In Glacialis Blog

Duos members of Lavatio Caput’ prosapia hodie adepto adduco in Hockey Aula of Laus: Scott Stevens, quisnam ludio ludius duodeviginti seasons per Caps, quod tardus Dave Fay, teams’ pello pepulli pulsum opinio pro Lavatio Vicis pro prope a vicus century. Hockey Aula of Laus textus page dedi poignant profiles pro totus members of 2007 ordo of inductees.

Mike Vogel est in Toronto pro ceremony, neque nec surprisingly, hes’ merged res libenter, having iamlima nonnullus sententia in an OHL venatus cepit in per Ron Weber quod Vicis’ Corey Masisak is weekend, quod featured venatus’ tunc valde talentum, 2009 draft eligible Jonathon Tavares of Oshawa Imperator.

Scilicet puteus’ polleo video vidi visum snippets of inductees’ sermo tonight in inter periods of venatus, tamen per Corey quod Mike vestis proceedings optimus ratio mos adveho ex Lavatio scriptor is week.

Update[: NHL Network ero televising 2007 Hockey Aula of Laus Induction Ceremony tonight ex 730pm: 930pm:]

EGO suscipio benevolens feedback nuper ex Socius Press opinio Peter Kerzel, quisnam penned Caps’ praevius huic seasons’ THN Annual Yearbook. Vos may repeto meus consilium ut Kerzels’ lima, quod featured curiosus forecasted versus iunctura inter alius alio ratio, vindico infigo of res a bit outdated for is lector. Volvit sicco, Kerzel had habeo suus forecast submitted ut THN emendator in alter week of July — “ vix satis vicis pro solvo procurator impetro subcribo” Kerzel told mihi.

“nos erant licitus facio nonnullus changes exordium of sequens week,” Kerzel cuspis sicco, “ tamen procul ut cuspis, panton eram formatted quod libri sent ut press sic they could exsisto in repono per medium- ut tardus Ales”

Hic’ quam mane in estas is praevius eram penned: Kerzel collaborated in exertus per Lavatio Vicis’ Dave Fay.

“Dave sententia is had a pulchellus bonus tracto in personnel,” Kerzel said. “nimirum, ut eram pro Fleischmanns’ ascension, Kozlovs’ permoveo ut center, Backstroms’ permoveo ut pennae, [ quod] Expedio’ permoveo ut tertius versus”

“Ive’ run in is same proventus pro, ut vestis Caps quod putting una a praevius pro Lusum Novus. annus Lavatio us Jagr, professio eram consummated philologus procul mortifer pro effingo futurus finalized.”

“nisi parumper vere bonus emendator, a guy nomen Ray Slover, quisnam succurro mihi verto a rewrite in a dime – dum etiam servo idem eadem idem amount of tractus ut had iam been allocated – universitas praevius could have been ex balanus fere statim. Suus’ iustus an inherently molestus secui of processus”

In suus praevius Kerzel picked Caps compleo 10th in Oriens is season. “ego etiam reputo Caps es in ebullio tenus playoffs go,” is told mihi, vox pro season opener. 

Kerzels’ THN praevius is estas quoque dedi nonnullus emineo pius lacuna pro teams’ bloggers.

“universitas animadverto of blogging has vere caught incendia. Unus of meus baseball  pals, Roch Kubatko of [Baltimore] Sol solis, eram donatus blog officium a iugo of annus abhinc quod wasnt’ certus quis facio of it – demotion? Penuria of penitus ex bulla? Duos annus laxus, suus baseball ruminations es plurrimi puteus- lego blog in ullus of vexillum’ newspapers’ blogs. Hes’ developed a cult subsequens.

“quod EGO can narro pro certus ut blogging has changed via plurimus interventus exitus propinquo suum jobs. EGO teneo per meus opus pro AP, quod quispiam can blog is ilicet in a cotidie paper site opes weve’ got nostrum feet ut incendia converto novus ultum cito illa dies”

An rudimentum ut suggero a voluntas of aer EGO congressus in quod super Quin Center orsa tardus Imbuo meridianus:

445: p.m.: Nos operor non have quisquam appositus hockey tempestas. Verum, pedes down 6th St. sub a aestuo sol solis, Im’ incommoditas in mereo bluejeans quod a res shirt. Tamen Im’ melior off quam six fans EGO obduco quisnam es outfitted in novus rutilus Reebok Caps’ sudo; they es collapsed quod obduco sicco obviam Quin Center moenia, sudo fluo off suum templum. Plaga Excolo recro lemma per amotio novus sudo quod restituo lemma per vetus CCMs. Fere instantly fans revoco.

