In Glacialis Blog

Alter salutor in Jonathan Praecipio’ stipes- venatus radio ostendo asked a concisus quod insightful question. Paraphrasing in meus own lacuna, hic is est:

Caput es in permaneo locus. Si Caput dont’ have alio facio playoffs secundum rotensus Redivivus, tunc mendum lies per GM George McPhee. Si team does have alio tamen ludio ludius pulvis’ effectus, tunc suus’ mendum of cogo. Suus’ unus vel ceterus. Quod est is?

Understandably, Praecipio quod hospes Ken Sabourin waffled in refero, utpote videlicet they es non in positus ut indict aut McPhee vel Hanlon. Tamen is est, in meus censeo, a fortis question. Iam refero may exsisto “ utriusque” nimirum, tamen procul minimus suus’ unus vel other—and utpote alius incendia venditio would potentially iuguolo teams’ fans ( ego teneo is would curtusmeusvita prestolatio), a coaching vel imperator procurator change videor ut exsisto in pecto.

Glen Hanlon did an admirable officium in suus primoris pauci annus. Purgatio sursum secundum roster-gutting quod Trucido Cassidy calamitas, is subpono a ferreus- opus si sub- ingeniosus team in a lentus humus. George McPhee has had suus partis of blunders (e.g., questionable draft picks; Trevor Linden; Robert Lingua) quod suus partis of iugo (e.g., Oates ut Philly proviapraeter is eram dignitas; Milan Jurcina).

Sic quisnam, OFB lector, est radix of teams’ current woes: Cogo, GM, vel utriusque?

EGO awoke procul 430: is oriens, duos hora mane quam meus timor. Im’ suscitatio unus utElliot Segal, quod amo Elliot hodie, meus caput capitis est refertus plenus of sententia super a novus hockey season in Lavatio.

Im’ reputo super salutor’ obfirmo procul Philips Pulvis modo, quam in obscurum iustus amo meus bedrooms’ illud snazzy vultus novus Caps’ threads — admittedly penuriosus engineered, quod amo futurus nex of super 70 NHLers is season — erant iam pensilis in locus, substerno per pius Caput’ paratus baculus. EGO sententia super quam diversus Lavatio ludio ludius vires sentio ut they primoris penetro cella mane is vesper quod occupo super novus similitudo ratio. EGO operor reputo is amo theyll’ sentio magis attachment sibimet tonight quam they did dum taedium lemma per pre se ferre season ( si pro haud alius causa quam a mediocris numerus of ludio ludius had pugna ’til Sunday nox noctis ut lucror lemma). In haud vegrandis via theyre’ emblematic of a changed hockey humanitas in Lavatio is season.

Im’ reputo super illud 22 cuspis boys magis vel minor postulo facio usque vie pro duodeviginti macula in Oriens is season. Suus’ a procerus promontorium ut surmount, tamen EGO reputo is amo. Pro unus res, EGO dont’ animadverto illud cuspis in terms of 11 additional ordinatio- vicis laurifer. Permaneo season Caps scriptor quis mos sto obduco of vicis ut pessimus paro of surculus effectus in hockey. In hockey history. Si theyd’ mutatus nusquam super suum surculus versus is estas they couldnt’ have absentis unus- pro- undecim iterum. (Could they?) Tamen GMGM brought in duos of leagues’ optimus surculus marksmen (Nylander quod Kozlov). Is isnt’ insensatus ut statua team placitum quispiam amo .500 in shootouts is season, quod si they operor, ut 22- cuspis challenge has been redigo ut super 17. Im’ fere vultus porro ut shootouts is season. Fere.

Suus’ valde quietis in suburban Maryland procul 450: in oriens, tamen is moris’ exsisto inside Quin Center per hockey venatus is season, gratiae ut a $25 million investment pensilis altus procul center glacies quod redimio summitto orbis of sessio tier. Puteus’ exsisto patesco ut an aer, EGO beneficium, amo quorum nos in D.C. nunquam have pro, quod quam decet ut is debuts alongside a susurro- ingenero hockey team. Youll’ congruo me, EGO reputo, ut Ivan Maiestas in relaxo hi-def est etiam Ivan Atrox. Is oriens in meus atrum quietis Im’ reputo super a hiberna Friday vel Imbuo nox noctis per a marquee salutor in urbs, Caps in a three- vel quattuor- venatus lucror- virga, domus plenus vel iuxta is, Alexes ustulo in binges, quod quicumque sonitus.

Etiam pro 700: quod etiam atrum, EGO perceptum Im’ non unus in meus puck sententia: EGO suscipio an instant nuntius ex Caps’ Spike Ortus. Hes’ opus iam quod Im’ blogging: suus’ iustus amo erant’ tergum in Moscow una iterum, praeter women in meus confinio dont’ vultus per ut opportunus quod prolecto. Nos votum invicem a Gauisus Oris Dies.

Im’ reputo super novitas totus of interventus in Caps Ive’ perussi is week. Nos may vultus tergum in is week ut forsitan plurrimi significant pro interventus huic team in suus history, ut a perficio tempestas of blogging, novus quod resumo procer quod broadcast studium, quod nonnullus re-engineering per vetus interventus combined ut vindico a epulum pro hockey fans huic tellus. Aliquid dico Tony quod Mike.

Im’ reputo super bloggers’ season kickoff soirée scheduled huic vesper downtown procul Amplitudo Hyatt, quod quam intrepidus EGO sum ut reconnect per tot amicitia EGO no permaneo season quod didnt’ adepto video vidi visum super estas. (Vogs, Peius’ have unus pro you.)

Hockeys’ hic iterum, in meus hometown. Vel in atrum, EGO can vultus sicco quod animadverto rectus alignment of plagiarius.

Apprised of Comcasts’ commitment ut Caps is week, EGO verto in Comcast SportsNet moment EGO supervenio domus ex opus Monday nox noctis, quod left is illic. Quis EGO vigilo super tunc quattuor hora attonitus mihi.

