Tuesday Roundup: Beat The Rink

A minor roster move for the Caps yesterday as Tomas Fleischmann was sent back to Hershey to make room for Dainius Zubrus's return from injury. No word yet on who will be called up once Zubrus re-injures himself within the next week.

Then there's this interesting tidbit from the WaPo:

Left wing Jeff Friesen, meantime, will change his jersey number to 41 from 12 when he returns from a groin muscle injury that has sidelined him the past 10 games. He unwittingly chose the number worn by former Capital Peter Bondra, the franchise leader in goals and points, during training camp and has given it up out of respect for Bondra. Friesen is day-to-day.

Unwittingly? No one - say, the guy who sews the name plates on the back of jerseys - said to Friesen, "Hey, you know that number was worn by the franchise's all-time leading scorer and fan favorite for 13 years, right?" Somehow I doubt it. More likely, the team felt jilted by Bondra earlier this fall (and rightly so), but now cooler heads have prevailed and realized that there should never be another Capital to wear the #12, as it will no doubt hang from the MCI rafters soon after he retires.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Ed Belfour (W, 34 saves on 35 shots against)
  
• Ross: Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom (G, A each)
  
• Norris: Nicklas Lidstrom (G, A, +2 - interestingly, 5 of the 10 goals scored in the NHL Monday night were by defensemen)
  
• Vezina: Ed Belfour (W, 34 saves on 35 shots against)
• Richard: 10 players tied with 1 goal
  
• Calder: Jimmy Howard (W, 22 saves on 24 shots against)
  
• Aiken: Luc Robitaille, Jeremy Roenick (-3 each)
  

Japers' Pick

• Last night's games: A split, getting the Detroit game right and the Leafs wrong. Current Record: 8-11. But that doesn't matter, and here's why:
• Tonight's game: Yet another new feature at The Rink aimed at encouraging further interactivity - Beat The Rink (BTR). Since I quite clearly cannot pick games, I'd like to see if you can do better. Therefore, each night I'll pick a game (or games) and you - the reader - can also pick that game in the comments section (picks must be in before the first game of the day begins). Whoever gets the most right at year's end will get a prize. Seriously. And the prize'll be a little bit sweet. Bonus point for any game score picked correctly, and I'll start at zero for purposes of BTR. The only catch is you can't pick the same exact score and winner as someone else (for example, if I pick Sens 4, Habs 2 tonight, you can pick Sens 5, Habs 2, etc.). So let's get started. Tonight's games, a three-pack: Bruins at Devils, Canadiens at Senators and Flames at Predators. I'll go with Bruins 4-3, Senators 5-2 and Flames 3-2. What about you?