16 May, 2008

Category Archives: Hershey Bears

Swan Song for the Skilled Sioux?

By pucksandbooks
Wednesday, May 14, 2008

A number of the North Dakota Fighting Sioux’ top players made a pact after the 2006-07 season to remain on campus and pursue a national title in 2007-08. They did, and the Sioux advanced to this April’s Frozen Four in Denver, where eventual national champion Boston College smashed them in the semis.

Caps’ 2005 first-round draft pick Joe Finley, a junior this season, was a part of that impact core for North Dakota. Such a commitment by the team’s upper classmen will be a lot more difficult for next season, as on Tuesday the St. Louis Blues announced the signing of T.J. Oshie, North Dakota’s leading scorer last season. The Sioux also lose senior starting goaltender Jean-Philippe Lamoureux.

Is this the impetus for Joe Finley to begin his pro career in the Capitals’ organization? If you’re a Hershey Bears’ fan, you sure hope so.

Filed in American Hockey League, College Hockey, Frozen Four, Hershey Bears, Joe Finley, Prospects| Permalink| Comments (0)

Washington Capitals’ Top Prospects, Spring 2008

By pucksandbooks
Monday, May 5, 2008

Continuing an OFB tradition, we present our rankings of the Capitals’ prospects at the conclusion of the hockey season. Many of the names below you’ll have a chance to see at Kettler Capitals Iceplex this July, for Development Camp (July 7-12). What’s the lead storyline among the futures holdings? Gotta be the arrival of one of the best young hockey players in Western Canada, Karl Alzner — one of the best young players in Canada or anywhere else, for that matter. If he has a strong training camp come September he’ll bypass the American League this fall and begin his NHL career fresh from an awards-rich CHL career.

Another gleaning: that a Q-league scoring champ and MVP can’t crack the top 10 of an organization’s prospect rankings. That tells us that Ross Mahoney and his stable of scouts the globe over are getting it done.

Name Draft Class ‘07-’08 Club The skinny
Karl Alzner, D ‘07, 1st Rd. Calgary (WHL) WHL Player of the Year, Defenseman of the Year, CHL MVP Finalist. Any questions?
Simeon Varlamov, G ‘06, 1st Rd. Lokomotiv (RSL) Excellent RSL regular season stats, then, in the postseason, sublime: 16 games, 1.56 GA, five shutouts. Welcome to North American professional hockey, Simeon.
Sami Lepisto, D ‘04, 3rd Rd. Hershey Bears So much for struggle in a rookie pro season in North America: 45 pts. in 55 Bears’ games, and a +29. A Tier I candidate for promotion to the parent club in the fall.
Andrew Gordon, RW ‘04, 7th Rd. South Carolina (ECHL); Hershey Fought through early-season demotion, matured into reliable two-way, impact forward. Two hat tricks in his American League rookie season. Bright, bright future.
Chris Bourque, LW ‘04, 2nd Rd. Hershey Bears Bears’ MVP; became a top performer in the American League the final month of the season; ready to stake his claim to a lasting promotion.
Josef Boumedienne, D acquired from Ottawa, Dec. 2002 Hershey Bears Injury-marred ‘07-’08 campaign, but still posted 7 & 35 in 52 games, and a +18; less a prospect and more a quality depth signee; draft day trade bait?
Kyle Wilson, C Signed as a free agent, July 2007 Hershey Bears Only Bear to play in every regular season game; nearly a point-per-game performer through two American League seasons.
Jay Beagle, C Signed with Washington in March 2008 Hershey Bears Diamond in the rough? Big-bodied, mobile, and fancies the contact game; one goal shy of 20 in his freshman AHL campaign.
Francois Bouchard, RW ‘06, 2nd Rd. Baie-Comeau (QMJHL) Strong but unspectacular ‘07-’08 campaign; much improved skater; needs AHL seasoning.
Joe Finley, D ‘05, 1st Rd. North Dakota (WCHA) Enjoyed third straight season of statistical improvement — and ‘07-’08’s numbers included a conspicuous spike in offensive production; a team-leading +24; still magnificently mean and nasty.
Josh Godfrey, D ‘07, 2nd Rd. Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) 17 & 34 , +31, in 60 Greyhound games; Western Conference All Star; Team Canada WJC selection; time for pro hockey.
Michal Neuvirth, G ‘06, 2nd Rd. Windsor, Oshawa (OHL) More prime-time performing: 7-2 for the Generals with a 2.48 GA, .932 SP this postseason; led Plymouth to the Memorial Cup last spring; time for pro hockey — South Carolina or Hershey?
Mathieu Perreault, C ‘06, 6th Rd. Acadie Bathurst 2007 Q MVP, 2008 Q scoring champ; nothing left to dominate in major juniors; time for pro hockey.
Oskar Osala, LW ‘06, 4th Rd. Espoo Blues (Fin) Returning to Europe to advance his development, Osala put up impressive numbers in Finland’s top pro league: 18 & 17 and a + 12 in 53 games; will be interesting to see what’s in store for him in ‘08-’09.
Daren Machesney, G ‘05, 5th Rd. Hershey Bears Exceeding expectations — everyone’s — was the story of “Cheese’s” season. He got in 38 games with Hershey and went 22-10 with a 2.55 goals-against. He’s on track to be an elite goaltender in the American League; question is, with what Washington has arriving this summer in goal, is there room in the organization for Cheese?
Andrew Joudrey, C ‘03, 8th Rd. Hershey Bears Solid first full pro season, often centering another prized Caps’ NCAA prospect, Andrew Gordon; strong on his skates, superb hockey sense, makes smart plays.
Stephen Werner ‘03, 3rd Rd. South Carolina, Hershey Remains a longshot to see anything but a cup of coffee in the bigs. But his game matured in ‘07-’08. Skated a +4 for the Bears in just 8 games. Does have a pro stride.
Travis Morin, C ‘04, 9th Rd. South Carolina Big, big numbers for the Stingray pivot: 34 & 50 in 68 games, including 14 power play markers; still has issues with skating and strength at the pro level.
Patrick McNeill, D ‘05, 4th Rd. South Carolina, Hershey Split time between Carolina and Hershey this season; he’s undersized but not physically overmatched in the A; should enjoy a full year with the Bears in ‘08-’09.
Oscar Hedman, D ‘04, 5th Rd. Modo (Swe.) A top-4 pairing blueliner who by the age of 22 had completed five seasons in the Swedish Elite League. Though I’ve seen only glimpses of him in WJC play, I wasn’t going to pass on the opportunity to have two Oscars in my table. Should Osala and he connect on a scoring play in a game with the Caps, it’d be the first Oskar-from-Oscar feat in NHL history. I really want that.
Filed in American Hockey League, Andrew Gordon, Chris Bourque, Daren Machesney, Francois Bouchard, Hershey Bears, Jay Beagle, Joe Finley, Josh Godfrey, Karl Alzner, Mathieu Perreault, Michal Neuvirth, Prospects, Russia, Sami Lepisto, Simeon Varlamov, Travis Morin, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (16)

