Wednesday Caps Clips: Ken Klee Hangs 'Em Up
by J.P. on Aug 5, 2009 7:00 AM EDT
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Your savory breakfast links:
- Ken Klee is calling it a career. Klee - a ninth round pick for the Caps back in 1990 - played 570 games for the team, totalling 43 goals, 68 assists, a plus-13 rating and 608 penalty minutes. Godspeed, Kenny.
- Michael Nylander? Not happy. The Caps? Not happy. Oilers fans? Happy. [The Cult of Hockey]
- It's August and McFarlane Toys' NHL Series 22 is out, featuring the line's third Alex Ovechkin figure. [Spawn.com]
- A TV station in Seattle is apologizing for Jose Theodore's 2008-09 season. [KING5.com]
- A look at the sweaters (or at least sweater numbers) Brendan Morrison and Mike Knuble will be wearing. [VFtCS]
- Red Rockers tryouts, Day 1. [Caps365 (video)]
- "The NHL has sent out a memo that it will not honor NHL contract for a player injured at a summer Olympic training camp." [@walsha]
- The Hershey Bears released their preseason schedule. [John Walton Hockey]
- On the off-chance that you care what Sean Avery thinks of new teammate Donald Brashear, this link's for you. [Blue Notes]
- Finally, Happy 46th Birthday to Mike Siltala and Happy 33rd to Jeff Friesen. Friesen played just 33 games for the Caps, tallying three goals and four assists before being traded to Anaheim for the second round pick that the Caps used on Keith Seabrook in 2006. Maybe things would've been different if Friesen hadn't angered the hockey gods by donning number twelve when he got to town (or if that Caps team hadn't stunk to high hell... either/or).
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I wonder if that Walsh tweet may be the precursor of whatever the future CBA covering the ’14 cycle might bring.
"The passion of our supporters cannot be contained by clothing."
Walsh tweets further:
“As follow up, found out NHL teams directed to suspend and not pay any player injured in Summer Olympic Orientation camp.”
“Team Canada exhibition game…what happens to seriously injured player? NHL benefits w Olympic participation and players bear all risk!”
“CBA guarantee’s player contracts during Olympics. NHL claims summer training camp not meant to be covered per CBA.”
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
Serious injuries during the Olympics aren’t all that common, are they? Does the NHL actually have ground to stand on in this regard, or is it just Bettman marking his territory?
If team’s have the right to prohibit their players from participating in the summer camps due to their contractual obligations (and that’s the big if here I gather) then there’s no reason they can’t suspend them for going against that.
I would suppose that depends if there is a clause about off-season activity in general, which there could be. Certainly it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve heard of an athletic contract that included non-team activities.
Didn’t Ovechkin have to get insurance in 2008 to participate in the World Championship? I imagine they all do, but that became a big deal because of the size of the (then pending) contract. It may simply be that this is first time the league has chosen to make a big deal out of it.
athletic contract that included non-team activities
Ack! This should have said something like prohibited specified activities. Maybe I need more caffeine.
I don’t know why this is ‘shocking’, other than because some agent wants to play melodrama.
This isn’t an NHL activity, the players/countries are on the hook for providing insurance for this.
And really…unless you get your eye poked out, it’s not like you can’t play hurt until training camp, when it’s ok to get injured playing hockey.
Russian Machine Never Breaks
At the Olympics, yes, there were a few high profile players that were injured during the 2006 Olympics. At the camps, I doubt as many, but of course, an injury can happen at any time. Given the player is covered during Olympic participation, you’d think it would cover the camps, too, but guess not. The insurance is likely to be a lot given it is in most cases, the elite players invited to the camps.
I was thinking of Hasek, Elias and Salo’s injuries at the last Olympics. IIRC, Demitra got injured, too. But to be clear, this issue isn’t about participating in the Olympics, it’s about participating in the evaluation camp during the summer.
Oh, and not to flash the geek card too hard, but I’ve seen the McFarlane/Spawn booth at a couple of shows and it’s pretty impressive to see all that stuff in one place.
That said, that new AO figure looks a little meh.
"The passion of our supporters cannot be contained by clothing."
hmmm… so it has him w/ last years nike/bauer stick… surprised w/ the CCM contract they let the figure be made w/ that. for that matter…. how’s he able to play w/ the nike/bauer stick? anyone have any insight on that?
