• It’s becoming a bit of a broken record, but again Ovechkin hit everything opponent that moved, often thunderously. I’m not sure I saw Mark Messier in his prime take the body as consistently and as savagely — and legally — as AO is this season.

    • I had a chance to chat with a Caps’ official who was present at both the Draft Combine in Toronto and the Entry Draft itself in Columbus. Young Pat Kane, the first pick of the draft by the Hawks, is acquitting himself rather well as an 18-year-old in Chicago’s top 6, racking up 13 points in just 10 games thus far. I wanted to know if at any point last spring the Caps’ brass had flirted with the idea of trading up from the no. 5 spot with an eye on grabbing Kane. The short answer is no. The Caps did interview Kane, and the team was extremely impressed by him. “He told us that he was positive that he was going to play in the NHL, this year, and make an impact,” the official told me. Right on both counts.

    After tonight’s game in St. Louis, the team will fly into Toronto for Monday night’s game against the Leafs. The team won’t skate on Sunday and instead will attempt to gain a privileged tour of the Hockey Hall of Fame. A sort of VIP tour. Gotta think something like that would make quite an impression on somebody like Nicklas Backstrom. If the special visit takes place, look for Mike Vogel to chronicle it in vivid detail early next week.

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    Posted at 12:28 am. Filed under Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Chris Clark, Knee-Jerk, National Hockey League, Nicklas Backstrom, Olaf Kolzig, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals.
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    7 Comments

    1. Doug wrote:

      Best wishes to Kane and the Blackhawks this year. They have a legitimate shot at the playoffs. He’s certainly the early favorite to win the Calder. Now..how about the ice in the phone booth? Why can’t the Caps get that fixed? There are no excuses for that. Penalties galore tonight.

      Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 1:49 am | Permalink
    2. Reston wrote:

      Thanks for posting an update on Clarkie!!! Very happy to learn he doesn’t have any broken bones or a concussion.

      Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 8:48 am | Permalink
    3. Greg S. wrote:

      Well called. I’m glad to hear about Clark. I will guess that he’ll be on the bench dressed for play and maybe even see some time, but limited. More as a morale booster.

      Ovie is a deamon on the ice! His game has improved (amazingly) so much since his first skate in the NHL. He’s a threat with and without the puck, and on offense and defense. He’s really rattled a few bones this year and last night had another.

      I am upset that noone put Bieksa on his keister for his harrassing of Semin all night. The abuse, whether legal or not, went without a Caps response. I know the rules have changed, but pre-strike, Bieksa would have been missing a few more teeth.

      Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 9:54 am | Permalink
    4. Chris wrote:

      I second the comments on poor officiating. It lead to two of the three ‘nucks goals. And I also saw that Bieska was really laying into Backstrom late in the third, all of it away from the play, and really hard to miss, even if you needed a seeing eye dog for guidance. But none of it was called. But maybe I needed the seeing eye dog, because I completely missed the tripping violation that caused Brash to sit our for a short 2 minutes just prior to Vancouver’s goal.

      Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 10:44 am | Permalink
    5. Chris wrote:

      Glad to hear that Clark’s injuries were not more serious. That was scary.

      While I agree that the officiating was poor, there is no excuse for Brashear being anywhere near the penalty box for a hooking call in the third period, down a goal, and having only played about five shifts all night. I know I am in the minority of Caps fans here, but I have never liked him and this was an unacceptable lazy penalty that led to the game-winning goal.

      I am also concerned to see Kolzig give up another 5-hole/trickle-in goal. I hope he tightens up those pads.

      All that said, I was happy to see the PP produce and to see the team turn it on in the last five minutes. How could the Canucks let Ovechkin go coast-to-coast in the last ten seconds???

      Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 11:10 am | Permalink
    6. Grooven wrote:

      See what happens when Nylander shoots the puck? If he shoots a couple of times a game, the defense has to rework it’s coverage to account for that. (And he might even score.) But I think last night was almost an accidental shot. He’s the guy that would look for someone to pass to on a penalty shot.

      Does anyone else think that Kozlov looks uncomfortable and seems to be fighting the puck?

      Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 2:57 pm | Permalink
    7. Gustafsson wrote:

      Per Corey Masisak:
      “60 Stitches in Chris Clark’s left ear after taking a slap shot from Alex Ovechkin on Friday night.”

      Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 12:42 pm | Permalink

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