Enough is Enough

While I am the first one to say, I don't understand or like the trade of Zubrus to the Buffaslugs, I am even more miffed by the reaction of the fans to the news.

I understood the anguish when Peter Bondra was traded. That certainly made sense to me. Bondra had grown up in the organization and was (and still is, for now) the All-Time leading scorer for the franchise at the time of his trade. Bondra had said that he wished to finish out his career with the Caps and had deep roots in the community. Bondra had scored many big and memorable goals with the Caps, made multiple appearances in the All-Star game for the Caps, led the league in goal scoring once, and was a vital part of the team that ended up in the Stanley Cup Finals. The hurt over losing him for a prospect made sense.

But what doesn't make sense is the Funeral Home atmosphere last night at the Phone Booth. What I can't figure out is just what Dainius Zubrus did for the Caps to warrant these kinds of feelings. He played about six seasons with the Caps (less than half of what Bondra did) and never led the team in scoring or in goals. Zubrus was largely seen as a disappointment until A.O. came along last year and Zubrus finally had his "breakout" season in his ninth NHL season. But could somebody please tell me what his "signature" moment was?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Zubrus was/is a bum. He's a good solid hockey player but nothing great. If anything he (and this reaction BTW) reminds me of Calle Johansson. It was (and in some corners still is) considered a crime against humanity that then Head Coach Bruce Cassidy (and the Sundance Kid) benched him in the 2003 playoffs despite the fact that he was the worst defenseman on the team in that series and wouldn't follow the instructions of the coaches. While we have no evidence whatsoever that Zubrus was a bad influence in the locker room (the evidence is actually the other way around, it says he was great in the locker room) Zubrus, like Johansson, never did anything of note with this franchise. No All-Star appearances. No major NHL awards.

The biggest thing that Zubrus has done for the Caps is shepparding A.O. and to some extent Alexander Semin. That isn't small potatoes but it is hardly worth hanging up a broken hearted 9 on the wall behind the Caps goal. The big question hanging over Zubrus is just how good is he? Now that he's no longer sharing a line with A.O., we'll find out. Something tells me though, we already know the answer to that and that A.O. and Semin don't need a sheppard anymore.

However, none of this excuses what the attitude of the general Caps fan is today. As I said last night, I couldn't even get in the building last night without hearing complaints and I've had enough of this. If you honestly think that George McPhee is incompetent and/or that Ted Leonsis has turned cheaper than Dishonest Abe Polin ever was; then leave. Don't come out to Verizon Center anymore. Myself and others are getting sick and tired of the constant harping from the nattering naboos of negativism out there. The games can be bad enough to watch on their own without having to hear about how bad the management of this team is.

It has been pretty clear this season that what this team needs more than a first line center or a #1 defenseman is a heaping helping dose of maturity. If you happen to know the prescription for that, not only would I but I am sure that the Capitals would like to know it as well. Signing a first line center isn't going to mature an Eric Fehr any quicker. Getting a #1 defenseman isn't going to give Steve Eminger, Mike Green, Milan Jurcina, Shaone Morrrissonnn, and Jeff Schultz the confidence and composure that comes with experience. What this team needs is time and in the process, we're going to take some some pretty big lumps.

Finally, I find it interesting that Caps fans (and Nats fans too) are complaining up and down the street that the Caps are building this team through the draft. They want the Caps go out and sign every Free Agent available and trade draft picks away for established veterans. Yet there's already a team in town that is more than willing to send $$$$$ on every Free Agent they can get. They also give up their draft picks to grab established veterans on a regular basis. However, these same fans are complaining up and down the street about how the Redskins need to stop buying Free Agents and build the team through the draft. Make up your mind people. Don't insult my intelligence and tell me how you "don't trust McPhee with draft picks" and how "there has to be a balance." You're just a fair-weather fan who has no business enjoying the victories when they finally come around and don't think I won't be here to remind you nattering naboos of negativism when the brighter days show up.

Caps vs. Panthers 2-27-2007 Wrap Up

The Local Yokels:

(Com)Post. Times: Another gimmick loss, trade backlash. Caps.com.

The Neutral Observers:

NHL.com AP Wire.

The Other Side:

Miami Herald: Gimmick win, cleaning up a mess, Bertuzzi gone. Panthers.com.

Final Thoughts:

Sad isn't how the game takes a backseat to a trade? 64 down, 18 to go.

Caps vs. Panthers 2-27-2007 Post-Mortem

Well, that was a real defensive struggle. Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• After falling behind 3-0 less than 8 minutes into the game, the Caps were able to regroup and eventually tie the game up. This team has a reputation of not ever giving up and tonight they showed it.
• The Power Play was 3-5 and actually looked dangerous tonight. Of course, some people couldn't understand how the other two Power Plays were blown...
• A.O. was back to his old self tonight all over the ice and racking up 2 goals and 2 assists in the process. Whodda thunk that Zubrus was holding him down???? (That's a joke people, walk away from it)
• Not only was A.O. back in form tonight, the offense was rolling about as well as I've seen it in a long time. The criss-crosses and overlaps were sharp and the Caps were able to generate great pressure on the Panthers with 33 shots on goal for the game.

THE BAD:

• Did our defenders at least have the courtesy to give Brent Johnson a couple of clothespins??? Criminey that was a brutal start. No, Johnny didn't make any great saves and there were a couple of goals that he outright flubbed but the guys in front of him offered him little protection in that first period.
• Could somebody please explain to me why Eric Fehr was a healthy scratch and Bryan Muir was inserted into the lineup? I think it was pretty clear that we've run up the white flag on this season so why is a hack like Muir getting icetime over a rookie who needs it? And can we get Mike Green back into the lineup too so that we don't have to watch John Erskine-Bowles anymore?
• It is no wonder Florida likes playing in Washington. Absolutely dead crowd tonight. Nope, the Caps start wasn't anything to cheer about, but the way the team came back deserved a better reaction from the fans.

THE UGLY:

• Once again the game was decided by a gimmick.
• I didn't even get inside the arena before I heard my first "McPhee sucks!" and some clown kept yelling "TRADE McPHEE!" after every Panthers goal. This is driving me to drink. Folks, if you're that freakin' upset about the direction of the team, please do yourself and me a favor and please don't bother showing up at the games anymore. While I myself don't understand the trade, I am tired of every single move this franchise makes being hyper-criticized by the fan base. I promise that there will be more on this tomorrow.

Deadline day games are always weird. The Caps were certainly skating around in a funk in the first eight minutes of the game and Glen Hanlon made good use of his timeout early on in the game to reverse the flow/ wake the team up. Sad to say once again that had we come out stronger at the start; we wouldn't have needed overtime and a gimmick to decide this game.

One More Trade To Come

So says the blogger inside the War Room.

I have my doubts that it will be anything as signifcant as the Zubrus deal was.

UPDATE: By now you should know that it was Jamie "Home Run" Heward to L.A. for a conditional pick. It is my understanding that the pick is a fifth rounder contingent on Heward resigning with the Kings after this season is over.

Dainus Zubrus is a Buffaslug

At least that's what Tarik and others are saying.

We get center Jiri Novonty and the Buffaslugs first round pick this year. I believe we now have two first round picks this year.

What concerns me about this trade is two things.

#1. Recent history. The last two deals we've done with the Buffaslugs didn't turn out too well for us. While the jury is still out on Jakub "and sons" Klepis (acquired for Mike Grier on March 9th, 2004), it isn't looking very good for us right now. Alexi Tesikov (acquired for Joe Juneau and a 1999 3rd rounder on March 23rd, 1999) was an outright bust for us. He only played 28 games for us (30 total in his NHL career) and registered one goal and one assist. Though that one goal was the first game winner under Ted Leonsis' ownership which earned him a $1,000 cash bonus. The only consolation on this front is that Juneau and Grier didn't do much in Loserville...er...Buffalo either.