It could be something he worked out with CCM.
If you think about it though…even if he did break the contract and played with a NB stick, do you really think CCM will take its ball and go home? To have Alex endorsing their gear is a privilege for them, so I doubt they’d make a huge fuss about it. They still want him wearing the skates, gloves, and bucket.
tiger’s deal with nike made the news several times as he slowly transitioned from titleist to nike irons. i know in that case tiger’s contract permitted him to use any company’s equipment, but there have been side lawsuits when nike ads featured titleist clubs/balls, for instance.
by Natty Bumppo on Aug 5, 2009 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions
Tiger’s contract was exactly what I was thinking in my mind when I was thinking about Ovie’s.
I remember there was a lot of hub-bub when he was using a nike ball during his titleist days. Then he was using all Nike clubs except his 3 wood or something (which was still titleist) …
Oilers fans' reaction to Nylander's comments
"My face is my mask."
by Jake Shapiro on Aug 5, 2009 8:49 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Has Nylander been invited to Olympic training camp?
Pick SPG for your chance to win probably nothing.
by xiix on Aug 5, 2009 9:55 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Yes he was there and apparently he did some kind of interview. It most have been really dull stuff because I haven’t heard anything more about it.
I totally missed that he had been invited. I thought Backstrom was the only Cap in the running for an Olympic spot.
Bäckström weren’t at the Swedish camp. But he will be on ice tonight playing for the Icebreakers. That’s a team Peter Forsberg and Markus Näslunds founded to raise money to children’s hospitals. They are playing two games in Denmark of all places.
I don’t with the man any specific harm, but an “injury” would invalidate his NHL contract?
Pick SPG for your chance to win probably nothing.
….and if the Wizards dancers decided to convert due to boredom of dancing in front of a pathetically empty arena.
I’m not sure how empty ours was, but I went to two Wizards games this year,and while I don’t remember too much from the post-lockout (from being away at college), I don’t recall the food stands being closed and having ONLY five or six 400-level sections with people sitting in them. Haha, they even gave us tickets to go down the lower levels to make it look more full on TV.
wtf?
Have any personal admirers emerged?
“I have a true love, so I don’t look at any other women. You know, I’m extremely fortunate that I met a Russian girl in America. It’s difficult to look at a lot of the local women. You get the feeling that just don’t take care of themselves! There are an awful lot of heavyset ones. But Russian girls have nice trim figures. I couldn’t imagine myself being with an American girl.”
Look, I know DC is low on the women list, but these guys travel a lot. American woman are pretty hot. All the russian’s i’ve met had pretty bad teeth. I’ve travelled a lot, never to russia, and can say confidently that American woman (the good looking ones, at least) do a better job of taking care of themselves than other nationalities. Am I biased towards shaved legs?
Anyone else getting a little tired of the overzealous Russia love?
The way I read this is that Russian women are anorexic. Not that their is anything wrong with that.
To each his own.
Giving the benefit of the doubt for just a moment, maybe they say these things because it’s the Russian media, so they’re playing up the virtues of Russia. If that’s the case, as opposed to really meaning what they’re saying, they need to wise up real fast that we have translators, and therefore we read everything.
maybe they say these things because it’s the Russian media, so they’re playing up the virtues of Russia
It is the Russian way. The interviews with Ovi, Semin and now Varly seem to go over the same increasingly stale ground. Russia Russia Russia and also Russia. That may even be why Ovi tried to change it up a bit in that last infamous interview.
Speaking of which, how do you think Varly gets ready for games?
/yeah, I went there
//no, I’m not proud of it
IS PAЯTY NOW
If Varly can generalize so can I...
I prefer not to be with Russian women because 99% of them just care about money. It’s better to share expensive things with people that don’t expect it like air and water.
Eh, we shouldn’t get our knickers in a twist over it. Yes, there are attractive American women. But there are also plenty of “heavyset” American women. And let’s be honest, there are more of these sorts of women in the US than in any other country.
"My face is my mask."
by Jake Shapiro on Aug 5, 2009 11:20 AM EDT up reply actions
having spent a week in Russia (St. Petersburg) I can say that there are plenty of hot Russian women, plenty of ordinary women, and some women that could stand to be on a diet.
