Wednesday Roundup/Gamenight: Thrashers @ Caps

[AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview]

Opening night. Seems like forever ago, doesn't it?

But it wasn't so long ago (less than seven weeks) that these same Caps opened the 2007-08 season with a win on the road against the defending Southeast Division Champs. Actually, check that - it wasn't these same Caps. Those Caps were without Alex Semin. And they dominated, out-shooting the host Thrashers 40-29 and out-scoring them 3-1.

Since then, the Caps have gone 5-13-1. They've scored three goals in less than a third of those games and have managed to win - get this - one game in which they've allowed more than a single goal against. Let me rephrase that: in games in which the Caps have allowed two or more goals, they're 1-13-1. The power play is 4-for-33 (12%) in November, and the Caps are still looking for their first win all season in a game in which they allow a power-play goal.

It also wasn't so long ago that these same Thrashers were 0-6-0. Actually, check that - it wasn't these same Thrashers. Those Thrashers had their number one goalie, Kari Lehtonen.

But Atlanta, led by Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa (shocking, I know), has made it all the way back to .500, going 10-4-0 since the dismissal of head coach Bob Hartley. They've scored three or more goals in nine of their last ten games and have scored multiple power-play goals in a game five different times with Don Waddell behind the bench.

Quite obviously, these are two teams going in opposite directions right now... just like the Caps and Sens were two weeks ago. On any given Wednesday night in the NHL, any team can beat any other team - maybe this Wednesday will be the Caps' night.

Update. From the Thrash morning skate:
Johan Hedberg will get the start in net tonight. Hedberg is 5-2-2 lifetime against the Caps, with a 2.84 GAA and .849 Sv%.

With the early season turnaround in Atlanta, interim Head Coach Don Waddell was asked if he had any advice for the Capitals. Unsurprisingly, he responded with the politic,

I know them both [McPhee and Hanlon] very well. They're good hockey people. And good hockey people find ways to get out of difficult situations.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Matthieu Perreault is one hot prospect who's tearing up Le Q.... While things may be bad at the moment, at least we have Alex Ovechkin's Hall of Fame induction to look forward to (cue "Yeah, as a Maple Leaf" comment in 3... 2... 1...).... Which NHLer's name sounds more like a Star Wars character - Tuukka Rask or Jarkko Ruutu?

Daily Awards

• Hart: Chuck Kobasew (2G, including the game-winner, A, +1, 4 SOG)
  
• Ross: Chuck Kobasew (3 points)
  
• Norris: Cory Sarich (+1, 6 hits, 4 takeaways, 0 giveaways)
  
• Vezina: Tuukka Rask (W, 30 saves on 32 shots against in NHL debut)
• Richard: Chuck Kobasew, Owen Nolan (2G each)
  
• Calder: Tuukka Rask (W, 30 saves on 32 shots against in NHL debut)
  
• Aiken: Jose Theodore (L, 3 goals allowed on 14 shots against)
  

Wednesday Roundup/Gamenight: Caps @ Pens

[Gameday Preview - AP preview]

Tonight is Sid vs. Alex, Part II (if you don't remember Part I, here's how it went down) and the WaPo - at least in its online edition - has chosen to ignore the game. Wonderful. But never fear, Dave Fay is here. In today's WTimes, Fay pens a must-read article on how much better, statistically, AO has been than The Kid, but how that hasn't stopped the NHL Hype Machine from picking their favorite rookie (though even the Pittsburgh Post Gazette acknowledges that El Ocho has been better so far). Fay goes on to make an interesting point about the NHL perhaps turning a blind eye to a provision in the new CBA:

Under the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, teams are not allowed to provide anything of value to players because it might be a violation of the salary cap provisions.

Crosby lives with Lemieux, the Penguins' owner. Ovechkin, meanwhile, went out and bought a house for himself, his brother and their parents a few blocks from the Capitals' new training facility.

Apparently, the league isn't paying attention to that.

In other Caps news, Blues defenseman Eric Weinrich has blogged about his recent attempt to d-up AO. His candor is great, including this line: "The next morning in Columbus, as I got out of bed to answer the wakeup call, the left side of my body was bruised and sore like I had been in a car crash. I guess you could say i was 'Ovechkinned'."

