The Shootout Returns to Washington

Florida 2 - Washington 1 F-SO

One of the things most people made note of upon Viktor Kozlov's signing with the Caps was his proficiency in the shootout. Tonight, he was exactly as good as advertised. Sadly, so were the rest of his teammates. Once again, the Caps didn't do anything particularly badly (aside from a couple of bad penalties at the start of the game), but they also didn't do anything well enough to come away with two points. This is getting sort of repetitive, no?

• I hate to trot out the tried-and-true "hot goalie" cliche, but Thomas Vokoun was on fire tonight. His save on Alex Ovechkin's power-play one-timer at the end of OT had me shaking my head in disbelief.
• At the other end, Olie Kolzig was equally brilliant. He is in a zone right now. If only someone could find a way to close up his five-hole during shootouts...
• Dave Steckel had a very good, if very frustrating, night. Chris Clark's goal came immediately after Steckel hustled to the corner to beat out an icing call despite being at the end of his shift. (I could note that, had he failed to beat out the icing, he would have been forced to go back for a defensive zone draw, since there are no line changes for the team that ices the puck, so that maybe it wasn't so much heroism as self-preservation. But I won't.) He also managed to create some quality scoring chances. If he could find a way to get the puck more than an inch off of the ice, the Capitals probably skate away with a regulation win tonight.
• Both Clark and Alexander Semin were both absent from the bench during OT and the shootout. Which is foreboding, to say the least. Anybody think the Caps' chances would've improved if they could've trotted Semin out during the shootout?
  
• The AP report lists the announced attendance as 10, 526, the second lowest of the season. If the actual number of butts in seats was even two thirds that, I'll eat my hat.
• Speaking of hats, classy move by Brent Johnson, wearing the Burgundy and Gold on the bench in place of his usual RWB.
• If I told you that both goaltenders in tonight's game had 2.85 GAAs, would you believe me? Not to mention the fact that their respective save percentages are seperated by just .009. Methinks the Caps might considering scoring a little more often.
• Ovechkin's point streak ends at nine games. Here's hoping he starts another such streak Friday night.

Next up is Friday night in Raleigh against the Hurricanes.

So That's Why They Call It a 'Power' Play

Washington 5 - Carolina 2

If you think back to the long long ago, the before time, you may remember a Washington Capitals team that, under Glen Hanlon, would regularly come out of the locker room and dominate the first few minutes of the game, only to give up a goal on their opponent's first shot. They would then proceed to fall behind over the course of the next two periods, leading up to a frantic third period in which their valiant comeback attempt would fall just short.Last night, they completely flipped that script.

• Olie Kolzig was absolutely brilliant in the first half of the second period, standing on his head several times to keep the Caps in it early until they could finally start generating some offense.
• The Caps' power play failed to score on all but three of their four chances. It makes Hanlon's insistence on keeping Alex Ovechkin on the point in lieu of Mike Green all the more baffling.
• Speaking of Alex Ovechkin, he appears to have shaved. It is a testament to his consistent excellence that I consider this more notable than his two-goal night. Don't look now, but Ovechkin is now in a five-way tie for second in the league in goal scoring.
  
• Speaking of Mike Green, stop taking stupid penalties Mike Green!
• Erik Cole certainly made Milan Jurcina and John Erskine look rather silly, didn't he?
• If I'm going to complain about poor officiating after Caps' losses, it's only fair I point out that tonight's referees made some questionable calls in the Caps' favor, with the phantom tripping call on Matt Cullen behind the net being the most notable. It's always interesting to see the referee with a better vantage point decide not to call a penalty, only to have the trail official throw his arm in the air.

I think the general mood is pretty well summed up by this excerpt from the AP recap of the game: "'I can't tell you,' Michael Nylander said with a smile. 'Seriously, I can't say anything.'" Yes, you read that right, Michael Nylander does, in fact, have the appropriate facial muscles to achieve a smile, and last night, he had every reason to use them.

On a completely unrelated note, if you were looking for a reason to become irratinally angry at someone today, read this. Countdown to enraged reaction throughout the Caps' blogosphere in 3...2...1...

All He Does Is Score Goals: Part IV

Washington 4 - Philadelphia 3 F/OT

I didn't see the game today, so I'll keep things simple, as I'm basing my whole recap on the box score.

• Good - Opening up a three goal lead. I don't have the stats in front of me, but I would guess that today was only the second or third time the Caps have had a lead that big at any point in a game.
• Bad - Blowing a three goal lead.
• Good - Not giving up after blowing a three goal lead. This is especially encouraging, as this is a team that packed it in after blowing a one goal lead in the 2nd period on Wednesday.
• Especially good - Donald Brashear. All he does is score goals.

This is only the second time all season that the Capitals have managed a win when allowing their opponent to score more than one goal. They had previously been 1-14-1 in such games.

Hanlon 'Relieved' and So Am I

Yesterday, as you probably know by now, Capitals' GM George McPhee gave every Capitals fan something to be thankful during America's Thanksgiving, as Glen Hanlon was relieved of his duties as head coach. I recieved the news via a brief text message from my brother, and I will admit that m excitement was tempered slightly when I called him up only to find out that the team had replaced Hanlon with the team's third consecutive head coach with no previous NHL experience.

A day later, and I am decidedly less sour about the decision to install Hershey bench boss Bruce Boudreau, whose name I will have to learn to spell correctly. By all accounts, he is a more offense-oriented coach than Hanlon, which is exactly what this team needs right now. My biggest complaint about Hanlon was his insistence on playing too much of a defense-centric style despite a roster stacked mostly with explosive offensive stars. Hopefully, we can expect to see a team that, through the first quarter of the season has been, and I'm being generous here, altogether inept on offense turn things around and start scoring some goals. If not, I'm willing to give George McPhee the benefit of the doubt and assume that Boudreau's interim tag actually means "interim" instead of "if he has anything resembling success we will remove this tag so we don't have to go out and find a real head coach".

