07 October, 2008

Category Archives: Hershey Bears

Tales of Heroism from Hershey

By pucksandbooks
Monday, September 29, 2008

Be wary of skipping past the comments to our files. For one thing, we think we are regularly on the receiving end of some of the most thoughtful and insightful comments of any hockey blog. For another, there are moments when the sentiments of readers’ hockey hearts are more deserving of publishing than our own . . . as with the instance of a mother discovering a photo published here of her son receiving a hockey stick from Oskar Osala, and her deciding to enrich the lives of OFB bloggers with her family’s fabulous story.

“What a thrill!  We are the parents of the young Bears fan who got the stick from Oskar on Friday night. Our son is an obsessed Bears fan, and was over the moon when Oskar handed him that stick. My husband and I are long time Bears fans, and some of our first dates were at games at the old barn. We were at the last game there and the first at Giant Center.

“Friday night was such a great time for us, because we all just love our hockey, but for our family it means a little bit more.  Please indulge me with a little story about why we love the Bears, and look forward each season.

“Our son (the one in the photo) was born in Guatemala. He was still there waiting for our adoption to be completed when he was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 9 months.  He began treatment while still in Guatemala, and continued treatment when he came home to us in October of 2003, just after his first birthday. We were thrilled when his Oncologist at Hershey Medical Center told us that despite the fact that he was on Chemo, we could still take him to the Bears games. Our son LOVED hockey from the first minute. It was hysterical to watch him so focused on the game. He was so funny trying to move around and watch around those “rookies” who would get up during play. We were able to continue to take him to all of the games.

“He was treated with Chemotherapy until July of 2004. We thought all was clear until March of 2006 when he had a local recurrence of the cancer and once again had to start Chemo, and this time also with radiation. He treated that [treatment] from March until August of 2006.

“We were fortunate to have many friends and fellow hockey fans who arranged at that time for Bruce to meet Frederic Cassivi, and from that first meeting our son had found a favorite. The Cassivis were so good to us, and over the years we have come to call them friends. We were able to make every home game of the playoffs and of the Calder Cup Final, in between lengthy stays at the hospital. Just after the Calder Cup win, we were able to go to the party at the Giant Center, and the photos we have of our son and Frederic with the Cup are ones we will treasure forever.  Our son had no hair and was obviously sick, but his smile is the only thing you notice in those photos. Frederic and his family came to visit Bruce in the hospital, and so did Coco the Bear. I have to tell you that we felt incredibly special to be part of such a wonderful Bears family.

“Bruce is now 2 years off treatment and is doing fantastic. He is healthy and doing everything that an almost 6-year-old should be doing, and more.

“We try to get to as many practices as we can, and we love going to the Arena because we can be so close to the players.

“The bottom line is that we also love that old Arena . . . my husband and I love it because it means a lot to us to have started our lives together at the games, but we especially love it because our son LOVES it even more . . . he can climb all over the seats and get right up next to the glass to tease with the players and try to pick out the ones he already knows.

“And every now and then he can make a connection with a player like Oskar . . . a young kid himself who took the time to stop and say hello to a little hockey fan, and to offer something that to Oskar was just one of his sticks, but to our son it was magic . . . a link to a player that means so much . . . and a moment that brought tears to his mother’s eyes.

“Thanks for that, Oskar . . . and thanks to the Arena for the memories that were and the new ones that are still being made.”

Filed in American Hockey League, Calder Cup, Hardcore Hockey Fans, Hershey Bears, Hockey Heroes, Hockey Moms, Hockey Reading, Hockey Rinks, Hockey Towns, Oskar Osala, Washington the Hockey Town| Permalink| Comments (8)

Friday Night Services in a Hockey Cathedral

By pucksandbooks
Saturday, September 27, 2008

Prior to Friday, I’d made one lone visit to Hersheypark Arena, and stripped to its event-less essence then, it nonetheless made such an impression on me that I felt compelled to research it and write up my admiration (’An Eternal Home for the Hockey Heart‘). At the time I was riddled with regret at my failure to see live hockey contested in such a shrine. So you can imagine my elation last week when I learned that the Hershey Bears would open their 2008 training camp with a Friday night skate at the old barn.

There was no way I was going to miss that.

From my visit last year I could tell that the arena, built in 1936, was designed for hockey. That made it distinctive as arenas go, but it also helped make me fall in love with it. As in, love at first sight. But Friday night allowed me to see what hockey actually looked like in there. The arena’s seats are inordinately steeply pitched, placing every spectator right on top of the fast action, and while it’s a bit of a cliche to say that there’s not a bad seat in the house, I actually tested out that hunch Friday night. I climbed up to the very top row at center ice, section 70, row P, sat in an aisle seat, and fell in love with the view. I’d equate that perch to the center ice view from the front row of Verizon Center’s club level — except the Hersheyarena view is more intimate.

I loved how the first four rows surrounding the glass at Hersheyarena are the original wood-backed seats installed some 70 years ago. I sat in one of them most of the evening.

I was also struck by the charm of two media boxes inset within two center ice sections and opposite one another, one presumably for print press and the other for broadcast, approximately halfway up the arena. What a perfect vantage those reporters had. And if I wasn’t already lucky enough Friday, I had the company of Patriot News Bears’ beat reporter Tim Leone, who actually covered the team for his paper in the old barn. Tim initially sat down in his old media box perch, and I snapped a pic of the moment.

The skate Friday night was set for 7:00. Around 5:00 players began arriving at the modern and stylish Giant Center for their physicals. Many of them of course had only been informed of their assignment to Hershey earlier that day, back in D.C., and rode up I-83 for the first Bears’ skate. Near 6:45 I noticed the first players walk into the old arena fully dressed, gear bags slung over their shoulders, sticks in hand. The scene reminded me of beer leaguers casually arriving for their weekly skate at the neighborhood rink. You could say that I was really diggin this assignment at this point.

Ice at Hersheyarena had only been laid down recently, without the benefit of a base white paint job, so when spectators first arrived and looked down at the surface they saw only red and blue circle and line markings atop the grey of the arena’s surface slab. One new Bear walked in, looked down, and said to a teammate, “Where’s the ice?”

