"We played them 11 times last year and it just seems the games against Philly are a little rougher," said Shaone Morrisonn. "Pittsburgh plays more of a skilled game. Philly has skill, too; they are a great team. But Philly plays physical. It's a different game than against Pittsburgh. Those two teams have both been big rivals, but right now I think Philly is the biggest.
Agree or disagree with Mo that Philly is currently the Caps' biggest rival? [Ed. note: salary cap discussion as well in the comments]
about 3 years ago
J.P.
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Concur. Especially with the standings the way they are right now…and Philly phans make it easy to hate their teams, all of them, all year.
My only ? is, do I break out the Ovie signed Team Russia jersey for this special matchup? Or should I continue wearing the Lambo-Greenie jersey so as to not screw up the mojo? 29 hrs left….
If it’s been working, keep rockin’ it – you don’t want us blaming you for a loss.
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Panthers was 12/2, but regardless, I was. A good friend of mine came with me to that game…I’m blaming him.
by PaintDrinkingPete on Jan 5, 2009 3:05 PM EST up reply actions
If you feel there is mojo involved with any of your rituals, don’t change them! If you do and something bad happens, you may never forgive yourself (whereas if you stick with and something bad happens, well, at least it wasn’t your fault). At least that’s the way I always look at it.
I think that beating Philly is the last “monkey” this team has to “get off it’s back”, so yeah, I would expect the players to respond to philly as it’s biggest rival right now
The sting of losing game 7 in OT still hurts a bit…and I wasn’t even on the ice, I can’t image what the players feel in a moment like that.
by PaintDrinkingPete on Jan 5, 2009 2:26 PM EST up reply actions
Mojo is why I keep wearing a Sombrero to games. The team is 28-3-2 dating back to last season in regular season games I took the Sombrero with me, and 3-2 in games I leave it home. After all, its not how the team plays that determines the outcome, its what we as fans wear to games….right?
I got the Green jersey this year right before the STH event.
Green jersey 12-0-1
Ovie jersey 1-0-0 (opening night)
Just for the record is Green’s lambo white? because my buddy who works at KCI almost hit a white lambo in the parking lot… twice
by Simply Sensational on Jan 5, 2009 4:05 PM EST up reply actions
I tend to agree, but reserve the right to change my mind after January 14.
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Yeah.
I concur. Pittsburgh is an older rivalry, but this one’s sharper and has more of an edge. This one’s personal.
This is not to say that I can’t wait to see what happens when Semin and Crosby come face to face again, but I know I hate Philly more.
Also, heads up if you are going to the game, they are calling for sleet and freezing ran, possibly as much as 1/4" of ice Tuesday night and Wednesday. Come prepared.
Great!, at least I Metro, hopefully the ice won’t be that severe to cause stoppages on the line.
by PaintDrinkingPete on Jan 5, 2009 2:29 PM EST up reply actions
To add…Pittsburgh is probably more of a rivalry to US than it is to THE TEAM. Simply because we are used to seeing (and losing to) Pittsburgh in the playoffs. But for the guys, it’s all about losing to Philly last year.
Agreed, though there is Sid vs. Semin, Alex vs. Malkin, Alex vs. Sid and Alex’s yambag vs. Whitney.
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The Cap
I read were Feds says he’s ready to be back by Saturday and Poti is getting closer. So this begs the questions, how the hell are we going to fit all these guys under the cap? And by guys, I mean Alzner. Is there some massaging that’s going on with the numbers that will allow everyone to stay or is someone cough***nylander***cough going to get traded?
I don’t know. Erskine’s cap hit is only $537,500 while Alzner’s is $1,675,000 and we only had about $200,000 in cap room before the injuries. Anybody know capology 101?
Right. That’s what I’m getting at below – it won’t work.
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No, it won’t. So who, in your mind, do we ditch and who do we keep, and what do our lines look like?
I wouldn’t mind the team moving Nylander but I just can’t see them working out the numbers with another team and getting Nylander to waive his NMC quickly.
Assuming the team needs to make a move, I think Jurcina’s re-emergence after being paired with Alzner makes Morrisonn expendable, which would give the team defense pairings of:
Green-Schultz/Poti
Alzner-Jurcina
Schultz/Poti-Erskine
Assuming they don’t get a defenseman in return. If they did, he could take Erskine’s place and Erskine would become the #7.
