Er waren heel wat vriendschappelijke gezichten en overvloed eveneens van nieuwe aankomst. It being a game 7, I wanted to survey the pros — the men and women who get paid to work hockey as a beat, and especially the veteran ones who’ve worked these decisive games before — to try and gain a sense of how they thought this remarkable series would conclude.

I was able to chat up 11 press members before seating myself upstairs at my assigned seat, eight affiliated with Washington media, two with Philly, one with a Canadian outlet. All eleven reporters forecasted a Caps’ victory Tuesday night. That sort of unanimity, imbalanced as the survey sample was, struck me as odd, particularly for a series as closely contested as this one. But it matched forecasts I’d seen on television since late Monday night.

With two of the scribes I pressed the matter. Why so Caps’-certain, I asked? The answers were the same, and interesting. The Caps had matured about midway through the series — learned tough lessons from the series’ first three games. Moreover, they were able to adapt in the series in a way that the one-weapon Flyers weren’t: the big-bodied Caps could go physical, whereas the bruising Flyers couldn’t hope to out-finesse the highly skilled Caps.

These reporters mentioned the word “momentum,” if at all, only at the very end of our dialogue, almost as an afterthought. The one variable of vulnerability for the Caps, a few of them suggested, was if somehow Cristobal Huet turned in a dog of a showing. Unlikely, they suggested, but possible.

The Flyers as we all know prevailed Tuesday night, defying the forecast of all 11 hockey media pros I surveyed and a host of national television commentators. I didn’t really think much about this oddity until late yesterday afternoon.

Over a beer early Wednesday evening, without a game to monitor for the first time in months, I had this thought: couldn’t it be possible that all 11 reporters presumed, subconsciously of course, that the Caps Tuesday night at home would be skating on a sheet of ice comparable in quality to Philly’s from the night before?

Makes sense. The two cities, close as they are to one another, experience basically identical weather, and both are home to multi-purpose venues experiencing virtually identical challenges in terms of attaining hockey ice integrity. And perhaps more to the point: fresh in the minds of these reporters was the nature of the goals the Caps scored in game 6 just the night before: that dazzling exchange between Brooks Laich, Alexander Semin, and Nicklas Backstrom on the first Caps’ goal, the one that led Pierre McGuire to issue a warning to the rest of the Eastern conference for its virtuosity; then, Viktor Kozlov’s near 100-ft. bullet, to the tape, of Alexander Ovechkin’s stick blade up the center of the ice, for a third-period breakaway, game-winning tally. And lastly, the insurance marker — a perfectly flat, cross-ice setup from Laich to Ovechkin for a bullet one-timer Martin Biron never saw.

Those type of plays can only be made on decent ice. Those type of plays weren’t made just one night later — though some of them were attempted. On Tuesday night the Caps, on about a half dozen attempts, tried long-range, middle-of-the-ice passes from various players to Ovechkin and Alexander Semin, seeking to replicate game 6’s success. All of them failed, most of them bouncing over or away from the recipients’ stick blade.

Also conspicuous Tuesday night, in light of the preceding night’s success in breakout passes and offensive zone entry, was the Caps’ reliance on dumping and chasing. Why so dramatic a reversal in tactics just 24 hours removed from stunning success — and before 18,000 lunatic-loud supporters?

The explanation, it seems to me, is both simple and shocking: the Caps had no home-ice advantage very late this spring; indeed, as Daniel Briere noted, they had a distinct disadvantage at home. Worse, it was a wound self-inflicted in nature. A most unnecessary one. At one time not all that long ago the Verizon Center aptly demonstrated its ability to chill out, and get the building feeling like a hockey rink should. Correspondingly, the hockey played on the sheet within was of comparatively high quality. But despite the absence of Verizon Center’s other principal tenant, the Wizards, over the weekend, event staff was unable to deliver a competent playing surface for a game 7 in the playoffs — for perhaps the most anticipated and important hockey game Washington, D.C., has hosted in a decade.

It was — is — a scandal. Continue reading ›

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Boyd Gordon, Brooks Laich, Cristobal Huet, Eastern Conference, Hockey Rinks, Ice, Mike Green, National Hockey League, Nicklas Backstrom, Philadelphia Flyers, Stanley Cup Playoffs, Viktor Kozlov, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (43)

“Philly-Washington is going to be downright ugly”

By Gustafsson
Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Yesterday, the NHL held a media conference call with several big name broadcasters, Don Cherry of CBC’s “Hockey Night in Canada�, Mike Emrick from VERSUS and NBC, Pierre McGuire from TSN and NBC and Mike Milbury from NBC and TSN. Each broadcaster started the call with a few words about a series before they took questions. Pierre McGuire spoke of the Caps/Flyers matchup.

PIERRE McGUIRE: Well, I’d like to talk a little bit about the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals. I think this series has a chance to have the most bloodshed of all the series, and the big reason why is because of the targeting that’s going to go on. Whether you talk about going after Alex Ovechkin or even challenging a rookie like Nicklas Backstrom, I think that’s going to be real tough for Backstrom who’s never played in an NHL playoff game.

I think when you look at the Philadelphia Flyers under John Stevens, he brought back a little bit about what made the Flyers good in the 1970s and that’s intimidation. It’s not easy to do now with the way games are being called, but I expect you’re going to see players like Braydon Coburn having an impact on the series Philadelphia is going to win. I think you’re going to see Steve Downie and Scottie Upshaw potentially have an impact if Philadelphia is going to win.

But the thing that Alex Ovechkin does, like any superstar in the NHL, is he attacks the people that are trying to attack him. He will not be intimidated. He’s yet to show that in his three years in the league, so I expect it’s going to come down to a goaltending situation, and who’s going to be the better goalie. And right now neither one of those goalies has won a playoff round in their NHL history.

I think right now Huet has probably got a little bit of an advantage, but I think the MVP of this entire thing is George McPhee, the general manager of the Washington Capitals at the trade deadline. One of the reasons they are in the playoffs is he got Fedorov, he got Matt Cooke who’s been a tremendous energy player for them, and obviously Huet. What they’ve done with Bruce Boudreau is they’ve cultivated talent like Mike Green to put them in a position where they have a chance to succeed.

But when you play against Washington, the most underrated part of their game because everybody focuses on the skill of Kozlov, Fedorov and Ovechkin, they’ve got powers upon powers on defense. Shaone Morrisonn is a big body. They lean on you. They’re not intimidated. This will be a long, physical bloody series and I think the Washington Capitals will win it, but I think they’re going to win it under severe physical duress.

With the storybook season of this year’s Caps — along with the Caps and Flyers being two of the most improved teams this year — a majority of the questions focused on the Caps and Flyers. Here they are:

Q. Pierre, a lot of buzz about Ovechkin as MVP this year. Why beyond statistics do you feel he would be a candidate?

PIERRE McGUIRE: Because he can do it by himself. A lot of guys need other players around him. He can make himself great and make this team win because he is so overwhelmingly dominant because of the physical nature of his game.

