Feel Good Story Of The Day

Per Stan Fischler: "The NHL’s officiating corps will suffer a three-way blow at the end of the season. Kerry Fraser, Don Koharski and Ron [sic] Schick all are calling it a career. And that may not be all." Bill McCreary? Please?

Oh, and I can't wait to see what kind of traffic I get now that I've published the phrase "three-way blow."

Thursday Roundup/Thrash 3, Caps 2 (SO)

[AP Recap - Game Summary - Super Stats]

Isn't Kari Lehtonen about due for a groin pull?

With his shootout win last night, the Finnish netminder has now won his last two starts against the Caps in dominant fashion, with a GAA under one and a save percentage of .974 (to say nothing of that pass to spring Marian Hossa). Without question, he was the difference in a game that the Caps dominated for stretches at a time. Some thoughts on the game:

• All eyes immediately turn to the Tom Poti injury which, if I'm not mistaken, was not mentioned by the boys in the booth.
• That game was vintage Olie Kolzig, with a handful of great stops and brilliant positioning (forget about the sideshow junk that ended the game).
  
• Mike Green played 33:07, had a beauty assist on the Alex Ovechkin goal, and was plus-two for the game. But man, did he miss a golden opportunity on an unreal Alex Semin cross-ice pass late.
• How can you have a shootout in which neither Ovechkin nor Viktor Kozlov gets an attempt?
• Speaking of questionable coaching in the shootout, as KB noted, it's a shame that Joe Benanati knew what Eric Perrin was going to do but no one on the Caps seemed to.
• Faceoffs were an atrocious 35% successful. This team might need to go get a second-line center if they want to make the playoffs. An-toine Ver-mette (clap clap clap-clap-clap).
• Nicklas Backstrom - at what point can we use the word "great"? Now? Cool. He's got great vision and is a great passer (and also was great at losing faceoffs last night - 24%? Ouch). Great player? I'll hold out a little longer, but not much.
• At some point, the power play will stop trying to be so damn cute... you'd hope.
  

So a four-point game turned into a two-point game thanks to Red Jesus, and the boys will be back at it on Friday night in South Beach. With three goals in their last three intra-divisional games (all three losses), the Caps will need to start lighting the lamp more frequently, and soon.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Happy 33rd Birthday, Viktor Kozlov.... Caps love from The Maven.... Green love from up north.... Aside from the plagarism here, the underlying idea is pretty cool, and would be great for the NHL to try.... Allan Muir notes something about Jeff Halpern that Caps fans have known forever.... Finally, one year ago today we sent a Valentine to a very special someone, accepted one on AO's behalf and watched a little CourtTV.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Ryan Miller (35-save shutout win)
  
• Ross: 12 players tied with 2 points each
  
• Norris: Brent Seabrook (G, A, +2, 5 SOG, 3 hits)
  
• Vezina: Ryan Miller (35-save shutout win)
  
• Richard: Dustin Byfuglien (2G)
  
• Calder: Nicklas Backstrom (2A, +1, 3 SOG)
  
• Aiken: Pascal Leclaire (1 goal allowed on 3 shots against in just 4:50 of work)
  

A Tradition Unlike Any Other...

"After choosing Alzner, the Caps handed him their new uniform to wear on the stage. Guess what, folks? After eight million jersey design changes, the Caps have gone back to something that looks remarkably like their jersey from their inaugural season in 1974-75. Isn't it nice to cheer for an Original Six team like the Rangers that actually has a tradition and doesn't have to pretend to invent one?" - Stan "The Maven" Fischler MSG's Ricky Vaughn

Yeah, Stan Ricky, we're all impressed by the great "tradition" that has produced exactly one Stanley Cup winner in the past two-thirds of a century. And find me a major individual award that has been won more times by New York Rangers than Washington Capitals since the latter joined the League and I'll buy you a beer.

If there's a hockey tradition in the Big Apple, it's one of mediocrity and drought. What an honor it must be to root for the Rangers.

Quoth The Maven, "Nevermore" (Or So We Wish)

FYI: the Rangers were/are better than the Sabres, Ray Emery is awful and the Senators have already won the Cup. Aren't you glad The Maven cleared that all up for you?

The Maven: Ass Clown

According to the best blog on earth (a.k.a. Kukla's Korner), yesterday Stan Fischler (a.k.a. "The Maven" or "Mark Messier's Fluffer") served up this piece of sourceless garbage:

An investor checking out potential NHL team purchases tells us that there have been subtle overtures made regarding the possible sale of the Capitals.

Caps' owner Ted Leonsis (it must be Leonsis day at The Rink) got wind of the rumor and fired off this response:

I want to be perfectly clear --- there has been no discussion -- ever -- about my selling the Caps--there has been no outreach--there would be no interest. I intend to own the team for a long long time -- perhaps til I die. The rumor that you report--is third hand from an unnamed source that made it up.

This should come as no surprise to Caps fans, of course, as Leonsis has never been in ownership for the money and isn't the type to quit anything before succeeding at it. But my question is this - how can a journalist print baseless rumors like this and still be respected? Is The Maven heading down the Larry Brooks road to ridiculousness? Is he already there?

And I know what you're thinking - "But, J.P., how do you know Fischler is full of it?" I don't. But a responsible journalist would have reached out to the League's most accessible owner and asked for a comment on the rumor before printing it. A simple "For the record, Caps' owner Ted Leonsis vehemently denied the existence of any such overtures" would have brought Fischler's scoop out of what is basically Eklund territory and into quasi-legitimate journalism.

