Comments on: Help Wanted: One (or Two) Ornery SOBs for the Caps' Lineup

By: NS2NOVA

NS2NOVA — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:48:21 +0000

Unfortunately, unless we can make room for him, Alzner won’t fit under the cap, and Erskine will.
And if the projections are true, next year will be tougher if the cap shrinks.
And some people need to look at the difference between a agitator and an enforcer. The agitator goes out and gets under the skin of the opposition, and tries to draw them into taking stupid penalties. That was Cooke’s job. Personally I think Brads would be better suited in this role, than trying to act as an enforcer. Brash is our enforcer, and should remain so. Even though he seems to have mellowed as he gets older, his mere presence on the ice still seems to work better at getting games back under control than the ineffective attempts by the zebras.
I think that what really needs to be done is twofold.
First, the league needs to do a wholesale re-evaluation of the ALL the rules. Some of the changes have resulted in unintended consequences, and have slowed down rather than smoothed out the play. And secondly, the officials need to be reviewed and rated after each and every game, and more transparency on how calls have been made.

By: JS

JS — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:30:52 +0000

I’m so happy this conversation is taking place — I thought I was alone in the wilderness before I found this blog. We have the best hockey player in the world right now and some others in the top ten – my opinion and admittedly I’m biased. Not protecting them is criminal. I know we’re having salary cap difficulties but toughening up the rest of the lineup is an urgent, urgent priority – imo.

By: PM2416

PM2416 — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:26:10 +0000

I think we all remember the day back when GMGM went into the Blackhawks dressing room in Columbus (pre-season game) for their goon squad running Caps players in an exhibition. We ain’t that far away from a repeat I am afraid. McPhee remains pound for pound the toughest guy on this team.
Brashear is the George Foreman of the NHL (in age, looks, and punching power) but obviously cant do this on his own; Matt Bradley is now the reincarnation of Steve (Speed-Bag) Leach in terms of his ability to strike opposing fists with his head; and John Erskine simply cannot be given a regular shift with an NHL team, certainly not in a playoff game.
Bottom line: this team wins with speed, strength and skill. Semin, Ovechkin, Kozlov, whomever, can deal with the opponents by putting them on their backs or filling their net with pucks. Guys like Alzner, Jurcina, etc are going to have to grow into this league.
Of course, what I say becomes meaningless in the first round of the playoffs when Kozlov shrinks to about 5 foot nothing and wont take a puck in a corner without a court order.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:07:13 +0000

I seriously think they need to bring Cookie back, they should have never lost him to begin with. We have plenty of young talent to deal for him. Cookie is a scrapper. Whats going to happen when we get into the mix with the Flyers again. Brashear did what he was suppose to do, he followed the code. The Semin hit was dirty but a enforcer should (and did) put the team first.

By: Victor

Victor — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:30:36 +0000

Not to change the subj, but the Caps website reports Varlamov has been sent down and Theodore activated.

By: pgreene

pgreene — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:34:10 +0000

to me, this situation perfectly illustrates the lack of deterrent inherent in goon-on-goon violence. it says nothing to backes if the st. louis goon fights brashear. nothing.
now, on the other hand, if brashear gets on the ice every time backes goes out there and makes it his personal mission to snap him in half, THAT is a deterrent. caps should’ve been going out of their way to wreck backes for the rest of the night. didn’t really need a fight.

By: pucksandbooks

pucksandbooks — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:18:48 +0000

“I remember a bunch of Habs ganging up on Bondra in front of the net, and out of nowhere came Chris Simon, cruising speed. They scattered like cockroaches!”
Great anecdote, Flying Cloud — the truth of which I doubt not in any respect.
I’m glad someone raised Erskine’s name. Obviously, he’s injured. But isn’t this more of a concern: doesn’t Alzner’s emergence, coupled with Schultz’s eventual return, necessarily make Big John a 7th (or 8th) guy? And while he’s tough for sure, I’m of the opinion that he’s not that great with the gloves off. In an ideal world, GMGM would be able to pluck a third line guy in a deal who could really (like a Simon in his prime) be a deterrence on every shift.

By: Flying Cloud

Flying Cloud — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:52:13 +0000

I remember a bunch of Habs ganging up on Bondra in front of the net, and out of nowhere came Chris Simon, cruising speed. They scattered like cockroaches! He never had to do a thing, a la Sun Tzu’s “Art of War.” That’s the sort of thing we could use about now. In case the previous article is old news now, I posted additional comments there earlier, namely my impression of the crosscheck and how differently it was perceived, and a plea for a better name than Iron Curtain. Please think about that last, everyone, you are all so creative. Thanks.

By: Lee (PTO)

Lee (PTO) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:42:12 +0000

I remember a time in the Dark Ages of Capitals hockey (the blue, black & bronze days) when Simon used to skate on the top line for this very reason. I’d hate to break up the scoring party on our top line like that, but are we looking at Bradley up on the first line to camp in front of the net to discourage such goonery? That’s not going to work if you ask me…
The scoring chemistry seems to good to mess with like this, I think our muscle needs to come from the blueliners and we’re still painfully young on that side of the sheet. Do we expect Alzner to start punishing these transgressions? He’ll be in the same Concussion Clinic line as Erskine before too long, don’t ya think?
I hate to say it, but we might need to trade one or two Bears for a mean blueliner (and not Wiff). It’s a very nice problem to have though, since until very recently we never had anyone in the cupboard worth trading. GMGM will know what to do… trust the Capitals Cup Mojo!!!

By: Schultz for Norris

Schultz for Norris — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:28:50 +0000

Brash tried to get Thachuk to fight (an under-rated tough guy, IMHO), but he wasn’t interested. Their regular tough guy (who’s name escapes me at the moment), was a scratch.
I like Brash, but we really don’t need a fighter. We need a killer. If someone takes a cheap shot at a skill guy, Brash should challenge them to a fight. If they decline, he should run them, from behind and high, if necessary. The other players can chip in to pay his fines. And I can think of no better game to start this new policy than tomorrow.