Open Letter To Red Fisher and Herb Zurkowsky:

Please continue to write about how A.O. is lazy and won't be great every night.

Thanks!

Caps vs. Canadiens 1-31-2008 Preview

Washington Capitals (23-28; 51 points; 3rd Southeast Division, 12th Eastern Conference, 24th Overall) vs. Montreal Canadiens (27-23; 62 points; 2nd Northeast Division, 4th Eastern Conference, 5th Overall):
Caps Game #52, Home Game #26, NHL Game #773

Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. 7:08 pm. Washington TV: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WWWT 1500-AM, 107.7-FM. Montreal TV: None. Radio: CJAD 800-AM. Canadian National TV: RDS (French). NHL Center Ice: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic feed.

Tonight the Caps and Canadiens close out the month of January with the D.C. leg of their home-and-home that will also end the season series. Montreal has a 2-1 edge in the season series and won the last game these two teams played in D.C., 5-2, on December 20th.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Times. Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire.

Open Source Intelligence:

The Gazette: no lineup changes, no more injuries.

What Do I Expect Tonight?:

So the Caps are upset over Montreal running up the score huh? "Well, they never should have put themselves in that position." "This is professional hockey, it is unprofessional and more embarrassing to let up on another team during the game." "The backup quarterback may be called upon to lead his team during a game that is still in doubt and needs practice running the full offense during a live regular season game." In case you haven't figured it out yet, those are the same lame excuses used to equivocate the Patriots running up the score on the Redskins back in October. But this is hockey, why didn't Bruce Boudreau deploy Mr. Donald Brashear "to send a message for the next meeting"? (At least that's what "The Crock" calls for.) But I digress, no matter how they gin it up, the Caps will need the extra motivation tonight because that one loss on Tuesday night slipped the Caps two spots down in the tightly packed Eastern Conference and Montreal has one of the best road records in the NHL. A losing streak now would be devastating so the Caps have their work cut out for them tonight. They'll need to harness that extra aggression and make sure it doesn't land them in the penalty box. Though if Shaone Morrrissonnn returns and sends John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles to the Press Box where he belongs (not bloody likely), that should cut down on our penalties.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 2
Canadiens 4
Winner by Koivu

(29-22 on the season)

Editorial Note for the Dozen Readers of This Blog:

I have a meeting tonight that I need to attend that starts at 7:30, therefore I'll be missing my first home game this season and there will be no Post-Mortem later tonight.

Caps @ Canadiens 1-29-2008 Wrap Up

The Local Yokels:

(Com)Post. Times.

The Neutral Observers:

NHL.com AP Wire.

The Other Side:

The Gazette: Huet shines, clamping down, Bruce Boudreau's moment, not Gr8t every night.

Random Thoughts:

• I'll give you three guesses as to what the "John "Delay of Game" Erskine Bowles Boneheaded Play of the Game" was last night and the first two won't count.
• I think Boudreau had it exactly right, once again the team started to believe their press clippings and played with no urgency. While we've been getting praised for our run since Thanksgiving and now have a good shot at winning our division, we still haven't achieved anything yet.
• The game was over after Sergei Kostitsyn completed the shorthanded 2 on 0 with Tomas Plekanec to make the score 2-0. You could tell right then that Montreal was not letting us come back on them this time around.
• And speaking of the shorthanded goal, was it any surprise considering what we offer in terms of a Power Play unit?
• The next time Craig Laughlin points out a pick in the offensive zone like the one that Michael Ryder pulled to set up the game winning goal, remember that those types of plays are interference penalties that should be called as a part of the obstruction crackdown unless the player is not moving. But Ryder was moving and the goal shouldn't have been counted.
• Funny isn't it how now that he's signed to a 13 year, $124 million extension that the Montreal press is now trashing A.O. for his "effort" last night? No, he was not his usual dominant self last night but there were a lot of Caps that left a lot to be desired when it came to their effort. This is the kind of scrutiny he "passed up" when he signed on to stay in D.C. for the next 13 years instead of bolting for Montreal or Toronto.
• 51 down, 31 to go.

No Post-Mortem Tonight

Ever have one of those long tiring days? Well I had one of those today and after watching tonight's game, it's a better idea for me to just call it a night early instead of summing up what I just watched. If you think I'm negative, cold, cynical, harsh in the first place, trust me, I'll give you what you're expecting in the morning.

Caps @ Canadiens 1-29-2008 Preview

Washington Capitals (23-27; 51 points; 2nd Southeast Division, 10th Eastern Conference, 22nd Overall) @ Montreal Canadiens (26-23; 60 points; 2nd Northeast Division, 4th Eastern Conference, 5th Overall):
Caps Game #51, Road Game #26, NHL Game #761

Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 7:37 pm. Washington TV: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic Plus. Radio: WWWT 1500-AM, 107.7-FM. Montreal TV: None. Radio: CJAD: 800-AM. Canadian National TV: RDS (French). NHL Center Ice: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic Plus feed.

Tonight the Caps return from the All-Star break by paying their last visit north of the border this season. The Caps and Canadiens meet for the third of four times this season with the road team winning in both games so far. Since the Caps won 5-4 in Overtime on January 5th, the Canadiens have won 6 of their 8 games including their last two in a row. In their last game before the All-Star break, Montreal got their first win in New Jersey in years when they beat the Devils 4-3.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Times. Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire.

Open Source Intelligence:

The Gazette: optimistic, All-Star dud. Canadiens.com.

What Do I Expect Tonight?:

When you're playing well, the last thing you want is a break and considering that both the Caps and Canadiens were both 7-3 in their last ten games heading into the All-Star break, the four day rest couldn't have come at a worse time for both teams. The break was certainly needed for the players to get some rest as the pace around the league will pick up as everybody is now looking at the playoffs and where they stand in the playoff picture. Tonight's game will be decided by who can get back in their groove the quickest, though the Caps would be well advised to stay out of the Penalty Box as Montreal has the 2nd best Power Play unit in the league. Penalties will help Montreal get in their groove pretty quickly.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 2
Canadiens 1
Winner by Semin

(29-21 on the season)

The George McPhee Watch: Day 68

It has never ended folks. We only removed the "interim" tag when General Manager George McPhee removed the interim tag from Head Coach Bruce Boudreau. While Boudreau has so far proven himself as a capable NHL Head Coach, rightly or wrongly the CW is that McPhee's fate hinges on whether or not the Caps will make the playoffs. So with a little downtime before the crunch time starts, we'll look at the Caps chances of making the playoffs this season.