Should the team continue to underperform, the focus shifts now exclusively to George McPhee. While there are some who have been calling for his head for years, I genuinely belive that he has done a pretty good job with what he has had to work with. He spent a large part of his tenure with this team handcuffed by an owner who, at the time, was looking to become a slightly more portly version of Daniel Snyder, and we are only just now starting to see what he can do when left mostly to his own devices. His drafting has been very good of late, albeit this is due in part to the bevy of high first rounders like Ovechkin, Backstrom and Alzner. His moves during this past off season were, in theory at least, exactly what the team needed. The only way I see McPhee departing at the end of the season is if the team continues to perform as miserably as they have through the first twenty-one games and finishes in the basement yet again. Even then, though, I think he deserves at least one more season after this to finally give some of his draft picks to really gel (I'm looking at you, Karl Alzner) and free agents to finally acclimate themselves. That said, I'm still naming him the interim KHFC Whipping Boy for the time being, if only because I have no one else to pick on with Hanlon gone.

Game one of the B^2 era starts this afternoon in Philly. I won't be able to watch the game, as I have work today, but I will be checking the score obsessively when I should be doing my job. Here's hoping that the team can finally start to turn the corner.

Caps' Offense Remains Mystifying

Can we officially declare that the Caps simply aren't a very good team right now? After an ugly, sloppy, painful to watch 2-1 loss to a Florida Panthers team that is pretty awful in it's own right, that is about the only conclusion I can come to. Let's move on to the quick hits:

• 7:30 PM start times really suck. Not as bad as 8:00 start times, but still pretty awful. More awful than that? The Caps' power play, which still features approximately no Mike Green whatsoever.
• Remember a week and a half ago, when the Caps beat the best team in the conference and had their best overall performance by employing an effective cycle in the offensive zone? Per Joe B. and Locker, Glen Hanlon tonight specifically wanted the Caps NOT to cycle the puck but to "funnel" the puck. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.
• Actually, I am saying. For the love of god, fire Hanlon.
• Please?
• In Hanlon's defense, Viktor Kozlov was, once again, mostly silent. Is it too early to declare his signing a bust and start praying for stem-cell research to cure Eric Fehr's wonky back?
• It would also be nice if someone could find a cure for Tom Poti's inexplicable desire to never be in position along the blue line to keep the puck in, while we're talking about mostly useless free agents. Seriously, coach... Mike. Green.
• You know who didn't play particularly well tonight? Thomas Vokoun. You know who made him look like he was? Every single player on the Capitals' team. What is so difficult about finishing off a scoring chance? Isn't this why the team traded away Dainius Zubrus?
• Chris Clark looked good, I guess. I mean, it's nice to have him back and all, but the team still only managed one goal.

Between the Caps' woes and the Redskins' recent inability to score on six different attempts from inside the five yard line, I am becoming increasingly despondent over the state of my favorite teams. Which is good, I guess, if you're a purveyor of beer, wine and/or spirits in the Mt. Vernon Square neighborhood of D.C. But for the rest of us? This sucks.

Capitals 2 - Tampa Bay 5

As the saying goes: "If it ain't broke, juggle your line combinations and completely alter your overall gameplan."

Or so it would seem based on Glen Hanlon's handling of the team in tonight's 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay. After having success against the best team in the NHL by employing an aggressive forecheck, Hanlon elected to have the team play a more passive, trapping-style of game against a Lightening team that, much like the Senators, has most of it's firepower centered on one line. As a result, the Caps came out pretty flat in the first period, and were very lucky that the Lightning mailed the first period in as well. I don't think I've ever seen a more boring period of hockey played.

Hanlon also juggled the line combonations pretty drastically, at one point going so far as to send Nicklas Backstrom onto the ice in between similarly talented offensive dynamos Donald Brashear and Matt Bradley. Why? Why would he do that? There's no possible explanation for such a thing that could possibly make any sense. Although, to be fair, "The Killer B's" would be a great nickname for that line.

Okay. Rant over. Let's move on to my quick hit thoughts for the game:

• Olie Kolzig looked kind of shaky at times. This team can't afford to have him do that. Ever.
• Hello again, offensive-minded Mike Green. We missed you.
• Donald Brashear, for the second time in three games, took a stupid penalty late in the game that really handcuffed any chance the Caps had of mounting a comeback.
• Chris Bourque had 7:27 time on ice. How is it that Brashear and Bradley can get playing time with an offensive minded guy like Backstrom, but Bourque is left to languish on the fourth line and asked to fill a role he isn't really suited for?
• After outshooting Ottawa 35-28, the Caps flipped the script and were outshot 34-25.

The Caps are now 2-5 at home, so perhaps it's a good thing that, after a four day layoff, their next two games are on the road against dvision rivals. Of course, one of those rivals are the Florida Panthers who have had the Caps' number for the last few seasons, and the other is this same Tampa Bay team. The Lightning are 6-0-1 at home, for those of you keeping score.

That's "Nicklas." With a "C."

Hi there, friends and neighbors! Let me very briefly apologize for my exceptionally long absence from the ol' blog here. I was really busy there for a while. I even missed the first three games of the season. After that, as you probably know, the Caps haven't done a whole lot worth writing about.

