Why are you coming still coming 'round here? I told you we moved here (click here for the new RSS feed). Cheers.

We've Moved

To find out where, click here or on the Mayflower truck...


Oh, and if you're reading this in a RSS reader, you're going to have to visit the new site and update your feed.

Wednesday Roundup/Gamenight: Thrashers @ Caps

[AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview]

If the Caps could pick an opponent for tonight's game, they'd no doubt choose to host one of the League's worst teams with that team coming off a physical road win the night before. So when they welcome the Atlanta Thrashers (fresh off a win in Toronto in which even Ilya Kovalchuk dropped the mittens) to the VC tonight, the 'quality of competition' excuse will officially be off the table before the opening puck drops - if the Caps lose tonight, it won't be to the better team, regardless of how many Hershey Bears are in the lineup for the boys in red.

Atlanta, prior to last night's out-pouring of offense, was 18th in the League in goals per game, 29th in goals against per game, and had the League's third-worst penalty kill. And yet here's a stat that will make any Division rival take notice of the Thrash in a hurry - they're currently 4-0-2 against Southeast foes, a mark, of course, that includes a 7-4 Opening Night win against their opponents on this Thanksgiving Eve game.

The Thrashers will likely start Ondrej Pavalec in net after playing Johan Hedberg last night (Kari Lehtonen, you'll be utterly shocked to find out, is currently injured). Pavelec is 2-2-0/2.32/.913 on the season, and was fantastic in a 2-1 overtime win last season in what has been the only time he has faced the Caps to date. The Caps haven't yet announced a starter, but both Jose Theodore (1-1-1/4.26/.867 in his last three) and Brent Johnson (0-2-0/5.05/.831 in his last two) got lit up by Atlanta back in October, and neither has given up fewer than three goals in a game since the last time the team was home (where they still have not lost in regulation), six games ago. Flip a coin and hope that a depleted defense actually helps out whomever's between the pipes.

Given the proximity to Turkey Day and the opponent, one can't help but be reminded of the 5-1 drubbing the Thrash handed the Caps amid prescient chants of "Fire Hanlon" raining down from the rafters last year at this time. One year later, regardless of how tonight's game turns out, Caps fans have plenty to be thankful for tomorrow. But two points tonight will sure make that pumpkin pie taste all the sweeter, won't it?

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Another translation (and a new website) for TuvanHillbilly.... Sweet photo of Michal Neuvirth from his 36-save shutout of Mississippi on Sunday night (h/t StP)... Brett Leffler is off to a good start for Regina.... Finally, if you want to hear me talk Caps with a guy whose silky smooth voice makes me sound even more like a stuttering 14-year-old than normal, I did a spot on the Dobber Nation Radio Show earlier in the week (and thanks again to those guys for having me on).

Lacroix, Pokulok Reassigned To Hershey

Forward Maxime Lacroix and defenseman Sasha Pokulok have been reassigned by the Caps from ECHL South Carolina to AHL Hershey. The move is a precursor, no doubt, to a forthcoming call-up or two from Hershey to D.C. as the Caps try to deal with an onslaught of injuries while staying under the salary cap.

Tuesday Roundup/Wild 4, Caps 3

[AP Recap - Game Summary - Event Summary - WashingtonCaps.com]

A 4-0 loss would have looked the same in the standings as the 4-3 defeat the Caps suffered in Minny last night - two points lost, a third-straight regulation loss for the first time under Bruce Boudreau, another four goals allowed in a road game (which makes the Caps five-for-five on the trip in that respect), etc.

But considering whom the Caps were playing without by the time this game ended, considering some of the mysterious calls with which they were forced to deal, and, most importantly, considering the team's refusal to roll over and play dead, this game went from "the wheels have completely fallen off the wagon" to a character builder and quite nearly a huge confidence booster in the span of 5:17.

And despite the injuries, the calls, the trade rumors and cap woes, the road trip from hell and so on and so forth, the Caps are still in first place in the Division with a game in hand - the sky ain't fallin' quite yet.