Because now I can justify browsing and commenting during the work day with the argument that I am promoting my business.
by Sombrero Guy on Aug 5, 2009 11:28 AM EDT up reply actions
cheap shot, but Mrs. Malkin and Mrs. Ovechkin are not exactly silm and sexy ladies, and last time i checked, they were Russian.
I think it depends where you hang out too.
Invite Varly to go people watching with me on a warm evening in Clarendon and his opinion will surely change.
Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*
*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night
yeah, the ratio of tall skinny hot russian blonde women was much higher in the two clubs we went to when compared to say, a museum or grocery store.
Because now I can justify browsing and commenting during the work day with the argument that I am promoting my business.
by Sombrero Guy on Aug 5, 2009 11:38 AM EDT up reply actions
Or Hooks and you have a different definition of talent.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
Maybe I’m just cranky because I’m not particularly fond of that area. Or maybe I’ve been forever spoiled for having to college in the South.
I beg to differ
Washington D.C. was recently named the fittest city in America. Take that Varly!
/Off to IHOP for lunch
by Cluster on Aug 5, 2009 12:07 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Well he also spent most of his year in Hershey, so he may not be talking about DC. DC may not be the fattest place I’ve ever been but it’s also not the most attractive place either.
by Rob Parker on Aug 5, 2009 12:09 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
A lot of average women in DC look better than average women elsewhere because they dress very well and take care of themselves. YMMV.
you poor dear. My last visit to Vegas just reconfirmed that the NHL should try to put a team in Sin City. Such creative marketing concepts would be available…
from the house that Red Jesus built
A new casino called Valhalla with a Norse God theme. Team operations subsidized by gambling. Private arena so no bad lease with the city. Tons of people looking for “something” to do. A population just looking for a real pro team. The Las Vegas Berserkers would be a total success.
my buddy in F/B (no relation) at Aramark in LV says hockey would hit the ceiling with potential fan base pretty quickly….and really, who cares if they don’t get their sales receipts at the gate? They’d make it up in some kind of Ovechkin “Hot Stick” Slots by the end of the first.
from the house that Red Jesus built
Exactly. They could keep the ticket sales cheap and fill the place. Bill it as family entertainment. Their ECHL team is top 10 in ECHL attendance. I am convinced it could work. Just picture a Viking Funeral for a jersey retirement ceremony. I seriously have this all figured out. Now, anyone have funding?
As did I, with a brief prison term stopover in New Jersey in between. Lived in Henderson, and went to a few Wranglers games. Always entertaining.
do you think the NHL would sail there? I know it won’t be on Bettsy’s watch but I am all in, as it were.
from the house that Red Jesus built
Ever been in a Vegas casino? An ice rink wouldn’t be anything new to these guys.
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
Casino people. It’s COLD in there.
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
ok, right : )
Frankly, I think the most challenging issue from an arena perspective is making sure the ice is playable: that’s a lot of mice spinning in their wheels in the basement.
from the house that Red Jesus built
Well, people manage to go skiing in the UAE
by red army line on Aug 5, 2009 2:09 PM EDT up reply actions
The ice is surprisingly not a problem. Vegas is dry. Humidity is a bigger problem than heat because once you cool a building it’s easier to keep cold if it’s dry. I never had a problem with the ice in Vegas, not like I do at Kettler.
Well, F&B’s comments above seem to show he thinks a team would work there, but my gut feel has always been that it wouldn’t. Out of the three key factors this article mentions-ownership, market, and arena, I think the biggest question mark would ultimately be the market. For sure, they wouldn’t get a team until a new arena was approved. But Vegas is comprised of transplants and transient tourists, which I don’t think can sustain a franchise long-term. The big question is: does the NHL want to risk trying to build another fanbase from the ground up?
But Vegas is comprised of transplants and transient tourists, which I don’t think can sustain a franchise long-term.
One could say the same of DC.
