In Glacialis Blog

Per John Waltons’ Blog, Walton, Wired quod Unwired, Sarcalogos Bourque has been repeto quod should exsisto in tonights’ versus obviam Atlanta.

Aliquanto trux quod turpis cado tempestas progenitus super Lavatio tardus Monday vesper. A propositio donatus atrum clouds tenax ut HockeyWashington illa dies.  

• Is would have been securus — genu-jerkish, vel — ut absorb a 3-0 primoris-period atrum puteus moenia quod pervenio per “ alius campester nixus ex Caps,” vel “Olie attonitus is up,” tamen ut’ fere quis venio. Caps flatus 18 offa procul Cam Pupillus pupilla in oris sto, quod a reasonable numerus of lemma erant of species varietas. Puteus Ovechkins’ erant usquam. Ut venatus worn in, Caps had offa ex totus Angli quod proximity, quod nullus venit iuxta optimus Pupillus pupilla. Is eram Cam Pupillus pupilla of ‘05-’06 postseason: positionally firmus procul sulum verto, Frigus Glove Manus manus Luke.
• 5-0 vere could quod should have been 8-0 had non utriusque Caput’ calx no OMFG subsisto in angustus.
• Sic quis did venio? Baculus’ porro lubricus quod diced suum via per a cement- in- suum-skates vultus blueline somes of Caps in period unus. Sepius, is wasnt’ instances of Caps’ tutor questus caught sursum glacies ex positus; Lavatio tutor sepius erant perficio positus pro Baculus’ porro tantum ut exsisto juked quod telum inter in leviculus fashion. Kolzig was hung sicco impetro suus calx- obviam battered. Iterum.
• Turbo have a somes of porro ut pro super three annus iam has ordo inter optimus contraho paro of obduco forwards in totus of hockey, quod is eram in vivid propono in tonights’ oris period. They pulvis’ blindingly velox, they operor non lascivio a bruising game of dump quod dig down mugio; instead, they dididi puck splendidus, in totus areas of glacies, titulus unus alius in convenienter praeclarus ustulo chance socors. Suus’ vere quinymo splendidus ut vigilo.
• Comcast broadcast Monday nox noctis illustrated pondera minutes Carolinas’ blueline nox noctis perficio. Is quoque highlights absentis of a verus haud. 1 blueliner illic ( is mortuus pro Los Angelus permaneo season una of pessimus professio in NHL history). Interesting ut Carolina quoque penuria talis a shutdown bulla annus they won Vas. Is team est orsa ut vultus an awful sors amo ut one. The addition of Tom Venenum certainly oratio Caps’ modicus obscoena firepower in blueline, tamen is did non oratio absentis of a legio haud. 1 guy. Carolina calx tonight erant totus ustulo in angustus — Caps’ maioribus area of vulnerability in suus end. I reputo ‘ baculus probo ut a team can lucror multus of venatus — quod vel a Vas — vacuus a Pronger- amo bulla in tergus terminus, sive suus’ blueline tutaminis per medium- amplitudo trado, vos postulo savvy vets gero is off amoveo secundum amoveo. Baculus have illud in pala. Caps es trying ut develop lemma.   
• Alter period iuguolo of Baculus’ tertius vox lascivio of venatus eram plurrimi infigo Ive’ seen from Caps’ PKers is season. Verum, in ingenero melior ustulo chances quam plures of teams’ vir- sursum chances is season.  
• Datum Brashears’ tutor have suum opus incidere sicco pro lemma is season. Is ludio ludius angustus tamen accountable minutes pro Caps permaneo season. Non is one. Last Friday nox noctis cepit a needless quod bardus poena mane in tertius period ut ultimately led ut Flyers’ victor goal. Monday night, with suus team fortiter captus lascivio ut Carolina in primoris dimidium of period duos, he earned a puteus- mereo mereor tabernus pro caput capitis-ramming, quod major domus poena quod resulting Hurricanes’ calx nisus ullus parum super nuto ut ut venatus’ eventus. Sepius in NHL hockey distinctus inter victor quod losing cardo in the slightest of erroris procul crucial vicis, quod Caps illa dies cant’ afford mental erroris Procax has ordine no is season.  