If they go with the same roster that they started the season with and were able to move Mo for a pick, they’d be saving $225k annually by swapping Alzner for Mo. Obviously, if they get a roster player back for Mo, that won’t work (which is worth noting – they likely won’t be getting a body back for anyone they send away, b/c it won’t make much sense).
That would free up a tiny bit of room, but you’re still screwed if someone gets hurt short-term (i.e. can’t play, but isn’t going to miss 10 games).
They’re up against it, and the $4m/39-year-old getting healthy doesn’t help right now, to be honest. My guess is it takes him a little longer before he’s ready.
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As it should…I understand the desire to play, especially for someone like Feds, but for the sake of the long playoff road ahead take a couple more days or even weeks, I’d say the same for Poti too. The team is doing fine w/o them and have given themselves some wiggle room to have the option of letting guys heal COMPLETELY as opposed to getting them in there when “they feel good”.
Agreed – I think Poti could end up on LTIR, retroactive.
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The thing about the NHL salary cap is that it varies from team to team in some ways.
The issue here is the bonus cushion. The basic cap level is 56.7 million and according to nhlnumbers.com the bonus cushion is 2.321 million, so a team with bonuses to pay out can have an individual team’s upper limit can be 59.02 million when you include bonuses. $750,000 of Alzner’s cap hit (using full season numbers) is his bonus hit and $1.65M of Backstrom’s cap hit is his bonus hit, which puts the Caps at 2.4M in bonus money, meaning they can use the maximum upper limit when those guys are on the roster.
How the guys being on LTIR and players being up and down for a game or two affects the team’s overall cap is something that I don’t have the energy (or really probably the resources) to figure out.
Here’s the current cap situation, as far as I can tell.
As you can see, they’re around $2,731,399 under right now. If Erskine comes back and Collins heads out, they’re actually in a better position, but still not in a position where they can afford Feds and Alzner without something else happening.
The other thing to note is the roster limit of 23 men. Swap Erskine in and Collins out and you’re still at 23. But when Feds comes back, they need to make room for him on the roster as well (i.e. regardless of salary).
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Right, forgot to make my final point with that because it took me so long to figure it out. Of Alzner’s 1.675 million, $875,000 counts towards the 56.7 number, whereas all of Morrisonn’s 1.975 million counts towards it.
Ergo, I think (and I cannot stress enough think) moving Mo for a pick would net the team ~550,000 in cap room.
Actually, I believe that all of Alzner’s $1.675m counts this year b/c there is no bonus cushion this season, if I recall correctly, since the players could opt out of the CBA at the end of the year (which they obviously won’t). But I could be wrong about that.
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Well, shit, you’re right. That was a lot of effort for nothing!
Nhlnumbers.com has different bonus cushions for different teams and I’m wondering if players may have been grandfathered in given that they signed their contracts under the old framework, although I don’t see any indication of that anywhere. If not, it wouldn’t be the first time that site’s been wrong about this sort of thing.
I’d still be comfortable with team moving Morrisonn and using Fedorov for spot duty on defense. I like the idea of Alzner and Jurcina-paired-with-Alzner in the lineup every night more than the idea of Morrisonn and Alznerless-Jurcina in the lineup every night.
But it might just make more sense to send Alzner to Hershey, see how thing play out, and call him back to the NHL in April.
I don’t know that they can justify sending him down. Ever. It makes the NHL team worse, and that’s not OK, imo, when you’re trying to win the Conference/Division/next game.
I’d sooner see them trade/waive some spare parts, but I’m not even sure who those might be.
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That’s really the problem, isn’t it? Who are the Capitals spare parts? In my mind the only guys who could possibly fall into that category would be:
Morrisonn (1.975M)
Bradley (1M)
Gordon (725,000)
Erskine (537,500)
I’d like to see them keep Gordon for his penalty kill ability and to keep depth at center. It’d also be nice if they could keep Morrisonn. Of course if Morrisonn is kept, it makes Erskine much less valuable and he could be sent to Hershey which, if paired with Matt Bradley being sent to Hershey, may be just barely enough to keep Alzner in Washington. My guess is that Erskine makes it through by virtue of his extension and Bradley makes it through by virtue of making a million dollars this year and being a fourth line player.