The one thing that he does, and Don and Mike coached against him and obviously Mike played against him. Teemu Selanne was great but he needed Andy McDonald with him or another career type of player to do that. Alexander Ovechkin doesn’t need that. You give him a stick and a puck and he doesn’t even need gloves. He’s virtually indestructible. I would call him a cyborg.

When you look at it, he is without a doubt the MVP of the league, and whoever has a vote that doesn’t vote for him should have that vote rescinded. He’s the MVP of the league.

Q. Mike Milbury, you’ve seen a lot of players in your time. Is there anyone that Ovechkin reminds you of, or is he kind of his own man?

MIKE MILBURY: He’s taken it to another level that I haven’t seen. When you see him jumping up against the glass and the enthusiasm that he demonstrates with his teammates, whether it’s him scoring a goal or not doesn’t seem to matter to this guy. There’s no question he’s as electrifying a player as I’ve seen when you put him in that category. Crosby last year was in that similar vein, but I think Ovechkin may have knocked it up a notch. It’s hard to believe that he can, but this is as improbable a run as you’d want to expect from a team that was down and out until Boudreau comes along and turns them into just a fantasy that’s hard to believe. It’s great for Washington and they’ve waited a long time and it looks like they should be good for a lot of years to come.

DON CHERRY: I think George McPhee did a great job. I heard him on the radio, and he said, yes, well, we all knew that Boudreau was a great hockey mind. That’s why he left him in the minors for 17 years I guess it was, and he named him interim. Who’s kidding who? He was there just until he found another coach, and all of a sudden he pulled a little magic out and now he’s staying.

But make no mistake about it, when he first went there, he was just cannon fodder until he found another coach.

MIKE EMRICK: One last thing on Ovechkin, the last time I checked he was tenth in the league in hits, and he’s the scoring champion.

Continue reading ›

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Bruce Boudreau, CBC, Cristobal Huet, Don Cherry, George McPhee, Media, Mike Emrick, Mike Milbury, NBC, National Hockey League, Philadelphia Flyers, Pierre McGuire, Sergei Fedorov, Shaone Morrisonn, Stanley Cup Playoffs, TSN, Versus, Viktor Kozlov, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (24)

Odds & Ends

By DC Sports Chick
Saturday, March 22, 2008

TSN has a poll on their site this morning on the topic of the week. Vote early and vote often! Here are the current results:

Viktor Kozlov- photo courtesy of ajc.comThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution featured the following photo on their online Sports section this morning. Apparently there’s a new ladies man in town- Kozlove! Rowr.

Seriously, this is laziness at its best. How hard is it to check a player’s name- especially in a town where they already have a Kozlov? Not to mention that “Viktor” is spelled wrong too. I suspect that Atlanta just doesn’t care anymore, and who can blame them. Two wins in the last 17 games would depress me too.

Over at the AJC’s Thrashers Blog, Craig Custance shared this item:

Mark Recchi is part owner of the Kamloops Blazers in the WHL and his team is taking on Olaf Kolzig’s Tri-City team in the first round of the playoffs, so they have a sidebet going.

Now THAT could get interesting. According to Custance, the Blazers are the underdog, so Olie could make out well on this deal.

And finally, the sharp-eyed OrderedChaos noted this by saying, “Nicklas has not aged well on Yahoo!”:

Nicklas Backstrom- Yahoo! Sports
Filed in Atlanta Thrashers, Blogs, Internet, Media, Nicklas Backstrom, Olaf Kolzig, TSN, Viktor Kozlov, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (7)

In-Game Knee-Jerks & Notes: Caps-Isles, 2/20

By pucksandbooks
Wednesday, February 20, 2008

I’m not one to traffic much in the off-ice affairs of star athletes, at least not in published fashion, but with local media’s over-the-top coverage today of Alex’s overseas ingenue, there was for me a slight sense of light and welcome distraction from the day-in, day-out drain of the team’s postseason pursuit. Another positive spin on the matter: when was the last time you saw the Washington Post take inches worth of interest in the romantic runnings of a Caps’ player?

With a victory tonight the Caps will equal exceed the total number of wins for 2006-07. They can also go three games over .500 for the first time since . . . the season’s opening three games.

With big rugged bodies Andy Sutton and Brendan Witt out of the Isles’ lineup tonight, it’s going to be interesting to see what manner of net-crashing Bruce Boudreau asks his players to undertake. The predatory nature of NHL teams is perhaps best illustrated in a situation such as tonight’s between the Caps and Isles. Earlier today the Caps returned two young and inexperienced players to Hershey, Eric Fehr and Sami Lepisto. With tonight’s being the team’s only game of the week before Saturday, Boudreau appears to want to exploit the Isles’ backline vulnerability with a more veteran lineup.

Lunar Eclipse outside Verizon Center (photo by Mike Rucki)Thirty minutes before faceoff, the Isles’ blueline tonight apparently will consist of: Radek Martinek - Freddie Meyer; Marc-Andre Bergeron - Bryan Berard; and Aaron Johnson - Drew Fata (Rico relation, yes). Those very inexperienced final two may be partnered with more veteran blueliners, or Coach Ted Nolan may up to seriously limit their minutes and try and go with just two defense pairings as long as possible.

We’re within a week of the NHL trade deadline. To deal or not to deal, if you’re GMGM? It’s a question I’ll try and place before a few scribes up high during the intermissions.

Nolan’s opening D pairing: Martinek and Meyer.

2:17 in: Sniping Semin lights lamp on a breakaway, off a fine head-man feed from Matt Pettinger. 1-0 home team.

Milan Jurcina’s struggles this season — he’s been wildly inconsistent from week to week, offering physically dominating performances one night and inexplicably mistake-prone ones following — I think need to be corrected if the team is to do anything more than make a ceremonial postseason performance.

13:37: Brooks Laich it appears to earn a tip-in power play tally off a Mike Green point wrister. Olie is announced with a secondary assist! 2-0 Caps, and while the shots are 7-6 in favor of the Isles, in all other respects this appears to be a game that the caps ought to win comfortably. This blogger can’t remember the last game the Caps won comfortably.

2-0 Caps after one. Continue reading ›

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Brooks Laich, Chris Simon, Kevin Kaminski, Matt Pettinger, Milan Jurcina, National Hockey League, New York Islanders, Nicklas Backstrom, Olaf Kolzig, Peter Bondra, Viktor Kozlov, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (11)

To Russia (Hopefully) with Appreciation and Goodwill

By pucksandbooks
Thursday, February 14, 2008

Ted LeonsisLast spring Capitals’ owner Ted Leonsis bank-rolled an act of unprecedented goodwill for hockey, dispatching two of his communicators and two OFBers to Moscow to cover hockey’s World Championships, in which a number of Caps competed. This coming offseason, he’s poised to organize more goodwill for the game, and pursue a plan of the Caps traveling to Russia — sooner rather than later — to showcase the team and simply celebrate hockey there.

“My bet is that in the next 13 years that Alex [Ovechkin] is here, at some point we’ll get him back [to Russia],” the owner told a couple of Russian journalists this past weekend.