The ice was actually decent. It was appropriately cool in the arena. Snow during the practice session built up on the surface fast; Coach Woods had the arena maintenance staff bring the Zamboni out to resurface after just 40 minutes of practice.

Tim Leone, one of the best hockey reporters in America

Tim Leone, one of the best hockey reporters in America

Coach Woods had the Bears execute rather basic drills that lasted a solid 90 minutes, but in truth, he could have gathered his troops by his strategy board for the entirety of the evening, without any skating, shooting, and hitting at all, and I’d have been speechlessly enthralled. I was moved by Hersheyarena’s structural elegance for hockey. It’s positively true that time and age have wrought havoc upon the structure — a visitor can easily detect ceiling chipping and erosion and the pernicious effects that moisture has had in nooks and crannies about the rink. Still, the arena’s functional essence for hockey is unspoiled. And timeless.

I found myself feeling transported back in time, even seated hard by the glass and seeing so many of the present Washington Capitals’ future, outfitted in modern gear, skating hard and fast before me.

Frank Sinatra once played Hersheypark Arena. Near 9:00, after Andrew Gordon had once again been the last player to exit the ice, and as the Zamboni began its evening-ending repairs, I was wholly reluctant to exit this special venue, and I could actually imagine handlers leading a fedora-ed Chairman through the underbelly of the arena to his pre-show lounge area. Leone told me that concerts weren’t known to sound real strong in the arena, but I wager that Old Blue Eyes left ‘em happy on that night.

Tim was busy chatting up various Bears’ coaches and staff down low by the players’ benches during the skate, and seated nearby, I could overhear some of the conversations. One Bears’ official was reflecting on Mathieu Perreault’s prolonged stay in Washington. According to this club official, Perreault made “the biggest jump” of anyone from Capitals’ Development Camp in July to fall camp.

Watching some of the European newcomers to Hershey such as Viktor Dovgan and Oskar Osala and Michal Neuvirth Friday night, I wondered to what extent they’d already developed an appreciation for furthering their professional careers in such a storied hockey community. I had my answer, I think, right as Oskar Osala departed the sheet. There was a very very young Bears’ fan seated hard by the player’s entry and exit portal, separated from his parents by about a half dozen seats, and Osala slowed as he saw the boy.

“Need a hockey stick?” he asked, holding his expensive composite up and out to the youth.

Oskar Osala earns a fan for life

Oskar Osala earns a fan for life

At this moment I saw the boy’s parents leap up and fuss through bags for a camera to capture the moment. It was one of about 175 moments Friday I felt rewarded by for making my trip north.

The hockey team at Lebanon Valley College plays their home games at Hersheypark Arena. I’d like to come back up and catch one of those on a weekend I’m up covering a Bears’ game. I wonder if those college players recognize and appreciate the novelty of their skating home?

Attendance at the session was sparse. One good reason for this was that it was a September Friday night in Pennsylvania, which is a sacred time for high school football. It’s a sacred time in a lot of America for high school football, but especially in Pennsylvania. The Hershey High football team was playing in Hershey Stadium, just a 5-iron from the arena, under the lights during the Bears’ practice.

Hockey spectators Friday night largely consisted of stray sets of puck bunnies and a few lone Bears’ fans. I saw only one Friday night date couple seated for the skate. I guess the Central Valley isn’t big on romance.

Recommended reading: Tim Leone’s blog file from the skate.

On my way home, I left the car radio silent for some while and allowed my mind’s eye to trace back over the surreal scenes of a contemporary hockey skate in a historical setting, one I never thought I’d get to see. I stopped at a Friendly’s ice cream outpost just south of Harrisburg, and ordered a thick shake for the ride home.

Chocolate, of course.

Filed in American Hockey League, Hershey Bears, Mathieu Perreault, Michal Neuvirth, Oskar Osala, Prospects, Training Camp, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (24)

A Victory for the Little Guys

By The OFB Team
Friday, September 26, 2008

The Capitals this morning made 20 cuts from their training camp roster: Greg Amadio, Dean Arsene, Jay Beagle, Francois Bouchard, Sean Collins, Viktor Dovgan, Michael Dubuc, Alexandre Giroux, Bryan Helmer, Maxime Lacroix, Tommy Maxwell, Patrick McNeill, Graham Mink, Travis Morin, Michael Neuvirth, Oskar Osala, Steve Pinizotto, Sasha Pokoluk, Darren Reid and Kyle Wilson.

Note the continued camp presence of undersized forwards Chris Bourque and Mathieu Perreault. Perreault’s presence is especially striking insomuch as Kyle Wilson and Alexandre Giroux are, comparatively, big-bodied, pro hockey vets at the pivot.

One of hockey’s greatest virtues is its meritocracy: if you’ve got game, and heart, there’s a place for you in the game. Many more cuts of course are coming, but on the first significant cutdown of camp it’s nice to see two highly skilled little guys fight on.

[UPDATE, 2:28 PM: The latest training camp roster reflecting today's personnel shifts is here, including the just-announced reassignment of Josh Godfrey to Hershey.]

[UPDATE, 4:59 PM: Training camp roster updated again here with Andrew Gordon, Andrew Joudrey, and Daren Machesney all assigned to Hershey.]

Filed in American Hockey League, Chris Bourque, Hershey Bears, Kettler Capitals Iceplex, Mathieu Perreault, Prospects, Training Camp, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (13)

NHL Preseason Games Should Be Admission-Free Recruiting Tools

By pucksandbooks
Friday, September 26, 2008

How many $100 million athletes do you know who “beg” to play in all of their teams’ preseason games?

That’s Alexander Ovechkin for you. It was his show last night at Verizon Center, a 5-2 Capitals’ win, and while it meant nothing in the grand scheme of things, because it was a hockey game, with uniforms and officials and some die-hard fans in the stands, it meant everything to him.

