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26Jan

all star shenanigans

(courtesy of Getty Images)

Sure, he might not have been named the most valueable player of the NHL’s All Star game, but it was still a pretty sweet weekend for Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin.

The fun started with Ovechkin and friend-turned-enemy-turned friend again Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins kissing and making up, with a large assist from Ilya Kovalchuk. Then, Ovechkin successfully defended his Breakaway Challenge during the NHL’s skills competition Saturday night. As you can see from the above photo, Ovechkin was in rare form.

Unlike voting for the All Star game starting lineup, Ovechkin caught the attention of hockey fans  with his shenanigans and captured more than 42 percent of votes. And so what if he didn’t start the All Star game. He was definitely the biggest attraction during the game itself. Ovechkin scored the East’s first goal of the night and scored the game clincher during the shootout. In between he picked up two assists and became the Capitals’ franchise leader for All Star game points (surpassing Peter Bondra).

Oh, and Ovechkin also involved in the best off-ice moment of the weekend too. From Tarik El-Bashir:

Late in the second period, the JumboTron over center ice showed two young women holding beers and dancing to the beat during a break in the action. The camera then cut to Ovechkin, who was watching the girls on the screen and was saying, “Oooooooh.”

Sooo busted.

Of course, all 21,273 fans in the building cracked up with laughter. Ovechkin, too, let out a hearty chuckle.

“They were dancing pretty well, and I said, ‘Wow!'” Ovechkin told me moments ago. “I don’t think the camera was going to look straight at me.”

It’s no wonder some are calling Ovechkin the NHL’s rock star.

The only lowlight from the weekend was Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara breaking the 16-year-old record of the immortal Al “Wild Thing” Iafrate during the hardest shot competition. The former Capital’s record of 105.2 miles per hour was eclipsed by Chara’s 105.4 mph offering (and yes, we know he wasn’t on the Caps when he set the record, but we don’t care).

So please excuse the tear streaming down our cheek. We’re not crying. We’re just making a lasagna … for one.

26Jan

goaltending: good, bad and uncertain

(photo by Adrian Wyld)

Last week, we focused on the good, the bad and the uncertain for the Washington Capitals so far this season.

One area we didn’t really cover in any of the three midseason reviews was goaltending, mainly because depending on which game you’re watching, the Caps netminders can fall in any of the three categories. Or at least that’s how it was for the first month or so of the season.

Looking at the statistics, goalie Jose Theodore has staked his claim as the team’s number-one goalie, posting a 17-9-1 record at the All-Star break. But keeping with the theme of good, bad and uncertain, he’s been far from the league’s elite.

While his 17 wins rank 11th best in the NHL, Theodore’s 2.81 goals against average is 27th best and his .898 save percentage ranks a disappointing 38th overall.

What’s encouraging for Caps fans is Theodore’s improved play of late. Since Dec. 23, Theodore has a 9-3-0 record with a 2.16 GAA and a .919 save percentage.

As a point for comparison, Theodore was just 8-6-1 with a 3.00 goals against average and a .883 save percentage in his first 18 games for Washington.

Our take on the goaltending situation, specifically with Theodore, is that the more he’s played, the better he’s done. Early in the year when coach Bruce Boudreau was inclined to “play the hot hand,” Theodore struggled. But with backup Brent Johnson dealing with some minor injuries, Theodore has seen the bulk of the action and he’s become much more dependable of late.

If he has an off night, Theodore has shown that it’s best to get him back in the net the next night to move past the rough outing. Otherwise, if he’s stuck on the bench for two or three games, he’s shown a propensity to struggle while attempting to get into any kind of rhythm. While it’s hardly Earth shattering to learn a goalie does better when he’s getting consistent action, Theodore seems to be one of the streakier goalies in the NHL. Guessing which Theo we’ll see on any given night is half the fun.

There are a couple positives we should point out about Theodore. Thanks to the Caps’ 5-4 win over the New York Islanders Jan. 19, Theodore became the 11th active goaltender with 200 career wins. Any goalie who can win 200 games in the NHL is obviously pretty good.

And what’s more than pretty good is Theodore’s career record of 11-3 in shootouts. He may only have a 19-26 record in the playoffs, but Theodore is downright clutch in shootouts. With any luck, the Capitals can continue their hot play down the stretch and then start focusing on getting Theodore a few more postseason victories.

23Jan

midseason review: the uncertain

(photo by Brian Murphy)

For those who missed it, we’ve dedicated much of this week to reviewing the first half of a memorable season for the Washington Capitals. First we covered the good. Yesterday, we tackled the bad. Today we’ll focus on a few lingering questions and things to watch from here on out.

