[NHL.com Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview]In advance of tonight's game between the Caps and Pens, I initially was going to use this space to detail the fallacy of comparing the two teams' respective rebuilds, but Dave Fay made me move that post up a week.
I would have used this space to discuss GMGM's appearance on WashingtonPost Live last night (a clip of which you can watch here), but he didn't say too much that you didn't know already (unless you're host Russ Thaler, who GMGM had to correct a number of times).
There are notes from Tarik's article this morning (that initially appeared in his blog yesterday) worth mentioning - the Alex Semin/Bryan Muir fight at practice yesterday; the return to red, white and blue uniforms for next year; Brian Sutherby likely missing the rest of the season - but no real big discussion topics.
I could throw some Stan Fischler quotes out there for you to digest ("The Boston Bruins blew it, sending Milan Jurcina to Washington for a fourth-rounder. Jurcina is turning into a HUGE asset on the Caps blue line," or "Much as we admire Sid (Der Bingle) Crosby, some of his on-ice antics are infuriating the (non-Pittsburgh) hockey community. As Bryan Murray notes, The Kid is becoming a master at diving and its assorted penalty-getting variations," for example), but I swore off the Maven a while back.
So what's left on this Tuesday morning? Not much, I guess - seems I covered it all, though I would like to follow-up on something KB reported on Sunday, namely that Richard Zednik has taken a leave of absence from the Isles for personal reasons. Word is that he has headed back to Slovakia for a health-related family matter and won't be back any time soon. Obviously, we all wish him and his family the best.
Finally, a quick administrative note. I have to go in tomorrow morning for some surgery and will be out of commission for a couple of days, so it's up to you all to keep things around here lively in my absence. Cheers.
Daily Awards
- Hart: Dominik Hasek (25-save shutout win)
- Ross: Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom, Mathieu Schneider (1 point each)
- Norris: Mathieu Schneider (A, +1, 4 SOG)
- Vezina: Dominik Hasek (see above)
- Richard: Pavel Datsyuk (1G)
- Calder: Corey Perry (7 SOG, 2 hits, 2 takeaways)
- Aiken: Francois Beauchemin (-1, 0 shots on goal in 1-0 loss)
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http://www.buffalonews.com/101/story/40716.html
So, I take it that is the perfectly random comment of the week?
JP: If I've told you once I've told you a thousand times: Men should not have breast augmentation surgery.
Buffalo was ranked as the "City You'd Least Want to Be Traded To" or some variation in this week's NHL Player Poll in the Hockey News. Apparently, NHLers think the town sucks, but i haven't finished the article yet, so i may be off slightly on my summation of the findings.
And tyler beats me to the punch. i was going to mention something about a vaginasectomy, but breast augmentation is better anyway. Kudos to you.
Good Luck!
(I was guessing he's getting callagen injections to have Crosby 'Kool-Aid' lips.)
Man, turn it over to you guys and The Rink turns into junior high.
To set things straight, I need a benign cyst removed from my jaw and for that section of my jaw to be reinforced with bone that they're taking from my hip.
Juveniles.
Good Luck! JP - I enjoy reading your blog everyday. Don't always agree with everything you say. But it's always fun to read! I'm heading down to FL tomorrow to watch a couple of Caps games. I hope they can win a least one! Hope you feel better soon and keep up the good work!
Get well wishes in advance to you, JP!
Man, I really missed the "rip on JP" comment-party.
I need to start reading the blog earlier in the day.
I plan on penning a Percocet-influenced tome about the Caps' karma that will sync perfectly with "Darkside of the Moon." It'll be especially cool when you get to "Money" right at the same time you're reading about Jagr.
Someone on HF posted this:
2003/2004 QMJHL leading scorer: Sidney Crosby
2004/2005 QMJHL leading scorer: Sidney Crosby
2005/2006 QMJHL leading scorer: Alexander Radulov
2006/2007 QMJHL leading scorer: Francois Bouchard
(Bouchard is currently the leader, but only by 1 point; 3rd place is Cap Matthieu Perrault) Thoughts?
It's good to have high hopes, but be realistic. Probably a better measure of what to expect upside-wise on these guys is to look at where they were drafted:
Sid (1st round,1st overall)
Radulov (1st, 15th)
Bouchard (2nd,35th)
Perreault (6th, 177th)
In other words, hope for Bouchard to pan out and pray that Perreault (who's also tiny at 5'8") is a diamond-in-the-rough, but don't get too overly excited for either just because they're putting up big numbers in the Q. Look back at that League (pick any year) - it's had some no-names put up huge point totals.
Other famous points winners in the QMJHL:
2001-2002: PM Bouchard (Matthew Lombardi second)
1999-2000: Brad Richards
1998-1999: Mike Ribeiro
1995-1996: Daniel Briere
1990-1991: Yannic Perreault
JP, you're right. The poster on HF was obviously being a little "tongue-in-cheek" as was I. It's still interesting though.
And, as you can see from the list above, there have only been a handful of QMJHL-ers who have both won the scoring title and made a good career for themselves in the NHL.
Don't get me wrong - Bouchard is definitely a guy the team is high on, but there's an inherent "grain of salt" to be taken with Q stats.
The other thing to consider is at what age the guy is putting up those numbers. Bouchard is leading the Q at 18. Crosby was doing it at 16. Radulov actually did it at 19.
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