Wednesday Caps Clips

by J.P. on Apr 15, 2009 6:44 AM EDT in Caps Clips

Your savory breakfast links:

Today's must-read: Steinz on John Druce. [DC Sports Bog]
Does the WaPo have a sports editor? Why is Mike Wise writing the same article Tarik wrote a day earlier? [WaPo]
Speaking of the WaPo, Tarik on the second season (we'll look for Wise on the second season tomorrow), Barry Svrluga on the team's Russians, and Sally Jenkins on you-know-who.
Over at the WaTi, Corey is killing it with articles on Jose Theodore and Simeon Varlamov and an in-depth series preview, and Thom Loverro has a column on using last year's loss as motivation.
Mercifully, this is the last day of articles in which the teams blow smoke about how great the other team is. [AP]
Happy 32nd Birthday, Brian Pothier. How about a healthy scratch as a present? [CI]
"[T]here’s no way the Rangers will beat the Caps in the first round." [NY Daily News]
Chris Drury's a great quote. [LoHud.com]
Stan Fischler knows how to stop Alex Ovechkin - have Sean Avery shadow him. Hey, a similar tactic once worked 59 years ago, so it's bound to work again. [MSG]
HockeyReference.com knows something that we don't know. I mean, they know a lot of things we don't know, but one thing of particular interest. [Blueshirt Banter]
Pierre LeBrun thinks Jose Theodore is on a short leash. We don't. [ESPN]
If he can make it there, he'll make it anywhere - the Times sells AO. [NYT]
A look at the playoffs' match-ups of masked men. [SportingNews]
Please tell me this is all just a Three's Company-esque misunderstanding and that what these guys are actually getting are Red Stripes and not red streaks. [WttS]
If Trey Parker and Matt Stone did a Caps graphic, it might look like this. And the heads would flap. [WaPo]
A lot of regular season love for a couple of Caps, but not so much post-season faith (except for from the lovely Helene St. James). [USA Today]
Numbers... formulas... Caps are gonna win a couple of rounds... numbers... [Puck Prospectus]
The First Fan gets his formal informal invite. [Ted's Take]
The SI.com crew weighs in with its predictions, and Daren Eliot has the Caps in five, Michael Farber has the Caps in seven and Allan Muir has the Caps in five.
Apparently the Metro is going to be hell tonight and on Saturday. [Caps Message Board]
Peerless prognosticates Caps in five. [Peerless]
The Forechecker thinks it'll be a short series with the Caps advancing as well. [On the Forecheck]
The Caps had the two most clutch skaters in hockey this season. [THN]
I really have no idea what "a Twitter community" is, but join it, if you're into that sort of thing (oh, and follow us). [CK]
If you weren't already a Caps fan, you'd want to be after reading Rob's plea. [StC]
Michal Neuvirth is the man in Hershey, and seizing the opportunity. [Patriot News]
Sticking with the Bears, playoff lines seem set (spoiler alert: don't expect to see any of the new guys in uniform). [Patriot News]

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Comments

Fischler is a joke. Ovechkin faces the toughest defensive assignments night after night from every team, but somehow Sean Avery by HIMSELF is going to stop him?

I honestly think he’s gone senile

Ron and Fez Noon to Three

by YvonLabresMoustache on Apr 15, 2009 7:17 AM EDT reply actions

A rec to Steinz for the get, even more so for the money quote:

You’ve got to go in the danger areas to score the goals. Teams that are going to be successful in the playoffs are gonna have to go to the net and create traffic. If you get the puck to the net and there’s traffic in front, you’re going to score goals.

"Thank God there is a sport for middle-sized white boys.."

by Bald Pollack on Apr 15, 2009 7:42 AM EDT reply actions

And the line right before that:

“Get to the net, look for rebounds, bang for rebounds, pick up the garbage, go into the trenches,” he summarized. “[Then-GM] David Poile was talking to me, and he says, ‘Drucer, if you’re not on your ass in front of the net, you’re not doing your job.’”

And it’s just about the same thing he said at the time:

‘’Ninety percent of the goals are garbage goals, so you go to the net,’’ said Druce.

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

by J.P. on Apr 15, 2009 8:03 AM EDT up reply actions

How can anyone not love that Poile quote. Classic!

