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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)

More Red Lamp-Lighting from Russia

By pucksandbooks

Thursday, September 11, 2008

photo courtesy of the Washington Capitals

Back in June, we had a chance to ask Capitals’ General Manager George McPhee about progress and success the organization has enjoyed with the Entry Draft. He agreed then with our assessment that recent Capitals’ drafts had been markedly better than those in his first years on the job in D.C. Because the Capitals did not own a lottery pick in this past June’s entry draft in Ottawa, there was considerably less local media interest in the 2008 draft — the Washington Post didn’t send a reporter to cover it, for instance.

OFB is characteristically curious about Capitals’ prospects from the time they are drafted because, well, a couple of us have an inner draftgeek, but also because so little old media coverage is accorded prospects’ development — how often do either of Washington’s big newspapers cover developments with Caps’ prospects in Major Juniors or Hershey? From the time they’re 18-year-old draft picks to the time they arrive in the big-leagues, there’s a remarkable development journey for hockey players, and it is novel among professional sports. We think it’s worth covering.

We’re particularly curious about Capitals’ 2008 second-round selection Dmitri Kugryshev, whom with SovetskySport’s Dmitry Chesnokov’s assistance we interviewed earlier in the summer. In light of the success the Caps have had with a handful of Russian prospects since 2004, how could you not be curious about him?

Back in July, Kugryshev told us of his elation at being selected by the Caps, and of his enthusiasm for making a go of it in North America beginning this season. Kugryshev is in training camp now with the Quebec Remparts, and as a freshman in Canadian Major Juniors, and a complete outsider both to North American culture and its brand of hockey, you’d expect him to struggle a bit — at least early on. Well, here’s the tally on that level of struggle from his first two exhibition games in a Quebec sweater:

3 goals, 4 assists

His name appears rather high in the Q’s scoring leader’s list for the preseason.

So conspicuous a start we thought merited some feedback on it from the young man, so we tasked our intrepid Russian hockey journalist chum, Chesnokov, with throwing a few questions from us his way. Chesnokov actually remains in regular contact with Kugryshev, talking with him on a weekly basis. We just wanted a sense of Kugryshev’s initial impressions of hockey life in North America.

“Overall, I like everything,” Kugryshev told Chesnokov. “During games, [Patrick] Roy talks a lot in the locker room, draws plays on the board, but I don’t understand anything in French!”

How then does he understand the gameplan, if he doesn’t understand his head coach’s native tongue?

“Roy pulls me and [teammate] Mikhail Stefanovich aside before the game and gives us instructions in English. [Roy] likes to joke and laugh (off the ice), but on the ice he is very strict and firm,” Kugryshev added.

The Caps’ newest Russian talent is staying with a host family in Quebec this season. He sure seems to be enjoying — and succeeding in — his new environment.

Filed in CHL, Dmitry Chesnokov, Dmitry Kugryshev, DraftGeek, Entry Draft, Prospects, Sovetsky Sport, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (8)

An End of Summer Letter to Comcast SportsNet

By pucksandbooks

Thursday, August 28, 2008

My Friends at Comcast SportsNet:

On behalf of the entire OFB team, I want to express appreciation for your enthusiastic support of OFB and Washington’s hockey blogs, and convey my team’s anticipation for your coverage of the Caps in 2008-09. It’s our view that on a number of fronts SportsNet markedly upgraded the breadth and caliber of broadcast coverage of the Caps and hockey for the region last season, and we anticipate bigger and better things from you this season, during what may well be the most anticipated Caps’ season in team history.

Today, however, I’d like to share my concern with the thorough dropoff in hockey coverage on Comcast this summer. Please regard my reflections as aiming at strengthening an already strong broadcast product; Comcast SportsNet is home to knowledgeable and devoted hockey experts, and the outlet’s in-season coverage of the Caps is something the area’s hockey fans ought to take pride in. Your Caps’ page is terrific looking and deserves more credit for the quality of its content as well.

Around the time that SportsNet signed off from the NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa in June it more or less seemed to sign off on covering hockey for the summer, save for a brief blip (Day 1) from Capitals’ Development Camp in mid-July. Of course it’s not that there’s a frenzy of activity in hockey in July and August generally (the region’s hockey blogs slow considerably then as well); I guess my hope was to see, amid the predictable and necessary local media Redskin frenzy, very brief, very modest remembrances of last hockey season wedded with high-octane marketing messages for the new one. A few mere broadcast morsels might have gone a long way to carrying over the feel-good vibe for hockey that SportsNet so successfully cultivated last spring.

Specifically, I wonder if something more might not have been achieved with the novelty of Anton Gustafsson’s selection by the Caps at the June Entry Draft. We in Washington following the draft on TV caught one or two engaging interviews with father and son in Ottawa, but nothing substantive followed. The Gustafsson family charm — to make no mention of the novelty of the moment — seemed to beg for more broadcast product.

The younger Gustafsson’s selection really is an amazing moment in Capitals’ hisory, when you think about it. His father Bengt of course ranks among the most accomplished players in team history. He’s also one of the most accomplished coaches in international hockey, having won gold at both the Olympics and World Championships — in the same year (2006)! In June he watched his son become a first-round NHL draft pick — picked by the same club with which he fashioned a distinguished NHL career.

This very special hockey family easily could have been the subject of a special, in-depth Comcast feature. I’m imagining something like a 30-minute program — much like the one you guys produced for the Capitals’ 2006 Entry Draft — Capitals Under Construction. This time, however, the feature’s focus could have been on one draft pick and his family’s distinctive link to Washington’s hockey team.

How remarkable such a feature could have been had it melded footage of father dangling and dazzling in his classic old Caps’ sweater in the NHL’s ’80s brand of firewagon hockey with contemporary footage of son Anton just emerging as a world-class talent in Sweden’s professional ranks. The feature might also have offered the reflections of one or two or three long-time NHL scouts (European ones, perhaps) offering their comparative assessments of the games of father and son. It might not have been a bad idea, either, to solicit the views of long-standing Caps’ season ticket holders, who could have shared their reflections on father while also expressing their eagerness to see the son in action in a Caps’ sweater.