Tonight's win over Ottawa, however, is worth writing about. It is one thing to record a win against the team with the best record in the NHL. It is quite another to go into their home building and do it. IT's even better still when your team comes into the game mired in a soul-crushing slump that has catapulted you to the bottom of the league standings. Yet that is exactly, as you may have figured out by now, what the Washington Capitals did tonight, beating the Ottawa Senators by a final tally of 4-1.What follows here are various thoughts I had about tonight's game, organized by the player about whom I was thinking, in an easy to digest, bullet point format (including one needlessly ignorant statement), because I can no longer be bothered to string together a series of coherent paragraphs, sentences, or, on occasion, letters. Sooojruofm.

• Alex Ovechkin - Had a good game. 1-1-2. Meh. Call me when he has a ten-goal night, because at this point, there's nothing more he can do to impress me more than he already has.
  
• Victor Kozlov - He's playing much better after moving to his natural right wing position. This is a phrase I will probably write quite often. (Note to idiot coaches: Yes! I know it seems weird! But most players do, in fact, thrive when assigned to the roles for which they are best suited!)
• NIKLAS BACKSTROM NICKLAS BACKSTROM!!!! He's playing much better after moving to his natural center position. It took him sixteen often-frustrating games, but Nick With a C finally kicks off the first six game goal scoring streak of his career. I'm assuming. (Ed. Note: How is it that I knew, almost immediately, that Backstrom had scored the goal while Smokin Al and Locker had to spend twenty minutes analyzing the replay? Because I saw Michael Nylander immediately reach into the net, pick up the puck, and skate off with a souvenir that will probably have some sentimental value for his young teammate. Because that's the kind of classy veteran Michael Nylander is. I guess what I'm trying to say is: I can't stand Al Koken.)
  
• Brooks Laich - Played much of the game on the first line alongside Ovechkin and Michael Nylander, which I think is a brilliant move on the part of Glen Hanlon. If you can't put Chris Clark on Ovie's right wing, why not put his eerily similar looking doppelganger out there?
• Speaking of Chris Clark, what's that guy's deal? He was practically invisible out on the ice tonight, almost as if he wasn't even there. Not the kind of play you expect from your captain.
• Olie Kolzig - Had his best game of the season, I thought. His shutout against Carolina might have been better, but screw you, I missed that game because I was doing a play. I am a very busy and important person.
• Kerry Fraser - Should not be required to wear a helmet. Period. The excess hair-product fumes that are trapped underneath that helmet seem to have done to Fraser's brain what they would otherwise be doing to our planet's ozone layer.
• Chris Borque - Should consider plastic surgery. He could probably get more ice time on Ovechkin's line if his face starts looking more like a particular Lithuanian Devil. Of course, he'd also need to start skating on stilts. Even so, it's got to be better than the two-or-three-shifts-then-ride-the-bench strategy he and Donald Brashear employed tonight.

Did you find the needlessly ignorant statement? If you said to yourself "Biff, you moron, Chris Clark is on injured reserve", then you were right. If, however, you said it out loud, you probably should see a mental health professional.

Next game is at home Saturday night against the 0-6 on the road Tampa Bay Lightning.

Training Camp - Day I

So it begins. Today was day number one of the Capitals' 2007-08 season as training camp kicked off in earnest, and I, as has become my custom for the past week, made the trek down to K-Plex née KCI. Unfortunately, do to some ill advised consumption of some very tasty Jameson the previous evening, I wasn't able to get there in time for all the "pregame" festivities. I arrived just as the actual practice was starting and was immediately overwhelmed by it all. The Caps had somewhere in the neighborhood of sixty hockey players spanning two full size ice sheets, not to mention all the other attractions like the Vezina, Selke, Norris and Calder Trophies upstairs, or the new jerseys (finally) for sale in the team shop. So I'll go ahead and leave any sort of in depth analysis of the first day of camp to the experts (check out OFB's liveblogging, plus updates from Tarik and Corey). I will, however, quickly note that Victor Kozlov appeared to take a puck to the face towards the beginning of the scrimmage and was not seen or heard from again for the remainder of practice. Hopefully that will prove to be nothing significant. (UPDATE: Corey Masisak strikes again.)

The most interesting part of the day, for me at least, was the "Town Hall" style meeting with Ted Leonsis and Chris Clark (Olie Kolzig was also advertised, but he didn't show). Now I'm not a fan of town hall meetings (link is to The Onion and is hilarious), but I had nothing better to do. I'm glad I went because, as it turns out, Chris Clark is a glorious fountain of great quotes. One of the people in attendance asked Clark how much he, as captain, has input into personnel decisions. Clark responded by saying that the only thing management ever asks him about is what a particular player might be like off of the ice, explaining that there are some guys who are really talented who are complete knuckleheads away from the rink. Immediately, a lady in the back asked Clark to spill the dirt on which guys he's played with were the knuckleheads and Chris, after diplomatically responding that he has been very lucky in his career, finally gave in and said "I think you guys had one here right before the lockout." He stopped just shy of adding "*cough*jagr*cough*". The comment drew immediate laughter and applause from everyone in the room.

Some other highlights from the meeting:
-Chris Clark comparing Milan Jurcina to the cast of the film 300, in response to a question about which player showed up to camp in the best shape. He went so far as to say it might be a good idea to have Milan walk shirtless past the opposing team's dressing room as a scare tactic.
-Clark talking about why his offensive numbers wouldn't necessarily go down moving to the third line, explaining that, when on a line with Ovechkin "you're always up against Chara" versus the checking line playing against some of the more defensively suspect players opposing teams have to offer.
-Clark admitted that the team had probably not taken the shootout seriously enough in practice last year and said it was something he thought they would spend more time working on this year.
-In response to a question about low attendance at home games, Clark said "we need to steal some of those Redskins fans", which garnered enthusiastic applause.
-The only thing of note that came out of Ted's mouth was some additional information about the "Rivals Package" they've set up to try to keep games against the Penguins and Flyers et. al. from turning into de facto road games. Apparently, the plan is to market these rivals plans for awhile and then jack up the price of single game tickets to the games the package applies to, thus further discouraging opposing fans from making the trip (or profiting handsomely off of them should they still decide to come). So if you aren't a season ticket holder, or at least a partial plan holder, you may want to seriously consider going in for one of those packages, if only to avoid getting gouged.