I’m sure BB will have a version similar to that one for the team if they bring their “fancy” game out in the 1st period tonight.

by Carl Putnam on Apr 15, 2009 11:38 AM EDT up reply actions

The Caps had the two most clutch skaters in hockey this season.

I’m not sure if you are referring to Semin and Ovie, or Ovie and Green. Either way, it’s not a bad problem to have.

by Sct112 on Apr 15, 2009 8:29 AM EDT reply actions

ovi and semin, according to the stats used in that one… very interesting take on scoring when it really matters.

by kellobellow on Apr 15, 2009 8:48 AM EDT up reply actions

If you scroll down that page, you can see Green is the highest scoring defensemen when it matters. So the Caps have the 2 “clutchest” offensive players as well as the “clutchest” defensive player.

by Sct112 on Apr 15, 2009 8:54 AM EDT up reply actions

definitely not a bad deal :)

by kellobellow on Apr 15, 2009 9:41 AM EDT up reply actions

59 years ago Stan Fischler was turning 40.

Russian Machine Never Breaks

by macvechkin on Apr 15, 2009 10:10 AM EDT reply actions

Allow me to briefly explain a “twitter community” JP.

A person may want to talk to tons of Caps fans, but only be following 30-40 people. So therefore their tweets will only reach those 30-40 people.

A Twitter Community/Re-Tweet bot makes it so that person can just message that bot and then the message will be re-broadcast to those who follow the community bot. So if 1,000 people follow CapsFans, the twitter bot, then your message reaches 1,000 people instead of just the 30-40 people that you follow.

It also allows you to banter back and forth through that bot on Twitter, rather than having to “follow” 1,000’s of people to have a conversation.

It was a huge success in Nashville and I made good with them so we could have our own!

Capitals Kremlin the second line center of the Caps blogosphere.

by CapitalsKremlin on Apr 15, 2009 10:34 AM EDT reply actions

Wasn’t that a scene from “Idocracy”?

Russian Machine Never Breaks

by macvechkin on Apr 15, 2009 10:36 AM EDT up reply actions

Next week I’m going to unveil that plants don’t crave electrolytes :)

Capitals Kremlin the second line center of the Caps blogosphere.

by CapitalsKremlin on Apr 15, 2009 10:52 AM EDT up reply actions

But if I “want to talk to tons of Caps fans,” doesn’t it matter more how many are following me than how many I’m following?

So should everything I Tweet have “@CapsFans” in it?

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

by J.P. on Apr 15, 2009 10:38 AM EDT up reply actions

You don’t really need to, but it certainly helps the group grow if the most prominent bloggers are using it. You don’t need to Tweet everything you do through it, but in the future, it could be a handy tool to promote a blog post.

CapsFans is for the common user who just wants to talk about the Caps without having to follow tons of random people. Through CapsFans it doesn’t matter if someone is following you or not, so long as they follow CapsFans, they see your message.

If CapsFans can grow and pan out like I hope it will (worked for the Preds) it will be a great tool to not only chat with fans on Twitter, but also to post content for the bloggers.

The group is small right now, so it may not be as beneficiary as just tweeting your own group, but if it really catches on, then it will be fun to see how people use it.

Capitals Kremlin the second line center of the Caps blogosphere.

by CapitalsKremlin on Apr 15, 2009 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions

Just sloowwly back away from that tweeter and no one will get hurt.

by OldPhil on Apr 15, 2009 10:53 AM EDT up reply actions

i was expecting the guys to dye their hair red for some reason.

by Sombrero Guy on Apr 15, 2009 10:59 AM EDT reply actions

That “some reason” is that it’s the logical progression from the preseason glam make-up. If they advance a round, Weagle tramp stamps for everyone. Go the the Finals? Belly-button piercings.

Wrong direction, fellas.

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

by J.P. on Apr 15, 2009 11:57 AM EDT up reply actions

They are comfortable enough with their toughness to be perceived as only getting softer and softer.

by Sct112 on Apr 15, 2009 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions

I think I just spent over an hour going through this post. God I love the playoffs (and the Rink).

by grapejoos on Apr 15, 2009 12:01 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Hershey Lines

I’m a little surprised to see Osala on the 4th line and Bouchard on the 2nd line, and neither playing on a line with Perreault. I thought Osala had been playing pretty well lately and hadn’t heard much from Bouchard. Has anyone actually seen them play enough to give an explanation?

by Rob Parker on Apr 15, 2009 1:20 PM EDT reply actions