Most assuredly, it won’t take 13 years for the Caps to make such a trip. The smart money is on a late summer excursion in 2009, right before that season’s training camp. The owner has already discussed the idea with team President Dick Patrick and Vice President and General Manager George McPhee.

While management is focused on the team making the playoffs right now, the trip to Russia is an idea Leonsis is committed to pursuing further this offseason. He will be talking to league officials about the idea then.

“Alex is Russian first and foremost,” the owner noted. “He’s a Washington Capital second, and he loves Washington, D.C., and America, but he loves his country, and he’s our player and we would like to do things that make him feel more and more comfortable.”

“The cultural exchange would be good for everybody,” he added.

There are scores of compelling reasons for such a scheme. For starters — and perhaps most importantly — Gary Bettman is supportive of it. The NHL, the owner noted, is encouraging teams to go play in Europe. “I think Gary Bettman would like us to go to Russia,” Leonsis said.

And it just so happens that largely because of Ovechkin the Capitals are the most popular NHL team in Russia. It’s why there are two full-time journalists covering the team for Moscow news organizations here in D.C.

Leonsis views such a trip as primarily an act of goodwill, but in listening to him discuss the idea it’s also clear that he’s made a link between the internationalization of hockey and the Internet. You can bet he won’t send his team over there crossing his fingers for old media coverage.

“In Washington, D.C., you want to be a global team, and I think it’s a reason that players like Alexander Ovechkin feel so comfortable here — it’s a very cosmopolitan city. We would want to show Russia some of the best players in the world, and celebrate the connection [between Russia and the NHL]. It’s not about money,” he said.

“Our team would be very popular in Russia, because of Ovechkin, Semin, and Kozlov,” he added.

There’s another reason driving this idea. Russia, it turns out, is one of the few countries in the world the owner hasn’t visited. “Russia is such a hockey loving country, and we’ve got such great [Russian] players, I think it would be a great thing for us,” he said.

In 1989, the Capitals joined the Calgary Flames in a headline-grabbing tour of the then Soviet Union for a historic series of exhibition games that September. The team traveled to Moscow and Leningrad for eight games against various Russian professional teams. Here’s how high-profile a happening that was: NHL Commissioner John Ziegler made the travel announcement from the United Nations Assembly in New York.

Twenty years later, the Capitals could be returning to Moscow. They’d be carrying a whole lot of Glasnost in their equipment bags. And quite a few thank yous for the Russian hockey development program.

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Front Office, George McPhee, National Hockey League, OFB in Russia, Ted Leonsis, Viktor Kozlov, Washington Capitals, World Championships| Permalink| Comments (3)

Knee-jerks & Notes: New Years Fun Indoors and Out

By The OFB Team
Wednesday, January 2, 2008

We followed two big games on Tuesday.

Outdoors:

  • NBC opened its broadcast with Peter Gabriel’s instrumental “It Is Accomplished” from the Passion soundtrack—an excellent choice on many levels. Then the network returned to predictable form with Foreigner’s “Cold As Ice.” At least the network didn’t play “Ice Ice Baby.”
  • There was an awful lot of smiling players’ faces on the benches in camera close-ups immediately before the game. Of course all of them were going to be diplomatic and supportive of the event in the lead-up, but in the moment, this display of enthusiasm sure seemed authentic and organic and evocative of the heart of the matter.
  • The snowballing of the Pittsburgh team bus arriving at the Ralph — executed by hordes of Sabres’ fans — argued well for continuing this event in the future.
  • Outdoor GameIt would be easy to pan the event on the basis of the inclimate conditions — visibility was generally poor for players, spectators, and home viewers; trainers and players dealt with a litany of equipment challenges; Zambonis were on the ice as frequently as fourth-liners; and league Ice Tech Dan Craig may as well have been in the game program as often as he was on the ice. But our sense is that the event’s overall atmosphere earned the game’s first star, and that the league scored an overtime game-winner with this idea and its general execution. The overall effect was one of a compelling Season’s Greeting showcasing sports’ most under appreciated athletes in their embrace of winter’s elements.
  • In a very real sense this was a maiden run in terms of the league establishing outdoor ice quality. Buffalo’s football field is pitched at nine degrees! There was never going to be an issue with ice quality in Edmonton for the Heritage Classic in 2003 — Alberta skies were clear that night, and temps were below that of Cryogenics. The league will learn a lot from Tuesday afternoon in Buffalo, and apply lessons learned to any future outdoor engagements.
  • You’re a liar if you thought in the third period, while he skated on a sheet of snow, sleet, and patched-up makeshift ice, Sergei Give-it-away-when-and-where-it-hurts-most Gonchar would escape the tied game unscathed. By Divine Intervention he did, but no sane human being would have predicted it.
  • Some fantastic hitting, in corners and in open ice, and NBC cameras captured it superbly. Hockey played outdoors in snow with hatred and heavy hitting between the teams, in high definition: four unfiltered Marlboros for the OFB team, please.
  • There is something special to Kris Letang and shootouts. He actually lost control of the puck twice while bearing down on Ryan Miller and still managed to beat him.
  • Fitting that Sidney Crosby ended the game. He was its best player.
  • The NHL’s All-Star Game continues to suffer from both an identity crisis and any sense of relevance/importance. What about taking it outdoors, and perhaps even marrying it to a regular season game between a rotation of two teams each year? Make a Winter Weekend of it all.
  • The Commish, afterward: “This obviously is something we’re going to look at doing again. This is the type of event we certainly will be looking at doing in the future.” Think the league might be pleased with the results? A color photo of celebrating Pens appears on A1 of today’s New York Times.

Indoors:

  • Question for the New York Post’s Larry Brooks and the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch, both of whom recently have opined that Alexander Ovechkin shouldn’t bother negotiating a new deal with the Caps and instead move on via restricted free agency to a “real” hockey market: one such market can’t be Ottawa, right, seeing as how the Sens are futile in all attempts to defeat the Caps?
  • Ovechkin on the Faceoff - Photo by G. KriebelSpeaking of MSM, WUSA’s Brett Haber has the title of Sports Director. He labors in Washington, D.C. It would be charitable to say that he is seldom seen in the press lounge of Verizon Center. It would be understandable by Washington MSM standards were he to have ignored hockey on his New Years Day evening sportscast and instead directed all his energy at the playoff-bound Redskins. That’s par for the course in these parts. Instead he man-loved Sir Sidney to no end, calling him the best player in hockey. We won’t call this an egregious offense but rather one of breathtaking tone deafness; in legitimate sports towns in which there is a lead athlete credibly creating dispute about such a point, the hometown athlete typically earns the decision.
  • Ottawa played a shockingly undisciplined game fueled by out-of-control emotion in the determinative first period. A novice fan making his or her first-ever visit to an NHL game at Verizon Center yesterday, pressed to identify what team had spent the entirety of this decade in the NHL postseason, and winning about 70 percent of its games the past eight years, and what one hung up the gear more or less every April, would have guessed Ottawa the golfers and the Caps the savvy vets.
  • Martin Gerber may not be the Sens’ solution to confidence-inspiring, trustworthy, big-stop-when-you-most-need-it postseason netminding.
  • The Mike Green Express — an Amtrak Acela toward what should be an All Star selection. He’s still remarkably young, still prone to the occasional error borne of limited big-league experience, but he’s a jewel of his draft class and a lynchpin of Caps’ playoff teams for years to come.
  • Little noted but imperative: Ovechkin had to execute some magical footwork to remain onside on Mike Green’s end-to-end virtuoso tally.
  • Serious sigh of relief: the Caps got off the O-fer collar with 5-on-3 man-advantages.
  • Think about how formidable the five-game stretch that began in Pittsburgh on December 27 looked and consider where the Caps are now: 5 of a possible 6 points earned, with beatable Boston up next.
  • It’s frigid outside in Washington, D.C., early in 2008 and the city’s hockey team is hot. Expect your other-sports loving friends this week — even a few donned in burgundy and gold — to begin leaning against AO’s @ss-Kicking Express, eying empty seats within. Welcome their interest. We don’t know yet if the proverbial corner has been turned for this hockey team, but right now it feels very hockey healthy in Washington, and it feels wonderful.

