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(photo by Kevin C. Cox)

Now that the all-star festivities have come and gone, it’s time to turn our attention to the second half of the NHL season.

More specifically, it’s “go time” for the Washington Capitals – who continue to frustrate their fanbase despite the fact that they’re on pace to finish the regular season with more than 100 points and are a lock to qualify for the playoffs for the fourth-consecutive season.

While there is plenty to be content with when it comes to hockey in our nation’s capital, the truth is the Capitals are a flawed team currently suffering from an identity crisis. And unless the players, coaches and talent evaluators can resolve the situation sooner rather than later, I fear another disappointing finish is on the horizon.

The Capitals currently stand in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 27-15-9. Now, that sounds fairly impressive until you remember that the last two categories are both the same thing – games Washington lost.

So while the team gets a point in the standings for overtime and shootout losses, the Caps are actually 27-24 this year. Doesn’t sound nearly as imposing, does it?

It took me a little while to figure this Caps team out, but I think I’ve finally gotten there. Pretty much since the day Bruce Boudreau took over the coaching duties in Washington, the Capitals have had one of the most dynamic offenses in hockey.

The defense had good days and bad days, but the high-powered, run-and-gun offense was always good enough to carry the load and keep the Caps in games. Now though, the offense isn’t nearly as imposing and that scares the hell out of everyone involved.

The team’s identity crisis comes into play because goals are no longer automatic, so by necessity, the Caps have become more defensive minded. Instead of trying to return to form and outscore opponents, it’s as if Boudreau and friends are trying to be something they’re not.

They’ve given up. They’ve resigned themselves that the good old days of “fire wagon hockey” have come and gone and now they need to try and morph into the 90’s New Jersey Devils or something.

But that’s not who this team is. That’s not what these players with this specific set of skills are best equipped to do. So what you’re seeing now is guys trying to be something they’re not. Instead of letting the game come to them and reacting naturally, they’re over-thinking things and second guessing themselves.

Far too often now, games are clunky and entire periods of play are unwatchable. Even at their worst – when Caps skill players looked as if they were figure skating out there and being too cutesy with the puck – at least they were putting on a show.

Now the Capitals are no different from the stale brand of hockey on display in Nashville, Florida or Phoenix. They’re hoping to limit their mistakes and lull the opposition into giving them one or two quality scoring chances a period.

And that’s unacceptable. A team with skill players such as Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin and Mike Green isn’t built to play a defensive trap or left-wing lock. It’s meant to be the Phoenix Suns.

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(photo by Mitchell Layton)

You’d have a hard time finding anyone in our nation’s capital with more patience than Washington Capitals general manager George McPhee.

That was my initial reaction after yesterday’s news that the Capitals agreed on a one-year extension with enigmatic forward Alexander Semin for $6.7 million.

Even though seemingly everyone in town is panicking because the Caps are no longer the offensive juggernaut fans had grown to know and love, the man affectionately known as GMGM is giving his team every possible chance to win from within.

In this case, that meant extending Semin – a wild-card player who, when he’s on his game, ranks among the league’s elite. Of course, when he’s not at his best, he’s as much of a liability as he is an asset.

So basically, while the team was eager to dole out long-term contracts to forwards Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, everyone involved decided the best course of action in this case was another one-year deal.

“A lot of times when you do these deals, it’s basically the player’s preference,” said McPhee during a conference call yesterday. “Does he want to do short-term? Does he want to do long-term? Alex was basically comfortable with another one year deal and that was fine with us.”

“We were wide open to [long term extension] discussions,” he continued. “We said we could do one, two, three years or longer if you want to talk about it. We were open minded about whatever you would like to do here. The player came back and said they were comfortable with a one or a two, and last week said a one year deal would be fine. And we said, ‘Okay.’ After that, it was a matter of working up a number. It was done this week.”

The extension was for $6.7 million, which is important because that’s the annual cap hit of Backstrom’s deal.

“We just didn’t feel that it would be fair to go beyond that,” he said. “They are two really talented players. I wouldn’t call it a ceiling, but we just thought if the two of them were at that number, then everyone would be comfortable with that.”

This really is the best-case scenario for everyone involved. You might remember that before the season began, I predicted that the team would trade Semin before the end of this season. My thought process was that the price tag on a long-term deal would be too much for the Caps to handle and they’d try to get something for him before he hit the open market.

Apparently there was a third option – another one-year deal to delay the inevitable for another day.

For the Caps, it makes sense rather than breaking the bank on a player who has troubles staying healthy and can disappear from the stat sheet for weeks at a time.

For Semin, it also makes sense because if the rumors are true, Washington is the only team in the NHL he cares to play for. As the story goes, Sasha would rather head back to Russia and play in the KHL than suit up for any other team stateside.