A few thoughts on the game:

• Blame Peerless for turning Cal Clutterbuck into a latter day Cam Neely - yesterday he noted that "Clutterbuck ... almost certainly won’t score (he has no points this year)." How about prognosticating that "Chris Clark ... almost certainly won’t scor" for Wednesday night?
• Jose Theodore's save on Pierre-Marc Bouchard was other-worldly.
• The Caps scored a power play goal for the seventh straight game, and it was only the eighth the Wild have allowed all season, so there's that.
• Losing Boyd Gordon hurt where you'd expect it to - the Caps were only three-for-five on the penalty kill in his (and Jeff Schultz's) absence, and won only two of ten shorthanded faceoffs.
• Did Derek Boogaard get a piece of JT60 on a free skate near the crease or was I seeing things?
  
• Because of injuries and/or coach's decisions, four players played less than seven-and-a-half minutes and fewer than ten shifts, leaving the rest of the ice time to be divied up amongst the other 14 skaters. Milan Jurcina absorbed a lot of those minutes and ended up with 21:25 of ice time, and finished with an assist, a plus-one rating, and a pair each of shots and hits.
• The Caps were outshot 33-28, but when you add in shots that were blocked and missed, the Caps sent more rubber towards the Minny goal than vice versa by a 57-50 margin.
  
• John Erskine continues to be horrible with the puck, coughing it up whenever pressured, as was the case on the first Wild goal. Erskine had a team-worst minus-9 Corsi Rating (Tyler Sloan had the team's best mark at plus-11).
• Eric Fehr did a great job out-muscling Kim Johnsson for the puck on the play that ended with Matt Bradley's goal, but Fehr should have shot the puck himself rather than forcing the pass to a well-covered Bradley. Hey, the Caps got a bounce!
• Shouldn't one have to close his hand on the puck in order to get penalized for closing his hand on the puck?

So the Caps - most of them, at least - return home battered and bruised to face the worst team in the Conference on Wednesday night. A little home cooking has rarely sounded so good.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

The Caps are holding steady at seventh for the second straight week in CBSSports.com's power rankings.... Joe Finley can eat 50 buffalo wings, but has played only two games this season due to injury. Hell of a combination (and h/t to sk8 on the first link)....

Bruce Boudreau: Hall of Famer

Per the Bears:

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League today announced the four people selected for induction into the American Hockey League Hall of Fame as the Class of 2009.

Honored by the AHL Hall of Fame Selection Committee as the fourth group of enshrinees are Jimmy Anderson, Bruce Boudreau, Les Cunningham and Louis Pieri.

...

BRUCE ALLAN BOUDREAU

An award-winning coach in the National Hockey League, Bruce Boudreau was a dynamic scorer during his playing days in the AHL and a championship-winning coach behind an American Hockey League bench.

A Toronto native, Boudreau was drafted by his hometown Maple Leafs in 1975 and made his AHL debut with the Leafs' affiliate in Moncton, New Brunswick, during the 1978-79 season. A year later, his team-high 36 goals and 90 points helped the Hawks to a berth in the Calder Cup Finals.

With the St. Catharines Saints in 1982-83, Boudreau engaged in one of the most heated scoring races in league history. He finished second to Ross Yates but still bettered the previous AHL scoring record with 122 points, and he hit the 50-goal plateau with a hat trick on the final day of the season.

Boudreau joined the Baltimore Skipjacks in 1984-85 and made a return trip to the Finals, then spent two seasons in Halifax with the Nova Scotia Oilers. In 1987-88, Boudreau went to Springfield and had another record-setting season, leading the AHL in scoring with 116 points and becoming the second player ever with three 100-point campaigns.

Boudreau's playing career ended during the 1992 postseason with a stint for the Adirondack Red Wings, who were on their way to a Calder Cup championship. He immediately joined the coaching ranks and returned to the AHL with the Los Angeles Kings organization, spending two seasons with the Lowell Lock Monsters (1999-2001) and four with the Manchester Monarchs (2001-05) and qualifying for the postseason each year.