Pittsburgh Wins; Ovechkin to NFL

By OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)
Friday, May 2, 2008

Pittsburgh won on Thursday . . . no, not the Penguins, who were shut out by the Rangers, but Pittsburgh itself won the title of Sootiest City in the country, snatching the title from former champion Los Angeles. Click here to read more about it on CNN.

The Friday funnies continue: equal-opportunity offenders at The Onion mock both hockey and the mainstream media’s hockey ignorance/dismissal (yes, we’re looking at you ESPN) in their latest ONN (Onion News Network) video, sort of starring Alex Ovechkin with some surprising news:

NHL Star Called Up To Big Leagues To Play For NFL Team

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, American Hockey League, Hershey Bears, Hockey Wit, Morning cup-a-joe, National Hockey League, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ted Leonsis, Video Clips, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (1)

The Capitals’ Top 10 Storylines for 2007-08

By pucksandbooks
Monday, April 28, 2008

10. The Rebuild Is Over. Owner Leonsis uttered this proclamation during the preseason, later claiming that the season’s barometer for success would be qualifying for the postseason. Through the middle of November both seemed delusionally wishful thinking. But when the right guy arrived behind the bench, when the Caps’ skilled young core was encouraged to attack, the team took off, rampaging from last in the league at Thanksgiving to a Southeast Division crown on the regular season’s final Saturday. The right pieces indeed were in place, and the team’s future has never been as promising.

9. Backstrom: the no. 1 Pivot of the Future — and the Present. Really nobody knew what Nicklas Backstrom’s rookie season in the NHL would bring. During last July’s Development Camp, he seemed to struggle a bit with making plays on a smaller sheet. But he looked better at the end of camp than at its start, and by September’s training camp he looked even more adjusted. Like other skilled players in Glen Hanlon’s system, he struggled. Like other skilled players under Bruce Boudreau, he blossomed.

His 69 points on the season represented the second-most prolific rookie season in Caps’ history (behind a certain precocious Russian in 2005-06). Most telling: 60 of his points came in the final 61 games. He adjusted all right. He played his finest hockey of the season when you want a player to — in the postseason. In so doing he defied a long tradition of rookies fading under the rigors of an 82-game season. And he rightfully earned a nomination for the Calder trophy.

8. One Seriously Sorry Sheet. Washington’s never been known to offer a quality sheet of ice for its NHL games, but the matter gained unprecedented urgency when in December team captain Chris Clark spoke with commendable candor to the Washington Post about the indefensible ice at home. This surface wasn’t merely bad aesthetically, it was, suggested Clark, injurious to players. Clark himself lost virtually the entire season to a groin injury. Flyers’ winger Mike Knuble injured his leg when he caught it in a Verizon Center rut in the playoffs. And game 7’s sheet was so ill-prepared that arena workers could be seen repairing it on their hands and knees in the moments before puck-drop — and throughout the game.

Whatever greatly skilled and exciting roster Capitals’ management assembles for the future, it won’t much matter if at home it’s asked to compete on an ability-leveling and integrity-sacrificing surface.

7. Deadline Day Doozies. Trade deadline day was supposed to be quiet for the Caps. It turned out to be anything but. General manager George McPhee engineered a dramatic infusion of postseason experience and skill in areas of weakness on February 26, including securing a no.1 netminder in Cristobal Huet from Montreal for merely a second-round pick in the 2009 Entry Draft. All three players acquired on deadline day played pivotal roles in the season’s final 18 games.

In his Capitals’ debut on February 29, Huet stopped all 18 shots he faced in backstopping the Caps to a 4-0 win in New Jersey. He went 11-2 in his 13 starts for the Caps, winning the final nine games he started. In the biggest game the Caps played in years, Sergei Fedorov, acquired for 2007 second round selection Teddy Ruth, was named the game’s first star in the Caps’ 3-1 win over Florida on April 5, which vaulted the team to the SouthEast title and the postseason for the first time since 2003. He was especially adept in the faceoff circle. Matt Cooke played a less significant part statistically during the stretch run but recaptured his active, pest-like play from years ago in Vancouver night in and night out. All three veterans were credited with providing vital leadership to the young and inexperienced Caps.

6. Mike Green: the no. 1 Gun Arrives. If there was one overarching question confronting the Caps’ blueline heading into the 2007-08 season, it was: is there a no.1 Gun among? If last September you thought there was, you knew something the rest of hockey didn’t. In 2006-07, Mike Green played 70 games for the Caps, tallying just 2 goals and 10 assists. He offered glimpses of high-end promise, but he also seemed years away from becoming consistent and reliable and earning a top pairing assignment. But this past season Green blossomed into a dominant, mature-for-his-years force. He led the entire league in goals by a defenseman during the regular season, and he followed that with a superb playoff series — so much so that Flyers’ head coach John Stevens very publicly made it known that Mike Green was a weapon his team had to strategize to stop. The no.1 Gun on the Caps’ blueline has arrived.

5. AO: The Best Hockey Player on the Planet. Alexander Ovechkin’s hardware-hogging brilliance during 2007-08 earned him broadcasts of “Ovechkin Ovations” on the NHL Network and, more importantly, ascension over the Nova Scotian as the game’s greatest talent. His 65 goals during the regular season were the most scored by a Capital in franchise history, and he became just the 19th player in NHL history to score 60 goals in a season. By the end of the regular season he’d staked unassailable claims to both the Richard and Ross trophies and was a near mortal lock to command both the Hart trophy and the Lester Pearson award for his most valuable performance. At one point no less than the Great One suggested that his seemingly unbreakable record of 92 goals scored in a single season could be within Ovechkin’s visored viewfinder.

