Snip Snip: Alzner, Bourque, Laing Edition

Final cuts have been made and Karl Alzner, Chris Bourque and Quintin Laing have been sent to Hershey (which, for Laing, means having to go through waivers), leaving a 22-man roster in D.C. (for more on the cuts, check out John Walton Hockey and Dump and Chase).

The above moves make the following (which I was about to post) somewhat irrelevant:

As rosters move closer to being finalized at all levels of puck, the Hershey Bears have sent defensemen Viktor Dovgan and Sasha Pokulok (along with forwards Travis Morin and Tommy Maxwell) down to South Carolina of the ECHL.

While the Dovgan move is mildly surprising (especially given that some thought he would be joined at the hip with Simeon Varlamov this season so as to provide the bluechip goalie with at least one teammate on and off the ice who speaks his language), one wonders if the move is meant to free up a spot or two on the Bears blueline before the the season starts in anticipation of the arrival of a certain rearguard from Washington.

Wednesday Roundup

Zzzzzz... Would someone kindly wake me when it's time to drop the puck again? Thanks.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

There's more fallout on Joe Finley's alleged mascot abuse. Seriously. The WCHA commissioner has now weighed in. The punishment? Finley must write a letter of apology to Bucky Badger. (h/t to DPlaya at Hockey in Wisconsin for the link).... Travis Morin is headed back to the ECHL after a brief two-game stint in Hershey in which he failed to find his way onto the score sheet.... Caps goaltending prospect Michal Neuvirth has been traded to Windsor.... The uniforms for this season's All-Star game (the voting for which is now open) have been revealed and, well, they're probably pretty much what you'd expect.... A handful of power rankings are out with the Caps at 28th (ahead of Buffalo?!), 28th, 28th, 29th, 29th, 30th and 30th.... Finally, on this date in 1979 the Caps tapped Gary Green to be the sixth head coach in team history (and, at just 26 years old, Green was the youngest head coach to ever stand behind an NHL bench).

Daily Awards

• Hart: Ilya Kovalchuk (Game-winning OT goal, 2A, +1, 6 SOG)
  
• Ross: Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexander Frolov, Alexei Kovalev (3 points each)
  
• Norris: Dion Phaneuf (G, 3 SOG, 4 hits, 3 takeaways)
  
• Vezina: Miikka Kiprusoff (W, 26 saves on 28 shots against)
  
• Richard: Mikko Koivu, David Perron, Kyle Wellwood (2G each)
  
• Calder: David Perron (2G, +1, 2 SOG)
  
• Aiken: Bryan McCabe (Here's why)
  

Hockey's Future: Capitals Top 20 Prospects

Hockey's Future has updated its Top 20 Caps Prospects (with a couple of paragraphs on each player) and the only thing that really jumps out at me is that Francois Bouchard has leap-frogged Tomas Fleischmann. Travis Morin's low ranking and the omission of Viktor Dovgan have some scratching their heads, but all in all, the list is rather unsurprising (and it's great to see two goalies so high on the list). Here it is, with a cherry-picked, not-always-in-context money quote for each player:

1. Nicklas Backstrom, C - "has the potential and maturity to center a first line as soon as next season"
2. Eric Fehr, RW - "with his impressive offensive prowess and ongoing success in the AHL, Fehr will not be a man with two teams for much longer"
3. Semen Varlamov, G - "quick legs, and a very quick glove, which lets him excel at breakaways, especially shootouts"
4. Francois Bouchard, C/RW - "he might not just contribute, but be an impact player"
5. Tomas Fleischmann, LW - "with great hockey sense, along with an impressive shot and playmaking ability, Fleischmann has excellent offensive potential"
6. Michal Neuvirth, G - "a well-rounded butterfly style goaltender who shines under pressure situations. Rarely getting rattled, his mental toughness is remarkable for his age."
7. Chris Bourque, LW/RW - "has all intangibles -- great hockey sense, excellent skating, leadership, competitiveness, and above all, the ability to put himself in the right positions to score"
8. Jeff Schultz, D - "all the physical potential to become a keystone defenseman at the NHL level"
9. Patrick McNeill, D - "has enormous offensive potential, and is defensively sound"
10. Keith Seabrook, D - "has an incredibly hard shot from the point, and an ability to find open shooting lanes"
11. Oskar Osala, LW - "has incredible offensive talent, and at 6'4 his great speed and skating ability is very rare"
12. Sami Lepisto, D - "One of the best young defensemen in Finland, Lepisto excels at puck control; with a very calm demeanor he makes good passes and exudes confidence with the puck."
13. Joe Finley, D - "His incredible size, mixed with a certain aggressiveness, gives him the ability to take control of a game from a defensive standpoint."
14. Maxime Daigneault, G - "With good size, and an aggressively challenging style, Daigneault covers a lot of space in the net and uses his butterfly technique and quick glove to stymie shooters."
15. Sasha Pokulok, D - "Out of all the defensemen in the Capitals prospect system, Pokulok may be the most well-rounded."
16. Andrew Gordon, RW - "Gordon has what every club in the NHL looks for in offensive players: consistency at a high level."
17. Travis Morin, C - "His great playmaking skills, matched with excellent puckhandling, makes Morin successful on the power play."
18. Mathieu Perreault, C - "has enormous offensive upside"
19. Stephen Werner, RW - "Werner is a good playmaker and makes good decisions. He has a hard shot and is good through traffic, but his calling card is his speed."
20. Jamie Hunt, D - "extremely quick and a very good skater for his size"

Non-Story Of The Day: Caps Want Ovechkin To Be Better Defensively

Tarik's story in today's WaPo is getting a lot of play because it includes three prominent Caps voices (GMGM, Glen Hanlon and Olie Kolzig - Ted Leonsis must have been too busy at Sundance to comment) "calling out" Alex Ovechkin to be a more responsible player, defensively.

While it might offend the sensibilities of many a fan to see the organization publicly air such laundry (it can't even be called dirty laundry, as it's a secret to no one that that part of AO's game could use some help), this is a well-calculated move by the organization to both challenge their superstar to take his game to another level and to challenge the team itself to be better. You don't think it's a coincidence that the general manager, head coach and unofficial team captain all say the same thing at the same time, do you?

Regarding what this does for the team, it's a shot across the bow to every single member of the organization that no one is bigger than the team. As OFB's EmptyMaybe put it (via email):

What will guys like Brooks Laich, Travis Morin or Eric Fehr think when they read that? They'll make sure they play defense, is my supposition. Because if the best winger in the game is expected to be a responsible two-way player, they know for sure that they will be, too.

At the end of the day there are two ways to run your team - you can hold everyone to the same standard or you can play favorites. If you want to know what happens when you play favorites, give Bruce Cassidy a call (he probably even answers his own phone these days down at OHL Kingston).

Regarding AO himself, the fact of the matter is that he is at his best when he has something to prove. Being "second best" drove him to a Calder Trophy win last year (one wonders if the race would have turned out the same if it was AO that was the putative Rookie of the Year in the preseason). When the Ottawa Senators were allegedly taunting the Caps after jumping out to a 3-0 lead back in a November game, AO rallied his team to an improbable victory. And when the media vilified him for his hit on Daniel Briere back in early December, Ovechkin went on a tear, tallying 17 points in his next seven games.

Those are but three example, but you can see the pattern. And now AO has something else to prove - he has to prove that he is a complete player and one who can lead his team to the playoffs. All I can say is fasten your seat belts and watch him prove himself... yet again.