Wednesday Caps Clips: Slow Start, Finish in Philly

He did rip that killer backhander off the crossbar…

Oh for F*’s sake here we go again…

Wow, another Spinal Tap reference (see the Off Topic thread on Don Kirshner….)

At this point, I’ll take a mistake or two, because it looks like he’s really gaining confidence and starting to show off some of his speed and skills. I don’t know how sending him to the A at this point would improve anything about his game.

I also don’t know where their mythical “playmaking, veteran center” would have come from. Didn’t they spend the entire summer screaming for a “crease clearing defenseman” and wondering when they were going to get a guy like DJ King because they were tired of the Caps being a “finesse” team?

Would Johansson get more time on Hershey ice? Getting right to the point, would he supplant Keith Aucoin as the number one center there? If PT (and the apprenticeship that goes along with it is the point), then his role there — and the club’s role in his development — need to be well defined and agreed upon. This is not a more marginal prospect such as Perreault or Beagle (two different players, but ones getting similar ice time with the Caps). This is a player expected to play a significant role going forward. He can’t be getting 12 minutes a night in Hershey while the Bears are chasing a third consecutive Calder Cup.

The Ewell writeup – written by the intern.

That is all (except that I agree with you completely; what a great piece).

Rec’d. It’s the normal OFB stuff. Keep the theme going when its already become irrelevant. I read their stuff much less than I used to because of exactly what you state about them being at their best when they don’t right about the game itself.

he wants to send down the guy who was the Caps best forward this past week? I’m nominating pucksandbooks for Minister of Silliness.

In that perilous, pressure-packed moment in his own end Tuesday night,

A lot of alliteration from anxious anchors placed in powerful posts…

I think that MoJo is showing himself to be a find 3C for the current team, which is good, because while 2C is the more pressing problem, there were concerns over 3C as well (as Stecks can’t hack it there).

Nope, but blocked shots are a skill for the blocking team, so it makes sense to exclude them, I guess. Fenwick% and scoring chance% almost have a 1:1 ratio (at least for the 08-09 Oilers).

Make sure for QoC you’re weighting by TOI faced against the other dudes.

That makes it too complicated. I need a “quick and dirty” system of one number which I can use for each scoring chance.

If, for example, a line with Crosby or Stamkos has an avg Corsi of 5 but one with PlayerX is -.5, then that tells us something, no?

Unfortunately, don’t have the numbers. It’s all this season, but BtN doesn’t have a filter-by-game functionality. For ~the first 15-20 games Carlson wasn’t with Alzner, and since then he has been. I remember pretty clearly noting in my head (perhaps somewhere on the internet too) that Carlson at one point had an 8.8 Corsi Rel despite the toughest zonestart—JP may have noted it in Ups and Downs—but now it’s not nearly that high.

Too soon.

Remember your comment about snark before 9am?

I would not have placed money on 8-90-25 as our top line at any point in the past.

Last night the spaghetti stuck for me. Let’s see what happens. Chemistry on teams/line-ups is a non-scientific thing.

I had to put my head in my hands when Chimmer decided to settle that pass down alone in front of Bobrovsky instead of trying to redirect it toward the net.

At this point, I’d like to throw half this roster at the wall, see if they stick.

I like Chimmer on the top line, at least for a little bit here.

Chimmer is excellent at one thing: zone entry. His speed allows him to the back the D off when he carries the puck and retrieve the puck on a dump and chase.

Right now, Ovechkin is absolutely brutal getting the puck in the zone and keeping there. Far too often, possessions that begin with Ovie carrying the puck up ice are ending 2 seconds after he crosses the blue line with a spoiled shot or bungled curl and drag. It’s getting to the point where I dread watching him tote the puck on the rush. He’s being far too desperate and direct in his approach to the net. Unless he has a distinct advantage (3 on 2 etc), he needs to settle for establishing possession deep (and not just hook off just inside the blue line where bad turnovers happen) in the O zone. Chimmer can help with this. It’s the one thing he excels at.

With the way teams are playing Ovie, his offense will flow from getting his forecheck on and cycling the puck down low. If BB can’t Ovie to commit seriously to that style of play, BB is probably going to get himself fired. I mean, Ovie is always talking about getting pucks deep, but then goes out and fires shot after shot into the D’s stick or flubs a skill move with 2 D back. Someone needs to hold his feet to the fire. Getting pucks deep applies to you too, Ovie. It’s not just for muckers.

Put another way, how much better or worse the team is with you on the ice.

Ah, I gotcha. Makes sense. Thanks.

I just pointed that out to him. I don’t think it changes the conclusion much, but the numbers should be right.

LOL

Interesting. So would you evaluate Vezina candidates on something in addition to the “main” statistics?

