Thursday Roundup

Back in late July, we posted the translation of an article from a Swedish paper regarding Nicklas Backstrom's summer, but the most commented upon aspect of the story needed no translating - for some, the pictures spoke for themselves.

Fast forward a few months to Backstrom's slow start (he's still looking for that first goal and even strength point) and Lisa Hillary's ice-level report during a recent game that casually mentioned that Backstrom had put on twenty pounds in the off-season, and one could easily waddle jump to a conclusion as to the cause of Nick's early season struggles (though his preseason injury, no doubt, has contributed).

Now, I haven't seen Hillary's report corroborated elsewhere, but here's what I do know - Backstrom was listed at 183 pounds in last year's media guide and 210 pounds this year (though he's still at 183 on the team's website):


It should be noted that Nick has apparently grown an inch over the year, and that he's still just 20 years old and filling out thanks to a weight training regimen that is probably unlike what you'd find over in Europe... but 27 pounds in one year?

Perhaps it's not as obscene as it sounds. After all, from Backstrom's draft class, Simeon Varlamov and Mathieu Perreault had weight gains of 18 and 24 pounds, respectively, over the same span, and Alex Semin gained 19 pounds from 2005-06 to 2006-07 (per the media guides). Still, 27 pounds...

You can draw your own conclusions as to whether or not there's any causation here. And this isn't to say that Backstrom is "fat" or out of shape - it may very well be the case that a bigger Backstrom may be a better hockey player in the long run and that his coordination needs time to catch up to his changed (changing?) physique. But the bottom line is that if Backstrom looks a little slower or less nimble than he did last season, there may be a reason for that.

Beefcake. Beefcake!

Update: As Empty points out, 183 pounds was also Backstrom's draft weight, a number that apparently wasn't updated until this year. So it's 27 pounds over two years, not one.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Some love for Alex Semin from up north.... Vogs and Brett apparently mentioned this on Capitals Report yesterday (and if this is Mr. Hanlon's Club, what does Mr. Cassidy's look like?)... Daren Machesney: pretty in pink (via Stack the Pads).... Forbes has some "Best Hockey Fighters For The Buck" silliness posted.... Finally, why don't you guys show this kind of dedication?

Wednesday Roundup/Caps 4, Preds 3 (SO)

[AP Recap - Game Summary - Event Summary]

Remember yesterday when we noted that Alex Ovechkin's absence presented an opportunity for every Cap to raise his game a notch and that how individuals perform with the MVP out of the lineup would tell us a lot about those players? Well, Alex Semin told us what we already knew: he's really, really good.

The Caps tried - and failed - to simply hold on to a third period lead, but the "other" Alex willed his team to victory like his more celebrated countryman has done on so many nights. Last night, Alex Semin became a man. Last night was Alex Semin's hockey Bar Mitzvah.

A few thoughts on the game:

• A dozen minutes into the first period, Viktor Kozlov deposited some loose change in front following a classic Mike Green rush to give the Caps a 1-0 lead and a 16-2 edge in shots (they'd end the period with a 19-4 shot on goal advantage and a 33-6 shot at goal differential).
• Unfortunately, the Caps used that all-important "shift after a goal" to take a penalty, which the Preds then used to tie the game.
• Unfortunately, the Caps used that all-important "shift after a goal" to take a penalty (yes, again), but this time Semin's brilliant blueline-to-blueline tape-to-tape pass sprung David Steckel on a breakaway, which he converted (and since there's no video evidence of it, he can claim he deked and roofed a backhander past Dan Ellis... and who's going to correct him?). And I'll admit to wondering aloud whether giving Steckel a sweater over Eric Fehr was a good idea.
  
• It may have taken 526:21 of game time (give or take), but Nicklas Backstrom finally registered a primary assist - a beautiful feed on Semin's power play goal. Backstrom's quest for an even strength point and a goal continues, however.
• Shaone Morrisonn continued his rapid regression with some poor defense and a horrible interference penalty with under five minutes remaining in the game (and speaking of late penalties, or, more precisely, a lack thereof, the refs missed an obvious Nashville check from behind on Green).
  
• The ice, after a week of horses trotting around the VC, was quite choppy by the third period.
  
