Unfortunately I won't be able to, but I strongly recommend you head over to the Globe and Mail to follow this evening's entry draft with James Mirtle, who will be live blogging the event. I'm sure it will be appropriately informative, analytical and humorous (then again, if you're really into those qualities, you probably don't read this blog). Enjoy!

To: CroMag44@overrated.com
From: J.P.@TheRink.com
Re: Welcome to the Division

Dear Mr. Bertuzzi,

Now that you're going to be playing 32 games each year within the Southeast Division, I think I speak on behalf of all Capitals, 'Canes, Lightning and Thrashers fans when I make the following request: please don't cripple any of our players in a steroid-induced neanderthal fit of cheap-shot rage. It's really not good for you, your team, the League, or your potential victim who likely will never play hockey again.

Cordially,

J.P.

P.S. Feel free to respond via hand signals, as I know that you often find verbal forms of communication quite challenging.

***

To: J.P.@TheRink.com
From: CroMag44@overrated.com
Re: Welcome to the Division

Dear J.P.,

First, check out this picture of Jaromir Jagr playfully feeding Luc Robitaille a sardine (click on picture to enlarge):


Now, as if that's not bizarre enough in its own right, the autographed picture is being auctioned off at NHL.com (not surprisingly, there are no bids yet). If there's a story behind this that I don't know, please share it with me. On second thought, I'd probably rather not know.

[Hat tip to Deleted for the pointer]

As Eric over at OffWing reports, Alex Ovechkin will grace the cover of EA Sports' NHL07 (screen shots and video available here). Of course my first thought was of the Madden Curse, so I immediately went to see how previous NHL title cover players have done in their cover year (EA has generally featured only one player on its NHL titles since NHL '97). Here's what I found out:

• 1996-97, John Vanbiesbrouck (Panthers): 27-19-10 with a 2.29 GAA and a .919 SV%. Quite good.
• 1997-98, Peter Forsberg (Colorado): 72 games, 91 points. Mui bueno.
• 1998-99, Eric Lindros (Flyers): 71 games, 93 points. Hooray!
• 1999-2000, Chris Pronger (St. Louis): 62 points in 79 games - the most prolific offensive season of his career.
• 2000-01, Owen Nolan (San Jose): Played in 57 games, scored 24 goals and had 49 points - big drops from his previous 84-point season.
• 2001-02, Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh): Played in only 24 games, scoring only six goals.
• 2002-03, Jarome Iginla (Calgary): Played in seven fewer games, scored 29 fewer points. Look out below!
• 2003-04, Dany Heatley and Joe Sakic (Atlanta and Colorado, respectively): Heatley killed a teammate (and his scoring was down) while Sakic was healthy for the entire season, besting a point-per-game and posting his best year in three seasons. But Heatley killed a teammate.
• 2004-05, Markus Näslund (Vancouver): 8 goals, 17 points in 13 games. For Modo. Basically, Naslund's visage on the cover of EA's game forced the NHL to cancel its season.
• 2005-06, Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay): 35 goals, 75 points (slightly better than his previous NHL season)

So what does this tell us? Well, basically, if you're on the cover of EA's NHL game and can avoid the injury bug, you've got a good chance at posting a better year than your previous season and you might even have a career year. Here's hoping Alex accomplishes the former (and saves his career year for when it will really matter). Oh, and that he doesn't kill any teammates.

Per the WTimes:

Olie Kolzig, the backbone of the Washington Capitals for nearly a decade, will be recognized tonight for his dedication to his community and team when he is awarded the King Clancy Memorial Trophy by the NHL.

Kolzig, who was chosen from 28 nominees, will be honored during the NHL awards show in Vancouver (8 p.m., OLN).

Congrats to Olie, a great player and an even greater person.

And that had best not be the only hardware the Caps take home tonight...

Much has been made about whether or not the Carolina Hurricanes "deserved" to win the Stanley Cup. In my book, if you win 16 games in the playoffs, you deserve the Cup*. But this picture made me question that seemingly simple logic:

Look closely (click on the picture to enlarge it). Closer. Do you see? That's right - the 'Canes are pouring Michelob Ultra into Lord Stanley's sacred chalice. John Labatt is still, no doubt, rolling in his grave.