So it looks like the team and the player will continue to do this dance as long as humanly possible. Bigger picture though, this is the latest example of McPhee’s undying faith in coach Bruce Boudreau and his current roster.

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(photo by Evan Vucci)

Okay boys and girls, it’s safe to say the Washington Capitals are officially a hazard to your health.

Long gone are the days of the high-risk, high-reward Capitals who were capable of blowing out anyone, anytime. Now, what you see is much more in line with playoff-style hockey — where the team is much more likely to be in a white-knuckles thriller as opposed to a run-and-gun shootout.

This was clearly evident last night as the Capitals fell to the New York Rangers 2-1 in a shootout.

While defense has become more of a priority these days and the team is now in the top 10 in goals against average, the margin for error has shrunken drastically. So if everything’s not going their way, the Caps end up giving up winnable games.

Even though there are still guys on the roster who believe the offense is always one shift away from breaking out, the truth is the majority of skill players who have provided the scoring touch in recent history are struggling to find the back of the net.

Take, for example, forwards Mike Knuble and Brooks Laich.

Over the last two seasons, Knuble has averaged 28 goals and 22 assists for 50 points. This season, Knuble is on pace to score just 18 goals and 15 assists for 33 points.

Over the last two seasons, Laich has averaged 24 goals and 32 assists for 56 points. He’s currently on pace for 15 goals and 30 assists for 45 points.

When either one of these guys is at the top of his respective game, he’s crashing the net, digging pucks out of the corners and scoring ugly goals that make the difference in tightly-contested battles.

These days though, as painful as it is to admit about two of my favorite players on this roster, they’re essentially dual liabilities on the ice. Neither is contributing offensively and neither has been all that great defensively either.

In the last 10 games, Knuble has just two goals, one assist and a plus/minus of -3. Laich has one goal, two assists and is a -5 over the same 10-game span. So basically, in the last 10 games, they’ve barely contributed more than Alexander Semin (who hasn’t played in eight-straight games because of a thigh injury).

Digging a little deeper into the stats, you see that Knuble’s shooting percentage this season is 9.7 percent. Last season, mind you, Knuble scored on a ridiculous 19.2 percent of his shots, but his career average is 14.2 percent. So even though he had a career year last season, he’s still far off his usually shooting percentage over his 13-year career.

Sadly, Laich isn’t doing any better. His shooting percentage this season is just 7.7 percent, compared to 11.3 percent conversion rate last season and a 10.5 career shooting percent. And he’s also on pace to set a career high for penalty minutes, so when he’s not scoring, he’s picking up ill-advised penalties.

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(photo by Darren Calabrese)

For as long as this incarnation of the Washington Capitals has existed, there has been one constant cry from critics – this team isn’t good enough in its own end to be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.

Of course, after watching the Caps get bounced in the opening round of the playoffs after taking home the President’s Trophy with a 54-15-13 record last season, it’s tough to argue this point.

You might remember that Washington led the league in scoring last season with 318 goals, while allowing 233 goals against (16th-best in the NHL). And sure, it was fun to watch the high-risk, high-reward Capitals out-gun their opponents, but reasonable fans knew sacrifices would have to be made to transform that roster into a legitimate championship threat.

Well, Capitals general manager George McPhee made a step in the right direction earlier this season when he traded forward Tomas Fleischmann to the Colorado Avalanche for defenseman Scott Hannan Nov. 30.

Dealing from a position of strength (a hot-and-cold third-line forward) for a position of need (stay-at-home defense who isn’t shy when it comes to physical contact), the Caps were able to add a little grit into the line-up without sacrificing any of the team’s major building blocks.

Of course, short-sighted skeptics will immediately point out that Washington went 17-6-2 before the trade and have gone just 10-8-6 since. They’ll also build their case by pointing to Fleischmann’s increased production since he left town as another reason why the trade was a terrible idea.

So let’s go ahead and take a look at those numbers now:

In 23 games for Washington this season, Fleischmann registered four goals and six assists for 10 points while averaging 14 minutes and 20 seconds of ice time.

In 22 games with Colorado, the 26-year-old netted eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points while averaging 18 minutes and 28 seconds of ice time each night.

Now look, Redskins fans will recognize this situation immediately having watched Brandon Lloyd go from one of the least productive seasons in recent history to a Pro Bowler out in Denver. But this might be a little newer for Caps fans, so let me explain this so we’re all on the same page.

Sometimes players need a kick in the pants to get it together. Fleischmann was a good player, but you’d have a tough time arguing he was ever going to be an elite player in Washington. When he was hot, he was a smooth skater with a scorer’s touch.

Unfortunately, he’s also prone to disappear for weeks at a time, so when management was selecting which forwards who shied away from contact were most expendable, his name rose to the top of the list. He’s a nice guy off the ice and an above-average player on it, but he never made himself a player this team couldn’t live without.