Serio, EGO saw a mediocris numerus of fans in illa rib-huggers sicco in estus, quod nullus of lemma videor ut exsisto moving 9 sentio ocius quam mihi.

Caps have a numerus of tener, venustas baculus scurrying super 6th quod RESURRECTIO Vicus in Segways dispensatio sinus schedules.

505:: Ille Forma’ Caps’ quod Veneficus’ apparatus repono, quod nemo videor scio est nomen quis iam, facile has 60 vel 70 shoppers in is duos hora pro venatus. Suus’ vere per difficilis moveo inter in, suus’ sic congested. Illic est torqueo secundum torqueo of novus colo colui cultum quod logo caps, quod they es evanidus velox. versus procul duos subcriptio es convenienter six vel septem populus profundus. teams’ novus vultus has been fabrica in a vulgus array of formo huic shop, quod suus’ videlicet populus per fans in oris nox noctis domi.

Tergum foris en iter itineris ut press porta, EGO occupo super an prodigiosus os: a manus manus of super 25 vel 30 men quod women — plerumque men — congregated in 7th St. taedium fervens rutilus wigs, rutilusindutus, quod rutilus athletic shoes. Is est haud vulgaris oris nox noctis of hockey domi, EGO reputo.

520:: Predictably, suus’ novitas- nox noctis turba in press lounge. Comcast inter alius broadcast exitus est effectus a longinquus foris rink, tractus multus of interventus alio whod’ secus exsisto in lounge. EGO supervenio in lounge per a absentis lustro varius interventus pro suum veneratio slottings of Caps in Oriens is season. Hic’ quis EGO perficio:

Mike Vogel: 3rd (obviously, is has Caps victor Inferus)

Ron Weber: 10th (ouch!)

Eric McErlain: 7th

Corey Masisak: 7th

Dmitry Chesnokov: 6th

600:: In press arca archa Im’ sessio inter Eric McErlain quod Dmitry Chesnokov. Voluntas, meus hockey erudio ero provectus tonight, quod Peius’ quoque have statim vexillum of bonus amicitia. Ut vox of Eric est a Vox vocis of America opinio exemplar ex Czech Res publica. A iugo of opinio in nostrum row profero ut Caps have reservo a press arca archa opus tractus — totus season porro — pro mortuus Dave Fay. EGO profero ut VOA guy ut meus recordatio eram ut Mr. Leonsis statutum tempus ut excolo intus a dies vel duos Daves’ decessio nos. Incidentally, solum of page 1 of Caps’ 2007 Interventus Rector portatus a dedication ut Fay.

615:: Im’ in levamen area of press arca archa, quod est partially vas in, quod questio quietis illic quoniam Tim Lemke of Lavatio Vicis est interviewing mihi super blogging quod suus labefactum in Caps. Is emailed mihi a week vel sic abhinc quod edoctus mihi ut hed’ iam orator per Eric McErlain ( bonus informatio, ut) quod Jon Press.

spatium permaneo diutius quam EGO sententia is would simplex quoniam Tim quod EGO have a verus interesting quod securus verto, quod is asks bonus questions. Quoque, quoniam EGO diligo sermo super is thema. Lemke profero suus infigo ut quattuor nostrum loco multus of opus in OFB. EGO dont’ per teneo quam ut respondeo; objectively vos could positus ut nos devoveo a sanus numerus of hora sulum week ut site, tamen vel ut Im’ stilus procul 200: vel 300: in oriens, gnarus Peius’ exsisto dragging in muneris tunc dies per mane meridianus, EGO nunquam visum nisus ut opus.