Then again, considering that most of the hockey world expected a Carolina win to mean that the Cup would be used as a spitoon, maybe Michelob Ultra isn't so bad after all.

* Unless you cheated by illegally having a foot in the crease when you scored the Cup-winning goal. Then you deserve to rot in hell for eternity.

Picking up on the latest Hockeywood gossip...

One of these two sucks 50+ nights a year; the other is - no wait, they both suck 50+ nights a year (alternate caption: Whose five-hole has been exposed more over the past two years?).

From Slate:

Yeah, tell Shawn Horcoff about it.

Sifting through the blogosphere's myriad of recaps on last night's game, the playoffs and the season, I came across a comment in Off Wing's roundup that puts it all in perspective (and in a touching Hallmark moment, to boot):

A great game 7. I have to admit getting a bit choked up during the post-game. My 4-year-old son asked question after question, and I tried to answer straightforward and honest.

"Why is he doing that?" (seeing an Edmonton player hanging their forehead down on the boards in front of the bench).

"Because he's sad. He tried his best, but he lost."

"What are they doing now?"

"They're shaking hands. They do that after every playoff, to show that they're still friends, even though one team won, and one team lost. It's called good sportsmanship."

"I want to have good sportsmanship."

"I know you do."

"I want that trophy, too."

"Me too, son."

Now I'm a little verklempt. Congrats to the 'Canes and their fans, the Oilers and theirs and really to hockey fans everywhere. What a season.

With mere hours left in the regular season and mere days until the Entry Draft, wild speculation is in full-swing in Capland as to what the team will do with its five picks in the first two rounds. Throwing fuel on the fire are a couple of cryptic comments made in owner Ted Leonsis's regular "Owner's Corner" column.

First, at the end of his rightly-effusive praise of the Hershey Bears for their Calder Cup Championship run, Leonsis notes that goaltender Freddie Cassivi is "beloved in Hershey, and will be even more so now that he’s the MVP of the AHL playoffs." Sorry to all the Cassivi fans out there, but a regular NHL gig simply is not in this guy's future (as I noted not long ago), so the Caps will need to either re-sign Brent Johnson or find a backup for Olie Kolzig elsewhere.

No real surprise there, but the column gets interesting thereafter. Leonsis notes that the Caps will "have a crop of young draft picks that could include as many as five of the first 50 picks," and that "the No. 4 pick this Saturday should yield an outstanding prospect – which gives us more talent in our system, or gives us value that George McPhee can leverage in trade" [emphasis added].

Am I reading between lines that simply aren't there? Maybe. But these are the facts:

• The final playoff qualifier in one of the NHL's two Conferences may be five hours away from winning the Stanley Cup;
• With Alex Ovechkin in the fold, the Caps are a lot closer to contending for a playoff spot than anyone had thought before this past season started;
  
• The Caps' top minor league team just won a championship and will graduate a handful of guys to the NHL giving the team, at very least, a ton of depth (which arguably is the greatest strength of both of this year's finalists); and
  
• Franchise goaltender Kolzig does not have a ton of good years left and there is currently no one of note in the system behind him that is anywhere close to NHL-ready.
  

Should the Caps go out and sign a handful of big-name free agents? No. I think we've seen how that plays out. But neither should they necessarily be drafting long-term projects. Management likes to boast about the number of former first round picks on the team, but at some point, it's time to put it all together and start moving forward more dramatically.

Ideally, I'd like to see the Caps make a pick with the #4 pick and then package something to get a second top-10 pick or a young, impact player. Easier said than done, I know, but adding two players that are a year or so (if that) away from the NHL gives the team its best overall chance at being competitive, whether through the contributions of those players or what they will bring in trade. With Ovechkin, Kolzig, the Hershey kids (and Alex Semin), solid checkers, one of the best work ethics in the League, a key free agent or three and two top-10 picks in this year's draft, the Caps could be - dare I say - a playoff team in 2006-07. And from there, who knows? I mean, other than this year's Oilers.