No on Quick. He’s back to being human again.

Bobrovsky?

Might explain why he had such trouble getting back on Carter’s goal.

I was sitting in row 6 Center ice last night and watched Neurvirth stretching during warm ups and was amazed at the splits he was doing…for what that’s worth. But hearing about icing his groin last practice certainly has me scratching my head.

“X” marks the spot!… just teasin’

Whew! That gets me out of writing a birhday bio ;)

Somewhat indirectly, Cote leads us to Michael Nylander, the first time around..

Draft pick to Harford for Cote. Hartford takes Nikolishin.

Caps pick up Nikolishin for Curtis Leschyshyn, after he played just 2 games for the Caps.

Nikolishin traded to Chicago with Chris Simon for Michael Nylander.

And then Nikolishin ended up in DC as well for Curtis Leschyshin (someone check the spelling, I’m too lazy to look it up…)

“Those who can’t teach, teach gym.” – Woody Allen.

Rather, 8th on the Caps in hits, 16th in blocked shots…he’s 50% in the dot!

FWIW, he’s also not balding – that’s a done deal.

Sounds like a good topic for an OFB article!

Not me. While the Philly game was hardly a must-win, the Islander and Toronto games are and the best chance for the Caps to win rests with Varly or Neuvirth in net. Those are two games where the Caps need to walk away with at least three points and Holtby is just not NHL-ready right now.

We certainly have the wonky groin brigade covered, front and center. What can I say?

But will Stretch get a game?

Yikes.

Don’t see a problem in starting Holtby against the Isles tomorrow.

Wonder if that is why Neuvy started even though he looked hurt pre-game, they may have known Varly had issues too.

Wow, Varly too? He’s been carrying this team in 2011. With even Jose Theodore level goaltending we’d be in deep shit.

Holtby would probably be willing to trade his stick for that, though.

Thanks Ghost for the kind words—glad you enjoyed.

Thanks J.P. Did his son play hockey also?

Looks like he’s about Chimera’s age.

Thanks for the kind words and support Becca :). Before you said anything about his b-day today, I was thinking about what to write on Sylvain for his b-day and if you hadn’t said anything I would have angled you into the piece because i knew you are such a big fan of him.

Awesome. Thanks for the addendum b.orr .

I remember that!! Somewhere I have a picture, I’ll have to look when I get home. Also had sunglasses on, he was having a blast :)

There was a bar on the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk (just north of Miami) where all the Quebecers would gather and play Acadian music with the accordions and the fiddles. That was a while back but it was pretty great. Sorta like New Orleans with stone crab instead of crawfish.

Thanks for the added details topshelf. :)

The way this season is going Mike Bossy in his prime is coming back.

there’s little to make me think Chimera is a legitimate top line forward

This seems to me to be getting caught up in labels a little too much.

If Chimera brings strength to the front line, and Ovie & Backstrom start playing great again, I couldn’t care less what we label Chimera as.

I’ll label him Ovie & Backstrom’s new line mate.

Yeah, I kind of doubt it.

This is the only thing he’s quoted with in CI’s recap

“After every game we say if we score one goal ugly we think like okay, this gets us going. It has to be every game, working hard,” Alex Ovechkin said. “All guys in this room understand if we work hard and if we use our skill nobody can stop us. Right now you can see first two periods … we have probably four shots on net, six shots on net. That’s not our game. We have to go to the net, find the rebound, crash the net, make some hits and be angry.”

And like I said, if he had “called out the system”, it would probably be a massive story in the hockey world.

Every year in September we assure ourselves that the regular season means dick. Then we proceed to get damned good and angry when the team plays like it shares that feeling.

I’ve seen what happens when the team is mailing it in in March after ripping off wins in January.

If they’re still scuffling in March, I’ll get a little worried. Until that time, I won’t.

Well, when you are used to dangling pucks on a string and laying down a dominant forecheck (last year), and you go to dump and chase (this year), I dont think the problem is lack of effort, but mental focus. The boys are even learning a new way to tie their skates again, it seems. That second period comparison to the Flyers was scary.

The key is familarity: these Flyers are used to each other, and guys like Giroux who looked like Matty and MoJo are just killing it now. Losing the known quantities, Flash, Semin, even Brads has had a measurable influence.

 I dont know if the 2C question will be further addressed in time for the playoffs, but I think we’re staring at our likely 2C right now. It is obvious there is enough skill to compete and win. I think more patience is probably in order, because I dont see a deadline deal happening for a 2C.

NBC does have Sunday night Football still, unless that ends after this season

Whoa, careful… complimenting the League is gonna kill your street cred.

NFL on Versus? That is really laughable.