Now imagine if you’d produced such a program and aired it the night before the start of training camp next month, immediately followed by a broadcast of father Gustafsson’s 5-goal game (on five shots!) against the Flyers in 1984. What a welcome to Washington to the Gustafsson family that would have been. The feature program could have aired at least a handful of times during hockey’s quiet months of July and August, and served as a novel bit of nourishment for the region’s hungry hockey fans.

You may realize that beginning this summer many of those fans began tuning in to the NHL Network, now offered on select cable systems about the region, to satisfy their puck-lust. I think it should be Comcast’s aim to retain them all 12 months on the calendar.

Another idea for a fan-friendly feature in summer might have been to sit down with Head Coach Bruce Boudreau not long after his Jack Adams win and explore in depth — again in feature-length fashion — his extraordinary run in Washington last season. You already know how accomplished a story-teller he is; so why not roll the cameras and allow him, removed from the soundbite setting of the in-season arena, to tell his insider’s tale? My prediction is that the editing on your end would have been distinctly minimal. Washington this summer is home to the greatest coach in hockey — but who visiting our city this summer would have learned that while here?

Washington this summer is also home to the greatest player in all of hockey. Beyond Comcast’s producing something substantive such as a feature-length profiles, I also wonder at the absence this summer of quick-hitting broadcast blurbs related to Alexander Ovechkin’s remarkable rise to the very top of his sport. When he had all that hardware surrounding him in his stylish tuxedo up in Toronto in June, you guys asked us for some photos we published of it. Those stills in some fashion should have been aired on Comcast every day this summer, just for mere seconds, so that the tens of thousands of tourists in our town could have been reminded that they were visiting a city home to hockey royalty.

Filed in Anton Gustafsson, Bengt Gustafsson, Bruce Boudreau, Comcast SportsNet, Entry Draft, Hockey Towns, Media, Morning cup-a-joe, National Hockey League, TV, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (9)

Prospects, Like Fine Red Wine, Take Time

By pucksandbooks

Thursday, June 26, 2008

We’re in this interim between the draft and the Capitals’ July Development Camp (mercifully, a period lasting little more than two weeks), and with the arrival in town soon of so many recently drafted prospects, it seems an appropriate time to map out what I regard as a fair and accurate timetable for hockey fans to await the arrival of promising youth to the parent club.

I do this because, as is the case with every draft season, a fair swath of fans get a case of the vapors when they take stock of a draft asset three or four years removed from his selection, and still in development; and swept up in message board madness, are therefore inclined to judge him “a bust.”

Let’s start out by stating the obvious: it ain’t easy projecting the NHL bona fides of 18-year-olds. More on that, as it relates to one Vincent Lecavalier, in a minute.

But let’s first address what I call the One-Tenth of One Percent Club. Your Ovechkins. Your Lemieuxs. Your Stamkoses. They don’t arrive every year, but when they do they seriously outclass their draft class. As 18-year-olds, they’re going straight to the NHL, to shine on a first line. They are very rare — the drafting exception. Here’s how rare a specimen Ovie was: a majority of NHL scouts, taking stock of his 18-point performance at the World Under-20s in 2001, thought him easily capable of taking regular — and impact — shifts in the NHL as a 16-year-old then. Again, though, this is the uber-exception, the cream of the elite crop. Most often at the very top of NHL drafts are really nice hockey players who need more CHL or European pro league seasoning.

So what happens with your more typical top-of-the-class blue-chippers, rest-of-the-first-round fellas, year in and year out? A few will require only a single additional year or two of competition in the Canadian Major Juniors. Think Karl Alzner (who likely would have earned a Caps’ sweater for a round two of the NHL playoffs this spring had the Caps prevailed in game 7 against Philly). If he’s a Euro lottery gem like Nicklas Backstrom, an additional year in his country’s top professional league before coming over. But again, we’re still discussing the cream of every draft crop and the odd exception to the general rule: even really terrific hockey prospects take time to develop. Ninety-plus percent of NHL first-rounders will require marinating in juniors and minor pro leagues, or on campus and then the minors, for years.

I mentioned Vinny Lecavalier earlier. He was drafted first overall in 1998. Tampa, then a league doormat, needed some star-buzz-Mojo in its lineup, and fairly forced the young Québécois into the NHL at 18. He scored a grand total of 13 goals during 1998-99. It’s almost beyond dispute that Vinny would have been better served with an additional year (or two) of development before hitting the bigs.

The next three seasons, Lecavalier notched between 23-25 goals; talk of “draft bust” necessarily followed, widely and loudly.

Then in 2002-03 Vinny hit 33 goals. He followed that with 32 in the ‘03-’04 campaign, which culminated with Tampa winning the Cup. Vinny played an important role in the Cup win, but he certainly wasn’t regarded as a stud. Some no. 1 overall, huh?

But a funny thing happened when Lecavalier returned from the lockout, some seven years after his drafting: he was still developing as a big-leaguer! In 2006-07 Lecavalier recorded his break-through, superstar season: 52 goals — nearly 10 years after he was drafted. These days, Lightning ownership is discussing inking Vinny to a lifetime contract.

How’s that for patience? Anybody talking about Vinny being a bust of a no. 1 now?

So with non-lottery picks, almost always, years and years of development are commonly required. Let’s cite Eric Fehr, since he’s a bit of a flashpoint for the with-vapors crowd. When Fehr was drafted in 2003, both Director of Amateur Scouting Ross Mahoney and GM George McPhee swiftly, publicly, established his requiring years more development just in Canadian Major Juniors. And Fehr rewarded the Caps’ plan of patience. He notched consecutive 50-plus-goal campaigns with Brandon of the WHL.

It’s instructive at this point to note that even a veteran bluechipper of a WHLer doesn’t waltz into the American Hockey League and command a first-line perch. The ‘A’ is a pro league of men, and at 20 or 21, CHL graduates — even distinguished ones — are raw meat for the grizzled grist of the last-chance-or-bust bus league. I know this doesn’t conform with message boards’ demand of immediate gratification, but it’s a reality of real-world hockey life.

So Fehr acquitted himself modestly well in 2005-06, his rookie season in pro hockey, potting 25 goals. In ‘06-’07 Fehr was hampered by injuries, but still he managed 22 goals in just 40 games with the Bears. He was, in just his second year of pro hockey, a point-per-game player. At the age of 22.