Carolina head coach Peter Laviolette made a point of complaining about his team’s effort after Wednesday night’s ‘Canes loss at home to the Caps (4-1), so I was looking for a more inspired effort from the visitors last night. And it happened — the ‘Canes had a nice first period. But then it appeared as if during the first intermission the Jack Adams holder had a few choice words for his lethargic skaters, and thereafter the Caps pretty much had their way. I don’t believe a great deal of value should be placed on back-to-back wins over a bitter division foe in the preseason, even in decisive fashion, but I also don’t believe that the results should be altogether ignored.

A few more people than is customary for September hockey took in last night’s game, but still, it was  largely a sea of purple at Verizon Center, in marked contrast to the last time when we were there, for a playoff game 7. It seems to me that the aim of these games should be (1) to avoid injuries; (2) to get a look at some young players in a more competitive environment than with a training facility’s intrasquad scrimmages; and (3) to introduce hockey to those in the region who know not of its existence. (And there are many of those.)

NHL exhibition games mean different things to different organizations. In Montreal and Toronto, of course, they’re sellout occasions. But in D.C., on a rainy night with an upset college football special airing on ESPN, and baseball’s pennant race heated up, or on any September night for that matter, hockey just isn’t going to be a hot seller — even at discounted prices (season ticket holders were offered tickets to this month’s slate of home exhibitions at half price; still most of them remained home last night).

My free-of-charge recommendation to markets like Washington would be for them to take a leap of faith: open those arena doors wide two or three times each September and pitch the exhibitions, gratis, to non-traditional communities: inner-city schools, Baltimore hockey fans, Washington’s teeming immigrant communities. Our Shakespeare Theater offers a week-long Free-for-All at Carter Baron every summer; why shouldn’t our hockey team, for a couple of meaningless exhibitions? I’m pretty sure that if you opened the doors wide on nights like Thursday, you’d appreciably improve attendance. I’m not sure you’d fill the building, but that’s not the point.

For the sake of argument, let us say that 2,500 relative “newbies” had been seated for Ovechkin’s 3-point performance last night, one which included his scoring on a penalty shot and leveling every Hurricane in his path. If 250 of those folks found the proceedings intriguing enough to return for next Friday’s exhibition date with the Flyers — and that ought to offer some atmosphere — is it not plausible to think that a couple of dozen could get hooked enough so as to become the occasional purchaser of some weekend dates during the regular season?

Hockey’s best selling point is how it appears in the arena, not how it appears on television.

A couple of years ago Ron Weber told me that he needed to get a newbie in the stands for three nights to get them hooked on hockey for life. The first night, he told me, hockey’s idiosyncratic rules fairly overwhelm the newcomers. But at some point during the second outing the general parameters of the event fall into line for them. By the third game, the newbies now become aware of what the crowd reacts to, and see the game’s skill sets replicated with impressionable repetition. The hook is set, he said. I tend to agree.

There was some flirtation with the idea of making the entirety of NHL preseason games free of charge back in the summer of 2005, as the league initiated its recuperative efforts from the bruising publicity associated with the lockout. But nothing much came of it. That’s a shame, because I can’t help but think that it’s an opportunity lost. It’s true of course that the Caps have a not-so-insignificant outlay of monies required to host these games. But as any healthy business knows, R&D is generally required before hot-selling products hit the market. Maybe it’s the optimist in me, but I just think that some truly outside-the-box marketing (of which the Capitals’ marketing staff must already be given credit for accomplishing) is required in markets like ours to grow the game.

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, American Hockey League, Hershey Bears, Morning cup-a-joe, Ron Weber, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (12)

It’s Getting Dazzling in the Competition for the Duchesne Cup

By pucksandbooks
Monday, September 22, 2008

This Gaetan Duchesne Cup competition, I’m starting to really dig it; I think the Caps may well wanna keep it around a while. Sunday’s first scrimmage was entertaining and good fun, but Monday’s, which featured Alexander Ovechkin in a competitive environment for the first time in the 2008 camp, was on a whole ‘nother level of spectator feast. Play today was a good deal more wide open than on Sunday.

Ovi — it’s no longer “Ovie”; the re-branding apparently took place over the summer, and among some good-natured ribbing in the media work area over the weekend, the WaPost beat reporter was tagged “Tariki” — wasn’t first out of the dressing room for today’s noon scrimmage, he was second. Slacker.

I imagine one Keith Aucoin might remember this September in tales years hence to his grandchildren. He found himself at center at puck-drop today between Ovechkin and Viktor Kozlov.

It was A versus C today, with Squad C in a must-win role. During the 10:00 a.m. opening session only the self-employed and vacationing were in attendance (about a dozen of us). But as noon neared, a very healthy ‘businessman’s special’ for hockey mushroomed — there were probably a couple of hundred on hand.

Forget about Hershey, Michal Neuvirth made a compelling case for the Caps keeping him in D.C. this season on Monday — he was under a barrage in the first stanza and turned aside all but one shot. Many of his stops were scintillating. Ovechkin dashed and dangled and lasered shot after shot. Mike Green made like Bobby Orr — over and over again. Karl Alzner continued to impress, including thwarting a bull-rushing Ovechkin in the first stanza with seeming ease. Sami Lepisto looked slick and poised. Eric Fehr is creating a buzz this camp with a cannon shot. And a center-right wing combo slated for Hershey this season — Mathieu Perreault and Francois Bouchard, excelling for a second consecutive day — was so often the authors of odd-man breaks that it looked like they were perpetually playing on the man advantage. Rather early on Squad C coaches Jay Leach and Mark French flipped their initial top line of Nylander with Chris Clark and Tomas Fleischmann (who played very well in their own right) and gave big-time minutes to Perreault and Bouchard. They were double-shifted; they were rested for a single shift and returned to the ice; they were used once for the entirety of a power play; they were everywhere. They were that good.

Bouchard’s skating, perhaps a weakness in his draft year, is vastly improved. Perreault is an impact pro hockey player — right now. Ovechkin had him lined up for an open-ice shoulder smash-a-roo that the under-sized Quebecois pivot deftly avoided, keeping the play moving up ice. In the offensive zone he consistently managed to maintain puck control and create time and space and scoring opportunity for his linemates.