#2. Check out Novotny's TSN scouting report. First of all, we have enough third line forwards. We don't need anymore. We especially don't need any with questionable work ethics. At least not on this team.

While it is nice to get an actual NHL player in addition to a first round pick for Zubrus, (we also threw in Timo Helbling much to my chagrin) I can't say that I am very happy with this trade looking at the long-term picture. Short term, I think it will solidify our first round pick being somewhere in the Top 5 this year which doesn't bother me very much.

However, this was a great chance to take an overvalued asset (how much of Zubrus' numbers are a result of skating with A.O.?) and fill a long-term need. This trade adds to an existing glut and now leaves us with no real options for a first line center other than Nicklas Backstrom. We better hope that Backstrom not only comes over next year, but is as advertised. What we do for a second line center next year is anybody's guess unless we believe that we can resign Zubrus as a UFA in the off season.

Deadline Doosie

The Venerable Off Wing Opinion points me to this article out of New York where Larry Brooks claims the Rangers are looking to trade Jaromir Jagr.

That my friends would be a doosie...

However, remember folks, Ol' Lar was openly telling then Pittsburgh GM Craig Patrick that he had no choice but to trade Jagr to the Rangers in 2001. Brooks was beside himself when the Caps outmaneuvered the Rangers and got Jagr from the Penguin Scum. Brooks later claimed that the Caps were begging the Rangers to take Jagr before the 2003-2004 season started but the Rangers weren't interested in Jagr. Mind you, that was the first time in the history of Larry Brooks that the Rangers were not interested in any superstar player coming to play for them.

Now Ol' Lar tells us that Sather has said that Jagr could be had if the deal "knocks him out."

Sounds like the Rangers really don't want him huh? Jagr can't be had for a seventh round draft pick, a bag of used pucks, and a lukewarm cup of coffee. No, the deal has to "knock Sather out." (Which means the cup of coffee has to be hot, fresh, and loaded with lots of cream and lots of sugar...)

Well, first of all, the term "knocks him out" applies to just about every single player on every single NHL roster. There are very few players that if the deal "knocks him out" that a GM would still say no to. For instance, even if somebody made an offer than knocked George McPhee out, he still wouldn't trade A.O. The idea that Jagr has "lost" this protected status really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Jagr hasn't been that kind of player for at least a decade now. The fact that Larry Brooks (who has recently openly turned on Jagr) is the one publicizing this should be even less of a shock.

Finally, when even Ol' Lar tells us that the chances of Jagr moving today are virtually nil, that should also tell you something. Jagr isn't going anywhere, anytime soon at least, and this is nothing right now more than wishful thinking on the part of Jagr haters.

Caps vs. Panthers 2-27-2007 Preview

Washington Capitals (24-39; 58 points; 5th Southeast Division, 14th Eastern Conference, 25th Overall) vs. Florida Panthers (24-39; 61 points; 4th Southeast Division, 13th Eastern Conference, 24th Overall):
Caps Game #64, Home Game #33, NHL Game #945

Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. 7:05 pm. Washington TV: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WTNT 570-AM. Florida TV: Fox Sportsnet Florida. Radio: WQAM 560-AM. NHL Center Ice: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic feed.

With the trade deadline passing a few hours before tonight's game, the Caps face another team who is in sell mode in the Florida Panthers. The Caps haven't bothered to show up the last three times these teams have met losing in big and depressing fashion. The Panthers are coming off a Saturday night 7-2 shellacking of the Boston Bruins on home ice. Who will or won't take the ice for either team is a bit of mystery.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Times. Caps.com.

Open Source Intelligence:

Miami Herald.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire.

What Do I Expect Tonight?:

Games on deadline day always have a funny vibe. A player that has been traded at the deadline leaves a hole in the lineup and any players coming to the team aren't there yet for the game which leaves a sense of anticipation. With both the Caps and the Panthers in selling mode, there's more likely to be gaps in the lineup tonight than anticipation. The Caps haven't played very well against Florida recently and there's no reason why the Panthers shouldn't feel as if they have the Caps number right now. Given that the Caps haven't been putting forward great efforts and their recent inconsistency, I think this could be another long night for the home team.

Caps Nut Official Washington Hockey.com Predict The Score Contest Entry:

Caps 1
Panthers 4
Winner by Jokinen

As Promised

I personally hope that this is my final posting on the whole Buffaslugs-Senators brawl from last Thursday night.

It has been mentioned in many places that many hockey people think that this fight was a good thing for the NHL. It got the NHL some publicity and there's no such thing as bad publicity right?

Well, that publicity had a shelf-life of about 72 hours. Now nobody is talking about the NHL anymore and what was being said can't be considered all that great. There's nothing wrong with clean hard hits like what Chris Neil laid on Chris Drury and quite frankly the Buffaslugs and their defenders look like a bunch of whiny idiots for their stance on this.

Finally, time to ask yourself a question and come to an honest answer. For those of you who tuned into the Buffaslugs-Ottawa rematch on Saturday night, did you tune in to watch two teams at the top of their division play a game of great hockey or were you tuning in to watch more fights? I don't think I need to go any further if you answered that question honestly.

Now here's a bit of that Bruce Garrioch interview on MSG from Saturday night that I said I would post on here. Enjoy!

McPhee Does It Again

Last year George McPhee acquired Jeff Friesen from the Devils for no more than a third round pick. McPhee then flipped Friesen at the deadline to the Ducks for a 2nd round pick.

This year, Richard Zednik is acquired from the Canadiens for a third round pick and today he goes to the Islanders for a second round pick.

This is the second year in a row that McPhee has "upgraded" a draft pick with a player in his contract year that also missed a large portion of the season due to injury. I think talk of a contract extension is/was a smokescreen. Zednik was making more $$$$$ than Dainius Zubrus and I doubt that the Caps were willing to keep things that way. Of those two players, I would rather see Zoobie-Doobie-Doo stay though I do realize that Zoobie-Doobie-Doo has the higher trade value and that his trade value will never be higher than it is right now.

As for the post-mortem on Zednik, he's been mostly a non-factor in his second tour of duty here in D.C. Hopefully all the Zed-head fans who have been crying for years about his initial trade will realize that he's never fulfilled the potential held for him. But just like there are all sorts of catcalls for the return of Peter Bondra, something tells me that the Zed-head fans are never going to let go of this guy either.

Also, the Caps move career AHL Defenseman Lawrence Nycholat to the Ottawa Senators for a 6th sixth round pick and career AHL Defenseman Andy Hedlund. Click here for more information as Hedlund will go straight to Hershey.

Caps vs. Devils 2-25-2007 Wrap Up

The Local Yokels:

(Com)Post. Times: Devils avenge Caps report. Caps.com.

The Neutral Observers:

NHL.com AP Wire.

The Other Side:

Newark Star-Ledger: Backup picks up, just a bruise. New York Post. The Record: Still got it, tight lipped. Devils.com.

Final Thoughts:

63 down, 19 to go.

