Gameday: Caps v. Devils 7:00pm Verizon Center

A few things to watch for during the game:

*The Devils are going to be the same Devils they've always been. Bad offense, good defense, and great goaltending (assuming Broduer is in net). Jersey always plays that stupid neutral zone trap that the Caps always seem to have fits with. Think of it as a much better version of what Pittsburgh tried to do the other day. And Brodeur is...well Brodeur 32-12-0, 2.11 gaa, .913 sp lifetime against the Caps. But he must be past his prime right? Basically, if the Caps can get it done on special teams we shouldn't have any problems.

*The Caps will be without Tom Poti, and Victor Kozlov, and Donald Brashear, which means Sergei Fedorov will play defense full time tonight likely with Milan Jurcina. The absence of Brash also means Chris Bourque has been called up and will play the 4th line wing with Stecks and Bradley. It's nice to see he's getting to play this early in the season. As hard as he worked in the offseason and throughout training camp, he deserves this chance more than most. Go get 'em kid.

*Johnson will start in goal.

Caps 4 - Pittsburgh 3

Where to start?

Ok. Since I didn't get around to a gameday preview post I guess I'm supposed to make up for it with an extra good post now. I couldn't ask for a better topic to write about. We beat Pittsburgh. I've gotten to say that like once in the last three years. Here are a few observations. First the bad.

*The penalty kill. Weak, pathetic, sloppy, unorganized. Take your pick. All three of Pittsburgh's goals tonight came on the powerplay. They say your best penalty killer has to be your goaltender. Perhaps we've gotten to the root of the problem. Two of the powerplay goals were absolutly Theo's fault. Out of position on the first and square to the shooter 15 feet out on the other. At this level, clear sight of the puck means you should stop it. It's just a matter of time before we get a Quentin Laing call up.

*One guy on the message boards posted what his seven year old son said about the first two periods. "Why aren't they skating like they were the night?" Its true, even a seven year old can see it. Through four games we've had problems showing up at the start of games. Atlanta, Chicago, tonight. All slow starts in the first period. Tonight I feel we were lucky Pittsburgh didn't go for the knockout punch early. It could have been a long night. "Why didn't they just do that the first two periods?" was his son's quote from the end of the game.

Now the good.

*Matt Bradley. His team is down 3-1. They've just scored to get within two. He dropps the gloves against a guy who he probably knew he couldn't beat to keep his team motivated. If you saw the game you knew Brads pretty much got his face beat in, blood everywhere, not a pretty sight. He's back out with his team a period later after getting a few dozen stiches and nearly scores the go ahead goal in the 3rd. That's hockey. Guys do whatever they have to do. Bradley is a flat out warrior. He would never want ice cream after a fight like that.

*Alex Semin has four goals in four games. He's been about the best player on the ice in each game so far. Cap's fans aren't used to seeing Semin like this...lol. It's as if he's picked up right where he left off in the playoffs last year. A goal and an assist tonight, the goal coming on a laser of a shot early in the third to make it 3-2. If he keeps this up there's no question he'll be an all star. Hate to say it but Semin>Ovechkin so far. But whatever gets you to 3-1-0.

*Flash had another good game also picking up a goal and an assist. The assist was an extremely pretty cross goal pass to Nylander who couldn't miss from there. Eric Fehr also had a good game in his season debut recording a pair of assists. The battle between the two looks to be in full swing as they both surly made an impression on the coaches tonight. Not a bad problem to have at all.

*The best part of the night was reading the Pen's gameday thread after the game. I consider Penguins fans a subspecies of the human race, closely related to Flyers and Sabres fans. But Pens fans are still my least favorite and I don't think that will ever change. So reading their reactions after blowing a 3 goal lead was indescribable. Like I said, I rarely get to celebrate a win over Pittsburgh so I relish every chance I get.

All in all a great comeback for the Caps and a big two points that I'm sure we'll look back on come playoff time.

Alexei Cherepanov Dies

I was about to continue the pregame post I had saved earlier of tonight's game against Vancouver until I saw the headline on TSN's website. Reports are that New York Rangers top prospect Alexei Cherepanov collapsed on the bench near the end of the third period in tonight's game with his Russian team, Omsk. He died shortly thereafter in the hospital.