I still like the idea of moving Morrisonn if possible best if any of those four have to move. Right now he’s behind Green, Poti, Schultz, Alzner, and maybe Jurcina on the depth chart and I think the Capitals might actually be able to get something decent for him.
Of course, if the team can figure something out with Nylander, this all become moot.
My head hurts.
Bradley is signed for 2 more years after this one. I don’t see the Caps doing anything with him. The most obvious player to be moved would be ShaMo simply because he’s an RFA after this season, and we won’t likely re-up him at what he’ll want to make.
If it’s gonna be one of those guys…it’s Morrisonn, no doubt, you move him for a 2nd/3rd rounder, he’s still young and a solid #2 pairing D-man and he’s a ~$2M cap hit, not to mention there is probably a little animosity left behind from the arbitration (which he has not been living up to this year, IMHO). More importantly he’s easy to replace with King Karl.
The only one I can think of that seems reasonable is Morrisonn. His cap hit for Alzner’s is fairly close. Some team that needs a S@H DMan to make a run at the playoffs. With Mo, he doesn’t tie a new team to anything beyond this year.
Everyone else we talk about being moveable are either too low a cap hit to make a difference or too high to make it worth it for another team.
We’ve talked about Nylander ad nauseum, but how many teams can afford his contract, not to mention the NMC.
I suppose you could make an argument for Kozlov, but even with Semin and Feds back, I’d really rather not break up that top line. Not to mention, I think his contribution is undervalued by most (casual fans at least)
Clark? I don’t really see it happening.
Then again, I’ve never been any good at figuring out what GM is up to.
I wouldn’t think they would get rid of Kozlov. I’m willing to bet he would take a pay cut to stay here and play with Ovie for 2 more years @ $2M per or $1.75M. Which would even make him cheaper than Morrisonn. I don’t see Feds coming back next year…not @ $4M.
There are too many RFAs in the next 2 years to lock up Feds, Brash, and maybe even…dare I say, Johnny for big money deals.
Shultz, Fehr, Jurcina, Lepisto, C-Bo, Boyd, Semin, Backstrom and Flash, the bill is coming due, it’ll be interesting to see what happens this offseason.
I don’t see them getting rid of Kozlov either. I don’t know that Fedorov will be able to play much longer – he’s been sidelined for a long time.
Don’t we have one more year on Semin and Backstrom? Semin may not command as much if he cannot stay healthy, but Backstrom will. C-Bo might well take a deal to be guaranteed a good shot at the NHL. I can see us letting Lepisto go, and possibly Gordon as well. Jurcina, not so much. Would you break up the Nifty Fifty? I wouldn’t, and I’d pay more to keep it intact. Having seen Helmer, Sloan, and Collins, I might be willing to let Schultz go and keep Fehr.
Semin, Backstrom and Flash are RFAs after next season. I’m actually VERY VERY interested in how all this plays out. I would love to see us become kinda like Detroit where people actually take a ‘modest’ pay cut to remain with the team.
Do any of us (of course we don’t know shit) see Nicky wanting to leave DC? After being Ovechkin’s centerman? How would you top that professionally? Look, if every Oiler from the early 80s can get into to HOF on 99s coattails I’m sure a career with Ovie isn’t going to hurt Nicky’s chances.
Not to mention he’s going to cost someone AT LEAST 2 1st rd picks and possibly 3, Semin as well.
I honestly think that Fehr, C-Bo, Schultz and Juice won’t be that expensive.
Probably not, no. Backstrom and Semin will be expensive but worth keeping. And who wouldn’t want a chance to play with Ovi?
I think that we will have to win a Cup in order for players to take a pay cut to play here, but I’d like to see that too.
At the very least, we need a deep playoff run (at least conf. finals) for a hometown discount. I get the feeling that the young core of this team is very happy here and would want to stay to play together, but money talks. Semin and especially Backstrom are the kind of players teams will be willing to forfeit draft picks for.
I think Fedorov is done after this year and I doubt Kozlov would be back if he wanted a raise, and might not be back anyway.
But for this offseason there’s not anyone who’s going to need a huge raise and with Morrisonn, Kozlov and Fedorov all at the end of their contracts, the team should see 7.5M+ in cap space even when Erskine’s new contract kicks in.