EGO saw novus Comcast Caps’ pello pepulli pulsum opinio Lisa Tumulosus bulla populus a season praevius alongside Joe Nidor. EGO saw iustus super totus of Alexander Ovechkins’ primoris- umquam NHL venatus (Id’ forgotten ut is eram a flubbed breakaway ex a hat furta ut nox noctis). Tunc EGO saw JoeB quod Craig populus alius bulla dimidium hora, “Caps Narro” proalius team praevius. Spondeo pro Comcasts’ “SportsNight” ut secuutus pollicitus vel magis Caps’ occulto.

Is eram “Monday Nox noctis Hockey in Washington,” nimirum.

Caput capitis Cogo Glen Hanlon eram interviewed in depth per Tumulosus. GMGM eram thoughtfully interviewed, tandem, quod is dummodo suus usitas thoughtful restituo. Key alio — Sarcalogos Expedio, Olie Kolzig, Tom Venenum, Nicklas Backstrom, Michael Nylander — totus took volvit pro Comcasts’ venit. Tarik El Vercundus’ segment per Joe quod Craig EGO sententia eram a highlight of universus nox noctis. (Tarik, verus effingo, dedi a siccus quod mediocris assessment amid vallum bene engulfing norma mane is autumn. Caps, is said, could perago usquam “ ex sedecim ut decimus” in Orientales placitum)

Broadcast Susurro super pro hockey in D.C. illa dies? Umm, etiam — tantum si vos contemplor totus- perussi, singulus- thema pietas per locus lusum television exitus ut urbs’ rutilus- caput capitis stepchild of pro teams “ susurro”- testimonium. Promptus suus’ iens ut exsisto amo is reliquum of week sulum vesper in Comcast.

Procul unus cuspis per prime vicis proceedings EGO saw Joe quod Craig mico in screen multiple-screen listings of Caps’ prospicio. EGO saw nomen Michal Neuvirth, Simeon Varlamov, Karl Alzner, Joe Finley, Mathieu Perreault, Suffragium Bouchard, Dave Steckel, quod Sarcalogos Bourque, totus broadcast in an exitus ut nunquam in suus vita held an muneris fantasy hockey lacus. Ne multus, is eram amo a effrego exhockeysfuture, quod duos DraftGeeks pensio sicco Comcast bulla quod condita amo Wayne quod Garth in locus cable obvius.

Wayne, er, JoeB: “inviso totus is talentum in pipeline, Dude!”

Garth, er, Craig ( caput capitis gallo): “Praeclarus!”

Is est quis importo unus Canuck can operor ut an exitus!

Magis serio, Tumulosus eram hired accerso suus NHL occulto usus ut Comcast. in- domus hockey talentum eram significant, si sub-appreciated quod grossly sub- utilitas, tamen had exitus umquam jactito a dedicated opinio in pello pepulli pulsum? Tunc Im’ iens ut refer ut occulto sententia amo Comcasts’ huic week havent’ res in a vacuum, quod ut theyre’ a prenuncius of melior occulto advenio, procer quod broadcast, institutio quod alternative. Ut an ambitus, suus’ fashionable, nimirum: Caps may non planto is ut postseason is annus, tamen they mos non exsisto plumbeus.

Tamen nimirum Im’ a subscriber ut ratio ut a interventus revolution huic team quod suus lusum est puteus sub illa dies, in illa secui.

Im’ quoque, procul weeks’ terminus, ut is tentatio run in Comcast terminatio, planning in decens a subscriber ut CapsTV.

Quis plurimus caught meus intentio per permaneo nox noctis’ 2-1 pre se ferre damnum ut Flyers dum audio ut ‘Net dico of Kolbe quod Vogel eram vox ut odio an off- dies sequens dies, superstar porro Alexander Ovechkin quod Alexander Semin hopped in a car mane in dies quod iter itineris usque Philly ut vigilo suum castra- materia contendo in vesper. Illic es precious pauci off dies per castra, quod praeter satis rink vicis pro illa duos in septem-plus mensis ahead. Vogel eram infigo per factum. Sic eram Ego.

Is propono of emineo camaraderie evulsum intus a amplus contineo contigi dignitas recenseo. Tergum in medium- estas, ut procuratio commotus quod surculus roster sursum pro melior, nos primoris philologus of guys res intrepidus impetro tergum in suum apparatus quod sicco in glacies una procul Kettler Caput. Quod is vere venio, in infigo numerus, weeks ahead of persona satus of palaestra castra. Guys volo ut skate hic, una.

Procul castra’ kickoff, in Interventus Dies, caput Sarcalogos Expedio partis aliquantulus of suus transmaritanus incursus ut suus teammates spanned trans globe. Is volo lemma tergum in urbs mane, ut loco distractions of moving quod subsido secundum lemma ut suum contraho focus could exsisto in maximus novus season statim pro lemma. Is eram, is videor, an securus exigo.

Iam caput nimirum plumbum per exempoator, quod a Expedio, suus gubernatio is estas fundo ultra Northmanni. Is re- subcribo per Caps, procul mercedis quod pactum tractus irrefutably magis vercundus quam quis hed’ have arcesso in patefacio venalicium tunc estas. In a placitum dico dissero paciscor, is referenced suus expers futurus a secui of quis Caps erant aedificium edificium. “ego volo futurus a secui of is, [of] qua erant’ caput capitis” is said. Illic est haud guarantee of in- glacies prosperitas huic season vel illorum ahead, nimirum, atqui Expedio, suus somes memorably battered intus redivivus, volo protelo nixus.

“Weve’ got a valde cella” est verum a vulgaris refrain huic lusum quod singulariter is league, tamen illic has been quispiam ornamentum super Caps’ vindicatum of unus. Iens tergum copiose three seasons, tergum usque ut mane hora of dispiriting exigo quod roster incumbo, nos primoris auditus vindicatum ex nonnullus of aedificium edificium clausus quod vel nonnullus of roster placeholders super caliber of Caps’ cella. Ut species eram certainly subpono ut haud vegrandis inhonestus per Olie Kolzig. Tamen is quoque has potuisse enhanced per a manus manus of repens draft ordo, plures of members quorum consuefacio themselves ut orbis terrarum of pro hockey una, in repens annus, in Portland, Pelagus, quod Ipsa, Pennsylvania.

