Inside Cam's Cranium

"A virtually unscreened shot from the point? I've got this one, no problem."

"Oh shit."

"Guess I'll have the best seat in the house for Game 7."

Da Bears: Hershey Squirts Past Portland In OT

A Graham Mink goal with 2:09 left in regulation sent Game 7 into overtime where Eric Fehr's second goal of the game would beat Jani Hurme to send the Hershey Bears to the Calder Cup Finals to face the Milwaukee Admirals (Nashville's AHL affiliate). Tomas Fleischmann chipped in a goal and two assists, Mike Green had a goal and an assist and Frederic Cassivi made 33 saves in the Bears' 5-4 win.

Congrats to the Bears, and best of luck in the Finals, which begin Friday in Milwaukee.

Update: More articles on the game and what's ahead here and here.

Thank You

Happy Memorial Day and thank you to all of those who have given and are giving their lives for the country we love.

Looking Ahead By Looking Back: Caps' AHL and ECHL Prospects' Season Review

Hockey's Future has just posted a season review of the Caps' American and East Coast Hockey League prospects. Some of the immensely encouraging highlights:

[Eric] Fehr is a great prospect with tons of potential.

[Tomas] Fleischmann’s progression has been excellent. In the new NHL built on speed and skating, his overall game could easily propel him into a future second line scorer some day if he reaches his full potential.

[Jakub] Klepis has the size, skating ability, and finishing touch that coaches love. He has all the tools to become a great second line player when his skills and abilities all come together.

[Mike] Green is starting to look as if he will be one of those guys who breezes through the minor leagues en route to a fantastic NHL career.

In addition, HF reviewed the performances of Russian prospects at the recently-concluded World Championships and had this to say about Alex Semin:

[Semin's] trip to Riga can be deemed successful and it’s obvious that the time he had to spend in Russia was beneficial as he matured and gained the much-needed experience of being a leader.

To quote Ben Folds, "Oh what fun, I can't wait 'til the future gets here."

He Writes The Songs That Make The Whole World Sing?

Scanning this morning's hockey news (apparently the playoffs aren't quite done yet, fyi), I came across an interesting quote from Coyotes general manager Michael Barnett regarding the 'Yotes re-signing 39-year-old Curtis Joseph to a one-year deal:

[Joseph] continues to write new records while playing at his customary high level.

Now, I was prepared to let the whole "while playing at his customary high level" part slide, despite CuJo posting his highest goals against average and worst save percentage in nearly a decade last season - the Desert Dogs were fairly atrocious, scoring was up, etc. But I had to throw a flag on the "He continues to write new records" assertion. And then I stumbled upon this:


Sure enough, CuJo is credited with co-writing Track 6, Afghanistan. Now, in fairness to me, this record that Joseph wrote was released back in 1999 and I've seen no evidence that he "continues to write records," but I'll apologize to Mr. Barnett... because I know he couldn't have been talking about any NHL goaltending records... since CuJo has none.

Druuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce!

As reluctant as I am to give any credit to SI's Tom Layberger, his latest article-ette, the succinctly-titled "Surprise Stars: The most unlikely playoff performances in NHL history," recalls great memories for any long-time Caps fan with it's number one surprise star.

Let's fire up the wayback machine and take a trip back to the spring of 1990 and let Layberger tell the tale of a young winger and the sub-.500 team he would carry to the Conference Finals...

1. John Druce
1990 Washington Capitals

The 24-year-old entered the 1990 playoffs with a résumé of 16 goals in his first 94 NHL matches, and only one playoff game. Suddenly, Druce was Mr. April. He scored 14 goals in 15 games and added three assists before his team was knocked out in the third round. The right wing tallied eight times on the power play, and his OT goal in Game 5 of the Patrick Division finals downed the Rangers and lifted the Caps to their first conference final and play dates in the month of May.

Career note: Druce, who topped 14 goals only three times, participated in 38 more playoff games and scored only three times.

Good work, Tom, but I'll leave you with one bit of advice: when you do a Top 10 list, it's more effective if you count down from 10 to 1. It builds suspense, dig?

Can You Smell What Laraque Is Cookin'?

An enforcer scoring a big goal in the playoffs (and a killer vid cap to boot). What's not to love?