This weekend, while left wing Alex Ovechkin is in Montreal for All Star weekend and the rest of the Caps are enjoying some time off, rookie defenseman Karl Alzner is keeping his skills sharp in Pennsylvania with the Caps’ minor league affiliate, the Hershey Bears.

While the intent is to help continue his growth during his inaugural campaign, there’s a very real chance that Alzner might be kept down in the minors even after the Capitals resume play. Not because of anything he’s done on the ice, after all, he’s easily a top-four caliber defenseman at the NHL level right now. But he could remain temporarily demoted simply because Washington doesn’t have the salary cap space to keep him around.

Capitals defensemen Tom Poti and Shaone Morrisonn are set to return from injuries after the break, which means that Alzner and his $1.675 million salary cap number will likely be forced out of the lineup unless general manager George McPhee makes a move to clear room under the cap.

We despise fans who attempt to play fantasy football (or in this case, fantasy hockey) by jumping online and posting their ridiculously made-up trade scenarios, so you won’t find any of that here. But there are two players who would make sense for McPhee to attempt to move if he could find a suitable trade partner.

The first, center Michael Nylander, has been mentioned in trade rumors for much of the season. He’s 35 years old and has just four goals and 18 assists for 22 points in 45 games. His salary cap number this season is $4.875 million, ranking behind only Ovechkin ($9.5 million) as the biggest salary cap hit among Capitals forwards.

Three times this season Nylander has been a healthy scratch, meaning coach Bruce Boudreau benched him even though Nylander’s salary cap number is higher than center Nicklas Backstrom ($2.4 million), forward Tomas Fleischmann ($725,000) and Alzner ($1.675 million) combined.

Many of the folks who cover the NHL expected Nylander to be playing elsewhere by now, but there’s one major problem – his no-movement clause. While his on-ice situation may be less than ideal, Nylander’s family is apparently very happy to be in the D.C. area again and he’s not in a hurry to waive the clause to uproot them any time soon. So unless a compromise is reached, Boudreau and McPhee are stuck with Nylander until after the 2010-11 season.

The second player who the Caps should consider making a move on is forward Chris Clark. The 32-year-old right wing may still be listed as the Caps’ captain, but it’s obvious that the team is moving in a different direction. Clark has been a healthy scratch twice this season (when’s the last time you heard of a team benching its captain just because?) and has just one goal and four assists for five points in 31 games played. The entire world knows this is Ovechkin’s team, so why not give Clark a fresh start elsewhere and formally recognize your franchise player?

Depending on what the team would have to take back in a trade, making either one of these moves could conceivably free up enough space to keep Alzner around. His play alone warrants keeping him in town, but Alzner has also impacted those around him. Before Alzner’s arrival, defenseman Milan Jurcina was a big body with loads of potential, but not much else. Hopefully you know by now that potential is just another way of saying “ain’t done shit yet.”

Well, pairing Jurcina with Alzner calmed the big guy down and somehow transformed the 25-year-old into a legitimate NHL blueliner. Now he’s someone Boudreau trusts with increased responsibility. In fact, in recent weeks, Boudreau moved “Juice” away from Alzner and paired him with Jeff Schultz, who has taken Jurcina’s previously held title of “least dependable defenseman.”

In addition to Jurcina, the other most improved player on the Capitals is Fleischmann. People might not realize this, but the Caps acquired Fleischmann along with the 29th pick in 2004 (who turned out to be defenseman Mike Green) and a fourth-round pick in 2006 from Detroit in exchange for forward Robert Lang. It’s safe to say that trade worked out well for McPhee and friends.

In his first 118 games (spanning three seasons) in Washington, “Flash” recorded just 14 goals. In 39 games this year, Fleischmann has taken his game to another level, netting 15 goals, which is good enough for third on the Caps behind Ovechkin and Semin. Lately he’s been on the team’s second line with Semin and center Sergei Fedorov and is playing with renewed confidence as he’s seen his ice time increase. If Fleischmann and Jurcina continue to evolve as they become more comfortable being full-time NHL players it will only strengthen an already potent lineup.

The final area of concern for the Capitals, free agency, most likely won’t be addressed until after the season. Fedorov (39), forward Viktor Kozlov (33) and tough guy Donald Brashear (37) are all unrestricted free agents after the season. Each plays a key role on this team, but will the front office bring the aging trio back again next season?

Along the same lines, forwards Boyd Gordon (25) and Eric Fehr (23), as well as defensemen Morrisonn (26), Jurcina (25) and Schultz (22) are scheduled for restricted free agency. While it wouldn’t be surprising to see all five back in Washington next season, nothing is ever certain in professional sports.