Must reading:

** “Best in Snow,” Ross McKeon, Yahoo!Sports **

** “A Thrilling Snowball Effect,” Kevin Paul Dupont, Boston Globe

** “Ice Bowl Is One for the Ages, with NHL Record Crowd,” John Bonfatti and Gene Warner, Buffalo News

** “Want the ultimate outdoor rink? Dan Craig makes it so,” Scott Burnside, ESPN.com

Filed in Alexander Semin, Brooks Laich, Buffalo Sabres, Gary Bettman, Hockey Rinks, Hockey Weather, Ice, Knee-Jerk, Mike Green, National Hockey League, Old Time Hockey, Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Pond Hockey, Sidney Crosby, TV, Tom Poti, Viktor Kozlov, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (22)

Knee-jerk Reactions: Caps vs. Bolts, 12.26.2007

By OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)
Thursday, December 27, 2007

Knee-Jerk ReactionsWell my initial plan of between-period updates has been thwarted by Windows Vista and its cantankerous behavior when interfacing with the Verizon Center’s wireless network. Next time I’m bringing a LAN cable … old-school is sometimes best.

Exciting game tonight, with the Caps dominating the visiting Lightning much more than the final score might suggest. As Lightning coach John Tortorella put it, when asked about the game-winning goal, “Don’t talk to me about the net being off or this and that. It could have been 8-2.” The Capitals played with heart, twice going down by a goal but roaring back with late-frame tallies that fired up the team and the crowd alike.

The Caps seemed inspired by the organization’s vote of confidence in Coach Boudreau and the removal of his “interim” tag, as all three Capitals goal-scorers tonight said in their post-game interviews. While Matt Bradley made a point to emphasize that the team never treated Boudreau as “interim”, Dave Steckel perhaps put it best: “He came in here and did a great job. He earned it.” And the coach has instilled in the team the need to reclaim home-ice advantage and make the Phone Booth a tougher place for visiting teams. Brian Pothier agrees: “Every team has to come into the Verizon Center saying, ‘This is going to be a really hard game.’ So far this year we haven’t established that, and it’s something we need to do.” Let’s hope tonight’s performance is the start of just that.

  • The opening faceoff was preceded by The White Stripes’ “Icky Thump” — killer riff, and a good choice start the evening on an up note (pun intended).
  • John Erskine is scratched, for what otherwise would have been his 200th NHL game. Alex Ovechkin, however, began Game #200 in a Capitals uniform at 7:08 PM tonight.
  • Bigger crowd than I’d expected; I don’t know the attendance stats at this point [update: 15,035 officially], but the Phone Booth seems more populated than the average weeknight. Anecdotal evidence (i.e., me walking about the concourse between periods and seeing concession lines dramatically longer than usual) supports the assessment.
  • Frustrating second-chance goal by Vincent Lecavalier at 5:43 of the first. Kozlov waved ineffectually at the puck as Lecavalier swooped in to put the rebound home; Ovechkin too had a close-up view of the goal. Of course, why those two forwards were the two Caps closest to the Lightning’s leading scorer in the faceoff circle… well, that’s a question Coach Boudreau likely asked Shaone Morrisonn and Mike Green.
  • Even when Dave Steckel loses a faceoff he’s very, very good at tying up the opposing center. That skill is underrated, particularly in the defensive zone.
  • Caps’ first PP of the night. Good puck movement, and a beauty of a shot by Ovechkin from the slot, then another pretty pass from Backstrom to Ovechkin a few seconds later that just missed. Unfortunately the Caps are making newbie goaltender Karri Ramo look like Georges Vezina. Later in the same PP Fleischman makes a nice move and has a great scoring chance, but Ramo makes the sprawling save on Fleischman’s not-enough-air-under-it shot.
  • Defenseman Doug Janik just stood up Donald Brashear at the blue line . . . color me impressed.
  • Finally a rebound goes the Caps’ way, and rewards the team’s hardest-working player of the night so far, Dave Steckel. Big, big goal to inject some life back into the building, and the team.
  • I’m not a fan of the Morrisonn-Green d-pairing tonight. Neither one clears the crease well, and Morrisonn seems off his game. This dislike is borne up 30 minutes later by the Bolts’ second goal — with both Green and Morissonn caught out of position on a long outlet pass — leading to a breakaway tally by Lecavalier. Morrisonn just isn’t a solid enough anchor for Green’s freewheeling ways. Like Gonchar needed Reekie, Green needs a bruising stay-at-home partner.
  • Of course, Green then follows with some stellar PP play, breaking up a shorthanded 2-on-1 and putting in a terrific shift. Fleischmann, however, continues to be snakebit, missing a gorgeous scoring chance on the same PP. He always plays hard, but five goals in 33 games isn’t top-six play.
  • Crossbar! Ergh… the Caps are skating circles around Tampa but can’t put them away. Ovechkin’s PP one-timer hits Ramo’s loose goal stick; then Mike Green fails to keep the puck in the zone while Ramo is stuck with a regular stick. Then Fleishmann fails on another keep-in attempt.
  • Thankfully, this dismal sequence if followed by another terrific shift from Steckel’s line, saving a near-goal with a mad rugby scrum just outside the crease. Is it too soon to suggest a name for them? Hmm… two of the three wear prime numbers, but Bradley’s #10 kills “The Prime Line” as an option… feel free to post suggestions as comments, as I’m drawing a blank. Regardless, tonight Steckel’s line was the team’s best shut-down group since Kono-Halpern-Dahlen.
  • Like loaves of bread thrown to the Coliseum crowds (c.f. Gladiator), so goes the Chipotle Burrito Dash.
  • Second period, 16:33 — Here’s hoping for another late goal to reinvigorate the team… it’s disheartening to see the Caps outplay the competition yet remain on the short side of the balance sheet.
  • 17:42 – Wish granted! Pretty shot by Pothier on a sweet feed from Ovechkin.
  • Ovechkin takes a penalty to prevent a Martin St. Louis breakaway… a bit of a ticky-tack call, but that was one of those rare “smart” penalties to take, even if it was necessitated by Ovehckin’s blueline turnover. Heads-up play by Tom Poti to burn the last few seconds of the ensuing penalty with some smooth puck possession down low.
  • Nylander looks sleepy, and a sloppy neutral zone play led to an extended Tampa offensive-zone possession that, fortunately didn’t lead to a goal. Other than a few pretty spin-a-rama moves, Nylander is having an off night. Putting him and Backstrom together along the left side on the PP seems to make it easier on the opposing goalie, since they’re both pass-first players.
  • Semin hits the post after a gorgeous end-to-end rush by Mike Green. I literally just grabbed my head and shouted, unable to maintain press box demeanor for a second there.
  • With four and a half minutes remaining, big hit by Milan Jurcina behind the Caps net leads directly to a terrific scoring chance at the other end… but despite carrying much of the play in the third, the Caps have so far been unable to take the lead.
  • Horrible non-call by the officials at 16:50 of the third, with Steckel getting knocked down though he wasn’t near the puck. 17 seconds later, Matt Bradley scores on a bizarre pop-up play off a Steckel shot that trickles in just before the net goes off its moorings. Now it’s under review… Crowd’s riled (as they should be) chanting “Goal! Goal! Goal!” Why it’s taking the referees so long I don’t know… perhaps they’re taking lessons from NFL officials.
  • After a painful delay, GOAL! The lesson: Don’t mess with Dave Steckel. Three-point night for Steckel, and first star of the game. Then to close out the game, terrific forechecking by Laich-Pettinger-Semin to keep Ramo in the net, then by Steckel and company. Unselfish finish by Ovechkin too, who with about 7 seconds remaining softly banked the puck into the neutral zone rather than trying for the empty netter and risking an icing call.

