Hey, that's "stupid Blogger", not "stupid blogger". I think.
Some topics to get you going:
* Fehr's strong game and what it means for Flash (i.e. buh-bye) * Poti's best game of the season * That vomit-inducing 5-on-3 * Johnny's job in net * The reconstituted second line (does Kozzy's woeful night in the dot matter?) * How a team that's fifth in the League in fighting majors did absolutely nothing when their Vezina-candidate/franchise goalie got run over and injured (I don't necessarily think Laing ran him, but by giving Q a goaltender interference penalty, the refs green-lit retaliation that never came, imo).
if this is how Poti plays when he is totally healthy, then he is finally earning his paycheck. great fucking performance by him. He hit, he blocked shots (2 sure goals he stopped with his chest and then neck), and he has finally started shooting. He even pulled out a patented Mr.Fall Down Go Boom curl and drag. nice.
I think the Fehr experiment went well. He is a better fit for that first line. He was hungry to score and crashed the net all night. Backstrom is all the playmaker we need on that first lit. FOB line should stay. Also, Kozlov looked good on the 2nd line. He gets the puck ito the zone well and leaves the wingers open for shots. well done.
Anyone else think the season and hitting might be wearing on Backstrom a bit? He has been good, but not as stellar as he was before.
I dont remeber seeing Sasha falling down in that game. anyone?
Laich should always play the last 2 minutes of a game. he is playing such a good all around game.
"We left the wrong guy open," said Nash, who scored his 27th and 28th goals of the season.
Nash was referring to Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin, the NHL's leading scorer who is the rarest of all modern sports stars -- he's better than advertised.
I gotta ask what was up with Laing crushing the dman into LeClaire. I agree he doesn't seem like the kind of guy to do it, but it didn't look like he lost an edge or anything.
And I gotta agree with you JP, Columbus should have put bruises on Laing's bruises for that. If that was Kolzig or BJ, I would hope that someone on the Caps would have sent a message about running the goaltender.
1) Hey give us some credit. We said "The Caps would be happy if BOTH Alex's combined for 3 goals!" LOL 2) Everyone repeat: The First place Washington Capitals. Well, not yet, but a win in Philly, and..... 3) Fehr actually looked pretty good/comfirtable out there. Yes, if/when Clark returns Flash may want to be ready to book a flight to Prague! 4) Even with all that jubilation, special teams continue to be an issue tha needs to improve!
I think fehr did a good job considering it was his first game of the year, and he was on a line with the best player in the world and the best rookie in the league. It was the kind performance that left you hopeful because the potential was obvious both for fehr and for a perfectly balanced line. Its just a matter of the three of them figuring out how to play togther. Once that happens, and I believe it will, and they begin to know where one another is on the ice at all times, look out.
joe, in my opinion, laing's crashing into the goalie, if it was intention, was simply a case of the caps returning the favor for several instances of contact with bj up until that point in the game. i do agree though that q got off easy
Fehr played as advertised. I'd like to see him on RW on either the 1st or 2nd line when all are healthy.
We knew it was coming with Flash if he didn't bring it and Fehr did. He's worked hard, but is looking more like depth or trade bait now.
Kozlov does need to spend some time in faceoff ED. His puck possession and passing skills are primo though. Fehr may look to be better at banging in AO's rebounds, but Kozlov is stronger on the puck and better at teeing up AO. I'm not sure which is needed more, but line 2 needs a center, so for now, the decision is made.
Since we know we're without Nylander for the rest of the season, how does everyone see the lines shaking out upon Clark's return? What about when Nylander returns? Tricky...
As for the lack of C-bus retaliation, BJ was run twice before Leclaire got plowed. You can only feel but so badly about that, and perhaps C-bus knew it. Just the same, Boll was trying to stir things up for the rest of the game, but the Caps (in my mind) showed restraint and chose to go for the win instead. Boll even came knocking with Brashear. Props to Brash. Why prove that you can maul a middleweight and probably give C-bus a power play?
Since Angus' departure, McCreary has been the toughest on the Caps. I knew he'd cost us a point somewhere, but I had no idea he'd actually pull down a defenseman to do it. Notice Poti's goal was missed at first, too....
Indeed, I nearly spewed my lentil soup. That shorty was frightful! According to Tarik we haven't fallen victim to that since 1991 and the Jax had never inflicted one. In their entire history.
Gwwwap.