UPDATE: Shaggy provides us with the The Maven's source. Brilliant.

Friday Roundup/Gamenight: Devils @ Caps

[AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview - Official Game Day Thread]

Not surprisingly, all the talk in the local papers is about yesterday's trades. The WaPo's coverage is here, the WTimes' here. For more coverage, let's see what they (you know... "they") are saying about the Caps' deals (click on the headers to see yesterday's Rink analysis of the moves):

Brendan Witt to Nashville for Kris Beech and a first round pick:

• "Dutchy correctly points out: 'It certainly is a sellers market'" in response to details of the trade. TSN.ca
• "George McPhee has been sitting on this card all season long and took it down to the last five minutes to get this done with Nashville. Witt's been packed and ready to go for quite some time." - Bob McKenzie, TSN.ca
• "Nashville has made a big-time statement. That is, we're going to trade a first round pick and Kris Beech to get a guy like Brendan Witt. He makes their team better right now and gives them a chance to play against the big boys in the Western Conference. This is a very bold stroke by David Poile and the entire Nashville Predators organization." - Pierre McGuire, TSN.ca
• "The Predators picked up the defenseman they wanted in acquiring Brendan Witt from Washington yesterday, but he didn't come cheap." - Nashville Tennessean
  
• "After whining for a season about how much he wanted to be traded, Brendan Witt finally got his wish. He moves to Nashville for Kris Beech and the Predators’ first rounder this June. Assuming that Witt suddenly becomes the happiest defenseman in Nashville, the Predators now become a team with a shot at making the second playoff round. To Brendan’s credit, his energy never flagged as a Capital despite his misgivings about remaining on a non-playoff team. The Caps, meanwhile, rid themselves of a malcontent and add a solid forward in Beech... George McPhee did well for Washington." - Stan Fischler
  
• "I like Brendan Witt, although not nearly as much as I used to. He was once a pretty damn fine defensive bruiser, although he relied heavily on the skill of Calle Johansson to cover for his forays into Bodycheckland. Witt was grumpy and wanted a trade, and he got it. It's too bad Witt is not nearly as good as he thinks he is, or as good as he once was, because Nashville paid an awfully high price for a rather average-at-best defenseman who takes quite a few bad penalties.... I could see the justification for the Oilers giving a 1st round pick up for Dwayne Roloson. The Oilers wouldn't have a chance in hell with the goaltending they had, and they gambled to fill a glaring hole. The Predators aren't going to get the same boost the Oilers expect to get, so adding Witt for that price was just too expensive." - Jes Golbez
  
• "As with Sean O'Donnell, we've never quite understood the fascination with Brendan Witt, especially in the new NHL. Nonetheless, the Predators bolstered a deep defensive corps with the addition of the veteran blue liner who's been champing at the bit to get out of Washington since before the season started. Predators GM David Poile paid a heavy price -- some would say too heavy. There must be something about the late-blooming Beech that Washington GM George McPhee likes as he returned him to the Caps' fold after making him the seventh overall pick in 1999." - Scott Burnside, ESPN.com

I agree with Golbez and Burnside. To me, Witt is like Chris Simon was in that the more you saw him play, the less you liked his game (especially in the "New NHL"). For some reason, Witt has a reputation as a great defensive defenseman (much the way that Simon briefly had a reputation as a great power forward), but the fact of the matter is he's a penalty kill waiting to happen. Witt has 141 PIMs this year, the fifth-highest total in the League, and is second in minor penalties with 48. That's an awful lot of times he's left his team shorthanded.

As for Beech, the guy has 112 points in 116 AHL games over the last season. Who knows - perhaps he's a late bloomer and will finally justify being taken seventh overall in 1999. Stranger things have happened.

Jeff Friesen to Anaheim for a second round pick:

• "Dude has three goals on the year and the Caps got a better return than Buffalo got for the next Miikka Kiprusoff. Pretty sweet." - JP, Japers' Rink
  

I agree with myself. Good deal for the Caps.

Oh yeah, there's a game tonight, as Ken Klee and the New Jersey Devils invade the Verizon Center.

Thread of the Day: Poll: The Witt Trade (see what Caps fans think of the day's big trade - at last check, 159 out of 191 voters - or 83% - think the trade was either "great" or "good," and only 10 - .05% - think it was either "bad" or "horrible.")

Daily Awards

• Hart: Derek Roy (3 goals, assist, +5,)
  
• Ross: Derek Roy, Brad Richards, Nicklas Lidstrom (4 points each)
  
• Norris: Nicklas Lidstrom (Goal, 3 assists, +1, 4 blocked shots, 1 hit)
  
• Vezina: Miikka Kiprusoff (39-save shutout win)
• Richard: Derek Roy (3 goals)
  
• Calder: Petr Budaj (Win, 26 saves on 27 shots against)
  
• Aiken, Pt. I: John Grahame (5 goals against on 16 shots in 40 minutes before being pulled for...)
• Aiken, Pt. II: Sean Burke (Loss, 2 goals against on 6 shots in 19:12)
• Aiken, Pt. III: Tampa Bay Lightning (Sat on their hands at the trade deadline despite having the two forementioned stiffs as their only goaltending options)