4. Canning Glen; Finding the Right Guy Right up the Road. After winning their first three games of the season, the Capitals proceeded to lose 15 of their next 18 and plummet to the very bottom of the NHL standings. While Glen Hanlon may well have been the right coach to preside over the rebuilding Caps beginning not long before the team began its purge of high-priced, under-achieving talent in the 2003-04 season, autumn 2007 seemed to deliver a resoundingly rotten verdict on his ability to advance the team to where management deemed appropriate for 2007-08.

No one would suggest that Hanlon didn’t offer the organization his fullest possible effort. But by late 2007 that effort wasn’t working. “He knew as soon as he saw me this morning,” McPhee told the Washington Post on Thanksgiving day. “He said, ‘I wouldn’t have known what to do today.’ ”

Enter Bruce Boudreau, aka “Gabby.” On Thanksgiving Eve Bruce Boudreau was in his third season behind the Hershey Bears’ bench. He’d enjoyed an auspicious first two seasons there: a Calder Cup title in his first season in Hershey in the spring of 2006 and a return to the finals the following season. He’d won a Kelly Cup title in the East Coast League as well. Still, to many Capitals’ fans, he appeared to be just another “no name” plucked from the farm.

Probably it was with this in mind that Hershey Bears’ Senior Manager for Communications John Walton authored a memorable open letter to Capitals’ fans on the day that Gabby was announced as the new Caps’ coach. “Know this first and foremost,” Walton wrote in his letter. “He’s a winner . . . For what it’s worth, we have seen the magic here. We’re more than willing to share.” Continue reading ›

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, American Hockey League, Bruce Boudreau, Calder Cup, Chris Clark, Cristobal Huet, Development Camp, Eastern Conference, Entry Draft, Front Office, George McPhee, Hershey Bears, Ice, John Walton, Kettler Capitals Iceplex, Matt Cooke, Media, Mike Green, NHL Network, NHL Trades, National Hockey League, Nicklas Bäckström, Philadelphia Flyers, Print, Sergei Fedorov, Stanley Cup Playoffs, TV, Ted Leonsis, The Big Deal, Training Camp, Verizon Center, Washington Capitals, Washington Post| Permalink| Comments (10)

(Seriously) Working Overtime

By pucksandbooks
Friday, April 25, 2008

Ever heard of a goalie making 100 saves in a professional hockey game? It almost happened last night.

The Philadelphia Phantoms and the Albany River Rats last night played the longest game in the American Hockey League’s 72-year history. They went into five overtimes! The Phantoms’ Ryan Potulny scored at 2:58 of the fifth OT to end it, giving Philly a 3-2 lead in the series.

The Phantoms fired an astounding 101 shots on the Albany net. River Rats’ netminder Michael Leighton made 98 saves.

Incidentally, the referee who worked last night’s Phantoms-River Rats’ marathon, Frederic L’Ecuyer, is slated to make his way to Wilkes Barre-Scranton to work tonight’s game 5 between the Bears and the Penguins. As of early this afternoon, according to the Bears’ John Walton, L’Ecuyer was still scheduled to work it. I’d have taken L’Ecuyer and his six-OT legs to work our game 7 here on Tuesday before either Koharski or Devorski.

Filed in American Hockey League, Hershey Bears, John Walton| Permalink| Comments (0)

Reinforcements for the Farm

By pucksandbooks
Friday, April 25, 2008

Word out of Hershey: both Josh Godfrey and Karl Alzner have joined the Bears. Alzner will not play in tonight’s game 5 at Wilkes Barre-Scranton, as he’s sidelined by the flu, but he could dress in game 6 tomorrow back at Giant Center if Hershey can get a win tonight.

The Bears trail the Penguins three games to one but earned their first victory in overtime on Wednesday night.

Filed in American Hockey League, Hershey Bears, Josh Godfrey, Karl Alzner, Prospects, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (3)

Positive Press for Perreault

By pucksandbooks
Saturday, April 19, 2008

Earlier this week the Telegraph-Journal of Saint John, New Brunswick, chronicled the completed Q-League playoff series between the Sea Dogs and the Acadie Bathurst Titan, which eliminted the Titan and sent Mathieu Perreault packing for Hershey. Take a look at Marty Klinkenberg’s description of Perreault:

“The Titan’s Mathieu Perreault, meanwhile, was fantastic, just as he has been throughout the series and the entire season. Looking as if he is ready to skate beside Alex Ovechkin in Washington, Perrault flew up and down the ice as quickly as the cartoon Road Runner, dodging and weaving and pirouetting through and around defenders. The leading scorer in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and a Capitals draft choice, Perreault had three assists on Sunday to go with the four points he scored in the Titan’s victory at Harbour Station on Saturday night.”

Tim Leone of the Patriot News profiled the American League newcomer on Friday. “Perreault, who joined the Hershey Bears after completing his junior season with Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL), made a solid pro debut Wednesday night in the high-pressure playoff situation of Game 1 against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton,” Leone wrote.

Bears’ head coach Bob Woods said of his new center, “He’s a kid that’s got a lot of speed and grit to him for a smaller guy,” adding, “I thought he did well . . . He hustles and he competes and wins battles and he’s got some pretty good offensive touch.”

Filed in American Hockey League, Hershey Bears, Hockey Reading, Mathieu Perreault, Media, Print, Prospects, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (2)

A Tough Week in the Postseason Continues, but the Future Remains Bright

By pucksandbooks
Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Mathieu Perreault made his pro hockey debut tonight in the Hershey Bears’ opening playoff game, against Wilkes Barre — tough circumstances into which to be introduced to new teammates and a new league. The Bears lost to Wilkes Barre 2-1 in overtime. Chris Bourque had the lone Hershey tally. The Hershey newcomer started out on the foruth line but didn’t remain there.

Of Perreault this was the quote I got from a pal in the Giant Center press box:

“Great speed, great hands, great hockey sense.”

