There’s standup, and then there’s what Gabby offered the Washington Post’s Tarik El Bashir Wednesday morning — actually agreeing with Capitals management that it was time for a change behind the bench. He actually told General Manager George McPhee, “You’re doing what you have to do.” A company man in this sport if there ever was one. He’d just been terminated from his dream job, and still his thoughts were with what was best for the team.

On November 17 the Caps were in Winnipeg, and after they’d fallen behind 4-1 after 40 minutes, most listlessly, I sensed, really for the very first time, that we were watching the onset of destruction. The very next morning I took to Twitter and made explicit my concern: “The biggest indictment of this team was the final frame. Teams with pride and character make it 4-2 or 4-3, to build on for the next outing.”

I reference this moment because when Tarik yesterday morning asked Boudreau when he sensed that things might be slipping from his control the coach pointed to November 17 in Winnipeg.

Way back in January I published a highly unflattering, highly critical two-part read on the struggling, soft and identity-challenged Caps, calling them out for operating in a what I regarded as a “country club” atmosphere of luxury, comfort and precious little accountability that, from where I blogged, undermined an ethos of night-in, night-out hunger and drive — most particularly relative to the lunch pale Capitals rosters of 15-plus years ago. You know, the types of teams Dale Hunter played on here. And last season I also pulled no punches with respect to commenting on the increasing frequency with which Washington hockey fans were taking to social media to share photos and accounts of nightclub encounters with members of the team at troubling hours, and with troubling frequency. And so it was most interesting for me to take in the NHL Network’s coverage of Monday’s drama, Monday night, and hear Billy Jaffe suggest that under Dale Hunter there could be no serious commitment to winning when it mattered without the Caps mending their “clubbing” ways, while Joe Beninati not long later alluded to a “country club atmosphere” taking hold in recent years. The Washington Post’s Tom Boswell authored what I thought was the most severe indictment of the Boudreau era, but taking pains, to his credit, to also assign blame to upper management.

“During the offseason two ex-Capitals went public about the country club atmosphere that undermined discipline on the team. Once you’ve tolerated a star system for years, how can the same coach possibly reverse the trend?”

About a week ago, right as I began sensing that things were truly boiling over, I sent email to some reporters here suggesting that Jason Arnott would be in a unique position to comment on troubles that festered last season and perhaps metastasized this. Arnott had been afforded an inside look at the team last spring and then departed town — having arrived here with great fanfare at the trade deadline as a coveted leadership asset — with nary a word said about it, and having landed quite well in St. Louis this season. To his credit again, Tarik button-holed Arnott out at Kettler on Monday. You might say that in D.C. Arnott saw a loose ship being captained.

“It’s very hard. When you let guys do what they please, what they want [emphasis OFB's], then you come in and get hard on them, it’s pretty tough.”

But by no means should Bruce Boudreau alone be scapegoated for the country club atmosphere — and Boswell emphasizes this in his column. Boudreau wasn’t in D.C. when the Caps drafted Ovechkin and subsequently devised elaborate and clever and highly successive marketing campaigns for him his first two seasons. The coddling and deification of the extraordinary talent began from day one. With Alexander Ovechkin the Capitals, for the first time in their history, had an opportunity to create their Elvis (thin and fat), and they did.

There were no larger-than-life figures on that ’98 Capitals club, captained by the legend, that made it to the Stanley Cup finals, were there? Just food for thought.

So you know that my concerns with the Caps date back deep into last season and you should know too that I opened this season with a renewal of them — I titled my season preview ‘Questions for a Hockey Club at a Crossroads.’ In it I identified Bruce Boudreau as a figure who had to demonstrate marked improvement at his job: “Much as the Capitals’ core roster has experienced growing pains in its path toward legitimate contention, so too has Head Coach Bruce Boudreau. Put bluntly: he’s underwhelmed a lot of observers with his handling of the Capitals’ recent postseasons, and in fact in the judgment of many been out-coached by less experienced bench bosses of lower-seeded clubs.”

I didn’t write this sentiment for that preview file, but I did suggest to a few of my blogger chums here that it was not at all beyond the realm of possibility that the Caps could can Boudreau at about the 25-game mark. I specifically wondered how McPhee would react if, for instance, the Caps were behind Tampa Bay in the Southeast division then. Like I think everyone else, I had no idea we’d see what we have this season from the Panthers. Anyway, my hypothesis occasioned a torrent of email protest back from my chums: “No way; he’s years left on his deal; Ted’s too cheap.” (They really wrote me that.) The Moral: When a team goes bad any GM who values his job will pull the trigger, no matter (within reason) the financial fallout.