Plenus promptum ( quasi): three vicis EGO scisco Lemke verto off suus recorder ut nos can chat off record. Volo ut suggero him ut plenus a voluntas ut possible of quis has venio nobis super preteritus annus, quod varius members of hockey defero have partis me, per aliquantum of libertas, quis they sentio civitas of res interventus in D.C. futurus. Mike Vogel quondam told mihi ut 80 sentio of quis audit in suus hockey eo necesse has ut terminus sursum in talea cella solum. “suus’ a bonus via servo amicitia” is told mihi. (persevero)

Jason LaCanfora had valde veneratio of vindico eulogy pro Dave Fay is preteritus weekend. Jason got scio Dave per puteus ut they partis Caps’ pello pepulli pulsum pro certantibus newspapers pro quinquennis. Is eram a moving quod insightful recounting of Daves’ vita quod opus.

Jason quod Daves’ uxor Pat erant pius satis ut solvo plenus text of eulogy ut Caput’ textus site. Unus obduco in proprius scamnum sicco volo:

EGO memor saluto Dave quod Pat domi quod in hospitium in 2004, quod res opprimo per suus zest laboro etiamtunc. Id’ scisco him crebro quare is eram in talis a vado impetro tergum ut ut gelidus, decrepitus rink in Odenton, quod refero eram usquequaque idem eadem idem.

Hed’ narro, “[…] si EGO dont’ progredior quod occulto ut meditor, nemo mos”

Dave usquequaque vereor ut suus paper would ignarus Caps si is didnt’ pulsus sic ferreus tectum sulum venatus domus quod via, vel ut infirmus, quod, quisquam minor, ut him, wouldnt’ exsisto mediocris ut lusum, fans, ludio ludius, team.

Verus lacuna have nunquam been orator.

Per permoveo ex an semotus quod ancient Tabesco Orchards rink ut opportunus quod parcus Balston facility — pariter ut incrementum of blogs dedicated ut Caput — meditor super uncovered may exsisto a res of preteritus.

Miserabile, Daves’ alius vereor, ut newspapers would ignarus Caps vacuus suus incursus, est etiam a sollicitudo partis per plures. Newspaper circulation quodad vectigal esdown; ut ususfructus minutum, sic does species quod occulto. Opinio es incrementabiliter having utocculto magis humus ut cuts es no, sic vis vel hockey- familiaris opinio facio ferreus choices super qua ut obsido suum angustus vicis.

Verus lacuna, vero.

Nostrum amicitia proculPutCancerOnIce.org ero tenura suum mensis sanctimonia hockey venatus in July 29th ex 2 330: pm procul Kettler, quod ero donum cedo utHockey Pugna Cancer in nomen of nuper mortuus Dave Fay.

Commodo take articulus utcaput capitis ut suum website quod animadverto quam vos can invado nonnullus estas- vicis puck quod succurro a bonus causa dum vos es procul is.

Ex Lavatio Caput PR Baculus:

Visum quod funeral compositio pro legendary Caps pello pepulli pulsum scriptor Dave Fay have been no pro Friday quod Imbuo, July 20-21:

In lieu of flowers, prosapia asks ut monumentum contributions may fio in Dave’s nomen ut aut:

Online condolences may exsisto effor ut Dave’s prosapia proculhttp:/www.staufferfuneralhome.com//.

hockey universitas universe, quod Lavatio D.C. area hockey defero in proprius, lost a valde amicus permaneo nox noctis, utLavatio Vicis hockey scriptor Dave Fay denique succumbed ut a tractus aegrotatio.

Fay, a fixture in Caps’ pello pepulli pulsum pro Vicis utpote mane 1980s, brought scientia, insight, ingens dedication, quod a perturbatio pro hockey ut suus opus, quod has been unus of certus personalities in occulto of hockey in Populus’ Caput. Suus dedication ut lusum eram nuper opulenter agnosco, ut is eram tendo per 2007 Elmer Ferguson Monumentum Award per Hockey Aula of Laus in tardus May. Is ero adduco in Hockey Aula of Laus is cado.

Nos procul OFB dedi nostrum sympathies ut Fay prosapia, quod es gratias ago ut nos erant validus ut lego Fays’ opus pro tot annus. Is ero requiro.

Update: WashingtonCaps.coms’ Mike Vogel partis suus sententia in Fay quod suus tutela hic.