Is there a commuter train to Hershey from Union Station — one that leaves every Friday say at 4:00?

Neuvirth was opposed by Brent Johnson at the other end. Michael Nylander opened the scoring by finishing a scramble that ensued after Neuvirth made a heart-stopping snuff-out of a Chris Clark one-timer from his center. And Squad C really controlled play in the opening, running 30 minutes of clock. There was no shot counter, but had there been, it might have read 18-5 for the team in white.

In the second frame, Varlamov replaced Neuvirth and Daren Machesney replaced BJ. Squad B got its act a bit more together in the 20 minutes that followed a prolonged intermission (three passes of the Zam (Olympia, actually) were required to generate a playable sheet — that’s how hard and fast a skate started the scrimmage). Near 5 minutes in, Viktor Kozlov missiled a wicked wrister through a dense scramble in front of ‘Cheese’s net that no one saw to knot things at a goal apiece. B’s pressure later generated a 5-on-3 power play advantage, and would you believe it, Quintin Laing successfully hurled his body at an Ovechkin point blast to help keep things even.

In the third frame, Chris Bourque tallied with 6:53 left, but Chris Clark lasered a top right shelf snap shot past Varlamov (it was Nylander’s second point on the day) with a little over three minutes left. After the scrimmage ending horn and some uncertainty as to how to reach a conclusion, Gabby, taking in the scrimmage from on high with the owner and GM, barked down instructions to shoot it out. Kozlov and Ovi scored for B, and Chris Clark’s failed shot rendered his squad eliminated from the inaugural Gaetan Duschesne Cup.

Tarik shared with me some fast-emerging details about the Duchesne Cup trophy. The team has apparently spent upwards of $500 on it, commissioning it from afar, and is working desperately to get it to camp in time for a timely presentation.

Your four stars of the scrimmage, as awarded by this blogger:

1. Michal Neuvirth. (Yes he played only half the game, but he was that good.)

2. The Perreault-Bouchard combo

3. Mike Green

4. Mike Denney, Caps’ season ticket holder, visitor this past weekend to Portland, Maine, from whence he returned with a 12-pack of Shipyard seasonal — one of America’s great microbrews — and presented it to moi before noon Monday. Now that’s a way to start a vacation. Incidentally, there is no sign at Kettler that reads, ‘Do Not Feed the Bloggers Beer.’ Just sayin.

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, American Hockey League, Chris Bourque, Daren Machesney, Francois Bouchard, Hardcore Hockey Fans, Hershey Bears, Karl Alzner, Kettler Capitals Iceplex, Mathieu Perreault, Michal Neuvirth, Mike Green, Prospects, Quintin Laing, Sami Lepisto, Shootouts, Simeon Varlamov, Washington Capitals, Washington the Hockey Town, Zambonis| Permalink| Comments (5)

Ten Top Storylines for the Start of Training Camp 2008

By pucksandbooks
Saturday, September 20, 2008
AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn

AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn

(10) Gabby from the Get-go. Capitals players had plenty of time to come to grips with Bruce Boudreau’s system, what with his arriving from Hershey at Thanksgiving. In his 61 games in 2007-08, Boudreau went 20 games over .500 (37-17-7). Had that projected over the full season, the Caps not only would have won the Southeast handily but absolutely contended for first overall in the East (with 104 points, Montreal finished 10 better than Washington). It bears mentioning that Boudreau had to learn most of his new hockey club in mid-season just as they had to learn his system. This fall, Boudreau knows his roster quite well, they know him now by the title of Jack Adams holder, and he starts the season with a club as healthy and hungry as any the Caps have seen this decade. Let the good times roll.

(9) Renewed Might on the Right. What might have the Capitals’ fortunes been in the 2008 playoffs had they had the services of captain Chris Clark and his 30-goal skills and leadership? And what might a fully healthy Eric Fehr finally look like? We should find out in 2008-09. Both have told media late this summer that they’re “100 percent” and ready to go. We know what Viktor Kozlov, Matt Bradley, and Clark can do. Fehr is the wild card. But reasonably healthy, that quartet ought to offer some much-needed scoring balance on the right side of the Caps’ forward ranks.

(8) Is Karl Alzner NHL ready? In what appears to have been the final foray for the Caps in the NHL Entry Draft lottery, for some while anyway, the Caps selected Calgary Hitmen shutdown rearguard Karl Alzner with the 5th pick in the 2007 draft. In his draft class Alzner was lauded as being the “most NHL ready” of defense prospects. Nothing about Alzner’s ‘07-08 season suggested otherwise. He captained Canada’s Junior team to yet another gold medal, and he was named WHL Defenseman of the Year and WHL Player of the Year. The Caps may find themselves with an intriguing and difficult call to make on Alzner this training camp: today he may well be one the team’s top 6 talents on the blueline, but would his long-term development be better aided with top minutes in Hershey this season?

(7) Center by Committee. The Capitals have a clear no. 1 center (Nicklas Backstrom) and, in ability, potentially three no. 2s (Nylander, Fedorov, Laich). Brooks Laich will get a long look on a wing. Additionally, there is fantastic defensive play and faceoff ability between Dave Steckel and Boyd Gordon. Bruce Boudreau is virtually certain to carry 13 forwards out of camp, and you have to believe five of them will be centers. But who sits? And who earns no. 2 minutes? Will there be a trade?

(6) Who’s no. 1 in Net — in Hershey? Rarely at the start of a new season is there intrigue about the goalie rotation down on the farm, but the goalie story in the Caps’ organization is a lead one in 2008-09. George McPhee has indicated that in Michael Neuvirth and Simeon Varlamov he has two AHL-worthy 20-year-olds; neither belongs in the E. Additionally, Daren Machesney has developed solidly in Hershey. One option could be to loan out one of the kids to another American League club. But both 2006 draft picks possess talent such that there respective stays in minor pros could be brief ones. Meanwhile . . .