Why The Caps WILL Make The Playoffs:

• There's no arguing that the Caps have turned this season around to this point after the firing of Glen Hanlon. The team is 17-12 with 38 points since Hanlon was fired and after being four points in 30th place, are now just 1 point away from leading the Southeast Division with 2 games in hand and grabbing the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference.
• The improved record is due entirely to the improved play. The Caps offense has come to life under Boudreau and with not just Boudreau's former Hershey players taking off. Nicklas Backstrom, who played exactly zero games for Boudreau before he took over the Caps, has set rookie records and should be a serious candidate for Rookie-of-the-Year. The increased scoring from players not named A.O. has allowed A.O. to become a bonafide M.V.P. candidate.
• One of the most important aspects of the coaching change is the attitude of the team. Under Hanlon, the Caps would face some kind of adversity and fold. Now under Boudreau, they almost seem incapable of finding their game until they fall behind a goal or two. You don't want to leave a Caps game early now.

Why The Caps WILL NOT Make The Playoffs:

• Standings wise, it looks as if it will be win the Southeast Division or don't make the playoffs. While an 8th seeded matchup against Ottawa is a scary proposition for Senators fans, it isn't very likely right now. The Caps are 3 points out of the 8th seed and have no games in hand. With two teams in front of the Caps for the 8th spot; it looks doable with 32 games left on the schedule. But the schedule is not in the Caps favor. They have a six game road trip at the end of March and of the 18 teams the Caps will play, all but one (the Tampa Bay Lightning) are either currently holding a playoff spot or are within 6 points of making the playoffs. That means every game is huge for both sides and the chances of the Caps catching somebody napping are slim.
• While the scoring has increased, so has the goals against. Olie Kolzig's whining aside, you have to seriously wonder if he and Brent Johnson can get the job done for the team down the stretch. Johnny has had the hot hand lately but he's shown in recent years that he can be frustratingly inconsistent. Kolzig is slowing down and even if the team makes the playoffs, would you feel comfortable with Kolzig or Johnson between the pipes? A recommitment to defense first could very well be necessary to win enough games and that goes against what has made the team successful under Boudreau.
• Injuries, injuries, injuries. They will eventually catch up to you. Michael Nylander is done until training camp next season and heaven only knows when Brian Pothier and Captain Chris Clark will return to action. Skating John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles on a regular shift every night and having Boyd Gordon and Brooks "and Dunn" Laich platoon as your second line center is not a recipe for long-term success. Though in fairness to McPhee, there is very little fault for him on this one. The salary cap makes it difficult for anybody to build quality depth.
• Quite simply, the law of averages will catch up to everybody eventually. Atlanta fired Bob Hartley after an 0-6 start and are now 23-29, the same number of games under .500 they were when they made the change. The bounces, the breaks, and even the effort is going to start going against the Caps at some point. We've seen how they've faced adversity in a game under Boudreau but how will they face adversity in a stretch of games under Boudreau? Does anybody honestly think that we'll continue to "not lose consecutive games in regulation" for the rest of the season? What happens when a three game losing streak shows up?

All things considered, I'd rather be in this position, wondering if we have enough to make the playoffs at the All-Star break than wondering what are we going to get for our departing veteran players at the trading deadline. But the fact remains that we need 19 points in the last 32 games just to meet the last two season's standard of 70 points. That shouldn't be a problem with the Overtime/Gimmick loss, but we need a healthy 39 points in the last 32 games to reach the magic number of 90 which could or could not get us into the playoffs. That's a lot of work on top of the work done just to get to this point.

Will an improvement that falls short of making the playoffs be enough to keep McPhee as General Manager? I honestly don't know. It is easy to see where the Caps are going but there are there are still questions such as how does the team get from Kolzig to Michal Neuvirth and Simeon Varlamov provided that they develop into the #1 NHL netminders they are projected to be? For people who are yearning to a run to the Stanley Cup Finals, the never ending questions and reasons to doubt that this improvement is real is more than enough to get rid of McPhee.

Of course, there were those who wanted McPhee gone when Bruce Cassidy (and the Sundance Kid) was fired. Nevermind that their real preferred choice, Bryan Trottier (who was hired the same summer to be the Head Coach of the New York Rangers) was an even bigger failure as a Head Coach than Cassidy (Trottier didn't even last a full season on Broadway and hasn't been heard from in coaching circles since). They then of course say that McPhee should have hired Glen Hanlon as Head Coach all along but wondered why he waited so long to fire him; jumping all over his "we're finally playing the way we expected to" statement during the Red Wings game on December 17th. Funny how these things turn out?

With any luck, McPhee's fate will be decided by what happens on the ice and not by the whims of fans who aren't satisfied with anything. But the watch continues because the Caps aren't certain of making the playoffs. Should McPhee be dismissed after this season is over, his successor could very well find himself in the same position that McPhee found himself some 11 years ago now. Just needing to make a few tweaks to get a non-playoff team into the Stanley Cup Finals in his first year as General Manager.

