Saturday Caps Clips: Still Winless After Windy City

Got to see the Ducks @ San Jose last night, and was fortunate that both teams put out a bunch of premier players (in front of backup goalies).

Firstly, HP Pavilion is a really nice venue with great sightlines. My $51 ducket put me in the upper deck, but the steeply pitched grandstand put me right “over” the net the Sharks shot at twice. And shoot they did—at one point early in the third they had outshot the Ducks 36-6 (and outscored them 4-1). Dan Ellis Problems, big time.

The game wasnt even that close; the Sharks were constantly on the PP—including at the start of the 2nd when the Ducks were assessed a minor for delay of game for not appearing in a timely manner for the start of the period. Never seen that ever. Shanny has his zebras in midseason form already.

For the third, I availed myself of a killer seat in the lower bowl right on the goal line ten rows up, thanks to a snoozing HPP usher. And while I didn’t see any goals, I was amused by the SJ fans and their peculiar cheers, notably with the Jaws theme accompanied by fans using their arms to “chomp” the Ducks before a PP began. There was a lot of that, aswell as the Anaheim-customized duck callers employed by what seemed like hundreds of fans in unison, with “Dux sux” raining down during timeouts.
It didn’t help the Ducks’ cause that SJ was dominating them in every facet of the game. A ton of young(er) fans having a good time.

The SJ offense looked solid—Thornton looked pissed off and intense throughout the game. He’s ready.

What really stood out though was the Sharks D, specifically Brent Burns. He’s a beast—and not in the cheeky McGuire vernacular. He destroyed anyone who dared get in his way, highlighted by a crushing pancake hit on Corey Perry in the first 10 minutes of the game. Corey was lucky to get up, frankly, and the tone was set. He is going to be a difference maker for SJ, and coupled with the already formidable Douglas Murray and slewfooting Dan Boyle (who nevertheless can really pick corners in full stride), and SJ has a brick wall on the blueline to go with a deep and balanced offense.
Other highlights: Pavelski is a stud, and a pleasure to watch. Ditto for Marleau. I regretted not seeing Couture, but he was hardly missed. SJ is going to be a super tough out (again) this year; if they get some goaltending, they can take Vancouver out and go to the finals.

I think my favorite panel was the kids press conference with John Carlson and Karl Alzner. They both did very well and told some funny stories. During the panel I was on google chat sending the interesting answers to a friend who wasn’t there so I basically have a transcript. Here it is if you’re interested:

What’s the toughest thing about being in NHL (something like that)?
John says travel is tough. Karl says playing against guys like Ovie is tough.

What cars do they have?
Karl has a SUV, audi sports car, and black black truck, a toyota tundra to fit in Calgary because everyone has a truck there. John has SUV and a car.

Who is their favorite teammate?
John says Karl is his favorite teammate. They gravitated to each other since they were drafted, saw each other in camps, etc. They lived in same building last year and car pooled a lot. Karl said he is good friends with John and Beagle, and Fehr is a good buddy of theirs.

What is their favorite place to play?
John says he has huge family so he likes to play in NYC, New Jersey, or Boston where his family is.

Who do they like to hit?
John likes to hit Crosby (he likes to hit good players so they don’t score). Karl likes to hit Avery.

What are their superstitions?
John not superstitious. Erskine is very superstitious. Karl used to be. Karl had to tap his stick 88 times during national anthem because he was born in 1988. Also had to make the shape of the maple leaf from Canadian flag during anthem with his stick. Played with a tape ball (John claimed Karl tossed it for 15 minutes). Karl got rid of his superstitions.

What was their favorite part of last season?
Karl favorite part of last season was Winter Classic. John favorite part the whole season, because it was his first year.

When did they start to play hockey?
John changed to D at 15 or 16, his coach just told him he was going to play D. John started skating at 4 or 5 years, started playing hockey a couple years later. His dad played hockey and got his brother and him into it, they really liked it. Karl stated playing hockey at 5 yrs. Karl started on D at 7 or 8.

What they do in their free time?
John plays Call of Duty, likes to hang out, relax, watch tv hang out with friendsm play golf. Karl has two dogs, likes taking them to dog park. Karl likes reality tv. John likes Modern Family, Mad Men, 30 Rock.

What is their favorite animal?
John liked monkeys as a kid. Loved to go to the zoo and watch them. He had birthday parties at rain forest cafe every year as a kid and got a new stuffed animal monkey. Karl like killer whales (I think he said dogs too).

What is their biggest fight?
Neither of them really fight. John’s biggest fight was when mojo got jumped last season. Karl never had a fight in NHL, had one fight in junior.

John loves being a Cap, one of the best if not the best place to play is Verizon. Karl agreed.

Who is their worst enemy?
John said his worst enemy is himself, Karl agreed.

John loved 24/7, Karl did as well. John said there was a lot of cameras, so bumping into them was the only thing he disliked. I think Karl said the guy who interviewed Hendricks for the black eye shot said that was the best interview he ever filmed (although I might be remembering this wrong).

Why did they pick their numbers?
Ovie and Nicky got to pick their numbers, most others don’t. John’s favorite number is 11. John just got assigned his number 74 but he is fine with it (4+7=11). Karl is 27 for Scott Neidermeyer. He was 27 in junior, assigned 47 with the Caps, but as something special for him, the staff gave him 27. Green also wanted to be 27, so Karl felt special that he got it.

What is their favorite food?
Karl loves sweets. John loves home cooking and Coldstone ice cream, other sweets.

What is their favorite color?
Karl’s favorite color is blue. John doesn’t have favorite color but mentioned red or green.

What do they do between periods?
Karl takes skates off between period, sometimes some of his gear if he’s hot. John tapes his stick, rests, drinks Gatorade.

Who is the hardest goalie to score on?
They didn’t really answer this (don’t score much). John’s best goal scoring memory is scoring on Brodeur twice, he grew up a fan.

Something about worst injuries last season?
John cracked his fibula at beginning of season by blocking Chara shot. He said he could barely walk or skate. Karl mentioned his back or neck thing (I forget).

John was impressed with the fan that made him birthday cake with his jersey.

What famous person would they like to met?
John wants to meet Denzel Washington, John Q was one on his favorite movies.

John’s funny story: as a kid, every christmas his uncle would give him a puck autographed by a hockey player, usually famous goalies. Finally a couple years ago his uncle told John that the uncle signed the pucks. John almost cried when he found out.