Sunday Smorbgasbord 2-25

• No, I won't let this whole Tim Hardaway-John Amaechi thing go away. Why? Remember Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf? He's the NBA player who refused to stand for the playing of the Star Spangled Banner calling the U.S. Flag a "symbol of oppression" and stating that the U.S. had a long "history of tyranny." Abdul-Rauf was only suspended for one game. So speaking out against homosexuals gets you booted from the NBA for life but speaking out against the U.S. only one game. I'm all for free speech and while I think both Hardaway and Abdul-Rauf are idiots, it is glaring how different these two have been treated for their transgressions.
• So much for that San Diego Charger dynasty. For reasons only known to the higher ups in the Chargers' organization, they went ahead and hired former Redskins Head Loser...er... Coach Norv Turner. While Norv's record in Oakland can be forgiven for working for maniac Al Davis, he had only a season and three quarters in Washington under Dan Snyder and it was a season and three quarters more than what Danny Boy wanted to give him. Taking out his last four seasons (two in Oakland and the one and three quarters in Washington) Norv is 32-47-1 in 5 seasons with no playoff appearances. His predecessor, Ritchie Pettibon, said that if a new NFL coach doesn't get in done in three years, he isn't going to get it done. Of course the firing of Marty Schottenheimer had more to do with Marty not playing well with others in the organization. After Michael Westbrook attacked Steven Davis in practice in front of the TV cameras, Norv Turner wanted to severely punish Westbrook for the incident. He was overruled by then owner John Kent Cooke and then GM Charlie Casserly. Turner just went along to get along. What does it say about Norv Turner that Dan Snyder was completely right to fire him?
• D.C. United has an interesting marketing idea... They're turning one of their players into a blogger. Of course, let's hope that D.C. United doesn't decide for one reason or another to trade or let Bobby Boswell go. Especially between now and the launch date of that blog on March 20th. But what also makes it interesting is that apparently the first visitor to that blog will get tickets to the D.C. United-L.A. Galaxy match at RFK. You-know-who will be playing for the Galaxy at that point and I don't mean Landon Donovan. Considering the type of crowd that has been showing up at United-Galaxy matches in recent years, I'm avoiding that game like the plague.
• The NBA took Las Vegas by storm, literally, last weekend with their All-Star Game. Opinions differ wildly about the success of the event even by some of people who were there. As some of you may know, my parents are spending their retirement (among other things) in Las Vegas. And like most locals, they avoid The Strip on the weekends and let the tourists (mostly Los Angelinos) have their way. In new information, my mother tells me that on Friday night it was reported for the first time that the Rape Crisis center handled more reported rapes over All-Star Weekend than they normally do on New Year's Eve which is the busiest time of year for them. But taking a closer look at the Jason Whitlock second (AOL) column, I am surprised at the venom being directed at the NBA from a writer such as him. I rank Whitlock right up there with Michael Wilbon and it speaks volumes that guys like Whitlock and Wilbon see how the NBA's close association with the inner-city street thug life is dragging the league down. Bill Cosby gave stronger more direct comments about the thug culture and the black community whole and he was branded as an Uncle Tom. Whitlock however, isn't even making much in the way of waves with his comments while Wilbon is ducking the issue altogether (Whitlock however, isn't even making much in the way of waves with his comments while Wilbon is ducking the issue). Give NBA Commissioner David Stern credit though, he fought long and hard to shed the NBA's old image as yet another thug sport (fights on the court were commonplace in the 1970's when it was as popular as the NHL was, look up Kermit Washington-Rudy Tomjonovich if you don't believe me) and continues to do so today. However, hearing about the mayhem in Vegas, Stern looks to be losing ground in that fight. How much of the mayhem has to do with Vegas being Vegas is open for debate, but who wants to chronicle the NBA All-Star Game Mayhem in New Orleans next year? Yeah, that's what I thought.
• No you're not getting away from the whole Buffaslugs-Ottawa nonsense here either. J.A. Adande on ESPN's "Around The Horn" said when the incident was brought up on the show "if this was the NBA, it would be leading the show, but it is just another night in the NHL." This mind you was said well after the first commercial break. It just goes to show how bad the NHL's reputation is that "business as usual" (which the Ultimate Fighting on Ice Fans tell us is vital to sell the game) such as that is not even worthy of leading a show anymore.
• Two weeks now until Selection Sunday and the Terp Men should have sewn up an NCAA bid after today's thrilling 89-87 victory over North Carolina. The Terps were down by double digits in the second half and never lead until there was less than three minutes to go in the game. Now at 8-6 in the ACC and 22-7 overall, Maryland cannot finish with a sub .500 record in the conference and since they are clearly playing their best basketball right now, the NCAA Selection Committee would have to be downright corrupt to leave Maryland out of the Tournament this year.
• Finally this week, the Caps are home for games against the Panthers on Tuesday, the Ning on Thursday, and the Islanders on Saturday. All three games at the Phone Booth start at 7 pm. The Terp Men head down to Durham to face Dook again on Wednesday night at 9 pm on ESPN (which means the insufferable tandem of Mike Patrick and Dookie Vitale). The Men close out the regular season on Saturday afternoon at the Cable Box against N.C. State at 3:30 pm which for some reason is on ABC. The Terp women head down to Greensboro, NC for the ACC Women's Tournament. The Terp women are the three seed again (which gives them a first round bye) and will play the winner of the Georgia Tech/Miami game on Friday night at 8 pm. The Nats start Spring Training games this week when they face the L.A. Dodgers on Friday and then the B.O.'s next Saturday.
• As always, please send all comments, questions, suggestions, criticisms, corrections, and Vanilla Ice parody videos to "capsnut" over at gmail dot com.

Caps @ Devils 2-24-2007 Wrap Up/ Caps vs. Devils 2-25-2007 Preview

The Local Yokels:

(Com)Post. Times. Caps.com.

The Neutral Observers:

NHL.com AP Wire.

The Other Side:

Newark Star-Ledger: Devils flat, Gomez drought. New York Daily News. New York Post. Record: Saw it coming, deadline looming. Devils.com.

Final Thoughts:

Good win, now comes the real test today. 62 down, 20 to go.


Washington Capitals (24-38; 58 points; 5th Southeast Division, 14th Eastern Conference, 25th Overall) vs. New Jersey Devils (38-24; 82 points; 1st Atlantic Division, 2nd Eastern Conference, 4th Overall):
Caps Game #63, Home Game #32, NHL Game #933

Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. 1:05 pm. Washington TV: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WTNT 570-AM. New Jersey TV: Fox Sportsnet New York. Radio: WFAN 660-AM. NHL Center Ice: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic feed.

Well that was so much fun yesterday, let's do it again today on our home ice (and there will be plenty of it around here today)! The Devils may or may not throw their backup goaltender, Scott Clemmensen at us today. Stay tuned to find out!

What The Natives Are Saying:

Caps.com. Caps.com .pdf game notes

Open Source Intelligence:

If I've figured things out right, the Devils.com Preview will be here once they put it up. Otherwise I have nothing for you other than the links above about yesterday's game.

What Do I Expect Today?:

Well, I don't expect a repeat of yesterday that's for sure. The Caps will have to once again take full advantage of the breaks that the Devils give them only the Devils are sure to give the Caps fewer chances than they got yesterday. The Caps need another convincing win here today in order to build any momentum for the remainder of the season.

Caps Nut Official Washington Hockey.com Predict The Score Contest Entry:

Caps 1
Devils 4
Winner by Gomez.

Editorial Note For The Loyal Readers Of This Blog:

Due to the doom currently enveloping the city, I will not be watching or attending today's game. I now must leave to go to the grocery store to stock up on bread, milk, toilet paper, and kitty litter. Once I have achieved my success in battle, I will then retreat to cower in a corner of my home to ride out the doom. I wish you all Godspeed and the best of luck! In other words, no Post-Mortem later today.

Finally...

I was finally able to get to the Buffaslugs website but before we slice and dice the Golisano letter, I was watching the second intermission of the Buffslugs-Ottawa game and the MSG crew dusted off a tape of Anaheim @ Calgary from 2001.

Current Senator Head Coach Bryan Murray was the Head Coach in Anaheim when Craig Berube ran the Anaheim goaltender behind the net. Apparently Murray then sent somebody out to run the Calgary goaltender and then sent somebody to fight Jerome Iginla. What this proves is beyond me because intentional contact with a goaltender has been verboten in the NHL for awhile now. But apparently, the Buffaslugs think it means something. I half expected them to then pull out a tape of a Caps-Flyers bench clearing brawl from Murray's days with the Caps.

