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10Feb

the captain and the rebuild

(photo by Jim McIsaac)

Last week we ran our one-on-one interview with Washington Capitals general manager George McPhee in which he spoke at length about the team’s rebuilding plan that has turned the Caps into a legitimate contender.

We wanted to follow that up with some reactions from others involved during the rebuilding phase, so consider this the second part of the story.

Before Chris Clark’s season ended last week due to a wrist injury, we caught up with the Capitals’ captain to get his take on the rebuild.

Hey Chris, as the captain during that timeframe, just how tough were those rebuilding years?

“It was really tough,” he said. “Especially because I had come from a team [the Calgary Flames] that had just rebuilt, got to that pinnacle and got to the Stanley Cup finals. It was hard in the beginning, but looking at the gameplan, it’s a credit to [the front office] sticking to it and it’s a credit to the guys who are still here from those times who’ve stuck with it as well. We had the draft picks and we had the great scouting staff that picked the right people and knew what it would be like in two or three years. I think we were a little bit ahead of schedule last year in making the playoffs and doing so well, but it was a great decision.”

From a selfish standpoint, it’s got to be tough for a player to arrive right when names like Peter Bondra, Jaromir Jagr and Robert Lang are all being shown the door, right?

“You know, I got the opportunity to get a little more ice time and kind of a second start in my career,” Clark said. “It helped me and it helped a lot of guys, especially the young guys coming up. If they were on another team, they wouldn’t have gotten these opportunities so early in their careers. We might have been losing a lot of games, but we never quit until the last second ticked off the clock. We knew we were fighting for our jobs, whether it be here or other places. We never gave up and always fought as hard as we could.”

There were definitely growing pains, but as you said, it’s paying off now. What do you see from this team now?

“A lot of maturity,” he said. “Just making the playoffs last year, whether it was on the last game of the season or what, helped this team. I think we grew a lot during the summer and the guys who had no playoff games now have seven under their belt. I just think its huge steps for us and, as young as we are, we’re only getting better with experience.”

How does this team take the next step to where you’re annually competing for the Stanley Cup?

“Maturity and knowing what it takes to get there,” Clark said. “Last year, we knew what it took because losing in the beginning of the year we knew how hard it was just to make the playoffs. This year we want to make it an 82 game schedule where we’re pushing the whole way, so it’s not as hard at the end of the year just to make the playoffs. We want to be fighting for a playoff position when it comes down to it, not just trying for eighth place. I think it’s just something we’re going to build up so that, at the end of the year, we’re hitting on all strides.”

While Clark will be sidelined as his teammates close out the season, there’s no doubting his words. This was a team that had to learn to crawl before it learned to walk and now it’s a team dangerously close to learning how to run.

Though losing in the playoffs to a team like the Philadelphia Flyers last year was a bitter pill to swallow, this team is much better prepared to handle a postseason atmosphere this time around.

09Feb

the mike green takeover

(photo by Brian Murphy)

Mike Green leads all NHL defensemen in goals and points scored. Mike Green is second in the entire league in powerplay goals. Mike Green has more goals this season than All Stars Ryan Getzlaf, Henrik Zetterberg and Jonathan Toews, even though they’ve all played in more games this season and are, you know, forwards.

But that’s not what’s important. If you know nothing else about the future Norris Trophy winner, know this – Mike Green can kick your kid’s ass.

Not tracking? Keep reading and you’ll understand.

Hey Mike, we read a feature story on you last week on NHL.com that said you’re a big fan of UFC. What do you know about mixed martial arts?

“I follow it a bit, but it’s just a sport that I’m interested in,” Green said. “Mostly I’m interested in the training that they do to prepare for a fight. If you’ve ever seen it, it’s pretty incredible.”

We know you’ve got some buddies on the Washington Redskins. You should talk to Santana Moss because he’s incorporated some mixed martial arts into his offseason program. When we talked to him about it, he said it really helped with his conditioning. What appeals to you?

“It’s the most extreme training I’ve ever seen,” he said. “It would help you as an athlete no matter what sport you’re playing. That’s why it interests me. Hopefully here I can meet some of the guys and you never know, maybe they’ll bring me to a training session in the summer time.”

We know you’re a fan of Chuck Liddell. Which other UFC fighters are you a fan of?

“Obviously [Randy] Couture,” Green said. “He’s a legend. But another guy I like is [Georges] St-Pierre.”

Did you watch his fight against B.J. Penn?

“Yeah, he killed him,” he said.

St-Pierre definitely showed he’s one of the best in the business. So what would your style be if you ever stepped into the octagon?