NHL.com's Auction Network (who knew there was such a thing?) has an interesting package up for bid that includes Alex Ovechkin's Escalade and other assorted Alex/Caps-related goodies. But one wonders why you would plunk down more than forty large for an Escalade when you can just take one from the players' lot at RFK for free?

[Hat tip to Deleted for the link]

Hockey's Future has a preview of the Caps' upcoming draft, complete with team needs (centers), organizational strengths (defensemen) and weaknesses (goalies) and draft tendencies. It's definitely worth checking out.

Sorry for the non-hockey post, but this just had to be noted. As Eric Wynalda said in the studio after today's 1-1 draw between the U.S. and Italy, "There are two kinds of refs: bad refs and worse refs." We might need a third category for this clown.

Head over to Deadspin for more interesting tidbits and commentary on the Uruguayan Andy van Hellemond here and here.

A post over at Capitol Punishment got me thinking introspectively. I guess I hold myself out as somewhat knowledgeable about most things NHL. I've got theories, I've got stats. I've got anecdotes, I've certainly got opinions.

But looking back at my preseason predictions, one thing became all too apparent: a glue-huffing monkey could have done a better job of previewing the Eastern Conference Champion Hurricanes than I did. A couple of my favorite quotes from my Team Preview:

At the risk of stating the obvious, this is not a playoff team.

It looks like Carolina may be the Caps' most bitter rival in 2005-06, as the two teams battle to stay out of the Southeast cellar and dream of the top pick in the 2006 draft.

Then again, my Oilers' preview was pretty spot-on, and some of my individual awards calls were surprisingly good as well. But man, that 'Canes preview might call for a suspension of my Hockey Blogger credentials. I guess I'll wait to hear from Colin Campbell.

Man it's hot. It's like Africa hot. Tarzan couldn't take this kind of hot.

And what better on a hot day than a refreshing adult beverage? What follows is a magic elixir that promises not only thirst-quenching relief but also guarantees victory to the favorite team of s/he who drinks. Seriously. Try it, Oil faithful - you know the 'Canes fans will.

Jackie & JP's* Redneck Margaritas
3 or 4 cans Bud Light (Miller Lite will do, in a pinch)
1 large can frozen lemonade (or pink lemonade or limeade) concentrate, defrosted and slushy
1 large can frozen lemonade concentrate's worth of vodka (i.e. fill up the empty can with the booze)

Mix all ingredients. Serve in margarita glasses, over ice if desired. Amaze friends with how something so vile sounding can taste so good.

* The original recipe actually called for pink lemonade and was called "Summer Beer." Since we substituted regular lemonade and named it, we get to name it after ourselves. Super sweet.

A little more Calder Cup Champions coverage for your Friday morning reading pleasure:

• SI.com's got the AP's final article here.
• Patriot News coverage is here (on a side note, they have an article from last week entitled "[J.-F.] Fortin Fights Soft Reputation," begging the question "With what - his purse?").
• Caps message board topics on the win are here, here, here and here.
  
• There are some great pictures up here (hat tip to Buggs).
• Mike Vogel's outstanding coverage at WashingtonCaps.com is here.
• Mirtle's coverage is here.
  
• Watch this spot for more coverage as I find it throughout the day, and don't forget that Comcast Sportsnet will be re-showing the game in all its glory today at 3:00 p.m.

Here's a nice handheld video shot at the end of Game 5 in Hershey (hopefully there will be some vids from last night on YouTube soon):

Finally, for those of you who want to see the team's celebration at the buzzer, here's someone's handheld of their TV's playback thereof (hey, ghetto's better than nothing, no?):

Read all about it here (and not to be confused with this or this).

Congrats to the Bears and their fans and sweet dreams (last Hershey pun, I promise) to all Caps fans.