Boudreau was hired by the Washington Capitals in 2005 and coached the Hershey Bears to a Calder Cup championship in his first season in Chocolatetown. That was followed by the winningest regular season in the Bears' long and proud history and a return to the Finals in 2006-07.

In November 2007, with 340 career AHL coaching victories under his belt, Boudreau was promoted to Washington and penned another chapter to his remarkable story, leading the Capitals to a division title and earning the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's coach of the year.

Boudreau's 483 career assists and 799 career points both rank 11th in AHL history, while his 316 goals are good for 14th place. Of the 72 players in AHL history with at least 500 career points, Boudreau ranks second with an average of 1.26 points per game.

The Ring Zero

H/t to Gary for passing along this trailer featuring Naomi Watts and everyone's favorite ad campaign:

Are You Ready For "Capitals RED TV"?

Via SBJ:

"Buoyed by an expanded season-ticket base and rising TV ratings, the Washington Capitals are looking to expand their fan base by launching the team’s first original television show.

"The 32-minute show, which will air over 20 weeks on Comcast Sports Net, will offer an off-the-ice look at players, coaches and fans affiliated with the team. The team plans to call it either 'Caps All Access Monday' or 'Capitals RED TV.'

...

"Each episode will feature eight or more segments, and the Capitals plan to recycle those segments online and during games at the Verizon Center. [Capitals’ chief marketing officer Tim] McDermott hopes distributing the programming across a variety of platforms helps sales by giving partners ownership over slices of content that reach a wider audience than a half-hour TV show."

Monday Roundup/Gamenight: Caps @ Wild

[AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview]

The last time the Caps and Wild hooked up, it was just hours after the trade deadline last February, and Brooks Laich's two-goal/two-assist performance paced the Caps in a game that produced one of the year's great hockey photos and the host's third win in four all-time meetings between the teams at the V.C.

In Minnesota, however, the story has been quite different, with Washington going 0-3-1 while scoring just three goals getting shutout twice against the Wild. In fact, the Caps haven't won in Minny since February 9, 1993 (when Nicklas Backstrom was five years old and Niklas Backstrom was 14), meaning that Washington has averaged exactly one goal every five years in the Land of 10,000 Lakes since Pablo Honey was released, which isn't good (the lack of offense, that is, not the record).

As if a rough history isn't enough, the present day doesn't offer much more reason for optimism. Minnesota has the lowest team goals against average in the NHL, allowing just two goals per game, which should suit the Caps just fine, as they've only scored twice in each of their last two games. But the Caps' offense, even without any semblance of puck control Mike Green, Alex Semin and Sergei Fedorov, is doing some things right - the power play, for example, has scored at least once in each of the past six games, going 8-for-25 over that stretch. Of course, Minnesota has the League's best penalty kill so far at a staggering 91.4%.

If the Caps are going to have any chance tonight, they'll likely have to take an early lead and protect it - the Wild are 4-0-0 when leading after the first period and 6-0-1 when leading after two. In fact, throw in last season and Jacques Lemaire's squad is 27-3-4 with a lead after twenty minutes and 38-0-5 when ahead after forty, and since the lockout, they're 67-11-6 and 90-4-7, respectively.

Mustering up offense will be just half of the challenge, however, and the team's collective inability to keep pucks out of its own net of late could put this game out of reach in a hurry. In their last four games, the Caps have allowed 21 goals and their goalies have a woeful .833 combined save percentage. Enter Jose Theodore (one would think), who has had some success against Minnesota in the past, going 3-2-1-1/2.10/.920 in his career.

Tonight's game, the Caps' eleventh in 21 nights, offers a road-weary Washington team the opportunity to return home with five points from a brutal five-game trip and a renewed sense of confidence - let's see what they do with the opportunity.