I've got a ton of pictures from today's festivities, but I'm also pressed for time and I won't be able to post them today, but I promise that I will, barring any technical difficulties, have them up for you by tomorrow morning. I'm still not sure if I'll be able to make it out to the Plex tomorrow, so I can't say whether I'll have any more updates for you over the weekend.

Rookie Camp - Day 5: Live From Voorhees!

Ladies and gentlemen, I am excited to report to you that hockey season has, more or less, arrived. Per Tarik, the gang's all here. Media day is tomorrow, followed by the kickoff of training camp down at Kettler on Friday. There's a chill in the air. And to top it all off, today, players wearing Capitals sweaters took the ice to play a full sixty minutes against a group of opponents wearing Flyers black. Granted, what we're talking about here is a rookie game. Nevertheless, it was a real game, with an announcer giving us names and numbers for the players scoring goals (or, in the Caps' case, taking penalties). There were actual people (well, Flyers fans anyway) in the stands. And the best part? Dave Steckel was no where to be seen.

As for the game itself, it could have gone better. The Caps' rookies dominated the course of play for the first two periods but did themselves in with a bevy of first period penalties. Six in the first period alone, to be exact, resulting in two Philly power play goals. In fact, through the first two periods, the power play was pretty much the only way Philly's rookies were able to generate any sort of offense. The Flyers' rookies were clearly not as talented at the Caps', but what they lacked in raw ability, they more than made up for in old school Broad Street Bully-ism. They played a very physical game, finishing pretty much all of their checks, whereas there were only one or two Caps players who seemed especially interested in throwing their bodies around. The physical play seemed to wear down the Caps' rookies eventually, and the Flyers managed to pull even with the Caps in the third period scoring two goals to put the game away.

How much can we read into the results of this game? Not much. The roster that took the ice up in Voorhees today is not a roster that will ever play in an NHL game that counts. It was a little discouraging to see the guys physically handled by the Flyers' rookies, but I think it's safe to say that it won't take too much time playing alongside the likes of Chris Clark, Donald Brashear and Alex Ovechkin will correct the problem in any of the rookies that should eventually make the team.

The most enlightening part of the day, for me at least, was the play of Karl Alzner. There's not much I can say about him that hasn't already been said. He is the real deal. I was focused on him pretty much every time he was on the ice and I don't think he ever made a mistake. There was one instance in which he and a Flyers player got in a footrace for a loose puck, and despite the fact that the Flyers player beat him to the puck clean, he still managed to somehow catch up and strip the puck, eliminating any sort of scoring opportunity. I think it is entirely possible that Alzner is already the most talented player on the team in terms of pure defensive ability. Obviously, there are alot of things he has to do besides just stopping opposing players one on one, but I wouldn't be shocked at all to see him realistically challenge for a roster spot.

With all that said, let's move on to the photos:

There was a pretty sizeable crowd.

The Caps take the ice.

Look at what theose Flyers bastards did to Sammy Lepisto's face.

Not to mention poor Sean Collins' leg.

At KCI, the Caps have banners with players whose numbers they've
retired at one end of the ice. The Flyers? Have rainbows.

Though to their credit, they've got a real Zamboni.

Tomorrow, as I said, is media day at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. There are sure to be a ton of good stories coming out of that, so stay tuned.

Rookie Camp - Day 4: Scrimmage Edition

Today's rookie camp practice consisted entirely of a scrimmage. Because I know you're dying to know, here's your (probably innacurate and definitely incomplete) boxscore (question marks denote instances where I missed what happened because I was focused on something other than the play):

White Team
Francois Bouchard - Nicklas Backstrom - Dan Kronick
Maxime Lacroix - Travis Morin - Steve Pinizzotto
Steve Werner - Jay Beagle - Marty Guerin
Karl Alzner - Josh Godfrey
Sami Lepisto - Sean Collins
Daren Machesney

Blue Team
Mathieu Perreault - Justin Taylor - Brett Leffler
Andrew Gordon - Kyle Wilson - Luke Lynes
Tommy Maxwell - Andrew Joudrey - Donald Brashear
Sasha Pokulok - Jamie Hunt
Tyler Sloan - Patrick McNeill

Goals
1st Period:
WHITE - Pinizzotto (Morin, Lacroix)

2nd Period:
BLUE - Brashear (Pokulok) (PPG)
BLUE - McNeill (?)
BLUE - Lynes (Gordon)

3rd Period:
WHITE - Bouchard (Unassisted)
BLUE - Taylor (Hunt, Pokulok)
WHITE - Morin (Pinizzotto, Kronick)
BLUE - Maxwell (Hunt, Pokulok) (PPG)

Penalties
1st Period:
BLUE - Pokulok - 2 minutes for ?

2nd Period:
WHITE - Guerin - 2 minutes for hooking
BLUE - Maxwell - 2 minutes for holding
WHITE - Collins - 2 minutes for hooking
BLUE - Maxwell - 2 minutes for holding
BLUE - Maxwell - 2 minutes for holding


3rd Period:
WHITE - Beagle - 2 minutes for elbowing
WHITE - Collins - 2 minutes for ?