Sunday Smorgasbord 1-27

• Between splattering my dinner all over myself and trips to the laundry room to repair some of the damage done by a balky pizza cutter (my white 2002 USA Olympic Hockey Jersey took the brunt of the damage), I watched bits and pieces of the NHL All-Star Game Stupid Skills Contest last night. I have to admit, I'm rather flabbergasted by the acceptance of this event. This is a clear ripoff of the NBA and has become more so with the alterations seen last night. Some events didn't need to be "fixed" (like the fastest skater competition) and others just made no sense at all. As for the much ballyhooed Breakaway competition, I was left rather unimpressed by the whole thing, even with A.O. attempts. First of all, even if A.O. had scored on his juggling attempts, would they have been as impressive as THE GOAL was? In a word, no. Secondly, what in the world were goaltenders doing in the competition? The whole idea was to come up with creative stunts to score a goal, yet the goaltenders had a vested interest in making certain that they didn't get (to use the NBA term) "Posterized." When the NBA does their slam dunk competition (which is what this whole stupid Breakaway thing was modeled on), the player does not have to worry about defenders coming after them. Finally, the whole idea of "creativity" and "showmanship" is foreign to the NHL. According to "The Crock", you just don't do those kinds of things to show somebody up or else you'll have to "face the consequences." But most curious of all is the lack of hostile reaction to the continuing "Bettmanization" of the NHL by making the game more like the NBA by those who hate everything Bettman does. Why am I not surprised?
• One last thing about the Breakaway competition last night, interesting wasn't it that the NHL brought in a retired NBA player, Dominque Wilkins, to judge the thing? Think we'll see some retired NHL player judge the NBA Slam Dunk Contest? That will happen right after the (Com)Post hires me to be a sports columnist.
• Well so much for continuing the sanity and stability with the Redskins. As I said last week, the longer the Head Coach search went, the worse it was going to be for Gregg Williams and now he and Al Saunders have been released. Greg Blache and Jim Zorn take their respective positions but a Head Coach has not yet been hired and is not expected to be for at least another week. Whether or not Williams was the right choice to become the next Head Coach is not what was the most important thing. What is the most important thing is that whoever the next Head Coach of the Redskins is; they must be able to peacefully coexist with owner Daniel Snyder. Gibbs was able to do that and clearly there was something about Williams that led Snyder to believe that Williams couldn't. Like it or not, this is Snyder's team and until he's unable to sell tickets (which won't be happening anytime soon) there's no reason for him to change his ways.
• Tobacco Road took their revenge on the Terps this weekend as yesterday, the Women lost in Double Overtime at North Carolina and today Dook beat the Men in the Cable Box. Quite frankly, the women got jobbed on Tobacco Road. All you need to know about the game is that the Terps were called for 28 fouls compared to 19 for the Tar Heels. The Terps had six players with four or more fouls (two of whom fouled out) but not a single Carolina player had more than 3. While UNC didn't get a single foul shot in the first half, they ended up making more than Maryland took for the entire game in the second half and both overtimes. As for the Men, their Quixotic season continues but the odd thing is that all but one (Klempsun) of the road teams won in Men's ACC Basketball games this weekend. A combination of Maryland just not having it this year and a one week layoff conspired to doom them at home once again.
• This week, the Caps have another home-and-home with a Canadian team. The Caps are in Montreal on Tuesday night and then host the Canadiens on Thursday night before the Thrashers appear in the Phone Booth on Saturday night. The home games start at 7 pm while the game in Montreal starts at 7:30 pm. The Terp Men will host Virginia on Wednesday night at 7 pm on ESPN and then head to Georgia Tech for a Saturday game at Noon on ESPN2. The women will host Miami on Thursday night in Cable Box.
• As always, please send all comments, criticisms, corrections, suggestions, questions, and Super Bowl Party Invitations to "capsnut" over at gmail dot com.

Caps vs. Maple Leafs 1-24-2008 Wrap Up

The Local Yokels:

(Com)Post. Times: one point away, Caps Report. Caps.com.

The Neutral Observers:

NHL.com AP Wire.

The Other Side:

Toronto Globe and Mail. Toronto Star: horrified, no pain no gain. Toronto Sun: calamity, quick return, going south.

Final Thoughts:

The Caps a bunch of thugs? If you listen to some of more rabid denizens of Darwin's Waiting Room you'd think this team was softer than a case of Charmin. The accusation is particularly curious coming from the same Toronto media which has deified one Darcy Tucker. I guess they can't stand the competition. So now the All-Star break comes and (most of) the Caps get another much needed four day break. There's still plenty of work to do on the other side of the break but once it is over, we're officially in crunch time.

50 down, 32 to go.

Caps vs. Maple Leafs 1-24-2008 Post-Mortem

It's brewing... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• The second Power Play unit got the job done tonight. Brooks "and Dunn" Laich got a deflection with one second left in the first Power Play for the only shot on goal we got on the Power Play tonight. Overall they were 1 for 2 but could be hardly blamed for having only two chances.
• Yet another win that was gutted out instead of shot out. Viktor Kozlov's rebound goal 36 seconds after Toronto tied it was an appropriate answer.
• The Penalty Killers were up to the task all night again going 5 for 5 including a vital kill late in the game.
• Milan Jurcina took his mean pills tonight. He was hitting everything in sight which is rare for him and lead everybody with 6 hits in the game.
• Brent Johnson had another solid game where the only goal he gave up was on a deflection that he couldn't do anything about. If he keeps this up, he'll get the goaltending controversy going.

THE BAD:

• The inappropriate answer to Kozlov's go-ahead goal was John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles cross-checking penalty 8 seconds later. That was the clear Erskine Bowles Dumb Play of the Night as we had plenty to chose from most notably including his delay of game penalty in the first when he shot the puck about 10 rows behind the bench with nobody around him in his own zone. The cross checking penalty sapped any momentum generated by Kozlov's goal.

THE UGLY:

• Two goals on 20 shots is a decent shooting percentage but allowing 32 shots on goal and getting outshot in every period is not good and, as we've seen before, will lead to trouble more often than not.
• For a second there I thought I was watching the Caps play the Penguin Scum with the disparity of calls between the two teams. The Caps took three more penalties than the Leafs and had no Power Plays after the first period. I'm not so much upset with what was called on the Caps by Kerry Fraser and Dave Jackson as I was upset by what wasn't called on the Leafs. Things that we did that got us in the penalty box were ignored when the Leafs did the exact same thing.

Maybe it's me but I thought we played a better game last night when we lost than we did tonight when we won. The first line seemed to be the only ones interested in generating offense as the rest of the team seemingly took the night off in the offensive zone. All night long the Leafs looked as if they were one step ahead of the Caps except of course when the Caps got the go ahead goal. And even then, it looked as if Kozlov was trying to hit Vesa Toskala in the chest with the shot. Sometimes it goes that way as you get the breaks that you maybe didn't really earn. Earlier in the season those breaks were all going against us no matter how hard we played.

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

Caps @ Maple Leafs 1-23-2008 Wrap Up/ Caps vs. Maple Leafs 1-24-2008 Preview

The Local Yokels:

(Com)Post.

The Neutral Observers:

NHL.com AP Wire. TSN.ca.

The Other Side:

Toronto Globe and Mail: past is present, puzzle pieces, chance of a lifetime. Toronto Star: good start, circus sideshow. Toronto Sun: last second rescue, paranoid, total control, no quick fixes, liking prospects.

Final Thoughts:

The only good news about last night is that if we're able to win tonight, the damage will be minimized. This is a prime example of why I've been saying we need to continue this hot streak because with just one loss to the Maple Leafs, the Leafs have pulled within a single point of us. After all the hard work that was done just to get out of the cellar, we could very easily end up back there if we aren't careful.

49 down, 33 to go.


Washington Capitals (22-27; 49 points; 3rd Southeast Division, 11th Eastern Conference, 24th Overall) @ Toronto Maple Leafs (20-30; 46 points; 4th Northeast Division, 13th Eastern Conference, 27th Overall):
Caps Game #50, Home Game #25, NHL Game #745

Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. 7:08 pm. Washington TV: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WWWT 1500-AM, 107.7-FM. Toronto TV: LEAFS TV. Radio: CFMJ 640-AM. NHL Center Ice: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic.