Vel magis ingens, chemistry has been enhanced per solvo procurator acquisitions emineo pro suum team- primoris ethos: Res Bradley, Ben Clymer, Vepres Pothier, quod iam, is videor, universus of 2007 solvo procurator ordo. Solvo procurator in parcus tempus of pro lusum typically supervenio portans caritas tags quod magnus egos quod rare meld seamlessly in suum novus environs. Nos pulvis’ auditurus esse ullus illius in D.C. illa dies. Verum, ut Caps subolesco ex basement habito ut impleo, incrementum portatus nonnullus alio acerbitas: nonnullus of gluten of preteritus iugo of seasons ero abicio, facio cella pro maioribus talentum. Is palaestra castra, nos es eruditio quoque quam is animadverto est motum motum.

The chemist est nomen George McPhee. Ultimately verdict in suus tentorium in urbs ero effectus in wins versus damnum, ocius quinymo quam laxus. Tamen ut GM hes’ successio in a vitally maximus si sub- opinio super frons: contraho smiling visio quod trado collectivism in partis car veho quod estas crus.

Illic’ an ferrum ut chemistry instituo in NHL obfirmo cella: haud alius U.S. lusum teneo global varietas of NHLs’ athletes recolligo in a singulus team, atqui haud alius lusum teneo suus Ive’-got- vestri- tergum- procul- totus- vicis ethos, primoris per quartus versus, ex Proicio Flon-ner ut Finn. Suus’ a criterion nunquam agnosco in fantasy leagues ( moneo nos of suum superficiality), atqui nusquam est magis maximus ut a team.

Suus’ a dies of sileo non tantum pro Lavatio Caput’ ludio ludius quod cogo — puteus, ludio ludius utique — tamen pro teams’ fanaticus communications baculus pariter. Res sicco procul Kettler quantus quantus EGO have been preteritus 10 dies, EGO lucrum a profundus appreciation pro commitment of Nate Ewell, Julie Petri, Paul Rovnak, quod Mike Vogel, inter alius. Suum dies per castra suscipio mane quod terminus tardus, quod nunc of annus theyre’ non tantum facilitating unus of graviter interventus flows subsequens castra in annus tamen quoque putting una in-season communications uber, talis ut Interventus Rector. Suus’ forecast futurus a attonitus tardus September Sunday hodie, quod Spero theyre’ totus sicco having fun in fun quod recharging suum batteries.

pause in in- glacies factum est a bonus vicis sumo prosapia of quis Caps have perficio eatenus in quis EGO puto est plurrimi maximus palaestra castra in norma’ history. EGO no punctum per meus saluto lustro hockey-savvy caput capitis quoque captus in cotidie effectus procul Kettler, ex procer quod broadcast opinio ut socius bloggers ut fans in sto, quod herewith Im’ misceo suum plumbum storylines of castra ut balanus per meus own.

• Superbus Papa. Ive’ ordine seen Erus Leonsis ut palaestra castra testis per preteritus 10 dies, quod dum suus’ verus hes’ haud diutius involved per dies- ut- dies operations of AOL, is somes a districtus communications vir. EGO reputo quis’ venio per suus palaestra castra penitus campester speculum ut of ceterus nostrum: species quod depth of norma in propono est sic infigo vos es iuste subigo facio trinus sicco illic quod simplex ostendo sum in verto angulus of teams’ competitiveness.

• Nylander ut versus 2. Duos annus abhinc Michael Nylander left Lavatio ut a valde bonus hockey ludio ludius. Is cado hes’ reverto tamen perfectus sic videor ut exsisto magis a astrum. Hes’ a dynamic playmaker, in confuto valetudo. Quod dum fere sulum in hockey is estas forecasted an Ovechkin-Nylander caput capitis- versus iugum, via tergum in July Caput capitis Cogo Glen Hanlon valde palam civitas suus intention of experimenting per caput capitis-6 porro iunctura, quod eatenus in castra, emineo chemistry videor habeo melded inter Alexander Semin, Michael Nylander, quod Nicklas Backstrom ut Hanlons’ secundus iunctum.

• Lubricus Swede Secui II. Narro of Backstrom, sit irrefutably questus levamentum in North American- amplitudo ovis of glacies — condita progressio “ in a cotidie basis,” ut laudo meus amicus Mike Vogel. Procul orbis terrarum Championships in Moscow in May, quondam Solio quod Swedish Populus Team Caput capitis Cogo Bengt Gustafsson told nos ut Backstrom would planto ut transitus successfully quod rationabiliter celeriter, quod is eram vox. Tim Leone sursum in Ipsa reputo is in Backstroms’, quod Caps’, optimus penitus pro him habeo a vas of capulus per Gero is season. Aint’ venio.

• Suus’ meus puck, quod Im’ servo is. Caps dont’ ( etiamnunc) have a dominor shut-down tutaminis, sic Glen Hanlons’ ars pro amplio defensabiliter lascivio is season sileo per suus stipes suscipio possessio of puck magis sepius quam in preteritus duos seasons, ut sepius they fugo is inter rink in futile formo. Si vos have puck magis sepius quam vestri contradictio, vestri calx isnt’ adepto apt ut visio 40 vel 50 offa sulum nox noctis, quod trado quinque vel six calx plurimus nox noctis. Eatenus, is ars videor futurus captus habitum. In palaestra castra’ scrimmages quod per Caps’ primoris three preseason venatus, vos can animadverto magis puck possessio quod fewer netminders collapsing ex fatigo.

• Caput, Meus Caput/ Filius of Kono-Dahlen-Halpern. Ive’ changed meus visum in cloning, propter Sarcalogos Expedio. Voluntas haud disrespect to Dale and his retired sweater, but should Clark captain the Caps to a Stanley Cup title in one of the next three seasons, he will have to be regarded as the best and most important captain in team history, having guided the team from the barrens of an unprecedented bottoming out to the promised land. And sitting here in September 2007, I wouldn’t stand in line to wager against it. (See Carolina ‘05-06, Tampa ‘03-04.)