" 'He was a great kid,' Cherepanov's agent, Jay Grossman told TSN. 'He had a great smile and was an outstanding player with a great future on and off the ice. It's both shocking and devastating news for all of us. ' "

I was shocked last summer when Cherepanov dropped to the Rangers at 17th overall. All scouts had him tabbed as top-five level talent. I personally wanted the Caps to take him with the 5th pick.

This is a very sad day for hockey. He would have been a great player for the Rangers and extremely fun to watch in the NHL. Wish all the best to his family and his teammates. He was 19.

Caps 4 - Hawks 2

Yeah, it's 10:00pm on a Saturday night and I'm blogging about hockey. I know my life is lame. But I don't care. Tonight we won. Here are some observations from the game.

*Theodore started in goal again after giving up 4 on 17 shots last night. He did his best to impersonate last night's performance in the first period by giving up a weak goal five hole 26 seconds in. I really wanted to blame the second goal on him too but I convinced myself that he was screened and couldn't see it. As the game progressed he seemed to calm down making all the saves he needed to. Congratulations to him on getting his first win as a Capital.

*The Brashear-Steckel-Bradley was by far the best line on the ice for the Caps through the first two periods. Steckel set up Bradley on a cross goal pass to get the Caps back to 2-1 in the first period providing a much needed spark before the first intermission. The trio was a combined +4 for the game.

*Watching Mike Green all of last season and thru two games this season, he is starting to look more and more like Brian Campbell. They both play the powerplay point and know when to jump into the attack. Both like to carry the puck from one end of the ice to the other kind of acting as a fourth forward. Hopefully Green can start to throw his body around a little more at the blueline like Campbell or dare I say...Scott Stevens.

*Not like I was keeping track or anything but midway through the third I'm pretty sure I heard Joe B. say that Fedorov 7 for 8 on faceoffs. I can't remember us having a guy as consistently productive as Feds since Adam Oates in the late 90's. Having a guy who you know can win any draw in any situation is invaluable, especially late in games and in the playoffs. It was also nice to see him wearing the 'A' on his sweater. He deserves it.

*And finally, as I predicted last night...Alex Ovechkin torched Chicago. Two goals and almost 25 minutes of ice time. As good as Khabibulin was, there was no stopping Ovie tonight. The only thing missing was that Huet wasn't in goal

We're 1-1-0 now. 80 games left and Alex Ovechkin is on pace for 82 goals. Tonight calls for celebratory Stoli. Next game Monday home to Vancouver.

Caps 4 - Atlanta 7

I thought I would post right after the game so my entry would encapsulate most of my frustration from watching.

Jose Theodore gave up 4 goals on 17 shots and was pulled midway through the second period. Brent Johnson replaced him and looked fine until the Thrash pelted him with a barrage of shots in the third. Three of the four goals Theodore gave up were inexcusable, particularly the goal to Slava Kozlov on an odd man rush where he played the pass instead of facing the shooter square.

Not a great way to start for both goalies. Tomorrow night will be a big game in defining what the goalie situation in Washington for here on out. I realize that its just one game and there are many more. But another performance like that from Theodore will undoubtedly raise questions in the head of Coach Boudreau.

As predicted, the powerplay was a big factor tonight. Atlanta had 8 powerplays to the Caps' 6 and it felt like there was more special teams play than actual 5 on 5. Three of the Caps' four goals came on the powerplay while Atlanta cashed in at three as well.

Alex Ovechkin was held without a point after playing even strength, on the penalty kill, and nearly every second of Caps' powerplay time. He missed a penalty shot that would have given the Caps the lead in the third period and also committed two penalties. If I were Chicago I would be worried. Throughout his career, on games after Ovechkin was held without a point he has absolutely torched his next opponent. And you know he'll have it out for Huet (if he starts) at Verizon.

Mike Green had two powerplay goals in a span of one minute during the Caps' comeback attempt in the second period. Both were one timers off of passes from Michael Nylander and Alex Semin. Before the game Green said his goal for the season was 25 goals. If he continues to have games like this he could reach that by January.

Still looking at the glass half full, Alex Semin was another of few bright spots for the Caps tonight. He scored the Caps' first goal to make it 3-1 in near the end of the first period and was buzzing around more noticeably than any other player on the ice. He spent some time on the penalty kill and had an assist on Steckel's shorthanded goal. Semin finished with 1 goal and 2 assists.