Two year down the line may be more problematic but Theodore’s contract is up after next season, so that’s another 4.5M off the books.
I don’t think it does, DMG (and b.orr4 is spot on – it is THE question… why isn’t anyone asking it?).
My thinking is that they were real tight up against it before the injuries, so you add Alzner with Clark, Feds and Erskine on LTIR and that’s around $1.675m in salary added, so when Clark and Feds come off, you have added $1.675m and only have Erskine at $537,500 on LTIR… and there’s no way they had ~$1m of room before the injuries. Someone’s gotta go (or go on LTIR).
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Someone (I don’t recall where) mentioned that the amount of days you are under the cap can count as a surplus. In other words, if the max team salary allowed under the cap is around $700,000 per game and when all the guys were injured we were paying about $500,000 per game, that $200,000 difference could be apllied as a surplus allowing the team to be $200,000 over the cap for ten games. Of course, I could have just dreamed this up one night and it could be total bs. But as jp said, something’s got to give. It would be nice if Tarik actually asked this kind of question instead of who had the more embarrassing fight.
b -
Teams “bank” salary under the cap only if they have no one on LTIR that’s putting them over the cap. Once you have guys on LTIR that put you over (which the Caps had with Pothier from Day One), you’re not banking anything, so you have to be under the cap (other than LTIR guys) for each and every day of the season.
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Damn, so how the hell can this possibly work if Poti and Feds come back? Alzner has to stay here, he’s getting better and better every game he plays but who could they even think about sending down with a +$1 million salary hit that wouldn’t be taken on waivers? And this team is so hot right now, why would you mess with the chemistry and make a trade? I hope McPhee has a plan.
The more I see Nylander lately, which is all the time since we’re on the homestand, the more I can’t wait for him to go. He just looks lazy out there 90% of the time.
I don’t think he’s lazy as much as his style is so different from the young guys on the team. I do think he’s a bit of a puck hog in the sense that he doesn’t give the puck up until he’s ready.
Dude got the puck at the top of the face-off dot in the second period…all alone…open lane…and he did his little circle dance and went back into the corner. SHOOT THE DAMN THING ALREADY!!!
so true. happens all the time, too.
I’ve been resisting the idea, but it’s gotta be Nyls that goes. I question what depth we would have if another C got hurt, specifically Feds. I definitely don’t think geting rid of a S@H Dman like Mo makes sense, irrespective of his salary.
I buy it
Right now, to me, the difference between the Philly and Pittsburgh rivalries are what they mean to the Capitals. Against the Flyers the Capitals have something to prove: Philly has a much better record and obviously beat the Capitals in the playoffs last year. On the other hand Pittsburgh is a complete mess right now and beating them doesn’t provide anything other than the satisfaction of watching the Penguins lose…but apparently you don’t need to the Caps to see that.
I would guess that the Caps also respect Philly a lot more than the Penguins right now, and it’d mean a lot more to beat them in part for that reason.
In short beating, Philly means the Capitals are getting past lat year’s playoff loss and proving they can take on good teams whereas beating the Penguins doesn’t really mean anything other than that the Penguins lost.
Slightly unrelated ....
Would one or more of the gentlemen going to the game be so kind as to share pictures of the urinal art? The concept cracks me up (and do other stadiums do it?)
I’ll see what I can do, assuming I get there early enough to take out my camera in the men’s room without getting any funny looks.
by PaintDrinkingPete on Jan 5, 2009 3:04 PM EST up reply actions
Re: the Rivalry
I mentioned this elsewhere, but Boudreau’s quotes seem more animated than I can remember. He wants them up for this not only for payback but for continued ascension up the standings. Now’s the time to think you’re elite or something.
Or maybe I’m too bored at work and reading too much into them.
"Good crowd out there tonight, boys, let's really try to win this one."
I’d definitely say the Flyers-Caps rivalry is bigger than Penguins-Caps, if for no other reason than because the Flyers are the only team the Caps have faced in the playoffs since 2003 ;)
But really, Philadelphia is a bigger rival because of the proximity, the history, the decades of half-orange Capital Centres, the incomparable obnoxiousness of Flyers fans.