Coach Boudreau and several of the players spoke strongly about belief after the game tonight–belief that continued hard work would pay off; belief that being down a goal despite outplaying an opponent was something they could, and would, overcome; belief that no opponent or obstacle is insurmountable. The team unity and confidence are inspiring; Head Coach Boudreau has indeed earned his new title.

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Bruce Boudreau, Dave Steckel, John Erskine, Michael Nylander, Shaone Morrisonn, Tampa Bay Lightning, Viktor Kozlov, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (6)

Knee-Jerks & Notes: Caps-Habs, 12/20

By The OFB Team
Friday, December 21, 2007

Knee-Jerk ReactionsBonjour, mes amis! Tonight’s knee-jerks come to you from the dynamic blogging duo of DC Sports Chick and Gustafsson. After seeing the vintage Canadiens in Tuesday’s screening of “The Rocket,” we were looking forward to watching the Bleu, Blanc, et Rouge take on the Red, White, and Blue.

  • First, the bad news: Pothier fractured his thumb and is week-to-week.
  • Not surprisingly, there were a healthy number of Habs fans, not to mention a sprinkling of Nordiques fans. Quebec was well-represented here tonight.
  • We love hearing both anthems at a game, especially when there’s an undercurrent of Canadian singers in the crowd. But no offense to Bitsy Watson, we’re Bob McDonald/Caleb Green fans.
  • Mites on Ice featured an apparent Florida feud: the Tampa Bay Lightning vs. the Florida Panthers. (The youth teams wore uniforms that looked incredibly similar to the pro teams.)
  • RDS interviewed Ovechkin during the first intermission. Unfortunately, we don’t know what he said. Incidentally, during the TV timeouts, RDS featured shots of typical D.C. landmarks (the White House, the Jefferson Memorial)- with simulated snow.
  • The Caps suffered from their typical second-period malaise, despite Backstrom’s goal. Giving up three goals on eight shots does not a winning game make. Either Kolzig is off tonight, or Huet is a monster; it’s a little of both, but mostly the former.
  • Beautiful goal by Semin! Too bad there weren’t more of those.
  • There was a special guest in Ted’s box tonight: Condoleeza Rice. (Don’t worry, she was too engrossed in conversation for most of the game to see how the Caps were doing.)
  • Great use of movie clips during the game, especially the “Frank the Tank” bit from “Old School” and the dance scene from “Napoleon Dynamite”.
  • Chanuck and I found out today that we’re having a girl, so his suggestion was to name the baby after the #1 star of the game. I prayed that Guillaume Latendresse or Roman Hamrlik weren’t named the star, because I wouldn’t know how to explain that one. And don’t get me started on Siarhei Kastsitsyn. Much to Gustafsson’s delight, Guillaume was named the #1 star. Nothing went right this night.

Gustafsson’s Knee-jerks:

  • Reiterating a point from above, I would be very happy if Bitsy did not sing another anthem in the booth. Her over-emphasised words come out sounding just awful… “Whore the ramparts we watched….” “Hand the rockets red glare…” Our friends to the north did not escape the new renditions as we heard “Ho Canada!”.
  • Miss New Jersey is here again, I guess she’s become his official Caps blogger? She seemed a bit miffed that she did not occupy the seat she had in previous games. Such drama.
  • In press row, it’s hard to gain insight from the out of town reporters when they’re speaking French. A lot of good high school Latin did me.
  • Seems like a sparse crowd for a game against a Canadian team (announced attendance was 12,670).
  • The first period saw a beautiful pass by Green to Kozlov, who promptly fired the shot into Huet’s gut.
  • Nice work by Backstrom on the goal after the feed by AO cutting the score to 2-1 Habs, however, the shots are not following… 18 for the Caps, 7 for the Habs.
  • Greg Wyshynski is sitting next to me and he mentioned to me that he heard on XM that the Red Wings are an impressive 20-1-1 outside of their division.
  • A negative effect of the goal judges being moved is the increased time between the puck entering the net and the lighting of the red light. I don’t like it.
  • Habs 3rd goal right off the faceoff. The shot clock disparity is even worse. It’s now 22 for the Caps…. a whopping 8 for the Habs.
  • Kozlov hits another post.  Perhaps he should aim that shot just a wee bit closer to the netminder, but away from his gut.
  • The Caps certainly got their shots tonight, but the majority were from the outside.  They lead 37 - 21.
  • The locker room after the game was barren.  A few players game out to speak to the media, but it was a somber mood.

After a lengthy wait, Kolzig met the press.  Clearly frustrated with the game, he said he’s going to take the tape of this game and throw it in the trash can.  He thought the team played well, but it was one of those nights where the pucks were bouncing their way and every one of Montreal’s shots was a chance that ended up in the net… one of those games as a goalie you hate.  “I mean look at the last goal, I make the save, the thing’s sitting between my legs and the guy digs it out and puts it in the net…  it was just one of those nights.”

Kolzig went on to say that they’re not playing bad hockey, but it’s a fine and they need to find a way to get on the positive side of that line more consistently.

