Thursday Caps Clips

by J.P. on Mar 19, 2009 6:46 AM EDT in Caps Clips

Your savory breakfast links:

Brooks Laich talks about talking about hockey. Meta. [WaPo]
Alex Semin may be the difference between playoff success and failure. No pressure. [WaTi]
Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Viktor Kozlov make up the fourth-best line in hockey, which is three spots lower than TSN had the trio of AO, Backstrom and Semin a month ago. [The Hockey News]
To get a quote or two about how the recession is impacting the sports world, it was a pretty obvious move for Reuters to hit up the owner of the Capitals, but only because there aren't professional teams named the Equities or the Liquidities. [Reuters via Ted's Take]
One year ago today, Olie Kolzig played his last game in a Washington Capitals uniform (and it didn't go so well).
On this date back in 2002, the Caps traded Adam Oates to Philly for Maxime Ouellet and the Flyers' first three picks in that summer's draft (and check out the comments here before you ask what ever became of those picks).
Dean Arsene and Andrew Gordon are cookin' in Hershey. Literally. [FOX43 via JWH]

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If I asked you about your family, you would talk about them forever because it’s something you love. That’s the way I feel about this team. This team is my life, and I love playing here and I’m passionate about playing hockey. So it’s easy for me to talk about it.

- Brooks Laich

Captain anyone? I love this quote. It basically nullifies any argument that someone else should get the C after Clark.

by Sct112 on Mar 19, 2009 9:14 AM EDT reply actions

I agree. I don’t really like the idea of Ovi having the C, after seeing what happened to Crosby. Ovi needs to be free to be Ovi to be the most effective, and if he’s captain, he can’t do that. Sure, he’s a leader and the guys look up to him, but I wouldn’t want to saddle him with that.

"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri

by gotsparkly on Mar 19, 2009 9:39 AM EDT up reply actions

i’ve been looking forward to getting a “c” put on my laich jersey since the day i got it… what a great guy.

by kellobellow on Mar 19, 2009 10:22 AM EDT up reply actions

Remember when Maxime Oullet was supposed to be the next big thing? Yeesh. I remember thinking we had absolutely worn a gun and a mask in that deal when we got him for Adam Oates.

I don’t think the team has much luck with goaltenders named Maxime.

Ron and Fez Noon to Three

by YvonLabresMoustache on Mar 19, 2009 10:24 AM EDT reply actions

TEB’s story reads like an homage from a fan. Corey’s story reads like a consideration of an issue facing this team in the weeks ahead.

Modern Art Notes

by TylerG on Mar 19, 2009 10:41 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs

I’m not mad at TEB’s article or his reporting of the Caps. There are a plethora of new Caps fans throughout the District/NOVA/MD right now…and the style of article TEB writes is exactly what those fans need and want right now.

Remember how liittle coverage the Caps got last year…or god forbid pre OV? The Post had a story on 1A below the fold this year…that’s huge. If the team continues to succeed and the ratings/attendance numbers continue to grow, we’ll start to see more detailed coverage from the Post. But right now TEB’s coverage is pretty darn good….

/I don’t post on his blog anymore…makes my eyes twitch and has caused premature balding

by Yoshietree on Mar 19, 2009 10:56 AM EDT up reply actions

Good point.

TEB’s audience is not Tyler/J.P./Yoshie/DMG/etc, it is my friend, the diehard ‘skins fan. The only thing that my friend knows about the Caps is Ovie kicks a** and has a great haircut from the Haircuttery. While I would like to see more depth from TEB I don’t expect it. Depth that you see here would lose my friend faster than you can shake a stick. Its just like you can’t get any “real” depth from Koken on Comcast.