Tonight the Caps head into the All-Star break by hosting the back end of the home-and-home with the Maple Leafs at the Phone Booth. After splitting the first two games this season in Toronto, the Leafs are paying their first visit to the Phone Booth this season where the two teams split the games held there last season.

What The Natives Are Saying:

Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire.

Open Source Intelligence:

Nothing that I could find.

What Do I Expect Tonight?:

The Caps will need to pick up their game in what has become a must win heading into the All-Star break. Should the Caps lose again in regulation tonight, the Leafs will climb past the Caps tonight and the Caps could fall to only two points ahead of the last place Ning in the Eastern Conference. Brent Johnson is expected to start and with a good performance tonight, he could very well start a goaltender controversy here in D.C. Had the Caps Power Play been able to connect just once last night, it could have been the difference in the game so the Power Play will need to get on the scoreboard tonight as I don't see the Leafs doing anything different tonight from what they did last night. Why should they? It worked.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 3
Leafs 2
Winner by Gordon.

(28-21 on the season)

Caps @ Maple Leafs 1-23-2008 Post-Mortem

We're going to regret this one... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• The Caps offense was able to generate good consistent pressure in the offensive zone tonight getting 32 shots on goal. As typical with the Caps this season, they also had 16 shots blocked and missed everything 16 times. But 64 shots taken is a good number.
• The Penalty Killers shut down a bad Power Play, allowing only 3 shots on 3 chances. With what happened on Monday, we'll take small steps forward.
• The overall defensive effort wasn't too bad either. Only 24 shots allowed and 12 of them came in the second period.

THE BAD:

• The Power Play (now ranked 11th) couldn't take advantage of a weak Penalty Killing unit (ranked 26th). The Power Play was 0 for 4 and was credited with only 2 shots on goal. It didn't look as if we simplified much on the Power Play tonight.
• John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles connected on some nice hits tonight which means for the next few games he'll be running around trying to throw more of those hits and will get himself even further out of position.

THE UGLY:

• Olie Kolzig is right in the sense that the new systems leaves him more exposed and with his declining skills; he will consequently give up more goals. But the game winning goal he allowed tonight was a direct result of his lack of rebound control and ability to reset. That's got nothing to do with coaching and everything to do with his own play which continues to struggle.
• A big problem tonight was laziness in our own zone, especially on the breakout and some of the clearing attempts. We need some serious tightening up in that area.

Bruce Boudreau's NHL career as a player never took off because he didn't commit himself to playing defense. His NHL career as a Head Coach may end up being short-lived as well if he doesn't figure out how to tighten up defensively; especially if he continues to insist on playing an aging #1 goaltender. Expect to see more of these kinds of games over the 11 weeks (that's all that's left folks). Teams are more likely to sit back and let us come at them and try to counter punch instead of opening things up and trying to outgun us. We would be better able to handle that type of opposition if we had better goaltending and some of our skill players with speed were willing to backcheck better. But oftentimes a winning streak allows various bad habits to creep into your game. Let's hope that tonight's loss is the catalyst to getting them out of our game before we end up in losing streak.

Caps @ Maple Leafs 1-23-2008 Preview

Washington Capitals (22-26; 49 points; 3rd Southeast Division, 11th Eastern Conference, 24th Overall) @ Toronto Maple Leafs (19-30; 46 points; 5th Northeast Division, 14th Eastern Conference, 28th Overall):
Caps Game #49, Road Game #25, NHL Game #738

Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 7:38 pm. Washington TV: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic Plus. Radio: WWWT 1500-AM, 107.7-FM. Toronto TV: None. Radio: CFMJ 640-AM. U.S. National TV: NHL Network. Canadian National TV: TSN, RIS (French). NHL Center Ice: None because the game is being carried on the NHL Network in the US and will have either the Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic or TSN feed with the NHL Network's own studio hosts.

Tonight the Caps wrap up a quick two game road trip with their last visit to Toronto. Back in October the Caps pounded the Leafs in Toronto 7-1 for their largest margin of victory so far this season. The Leafs have been hanging around the bottom of the Eastern Conference for most of the season. A disastrous trip through California was followed up with a three game winning streak that came to an end on Sunday with a 3-2 loss in New Jersey in their last game.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire. TSN.ca.

Open Source Intelligence:

Toronto Globe and Mail: turning to Fletcher, former coach approves, decision making process, questions left behind, clock ticking. Toronto Sun: what do to with Mats, resisting change, possible suckers...er...victims...er...candidates, looking forward, term timeline, coach upset, drafting importance, an offer he couldn't refuse, Fletcher file, apologies, oh yeah, there's a game tonight! Leafs.com.

What Do I Expect Tonight?:

After firing their Head Coaches earlier this season, the Caps and Atlanta Thrashers went out and won their first game after the firing and have turned their seasons around. The Dallas Stars fired their General Manager, Doug Armstrong, on November 13th and the Stars lost in a gimmick in their first game under GM's Brett Hull and Les Jackson. Looking at the Toronto media, you could be excused for not realizing that there is a game tonight. But the Leaf players and coaches are expressing huge disappointment and are now scared for their own jobs. Playing at home will also be a boost for the Leafs but one has to wonder whether or not motivation is the problem as rumors of John Ferguson's impending dismissal had been running all season long. The Leafs won't be employing any new systems or personnel tonight and should they win, they won't get Ferguson his job back. The Leafs have bad special teams and give up goals in bunches. This plays right into the hands of the Caps who have been scoring a ton of goals recently.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 4
Leafs 2
Winner by Kozlov

(28-20 on the season)

Caps @ Penguin Scum 1-21-2008 Wrap Up

The Local Yokels:

(Com)Post. Times.

The Neutral Observers:

NHL.com AP Wire.

The Other Side:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Caps edge Pens, training camp, obvious move, Canadian Diving Team Captain, Secondary Assist, Cindy Crosby out for six-eight weeks. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: missed point, Armstrong out, demolition starting, seamless transition, Cindy gone.