* * * * *

I’m closing this file with a very personal feel-good story. Last night the Buffalo Sabres recalled Joe Finley. In the summer of 2010 Fins kept a diary during Capitals’ Development Camp for OFB. It was a really fun project, and I enjoyed most that Big Joe had a lot of fun with it. Meeting him for that project remains one of the great rewards I’ve derived from this blogging gig. Big Joe is a true gentle giant, truly one of the friendliest people I’ve met in the sport.

During his development time with the Caps Fins suffered injury after injury, and finally, at the end of last season, the team did what most teams do after a first-round pick fails to show some durable glimmer that all of that development investment was paying off: they cut ties with him.

Buffalo invited Fins to training camp this fall, and he showed well enough to earn an AHL contract with the Sabres’ American League affiliate in Rochester. With the Amerks Fins has been what the Buffalo News this week termed “a revelation.” Through 18 games this season Big Joe has seriously thrown his weight around (57 PIMs), and played so strongly that he’s earned a shut-down designation with the top pairing on the Rochester blueline. His +10 is best on the team. It’s a terrific story, capped by his earning this week a three-year, two-way contract with the Sabres and last night’s callup. I sent him a congratulatory note the other day, in which I somewhat jokingly expressed remorse that the Caps hadn’t held on to him one year longer, given the arrival of the new sheriff in town. He agreed.

No worries; I’ve boned up a bit of late, and I’ve got your end-of-summer debriefing right here, to catch you up on all of ice note that transpired.

In no particular hierarchy:

• Hello Toughness, my old friend.

• Ted takes over Washington’s winter sports, as well as their home in D.C. Soon all his teams will wear our nation’s colors. The acquisition led to Leonsis’ forming Monumental Sports & Entertainment as the reorganized umbrella for all of the Leonsis sports properties. Hopefully, sooner rather than later, one will be renamed in accordance with its winning legacy.

• The Caps will wear a classic look at Heinz Field for the Winter Classic on New Years Day. The team will host its second annual fan convention on Saturday, October 2, at the D.C. Convention Center, and the Winter Classic threads will be unveiled there.

• Kovalchuk fatigue.

• Coming soon to a beer league perhaps near you: Jose Theodore.

• The Caps’ beat, on television, de-beautified.

• Russian Machine Never Breaks: A certain general manager went missing while Eastern conference powers reloaded beginning in early July.

• Despite their springtime shortcomings, the Caps remain the hot ticket in town. During the playoffs in April the Caps sold standing room only tickets for the first time. Beginning with 2010-11, Verizon Center will be home to standing-room-only accommodation during hockey’s regular season.

• Having already added D. J. King to the roster, the Capitals set enforcement hearts aflutter by slow dancing with
  

  RMNB: Gone missing at summer's crucial moment -- the Caps' GM

  Willie Mitchell, inviting the Canucks’ rugged UFA rearguard to Kettler for an August audition. Earlier this summer Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal ID’ed Mitchell as the guy to get for Capitals’ General Manager George McPhee: “[The Capitals] badly need a heart-and-soul guy back there who can match up against Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.” Ultimately and unfortunately Mitchell signed with L.A., but the interest by Caps’ management offered further evidence that an important organizational reconsideration of a soft roster was in a to-be-continued mode.

• The Capitals’ beat in print also received a jolt, with WaPost’s Tarik El Bashir forsaking Cup-contending puck for the limited travel comforts of Georgetown hoops and that long-standing Washington sports passion of . . . NASCAR.

• Speaking of media and the beat, OFB was pleased as peaches to partner with upstart media initiative TBD this summer. Albritton Communications is bankrolling the venture, and the premise is intriguing: marshal committed D.C. blogs into a digital family of vibrant coverage, one not exclusive to sports and one that will be supplemented by Albritton-owned WJLA and News Channel 8 TV. The ethos and joie de vie of our coverage won’t change a lick, but its dissemination and immersion into larger digital D.C. is likely to.

• According to this August 12 report by the Toronto Globe and Mail’s James Mirtle, featuring “multiple sources,” not only was Tomas Fleischmann on his way out of D.C. in a trade but Eric Belanger was coming back for 2010-11. Nearly a month later, we have no clarity with either player, except that Flash is in town and apparently kicking soccer balls around.