Now, here's the .pdf version of the Golisano letter. Reading the letter, you really have to laugh. Imbeciles like Matthew Sigafoose, who runs the Ultimate Fighting on Ice Fans.com, accuse the likes of me of wanting to take hitting completely out of the game. For the record in case anybody hasn't been able to figure it out, I only want the sideshow fighting gone. Hitting is fine with me and the Chris Neil hit was clean and legal. Drury is the one at fault for not only letting his guard down (even his owner admits that) but for not having his helmet on tight. But Mr. Golisano makes it clear that he has a problem with hitting in the NHL. I'm curious as to what if anything the neanderthal crowd has to say about this letter.

If the NHL is going to change a rule it should mandate that all helmets have a minimum amount of padding and that players have to have their helmets attached firmly to their heads. It wasn't the hit Neil put on Drury that did the damage, it was Drury's unprotected head hitting the ice that caused the damage.

What I love though is how he says that "{T}here is nothing entertaining about a big man hitting a smaller man in the head." Well, if the NHL did something about that, Eric Lindros wouldn't be able to hit anybody because we all know he avoids anybody even close to his size. How do we enforce this Mr. Golisano? Do we institute a minimum or maximum height for players? This is Larry Brooks stupid folks.

Of course what makes all of this ironic is that Loserville...er...Buffalo is a town that idolizes Rob Ray. I understand that guy was pretty tough when he played and might even have a rule named after him. Maybe if I have the time, I'll dust off some of the Caps-Sabres tapes from the 1998 playoffs. I think it might be interesting to count the number of charges and elbows Michael Peca and other Sabres threw in that series. They were advertising their mission to hit Sergei Gonchar every time he had the puck and many of them were late and cheap.

Of course that was before Golisano owned the team, but the Buffaslugs have shaky legs to stand on when complaining about dirty pool.

HI-Larious Ruff

I was watching the Hockey Night in Canada Pre-Game show on NHL Center Ice when I learned that the NHL fined Buffaslugs Head Whiner Lindy Ruff $10,000 for his role in the brouhaha last Thursday night.

Because the Ottawa-Buffaslugs game is the alternate Hockey Night in Canada game, there was a CBC reporter at the arena to interview Ruff. The interview was rather good because Ruff started off sounding contrite, humble, and even a little sorrowful for what happened. But like John Erskine Bowles of the Caps who can't help to suck, Ruff let his true colors fly when he started recounting a transgression committed against the poor, put-upon Buffaslugs by that known Ottawa Senator Thug Danny Heatley (he did kill a guy you know...).

What a joke Ruff is and apparently the Buffaslug owner has shot off a letter to Gary Bettman as well. You know, from the coach, to the players, to the God-Awful play-by-play guy (the reason why I am NOT watching the Buffaslugs-Senators game), to the Loserville city the team inhabits the NHL should seriously consider contracting that franchise. Nothing Washington or any of the "Sun/Bible Belt" team has ever done is as embarrassing as what these guys pull. In light of the update below, I think the Buffaslugs should stay in the NHL simply so we can watch them comically whine time and time again.

UDPATE: After watching Don Cherry's Coach's Corner, I went over to the Buffaslug broadcast. I missed the dramatic reading of Buffaslug owner Tom Golisano to Gary Bettman, but I did see a downright HIGH-LARIOUS interview with Ottawa Sun columnist Bruce Garrioch on MSG.

Outright Kudos to Garrioch for calling Golisano's letter ridiculous and "taking whining to a new level." The Buffaslug broadcasters were beside themselves. Rob Ray even went to the point of asking a "what if" about Mair on Heatley (and speaking of Mair, Don Cherry was all over him for not "answering the call" in the first period). Garrioch brought up the hit on R.J. Umberger that Tim Connolly Brian Campbell laid on him in the playoffs last year but the Buffaslug announcers still wouldn't have any of it.

It was also mentioned that Colin Campbell is in the building tonight in Ottawa and that he met with both sets of coaches and GMs this morning. The Todd Bertuzzi-Steve Moore incident was raised. So sorry Ultimate Fighting on Ice fans, there won't be much for you to enjoy tonight.

Hopefully this MSG interview of Bruce Garrioch will land on YouTube so I can link to it and those who missed out can enjoy it. I can't connect to the Buffaslugs website right now. But you can get snippets of the letter on TSN.ca. I particularly love this gem:

There is nothing manly about hitting a player that you can't see. .. There is nothing good to come of a policy that allows exciting, skilled players to be targets for what I believe to be a predatory play.

I for one agree that predatory play against the skilled players should be outlawed and strictly disciplined; I however would suggest that the NHL start with players who deliver spears to the gonads of other players.

Finally, Neil saw Drury, that's how he lined up the hit. So what is wrong with the hit Mr. Golisano?

Oh, and the player with the puck cannot be offside...

Caps @ Devils 2-24-2007 Post-Mortem

Crow is always good this time of year. Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• Of all the teams that the Caps could break out against, the Devils are the least likely suspects. Building a 3-0 lead on them with an ok, not great, effort once again shows just what this team is capable of once it matures.
• On December 3rd, 2004, Martin Brodeur shutout the Caps who only took 9 (that's right, 9) shots on goal. Today the Caps had 30 shots on goal with 18 of them in the second period alone.
• Boyd Gordon had himself an excellent game today with not one but two passes that sprung teammates Matt "Princess" Pettinger and Tomas Fleischmann for breakaway goals. El Gordo deserved one of the stars of today's game.
• I know it is enemy ice, but when I can hear the Caps Fan Club and the Road Crew cheering in the background on Caps goals, there's something wrong with your fan base.
• The Penalty Killers were a perfect 4 for 4 today and the overall team defensive effort was strong. Brent Johnson did not need to stand on his head to get his first win since taking over from Olie Kolzig and when he put himself out of position, the Caps backchecked well enough to bail him out.

THE BAD:

• The Devils have to be the only team in the NHL who draws energy from killing penalties and with our Power Play, that's exactly what happened. The Power Play was 0 for 4 but not for a lack of effort. Bordeur had his act together killing penalties today. But what put this into the bad category is the TWO instances where the Devils got an odd-man rush right out of the penalty box. One is understandable, two is unacceptable.
• If it hadn't been for his nice breakaway goal and assist today, Alexander Semin would be a prime candidate for a benching after taking two more lazy and stupid hooking penalties. Jakub "and Sons" Klepis got himself demoted to Hershey for the exact same reason only Klepis wasn't scoring. Much was made about A.O.'s need to improve his defensive game, well, Semin is even further behind A.O. on that score.

THE UGLY:

• John Erskine Bowles was about to add to my plate of crow today but couldn't help himself. I was going to compliment him on not running around like a madman today and taking himself out of position. I was going to give him kudos for the great job he did on the 2-on-1 he defended. I wasn't going to jump on him for a couple of pathetic clearing attempts and I wasn't going to mention deflecting a shot into his own net. But when he decided to fight Cam Janssen in the third period, all of that was out the window. First of all, he fights about as well as GOD (Stephenpeat) did. Erskine Bowles could have just pumped left jabs all afternoon into Janssen's chin and didn't bother (but at least he locked the smaller guy out). Secondly, the timing of the fight was about as bad as he could have chosen. The Caps were up 4-1 and actually had a rush going when Erskine Bowles accepted Janssen's challenge. Finally accepting a trade of a defensman playing a good game for a fourth liner who sees limited icetime with seven and half minutes to go is just brain dead. Janssen was looking to "get his team going" with that fight and Erskine Bowles would have been much better advised to skate away. But when you suck like Erskine Bowles does, you just can't help yourself.

So the Caps break their skid. Any plans the Devils may have had to play Scott Clemmensen in tomorrow's return bout have likely been scrapped. Because the Caps face the Devils again tomorrow, I don't think this was the breakout that we've been waiting for. Much confidence the Caps gain from this will be effected by the return bout tomorrow afternoon. But for 24 hours we can enjoy beating the Devils because we haven't done it too often recently.

It has been... A TWO POINT DAY!!!