It is Chris Clark’s team-first, two-way versatility that has Glen Hanlon fantasizing about a two-way, impact third line along the lines of the great Steve Konowalchuk, Jeff Halpern, Ulf Dahlen trio of a few years ago. That line, you’ll recall, was so dominant that Ron Wilson opened just about every game with it. It was also one that was a lynchpin to the Caps’ postseason participation. The coach has told the media that he’s looking for 60 goals from his third line this season, and given the defensive acumen of Clark and Boyd Gordon, and Matt Pettinger’s offensive pop, it’s natural to invoke the KDH comparison.

I’m also not wagering on Clark’s offensive production diminishing, dramatically, by virtue of his dropping down to line 3. As he noted himself on Media Day, he’s spent the past two seasons taking shifts against the likes of Zdeno Chara and top defensive pairings. Less so, it would appear, beginning this season.

• Deep Depth. The Caps this weekend have 35 players battling for spots on the opening night roster. It’s reasonably easy to forecast another five cuts, but the leap from about 30 to 23 is another matter. To put it charitably, the Caps’ are in uncharted territory, post-lockout, in terms of the skater quality they’ll be showcasing out at Kettler in week two of camp. This is the most basic and encouraging sign of the overall success of the rebuild.

• Three games, three leads. Through three exhibition games, the Caps have only once fielded a fairly veteran lineup — last Thursday night in Ottawa. They opened in Carolina, against a comparatively veteran Hurricanes’ lineup, dressing only John Erskine and Mike Green on the blueline as guys with significant NHL experience from last season (and with BJ in net). In all three games the Caps have played significant stretches with a lead (twice with two-goal leads). There remain mistakes (penalties) and concerns (penalties) aplenty, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that Coach Hanlon’s strategy of playing a more puck possession game is abundantly evident. In order to win more often, a team must first establish competitiveness, then achieve leads in games. The Caps have accomplished both early in this preseason.

The next step is to close the deal once you have the lead.

• When did Toronto’s print media come to work in Washington? For the first time in my hockey life, I wake each day knowing that with my morning coffee I need to visit the web sites for both of Washington’s big newspapers in order to follow coverage there of Caps’ training camp. There are files there basically every day. And good ones. Additionally, blog files there. This is as it should be, but to our print guys — and most especially the Times’ Corey Masisak, who’s only taking on the beat of a departed legend — good on you.

• Sharp-dressed men. It’s not anywhere near as important as the talent upgrade, but in this the autumn of uniform mischief, the Caps have showcased the best-looking new threads in the entire league. And it’s not even close. I’ll be particularly grateful when those snazzy white uniform system tops are rightfully returned to wearing on home ice.

Some dominant themes swiftly emerged at players’, coaches’, and the general manager’s media conferences this morning out at Kettler Capitals:

• What a difference a year makes in terms of training facilities. I asked Chris Clark what he thought were his responsibilities as captain to his teammates this summer, and quickly he noted how in past seasons “we didn’t have anything to come to,” but that this summer, with Kettler, “we had almost a full team skating here days ago.” He said that he wanted to get everybody settled in town, early, to get the off-ice distractions related to moving and adjusting to new surroundings out of the way, and Kettler and its amenities was an easy sell to his teammates early in the summer.

“This is the best facility in the league,” George McPhee said. “It’s a place players want to be . . . it makes everything that we do better. It helps [with] community relations, media relations . . . It helps you keep your players and it attracts free agents.”

A year ago in Ashburn, Va., training camp was conducted in makeshift and cramped quarters. “Last year we were vagabonds [out at Ashburn],” Olaf Kolzig said.

“What the [team’s] trainers went through last year is a story in itself,” Glen Hanlon said.

• “These are the better days.” This came straight from Kolzig’s mouth early on in his session with the media. The first thing out of Kolzig’s mouth, as he moved before cameras and microphones, was “This is the Caps [press event]?” Both he and Hanlon were struck by the size of the media contingent attending Media Day. As we’ve seen in recent days, there is an intensity of media interest in the Capitals, particularly among local mainstream media, relative to that of recent years at this time.

Some reporters were discussing a quote Jason Spezza gave the Canadian Press this week: ‘’I think Washington could be a darkhorse team that could get into the playoffs. They made some good acquisitions in the off-season and they had a pretty good base of young guys so they could be kind of a team that might sneak up and make the playoffs.'’

Cap after Cap came forward Thursday morning with the word “playoffs” on his lips. It’s not an entitlement, it’s something they must earn, but Captain Clark made the mission as plain as could be: “We have everything we need to get there.”

The good karma around this team now has had a clear impact on Kolzig. “My enthusiasm and energy level is at an all-time high,” he claimed.

• Yes the new guys are important, but don’t overlook our core. Hanlon noted that the Caps finished 25 points shy of the playoffs last season. “The free agents [by themselves] can’t make up 25 points,” he said. There is a tendency to overvalue high-priced, free agent newcomers as saviors swooping in to lead a surge in the standings. Hanlon pointed to the emergence last season of so many young players on Pittsburgh’s roster, guys who, like the young Caps of the past couple of seasons, played together through rough times. Like Therrien in Pittsburgh last season, Hanlon is looking to his core to come through this season. “Our remaining 16 or 17 players have advanced,” he said.

• It’s AO’s planet, we just share it with him. “Your English has gotten better,” one reporter observed after Alex answered the first question posed to him, and the reporter wondered if AO had worked on it during the summer.

“I practice in the [night] clubs,” he replied, sporting a devilish grin.

The starting goaltender offered a passing observation about the superstar left wing’s unkept hair. A reporter brought this to Ovechkin’s attention.

“It’s gangster style,” he responded, grinning again.

The general manager offered a number of insightful assessments related to the present and the recent past. He acknowledged that beyond the signings of the three big free agents, he added bodies with pro experience — guys like Boumedienne and Lepitso — in response to the experience that the team went through last December, when injuries and illness assailed an above-.500 club that was sniffing a playoff spot then. He also offered the view that chemistry with three significant new faces in the room is less an issue or concern than it was when the league was first experiencing significant free agent movement. Relatively few teams were making most of the significant acqusitions early on, he noted, but today “every team is acquiring [free agents].”

