Friday Caps Clips: Habs Strike First

Not to mention Green pulled a puck out of the crease that most likely would have been a goal.

DB – keep being rationale. In my downcast mood last night I thought back to F&B and all the others saying that the Pens would come back, that they were better and not to get too excited by an OTT win in game 1. Why can’t we have the same approach?

Like you, I think that, except for Poti’s inept clears and the “matador defense” on the 2nd Habs goal, I thought we played well enough to win. We are so far from being out the series.

Just bad Karma I guess. I am not on my way to the Bridge yet, but I would just like to see these guys win in 5-6. My heart cant take a 7 game series!

I thought Corvo had a good night all around, except for one bad clear in the third that did not amount to anything.

No problem with his cross-ice pass that Plekanec picked off in overtime and then scored on?

Then what is? He might as well be a orange cone out their sometimes because that’s how forwards treat him lately. Not giving up the ship at all here! We should still take this series, but come on…When the season is over the GMGM needs to take a long look at our D and the lack of it!

Nice.

Yesterday was brutal in terms of obvious bandwagoners trying to critique the team’s performance.

Truly inspired.

Rec’d. And turn it green people. A light treatment of the tragedy!

Nicky can counter very effectively w/o the elbow; I think both of those contacts were undisciplined (and uncharacteristic). I was surprised at how…cheesy the Caps penalties were; they didn’t get much value for their PIM at all.

You can’t replace him because he’d be pouty and disruptive. He has an "A" because the team thinks that what it takes to get him involved, because he’s not a natural leader.

Forgive me if I come off as rude, but its things like this that bother me about sports fans all the time. Do you actually KNOW he’s “not a natural leader” and that he’d be “pouty and disruptive”? Are you around the team all the time and intimate with each player’s innate personality?

And if you “move him over the summer” you’re still in the same boat, because you replace those minutes with either Sloan, Erskine, or Alzner, who has played a grand total of 51 games in the NHL and is by no means a sure thing.

These are some pretty ridiculous claims.

I don’t disagree and would note, FWIW, that Stecks got less SH TOI than Belanger, Laich and Gordon last night and none in OT, so maybe that part of the message has been received.

I would note that Steckel is the team leader in regular season SH FO win percentage, with 55% (186/336). However, as a note, Belanger, when combined with his time in Minny is at 56+ (he’s 9/20 in DC).

To blame Steckel as one largely responsible part of the PK’s ineptitude I would think is a little misplaced. His role, first and foremost, is to win the Caps control of the puck, which he does better than anyone in a Caps sweater this season. Once he’s won the puck, someone else has to do something with it.

Well seeing as this is a Capitals blog, I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t be considered a troll if I made fun of the Flyers

Nothing I saw last night was bad to my eyes, but it takes much to make me think something is flaggable. The Sid picture without subject line was the only true offense I took last night. That thing was hideous.

I noticed a lot last night, especially later in the game, the Caps were pretty much just non-existent in terms of puck possession. There were too many rushes into MTL’s zone that ended with one shot or a miss, and then MTL had possession and was moving the puck back up the ice again.

I remember at one point where it seemed like MTL had possession in the Caps zone FOREVER, to the point where I said “Man, this feels like a power play”, to which then Locker said on TV not 10 seconds later, “Its like a power play out here”.

I’m not sure I’m buying “illness.” Remember, it was initially reported that Nick was injured in Sunday’s game against Boston but later changed it to “illness.” It’s spring in the NHL – be appropriately skeptical.

Make that 60+ minutes.

Again, I’m not sure how true that is. Take away the 4-goal game and the Habs have really shut Ovi’s goal scoring down throughout his career, no matter who was D-ing him up.

Yeah, we were saying that Ovie needs to try taking the puck to the net or something. Anything other than shooting into kneepads from the top of the circle.

He did take them with speed at least once, but they had the middle so clogged up he couldnt cut over to the net successfully

On Versus, they pointed out that the same thing about the Habs D, but from a different perspective.

They said it made the Caps forecheck a bit easier or directed, because they could push the defensemen away from their natural side each time. To a certain extent, they were right, because several times, especially with Bergeron, the forecheck caused turnovers (14 – in alone, 21 – in alone).