Monday vindico a concisus frenum of bonus novus: Caps inked 2007 secundus- rotundus pick Josh Godfrey. Is of Sault Ste. Caltha Greyhounds of Ontario Hockey League quod a 99 mph plaga. Forsit est, is moris’ exsisto addo is ex cuspis in nostrum rutilus, niveus, quod puteulanus perfusus is season.  

Ilya Kovalchuk dormio est super ( in undisonus formo). Tonights’ venatus in Atlanta isnt’ televised. Sanus amo misericordia vobis? 

Interesting venatus, unus ut saw Caps dominor prothoplastus period, coming ex porta ferreus. Res vel sicco, tamen ut’ via vos volo ut satus sicco season, singulariter unus per tot prestolatio: adepto a lucror, quod jump in vestri inimicus mane.

• Caps’ puck- possessio, ut divinatio, eram infigo, singulariter mane. Foris of a firmus Atlanta amoveo inter 12 minute in vestigium quod laxus 1st period vox lascivio, Caps suscipio puck quod loco multus of pressure in Thrashers.
• Brent Johnson had a bonus venatus, tamen yikes. Si vos ire ludo puck sicco ut far  ut a goaltender, planto certus suus’ a certus lascivio. Periculum lascivio of puck es nocens, nocens novus usitas.
• Backstroms’ debut eram exigo ut multus would divinatio: smart, constanter quod uber. Is moris’ carpo headlines, tamen hes’ iens futurus verto in veteran incursus ocius ut econtra ut laxus.
• Atlantas’ Ilya Kovalchuk vultus amo a dedicated hockey athlete, quispiam ut EGO reputo may have been in question pro nonnullus populus procul cuspis in vicis. Is pluo a firmus voluntas of usura suus teammates, quod ut puck eram in suus virga, Caps had ut persolvo propinquus intentio.
• Congrats ut Bryan Parum, quisnam gets suus primoris NHL cuspis. Non a Caps ludio ludius vel prospicio, quod is eram off a nocens Angli, tamen Ive’ had populus permissum mihi teneo is vires exsisto a ludio ludius ut servo an oculus in.
• Caps didnt’ fold secundum a duos- calx plumbum.
• Youve’ auditus is ex alibi, tamen vir, novus NHL boxscores pulvis’ valde bonus. vetus ones erant teres, quod Ive’ non seen a sane explicatus ut ut quare they erant changed.
• Vos could animadverto sudo macula in Thrashers’ similitudo ratio. Miserabile, is has fio a verus proventus. Fortuna, Sidney Crux crucis mos servo nos.
• Caps vultus exanimus in suum 5- in-3 vox lascivio, quod videor impleo subsisto in perimeter quod flatus absentis. Im’ non necesse obviam ut, tamen obviam a goaltender quisnam est seeing puck utique okay, youd’ amo video vidi visum nonnullus propinquus- in obduco si vos pulvis’ iens moveo vestri. A argentum lining est ut Caps utique meritus nonnullus 5- in-3 vicis.
• Ut quispiam quisnam doesnt’ vere sumo in Kozlov/Ovechkin chemistry, EGO may postulo essum nonnullus turba. Illic eram a videlicet voluntas ut qua sulum ludio ludius knew qua ceterus eram, singulariter in cycle.
• Mike Viridis? venustus Magnus fiducia, comprehendo lascivio puck puteus dum suus’ in blueline per libramen.
• Promeritum Atlanta, they vere ludio ludius somes in tertius.
• Erskine? Hey, magnus guy, bombs absentis.
• Maybe meus ventus moment of nox noctis eram Alex Ovechkin condita a tribuo subsisto in fragmen Atlanta porro. Ferreus ut non amo ut.

