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(courtesy photo)

John Buccigross is an exception to the rule.

While ESPN has largely ignored professional hockey, the former NHL 2Night co-host has gone above and beyond to show the NHL some love. His weekly column on ESPN.com is a must read for any diehard, so we asked him to take some time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions about the Washington Capitals. Thankfully, he agreed to play along.

Before we get started, we just wanted to quickly mention your fascinating NHL Mount Rushmore idea from last week’s column. You listed four players who best represent each of the 30 teams and for the Caps you selected Peter Bondra, Dale Hunter, Olaf Kolzig and Alex Ovechkin.

It’s hard to argue any of those four players’ merits, but our only suggestion would be to swap out Hunter for Rod Langway. Both were exceptional team leaders on and off the ice, but the Pierre Turgeon suspension drops Hunter slightly below the helmetless one for us. Either way, we sincerely hope Al Iafrate is the tour guide at the Caps’ Mount Rushmore.

Okay, onto the questions.

When it’s all said and done, where will Alex Ovechkin rank among the league’s elite? You’re already on record as saying he’s the best player in Capitals history, but will he be mentioned in the same breath as Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux as one of the best to ever play the sport?

“I think that will depend on how prolific his goal totals end up being,” Buccigross said. “He has already proved to be one of the more unique players in NHL history. Really, who else compares? If he approaches 800 goals that would be interesting, but I wonder with Ovechkin’s style of play if he can have a long career. Either way he will go down as an NHL great and a player teenagers will grow up talking about and comparing subsequent players to.”

The other Alex, Alexander Semin, draws the ire of locals from time to time for what the team has called “selfish penalties” and a perceived immaturity. He’s only 24 and at times shows flashes of brilliance. Do you think these mental problems are something the kid will grow out of? More importantly, if you were the Caps general manager, would you feel comfortable signing him to a long-term deal?

“I do not think it is something he will grow out of,” he said. “I think it is part of his DNA. I would not feel comfortable signing him unless it was at a reasonable number. Durability seems to be an issue.”

We agree that Semin is probably never going to completely grow out of this. If the Capitals decided to trade him away for more pressing needs, what could they get for him? Which team or teams would match up well with Washington as a trade partner for Semin?

“That’s a tough question,” Buccigross said. “Semin is at $4.6 million next year and then he is a restricted free agent. He turns 25-years-old in March. He has 90-100 point potential, but he has durability issues. If the Capitals could extend him at $5 million a year, I would extend him for four years at that number after next season. If he is looking for $6-7 million dollars, I would deal him. Once you get to that number, durability and leadership have to come into the equation. No team jumped out at me as a natural fit. For some reason, Edmonton came to me.”

Mike Green is a guy who less than a month ago was somehow overlooked for the All-Star game, but now is being mentioned as a potential Norris Trophy winner. Do you think he’ll be able to beat out some of the more established names on the blueline and take home the hardware this year?

“I think it will be tough for Green to win the Norris because he is probably perceived only as an offensive type defenseman,” he said. “[Nicklas] Lidstrom’s reputation and Zdeno Chara, a captain like Lidstrom, will be tough to beat if the Bruins and Red Wings finish first overall in the conference.”

Just how far can the Caps get with Jose Theodore in net? With Brent Johnson sidelined do they need to make a move to be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender this year or does Theodore have what it takes to bring them their first championship in franchise history?

“That’s a great decision and it is a decision George McPhee has to make,” Buccigross said. “That decision will ultimately decide how far the Caps will go. I think Theodore has enough game to get it done, but is a slight question mark. The Capitals also must learn to play a little more responsibly defensively.”

If you’re running the Capitals and had to make one move between now and the trade deadline, what area is the biggest concern for you and what trade do you make?

“Probably a veteran forward who is defensively responsible,” he said. “Someone who can convince the team how important it is to play defense. The coaches can say all they want, but to have a teammate the players respect preach positioning and defense goes a long way.”

Where do Ted Leonsis and George McPhee rank among the league’s owners and general managers, respectively? We’re biased, but we can’t help but think Leonsis’ fan friendly ways are just what hockey needs and have nothing but respect for McPhee as well. He’s consistently able to turn a seldom used player like Brian Sutherby into a draft pick (in this case a second rounder), which he then turns into Christobal Huet just in time for a playoff run. Are these guys two of the best in the NHL or are we just homers?

“Both get A’s,” Buccigross said. “How about the Robert Lang trade? McPhee traded Lang to Detroit by Washington for Tomas Fleischmann, Detroit’s first-round choice, Mike Green, in the 2004 Entry Draft and Detroit’s fourth-round choice, Luke Lynes, in 2006 Entry Draft. How they drafted, traded and hired has the Capitals among the Eastern Conference elite.”

Finally, we’d like to simply ask you to share your fondest memory of the Washington Capitals organization, whether it’s something that happened on the ice or behind the scenes. It can be from back in the day or of the more recent “Rock the Red” era.

“My fondest memory will be on March 1st when I stand between the benches and get to hear Alex Ovechkin’s skate blades carve the ice from 10 feet away,” Buccigross said.

[Editor’s note: Capitals owner Ted Leonsis apparently approves of this interview. He posted a link to it called Hot Bucci Love on Homer McFanboy, which is great on about 20 different levels.]

(courtesy photo)

Lately, we’ve been focusing on how the Washington Capitals were able to rebuild their franchise from a veteran club that was good enough to make the playoffs, but not actually do anything once they got there, to a team today that’s considered among the league’s elite.

So far we’ve talked to general manager George McPhee and captain Chris Clark, so today we wanted to share another unique perspective. Center Sergei Fedorov is probably the best Russian player in NHL history and is a sure-fire Hall of Famer. He’s also someone who played against those veteran Capitals team during his time with the Detroit Red Wings, so we decided to ask him just what he thought of those Caps teams of yesterday.

“I think they were a solid team,” Fedorov said. “I think if they would have stuck with that team they would have been able to do a lot of damage. But I think after they lost in the finals to Detroit they decided to change it up a bit.”

The Capitals team they decided to blow up had guys like Peter Bondra, Jaromir Jagr and Robert Lang. They had lots of talent, but it didn’t ever really translate into postseason success …

“No, no, they went to the finals,” Fedorov said of the ’98 Capitals. “They were a good team. They were a well-balanced team and had lots of veterans.”

If they were so good, how come your Red Wings team couldn’t let them win at least one game in those Stanley Cup finals?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m playing for Washington Capitals,” Fedorov said with a laugh. “That was in the past.”

Now the Capitals have a younger team that seems to be much more dangerous and is more enjoyable to watch. You’ve been on championship teams, so let us ask you – what does this team have to do to get to that level?

“First of all, I see us competing every night,” he said. “Night in and night out we have to challenge teams and do little things better. So far we’re lacking in that a little bit on and off in some practices and games, you know. It’s normal for younger team, but in order to get better, we kind of need to be stable in our effort.”

Last question, how much longer will we have you in town for?

(Laughs). “Certainly until April,” Fedorov said. “And hopefully for four rounds of playoffs. After that, be my guest.”

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.