Filed in American Hockey League, Hershey Bears, Mathieu Perreault, Prospects, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (6)

Bears with Near-Term Promise

By pucksandbooks
Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Hershey Bears in Capitals Colors - photo by Sean Simmers of the Patriot News
Hershey Bears in Capitals Colors - photo by Sean Simmers of the Patriot News
I surveyed some keen hockey observers in the Hershey community the past couple of days to see if they could help me identify the names of two or three Bears whose regular season performances in 2007-08 ought to have Caps’ fans excited about their arrival at fall training camp, as contenders for roster spots with the parent club. I found them all right.

Chris Bourque was recently named Hershey’s team MVP. In what may have been a make-or-break season for him, CBourque put an exclamation point on his prospect candidacy with a late-season explosion: 8 goals and 7 assists in his final eight games. On the season, CBourque tallied 28 goals and 35 assists for 63 points in 73 games –nearly a point a game in an exceptionally patchwork Bears’ lineup. Line chemistry was not a storyline in this Hershey season: another week or two of regular season and about 50 hockey players would have donned maroon sweaters. CBourque is a left-shooting left wing, but with Matt Pettinger’s departure and some uncertainty on left side after the Alexes heading into the summer, the 2004 second-rounder should be a contender for the left side of the third line come fall.

Caps’ fans by now know a bit of the promise packaged in rearguard Sami Lepisto. Injuries and recalls to D.C. limited Lepisto to 55 games in Hershey, but he made an impact in just about every one of them: 4 goals and 41 assists to lead all Bears’ blueliners in scoring. At the time of his April 9 recall, Lepisto was lodged in the top 5 of AHL defensemen in scoring and finished his American League rookie season a stellar +29. In 2004 Lepisto was named the IIHF World Junior Championship’s Outstanding Defenseman and was selected to the All Tournament team. He’s modest in size ( 5′11, 180) but heady and mobile and a superb passer. A third-round selection by the Caps in the team’s remarkable 2004 draft, Lepisto’s stint in the A may be but a single season.

Last spring Caps’ General Manager George McPhee told me that he thought newly signed center/winger Andrew Gordon’s stay in the American League might also be a brief one. A year later, that forecast appears accurate. Early in the season Gordon struggled with the transition from college hockey straight into the American League, but his demotion to South Carolina didn’t last long. In his first pro season he recorded a pair of hat tricks in Hershey en route to 16 goals and 35 assists in 58 games, skating a +22 in the process. A right-handed shot, Gordon seemed to settle in on the right side, often alongside another NCAA draftee, 2003 8th-rounder Andrew Joudrey. Gordon is a brilliant skater with excellent vision, a scorer’s hands, and a nose for the net.

I asked my American Hockey League experts up north to identify a bit of a darkhorse prospect for Caps’ training camp come fall, and center Jay Beagle was a consensus selection. The Caps inked Beagle to a two-year contract just last month, so it’s clear that management sees potential in him. The 6′3, 200-lb. Calgary native spent two seasons skating with Alaska-Anchorage in the WCHA, got a cup of coffee with Idaho in the ECHL, and was an invitee to the Caps’ development camp last July, where he impressed. Beagle scored 19 goals and 18 assists in 64 games with the Bears this season and was lauded for his physical presence and all-around game.

Another Bear most worth regular season ending praise is Head Coach Bob Woods, who took over for the promoted-to-the-parent-club-Caps Bruce Boudreau at Thanksgiving. Woods won 33 games behind the bench after Thanksgiving and did so presiding over a veritable M*A*S*H unit in the process. I highly recommend the overview of Woodsie’s bench work authored this week by Bears’ radio voice John Walton, who makes the case for Woods’ winning the A’s Coach of the Year award.

Filed in American Hockey League, Andrew Gordon, Chris Bourque, Hershey Bears, Jay Beagle, Prospects, Sami Lepisto, Training Camp, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (10)

Bears / Baby-Pens Playoff Schedule

By The OFB Team
Sunday, April 13, 2008

The Hershey Bears have announced the Hershey-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton series playoff dates.
Game 1: WB/S at Hershey, Wednesday, April 16, 7 p.m.
Game 2: Hershey at WB/S, Saturday, April 19, 7:05 p.m.
Game 3: Hershey at WB/S, Sunday, April 20, 5:05 p.m.
Game 4: WB/S at Hershey, Wednesday, April 23, 7 p.m.
Game 5 (if necessary): Hershey at WB/S, Friday, April 25, 7:05 p.m.
Game 6 (if necessary): WB/S at Hershey, Saturday, April 26, 7 p.m.
Game 7 (if necessary): Hershey at WB/S, Sunday, April 27, 7:05 p.m.

Filed in American Hockey League, Hershey Bears, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (0)

Playoff Hockey at Giant Center, Too: Bears Are in

By pucksandbooks
Sunday, April 13, 2008


Last night at Giant Center the Hershey Bears fell behind 2-0 to the Philadelphia Phantoms. The game’s next 5 goals were all Hershey’s — two from the stick of rookie Andrew Gordon — as the Bears beat Philly for the second night in a row. In so doing, the Bears earned the East division’s fourth and final playoff spot.

The Hershey Bears, the Patriot News’ Tim Leone wrote last night, “certainly didn’t back into the Calder Cup playoffs tonight at Giant Center. They barged in swinging.”

The Bears will open the postseason this Wednesday night against Wilkes Barre-Scranton. The Phantoms had been lodged in first place in the East for much of the American League season but fell one point shy of the Penguins for the division title. Philly will face Albany in the East’s other semifinal.

Update: Take a gander at Chris Bourque’s work the past seven games: 8 goals, 7 assists, and a +8.

Filed in American Hockey League, Calder Cup, Chris Bourque, Hershey Bears, Prospects, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (0)

Dear Hershey: Thank You for Sending Us the Magic

By The OFB Team
Sunday, April 6, 2008

Note: the following letter was penned by Hershey Bears Senior Manager of Communications and radio play-by-play voice John Walton on the day that Bruce Boudreau was named head coach of the Washington Capitals last November.