Filed in Knee-Jerk, Montreal Canadiens, Nicklas Backstrom, Olaf Kolzig, Viktor Kozlov, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (12)

Postcards from an Outdoor Practice

By Gustafsson
Thursday, December 6, 2007

Here are a few pictures from Tuesday’s outdoor practice at the Chevy Chase Club.
(more pictures after the break)

Kolzig in net - Photo by G. Kriebel

Continue reading ›

Filed in Bruce Boudreau, Donald Brashear, Olaf Kolzig, Viktor Kozlov, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (1)

Ovechkin: “I Go Through Two Pairs of Gloves a Period”

By pucksandbooks
Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Once upon a time, the heart of the uniform system madness-fiasco perpetrated by Reebok was the absence on the part of the manufacturer of any sense that hockey, with its sweater, had always had a novel connection between player and fan. By that I mean, those colors arranged in a particular style, and housed in an Everyman’s comfort, were a novelty in all of sport, and cherished by generations of North Americans. Whatever value brought about by the company’s fashion re-engineering — and that’s seriously under dispute these days — Reebok aptly demonstrated that it never valued the wishes and allegiances of the hockey fan. Reebok just doesn’t care.

But today the discussion is far more serious than fan preferences or trashing a significant tradition. The new jerseys are destroying gloves. The new socks are destroying skates. Other than that, Reebok’s uniform system is just dandy. Last week we noted the grave dissatisfaction with them on the part of the Boston Bruins. An executive with the Edmonton Oilers more or less told a journalist in town that he wouldn’t let any child of his be caught dead in the Oilers’ new look. And last weekend, Dmitry Chesnokov of Sovetsky Sport and I solicited the opinions on the new unis of the Caps’ trio of Russians — Ovechkin, Kozlov, and Semin.

What they told us wasn’t altogether surprising, as soaking evidence mounts across the league. Still, as indictments go, theirs was sober, frank, and unsparing.CCM Gloves

“Yes, I have a problem with my gloves,” Ovechkin told us. “They become extremely wet. I go through two pairs of gloves per period.”

Chesnokov, who is reporting on this matter for his Russian newspaper and granted us access to the players’ reflections, had to ask Ovechkin again if he really meant two pairs per period. “Yes, two pairs per period,” he responded.

One of the reasons hockey trainers go to great lengths to get gear dry as soon as possible is to prevent player illness. Another is to prevent infection. Fingers in wet gloves are particularly susceptible to infections, and if not treated promptly, serious, even life-threatening complications can arise.

Chesnokov then inquired of Viktor Kozlov. “At first I explained that the Boston Bruins were not happy with their uniforms and wanted to perhaps revert to the old uniforms,” Chesnokov told me. ”I asked Kozlov whether the Caps and he in particular had any problems with the uniforms. Kozlov said: “I don’t know, no one told us anything. But what do you mean ‘problems’ ?” I started to explain it to him: “Moisture is kept on the body and drips down to . . . ” At this point he interrupted me and said “to the skates!” Actually I wanted to say the gloves, but Viktor seems to have problems with water in his skates.”

“Yeah! Yeah, I think I have the same problem!” Kozlov told Chesnokov. “Actually, I have been noticing a lot of water in my skates. But I had no idea why! Maybe this is the reason! It makes sense if other players have the same problem.”

Chesnokov then thanked him for the interview, and Kozlov said, “No, thank you for enlightening me! It all makes sense now.”

It would appear that Reebok is being less than forthcoming with the league’s players about the equipment conditions that have settled in in the league’s opening month. Or, some certainly aren’t getting word of any acknowledgment.

By last weekend Semin hadn’t skated in three full games with the Caps this season, and he didn’t express concern with the equipment. “I just focus on playing,” he said, but he did acknowledge that players didn’t complain about the “old” gear. Turns out that last weekend he also had something else on his mind — a new contract with the Caps.

“I like it here because all of my friends are here,” he told us. “I am not the kind of person who likes to move to different places. I like my teammates, the management, and the fact that we are a young team.”

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, National Hockey League, Reebok, Sweaters, Viktor Kozlov, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (15)

Opening Night Roster

By The OFB Team
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Washington Capitals Primary Logo
2007 WASHINGTON CAPITALS OPENING NIGHT ROSTER
FORWARDS
# Player Ht. Wt. Shoots Born Birthplace 2006-07 Club(s) League(s)
19 BACKSTROM, Nicklas 6-0 183 Left 11/23/87 Gavle, Sweden Brynas SEL
10 BRADLEY, Matt 6-3 205 Right 6/13/78 Stittsville, Ontario Capitals NHL
87 BRASHEAR, Donald 6-2 235 Left 1/7/72 Bedford, Indiana Capitals NHL
17 CLARK, Chris 6-0 200 Right 3/8/76 South Windsor, Connecticut Capitals NHL
14 FEHR, Eric # 6-4 204 Right 9/7/85 Winkler, Manitoba Capitals/Hershey NHL/AHL
43 FLEISCHMANN, Tomas 6-1 188 Left 5/16/84 Koprivinice, Czech Republic Capitals/Hershey NHL/AHL
15 GORDON, Boyd 6-1 201 Right 10/19/83 Unity, Saskatchewan Capitals NHL
25 KOZLOV, Viktor 6-4 232 Right 2/14/75 Togliatti, Russia NY Islanders NHL
21 LAICH, Brooks 6-2 208 Left 6/23/83 Wawota, Saskatchewan Capitals NHL
92 NYLANDER, Michael 6-1 195 Left 10/3/72 Stockholm, Sweden NY Rangers NHL
8 OVECHKIN, Alex 6-2 216 Right 9/17/85 Moscow, Russia Capitals NHL
18 PETTINGER, Matt 6-1 210 Left 10/22/80 Edmonton, Alberta Capitals NHL
28 SEMIN, Alexander 6-0 181 Left 3/3/84 Krasjonarsk, Russia Capitals NHL
39 STECKEL, David 6-5 215 Left 3/15/82 Westbend, Wisconsin Capitals/Hershey NHL/AHL
16 SUTHERBY, Brian 6-3 205 Left 3/1/82 Edmonton, Alberta Capitals NHL
DEFENSEMEN
44 EMINGER, Steve * 6-2 217 Right 10/31/83 Woodbridge, Ontario Capitals NHL
4 ERSKINE, John 6-4 216 Left 6/26/80 Kingston, Ontario Capitals/Hershey NHL/AHL
52 GREEN, Mike 6-1 200 Right 10/12/85 Calgary, Alberta Capitals/Hershey NHL/AHL
23 JURCINA, Milan 6-4 233 Right 6/7/83 Liptovsky Mikulas, Slovakia Boston/Capitals NHL/NHL
26 MORRISONN, Shaone 6-4 210 Left 12/23/82 Vancouver, British Columbia Capitals NHL
2 POTHIER, Brian 6-0 200 Right 4/15/77 New Bedford, Massachusetts Capitals NHL
3 POTI, Tom 6-3 210 Left 3/22/77 Worcester, Massachusetts NY Islanders NHL
55 SCHULTZ, Jeff 6-6 215 Left 2/25/86 Calgary, Alberta Capitals/Hershey NHL/AHL
GOALTENDERS
1 JOHNSON, Brent 6-3 196 Left 3/12/77 Farmington, Michigan Capitals NHL
37 KOLZIG, Olie 6-3 225 Left 4/6/70 Johannesburg, South Africa Capitals NHL
 
Roster as of 2 October, 2007.
* Injured reserve
# Non-roster injured player
 
Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Boyd Gordon, Brent Johnson, Chris Clark, Donald Brashear, Matt Pettinger, Michael Nylander, Milan Jurcina, Nicklas Backstrom, Olaf Kolzig, Players, Shaone Morrisonn, Tom Poti, Viktor Kozlov, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (5)

It’s All Good (but for the playing of the games)

By pucksandbooks
Monday, October 1, 2007

Cup'pa JoeWhat did the Washington Capitals accomplish with their preseason this September? A good bit, I think. First and foremost, they accomplished the most important task: they avoided serious injury — we’ve no indication that Alexander Semin’s ankle sprain is serious. The second most significant accomplishment, in my opinion, was seeing a healthy number of fresh faces perform at a high level and well integrate with the returning Caps’ core. Tomas Fleischmann, it appears, has won first line right wing duty. He’ll be centered, at least initially, by Viktor Kozlov. So two-thirds of Washington’s top line is new this season. It looks more playoff worthy than either of its previous incarnations the past two seasons.