How about Brooks Laich, an ‘01 draftee? After he was drafted by Ottawa in ‘01 he spent an additional two full years in the CHL. Then he apprenticed in the ‘A’ for more than 120 games. He put up a grand total of 15 goals in more than 140 games with the Capitals between 2005-07. Some return for Peter Bondra, right? Well let’s see if the Caps regard him as a bust, seven summers removed from his draft year, during new contract negotiations this summer.

Brooks Laich is the norm in NHL development. Mike Green is not.

In 2004 the Caps drafted Minnesota prospect Travis Morin in the ninth round. He enjoyed an All American-caliber career at Minnesota State before signing with the Caps. His name was even discussed in association with the Hobey Baker award his final two seasons with the Mavericks. It’s irrelevant to me if Morin sees a single day of NHL duty in his pro hockey career. Finding that quality that late in any draft is a sure sign of scouting deftness. If the Caps’ scouts are going to uncover Hobey Baker candidate prospects once in a blue moon in a seventh or ninth round of the draft, I say (1) keep the scouts and (2) give them raises. It isn’t the job of your NHL scouts to develop Matt Pettinger into a consistent 20-goal scorer; that’s Matt Pettinger’s job.

So what is a general development formula for draft picks? I’d offer two years of additional CHL development after draft selection, a stint of at least two years, on average, in the ‘A,’ and then, potentially, graduation to 4th line minutes with the big club — and that’s if you’re a bluechipper. Not a stud, but a bluechipper. And no development-impairing injuries like we saw with Fehr or Nolan Yonkman, or else the timetable gets adjusted outward.

If you’re a U.S. collegian, 3-4 years on campus and at least 1-3 years in minor pros. That’s the norm. Joe Finley’s getting at least a full season in Hershey after having spent four years at one of the premier college hockey programs in America, and likely one season plus with the Bears. And he was a first-rounder. Guys like Phil Kessel (a serious bluechipper) who shortcut it just don’t seem to have made wise choices.

For Euros, well, there’s wide variance in the caliber of competition from league to league, but with a good prospect like Anton Gustafsson we ought to expect another year sub-Swedish Elite League season and at least one year in the Elite before we see him. He’d also have to stay healthy for those two years. A year in Hershey afterward probably wouldn’t hurt, either.

Filed in Brooks Laich, DraftGeek, Entry Draft, Eric Fehr, Joe Finley, Karl Alzner, Morning cup-a-joe, Prospects, Travis Morin, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (10)

Another Solid Draft Hauling in Adherence with the Blueprint

By pucksandbooks

Monday, June 23, 2008

So how did the Caps do at the draft this weekend? One answer is, a lot better than the Islanders and especially Pittsburgh. Here’s a Hockeysfuture reflection from an Isles’ fan attending a Friday night draft party, grading out his team’s labor in Ottawa:

“NYI-On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being the worst they are in negative numbers.

“I was at the draft party. The place was furious when they traded the 5th pick, but when they got nothing of value back from the Leaf’s the place really started to flip out.

“Then when the Isles traded the 7th pick to the Preds—again for nothing much in return—of the 1,000 or so fans in attendence—at least 500 got up and walked out in disgust and silence. They did not even boo.

“When they selected Bailey—you could hear a rat piss on cotton in Argentina. Then—everyone left in disgust.”

At least the Isles, eventually, belatedly, made some selections. Pittsburgh goes on the clock for the first time late this Tuesday morning. In this draft, you just wanted to be in the mix (and not, like Garth Snow, trying to trade out of it), with some picks among the top 75 or so prospects. The Caps were, they had a specific strategy — players targeted for the team’s draft positions — and they landed their targets.

In their last five drafts, the Caps have accumulated 10 first-round picks. And if you listened to General Manager George McPhee’s post-draft reflections on Saturday, he’d have you believe there’s an 11th in the tally — Dmitry Kugryskev, a CSKA-2 teammate of sixth-overall selection Nikita Filatov.

“We thought he may have gone somewhere in the first round,” McPhee said after Saturday’s drafting has been completed. Alluding to the absence of a transfer agreement with Russia, McPhee added that Kugryskev certainly would have gone higher “in the old NHL.”

Over the weekend McPhee also noted that the Caps enjoy a distinct drafting advantage by virtue of having Alexander Ovechkin. While most other organizations in rounds 1 and 2 will understandably be wary of selecting Russians then in the absence of a transfer agreement, and now the formation of the Continental Hockey League as a bigger, better-paying version of the RSL, the Caps as they interview Russian prospects can gauge interest in the youngsters’ willinginess to come over and skate with their nation’s hero. Kugryskev is one such prospect.

“I dream about the NHL every day of my life. It’s my dream,” Kugryskev said recently.

With respect to his new Russian winger, McPhee probably wasn’t just whistling that 30-team, post-draft sunshine tune that’s a staple of every draft’s conclusion, either. Last season the right winger scored 58 points in 35 games with CSKA-2. His lottery pick teammate Filatov had 66 points in 34 games. He’s renowed for his worth ethic.

The Capitals were going to trade out of round 1 Friday if neither of Anton Gustafsson nor John Carlson had been available. They landed both. They also had multiple trade offers when their turn came up late in round 2. McPhee actually called a timeout to ponder them but ultimately judged what was available (Kugryskev and Eric Mestery) as more valuable. So the Caps landed their primary targets and then, while with offers in hand to move away from the draft’s still rich realm, they judged their draft list delivering them better value and they selected, solidly.

The Carlson selection in particular may prove to be a sage one. Already blessed with a pro physique, the mobile, two-way reargruard was an intrigue prospect for this draft. His size and all-around game drew universal commendation from NHL organizations, but competing in the United States Hockey League, and competing in a draft chock full of bluechip defenders, Carlson was a candidate to be there late in round one.

Charlie Skjodt, his coach with the Indiana Ice of the USHL, told the Newark Star-Ledger before the draft, “I’d be shocked if he isn’t selected in the first round . . . without a doubt, he’s going to be a star in the NHL.” Carlson’s already served as an assistant captain on a U.S. select team and is likely a strong candidate to represent the U.S. in future World Under-20 tourneys.