Hey, haud questus hic. Questus a lucror, ostendo validus possessio solers, neque nec folding amo lawn supellex supellectilis secundum a duos calx plumbum? Suus’ iustus unus venatus, tamen suus’ a exspectata viscus ut 2007-2008 season. Sulum have a beer quod utor.

Quis would a manus manus of hockey bloggers careo divinatio pro novus NHL season?

Nos dont’ vindicatum potior aut crystallus ball vel spys’ eyes inside palaestra castra of 29 alius stipes, tamen nos sententia is vires exsisto benevolens ut nostrum lector ut congero a album of offseason ( quod tardus permaneo season) ludio ludius tractus, in a concisus lima, quod have aliquantulus fun vitualamen sursum nullus- quoque-accountable “ pollex Sursum” vel “ pollex Down” forecasts pro totus 30 teams.

Basically, a team meritus a “ pollex sursum” si nos sententia suus manuevering quod maturation innutum ut itd’ amplio super suus 2006-07 cuspis numerus. Stipes ut “ subsisto pat” vel engineered boneheaded volo quod/ vel inedicabilis, altus- terminus solvo procurator farewells erant awarded “ pollex down.”

Sic weve’ dummodo panton “primer” a puckhead could postulo hic.

Praeter beer.

Team	Comings	Iens	Juvenis est Servo	Verdict
	Mathieu Schneider	Selanne quod Neidermeyer ( pro iam?), Pulvis Penner	Bobby Ryan
	Eric Perrin, Ken Klee, Todd Niveus	Scott Mellanby, Crur Hnidy, Glen Metropolit, Keith Tkachuk, Denis Harniis, Eric Belanger,	Bryan Parum(?)
	Glen Metropolit, Aaron Pupillus pupilla, Peter Schaefer	Crur Donovan	Res Ferito (?)
	Jocelyn Thibault	Fere sulum	Dan Paille, Drew Baculus
	Adrian Aucoin, David Vigoratus, Cory Sarich, Owen Nolan	Tony Inter, Jeff Amicus, Romanorum Hamrlik, Brad Stuart, Andrei Zyuzin	Eric Nystrom (?)
	Res Runco	Jack Johnson, Anson Currus, David Tanabe	Nullus	Hmm . . .
	Brent Spoel, Robert Lingua, Sergei Samsanov, Andrei Zyuzin, Yanic Perreault	Michal Manus manus, Adrian Aucoin, Peter Vinculum, Jason Cullimore	Jonathon Toews, Pium Kane, Jack Solers
	Scott Hannan, Ryan Smyth,	Ken Klee, Pierre Turgeon, Ossi Vaananen, Pium Brisebois	Nullus
	Michael Peca, Jiri Novotny	Vepres Boucher, Bryan Berard	Gilbert Brule, Insulto Orichalcum (?)	Hmm . . .
	Todd Fedoruk	Res Barnaby, Jon Klemm, Eric Lindros, Ladislav Nagy, Pium Stefan, Darryl Sydor	Niklas Grossman
	Vepres Rafalski, Dallas Drake	Robert Lingua, Todd Bertuzzi, Kyle Calder, Danny Vestigium, Mathieu Schneider	Igor Grigorenko
	Crusta Acidus, Joni Pitkanen, Pulvis Penner, Denis Grebeshkov, Dick Tarnstrom	Ryan Smyth, Joffrey Lupul, Petr Sykora, Jason Smith	Sam Gagner, Ryan OMarra’ (?)	Hmm . . .
	Uber Zednik, Radek Dvorak, Tomas Vokoun	Ed Belfour, Alex Auld, Bellicus Gelinas, Sarcalogos Memor, Todd Bertuzzi	Nullus
	Brad Stuart, Tom Preissing, Kyle Calder, Michal Manus manus, Ladislav Nagy	Mathieu Garon, Jamie Heward, Tom Kostopoulos, Jamie Lundmark, Aaron Miller	Jonathon Bernier, Jack Johnson