Where are the Capitals at the dawn of training camp 2007?

“A couple of years ago, we were looking [just] to fill boots. Now we have good players to fill a few number of [open] positions,” McPhee claimed.

Per Nate Ewell of the Washington Capitals Media Relations Department, General Manager George McPhee is scheduled to appear on XM’s Home Ice, channel 204, at 4pm today for an hour of Capitals talk.

Unfortunately, none of us at OFB is an XM subscriber, so we would appreciate any updates from our readers.

Thirty minutes prior to Friday night’s Rookie Camp scrimmage Drummondville, Quebec native Matheiu Perreault could be seen standing behind the players’ benches, not yet in gear, twirling his hockey stick with a puck seemingly taped to his blade. I say seemingly because over the course of four or five minutes the puck never ever moved from the center of the blade curve. He’d whirl his stick with rapid wrist action, rapid eye movement motion almost, and never lose control of his prized possession. For a few brief seconds it appeared as if the puck defied gravity with the blade curved toward the floor. It was a magical spectacle.

Out on the ice this week there has been a similar attachment of puck to Perreault’s stick. An emerging storyline this week, he has freshly impressed Capitals’ officials with his playmaking ability, his elite hockey sense, and particularly his knack for being in the right place at the right time in tight quarters. A player of modest stature (5 ‘8, 160-ish), Perreault shows no reluctance to go where the big bodies bang.

A year ago at this time most in hockey would have thought Perreault lucky even to be invited to the Caps’ Rookie camp this summer. His rookie year in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the Acadie Bathurst Titan was nice but unspectacular (18 goals, 34 assists in 62 games). His offensive production did jump a bit that postseason, but come June and the NHL Entry Draft, his size kept him on the board late. The Caps grabbed him in round six, 177th overall.

But as the final leaves were falling from trees this past autumn a strange thing was taking place back up in Acadie Bathurst: Perreault was a dominating offensive force night in and night out. He was named Q League Player of the Month for November. By Thanksgiving (ours), he’d passed his rookie year points total. Along with draft classmate Francois Bouchard he was invited to the Canadian World Junior Final Evaluation Camp in December. In midseason Caps’ General Manager George McPhee went on the CapsReport and told Mike Vogel that Perreault had received “the highest possible score” on a player’s hockey sense. He finished the 2006-07 season with 41 goals and 78 assists in 67 games, and he capped it off by winning the league’s MVP award.

He arrived in Washington for the first time this week (”It’s hot here” he complained to me), and from the opening moments of Wednesday’s opening scrimmage he displayed an elite game of deft playmaking, unrivaled puck control, and superb instincts. He scored two goals that night, and he sent flat accurate passes to teammates in every scoring sector.

Along the boards, where you might think him most vulnerable and overmatched, he actually excels, drawing defenders to him to create open space for his linemates. He wins most of his draws, many quite cleanly. He is in constant motion in the offensive zone.

But outlandish offensive numbers and hardware almost as tall as he is bear no relationship to Perreault’s shy and soft-spoken demeanor off the ice. He was frank in acknowledging how even he had no idea he was in store for an MVP quality CHL season.

He told me that last season was so spectacular that he is at pains to identify specific goals to better this season. Instead, he will focus on “improving my strength, [gaining] more speed . . . more speed.”

From McPhee’s midseason assessment to this week’s dynamic display I made a point of trying to press the GM for a bold forecast for Perreault. I didn’t want to know if McPhee thought Perreault simply NHL-destined but rather if once there he’d be an impact player.

“He’s a good player,” McPhee told me after Friday’s scrimmage. But what about an impact NHLer? “I wouldn’t be surprised at all,” he added.

NHL hockey will always have places for the undersized and overskilled and determined. Martin St. Louis or Steve Sullivan or Daniel Briere would score goals in any era. It’s too early yet to tell if Perreault’s on that kind of development arc, but he possesses in abundance hockey’s most coveted quality — game-dictating instincts and skills.

One thing it seems you can count on with young Russian hockey players in North America, besides their high-end skill: intrigue. This is the latest bit of crack investigative journalism from D.C.-based Russian hockey reporter Dmitry Chesnokov:

“There seems to be a perception that Varlamov does not have a contract in Russia. In fact, he does. He has a 3-year contract with Locomotiv Yaroslavl. I asked George [McPhee] about it yesterday, and his reply was “this is not true.” Well, it is. Varlamov told me himself that he has a three-year agreement with his Russian club. Varlamov also said that there is an agreement with Locomotiv that he can leave for the NHL after next season.

“Today we contacted Yuri Lukin, Lokomotiv’s general manager. This is what he said: “The club [Locomotiv] and Varlamov signed a long term contract. Next season he will definitely play for Locomotiv. Next year, as we all agreed, Semyon will decide himself where he wants to play. If he decides to leave for the NHL, how will we be able to keep him? He will run away, like Malkin.

“So this is the current situation with Varlamov’s two contracts.”

Well.

Go ahead and make fun of me — I had difficulty sleeping last night, tossing and turning while my semi-conscious thoughts were heavy with hockey prospect storylines. Normal men this summer have been rushed into deep repose each evening with associations of imprisoned Paris Hilton, counting shower come-ons in her confinement. I on the other hand have my late evening mind, last night especially, preoccupied this July with thoughts of young Nova Scotians and Finns tossing medicine balls to one another and playing summer shinny.

Last night, why couldn’t my subconscious release me from its mental Herbies, and broker a grand compromise for more and better sleep — say Paris penning letters from the pen outfitted in a new Caps’ sweater? [Not-so-Subsconscious reply, at 2:47 a.m.: “Because the new sweaters are back-ordered through September.”]

The script for this sleep distress was authored early Tuesday. In the morning a chum transported me, with his reminiscence of a roadtrip past, to a faraway Frozenville. By the close of business yesterday OFB colleague Gustafsson was instant messaging me from Kettler Capitals, filling me in on all of the logistics for camp coverage by new and old media.