Oh, and don't forget to get your drinking game on tonight. Given the Wild's style of hockey, the Caps' play recently and a Versus broadcast, it may be the only way to make it all tolerable (though this is scheduled to be a Lindsey Soto game). And if you're playing with the right beverage, you might even see something like this by the third period.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Michael Russo is a personal favorite hockey writer of mine, so his Caps/Wild preview is a must read.... OFB has video on JT60's new mask. Question - does he play for the Caps or Reebok?... Caps PA announcer Wes Johnson lends his pipes to "Fallout 3".... Hey, a Ted Leonsis fan page on Facebook (I guess if you're not one of the lucky 4,995, this is the next best thing).... Loose lips sink trades, Dave Bolland (whoever the hell that is).... Good morning, Katie - make sure to grab this next one.... The Vancouver Sun ran a feature on Karl Alzner over the weekend, and he's pretty blunt about the reason he's not a Capital right now (not that we didn't know).... Speaking of Caps prospects, here's a nice piece on Nick Larson (h/t Nate).... Finally, I would never tell you how to vote, but if you don't vote for Mirtle's "From The Rink" here, I'm pretty sure the terrorists have won.

Saturday Open Thread

There's not much more to say than what's in the title, is there?

Friday Roundup/Kings 5, Caps 2

[AP Recap - Game Summary - Event Summary - WashingtonCaps.com Postgame]

The Caps won't make any excuses for this loss, but it was clear that they were tired and that injuries are catching up a bit. But hand it to Bruce Boudreau and his assistants - they resisted temptation and kept everyone's minutes manageable, with only Tom Poti (24:12) and Alex Ovechkin (21:56) playing more than twenty minutes. That shift management should pay off on Saturday night.

To the recap:

• The Caps were badly outplayed in the first period, being out-shot 12-3 (more on that in a second), out-hit 18-11, and, of course, out-scored 1-0. Brent Johnson kept it tight, and was only beaten on an unlucky deflection out high.
• Back to first period shots on goal, check out where those three - all off the stick of Alex Ovechkin - came from. And note that all three were on the power play, meaning that in 16 minutes of five-on-five play, the Caps had saved by ZERO shots on goal. There's no number of injuries that excuses that number. It was at the 8:54 mark of the second period when the Caps finally got their first even strength shot on goal.
  
• Was David Steckel motivated playing against the team that drafted him? Whatever his inspiration, he had a strong game.
• It's no wonder Dustin Brown had 10,000 hits last year - the in-house scorer at Staples apparently has a pretty generous definition of what constitutes a hit.
• Nicklas Backstrom quickly atoned for choking on an open net on a five-on-three by depositing a beauty of a Viktor Kozlov pass. By the way, Kozlov is playing perhaps his best hockey as a Cap of late.
• I love Carrie Milbank as much as the next guy (ok, maybe more), but are they really still running the Carrie/Barry Melrose ad?
• A third period 2-on-1 notwithstanding, Jarret Stoll has mastered the ol' Sergei Berezin give-and-go (you give to me then go to hell - I'm shooting), eh?
• Related: Brooks Laich, without a stick, is a more valuable hockey player than Stoll with one. With a stick around the crease? Money.
  
• Michael Nylander and Chris Clark continue to stink, for the most part, but don't take my word for it - ask Corsi.
  
• Heading into the third period, the Kings had a 2-1 lead and were 5-0-0 when leading after two periods, while the Caps had the third-best "trailing after two" winning percentage in the League. Something had to give... unfortunately, it was the Caps' success.
• Eric Fehr needs to be willing to go to the high-traffic areas, or he'll be headed back to the press box as soon as the team gets a little healthier.
• Thanks to a pair of empty netters, AO ended the game minus-3 after taking the League's plus/minus lead. Then again, who cares about plus/minus?
  

So it's off to San Jose for another tough road test. More later.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Could the Blues be a Nylander destination?... Bruce Boudreau: "proven".... Rank your Hart Trophy candidates at the quarter pole.... After the reaction you all had to the Boudreau post earlier this week, I thought better of posting this "Green out for the year" link.... A nice article on the Bears' Rookie Line.... The New Jersey Rockets press release on John Carlson's contract signing (h/t sk8).

Byfuglien, Sopel "Surprise Scratches"

Gettin' closer...