	Eric Belanger, Sean Tumulosus,	Ratio Fernandez, Todd Niveus	Benoit Fomentum (?)	Hmm . . .
	Romanorum Hamrlik, Bryan Smolinski, Tom Kostopoulos	Crusta Acidus, Radek Bonk, Sergei Samsanov, Mike Johnson	Tutela Pretium, Kyle Chipchura, Andrei Kostitsyn
	Bellicus Gelinas, Radek Bonk	Fere sulum	Villa Koistinen, Kevin Klein (?)
	Fastidiosus Zubrus, Vitali Vishnevski, Kevin Weekes, Karel Rachunek	Scott Gomez, Vepres Rafalski	Nicklas Bergfors (?)
	Bill Guerin, Mike Socius, Ruslan Fedotenko	Fere sulum	Sean Bergenheim (?)
	Scott Gomez, Sarcalogos Drury	Michael Nylander, Karel Rachunek, Res Runco, Kevin Weekes, Brad Isbister	Proficiscor Staal, Ryan Callahan (?)
	Tondeo Donovan, Luke Richardson, Denis Harniis	Mike Socius, Tom Preissing, Peter Schaefer, Oleg Saprykin	Nick Foligno, Vepres Lee
	Daniel Concisus, Joffrey Lupul, Jason Smith, Bellicus Biron, Scott Upshall, Kimo Timonen	Peter Forsberg, Joni Pitkanen, Kyle Calder, Robert Esche, Todd Fedoruk, Mike York	Braydon Coburn, Ryan Parentis
	Alex Auld, Radim Vrbata, Niko Kapanen, Mike York	Owen Nolan, Jeremy Roenick, Velum Joseph, Mike Ricci	Peter Mueller
	Darryl Sydor, Gary Roberts, Petr Sykora	Eric Cairns, Joel Kwiatkowski, Jocelyn Thibault, Michel Ouellet, Nils Ekman, Josef Melichar	Kristopher Letang
	Craig Flumen, Jeremy Roenick	Scott Hannan, Bill Guerin, Vesa Toskala	Nullus	Hmm . . .
	Paul Kariya, Keith Tkachuk	Radek Dvorek, Dallas Drake, Glen Metropolit, Jamie Flumen	Erik Johnson
	Michel Ouellet, Sarcalogos Memor, Jan Hlavac	Cory Sarich, Ruslan Fedotenko, Eric Perrin	Karri Ramo (?)
	Jason Blake, Vestigium Campana, Vesa Toskala	Jeff ONeill’, Michael Peca, Yanic Perreault, J.S. Aubin	Jiri Tlusty (?)
	Brad Isbister, Ryan Crur	Bryan Smolinski, Brent Sopel, Jan Bulis, Rory Fitzpatrick,	Luc Bourdon (?)
	Michael Nylander, Viktor Kozlov, Tom Venenum	Fastidiosus Zubrus, Kris Beech, Bryan Muir, Jiri Novotny	Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Viridis, Tomas Flesichmann

Iocus’ Rink permissum Caput’ angustus season ticket contemplatio ex pera ut quondam iterum broached thema of “ glacies Puella”. Neither OrderedChaos neque nec EGO suscipio season ticket contemplatio, sic nos dont’ teneo si is comprehendo praeter quinque questions memoratus per Iocus’.

Tametsi nos have penso informatio of Lavatio Caput’ Glacies Puella, nos dont’ teneo si is est a perfectus paciscor necne. Potissimum ceterus teams have iam held suum tryouts. Est Lavatio secundum curvo, sic oro? Vel have eximius specialis auditions iam been held quod glacies puella es promptus pello pepulli pulsum glacies in September 8th?

In ullus theca, nos erant curiosus ut ut quot alius teams have talis squads. refero may admiratio vos.

