Bye Bye, Boumer

Thanks to Gavlegirl for passing along news that Josef Boumedienne has signed a one-year, two-way deal with Toronto (following in Bryan Muir's footsteps).

One wonders if the 30-year-old Boumedienne will be one of this year's "Young Guns" in TO.

Saturday Roundup/'Canes 2, Caps 1

[AP Recap - Game Summary - Super Stats - WashingtonCaps.com Postgame]

Before an announced crowd of 18,204 on Friday night, the Caps went 0-for-7 on the power play against the worst penalty kill in the League and are now 0-for-18 with no power play goals in the last six games and 1-for-24 in the last eight. There's not much more to say than that (though feel free to comment on the line juggling, a couple of selfish/bad penalties and yet another slow start), so I won't dwell.

Disappointing to be sure, but it was one game (and, notably, the third in four nights).

Rags tomorrow. Hopefully the power play shows up.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Today is Hockey Day in Canada on CBC, and Eric Fehr's hometown of Winkler, Manitoba is featured prominently in the festivities.... Some encouraging stats from Hershey: netminder Daren Machesney is leading the AHL in GAA and is fourth in save percentage (could he be "the bridge" or more?), Josef Boumedienne has points in eight straight, rookie Sami Lepisto is second in the AHL with a plus-23 rating, and Andrew Gordon is third in points per game among rookies and has a plus-17 rating.... H/t to Tyler on the link to Don Cherry's Top 10 Suits.... The South Bend Tribune has a great read on Teddy Ruth's partner on the Fighting Irish blueline... A year ago today I professed my love for Boyd Gordon and recapped a thrilling OT win, and two years ago today we mentioned Lindsay Czarniak, welcomed a new blogger to the blogosphere and dug up stories on gambling and steroids. Good times.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Ryan Carter (2G, including the game-winner, +2, 5 SOG)
• Ross: Ryan Carter (2 points)
  
• Norris: Scott Niedermayer (A, +2, 4 BkS)
  
• Vezina: Jonas Hiller (W, 36 saves on 37 shots against)
  
• Richard: Ryan Carter (2G)
  
• Calder: Ryan Carter (2G, including the game-winner, +2, 5 SOG)
  
• Aiken: Milan Jurcina (for his play on that Erik Cole goal... yikes)
  

Sunday Roundup/Gamenight: Sens @ Caps

A quick roundown of what you (and by "you" I mean "I") may have missed over the past couple of days: Joe Motzko and Josef Boumedienne have cleared waivers (Motzko has reported to Hershey, Boumedienne is likely to do so)... Alex Semin's ankle is sprained... Tarik on Brent Johnson and Dave Steckel... George Solomon on Olie Kolzig... Corey on Steckel and the penalty kill... the Sunday Source on K-Plex... Josh Godfrey is off to a good start in the OHL, but it's nothing compared to Mathieu Perreault's Friday night... Tim Panaccio takes a quick look at the Caps... finally, don't forget that you get a free ticket to tonight's game with a D.C. United stub.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Michael Cammalleri (2G)
• Ross: Michael Cammalleri, Anze Kopitar (2 points each)
• Norris: Rob Blake (Game-winning goal, +1, 25:18 of ice time)
• Vezina: Jonathan Bernier (W, 26 saves on 27 shots against in NHL debut)
• Richard: Michael Cammalleri (2G)
• Calder: Jonathan Bernier (W, 26 saves on 27 shots against in NHL debut)
• Aiken: Ilya Bryzgalov (L, 3 goals allowed on 20 shots against)

One Less Spot Up For Grabs?

One wonders which came first - Tarik penciling Josef Boumedienne into the starting lineup or his decision to profile the Swedish rearguard in tomorrow's WaPo. Regardless, both pieces give some serious food for thought to those who thought that signing Boomer was merely an insurance policy that could be cancelled once Tom Poti was acquired.

If Boumedienne does make the team, that likely leaves (barring a trade) one on-ice spot and one press box seat left for Steve Eminger, Mike Green, Jeff Schultz and John Erskine... and 15-plus days to figure it all out.

It's Official...

Josef Boumedienne has signed (as was more or less known 12 days ago).

Caps' Scandinavian Signing Frenzy Continues

First came Nicklas Backstrom, then Sami Lepisto and now Josef Boumedienne. According to Finnish paper Kaleva, the Caps have signed Swedish blueliner Boumedienne to a deal, the terms of which, I'm guessing, were not disclosed per team policy. EuroHockey.net is reporting the signing as well (thanks, OFB).

You may recall Boumer from the wonderful 2003-04 edition of the Caps, a season in which he scored a pair of goals and added a dozen assists in 37 games.

As always, we'll await confirmation from the team, but as the Caps continue to stock up on blueliners, something has got to be in the works - I doubt a 29-year-old Swede who has been bouncing around Scandinavian leagues for the past few years suddenly decided he's dying to play in the AHL. Could it be a sign and trade? Official translator for Noobs Backstrom?

Regardless of the reason for the signing, here's a great clip of Boumer (who, incidentally, was featured in the first post ever at The Rink) going ass over tea kettle in an SEL game:

H/t to Ferris on the Kaleva link