Thursday Caps Clips: So Long, Simeon; Hello, Semyon
by J.P. on Aug 6, 2009 6:43 AM EDT
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Your savory breakfast links:
- From now on, it's Semyon Varlamov (until he decides to go with Semyon Cougar Varlamov, then
, then back to Simeon Varlamov). [Welcome to the Show] - Why the change? "Apparently, that's closer phonetically to how it's pronounced. In a related story, Jose Theodore's name will continue to be pronounced, 'Boooooooooooo!'" Zing! [Orland Kurtenblog]
- Adam Portzline's outlook for the 2009-10 Caps is plenty flawed, but fair overall (unlike, apparently, his take on the Leafs). [Columbus Dispatch]
- Washington Nationals centerfielder and former WHL player Nyjer Morgan likes to rock the red and is an Alex Ovechkin fan. [DC Sports Bog]
- Eric Fehr is "60-40" that he won't be ready for training camp after surgery on both shoulders back in May. [Capitals Insider]
- Catching up with Brian Pothier. [SouthCoast Today]
- The Caps are doing more to beautify D.C. than merely dating attractive blondes. [Capitals.com]
- Michael Nylander might not be "good enough" to play for the Caps right now, but with a few changes to his game, perhaps he could be. [Puckhead's Thoughts]
- Alexandre Giroux is back in the fold for Hershey, and they couldn't be happier in Chocolatetown. [John Walton Hockey, John Walton Hockey (again), HBH]
- A Flight of the Conchords-inspired take on the glut of defensemen on the Caps roster. [Sportstalkbuzz.com]
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You forgot to add Semyon “I only date dime pieces” Varlamov in there.
"The passion of our supporters cannot be contained by clothing."
by Bald Pollack on Aug 6, 2009 7:24 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Regardless, the man has good taste. In women, I mean, not necessarily in clothing or roller blades or not wearing belts or….
by DrinkingPartner on Aug 6, 2009 7:59 AM EDT up reply actions
I don’t know, I don’t think much of her taste in clothes in that shot either. She looks like she’s wearing a bathrobe.
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
I still think that McPhee would be well-served to wait until the trade deadline and see if he still needs that veteran D everyone keeps talking about. Maybe Woodsy can do something with the existing D. Maybe (okay, probably) one gets traded away later in the offseason around trainingcamp-ish or early in the regular season – after all, injuries do happen. Let’s see what folks already here have got and whether a coaching change is enough to cut it for the playoffs.
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
They can wait for a little while and let some guys develop but as long as Alzner doesn’t come into camp and fall on his face they need to find a spot for him to play. Carrying 8 D is not a good situation there are at least a couple guys that aren’t likely to be in the team’s future plans so they may as well move them when they have a chance.
Yeah, that was what I said, or tried to say. Go ahead and trade one away, let Alzner come up, and see what he’s got before buying another D. If you need one at the deadline, go ahead, but earlier than that would be a mistake, IMO.
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
Yeah I agree with that. Unless a player/offer you can’t refuse falls into GMGM’s lap I’d say let this roster settle until the deadline then make necessary adjustments.
I’d argue that any trade we try to make now will be cheaper than any trade we try to make at the deadline. Is the tradeoff worth it?
For the amount of time said player’s likely to be on the roster, I’d say so. Especially if Nyls comes off the books like some are expecting him to. I think it’s really important to give Alzner a good, solid shot this year and see what he can do over the long haul.
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
Not just Alzner, but Borque, Flash, Clark, Laich, BMo and the rest of the guys that we think can or might fill holes, but we don’t really know for sure yet.