• As alluded to above, the Caps were throttled in the third period, and Nashville's goal came on their 14th shot of the frame (to two for the hosts at that point).
• You'd have hoped for more from a veteran like Michael Nylander, but he turned in a two-stick-penalty/1 SOG/36% faceoffs effort... before scoring the game-winning shootout goal (OffWing Photo has a great pic of it, btw).
• Nylander, Tomas Fleischmann and Mike Green killed it in Corsi Rating. Boyd Gordon continues to struggle.
• Things happen when J.P. Dumont is on the ice at even strength. We knew he was near the top in both GAON/60 and GFON/60, and last night we saw why - he had the game's worst Corsi Rating (minus-ten), but was on the ice for Nashville's two even strength goals.
• Jose Theodore was solid, both in his play and his demeanor.
  

For the game, Alex Semin had a goal, an assist and a shootout goal (an Alex Semin Hat Trick?), five shots on goal (and another six that were attempted, blocked or missed), and a whopping 6:42 of shorthanded ice time (only Jeff Schultz, who also had a strong game, had more). He stepped up. Big time. Mazel Tov.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

A nice closeup of JT60's mask over at SI.com.... Alex Semin is clutch.... Michael Farber adds his two cents to AO's slow start (quick summary: it's Backstrom's fault).... A double dose of Dan Sernoffsky, first on Daren Machesney being "the man," then on assorted Bears miscellany.... If Olie Kolzig hadn't found an opportunity in the Southeast Division, he might have retired. Wait - he didn't retire?

A Friday Night Bright Spot

There's an old adage that one of the keys to happiness is to never go to bed angry - which is why it's always better to get hammered before going to sleep.

So have a drink or four and note that the Bears keep scoring goals (five this time, and against Karri Ramo) and winning, which is nice. Also note that Simeon Varlamov backed up Daren Machesney tonight and will likely get his first AHL start tomorrow night (unless, of course, he's summoned to D.C. for Saturday's game... just kidding... sorta).

The Goaltending Situation Down On The Farm

Our friend Derek Meluzio at Stack the Pads has a look at some of what to expect between the pipes down in Hershey this season (natch), as well as Q&As with Daren Machesney and former Bear/Cap Freddy Cassivi.

Here's a (rather large) taste of what Derek's got:

The coming season has the makings of one of the biggest goalie stories we have seen in a long time. For the first time since Marc Denis was a rookie, we will have a true blue chip prospect in the mix. In fact, we might have two! I am certainly not downplaying guys like Budaj, Lawson, Sauve, etc. but the truth of the matter is Semen Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth are coming into their first pro North American seasons with high expectations. Perhaps more pressure to perform is on Varlamov but no matter how you look at it both will be coming to play and both will be wanting to make it to the NHL. Will they live up to the hype? We will see, and time will tell. 2008-2009 could be the year of the rookie (Varlamov) or.... it could be a true break out year for another player.

That other player is Daren Machesney. He is a guy who was not quite as highly touted, has been a back-up before, and wasn't really expected to deliver the goods last year... but did. He was kind of looked at as being second fiddle in the depth chart before, but now he is looking at being the #1 goalie in Hershey. Not bad. Assuming the Caps start the season with Theodore and Johnson, Daren will look to be the starting goalie in Hershey and will be the first guy called up when there is an injury in Washington.

Will Washington want Varlamov to learn the North American culture and nurture him in the AHL as the back-up to Machesney first, or will they be looking to throw him into the fire sooner rather than later? Then the real monkeywrench here could be Michal Neuvirth. He has been in North America for a few seasons in juniors already and could very well challenge Varlamov. Seeing who ends up in Hershey and who goes to South Carolina will be interesting. I would not want to be the one making that decision. My personal opinion... I say Machesney starts the season as the #1 guy in Hershey. He will play the majority of the games and will get called up a few times to the NHL during the season when injuries happen. As for the back-up.... I say Varlamov gets the spot and Neuvirth goes to South Carolina. Neuvirth can stand on his own as a pro in the ECHL or AHL and he will be better suited to go to South Carolina. I think they will want Varlamov in Hershey to be brought along under closer eyes. He has the game down, I just think they want him to adapt to the North American culture. I could be wrong. One way or anothe rit will make for an interesting story. Last but not least there is the rumor of trade. Maybe one of the three will get dealt knowing that "three's a crowd" and the Caps could use help in other areas.

Be sure to check out the full post for more, including those Q&As.