Caps' Prospect Making Huge Strides

In the latest edition of Hockey's Future's HF Mailbag, the question was posed "What five players stand out as most improving their status as legitimate prospects?" HF's answer includes a Caps' prospect, defenseman Patrick McNeill, who was the team's fourth round pick (118th overall) in the 2005 draft. Quoth HF:

Human nature loves to root for the underdog and there is no larger of an underdog than a prospect that was passed over several times by every organization in the draft just to break out with an awesome season to prove everyone wrong. In any given year, there are several prospects that emerge onto the prospect radar. Here are just a few, and by no means all, of those that we feel deserve some mention.

...

Patrick McNeill, a fourth round choice for the Washington Capitals, went from 33 points in 2004-05 to 77 points in 68 games with Saginaw of the OHL as an 18-year-old for most of the season. He turned his plus/minus of -29 in 2004-05 to a +24 in 2005-06.

Back in early April, HF had a little more to say about McNeill, who they rate as either the Caps' 10th or 11th best prospect, depending upon which side of the screen you choose to look at:

A 2005 draft steal?

McNeill’s draft status may have suffered due to the fact that he was on a very bad team last season. However, it appears that this year he has done everything to prove his critics wrong. McNeill finished first in the OHL in scoring by a defenseman with 77 points (21 goals, 56 assists), and helped propel Saginaw to its first postseason appearance in team history. McNeill’s numbers were a far cry from last season’s 33 points (7 goals, 26 assists), and he also rebounded from last season’s woeful plus/minus (-29) by finishing the 2005-06 campaign at +24 defensively.

Saginaw faced a formidable opponent this postseason, as the Guelph Storm swept the series in four games. McNeill did manage to score four points (1 goal, 3 assists), and finished the four-game series with a –1 defensive rating.

McNeill is a solid player and has very few holes in his overall game. Although he does excel at the offensive aspects of the game, his willingness to join the rush does lead to some defensive lapses on his part. However, since defensemen usually take longer to develop than forwards, he still has time to refine the defensive aspects of his game before turning pro.

Although he is only 6’0 tall, he does weigh in at around 200 lbs and is solidly built. He is not known for being an overly physical player, but he does play the body well, and his speed also assists him with his positional play. He has a great outlet pass and a great shot from the point, and displays clever playmaking abilities as well.

McNeill is still several years away from becoming a consistent NHL contributor. However, Washington can’t ignore the pure talent in this young man and will likely be keeping a very close eye on his overall development. Look for McNeill to become a solid, power-play quarterback in the NHL if he can reach his full potential. He will remain in junior next season as he is too young to play in the AHL.

McNeill was the fourth defenseman the Caps selected in last year's draft, and if his draft classmates can follow his example, the future of the Caps blueline will be bright indeed.

Ovechkin Named To All-Tournament Team, Potentially Banned From Participating In Next Year's Tourney

Alexander Ovechkin was named to the World Championships tournament all-star team, but it may be his last international competition for a long time. Obviously Caps fans are hopeful that Ovechkin will still be playing NHL hockey this late in the spring in years to come, but even if that pipe dream doesn't play out, Ovechkin and his Russian comrades in the NHL may be banned from participating in next year's World Championships in Moscow.

According to International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel:

There is a danger that if we do not find [a new international transfer] agreement with (NHL commissioner) Gary Bettman, Russian players will not be allowed to play in Russia next year.

Read more about the potential controversy here (including an unsatisfactory answer as to why Alex was allowed to play in this year's tournament).

Should Russian NHLers be prevented from playing when their homeland hosts the Worlds next year, there will be plenty of disappointed fans and players, not the least heart-broken of whom will be Muscovite Ovechkin, seen below being consoled by Russian teammate Evgeni Malkin. For the good of hockey, lets hope something gets done... after it's too late for Malkin to come over and play for the Penguins in 2006-07, of course.

Google Trends

Google is pretty damn cool. One of the newer tools to emerge from Google Labs is Google Trends, an application that (among other things) charts how often a given search term is entered over time. For example, when one enters "Ovechkin" as the search term, Trends produces the following chart (click to enlarge):


"Ovechkin" peaked as a search term at Point C - when Alex scored "The Goal" against Phoenix. The other high-point of this graph is at Point D, when Alex's fifth goal of the Olympics beat Canada.