AN OPEN LETTER TO CAPITALS NATION

11/22/2007 - To: Capitals Fans far and wide

From: Humble Bears Radio guy

Re: Bruce Boudreau

Caps Nation:

boudreau-web2.jpgI know it’s been a trying few weeks watching your team slide in the standings, and I know a lot of you have been frustrated with what you’ve seen. I also know that some of you in discussion boards have wondered what Bruce Boudreau will do for your team, with some of you thinking “here we go again” with another AHL coach being called up instead of some “name” coach for big bucks. I just wanted to let you know, as a humble servant of your minor league affiliate, I believe Bruce is the guy you need. Bruce Boudreau is one of the greatest people I’ve ever been around, a great leader of men with just enough grit to go with his compassion for his players to get the job done for you. I’ve ridden the buses with him, I’ve seen him one-on-one with players, I’ve seen him when times are good, and I’ve seen him when times are bad. Know this first and foremost: He’s a winner. He’s won more games than anyone in the last ten years in the AHL, and twice with two different teams has won at least 50 games in a season. In 2005-06, he took a group of Washington farmhands that missed the playoffs the year before in Portland, shaped them along with some Hershey guys that also missed the playoffs the season before and made them into Calder Cup Champions. To prove it wasn’t a fluke, the BEARS the next season won a franchise record 51 games (and we’ve been around for 70 years now, not a shabby record to have) and went all the way back to the Finals again. We’d have gone back-to-back except we ran into goaltender Carey Price, who now tends goal for the Montreal Canadiens. That’s 29 wins in the playoffs the last two years. When Hershey won the Cup in 2006, they had to beat the Portland Pirates, who featured NHLers Dustin Penner, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. Yes, that would be the Penner that signed for big bucks in Edmonton this past summer, and yes, that would be the same Getzlaf who just this week signed a five-year deal with Anaheim. Suffice it to say that Bruce has a pretty good handle on guys who play at the National Hockey League level. All big name coaches in the NHL had to come from somewhere and get their chance before they became “name” coaches. I refer you to none other than your own Bryan Murray from back in the day. He was Hershey’s coach too before he came to D.C., and I’d say as the franchise leader in wins down there, that worked out pretty well.

We’re pulling for you guys to turn it around. We really are. So many players on your team started here and got their feet under them in Hershey, and we wish them nothing but the best. If Bruce remains for the long term in Washington, we’ll miss him terribly here, but you’ll love him like we do. Honest. For what it’s worth, we have seen the magic here. We’re more than willing to share.

Sincerely,
Humble Bears Radio Guy

Filed in American Hockey League, Bruce Boudreau, Calder Cup, Hershey Bears, John Walton, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (9)

The Color of Success

By pucksandbooks
Wednesday, April 2, 2008

My good friend Eric McErlain didn’t pick a good night to play hookie from the hockey rink. But he doesn’t have much red in his wardrobe anyway.

But first thing’s first. I asked for one WaPost columnist to attend Tuesday night and George Solomon sent two, including himself. There were enough Post reporters in attendance last night to fairly fill the media elevator. I messaged Dan Steinberg after the game, explaining to him my need now to call out the Post for ‘dissing the Wizards and Redskins in its Caps’ slant. Hah.

(Reader Dave: did you really deliver my letter to the Post yesterday?)

Every Caps’ player in the post game commented on the home crowd. The Caps Tuesday night established their bona fides as an aspiring playoff team to be reckoned with; their supporters in the stands likewise auditioned magnificently for the role of postseason noisemakers of distinction. Both are new to the endeavor — both seem very ready.

Those of us in the hockey blogging community wondered what would happen to our privileged perch in the Verizon Center press box when our sweet secret about this hockey team got out, and a tsunami of bandwagoning old media came a calling. Tuesday night, we learned. To accommodate all of the press demand for the big game the Caps’ media maven Nate Ewell filled every press box seat, two rows deep, on both sides of the sixth floor, and managed to fulfill every media request he fielded, new and old. That impressed me. I’m not going to suggest that should the team make a deep run in the playoffs we in new media will all be there to cover it . . . just maybe reminding Mr. Leonsis of his pledge to ‘Hockey Night in Canada’ to host us in his box should press credentials run short. Hah.

Wow but it was red in the rink. During the national anthem, with the lights dimmed, the three levels of red managed to cast a powerfully pervasive haze of hometown unity. Mr. Leonsis was beaming in the post-game locker room adorned in his red Caps’ sweater. Channel 4’s Lindsay Czarniak looked fetching in a stylish red sweater. (”Fetching”? That’s awful writing. The woman could fill a cathedral of male worshippers wearing a potato sack and mud mask.) Lisa Hillary was red literally from neckline to toe — eager to show off a new red paint job on her toes. Sportscasters Michael Jenkins and Dave Feldman brought their naturally red hair. I wore a smart looking red necktie.

You know who looked reddest of all? Peter Laviolette.

Our good friends from the Hershey Bears sure picked the right night for a visit. John Walton was blogging in-game and delightfully distracted from all those Bears’ injuries by the electric atmosphere in the rink. Tim Leone of the Patriot News was sharing with me his anticipation for next week’s Frozen Four, with the upstart, Cinderella Fighting Irish of Notre Dame having captured his former USC Trojan heart. Chris Poisal summed up the feelings of all from the farm: he came away impressed with this hockey team’s “swagger.” He told me during the second intermission that what he was seeing out on the ice Tuesday night reminded him a lot of the swagger the Hershey Bears had en route to their Calder Cup in 2006.

“This team is going to make the playoffs,” Poisal told me, “and once there, they are going to do damage.”

The game atmospheres feverish hockey fans fantastically improve correspond intimately to the magic their eyes consume. This new Red Army in town seemed Tuesday night unleashed as a fixture battalion on F Street. At times Tuesday, most especially when the home team delivered a glass-rattling check, they ascended to alarming realms of raucousness: with clenched fists they’d turn and pound on the glass partition separating them from the game’s media. It was, initially, somewhat scary — but scary good.

Chalk it up to excessive Red Hook.

Thursday night — and thirty months from now — I can envision the earth-toned-clad hockey fan arriving at the Phone Booth to looks of disdain from his impassioned puck peer in scarlet. Even Gang Green has gone red.

Let’s designate this Wednesday — mercifully for our panic-attack hockeyhearts a gameless day for the home team — a Code Red: meaning, ours is the team and sport white-hot in town, we its supporters now send screams of “Let’s Go Caps!” cascading through Metro tunnels and Green Turtles. Let’s bask in this red glow of victory all day and evening long, get dinner out of the way early and settle in before the TVs for a fresh set of Eastern conference showdowns. And even in our temporary, domestic R&R, dress for battle.