The fact that it didn't deter the Boys (or break their hearts) is remarkable. I like the determination and singlemindedness that it shows. Bravo to them.
1) Check out Mirtle's blog. Nice piece on comparing AO's current season(adjusting for the NHL average for goals/game) with years ago. He's having a better year than Gretzky did when he scored 92! http://mirtle.blogspot.com/2008/02/ovechkin-08-one-of-greatest-goal.html
Biggest bunghole of the night, the idiot sports desk reporter who, during Comcast's second intermission report, when pronouncing DiPietro's name did so thus- DE-pete-ro. Look, if a network is going to include hockey as one of it's marquee sports, you damn sure better have reporters who know something about hockey, and knowing the name of one of the league's premier goalies (right now) is essential. God, I hate the way the greatest sport is treated by the sports news machine. Hockey doesn't exist at all until Ovechkin or Nash have a brilliant play, and then they act like they're experts.
My random comments from last night's game: * How long does the Flash experiment go on? When he touches the puck in the defensive zone, I cover my eyes. * That 5 on 3 cough up by Backstrom was more telegraphed than the sun coming up today. * Fehr will score...soon...and keep scoring. He was in the right places, and seems to have the hands. I think right now it's timing and conditioning. Give him 2 weeks, and I am guessing we've found our long-lost scoring RW. Just a hunch. :-) * Matt Bradley wants it. Plain and simple. He skates every shift like it's the 7th game of the finals. He should get rewarded with some PP time, or something. * Game one of the Koz centering Semin experiment was positive. He may be better than I have given him credit for...we'll see.
1) Having a five on three is like being the only man in a bar filled with women: your confidence far outweighs your chances. Semin was lone man at the bar with that pass.
2) If Laing can control the body of an NHL defenseman I can levitate a Humvee. They got tangled up and the physics of momentum did the rest. The penalty was egregious.
3) Ollie seems to be able to play solidly, while Johnny seems to play like a starter.
4) I can't decide who has better checks: Bradley or McCreary. Regardless, it was an accident, but one predicated on MAC-C being out of position. It does beg the question (since we have so many stats here)- How many "hits" does McCreary have per minute of ice time? I hypothesize that his numbers are low.
5) Closing one's eyes when Flash has the puck in the defensive zone is a good strategy, and one I hadn't adopted. Whoever mentioned it, thanks. I'm using it in this circumstance and when I see Semin start a curl and drag at the other end of the ice.
@b80vin, I caught that on the Comcast show, too, and was also disgusted. And he mispronounced it not once but twice. Have seen that guy before and it seems he knows very little about hockey.
I thought Poti sucked ass earlier in the season, but he's shown vast improvement lately, and yesterday was no exception, to say the least. Finally the guy's on the board.
I'm extremely pissed off at BB for that 5 on 3. 2 forwards on the point and a D crashing the net? What the hell is that about? Get someone into the organization who knows how to run a power play, please. Dear god, our PP is horrendous.
I liked how Koz and Semin played together, so I don't think it's all that bad that he sucks at face-offs. While important, I think the ability to pass and playmake makes up for it.
I think Johnson played okay. Not great, not terrible. Good enough.
Joe: Laing and Hedja got tangled up, plain and simple. Both players made a bungle, and LeClaire paid the price. Tough luck, but not intentional.
I doubt that's the way Boudreau planned it; it's just what happens sometimes when guys are rotating around.
I also want to not that the Caps powerplay is ranked 18th at 17.3% which, I think, is better than it was when Boudreau took over. Probably be a little higher if you took out all the eight second powerplays that were negated by Semin....
It's better, that doesn't mean to say it's really that good. Anytime I watch other teams (against us or against anyone else, for that matter) a power play is, a lot of the times, a free goal. We seem to struggle more with a man advantage than on even strength. And that's boggling and worrying. I realize people shift around, but green was crashing in front of the net the whole damn time. he didn't just happen to be there when the horribleness happened. He was there the whole damn time. And that's completely retarded any way you look at it.
I dunno, I'd take the 6th best powerplay in the league, but maybe that's just me.
JP, I just logged on to make the exact point you did after the Philly broadcast showed it. I didnt want to do the math myself earlier - do you have a site you reference for stats like those or are you compiling them yourself?
Center Ice replied and said it's on the NHL Network, yet... it's not. At least, it's not listed by anyone as being on there.