Monumentum contributions may fio in Dave’s nomen ut: Hockey Pugna Cancer, PO Arca archa 5037, Novus York, NY 10185-5037 vel Hockey’s Totus- Astrum Kids Crepidoinis, Populus Hockey League, 1251 Exsequor of Americas, Novus York, NY 10020. Canadian amicitia may transporto Monumentum contributions ut: Hockey Pugna Cancer, P.O. Arca archa 1282, Constituo B, Montreal, Quebec H3B 3K9

Procul a vicis ut newspaper emendator trans rus ruris es requiro ut opinio compromise suum commitment ut suum pello pepulli pulsum per additional quod vicis- perussi assignments, hodie Mike Vogel evestigatus novus ut Lavatio Vicis’ Dave Fay mos suscipio altissimus veneratio suus professio can largior, pro suus ops commitment ut Lavatio Caput’ pello pepulli pulsum: hes’ caput capitis in Hockey Scriptor’ Aula of Laus.

Abyssus’ exsisto adduco is November.

Procul OFB, weve’ had nostrum partis of discordia per Dave super suus assessments of team in repens annus, tamen nos es quoque conscius suus unrivaled commitment ut vestis nostrum venatus huic tellus. Dave has been in Caps’ pello pepulli pulsum procul Vicis utpote mane 1980s. Discordia aside, si nos had magis of Daves’ ilk in pello pepulli pulsum hockey wouldnt’ exsisto mired in suus rabidus- Immunda-kept- in-- cenaculum statua is est in vulgaris D.C. newsroom.

May 30 Lavatio Vicis occulto: Corey Masisak; Dan Daly

Im’ an par vicis interventus velico, quod is oriens Lavatio Vicis’ Dave Fay moneo mihi ut unus res peior quam haud hockey occulto est ordo amateur analysis of venatus per a interventus pro. “Nefas procuratio — Caput servo questus peior, non melior” testimonium ut non tantum did Fay adepto sursum in nefas pars of cubile pro stilus tamen ut hes’ resorted ut nuntius tabula muddled reputo ut inspiration pro is.

EGO reputo ullus sermo of Lavatio ut a ordo amateur hockey urbs postulo profiteor quis suus hockey fans have perfero ex annointed quisnam occulto is. (misericordaliter, per miracle of technological democracy, is est changing.) Is oriens’ Fay column est pre se ferre 984.

Qua ingredior?

Quam super per is inconcinnus reproba premise:

“duos annus abhinc Lavatio quod Pittsburgh coepi sicco super idem eadem idem campester — duos nocens teams per unus eximius talentum”

Vultus, EGO agnosco proclivity contendo Caps quod Pens; illic’ acerbus lascivio history, Pium divortium preteritus, cognatus proximity of civis. Tamen pro quondam quod pro totus, can nos tandem agnosco Pens’ beneficium draft forte — via, via primoris — melior secui illaedecade? Eram is iustus El Sid quod riff-raf Craig Pium exaggeratus in Mulletville ut lascivio coepi sursum iterum duos annus abhinc? Quis of haud. 1-super netminder Proficiscor-Andre Fleury? Vel Ryan Niveus quod suus 53 cuspis eatenus is season? They supervenio per 5th super pick in 2002. Quod utpote tunc theyve’ been suffulcio per statim- labefactum, uber-elite talentum in Malkin quod Staal. Insquequo is season, Penguins have been Viscus Draft lottery fixtures.

verus fabula secundum Pittsburghs’ ascent cognatus ut Lavatio isnt’ adeo ut is venio tamen. . . quare did is take adeo???

In proprius, wed’ operor puteus ut memor altus vitium quod draft felony commissio in Caps per league — plurimus proprie ut Pittsburghs’ beneficium — in 2005. Is eram tunc ut league se gero suus primoris stipes- obfirmo draft in “snake” penicullus, voluntas in vel rotundus, draft ordo eram reversed. Is mayhem eram an rudimentum ut perficio a compromise inter qui felt totus teams should have had an par chance procul Sidney Crux crucis quod qui felt institutio should reign, quod macero teams should have been in cursor ( ut eram Northmanni). Caps erant coming off a 59- cuspis 2004. league professio an unprecedented victualia ut penalized a team pro drafting haud. 1 super preeo iugo of seasons.

potissimus presencia illae screwjob eram ut vindico Eximius ut a votum venalicium quod award Caps quispiam per versus of narro Sasha Pokulok . . . in medius prothoplastus rotundus. Iustus duos weeks abhinc EGO asked Mike Vogel si ut estas’ bardus has paro tergum Caps’ redivivus. “vacuus question” eram EGO puto reaction is dedi mihi.