• Local MSM remains in dire need of a 24-step remediation program for their Burgundy and Gold addiction.

• I’ve had my fill of first-round flameouts and soft, finesse, easy-to-defend hockey, and to cope with all of them I immersed myself this summer in . . .  rejuvinative endeavors. I’m departing summer thoroughly recharged. You can expect big things here commencing with training camp. Let’s get to it.

Back in 2007 Comcast plucked Hillary out of the Great White North, and she uprooted herself from a prosperous broadcast existence in her native Canada to come to Washington precisely because she was sold on Comcast overhauling — revolutionizing — its approach to hockey here. She was also enticed by the prospect of covering the world’s best hockey player, Alexander Ovechkin. The move by Comcast seemed bold at the time, a real commitment to improving the hockey beat here in broadcast media.

Early on, it looked promising. In her first season on the beat I remember Hillary approaching me in the Verizon Center press box and asking if I’d plug her special video series on a late-season Capitals’ fathers-and-sons weekend trip for games in Florida. I was flattered by her request, and eager to help. Comcast sent Hillary and a cameraman to Florida to tail the fathers and sons. At the time that project struck me as compelling evidence that Comcast was allocating important resources to broadening how hockey was covered here. That level of commitment didn’t last.

Beginning about two seasons ago Hillary was quick to correct me whenever I’d refer to her as a “Capitals’ beat reporter.”

She’d become very much a sports generalist, covering numerous playing fields here. There’s virtue in that, I suppose, but it wasn’t the pretense upon which she’d moved here. Moreover, hockey here at such a critical time needed what Hillary brought back in 2007: serious credentials, and serious devotion. It was a distinctive vision by Comcast, and it needed to be supported. From my vantage, it wasn’t.

Beat reporters follow NHL teams at home and on the road. They cover practices. Hillary’s considerable on-camera appeal led Comcast executives to increasingly assign the Canuck reporter to in-studio anchor duty, early in mornings, late at night. It was a schedule ill-suited to covering mid-morning Caps’ practices, and especially for following the team on the road. Hockey — particularly as it was first envisioned by Hillary upon her arrival here — lost out.

Hillary is well known among the biggest names in hockey broadcast media, and over the years as they would engage her in the Verizon Center press box I sensed that they were under the impression that she was on a special mission here in Washington, knowing as they all did our city’s perpetual struggle in gaining acceptance for hockey here. By late last season it was abundantly clear there’d be no such notable mission for Hillary.

Meanwhile, Comcast Sportsnet in Philadelphia accords the Flyers a status on par with the Eagles and the Sixers and the Phillies, as sports media outlets in authentic sports towns tend to do. An under-utilized but industry-acknowledged talent in D.C. was, to some extent, going to waste, and Comcast execs in Philly pursued Hillary hard. Hillary was presented with precisely the challenge there she was here four years ago, only this time there would be no Lucy pulling the football on Charlie Brown. Flyers’ fans won’t tolerate shunned status for their beloved bullies. Beginning next month Hillary will be an authentic beat reporter in an authentic sports town.

Our loss. Big time.

“I’m looking forward to this next chapter in my life — I’ll be doing more of what I love to do,” she told me via text from the studio last night.

The real shame in all this is that very quickly Lisa fell very much in love with her first American home, our nation’s capital. She accomplished a good deal on the beat in the limited access to it she was accorded, but with the needed support she could have done a lot more.

Lisa became a friend, and I enjoyed seeing my friend on the outlet’s 30-minute sports wrap shows in mornings and evenings as I readied for work or relaxed after a long day. But when I engaged Hillary at the rink I always learned a lot, particularly from anecdotes she shared about covering hockey in its home. And I felt strongly that a reporter with such passion for puck, and with such notable credentials, was desperately needed, daily, at our rinks. Comcast here didn’t quite see it that way.

A quick anecdote about how hockey and hockey friendships comprise the fiber of Lisa Hillary. A couple of years back I wrote a file that excerpted a memorable reflection from iconic Canadian author Roy MacGregor. Lisa read it and at a Caps’ game soon thereafter asked me if I knew MacGregor. I did not. A couple of days later I opened email early one morning from a quirky address suffixed in ca. In it I found a warm greeting from MacGregor, who somehow had been guided to my blog and commended me for it. I wonder who could have put him up to that? Lisa played dumb about it at the next home game. But it’ll be some years before I forget it.