Trends also lets you compare search terms' popularity. For example, enter "Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby" and you'll get this:


It's worth noting that searching "Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby" lowers Alex's search ratings, but I figure that most people searching for Alex will simply enter "Ovechkin" while the commonality of the name "Crosby" would require the Sidney-searcher to be a little more specific. Anyway, as you can tell, the hype surrounding Sid the Kid (peaking in mid-July, 2005, when the Pens "won" the draft lottery) had him way out in front of Alex... until "The Goal". Interestingly, news references (the lower graph) to Alex outpaced articles referencing Sid almost from the outset of the season. I guess the mainstream hockey media wasn't as biased as some might think.

What's the point? There is none. Other than that Google Trends is cool. And that I wish the Caps were in the playoffs.

Western Conference Finals Prediction - No Reading Required!

For our lazy and/or marginally literate readers, I present to you a pictorial representation of my prediction for the Western Conference Finals:


Edmonton in five.

For my Eastern Conference Finals prediction, go here (seven games, btw).

[And if this horrible picture so moves you, head over to Save a Duck and learn how to help.]

The Former Cap Factor

I've finally figured it out - and it's been right there under my nose all this time. The key to Stanley Cup Playoff success isn't goaltending. It's not special teams or depth. It's something much simpler: in any given series, the team that is further removed from the Washington Capitals is most likely going to win the series. Let's call it the Former Cap Factor, or FCF, and set the parameters:

1. If one team has fewer former Capitals than its opponent, it is most likely going to win any given series.
2. If teams have the same number of former Capitals, the team with the fewer games played for the Capitals is most likely going to win any given series.
3. If neither team has a former Capital and one team has a former Capital head coach behind the bench, that team is most likely to lose any given series.
4. If both teams have former Capital head coaches, the team with the fewer games coached for the Capitals is most likely going to win any given series.
5. If neither team has a former Capital or former Capital head coach, the team with the fewer former Capital draft picks is most likely going to win any given series.

Basically the fewer connections a team has to the Caps and the weaker those connections are, the better. So how has the FCF played out in the playoffs so far? Let's take a look:

First Round:

• Ottawa (no former Caps on the roster) defeated Tampa (and former Cap draft pick/farmhand Tim Taylor)
• Carolina (no former Caps) defeated Montreal (Richard Zednik and Jan Bulis combined to play 438 games for the Caps, dooming the Habs from the outset)
• New Jersey (with one former Cap, Ken Klee) defeated the Rangers (who never stood a chance, what with two former Caps in Jaromir Jagr and Michael Nylander)
• Buffalo (with Mike Grier, a veteran of 150 games as a Cap) broke the mold and defeated Philly (who has no former Caps)
• Edmonton (no former Caps) upset Detroit (and former Caps Robert Lang and Jason Woolley)
• Colorado (playing without injured former Cap Steve Konowalchuk but with former Cap Andrew Brunette) somehow downed Dallas (no former Caps)
• Anaheim (and former Cap, albeit for only 33 games, Jeff Friesen) upset Calgary (and 320-game Cap veteran Chris Simon)
• San Jose (no former Caps) upset Nashville (and former Cap blueline mainstay Brendan Witt)
  

So in Round 1, six out of the eight series ended up the same way you would have predicted, had you applied the FCF. Interesting, but not convincing. Yet.

Second Round:

• Buffalo continued to go against the FCF in defeating Ottawa (though Ottawa is coached by former Caps bench-boss Bryan Murray, clearly lowering its immunity).
• Carolina worked Ken Klee and the Devils.
• Edmonton upset San Jose... coached by none other than Ron Wilson, a veteran of 410 games behind the Caps' bench.
• Anaheim (recall 33 former Cap games) swept Colorado (755 former Cap games).

Round 2, like Round 1, came in at a 75% confirmation rate.

Now there are two series left. The FCF holds that Edmonton will beat Anaheim and Carolina will down Buffalo (though Buffalo has shown itself to be immune from the FCF over the first two rounds). We shall see what happens, but this analysis sure is a heck of a lot easier than matching up teams fourth-line wingers and face-off specialists.

My Second-Worst Nightmare Come True?

See if you can spot the mistake:

Psst... ESPN.com... it's called proof-reading. Look into it.

Growing Up With The Capitals

For old school Caps fans, a new site offers a chance to relive some of the glorious and not-so-glorious days of old. Here's flashback's own introduction to his site:

I've been a Capitals fan since they were first created.