Elswhere around the NHL:

• Today Chris Chelios turns 44. Happy birthday to the second-best American-born player of all-time.
• Remember the 2002 NHL Draft in which the Florida Panthers traded out of the #1 spot (in which Columbus took Rick Nash) to the #3 spot and took Jay Bouwmeester? Well, JBo has now gone 99 games without a goal and has six goals and 50 assists in 193 career games while registering a minus-55 career rating (which would be even worse without one of the game's best goalies playing behind him). I know it takes longer for defensemen to develop, but I'm sure all the hockey fans in South Beach are getting tired of waiting.
• After giving up seven goals on 27 shots, Phillippe Sauve was headed for Aikenville (population: Rick DiPietro) until he left his crease and skated the length of the ice to drop the gloves and have a go with the man he used to back up, David Aebischer. A little pent up aggression, Phil? There's nothing like a good goalie fight, and unfortunately this was nothing like a good goalie fight, but we applaud Sauve's effort, even if he didn't leave Abby looking like his mentor.
• Today's quote of the day belongs to Coyotes' blueliner Keith Ballard, on returning to his home state and tallying a goal and an assist in a loss to the Wild: "A good game is not really a good game unless you win."
  

Daily Awards

• Hart: Olli Jokinen (2 goals, including OT game-winner, +2)
  
• Ross: David Vyborny, 'Roids Berard, Chuck Kobasew, Joe Sakic, Alex Tanguay, Patrick Marleau (3 points each)
  
• Norris: 'Roids Berard (G, 2A)
  
• Vezina: Tomas Vokoun (38 saves on 39 shots in OT win at DET)
  
• Richard: Chuck Kobasew (3 goals)
  
• Calder: Ryan Miller (W, 23 saves on 24 shots against)
  
• Aiken: Rick DiPietro (L, 4 goals against on 17 shots in 29:56 before being pulled)
  

Tuesday Roundup: It's Not Cold, It's Friesen

As mentioned last night, the Caps have acquired wing Jeff Friesen from the salary cap-busting Devils for the proverbial bucket of pucks. The move should be a good one for the Caps, provided that Friesen's attitude stays positive and he welcomes a leadership role with a very young team. Come March, they may even be able to move free-agent-to-be Friesen for something.

The WaPo calls Friesen a "proven scorer" (maybe a bit strong - he has a career high 31 goals, the only time he's topped 30, and though he's scored 20 goals five times, he's only done it once since 1999-2000) and is appropriately pessimistic about Alexander Semin or Petr Sykora ever showing up in Washington.

The WTimes also notes the trade, but the real scoop is the projection on the twelve forwards that will likely break camp with the team:

At the moment, the left wings are Friesen, Alexander Ovechkin, Matt Pettinger, Ben Clymer and [Miroslav] Zalesak; the centers Andrew Cassels, Dainius Zubrus, Boyd Gordon and Brian Sutherby; the right wings [Jeff] Halpern, Brian Willsie, Matt Bradley and Stephen Peat.

Most glaring is the absence of Chris Clark, who is all but guaranteed a roster spot, probably at Bradley's expense. And Jeff Halpern's a right wing? Spend your entire career becoming one of the better shutdown centers in hockey and a team captain and they shift you to the wing? Interesting. Also notable is the fact that Chris Bourque isn't going to make the team. That's disappointing as he already is a fan favorite and plays with the passion the team will undoubtedly lack at time. If it were up to the Rink, Bourque would replace Miro Zalesak, who is shifting from right wing to left wing (and we're also not huge Steve Peat fans, but understand his role is a necessary one).

Monday's Scoreboard:

• Only one game Monday night, Calgary's 3-2 win over Vancouver. The Flames, who at 3-1-1 are picking up where they left off in 2004, got a goal and an assist from Chuck Kobasew. Dan Cloutier had 20 saves for Vancouver (0-2-2).