18 year old defenseman Zach Bogosian seemed a little in over his head tonight in his first NHL game. He committed a holding penalty 2 minutes into the first period and a hooking penalty later in the second. His major mistake however came late in the 3rd period when he picked his first ever fight with heavyweight legend Donald Brashear. If you didn't see it, I'm sure you can imagine how it ended.

In the end it wasn't pretty, and the third period was painful to watch. Of course losing that badly in Atlanta is always made worse because of those annoying goal horn staccato notes that count every goal the home team scores. Listening to seven of those at the end of the third was a bit too much for me.

We just gave up seven goals to Atlanta There's only one acceptable action to take at this point.

Game 1 vs. Atlanta

Last season Atlanta finished 14th in the Eastern Conference. They have a new coach and are without their second highest scorer from a year ago (Marian Hossa--trade with Pittsburgh). They have added yet another hideous third jersey that they will thankfully not be wearing tonight. And they have a building that will be filled with empty seats all year long. If I bet with real money, I'd take the Caps in this one regardless of the spread.

Waking up this morning was like Christmas. I get this feeling every year on the first day of the new season. It's a clean slate. A new start. Everyone is healthy (except in Pittsburgh :). And not to sound annoyingly repetitive, like the NHL on VS commercials, but...this could be the year. We have no wins, no losses, no goals, no penalties, no points. That will all change tonight.

Caps 6 - Atlanta 1

Also, here are my official predictions for the 08-09 season.

East:

1. Montreal

2. Philadelphia

3. Washington

4. Pittsburgh

5. New York Rangers

6. Ottawa

7. New Jersey

8. Boston

9. Carolina

10. Buffalo

11. Tampa Bay

12. Florida

13. Toronto

14. Atlanta

15. New York Islanders

West:

1. Detroit

2. Dallas

3. Calgary

4. Chicago

5. San Jose

6. Anaheim

7. Colorado

8. Minnesota

9. Vancouver

10. Nashville

11. Columbus

12. St. Louis

13. Edmonton

14. Phoenix

15. Los Angelas

Dallas v. Montreal

Dallas wins the cup

Yes I know have the Caps as the only division team making the playoffs. It happened last year and I'm certain it will again this year. The Caps will completely tear apart the Southeast and will be the only team who will be able to accumulate points against the Atlantic Division.

Enjoy the game everybody.

Back By Popular Demand...

It's been 5 days since my last post. I was considering retirement from blogging after a few days. However, popular demand has inspired me enough to make a triumphant Brett Favre style comeback.

*Since I last posted the Caps finished up their preseason with a 5-1-1 record. The last loss coming in overtime to the bruins.

*Final cuts have been made. The Caps are down to 22 players on the opening night roster after cutting Karl Alzner, Chris Bourque, and Quentin Laing. Laing had to clear waivers before reporting to Hershey, which he did. Here are the projected lines

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Kozlov

Laich-Fedorov-Semin

Fleischmann-Nylander-Clark

Brashear-Steckel-Bradley

(Scratches--Fehr and Gordon)

Morrisonn-Green

Erskine-Poti

Schultz-Jurcina

Theodore

Johnson

*GMGM and Bruce both said that these cuts were the hardest either have had to make. I think that in any of the past 5 seasons Bourque and Alzner would have both made the opening night roster. They'll get their chances in time.

*Tampa Bay lost their first two regular season games in Prague this weekend to the Rangers. After the game 2 loss, Barry Melrose called out his star players and said they should be embarressed. Is the Tampa experiment collapsing already? It's never too early to start.

*On NHL in Europe: I am not a fan at all. Gary Bettman is killing hockey. He's already made the mistake of moving several Canadian teams to the southern United States. Now he wants to expand to Europe? There are so many reasons why that is a terrible idea. I'll go deeper into that in another post. Its too frustrating to think about right now.

*The Flyers lost to their AHL team Philadelphia Phantoms last night in the final game at the Spectrum. It's not really that important since we're still in preseason. I just got a good LOL when I heard.