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
Except with DC, there’s government jobs and an endless sprawl of suburbs. In Vegas, well, I’m guessing most of the people that live/work in the city are supporting the casinos, and outside the city limits is an endless expanse of desert.
not true at all, actually. “DC is a transient city” is a myth. Certain professions, certain neighborhoods are a bit more transient, but even then, people tend to move to DC and never leave. The number of people born in the greater DC area and stay in the greater DC area most or all of their lives is comparable to the national average. It’s really easy to see something like “DC had X number of resident and x% of them left during a calendar year.” What isn’t as easy is how many of those people moved to MoCo or Arlington or where ever. Or the reverse, when statistics say “DC gained X residents.” How many of them just made the quick move like I did from suburbia to the city because they want to be closer to all the city offerings (and shorter commute!)? LOTS.
not true at all, actually. "DC is a transient city" is a myth. Certain professions, certain neighborhoods are a bit more transient, but even then, people tend to move to DC and never leave.
If true, that doesn’t change the original assertion that DC has a lot of “transplants and transient tourists”.
The number of people born in the greater DC area and stay in the greater DC area most or all of their lives is comparable to the national average.
Source?
I’ll see if I can dig it up, both the original Marc Fisher column and the raw numbers he used. But looking at the statistics of the whole region, rather than just the city of Washington, the greater DC area is no more transient than the national average. The growth rate of people moving to the region from other places in the country isn’t abnormally high, either.
I found it, and I have to say that I don’t find it particularly convincing because (1) he doesn’t do a lot of comparing apples to apples in it (2) he has no decent way of measuring whether or not people in the DC metro area are more transient than others.
Okay, a higher proportion of people living in DC were born in DC than people living in Seattle were born in Washington. That doesn’t mean the percentage of people living in the DC metro area who were born in the DC metro area is higher than the percentage of people living in metro Seattle who were born in metro Seattle.
Plus the cities below DC on this list – Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Miami, Las Vegas, etc are all regarded as cities of transplants as well.
we’re just going to have agree to disagree on this. I don’t think the region is any more transient that most major cities. Transient, to me, is a place where people are constantly coming and going, and that’s not the case here. People come to the region because of its various offerings, stay here, put down roots, and establish themselves.And those of us who were born here tend to stay here or leave briefly and come back.
I don’t think it’s an issue of agreement or disagreement, either DC is more transient than other major cities or it’s not – and I don’t have the answer on it.
Now you’ve got me all curious about it and I don’t know where to go to find the applicable data!
Don’t you have an in at Census?
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
It looks to me like the Census doesn’t collect that kind of data – they only ask what state people were born in on the ACS long form, and not anything about whether/which a person was born in a Metropolitan Statistical Area.
So does that mean the article cited above is actually using the best available data to draw conclusions?
yeah, its a bit of a head scratcher. I know the census is used for things like representative and tax allocation, but as more and more cities become regional hubs without regard to state lines, it seems to me that the localities, at the very least, would want to have a better handle on that sort of information.
It’d be nice to know, if just to satisfy my curiosity. Maybe it’d be possible by pulling data from multiple sources – I have no idea.
I’d especially like to look at historical data. My impression is that this area exploded with transplants after WWII, giving rise it’s transient city reputation and that a higher and higher percentage of the city is now made up of the children of baby boomers who moved here in that time frame, resulting in more people with roots in the area.
I’d say that’s pretty accurate. I’d guess that the under 35 crowd is the largest percentage of people who are born and stuck around in the DC area (despite the hordes of college students and Hill slaves), in part because the city is no longer viewed as a hellhole and there’s considerable opportunity for work beyond the government since the mid-1990s.
One could say the same of DC.
I think it’s a poor comparison in this case. D.C.‘s metro population is 5.3 million, whereas Vegas’ is 1.8 (both numbers from Wiki, but referenced from Census Bureau figures).
The tourism focus and round-the-clock nature of Vegas is so unique. You having a sizeable chunk of the local workforce that literally doesn’t see the light of day. DC also had established itself as capable of sustaining multiple sports franchises at the time the Caps were founded in ’74.
Simply put, I think it would be like the NHL trying to put a franchise in Disney World. Lots of people, lots of cash being flashed, but how do you grab their attention…..long term.
Lots of people, lots of cash being flashed, but how do you grab their attention…..long term.
be competitive and win right away.
from the house that Red Jesus built
Sounds so simple doesn’t it?
An expansion team winning right away ain’t gonna happen (‘96 Panthers were an outlier), and a relocated franchise’s roster will probably not be in great shape either.