FINAL SCORE - BLUE 5, WHITE 3

The third period was, by far, the most entertaining. Bouchard's goal was especially pretty, picking up a loose puck along the left boards then curling and dragging towards the net. Also of note were successive tic-tac-toe passing plays on both Taylor's and Morin's goals. All in all, it was fun to finally see something resembling an actual competitive hockey game for the first time in five months. Not as exciting as it will be tomorrow, when I have a team to actually root against, but still, it was one more indication that the long, slow march towards October 5 is nearing it's conclusion.

After the rookies were finished, the veterans once again had an informal skate. My suspicions that Dave Steckel has designs on my life were confirmed when he made absolutely no attempt whatsoever to kill me.

My mortal enemy

Apparently, Steckel thinks he can trick me by lulling me into a false sense of security. But I'm onto you, Dave. Your ruse failed. Even after you tried switching uniforms to disguise yourself.

Dave Steckel in disguise

Tomorrow's game between the Caps' rookies and those of the Flyers is way out in Vorhees, NJ, seemingly far from Steckel's clutches. But I am not so foolish. Take heed, Dave. I'll be watching you, and if you try anything funny, I will make you regret it.

Rookie Camp - Day 3: Pretty Colors Edition

In case you were wondering whether I have anything better to do during my vacation than travel out to Ballston to attend Day 3 of the Caps' rookie camp, the answer, obviously, is no. I made the trek out there once again today and once again I was treated to, well, a bunch of young hockey players skating around (I swear it's not as exciting as it sounds). This time around, it was even more difficult to get a read on whether any particular players were really sticking around as, unlike Saturday, nobody had their names on their backs. They were nice enough, however, to color code themselves, which didn't actually help, but was at least a little more interesting visually. Which gave me something to do, as I tried to obtain photographic evidence of all seven colors. Ultimately, I missed only the burgundy duds:

Orange

Black

Green

Grey

Red and White

If I had to pick one player who particularly impressed me, I'd go with Andrew Joudrey, who had an impressive moment towards the end of practice when, during an offensive zone drill, he took the puck from the bottom of the left circle, curled around three other players to the top of the slot and then sent a backhand shot over Daren Machesney's outstretched leg and into the net.

The more interesting part of the day, though, was watching the guys from the big club skate after the rookies were done. Specifically, it was fun to watch Olie Kolzig. Having never really attended a Caps practice before, I've only ever heard the well-spoken, made-for-TV Olie, so it was a little bit odd to hear him in practice sounding, well, more like a sailor than a hockey player. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Towards the end of the team skate, as the guys were having a somewhat loose scrimmage that had less defense than a typical NHL All Star Game, Olie, after getting scored on for maybe the third or fourth time, started into a profanity-laced tirade. His complaint (and I'm paraphrasing here, attempting to translate it into a more family-friendly version) was that the scrimmage was basically a waste of time as a result of guys not taking it seriously. He urged his teammates to "pick up the... pace".

The amazing thing was the seemingly instant change in the atmosphere. What had been a light-hearted game of shinny suddenly turned into a hard-fought battle. As hard-fought as an informal pre-training camp skate can be, anyway. It is one thing to hear the players talk about how much of a team leader Olie Kolzig is, and another to see them play at a higher level when he is on the ice as opposed to Brent Johnson of Frederic Cassivi. But it is another thing altogether to witness it in person. It was a moment that made me appreciate Olie's presence on the team that much more.

On a more light-hearted note, I am convinced that David Steckel is trying to kill me. It wasn't enough that he "accidentally" fired a puck directly towards my head (thank goodness for plexiglass), he then had the audacity to flip a puck up over the netting that hit me in the shin. Not only that, but he managed to do it at a moment when I was looking away from the ice, leaving me with absolutely no proof whatsoever that he was the one who shot it. He who laughs last, laughs loudest though, and my revenge is, as always, swift and severe. Dave Steckel, congratulations, you are the newest KHFC Whipping Boy©.

The grisly results of Dave Steckel's viscious attempt on my life.

Rookie Camp - Day 1

As promised, I made the trip out to Kettler today to attend the first day of Caps' rookie camp, or, as I like to call it, "Prelude to a Training Camp". It was the first time I've stepped foot in a building with an ice rink since April and, despite the fact that it was excessively early for a Saturday, I was instantly transformed from a groggy, slightly hungover mess into a giddy fan. It was the first time I've been to KCI (which is a beautiful facility), as well as the first time I've ever actually attended any sort of Caps practice.

What I quickly discovered is that watching hockey players practice is not nearly as entertaining as watching hockey players play hockey. To be fair, there were some particularly fun moments, but for the most part, what we saw out on the ice today was still a pretty lame imitation of the game that has me longing for this month to be over. As such, it's pretty difficult to report any sort of "news" from today's skate. Nicklas Backstrom, obviously, was one of the real standouts. This was the first time I'd seen him in action and he is definitely deserving of all the hype. During one drill that involved a scrum in front of the net the puck popped up into the air, and his ability to stick with it, find the puck and manage to get a shot off while spinning around to face the goaltender was quite impressive.

That said, my impression of Backstrom may have been colored by the fact that the KCI staff apparently failed to properly disinfect the Caps' dressing rooms, as many of the players on the ice appeared to be suffering from Zubritis*. During one breakaway drill, it seemed like Backstrom was the only player who managed to even get a shot on net, with most of the guys shanking pucks over the crossbar and off the glass, or else well wide. In J.P.'s (paraphrased) words "These really are Capitals prospects."