Exactly so. The roster we’ve got should take us into the regular season okay, so let’s see what shakes out over the course of the year. Deadline deals are more expensive, but they’re shorter term, and like you said, having the clarity and freedom to work come the trade deadline is key (we found that out last year when we had too many contracts to do anything). Besides, if Nyls comes off the books like some are thinking he might, the question of cost is rather moot, yes? :)
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
I’m not sure what cost Murshawursha was referring to but the high cost of deadline deals that worries me is the compensation, not the salary. Teams are more desperate and there is more demand for those “missing pieces” so there are heavy bidding wars (where is D’ohboy?) for the few available players. A guy that should bring a 2nd round pick brings a 1st, etc. Just think about Brendan Witt.
Well, Nylander’s salary coming off the books wouldn’t change what we’d have to give up for a player at the deadline, it would just give us more options as to who we could get in return.
I agree with you guys IF GMGM decides to keep everyone we have on the roster now. But if he’s going to trade Mo and/or Jurcina now no matter what, then I think if he could get a veteran D for them, he should do it.
I feel like they’ll make sure Karl gets his playing time.
Not necessarily. It is GMGM and BB’s stated belief that the veterans have paid their dues, they have the experience, and they will have to be actively shoved aside by the youngsters. That was stated in the fan forum call a few weeks ago.
There’s also the issue of the salary cap. Right this minute, we are about $400K over the cap counting bonuses, if you don’t include Alzner. If you don’t count bonuses, we’re about $1.2M under the cap, but there’s no reason to believe that Alzner and/or Backstrom will not make their bonuses if they play a full season.
With the cap going down next year, somehow I doubt McPhee wants to defer the bonuses till next year, and really doesn’t want to use the bonus cushion for the inevitable need for injury callups. That means that the Caps would be well-advised to do a salary dump as well as a body dump. Either Mo or Jurcina could go for some package of prospects and picks, and they wouldn’t have to take a roster player back.
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
Not if you don’t need to make a trade. Letting a player develop and not making a trade is cheaper than making a trade now. A lot can happen between now and the trade deadline, presuming to know what we will need at this point is risky. At the deadline GMGM will have had a chance to see how Juice/Potsy/Erskine/Shamo/Alzner/Carlson have played and can determine which guys should stay and go. We don’t know if we’ll need help up front at the deadline. We don’t know which Bears are going to be able to step in and contribute. We should figure that all out before we speculate and make the trade. I agree that players are usually more costly at the deadline but the clarity of roster needs makes that cost worth it, IMO.
Agreed. And you forgot Schultz :)
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
Schultz needs to stay so that when Green gets Runner-up to the Norris this year he’ll at least lose out to his own teammate instead of some overrated conference rival.
by Rob Parker on Aug 6, 2009 8:47 AM EDT up reply actions 6 recs
Love…
…exciting and new.
Come aboard…
…we’re expecting you-u-u-u-u-u-u
Var-LAAAAAAAA-mov
…soon will be making another save.
Var-LAAAAAAAA-mov
…for fans he’ll be all the rave.
If you've read this far...seek help.
by ThePeerless on Aug 6, 2009 8:07 AM EDT reply actions 3 recs
Peerless, the next Americal Idol.
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
I’ve been giving WJFK’s new sportstalk a try the past couple of weeks, and without making any comment on that, I just got back to my desk and heard them talking about the video/interview. They’re planning to link it to their website shortly. So in that regard, it’s got the town talking about hockey in August.
Sort of.
I’m about done with Fehr. Dude seems absolutely incapable of staying healthy. I dunno, I suppose it’s only fair (Fehr?) to reserve judgement until we’ve seen a full season out of him, but then at this point I’m questioning whether that will ever actually happen.
I’m not quite ready to give up on him, but a young guy with two bad shoulders does not give me a warm feeling. And if Eric thinks he’s going to be ready for opening day, he should seek a second opinion. Frankly, if he’s ready by Thanksgiving, I’ll be shocked. Still, the plus that he has going for him is that he is young and recovery times are a lot quicker at that age than if you were, say, 36 (and Swedish) and coming off major shoulder surgery. I still think he can be a top six forward, but I also thought that about Pat Peake.
