Wednesday Caps Clips: Big Guns Get It Done

Area of Improvement: Paying extra for guaranteed delivery on giveaways for games just before Christmas. :)

I’d add “strong start” to the list.

A certain defenseman garnering his first assist of the season – Czech.

No stupid penalties , er, lazy offensive zone stick penalties by Sasha – Check
Hendy with a shit-eating grin while drawing a penalty – check
Joe B with a modest fashoinable suit that didn’t make my eyes bleed too much-Check

Completely ridiculous, off-balanced, back-foot shot by Semin that nailed the very corner of the net that few players in the world could make – check

Came out of the gate skating hard.

That was pretty much a perfect first 10 minutes, and it did a nice job setting the tone for the night.

Anyway, it was a good game. If they play like that, they can bean anyone.

Seems that for the Caps, Brouwer worked great on the “top” line but not so great on the 2nd line.

Yeah, who could’ve seen that coming?

The second line sure was sweet. Not so sure about the top line – Brouwer’s goal was on the PP, and the AO goal was an Alzner production (a Karl Alzner joint?) moreso than anything his linemates did. We’ve all seen what happens in the past when you rely on Laich to drive offense, but maybe in a grindy, forecheck-y system, they can produce some results short term.

your snark, it is overwhelming

He did make a pretty huge Schultzian (not to be confused with Schultz, Ian, yes relation) mistake.

on those long bus rides, he was also reading CI.

Ha. Was wondering where that was headed…

Go for it.

https://plus.google.com/photos/111849486183254240776/albums/5688439224478590433

Should go right to the album. If you navigate out to the main page, I have some practice photos and game photos from the Blues and Panthers. Also Bears and Baby Pens and last Caps Con photos (taken with a far, far inferior camera).

5-5 is rather short…

As tightly as their games have been and probably will continue to be contested, the D has a lot of pressure on them. Namely, don’t screw it up. Schultz did last night, and we saw the result.

The thing I was most pleased about? They showed some spark. After looking a little logey in COL, they were trying hard. I think I’m seeing buy-in from the core contributors.

thank baby jebus for small favors.

Anyone who thinks McPhee hasn’t done his job has only to look at where the team was in 2003-04 and where they are now. George built this team up from what was barely an expansion team. He traded off most of the veterans of the Poile era, gained some prospects and made some excellent draft selections to build this team into a consistent winner. The GM’s job is to provide talent, and George has done that remarkably well. Sure, the Caps were lucky when they won the Ovechkin lottery, but the player they likely would have gotten that year (Malkin) isn’t that big a step down from Ovechkin (and Pens fans would argue Malkin is a step up…)

That the Caps have fallen out of the playoffs in the past 4 seasons isn’t a product of George not getting good players. It’s product of players not showing up with the playoff bell rings. Of course some of this criticism falls on Ovechkin, but his numbers get better in the playoffs. Think the Caps might have gotten farther in 2010 if Semin had contributed more, or Mike Green (who was hurt)?

McPhee is not the place to look… it’s in the locker room. They made a change there, bringing in Dale Hunter… we’ll see what happens. So far the results are looking fairly good.

That article is so shocking flawed its unbelievable. Ted has his issues, no doubt, but this article pretty much swung and missed at every one.

How can an blog who fancies themselves a local sports outlet claim that Ted has never “blown up a team” or “traded a star”. Posts like that give aid and comfort to those who claim no one in DC knew about hockey until 2005.

Her name is Kathryn Tappan. She’s admittedly got lots of poise in front of the camera and not unpleasant to look at, but she spends most of her time as the studio host for the Islanders on MSG, so her hockey worldview is pretty well skewed, since every night she has to convince viewers to stick with Islander broadcasts.

I hit rewind on my VCR to go back and listen “two in a row?” I need to check on that. Checked the Caps schedule on my phone to see if somehow the Caps managed to play a game without it ever even registering on my radar.

No, no, I’m not crazy.

Tappen’s actually pretty good, usually. I can excuse the “Mike” goof (Mike McPhee played ~750 NHL games). Two in a row? Not so much.

Hopefully that will change with the format and the new “NHL Tonight” show. I hope they keep the same format of just showing highlights with no commentary.

Are you sure she didn’t mean two in a row at home?

I find it rather interesting that with our Russian contingent at 3 players now, the only player that plays like a Rooskie is Semin. Who would have thought you’d find a power forward that plays like a modern Mario Lemieux in Russia? If Ovechkin was from Ontario Don Cherry would adore the way he plays the game.

Orlov has struck me as quite a find too. Hard checking, great hands, and making the adjustment to the North American game way faster than I had anticipated. He makes mistakes, but his skating is so good he’s able to recover more often than not.

So when was the last time 3 of the young guns potted goals in one game….That was great to see.

JP tweeted that it last happened October 30………………………….2010.

I guess it depends on how you define “soon” but I think he’ll have to sit for a bit. I don’t think it’ll be the nail in the coffin but it will scare off some people. I wouldn’t want to tell him how to handle his business, but maybe reflecting and sitting out a bit could have helped. At the very least, maybe wait for a better job to open up (although how much better does it get than having your dream job in SoCal?).

I think he’ll get another chance, but I also think he would garner legit interest in the KHL that would keep him from the AHL, if he was willing to go.

“We’re all part of a team,” he said. "Everybody’s got to take responsibility for this. We just have these breakdowns. We can look so good for short periods of time or even longer periods of times. And then all of a sudden we get out of the game plan and I don’t know. … I haven’t figured it out yet.

That quote from Boudreau look eerily familiar to anyone else?

Pierre LeBrun was saying on TSN’s Insider Trading last night that one can expect the Bobby Ryan rumours start up again in the new year after the roster freeze is lifted.

Far be it for me to dish out career advice, but if I were in BB’s ear I would’ve said pass on the Ducks’ offer and go on TV for the rest of the season. There will be another half-dozen openings next summer.

13 of that is Fowler though. I know this because him, Chad LaRose, and Eric Staal are killing The Wombshifters right now. They’re a combined -46.

Watching Anaheim’s defense is like watching a litter of puppies skittering around a linoleum floor after a chew toy.

Was it a bad turnover? Locker said it was bad, but it seemed to me like he had trouble settling the puck down and just lost control of it. I was thinking it was the ice – which plagued NSH at times last night, too.

Who is taking the “procussion” perspective?

I heartily endorse that FanPost. it is beautiful and can in no way be improved upon.

It’s like the reverse “Go Flyers”

Judging by his comments, he seems to be a Pens fan. This makes sense now.