Random Thoughts on The Game:

• Yet another defensive struggle though mostly due to stupid coaching. Michel Therrien should have never started Dany Sabourin and Bruce Boudreau clearly erred with Olie Kolzig. At least these teams have the firepower to overcome these bad decisions but as things tighten up down the stretch, they may not be so lucky.
• John "Coaches Pet" Erskine Bowles owes Quintin Laing big time. Once again the Slow-Footed, Dim-Witted defenseman takes another bad penalty; this time giving the Penguin and extended Scum a 5-on-3 in OT. Luckily for Erskine Bowles, Laing bailed him out with three blocked shots and David Steckel was very strong in that area too.
• Don't forget, before the Canadian Diving Team Captain, Secondary Assist, Cindy Crosby was awarded to the Penguin Scum, the NHL Media Machine had begun the "Evgeni Malkin-Lindros is better than A.O." campaign. With Cindy on the shelf for the next two months, expect Malkin-Lindros to by hyped more than A.O. but nowhere near the nauseating levels that Cindy is hyped. Something tells me though, if Malkin-Lindros were in another "NHL Backwater" we wouldn't be dealing with this. (Though how is it that Pittsburgh is considered such a great hockey market when the franchise has TWICE gone into bankruptcy???)
• I have to say that I was glad to see that for once Mr. Donald Brashear and Georges Laraque didn't feel the need to have their obligatory fight.
• Finally it is games like last night's that lead me to believe that making the playoffs is still too far of a reach for this team. We've needed a hot streak just to get back into the playoff race and we'll need to either continue this one or have another hot streak just to make it in. It is because of the NHL's goofy points system that the task is as hard as it is. Because we beat the Penguin Scum in a gimmick, we only gained a single point on them despite being declared the winner of the game. With the unbalanced schedule and a tightly packed Eastern Conference race, teams we're looking to either pass or hold off are going to be playing each other every night. One team is guaranteed to earn two points and the other could pick up one in the process. That does not help us out in the long run which is why we need to continue the hot streak, but even then, we can't give up points when we end up winning like last night.
• 48 down, 34 to go.

Caps @ Penguin Scum 1-21-2008 Preview

Washington Capitals (21-26; 47 points; 3rd Southeast Division, 11th Eastern Conference, 25th Overall) @ Pittsburgh Penguin Scum (27-20; 57 points; 2nd Atlantic Division, 4th Eastern Conference, 6th Overall):
Caps Game #48, Road Game #24, NHL Game #725

Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, PA. 7:38 pm. Washington TV: None. Radio: WWWT 1500-AM, 107.7-FM. Pittsburgh TV: None. Radio: WXDX 105.9-FM. U.S. National TV: Versus. Canadian National TV: TSN, RIS (French). NHL Center Ice: N/A.

Tonight the Caps head out to pay their last visit this season to that dump in Pittsburgh and face the Canadian Diving Team Captain, Secondary Assist Cindy Crosbyless Penguin Scum. The Penguin Scum have won both meetings so far this season in a pair of one goal games. You might have heard recently about Cindy's injury, she has a high ankle sprain after crashing into the boards at Mellon Arena during Friday night's 3-0 loss to the Ning and is out indefinitely. However, the Penguin Scum didn't miss her on Saturday as they won in Montreal 2-0. Since a gimmick loss to the Thrashers ended an eight game winning streak four games ago, the Penguin Scum have been alternating wins and losses.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Times. Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire. TSN.ca.

Open Source Intelligence:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Center of attention, triple promotion. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: prognosis today, injuries mounting, Q&A, adding three, scouting the Caps.

What Do I Expect Tonight?:

Patrick Lalime, Johan Hedberg, and now Ty Conklin. In recent years the Penguin Scum have had a knack for taking goaltenders from literally out of nowhere and turning them into world beaters for a little over half a season. Some might want to add Ron Tugnutt and Ken Wregget to that list but Conklin who was a career backup/minor leaguer before being called up to the Penguin Scum in December has posted a 10-2 record with 2 shutouts a 1.83 goals against average and a .946 save percentage. These are his best numbers since a 4 game stint with the Edmonton Oilers in the 2001-2002 season (2-0, 1.63 GAA, and .939 save %), which was his first in the NHL. What makes this all the more impressive is that he is doing this with Sergei Gonchar playing in front of him. As for the rest of the Penguin Scum, a boost in play is often to be expected when the star player goes down. Everybody is trying to pick up the slack now that the Canadian Diving Team Captain, Secondary Assist Cindy Crosby is out for the foreseeable future. That boost will last for about a week and half to two weeks before the star player's presence is really missed and the slide begins. The Caps haven't won in Pittsburgh in over 5 years, the Penguin Scum have won the last six games between the two teams, and we always have something fluky happen to us against these guys. And should the Caps pull off the win tonight, expect the "you only beat us because Cindy is hurt" card to be pulled as the excuse.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 3
Penguin Scum 4
Winner by Scuderi

(28-19 on the season)

Editorial Note For the Dozens of Readers of This Blog:

Tomorrow is the March for Life and every year my Catholic Parish hosts college students and clergy from around the country who will be attending the March. Tonight we'll be feeding them and every year I volunteer my services to help feed these fine folks who are seeking to correct the biggest social injustice currently in the United States. Therefore I will not be watching most of the game which means there will be no Post-Mortem later tonight.

Sunday Smorgasbord 1-20

• We start off the Smorgasbord this week with a correction. Last week I implied that Olie Kolzig throwing people under the bus is one of the certainties of life. But that was unfair to Kolzig and is wrong. It should actually be; Death, Taxes, & Maryland laying a beatdown on #1 North Carolina. I wish I had recorded yesterday's game but because, like most of the country, I figured it was going to be all kinds of ugly and I didn't bother setting my DVD recorder. Gary Williams notched his seventh win over a #1 team (sixth at Maryland) and it raises all kinds of questions, notably, how did this team lose at home to Ohio, American, and on the road at Virginia Tech? Personally, I think it was fear of being humiliated on National TV.
• I did see part of the game and I was sad to see that even though Dookie Vitale was not calling the game that Steve Lavin was trying to imitate him. His "he's a MEEP MEEPER, a Road Runner" comment was just cringe inducing. And here I thought that the Worldwide Leaders in Schlock's coverage was going to improve with Vitale being sidelined...
• And speaking of the Worldwide Leaders in Schlock, buried in the Times yesterday was a note that they've fired their lead soccer announcing crew of Dave O'Brien and Eric Wynalda so maybe there's hope yet for the network. While Wynalda wasn't as bad as some Worldwide Leaders in Schlock announcers (Khornball for one), his constant clashing with Tommy Smyth (somebody who actually knows what he's talking about) was irritating. The reason there is hope now for the Worldwide Leaders in Schlock is that unlike their Monday Night Football crew shuffle, this time it was the announcer who knew what he was talking about getting the clown fired instead of the other way around.
• So it is the Jints who stand in the way of New England's pursuit of perfect in Super Bowl XLII. It is New England's pursuit of only the second perfect season in NFL History that will make this Super Bowl interesting. Though this is the second time that I find myself conflicted about who the Jints are playing in the Super Bowl. The last time the Jints were in the Super Bowl, they played (and lost to) the Ratbirds and I never root for anything out of Bhawlmuher. Now they're playing the Patriots whom I've grown to despise even before their 52-7 blitzing of Redskins. I think I speak for a large number of people when say I'm tired of Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and the rest of the Boston Professional Sports franchises but I cannot under any circumstances bring myself to root for a team from New York.
• I have to say that the longer the search for the next Redskins Head Coach goes, the worse the chances become for Gregg Williams, especially since Dan Snyder has only interviewed defensive coaches so far. You would think that having the support of not only the players on the team but Joe Gibbs that Williams would be a mortal lock and these "Rooney Rule interviews" would be mere formalities; especially since Williams interviewed with Snyder for four days. But it looks as if the sanity and stability that Gibbs brought to the franchise is being thrown out the window which is a sad thing.
• This week the Caps are on the road tomorrow in Pittsburgh to face the Canadian Diving Team Captain, Secondary Assist Cindy Crosbyless Penguin Scum in a nationally televised game on Versus at 7:30 pm. The Caps then have another 7:30 pm faceoff Wednesday night in Toronto which touches off a home-and-home with the Maple Leafs in the Phone Booth on Thursday night at 7 pm. The Maryland Men are off until next Sunday when the annual Dook riots in College Park take place after the 6:30 pm game in the Cable Box on Fox SportsNet. The Maryland Women are also get a much needed break this week as they are off until Saturday when they head down to North Carolina to face the Tar Heels at 1 pm on Fox Sportsnet.
• As always, please send all comments, corrections, criticisms, questions, suggestions, and My Coke Rewards codes to "capsnut" over at gmail dot com.