On her Facebook page this week Hillary wrote, “I would much rather watch Strasburg pitch than hear Albert Haynesworth bitch.” Would that more in her profession joined her in that sentiment. It just seems all so sadly fitting that in this the summer of Fat Albert, with all the usual media suspects hyperventilating over the physicals and shuttle runs of a fraud, we’d witness a top-flight puck reporter grow exhausted from frustration and bolt for a serious sports town. Washington has great sports fans. It’s yet to achieve a sports media culture worthy of them.

Photo courtesy of Overtime w/ Bill Rohland

On Wednesday, 106.7′s Overtime w/ Bill Rohland featured a Hershey Bear who’s sure to have a big impact in D.C. this season: Karl Alzner.  According to Tarik:

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but McPhee pretty much said both John Carlson and Karl Alzner will be full-timers in Washington next season. “He’s shown us enough,” McPhee said of Alzner, who scored a huge goal in the first period of Monday’s Calder Cup-clinching win and was a rock on the blue line. “He could have been in the NHL last year. But the way our team was playing last year, we didn’t want to tinker with the chemistry too much and we thought he would be better off if we kept him playing. He’s a guy we expect to be in Washington.”

Listen to the audio here, if nothing else, to hear him explain how he looked like Wolverine for the team photo.

Overtime w/ Bill Rohland can be heard on weekdays from 7-11 PM on 106.7 The Fan.

If you don’t know already, McErlain is the fella who really got new media a VIP invite to the Capitals’ party. He pioneered the presence of bloggers at Caps’ games, beginning his blog in 2002 and being not only the first through the credentialed door but also the drafter of the seminal blogger’s bill of rights, which the Caps use to evaluate individual requests for creds.

In Leone’s piece McErlain offers numerous important, big-picture observations about the rise of new media in Washington, and its impact on broadening the appeal of hockey here.

“If anything, the rise of blogging has shown that there’s a tremendous amount of talent and interest in the game that simply didn’t have an outlet because of the limitations of publishing technology. But that’s all in the past now, and the playing field has been leveled forever. The game and sports journalism are all the better for it.”

A second star performer in the feature, which when joined by a sidebar piece on the Capitals’ remarkable web coverage of the team commands fully four pages, is the Washington Post’s Tarik El Bashir. To his credit Tarik frankly acknowledges the awkwardness and uncertainty in the early days of the Capitals’ experimenting with broadening media access, and it’s a recollection that rings true.

“We were kind of like, ‘Oh, my goodness, what’s going on here? Are these guys going to take our jobs?’ But three, four years into the experiment, we all coexist. They do their thing, I do my thing.

“We’ve kind of become friends with them. They link to my stuff. I link to their stuff. They sometimes use a level of snarkiness and opinion that I can’t get into my stuff as a reporter. I read their stuff, and I enjoy it.”

The relationship between old and new media today on the hockey beat in D.C. truly is one of the most rewarding aspects of pursuing the coverage that we do. We aren’t just friends as Tarik noted but supporters of one another’s work. In so many respects bloggers are pursuing different coverage angles from conventional reporting, and I think they deserve credit for showing deference to their professional colleagues in print and broadcast who need timely access to athletes. The dichotomy is healthy, our co-existence at training camp and on game nights now is seamless and in synch. All the credit must go to Leonsis and his team’s communicators for their faith in the experiment.

The descriptions of individual D.C. hockey blogs are another strong-suit in Leone’s piece. Japers’ Rink, he notes, started by attorney Jon Press, “is a phenomenal aggregator of Caps-centric news and analysis spiced by opinion bon mots and reader posts.”

I especially appreciated how Leone referenced an important moment for hockey in Washington during a Redskins’ game this past season. He noted that when the Burgundy and Gold got throttled by Dallas in their final home game NBC’s Al Michaels took note of the conspicuous enthusiasm for the Capitals in the football stadium that night. Michaels isn’t just any TV sports talking head, and when he got a bit of ‘Ah so what’ from his booth-mate Chris Collinsworth he pushed the matter more pointedly. Visiting media just driving through town for a single game couldn’t help but notice the change in passion here. Something special really is happening. And Leone draws the conclusion — correctly, I think — that the Capitals’ investment in new media has played a role in it.

As you might imagine, Capitals’ owner Ted Leonsis has a few important things to say on the matter as well.