Narro of Pittsburgh, sententia, suus erus-savior had an interesting coepi pauci seasons in magnus league. Drafted in 1984, is quod Pens procuratio vindico team ut postseason semel una in. . . 1989. Eram Fay bellyaching super ut patientia demanded of Penguins’ fans during those five years?

And what are the origins of this Fay rant?:

” . . . the [Caps’] marketing department wants fans to believe they are dealing with the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens.”

Has there been anything either formally or informally intimated by management evocative of dynastic claims? Instead, I’ve noticed public commentary phrased along the lines of “build for competitiveness year-in- year-out . . .,” maintaining roster flexibility with respect to salary additions (and boy won’t that be needed in the summer of 2008, with six key RFAs sitting down at the negotiations table), fostering an organic, build-from-within ethos — the models for which are compelling whether viewed in New Jersey or the Rocky Mountains.

Apparently a captain notching a certain 30 goals on the campaign is a dismissive trifle for Fay: “The Caps are fielding a team that has two players with measureable skill levels — Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin . . . ” Methinks Fay needs some footage of the productivity of recent, preceding Caps’ captains. Ones who’ve been traded for chump change and allowed to walk as free agents. Let’s just say there isn’t a run on Halpern sweaters in central Texas these days.

More message board sub-mediocrity mush:

“Take Alex 1 and 2 off the roster and this is a team that would have trouble winning in the American Hockey League.’

Not if it were coached by Bruce Boudreau, it wouldn’t. But heck, why don’t we just go through 29 other sets of rosters and cherry pick off the prime talent and agree they’d all miraculously be basically unaffected. I mean the Pens without Sidney and Malkin, they’d still sneak in the postseason I’m sure. The Devils without Brodeur and Rafalski, no worries. What’s to be gained with such ludicrous hypotheticals?

I never thought I’d say this, but work like this makes me long for more column space for Danny Snyder’s boys.

Great news on Dave Fay, the Caps’ beat reporter for the Washington Times: he’s recovering well, and his colleagues expect him to begin writing again on hockey soon, likely in the form of some analysis pieces. Dave has been a fixture on the Caps’ beat for the Times really since its inception, in the early 1980s, but had he known that during his convalescence he’d be backed up on the beat by a staffer whose family hails from western Pennsylvania, and who to this day harbors a full-throated, unwavering allegiance to the Pens, I wonder if we might not have seen Fay attempt to blog from his hospital bed.

Certainly I have to chat with Nate Ewell about greater scrutiny of the credentialed.

I met the backup scribe, Corey Masisak, in the Verizon Center press lounge before Wednesday night’s game against San Jose, and his roots notwithstanding, I liked him. I asked to meet with him because a couple of weeks ago I thought that the novelty of his circumstances at the Times — stepping in at a moment’s notice, in the middle of the hockey season, to cover for an area legend fallen ill — suggested a novel story. I came away impressed by his handling of his beat-baptism-by-fire 2007; he is poised and composed and offers a quiet thoughtfulness that belies his youthful appearance.

His has been a fast rise in a nascent journalism career. He left Pennsylvania for the University of Maryland in 2000, drawn to College Park for the quality of its journalism program. He covered various Terrapin sports teams for the school’s well regarded Diamondback student newspaper. He’s been at the Times about three years, where he’s covered minor league baseball and Navy football. His selection to cover for Fay, however, wasn’t entirely related to the quality of his coverage on the other beats.

“In the [Times’] newsroom the editors knew I was the only one who liked hockey,” he told me, laughing.

“Of course it’s not the way you want to start an assignment,” he added.

Back in December, Masisak “shadowed” Fay on a Saturday night Flyers game at Verizon Center. “That was a huge help,” he said. But soon thereafter the beat became his, and while he’d been around the Nationals’ locker room a bit, this was going to be his first full-time assignment covering a pro sports team. He confessed to a serious case of fright.

“I remember doing nothing but intense research — constant reading — the first four nights after I got [the assignment]. Coming in in the middle of the season, I needed to learn names and faces, what the team had done . . . it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be.”

The Times, like so many other large print media outlets these days, has seriously scaled back its staffing on team road trips. Masisak, who traveled frequently on the road with Terrapin teams, knows well the value of being seen day in, day out by the athletes he’s covering. Recently, at an LA Kings practice at Kettler Capitals Iceplex, Masisack was the only beat reporter present.