Update:

• The Caps have made another round of cuts, sending forwards Jared Aulin, Eric Fehr, Jakub Klepis, Dave Steckel and (sigh) Chris Bourque to Hershey of the AHL and defenseman Jeff Schultz back to juniors. The move brings the Caps down to 29 players - two goalies, 11 defensemen and 16 forwards. They'll need to cut another 6 players by opening night, with two presumably being Semin and Sykora and then four blueliners (our guess? Nycholat, Green, Majesky - who will start the season on IR - and Cutta).
  

Team Preview: Calgary Flames

Key additions: Tony Amonte, LW/RW (FA - PHI); Roman Hamrlik, D (FA - NYI); Darren McCarty, RW (FA - DET); Daymond Langkow, C (T - PHX); Phillipe Sauve, G (FA - COL); Jason Wiemer, LW/C (FA - MIN); Craig MacDonald, C (FA - BOS); Zenith Komarniski, D (FA - CGY); Dion Phaneuf, D (D - 2003, 1/9); Eric Nystrom, LW (D - 2002, 1/10)

Key losses: Dean McAmmond, LW (FA - STL); Martin Gelinas, LW (FA - FLA); Mike Comodore, D (T- CRL); Craig Conroy, C (FA - LA); Chris Clark, RW (T - WSH); Ville Nieminen, RW/LW (FA - NYR); Oleg Saprykin, LW (T - PHX); Dennis Gauthier, D (T - PHX); Roman Turek, G (FA - Europe); Toni Lydman, D (T - BUF)

Key players unsigned:None

Forwards: For a team that just went to the Stanley Cup Finals, there has been a fair amount of turnover and most of it has been up front. Gone are more than 70 goals from a team that only scored 200 in 2003-04. To make up for some of that lost production, the Flames brought in perennial 20-goal scorers Amonte and Langkow and will rely heavily on the theory that a chimp could rack up 50 points playing on a line with Jarome Iginla (no, that's not a dig at Chris Simon). In addition, right wing Chuck Kobasew must build on his success last year in the AHL this year in the NHL. Still, this team will struggle to score goals. But what the Flames lack in offensive production, they more than make up for in hustle and nastiness. With McCarty, Simon, Wiemer et. al., ventures into the corners to retrieve loose pucks will not be fun for opposing teams. At some point, however, the Flames will need to find more offense.

Defensemen: Or will they? Calgary gave up the third fewest goals in 2003-04 (New Jersey and Dallas finished 1-2), and is stacked on the blueline, especially after adding another legitimate big-minutes defenseman in Hamrlik. One-to-six, this is one of the NHL's deepest defenses, if not the deepest. Jordan Leopold and Robyn Regehr are only getting better, Toni Lydman is solid, Rhett Warrener and Andrew Ference are nasty, and Phaneuf is another physical blueliner with a big shot who will get a chance this year in Calgary. The depth at defense is the Flames greatest team asset, and it would surprise no one to see one or more of the defensemen (Lydman?) moved for offensive help.

Goaltenders: Miikka Kiprusoff is coming off a Vezina-caliber half-season in 2003-04 (38 games, 24-10-4, 1.69 GAA, .933 SV%) and stayed active in 2004-05, playing in Sweden. The challenge for Kiprusoff will be showing that he can perform at such a high level for an entire regular season. With the defense in front of him, that should be possible, but few goalies in the League have a slimmer margin of error with which to work, and that may eventually wear on Kiprusoff. Our bet is that it won't. Kiprusoff will be backed up by Sauve, who is coming off a disappointing year in the ECHL (yes, the ECHL).

Bottom line: Great goaltending plus great defense plus great work ethic, grit and leadership equals a trip to the Finals. The Flames are sticking with that winning formula for 2005-06. Strange as it may sound, though, Calgary could have a tougher time getting back to the playoffs than making it to the Finals once there. The wide open style the League promises will emerge as a result of the new rule changes does not necessarily favor the Flames, a team that is better suited for the inevitable lower-scoring, tighter-checking playoffs. Look for the Flames to finish anywhere from fourth through ninth in the Western Conference, and then who knows?

Update (8/25): The Flames shipped Lydman to Buffalo for a third-round pick in next year's draft. The big upside to this deal from Calgary's perspective is that it frees up $1.9 million in salary.