22Jan

midseason review: the bad

(photo by Brian Murphy)

Yesterday we addressed the many positives of the 2008-09 Washington Capitals. Today, we’ll focus on some of the areas that should be of concern to Bruce Boudreau and the coaching staff.

The Capitals are currently 30-15-3, which is good enough for fourth best in the league. But what’s troubling is that eight losses have come against teams who wouldn’t qualify if the playoffs started today. Teams like the Ottawa Senators and the Columbus Blue Jackets who aren’t going anywhere this season have multiple victories over the Caps this season (with Columbus shutting out Washington twice).

It’s great that the Caps can compete with the league’s elite teams like the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, but until they can get the same level of intensity and effort night in and night out, this team is setting itself up for failure down the road. Beating Boston twice only to turn around and lose twice to Ottawa doesn’t help your cause. It shows that some folks in that locker room think they can just show up and the league’s doormats will automatically roll over. But that’s not the way it works.

If anything, lesser teams look at the schedule and circle matchups against teams like Washington. They might not have a great record, but if a squad like Columbus can show they can not only compete with, but defeat the mighty Capitals, it can help get them back on track. Every team has talent. Underestimating any opponent is naïve and foolish.

In addition to playing down to the level of their opponents, the Caps also have a tendency to, stop us if you’ve heard this before, get too cutesy with the puck and don’t crash the net. Instead of making a higher-percentage pass, guys like Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green all try to earn a spot on the highlight reel with high-risk passes through heavy traffic. When they work, it’s a thing of beauty. Unfortunately, the odds aren’t usually in their favor. Instead of forcing the puck, especially on the powerplay, they should simply regroup by passing back to the point and setting up the play again.

Crashing the net may not be glamorous, but it’s effective. Screening the goalie and increasing the traffic in front of the net always improves your scoring chances. Plus, if the goalie makes the initial save but can’t haul in the puck, then someone is on the doorstep to bang home the juicy rebound. Other than maybe Brooks Laich, who else on the Capitals shows a willingness to stand there and take the abuse from a defenseman trying to clear the zone? The answer is no one.

The Capitals have not given up an even-strength goal in their last three games. While that is impressive, the fact that they’ve given up five powerplay goals over that span is troubling. For the season, the Caps are the fourth-most penalized team and their penalty-killing percentage is 78.9, 24th in the league. So to recap, they take a lot of penalties and don’t do a very good job of killing them. That’s never good.

If we’re going to take this team seriously, guys like Ovechkin and Semin (who are second and fourth on the team in penalty minutes) need to learn to stop taking foolish penalties, especially with the game on the line (like Semin’s terrible penalty against Ottawa with just over three minutes left in regulation).

While the Capitals have been automatic at home this season, they are just 11-12-2 away from the Verizon Center (the 14th best road record in hockey). As previously mentioned, teams are going to get fired up to play the Capitals, especially out on the West Coast where it might be the only time all season Alex Ovechkin and friends come to town. With the Caps’ average road attendance nearly 97 percent, it’s safe to say that the team is playing in front of a packed house night in and night out. Bringing that same level of intensity each and every game helps to prevent trap games against those teams who will be watching the Stanley Cup playoffs on TV come April.

The last concern is the amount of minutes the team’s biggest guns are playing. Green is averaging more than 25 minutes of ice time per game. Ovechkin is over 23. Backstrom, Semin, Alzner, Schultz and Poti (before his injury) are all above 19 minutes. It’d be nice if the coaching staff could lean a little less on the marquee players in the regular season, so they still feel fresh come playoff time. Seven Capitals players have scored at least 10 goals this season, so let’s spread around the ice time a little more evenly and save the major minutes for guys like Green and Ovechkin for the postseason.

While this post focuses on the negatives, please understand where we’re coming from. The Capitals, unlike any other team in town, has heightened expectations. Unlike the Redskins or Wizards, simply going .500 for the year is unacceptable. They have a deep roster with loads of talent and, for the first time in a long, long time, have a legitimate chance to do some damage once the regular season concludes. Addressing some of these concerns simply increases their chances of bringing a championship to D.C. for the first time in franchise history.

21Jan

midseason review: the good

(photo by Brian Murphy)

After last night’s 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators, the Washington Capitals now have a week off to get rested and healthy before the second half of the season. With that in mind, this seems as good a time as any to take an in-depth look at what’s been good, what’s been not-so-good and what’s in store for the Caps. In this first installment, we’ll focus on the highlights for the 2008-09 Capitals.

Led by the best player in hockey, left wing Alex Ovechkin, the Capitals are off to their best start in franchise history.