Caps @ Devils 2-24-2007 Preview

Washington Capitals (23-38; 56 points; 5th Southeast Division, 14th Eastern Conference, 25th Overall) @ New Jersey Devils (38-23; 82 points; 1st Atlantic Division, 2nd Eastern Conference, 4th Overall):
Caps Game #62, Road Game #31, NHL Game #923

Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, NJ. 1:05 pm. Washington TV: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WTEM 980-AM. New Jersey TV: Fox Sportsnet New York. Radio: WFAN 660-AM. NHL Center Ice: Fox Sportsnet New York feed.

Today the Caps, who have been struggling scoring goals and having problems on the road, travel into the swamps of Joisey for one last visit, ever, to the Meadowlands. The Caps have not won in Joisey since March 28th, 2002 (I think I might have been at that game) and haven't beaten the Devils anywhere since the lockout ended. The Devils have won 8 of their last 10 and, with the help of a gimmick on Thursday night, just swept a home-and-home with the Rangers.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Caps.com. Caps.com .pdf game notes.

Open Source Intelligence:

Newark Star-Ledger. New York Post. Record. Devils.com does not have a preview up yet.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire.

What Do I Expect Today?:

The hits just keep on playing for the Caps right now. Not only are they facing a team that re-defines defensive hockey; the Caps have also lost the services of Captain Chris Clark to a shoulder injury and Eric Fehr is also banged up as well and is a 50-50 shot at playing today. On a team that has precious little depth on the top two lines that isn't faring well offensively right now, losing a third of it before facing a world class goaltender and a solid team defense is hardly the recipe for success. Tomas Fleischmann has been recalled from Hershey to take somebody's spot. If you have chores or something else to do today, I strongly suggest you go about your business and get those done. I'll jump on the grenade and watch the game for you. I've got a fresh pot of coffee brewing and a box of No-Doze to get me through it.

Caps Nut Official Washington Hockey.com Predict The Score Contest Entry:

Caps 0
Devils 2
Winner by Madden

A "Code"? More Like A "Crock"

Unless your a hockey fan living in a cave (or just somebody who doesn't like hockey period) you've heard about the Buffaslugs-Senators brawl last night. You want to know why I despise fighting and why I think it is bringing the NHL down? Well this is the exact reason why.

Here's a video of the whole thing, and notice, that the hit that Chris Neil landed on Chris Drury was clean. If anything, Neil was maybe a half step late in laying out Drury. The chicken poop Buffaslugs however disagreed and Neil was called into account by Drew Stafford. For most people and teams, that would have been the end of it. However if you are in Loserville...er...Buffalo that is not the case. Lindy Ruff (who IMHO is now the biggest joke of a Head Coach in all of professional sports now that Bill Cowher has retired) immediately sent out his goons to exact another pound of flesh from the Senators.

Now, the Ultimate Fighting On Ice Fans bow down and worship "The Code." "The Code" calls for many things such as "you don't fight at the end of a shift," "skaters don't fight goalies," and "fighters don't fight non-fighters." Yet the Buffaslugs went after a unit of skill players from Ottawa. So where is the outrage for the UFOI fans about the Buffaslugs violating "The Code"???

Nope, they're too busy watching You Tube over and over again, cleaning up the mess they made creaming themselves, and setting their TiVo's for Saturday night's return bout in Ottawa (and if the Buffaslugs hold true to their form, they'll cower like the chicken poop that they are because they aren't on home ice).

Folks, this is how the whole Todd Bertuzzi-Steve Moore incident started. Moore laid Markus Naslund out with a clean hit and Vancouver couldn't believe it or let it go. Which is what I don't understand about "The Code." "The Code" basically says that hockey is a tough game played by tough players who have to be tough in order to make it as far as the NHL. Yet "The Code" says that certain players don't have to be tough. That even looking at these anointed guys cross-eyed is grounds for a line brawl like we saw last night. That isn't a "Code" that's a "Crock."

I still refer to the days of Mary-OH! Lemiuex and Jaromir Jagr in Pittsburgh as "The Pretty Boys." They too had an attitude of "hey we can do whatever we want to your guys, but how dare you try to return the favor to us." Mary-OH! was the first to complain about all the "obstruction." Remember when Mary-OH! came charging out of the penalty box after Kerry Fraser in 1994? That was because Mary-OH! was tired of being hit. Yet even then nobody called Mary-OH! out on it. It lead to the "obstruction crackdown" that many people complain has ruined the game. Brendan Shanahan has since taken up the mantle and has been caught talking out of both sides of his mouth.

It is the same attitude held by the Buffslugs and their chicken poop Head Coach Lindy Ruff today. When A.O. clobbered that Buffaslug Scumbag Danielle Briere from behind, Lindy Ruff wanted the book thrown at A.O. But when that Scumbag Danielle Briere speared A.O. in the gonads, Ruff said:

They're looking for a mountain in a molehill...It's a non-issue with me...Oh, maybe Danny was trying to send a little message. But there was really nothing there, except for them trying to make it look worse than it actually was.

Ok coach, we'll spear you in the gonads and see if you still feel the same way. But Ruff still wants to play the victim card. It is ok for his team and his players to go out and goon things up, but as soon as somebody tries to return the favor, he goes all ballistic. Hades, you can't even throw a hard clean check against the Buffaslugs. Where are the disciples of "The Code" to denounce him?

And the irony of this thing is, earlier this week; the GM's announced that they want to lighten up the instigator rule. It seems to me that last night was a pretty good argument against that because not a single Senator who got attacked last night had anything to do with the perceived transgression. If anything, the instigator rule should be tightened up. Major League Baseball has cut down on their bench clearing brawls because umpires are now required to toss managers when they believe that a pitcher is intentionally throwing at a batter. Maybe instead of giving instigators more "leeway" they should tighten their leashes by mandating an ejection of a Head Coach when an instigator penalty is handed out.

I have to say, I will be surprised if the NHL Front Office officially does anything other than look the other way at last night's festivities in Loserville...er...Buffalo. Every other professional sports league would be handing down suspensions left and right after something like that. But the UFOI fans think that brings great "passion," "emotion," and "intensity" to the game and that without it the game is boring. (They still of course can't explain how the other professional sports leagues are able to generate "passion," "emotion," and "intensity" without allowing fighting.)

Finally, to add insult to injury to last night's game, it was ultimately decided by a gimmick. Seeing as how the fans were standing up and cheering throughout the whole thing; instead of the gimmick, why don't we just have the teams send out their goons to fight until somebody can't fight anymore to decide the winner. Better yet, let's have the goalies do it. The fans really love a goalie fight.

Caps vs. Sharks 2-21-2007 Wrap Up

The Local Yokels:

(Com)Post. Times: Caps derailed, Caps report. Caps.com.

The Neutral Observers:

NHL.com AP Wire.

The Other Side:

Contra Costa Times. San Francisco Chronicle. San Jose Mercury News: Gimmick win, Three Stars, stopping A.O. Sharks.com.

Final Thoughts:

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time we've blown a multiple goal lead at home. 61 down, 21 to go.

Caps @ Canadiens 2-20-2007 Wrap Up/ Caps vs. Sharks 2-21-2007 Preview

The Local Yokels:

(Com)Post. Caps.com.

The Neutral Observers:

NHL.com AP Wire.

The Other Side:

Montreal Gazette: Higgins hurt in win, breakout night, Huet done, Souray popular. Canadiens.com.

Final Thoughts:

Many more performances like last night's and this season won't be over soon enough. 60 down, 22 to go.


Washington Capitals (23-37; 55 points; 5th Southeast Division, 14th Eastern Conference, 25th Overall) vs. San Jose Sharks (36-23; 73 points; 2nd Pacific Division, 5th Western Conference, 7th Overall):
Caps Game #61, Home Game #31, NHL Game #906

Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. 7:05 pm. Washington TV: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WTEM 980-AM. San Jose TV: Fox Sportsnet Bay Area. Radio: KFOX 98.5-FM. Canadian National TV: TSN, RIS. NHL Center Ice: TSN feed.