• Anaheim Ducks Vox Ludio ludius
• Atlanta Thrashers Puteulanus Crew
• Boston Frendo Glacies Puella ( link ut Glacies Puella pelagus page eram lost secundum profugus ut NHL servo)
• Calgary Flamma Glacies Crew
• Carolina Turbo Tempestas Squad
• Pullus Blackhawks Glacies Crew
• Columbus Puteulanus Jackets (quisnam vere have 2 humus) - Vox Patronus & Glacies Crew
• Dallas Astrum Glacies Puella
• Florida Pardus Glacies Presul
• Nashville Predators (quisnam quoque have 2 humus)
• Calx Puella
• Presul
• NY Insula Glacies Puella
• Ottawa Orchestra Vox Patronus (magis of a phasmatis humus quinymo quam glacies puella/cheerleaders)
• Philadelphia Flyers Glacies Team
• Phoenix Coyotes Sarcina
• Pitsburgh Penguins Pens Patronus (magis of a phasmatis humus quinymo quam glacies puella/cheerleaders)
• Tampa Sinus Levitas Puella
• Vancouver Canucks Glacies Team

update[: Dan Steinberg est procul Kettler quod has non seen ullus “ glacies- substructio letifico alio”]
update[ 2: Dan Steinberg suscipio confirmation ex Nate Ewell, Presul of Interventus Consanguinei, ut illic erohaud glacies- substructio letifico alio roaming Phone Tabernus is season.]

Quod prothoplastus team cado. In a venatus ut may sumptus Atlanta imperator procurator Inicio Waddell suus officium, oneratus- pro--playoffs Thrashers pluo nonnullus subcribo of vita obviam Rangers, tamen is eram parum, quoque tardus, quod theyre’ lascivio puteulanus in Blueland.

• Promptus, Keith Tkachuks’ primoris period calx eram Atlantas’ primoris plumbum of serius. Yikes. Odio Sam Rosen quod Joe Michelettis’ protestor, non- dico in Kovalchuks’ ledo in Sean Mediocris eram rectus. Im’ non certus quis poena vos can dico si ludio ludius A hits ludio ludius B in ludio ludius C quod ludio ludius B occumbo amo they es lubricus in a banana excorio.
• Quod ut’ quam velox Plaga can ustulo in vos. Isles had res iens, quod erant vultus pulchellus bonus, tunc *wham*, theyre’ down per unus.
• Zubrus has instituo suus macula in Sabres, is videor, quod est haud diutius res mis- iacio ut a primoris- versus center. Caps’ procuratio did vox res in institutio him, tamen suus’ nice video vidi visum Fastidiosus operor puteus.
• Bellicus Brodeur doesnt’ per vultus amo usitas playoffs Brodeur, tamen did emersum per pauci magnus subsisto ut is had ut. EGO didnt’ amo prothoplastus poena accersitus in venatus, quod eram a ticky-tack dico in volatilis Jason Pupillus pupilla.
• Nice offa per Gomer ut terminus venatus. Is quod Drury have perfectus nusquam tamen coegi suum off-season paydays sursum.
  Vir, operor Malo vigilo venatus in populus television.
• Tim Connolly can virga- tracto aliquantulus frenum.
• Quare doesnt’ is admiratio mihi video vidi visum Zack Parise erigo suus venatus in playoffs?
• Vokun has ut subsisto Pavelskis’ quod Michaleks’ secundus calx.
• Im’ vere usura intensity of San Jose/Nashville serius. Lots of factum.

Should exsisto magis factum tonight, per three teams adversus elimination, sic illic ero multus in versus.

Tunc vicis a fatum- quod- senium Caput fan cries sicco, “ quare! Quare didnt’ Caput usurpo [Veteran X]?” relatum lemma ut iscautio fabula super iustus-swept divortium certantibus Atlanta Thrashers. Thrashers es a team non inconveniens ut Caput; licet tantum spes ut Caps’ procuratio planto melior sententia quam Thrashers’ did.