“I don’t know,” he said laughing. “I don’t think I ever would … unless it’s against 14-year-old kids. I don’t think I’d hold my own in there.”

Green’s two-goal effort over the weekend against the Florida Panthers extended his goal-scoring streak to six games, something no defenseman had done since Hall of Famer Ray Bourque back in 1984. If he scores again Wednesday night, he’ll tie the NHL record.

And let’s be honest here, as long as he continues this elite level of play, no one cares that Green is only capable of roughing up kids who still have to deal with chores and curfews. Score a few more goals and we’ll gladly help you pocket their lunch money.

06Feb

the agony of defeat

(courtesy photo)

The Washington Capitals’ penalty kill has caused lots of heartache and pain this season, but not quite like this.

Last night, during the Caps’ 5-4 loss at home to the L.A. Kings, the team gave up a powerplay goal for the 13th consecutive game, which is believed to a franchise record. As if that wasn’t bad enough, forward Brooks Laich was injured with roughly seven minutes left in the second period while blocking a shot with his calf during a penalty kill. After absorbing a slapshot from the point Laich dropped to the ice, clearly favoring his leg. Once the play was stopped Laich was finally able to get up and labored over to the bench. Here’s how Brooks saw it:

“We were down shorthanded, and [defenseman] Shaone Morrisonn came out of the box,” Laich said. “But they still had possession of the puck and the guy was walking in to basically tee one up. As a player you know the situation you’re in and you know you have to block it. As penalty killers that’s what we get put out there to do. Just took it in a very bad area. I think so, to date, that’s the worst one I’ve taken. It was just very painful and I was able to finish the game. Popped a couple pain killers and tried to suck it up and was able to finish the game, but I’m pretty sore right now.”

What went through your mind when it happened?

“Well as soon as I got hit I knew it was trouble,” he said. “Jose [Theodore] luckily covered the puck 10-15 seconds later and then I just got off the ice and my usual routine is to come to the back and try to walk it off and try to get some feeling back in the leg. Each one is different. I’ve been through a lot of them, but each one is different. You can get hit in different spots and sometimes you can hit a nerve, sometimes it’s a bone, sometimes it’s muscular. You never really know, so I just come back and mostly try to regroup mentally. The first thing you have to do is just accept the fact that the rest of the night is not going to be really any fun.”

A few minutes later you got back on the ice, but your first shift back was only about 15 seconds. Were you still trying to sort everything out?

“Yeah, I told Dino, our assistant coach, to have somebody ready just in case,” Laich said. “I don’t know if when I step on the ice I’ve broken anything. I never had it X-Rayed or anything at that point in time, I just wanted to keep playing.

“I realized that I wasn’t going to be flying around the ice the rest of the night. It wasn’t going to be a skating night, which is usually my game,” he said. “I had to try and slow things down and be more aware of who was on the ice, making plays and being patient with the puck. Try and beat people that way rather than trying to beat them with speed.”

The last two minutes were as exciting as hockey can get. Did you get a piece of that puck on the final goal?

“Yeah, I didn’t tip it a whole lot, I just got enough of it to get it into the net,” Laich said. “I just changed a little of the direction on the goalie. I don’t think he really saw it to begin with, but my mobility was pretty limited. Usually I’m around the net anyways, so if you can’t skate why not just plant yourself right there? Greenie makes a great shot and I was able to get it into the net and tip it past him.

“We kept applying pressure,” he said. “I saw a lot of people leaving the arena as soon as they scored their fifth goal. They thought it was over. I think we’ve proved to our fans, and especially to ourselves, that no game is ever over. We had chances. I had another chance with about 20 seconds left that just about went in the net. Unfortunately tonight it didn’t go, but we’re going to bounce back Saturday.”

Were you aiming five hole on that last shot?

“I was just trying to get it on net,” he said. “There was a scrum in front – a couple of their guys there and myself there. I originally tipped the puck, stopped it and thought maybe the goalie would be out of position a little bit. I tried to get a quick shot off and ended up hitting his blocker, I think. It was an exciting finish for the fans, I guess, but not the result we wanted.”

And with that we let Laich go get some rest. The Capitals may continue to struggle at times on the penalty kill, but it’s not for lack of effort. Guys like Brooks are busting their tails and literally sacrificing their bodies to try and turn this thing around.

Recaps of last night’s game won’t even mention the blocked shot, but Laich will definitely remember it for a while. Now if we can just convince some of his teammates to stop taking ill-advised penalties, maybe we can limit the abuse on Laich and the rest of the penalty killers.

03Feb

the man with the plan

(courtesy of Reuters Pictures)

It’s official, the Washington Capitals are trendy.