The Capitals are currently ranked sixth by Hockeysfuture for the strength of their prospect holdings. If you’re at the very top of that list it likely means you’re drafting too high, too often too consecutively each June. With their work this past weekend the Capitals are a safe bet to remain in the top 10 of the HF ranking. That seems about where they’d want to be: not a lottery regular but with a farm chock full of promise and able fill-ins for injured players on the parent roster. And it’s this quality and depth that is central to the Caps’ tenet of building and replenishing largely from within.

It’s worth noting, too, the success the Caps are now having in drafts’ later rounds. Among recent signees are Mathieu Perreault (6th round, ‘06), Oskar Osala (4th round, ‘06), Andrew Joudrey (8th round, ‘03), Daren Maschesney (5th round, ‘05), Patrick McNeill (4th round, ‘05), Travis Morin (9th round, ‘04), and Andrew Gordon (7th round, ‘04).

The Capitals today are an experienced drafting organization; McPhee and Ross Mahoney have been together 10 years now. They’ve made their share of mistakes in June in years past, which the GM has aknowledged, but they’re enjoying more success these days. That continued this past weekend in Ottawa.

Filed in DraftGeek, Entry Draft, Morning cup-a-joe, National Hockey League, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, Prospects, Schadenfreude, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (11)

17-year-old Alex Ovechkin

By OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Once again: Thank you, Hockey Gods, for helping that lottery ball bounce the Capitals’ way in 2004 . . .

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Entry Draft, Video Clips, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (2)

Morning After Draft Reflections

By pucksandbooks

Saturday, June 21, 2008

In a draft heavy on talented rearguards, four of the first five selections were on the blueline, and 12 went among the top 30 overall. I’m at pains to identify a real reach anywhere in round one. Certainly there were no Blake Wheeler brain-dead picks. A lot of teams helped their systems last night.

Although . . . not so much in Pittsburgh.

There were more than a dozen trades during round one last night, which added serious spice to the evening drama. Olli Jokinen moved out of the Southeast (for a song). The Flames moved Alex Tanguay and his 18 goals and $5 million contract to Montreal for the Habs’ first rounder. The Kings shipped Mike Cammallerie to Calgary for a first. And of course the Caps parted ways with Steve Eminger.

It’s a metaphysical certitude that a fair and sober and accurate evaluation of any draft requires 3-5 years’ time as picks mature from teenage prospects into young men mentored by NHL organizations, and so necessarily it’s important to weigh in — with vigorous and unyielding certainty – on who won and who lost last night, less than 12 hours after the 30th pick was made.

My winners: Chicago, Phoenix (highway robbery of Florida), Nashville, the Rangers, LA, Tampa, and the Caps.

Losers: the New York Islanders (there’s a stunner).

The Isles’ behavior last night can only be described as bizarre. They have a roster craving impact players, and perched at no. 5, they were poised to land one. Filatov, for instance, was on the board. So was Schenn. So what does the Snow-Wang braintrust do? They trade down. Not once, but twice! Where at no. 9 they land non-impact prospect Josh Bailey.

“The consensus is that [Bailey] won’t be a big offensive producer in the NHL,” THN wrote in its Entry Draft preview issue. Just what the Isles needed. I think the Blue Jackets stunned Snow with their selection of Filatov at no. 6, meaning, necessarily, that the Isles weren’t well prepared for the moment. There’s something new.

Keep an eye on Nashville’s selection at 18, goaltender Chet Pickard. Mike Vogel chatted up a scouting source in Ottawa who suggested that Pickard is more impressive now than was Carey Price in his draft year. Wow.

Consensus seems to be that the Rangers got great value in selecting Michael Del Zotto at 20.

If there was one moderate reach in round one it might have been the Bs choosing Joe Colborne at no. 16. Colborne played Jr. A the past two seasons. He’s a tantalizing package of a big frame, strong skating, and soft hands, but NHL scouts commonly show restraint with prospects who aren’t competing at the highest level among their peers. Colborne will skate next season with Denver of the WCHA, so he’ll get as good a test of his abilities there as he could anywhere.

Earlier this week, via the CapsReport, I put to draft guru Kyle Woodlief a question about an American prospect surge late this spring, noting that whereas throughout much of the hockey season most scouting services had just two or three Americans going in round one, finals lists commonly had 4-6 Yanks there. He poo-poo-ed the notion, suggesting that about three Americans remained likelys for the first. Well, six Americans went among the first 30 players drafted, further bolstering the claims of a renaissance in U.S. hockey development.

I just have this hunch that Hawks’ fans will come to love Dale Tallon’s pick of Kyle Beach at no. 11. He’s a big-bodied, piss-n-vinegar prospect.

For Caps’ fans, leaving a strong draft with two first-round picks has to be considered both a pleasant surprise and a real boon to an already strong stable of youth. If I’m a hockey fan in Hershey this morning I’m calling the ticket office and inquiring about season tickets for the next couple of seasons. In the Washington hockey bloggers’ real-time chat I joined last night I observed to the room how cool it will be to see the name Gustafsson on the back of red, white, and blue Caps’ sweaters, and not out of nostalgia.

I want to commend the Friday night puck party sensibilities of the well over 500 puckheads who joined JP, Eric, Peerless, and OFB in our consolidated live blog forum for more than four hours last night. Apparently, in late June, Washington isn’t much of a hockey town.

It was, from my vantage, everything that new media can offer as a rewarding experience in being connected with like-minded lovers of hockey on a big night. It didn’t hurt that we were gathered on a Friday night. Kudos to JP for bringing forward the idea late in the day yesterday, and to Eric for carrying off the last-minute technology so smoothly. By evening’s end a whole lot of us were united in the belief that we have to do it again. We were also united in the belief that JP needs help with his refrigerator’s selection of puck sodas.

Filed in Bengt Gustafsson, Blogs, DraftGeek, Entry Draft, Internet, Media, Mike Vogel, Morning cup-a-joe, Prospects, Steve Eminger, Washington Capitals, Washington the Hockey Town| Permalink| Comments (7)

Images of the Newest Help

By The OFB Team

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Filed in DraftGeek, Entry Draft, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (1)

A Family Affair in ‘08 First Round

By pucksandbooks

Saturday, June 21, 2008

In his very first interaction with Washington media, Anton Gustafsson Friday night was asked to compare his game with that of his father’s.

“I think I’m better,” he said. “I’m a better skater, I have a better shot.”