PHX has the rights to a lot of young talent. If they move it won’t be hard to make them a playoff team in 2 years. It would take longer to make an expansion team competitive, but not that much. There are a lot of talented players that could probably play larger roles so you could at least put together a team that could battle right away. Top draft picks are closer to contributing now than they’ve ever been because of youth development and if you give expansion teams top picks the two drafts before their first game then they’ll have plenty of talent to be off and running.
Does anyone else secretly (secretly super deep down) hope that Zherdev decides to come to the Caps for 1m?
by DrinkingPartner on Aug 5, 2009 12:08 PM EDT reply actions
Nikolai Zherdev: All the frustrations of Alex Semin with 70% of his talent!
Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*
*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night
by Hooks Orpik on Aug 5, 2009 12:11 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Dear lord no.
Why go for a poor man’s Semin when you’ve got the real, enigmatic thing?
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
By the way, a hell of a career for the ninth rounder
nearly 1000 games (and almost 1PIM/gm…solid)
I was not aware he was the key piece* in the Mathieu Schneider salary dump→ATL deal
from the house that Red Jesus built
Hmmm. Anyone else think that the Caps PR crew might need to sit the Russians down when they come in for training camp? This isn’t the first potentially inflammatory interview that’s gotten out in North America.
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
I don’t think it’s a problem. Semin doesn’t dig Crosby’s game. AO has sex. Varly likes skinny chicks. It’s not like any of these guys is openly racist/homophobic/Republican (kidding!).
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
As you said, breaking news: 23-year-old guys like sex.
I don’t think these are real bad, but it could get worse. Wonder if half of it is that everybody is bored.
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
I think with this latest glut of AO interviews and this Varly piece, part of it is that for 9 months or so out of the year, these guys are over here, so when they’re back in Russia they’re probably in higher demand than they otherwise might be (especially among non-hockey outlets). Add in the comfort of them doing interviews in their own language and different cultural norms, and it’s not hard to see why some “controversial” stuff comes out.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
No, it’s not. I’ve always understood why it does, the question now is whether the Caps feel like they need to do or say anything about it and whether it bothers them or not. I just don’t know whether it will.
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
It’d be wildly entertaining if these guys had an inside joke going to see who can say the most outrageous thing in an interview.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
It’d be wildly entertaining if these guys had an inside joke going to see who can say the most outrageous thing in an interview.
Old Russian game of “Can you top this?” LOL. Actually, i wouldn’t put it past Ovi, who loves the attention but must be a bit weary of answering the same questions over and over.
I’ll claim bragging rights since I found the original Varly interview and the googletranslate thingy made it clear what he said. Frankly, he’s entitled to his opinion and entitled to choose his partner for any reason he chooses. I certainly wasn’t offended.
I thought the rest of the interview was very interesting. I had been wondering if players had to drive themselves to DC if they get The Call in Hershey; now I know a car comes ’round and they go to the airport. (The real question is – how do they get back to Hershey?)
IS PAЯTY NOW
I remember Bryan Helmer had this problem (or maybe it was another guy?). The car got him in Hershey, took him to I want to say Pittsburgh for the game, then he flew back to DC with the team. He had no idea how he would get back to Hershey when the time came because his car was there and he was in DC.
And even though I typed “Russia,” I’d include “Sweden” for obvious reasons. Speaking of, I wonder what our fair-haired Swedish meatball is up to these days…
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
He’s ordering out for Danish. he and some other Swedes are doing some exhibition thingy in Denmark, according to Ice warrior.
IS PAЯTY NOW
Yeah, I read that. But I mean the salacious stuff. :)
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
He’s ordering out for Danish.
I see what you did there.
"The passion of our supporters cannot be contained by clothing."
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Southeast Standings
| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Florida
|
51 | 24 | 16 | 11 | 59 |
|
Washington
|
52 | 27 | 21 | 4 | 58 |
|
Winnipeg
|
54 | 24 | 24 | 6 | 54 |
|
Tampa Bay
|
51 | 23 | 23 | 5 | 51 |
|
Carolina
|
54 | 20 | 25 | 9 | 49 |
(updated 2.7.2012 at 3:17 AM EST)
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