On the defensive side of things, I was impressed enough with Sasha Pokulok that I made an effort to learn to correctly pronounce his name (it's pronounced sort of like "potluck" only with an "uh" in the middle). First of all, the guy is huge, but he also seemed to be pretty sound positionally, and I saw him use some excellent stickwork to disarm several forwards of the puck during drills. As with any young, large defenseman, I'd like to see him throw his body around a little more, but I think he, along with Jeff Schultz and Milan Jurcina, could one day be part of a physically intimidating Caps' backline.

The best part of the day though, for me at least, was playing the role of pseudo-journalist, as I snuck back to the locker room area with CapsChick and J.P. and Ken. Even though I had nothing to do but stand and stare, just being that close to a guy like Nicklas Backstrom was definitely an experience. I still have no desire to sit in the press box during games, but I think I could really get into this whole "interviewing players at practice" thing.

Unfortunately, I managed to forget my camera when leaving my apartment, but I'm sure there will be pictures at Japers' Rink, A View From the Cheap Seats or DCSportsChick, all of whom had cameras.

(*Webster's Dictionary defines "Zubritis" as "a sudden inflammation of the tendency to play like Dainius Zubrus")

PROGRAMMING NOTES - Due to the fact that I have a matinee performance tomorrow, I won't be able to attend Day 2 of rookie camp. I'll be back at it for the rest of camp, though, including (possibly) a trip to New Jersey on Wednesday to see the kids take on the Flyers' rookies.

Another important note is that my next entry will be #100 for me here at the KHFC. With my 100th post will come some slight changes to the blog, in the form of rookie KHFC contributor DefDude, who is going to start helping me out around here when my acting duties prevent me from being as involved as I'd like. Or when I get too lazy to write anything. Or whenever he feels like it, really. So just be prepared for a sudden onslaught of awkwardly censored vulgarity and strange paragraph structures.

Sartorial Musings

So... I don't know if you've heard, but the Washington Capitals are switching over to new uniforms this season.

I know, I know... Please, try to contain your shock and surprise.

Anyways, I promised myself that I would wait to pass judgement on the new duds until we got confirmation that the ones that got leaked earlier this week were the real deal. As per Tarik, and now the Caps' site, we have, in fact, seen the real deal, which means it is time now for me to pass judgement...

BIFF'S OPINION!!!:
They're alright.

I'm not especially enamored of the sweaters themselves, but I am ecstatic that they went with the stylized update of the old logo. The monstrosity of a shoulder patch is something which I'm willing to ignore. The problem is the sweater itself. Hopefully, much like with the heinous yellow pit stains on the Buffaslug sweaters last year, I'll eventually get used to the needless white panelling under the arms as well as all the garish blue piping, but if they wanted to have a mix of different colors, why not go with horizontal stripes? With any luck, once the blue pants are added into the mix it'll look a little better, as it right now is a little too much red for my taste, but with the Post article mentioning blue socks with red and white stripes, I'm not especially optimistic on that front.

All that said, these could've been alot worse. The Firebird logo with an oil can up its butt that's sitting on the shoulders could have ended up on the chest. And that, friends, would have been a sad day for us all.

UPDATE: Ack! Those socks! Also, Ack! $169.99! (In the interest of full disclosure, I haven't the slightest idea if this is actually expensive or not. I've never, technically, purchased a Capitals sweater, as I'm very good at convincing people to buy them for me for Christmas. That said, it's probably way more than I can reasonaby afford to spend. I am, after all, an actor.)

2006-07 Season In Review

I know, the season ended a good three days ago and I still haven't posted the obligatory Year-End Wrap Up. I do apologize for thinking it was more important to worry about the fact that my apartment is currently taking on water faster than the... ummm... I dunno, fill in your own damn metaphor. The point is, I've decided to take my time and do this right, so it's taken me a little longer to write this entry, but I hope you'll find it worth the wait. I give you the Caps Year in Review, in convenient bullet-point format:

• October 5 - Caps start off the season the only appropriate way they could think of with a 5-2 loss to the Rangers.
• October 6 - Caps Nut's first use of the words "Ultimate Fighting".
  
• October 7 - The Caps' Russian named Alex only scores his first goal of the year, while the Caps' Russian named Alex scores his second, third and fourth for his first NHL hat-trick en route to a 5-2 win over the Hurricanes.
• October 12 - The Caps lose 3-2 to the Minnesota Wild. The game is notable as the Caps' first shootout loss of the season.
• October 18 - The Caps score five goals in the first period to beat the Panthers. That's right, I said "beat the Panthers". Looking back, it doesn't make any sense to me either.
• October 25 - The Caps kick off their only trip west of the Mississippi with a win over the Colorado Avalanche.
• October 30 - The Caps finish the road trip with an "above .500" record of 2-1-1 with a win over the Calgary Flames. (They finished the month of October at 4-3-4.)
• October 31 - The Caps waive the legendary Rico "Suavé" Fata.
• November 4 - The Caps travel to Philly and win for the first time in nearly nine years.
• November 13 - The Caps beat the Panthers again?! Really? The Caps beat the Panthers twice? How? Ironically, it would be the Caps last win for over two weeks until...
• November 22 - The Caps and Thrashers are involved in some sort of physical altercation.
• November 24 - The Caps' Blogosphere (or Clogosphere, as I like to call it) becomes 17% stupider.
  