For anyone considering it: DON'T BUY CENTER ICE. I regret every dollar. They randomly black out games for absolutely no reason, claiming another subscription based service is showing the game, so you should get that service instead, even if it's not available in your area. If it weren't $160 dollars, I probably wouldn't care. But that's a bit much to be told "no, not today."
@ 'Zard: The game is on another subscription-based service - the NHL Network. Any game that's on NHLN is blacked out on Center Ice. It happened to me a couple of times before I shelled out the $1.99 a month for NHL Net (and NFL Network and some other crap).
It sucks, but that's the explanation, and personally, I think I could live without water more easily than without Center Ice.
hmm i guess I should check and see how much NHLN and the "Sports and Info tier" actually cost. I assume it's $5-10 but seeing that there are at least 2 more Caps games on NHLN, it would be worth it. Yeah I'm still pissed that I don't get NHLN with my $160 Center Ice package, but whatever. It's still cheaper than the season tickets I would buy if I lived in DC
NHLN isn't available to me at all. Period. That's what's pissing me off about it. Not everyone can even get NHLN, so blacking me out because of it is garbage.
Blogger ate my totally awesome recap/preview post, so this is what you get. Rock it like only you people can.
39 comments:
I fall down go boom
Stupid blogger....
Hey, that's "stupid Blogger", not "stupid blogger". I think.
Some topics to get you going:
* Fehr's strong game and what it means for Flash (i.e. buh-bye)
* Poti's best game of the season
* That vomit-inducing 5-on-3
* Johnny's job in net
* The reconstituted second line (does Kozzy's woeful night in the dot matter?)
* How a team that's fifth in the League in fighting majors did absolutely nothing when their Vezina-candidate/franchise goalie got run over and injured (I don't necessarily think Laing ran him, but by giving Q a goaltender interference penalty, the refs green-lit retaliation that never came, imo).
if this is how Poti plays when he is totally healthy, then he is finally earning his paycheck. great fucking performance by him. He hit, he blocked shots (2 sure goals he stopped with his chest and then neck), and he has finally started shooting. He even pulled out a patented Mr.Fall Down Go Boom curl and drag. nice.
I think the Fehr experiment went well. He is a better fit for that first line. He was hungry to score and crashed the net all night. Backstrom is all the playmaker we need on that first lit. FOB line should stay. Also, Kozlov looked good on the 2nd line. He gets the puck ito the zone well and leaves the wingers open for shots. well done.
Anyone else think the season and hitting might be wearing on Backstrom a bit? He has been good, but not as stellar as he was before.
I dont remeber seeing Sasha falling down in that game. anyone?
Laich should always play the last 2 minutes of a game. he is playing such a good all around game.
Ovie: 2
Columbus: 0
Good tidbit from the Columbus paper:
"We left the wrong guy open," said Nash, who scored his 27th and 28th goals of the season.
Nash was referring to Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin, the NHL's leading scorer who is the rarest of all modern sports stars -- he's better than advertised.
Big story: Is Jurcina hurt? Hellloooooooo Tarik....
I gotta ask what was up with Laing crushing the dman into LeClaire. I agree he doesn't seem like the kind of guy to do it, but it didn't look like he lost an edge or anything.
And I gotta agree with you JP, Columbus should have put bruises on Laing's bruises for that. If that was Kolzig or BJ, I would hope that someone on the Caps would have sent a message about running the goaltender.
Hey Sasha-haters: The Caps put an offensive player on the ice with him and look what happened... much less falling, much less going boom.
1) Hey give us some credit. We said "The Caps would be happy if BOTH Alex's combined for 3 goals!" LOL
2) Everyone repeat: The First place Washington Capitals. Well, not yet, but a win in Philly, and.....
3) Fehr actually looked pretty good/comfirtable out there. Yes, if/when Clark returns Flash may want to be ready to book a flight to Prague!
4) Even with all that jubilation, special teams continue to be an issue tha needs to improve!
My apologies, JP. You are correct...I meant to disparage Blogger the software, not blogger the JP.
Who own da Chiefs?
@ Tyler: I'm told Jurcina is healthy.
I remain skeptical. Deeply skeptical. Pravda was more honest than the Caps...
I think fehr did a good job considering it was his first game of the year, and he was on a line with the best player in the world and the best rookie in the league. It was the kind performance that left you hopeful because the potential was obvious both for fehr and for a perfectly balanced line. Its just a matter of the three of them figuring out how to play togther. Once that happens, and I believe it will, and they begin to know where one another is on the ice at all times, look out.
joe, in my opinion, laing's crashing into the goalie, if it was intention, was simply a case of the caps returning the favor for several instances of contact with bj up until that point in the game. i do agree though that q got off easy
Fehr played as advertised. I'd like to see him on RW on either the 1st or 2nd line when all are healthy.