Caps vs. Panthers 1-19-2008 Wrap Up

The Local Yokels:

(Com)Post. Times. Caps.com.

The Neutral Observers:

NHL.com AP Wire.

The Other Side:

Miami Herald: rally falls short, exciting start.

Final Thoughts:

And so ends the crucial five game homestand with the Caps posting a 4-1 record and earning 8 of the possible 10 points. The Caps head out for two road games with a three game winning streak and now find themselves on the edge of the playoff race. Not in the playoffs, but on the edge of it as the Caps are 5 points out of eighth place with no games in hand this morning. Bruce Boudreau is right when he says "we've officially reached mediocrity." Now the crazy thing is that the Caps are only 3 points behind Carolina for the Division lead and have three games in hand on the Canes. After last night's game, the Caps have 14 games left in the Division and 7 of them are the last seven games of the season. The first place Canes lead the last place Ning by only 7 points and the Ning have two games in hand on the Canes. Division games are going to become extra important down the stretch as winning the Southeast Division is the Caps best chance for making the playoffs this season. I figure that the Caps will need to win at least 9 of the 14 remaining Divisional games in regulation in order to have a real chance at making the playoffs. Otherwise, I just don't see how we can climb past the teams ahead of us in the Eastern Conference without the benefit of an insane hot streak.

47 down, 35 to go.

Caps vs. Panthers 1-19-2008 Post-Mortem

There's just so much wrong with this one... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• Nicklas Backstrom with what amounts to, at least in my mind, a quiet four point night. All assists; three of them secondary (the NHLPA must not have approved Gary Bettman's gesture).
• We have another Viktor Kozlov sighting! Not just one, but TWO goals tonight! At home too!
• Forget A.O.'s goal and an assist that brings him within 11 points of Alan Haworth for 24th on the Caps All-Time Points list, watch how he single handedly killed off the final minute of the game tonight. That alone was an impressive performance and should put to bed any notions anybody might have had that A.O. is NOT a complete player. At the All-Star break last year, Caps management caused a stir among the fans by pointing out his defensive deficiencies and stressing that he needed to improve his defense in order to help lead this team to a Stanley Cup. Now less than a year later, while there is still some work that needs to be done, there is no doubt that he belongs on the ice in the final minute of the game with the Caps protecting a lead. I could certainly get used to watching this guy do this for the next 13 years and am I ever glad that he's on our side.

THE BAD:

• First Tomas Fleischmann went down, limped to the bench, went to the locker room, but came back. Then Jeff "Sergeant" Schultz took a puck in the leg, limped to the bench, went to the locker room, but came back. Finally, Shaone Morrrissonnn took a puck in the leg, limped to the bench, went to the locker room, and did not come back. But what really bugs me is that Michael Nylander is done for the season, Captain Chris Clark has been injured more than he's been healthy, Quintin Laing is a walking bruise, Tom Poti is still struggling with an injury, Brian Pothier is out indefinitely with a concussion, and three more guys got nicked up tonight; but you mean to tell me that there's no injury than can get John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles out of the lineup for us?
• And speaking of Sergeant Schultz, I thought Murphy's Law was coming into play when he went down because he was supposed to be scratched tonight in favor of Steve Eminger.
• Did anybody else notice that in the second period the only penalty we killed off was the one Erskine Bowles took? Coincidence? I think not!

THE UGLY:

• Up 3-0 nothing less than 12 minutes into the game, there's no reason on Earth why you end up tied at any point in the game. It's almost as if we can't handle success and need adversity in order to excel.
• Just before we took the Too Many Men on the Ice penalty in the second period, there was about a 10 second run where we had only 4 skaters on the ice but nobody in the Penalty Box. So we went from one extreme to another there. I'm only mentioning this because I remember when Bruce Cassidy (and the Sundance Kid) was the head coach, we were told all the time how Too Many Men penalties was the fault of the coach. However, since Cassidy was fired, I haven't heard that ever again. I wonder why?
• Somehow Rob Martell and Brad Meier gave each team 6 Power Plays tonight but the only consistent thing about their officiating was their inconsistency.

When Matt "Princess" Pettinger took a lazy penalty Tuesday night against Ottawa, he ended up getting benched for all intents and purposes. Yet when Erskine Bowles took his amazingly bad holding penalty in the first period tonight, he didn't miss very many shifts. While some of that had to do with the injury to Morrrissonnn it is becoming rather disturbing watching this slow-footed, dim-witted guy play so much. It is almost to the point where you can watch his trade value drop with every shift but I don't think he has any trade value. And remember folks, he scored a goal and is currently credited with being a +2 for tonight. Ok with that rant over I do want to mention that I thought on a couple of key occasions tonight that Brent Johnson made saves that Olie Kolzig has not been making lately. I'm not trying to start a goaltender controversy here after just one game, but if Johnson keeps this up on a consistent basis (which has been his problem in the past) then one could develop.