At the All Star break, the Caps stand 30-15-3, which is good enough for second place in the Eastern Conference. Only Boston, San Jose and Detroit have earned more points than Washington through the first half of the season.

While much of the focus goes to Ovechkin, there are other players who have contributed to the team’s success this season. In fact, the Caps are tied for the league lead with seven different players (Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Tomas Fleischmann, Mike Green, Nicklas Backstrom, Brooks Laich and Viktor Kozlov) having scored at least 10 goals this season.

After his customary slow start, Ovechkin now leads the NHL in goals scored with 31 and is third in the league in points with 59. Top-line center Nicklas Backstrom continues to develop into one of the premiere setup men in hockey and ranks seventh in the league in assists with 36. While we’re on the subject of Backstrom, his eight goals and 16 assists also earn him a spot among the league leaders in powerplay points. He may only have 12 goals this season, but Mike Green leads all defensemen in powerplay goals with 10. And although forward Alexander Semin has only played in 29 games, he ranks sixth in the NHL in plus/minus. So, it’s safe to say the big guns are getting it done for Washington.

The Capitals are great at home (19-3-1) and truly have a home-ice advantage thanks to passionate and knowledgeable fans who routinely pack the Verizon Center. Not only have there been more sellouts (12) at the halfway point this year than all of last season, but general manager George McPhee recently said they’re sold out for most of the second half of the season as well.

Through 23 home games, the Capitals’ average attendance is 17,973 (more than 96 percent capacity). But what folks may not realize is that the average attendance for Caps road games is nearly as good at 17,666 (also more than 96 percent). One year ago, the Caps averaged roughly 82 percent attendance both home and away, so while the economy has taken a turn for the worse, people are still flocking to see this young and exciting team.

Regardless of whether the games are played on home ice or not, this team has been great against the teams that matter. If the playoffs started today, the Capitals are 13-3-2 against teams who would qualify for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. And while some may claim that the Caps are a product of playing in a sub-standard Southeast Division, that’s simply not the case. They are 9-1-2 against the Atlantic Division and 8-3-1 against the Northeast Division. Bottom line, this team can compete with anyone in the East.

But what’s most impressive is that, even though they’ve had a ton of injuries thus far this season, the Capitals have managed to weather the storm and still find a way to consistently win.

Five defensemen – Karl Alzner, Sean Collins, Bryan Helmer, Sami Lepisto and Tyler Sloan – have appeared in games for Washington after starting the season in the minors. If you count the four games center Sergei Federov had to play on defense (just so the team could have six defensemen), then the Caps have used 12 different blueliners this season. Across the board, the Caps have used a total of 33 players this year and yet, they still have the best record in franchise history. Why is that? Because of Bruce Boudreau.

It seems that no matter who suits up for the Caps, they still find a way to win primarily because of the masterful job behind the bench by Boudreau, who took just 85 games to reach 50 wins (a franchise record). Thanks to a talent-laden roster and Boudreau’s attacking style of offense, the Caps have a chance for victory, even on off nights when things just aren’t going their way.

Which leads us to our biggest point, this team just knows how to win. They win high-scoring affairs. They win defensive battles. They just win. And when you factor in the collective records of the local football, basketball and baseball teams, the Caps are the only team around that can say that.

20Jan

life of a grinder

(photo by Nick Wass)

Please forgive center David Steckel for being a healthy scratch when the Washington Capitals traveled to Long Island to face the New York Islanders for a Monday matinee. If anyone on the team deserved a day off, it’s probably Steckel.

When we caught up with the former Ohio State Buckeye Saturday night after the Caps defeated the Boston Bruins 2-1 we couldn’t help but notice two things – first, he was carrying the hard hat for his workmanlike effort against the NHL’s best team and second, his face was swollen and bloody as if he’d back-talked Donald Brashear or something. We figured we should pull him aside and get some answers.

Did we see you rocking some new headgear earlier?

“Yep, you get your lip cut apparently you get the hard hat,” Steckel said in the locker room after the game.

Since you brought it up, what happened to your face, man?

“At the end of the first [period] when I was taking that pass up the middle, guys yelled heads up, but I had to take the hit to make the play,” he said. “I’ll take it any time.”

You knew the hit was coming and made the play for the puck anyways?

“It was either that or the puck could end up in the back of our net in the last 30 seconds of the period,” Steckel said. “I’d rather have it the way I did.”

Isn’t there an easier way to earn the hard hat?

(Laughs). “There is, but as you can tell from the stats I’m not really the goal scorer,” he said. “I’ve got to get it done off the stat sheet.”

The Boston Bruins have the league’s best record, and yet you guys are now 2-0 against them. What are you able to do that no one else is against them?