Lest nos alieno, Thrashers bulked sursum pro suum primoris trinus ut postseason procul significant sumptus. Tutaminis Alexei Zhitnik venit ex Philadelphia pro sto prospicio Braydon Coburn, quod porro Keith Tkachuk eram us ex St. Louis pro veteran porro Glen Metropolit, primoris- quod tertius- rotundus picks in 2007, quod a secundus- teres in 2008.

Adaugeo is totus sursum, quod ut’ multus of posterus absentis sicco fenestra.

Haud verrimus tonight, quod EGO selfishly tanquam, is opes magis hockey ut vigilo.

• Novus York eram totus super Thrashers, quisnam vultus verto inter. Calx changes pulvis’ succurro, quod team videor insum funis. Vos have ut admiratio si Inicio Waddells’ ultum- propalata tardus-season permoveo mos redeo ut obsideo him in off-season. Suus guarantee of permaneo season didnt’ terminus suus tenura in Atlanta, tamen is eram an infestus quod publicus pulsus impetro profundus in stipes-season.
• Gary Roberts has been a ingens addition pro Pittsburgh. Hes’ a fixture in glacies tardus pro Penguins.
• Ilya Kovalchuk iens secundum Sean Mediocris, ut’ preoccupo. Kovalchuk vere got a offa vel duos in.
• Ottawas’ primoris calx est exigo quidam quaedam quedam quidam fluke calx ut videor ut contingo ASTUS-A Fleury.
• Mike Socius est lascivio ex suus mens vox iam.
• Dan Videlicet clocked Dion Phaneuf, tunc partum a Detroit calx. EGO nunquam specto ut typus illud lacuna in ut ordo, tamen totus promeritum ut Videlicet.
• Roberto Luongos’ opus sicco okay in playoffs, isnt’ is?
• gravitas of sperma ostendo in Ottawa/Pittsburgh serius — Penguins vultus amo they could pello pepulli pulsum ullus of Insula, Diabolus, Levitas, quod Thrashers vox iam. Due ut suum sperma, vero, they es captus in a ingeniosus, veteran team ut est lascivio per multus of fiducia. Ottawas’ captus nonnullus gravis verbera ex Pittsburgh quod subsisto per a sedo, postulo propinquo.

Sic sulum est etiam alive, sententia nonnullus es pensilis in per a thread, quod nonnullus valde interesting serius iens in. Is ero interesting video vidi visum quam Bellicus Brodeur lascivio is vesper, pariter ut tunc chapter in San Jose/Nashville drama. physicality of playoffs has been a exspectata change ex ordinarius season, quod has no pro nonnullus ferventer- conflictus venatus.

A double-edged sword for hockey fans last night: all four playoff games started between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. EST. On one hand, this gives time for make-up sleep after the marathon of Opening Night. On the other, it was hard to keep an eye on all four games at once, and when they were over, there was no West Coast game to watch for mad playoff double-header action.

• Atlanta made a mental error late against the Rangers. With the Thrashers’ goalie pulled, the Rangers’ Thomas Pock was called for a holding the stick penalty. Instead of immediately giving the puck to the Rangers to maximize the time they would have a 6 on 4 power play, the Thrashers toodled around for 15 more seconds or so. It’s difficult to say if this would have changed the way the rest of the game went down, but it was an opportunity that the Thrash passed up.
• Goaltending did cost the Lightning against the Devils, but not in the way you’d think. Holmqvist’s poor decision to play the puck late seals the game for New Jersey, wasting an excellent effort from Vinny LeCavalier, who may be the best player in hockey right now.
• Speaking of good players, Parise impresses me every game I watch him.
• Hockey writers everywhere are going to sue Pavel Datsyuk for ruining some of our best post-season jokes.
• Calgary’s road woes continue. It’s difficult for me to say how much of the Red Wings’ win was Detroit playing well versus Calgary continuing its ineptitude on visiting ice.
• Nothing surprising in the Islanders/Sabres contest (including seeing Brendan Witt in the penalty box for a costly minor penalty), and UFA-to-be center Chris Drury continued his post-season ways with two scores. The Islanders look out-matched, but word is Ricky DiPietro will be manning the pipes in game 2. Couldn’t hurt, at this point.
• I enjoyed Ken Hitchcock’s visit to the Versus set. Mercifully free of bombast and bluster, he stuck to what he does best — teach hockey. None of the insights were revolutionary, but it’s always nice to see the X’s and O’s of hockey being discussed.