There’s also a huge philosophical difference between the two organizations. The Caps try to create a family friendly atmosphere that glamorizes their players into sex symbols, while all the Flyers marketing cares about is Riley Cote (et al) beating the crap out of people. Not to get too Mike Wise, but it’s a huge diference in hockey culture and what’s most important.
Swing by The Flyer Frequent if you have nothing better to do.
The Caps try to create a family friendly atmosphere that glamorizes their players into sex symbols
Um, are you trying to tell me that ‘sex symbol’ isn’t the first thing that goes through your head when you see Ovechkin? If not, you’re nuts!
Kidding aside, I see where your coming from but those two goals (family friendly; sexualization of players) seem to be in contrast.
They do, I was trying to reconcile them somehow but it’s kinda tough.
Maybe the marketing is a lot more geared toward women?
Swing by The Flyer Frequent if you have nothing better to do.
by Ben Rothenberg on Jan 5, 2009 4:18 PM EST up reply actions
I think it not so much “geared toward women” as much as “geared toward the casual fan”…which includes women.
The Capitals have seen a surge of support from the DC community, and it would be stupid for the Caps to not to try to capitalize (no pun intended) on that.
For example, I think the whole “rock video” entry is kinda lame, yes, I admit it (which I believe is what you’re getting at)…but what isn’t lame is the energy that is being generated by the fans this year at the Verizon center, so I guess I can live with it for now.
by PaintDrinkingPete on Jan 5, 2009 4:32 PM EST up reply actions
Agreed. The Flyers don’t need to market their team aggressively – it seems to be well-supported all the time and they are a major player in the Philly sports scene. The Caps’ fortunes are improving by the day, but they still have a lot of ground to make up vs. other teams.
I also think the Caps have one of the more active and innovative marketing teams in the league. They do a good job, even if the results are often goofy (“rock video,” glamor shots, etc.)
Besides, not every team needs the glamor shots. After all, the Pens’ star player wears lipstick all the time.
…while all the Flyers marketing cares about is Riley Cote getting the crap beat out of him…
Fixed that for you, Salmonella.
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Ha, believe me I know he’s not one for winning fights.
But yeah, compare this to the shirtless, winged, tattooed Theodore…
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2055/2260260873_e43982e820.jpg?v=0
Swing by The Flyer Frequent if you have nothing better to do.
by Ben Rothenberg on Jan 5, 2009 5:07 PM EST up reply actions
thats a billboard from the beginning of last season when the flyers were coming off of one of the worst seasons in team history and all anybody in philly was thinking about at the time was breaking a beer bottle over someones head.
The caps media relations do play a little to the the fact that the team is made up of a bunch of young superstars, but i wont apologize for that for a minute. Its called having wonderful team chemistry whose exuberance spills over to the fans (insert semin joke), something most teams dont have. If it happens to draw a noticeably more attractive and younger fanbase, im ok with that too.
oh yea, brashear does look pretty badass in that clip, way tougher than riley cote standing there breathing on his hands.
If I’m not mistaken, Riley Cote has “Riley” inked on his stomach. That’s… um… somethin’.
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Some of the ink on those guys is incredible (off-topic, I know, but.) I lovelovelove Brashear’s ink. Beautiful stuff.
The Flyers are a bigger rival as in we hate them more.
The Pens are a bigger rival in the fact that they tend to beat us a lot and are more skilled.
I wouldn’t say that Pittsburgh has more talent. I personally thing that the Capitals currently have more talent than the Penguins. I think that the Penguins are a rival because of the history of the two franchises.
However, I think that the Flyers are a bigger rival between these two TEAMS mainly because of last year.
For me, the Flyers are a bigger rival. He hasn’t been there long but I hate that rat bastard Briere. Didn’t someone call him the “magical spearing midget”, or words to that effect, for his exploits in Buffalo? Hartnell is another player worthy of hate. Just saying his name makes me seeth with anger.
Also, what’s up with last year’s “Vengeance Now” campaign? Way to market your team to the lowest common denominator.
I am a long-time Penguin-hater, but I have to agree. Briere is simply the most despicable player in the NHL, and as long as he’s with the Flyers, they’ll have a special place in my cold, black heart. I dislike Crosby but he’s not on that level, and I don’t really care that much about the other Pens players. I really want the Caps to send both packing in the playoffs, but revenge against the Flyers would be (slightly) sweeter.
