a stoppage of play it always bothered me that he looked so familiar, but I couldn’t figure out why.

The 22-year-old clearly has a baby face, but it drove me nuts trying to figure out which celebrity he most resembled. That is, until this weekend when I finally put it all together that Neuvirth looks like Björk – the Icelandic singer-songwriter.

Now, I understand that some folks out there are going to think I’m taking a cheapshot at the rookie goaltender, but that’s not my intent. It’s just been bothering me since Neuvirth became a mainstay here in D.C., and I felt compelled to share with the class.

And honestly, if he keeps racking up wins at his current pace, I don’t care if the dude shows up for work looking like Lady Gaga. Anything to help the Caps finally exercise their playoff demons.

(photo by Nick Wass)

If the Washington Capitals were a football team instead of a hockey franchise, their regular season would be over.

After 16 games, the Caps proudly stand in first place in the NHL with a 12-4 record. To put that in perspective, the Redskins have won 10 games in a season only twice in the last 19 seasons, and you have to go all the way back to 1991 to find the last time the Redskins had at least 12 wins in a season.

So yeah, the Capitals are off to a pretty solid start. But that’s been the norm since Bruce Boudreau came to town, isn’t it? The Caps have won early and often since Gabby took over during the 2007-08 season – going 153-60-28 in the regular season.

After last night’s 6-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington is currently riding a six-game winning streak. But that’s nothing new for the Caps either.

Four different times last season the Capitals won at least five games in a row – including a franchise-best 14-game winning streak that saw Washington go undefeated for nearly an entire month of action. In all, this is the team’s ninth winning streak of five or more games under Boudreau.

Because most of our local sports franchises are mired in mediocrity, I’ve decided to go back and look at each of the team’s six consecutive wins to see how the Capitals have once again gotten off to such an impressive start.

Caps defeat Lightning 6-3

Washington improved to a league-best 8-1 at home with a convincing victory over a much-improved Tampa Bay squad. Although the Lightning have been down for several years now (the last time they qualified for the postseason was 2006-07), if the season ended today, they’d not only make the playoffs – they’d host a first-round matchup.

Led by 20-year-old center Steven Stamkos, the Lightning are now considered one of the teams most likely to break out this season. In just 15 games played, Stamkos has 14 goals (tops in the NHL) and 12 assists (seventh best) for 26 points (tops in the NHL). So if the Capitals were going to best the Lightning, someone had to step up and out-produce Stamkos.

The Lightning outshot the Capitals 41 to 26, but it was Washington’s enigmatic forward Alexander Semin who was the difference maker – picking up three goals and two assists to single-handedly ensure victory for the home team. He broke open a close game with a hat trick in the third-period and seemingly had his way with Tampa goalie Dan Ellis in the final frame.

Center Nicklas Backstrom finished the game with four assists and forward Alex Ovechkin finished with a goal and two assist. The win gave Caps rookie goalie Michal Neuvirth his 10th win of the season – which is also a league best.

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

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

As sad as it is for football fanatics to admit, the 2010 season is now officially halfway over. While there is still plenty of meaningful football left to be played this season, it’s important to pause for a moment to look back at how the first half has played out for the Washington Redskins.

With that in mind, I’ve compiled a list of the team’s 10 defining moments of the 2010 season. But before we get to that, here are a few moments that just missed the cut:

Clinton Portis’ 53 flavors. For better or worse, we’ve officially reached the point of the Portis era where his most memorable moments come off the field, rather than on it. Sure, he didn’t know much about the incident involving Ines Sainz and the New York Jets, but that didn’t stop him from sharing the following nugget:

“And I mean, you put a woman and you give her a choice of 53 athletes, somebody got to be appealing to her. You know, somebody got to spark her interest, or she’s gonna want somebody. I don’t know what kind of woman won’t, if you get to go and look at 53 men’s packages.”

Although Portis’ career is clearly winding down, let’s all hope and pray he continues to do radio even after he hangs up the cleats.

Lorenzo Alexander hit sticks. The Redskins’ special teams unit has brought the pain all season long, but the biggest knockout shot came courtesy of Alexander, who simply destroyed Eagles returner Jorrick Calvin.

“He seems to do this each week, regardless if they double-team him or not,” said Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan of Alexander. “But that was one of the best hits I’ve been around since I’ve been in the NFL. I mean, that was an explosion on the sidelines. So that was very, very special.”

Week 3 still hurts. After losing to Detroit last season and St. Louis this year – both in humiliating fashion – I’ve already started a petition to make Week 3 Washington’s bye week next season.

Devin Thomas gets cut. Thomas was the 34th overall pick in the 2008 NFL draft. Less than three seasons later, he was released because the team no longer felt he could contribute. Maybe he gets it together in Carolina with the Panthers, but Thomas’ time in Washington can only be remembered as disappointing.

Derrick Dockery sits down. Last season, Dockery was considered one of the only bright spots on Washington’s terrible offensive line. This year, he’s getting paid to watch games in street clothes.