(5) It’s Certain That There’s Some Uncertainty in the Washington Net. Jose Theodore was signed by Washington the moment that contracts talks with Cristobal Huet fell apart. Theodore possesses nearly 450 games of NHL experience spread out over more than 10 years. His career has been marked by moments of exemplary play commonly followed by conspicuously mediocre results. He has Vezina and Hart trophies on his mantle and pitchfork and torch scars on his gear bag. Playing behind a strong team of forwards and defenders, expect him to look like a world-beater during many regular season nights in 2008-09; the postseason will be more the barometer of his signing. Somewhat overlooked in the Kolzig-to-Huet-to-Theodore transition — all of it carried off in less than 9 months’ time — is that the Capitals’ blueline corps will have to adjust to yet another new netminder’s angles and rebounds tendencies. And it’s a short preseason.

(4) Is Semin a Star? There’s absolutely no doubt that left wing Alexander Semin is an elite, world-class talent. His wrist shot is simply one of the finest on the planet. But to date he has not put together a complete season of health and high production. With the Caps’ top-six-plus skill, 2008-09 should Semin’s season to shine.

(3) Potential Pitfalls of Press Clippings. It was just late last November that the Washington Capitals resided in dead last territory in the NHL, their rebuild strivings generating little returns. One coaching and netminder change ushered in a division title, a sold out home rink, and a wild-about-hockey Washington, and one of the great from hell to heaven rises in Washington pro sports history. The summer delivered an abundance of awards recognitions for the feat. And the Caps’ feel-good story of last season has fostered a pervasive ‘they’re-the-team-to-watch-out-for‘ forecast for this season. But the team is hardly dynastic, and they’ll compete with plenty of quality at the top of the East (Philly, Montreal, and Pittsburgh) and throughout the league overall. They’ll also have fewer games against their Southeast rivals this season — hockey’s weakest division.

(2) Golden Era of Ovechkin. If you believe Wayne Gretzky, we haven’t seen anywhere near the best yet from Alexander Ovechkin. The Great One believes that Ovi can score 90. Today the hockey world is Alexander Ovechkin’s oyster. He enjoys a best-in-his-sport status, he loves the challenge of making Washington a hockey town, and in 2008-09 he will skate in possession of the richest contract in Washington pro sports history. Now 225 pounds and a training dynamo, he is arrived at something close to his physical prime. There is among his fast-accumulating hardware one lone conspicuous omission. His aim in ‘08-09 is to secure that one, too.

(1) As Good as It Gets? There were three striking qualities about Verizon Center in the final weeks of the 2008 season: it was consistently sold out; it was overwhelmingly red and partisan (except to Pierre McGuire’s eyes); and it was gloriously raucous and loud. It was an environment that I think caught even the Caps off guard; it seemed about two years ahead of forecast — if management could even imagine such environs here at all. Was it a fluke in response to a torrid and historic run, or is that the reception that hockey is hereafter to receive, the home team now competing, likely for a sizable number of years going forward, with coveted skill, depth, and youth? Washington’s hockey fans have been the butt of disrespect and ridicule for decades. A full season of Red Rockin’ during a lot of winning may squelch that slander permanently.

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, American Hockey League, Boyd Gordon, Bruce Boudreau, Chris Clark, Cristobal Huet, Daren Machesney, Dave Steckel, Eastern Conference, Eric Fehr, George McPhee, Hershey Bears, Jose Theodore, Karl Alzner, Kettler Capitals Iceplex, Michal Neuvirth, Montreal Canadiens, National Hockey League, Nicklas Backstrom, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Prospects, Sergei Fedorov, Simeon Varlamov, Training Camp, Verizon Center, Washington Capitals, Washington the Hockey Town| Permalink| Comments (1)

Something Big Is Already Built

By pucksandbooks
Friday, September 19, 2008

In a very real sense, the Ballston Massacre yesterday represented the culmination of the Capitals’ rebuild. Last September, Capitals’ owner Ted Leonsis decreed that the rebuild was over, asserting that his young team was primed for playoff contention. But being rebuilt as both Leonsis and General Manager George McPhee targeted 5 years ago, I believe, means more than that; I believe it is represented by what we’re seeing out at Kettler this September: the parent club enjoying the chic designation as Cup contender, and certainly an across-the-board classification as elite in the East. But also, concurrently, below them, resides a dozen-plus dazzling talents in juniors and the minor pros. With the team’s scouts consistently identifying gems in each year’s draft, the organization’s talent pipeline is annually replenished.

Yesterday’s 7-0 shellacking of Philly — a game that wasn’t anywhere near as close as the score indicated — means nothing. And everything. Nearly every single member of what will constitute the Capitals’ opening night lineup next month was standing hard by the glass in one corner, following the action intently. They were drawn there, presumably, by the novelty of yesterday’s matinee: the first-ever NHL exhibition in the facility. But they’re all also computer literate and not oblivious to the buzz that’s been circulating on line this week about the likes of John Carlson, Oskar Osala, Simeon Varlamov, Mathieu Perreault, and scores more recently acquired kids. A well rebuilt organization, I’d submit, is one in which the present is a consensus contender as well as one within which the vets are checking the rear view mirror for skilled and fast-skating youth, hard charging on their heels.

It is true that the Flyers yesterday were without two prime young talents, Claude Giroux and JVR. Neither, however, plays defense or tends goal, and suited up they might have succeeded in making the score 7-3. The Caps, it should be noted, were also without a pair of first-round talents (Joe Finley and Anton Gustafsson). Interestingly, the heavy duty damage inflicted yesterday came from the very late rounds and even free agency: Travis Morin, Mathieu Perreault, Steve Pinizzotto, Viktor Dovgan, Jay Beagle. Oskar Osala was conspicuous throwing his fourth-round weight around.

A veteran puckhead follower of the Caps needed about one hour of the opening day of autumn skating out at Kettler to see the difference that 5 years has made in the organization’s acquisition and development of prospects. That was the emerging theme for me during an upwards of 5 hours spent there on Sunday, and listening to voices far more expert than mine ruminate on the breadth and quality of this organization’s personnel.