IMO it’s solvable, at least temporarily by either:
1) get to the net, then shoot
2) not trying to float around the defenders, hold onto it a bit, wait for your teammates to catch up, develop a passing game and go for that perfect opportunity.

Did he even do that (#2) once last night? Felt like he was playing it alone.

I didn’t see Ovie’s usual speed last night. When he tried it, the D kept with him(all 3 of them).

He was the only person that looked normal on the PP, I thought.

Bergeron was second most on the team. One second behind Markov.

hahaha

meh… reply fail/computer choosing to mock him twice.

Yeah, sure, but Mike Wise brings it to a whole new level. You’d think his beloved Wizards were challenging for the top seed this year (or next year) and the Caps were in the basement.

On a similar topic, the Junkies aren’t much better. The only redeeming quality they have is that they aren’t trying to change the topic constantly, but sometimes how ignorant they are is just mind numbing. They just suggested the Caps should blow up the team and start over if they lose Saturday. Fire the coach, fire the GM, etc. Sigh.

Except with more love of Gilbert Arenas.

Yes you did. I’m drawn to Wise like being drawn to National Enquirer at the checkout line.

I know it’s crap, but it might, just one time, be interesting to read.

Shame on me.

Bug thanks for heeding requests and giving us said warning. Added minutes to my life for sure.

I was considering writing a fan post on this one. You can’t call his show. Because then you admit that you listen to the show when you must have the radio on as background and you are left with the tortured choices of Tony Kornheiser in the midday and Mike Wise who at least will broadcast from Kettler.

Wise just wants to be Tony Kornheiser at this point. It’s all about leverage. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he makes some of these errors on purpose just to get us mad enough to respond.

What has driven me out in the open is that I feel basic factual errors embarass us as a fan nation and put it a step above Wise to the editor who had to sign off on this article and establish it has having more journalistic integrity then say, oh, a blog post by a guy writing under a pseudonym who has hundreds of commenters checking to make sure that he isn’t slinging BS.

Because when the blog post by the guy writing under a pseudonym who has hundreds of commenters checking to make sure that he isn’t slinging BS is doing a much better than guy trying to get into Wilbon’s major media league and Kornheiser’s major media thing either the bloggers should get the newspaper guys jobs as independent contractors (probably not allowed due to some union or something) or the newspaper doesn’t have a right to exist.

I feel there is a deep parallel to the fate of public schools and newspapers as dying institutions but that is a completely different issue.

You should join my club, where I don’t even bother reading Wise, whatever the reason :-).

Also, the puck was bouncing like woah.

I’m not sure how much this had to do with the ice being brand new – they always repour it for the playoffs, because they have to repaint, and that’s done after they lay a few laters of ice – and how much has to do with spring / humidity / etc., but the ice was shite last night.

Maybe it’ll calm down by Saturday.

On the bright side, we’re done with basketball, right?

When he said, “come on, some of us have to work tomorrow,” my reply was, “fine, go home!”

Agreed. Add to that Semin needs to move his fucking feet and Ovechkin needs to be Ovechkin and we’ll be fine.

(FYI John, when you’re on a 2-on-1 with Boyd Gordon as your wingman. . . YOU’RE the goal-scorer, not Gordo. Shoot the damn puck.)

EXACTLY what I was thinking when that happened. Hard to get mad at the rookie, but that was so frustrating. Perfect time for a patented no look shot.

Means nothing.

Heh, I’m not sure how you don’t mentally prepare for a loss after how the first 60 minutes went in that game.

After Green clearly tripped whichever Canadien it was, didn’t the Caps get a 2 on 1? Or something like that? If they didn’t finish there then you knew it wasn’t finishing the Caps’ way.

And the fan reputation takes yet another hit.

I saw a woman flash boob last night. It was surreal. I was in 117 and she was two sections to my left. She kept looking up at either the 400s or the 200s and making the shirt-lift gesture. Then, all of a sudden, out they came. Weird.

agreed, i dont like the chant… but i kind of like the role of surly curmudgeon he played in he clip. not as an overview of all caps fans mind you, but just for my own amusement.

I’m sure his chant leading is exactly what got him on Canadian TV.

agreed. i mean really. REALLY.