Speaking of looking playoff worthy, the Caps break camp boasting one of the most intriguing second lines in all of hockey — assuming Alexander Semin’s ankle is merely a day-to-day ailment. Nicklas Backstrom’s poise and production from his very first exhibition game on exceeded I think even management’s rosiest forecast. Look for him to improve month by month as his freshman season progresses, and for him to be lodged on everybody’s short list of Calder candidates come spring. Like the Caps’ top line, the second, centered by Michael Nylander, is 66 percent new this autumn.

Line three will have a new look as well. Boyd Gordon will center it, and Matt Pettinger will flank him on the left. But another Hershey Bear, Dave Steckel, made real loud noise (especially in the faceoff circle) this training camp. He may best draw man in the entire organization, he plays a smart game, and he partners exceedingly well with Gordon. (Caps’ fans can only hope Gordon and Steckel replicate in Washington their two-way work from Hershey’s postseason run to Calder glory in 2006.) Captain Chris Clark appears to be a bit of the utility infielder for the first three lines — he’s likely to see duty on all three this season. At times he should skate on Gordon’s right, at others — perhaps as with this week, when a teammate up top is injured — he’ll skate in the top 6.

That Caps’ fourth line, just 30 hours before opening night rosters must be submitted to the league, may still have five bodies vying for assignment: Donald Brashear, Matt Bradley, Brian Sutherby, Brooks Laich, and Ben Clymer. In recent seasons the Caps’ roster has had the look and feel of too much muck and grit too high up front. This autumn, a lot of it has been pushed downward, and a logjam has emerged. It’s been at least five years since the Caps could credibly claim three lines capable of producing points with any reliability. They’ll be able to in 2007-08.

There’s considerably less turnover and churn on the blueline: only Tom Poti arrives from outside in the top 6. Caps’ management is looking for its blueline corps to mature and blossom organically, and this September, there were encouraging signs of marked improvement from within. Milan Jurcina returned to Washington brimming with bulging biceps; his teammates coined for him the nickname “Juice.” He doled out dozens of bruising hits last season after arriving from Boston, and 2007-08 could see him stake a legitimate claim as an impact, top-2 physical force.

When the Caps sent Mike Green back to Hershey last spring they instructed him to go offensive. He did. That burst of production from the blueline continued this preseason, when for much of it Green led the Caps in scoring. He was on nobody’s radar for power play point duty three weeks ago; now he may be part of the unit’s second pairing.

Last season Brian Pothier, out of necessity, was forced into roles and minutes he wasn’t accustomed and suited to. Look for him to flourish in a more stable — and within an overall more talented — defensive unit. But he is also capable of performing at a high level — anyone who saw him skate for Mike Sullivan and the United States at last spring’s World Championships would agree.

There were no questions about the Caps in net heading into camp. There are none departing it.

There is health. There is the league-wide sense that while the rest of the Southeast stood pat, the Caps upgraded. There is buzz. There is optimism. All is good. Now, it’s time to drop the puck.

Filed in Alexander Semin, Boyd Gordon, Brian Sutherby, Brooks Laich, Chris Clark, Dave Steckel, Donald Brashear, Front Office, Matt Pettinger, Michael Nylander, Milan Jurcina, Morning cup-a-joe, Nicklas Backstrom, Players, Tom Poti, Tomas Fleischmann, Training Camp, Viktor Kozlov, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (4)

On Taking in Caps’ Shootouts with Eyes Wide Open

By pucksandbooks
Friday, September 21, 2007

Cup'pa JoeAfter practice Wednesday Glen Hanlon addressed the impact he believes his new high-priced free agent forwards will have on his team’s shootout prospects this season. On paper, it would appear to be a dramatic one. When you visit NHL.com’s stats page for shootouts from last season, you notice both Michael Nylander and Viktor Kozlov’s names on the first page of success. Through two seasons of shootout tally stats, that’s not a perch in which you’ve commonly found Caps.

It’s hard to imagine a team being worse in the shootout than the Caps were last season — they took 40 shootout shots and converted a grand total of 5 of them (that’s 12.5 percent) — but there actually was one, Carolina. The Hurricanes, however, only took 17 extra-extra session shots in 2006-07 (scoring on just one! Ouch!!). 

In shootouts, the Caps aren’t even Shaq at the free throw line.

Here’s how bad things shootout got for Glen Hanlon last season: on March 1, in a 10-rounder against Tampa at Verizon Center, the coach even had Ben Clymer, Matt Bradley, and Donald Brashear rush in from the red line. (All three missed of course. All 10 Caps’ shooters missed that night, if memory serves.) I was inside Verizon Center that night, and I left thinking I’d have to return with my gear bag when covering future games in case Hanlon wanted to summon me for shootout duty.

Whatever your views on the appropriateness of the shootout as a game-settler, they’re here to stay for the foreseeable future, and for most teams they determine an important number of standings points over the course of the season. It’s hard to fathom the Caps remaining grotesque in them this season and qualifying for the postseason.

The addition of a single quality shooter in the shootout lineup can make a world of difference, but it would appear that Hanlon will be adding two this season. Both Nylander and Kozlov converted just under 40 percent in the shootout a season ago. On a team of 10-percenters (and often worse), that’s a revolutionary success rate. In his remarks Wednesday, Hanlon indicated that for now, both newcomers would be penciled in for shootouts at season’s start. 

Which sets up an intriguing bit of personnel exclusion: in such a rotation one of the Alexanders necessarily would be excluded. Or . . . would both? Neither player — especially Ovechkin all last season long — looked particularly comfortable during shootouts, and after his dynamic success in them in the opening weeks of his NHL career in 2005-06, Ovechkin has been snakebit, stymied, and stoned, stoned, stoned ever since by all caliber of NHL netminder.

Hanlon on Wednesday actually acknowledged the novelty of sitting his magic-hands set of Russians during the team’s shootouts.

“Can you imagine if we had 15,000 in the seats and I sat those guys?”