“That’s a good question,” Steckel said. “You know, I haven’t seen many games that they’ve played, but for us it’s a matter of being patient. In the past we’ve been really frustrated after the first period when we go out against a team and take 20 shots and don’t score. And Boston, defensively, is the best team in the league, so you’re not going to get chance after chance like other teams. We had to make sure we went in to this game with a good mental toughness and be opportunistic.”

If you look at the Caps’ record against the league’s elite and against the lesser squads (like, say, the New York Islanders) it looks like you guys have a habit of playing to the level of your opponent, right?

“We’d like to think it isn’t, but if you see us play against those teams, obviously we don’t come out with the same intensity,” he said. “Obviously that’s one thing we need to learn. We’ve learned quite a few lessons already, but we need to make sure we don’t keep learning them throughout the year. Come playoff time, we’re not going to be able to pull that kind of stuff.”

While the Caps were able to squeak out a 2-1 overtime victory against the Islanders yesterday, it was clearly a game in which the Capitals thought they could just show up and the lesser teams would happily roll over.

Maybe it was because Steckel was out of the lineup and couldn’t lead by example (and with his face) once again, but getting the same intensity night in and night out against both the best and worst the league has to offer should be priority number one for Bruce Boudreau and the coaching staff for the second half of the season. Or at the very least they should find more ice time for selfless players like Steckel, who do whatever it takes to get the job done. Even if it means eating lunch through a straw for a couple days afterwards.

19Jan

boxscore be damned

(photo by Nick Wass)

This was a landmark weekend for our nation’s capital as countless Washingtonians clad in their red, white and blue converged downtown for the chance to be a part of something special.

While nothing was guaranteed, countless locals flocked to D.C. on the off chance that this was the dawn of a new day. After all, no one wanted to look back with regret having missed a chance to be a part of history as the top two teams in the Eastern Conference squared off when the Boston Bruins battled the Washington Capitals.

What did you think we were talking about – some Beyonce performance?

The Bruins rolled into town with the NHL’s best record (33-7-4) and an impressive eight-game road winning streak but knew they’d be in for street fight – especially since one of those seven regulation losses came the last time they visited the Verizon Center. And for the record, there was zero chance Boston was going to overlook their opponent on this night because that 3-1 loss on Dec. 10 was their only loss the entire month (they went 12-1 in December).

That’s why this contest definitely had the look and feel of a playoff game. The first period remained scoreless as both teams seemed, for the most part, content to play it safe and not take too many chances.

Bruins center Marc Savard struck first early in the second period, but defenseman Mike Green and the Caps responded just over a minute later when the talented defenseman scored his 12th goal (his 10th powerplay goal) of the season. Green’s goal was huge because the Caps haven’t fared well when allowing the first goal this season. In fact, they came into the game an impressive 20-4-1 when scoring first, but just 8-10-2 when their opponent scores first.

After those two goals, both teams seemed to step up their intensity. There was even more physical play and both offenses began to take more chances, which translated into more odd-man rushes and quality-scoring chances. This regular-season game suddenly resembled a championship boxing match, with two prize fighters trading blows waiting for the other to blink first. You got the sense that whichever team struck next would leave the building with the victory.

On a roster loaded with as much offensive firepower as any team in the league, the biggest play of the night came from an unlikely source.

Thanks to a Capitals turnover, Martin St. Pierre and the Bruins had a breakaway late in the third period. Just when it looked like an easy goal for Boston, defenseman Milan Jurcina hit the deck to break up the play before St. Pierre could do anything with the puck. Caps forward Alexander Semin gained control of the puck and took off in the other direction, where he blasted a slap shot past Tim Thomas for the eventual game winner with eight minutes remaining in regulation.

Semin’s goal was officially listed as unassisted, but that goal never happens if Jurcina doesn’t make his selfless play on the other end.

“It was a key play in the third period because the guy had a scoring chance and it would be 2-1 for them and we would have to catch them,” said forward Tomas Fleischmann. “I think it was a great play by Juicy and Sasha had a great shot.”

Defenseman John Erskine took it one step further, saying that if it were up to him, Jurcina should have been credited for setting up the play.

“Juice made an unbelievable play there,” Erskine said. “In my opinion, he should have gotten the assist there because he pretty much set up the goal for Semin and got the win for us.”

While the rest of the league struggles to slow down these powerhouse Bruins, the Caps are now 2-0 on the season against Boston, thanks largely to unselfish plays by lesser known guys like Jurcina. It might not show up in the newspaper the next day, but the guys in the locker room know it and appreciate just how vital that kind of attitude is if this team is going to get past championship contenders like the Bruins come playoff time.

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