*ESPN released their official NHL predictions. Linda Cohn was the only "expert" to not pick the Caps to win the southeast. Yet she was the only one out of six to pick Ovie to win the Hart. Funny how ESPN seems to know less and less about hockey every day. Stamkos was pretty much the consensus pick for the Calder. Montreal and Detroit were both picked by all six to win their divisions. And no one picked the Caps to win the Eastern Conference or the Cup.

*And finally Ted Leonsis called out Mike Milbury for saying that Washington, Nashville, and Florida teams should be contracted from the league. While I agree with the questionable placement of some teams in the southern part of the United States, I think Milbury was way out of line in saying this. These are teams people care about and support. Contracting teams would only make the league less popular with fans.

You might also remember him calling us the Crapitals during the Versus broadcast of game 2 against the Flyers. And calling Ovechkin a dog a month before he went on to win the Hart, Art Ross, Richard, and Pearson awards. Heres a quote from Ted's blog:

"My bet: If I offered Mike Milbury a job with the Washington Capitals, he would take the first flight down; interview; and if offered a position, would take it with glee. If Nashville called - or Tampa or Florida - he would be on the first flight down to discuss employment. Of course, that will never happen. Maybe he knows that he has become a joke amongst NHL insiders and will most likely never work in the front office of a team again. And if I have my way, he will never have lunch in this town again either."

Mike Milbury...

It's like they're looking into a mirror

I couldn't resist

Wednesday Morning. Happy October

So sorry I haven't updated for the past few days. I have been extremely busy and just a little too lazy. Here are some things that I missed, and my thoughts on an issue that won't seem to go away.


*Caps are 4-0 in the preseason. What does that mean? Absolutely nothing. We all learned that lesson last year by starting off 3-0 in the regular season before losing 15 or our next 18.


*The Caps have sent back most of the training camp invitees. Chris Bourque, Sami Lepisto, Siemon Varlamov, Tyler Sloan, and Grant McNeill all look to be Hershey bound. Bourque scored the game winner against his daddy's old team and has turned heads all week. Boudreau will have a very tough decision make.

*Donald Brashear introduced himself to New Jersey's Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond (whoever the hell that is) on Monday. Brash left Leblond bloodied and dusted off his hand on the way to the box. I guess he's still got it.


*Theodore let in two goals on seven shots in the third period vs. NJ. I didn't see them but from what I heard he couldn't have done much to stop them. Once again, it's only preseason. I don't know why the guys on the message boards are worried. He was a player last year for Colorado and I expect the same from him this year.


Okay here's the issue that won't go away. Can you guess what it is?

It's been flooding the message boards all summer and fuel was added to the fire yesterday. Apparently Chicago has made two serious offers to GMGM about acquiring Michael Nylander. The proposed terms were not disclosed and the Caps rejected both offers, but it looks like the Hawks are persuing him hard.

My guess is the same as it was last week. He's staying in Washington. But after thinking about it for a while I've come up with a list of pros and cons that GMGM would be wise to consider. Here are the pros because I think the cons are pretty obvious.

• The Caps free up Nylander's $5m cap hit. Fedorov (likely) won't be back next season, freeing up an additional $4m. In two years we we use that money to resign Semin and Backstrom (who will expect a big raise). Keeping the core together is vital and it will be much easier without Nylander's salary.


• The Caps have plenty of depth at center. Backstrom, Feds, Gordo, and Stecks were our centers down the stretch and in the playoffs. Laich even played center (extremely well) when Stecks was hurt. We did fine with them. And should one of them not work out or get injured, we have guys like Bourque in Hershey who would step in and be effective.


• Nylander's vaule highest right now. How many teams legitimately persue a 35 year old center with 3 years left at $5m? It sounds like Chicago wants him bad and would be willing to give up a lot to get a deal done. Right now a top 2 dman is more important than a top 2 center. The Caps could get Brent Seabrook at $3.5m, Cam Barker at $2.4m, or Duncan Keith at $1.5 (bargain price). Any one would be good. Here's my guess: WSH Nylander and Jurcina for CHI Seabrook and 2nd rounder. Seabrook is young, big, strong 2 way dman.

The deal makes a lot more sense from the Caps' perspective than it does for Chicago. But teams get crazy when they're pushing for a cup (i.e. Tampa Bay). I don't think a deal will get done and this was probably a huge waste of time. But it's interesting to think about and exactly the reason why I started this blog.