"[Dustin] Byfuglien and veteran defenseman Brent Sopel were surprise scratches for the [Dallas] game. Both have been mentioned in trade speculation, most prominently in the last few days, when Byfuglien reportedly was headed to the Capitals for Nylander. The Hawks nixed that deal, apparently because they couldn't stay under the salary cap if they acquired Nylander.

"Adding Sopel to the deal would allow them to do that[.]"

Ladies And Gentlemen, Your Red Rockers

Click to enlarge (but do so at your own risk), and if this doesn't satisfy your Red Rockers fix, there's more here.

Oh, and go David, it's your birthday.

H/t to the Official

Salary Cap Could Drop 15%

"[B]arring a miraculous recovery by the economy, players stand to lose all their escrow money, which would essentially drop the salary cap from $56.7 million this season to about $48 million next season." [Link]

If I understand things correctly, however, the cap (in terms of a salary ceiling for planning purposes) will drop, "but only to about $55 million."

In case you're wondering, here's a look at what the Caps already have on the books for the 2009-2010 season (including only players who have made their NHL debuts, with one exception, and figures taken from here):

Forwards
Alexander Ovechkin - $9,538,462
Michael Nylander - $4,875,000
Alexander Semin - $4,600,000
Chris Clark - $2,633,333
Nicklas Backstrom - $2,400,000
Brooks Laich - $2,066,667
Matt Bradley - $1,000,000
Tomas Fleischmann - $725,000
David Steckel - $725,000

Defensemen
Mike Green - $5,250,000
Tom Poti - $3,500,000
Brian Pothier - $2,500,000
Karl Alzner - $1,675,000
John Erskine - $1,250,000

Goaltenders
Jose Theodore - $4,500,000

That's 15 players at $47,238,462 (but it includes Pothier).

Maybe I should have titled this post "Yet Another Reason Trading Nylander Makes Sense."

Grading The Caps So Far: B+

Scott Burnside is handing out grades as we near the season's quarter pole, and he's giving the Caps a B+:

"Interesting start for the defending Southeast Division-champion Caps, who are dynamite at home (undefeated in regulation through Wednesday), but only ordinary on the road. Defending Hart and Art Ross Trophy winner Alexander Ovechkin is starting to catch fire and Alexander Semin is challenging for the NHL scoring lead (when not running down Sidney Crosby in the press). Goaltending, as predicted, has been up and down, but coach Bruce Boudreau hasn't been shy about trusting backup Brent Johnson over high-priced free-agent acquisition Jose Theodore."

Buy or sell Burnside's grade?

Where There's Smoke...

When Bob McKenzie reports that "The Chicago Blackhawks, according to multiple NHL sources, have a standing deal ready to go at a moment's notice to acquire veteran center Michael Nylander from the Washington Capitals," and word is that the 'Hawks might go as far as to put Cristobal Huet on waivers to make it happen, it's really time to put aside any notion that there's nothing at all to these rumors (or, for that matter, that Nylander's no movement clause will likely be exercised).

Recent developments (the cap situation and Mike Green's injury, Nylander's entrenchment in Bruce Boudreau's Chez Bow-Wow, the re-emergence of Nicklas Backstrom, the revelation (to me, at least) that Nyls stills owns a home in Chicago, etc.) would seem to make a Nylander move make even more sense. Might the team be better off in the long-run freeing up the cap space to, for example, give Chris Bourque and Karl Alzner roster spots now or to provide needed flexibility down the road? There's only one way to find out, and one gets the feeling that we might be a step closer to that answer sooner rather than later.

Thursday Roundup/Caps 6, Ducks 4/Gamenight: Caps @ Kings

[AP Recap - Game Summary - Event Summary - WashingtonCaps.com Postgame - AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview]

It's late and I'm tired (or it's early and I'm tired - take your pick), so here's your abbreviated recap, to be continued in the comments:

• Alex Ovechkin is quite good (but that was one stupid interfernce penalty in the third).
  
