10 February, 2012

Category Archives: Front Office

That Beautiful Ex-Girlfriend, Toughness, Suddenly Back in Our Lives, Let’s Not Dump Her Ever Again

29 July, 2010

The era of peacenik puck in D.C. has ended. Mercifully. And emphatically. Good riddance. May it never return. Here’s its tally sheet: zero Cups won, one playoff series won (barely), zero opponents intimidated. (Ever.) Now, we’ll try something new, which is actually something old, which is actually something quite intrinsic to hockey. And which is [...]

Also filed in Bruce Boudreau, D. J. King, Dale Hunter, Matt Bradley, Morning cup-a-joe, National Hockey League, Washington Capitals | Comments (12)

A Fresh Independent Verdict: More Heft on the Back End Needed

22 July, 2010

A brand new Dan Rosen file for NHL.com examines seven NHL general managers worth watching in the weeks and months ahead, and it caught my attention most particularly for its diagnosis of the Capitals’ ongoing vulnerabilities. I swear I haven’t exchanged private Tweets or email with Rosen, who wrote this: “The Capitals were clearly a [...]

Also filed in Alexander Semin, Mike Green, National Hockey League, Tomas Fleischmann, Washington Capitals | Comments (9)

The End of a Precious Innocence

21 July, 2010

Yesterday Greg Wyshynski touted New Jersey General Manager Lou Lamoriello’s savvy manipulations of the league’s player movement regulations over the years. Also yesterday, the NHL ruled that DevilLou had become too clever by half with his work in this area. This morning, one of the league’s most respected accomplished managers looks a heck of a [...]

Also filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Morning cup-a-joe, National Hockey League, New Jersey Devils, Washington Capitals | Comments (2)

Chicago: Case Study in Poor Cap Management

7 July, 2010

The NHL Awards have passed us by, the Stanley Cup has been hoisted by the Chicago Blackhawks and free agency is in full swing. Despite all the time that has passed, Washington Capitals fans are still left yearning from the far too early first round exit from this year’s playoffs. They are left thinking to themselves that could have been us, we do have a lot of the same qualities as the Blackhawks and yet we didn’t go all the way. After what the Hawks have had to do in the last few weeks, do Caps fans really wish they were in the same boat as Chicago though?

Also filed in Alexander Semin, Chicago Blackhawks, Matt Bradley, Mike Green, National Hockey League, NHL, NHL Salary Cap, NHL Trades, Washington Capitals | Comments (39)

Needed: An Oil Change and a New Set of Tires

29 June, 2010

Too often during the 2009-10 hockey season the Capitals rotated tires with well-worn treads when what they really needed — most especially back on the blueline — was a new set of Pirellis. A pair of Pirelli models named Carlson and Alzner arrived together late — too late (game 7) — to save the sportscar [...]

Also filed in Andrew Gordon, Jeff Schultz, Marcus Johansson, Mathieu Perreault, Mike Green, Morning cup-a-joe, National Hockey League, NHL playoffs, Washington Capitals | Comments (9)

OFB Point-Counterpoint: Trade a Semin or a Green?

24 May, 2010

Remember the ‘Point-Counterpoint‘ spoof-skits of SNL’s heyday? We’re trying our own this summer, but more respectfully, with our undergraduate interns, Alex and Andrew. Actually, Alex is no longer an undergrad. (Congrats, graduate!) Anyway, to get a hot topic kicked off this offseason, we thought we’d raise the spectre of a big trade: Do the Caps [...]

Also filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Bruce Boudreau, Mike Green, National Hockey League, NHL Trades, Washington Capitals | Comments (13)

A Plea for Piss-’n-Vinegar Hockey

29 April, 2010

Turns out, R.J. Umberger was right. Really right. This is what Umberger said after his Columbus Bluejackets lost a close game at home to the Caps just a couple of weeks ago, right before the start of the NHL postseason: “They float around in their zone, looking for breakaways and odd-man rushes. “A good defensive [...]

Also filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Bruce Boudreau, Jason Chimera, Mike Green, Montreal Canadiens, Morning cup-a-joe, National Hockey League, NHL playoffs, Tomas Fleischmann, Washington Capitals | Comments (42)

‘Deep Depth’ Will Armor the Caps’ Postseason

4 March, 2010

Think back to the glaring vulnerabilities the Washington Capitals tried to hide against the Pittsburgh Penguins last May. Mike Green was pretty beat up, really a shell of his dynamic, record-setting norm, and the Caps played him as if he were healthy. They had to — they had no plan B on the blueline for [...]

Also filed in Carolina Hurricanes, National Hockey League, NHL Trades, Washington Capitals | Comments (4)

For the Master Poker Player, the Biggest and Toughest Hand Arrives

3 March, 2010

To deal or not to deal, that is the question. Ninety points, a gaping, cavernous lead in the division, and a healthy margin as well for first overall in the conference, and this morning for the Washington Capitals management must confront what is perhaps the most interesting and challenging personnel decision(s) since embarking on a [...]

Also filed in John Carlson, Morning cup-a-joe, National Hockey League, NHL Trades, Washington Capitals | Comments (5)

Contract Banter: One Swedish Superstar Getting a Big Raise

15 February, 2010

With the NHL’s Olympic roster freeze in effect and the trade market on everyone’s minds, struggling and contract-strapped teams are likely to try and dump salary and expensive contracts off to contending teams chasing the Stanley Cup. The Washington Capitals are buyers as opposed to sellers, a likely perennial contender and close-to-the-cap-ceiling team. With the [...]

Also filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals | Comments (5)

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