Two tense games that went down to the final few minutes, and a couple of washes. Not quite as grueling as the night previous, but some good action nonetheless.

Starting off in a less-than-glorious fashion, it looked to be a quick loss for the Caps last night: an early goal given up, young defensemen taking penalties, and an Atlanta team with something to play for. All that added up to what figured to be a tough loss.

So, of course, the Caps pull it together, their superstar pots a couple and is the best player on the ice, and the Boyd Gordon Experience continues it’s world tour.

It’s kinda hard not to wonder where this was in December.

• Bryan Muir had another tough game.
• The Caps’ season-long trend of having trouble locating the puck again reared it’s head last night. It’s frustrating to watch, though it should also be noted that it’s easy to say when there aren’t five guys on the ice trying to take your head off.
• The Caps were very, very lucky to get out of the first only down one. Pipes, Brent Johnson’s heroics, and some lucky Caps bounces kept things from really getting out of hand.
• The Thrashers tried to put a physical stamp on the game — they hit early and often.
• We’ve alluded to it at certain times, but Boyd Gordon deserves his own point — rock-solid defensively, good speed, good hockey sense, coachable, and now developing a bit of scoring touch. Gordon’s emergence this season has been a true bright spot, and it’s safe to say the checking line center spot is in good hands.
• Always fun to see Ovechkin flying around like that. He seemed to have a lot of jump in his stride, and the accuracy of his shot has been evident.
• Power play woes continue, from not utiliizing some good offensive zone possession, to giving up a shortie. That pretty much runs the gamut of what can go wrong, there.
• Brooks Laich again takes a tough penalty at a bad time.
• The last two words I have written in my game notes: improbable win.

A young team mans-up and secures a win most wouldn’t predict. While there’s much talk of how this affects the Caps’ drafting position, with no clear number one in the draft, the win works for me. May as well see if the Caps can leave a bad taste in the Sabres’ mouth.

Maine is a massive state which is massively underpopulated — blissfully so, many of its residents allege. According to 2005 Census Bureau data, the populations of Maine (1,321,505) and Fairfax County, Virginia, (1,006,529) are comparable. Maine’s northern-most county, Aroostook, is so large in sheer size that it betters the combined sizes of all of Maine’s surrounding New England states. All of them. The state religion is Black Bears hockey.

I first visited Maine in the autumn of 2004, partly to take in a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League game in Lewiston featuring the Rimouski Oceanic and a buzz-generator skating for them named Sidney Crosby. I remember first wondering, what is a small southern Maine town (pop. 35,000, approximately) doing with a Q League franchise? Turns out, the town has distinctive French Canadian roots. Your first clue arrives as you pull in to the hockey rink parking lot and notice the name Androscoggin Bank Colisee. Even way up north in New England you don’t encounter too many Colisees.

In the late 1800s, water power from the Androscoggin River spawned a flourishing textile industry in Lewiston that attracted tens of thousands of immigrant workers. The largest concentration of them — 40 percent — arrived from French Canada and resided in a section of Lewiston known as “Le Petit Canada.”

I was startled to learn that Muhammad Ali’s world-famous knockout of Sonny Liston in 1965 took place at Bank Colisee, then known as the Central Maine Civic Center.

What is today known as the Lewiston Maineiacs hockey club was birthed in Trois Rivieres, Quebec, in 1969, where they resided until 1992. The franchise moved to Sherbrooke that year and played ten seasons there before settling in Lewiston in 2003.

