I agree, should be a great battle of highly athletic goalies that can’t stay healthy. I also hope Neuwirth is in Hershey in time to play tonight so they don’t have to rely on Cheese again.

I’m excited too. For those terrified, I understand, but this is what Pothier wants and he is the best possible addition the team can make right now.

I think this may be the Caps’ playoff roster right now.

I’m absolutely terrified.

One reason to bring him up as early as possible is to give themselves plenty of time to evaluate whether he can play — and last — at this level. If not, they can go to plan B.

I’d like to see Pothier’s presence used to keep Erskine fresh. We’ve seen that Ersky is at his best when he gets plenty of rest. So give it to him.

He’ll probably play Mon. and that will leave Theo for Tues, but outside of that game, I see no reason not to run with Theo the rest of the season. This is the last of our back to back games and unless the last game of the season is pointless (i.e. not gaining or losing playoff position) I wouldn’t be surprised if we just went with Theo all the way home.

And if he played the way he played most of his games under Boudreau, he’s a 3 or 4. He wasn’t good under Hanlon because he was forced into too large a role. Once Bruce sat him and fixed that issue he became an extremely effective Dman. Pothier as a 4-5-6 could be a great thing for this team if he really is healthy and ready to return.

Pothier is a talented guy who can carry the puck, that’s why he earns $2.5M and not $1.25 like Erskine (though Erskine has been playing well lately and earning every penny of what he will get next season if he keeps it up.) Sure Pothier never grew into the role of stud Powerplay QB the way the Caps hoped when they picked him up from the Senators but his statistics and play were solid up to his injury last January. I also think he’ll do even better under Boudreau’s system then the trap he was playing under Hanlon till just 5 weeks before his injury.

Why is he “putting himself and family at risk” you ask, I suppose that he has reason to believe from his doctors that he can return and he has a job he loves – professional athlete. I have to believe if it were most of us, we’d give it a shot too, especially during a season where you might have a chance to be on a team that has so much promise.

I think his return, assuming he doesn’t get reinjured and he isn’t doing it against any medical advice is great. I wish him luck and I like the fact that when he’s in the lineup the Caps can have three defensive pairs with one guy he is a legitimate puck moving defenseman in the mix on the ice. Ad a third line with Federov/Steckel/Nylander or Aucoin as the pivot and we have three fivesomes ready to score and a very solid checking/energy line, especially if both Bradley and Brashear are available.

This team is just getting started for the playoffs….

It’s the ripple effect. Right now everyone other than Green, Poti and maybe Morrisonn are being asked to do more than they would in their ideal role. If Pothier can come in and be a 4-5 guy it takes pressure of most of the defensemen and lets them play better.

I’d also say that we have not truly seen what he can do under Boudreau’s system. He went down before that team under BB hit its full stride, and he hasn’t played with them since.

And he’s really, really fast. Maybe the best skater on the team. A good compliment to the defensemen already on the team.

I think they’re going to be cautious at least at first, so I’d say a third-line pairing for him. They won’t want to break established pairings, so I expect this:

52-26
3-55
2-4/23

Of the two, I’d say they probably sit 23.