Tonight the Caps wrap up a three games in four days set at home against the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks have been waiting in Washington since Sunday's 5-2 loss in Dallas. The Sharks haven't been playing well either as of late, the Sharks have lost three in a row and were shutout for two of those games. San Jose is playing game #6 of an eight game road trip tonight and will be in Chicago tomorrow.

What The Natives Are Saying:

Caps.com. Caps.com .pdf game notes.

Open Source Intelligence:

Contra Costa Times: Reinforcements arrive, Sharks report. San Francisco Chronicle. San Jose Mercury News: Forwards back, next for the Sharks. Sharks.com. Sharks.com game notes. (yeah, I know, I figured they will be filled in later, they are three hours behind us.) Sharks.com video preview Part I. (dude has a bad sense of direction) Sharks.com video preview Part II. (dude can't pronounce the names of our players)

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire. TSN.ca.

What Do I Expect Tonight?:

Recently the Caps have been getting the results at home that they haven't been getting on the road. However, the Caps remain the tonic for teams that are struggling and the Sharks certainly fit that bill. San Jose has had a couple of days off in D.C. while the Caps have been out on the road. And after last night's performance, the Caps would be well advised to stay out of the Penalty Box. The Sharks have the league's top Power Play unit and will certainly bury the Caps if given the kind of chances that the Canadiens had last night. The Caps Power Play will also find tough sledding as the Sharks Penalty Killers are ranked 7th. This one could get very ugly.

Caps Nut Official Washington Hockey.com Predict The Score Contest Entry:

Caps 1
Sharks 5
Winner by Cheechoo

Editorial Note For The Loyal Readers Of This Blog:

Due once again to work commitments, I will be unable to watch tonight's game. Therefore, there will be no Post-Mortem for tonight's game.

Caps @ Canadiens 2-20-2007 Post-Mortem

Looks as if we took the stupid pills tonight. Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• Another night with good effort and good energy. You almost begin to wonder just what this team needs to do in order to get a win on the road. Where's Pedro Cerrano and Joe-Bu when you need them?
• Finally somebody not named Alex steps up to provide some offense. Jamie "Home Run" Heward's two long distance drives got things going for the Caps.

THE BAD:

• What in the world was going on with the officiating tonight? In the first period they called just about everything but after that, they seemed to have left their whistles in the locker room. I especially loved how the two Caps who got bloodied up went completely missed by referees Bill McCreary and Rob Martell.
• And speaking of penalties, the penalties the Caps took in the first period were of the stupid variety. Once again the Caps failed to adjust on the fly to how the officials were calling the game.
• 18 shots on goal for the Caps tonight. That's way too few for a team that is facing a goaltender playing his second ever NHL game. And considering that we got 3 goals anyway, imagine what would have happened had we gotten around 30 shots? And speaking of which, where was out patented third period desperation flurry? We had only four shots on goal in the third.
• I don't know if it was bad goaltending on Brent Johnson's part or just continued bad luck, but how does Chris Higgins beat Johnny along the ice for the first goal of the game when he has his pad up against the post?

THE UGLY:

• The Special Teams for the Caps were certainly "special" for us tonight. 1 for 5 on the Power Play giving up a shorthanded goal, 3 for 7 killing penalties, and we gave up an empty net goal to boot. Twice in the past three games we've given up a shorthanded goal due to the defensive deficiencies of Alexander Semin. Please get him off the point.
• The stats lie completely about John Erskine Bowles' night. He's listed as being a +1 with two hits but that is due entirely to being paired with Heward who scored two goals and not taking a - for being on the ice when giving up a Power Play goal. However, three times he made very, very bad step ups in the neutral zone (one lead to a 2-on-1 that Heward broke up) and twice he went running out for a hit and completely missed. All of those took him way out of position and he is too slow to recover from those mistakes. I can't tell you how much I like watching Heward run around by himself in his own zone trying to cover twice the amount of ice that he is supposed to. What Steve Eminger and Mike Green did to lose icetime to Erskine Bowles is beyond me. But seeing as how the playoffs are just about done for this team, there's no reason to continue to play that hack.

Now the Caps head home and have five of their next six games on home ice. Hopefully the Caps can get some confidence going again playing on home ice, but the list of opponents does not bode well for us. Nevertheless, the Caps have to not only play with good energy, but play smart hockey as well. Once again one bad period costs the Caps the game and that bad result was a result of stupid hockey.

Maybe I'm Just Crazy...

In the course of doing research for the gameday preview below, I had the misfortune of coming across this steaming pile of garbage.

Of course the Ultimate Fighting on Ice fans are all over the possibility that the much maligned instigator penalty could be removed if not "lightened." However this line struck me as all kinds of odd...

In Washington, Crosby's contemporary -- Alex Ovechkin -- has not suffered nearly as much abuse. Why? Well, the Capitals spent US-$1.1-million on Donald Brashear last summer, and the effects are undeniable.

Huh? So it was only my imagination that A.O. was kneed by Tim Gleason of the Carolina Hurricanes in the home opener? That Scumbag Daniel Briere never speared A.O. in the gonads up in Loserville...er... Buffalo? And of course, Colton Orr's cross check to the head of A.O. didn't happen in Madison Square Garden either?

You know, if I wanted to, I could certainly argue that Mr. Donald Brashear isn't "doing his job" based upon the logic that the UFOI fans subscribe to. I mean hey, Mark Spector says that A.O. has nothing but wide open ice in front of him so it must be true right? Just having Brashear on the bench scares everybody and everything into keeping their hands off A.O. Of course, the UFOI fans babble on incoherently about the instigator penalty. And of course the one example of a player disregarding the instigator penalty (Todd Bertuzzi-Steve Moore), the UFOI fans won't touch with a ten foot pole. Anything to keep from having to explain the failure of the much ballyhooed 1970's and 1980's NHL.

Of course, it is also widely claimed by the UFOI Neanderthals that a fight "gets the team going." It should be interesting to note that a cross-checking of Mr. Brashear's fights and the Caps schedule/results shows that the Caps have a record of 3-7 when he drops the gloves. Hardly an impressive boost I would say. As a matter of fact, the last time Brashear fought in a game the Caps won was December 23rd in Toronto, right about the time the wheels came off this season. As a matter of fact, it is the last time the Caps won a game in which they had a fighting major. (So much for that "boost" a team gets when its goon(s) fights...) It looks to me like the Caps winning and losing hockey games has more to do with the way the team as a whole plays and not who Mr. Brashear (or anybody else for that matter) is looking to pummel.

Finally, in the grand tradition of Mark Twain's "Liars, Damn Liars, and Statistics" the old "selective statistics" trick is pulled by Mr. Spector when he mentions that Anaheim and Nashville lead the NHL in fighting majors and are near the top in the NHL standings. However, half of the teams in the Top 10 for fighting majors are currently on the out of the playoffs. In the Bottom 10 of fighting majors, half of those team are in the playoffs right now. So please, again tell me just exactly what any of this proves about fighting in the NHL other than it being a sideshow that distracts from the game itself?

Caps @ Canadiens 2-20-2007 Preview

Washington Capitals (23-36; 55 points; 5th Southeast Division, 14th Eastern Conference, 25th Overall) @ Montreal Canadiens (30-31; 66 points; 4th Northeast Division, 10th Eastern Conference, 18th Overall):
Caps Game #60, Road Game #30, NHL Game #898

Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 7:35 pm. Washington TV: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WTNT 570-AM. Montreal TV: None. Radio: CJAD 800-AM. Canadian National TV: RDS (in French). NHL Center Ice: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic feed.

Tonight the Caps bring the road trip to an end and hope to bring their road woes to an end as well in Montreal where they will face the struggling Canadiens. The Habs broke a 6 game losing streak with a 3-2 win in Columbus on Saturday. The Habs, like the Caps, have also lost their starting goaltender to injury in a critical time in the schedule. However, while the Caps have slid completely out of playoff contention, the Canadiens are still hanging onto the race.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Caps.com. Caps.com .pdf game notes.