Filed in 2 Points, American Hockey League, Blogs, Carolina Hurricanes, Comcast SportsNet, Dan Steinberg, Hershey Bears, Hockey Night in Canada, Internet, John Walton, Lindsay Czarniak, Lisa Hillary, Media, Morning cup-a-joe, Print, Stanley Cup Playoffs, TV, Tarik El-Bashir, WRC, Washington Capitals, Washington Post| Permalink| Comments (11)

Move Over Ovie: Chris Bourque Pots 4 for Hershey Saturday Night

By pucksandbooks
Sunday, March 30, 2008

“During his rookie season, Chris Bourque suffered a concussion on a hit by Hamilton Bulldog Johnathan Aitken at Copps Coliseum on Oct. 30, 2005 . . . It was Bourque’s turn to deliver the headache Saturday night,” Tim Leone wrote in the Patriot News this morning.

Bourque scored 4 goals in Hershey’s 5-2 win over Hamilton at Giant Center last night. He became the first Bear to score four in a game since Len Barrie in October 1992. He now has 24 goals on the season.

The fourth-place Bears now hold a 4-point lead over Binghamton for the final playoff spot in the East division. Both teams have seven games remaining. The Bears are back at it today against Manchester in a 5:00 start at Giant Center.

Filed in American Hockey League, Chris Bourque, Hershey Bears, Prospects, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (6)

New Fan Promotion in Hershey: Surgical Mask Night

By pucksandbooks
Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Tonight the Hershey Bears will visit the Norfolk Admirals in a pivotal game in the American Hockey League’s stretch run. The schedule and the game program will identify Norfolk’s opponent as Hershey, but the actual players wearing maroon sweaters will be recognized by few who’ve followed the Bears in recent seasons.

A staggering amount of injuries, departures, graduations, and NHL recalls have decimated the Bears’ roster this season — no fewer than 44 players have dressed for Doug Yingst’s embattled outfit since October’s opening night. Currently the Bears are in a fourth-place tie in the AHL’s East division with Binghamton, battling for their playoff lives, but given the HMO hell they’ve endured, it’s remarkable they have a shot at the postseason at all.

I didn’t quite believe the tally of triage when I heard it, so I had a Bears’ staffer recount the grim roll call for me via instant message this week. I still didn’t believe the claim, so I went to the AHL’s web site, and the Bears’ stats page won’t fit on my 80 gig IPod. Check out this trainer’s nightmare:mash-tv-show-15.jpg

*Ben Clymer: lower body injury sustained in late February, “out for the foreseeable future.”

*Josef Boumedienne: Grade 1 shoulder separation sustained on March 14, broken wrist back in the autumn

*Sami Lepisto: Shelved by a knee in the autumn, returned to health and recalled by the Caps

*Dean Arsene: Sports hernia sugery last summer, prolonged recovery, only 15 games played before a bum back beset him

*Chris McAllister: lower body injury at present, shelved for two weeks so far

*Jamie Hunt: missed three weeks with wrist surgery, just returned to the lineup

*Sean Collins: concussion, missed two months-plus

*Eric Fehr: missed entire first half of season with back, hip ailment, now healed and recalled by Washington

*Ryan Flinn: broken wrist, out three weeks so far

*Andrew Gordon: sprained foot . . . from pre-game soccer tomfoolery, out two weeks, just returned

*Jay Beagle: concussion, missed nearly a month

*Andrew Joudrey: broken finger, missed approximately two weeks

*Scott Barney: hurt ankle just this past Sunday, status uncertain

Things got so bad on the Bears’ blueline that General Manager Doug Yingst was forced to deal one of his top scorers, Grant Potulny, to Springfield for Dany Syvret. Stephen Werner was loaned to Springfield for the now injured Flinn. Consider, too, that Jacub Klepis bolted for Europe, and Jame Pollock departed for Russia before autumn leaves were fully fallen. And you had an enormous number of successful graduations and recalls to the parent Caps.

And there was as well a mid-season coaching change you may have heard about.

Hershey has seen two extraordinary coaching performances behind its bench the past three seasons, ever since Bruce Boudreau and Bob Woods arrived in town.

Filed in American Hockey League, Hershey Bears, Prospects| Permalink| Comments (5)

Minimal Rest for the Surging, Now Led by an Emerging Legend

By pucksandbooks
Sunday, March 23, 2008

Of Alexander Ovechkin’s Friday night performance, Bruce Boudreau on Saturday morning said, “He made the strongest case you can possibly make for MVP.” He also said that the 22-year-old ”hasn’t reached his potential” yet.

Imagine.

You may have heard that just last week none other than the Great One himself claimed that 90 goals could be in one of Ovechkin’s future seasons.

“Ovechkin has the release and hands that Bossy had. He’s got the quickness that Kurri had. And he’s got the toughness that Messier had. He’s the whole package,” Gretzky told Canadian media while his Coyotes were up North.  

“He just loves to score. The thing about scoring goals is some guys enjoy it more than others. That’s Ovechkin. It’s like he wants to keep the puck for every one of them.”

“I think he could score 90 in a season.”

But what may be more impressive than Ovechkin’s offensive prowess, which will shatter team and league records, and what may ultimately prove more important to the welfare of his hockey team, is his arrival in the second half of the 2007-08 season as a Messier-like leader. It’s the broadcast stuff of Ovechkin Ovations.

So much attention Friday was focused on his scoring a 60th goal, and yet the goal proved less the turning point in reversing Friday’s 3-1 deficit to Atlanta than Ovie telling his teammates on the bench, “Just get on my back and we’re going to go.” Moments after that sentiment was expressed the Caps unleashed a 23-2 shot barrage the rest of the way. 

Saturday morning Brooks Laich said of Friday’s triumph, “it could be a season-changer.” Would the season have been changed if AO was merely a super sniper?

Like many of our readers who left us comments Friday and Saturday about the endearingly jubilant, third-period Caps, the head coach Saturday morning was impressed by the camaraderie he saw in Atlanta.

“I talked to Mike Green and Brooks [Laich] after the game, and I said it was like a Hershey win. Everybody was for each other, everybody was jumping up and down, and that’s how we were when we were winning series [in Hershey] and winning the [Calder] Cup.