The Caps, though, bear considerable culpability for my restlessness. First, they bloated this July’s Rookie Camp roster with unrivaled prospect riches from around the globe, virtually doubling the size of the typical July camp. Next they scheduled happy hour scrimmages for four consecutive sweltering summer nights this week. What could be more puckhead friendly? A veritable Woodstock, indoors, for the ice-addicted.     

Not content with this already agitating agenda, management this week dispatched GMGM to the radio airwaves (Doc Walker’s WTEM radio show) to promise not All Star game congeniality on the ice during the scrimmages but rather something closer to a Charlestown Chiefs’ intrasquad intifada.

3:23 a.m.: Joe Finley, puttin on the foil, and pummeling some anonymous free agent to a pulp? A non-smoker, I nonetheless bolted upright in bed and reached for an imagined pack of unfiltered Marlboros I imagined were stationed on my nightstand.

Consider the thick scroll of honors accompanying these young guns onto the Kettler ice this week: “The next Forsberg” . . . “First team All WCHA” . . . reigning Most Valuable Player, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League . . . oh, and the Q’s reigning leading scorer . . . Second Team All WCHA . . . recent captain of an NCAA national champion . . . Mr. 99-mph slapshot [Not-so-Subsonscious clarifier, 3:50 a.m.: “99.4 miles per hour”] . . .  the second-leading scorer in the USHL from last season . . . and Big Knuckles Finley.

I’m supposed to just pull up the covers Tuesday evening and pretend this to be an ordinary mid-summer Wednesday in sports Washington?

If you see me out at Kettler this afternoon, I’ll be the guy with bags under his eyes, welcoming any and all offers for energy drinks.  

One of the first things I learned about George McPhee when he was hired here in 1997 was that he’d earned a law degree. He came to Washington having served as a quasi Assistant General Manager under Brian Burke in Vancouver — his official title was Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations for the Canucks — and the story as I remember it was that quite early into his post playing career McPhee indicated a keen interest in the management side of the sport, and Mr. Burke strongly recommended that he earn his law degree. I remember thinking in June 1997 that McPhee’s owning a law degree was a very good thing as the new manager for the Caps, and this July I’m doubly glad for it.

I don’t want to make too much of Kevin Lowe’s background in the Oilers’ misfortune in the Michael Nylander Saga, but to a layman’s eyes it sure appears that he lost out to a GM who knew perfectly well the specific and binding legal protocols at work during free agency, while Lowe himself did not. I also do not want to convey any impression that I’m absolving Nylander’s agent for the remarkable confusion/deception (?) that appears to have taken place between Lowe and him last weekend in Western Canada. But we all know that player agents, entrenched in the sports world forevermore, do as much if not more harm than good as far as sports fans (and managers) are concerned.

Perhaps the more interesting question in pro hockey this holiday week is: has contemporary athlete contract labor become so complex and sophisticated that it fairly mandates managers possessing JDs? And: is there something player movement malevolent taking root in Gary Bettman’s New NHL?

Across sports today no doubt one could identify scores of the most creative and astute GMs lacking even a business degree. Of course, you also have your Ivy-trained Theo Espteins, too. No doubt the most important quality for contemporary GMs in all pro sports today remains possessing a keen eye for player and scouting talent. But right behind that is contracts management — an ability not only to assemble a competitive and fiscally responsible roster in the present but to afford an organization the needed latitiude to retain core talent in the future. The Caps, for instance, certainly had the cap room to woo a Scott Gomez or a Chris Drury, had McPhee wanted to. But I suspect that part of the GM’s thinking in pursuing Michael Nylander instead was the day of contract reckoning for his star Russians, his captain, and his no. 1 netminder, next summer.

Likely it will take an extraordinary set of circumstances to radically realign the education/experience criteria for sports managers. But we in D.C. encountered such a set this week, and from where I sit we benefited big-time from our guy bearing a legally trained contracts savvy and sophistication.

If memory serves, the Caps have not merely McPhee the JD at work on these matters but a full-time “cap-ologist.” Does Edmonton?

The other storyline attendant to this mess out West is the renewed concern (that was supposed to be alleviated by Bettman’s new CBA) that hockey once again has cultivated “haves” and “have nots” when it comes to competing for player services. Bettman’s new and “improved” CBA was supposed to minimize if not eliminate altogether small-market clubs getting clubbed every July by the big-city bullies. In the last 12 months or so Lowe has witnessed defections by Chris Pronger, Ryan  Smyth, and to a lesser (but perhaps more troubling) degree, Michael Nylander. And we all know where the big unrestricted names went last Sunday and Monday.

It’s a sobering reminder: in a very real sense today’s sports are more about big dollars than big wins, and with so much lucre at stake, owners I think are very well advised to have the lawyer class way high up in an organization’s decision-making process.

The Capitals did as promised: they were major players in the free agent market this offseason. And it’s no sure thing that they’re done dealing, as pursuit of RFAs via trades has been a stated goal of the team for months.

I’m not saying that Michael Nylander, Viktor Kozlov and Tom Poti were the absolute best hockey players up for grabs; but the signings represent smart moves that directly address the team’s needs without mortgaging the future. Most importantly, the moves improve the team immediately while keeping enough funds handy to lock in Ovechkin and Semin — I’d rather see the team ante up for those two over any of the big-name forwards in this year’s UFA crop. The Los Angeles Kings took a similar approach to the Capitals’, signing pivot Michal Handzus (four years, $16M), wingers Ladislav Nagy (one year, $3.75M ) and Kyle Calder (two years, $5.5M) and D Tom Preissing (four years, $11M). Another relatively responsible restocking in this offseason of big spending.

How did the other 28 teams fare? Well, let’s review a few of the notables. Rather than a typical grading system, I’ll attempt a Hollywood Starlet system instead: Scarlett Johansson, Lindsay Lohan, or Nicole Richie.

Scarlett Johansson

Undeniably attractive, smart, and sexy. And Scarlett ain’t bad either. Some teams made just the right moves, not only in their choice of players but also with the deals they offered. Rather than spending like Donald Trump’s ex-wives, certain teams found the right player(s) for the right price.