He then suggested something about his fate involving a noose or a burning at a stake, I think. Even more interesting, according to the coach, is that apparently one of his most impressive performers in shootout-like drills in practice is defenseman Jeff Schultz. I don’t think we’re going to see him in the coach’s top 3 very often early on this season.

But if the shootout struggles continue, you never know.      

Filed in 2 Points, Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Glen Hanlon, Michael Nylander, Morning cup-a-joe, National Hockey League, Overtime, Shootouts, Training Camp, Viktor Kozlov, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (7)

Sunday with Suts

By pucksandbooks
Sunday, September 16, 2007

Capitals Training Camp 2007The swollen and bruised Russians are dressed and practicing this morning. None were making the trip to Carolina today anyway. Their commarade Ovechkin is anything but beat up; he was in his usual Acela Express super stride, and he made a point of turning this morning’s 9:30 practice partly into his own personal competition with Olie Kolzig, dancing hip jigs at scores and uttering rink-wide-audible, English-blended-with-Russian oaths at his failures, during every drill. (For his part Kolzig didn’t man his crease quietly during the challenge.)

Another entertaining portion of the day’s first practice arrived at its end, when Hershey Bears’ bench men Bruce Boudreau and Bob Woods, who ran practice, placed 10 pucks on the two bluelines and divided the session’s skaters into two teams for a quasi-shootout showdown. I was wondering how early into camp I’d see the Caps try and address last season’s shootout woes. My recollection is that Hershey didn’t fare much better, so it may have have been a mutually beneficial endeavor. But this drill was as much relatively relaxed fun as anything else, and you could hear and see the enthusiam in every skater.

Players were seated on the two benches, and rotated taking shots. When a player failed in his shot he had to retrieve the puck and skate it back to the blueline and “tag up” with the next skater. The competition only ended when one team had bettered its goaltender with all 10 pucks. Jacub Klepis was by far the most impressive shooter, potting three behind losing netminder Kolzig in very elite hands fashion.

Brian Sutherby - Photo courtesy of sk84funYou try and remind yourself that barely a long weekend’s worth of camp has been completed, but with it so compressed now, actually, by day’s end, camp will be about one-fifth completed. The Caps have already made cuts.

Over camp’s first three days Brian Sutherby has been a standout performer. His stride, too, has been strong — he’s absolutely flying out there, skating as well as I’ve ever seen. After today’s first session I asked if him if he’d done anything new or distinctive with his training this summer. This biggest change, he told me, was getting back on the ice a lot earlier than usual.

“I started skating twice a week in early June, which a lot of guys don’t do,” he said. “I also worked on my strength, just trying to get stronger.”

“I want to get lower [in my stride]. You see how low guys like Nylander and Crosby get in their strides . . . taller guys have to work at it.”

His long battle with a troubling groin appears to be in the past. “It’ll never be 100 percent,” he told me. “I battled it a long time, and it feels great now. I think I’ve put [that concern] to bed for the most part.”

I also asked him to try and place this year’s camp into context with the other half dozen or so he’s completed with the Caps. I wanted to know how far he’d thought the organization had come since his arrival in it.

“Compared to the first couple of camps, we’re getting right there, with where we want to be,” he told me. “Back when I first got here, we were supposed to be good — we had guys like Jagr. Now it’s a lot different. We have a lot of depth. We have a lot of young guys but they’ve got 150, 200 games in the league.”

Reminder: today’s matinee exhibition opener in Carolina will be audiocast on the Caps’ web site, with Mike Vogel teaming with Steve Kolbe on the call.

Filed in Brian Sutherby, Mathieu Perreault, Viktor Kozlov, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (2)

New Cap Viktor Kozlov: Pass to Ovechkin and Don’t Stand in the Way

By The OFB Team
Tuesday, August 14, 2007

In these dog days of hockey-less summer, we are grateful for OFB friend Dmitry Chesnokov providing another translation—this time an interview with new Capital Viktor Kozlov conducted by Pavel Lysenkov of Sovetsky Sport.

ABOUT PASHA [PAVEL] AND SASHA [ALEX]

Viktor, is your training camp in St Petersburg almost over?

We have one more week of good training! We are already skating with SKA [Russian Superleague club from St. Petersburg]. Barry Smith [former Coyotes assistant coach] is working with SKA now—all of his workouts are very fast-paced, just like the NHL. This is a perfect scenario for all players getting ready for the upcoming season.Alex Ovechkin and Viktor Kozlov - photo courtesy of Dmitry Chesnokov

Do you skate with Ovechkin?

No. We skate in two groups. My group includes Malkin, Nikolishin and Gonchar.

But do you and Alex at least discuss how you are going to play this season?

I’ve joined the Capitals but I cannot be sure that I will play on the same line with Ovechkin. It is up to the coach.

A lot of Caps’ fans see you on the first line with Nylander and Ovechkin.

I would be delighted to play on the same line with such great forwards.

But with it also comes great responsibility. A lot of people expect Ovechkin to score at least 60 goals.

And what does that mean for me? Pass the puck to him at the right time and then get out of the way. Then stand on the sideline and watch him score a goal. That will also help your stats [laughing].

You already had something similar in your career in Florida when you were on the first line with Pavel Bure.

Yeah, Alex and Pavel are supercharged and explosive players. It was so great to play alongside Bure. All defensemen marked him, and as the center I had a lot of room going forward. I think it will be the same in Washington. What is the difference between the two? Ovechkin plays more physically. Although I have never really played with him on the same team; I don’t take the Turin Olympics into account because we only played a few games together. But Bure… I have never seen a player so focused on scoring. When Pavel was one-on-one with a goaltender, everyone was sure that the puck would hit the back of the net.

Some suggest that if Nicklas Backstrom turns out not to be ready to center the second line, you might be moved there to pair with Alexander Semin. Would it be easy to switch from right wing to center?

I had the same experience when I was with the Islanders last year. I will play wherever the team needs me the most. I can even play in goal, if Coach Hanlon decides to risk that [smiling]. Continue reading ›

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, New York Islanders, Sovetsky Sport, Viktor Kozlov, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (5)

Summer State of the Team - The Forwards

By OFB
Monday, July 30, 2007

Washington Captials - secondary logoAs Training Camp slowly (so slowly) approaches, we decided to take a quick look at some of the new faces, returnees, hopefuls and last-chancers that will be vying for a spot in the Caps’ forward corps. Battles at many slots are expected, and this may be one of the most competitive camp in Caps’ history.

First, we’ll examine the forwards, a group that received an infusion of talent down the middle and added a veteran scoring winger:

Nicklas Backstrom – The youngster is seemingly a lock for the big squad. A slick-passing center with hockey sense and puck-control, the most impressive thing about his game at this point may be his attention to the other end of the ice. His awareness and positioning without the puck, coupled with his creativity and vision should be a boon to either of the Caps’ elite left wingers. Foot speed is a concern, and while he won’t arrive in North America to the same fanfare that Alex Ovechkin did, the “Next Great Swede� will have all the eyes of his country upon him.

Continue reading ›

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Andrew Gordon, Boyd Gordon, Brian Sutherby, Brooks Laich, Chris Bourque, Chris Clark, Dave Steckel,