[Editor’s note: And as you’ve likely heard by now, Fleischmann will miss the remainder of the season after being diagnosed with pulmonary emboli. That fancy term means Flash is done for the year because he’s got a blood clot in each of his lungs. Like everyone else, I’d like to send my thoughts and prayers to Fleischmann and hope for a speedy recovery.]

Now, even though Hannan has yet to pick up a point with the Capitals, I couldn’t be happier that he’s been added to the lineup. And I’m not alone in feeling that way.

“He’s at the point in his career where he’s been in the league a long time and wants to win a Cup, and I think it completes our defense,” McPhee said after acquiring Hannan. “We’re really happy with the way our defense has been playing, but to add one more guy like this helps.

“Our defense moves the puck pretty well,” McPhee said. “We can generate offense from back there, but to have one more shut-down guy that can block shots; that can do all the little things that would make a difference, we thought was important to add.”

I had the chance to catch up with Hannan recently to ask him how the transition has gone, and I’m happy to report that he couldn’t be happier with his new home.

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

Admit it Washington Capitals fans, we’re all spoiled.

Thanks to HBO’s amazing “24/7 Capitals/Penguins: Road to the Winter Classic” show, fans were not only treated to an unfiltered peak at one of the best rivalries in all of sports, but Caps fans also got a rare glimpse behind the scenes of their favorite players.

Whether it was Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin suggesting an opponent had “sensitive skin” or coach Bruce Boudreau sharing a few choices words with his players during a timeout, local fans were suddenly afforded a level of access that most sports fans never dreamed possible.

Now that the show is over, it’s tough to go back to the way things were. Even when the Capitals are doing well on the ice, you find yourself saying things like, “I wish HBO cameras were still in the building so we could hear what’s being said in the locker room after that play.”

Alas, that shipped has sailed and those award-winning cameras ain’t walking through those doors.

Tough break, right?

Well, I can’t help but think the Capitals players, whether subconsciously or not, feel our pain and are trying to do something about it. That’s the only reasonable explanation for what transpired at the end of practice Monday morning, when forwards Matt Hendricks and D.J. King allowed Caps fans one more peak behind the curtain.

During a break in the action right before the end of practice, Hendricks and King met up at center ice and dropped the gloves. Now, it’s not terribly uncommon for things to get heated between teammates and for those moments to occasionally result in a few punches thrown.

But this was different. Hendricks and King weren’t pretending to be Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton. Or Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood. Or Jon Jansen and Kedric Golston.

They were completely calm and engaged in a healthy dialog because, as it turned out, Hendricks was asking King for advice on the art of hockey fighting.

What happened next was amazing – King grabbed Hendricks as if the two were about to throw down, and then gave him some pointers while the two occasionally traded would-be punches.

They weren’t actually trying to land haymakers on each other, but King would begin to throw a slow-motion punch and then explain to Hendricks what to do if the actual situation was real.

Caps fans might not have HBO around anymore, but they got a first-hand look into a real-life Fight Club – and it was pretty damned cool, if I do say so myself.

Even though I’ve spent most of my life playing and watching hockey, I had never seen anything like this before. So I asked defenseman John Erskine, no stranger to fisticuffs himself, if the Hendricks-King fighter’s summit was commonplace in the NHL.

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

Coming into a Sunday matinee against the Ottawa Senators, Washington Capitals forward Jason Chimera, like far too many of his teammates, was in a slump.

While his game is heavily based on some of the more thankless jobs in hockey – such as fighting in the corners for loose pucks and often times lining up against the opponent’s top skill players – the ninth-year pro is also supposed to occasionally score goals.

So it’s not good when the 31-year-old goes through a lengthy dry spell. In related news, Chimera had just one goal in his last 24 games prior to the Senators matchup.

But as you know by now, Chimera and the Capitals, who had lost four of five since the Winter Classic, put together a strong third-period showing to earn a 3-1 win over Ottawa.

Chimera scored a highlight-worthy goal with less than seven minutes remaining in the contest when he fired a shot from a seemingly impossible angle that caromed  off of Senators goalie Brian Elliott’s back and into the net.

“Sometimes you try and bank if off [the goalie], and that time I did and fortunately it went in,” Chimera said in the post-game locker room. “Nine times out of 10, it doesn’t go in.”

It was exactly the kind of break that Chimera and the Capitals in general have needed of late. I caught up with Chimera the day after to learn more about what went through his head when trying what basically amounts to a desperation shot.

“Well, I was going to the net with it and driving hard, but it was one of those things where he went down a little early, so I thought I’d try and bank it off him,” he said. “Fortunately, it worked. It’s nice when it works out the way you planned it.”

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