34 points in 109 NHL games… I don’t know. I guess those aren’t terrible numbers. He might still have potential, but at this point I think he’s going to be overtaken by another prospect (C-Bo?). I’d give him this season, and if he can’t stay healthy move him out.
But then, I was pushing to trade Flash two years ago, so take my opinion for what it’s worth (not much).
I’d give him this season, and if he can’t stay healthy move him out.
That’s probably accurate. This really is his make or break season. Next year I could see Osala pushing him out or maybe Gustafsson if he’s switched to the wing.
Aren’t we kinda seeing AnGus as Fehr 2? Potential out to wazoo, but injuries, injuries, INJURIES. Honestly, the way things are going, I’d more expect to see Finley take his spot at wing.
by DrinkingPartner on Aug 6, 2009 9:44 AM EDT up reply actions
He did have the back issues last year, but I don’t think you can call ‘crashing into the crossbar and getting a concussion’ injury prone… Just one of those freak sports injuries that you can’t do anything about.
by Murshawursha on Aug 6, 2009 12:54 PM EDT up reply actions
But bad luck runs in both of their careers, too….
by DrinkingPartner on Aug 6, 2009 10:40 PM EDT up reply actions
34 points in 109 NHL games… I don’t know. I guess those aren’t terrible numbers.
Fehr’s per minute stats are much better than his per game stats. So he may be better than this stat makes him out to be.
On the other hand, I’ve developed the pervasive impression that Fehr just isn’t doing the things in practice or games that would earn him more TOI. It’s nothing anyone on the team has directly said, but it’s what isn’t being said. I’m just left with the sense that he’s tough to coach, and that Flash gets more TOI because he consistently does what the team asks.
by Gould Old Days on Aug 6, 2009 4:09 PM EDT up reply actions
The guys over at The Puck Stops Here at Kukla’s Corner have been doing a series of player rankings using the Corsi Ratings. Today, they did a listing of the top 20 players players in the league based on adjusted Corsi ratings that take into effect playing time. The way they adjust is a little beyond me (I know a lot of people here are really into Corsi) but the rankings are really surprising. There are two Caps in the top ten and none of them are named Alex. One of them you’d kind of expect but the other… Well, let’s just say some of the haters might not be happy. Check it out here.
Nyjer Morgan seems like a cool guy. Then I looked him up on Wikipedia:
Morgan occasionally refers to himself as “Tony Plush”, which he says is his “gentleman’s name”.
Amazing.
"My face is my mask."
J.P. linked to the newly rechristened Semyon Varlamov’s SBN profile, and the first thing I noticed is the ad on the right side, “Find Your Russian Beauty Today!”
"My face is my mask."
on another note – i thought puck daddy’s breakdown of Nylander’s play was spot on, well said and clearly shows why his game doesnt translate to BB’s system. Hopefully he’ll be able to look in the mirror and realize the suggestions made to keep his career in the NHL going.
(Puckhead’s Thoughts, not Puck Daddy)
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
On Nyjer Morgan. The first thing I thought of was that it was a mash of NY and NJ.
I once knew of a family who named their daughters: Virginia, Georgia, and Carolina. Their son was named Kurt. I guess they had had any more girls, would the next one have been named Florida, Alabama, or Maryland?
Am I the only one that initially though he was named after the seed (why that would have been I don’t know, but that’s the only use of “nyjer” I know)?
I wish more people would resist the siren song of being cutesy with baby names. It might be funny for you, but your child has to live through school with that name.
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Delores Ibarruri
my nieces have the middle names of Adventure and Danger. My brother never should have been allowed to reproduce.
Yes, as in that. He actually referenced that in trying to explain to me “how awesome” it would be to have the middle name of Danger.
How about “Themthathas” ?
What?
from the house that Red Jesus built
by bigonetimer on Aug 7, 2009 6:24 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Or, if you have twins, Themsgotears and Themsgoteyes
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
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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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