I do have more grudging respect for the current Flyers team (Briere excluded) than the current Pens team, however.
I dunno. Matt Cooke is on the Pens this year, and I’ll admit to wishing him well. I liked him when he was here.
It’s not that much of a stretch for me to put Flyers over Pens…
As much as I wish they didn’t all those playoff series still sting – a lot- and coupled with their ever loving dominance for far too long… well… They’ve been at the top of the hate list for so long I guess it’s hard for me to debunk them. That infamous 4-2 game last year, although just a game, was definitely a new low point as well. Heh.
Bring on the Flyers though, I can certainly embrace the hate.
Cap room and rivalries
Re: Cap room & trades: The Caps are not about to discard Bradley or Gordon. They may trade Morrisson to a Western Division team. Trading Nylander is really not worthy of much discussion with his limited movement clause, age and salary hit.
Re: Rivalries. To me, it’s the Flyers because of recent history with the 7 game playoff series. The Caps/Pens thing is overblown by the press with the contrived Ovechkin vs Crosby thing. Perhaps with the Semin controversy it will be increased. For me….the rivalry is the Flyers. Let’s chew ’em up tomorrow night….
Rivalries are made in the playoffs
Eh, I’d say as an old school fan it’s hard too ignore playing the Pens 7 times in the playoffs in my lifetime. Granted, for the young guns it’s clearly all about the Fly-guys
I worry more about the Flyers than the Pens right now, personally – the Flyers have a lot more confidence. I’m watching the Rangers game and they’re just falling apart.
Penguins are currently not in the playoffs.
It’s a beautiful thing.
Swing by The Flyer Frequent if you have nothing better to do.
by Ben Rothenberg on Jan 5, 2009 8:15 PM EST up reply actions
Careful there, it’s not like they couldn’t still come back. Lord knows we know a thing or two about struggling up from rock bottom.
Yes, but we had AO. And Bruce. They have neither.
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Talent -- Caps versus Pens
Maybe, just maybe, you give the Pens an edge on their top two versus our top two. I don’t think so, but others may disagree. Where I do think the Caps clearly have the edge is their overall roster simply has more depth and quality than the Pens. The Pens gave up a lot to get Hossa and lost some to free agency.
Clearly, the Caps are playing better hockey for the last 20 games than the Penguins, by far !!!!
Best player vs Best Player
Ovechkin has fought Jeff Carter
Ovechkin has not fought Evgeni Malkin.
Discuss?
Even though Carter’s the top scorer this year, most Flyers fans would put Richards ahead of Carter. Richards definitely matches up with Ovechkin when you’re talking about faces of the franchises.
Swing by The Flyer Frequent if you have nothing better to do.
by Ben Rothenberg on Jan 6, 2009 3:09 AM EST up reply actions
Richards is a nice player
and I’d love to have him on the Caps. He is always in the right position and makes a ton of plays. But disabuse your readers (and yourself if needed) that Richards is in the same conversation as Ovechkin in any other hockey capacity.
Richards is amazing. It’s sort of a running thing among Caps fans to be disappointed that the team took Fehr in front of Getzlaf but I really think not picking Richards hurts a lot more.
I’d kill for either.
Yes, kill.
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Frankly, while Getzlaf and Richards may have been better on the team, would they have made the team better, or would their cap hits been a problem? Also, our developmental track record is “Toss ’em in the minors for a few years”. No promises they develop the same way.
Of course not. And if we’d thrown ’em in the first immediately, we might not have been bad enough to grab Backstrom and/or Alzner. Millions of different variables at play.
That said, I love the way both those guys play the game in a way I do not love how Eric Fehr plays the game.
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Southeast Standings
| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Florida
|
53 | 25 | 17 | 11 | 61 |
|
Washington
|
54 | 28 | 21 | 5 | 61 |
|
Winnipeg
|
56 | 26 | 24 | 6 | 58 |
|
Tampa Bay
|
53 | 23 | 24 | 6 | 52 |
|
Carolina
|
55 | 20 | 25 | 10 | 50 |
(updated 2.10.2012 at 9:27 AM EST)
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- Nathan Gerbe caps Buffalo Sabres' comeback in 3-2 shootout win over Dallas Stars
- QMJHL Roundup: A look at Friday's games
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