If writing style is what you take exception too (prefer Corey to TEB), I can’t argue with you. If it is the topic or the “shallow” nature of that analysis that turns you off, I think that blaming TEB/Corey is unfair.

by Sct112 on Mar 19, 2009 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions

sorry, i don’t buy it. depth in coverage is never a bad thing. don’t understimate the audience. he could intersperse a heck of a lot more analysis between his puff pieces, and your friend the ’skins fan would gain a deeper understanding of hockey. people outside of hockey circles stay outside in part because the sport is difficult to figure out. bring them up to speed. invite them in by respecting them.

i’ll admit that i was only a part-time hockey fan until we drafted ovechkin. it’s been one awesome ride since then, but i’m here to stay thanks to the analysis i find on the internet…not because of TEB or the WaPo.

by Natty Bumppo on Mar 19, 2009 11:22 AM EDT up reply actions

Depth is a bad thing when you don’t have a base to build on. Would I like to see more depth, absolutely, I think that is true for everyone here. But if you as a reader don’t know what +/- means, an indepth analysis of Schultz’s corsi rating vs. the rest of the blue line won’t mean much to you.

Too borrow a joke: There is a reason that J.P. only teaches Sarcasm 501, its because the topics he is teaching are more advanced than a novicecan follow. (That and he’s in it to produce papers, get tenure, and doesn’t really like teaching but that is for another time)

The hole in my logic is that TEB (don’t know much about Corey’s blog) doesn’t do the deep analysis on his blog, which, in my mind, would be a good forum to bridge the gap between the 101 and the 501 classes.

by Sct112 on Mar 19, 2009 11:53 AM EDT up reply actions

Agree about the forum, and to a certain extent there was analysis there last season and early this season (granted it was the end-user posting it not TEB)….but I stand by my original argument. The WaPo blog serves its purpose with new fans who either don’t understand or appreciate stats (other than G, A and hits)/analysis. And I’m not mad it, because I honestly believe the more fans (even ones that don’t agree with me) the better as it bodes well for the future of the franchise.

Thankfully, I found JP’s site which is an oasis of stats and smart minds to quench my thirst for numbers.

by Yoshietree on Mar 19, 2009 11:58 AM EDT up reply actions

i hear you, i just think that fans will eventually seek out ways to understand stats and analysis. (or, revoluationary idea, TEB’s blog could give them resources to explain stats and analysis.) there’s a middle ground. i think intuitively everyone wants to be “in the know.”

by Natty Bumppo on Mar 19, 2009 12:13 PM EDT up reply actions

i agree that the blog could optimally be a place for in-depth analysis, while the main articles could introduce main concepts or discussion points.

by Natty Bumppo on Mar 19, 2009 12:19 PM EDT up reply actions

It’s not his job to sell the team, it’s his job to cover the team.

It is, however, also his job to sell newspapers, so if the editorial decision is that the WaPo will get more eyes with relatively superficial coverage, than so be it.

Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world

by J.P. on Mar 19, 2009 11:27 AM EDT up reply actions

Atleast there is some effort being put out to cover the team, unlike in the past.

never let the truth get in the way of a good story

by toymechanic on Mar 19, 2009 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions

because i'm likely an egomaniac and i don't think enough people read my late-night comments on the other thread..

and also because i’ve exausted my thoughts on this topic, and didn’t want to rehash ideas. i’m not as fired up about it as i was yesterday, either. no real axe to grind with WaPo. but i think the fan base has a right to expect the best. we’re the first ticket in town, now, and while “some coverage” is better than “no coverage,” as consumers, i think we should make our voices heard.
——
as a primary source, and supplemented by this blog, the WaPo serves a necessary/functional role.

but it’s too easy to become satisfied with TEB’s familiar news and notes. caps fans are seasoned to be thrilled with any coverage whatsoever. at the same time, La Canfora’s blog is FILLED with posts like this one ("Draft Review"). seriously, click on that. he has sources, he explains the organizational structure, and he raises a lot of valid concerns. he uses the blog medium not just for its immediacy, but to expound on his thoughts and provide a forum for discussion/analysis.

TEB is not an employee of the caps or the NHL, yet his articles and his blog sometimes read more like Bill Ladson than Barry Svrluga. in the past year, i think it’s fair to say that TEB willfully ignored (to varying degrees) brewing controversies surrounding Olaf Kolzig, Michael Nylander and the verizon center ice conditions. at the end of the day, he’d written articles about all three. but for months on end, he was the man with the microphone and the access that we were counting on for some "insider" reporting, and he didn’t give us much to chew on.

wouldn’t it be great to ask BB about flash’s playing time relative to fehr? or to address the leadership within the locker room (something, as "outsiders," we are basically conjecturing about)?

here’s another example.
when Chris Needham at Capitol Punishment retired from blogging, WaPo Nationals beat writer Svrluga posted this obituary online:

This is a sad day. I told Chris that I considered him my ombudsman. If I made some half-arsed analysis, he’d call me on it. Ask mlb.com’s Bill Ladson if he’s ever been called out by Capitol Punishment. Chris came with the hammer, and it was almost always well-deserved. (And when it wasn’t, well, let’s just say I emailed him and let him know why I was so grossly inaccurate in my assessments.)