“Getting the newspaper 24 hours after the trade just doesn’t cut it anymore. The news is out, and the analysis has already been done in other media forms.” Leonsis goes on to tell Leone that in order for the Washington Post to survive “it will have to become a web/print company rather than a print/Web company.”

I loved being in Hershey and encountering this terrific read, which warmed me well on a dreary January day, and the Capitals’ owner made a point of lavishing praise on our remarkable partner in the American League.

“The excellence with which that [Hershey] organization is run,” Leonsis said, “washes up on us.”

Here are some trends, stats, and pros and cons for each position:

Goalies

Washington has alternated goalies very regularly throughout the season, but I would argue that if Theodore did not sustain a back injury, he would have played in more than just nine games. He has been the better goalie, but the Capitals seem to play better – and more importantly – get wins in front of 21-year old Semyon Varlamov. Theodore’s play was outstanding during a four-game losing streak, except for two shaky goals to the Rangers’ Marian Gaborik. During that streak, Theodore took the loss for Varlamov against the Flyers, after the Russian had been shelled four times.

The young Russian goalie has a 5-1-0 record, yet has been mediocre in the seven games he has started. He owns a 3.18 GAA and sub-.900 save percentage. The trend here is the Capitals don’t play more defensively when playing in front of Varlamov; they just score more goals and allow more goals. Varlamov has played in three games – two against Atlanta and one against Toronto – in which the Caps had jumped out to huge first-period leads only to allow the opponent to make a quick comeback. Come playoff time, a 3.00 GAA is not going to cut it against the likes of the Penguins and Flyers. While Theo’s stats are not much more spectacular than Varly’s, he’s been the better of the pair.

Defense

The league-leader in defensive scoring isn’t Mike Green, but instead comes from the second-worst team in the league. Thomas Kaberle leads the league’s D-men with 18-points in 14 games. Number 52 does have a respectable 13 points in his 16 games played, but his two-goal season thus far is modest. Now he’s banged up a bit. ESPN projects him to total 11 goals and 71 points this season — which is all well and good — but his $5.25 million paycheck invites expectations approaching 25 goals a season. In his own end, Green remains a work in progress. He’s been noticeably absent physically as well.

Other defensemen have picked up the slack to support the team. In the first part of the season, the defense is better than it was last year. It is virtually the same corps as last year, plus Tyler Sloan, who had a two-game goal scoring streak.  One more year of experience and playing together has helped the Caps tremendously. Tom Poti has been solid. Offensively, it’s nice to see Brian Pothier contributing for the regular D-men — he might be playing the best hockey of his life these days. I suspect he’ll be the go-to-guy on defense while Green’s lost to injury.

However, there’s tons of space for improvement on that end. Jeff Schultz and Milan Jurcina are the biggest guys on the team, but it amazes me how often they get beat to the puck, even when they’re in an advantageous position. Schultz seems scared to use his body and Jurcina often gets beat because his stick isn’t on the ice when he goes to the corners to clear the puck.  It’s nice to see a healthy John Erskine in the line-up again.

Offense

What is up with Semin?

As of last night, approximately $15 million worth of offensive cap space has vacated the roster through injury, but the slick Russian hasn’t made an impact on a game yet. Check that, a positive impact. He had two secondary assists on Sunday against Columbus in Ovi’s absence, but his last worthwhile contribution was October 27 at home versus Philly in which he scored the game-winning goal with a sick wrister to the roof. This is Semin’s contract year, and his opportunity to make his next contract as valuable as possible. Read Andrew Tomlinson’s piece titled Stand-in Savior for more on Semin.

Alexander Ovechkin had six two-goal games and one one-goal game through the first 12 games of the season, meaning he scored in seven of those 12 — perfectly respectable for the league’s best player. He’s been an impact player in just about every game, and the Caps are hopeful of having him back in the lineup as early as this week.

Enter Mathieu Perreault. I’ve been a big fan of this guy since he was a Junior player when the Caps drafted him in 2006. The Quebecer put up monster numbers for Acadie-Bathurst in the Q and despite playing fourth line minutes in Hershey, he still put up 50 points in 2008-09. In the three games he’s played, he’s been an impact player despite his diminutive size, shaking off hits and physical play to keep possession of the puck. He assisted twice in his first game against the Devils and scored the first goal of his NHL career against Florida last night. He might not be returning to Hershey as soon as either the Caps or Bears imagined a week ago.