Open Source Intelligence:

Montreal Gazette: 4th liner, former goalie deserves better. Canadiens.com does not have a preview up yet.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire.

What Do I Expect Tonight?:

Simply put, the Caps can't get off the road soon enough. Their better efforts on the road have come up short recently and you can see that the Caps are playing with little to no confidence right now. If there was a team that the Caps could gain confidence against, it is Montreal. The Canadiens have been on a slide of their own and are trying to hold/gain ground on the playoff race with their backup goaltender. The Caps will need to jump out to an early lead tonight in order to have a chance and the larger the lead they build the better.

Caps Nut Official Washington Hockey.com Predict The Score Contest Entry:

Caps 3
Canadiens 2
Winner by Zubrus

Caps @ Penguin Scum 2-18-2007 Wrap Up

The Local Yokels:

(Com)Post. Times: Dominated again, Caps Report. Caps.com.

The Neutral Observers:

NHL.com AP Wire.

The Other Side:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Thibault brilliant, no rest for the evil. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Red hot, impressive rookie, donning aprons, back in action. Penguin Scum.com.

Final Thoughts:

I'm just waiting for this team to break out of their offensive slump because when that happens, it will be a sight to behold. 59 down, 23 to go.

Sunday Smorgasbord 2-18

• Greetings to the folks who have stopped on by here from Igloo Dreams. I hope you like what you see (even if you don't agree with my assessment of your crack hockey team) and come back often. However, in the meantime, Thanks for stopping by!
• Shavlik Randolph is a happy man. Why? Not because Dook finally broke their losing streak but because the Forces of Tolerance finally got a better target in their defense of the Gay NBA Player, John Amaechi. For reasons only known to Skip Bayless, Skip asked Tim Hardaway about Amaechi well after the Amaechi story had already played out. Hardaway however offered his unvarnished and entirely politically incorrect opinion on the matter and has now been strung up by his toes for it. Apparently Hardaway no longer "has game" as David Stern no longer wants Hardaway around the NBA in yet another victory for tolerance and diversity. An NBA player mind you can choke his coach, run into the crowd to fight fans, kick courtside photographers in the gonads, and not get sanctioned as badly as Hardaway (who is an ex-player by the way) has been for speaking in politically incorrect terms. So much for diversity and tolerance. Episodes like this makes one really wonder what the John Amaechi "outing" is really all about because how many more current, former, and future NBA players are going to be asked about Amaechi?
• Color me unimpressed with the trade of Peter "Floppa" Forsberg from Philadelphia to Nashville. I fail to see just how this is such a large coup for the Predators. As a matter of fact, this strikes me as being rather similar to the Jim Carey, Jason Allison, and Anson Carter for Adam Oates, Bill Ranford, and Rick Tocchet trade that Nashville GM David "Bud" Poile pulled off towards the end of his time in D.C. The best "justification" I've seen so far is that Floppa goes to Nashville and not some other team in the Western Conference that Nashville might have to face in the playoffs. While this is a valid point, what about Floppa's health? Even if he can find a skate that comforts his trick right foot enough to play, Floppa has been falling apart at the seams for years now. No matter who got him, Floppa isn't a lock to be healthy for a team's playoff run and if Floppa is on the shelf, what dang gone good is he? Maybe that's why Philly didn't get a player off of Nashville's NHL roster. But like his panic button trade 10 years ago, Polie is prolly feeling the heat in Nashville and is looking to save his, and Barry Trotz's, job.
• Eagled-eyed Terp fans should remember the name Antonio Logan-El. For those who don't, he's the kid who before his junior year of high school at Forestville, begged the Maryland Football team for a scholarship. His performance in camp that summer earned him an offer which he promptly accepted. That was until his senior year started. Logan-El said that he was standing by his verbal to Maryland, but he wanted to take recruiting trips. Logan-El maintained all along that he was standing by his commitment to Maryland despite taking all sorts of official and unofficial visits to various schools including Maryland. He planned an announcement on ESPNEWS last year from the ESPNZone in Bhawlmuher that he was keeping his word and going to Maryland. He invited the Maryland coaching staff who had to decline because of NCAA regulations prohibiting NCAA coaches from attending these types of events. It was at this event that Logan-El publicly switched gears for the first time and announced his decision to attend State Penn. A near riot ensued as Logan-El's family began to taunt the Terp fans who came to the ESPNZone in Bhawlmuher (including Gloria Friedgen who could attend because she isn't a paid member of the football staff) for the announcement and State Penn coaches who just so happened to be across the street at a Best Buy who came over to join the "celebration" after ESPN signed off. Turns out, Logan-El had switched about a month and a half before his three-ring circus but continued to lie to the Maryland staff. Well I have it now on very good authority that Logan-El has left the State Penn football team after one season and is no better than a 50-50 shot to return. Logan-El hasn't been very happy in Happy Valley since arriving there last August. As a matter of fact, other Maryland natives at State Penn aren't enjoying things the way they used to/thought they would. However, should Logan-El look to transfer, he won't be welcome in College Park. While Logan-El attempted to apologize to Ralph Friedgen two days after pulling his televised shenanigans, he never did. Mostly because he never got a word in edgewise over the phone.
• Three weeks away from Selection Sunday and the Maryland Basketball teams are going in opposite directions, though not in the way you might think. Gary Williams has his Men's team heading into a berth in the NCAA Tournament playing strong basketball after today's 82-66 victory at Clemson. Consigned to another NIT bid only a few weeks ago, the win over Klempsun puts the Terps at 6-6 in the ACC with four games left in the conference schedule and three of them at the Cable Box. The Terps figure an 8-8 finish will give them a high enough RPI to make the NCAA Tournament with an At-Large bid. However, Brenda Frese's Women's team is coming apart at exactly the wrong time. Their steadfast refusal to play defense cost them their fourth loss this season today in a 69-57 loss to Dook at the Cable Box. Of course, Brenda's team didn't defend well last season but they snuck up on people to win the National Championship. However, that won't happen again this year. The Terp women will make the NCAA field but it is safe to say that the Terp women have blown any chance they might have had at getting a #1 seed without winning the ACC Tournament. They'll need a commitment to defending if that is to happen.
• I can't say that I am all that surprised that the stated plans of the Washington Nationals to go young and cheap this year has been met with derision in all corners of Washington fandom. After all, there are still plenty of "Caps fans" who are ticked off about the pre-lockout firesale that the Caps conducted. Never mind that the franchise was run completely into the ground in Montreal and in Washington before Major League Baseball finally got around to selling the team. Never mind for all its "charm" RFK Stadium is still a dump that needs to either be totally renovated if not completely replaced. Joe Gibbs alluded to its "crud" in his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speech. The rebuild of the Nats is going to take longer than the rebuild of the Caps because the Nats just don't have the depth in their farm system that the Caps did heading into their rebuild. However I think there are two things to keep in mind about the Nationals. Having a last place baseball team to complain about is miles better than having no baseball team at all to complain about. Finally on that note, all the Lerner's are doing is upholding the fine tradition of Washington Baseball by placing a hammer lock on last place by holding onto tight purse strings.
• And this week, the Caps finish off their three game road trip on Tuesday night in Montreal when they face the Canadiens at 7:30 pm. The Caps are home the very next night hosting former Head Coach Ron Wilson and the San Jose Sharks at 7 pm. The Caps then open up a weekend home-and-home matinee with the New Jersey Devils. The Caps are in the Joisey swamps on Saturday afternoon before hosting the return bout on Sunday in the Phone Booth. Both of those games start at 1 pm. The Terp men host F$U on Ash Wednesday in the Cable Box for their last weeknight 9 pm start of the regular season. The North Carolina Tar Heels try to make it to the Cable Box on Sunday hopefully more than 10 minutes ahead of the 5:30 pm scheduled start time on Fox Sportsnet's ACC Sunday Night Hoops.
• As always, please send all comments, critcisms, corrections, questions, suggestions, and fraudulent Clauswitzian Anti-War references to "capsnut" over at gmail dot com because we all know that the best way to support our troops is to conjure up non-binding resolutions that tell them that they will fail in their mission.