Once upon a time, veteran members of the beat pack told me, the Washington Capitals made a habit of hurtling highly drafted kids more or less straight into the big-league lineup, with hardly any apprenticeship in the minors, and shortsightedly shortchanging their development. Jacub Cutta’s presence at 2008’s training camp is an instructive case in point. Back in 2000, Cutta arrived in Washington as an 18-year-old rookie out of Swift Current of the WHL. He had an outstanding camp that autumn, without question. He certainly was one of the best six or seven rearguard performers then. But really, shouldn’t he have been patted on the back, commended for his competitiveness, and immediately returned to the W for at least another year, rather than thrust into the opening night lineup? Then head coach Ron Wilson, himself a former NHL rearguard, must have assumed that he could manage Cutta’s rookie year just fine.

In reality, though, how many 18-year-old defensemen are ready for an 82-game NHL season?

The Capitals did return Cutta to Swift Current, where he played fewer than 50 games in 2000-01. But it’s possible he did so with some sense of failure, his development cycle oddly meandering at its outset.

Others classified as very youthful could be identified as having been microwaved into the big leagues during the first half of this decade – Brian Sutherby, Kris Beech, Steve Eminger. Today, however, there’s a whole new mindset in place when it comes to developing prospects, and this, joined by now consistently adept drafting and superb pro scouting, has the Capitals in 2008 right where management dreamed of five years ago.

Of the 67 players who will skate at Kettler Capitals in Rookie and Training camps this month, fully 23 were drafted in either the first or second rounds of the NHL draft. All are accorded an appropriate apprenticeship. Just as encouraging is the emrgence of contribtor and star quality potential from later rounds (Osala, Perreault, Lepisto, Dovgan). Those of you who paid a visit to Kettler this week before the vets (save Ovechkin!) reported, found a compelling reason to go out so early: there were really good hockey players all over the ice.

I cannot make mention of these changed fortunes without acknowledging the wholesale change in media acknowledgment of the role that a robust development pipeline now plays in the organization’s overall health. Once upon a time, we who cared greatly about the weekly progress of draft picks had a lone web address (hockeysfuture) to peruse. In season the beat reporters of both big papers will chronicle the feats of the kids in juniors and down on the farm. As will the blogs. The Caps’ web site is metastasizing into a multi-media warehouse of feats present and years-off promising.

Part of becoming a hockey town is having a fanbase fluent with more than the big-league scoreboard and standings and savoring the novel journey that tomorrow’s heroes must make. In Washington, this September, it’s a blockbuster tale.

Filed in American Hockey League, Blogs, College Hockey, DraftGeek, Entry Draft, George McPhee, Hershey Bears, Hockey Towns, Internet, Jay Beagle, Joe Finley, John Carlson, Kettler Capitals Iceplex, Mathieu Perreault, Media, Morning cup-a-joe, Oskar Osala, Philadelphia Flyers, Prospects, Rookie Camp, Simeon Varlamov, Ted Leonsis, Travis Morin, Washington Capitals, Washington the Hockey Town| Permalink| Comments (17)

Mink’s Got a Link

By pucksandbooks
Monday, July 28, 2008

Welcome to the hockey blogosphere, Graham Mink, 2006 Calder Cup hero. Mink, signed just a couple of weeks ago by the Caps and Hershey Bears, made his blog debut just this past weekend. If his opening efforts are any indication, this is a site you’ll want to follow regularly:

“One of the major reasons why I started this blog was to give myself an outlet for all the excited energy I have in anticipation of this season. Anyone that has been following the Washington organization the past year knows that they are one of the up and coming teams in the league with a lot of positive energy surrounding them. Their rebuilding efforts over the last couple of years are finally paying off now that they have the right pieces in place. Having played for Coach Boudreau for the 05/06 season I know that this years Caps will be a very competitive team that will love to play every night and that will be fun to watch. I am also looking forward to seeing several old friends and teammates who are still with the organization. Seeing all of the great players that have signed on with Wash/Hershey for next season I know that regardless of which team I play for they will be a contender for a Championship.”

Filed in American Hockey League, Blogs, Calder Cup, Graham Mink, Hershey Bears, Hockey, Internet, Media, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (2)

The Hockey Blockbuster, Coming Soon to a Rink Near You

By pucksandbooks
Saturday, July 19, 2008

This is an extraordinary American summer weekend, insomuch as it delivers something rarer than an NHL goalie scoring a goal: the arrival in theaters of a great and compelling and culture-consuming domestic movie. I’m speaking of course of the new Batman movie, ‘The Dark Knight.’ It isn’t merely exceptionally well reviewed by critics, who are discussing it in terms of Oscars and “classic.” For its Uptown Theater debut Thursday night at midnight city youths arrived to stand in line some time near 2:00 that afternoon — in Washington July heat. It will be even hotter this weekend, and thousands more, already with tickets, will stand in line hours just to get the seats they want for the screening.

If you can imagine, the nationwide midnight screenings of the film Thursday grossed nearly $20 million. To put that number in terms we hockey fans can understand, that’s a Koules-Aid kind of July budget for free agency to assemble a lottery contender for next June.

Area theaters will have Batman screenings this weekend beginning at 9:00 a.m.! The notion of arriving at any area theater this weekend a few minutes before screening and securing just a single ticket is preposterous. By early yesterday afternoon Craigslist had pages of the movie’s tickets for sale priced solidly above regular box office rate.

Yesterday I found myself marveling at so novel a cultural moment, grateful for its very belated arrival but also melancholy when I considered that Hollywood needs more or less a full decade to render it. It’s true: approximately 99.7 percent of domestic cinematic fare is altogether ordinary or outright rotten. The true gotta-see-it — because of its greatness — cinema spectacle is in frequency of theater runs not dissimilar to the prevalence of Alexander Ovechkins in NHL entry drafts. Anyway, as Americans, we have a special place in our hearts for the buzz-generators on the big-screen that actually deliver the goods. So it’s a moment indeed to savor — history suggests that we won’t see it again for quite some time.