The bar has been set so low for the Redskins, Wizards and Nationals these days that local fans are happy if they finish a season with a .500 record. So naturally, with the Capitals playing some of their best hockey in franchise history, people have gravitated towards them. After all, everyone loves a winner.

While longtime Caps fans are glad to slide over and make room on the bandwagon, we thought it would be helpful for the newbies to get a quick refresher course on how the Capitals got here. You see, this didn’t happen by accident.

The dynamic duo of owner Ted Leonsis and general manager George McPhee got together a couple years ago and consciously made a decision to take a veteran Caps team that was good enough to make the playoffs, but not do anything once they got there, and blow it up. Simply achieving mediocrity wasn’t acceptable. (You hear that Redskins?) They didn’t drop confetti and throw a party just for making the playoffs and getting bounced in round one. (Wizards anyone?)

They had a plan and while everyone knew there would be growing pains, they rightly believed the payoff was worth it. This team, loaded with young talent like Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green and Tomas Fleischmann never happens if Leonsis and McPhee don’t make the hard decision to get rid of older players like Jaromir Jagr, Robert Lang, Michael Nylander and Peter Bondra. Sure, Nylander is back, but old habits die hard. And more importantly, this team is built to compete for championships now.

We caught up with George McPhee after the Red Wings game this weekend to hear straight from the source what went into rebuilding the Capitals of yesterday so D.C. could “Rock the Red” today.

For starters, what goes into building a team? Are you someone who values the draft more than free agency or vice versa? How would you go about building a team from scratch?

“Well, you have to use every resource available,” said McPhee. “Ideally, you get your best players through the draft, so you always put the emphasis on that part of rebuilding. If you look at any successful team, they’ve drafted well.

“In addition to that you’ve got to make good trades and you have to sign the right free agents,” McPhee continued. “Whether it’s a top-end free agent or a guy that’s going to play a lesser role, they have to be the right people. When you’re doing it, the theme is ‘Let’s find talent, but they have to be good people, quality people as well.’ I think that’s what we’ve done well so far.”

You took a team that was good enough to make the playoffs, but wasn’t much of a threat to do anything once they got there and made the difficult decision to blow it up, take your lumps and rebuild this team in what you felt was the right way. How hard was it to come to that decision, whether it’s convincing ownership, the fanbase or whatever?

“There’s a lot of risk in that kind of move because if you don’t rebuild it you’re going to lose your fanbase forever,” McPhee said. “Nobody is going to come to the games. You have to be mindful that if this doesn’t work, it could really hurt the franchise and it’s self inflicted. So you worry about that, but we assumed that the lockout was coming and it’d be the right time to do this sort of thing and get rid of expensive veteran contracts and get down to where we’re in a new [collective bargaining agreement] that would require us to be more frugal. With that in mind we did it and fortunately it’s been working.”

Human nature says that selfish thoughts are going to sneak into your head and you might be inclined to worry about yourself and your job security because ownership might not stay committed to this long-term plan. Did you ever have any of those thoughts or were you and Ted Leonsis on the same page pretty much from day one?

“No, we all agreed to do it – Ted, [team president] Dick [Patrick] and I,” McPhee said. “It’s not my team. They own the team, it’s what they wanted to do and it’s my job to tell them how I think it would work – what are the benefits and what are the risks? – and sort of educate them on what I think the process would be so that when we are taking our lumps nobody panics. That was the process and there were going to be some tough nights. It’s not much fun walking into a building knowing you’re probably going to get thrashed. But you get through that and you make sure your team is gritty and competitive and the wins will come at some point.”

We’ve had complete faith in you guys because we see you’re able to turn Robert Lang into Tomas Fleschmann and a first-round draft pick that became Mike Green. Parting with Peter Bondra was tough for a lot of fans, but you get someone like Brooks Laich who is a big contributor on this team. It’s one thing to decide to rebuild, but it’s a whole other thing to know that the decision makers are going to get it right. You guys were able to trade seldom used Brian Sutherby for a second rounder and then turn that into Christobal Huet, who was huge down the stretch last year. So what’s your secret?

“I think you get better with experience,” he said. “Our amateur scouting staff was young when we first hired them and they were making their mistakes early on, but they’ve gotten to be really good. The same could be said about our pro scouting and management. Moves like we made this summer, when we traded [defenseman Steve] Eminger for a first-round pick and turned it into [defenseman John] Carlson, I think that’s going to be really big for this club. They’re not all going to work out, as I’ve explained to ownership, not all the trades or draft picks are going to work out, but if you keep doing the right things often enough, it’ll go the right way.”