Dockery, who is in the second year of a five-year, $26.5 million contract, had played in 111 consecutive games before Shanahan decided to sit him in favor of someone named Kory Lichtensteiger, who is allegedly more athletic than Dockery. My counterargument would be that it doesn’t matter how athletic you are when you’re getting pushed back five yards a snap, but in this offense, I guess it does.

Anthony Armstrong catches. There’s a lot to like about Armstrong, whose career began in a parking lot in Nowhere, Texas. It’s too early to say whether or not he can definitively become a number-two receiver in the NFL, but he’s proven he belongs on the playing field.

And now, onto the 10 defining moments of 2010:

10. Donovan McNabb gets cheered. Seriously, if I suggested before the season began that Philly fans would handle McNabb better than Shanahan people would have laughed me out of the building. And yet, Eagles fans shocked everyone – McNabb included – by doing something classy for once and giving a standing ovation to the man who was the face of their franchise for 11 seasons in his return to Philadelphia.

Once the game started, Philly fans resorted back to booing McNabb whenever possible, but that was okay too. McNabb led the Redskins to victory, so we’ll call it even.

9. Joey Galloway doesn’t. The only reason I can come up with as to why Galloway continues to remain employed by the Redskins – let alone find his way onto the field during actual games – is that he must have blackmail photos of someone important at Redskins Park.

Case in point, the Redskins ran 516 plays on offense in their first eight games. Galloway was on the field for 289 of those plays and has just nine catches for 141 yards to show for it. In the last six games, Galloway has six total catches for 53 yards.

“We’re going to play the best players,” Shanahan said. “It’s based on film. You evaluate everything.”

Clearly Galloway has film of something he shouldn’t.

8. Phillip Buchanon stops running. I admit, in the heat of the moment, I blame safety Reed Doughty for letting Texans receiver Andre Johnson haul in a touchdown on a desperation 4th-and-10 play that would have sealed the game for Washington. But when I went back and watched the play again, it was clear that Buchanon gave up on the play at around the 10-yard-line, leaving Doughty alone to defend one of the premiere receivers in the game.

7. LaRon Landry flexes. Okay, so Landry has seemingly been flexing after every play since he came into the league, but at least his play warrants some celebration this season. It appears that all Landry needed to do was be placed back at his preferred strong safety spot rather than trying to play centerfield against those pesky wide outs who utilize double moves far too often for Landry’s liking.

Landry has played at an All-Pro level all season long, but his overtime interception against Green Bay is easily one of the biggest moments of his young career.

Click here for the full article.

(photo by Mitchell Layton)

For the next five months, the Washington Capitals are practically in a no-win situation.

That’s what happens when you spend an entire regular season re-writing the record books, only to self destruct as soon as the playoffs start.

It’s as if a good chunk of the fanbase, as well as the national media, refuse to be satisfied until Washington proves once and for all that Bruce Boudreau’s high-octane brand of hockey can translate into playoff success.

Until that happens, regular season victories will continue to be downplayed. Unfortunately for the Caps, losses will continue to be overanalyzed – hence the no-win situation.

Capitals players can’t really do anything to improve their standing in the public’s eye, but they can still damage their reputation. If forward Alexander Semin storms out of the gate – scoring nine goals in the team’s first 14 games – there are still folks out there who will shrug their shoulders and say, “But can he do it in the postseason?”

Fair or unfair, that’s where we’re at. Defenseman Mike Green blasts an overtime winner against the Philadelphia Flyers to give the Capitals a 3-2 win Sunday (giving Green nine points in 11 games this season), but critics still rush to pick apart his game.

Even though the win was Washington’s fourth in a row and catapulted the Caps into first place in the Eastern Conference for the first time this season, no one seems in a hurry to pat the team on the back. And that’s okay. Even those involved understand there’s a lot of hockey left to be played.

“It’s only November 7th,” Boudreau said. “I know we can compete against these other teams. We’re in the mix. I’m not saying we’re better or we’re worse, but we’re in the mix to compete against the better teams.”

It’s smart for Boudreau to downplay the 14th game out of 82 and, like I said earlier, there are plenty of fans who now expect the Capitals to cruise to victory on a nightly basis. But that doesn’t mean I can’t stop and acknowledge a few things that have caught my attention during the first quarter of the season.

For starters, everyone knows the Capitals can score goals. They’ve scored 47 goals in 14 games, which is good enough for 3.3 goals a game (second best in the NHL). But the good news is that the Caps have improved dramatically on defense – allowing just 2.4 goals a game (eighth best in the league).

And while the powerplay unit is converting at a 20-percent success rate (10th in the NHL), the penalty kill – which has plagued the Capitals for years – is actually rated higher. At 86.7, the Caps currently have the seventh-best penalty kill unit in hockey. If the Capitals can keep both the powerplay and penalty kill ranked in the top 10 this season, then teams are going to have to think twice before getting physical with Washington.

Enforcer D.J. King was a nice addition, but a successful powerplay and penalty kill unit will go a lot further than any tough guy in tilting the ice in favor of the Caps. The fact that the team has been able to find this level of success while defenders such as Green and Tom Poti have been in and out of the lineup is impressive.

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