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

Caps vs. Panthers 1-19-2008 Preview

Washington Capitals (20-26; 45 points; 4th Southeast Division, 13th Eastern Conference, 27th Overall) vs. Florida Panthers (21-27; 46 points; 3rd Southeast Division, 12th Eastern Conference, 26th Overall):
Caps Game #47, Home Game #24, NHL Game #711

Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. 7:07 pm. Washington TV: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WWWT 1500-AM, 107.7-FM. Florida TV: Fox SportsNet Florida. Radio: WAXY 790-AM. National TV: HD-NET. NHL Center Ice: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic feed.

Tonight the Caps wrap up their five game homestand when they meet the Panthers for the first time in 49 days after playing the Panthers for the fourth time in 17 days. Florida won the first three games of the season series but the Caps broke the Panthers 4 game winning against the Caps in Florida with a 2-1 win in the last matchup. Florida has won 6 of the last 8 games between the two teams. Recently the Panthers have won only twice in their last five games including last night's 2-1 win in New Jersey over the Devils. The Panthers are playing their third game in four nights all on the road.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Times. Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire.

Open Source Intelligence:

Miami Herald: 500th win, call up.

What Do I Expect Tonight?:

Florida is a team that has given us fits the past few years and with the closely compacted standings, this is a huge game for both teams tonight. The Caps are facing another Top Ten Power Play unit tonight so once again it will be critical for the Caps to stay out of the Penalty Box. Brent Johnson is being tapped to get the start tonight but the Caps will also need to avoid falling behind as they have in every game this week as the Caps have had trouble scoring on Tomas Vokoun in the past. These teams have also played each other very close and very tight this season as three of the four games have ended 2-1 and the last six games in this series have all been decided by one goal.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 1
Panthers 2
Winner by Booth

(28-18 on the season)

Caps vs. Oilers 1-17-2008 Wrap Up

The Local Yokels:

(Com)Post. Times. Caps.com.

The Neutral Observers:

NHL.com AP Wire.

The Other Side:

Edmonton Journal: outdueled, downward path, making room for the youth, Oilspills, game recap. Edmonton Sun: stormy seas, Tarnstrom out, 3 stars, soldiers honored. Oilers.com.

Final Thoughts:

Note to Jim Matheson, last year Vancouver earned the third seed in the playoffs with a Northwest Division leading 49-33 for 105 points. They faced the sixth seeded Dallas Stars in the first round who posted a 50-32 record and earned 107 points. Also, Nashville had more wins (51) than Anahiem (48) yet had fewer points, however Nashville got the fourth seed over San Jose inspite of having the exact same record, 51-31, because Nashville had more OT losses than San Jose. Anahiem was in the exact same boat with their first round opponent, they had more OT losses than Minnesota but the Thug Ducks were a Division Champion. Though I think you would be smarter to wait until your team's five game road trip through the "Southleast" is over before you start bashing the division. Your team is already 0 for 1.

46 down, 36 to go.

Caps vs. Oilers 1-17-2008 Post-Mortem

So we finally figured out how to win a gimmick huh??? Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• 4 goals on 17 shots in the second period alone. Whatever was said in the locker room in the first intermission worked because the Caps started to bury the chances they missed in the first period.
• Alex Ovechkin with another goal and an assist upping his career point total to 255. Late in the third period he was a one man wrecking crew.
• Boyd Gordon in his second game on the second line posted two assists but more importantly, he's brought a measure of defensive stability to the line.

THE BAD:

• The Power Play was 0 for 5 tonight. While I expected a struggle against the 9th best Penalty Killers, I didn't expect the Caps to look so disorganized.
• We still can't handle an aggressive forecheck as we got bottled up too frequently in our own zone and turned the puck over there too much as well.
• It took over eight minutes for the Caps to register a shot on goal in the third period. By that time not only had Edmonton gotten 5 shots on goal, but they had also tied up the game.

THE UGLY:

• John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles is a +1 by mistake. He was on the ice for the game tying goal by the Oilers but for some reason, the official scorer decided to improperly charge Shaone Morrrissonnn as being on the ice instead of the Coach's Pet. As a matter of fact, A.O., Nicklas Backstrom, and Viktor Kozlov were also improperly charged with a minus on that situation as the fourth line of Matt Bradley, Mr. Donald Brashear, and Brooks "and Dunn" Laich were on the ice instead of the first line. Only Mike "BEAM ME UP" Green was properly credited with a minus for being on the ice when the goal was scored. But getting back to the Coach's Pet, not only was he wildly out of position on the Power Play goal the Oilers scored in the second, he screened Olie Kolzig on the game tying goal, and why in the world was he jumping into the play in overtime?
• And speaking of improper scoring. After the first Edmonton goal, the scoreboard read Caps 1, Oilers 0. Then when Alexander Semin scored at the end of the second period, the scoreboard read Caps 188, Oilers 3. It's nice to see Dishonest Abe is still buying the best surplus equipment he can find.
• While the Penalty Killers were officially 3 for 5, a third goal was scored just two seconds after a penalty expired. This was a night when the special teams certainly were "Special."
• The game was decided by a gimmick.

There was certainly more action tonight than I expected but it should have been a runaway blowout for the Caps. The Caps had the Oilers hemmed in their own zone early on in the game and generated tons of turnovers and chance but couldn't score a goal. They did hit two posts early in the game. While at this point we'll take two points any way we can get them, we need to stop falling behind before playing the way we know we can.

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

Caps vs. Oilers 1-17-2008 Preview

Washington Capitals (19-26; 43 points; 4th Southeast Division, 13th Eastern Conference, 27th Overall) vs. Edmonton Oilers (21-26; 46 points; 5th Northwest Division, 14th Western Conference, 24th Overall):
Caps Game #46, Home Game #23, NHL Game #691

Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. 7:07 p.m. Washington TV: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WWWT 1500-AM, 107.7-FM. Edmonton TV: Rogers Sportsnet West. Radio: CHED 630-AM. NHL Center Ice: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic feed.

Tonight the Caps host another exciting, thrilling mid-week, mid-January, inter-conference matchup this time it is against the Edmonton Oilers. There was a chance at some actual intrigue to tonight's game as Michael Nylander would have faced the team his wife vetoed over the summer for the first time, but yesterday's surgery put the kibosh on that. Last season the Caps were shutout in Edmonton 4-0 as then Head Coach Glen Hannlon pulled Brent Johnson down 3-0 late in the game. The Oilers are starting a five game road trip through the Southeast Division in eight days tonight with tonight's game being the first of three games in four days. The Oilers had a four game winning streak snapped on Tuesday night when they lost at home to the Los Angles Kings 3-1.