Capitals’ fans can only dream that the son is right, and if he is they’re in for an extraordinary joy ride. Anton’s father Bengt was merely one of the most gifted talents ever to don a Caps’ sweater. He was big, and a powerful skater. He possessed hockey sense in spades, and he regularly directed cross-ice passes to teammates on the tape at full speed. He was lethal on draws, and he was a shut-down defensive gem. He remains perhaps the most complete hockey player in Capitals’ history.

He once scored 5 goals in a game against Philadelphia — on 5 shots. (Think Ovechkin will accomplish that?) Number 16 ranks fifth all-time in Caps’ scoring with 555 points in 629 games from 1979-89.

The NHL Network interviewed a very proud papa about Anton late Friday night, and it wasn’t just anybody asking the questions. Bengt’s coach as a Cap, Gary Green, asked father to compare son’s game with his own.

“He looks a little like dad [on the ice],” the ex-Cap great responded. “He has a little more skill, he shoots better.”

“He has a big future in front of him.”

The Capitals traded with New Jersey on Friday night to select Gustafsson, surrendering the 54th pick to the Devils and leap-frogging Edmonton to do so. And that’s what’s drawn our attention to this selection in particular. You’ll recall that just last summer there was what might be termed “bad blood” between the Washington and Edmonton organizations over the pusuit of unrestricted free agent Michael Nylander. Edmonton believed that they’d had an agreement with the unrestricted free agent pivot, only to see him land in D.C.

Back in 1978, the Caps drafted the elder Gustafsson in the fourth round. He subsequently played a season of pro hockey in Sweden and then signed with Edmonton of the World Hockey Association. But in ‘79-80 Edmonton was one of four WHA clubs to merge with the NHL, and the Caps, having already drafted Gustafsson, claimed his rights. A dispute ensued; the Caps prevailed; the rest is history.

So imagine with that backfile the circumstances on the draft floor in Ottawa Friday night. The Caps obviously had Anton Gustafsson higher on their draft board than no.23, and ahead of them, as Gustafsson remained un-selected as the Caps’ pick neared, were the Oilers.

The guess here is that General Manager George McPhee won’t be receiving a Christmas card from Kevin Lowe’s family this December.

On Friday night the Caps also acquired Natick, Massachusetts, native John Carlson, a big-bodied defenseman, in the first round. They dealt Steve Eminger and the 84th pick to the Philadelphia Flyers for the 27th pick in the first round, which they used to select Carlson. The 6 ‘2, 215-pound blueliner played with Indiana of the USHL in 2007-08.

Filed in Bengt Gustafsson, Entry Draft, Former Coaches & Players, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (3)

Entry Draft Live Blog

By The OFB Team

Friday, June 20, 2008

Don’t want to refresh your favorite Caps blogs this evening to follow all the draft happenings? No worries, we’ve joined JP from Japers’ Rink and FanHouse, Eric from OffWing, FanHouse and The Sporting News, The Peerless Prognosticator and perhaps even Dmitry from SovetskySport for an evening of live blogging and expert analysis on everything from the draft picks to the drink picks.

Don’t be bashful, grab your favourite puck soda, jump in and chat along. The festivities start at 6:45 EDT.

Filed in Blogs, DraftGeek, Entry Draft, National Hockey League, OFB, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (4)

First-Round Flops Over the Years

By pucksandbooks

Friday, June 20, 2008

No team can get it right in round one every year, even drafting very high. And at times all teams get it really wrong then. A survey such as this is a powerful reminder of the crapshoot that is selecting 18-year-old hockey players. However, it is also an invitation for fans to react with, “What the *@^* were you thinking?”

I’ve included picks made by the Whale with those of the Hurricanes, and of those made by the Nordiques in association with Colorado, to even out the survey period. No need however to add Winnipeg to Phoenix’s draft woes — the Desert Dogs know how to screw the draft pooch up high all on their own. Take a look:

Team	Player Picked	Comment	Studs Selected After
Anaheim	Stanislav Chistov (5th, 2001)	The ‘07 Cup win offers serious salve for the Stanislav screwup	Mike Komisarek, Pascal Leclaire, R.J. Umberger, Ales Hemsky, Mike Cammalleri
Atlanta	Patrick Stefan (no.1, 1999)	The ‘99 harvest wasn’t swell to be sure, but this still is a serious stinker	The Sedin twins, Martin Havlat
Boston	Lars Jonsson (7th, 2000)	A good recipe for Swedish meatballs would have delivered more	Brooks Orpik, Alexander Frolov, Anton Volchenkov, Niklas Kronvall
Buffalo	Shawn Anderson, (5th, 1986)	This was a Shawn of the Dead selection	Vincent Damphousse, Brian Leetch, Craig Janney, Teppo Numminen
Calgary	Bryan Deasley (19th, 1987)	The Flames’ no. 1 from ‘86, George Pelawa, died in a motorcycle crash that summer, making this a two-year strikeout stretch	John LaClair, Eric Desjardins, Mathieu Schneider, Stephane Matteau
Carolina/Hartford	Fred Arthur (8th, 1980)	No relation to Bea Arthur, except in NHL impact	Paul Coffey, Brent Sutter, Craig Ludwig, Steve Larmer, Andy Moog, Jari Kurri
Chicago	Tony Tanti (12th, 1981)	Wirtz maybe thought he’d sign cheap?	Al MacInnis, Chris Chelios, Mike Vernon, John Vanbiesbrouck
Colorado/Quebec	Aniel Dore (5th, 1988)	Who doesn’t own an Aniel Dore Nordiques’ sweater?	Jeremy Roenick, Teemu Selanne, Rob Blake, Rod Brind’Amour, Martin Gelinas
Columbus	Alexander Picard (8th, 2004)	Inspector Clousseau isn’t going to look into this pick — he made it	Alexander Radulov, Drew Stafford, Andrej Meszaros, Wojtek Wolski
Dallas	Jason Bacashihua (26th, 2001)	Played with the ECHL’s Johnston Chiefs in ‘07-08, which for a first-rounder seven years after being drafted is a fairly moderate pace of development	Derek Roy, Fedor Tyutin, Mike Cammalleri, Jason Pominville, Dave Steckel
Detroit	Shawn Burr (7th, 1984)	I thought briefly of exluding the Wings from this exercise, they draft so well, and you have to go back a bit to find a serious screwup	Shane Corson, Sylvain Cote, Gary Roberts, Kevin Hatcher, Scott Mellanby
Edmonton	Marc-Antoine Pouliot (22nd, 2003)	Overlooked this scouting report by the rest of the league: “Thin, weak, won’t hit or backcheck or play in traffic. Other than that, he’s dandy.”	Mike Richards, Corey Perry, Patrice Bergeron, Matt Carle
Florida	Petr Taticek (9th, 2002)	Why no postseasons in Sunrise, Cats’ fans ask? Look at this pick	Alexander Semin, Chris Higgins, Alexander Steen, Cam Ward
Los Angeles	Wally McBean (4th, 1987)	Not a new lunch item at MickeyD’s	Joe Sakic, Andrew Cassels, Mathieu Schneider, Luke Richardson
Minnesota (Wild/Stars)	Brian Lawton (no. 1, 1983)	The bridesmaid to Daigle	Pat LaFontaine, Steve Yzerman, Tom Barrasso, Cam Neely
Montreal	Terry Ryan (8th, 1995)	Terry Hatcher would have looked better here	Jarome Iginla, J.S. Giguere, Petr Sykora, Martin Biron
Nashville	Brian Finley (6th, 1999)	The day the music stopped in Honkeytonkville	Barret Jackman, Martin Havlat, Mike Commodore, David Tanabe
New Jersey	Adrian Foster (28th, 2001)	Yo, Adrian! Legend has it that Foster wasn’t even on other teams’ lists — anywhere!	Fedor Tyutin, Mike Cammalleri, Peter Budaj, Ray Emery, Patrick Sharp
NY Islanders	Dave Chyzowski (2nd, 1989)	Can’t blame Mad Mike for this one — he didn’t arrive until ‘95	Bill Guerin, Pavel Bure, Olaf Kolzig, Stu Barnes
NY Rangers	Hugh Jessiman (12th, 2003)	Hughe mistake!	Brent Seabrook, Steve Bernier, Zach Parise, Ryan Getzlaf
Ottawa	Alexander Daigle (no. 1, 1993)	The Mother of all Misses; to “Daigle” in round one is every GM’s nightmare	Chris Pronger, Paul Kariya, Todd Bertuzzi, Brendan Witt, Adam Deadmarsh
Philadelphia	Claude Boivin (14th, 1988)	Philly does real well in the first round; this year, not so much	Rob Blake, Alexander Mogilny, Tony Amonte, Bret Hedican, Tie Domi
Phoenix	Blake Wheeler ( 5th, 2004)	Wheeler of misfortune; think Gretz & co. reached here?	Rostislav Olesz, Alexander Radulov, Drew Stafford, Wojtek Wolski
Pittsburgh	Zarley Zalapski (4th, 1980)	ZZ FlopTop and agonizing alliteration	Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri, Steve Larmer, Craig Ludwig, Brent Sutter
San Jose	Pat Falloon (2nd, 1991)	Plus, Pat had to don that original San Jose teal sweater on the ‘91 draft stage	Scott Niedermayer, Peter Forsberg, Martin Lapointe, Brian Rolston, Alexei Kovalev
St. Louis	Perry Turnbull (2nd, 1979)	188 goals in an NHL career is nothing to snicker at, but methinks Ray Bourque would have helped out more	Ray Bourque, Mike Gartner, Brian Propp, Kevin Lowe
Tampa	Alexander Svitov (3rd, 2001)	Tampa (Nikita Alexeev) hasn’t exactly struck Lightning with first-round Russians	Pascal Leclaire, Alex Hemsky, R.J. Umberger, Shaone Morrisonn
Toronto	Gary Nylund (3rd, 1982)	This is the stuff of Cup droughts	Scott Stevens, Phil Housley, Dave Andreychuk, Doug Gilmour
Vancouver	Jere Gillis (4th, 1978)	The Canucks have no home-grown Hall of Famers, including Gillis	Mark Napier, Don Maloney, Doug Wilson, Bengt Gustafsson
Washington	Greg Joly ( no.1, 1974)	Good Golly what a stinker! “The next Bobby Orr” it was said of Joly in ‘74. Umm, not so much.	Clark Gillies, Pierre Larouche, Bryan Trottier, Doug Riesbrough

Filed in Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, DraftGeek, Edmonton Oilers, Entry Draft, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, National Hockey League, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (5)

If Only We Still Had Drive-in Theaters for This Summer Friday Night

By The OFB Team

Friday, June 20, 2008

Something felt a little bit special about this morning, no? That’s because hockey’s back, as Versus brings us live coverage of the NHL Entry Draft from 7:00 - 10:00 this evening. And the NHL Network will have a healthy helping of coverage as well. Just as soon as Versus signs off tonight the NHL Network will offer two hours of draft analysis from 10:00 - 12:00.

What a perfect first-date slate!

Tomorrow morning, the NHL Network will carry live “extended” coverage of the draft beginning at 9:30. And if you miss any of tonight’s action, the network will offer replays over the weekend.

These are broadcast vitamins for our hockeyless summer heartache.

Filed in DraftGeek, Entry Draft, Media, NHL Network, National Hockey League, TV, Versus| Permalink| Comments (2)

Yahoo Says, This Is Who Your Daddy Is

By pucksandbooks

Thursday, June 19, 2008

A message of warning to Citizenship and Immigration Canada: your borders this Friday will be breached, and the sensibilities of your fair people assaulted, as a maker of new media mischief invades the Great White North to cover the NHL Entry Draft this weekend. I’d urge a thorough interrogation of him at the border before authorizing his admission, even temporarily. I’m reasonably sure Canada hasn’t seen the likes of puck daddy before.

“Glenn Healy leaves TSN to join the NHLPA as director of player affairs. Obviously, the director of pointless commentary position was already filled.”

Certainly Canucks haven’t seen his brand of covering hockey.

Need more of a warning sign? Your sacred Stanley Cup, you know what puck daddy’s asking about it these days? Is it taller than Mini Me?

Here’s arriving in your fair nation to tell you that it is . . . just barely.

In his earlier blogger iterations, at the AOL Fanhouse, the Fourth Period, and Deadspin, daddy went by Greg Wyshynski. Now he’s at Yahoo, having quit his northern Virginia newspaper job this spring to become a full-time, dedicated daddy blogger of puck and only puck. It’s a really, really big deal, an amazing and courageous move on Greg’s part, and in little more than a month there he’s made a gigantic impression that’s drawn millions of page views to what was largely an afterthought aspect of Yahoo’s sports blogging shop.