• November 28 - Olie Kolzig beats the Tampa Bay Lightning, ending the Caps' six game winless streak.
• November 30 - The Caps beat Jeff Halpern's Dallas Stars to finish the month of November with a 6-6-2 record and a 10-9-6 record overall.
• December 2 - Probably one of the highest highlights of an otherwise abysmal season when the Caps manhandle the eventual President's Cup winning/Eastern Conference quarterfinals losing Buffalo Sabres by a 7-4 final score. Sabres fans and players alike all take a cue from The Whiny Little Bitch and, well, whine and bitch like the whiny little bitches they all are. Except Chris Drury. Chris, if you're reading this, I love you and I want you to come live in my city.
• December 11 never happened.
• December 15 - The first Caps Bloggers Happy Hour sees Alex Ovechkin beat the Atlanta Thrashers 3-2.
  
• December 16 - The Caps season hits it's highest point with a 4-1 win over the hapless Flyers. The win gave the Caps a 15-10-7 record for 37 out of a possible 64 points (a .578 percentage), a mark they wouldn't approach again.
• December 26 - Gutless Punk Daniel Briere spears Alex Ovechkin in the, erm, "groin".
• December 30 - A 4-1 loss to the NY Rangers gives the Capitals a 6-7-1 for the month of December and a 16-16-7 record for the 2006 portion of the season.
• January 9 - The Capitals complete their first ever season sweep of the Flyers on Hershey Bears night at Verizon Center. Their third straight win gives fans hope that the second half of December was merely a fluke. Four days later, on...
  
• January 13 - They prove it was not.
• January 16 - Caps Bloggers Happy Hour Version 2.0 sees the Caps fall to the Ottawa Senators to the delight of no one. Except Chanuck.
• January 24 - Sidney Crosby fails to record a single point and the MVP award goes to a Gutless Punk in the 55th NHL All-Star Game.
  
• January 30 - Another loss to the Senators sees the Caps finish with a January record of 5-7-0 and gives them a 21-23-7 record heading into the year's shortest month.
• February 1 - Boston police recieve an urgent 911 call from Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli claiming he has just been robbed.
• February 8 - The LA Kings earn the distinction of being the only team in the NHL to lose a shootout to the Capitals.
  
• February 12 - The Caps already faint playoff hopes officially die.
• February 18 - Caps Bloggers Happy Hour Version 3.0 sees the Caps lose to the Penguins. Have I mentioned that I hate the Penguins?
• February 27 - The Caps trade two defensemen and two third-line wingers a third line winger and a first line center on Deadline Day. Caps fans everywhere (or maybe just here) prepare for the official End of the World.
• February 27 - The Caps respond to the various deadline deals by losing, fittingly, in a shootout to the Florida Panthers. They end the month of February with a 3-6-4 record and head into March with a 24-29-11 record overall.
• March 1-15 - The Caps start the month off right by going 0-5-2 and scoring thirteen goals over their first seven games.
• March 12 - Caps Bloggers Happy Hour Version 4.0 sees the Caps lose to the Atlanta Thrashers.
  
• March 16-18 - The Caps get back on track by winning back to back games over the Lightning and the Maple Leafs, scoring twelve goals in two games.
• March 21-31 - The Caps finish the month off right by going 0-5-1 and scoring thirteen goals over their final six games. They finish the month of March with a 2-10-3 record and head into the final month with a 26-39-14 record overall.
• April 3 - Olie Kolzig gets his first shutout in three years.
  
• April 7 - The season finally, mercifully ends with a 2-0 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Gutless Punk Daniel Briere spears Milan Jurcina.
  
• April 7 - J.P. gets in on the bringing people together act and hosts a most excellent funeral for the Caps at Clyde's. At the party, I do not get carried away at all with the open bar and do not have probably too much to drink. Because I am classy.

Of course, these are just the moments that jumped out at me. I'm sure you have your own special moments from this season that you'd like to have fondly remembered in the form of a blog post that few people will read. That's why I encourage you to add your own additions to this list in the comments section.

And I Really Mean It

I'm not going to lie. I, like the obviously-fake Caps fan I am, missed most of tonight's game. I only caught the last fifteen minutes of the third period, and even then, I had to endure the rather distracting taunts of a Pittsburgh native (one who had never watched a Penguins game in his life, no less).

Nevertheless, I feel compelled to sum up the game in two simple words.

F*ck. Pittsburgh.

Recaps From People That Matter:
-A View From the Cheap Seats
-Bleatings From a Caps Nut
-Off Wing Opinion
-The Peerless Prognosticator

Today In Theatres, And Not a Moment Too Soon

Perhaps Glen Hanlon should take his team to see this instructional video, because last night was kind of sad.

The Season Isn't Over Yet? Seriously?

Many people never quite understood my exasperation with Dainius Zubrus. Or, if they understood, they probably didn't agree. But tonight, during the first period, Joe Beninati uttered the following words: "Zubrus has his stick lifted by a back-checking Alexander Semin." No, that isn't a typo, you read "Alexander Semin". This may be the only instance in the history (and the future) of hockey that anybody has been succesfully defended by a back-checking Alexander Semin, and I defy you to find another forward in the NHL besides Dainius who could make it happen.

In other Caps-Sabres news, I went ahead and granted commenter/younger brother/sometime contributor DefDude a reprieve over on the left side of the page, replacing him with Brian Pothier immediately after a Pothier turnover resulted in the Sabres' second goal. Just three minutes later, he goes and scores a goal. Do not doubt the power of the KHFC Whipping Boy© award. (Please note that the Capitals are 2-1 with a total of 14 goals scored in the three games since the inception of the KHFCWB©. I don't think it is too far out of the question for me to take full credit for the wins over Toronto and Tampa Bay.) (No, his goal is not enough to earn him a reprieve. A poor decision by the judge of a certain nickname contest might get him off though.)