“It was a really close feeling as a team,” he added.     

Likely the team didn’t feel quite so close at the end of the second period Friday. Asked if he’d delivered a message of motivation of any sort during the intermission, with his team’s season hanging in its competitive balance by a worn skate lace, Boudreau yesterday said, “I said a word or two.”

Care to share that word, or two, coach?

“No,” he replied with a smile.   

The surging Caps are 7-3 in their last 10 games, and 9-4 since the deadline day deals that delivered Sergei Fedorov, Cristobal Huet, and Matt Cooke. They appreciate the three-day break they’re immersed in now, as they’ve bumps and bruises and travel fatigue aplenty, but they also can’t wait to get down to Raleigh for Tuesday night’s next “biggest game of the year.”

Saturday’s was an optional skate, and coming off three tough road games, and with Sunday being declared a day off, a good many Capitals could have enjoyed a pleasant two full days off. Instead, 19 dressed for the 11:00 a.m. session, including all three goalies. Alexander Ovechkin (nearly 26 minutes of ice time Friday) and Sergei Fedorov took the morning off, as did the injured Donald Brashear, Dave Steckel, and John Erskine. Chris Clark skated by himself prior to the practice session and then went in for treatment.

Out on the ice there were smiling skaters but also some hard drills and a general seriousness of purpose. Even with three days off before resuming the second of Boudreau’s “two road trips,” it was all business. Afterward in the dressing room, Matt Bradley and Brooks Laich and Shaone Morrisonn were quick to shift the focus of their comments away from the feats of 14 hours earlier and toward next Tuesday in Raleigh. The team has had the game “circled” on its calendar for quite some while. Their last visit to Carolina included four power play goals surrendered in a 6-3 wipeout — a loss that moreso than any other in 2008 may have motivated management to make the moves it made three days later.        

A small band of reporters Saturday asked Boudreau if he was satisfied with the points results from road trip no. 1. He was, and he intimated that, while the Caps certainly want to win all three road games ahead, a comparable performance in the week ahead would be dandy. Success this past week was assured in large part because the Caps won the opening toughie in Nashville. 

“Tuesday is huge in the standings, but it’s also huge for momentum” for the rest of the trip, Brooks Laich said, speaking in a unified voice for a surging hockey team.  

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Brooks Laich, Bruce Boudreau, Chris Clark, Cristobal Huet, Donald Brashear, Hershey Bears, John Erskine, Matt Cooke, Sergei Fedorov, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (4)

Knee-Jerks & Notes: Caps-Thrash, 3/14

By pucksandbooks
Saturday, March 15, 2008
  • kneejerk.jpgI’m trying to remember the last Capitals’ game that had Alexander Ovechkin skate sub-20 minutes. He didn’t even hit 18 minutes. He went for 17:40 Friday night. It wasn’t that he failed to perform to Bruce Boudreau’s standards; rather, the coach recognized that Friday represented Atlanta’s third game in four nights, and he rolled four lines and wore down the weary Thrash. All 18 of Boudreau’s skaters hit double figures in minutes skated, including callup Sami Lepisto (who tallied his first NHL point).

If you watched the game you saw perhaps the turning point/culmination of the Boudreau strategy when two consecutive Capitals’ lines in the second period cycled the puck throughout the Thrashers’ zone with little resistance — a possession dominance interrupted only by a Donald Brashear penalty. The game-score didn’t reflect a lopsidedness of affair then, but after that display, you knew the Caps had the game.

  • No one should have been mesmerized by the Caps’ shot dominance (37-12). On February 16, the Islanders outshout Atlanta 49-10. Atlanta has managed to outshoot its opponents this season a grand total of nine times. No wonder Hossa didn’t resign.
  • Imagine where this Atlanta team would be in the standings without Kari Lehtonen.
  • Friday night was easily Sergei Fedorov’s best game as a Washington Capital. The scoresheet shows him earning two assists, but when I suggested to Bruce Boudreau in his post-game presser that Fedorov could have had “four or five assists” on the night, the coach replied “easily.” And when I mentioned Fedorov’s play to Olie Kolzig, he reminded me of #91’s sacrifice of his body to block a shot: “I actually gave him a little bit of grief for it. I said, ‘Look man, I’ve only had eight shots in the game, you think you could let me have one from the blueline.’ He’s still got it for an old guy “
  • “It was as complete a game as we’ve played,” the Capitals’ head coach said afterward.
  • When I asked Kolzig if the pre-game warmups were the toughest part of his Friday night’s labor, he replied, “As a goaltender, those are the hardest games to play. You don’t get any kind of flow. You’re constantly talking to yourself — ‘Hey, stay in it, stay in it.’ Because for the longest time there, it was a 2-1 hockey game. The last thing you wanna do is let your team down.”
  • Boudreau noted that Fedorov’s playing time the past three games has increased, and he reminded the media that in January and February, he was out for 16 games. “He’s starting to get in real good shape . . . so we haven’t seen the best of him,” he said.
  • Of Atlanta, Gabby pointed out, “They had an emotional, come-from-behind win last night [over Calgary] , and they didn’t get in here until late, they’ll be an awful lot better when we play them again next week.”
  • Gabby on scoreboard watching: “That’s all I do. I kind of wish for one team then I say no I want the other team. It’s a fun part of the year — when you’re in it, to be scoreboard watching. The biggest thing is, when you don’t play, you lose. That’s what I’ve found. There’s some many teams vying for positons that . . . hey, we’ve got a day off tomorrow, somebody’s gonna gain on us somewhere.”
  • The Hershey Bears concluded the longest roadtrip in team history (9 games) with a 5-3 win over first-place Philadelphia Friday night. Only two home games on a weekend two weeks ago separated the Bears from a sixteen-game roadtrip. And the Bears are badly battered. They return home on Saturday and Sunday for a pair of games with the Manitoba Moose.
  • Sports Illustrated’s Michael Farber, who just last month profiled Alexander Ovechkin and his family in the magazine, is back in the Caps’ press box following AO’s pursuit of 60. He came rather close to it Friday night, smacking a crossbar and a post along with tallying no. 57.
Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, American Hockey League, Atlanta Thrashers, Bruce Boudreau, Hershey Bears, Knee-Jerk, Olaf Kolzig, Sergei Fedorov, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (3)

Motzko Moved

By The OFB Team
Tuesday, February 26, 2008

TSN is now reporting that RW Joe Motzko has been traded by the Capitals.