“It’s the best job I’ve ever had — an amazing amount of creative freedom, and an amazing amount of success early on,” daddy told me on the eve of his departure for Ottawa. “It’s a bizarre, surreal situation. But I’m just thrilled with how much we’ve accomplished.”

The daddy gig is actually a bit of a collaborative — Greg’s ably assisted by contributing bloggers Jonathon Baum, Matt Roonig, Sean Leahy, and Ross McKeon — but Greg’s the unmistakable creative driving force, and his razor-sharp wit and spare no punches approach is gloriously stamped all over the enterprise. Daddy is erudite; daddy is seriously smart-alecky; daddy is mischievous; daddy is bawdy. Daddy is just beautiful.

” . . . the National Post expects TV ratings to tumble if there’s a Stanley Cup final between “the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Phoenix Coyotes.” We actually think the curiosity factor for that series would be incredible, seeing as how it’s currently impossible for those two teams to meet for the Cup.”

[Interviewing Columbus Blue Jackets' Rick Nash] “What are you watching on TV? The Brett Michaels dating show?”

On the NHL’s biggest party night, puck daddy was there zinging away:

“Full disclosure: I ducked out of the show for some barbequing right around when Gary Bettman reached a new level of incompetence by somehow sucking the nobility out of Gordie Howe receiving a lifetime achievement award. I know Bettman gets the flop sweats every time he’s standing near a trophy in front of hockey fans; maybe when the boos didn’t echo through the theater, he lost his bearings. But isn’t giving Gordie Howe a lifetime achievement honor, like, the ultimate empty netter on an awards show? And yet Bettman totally Patrick Stefan’d it.

“From what I saw, it was less an awards show than a high-school assembly. Peers honoring peers. Alumni returning to warm receptions. Awkward speeches. Some montages from the A.V. club. And Principal Ron MacLean, your amiable but completely humor-deprived host (just a hunch, but Gene Kelly references don’t really fly with the younger demos these days). The only things missing were a performance by the Glee Club and some cat-calls when the smoking hot Math teacher makes her appearance on stage (every school had one).”

Two principal reason’s for daddy’s gigantic success early on are Greg’s well-exercised creativity but also his devotion to making Jamie Mottram, Greg’s inspired Yahoo blogging boss who advocated for Greg’s full-time hiring, proud of the experiment. I asked daddy if he felt chained to his computer these days.

“Bleep yea! I haven’t figured out how to have a functional life outside of this.

“But Jamie fought for the full-time blog, and it’s important to me to broaden the scope of voices, to bring other people into the conversation.” Meaning, in his commitment to getting others involved in the brand he’s building, he’s behind on his showering. One of daddy’s early trademarks is a highly commendable habit of linking to hockey blogs that pre-daddy published well under the search engine radar.

I asked daddy what his plans were for covering the draft in Ottawa, with a strong wind solidly at his blogging back.

“I’m not reporting on the draft in any traditional way — you can find that elsewhere. I’m looking for atmosphere, for quirky angles, to interact with guys drafted in later rounds and have some fun with them.

“I will try and capture a sense of breaking news . . . but I want to have some fun.

“The draft is an event, but 99 percent of hockey fans don’t know the players drafted cause they haven’t watched them play.” But new media, daddy was quick to point out, is playing an enormous role in engaging hockey fans with an event like the draft.

“Look at what Tampa did with what was clearly user-created video, on YouTube, of Steve Stamkos just days after they won the first pick,” he pointed out. The ‘Bolts had it up on their site. The league is doing the same thing. It all adds up to a wild party in real time chock full of connectedness, which daddy adores.

“You tell me if you think I’m wrong,” daddy solicits, “but I think hockey fans want to know what cars players are driving, what they’re eating, what movies they’re watching . . . who they’re bleeping.”

Puck daddy has arrived, in the nick of time, to allay our fears of a returned Glo-puck, to remind us of Evel Knieval’s brief hockey career, to make fun of Ron Tugnutt’s name, and to keep a close eye on Elisha Cuthbert.

Daddy, I am so a part of your posse.

Filed in Entry Draft, Internet, Media, Video Clips| Permalink| Comments (5)

Origins of a DraftGeek

By pucksandbooks

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

For those who live with hockey residing in the soul, every day carries some manner of frozen celebration, even in the dead of summer, but some days are better refrigerated than others. For me there are three or four genuinely dry-ice moments in the hockey calendar that are a given every year: the morning of day one of training camp in September; the morning of the season opener about a month later; and the moment that the NHL commissioner places the team drafting first at June’s Entry Draft on the clock. With those first two events, no doubt I’m joined in celebration by thousands of puckheads across the continent. But the latter?

Welcome to my world, that of the DraftGeek.

I can trace my addiction back to, of all things, a George Michael sportscast on WRC-TV in 1981. That was the Bobby Carpenter draft. Michael that evening led his sportscast with word of the Caps drafting Carpenter third overall that summer. Obviously pre-Internet, pre-anything hockey coverage then in the offseason, the broadcast news gatekeepers had to apprise us of anything significant transpiring for the pro hockey team here. Carpenter had appeared on Sports Illustrated’s cover in March of ‘81, making his selection by the Caps in that draft a lead story affair for local media. And of course, the ‘81 draft was just a year removed from the Miracle on Ice, and so the Caps selecting what was then regarded as the finest American hockey prospect perhaps since Hobey Baker made a formative impression on your blogger.

In the spring of ‘81 there was a rather public game of cat and mouse between the Caps and General Manager Emile Francis’ Hartford Whalers. Hartford drafted immediately after the Caps at no. 4, and the Whale was trying to decide between Carpenter and another center prospect, Ron Francis. The Caps went with the Can’t Miss Kid from Massachusetts. The Whale made out all right, though.