“It makes a difference,” he noted. “When you get to work with guys every day, you’re certainly going to develop relationships.”

Masisak’s work covering Navy football made him a bit apprehensive initially about moving to a pro sports beat. “You don’t get higher quality [individuals] than those guys in Annapolis,” he said. But working with hockey players, he soon found that “character” athletes could be found in NHL rinks as well.

“Everybody in hockey is so nice,” he told me. “I was working on piece about Eric Staal, and he gave me his parents’ phone number up in Thunder Bay [Ontario]. I got a hold of his mom, and after talking to her she had Eric’s dad ring me later. This is what it’s like among players, coaches, managers, and their families across the league.”

Tuesday night’s game account for the Washington Times yesterday was filed by Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, filling in for the ailing Dave Fay. In it he pointed to tonight’s game in Carolina as a crossroads one, suggesting that a Caps’ loss may well spell the end of any viable postseason aspirations. My initial reaction to Garrioch’s claim was defensive — Hey, outsider, bug off! Fifteen minutes later, however, with some introspection’s fuller inventory of all that hails and ails our squad, I confess to subscribing to Garrioch’s thesis.

The truth of the matter is harsh, if not immediately apparent: the Caps this morning are lodged in 13th place, just 5 points out of 8th in, as everybody knows, a tightly compressed Eastern conference hierarchy. But take a closer look at an important discrepancy between the Caps and the team immediately above them in 12th place, the Islanders. The Caps have surrendered 162 goals, the Isles 134. At least three teams between 8th and 12th in the East do a lot better job at keeping the puck out of their own net than does Washington. That isn’t a formula for a great deal of leap-frogging in three months’ time.

Add in the facts that the Caps remain badly banged up (Mike Green the latest to go down), that their offensive production is wildly unbalanced, and that 9 of the team’s final 14 games are on the road, and things look grim.

But your next reaction ought to be this: no worries, mate. The reality that I would suggest is settling in is the one that ought to be: the Caps are right about on schedule in the rebuild. They are not last season’s early season pinata, nor are they the battering ram they look to be in about 24 months. They are somewhere in between.

If we take a deep breath and a crossover stride back, we can acknowledge the razor-thin-margin-for-error, all-the-cards-have-to-fall-perfectly-in-place scenario that would have delivered the Caps to 8th in the East on April 8. They signed Richard Zednik to bring some veteran presence and offensive balance, both lost with his long-term injury that coincided with the meat and rigor of the Caps’ schedule. And he was playing outstanding hockey when he went down.

The other long-term injuries don’t bear the impact of absence individually that Zednik’s does but rather harm in an accumulative way: the Caps simply don’t have the depth to address a bevy of injuries anywhere in the lineup. And acquiring that depth is a mission secondary to securing the core pieces for long-standing playoff viability.

Meanwhile, in season two of the rebuild, some superb pieces to the puzzle have been added. A thought-to-be burst of offensive pizzaz — but a potential “troublemaker” to go along with — has in Alexander Semin turned out to be a wrecking ball of a gamebreaker, a first-tier All Star candidate for the next 10 years. And his teammates like having him around.

The all-important captaincy for a young rebuilding team was sagely set upon the shoulders of courageous, accountable, and productive Chris Clark (his predecessor has 16 goals in his last 115 games). Many wondered if last season’s 20 goals were a fluke of flanking Ovechkin. This season, he’s a mortal lock for 25. From this vantage, it isn’t difficult envisioning a 32-year-old Clark leading the Caps in the playoffs. He is simply the finest captain the team has had since Dale.

On the blueline, two important subtractions took place in the offseason and were replaced by Brian Pothier and Mike Green. The organization knows that more shuffling on the backline will have to take place this offseason, and that it has yet to acquire a shut-down no. 1.

On the near horizon is the arrival of highly drafted, heavy artillery that will positively remedy some of the present woes. (The bulked-up Eric Fehr to the right of Semin next season?) That doesn’t lessen much the sting of real-time defeats, but how often is glory’s path paved with rose petals and fried turkey?

The OFB Team sends best wishes and hopes for a speedy recovery to the Washington Times’ Dave Fay, who is battling some health issues. Get well soon, Dave.