We knew it was coming with Flash if he didn't bring it and Fehr did. He's worked hard, but is looking more like depth or trade bait now.
Kozlov does need to spend some time in faceoff ED. His puck possession and passing skills are primo though. Fehr may look to be better at banging in AO's rebounds, but Kozlov is stronger on the puck and better at teeing up AO. I'm not sure which is needed more, but line 2 needs a center, so for now, the decision is made.
Since we know we're without Nylander for the rest of the season, how does everyone see the lines shaking out upon Clark's return? What about when Nylander returns? Tricky...
As for the lack of C-bus retaliation, BJ was run twice before Leclaire got plowed. You can only feel but so badly about that, and perhaps C-bus knew it. Just the same, Boll was trying to stir things up for the rest of the game, but the Caps (in my mind) showed restraint and chose to go for the win instead. Boll even came knocking with Brashear. Props to Brash. Why prove that you can maul a middleweight and probably give C-bus a power play?
Since Angus' departure, McCreary has been the toughest on the Caps. I knew he'd cost us a point somewhere, but I had no idea he'd actually pull down a defenseman to do it. Notice Poti's goal was missed at first, too....
..."* That vomit-inducing 5-on-3"
Indeed, I nearly spewed my lentil soup. That shorty was frightful! According to Tarik we haven't fallen victim to that since 1991 and the Jax had never inflicted one. In their entire history.
Gwwwap.
The fact that it didn't deter the Boys (or break their hearts) is remarkable. I like the determination and singlemindedness that it shows. Bravo to them.
JP-great job on the fanhouse today defending AO's defensive credentials....!
Capitals Player Meet & Greet
What: Meet and greet Capitals players.
When: February 10th following the 1:00 pm game versus the New York Rangers at the Verizon Center
Where: Cleveland Park Bar & Grill
Who: Shaone Morrisonn, Mike Green, Brooks Laich and 2 other players.
Why: Any excuse to drink beer and you're asking me why?
$7 for adults, $5 for kids -portion of the proceeds go to Washington Animal Rescue League
1) Check out Mirtle's blog. Nice piece on comparing AO's current season(adjusting for the NHL average for goals/game) with years ago. He's having a better year than Gretzky did when he scored 92!
http://mirtle.blogspot.com/2008/02/ovechkin-08-one-of-greatest-goal.html
bill ball,
If Clark makes it back this year I foresee the top six being
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Fehr
Semin-Kozlov-Clark
That way the second line gets some grit and defensive ability.
Next year i imagine
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Fehr/Kozlov
Semin-Nylander-Fehr/Kozlov
and Clark moves to line 3, giving it some more offensive upside while still retainging its grit and defense skill.
Biggest bunghole of the night, the idiot sports desk reporter who, during Comcast's second intermission report, when pronouncing DiPietro's name did so thus- DE-pete-ro. Look, if a network is going to include hockey as one of it's marquee sports, you damn sure better have reporters who know something about hockey, and knowing the name of one of the league's premier goalies (right now) is essential. God, I hate the way the greatest sport is treated by the sports news machine. Hockey doesn't exist at all until Ovechkin or Nash have a brilliant play, and then they act like they're experts.
My random comments from last night's game:
* How long does the Flash experiment go on? When he touches the puck in the defensive zone, I cover my eyes.
* That 5 on 3 cough up by Backstrom was more telegraphed than the sun coming up today.
* Fehr will score...soon...and keep scoring. He was in the right places, and seems to have the hands. I think right now it's timing and conditioning. Give him 2 weeks, and I am guessing we've found our long-lost scoring RW. Just a hunch. :-)
* Matt Bradley wants it. Plain and simple. He skates every shift like it's the 7th game of the finals. He should get rewarded with some PP time, or something.
* Game one of the Koz centering Semin experiment was positive. He may be better than I have given him credit for...we'll see.
Phaneuf gets $6.5 million for 6 years, Mike Green's agent does a Tiger Woods style fist pump.
1) Having a five on three is like being the only man in a bar filled with women: your confidence far outweighs your chances. Semin was lone man at the bar with that pass.