We’re in the salary cap era now and experts say dynasties are gone and it’s nearly impossible to keep a good young team together. The Capitals aren’t even to that level yet and people are already saying you guys won’t have the cap space to be able to retain guys like Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin once their deals are up. Are you going to be able to find a way to keep these young, core players?

“We’ll have the cap space,” McPhee said. “We’re not worried about that. In fact, we’re one of the clubs that, two years from now if this cap goes down, we’ll still be in pretty good shape. We have flexibility and optionality, and you’ve got to have options. That’s the way we’re going to operate. There will be a few players who we’ll lock up long term and everyone else will be on short-term deals.”

We know you’re not going to come out and give away any secrets, but between now and the trade deadline is it safe to say you’re going to be checking your options and seeing what deals you might be able to pull?

“Well, you have to do that,” he said. “Whether you make no moves or five moves, you have to do all the research and homework and decide what’s best for your club. We do that every day anyway.”

But is there a specific area where you’d like to add depth?

“We could add six players if it made us better,” McPhee said. “But we like what we have and we like the way this team is playing. The one area that we’re not happy with is the penalty kill and selfish penalties, and that’s a mental thing. If we don’t make any changes, I’m content that this team can do real well.”

And with that, we let the man known as GMGM off the hook and headed for the exits. We want to thank George McPhee for his time and candor and here’s hoping the decision makers running the Redskins, Wizards and Nationals stumble across this interview and something hits home with them.

While those teams have come to accept mediocrity, the Capitals have raised the bar by showing how a professional sports franchise should be built. It wasn’t always pretty, but now the team is built to be a legitimate contender for the foreseeable future. It sure would be nice to see some of the other local teams follow their lead.

02Feb

undisputed

(courtesy of Reuters Pictures)

Some folks might try to tell you differently, but know this – the undisputed MVP of Super Bowl Sunday was clearly Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin.

(Quick sidenote: Can someone please explain to us why people are all excited about the Pittsburgh Steelers? They beat the Arizona Cardinals. Big deal. Who hasn’t?)

A day after scoring two goals to defeat the Detroit Red Wings (you know, the defending Stanley Cup champions) 4-2, Ovechkin followed it up with a hat trick in a 7-4 victory over the Ottawa Senators. Five goals in one weekend is pretty outstanding, even for Ovechkin. For those scoring at home, he’s now got 36 goals and 29 assists for 65 points on the year.

Ovechkin now has 199 career goals in just four seasons (do the math, that’s pretty good) and continues to entertain the world each and every day he takes the ice. Don’t take our word for it.

“The most amazing thing about Ovie is, I’ve played with Alex now for four years, and he makes such a great effort to get it up to there,” said Capitals forward Brooks Laich. “Then, the next game he can come out and take it higher. And after that he can take it higher. He never gets satisfied. Last year he scored 65 goals and won all the trophies, but he wants to do more. He wants our team to do more. He wants to win more. That’s the amazing thing about Alex, he’s never satisfied. He keeps trying to get better.”

The only people who aren’t thrilled to see Ovechkin lighting the lamp (besides the opposition) would be the cleanup crew who has to pick up the hats from the ice on days like Sunday. He scores so often, they quit. And since the Capitals are the only team in the NHL with ice girls who don’t actually skate, that left Ovechkin, as pictured above, to clean up after his seventh career hat trick. Somehow we don’t think he minds.

01Feb

welcome back

(photo by Brian Murphy)

The Washington Capitals were able to defeat the defending champion Detroit Red Wings 4-2 at the Verizon Center thanks to the return of “old reliable.”

While his game doesn’t typically show up on the stat sheet, Caps defenseman Tom Poti stepped back into the lineup after missing 15 games and immediately helped to solidify the Caps’ defensive corps, and more importantly, the team’s pitiful penalty-killing unit (as evident by his team-leading 5:26 of penalty-killing time during the game). We caught up with Poti in the Caps’ locker room after the game to see how he felt after helping his team to one of their biggest wins of the season.

You guys were able to snap a two-game losing streak against one of the league’s elite teams and you personally stepped back onto the ice and looked like you didn’t miss a beat. How did it feel to get back into action?

“It felt pretty good,” Poti said. “Glad I made it through the game and it’s just fun to be back playing. It sucks sitting around watching, not being able to help your teammates. So it’s just good to be back. I definitely felt a little rusty out there, but I got my game back slowly.”

And for what it’s worth, the replay showed that you got a raw deal on your penalty at the end of the game. The puck definitely deflected off of a Detroit stick out of the rink.