Last season, the NHL and the media covering it blanketed all four Capitals-Penguins’ games with coverage focused exclusively on superstar rookies Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. It was as if the other 42 athletes dressed for the games didn’t exist. One year later, the two hockey teams are receiving coverage in the leadup to tonight’s first matchup of the ‘06-07 season between the teams.

It’s a highly healthy development, and credit goes to some startling and unexpected storylines. First, nearing mid-December, the Caps hold the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern conference, with the Penguins just three points behind. All four of last season’s Caps-Penguins’ games were contested by Eastern bottom-feeders. There was so little in standings stake at place. Both clubs would need health and a bit of luck to qualify for this season’s postseason, but tonight could be the preface to a much-anticipated, long overdue renewal of the springtime bitterness and drama that has bred beautiful bile between the teams’ supporters. And given the youth both clubs boast, it appears likely to be a renewal of considerable duration.

Unless the Penguins move to Hamilton. Or Las Vegas. Or Portland.

Joining Ovechkin and Crosby as high-profile, game-changing talents are Penguins’ rookie Evgeni Malkin and Caps’ almost-rookie Alexander Semin. These two are every bit as likely as the league’s 2005 poster boys to score the winning goal tonight. Malkin is a big offensive dynamo, as adept at playmaking as he is at scoring, and he’s evoking comparisons in western Pennsylvania to no. 66 (with less whining). Semin is a stickhandler almost nonpareil, with wicked wrists in the slot to match. If the game stays tight it will be intriguing to see if coaches Terrien and Hanlon load up their respective first lines with these young guns to try and win it.

Kris Beech entered this season largely as an afterthought among Caps’ and Penguins’ fans, but of late he’s helped shore up the revolving door of pivots on the Caps’ second line. A key part of the trade we no longer mention here at OFB, he’ll have perhaps almost as much motivation to perform well tonight as the first-line centers.

But perhaps the most surprising element leading into tonight is the play of Caps’ netminder Olie Kolzig. Last week Glen Hanlon claimed that the Caps regard him as the finest goalie in the league, and that Kolzig is playing the finest hockey of his distinguished career. It’s early still, but some around the league, including a few high-profile hockey talking heads, are lobbying on Kolzig’s behalf for the Vezina.

There’s strong preview coverage of tonight in the MSM. WaPost’s Tarik El Bashir, in addition to forecasting the Caps’ largest home crowd of the season tonight, dishes out some behind-the-scenes comings and goings at the practice skates the two teams held at Verizon Center yesterday. Dave Fay adroitly notes that the Penguins appear to be behind the Caps in the rebuilding schedule, having just jettisoned aged and unproductive John LeClair. And what the heck, here’s Pittsburgh Post Gazette Pens’ guy Dave Molinari and his take.

Monday night Mullet Madness at what used to be MCI Center. It’s good to have the hatred in bloom again.

Just want to thank Dave Fay for not filing for a few days before the Atlanta game. No blog entries, nary a peep. The Post isn’t the only paper in D.C. guilty of poor coverage — though we should thank Fay and the Behind-The-Times for it’s previous random Semin-bashing. Fay also files for The Hockey News, and the quality of that venture can be debated. Here’s hoping things turn around.

A hockey captain should lead by example? How’s this, courtesy of Saturday’s Washington Times?

Washington Capitals captain Chris Clark did not play last night, but it wasn’t because he didn’t try. Simply put, the team physicians wouldn’t clear him.

Clark was hit in the mouth by a puck late in the third period of Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to Boston, sustaining several broken teeth, a fractured palate and possibly other injuries inside his mouth (exact details are vague). He has spent the last two days with physicians and dentists and met with doctors before last night’s game to plead his case.

“I have never seen a more courageous thing in hockey,” (Continued)

The week commenced catastrophically: on an ad hoc assignment to cover the Caps, WaPost’s Amy Shipley, seemingly in over her head, filed an ignorant and nonsensical game account from Miami Monday night. However, the week improved appreciably thereafter, culminating with Christmas-morning-wrapped-goodies-under-the-tree kind of news relating to a geriatric hockey hating television news anchor at WRC announcing his retirement!

While Team OFB will acknowledge the news in predictable and appropriate fashion, on this sunny Friday keep in your thoughts the melancholy this moment enveloping the region’s rodeo fans. (Continued)