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)
  

Friday Roundup/Lightning 4, Caps 3 (OT)

[Boxscore - Recap]

For a moment there, everything was right in the world. I had a newly-opened Sierra Nevada in my hand, Duke was losing an NCAA Tournament game, Alfonso Soriano had played the outfield for the second-straight day and the Caps held a 3-2 third period lead on the road. Needless to say, I took care of my business (a few times over). So did LSU. Even Fonzy gave it the old college try. But alas, the clean-sweep was not to be, as the Lightning - aided by a horrendous phantom interference call on Ivan Majesky with just over a minute left in regulation - downed the Caps early in overtime. Which brings us to today's Rink trivia question: when was the last time the Caps won a road game for Olie Kolzig? Answer at the bottom.

Without question, the effort was there last night from the Caps, and Alex Ovechkin played his best game in a couple of weeks, registering two goals and an assist and firing a whopping 13 shots on goal. But for the second-straight night they allowed three power-play goals (this time on only five attempts) and failed to capitalize on their own golden opportunities with the extra man, this time a 1:46 two-man advantage immediately followed by a four-minute power-play. The result, then, was predictable, albeit the route taken a bit circuitous.

The WaPo's recap is here, the WTimes' here.

Thread of the Day: If I Were An NHLer I Would Be... - borrowing from Jes borrowing from Vancouver Canucks Op Ed borrowing from the HF Boards (how's that for a citation?), I brought the question to the mostly-unwashed mass of Caps fans.

Elsewhere 'round the rinks:

• The Caps signed their 2005 fifth-round draftee, goaltender Darren Machesney, to a three-year entry-level contract. "Machesney posted a 28-17-1-2 record in the 2005-06 regular season, leading the [Brampton] Battalion to first place in the OHL’s Central Division. He tied for sixth in the OHL with three shutouts, ranked 10th with a 3.03 goals-against average and 11th with a .908 save percentage." But I guess the real question (if you follow the two links above) is how many "r's" are in the kid's first name?
  
• Happy Birthday to former Cap Doug Jarvis, who turns 51 today. Needless to say, the Caps sure could use a penalty killer like the 1983-84 Selke winner these days. Also of note is Jarvis's ironman streak, during which he played 964 consecutive regular season games from 1975 through 1987.
  

Daily Awards

• Hart: Todd Bertuzzi (Goal, assist, shootout winning goal, +1, 2 shots on goal, 0 opposing players' necks broken)
  
• Ross: Marian Hossa, Scott Gomez, Brad Richards, Jordan Leopold, Jamie Lundmark, Steven Reinprecht (3 points each)
  
• Norris: Roman "Stop... Hamr Time!" Hamrlik (2 goals, +1, 4 shots on goal, 2 hits)
  
• Vezina: Manny Legace (28-save shutout win)
  
• Richard: Alexander Ovechkin, Roman Hamrlik, Raffi Torres (2 goals each)
  
• Calder: Alexander Ovechkin (2 goals, assist, +2, 13 shots on goal, 2 hits, 1 takeaway, 0 giveaways)
  
• Aiken: Martin Brodeur (Loss, 6 goals against on 30 shots in OT loss after giving up 4 third period goals and all 6 after the 12:33 point of the second period)
  

Answer: Olie Kolzig's last road win was December 14 at Los Angeles.

Caps Draft Recap: Heavy On The D

Not surprisingly, the Caps loaded up on defensemen in yesterday's draft, taking five blueliners in the seven round draft, including packaging their picks #47 and #52 to grab the #27 pick. Here are your newest Caps-to-be:

1. (14th overall) Sasha Pokulok, D, 6'5", 220
2. (27) Joe Finley, D, 6'7", 229
3. (109) Andrew Thomas, D, 6'2", 196
4. (118) Patrick McNeill, D, 6'0", 195
5. (143) Daren Machesney, G, 6'0", 163
6. (181) Tim Kennedy, LW, 5'9", 170 (traded to Buffalo for a 6th round pick in 2006)
   
7. (209) Viktor Dovgan, D, 6'2", 200
   

There's a decent draft-day blog on WashingtonCaps.com that discusses many of the picks, and a very good recap (albeit from the team) here.

There's a nice capsule summary in the WaPo article. Not that anyone at the WaPo has any credibility as far as evaluating hockey talent, but they described the Caps two first round picks as "a surprise" (translation: "they could have waited and taken him later") and "a project," respectively, which is hardly encouraging.

The WTimes draft recap is here.

The Toronto Star recaps the Caps picks here and the entire draft, pick by pick, here.

The Caps' official message board has a thread with an extensive discussion of first pick Sasha Pokulok.