The drive from coastal Portland to inland Lewiston requires a mere 40 minutes, but it swiftly delivers significantly deeper snows. Halfway through my commute I notice, for the first time since arriving in Maine late Friday night, groomed snowmobile trails parallel to the highway. As I learned in 2004, one really would prefer to skidoo to Le Lewiston Colisee if one could, as the lone two single-lane exits from its parking lot swiftly make one long for the late weeknight exit experiences from Landover, Md.’s, second-most famous parking lot.

Fourteen dollars puts a visitor pretty much anywhere he’d want to be in Le Colisee, and on this Sunday for its 4:00 matinee between the Maineiacs and the PEI Rocket I’m startled to see the home team warming up in one of the oddest-looking alternative sweaters I’ve ever seen. Knowing that I want to write about this experience, I’m instantly pained by the prospect of trying to describe their appearance. “Maineiacs,” I’ve ever thought since I first heard it, is a clever nickname for the club, moreso perhaps for a hockey club, and their primary logo is modern and impressionistic in a modern sports kind of way. (Continued)

No such thing as a bad goal, as they say, and Alex Ovechkin isn’t going to argue with that. Conversely, any goalie injury is a bad one, and the Caps probably wouldn’t argue with that. With Johnson leaving the game, Freddy Cassivi again was given spot duty. Tarik El-Bashir reports that Olie Kolzig will try and go on Thursday, which will be an obvious relief, but how sharp will the big netminder be after such a layoff?

Also of note is Alex Ovechkin again commenting on how the team needs help in the offseason. Some have read this as dissatisfaction with the organization, others a genuine assessment of the situation from a top-flight athlete with a competitive streak a mile wide. I tend towards the latter, but Ovechkin has been very plain in expressing his views, which some find a bit disconcerting from the team’s offensive star. Both Ted Leonsis and George McPhee have also spoken plainly on their plans to upgrade the team in the off-season, so it seems everyone’s pulling in the same direction.

• I like the way the second power-play unit is working — there’s puck movement, very little standing around, and they even ran a backdoor play for Jurcina. Of course, they didn’t score, but it didn’t look like two players running everything, with everyone else standing around . . .
• . . . which is what most of the Caps’ offensive forays looked like last night. The grind lines had a few good cycling shifts, and Tomas Fleischmann made a few nice plays, but mostly it was “All Alexes, all the time.” That doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season.
• Atlanta did a good job of blocking the Caps’ shots, and for a stretch in the third period, it seemed like nothing got through at all.
• Tough night for rookie defensemen. Mike Green’s turnover led directly to Holik’s impressive tally, and others have blamed the Tkachuk goal on Eminger. I’m going to vary a bit and split the blame up on that. It looks to me like Jeff Schultz thought Eminger was going to head up the ice, when in actuallity Eminger was skating backwards towards the boards and had to jump up to adjust. Schultz’ pass was too far ahead of Eminger, who didn’t have a chance to do much with it. The Thrashers pick it up and get their break. Nit-picking aside, Green, Eminger and Schultz were shakier than usual last night, and that is a recipe for trouble.

Atlanta looks like a team that could do some damage in the playoffs, and Lehtonen looks like he’s really settled down in the crease. Atlanta could be a team to watch. The Caps? I’ll be watching them, as well, but it will be for the little things — continued effort, refining positioning in the defensive zone, little signs that the youngsters are improving. Hopefully the cavalry will arrive in the Summer, as right now, Hanlon’s looking a little like General Custer.

The latest issue of The Hockey News has ranked all 30 NHL team’s prospect systems. They have defined prospects as players under 22 years of age as of January 31, 2007. This ranking does not take into account any movement of players at the trade deadline. Note that three of the Caps’ Southeast Division rivals bring up the bottom-5 rear.

1. Pittsburgh [Last Year’s Ranking 1]
2. Washington [7]
3. Nashville [6]
4. Los Angeles [10]
5. Chicago [8]
6. Boston [12]
7. Anaheim [2]
8. St. Louis [28]
9. Montreal [17]
10. N.Y. Rangers [19] (Continued)