Avalanche fans will be thrilled with Ryan Smyth’s arrival in Colorado. By bringing in Smyth (5 years, $31M) and Scott Hannan (4 years, $18M), the Avs get two rough-and-tumble players whose styles fit the team perfectly. 31-year-old Smyth’s five-year deal is not only a fairly affordable cap hit, but a reasonable duration as compared to some other signings.

The Detroit Red Wings continued their less-is-more approach by signing just one notable player in the first two days of UFA-Fest: Brian Rafalski. After losing 38-year-old Mathieu Schneider to Ducks, the Wings managed to upgrade while not losing a dime by signing 33-year-old Rafalski. His $6M per year for five years is about what the Ducks are paying Schneider per year; yet Rafalski is five years younger. In addition, Rafalski notched 55 points last season (30 on the PP) while playing the Devils’ ultra-conservative system. One would think he’ll perform even better in the Motor City’s more exciting style of play. Once again, Detroit’s management manages to make the right moves without breaking the bank; it’s no wonder they’re perennial contenders.

Lindsay Lohan

Some teams went on benders to rival Ms. Lohan’s. The New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers signed big name players to obscene contracts — making sexy but crazy moves. Like Tyrone Biggums with crack cocaine, neither team could resist the allure of spending with abandon. Clearly both teams’ rosters are dramatically improved for next season; but this sort of freewheeling spending backfires more often than not. They both are trying to buy championships; and in hockey, that rarely works.

Philadelphia began their binge early, throwing crazy pre-July 1 deals at Kimmo Timmonen and Scott Hartnall — both appealing but now-overpaid players — whose contracts are crazy not so much in terms of annual salary as they are in terms of duration. Then the Flyers topped themselves by giving spear-to-the-groin Daniel Briere an eight year deal. Each of these players is undeniably talented; but the dollars and duration of these contracts makes one wonder if Bobby Clarke is still in Philadelphia, working the levers as the man behind the curtain.

Mind you, the Rangers’ attempt to make the New York Yankees seem like cheapskates is just as stunning. Snagging both Chris Drury and Scott Gomez is quite a feat to be sure. But $7M per year to Drury, combined with a $51.5M seven-year deal to Scott Gomez (who has exceeded 20 goals just once in seven years of play), is insanity.

Including Jaromir Jagr, they now have spent over a third of their salary cap on three players, and they have not signed Brendan Shannahan, Sean Avery, or Henrik Lundqvist yet. Yikes. One wonders how long it will take Jagr to complain about the loss of Nylander if his adjustment to Gomez/Drury is less than perfect. In fact, it sounds like he’s already laying the groundwork for future complaining.

Nicole Richie

So far, the other 2/3 of New York was brutally pillaged by free agency’s raiders. Like Nicole Richie, the Sabres and Islanders are skeletal remnants who practically qualify for Federal disaster assistance.

The Sabres lost both their co-captains and seem to have returned to their spendthrift ways. After their season of excellence was eclipsed by the Ottawa Senators, Sabres management let both captains walk away with apparently minimal effort to stop them. With intense league-wide interest in both Drury and Briere, nobody expected the Sabres to retain both players. But losing both is a crushing blow to the team, not just in terms of skill but of leadership as well. Management’s half-hearted contract offers, particularly to local hero Drury, indicate a “well, we tried” attitude settling in with Buffalo’s brass. Here’s one Sabres fan writing for ESPN who certainly feels that way

As for the Islanders, they lost Kozlov, Poti, Ryan Smyth — who turned out to be a rather expensive rental, costing two former first-round picks plus this year’s first rounder — captain Jason Smith, and Richard Zednik. They appear to be emulating the Florida Marlins, only without the championship (well, not in the past 20+ years). Next they’ll rename their arena to Nassau Mausoleum. Isles fans cannot be happy losing three of their top six scorers — and their sole UFA signing of Jon Sim is not the answer. Dark days are ahead on the Island.

And . . .

Other teams were relatively silent, most notably the Caps’ Southeast rivals. A View from the Cheap Seats looked at the Caps’ divisional foes, and is similarly unimpressed with their signings so far.

A few other moves of note: the Blues snagged Kariya and Tkachuk (a.k.a. “The St. Louis Boomerang”), the Leafs acquired Jason Blake from the decimated Islanders, and the Penguins wisely re-signed Ryan Whitney (but what’s with the Darryl Sydor signing? Shades of Philly’s Derian Hatcher mistake), and Chicago brought in Robert Lang. The Ducks overpaid Todd Bertuzzi to ensure they have someone to take stupid penalties if Pronger gets hurt. Nothing too exciting there, though the Blues are clearly looking to return to the playoffs with those veteran deals.

As for the Capitals, fans seem pretty happy about the teams’ acquisitions; some may even renounce their hockey grumpiness. The Hogs are similarly pleased, and Off Wing Opinion has some interesting quotes from the GMGM conference call.

All in all, it’s been a good couple days for Capitals bloggers and fans alike . . . with perhaps more good news on the horizon.

[Feel free to post your take as a comment — either on the Caps’ moves or other teams’ signings.]

Somewhat idly I sent an instant message late yesterday afternoon to my good friend Eric McErlain, within which I pointed out that the ‘Net-wide consensus most of Monday that Rangers’ center Michael Nylander was off to shovel a ton of snow in Alberta for the next few years had yet to generate any tangible confirmation. Interestingly, there wasn’t a single voice on any Caps’ message board holding out hope that the last of the truly elite UFA centers could come home to the club most in need of help high up in the middle.

Taken together with Sunday’s free agent acquisitions, a good deal of Caps’ off-ice baggage was discarded late Monday afternoon, when General Manager George McPhee inked 80-pt. pivot Michael Nylander to a four-year pact. In a near instant an awful lot of the poison from the e-pens of the message board Doom and Gloom set was silenced. And should have been. A dispiriting set of mean-spirited mythology, ironically authored by the team’s “fans,” had been marginalized if not discarded.

