It's no secret that the Capitals defense has, um, struggled at times. But help may be on the way for the blueline, as Ivan Majesky may make his debut for the team by Thanksgiving. Unlike with Mathieu Biron, who can no longer even break the lineup, I was excited when the Caps signed Majesky and look forward to seeing what he can do. Speaking of the rearguard, the WTimes details the emergence of Steve Eminger.According to the League's recently-released demographic study (cited here), the Caps are the biggest team in the League (averaging 211.2 pounds), more than 15 pounds heavier than Nashville, the NHL's lightest squad. Hmm. The Caps are also the 4th youngest team in the League and have the second-most Canadians on their roster. And here's some NHL-demographic trivia for you: What U.S. state has produced the most current NHLers? Hint: It's New York.
In other news around the League:
- The NHL set a new attendance record for October in the month just concluded (coincidentally, October). "Rinks around the league were filled to 91.2 per cent capacity with 23 of the 30 teams even or ahead of their 2003-04 gate numbers" (I don't have to tell you in which group of teams the Caps find themselves). Members of the Caps Message Board (led by FJC33) look at those numbers a little closer, cut through the spin and think the NHL may want to ease up on the self-congratulations.
- Eric Staal (offensive) and Manny Legace (defensive) were the NHL players of the month for October.
- Apparently there's empirical proof that checking ain't all that bad. Someone tell Gary Bettman, stat.
- Luc Robitaille is out 2-4 weeks with a broken leg.
- Pavel Bure officially retired Monday and took the job as GM of the Russian Olympic hockey program. Can you imagine how good a healthy Pavel Bure would be in today's NHL? Frightening.
- And you thought the Caps dumped salary in 2003-04? Check out Lada Togliatti's latest moves, including an eight-player dump to Khimik that includes Alexander Semin (who?).
- Hart: Miikka Kiprusoff (23 save shutout win over Minny)
- Ross: Ilya Kovalchuk (G, 3A)
- Norris: Nicklas Lidstrom (2A, +2)
- Vezina: Miikka Kiprusoff (W, 23 save shutout)
- Richard: Jaroslav Modry, Stephen Weiss, Brad Richards, Ales Hemsky, Jarome Iginla (2G each)
- Calder: Dion Phaneuf (GWG, A, +1)
1 comment:
Yeah, but the #s are in terms of % capacity, not raw #s, so I'm not sure why it matters how many games were played in Oct. 2005 vs. Oct. 2003. But sure, it isn't taking into account ticket prices and promotional lures no doubt more prevalent this year.
The bottom line is, of course, revenue, and I don't see them revealing those numbers so publicly...
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