For some time, I've wanted a place to park my recollections of those early years, plus team-related mementos, and Caps bits & pieces found over the years in the web's musty corners. So I created an online scrapbook of sorts. I called it "Growing Up With The Capitals."

Check it out here.

Russia Rolls At Worlds

Alexander Ovechkin scored once and had two assists as Russia produced a devastating third-period burst to crush Ukraine 6-0 on Thursday. The Washington Capitals prodigy was an influential figure as Russia eventually ground down a dogged Ukrainian side in the opening qualification round game.

Read more (and for another account of the game, click here).

Another Series, Another Sweep For The Bears

A few quick hits this morning. First off, a 1-0 win last night completed the second straight series sweep for the Hershey Bears (be sure to mouse over the team logo in the upper left) who now will face Hartford or Portland in the Eastern Conference Finals of the AHL Playoffs.

Second, Hockey's Future has conducted its final Calder Trophy poll and the results are, well, not surprising.

Finally, our two Alexes face off against Slovakia today at 4:15 local time in Riga (which, I believe, is sometime next Monday EST). Currently, each Alex has three goals, tying them for second overall in the tournament, one back of the leader with today's game in hand. Follow all the World Championships action here.

The future, Caps fans, looks bright indeed.

OLN: Hockey Coverage For Silly Little Fairies

When your favorite team was eliminated from contention in November, you watch the playoffs a little differently. You no longer fret as incessantly over how bad your team's sixth (or fifth, or fourth...) defenseman is. You don't obsess about offensive zone faceoffs or powerplay dump-ins. You simply want some entertaining hockey and maybe a few embarassing playoff performances to lighten your mood. And for the fan whose team has played more golf in the past month than Phil Mickelson, nothing can sour your hockey viewing experience like the same horrible commercial running at nearly every single commercial break.

Caps fans know what I'm talking about from the local Comcast coverage of Caps games. Mention catch phrases like "The chances I'll be working... are remote" or "I'll have the roast duck with the mango salsa" to most of Washington's hockey faithful and you'll see their expression turn to that of someone who just had one tequila shot too many and is getting ready to Spe on the band.

Now, I know that beggars can't be choosers and the NHL isn't exactly rolling in sponsorship offers. Still, the frequency with which OLN plays the car ad screen cap'd below - coupled with its all-around awfulness - deserves some form of outrage and ridicule, so I must ask: which should I associate more closely with fairies, OLN, the NHL or the car company?

Mixed Feelings

Perhaps Caps' coach Glen Hanlon knows something that the other 29 NHL coaches will be trying desperately to figure out over the next handful of years: how to stop Alexander Ovechkin. On Monday, Hanlon's Belarus squad was narrowly defeated, 3-2, by a Russian team that features the star Washington forward, as well as Capital teammate Alexander Semin, each of whom registered a hat trick in Russia's first-game victory over Kazakhstan at Worlds. But on Monday the two Alexes were held in check, combining for just three shots on goal and no points. Quoth Hanlon:

It's a complicated feeling when I watch them play for another team. Obviously as Belarus coach, my job today was to stop them (from scoring) but of course, I'm happy to see them do well here.

Echoing the sentiments of all Caps fans, Hanlon added, "Tonight, I just prayed that both of them would stay injury free."

Ovechkin Nominated For Calder, Pearson Trophies

Caps' rookie phenom Alex Ovechkin has been voted a finalist for both the Calder Memorial Trophy (for the NHL's outstanding rookie) and the Lester B. Pearson Trophy (for the most outstanding player as voted by fellow members of the NHLPA).

Ovechkin is one of four players (Jaromir Jagr, Joe Thornton and Miikka Kiprusoff being the others) to be nominated for multiple awards, and his credentials (per TSN.ca) include the following:

* Led all rookies in scoring with 106 points (52 goals, 54 assists), became the second rookie in history to tally 50 goals and 100 points in a season (Winnipeg's Teemu Selanne, 1992-93).
* Led the NHL in shots (425), ranked third in points, tied for third in goals.
* Would be the youngest player and first rookie to win the Lester B. Pearson.
* Ranked third in the NHL in goals (52) and points (106).
* His 52 goals accounted for almost one-quarter (23%) of his club's season total.

Read more about all the nominees here.

Capitals 2005-06 Rookie Review

Hockey's Future has a review of the Caps' 2005-06 rookie class. You'll never guess who leads the list.