This special moment also led me to think of something special in hockey being crafted, right here in Washington. Like the great summer blockbuster, it’s exceptionally rare for hockey here. It could very well be the case that Verizon Center, beginning this October, will be akin to the great old moviehouse showing just a single feature, for months on end, with weekend tickets very much in demand.

I wouldn’t quite call the 2008-09 Capitals’ season a sequel, however. I think in its forecasted critical acclaim, in its culminating sense of a roster’s arriving very near the peak of elite contention, it will very much be a first run of its kind.

The differences from a summer ago are rather extraordinary. In July 2007 Washington hockey fans thought they had a gifted young star left wing in Alexander Ovechkin. But in his coming off a 46-goal campaign in his sophomore season, most here hoped he’d merely return to the 50-goal club in season three. Who then thought that he’d fairly obliterate competition for the Hart Trophy last season? Today he is regarded as a game-changing force, and the greatest player on the planet.

Additionally, last summer no one even in team management knew that a no. 1 stud of a defender was already in the organization, and poised to break out. But Mike Green will enter the 2008-09 season on a short list of Norris trophy candidates.

Count Brooks Laich as a key component to a glory run in 2008-09, and yet a summer ago he was in a fierce competition among a seeming glut of third and fourth-line center candidates just to make the club. Indeed, if any of the organization’s young centers was thought to have some unexpected offensive upside heading into last season, it was Boyd Gordon, who in ‘06-07 fell one point shy of 30 and flashed a penchant for fits and bursts of well-timed production. Now Laich’s regarded as one of the league’s bright young two-way pivots. And paid like it.

Last summer, who would have imagined that a hockey legend (Sergei Fedorov) would arrive here two-thirds of the way through the season and settle a green and nervous young roster and guide it to an against-all-odds Southeast division title? And then announce, mere weeks after his arrival here, that the atmosphere in Verizon Center ranked as the best he’d ever competed in, and that despite the formation of a very well funded super league in his home country of Russia, that he’d very much like a return engagement in Washington?

There are, indisputably, one or two important areas for Director Boudreau to address in final editing this summer, one of which (the acting in net) is largely out of his control. But given that all of the East’s well built teams for next season possess question marks of their own, it’s certain that the Caps will enter 2008-09 as consensus contenders in the East. They possess star quality principal actors, on-screen chemistry in abundance, and a director newly acknowledged by his peers to be among the best in the business.

Actually, insomuch as there looks to be high-achieving hockey rostered both in Washington and in Hershey this coming season, we appear slated for long run of a great double feature.

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, American Hockey League, Boyd Gordon, Brooks Laich, Bruce Boudreau, Hershey Bears, Mike Green, Morning cup-a-joe, Nicklas Backstrom, Sergei Fedorov, Verizon Center, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (4)

Gabby Gets Honored

By pucksandbooks
Thursday, July 17, 2008
AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn

AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn

Tim Leone, blogging for the Patriot News, captured as he always does the flavor of the moment in Harrisburg, Pa., yesterday, where Caps’ head coach Bruce Boudreau was honored alongside Bears’ GM Doug Yingst. The Dauphin County Commissioners declared Wednesday Bruce Boudreau Day in the county. Bears’ GM Yingst was also honored for his years of service to his community.

Gabby the stand-up comedian was in good form for the occasion.

“I can honestly say that I never used steroids,” he cracked.

Bears’ winger Louis Robitaille attended the ceremony, which, Leone pointed out, “set up an easy one-liner when Commissioner George Hartwick said that Boudreau’s recognition also included a get out of jail free card for the day.

“I’ll give it to Louis,” Boudreau quipped.

Broadcast coverage of Gabby’s big day can be followed via this link to CBS affiliate WHP out of Harrisburg.

[Update] Be sure to check out John Walton’s blog entry which depicts the events leading up to events at the Dauphin County Commissioners office.  It is sure to warm your heart and soul.

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

On the Road Again for Rock

By pucksandbooks
Thursday, July 17, 2008

I’m in Hershey amid some Bears’ hard-rockers for the Rush concert in Hershey Stadium tonight. I’ve had good sport with DC Sports Chick the past 24 hours, whose Canuck husband wanted to name their first child Geddy (irrespective of gender) but who herself would prefer a life free of any more Spirit of the Radio. When I learned yesterday that the band would be making their first television appearance in more than 30 years Wednesday night, on The Colbert Report, I made sure she knew right away [Colbert: "The band Rush is here tonight . . . either that or a drum factory exploded in my studio . . . They are the J.D. Salinger of Canadian pro rock."] Then later yesterday the band turned up as one of Yahoo’s most popular search topics. (I informed her of that as well.)

Still later yesterday I found this on YouTube: a 9-year-old gallantly attempting to play Rush’s shimmering new acoustic track ‘Hope’ at a music recital. I suggested to my music-challenged bloggermate that if under-10 youths were finding inspiration still in these Great White North geezers’ tuneage, that that suggested some level of cultural currency and relevancy. When you consider how small this 9-year-old’s hands are, and the relative weakness of his fingers, the recital result is rather stunning — certainly he captures the track’s basic melody :

YouTube Preview Image

Master Lifeson performs the adult version of ‘Hope’ live here:

YouTube Preview Image
Filed in American Hockey League, Frivolous Summer File, Hershey Bears, Music, Rush| Permalink| Comments (5)

Ahead, a Promising Harvest on the Farm

By pucksandbooks
Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Development camps such as that recently completed by the Capitals have a way of imbuing DraftGeeks and even the more balanced of hockey fan with horizons of heightened optimism. Always it seems there are a handful of young standouts there, among them compelling stories of no-name collegians or free agents making next-season names for themselves. This July’s camp in Washington was no different. Jake Hausworth, a USHL graduate (Omaha) headed for Michigan Tech this autumn, may in his hockey career make no greater imprint than what he did in Washington this past week. All that would make him, then, would be a special hockey player.

Capitals’ fans, I think, ought to delight in the accomplishments of the team’s scouts — high in drafts with lottery selections but also deep into draft Saturdays (Perreault, Gordon). Hershey Bears’ fans, however, ought to be downright giddy at what’s coming their way this autumn, in year four of the team’s affiliation with the Caps.