This week’s talent influx at roster spot weak points ought to excite all Caps’ fans, and this morning, it’s entirely reasonable to posit that the ‘07-’08 Caps are, on paper, 18-25 points improved over last season’s 70-pt. cellar dwellers. Eighteen points means falling just shy of the NHL postseason; 25 and you’re in.

But there’s no need to worry about that in early July. Additional roster tinkering and architecture can and should take place in-season, as the team’s new components gell (or fail to). For now, we ought to reflect a bit on the indigenous bad-mouthing that frankly has contributed to this team’s stepchild status in local sports media’s coverage hierarchy . . . and celebrate its dismissal. (That’s optimistic thinking. More likely, it’ll recede through at least tomorrow evening’s fireworks.)

Myth no. 1: No free agent of name or notable game would ever deign to sign in D.C.

Nylander doesn’t possess a laser for a shot or blinding speed, but he is a Tier I offensive catalyst, clearly one of the three or four best centers available in this summer’s free agent market. And this week he was coveted. He had numerous offers, and he chose the Caps’. Hockey of course is far more than a one-man game, but the prospect of Nylander setting up AO has occasioned pages of praise across the ‘Net’s hockey spectrum. This signing once and for all ought to dispel the baseless claim that quality, impact hockey players necessarily bear an instinctive aversion to donning a Caps’ uniform system.

Myth no. 2: The Caps couldn’t possibly compete with genuine (and winning) hockey market clubs for the services of talented free agents.

Can and did. As in, with the case of Nylander, making a bridesmaid of the 2006 Stanley Cup finalist Edmonton Oilers. And, according to Mike Vogel, for less money. Tom Poti, too, had no shortage of suitors on Sunday afternoon. He was a no. 1 Dman for a playoff hockey club in ‘06-’07. At 30, he’s smack in the prime of his hockey career.

Myth no. 3: Caps’ management is all talk and no action, and its “summer of change” amounted to little more than new-colors-and-logos sloganeering.

Listen to that sweet sound of silenced Caps’ cynics. It’s about time for a Dave Fay “On Hockey” column, don’t you think?

First impression: I like this signing. The realization of this long-rumored deal makes perfect sense on several levels. Nylander, 34, signed a relatively reasonable contract in this gold rush of an offseason (four years, about $20M); he will finally provide the Caps with a first-line center to feed Ovechkin. Yet this is no 7- or 8-year deal where 15% of the cap is tied up in one player (e.g., Philly, NYR). And the Swedish connection is not to be overlooked: Nylander can help future #1 pivot Nicklas Backstrom acclimate to the United States and to the NHL.

Overall a smart move by the team; the only thing that surprises me is that it was so heavily rumored, as GMGM usually plays his cards closer to the vest and makes deals no one saw coming. Perhaps this situation was one that just made too much sense to be able to hide.

In the days immediately following the 2006 Entry Draft the Caps commonly earned exceptionally high evaluations for their work in Vancouver. The grade range generally ran from ‘A+’ to ‘A.’ The success of their 2007 draft, however, is inextricably linked to 2008’s, in light of George McPhee’s preference to defer selecting at times Friday night and Saturday in favor of acquiring picks for next June.

There were compelling reasons for the Caps to acquire additional picks for the 2008 draft. For one, it’s light-years better in terms of high-end quality and overall depth. But just as importantly, there’s a bit of a glut of strong prospects crowding the Caps’ organization these days. Since 2002, the Caps have drafted 12 players in the first round. Twelve. They’ve added eight second-rounders in that time, too. This morning, it’s difficult to point to a single one of these 20 high-enders and pronounce him “bust.”

That’s the good news. But beginning this very weekend Caps’ management has some difficult decisions to make in terms of committing next season to the likes of Jacub Klepis and Tomas Fleischmann. Qualifying offers come due then, and as they impact 2002 picks, it’s that portion of prom when the band strikes up the slow song. To dance or not to dance?

Or you could call it the 5-year itch.  

Some of these high-enders will make the Caps this fall. The rest need a place in the organization to play. (Only a couple, you’d think, could and would be packaged in a trade or two.)

The past couple of years, I’ve thought about how many European prospects the Caps have who’ve yet to make a commitment to playing in North America. (There are some good ones over there, too.) But even that’s changing; early in this offseason the Caps inked Josef Boumedienne and Sami Lepisto.

With training camps in 2005 and 2006 the Caps brought in a conspicuous number of tier II and III free agents to address the organization’s lack of quality depth. But this September, there will be a far more organic quality to the 60 or 70 skaters at Kettler Capitals, the likes of which Caps’ fans have never seen.

We may well see all 20 of those first- and second-rounders from the past five drafts then. We will likely see all of the collegiate free agents the Caps have inked the past couple of springs. We will see some fresh faces from Europe. And most exciting, from my vantage, will be the appearance of late-round draft gems like Andrew Gordon, Travis Morin, Viktor Dovgan, Mathieu Perreault, and Andrew Joudrey, all of whom possess viable pro hockey aspirations.

A preview of this our-guys-on-the-ice aura arrives in two weeks’ time at Kettler, with the Caps’ July Rookie Development Camp. Fans understandably are preoccupied with the end-game results from early October through April, but the foundation for a durable rebuild requires reliably successful drafting and development. The drafting work appears to be working well; the development aspect is more in question, as the Caps, beginning this fall, need to see some Hershey Bears graduate and make a positive impact on the parent roster — guys like Dave Steckel, Mike Green, Klepis and or Flash.

The Caps left Columbus with more high-value assets — three from the first two rounds. One, though (Alzner), may step into the big league soon, and another (Ted Ruth) can be stashed on a university campus, if need be, for four years. It was a savvy and sage handling of his organization’s development blueprint by George McPhee.   

General Manager George McPhee met with the media briefly at the end of the draft, and the Caps are ‘very happy’ with how the draft turned out. They were able to get the guys they wanted and add picks, a change in strategy from some earlier years where the Caps wouldn’t try and deal and just take their guy at their pick. Developing a bit of savvy as far as trading down, still getting the guy they want, and adding assets was effective for the club.

The 2008 draft is considered exceptional, and the team now has extra picks that carry more value than similar picks this year.

The word-of-mouth going around concerning the