What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Times. Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire.

Open Source Intelligence:

Edmonton Journal: hitting the road, still smarting, coveting Hossa, Game Day. Edmonton Sun: Eastern road trip, youth in D.C., critical trip, who to watch. Oilers.com.

What Do I Expect Tonight?:

The Oilers have never won in D.C., their last road win against the Caps came on January 26th, 1997, when the Caps played in the old Cap Centre in Landover, which is in the People's Republic of Maryland. The Oilers have also lost four of their last five road games. This is a team that the Caps can come back on because Edmonton has the second worst record of teams leading after two periods, but with both teams needing points to get into the playoff picture, falling behind at any point is not a good idea. Like last Wednesday's game vs. Colorado, this one too has 2-1 snoozefest written all over it. Edmonton also has the 9th ranked Penalty Killing unit and could very easily frustrate our Power Play unit.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 1
Oilers 2
Winner by Penner

(28-17 on the season)

Death, Taxes, &

Olie Kolzig throwing people under the bus...

Want to know why I'm wishing for a leader? This article is why. Look at this quote:

Bruce [Boudreau] is not a goaltender guy. One thing about Bruce, he's hard on goalies because he doesn't understand the position. And a lot of coaches that haven't played the position are usually that way. You know: 'Just stop the puck and get it done. Doesn't matter how or what.' That's something I've got to get used to because I've had Glennie [Hanlon] here for so long and obviously being a goaltender, he understands the situation and the position.

Now this looks rather innocent at first blush but consider that over his career Kolzig has tended goal under BOTH Murray brothers, Jim Schoenfeld, Ron Wilson, Bruce Cassidy (and the Sundance Kid), Glen Hanlon, and now Bruce Boudreau. That's seven coaches for those of you who can't count and Glen Hanlon is the only former goaltender of the bunch who has been Kolzig's Head Coach in the NHL. So now, in his 16th season and with his seventh Head Coach in the NHL, Kolzig only now has to figure out how to play for a coach who doesn't understand goaltending?

I'm sorry if I don't have more compassion for Kolzig. It is tough for an athlete at the end of his or her career when they believe they can still get the job done but clearly can't. Kolzig has certainly done a lot for this franchise and this community but it's clear that his better days are behind him. He was pulled on Sunday not because he wasn't playing well, but because Boudreau was sending a message to the team. It has happened to Kolzig before in his career and Kolzig regularly throwing his coach and teammates under the bus cannot be good for the locker room.

While it is good to see that the fire still burns in Kolzig and he's not out to earn a paycheck; it does cause me some concern that he will end up playing for somebody else next season if he can't get a contract worked out with the Caps. It's bad enough seeing Kolzig breakdown in a Caps uniform, it will be even worse to continue to watch it in somebody else's. It is my hope that Kolzig does retire at the end of this season and at least agrees to stay on as a mentor to Michal Neuvirth and Simeon Varlamov and does not go to play for somebody else.

As for the topic of the article itself, well it is a shame that Kolzig is on his way out as the team starts to climb back up but that's the way things go sometimes. Every sport is filled with great players who never won a championship for some reason or another. Kolzig deserves kudos for sticking around through the rebuilding when other veteran players asked to be moved. Kolzig has been the face of the franchise for a long time but do you realize it has been ten years now since Kolzig sparked our run to the Stanley Cup Finals? Some have tried and others are currently trying (take a look at the Red Wings roster) to play forever. But the end eventually comes to everybody. It would have been nice to have Kolzig coming up through the system now instead of 12 years ago that but isn't the case. We have to deal with the reality of the situation and not what we wish it was and the reality is, Kolzig is incapable of getting this team back to the Stanley Cup Finals and winning it. As long as Kolzig does not end up playing for some other NHL team in a vain attempt to "prove the Caps wrong" he'll leave his playing days behind with a fine reputation intact.

Caps vs. Senators 1-15-2008 Wrap Up

The Local Yokels:

(Com)Post: swept away, Michael Nylander shoulder surgery, retirement for Olie Kolzig? Times: shorthanded sweep, Nylander done.

The Neutral Observers:

NHL.com AP Wire.

The Other Side:

Ottawa Citizen: Caps sweep, Nylander out. Ottawa Sun: cursed, technological issues.

Final Thoughts:

Ok, just this once we'll dream the impossible dream. IF the Caps were to make the playoffs this season, they would most likely make it as the #8 seed in the East. Ottawa has the #1 seed in the East all but locked up right now. So the Caps would face these Senators in the first round should they make it. How much do you want to bet that is Chris Phillips' #1 nightmare right now?

45 down, 37 to go.

Caps vs. Senators 1-15-2008 Post-Mortem

SWEEP!!! SWEEP!!! SWEEP!!! SWEEP!!! Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• The Power Play got the job done tonight going 2-5 on a well set up play and a scramble that had been missing for a long time. That scramble goal, which was the game winner, was generated by the second unit. See what happens when you use more than one unit?
• Tomas Fleischmann must not have liked being a healthy scratch as he had a strong game tonight. He'll have to continue this level play with Michael Nylander ending his season tomorrow with shoulder surgery that will have him out 3-6 months.
• Viktor Kozlov had a strong game tonight too. He made a wonderful backdoor pass to Mike "BEAM ME UP" Green to open the scoring in the second period.
• Alexander Semin seemed to want to be a good hockey player tonight as he scored a goal that will be on highlight reels for years and another goal where he got his nose dirty by crashing the net. Hopefully we can get a more consistent effort out of him.
• Senators' Head Coach John Paddock was complaining yesterday about the imbalance of penalties called against his team, it happened again tonight as the Senators had 5 penalties called against them and the Caps had only two. Though those two did lead to a :17 5-on-3 which the Caps killed off.

THE BAD:

• Is it me or do we seem to play better once we fall behind? Aren't you a little disturbed by this trend?
• Ottawa got 28 shots on goal and on some of them Brent Johnson looked a little shaky. Though to Johnson's credit, he came up with some saves that we had not be getting recently.
• Sorry folks, no more games against Ottawa this season.

It was interesting to watch in the final minutes as Ray Emery creeped out of the crease that the Ottawa bench never even looked over at him to call him to the bench for the sixth attacker down by two goals. That speaks volumes about the coaching staff's confidence that the team could comeback in the final minutes. In the end Daniel Alfredsson took a penalty and made things moot but with this being the fourth time the Caps have beaten the Senators this season, it will be very tough for the coaching staff to blame the players. There's no reason why they should not have been ready to play this game tonight and once again folded when things did not go their way.

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