I read Dave Fay's WTimes column about Hershey's playoff run at work this morning and was excited to get home this evening and write about it. Then I read Ted Leonsis's take on it (complete with an emoticon!) and figured that there wasn't much I could say that he didn't hit on. Still, one point bears (get it?) mentioning. Fay writes:

"The Bears are basically the same team that last season, as the Portland Pirates, failed to make the playoffs,"

as if to imply that these guys aren't as good as they are playing now. Which they may not be. But they're likely a lot closer to what they're showing now than what they showed last year for the simple reason that most prospects LEARN and IMPROVE with EXPERIENCE. That's what they do. An additional (or first) year of pro hockey for a teenager or a kid in his early twenties can make any young player a superstar, a wash-out or anything in between. If you don't believe me, watch how good what's-his-name is next year.

Further, they're really not even close to the same team as last year's Portland Pirates. For example, Eric Fehr and Mike Green - two of Hershey's most important cogs in this playoff run - were still in juniors last year. Tomas Fleischmann was in his first professional season. Kris Beech was stuck in the hell-hole that is Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Lawrence Nycholat was in Hartford. Dave Steckel was in Manchester. The coaching staff is entirely different. I could go on, but won't. It's a dumb, poorly-researched point by Fay and we'll leave it at that.

Overall, Fay's talent assessments - both of the Bears players and the Caps' lineup - are woeful and this unnecessarily skeptical article on the eve of, perhaps, a Calder Cup Championship is an utter waste of paper, pixels and newsprint. He shall get no emoticon from me.

From Monday's Tennessean:

From Sunday night's box score:


UPDATE - From Tuesday night's box score:


UPDATE - From Thursday night's box score:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 15, 2006

Capitals Prospects to Chase Calder Cup on Comcast SportsNet Tonight
Hershey Bears face Milwaukee in Game 6 of AHL final

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Hershey Bears, the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Washington Capitals, face the Milwaukee Admirals in Game 6 of the Calder Cup finals tonight in Milwaukee beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Comcast SportsNet will televise the game on a tape-delayed basis, airing it at 11 p.m. ET tonight and again at 3 p.m. ET Friday afternoon.

Hershey leads the best-of-seven series against the Milwaukee Admirals, 3-2, entering tonight’s game in Milwaukee.

The Bears, seeking their ninth Calder Cup championship and first since 1997, have 22 Capitals prospects on their roster and 15 players who appeared in at least one Capitals game this season. Five of those players – Brooks Laich (73 games), Boyd Gordon (25), Jakub Klepis (25), Mike Green (22) and Tomas Fleischmann (14) – played at least 14 games with the Capitals this season.

The Bears’ roster includes seven players who were first-round NHL draft picks, including Capitals’ first-round picks from 2004 (Green and Jeff Schultz), 2003 (Eric Fehr), 2002 (Gordon) and 1999 (Kris Beech).

John Walton and Gregg Mace will provide the call for tonight’s game from the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

AHL Calder Cup Finals Schedule

Fri., June 2 Milwaukee 2, Hershey 1 at Milwaukee

Sat., June 3 Hershey 6, Milwaukee 3 at Milwaukee

Sat., June 10 Milwaukee 2, Hershey 0 at Hershey

Sun., June 11 Hershey 7, Milwaukee 2 at Hershey

Tues., June 13 Hershey 6, Milwaukee 4 at Hershey

Thurs., June 15 Game 6: Hershey at Milwaukee 8 p.m. ET

*Sat., June 17 Game 7: Hershey at Milwaukee 8 p.m. ET

* If necessary

As Lee Corso would say, "Not so fast, my friend."

Fernando Pisani's OT shorty was poetic justice after the brutal call that put the Oil down a man, and now the 'Canes and their fan(s) will have to wait at least a couple more nights before uncorking the celebratory moonshine. Word is that adopted-Carolinian J.J. Redick is pissed.

Today brings a flood of noteworthy materials out there on the Internets and rather than devote a meaningless post to each, I'll bang out a meaningless bullet point on each (it's gotta be better for the environment, right?). Let's dig right in:

• Greg over at The Fourth Period has his take on the MSM's coverage of the NHL and it may not be what you expect. Unless you expect quality analysis (unlike some mainstream journos) and perspective. Then it's exactly what you'd expect.
• Speaking of the mainstream hockey media, ESPN's John Buccigross has never been one of my favorites, but if he keeps writing articles about how good the Southeast Division is and will soon be, he'll quickly change that. Sure, I wrote about it two weeks ago and Ted Leonsis noted it last week, but Bucci is still on the SE Bandwagon way before most of his colleagues.
• There's another mock draft up, this one at MyNhlDraft.com (see USAToday.com's mock here and The Rink's comments thereupon here). In this latest mock, the Caps take Nicklas Backstrom, who I think is more likely A) to be there at #4 than Jordan Staal and B) to be the guy the Caps want anyway. One thing is for sure: judging from these two mock drafts, after St. Loo (presumably) nabs Erik Johnson first overall, no one knows what's going to happen.
• The NHL announced today that not a single player failed his drug test (which targets steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs but not stimulants) this year. Not one. Out of 1,406 tests administered. In the wake of the Bertuzzi incident, a cancelled season and a gambling scandal involving the best player in the game's history, the League sure is lucky it didn't have to deal with a drug scandal during the Stanley Cup Finals, isn't it?
  
• Finally, Hockey'sFuture has it's annual team-by-team, five-year-out draft evaluation in progress and recapping the Caps' 2001 draft, well, isn't pretty. In fairness, the Caps' first pick wasn't until 58th overall, but still, the fact that only one of the team's ten picks that year ("NHL Bust" Owen Fussey) is still with the organization and that the ten picks have played a total of five NHL games categorizes 2001's draft as an utter failure.

The battle lines have been drawn. Which side are you on?

I drive all the way up to Hershey and they can't even score a goal for me? Weak. You can read a good recap of the game here, and I don't have too much to say about the game, in part because I am tired and in part because my memory of the latter stages of the game is a little hazy. Nevertheless, a few things stood out:

1. I miss the Caps. A lot. I kept hoping that #8 would hop over the boards for a shift of controlled mayhem. It never happened.
   
2. Freddie Cassivi (pictured here - note the Caps' eagle on the back his mask) was great in goal for the home team, but there's a reason the thirty-year-old has played 400+ AHL games and only nine in the NHL - don't get too excited, Caps fans.
3. The crowd (a Hershey record 10,840) and atmosphere were great. It was also great to see so many Caps jerseys checking in on our investments.
4. The officiating was brutal. Complain all you want about NHL refs, but if Steve Kozari is representative of AHL referees, it's no wonder clowns like Don Koharski still have jobs in the big leagues.
5. Outshot 30-12 for the first two periods? 10 times shorthanded? 0-fer on the powerplay? These guys are learning the game the Caps way!
   
6. The Sooperdooperlooper is pretty lame. Great Bear and Storm Runner, however, are sweet.
   

Anyway, that's pretty much all I've got to say about the game. Game 4 tonight is a must-win for Hershey. Hopefully they can get the offense going, because if not, this series will be over real soon.

Below are a few more pictures I took. Click on any for a larger view.

Despite the fact that the 2006 Stanley Cup Champion has yet to be decided (despite what some 'Canes fans are apparently flooding message boards with), Vegas is already posting odds for next year's Cup, and here they are:

Name			Current
OTT SENATORS			6/1
DET RED WINGS			7/1
CAR HURRICANES			8/1
NJ DEVILS			10/1
DAL STARS			10/1
SJ SHARKS			10/1
PHI FLYERS			12/1
CGY FLAMES			12/1
BUF SABRES			12/1
NY RANGERS			15/1
EDM OILERS			15/1
ANA DUCKS			15/1
NAS PREDATORS			18/1
COL AVALANCHE			18/1
TB LIGHTNING			20/1
VAN CANUCKS			20/1
MON CANADIENS			20/1
TOR MAPLE LEAFS			25/1
LA KINGS			25/1
ATL THRASHERS			30/1
FLA PANTHERS			40/1
PHX COYOTES			40/1
MIN WILD			50/1
BOS BRUINS			50/1
COB BL JACKETS			50/1
NY ISLANDERS			50/1
WAS CAPITALS			75/1
PIT PENGUINS			75/1
CHI BLACKHAWKS			75/1
STL BLUES			100/1

If you're in Vegas, drop a dime on the Sabres for The Rink. We'll split the returns with you.

[Hat tip to Stanthefan for the link]