It’s not out of the realm of possibility, for instance, that Hershey hockey fans could see more of Eric Fehr this coming season. The injury-hampered right wing signed a two-way deal with the Caps last week. He gave great effort in D.C. upon his recall last spring, but a full season of apprentice seasoning in Hershey, earning top line minutes, may not be the worst thing for his career development.

I’m imagining an Eric Fehr, Chris Bourque, Mathieu Perreault, Sami Lepisto, and Andrew Gordon Bears power play at the moment . . . Fehr and Gordon owning the corners, Perreault and CBourque with the puck Krazy-Glued to their sticks, Lepisto making like Mike Green with his passing and hockey sense on the point . . .

Mother, hold me.

Oh, and there’s a bit of a talent infusion in net in the organization to discuss this summer.

Last September, Capitals’ rookies reported first to fall camp and, on Saturday, September 8, skated an exhibition game at the Philadelphia Flyers’ practice facility in Voorhees, N.J. Plans call for the Flyers to reciprocate, and visit Kettler Capitals this September. The Caps haven’t finalized a date for that game yet, but it promises to be a spirited, first-of-its kind event for the facility. If this past Saturday’s SRO turnout for Development Camp’s concluding scrimmage is any indication, Craigslist and or eBay may be involved in admissions with that Rookie Camp tilt.

That game may also inaugurate a season-long intrigue affair between Washington hockey fans and the team’s prospects in Hershey. It’s no secret that the affiliation between the Caps and Bears has been a fruitful one — really a perfect one in terms of the parent club drafting well and feeding quality to the farm, as well as offering fans a friendly proximity by which to travel to one another’s games. But what’s in store this coming season on the farm may be the most appealing that the affiliation has offered to date.

For this coming season in Hershey there will be bluechip prospects for the Caps dressed in Bears’ sweaters at virtually every position, from the goal cage on out: a Rookie of the Year in Finland’s top professional league; an MVP of the QMJHL; the two most recent scoring champions from the Q; at least one member of Team Canada’s gold-medal-winning World Junior champions last year; the backstopper of five shutouts in Russia’s top professional league this most recent postseason; potentially two OHL All -Stars. In other words: fairly an embarrassment of prospect riches.

We live-blogged from Kettler this past Saturday, and joining us in the fun was Bears’ PR guy Chris Poisal. If you followed our musings you absorbed Chris’ significant enthusiasm for the coming campaign. Last year’s Bears may have been somewhat short in the leadership department, and ravaged by injury beyond belief, but this summer’s signings of Dean Arsene, Keith Aucoin, and Hershey 2006 Calder Cup hero Graham Mink have vanquished any leadership concerns. They’ll be expected to mentor a crop of recent Caps’ draft picks abundant in skill but relatively short on pro league experience.

Alluding to Hershey’s offseason signings, and the promise of more help arriving from the parent club, Bears’ head coach Bob Woods on Saturday said, “Leadership was the big thing we were looking to move on, and while we don’t know what’s going to happen here [in Washington] in the fall, you get a [Keith] Aucoin, you get a [Graham] Mink, a healthy [Dean] Arsene back, now you’ve filled a lot of those voids.

“We’ve got a great group of young guys returning,” he added.

Woods admitted that in net, “we’re gonna be young, but from what I’ve seen this week, there’s a lot of promise there.

“Look at a team like Wilkes Barre last year,” he added, “They had two rookie goaltenders and they went right to the finals.”

The ride ought to be fun, and entertaining. A potent potential lineup could include a lot of these names:

Alexandre Giroux Keith Aucoin Eric Fehr/Graham Mink
Chris Bourque Kyle Wilson Andrew Gordon
Oskar Osala Mathieu Perreault / Jay Beagle Francois Bouchard
Maxime Lacroix Andrew Joudrey Scott Barney
Dean Arsene Sami Lepisto
Josh Godfrey Tyler Sloan
Patrick McNeill/Sasha Pokulok
Machesney / Varlamov
Filed in American Hockey League, Andrew Gordon, Chris Bourque, College Hockey, Development Camp, Eric Fehr, Free Agents, Hershey Bears, Kettler Capitals Iceplex, Mathieu Perreault, Minor Pro Hockey, Morning cup-a-joe, Oskar Osala, Prospects, Rookie Camp, Sami Lepisto, Simeon Varlamov, Training Camp, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (19)

2008 Development Camp Final Scrimmage Live Blog

By The OFB Team
Saturday, July 12, 2008

Join us at 10:00am today when we will join Eric McErlain of the Sporting News and the AOL Fanhouse and Chris Poisal, Public Relations Assistant for the Hershey Bears, for some live blogging of the action. If you cannot make it out to Kettler, join us right here with your Saturday morning cup-a-joe.

Filed in Blogs, Development Camp, Francois Bouchard, Hershey Bears, Internet, John Carlson, Josh Godfrey, Karl Alzner, Keith Seabrook, Mathieu Perreault, Michal Neuvirth, OFB, Oskar Osala, Sasha Pokulok, Simeon Varlamov, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (7)

A Bear Cub on IR

By The OFB Team
Friday, July 11, 2008

Our thoughts this morning are with John Walton and his family, in Cincinnati, where John’s son Jack is having surgery today. We’re expecting him to be good and healed up and ready for Caps’ and Bears’ training camps come fall.

Filed in American Hockey League, Hardcore Hockey Fans, Hershey Bears, John Walton| Permalink| Comments (1)

Saturday Live Blogging from Kettler Capitals

By The OFB Team
Thursday, July 10, 2008
For this Saturday’s Development Camp concluding scrimmage at 10:00, we’ll join Eric McErlain of the Sporting News and the AOL Fanhouse and Chris Poisal, Public Relations Assistant for the Hershey Bears, for some live blogging of the action. For those of you who cannot make it out to Kettler, join us right here with your Saturday morning cup-a-joe.
Filed in Blogs, Development Camp, Hershey Bears, Internet, Kettler Capitals Iceplex, Media, Prospects, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (0)
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