Saturday Caps Clips: Happy National Hockey Card Day

Karl Alzner did his weekly hit with LaVar Arrington and Chad Dukes and talked a bit about that Jets game (and, presumably unintentionally, refers to them as Atlanta).

I think you mean ‘wistfully’.

Re the RMNB pictures of casino night: Brooks Laich’s chin could change a tire by itself, and it probably broke his stick the other night.

Without clicking through, I’m going to guess Bud Light and/or Heineken.

Gormley is a piece of work.

By making Knuble a healthy scratch on Thursday night, coach Dale Hunter ran the risk of not only alienating his veteran winger, but dividing his locker room. And that could mean a quick deal is in the works for Knuble, who is on a one-year, $2 million deal.

Um, OK. It could just as easily not be the case, but whatever.

But if the Capitals packaged Knuble in a trade that included defenseman Jeff Schultz and a draft pick or a prospect, could they get what they really need – a gritty second-line forward like Tampa’s Dominic Moore or Carolina’s Tuomo Ruutu or maybe the Islanders’ P.A. Parenteau, each of whom are expected to be available as rentals?

Not even sure where to begin here. Ruutu is staying put, no? Schultz and a pick for Dom Moore, huh? And what the hell, we’ll throw in Knuble. For a rental.

Regarding the bad taste in beer comment – you realize that’s probably outside the control of the attendees at a sponsored event, right? Either the location is controlling the spirits served, or there could be a corporate sponsor involved. You’re not there for the food and drink, and every event like this I’ve ever been at, it’s been a good thing that expectations were low.

Beautiful day here at Kettler. Mike Green is practicing with the team :)

Wise aside, I’ve enjoyed 106.7. Rouhier is a class act. Have fun :D

The Swedes beat the Russians 4-1 in the second match of the “Sweden Games” round of the Euro Hockey Tour.

The officials called a bunch of penalties in this game, and Tre Kronor scored three of their four goals on the PP. Russia also scored its lone goal on the PP.

Kuznetsov did not factor in the scoring, or the penalties.

In reference to the National Hockey Card Day, does anyone know any shops in the area participating? The shop that I normally go to didn’t even know what I was talking about, so I was slightly disappointed (C&C Sports Cards and Comics in Gaithersburg, in case you were wondering). The only other “local” shop that I know of closed about 6 months ago (Burton’s in Frederick, also in case you were wondering).

Listening to JP’s dulcet tones on the radio while streaming the Cats-Devils and watching the Jets-Pens. I am on hockey overload.

Nice job on 106.7 J.P.

Roenick’s article is hardly analysis. Why exactly does every team need a singular identity? That’s a stupid and antiquated notion, I think. Can anyone honestly pin an identity on every one of the 30 teams? I can think of a few…Detroit: puck possession team, Boston: hard forechecking/cycling team, the New York Rangers: consistently bailed out by great goaltending, Vancouver: good at everything, Florida: spare parts. Am I forgetting anything?

To me it’s the pundits clamoring for the run’n’gun 09-10 Caps, the same ones who slammed them for being run’n’gun.

Also, Brooks’ girlfriend…wow, go Brooks.

I recently came into possession of a handful of cards from 1975 and 1976. One of them is particularly odd and I’m wondering if any Hockeycard-o-philes can provide an explanation. The player is identified as Pierre Larouche and his team as the Penguins. The accompanying photo, however, seems to feature someone in a Caps uni (the name could be “Larouche” but is hard to make out) playing against what appear to be players in the blue Pens sweaters. It is a 1975 Topps card and lists his one year on the reverse as playing for Pittsburgh. Apologies if this is heading down “Save this for some other site” Street.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=616264

That shows up in how they deal with the media, but the players also confirmed it as well. Boudreau’s heart-on-the-sleeve passion could be infectious, but there may have been times — especially during a long playoff series — where some of the Capitals might have responded better to a more even-keeled approach.

“Bruce would come into the dressing room and talk for 5-to-10 minutes to tell us what he is thinking and show us graphs and break down the stats,” Washington defenseman Karl Alzner said. “Dale’s not really that type of guy. It is pretty cut and dry. It is a simple game. He shows you what you did wrong on video and he quickly explains it. It is, ‘You should have stayed with the guy here,’ and, ‘You should have chipped the puck out,’ and, ‘There is no play here, so dump it.’ That’s all he says, and you’ve got to figure it out. He knows we should all be smart enough to figure it out and that’s what we’ve done wrong and fix it. He just says it like it is and you’ve got to figure it out, change it and (if) you don’t … he changes it for you.”

washcaps Washington Capitals
PHOTO: #Caps forward Jeff Halpern at a young age suited up in Caps gear. – http://wshca.ps/AkPaYx

totally adorable