Speaking of AHLers, I was watching the New Jersey broadcast of Wednesday’s game when Mike “Doc” Emrick noted that Alexandre Giroux is a 28-year old 60-plus goal scorer in the AHL. The commentator said, “You’d think some team would have picked up on his skill and put him in the NHL.” I completely agree. I don’t think Eric Fehr or even Tomas Fleischmann have got the offensive upside of Giroux, though they may have more NHL career potential. If Boudreau wanted three scoring lines he’d perhaps consider rolling out Fleischmann, Perreault, and Giroux on the third line.

Wrap-Up

The Caps are tied for fewest regulation losses in the NHL with three. Buffalo, Colorado and Dallas are the others. They have collected points in 14 of their 17 games.

Some key questions ahead: Will Tomas Fleischmann show he is a reliable, top-six talent? Will  Mathieu Perreault show he can stay in the big league this season? How will Eric Fehr contribute? What do we think of Alexander Semin’s play — most particularly in the past week — in this the most important year of his NHL career to date?

We may well have the answers to these questions by the midway point of the season.

We’re underway with period two. Neuvirth and Holtby now in net. The French (Canadian) Connection (Perreault and Bouchard) are seated together in the stands, taking in the action.
If squad B’s to get back in this — and they’ll need 3 goals at a minimum to win — you have to think that the line of Semin-Fedorov-Laich will have to play a large role in the effort.
Holtby snuffs out an Ovechkin breakaway with 13:15 left in the second frame! He’ll be placing a phone call or seven home tonight, methinks.
Chris Bourque is really moving well this camp — he’s been very active in the two scrimmages I’ve seen him compete in. And his Bears’ teammate Andrew Gordon has also been really active in this scrimmage.
Alexander Semin made a nifty no-look, backhand dish to Feds in the slot that # 91 snapped into Michal Neuvirth’s glove. The young goalie came out in a challenge and well eliminated a lot of shooting area for the legend.
Boyd Gordon was smarting on a shift just now — he may have taken a cross-check to the lower back. correction, a slapshot to the leg. He was visibly wincing trying to help clear the zone. A few minutes later, he was back out on his regular shift, seemingly no worse for wear.
We lost 10 minutes in the second frame (20 minutes of running clock), and it’s still 2-0 A squad. That’s how the stanza ended.
Boyd Gordon poked in a loose puck in tight past Simeon Varlamov a little more than 3 minutes into the final frame. Then, just 7 seconds later, Alexandre Giroux tallied to even it at 2! Sean Collins was announced with a helper on Giroux’s score. We’ve a little over 5 minutes remaining, and we’re all knotted at 2. I know that Mike Vogel is hoping that the first-ever Gaetan Duschene Cup is settled via shootout.
Boyd Gordon power rushed down the left side of the ice with a little more than a minute left in this tied-up affair, and Alexander Ovechkin two-hand-chopped his stick for a slash that he got called for. So A squad is shortanded for the final 1:06.
John Carlson blasted a point drive that Varlamov snagged with his glove in spectacular fashion with just 30 seconds left.
Oh No Vogs, it’s a shootout! 2-2 after 60 minutes.
Eric Fehr and Viktor Kozlov both missed their shootout attempts, and Alex Semin missed for Squad B. That brought up Ovi of the Four Trophies. He put a slick stop-and-go move on Holtby and tucked the puck in 5-hole for a 1-0 A lead. But Boyd Gordon, who really came on strong in the third period, knotted it moments later.  Keith Aucoin missed, so we went to . . .
Extended shootout, Vogs!
Brooks Laich put a seriously YouTube-worthy corkscrew move on Varlamov, roofing it to wild Kettler applause. This of course meant that Matt Bradley had to match. Which he did, backhanding a real nice water-bottle-shaker. Sergei Fedorov then went through his own legs in a bit of razzle-dazzle that he tucked 5-hole. And the Duchesne Cup went the way of B when Chris Bourque went wide with his effort.
“I thought [the Duchesne Cup] was a good idea,” Bruce Boudreau said afterward. “You never knew how it was gonna work out . . . I’ve done this and been a part of it before where it’s not worked out as good where the scores get out of hand and ends up with some fights, but this all worked out really well.
“To win it in a shootout, and to come from behind on the last shot to win it in a shootout, I thought it had a bit of drama.”
This blogger’s three stars of the entire Duchesne Cup:

3. Jose Theodore
2. Alexander Ovechkin
1. Bruce Boudreau, for hatching the idea