In other news, I get the chance to say, once again, that "All [Donald Brashear] does is score goals!" Also, shots to the head of Andrew Peters, who is going to need some Advil when he gets home tonight. And then again some more a week from now. If ever you find yourself wondering "Would it be a good idea for me to get in a fight with Donald Brashear?", I beg you to watch a video of tonight's fight. Because you, not being a professional hockey player, will probably be killed.

Oh right... Also, the Caps lost by a wide margin. The result is pretty much irrelevant, so I don't particularly care to comment on it other than to say that, if a few bounces in the first period go another way, the Caps probably jump out to an early lead and end up at least taking the Sabres to overtime. But they didn't, so they didn't. Oh well.

Caps Finish Season Series Against Bruins At Even .500

Sort of. If you want to count 0-0-4 as an even .500 record. For the purposes of making me feel better, I'm going to go ahead and do just that.

It would be easy (and kind of lazy) to pin all of the blame for tonight's loss to the Bruins squarely on Steve Eminger and his prodigious ability to whack opposing players in the face with his hockey stick at the worst possible moment, but it is exactly what I am going to do anyway. Because that is just how I roll. In fact, I am going to go so far as to give Stevie E. the dubious distinction of being the inaugural Kevin Hatcher Fan Club Whipping Boy©. "What is the Kevin Hatcher Fan Club Whipping Boy©?" you ask? The premise is simple. Now, instead of having to actually read my blog to figure out which NHL player I derive the most enjoyment from disparaging, you can simply look to the right side of the page and see that it is Dainius Zubrus. Or, rather, would have been, if I had gotten off my ass and instituted this beguiling feature before he got traded. Because I really did take all kinds of perverse pleasure in finding new and creative ways to deride him. (I also missed out on John Erskine. Which is a shame.)

To be fair, I actually like Steve Eminger and feel most of the harsher criticism directed his way is unwarranted, and he had a pretty good game tonight if you take away the two minutes he spent in the penalty box watching the Bruins storm back to tie the game. Actually, if you take away the two minutes Eminger spent in the box, the entire team played really well. The defense (most specifically Eminger, in fact) looks a lot better with Olie "God" Kolzig between the pipes. They were much more aggressive physically, and one can only assume that much of this derives from the feeling of security that comes from having an extra safety net in front of the... ummm... net.

But, alas, you can't take away the two minutes Stevie E spent in the box. Unless you are magic. In which case, I would appreciate it if you would go back and take away those two minutes. Because Olie really deserved to win this game. As much as I like Brent Johnson, and while he did a more than adequate job in relief of Kolzig, Olie is simply on a whole other level. Without Olie in net, this game never even goes to overtime. In fact, if I had been living in a cave the past month and had just now emerged, you would have had a pretty hard time convincing me that he had missed any time at all.

Also, to whoever out there is magic and is planning on going back in time to change the outcome of tonight's game, I ask that you also find away to make sure Marc Savard becomes a free agent this offseason. Because... well, yeah.

Recaps From People That Matter:
-A View From the Cheap Seats
-Bleatings From a Caps Nut
-Japers' Rink
-Puckhead's Thoughts
-The Peerless Prognosticator

The Ugliest Thing You'll See All Day

Unless your team is the Buffalo Sabres.




















Discuss.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: I have absolutely no reason to believe this is anything other than a Photoshop mockup of what a new Caps jersey could look like. I just put it here because I was bored.)

The Jiri Novotny Era Begins

Well that was interesting. Whichever member of the Panthers coaching staff was blackmailing the officiating crew with pictures of one of them in a compromising position with a farm animal must have accidentally left the pictures behind at Verizon Center on Tuesday night. Because blackmail is more or less the only explanation I can come up with for the bizarre ending that befell tonight's game between the Caps and the Tampa Bay Lightning. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like that. First, the Caps find themselves witha 5-on-3 in the final minutes, only to pull the goalie for the uber-rare three-man advantage. Then, they somehow manage to allow one of their skaters to get double teamed along the boards anyway and turn the puck over for an easy empty net goal. Then the trail official makes a game-saving stop in place of Brent Johnson.

And then there was the ten-round shootout. Not really the refs fault, but bizarre none the less.

The trade deadline may have passed on Tuesday, but there is still one important trade the Caps need to make. The sooner they send John Erskine to the Hershey Bears in exchange for Mike Green, the better. Erskine was absolutely awful tonight, getting burned in the final minute of the second period for the Lightning's second goal and then taking a stupid (although eventually, fortunately, harmless) delay of game penalty in the third. It was just another of a string of poor performances by Erskine.

Speaking of poor performances from defensemen, Brian Pothier has also looked pretty bad of late. Against the speedy Lightning, he looked very much as though he were skating in some sort of molasses. Or perhaps someone replaced his skate blades with lead.

But let's not dwell on the negatives. Overall, this was another good performance from the Caps. Save for the last few minutes of the game, they just couldn't get the bounces going their way. I eventually lost count of the number of great scoring chances that where whiffed, muffed and/or shanked. The most blatant of which was newcomer Jiri Novotny in the third, sitting at the top of the crease when the puck came to his stick with a yawning net staring him in the face. But maybe I just noticed that one more because it was exactly what Dainius Zubrus would have done.

That said, I'd like to commend Lightning goaltender Daniel Tarnqvist. When the Caps were actually managing to connect on their shots, he came up huge. He made several huge saves right before Vinny Lecavalier's shorthanded goal that probably won the game for Tampa Bay.

Next up: The New York Ex-Capitals. Get ready to roll out the red carpet for Chris Simon, Brendan Witt and Richard Zednik.

Recaps From People That Matter:
-A View From the Cheap Seats
-Capitals Corner
-Capital Fanatic
-Japers' Rink
-The Peerless Prognosticator