2) If Laing can control the body of an NHL defenseman I can levitate a Humvee. They got tangled up and the physics of momentum did the rest. The penalty was egregious.
3) Ollie seems to be able to play solidly, while Johnny seems to play like a starter.
4) I can't decide who has better checks: Bradley or McCreary. Regardless, it was an accident, but one predicated on MAC-C being out of position. It does beg the question (since we have so many stats here)- How many "hits" does McCreary have per minute of ice time? I hypothesize that his numbers are low.
5) Closing one's eyes when Flash has the puck in the defensive zone is a good strategy, and one I hadn't adopted. Whoever mentioned it, thanks. I'm using it in this circumstance and when I see Semin start a curl and drag at the other end of the ice.
@b80vin,
I caught that on the Comcast show, too, and was also disgusted. And he mispronounced it not once but twice. Have seen that guy before and it seems he knows very little about hockey.
I thought Poti sucked ass earlier in the season, but he's shown vast improvement lately, and yesterday was no exception, to say the least. Finally the guy's on the board.
I'm extremely pissed off at BB for that 5 on 3. 2 forwards on the point and a D crashing the net? What the hell is that about? Get someone into the organization who knows how to run a power play, please. Dear god, our PP is horrendous.
I liked how Koz and Semin played together, so I don't think it's all that bad that he sucks at face-offs. While important, I think the ability to pass and playmake makes up for it.
I think Johnson played okay. Not great, not terrible. Good enough.
Joe: Laing and Hedja got tangled up, plain and simple. Both players made a bungle, and LeClaire paid the price. Tough luck, but not intentional.
A win tonight puts the Caps in 1st place in the Southeast. Raise your hand if any of you ever thought we could say that back in November.
hazardous,
I doubt that's the way Boudreau planned it; it's just what happens sometimes when guys are rotating around.
I also want to not that the Caps powerplay is ranked 18th at 17.3% which, I think, is better than it was when Boudreau took over. Probably be a little higher if you took out all the eight second powerplays that were negated by Semin....
The PP was 14.6% under Hanlon and is now 19.2% under Boudreau (an efficiency that would be 6th best in the League on the season).
It's better, that doesn't mean to say it's really that good. Anytime I watch other teams (against us or against anyone else, for that matter) a power play is, a lot of the times, a free goal. We seem to struggle more with a man advantage than on even strength. And that's boggling and worrying. I realize people shift around, but green was crashing in front of the net the whole damn time. he didn't just happen to be there when the horribleness happened. He was there the whole damn time. And that's completely retarded any way you look at it.
Great, tonight's game is blacked out for absolutely no reason. I don't get washington or philidelphia's local comcast channel. Yet I'm blacked out.
What a waste of money.
I dunno, I'd take the 6th best powerplay in the league, but maybe that's just me.
JP, I just logged on to make the exact point you did after the Philly broadcast showed it. I didnt want to do the math myself earlier - do you have a site you reference for stats like those or are you compiling them yourself?
I just take it from the game summaries and just posted something a little more substantial wrt the PP. Check it out.
On an unrelated note, let's all chill out a bit - these are games/entertainment and we're all just trying to have some fun discussing 'em. Cool? Cool.
Center Ice replied and said it's on the NHL Network, yet... it's not. At least, it's not listed by anyone as being on there.
For anyone considering it: DON'T BUY CENTER ICE. I regret every dollar. They randomly black out games for absolutely no reason, claiming another subscription based service is showing the game, so you should get that service instead, even if it's not available in your area. If it weren't $160 dollars, I probably wouldn't care. But that's a bit much to be told "no, not today."
@ 'Zard: The game is on another subscription-based service - the NHL Network. Any game that's on NHLN is blacked out on Center Ice. It happened to me a couple of times before I shelled out the $1.99 a month for NHL Net (and NFL Network and some other crap).
It sucks, but that's the explanation, and personally, I think I could live without water more easily than without Center Ice.
BILL MCREARYS FAULTTTTTTTTTT!
hmm i guess I should check and see how much NHLN and the "Sports and Info tier" actually cost. I assume it's $5-10 but seeing that there are at least 2 more Caps games on NHLN, it would be worth it. Yeah I'm still pissed that I don't get NHLN with my $160 Center Ice package, but whatever. It's still cheaper than the season tickets I would buy if I lived in DC
NHLN isn't available to me at all. Period. That's what's pissing me off about it. Not everyone can even get NHLN, so blacking me out because of it is garbage.
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