Capitol Punishment was funny, analytical, sarcastic, snarky — a more irreverant, dare I say better, version of Nationals Journal. It even had Stan Kasten reading and calling Chris from time to time.

meanwhile, TEB and katie only occasionally acknowledge Japers’ Rink during their link roundups, and there are moments when we question if they even wander over here. imagine if TEB considered Japers’ RInk his ombudsman.

i’m sure there are examples of insightful articles by TEB, and i realize i’m painting with broad strokes here. i just think it’s fair to expect more, especially when the ’skins and nats (and even the DC united) are here for comparison.

by Natty Bumppo on Mar 19, 2009 12:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Again I respectfully disagree. You’re comparing apples and oranges. The Redskins and the Nats (since their inception) have received an amazing amount of coverage when compared to the level given to the Caps. Until Feb of last year…there was no need/market for additional Caps coverage. And you mention LaCanfora…I don’t recall his Caps coverage being any more detailed than TEB’s…and trust me I rode him hard for that by sending him e-mails where I thought he had failed the reader.

The Caps (and hockey) are still a new topic for many of the fans in this area…and my guess is that those fans are more inclined to read an article, that may seem like a fan’s article, about a player than they are about an article that provides a statistical analysis of his performance thus far.

I’ve used NY baseball as an example in the past, so let me try using that example. The NY Times, Newsday and Daily News give readers insight similar to TEB’s coverage. Those that want more indepth analysis go to the NY Sun. Why? Because the majority of readers don’t want to delve in to the analysis of stats, they want to know more about their favorite player.

As the Caps continue to thrive, the Post will continue to pump money into the coverage of the team.

by Yoshietree on Mar 19, 2009 12:52 PM EDT up reply actions

but how is a “fan’s article” mutually exclusive from in-depth analysis? there is a rare break from game summaries and puff pieces on WaPo, and since Boswell and Wise are only equipped to provide the latter, why not let TEB abdicate those duties? isn’t Boswell perfectly suited for an article about brooks laich’s love of the game? i don’t see why the WaPo shouldn’t strive to give us both, as they do for the ’skins and have done for the nats (who obviously received zero coverage until 2005, as you pointed out). or at least stretch the boundaries of the blogging medium, giving us some more meat from caps insider. as an aside, i think la canfora did guest appear at caps insider during the playoffs last year, and it was a welcome addition.

the bottom line is that the WaPo editors will make decisions that benefit their bottom line. so maybe you’re correct that internet clicks and fan $$ remain in support of the status quo. i see a missing service to the rest of the fanbase, though, and i’ll stand by my original opinion that even novice fans want to learn more about the game (not just the players or the sidney crosby pacifiers). plus, if you’re the WaPo, and you build an educated readership, they’ll keep coming back for more.

by Natty Bumppo on Mar 19, 2009 1:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Adam Oates trade

Accoding to the link above, Caps got a bunch of nothing for Oates—Ouellet,the Flyers’ 1st (traded), 2nd (Daigneault), and 3rd (Krestanovich). On Ted’s Take today he says we used the Flyers’ 1st that year for Semin, and the Caps yearbook shows the 2002 draft with 3 1st rounders—Eminger, Semin and Gordon. (???)

by OldPhil on Mar 19, 2009 12:09 PM EDT reply actions

Did you read the comments in the link, specifically this one?

Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world

by J.P. on Mar 19, 2009 12:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Now I did. Guess I was already 2 levels deep and had to come up for air.

Thanks

by OldPhil on Mar 19, 2009 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions

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	GP	W	L	OTL	PT
Florida Litter Box Cats	53	25	17	11	61
Washington Japers' Rink	54	28	21	5	61
Winnipeg Arctic Ice Hockey	56	26	24	6	58
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