Fast forward to 1994. Peter Bondra, a relative unknown in the larger hockey world, barnstorms to the top of the NHL goal scoring title in the labor strife abbreviated ‘94-95 season. The very next season he’d score 52 goals. Bondra was drafted 156th by the Capitals, in the eighth round, of the remarkable 1990 draft. I remember watching Bondra in ‘94 and thinking, how the hell did we land this guy, so late? Bondra’s discovery by then Caps’ scout Jack Button is the stuff of Entry Draft lore. Bonzai was the proverbial backwoods prospect, completely off of everybody’s radar, until Button got a tip and somehow found the slick-skating Slovak without a GPS. It was, hands down, Button’s greatest and most important scouting work for the Caps.

There’s no such thing as a Peter Bondra in a round eight of the NFL or NBA drafts (heck, the NBA doesn’t even have a round four anymore). I love that about hockey’s.

In our lifetime we may never see the likes of the ‘90 class again. Owen Nolan, Jaromir Jagr, Martin Brodeur, Petr Nedved, Doug Weight — gracious, Sergei Zubov went in round 5 that summer! After the Caps selected Bondra in round 8 they did ok in round 9, too: Ken Klee.

Fast forward to 1996. The leadup buzz with that draft surrounded a big-bodied, ungodly talented Russian power forward named Alexander Volchkov. (Our good friend JP exercises his inner DraftGeek with this update of Volchkov, one of the all-time Entry Draft marvels.) Without question there were scores of questions surrounding Volchkov’s commitment and heart — in hindsight, magnificently inpsired and well-placed ones — but there was no denying that in ‘96, Volchkov’s talent stood head and shoulders above his draft classmates. He was that tantalizing, once-in-decade-or-two talent that makes scouts and GMs drool. That he landed in Washington seemed a stunner of massive fortune to a franchise that by then had endured an unhealthy share of postseason misfortune. Volchkov and his dazzling skill set were worth taking a flyer on.

Some flyer. More like an airplane with icy wings and an engine that wouldn’t. But it’s hit-or-miss intrigue like Volchkov that adds additional flavor to the draft.

That ‘96 draft further tormented the Capitals and their fans with one Jaroslav Svejkovsky — he the scorer of four goals in 1997’s final regular season game in Buffalo. Who who watched that vintage performance would have thought that the apex of Yogi’s career? Alas, it was, but early that offseason more than a few DraftGeeks experienced irrational exuberance imagining the Caps the draft winners of ‘96 coming away with both Volchkov and Svejkovsky.

If 1990 was the NHL’s vintage year for prospects, 1996 was its white zinfandel — from a box.

2002’s draft was also supposed to be a lemon. That draft, conducted in Toronto, was the first I attended. Actually being in the building for a draft affords you a powerful and lasting sense of how much of a family celebration the draft is, parents and siblings by the thousands dressed in their Sunday finest, with camera flashes illuminating Air Canada Centre like cigarette lighters at a rock concert. On TV the draft is all about the players and the draft floor mass of scouts and managers on telephones and talking heads second guessing. In the stands it’s all about the biggest day in the lives of five thousand families.

‘02 was really panned for its lack of depth. And yet the Caps came away with Steve Eminger, Alexander Semin, Boyd Gordon, even Tomas Fleischmann eventually. The worst drafts still manage to produce players; ‘96 for instance delivered Dainius Zubrus.

By Draft 2003 — billed by insiders as a fair rival in talent to ‘90 — we’d evolved with technology to the point where DraftGeeks were well linked from Canada, Europe, and America with message board madness related to the draft. Hockeysfuture was exploding into the consciousness of future-minded puckheads. In the early spring of ‘03, Friday and Saturday nights for your blogger were laden with bottled beer and HF boards immersion. I was never happier.

Hockeysfuture has been a godsend for DraftGeeks, but there are enough of us that its server regularly crashes around 10:00 a.m. on draft mornings. I remember that agony, too. A religious rite at Hockeysfuture is the posting of serious-minded mock drafts. There is a stable of Tier I DraftGeek there who annually offer near pro scout quality stuff with their mocks. And there are genuine scouts who both read and post there, regularly.

It was only recently that we in the States began seeing the draft on TV. And now the draft has become enough of an event for the league that it receives prime time TV coverage, on Friday nights, with the NHL Network even picking up Saturday morning’s post-first round action. Heaven.

My favorite draft moment? A funny thing happened one super sunny April day in the District in 2004, not long after the Caps had basically bottomed out in the league standings: a ping pong ball bounced their way in the league’s New York office, awarding them a coveted Russian prospect who’d already made a name for himself as an organization-altering talent. I’ll remember the fortune of that day ’til they toss dirt over my casket. (And likely I’ll be buried clutching a mock draft for that year.)

The NHL Draft is about families who’ve dedicated so much of their lives to the cultivation of elite hockey talent, driving the family car through amazingly harsh northern winters — pre-dawn black ice and frozen door locks and ice-crusted windows for pre-school skates and homework over hot chocolate and other ice rink nutrition. It’s about an end-of-every-round dynamo Detroit confounding 29 other clubs with diamond-in-the-rough picks guiding them to annual contention and, every few years, Lord Stanley. It’s about a “weak” draft delivering, in round six, a pint-sized MVP from the Quebec League. It’s about the CHL versus U.S. college hockey. It’s about wheeling and dealing.

No wonder I’m addicted.

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, DraftGeek, Entry Draft, George Michael, Hardcore Hockey Fans, Internet, Mathieu Perreault, Media, Morning cup-a-joe, National Hockey League, Peter Bondra, Prospects, TV, Training Camp, WRC, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (12)

Monday Morning with George McPhee

By The OFB Team

Monday, June 16, 2008

On Monday morning we joined Tarik and Corey and a few other media outlets out at Kettler Capitals Iceplex for a pre-draft gab session with Capitals’ General Manager George McPhee. We put a tough question to him:

“A two-part question for you. The team’s enjoyed terrific success at the draft the last four or five years, particularly relative to say your first years here. How do you account for the remarkable discprepancy in success? Also, do you conduct a lessons learned on drafts with your scouting team after say 5 years’ time — lessons learned in terms of hits and misses?”

He told us, “That’s a very good question. I agree with you that our drafting recently has been a lot better than early on.

“A lot of it has to do with experience. We hired a young staff, and it was going to take them some time to get up and get going. And that’s a lesson you learn as a manager. We had a young staff, and we’ve constantly tried to upgrade our systems and how we do things, and we do review every draft.

“We do it basically three years out. At our January meeting we go through who did we draf