Details to follow.

[Update] TSN reports Joe Motzko was traded to Atlanta for Alexandre Giroux.

[4:33pm Update] From the Washington Capitals press release:

ARLINGTON, Va. - The Washington Capitals have acquired left wing Alexandre Giroux from the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for right wing Joe Motzko, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today. Giroux, who was a member of the Capitals’ organization last season, will report to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League.

Giroux, 26, has played 10 NHL games in his career, including nine with Washington last season, scoring two goals and adding two assists. He is a three-time 30-goal scorer at the AHL level, including his best season of his career last year, when he recorded 42 goals and 28 assists (70 points) in 67 games for the Bears.

Giroux has 19 goals and 22 assists (41 points) in 44 games this year for the Chicago Wolves.

Filed in Hershey Bears, NHL Trades, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (6)

For the Bears, a Quick Mid-Weekend Meal and Laundry at Home

By pucksandbooks
Sunday, February 24, 2008

Saturday night’s Bears-Phantoms game at Giant Center was a sellout. “We could have sold 15,000 for this one,” John Walton told me a half hour before faceoff. The Bears are number one in the American League in attendance, averaging almost 8,500 per game — more than 700 fans more per game than second-best in attendance Wilkes Barre-Scranton.

Philadelphia is in first in the AHL’s East division, and entering Saturday night’s play they held a 10-pt. lead over the second-place Bears. But Bob Woods’ charges won at Philly Friday night, and a followup victory Saturday, coupled with the fact that Hershey has four games in hand, could have made things interesting. You have to think, too, that the return of Eric Fehr and Sami Lepisto, perhaps as soon as Monday, will strengthen the surging Bears down the stretch.

This weekend represents a rare opportunity for hockey fans in Hershey to catch the team at home for much of mid-February through mid-March. Beginning February 14 in Cleveland, the Bears went on the road for five straight, which ended with Friday night’s victory in Philly, returned home this weekend for just two games in 22 hours, then will board a plane for two mid-week games in Manitoba against the Moose. They’ll remain on the road and play four games in New England the following week. All told, over about a month’s time, the Bears during a crucial stretch of the season will have played 14 of 16 games on the road.

No one in the Hershey organization would utter anything but the goal of catching the Phantoms, but surviving this road warrior stretch still in second place would be no small feat in itself.

And no one in the Hershey organization would have scripted Saturday night’s first period any differently. The Bears raced out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Kyle Wilson, Jay Beagle, and Andrew Joudrey — the latter coming shorthanded on a superb cross-slot feed from Andrew Gordon. The first-20-minute Bears won seemingly every race to the puck, had all four lines clicking, forechecked with abandon, and got some strong saves from Freddie Cassivi.

But first-place hockey clubs don’t often go gently into the swept in a home-and-home night, and the Phantoms erased a rotten first period with a stellar second. A Bears’ official told me he’d “give a million dollars” to have Boyd Kane back in a Bears’ sweater: “He was the heart and soul of our Calder Cup run in 2006,” this team rep told me. Here was Kane’s second period Saturday night: two goals and an assist. The Phantom captain is not a swift skater — he’s just consistently in the right place at the right time, playing a heady, very leader-like game. The Phantoms scored three unanswered goals in the second period, two coming on the power play, to even the game at 3 at the second intermission. A sold-out Saturday night home crowd rather swiftly fell silent.

Incredibly, things got worse in the third. Two Phantoms scored their first goals of the season Saturday night, with Martin Grenier tallying at 5:31 when a lumbering puck-carrying Sasha Pokulok was easily overtaken in his own end, stripped of the puck, and sent sulking back to the Bears’ bench with the red lamp lit behind Cassivi and his team suddenly in a 4-3 hole. Of Pokulok it could be said, charitably, that he is having an underwhelming first full season in the American League. He did nothing Saturday night to change that assessment.

Less than a minute later, at 6:08, Phantom captain Kane would pot his fourth point of the evening, assisting on a Jared Ross marker that had the home faithful sounding like they’d wished the Bears had stayed on the road. Five unanswered Phantom goals resulted in a 5-3 revenge of Friday night. The Bears’ line of Scott Barney, Andrew Joudrey, and Andrew Gordon, while an offensive catalyst on many shifts in the first period, was on the even strength ice for both of Philly’s third period tallies. The youthful center and right wing are very promising prospects, but they suffered tough lessons late Saturday night.

At least I had the very pleasant company of Caps’ goaltending coach Dave Prior beside me for the farm team’s two-period meltdown.

One bright spot in a home sweater was Patrick McNeill, recently recalled from ECHL affiliate South Carolina and a Caps’ 2005 draft pick (115th overall). He’s listed at 6′1, 200, but his is not a physical game. He passes extremely well, gets the puck moving out of his zone with poise, manuevers agilely at the point, and Saturday night displayed some effective work along the boards at times. He put up monster numbers with Saginaw in the OHL the past couple of seasons, including 58 points in 58 games last season. He may be in Hershey to stay and develop.

Saturday night’s game came easily to the Bears in the opening 20 minutes. After that, they didn’t pay the price; they sat back and allowed the Phantoms to dictate possession and pace. What could have been a memorable and important statement against Hershey’s Pennsylvania rivals this weekend — Wilkes Barre-Scranton arrives at Giant Center tomorrow afternoon — was rudely interrupted by a persevering Phantoms club. Head Coach Bob Woods had tough words for his troops afterward.

“We sat back. We got bored with [doing] the simple things and we said ‘let’s get fancy’.”

“I don’t blame Freddie [Cassivi]. I blame the guys out there in front of him.”

“We played it to a tee in the first period . . . but [later] guys were on their own page, [and] we’ve had this problem all year.

“[General Manager] Doug’s not going to stand for it.”

The Bears on Sunday will heed their head coach’s words or face a long and most unpleasant plane ride back out on the road, out to frozen western Canada, early in the new week.

Filed in American Hockey League, Andrew Gordon, Hershey Bears, John Walton, Prospects, Sami Lepisto| Permalink|