“Yeah, that’s the same ref who doesn’t like me,” he said. “He’s made some pretty bad calls against me in the past, so I didn’t expect anything different from him.”

You guys haven’t done great against the Western Conference this year and your record isn’t nearly as impressive when you give up the first goal. And yet, you guys were able to rally back and beat Detroit for only the second time in your last 12 games against them. How were you able to get it done today?

“I think the biggest thing is when we saw this game on the calendar at the beginning of the season we were all pretty excited and jacked up about it,” Poti said. “It’s a great measuring stick to see where you’re at against the defending Stanley Cup champions. We were hyped up to play the game and were able to get the result that we wanted.”

Detroit has won something like four championships in 11 years or something and most impressively, they don’t ever seem to have a down year. What can you guys learn from a franchise like that and what do you have to do where we’re talking about the Capitals being a consistent contender like them year in and year out?

“Their consistency is pretty amazing,” he said. “It just goes to show that their guys buy into their system. If you play within that system, you’re going to get more wins than losses. I think we can kind of feed off of that. The games that we lose, we stray from our system. Those situations are pretty obvious to us sitting on the bench when we’re not playing the right way we’re going to be in for a tough night.”

With about seven minutes left in a tied game you kind of got the sense that whoever struck next would win the game. Along comes Ovechkin once again to bring home the victory …

“Surprise, surprise,” Poti said with a laugh.

Does it ever get old watching him play?

“Not at all,” he said. “We love to see that happen. You know, when he gets the puck on his stick, no matter where he is, the whole crowd rises up and all the guys on the bench rise up at the same time because we know he’s probably going to do something special with it. He was the reason we got the win tonight. Both teams battled hard, but we had Ovie and they didn’t.”

It looked like he kind of lost the puck in between his legs for a second and then was able to get it back and put a shot on net. He didn’t get much on the shot, but it was enough. How many players can make that play with the game on the line?

“Not too many,” Poti said. “He’s the best player in the world and can make something out of nothing. We’re just glad he’s on our side.”

28Jan

accountability isn’t overrated

(photo by Elise Amendola)

If you missed the Washington Capitals 3-2 loss to the Boston Bruins last night, fear not. Chances are if you’ve been following the team this season, you can guess how the loss played out.

At times, the Caps easily outplayed their opponent, in this case the Bruins who have the NHL’s best record. Unfortunately, there were other times when the opponent didn’t matter as the Capitals did their best to shoot themselves in the foot.

For the ninth-straight time, the Caps allowed a powerplay goal. That, more than anything, is the reason the Caps left Boston without the win. Center Michael Nylander might have scored a goal (no small feat for the man nicknamed “healthy scratch” this season), but he also took a bad penalty which the Bruins scored the game tying goal on.

And while his penalty wasn’t the one that ultimately doomed the Capitals, forward Alexander Semin once again took an ill-advised penalty in the third period of a tightly-contested game. For those who missed it, Semin was whistled for cross checking with just over six minutes remaining in regulation. If not for stellar goaltending by Caps goalie Jose Theodore during Semin’s penalty, the game wouldn’t have even made it to overtime.

Don’t forget that the last time we saw the Caps in action before the All-Star break, Semin was called for tripping Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson with just over three minutes remaining in the game. The Senators won that game 3-2 after capitalizing on Semin’s blunder.

At this point, you wonder how tough it is for coach Bruce Boudreau to trust Semin on the ice when the game is on the line. While he’s got as much skill as any player in the league, his immaturity and poor decision making is something that will only become more of an issue until something is done.

Behind closed doors Boudreau needs to pull Semin aside and inform him that his foolish third-period penalties will no longer be tolerated. Boudreau spoke during his acceptance speech after his induction into the AHL’s Hall of Fame this past weekend about the NHL’s front office threatening to fine him $10,000 if he bad-mouthed an official in public again. Well, by Boudreau’s own admission, the message was clearly sent and he no longer speaks about officiating in his post-game press conferences.

So Bruce, why not use your own life experiences to teach others? Pull Semin aside and inform him that every penalty minute he gets in the third period is going to cost him a thousand bucks. Hit him in the wallet until the message is received once and for all.

Obviously the Capitals are a better team with Semin than without, but they could be even more dangerous if someone could get through to the talented winger that his penalties are hurting the team and could ultimately end up keeping this team from achieving greatness.

The Capitals’ 24th ranked penalty-killing unit isn’t going to get better overnight, but the best way to minimize the unit’s effect on games is to limit the amount of times they’re called upon. The first step in making that a reality is to hold your players accountable for their actions. That should start with Alexander Semin.

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