• So was Jose Theodore, for the most part, especially in the second period (11 shots faced, 11 shots stopped).
• The power play was fantastic, too, with good traffic and bombs aplenty from the point.
• I know that official scoring varies a bit from arena to arena, but this stat tells you much of what you need to know about the first two periods - the Caps had 28 shots on goal, three attempted/blocked shots and two missed shots (Anaheim was 16/4/10 over the same span). Basically, the Caps had their way with the Ducks in the O-zone when the game was still in doubt (and beyond - the Caps won nearly all the one-on-one battles, as exemplified by David Steckel's third period tally).
  
• Speaking of which, apparently the Honda Center, at 5-2 Caps, showed a traffic report on the Jumbotron. Perhaps that's a normal SoCal thing. Perhaps it's because they knew the game was over.
• And how on earth can Mike Green get killed by Chris Pronger for all to see with around 6:30 left in the first period and have it take Joe B. and Craig until the beginning of the third period to mention it to their viewers? Dude was only fifth in the League in total ice time per game - you'd think they'd have noticed his absence (maybe on one of the Caps power plays in the interim). Note: Tarik was on it quick and says it's his shoulder.
  
• Nice Ryan Whitney impression by Steve Montador, spearing AO in the yambag. Considering what the stripes were calling up to that point, letting that one go was horrible... but not as bad as Montador ducking Donald Brashear (repeatedly) when it came time to answer for his stick work. He must have been waiting for his three-time dance partner Matt Bradley to challenge him.
  
• Jeff Schultz was on the ice for three Ducks goals. Tyler Sloan had a pretty poor game himself, and Tom Poti had the team's worst Corsi Rating (and was on the ice for three Anaheim tallies). But kudos to John Erskine for a relatively (emphasis on relatively) good game - the rest of the D was pretty brutal, as detailed, though losing their minutes leader goes some of the way to excuse the effort.
• Ryan Getzlaf... still better than Eric Fehr.
  

So the Caps get an enormous and convincing (third period notwithstanding) win to start a brutal road trip.

As for tonight's match up, I dunno... read Vogs and the AP preview and keep coming back during the day to check the What We're Reading sidebar for more pregame updates - I'm spent. But I will note this interesting scheduling quirk - in the next five days, the Caps will visit the only three teams against whom Ovechkin hasn't scored a goal. Don't think that he doesn't know that.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

The Alexes are The Hockey News' pick for the League's best pair of teammates.... Needless to say, this is sweet (and comes in a number of different sizes - very well done, bilspacecadet).... Jeff Schultz as a fantasy hockey option? Now I've seen it all.... Peerless gets a nice shout out in the New York Times - does that make him a sissy liberal?

Getting You Ready For Tonight's CSN Broadcast

If you thought you hated me for yesterday's Boudreau post, read this and/or watch this.

Christ. I think I'd rather be Rickrolled.

Stat Of The Day

From the folks at Elias Sports Bureau (via the NHL):

"The Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin had only eight points (2 goals, 6 assists) in his first 11 games this season but he’s scored 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists) in the team’s last four games, with at least one goal and two points in each game. Ovechkin is the first Capitals player to register at least one goal and two points in each of four consecutive team games since Jaromir Jagr had two such four-game streaks in the 2001-02 season. The only player in Capitals history with a longer streak of that kind was Dennis Maruk in 1980-81 (five games)."

Hey, That Quick Chat Looks Familiar...

Kitt Amundson "has been covering the NHL for over 12 years and is a member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. In addition to keeping you up to date with the latest happenings in the NHL, she'll take you behind the scenes and in the locker room."

Know what else she'll do? Allow her name to be attached to something that tries to pass off a conference call transcript as a one-on-one interview (or, at the very least, is intentionally misleading to that end).

Here's Kitt's file from Monday and here's Alex Ovechkin's conference call from last Thursday. An introductory paragraph here, a little editing there and, voila - original content!

To recap - these were not her questions and there's no disclosure anywhere that the Q&A was a conference call via the NHL. This is no different than if a political reporter published portions of a Presidential press conference under her byline with the headline "A quick chat with George W. Bush."

And the PHWA is worried about bloggers lowering journalistic standards?

H/t Nate in the comments to this morning's post