Caps @ Penguin Scum 2-18-2007 Post-Mortem

If it weren't for bad luck, there'd be no luck at all right now. Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• Certainly not one of the best Caps efforts this season, but light years away from their worst. It was a solid performance and considering how well we haven't played under the spotlight of national TV, we played well.
• After giving up the first goal of the game again, the Caps for once instead of sulking or running around like chickens with their heads cut off actually came out and played hard and got the game tied back up. All too often this season the Caps have fallen into disarray when faced with adversity, they didn't do that today.

THE BAD:

• John Erskine Bowles was his typical brutal self today. Yeah, he threw a couple of highlight reel hits but was looking for those way too often today and found himself out of position on many occasions. He and Jamie "Home Run" Heward were on the ice for both Penguin Scum even strength goals and Erskine Bowles' lack of footspeed was exploited all afternoon. What makes this worse is that this was his second game back and he should still be full of adrenaline. This is why I said leave him on the IR.
• While the Power Play for the most part did a better job of establishing themselves in the zone, the new umbrella configuration still can't get any consistent pressure. One point of emphasis this off season has to be better passing.
• Once again one simple mistake by the goaltender, this time Brent Johnson, costs the Caps the game. Johnny can't give up a goal from that severe of an angle. But again, it just goes to show how bad our luck is right now.

THE UGLY:

• After going off to a thumb injury, Alexander Semin storms back and draws a penalty shot. In yet another example of bad luck, he badly beats Jocelyn Thibault and hits the freakin' crossbar. What more can you do folks?
• While it was nice to finally be on NBC, the announcing today was utterly predictable except for the fact that they were pretty fair to the Caps for half a period before beginning their fluffing of Secondary Assist Cindy Crosby and the city of Pittsburgh. But in the interest of time and levity, here's the two "lowlights" for the NBC crew today. First, if you listened to Pierre McGuire, you would have thought that the Caps held around a 60-40 edge in faceoffs today. However, you would be wrong. It was 51-49 (29-28). Secondly, I loved listening to Ed Olczk talking about the Penguin Scum's second Power Play opportunity. As we watched a replay of Secondary Assist Cindy Crosby, all we heard was how Cindy was totally dominating. Cindy was dominating even when the puck was no where near him and nobody on the Caps was even in the frame with Cindy. But Cindy was just totally dominating and it was only by Devine Intervention that the Penguin Scum didn't score on their second Power Play because Cindy was simply dominating. I meanwhile was nauseated.

After scoring their third goal, you could see that the Penguin Scum were flying high again with confidence, but a team like the Caps were not only able to stem the tide, they were able to get themselves back into the game. Unfortunately, for the Caps (and opponents of the Penguin Scum recently) it was too little late. While it would be great fun to speculate just what would have happened had Semin buried his Penalty Shot instead of hitting the crossbar, fact is, once again we come up short.

Caps @ Penguin Scum 2-18-2007

Washington Capitals (23-35; 55 points; 5th Southeast Division, 14th Eastern Conference, 25th Overall) @ Pittsburgh Penguin Scum (31-26; 71 points; 2nd Atlantic Division, 4th Eastern Conference, 7th Overall):
Caps Game #59, Road Game #29, NHL Game #886

Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, PA. 3:35 pm. Washington TV: None. Radio: WTEM 980-AM. Pittsburgh TV: None. Radio: WXDX 105.9-FM. National TV: NBC Sports (59% of the country will get this game, NBC Coverage Map). NHL Center Ice: NBC feed

Today the Caps, who haven't won a road game since January 18th, continue their little three game road trip by paying their last visit to Pittsburgh. The Penguin Scum continue their hot run of late by picking up points in their last 15 games. The Caps today also make their first ever appearance on NBC under the NHL's new TV contract.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Times. Caps.com. Caps.com .pdf game notes.

Open Source Intelligence:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Ties that bind, kids day, unscientific poll. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Chattering class, credit the coach, give Secondary Assist Cindy Crosby a Clio (click here to see the award winning performance), scouting the Caps. Penguin Scum.com has not posted a preview yet.

Neutral Views:

NBC Sports.com. NHL.com. NHL.com AP Wire.

What Do I Expect Today?:

The Caps have a pretty good chance of springing a trap on the Penguin Scum today. The Penguin Scum are on a "hot" streak while the Caps have been "bad." Olie Kolzig is out, Brent Johnson is in, A.O. is in a slump, the Caps haven't won in Pittsburgh since December 3rd, 2002, and the Caps tend to lay an egg when the National spotlight is shined upon them. There's no reason to think the Caps can win this game. The Penguin Scum are even trotting out their backup goaltender today despite their regular goaltender pitching a shutout against the Caps the last time these teams met on February 3rd. The Penguin Scum however have been letting teams "up off the mat" and playing on pure high-flying confidence right now as pucks are bouncing their way for the most part. The Caps have a good chance to spring a trap on the Penguin Scum today and bring them back down to earth.

Caps Nut Official Washington Hockey.com Predict The Score Contest Entry:

Caps 2
Penguin Scum 5
Winner by Armstrong

Caps @ Ning 2-15-2007 Wrap Up

The Local Yokels:

(Com)Post. Times. Caps.com.

The Neutral Observers:

NHL.com AP Wire.

The Other Side:

St. Petersburg Times: Remember that guy? no roster moves. Tampa Tribune: Closer to the top, opportunity knocks. Ning.com.

Final Thoughts:

Even if the Caps were 7-1 in gimmicks I would still hate them. 58 down, 24 to go.

Caps @ Ning 2-15-2007 Post-Mortem

Well, the Caps are back to playing more than 60 minutes. At least they're keeping things interesting before losing... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment.

THE GOOD:

• Great effort all around tonight. They caught the Ning napping in the first period but were only able to get a 1-0 lead out of it. So the bad luck continues to haunt this team.
• The Power Play was up to its usual trick of score quickly on the first advantage and it wasn't until their last advantage that they got some serious pressure on Marc Denis. I was more encouraged by that last chance than I was about the set play off the faceoff.
• 38 shots on goal and many buzzing chances. If the Caps can keep this up, they'll break out of the offensive slump sooner rather than later.
• While it is only the sixth game, I'm really starting to like the Milan Jurcina - Shaone Morrrissonnn pairing. Assigned to Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis, they held them rather well in check, keeping both off the scoresheet at even strength.

THE BAD:

• Once again the Caps took a punch in the mouth giving up two goals in just under five minutes in the second period. While that in itself is bad enough, all season the Caps seem to lose their composure for a bit after some adversity sets in and tonight was no different.
• I know the guy has a lot of skill and a wicked shot, but I think the Alexander Semin on the Power Play point experiment has to come to an end. The guy barely understands lettalone plays defense at even strength. Asking him to play nominal defense on the Power Play has been a disaster.

THE UGLY:

• Once again the game was decided by a gimmick.

With the lineup and roster moves made today (Mike Green to Hershey, Lawrence Nycholat to the IR, Steve Eminger to the Press Box) the Caps for some reason still think the playoffs are a possibility. Therefore the Caps needed 2 points tonight but instead only got one and narrowed their already slim margin of error even more. Tonight was again an example of the Caps playing well but just not getting the win. As a matter of fact, they had to work especially hard just to get a tie to force overtime. The Caps though just don't have it, no matter how much veteran moxie they put into the lineup. At this rate, they'll be out of the playoff chase sooner rather than later and they can get the kids the experience that will help this franchise later on down the road.